So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Ephesians 4:17-32, 5:1-20)
who said it is hard to know what God's will is? one can argue we do need to seek for ourselves the personal will of God in our lives, His specifically engineered purpose for each of us. i agree with that, but for most of the general rules, it is right in front of our eyes. this is just another reminder as i previously wrote on the Holy Spirit, reinforcing the importance of reading and studying the Bible. the Bible is the word of God Himself, written by men but God-breathed, God-inspired and thus it is where we found God's will and God's heart.
take this part of the bible for example, about living as the children of light. if we ever wonder or were confused at one point on how we should live after being so-called Christians, this is what God says, "to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." after redemption, we are to live anew, for our old self is no more. this is how you live on the remaining time you have on this earth, before leaving it to be together with the Father. and then Paul went on what to do and what not to do, all the practical do-s and don't-s.
i was reading these words over and over again the other night then looked back on myself, it made me think, have i been living the way He wants me to live? the life i was created for? if i compare my life with the "checklist" i have here, have i passed or just barely made it or failing miserably? it reveals so much about God and i. this is one of the "how" i should follow God.
there is so much more about God in the Bible. in His words so rich and so powerful. the question it, do we really want to find out? do we make effort to read His words and pray it becomes alive in our lives? think about it.
goodnight~
xoxo
allie
Friday, April 29, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
happy passover (belated)
hey peeps, i'm back!
i have been busy celebrating the death and the resurrection of my Lord JC, and for BIC melbournians, while it's still fresh in our minds, i'd like to share about the prodigal son.
it was a constant story throughout this year's passover celebration, it surprised me at first to find out that the drama and the sermon would also adopt it. it was an awesome wonosobo version of the prodigal son, followed through by a corresponding sermon. i thought it was just a story in the song our choir is going to perform, but no, it's the whole theme! we prepared the song two months in advance so it would either be a mere coincidence or it was indeed God's plan. i believe in the latter :) God has His hands on this church.
anyways, the song went like this:
i was like the prodigal, who wanted his own way
as he left his loving father, to see what sin would pay
i had broken God's commandment, rebelled against his will
until i turned to Jesus and found He loves me still
His grace was greater
His grace was greater
overcome by sin, until i looked to Him
and found that His grace was greater
His grace was greater
God's grace, amazing grace, was greater
oh the shame that filled my heart, knowing i was wrong
oh the guilt i felt inside had haunted me so long
then He reached to me in mercy and drew me to His light
His love and great compassion made me precious in His sight
...then back to chorus again.
i trembled when i sang the song. mostly because of nerves, but also because i really think this song represents me. i daresay most of us can relate easily to the song. honestly, who has never been a prodigal son before? we all knew we played with sin. we did things that are wrong in God's eyes. yet, He took us back so mercifully, even crossed out our sins instead of condemning us, through the redeeming work of JC. it's all by grace! not us, it's Him who initiated. He reached to us in mercy! He came down to us, He stooped down to our level, born as a humble man and died the most horrible death, all for us, so that we don't die in eternal damnation. His grace was indeed greater than we think.
how very very very grateful should we be! if only we can comprehend fully the greatness of His grace, imagine how thankful and grateful we will be. i read somewhere recently that the incomprehensibility of His grace shows the unimaginable extent of the greatness of His grace. simply put, it is too big, too great for us to understand. that is how great it is.
knowing such great news, knowing such grace exist, how can we not share the good news to others?
be excited with me people!
our God is doing great works now, at this very season!
let's not miss His movement!
He had started His works, in so many young people. not that i'm not young anymore, but i'm talking young young here, like seventeen-eighteen. God is so awesome!
this really encourages me to share about JC to other people. it saddened me alot knowing that some people i love dearly have not yet believed in Jesus Christ the Lord our Saviour. let's not lose faith, and keep praying for them. as i am. for you. all my beloved.
i have been busy celebrating the death and the resurrection of my Lord JC, and for BIC melbournians, while it's still fresh in our minds, i'd like to share about the prodigal son.
it was a constant story throughout this year's passover celebration, it surprised me at first to find out that the drama and the sermon would also adopt it. it was an awesome wonosobo version of the prodigal son, followed through by a corresponding sermon. i thought it was just a story in the song our choir is going to perform, but no, it's the whole theme! we prepared the song two months in advance so it would either be a mere coincidence or it was indeed God's plan. i believe in the latter :) God has His hands on this church.
anyways, the song went like this:
i was like the prodigal, who wanted his own way
as he left his loving father, to see what sin would pay
i had broken God's commandment, rebelled against his will
until i turned to Jesus and found He loves me still
His grace was greater
His grace was greater
overcome by sin, until i looked to Him
and found that His grace was greater
His grace was greater
God's grace, amazing grace, was greater
oh the shame that filled my heart, knowing i was wrong
oh the guilt i felt inside had haunted me so long
then He reached to me in mercy and drew me to His light
His love and great compassion made me precious in His sight
...then back to chorus again.
