Take It All

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Searching the world
The lost will be found
In freedom we live
As one we cry out
You carried the cross
You died and rose again
My God
I’ll only ever give my all

You sent Your Son
From heaven to earth
You delivered us all
It’s eternally heard
I searched for truth
And all I found was You
My God
I’ll only ever give my all

Jesus we’re living Your Name
We’ll never be ashamed of You
Whoa o oh
Our praise and all we are today
Take take take it all
Take take take it all

Running to the One
Who heals the blind
Following the shining light
In Your hands
The power to save the world
My life

Clueless

God is...

Yesterday, when I (we, including my two other housemates who were with me)got home, I found three other housemates in a very heated debate. When I got to investigate, they are talking about the usual debate about "Christianity" and all its loopholes... The thing that they discussed when we arrived was

"What if a Buddhist who lived and died growing up in his faith without hearing the gospel of Christ, will he go to heaven?" or

"If God knows who to be saved or if He knows that all human beings will not be saved, why would He create us in the first place?"... or

"When is salvation a sure thing in your life?" or "When can you say you are saved? If I sin again will I be saved?"

Inside me was a longing, bursting out what faith and salvation God has given me... and in my reckless atempt to justify my stand, amidst all the rebuttal, I resorted to anger taking the question personally on the other person... God is with me and I know him personally, I have to fight in what I believe. But my heart was somehow called by God to mellow down and stop. When all was over, as I was lying on my bed, I was thinking of what has transpired and I realized that during our discussion, we "boxed" God in our compartments called our minds... I admit, I was really flushed out, my housemates are all very intellectually knowledgeable about religion, of concepts about God but again, as I was there in my bed thinking, God really spoke to me as if He was whispering in my ear, "What you know about me is nothing compared to who I really am" and I prayed saying my apologies to God, "God I'm sorry for all of us, we may have blasphemed you in the process and sorry for compartmentalizing you in our limited thoughts"

Today when I woke up, God comforted me in His word found in 1 Peter 3:17, it says:

13(W)Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?

14But even if you should (X)suffer for the sake of righteousness, (Y)you are blessed (Z)AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,

15but [a]sanctify (AA)Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready (AB)to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the (AC)hope that is in you, yet (AD)with gentleness and (AE)reverence;

16and keep a (AF)good conscience so that in the thing in which (AG)you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

17For (AH)it is better, (AI)if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

Yup I am zealous for God and the hope that He has put into my heart. And it's not my goal to win over an argument about God. I am to share the hope of living and walking in God and it is God who will shame or change those who are genuinely seeking Him. To give you guys a parting thought, let me share a testimony of faith of a guy in "My Utmost for His Highest" worship musical:

Faith is not a question of DEBATE or REASONING. It is an ABSOLUTE and IRREVOCABLE SURRENDER, a SHUTTING OUT of every other consideration and keeeping one's self before God for this one thing only, MY UTMOST for his Highest.

...

Is it raining, little flower?
Be glad of rain;
Too much sun would wither thee;
'Twill shine again.
The clouds are very black, 'tis true;
But just behind them shines the blue.

Art thou weary, tender heart?
Be glad of pain:
In sorrow sweetest virtues grow,
As flowers in rain.
God watches, and thou wilt have sun,
When clouds their perfect work have done.

Never Let Go

When I woke in the morning and go downstairs and lay on the sofa, I look up and see the clear blue skies outside the window. I could hear birds chirping around enjoying the coolness of the morning. I close my eyes and say, "God, You are God and I will ever praise You." Moments after, I would open my Bible and read God's word and savor God's promises in life and I'll pray and ask God that He would be upon me the whole day.

Fast forward after that, I get dressed and prepare myself. I have an exam in this electric company that I'm applying and I say to God, "Lord, this is it! This will be the job that You have for me and I'll do good". And I go on my way, eyes wide-open and a smiling heart. I don't mind being drenched in sweat and my polo creased as I made my way inside the MRT. I did good in exams and felt I would pass. In my heart, an expectant hope stirs up, "God, be upon me. Send Your favor on me". Hours after, I would go the organization that I'm currently involved with. We have a newsletter to finish and there I was getting started to do all the necessary layout and editing. I would say, 'Bless this newsletter, Lord. I pray that it will touch anyone those who read it." and you would say, "Lord, have favor on me cause I did favor in Yours"

What happens when you the company hasn't called you for the allotted time? I would say, "Lord, please touch the hearts of those in charge of my application, please" and still you waited. Days passed and no call or text came. I start to become anxious and desperate. Each day, I pray that I still trust God and that He will still give my heart's desire but inside, the hope within starts to grow fainter and fainter. And days pass, I feel I don't want to praise God nor even had the enthusiasm to read His words. I felt worried and angry, angry because God does not seem to hear me. One night in my bitterness I cried out, "God! Why are You like that? You make my life so hard! I have faithfully served you. I've been involved in your work, served people along the way. Iit's not fair! Why can't you grant my own request, this simple request?" And tears filled with pity rolled away. And I felt very desperate but God is slowly speaking to my heart, "Have faith, my child! You might not see what I'm doing in in your heart but continue to trust in me"... Such an unseen truth! Easy to say but hard to follow.

The next day, when you wake up, you can still feel the bitterness in Your heart but You've made a decision, "I will not stop praising You! I will still declare Your goodness. For all the things that You've done and for all You're going to do". Everyday, God starts to assure me. As I read the the book of Psalm, I encountered an account about King David in Psalm 71:

Psalm 71:12-16 Amplified
12O God, be not far from me! O my God, make haste to help me!

13Let them be put to shame and consumed who are adversaries to my life; let them be covered with reproach, scorn, and dishonor who seek and require my hurt.

14But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more.

15My mouth shall tell of Your righteous acts and of Your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is more than I know.

16I will come in the strength and with the mighty acts of the Lord God; I will mention and praise Your righteousness, even Yours alone.

This really spoke to my heart and the bitterness just ebbed away. My friends, I urged you to continue trusting God. In times of trouble, cling to God, never let Him go. Speak to Him in bold honesty what is in Your heart and He will comfort you.

Habakkuk 3:17-18
17Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls,
18Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation!

All You Need is a Hug

It is primitive
without it you die...

Human touch, so basic, so primitive... without it you die. I recently heard of a story that a baby who hasn't been held with a human died in three months. So in conclusion, we all need a touch, a hug, a pat, a kiss.

Yesterday, I was feeling down... I don't know, so much has happened to me. I've been in a lot of exams and interviews but still haven't got a job. I have challenged myself in any physical activity and felt good about myself doing it but... I knew something was missing, I felt down and lonely and wished someone would take care of me. My brother came into my room and suddenly I just called him to hug him and I felt all right... wow, there must be something magical about a touch... and there is something destructive about the touch when used abusively - physically, sexually, etc.

Children nowadays are devoid of touch. Parents are so far away either physically or emotionally. Today's pace of life leaves the family, so broken and children are longing and longing for their parent's touch. I believe that the increasing number of homosexually struggling men are guys as boys devoid of their father's touch and also women who jumps from one guy to another are also devoid from their father's touch or lesbianism struggling women from a mother's touch... You can often hear them say, "It's not sex that I really want, just another person's warmth through touch."...

Me and my uncanny thoughtsm but think about it... It makes sense. We all need touch.