Thursday, August 30, 2012

Home In Heaven

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Last vacation, I was excited to go home. I will see again my old room, will see familiar faces, will feel the comfort of home, will experience again the weather and the priceless moment with my family. It is really a nice thing if we are comfortable in a place that we occupy, a place where you can do anything, act normally and be ourselves. Its also a great feeling to say to our minds and hearts that "right here, is where I belong".

The question now is, what should we feel when we arrive into the new Jerusalem, that land of promises, that what we call Kingdom. Should we be excited? Should we think about adjustment and to prepare ourselves for new environment? Some of the things that we had might be missing or the comfort of our home will slowly diminish. One thing is for sure, that everything will be better and by that, lets just enjoy it, rejoice and be ourselves.

In Revelations 21:22-23 (22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.), it might incur that we wont be needing electricy, flashlight or candles as His light will be sufficient enough. Imagine a new home where locks are unnecessary, gates are always open and a place where there is no sin and death will also be absent. In this new environment, everything will be pure, holy and suffering will be a thing of the past. We have to look forward for abundant life in Christ, pure and unmarred. Same feeling of comfort in our current home will also be available in our future home and it will be permanent. It something that can really call "home" and no description can be given on this place. He is a very loving father that He personally prepared it for us.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Don't Be A Self-Directed Man

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I love to travel, I really do! I have visited all South East Asian nations and experienced a lot of things. During those times, I felt the excitement of being lost and just walk the way without direction. In reality, we are afraid to ask directions if we got lost and we just depend on our own wisdom. We put into our minds that we are certain and sure of the directions that we are taking. Also, we are having some difficulties to ask some questions as it might result to a change of impression by others to us. We should admit that we need help, we need advise and we need the correct and right path and direction.

In the spiritual perspective, we can see that there are lots of lost souls who believe that they can earn the "entry pass" into heaven by hard work, counting the good deeds that looks like a desperate step into saving themselves. But they are absolutely wrong. Today's passage is about a wealthy man who only thinks of himself and making plans for the rest of his life.

Luke 12:16-21 "16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God."

You will notice the number of times the man used the words "I" and "my" which indicates the plans he is making based only on his own thoughts, desires and experiences. This shows a self focus man who is trying his own way and secure his future with no help from anyone even from God. The Lord called the man "fool" for owning and writing his own destiny. But God expects His children to ask and follow His guidance. In short, if we do our OWN plans and take actions without considering and asking for His guidance and think about of what God will advise then we are acting like a fool. We can't do anything on our own, remember that He has the best plans for us. Ask for guidance, seek direction, request for advise and follow it. Pray for your plans and always include Him in your plans, on how to be with Him and to abide his prepared path for us. Let us be wise and ask Him for directions, don't be a self-directed man who acts like we know everything, we can accomplish anything and we can do all things on our own. Let's always put our eyes unto Him and be remided that He is the best guide in our life.