i trembled when i sang the song. mostly because of nerves, but also because i really think this song represents me. i daresay most of us can relate easily to the song. honestly, who has never been a prodigal son before? we all knew we played with sin. we did things that are wrong in God's eyes. yet, He took us back so mercifully, even crossed out our sins instead of condemning us, through the redeeming work of JC. it's all by grace! not us, it's Him who initiated. He reached to us in mercy! He came down to us, He stooped down to our level, born as a humble man and died the most horrible death, all for us, so that we don't die in eternal damnation. His grace was indeed greater than we think.
how very very very grateful should we be! if only we can comprehend fully the greatness of His grace, imagine how thankful and grateful we will be. i read somewhere recently that the incomprehensibility of His grace shows the unimaginable extent of the greatness of His grace. simply put, it is too big, too great for us to understand. that is how great it is.
knowing such great news, knowing such grace exist, how can we not share the good news to others?
be excited with me people!
our God is doing great works now, at this very season!
let's not miss His movement!
He had started His works, in so many young people. not that i'm not young anymore, but i'm talking young young here, like seventeen-eighteen. God is so awesome!
this really encourages me to share about JC to other people. it saddened me alot knowing that some people i love dearly have not yet believed in Jesus Christ the Lord our Saviour. let's not lose faith, and keep praying for them. as i am. for you. all my beloved.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
a short prayer
Lord, i pray tonight that You give me your heart, the heart of a Father, the heart of a shepherd, who loves all his sheep and will search for that one lost sheep. give me such heart Lord to love each and everyone of my beloved, in FA and in choir. let Your Holy Spirit work in me and change me to be like You. amen.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
tuesday night
dear beloved, i just wanna share this so you don't miss out.
you know what? KD shared about our little sunday night fellowship in menado. and i did not realise at first that it was such a big delight, people gathering and fellowshipping and ended up worshiping the Lord. but then, it was also because i did not realise either that being who we exactly are, that sunday night would ever happen. so it comes down to a conclusion, that it was by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit that we had that sunday night.
and looking at the way the church prayed last night, oh boy, the Holy Spirit is on the move. He shown me the week before that God was feeling really happy that His children came and pray to Him. i felt His heart, his bursting joy. last night, it was something else. He opened up my heart on realising my insignificance in front of the most High, the Holy one. how inadequate our wholehearted praises and worship in front of His glory. how incomplete our understanding and knowledge of Him. He gave me such desperation in my heart that i want to know Him more.
do we realise how important the Holy Spirit is in our very Christian lives? i was at guilt here, has been "shunning" the Holy Spirit all along, for so many years, never asked for His guidance in my everyday lives, while at the same time proclaiming boldly, yeah, Jesus is in me, His Spirit is in me, yet my actions did not acknowledge that fact. i limited His work into mere hours, into praise and worship sessions only, while He is so much more than for us to be able to worship the Lord in tongues or evoking emotion during prayers.
i still remember years ago in FA, ci yuli often shares about what the Holy Spirit put in her heart and how we should learn to listen to His voice. it never got into me until recently, i read this book i borrowed from ex-neighbour (it's awesome! recommended reading: dug down deep - joshua harris). the chapter on holy spirit really struck me. made me went, "what have i done? this is not right, i should repent." so, i did. only two weeks ago, so sad that i have wasted my many years thinking that i know God but in reality never knowing Him fully and completely. now i am learning to know more of this third person of God, the gentle Spirit.
His work starts even before we were saved, for the Holy Spirit is the one who opens up hearts to be able to receive Jesus, for "no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit." He transformed our lives, from sinners to redeemed, guiding us to become more like Jesus each day, helping us when we're reading the Word of God and makes us understand. remember the times when you're reading the Bible and then suddenly you had this revelation of what those words really means after reading them many times before without any effect on you? that was Him telling you what the Father wants you to know.
"The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us."
- 1 Corinthians 2:10-12
He will make us glorify God more because only through Him we can "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
and there is so much more! so so much more i am not going to put it in here. please go back to your SOM notes :p
to be honest though, i still don't understand much of how God works in my life. He works in His uncanny, mysterious way yet always perfect and i just believe. i don't think this is too late for me to finally commune intimately with His Spirit and i don't think it is too late or any of you either. the seed has been planted through His Words that we hear every week, that we read every day. the growth is there, slowly, but sure. there has been so much fertilizer sprinkled on the soil. the question is, whether the soil of our heart is hardened, rocky, full of thorns or plowed and ready?
quoting ci yuli again, and i'm pretty sure she quoted it from the Bible but i cannot remember the verse >_< "the Holy Spirit is a meek and gentle Spirit". in other words, there is something for us to partake in. i think all we need to do is to put all our effort into surrendering fully onto Him, letting His hand mould us whichever way pleases Him, for we have faith that He is the God who loves us so much that John 3:16 exists.
