Blessing in Disguise

Have there been times in your life when you feel like God is not there with you? Times when you felt so desperate and said, Why God? Why is this happening? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do disasters happen on this earth? I am sure many of us have been through tough times like this. But don't loose your faith on God because everything happens for a purpose. Sometimes God allows satan's plan to happen to teach us a lesson, to make us a stronger person, and to strengthen our faith and love to god. I call this, a blessing in disguise. 

I was on youtube the other day and came across a song that I always love listening to called How Great is our God by hillsong. This song reminded me of how God is greater than our problems. He is greater than what this world has to offer. How great is our God! God is always in control of our life if we believe and trust in him. There are many things in life that happen without our understanding. But just know that everything has a purpose.

We have to see the light in the dark tunnel. We have to see the positive things in life despite how negative it seems. We need to have faith in God in any situation we are in. Faith means believing without seeing, so we must believe that God is in control even though it seems like the situation is a disaster.

I had one friend come up to me about a month ago after the flooding that happened in the Philippines. She told me in tears, How could God let this happen? So many innocent people died..God definitely was not with the Philippines during that time. I also feel hurt about what happened in the Philippines and to the other natural disasters that have happened. But I know God is always in control. I'm sure it was not God's plan to ruin and kill many innocent people, but he allowed it to happen because he can see what we can't see. I know for sure that he knew something good will come out from this disaster. It could be that many people will call out his name, learn to lean and depend on him more, or maybe even for the people to unite together under the name of Jesus. We don't know and I don't know what God's purpose of letting the disaster happen, but I do know that God loves us so much.

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in his shall not perish but have everlasting life." Sometimes we do things that hurt ourselves, but God will always come in your life and help you! But only if you let him. 

Romans 12:12 says, "Be Joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer." Have hope in the lord, be patient, and pray to him. His blessing will come in his time. During our life troubles and disasters, we have to be still in him. Trust in God because he loves you and he knows what's best for you. Allow God to be your refuge for peace and strength. No matter how horrible your situation may be, our God is greater than what your problem can bring. 

Blessings don't always come through peace and happiness. Sometimes blessings come through our pains and sorrow, through tears and troubles. You may say, why God? without knowing that God actually has a blessing planned out for you through the situation you are questioning. God works in ways we cannot see. So remember, there are blessings in disguise.

YOUTUBE Video:
Blessings In Disguise 

The Root of Giving

It's finally the Christmas and Holiday season! I am sure many of you are going shopping for your friends and loved ones. I love Christmas because it is the time to show our love to others through giving. I believe love is the heart of Christmas! Although many of you may be busy shopping and preparing for the holidays, don't forget to also give back to Jesus. This is the time to thank God for giving us his one and only son Jesus Christ, our savior.

Many of you are probably thinking, why is giving necessary? Why do we need to give tithings to the church? Why must we give back to God? Can't we just acknowledge his existence and believe in him? Well the answer to this is Love.  To truly follow and believe in Jesus includes loving him, through giving him our life and tithings. Many people hesitate the thought of giving money to the church. But truly, it is not about the money. The root of tithing is to show our love to God. We can't give money directly to God (because it would be useless for him), but we can dedicate our lives to him, support what God loves which is growing his Kingdom on Earth, supporting the church(financially as well), and spreading the good news of Jesus. This is how we can show God our love, through giving him our life! Just as you love your kids by sacrificing your time and money for them, this is how God wants us to show our love to him. Not just by words but also through actions. If you have a spouse, you should also give to one another as a form to show love. You can't love someone without giving something back to them. 

1 John 3:16 says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear Children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." This verse shows us that we have to show love through actions and by giving to others. Christ led an example of giving more than he recieved. He spent most of his life healing others and preaching the word of God. At the end, he even gave up his life for our salvation. His love is greater than what this world can offer to us. The least we can do for God is give him back our love and life to him. We should also follow Jesus's example by giving to others. Acts 20:35 says, "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, 'It is more blessed to to give than to receive.'" We should all focus more on giving to others more than to ourselves. You will have this happiness in your heart knowing that you gave and impacted others lives. Giving to others is like a everlasting cycle of happiness. When you give to others, they will be more inclined to follow your good example. At the end of the day, the true reason of giving is love. 

