Happy Chinese New Year 2012

Happy Chinese New Year 2012 to everyone!

We are commanded to love one another and to fear God. Our mission in life is to seek God, and to love and serve one another. We are to worship God and to love Him, and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. These are beautiful statements and they are so true. But in reality how many of us have seen them in practice?

The love of God has gone cold in some people and in some places. People don't seem to see the need for God's help and deliverance in their lives. People don't seem to heed God's warnings and admonitions. People don't seem to care about what God wants and they go to great lengths to make excuses to continue their traditions, customs and practices.

Love for people has become a waste of time for some. Today many only care about those who they know and who care about them. Love for strangers and visitors has become an obligation. Love for the less privileged and those in need has gone cold. Love and respect for parents and elders has become thing of the past.

Seasonal festivals are always great gathering events to rekindle, rejuvenate, and deepen the love we share with one another. Maybe we should consider widening our love to reach a higher level of enlightenment, and to embrace many people unconditionally.

Happy Chinese New Year 2012 to everyone!

Meet And Make Friends

The easiest people to be with are usually those people who don't talk much.

They are good listeners rather than good talkers.

They don't always seek personal attention.

They rather show keen interest in what we say and do.

They are always ready with sweet and gentle smiles.

They are always sympathetic and empathetic, and very caring and considerate.

They are not hot temper or easily provoked to anger.

They are helpful and friendly; seldom too self-pleasing and self-glorifying.

They are always the kind of people we want to be friends with.

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But they can be nasty and mean too, if we don't care to do the same.

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Friendship is a mutual caring, intimacy, and shared activity.

Let's learn to be kind and sensitive to our friends' needs if we seek ready companionship.

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Backbiting, back talking, backstabbing, etc are never the right ways to make friends.

Be careful to shun from them.

God Is Solitary In His Excellency

God is solitary in His excellency.

“Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” (Ex. 15:11).

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There was a time in past eternity, when God dwelt all alone.

"In the beginning God" (Gen. 1:1).

Nothing was with Him.

No one was with Him.

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God is self-contained, self-sufficient, and self-satisfied.

God needs nothing.

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The creation added nothing to God essentially.

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God was under no constraint, no obligation, and no necessity to create.

That He chose to do so was purely His sovereign act, determined by His own good pleasure to manifest His glory.

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God does not gain from our worship.

He is glorious enough in Himself without it.

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Our obedience has profited God nothing.

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Our Lord Jesus Christ added nothing to God in His essential being and glory.

Our Lord Jesus Christ manifested the glory of God to us, but He added nothing to God.

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God has been glorified by creation, by providence, and by redemption.

All these have to do with His manifested glory and the recognition of it by us.

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God can continue to be alone for all eternity, without making Himself known.

But He chose to reveal Himself to some of us.

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But God is still the unknown God to the heedless multitudes.

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God is to be revered, worshiped, and adored.

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God is solitary in His majesty, unique in His excellency, peerless in His perfections.

He sustains all, but is Himself independent of all.

He gives to all, but is enriched by none.

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God cannot be found out by searching.

He can only be known as He is revealed to the heart by the Holy Spirit through His Word.

God can only be known by those to whom He makes Himself known.

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“God is spirit" (John 4:24).

He can only be known spiritually.

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Fallen man is not spiritual.

He is carnal.

He is dead to all that is spiritual.

Unless he is born again (John 3:3), supernaturally brought from death to life, miraculously translated out of darkness into light, he cannot even see the things of God, still less apprehend them (1 Cor. 2:14).

The Holy Spirit has to shine in his heart in order to give him "the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).

And even that spiritual knowledge is but fragmentary.

The regenerated soul has to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3.18).

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Our principal prayer and aim should be to live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10).

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God is solitary in His excellency.

Just Do it!

Galatians 2:20 (NIV)
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

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We must realize our position in Christ.

We must realize our past position in Christ. When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, we died with Him. We have paid the wages of our sins in full. We need not fear death anymore. It has no power over us.

We must realize our present position in Christ. We have been raised from the death. We now have eternal life.

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We must rely on the power of Christ.

We must rely on the power of His resurrection. Death has ceased to work in us marking us as sinners. Life is now at work in us, marking us as children of God.

We must rely on the power of His residence. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is alive in us, giving us power to live like Him! Now the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us, leading, teaching, empowering, comforting, and correcting us, making us more and more like Christ.

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We must rest in the provisions of Christ.

There is the supply of faith. God has given us the faith to believe in Him. The Holy Spirit continues to dispense faith in proportion to our need as we journey in life. We need to exercise our faith in Christ to grow stronger and accomplish great things for God.

There is the sacrifice of flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ took our place on the cross. There, He absorbed the wrath of God for us. There, He broke sin’s bondage and set us free. There, the Gospel was bought and paid for. All that is left for us to do is to receive Him by faith and we will be saved!

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Some thoughts.

• Some of us need to make a fresh commitment to run the race for the Lord Jesus Christ again.
• Some of us need to keep running for the Lord Jesus Christ until we have finished our race.

Whatever it is, just do it!

God Works For Our Good

Romans 8:28 (NIV)

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

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Paul was talking through experiences.

Many of us will agree to that.

Some of us know it to be true when we go through in our lives.

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All things work for our good.

Everything in life is working for our own good.

Good and sweet things in life (home, family, health, wealth, salvation, etc.) are working for our own good.

Bad and bitter things in life (suffering, sickness, sorrow, pain etc.) are also working for our own good.

The works of the devil (attacks, affliction, accusation etc.) are also helpful to our faithful services to our God.

So are the temptation and trial to sin; though we must try not to sin.

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God promised to work for our good.

God is all-powerful and all-knowing.

He takes control of every situation in our lives.

He can use every circumstance of our lives to bring out good for us.

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This promise is not for everyone.

It is only to those who love God.

It is only true for those who know God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is only true for those who are obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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God’s purpose in turning everything to good is not only to bless us.

God is doing so to make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

God didn’t finish with us at salvation.

God continues to shape us until we reflect His image perfectly (Romans 8:29-30).

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Some thoughts.

• God promised to bring good out of our lives.
• God uses every circumstance of our lives for our own good.
• God’s purpose is not merely to bless us.
• God uses every circumstance of our lives to sharp us.
• God wants to make everyone of us more and more like Him.
  

God’s Peace

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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We are called not to be anxious about anything.

Sometimes the cares of this world can make us miserable.

We are often worried and anxious about our lives.

We are often doubtful and fearful about the journey ahead.

We are often disturbed by our past failures and shortcomings.

But we are called not to be anxious about anything.

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We are called to look up to God.

We are called to stop all our struggling.

We are called to look up to God for assistance.

We are called to look up to God for answers.

We are called to look up to God for consolation.

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We are called to talk to God.

We are called to pray to Him about our worry and anxiety.

We are called to plead to Him for help.

We are called to thank Him for His guidance, wisdom, provisions and blessings.

We are called to present to Him our requests.

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We are called to call on God always.

We are called to live in a close, fully dependent relationship with God.

We are called to call on Him in every situation.

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We are called to wait for the peace of God.

We are called to wait for the peace of God that goes beyond our understanding.

We are called to wait for the peace of God that will guide our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

We are called to wait for the peace of God that will guide us through our anxiety and worry.

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Some thoughts.

• Christians must stay calm every time.
• Christians must look up to God every time.
• Christians must communicate with God every time.
• Christians must wait on God every time.
  

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Some prayer items.

• Oh God! Help me not to be anxious about anything.
• Oh God! Help me to look up to you and talk with you every time.
• Oh God! Give me your peace to overcome my anxiety and worry.

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May the peace of God be with you.