i hope and i pray that this movement will not stop here, but it will be continual, it will bring perpetual joy in our lives for we will see more and more of Christ with each step we take together with His Spirit. and the best thing is if He is really present in our lives, people will see it, believers and unbelievers alike. they will see the fruit.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
you know what? KD shared about our little sunday night fellowship in menado. and i did not realise at first that it was such a big delight, people gathering and fellowshipping and ended up worshiping the Lord. but then, it was also because i did not realise either that being who we exactly are, that sunday night would ever happen. so it comes down to a conclusion, that it was by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit that we had that sunday night.
and looking at the way the church prayed last night, oh boy, the Holy Spirit is on the move. He shown me the week before that God was feeling really happy that His children came and pray to Him. i felt His heart, his bursting joy. last night, it was something else. He opened up my heart on realising my insignificance in front of the most High, the Holy one. how inadequate our wholehearted praises and worship in front of His glory. how incomplete our understanding and knowledge of Him. He gave me such desperation in my heart that i want to know Him more.
do we realise how important the Holy Spirit is in our very Christian lives? i was at guilt here, has been "shunning" the Holy Spirit all along, for so many years, never asked for His guidance in my everyday lives, while at the same time proclaiming boldly, yeah, Jesus is in me, His Spirit is in me, yet my actions did not acknowledge that fact. i limited His work into mere hours, into praise and worship sessions only, while He is so much more than for us to be able to worship the Lord in tongues or evoking emotion during prayers.
i still remember years ago in FA, ci yuli often shares about what the Holy Spirit put in her heart and how we should learn to listen to His voice. it never got into me until recently, i read this book i borrowed from ex-neighbour (it's awesome! recommended reading: dug down deep - joshua harris). the chapter on holy spirit really struck me. made me went, "what have i done? this is not right, i should repent." so, i did. only two weeks ago, so sad that i have wasted my many years thinking that i know God but in reality never knowing Him fully and completely. now i am learning to know more of this third person of God, the gentle Spirit.
His work starts even before we were saved, for the Holy Spirit is the one who opens up hearts to be able to receive Jesus, for "no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit." He transformed our lives, from sinners to redeemed, guiding us to become more like Jesus each day, helping us when we're reading the Word of God and makes us understand. remember the times when you're reading the Bible and then suddenly you had this revelation of what those words really means after reading them many times before without any effect on you? that was Him telling you what the Father wants you to know.
"The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us."
- 1 Corinthians 2:10-12
He will make us glorify God more because only through Him we can "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
and there is so much more! so so much more i am not going to put it in here. please go back to your SOM notes :p
to be honest though, i still don't understand much of how God works in my life. He works in His uncanny, mysterious way yet always perfect and i just believe. i don't think this is too late for me to finally commune intimately with His Spirit and i don't think it is too late or any of you either. the seed has been planted through His Words that we hear every week, that we read every day. the growth is there, slowly, but sure. there has been so much fertilizer sprinkled on the soil. the question is, whether the soil of our heart is hardened, rocky, full of thorns or plowed and ready?
quoting ci yuli again, and i'm pretty sure she quoted it from the Bible but i cannot remember the verse >_< "the Holy Spirit is a meek and gentle Spirit". in other words, there is something for us to partake in. i think all we need to do is to put all our effort into surrendering fully onto Him, letting His hand mould us whichever way pleases Him, for we have faith that He is the God who loves us so much that John 3:16 exists.
i hope and i pray that this movement will not stop here, but it will be continual, it will bring perpetual joy in our lives for we will see more and more of Christ with each step we take together with His Spirit. and the best thing is if He is really present in our lives, people will see it, believers and unbelievers alike. they will see the fruit.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Sunday, April 3, 2011
back to 61
i just got back from brisbane. had an awesome day, awesome brisbanites hospitality, but oh how i miss melbourne! so, after ben picked me up, we went straight to 61 from tullamarine, where pretty much every single one of my beloved FA members plus plus plus are. and tonight we were back to the basic. i miss this kind of fellowship, especially that i have been traveling away from melbourne too often lately.
fellowship is not just mere eating and laughing and be merry. faithful sharing, worship and prayer are far more precious than those. and i am blessed, truly blessed by you all, the community of love God placed me in. the community that has been and will keep sustaining me, encouraging me, and cares for me, spiritually, mentally, and physically. pray God pour out His grace more and more upon us so we can keep this up, and grow together in the knowledge of Him.
i love you all <3
fellowship is not just mere eating and laughing and be merry. faithful sharing, worship and prayer are far more precious than those. and i am blessed, truly blessed by you all, the community of love God placed me in. the community that has been and will keep sustaining me, encouraging me, and cares for me, spiritually, mentally, and physically. pray God pour out His grace more and more upon us so we can keep this up, and grow together in the knowledge of Him.
i love you all <3
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