Follow the example of how Jesus loved. He's our best example of what love truly is, and I believe love was born on Christmas day. So remember, Love is the root of giving. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!<3

YouTube VIDEO: The Root of Giving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugVW-eBFCLo

Why are we here?

Have you ever asked yourself the question, Why are we here? What's our purpose living on this earth? Is it to make as much money as we can and be successful? To accomplish our careers? To create a family and have a happy life? Although all these things are essential for us, it is important to not forget the most important aspect of our life: Love God with all your heart.

Luke 10:27 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind. " God wants us to love him with all our hearts, to love him with all our hearts means to give our life to him, to dedicate and devote our life to his word. Accepting Jesus as your savior is only the first step to a Christian life. The next step is to devote ourselves to him. We all love Jesus and know he exists, but are you really devoting your life to him? Devoting to him means being loyal to the word of God and making Jesus as a part of your everyday life. We will all fall and make mistakes, I mean we are all sinners including me, but it's important to realize our sins and to repent and change. Growing is part of the Christian life, so make sure you are growing your faith and love with God.

Why is devoting your life to Christ an important aspect of being a Christian? Well think of it as you wanting to be successful in life. To be successful in life, you need to devote your life to things that will lead you to success. For example, dedicating part of your time to studying, doing well in school, making connections, and being persistence with this will lead you to success. You can't be successful in life without devoting yourself to being successful in life. It just doesn't work that way, though it would be nice to be successful without having to do nothing. This goes the same way as being a Christian. You can't be a Christian if you don't devote yourself to being a Christian.

I went to a Hillsong Concert just 2 weeks ago. It was an amazing experience to praise God with such a large group of people. Being in the midst of God's presence and worshipping his name reminded me of the purpose of why God placed us on this earth. He wants us to learn how to praise and love him, because when we go to heaven, that is all we will be doing.  He wants us to learn more about who He is and more about his love. God gives us the freedom to live the way we want to live because he wants us to find and love him without force.

So remember, love God with all our your heart, which includes devoting every part of your life to him.

Positive Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is just a couple days ahead! I'm sure all of you are either busy with finals or thinking about how stuffed you're going to be on thanksgiving day. But Thanksgiving is more than the turkey and more than the family time we will have (although both things are important). Thanksgiving should be a time to realize the blessings God has given us in our lives. It's a time to be grateful for what we have and are. It's so easy to think of all the bad things that we are facing without taking the time to think of the blessings God has already placed in our lives. As humans, our tendency is to talk more about negative things than positive things. For example, think about all the gossip and drama we experience in our lives. There was also a study that showed that twice as many people tell others about bad service than good. When I think about this, its true! I am more likely to share to people the bad services I have experiences than the good services. It is so easy to think about what's not good in our lives. But its important to not let our negative mind overcome ourselves. Satan will always try to bring you down because he doesn't want you to become the person God wants you to be!

Give thanks to whatever state you are in now. There will always be someone who is worse off than you are. If you really think about it, there are so many things you should be thankful for! Even the fact that you are alive and breathing is something to be happy for. Sometimes we tend to want things now, and when we don't get what we want we get easily discouraged. But remember God is Good! He knows your every need and he will meet your need at the right time. God knows what you need more than you know yourself. When things aren't going your way, just remember that God has a good plan for you coming up! Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time". 

Instead of thinking about the about the bad things that have happened in your life, think about the blessings God has brought to your life. Just knowing that God's Love Endures Forever should be a reason for us to give thanks and praise to him eternally. I was reading Psalm 136 and it says, "Give thanks to the lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever". This statement is so powerful! Because his love endures forever, we don't ever have to worry about our lives! Because his love endures forever, we know that he will always provide our needs. It's important to recognize this and give God thanks for what he has done and is doing. God has to be the number one priority in our lives and its important to show him that we have faith in him by giving him thanks and praise everyday. How often to you give God praise in your daily life? How do you think God is feeling when we always speak about negative things in our lives? Or when we choose to neglect and realize the blessings he has given us? He might just be planning to give you the greatest blessing without you knowing it. 

So remember to give God thanksgiving for his enduring love for us, and be a positive influence for others; not just for this thanksgiving but for the continuing days to come! Ask yourself this everyday: Did I speak more positive or negative words today? 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone<3 

Letting Fear Go

It's so easy to let our negative mind take over us within minutes. There have been times in my life when I felt worried about my future, will I become successful one day? will God use me in my life? I'm sure there are many fears that people experience daily, either minor or major fears. But no matter your circumstance, when you're feeling down and overwhelmed by fear, that is the time to call on god. That is the time to worship him and bless his name. When people are stress or worried, they tend to avoid worshipping God or are too tired to go to church. But thats actually the time you need him the most! I love to listen to christian music to relieve my soul whenever I am feeling down. Hillsong has always been my go to christian band for many years.

Here's a positive verse that will comfort your worries; "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future."(Jeremiah 29:11) All we need to do is work hard and persistent, have faith in God, and give him the rest of our problems and worries! God didn't make this world so you would fail. Don't let your problems defeat you, you can face your problems with God! Bring God down to where your problems are and Let go of your fears to God. God knows the best for us, more than what we know ourselves. Don't dwell on your fears, but dwell in God's promises. Let's try to see what Jesus sees!

When you're feeling overwhelmed with fear, feed the words of God into your mind and heart. Surround yourself with positive people who will speak the word of God into your life. Let your struggles and worries be opportunities to remind you of the promises and love God has for us. Don't let your fears control you, let it go! Trust me, letting your fears go will be the best feeling you can have. Depend on God and let him deal with your problems and worries, because he will. Claim and Believe the word of god. The Bible is the living word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is alive and active". When you claim the word of God into your life, there is power in it. The word is living and it is meant to live as part of our lives. Don't claim your fears, but claim the power of God over it.

Put your hope to God and make him your refuge for strength and peace. Depend on God and let him control your problems. Remember, don't let your fears control you, just let it go!

REFERENCE: Psalm 62:5-12 5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. 7 My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him,for God is our refuge. "Selah" 9 Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath. 10 Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them. 11 One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, 12and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.

YouTube Video : Letting Fear Go

Love is Hard

Love is Hard..I know you're probably thinking what? Love should be the easiest emotion to express! It's true that falling in love is easy, but staying in love is a lot harder. Do you remember your first love with Jesus? I'm sure many of us remember the first moment when we fell in love with Jesus, but is your fire with God still as strong as before? If anything your love for God should keep growing more and more. I have to admit, I remember the times when my love for God was high, and times when I felt that God was far from my life. Its easy for our Love for God to be like a rollercoaster. Some days you love God so much, and other days you feel like God is far from you. But instead, we should keep our love for God soaring up into the sky without ever dropping. My new goal is to love God more each day! I'm sure there will be bad days, but if we focus on God and trust in him, we can always pick up our feet and move ahead. We have to work on our Love with God by staying close to him daily and honoring and meditating his word. I feel like God is always great a bringing me back to him whenever I am far from him. I believe that God is always great at reminding and bringing people back to him when they are lost. This can be from hearing something on the radio, listening to a sermon, or stumbling to an event that touches your heart.

I was reading 1 Corinthians and this common verse that I'm sure many people know came up; "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."(1 Corinthians 13:4-7). If you really think about this verse, the definition of "Love" sounds like a hard thing to do. But we need to love because without love, there is no hope or faith. Remember, "And now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love. But the greatest of these is Love."(1 Corinthians 13) Faith, hope, and love are all connected to each other. You need love to have faith and hope. That is why we need to Love God to have faith and hope in him. 

Another example that I am sure many can relate to is marriage. I've heard many people say to me, "I feel like my marriage is a mistake". I'm sure when you first married your spouse you loved them, I mean if you didn't love them you wouldn't have married them. But what happened to that love? It's easy to let our love walk away from us without us even realizing it. This is the same with our Love for God. I am sure everyone had a point where they were in fire for the Lord...but what about now? Love is Hard and it takes work, but with God all things are possible! 

So remember, work on your love with God! 

Investing on your Heart

There are many materialistic things in this world that can keep off our guard from what is holy and right for us. Materialism and Money is what drives this current world and sometimes, it can take our focus from what is truly meaningful to us. It's so easy to get caught up with the latest fashion, cars, technology, beauty(looks), house decors, and many other materialist things. I am one of those girls who likes to stay up to fashion and I love spending money on brand name bags such as Coach or Michael Kors. I mean who doesn't? But I felt the lord tug into my heart, and he reminded me to focus on investing my heart to God. 

Luke 12:34 says, "Where your treasure is your heart is also". This means your treasure is what you spend the most time, money, and effort on. Whatever your treasure may be, your heart will also be there. This is why its important to focus on investing things that will grow your heart closer to God and be a stronger Christian in Faith.  It's ok to spend money on materialistic things, but don't let it be the priority in life. Don't forget to invest and value things that will grow your faith in God. As a Christian, we need to keep our fire going with God. To keep our fire with God, we need to work on it! We need to spend time reading the Bible, going to Church, and going to seminars/events that will increase our fire for God. Many people are hesitant to spend money on things that will grow our hearts and spirits. I believe the reason for that is because it is an intangible investment (something you can't see) rather than a tangible investment, such as buying a laptop (an investment that you can see right away). Although spending time watching seminars, going to care-cells, or spending money to go to retreats seems like a lesser priority in our lives, those kind of investments are actually the greatest investments that we can make for our lives. Next week I will be seeing Hillsong Live in Concert. The reason I am going to this Concert is to invest my time and money to grow my spirit and fire for God.

Make sure your treasure are things that will increase your fire for God. Invest your Heart to God rather than only spending on materialistic things. Investing on your heart will give you the greatest value in the long term. Materialistic things in this world will only give you temporary happiness. For example, whenever I buy a new purse, I get excited and happy, but after a month or two my excitement goes down and I'm ready to buy another purse. But when you invest things to your heart, the joy will stay with you for eternity and you will grow in greater faith with God. Keep working on firing up your love for God! Remember, when you seek God and his kingdom, blessings and joy will come to your life.

REFERENCE: Luke 12:27-34 ²⁷ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

³² “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Don't have time to read the Bible?

Everyone knows that reading the Bible everyday is important, but it seems like we never have the time to stop and read the Bible. We all have busy lives; my typical day consists of having class in the morning, then work in the afternoon, then when I finally get the chance to go home and rest there is piles of homework waiting. A helpful tip that I find is instead of trying to save reading the bible for one time during the day, read the bible whenever you get a chance for free time. Some examples where I take advantage to read the bible are when I eat lunch alone, when I have 10-15 minutes in between classes, when I'm waiting at a doctors office, or basically whenever I have some time to spare of doing nothing. Instead of playing Candy Crush or watching youtube videos (ect.), we should take that time to read the Bible and hear Gods voice. With the technology that we have nowadays, we can bring our bible everywhere we go through our cell phone! Because of the convenience of the Bible app, we no longer have to carry that heavy bible everywhere.

Not only is reading the Bible good to give us wisdom, but it is also important because we need to form a relationship with God. Relationship with God is the most important thing about being a Christian. To be a true Christian is more than knowing that God exists, but having a relationship with him daily. Before thinking about what ministry you want to do for the church, prioritize your time with the Lord First. I used to always think about what ministries I want to serve in my church, such as being in the music team, but I felt that God was telling me that a relationship with him is where I should focus first. Now, I went from not reading the bible daily, to reading it everyday and meditating his word in my heart. I really want to know him more and have him reveal himself more to me.

A common bible story that people can relate to is the story of Mary and Martha. Jesus came to visit them and Martha was too busy preparing food instead of stopping to hear the word of God. She got upset at Mary because Mary did not help her with preparations, instead she sat down and listened to what Jesus had to say. Although Martha did the right thing to prepare food for Jesus, Jesus valued more with what Mary was doing. Mary valued the relationship and word of God from Jesus, which is exactly what Jesus was looking for.

We can apply this Bible story to our lives. God is searching for our relationship with him more than our ministry to him. He wants to have a relationship with you first before you focusing on doing ministry for him. God is our father, so treat him like your father. God does not only want to be known to you as a father. He wants you to have a relationship with him, just like how a father would want to have a relationship with his child. So remember to value your time with the Lord and the rest will be sure to come.

REFERENCE: Luke 10:38-42 ³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[a]Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.

What is truly the key to Success, Happiness, and Peace?

Have you ever felt that some things that are said in the bible are crazy? Ex: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"(matthew 5:43), "If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also"(Luke 6:29), " Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong"(1 Thessalonians 5:15), and I am sure there are many more verses that fit this category. Despite how crazy these verses sound like, God's word is always meant to be the best for us and our lives.

People are naturally irrational, we're humans! Our emotions can sometimes delude us from what is truly right and good for us. Because of this, its important to read the bible daily and meditate on the word of God. Let God be the pilot and decision maker of our lives. We will make less silly mistakes in our lives if we just depend more on God and his word, leading us to a happy, peaceful, and successful life. 

There are many examples in the bible that we could learn from; things that sound ridiculous but are actually things that are said for our own good. I was reading 1 Thessalonians the other day and a specific verse got me thinking. The verse was 1 Thessalonians 5:15- "Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else". I had recently experienced a conflict with someone who did me wrong. I felt so angry and as I was reading this verse I was thinking to myself, why shouldn't this person deserve a punishment? I just felt like I wanted to take revenge to make me feel better. I felt like the person deserves it anyways. I've always learned from the bible that revenge is bad and we should just let God take care of it because he is a justice God. While knowing this, I still felt the urge to take revenge. However, while reading this verse I felt God starting to talk to my heart. I then realized that when we take revenge, it only makes us feel good temporarily and we end up feeling guilty at the end. Even after taking revenge you will still hate the person like you did before taking the revenge. We will also look bad to God when taking revenge or doing wrong to others. The only way to feel happy is to forgive and forget (and in some cases forget the person). At the end, this made me realize that everything that god says in the bible is truly for our own good. We may think that revenge is sweet, but God knows that at the end it will not fix anything and end up hurting us. Revenge is like sweet poisonous candy. 

An easy example that everyone could relate to is the story of Adam and Eve. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge, yet they did. At the end Adam and Eve's eyes were opened. They now have the knowledge of good and evil and no longer have the innocent mind they once had before eating the apple. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge because he knew the negative effect it would have on them. He only said it for their own good. 

So what is truly the key to a successful, peaceful, and happy life? The answer is simple, the Bible. You can be successful in life without God, look at Donald Trump or any Celebrity, but there is no guarantee that you will be happy and peaceful at the same time. The the bible is truly the key to have a Successful, Peaceful, and Happy Life. If we read the bible and mediate on it daily, we will hear God's voice that will help you reach where God wants you to be. Only God knows what will truly make your life happy. 

Church Notes : What it means to Sacrifice and its returns

Credited: Pastor Carl Stephens and Jeff Shortridge -Faith Assembly Church

Many people think that sacrifice is being generous, but sacrifice is more than that. Sacrifice is a heart filled with gratitude to give God anything. Sacrifice is something that hurts you, but when you sacrifice, get ready for great blessings to come from God! 

Jeff Shortridge told a story about his childhood and mother. His mother was a single mother who had the responsibility of taking care 5 children. One day Her faucet/well had mud coming through the pipes. She couldn't afford a plumber but knew a pastor who's past job was a plumber. She called him in and he said to her that her well has dried up and she will need to hire a company to drill another well in. She cried in tears praying to God for a way for water to come through the house. She only had $100 in her purse and could not afford to hire a company.The next couple of weeks she attended church. She heard God speak to her during offering and God said, "I want you to give that $100". With tears falling down her face, she gave the last $100 she had. She didn't know how she would be able to keep her children alive, all she could do was pray. When they went back home, her son turned on the water faucet and clean water came pouring out. 

This story shows that when you sacrifice, God will provide you with more than what you need. Through sacrifice, miracles can happen. This lady loved God more than the security of her family. When you put God first in your life, he will take care of everything. 

It's never the amount that matters, but the cost and sacrifice from the giver that counts. Someone could give the church $1000 and another give $1. Its easy to just see the amount, but you don't know if that person who gave $1 only had $100 in her bank account. When someone wants to give to the lord, don't stop them from giving because you could be stopping the great blessing that the Lord is about to give to that person. 

If God ever calls you sacrifice, prepare for a great blessing to come! 

REFERENCE: Mark 12:41-44

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”