'In everything give praise: for this is the purpose of God in Christ Jesus for you.'                 1 Thessalonians 5:18

*****

Any my blessings come from the Lord. At the end of 2008, when I count my blessings one by one, I wonder His works and genuinely thank Him for ...

1. getting closer to me and recognizing the importance and enormous joy of fellowship with Him;

2. sending my little angel, Joey, to me, building a christian family and witnessing Joey's baptism;

3. letting me free from the fatal disease and other minor diseases;

4. giving me a confidence to fulfill His calling and getting a chance in listening needies' voice;

5. awaking me from unconsciousness to consciousness in self and tackling sinful matters; 

6. lighting up the inner neglected dark room with His Words;

7. building a closer relationship with family members and friends;

8. leading Joey's sister to the cell group and building her faith to You;

9. giving me a chance to study a diploma course in christian study and knowing very kind classmates; 

10. delivering a close and loving relationship among cell group's members.

*****

My dearest Lord, what can I do for you ... ? What kind of offerings should I give? I remember a verse ...

'No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.'                              Micah 6:8

Lord, please inspire me, teach me and guide me to be your faithful servant. Amen. 

In 1 John Chapter 1

 "... and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."      Verse 3

"So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness ..."       Verse 6

" ... we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.:       Verse 7

We have fellowship with the Creator, the Holy God. Thanks for giving me this precious chance to be your Son and talk to you personally.

But innate sinful thoughts, deeds and tendencies always restrict us to get close to Him ... Thanks God! He gave us a precious promise.

"But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness."         Verse 9

Every time I feel frustrated in dealing with guilts and shames, this verse enlightens me a lot and reminds me to commit not to do it again. Thank you, Jesus.

Joey, my lovely Joey.

You are the angle quietly coming to my heart.

When you smile, all stormy clouds upon the sky would be gone away.

When you cry, my heart would be torn apart.

When you hold my hand, swing our arms and walk along the river, I find this is what I am longing for.

Then I know you are the only one who accompanies my life ever.

***

Joey, my sweetie Joey.

When counting the things you did and knowing what changes you made for me,

I am deeply touched not by your deeds but by yourself.

May our Jesus bless us in the road of our marriage.

Amen.

"Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light."

So ...

1. be careful how you live.

2. make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

3. understand the Lords wants you to do.

4. be filled with the Holy Spirit (continuously).

5. makemusic (or other art forms) to the Lord in your hearts.

6. give thanks for everything to God.                              Ephesians 5:14-20

There is a stack of stuffs to be learnt in my future classes. With Him, the Greatest Teacher and Heavenly Father, I will be taught and trained to be a 'better' son. I TRUST YOU, LORD. 

( ) added by me

But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merdiful to me, for I am a sinner.'                        Luke 18:13

The Lord says, 'Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever.'                           Hosea 14: 4

His endless and unconditional love always awakes me from the guilt and shame. How can I pay the debt? I guess what I can give ... is simply ...

... That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is EVERYONE'S DUTY.                 Ecclesiastes 12: 13

How my Lord responded to those who were rebellious towards Him? Two verses in Chapter 11 of Hosea described Him as a father, particular the latter one, we can see there's a struggle to show His righteousness and His love.

I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn't know or even care that it was I who took care of him. I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him.                             Hosea 11:3-4

Oh, how can I give you up, Israel? How can I let you go? ... My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel, for I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you, and I will not come to destroy.                  Hosea 11: 8-9 

Love and Justice are the very foundation of my heavenly Father. I experienced His anger but His tremendous love was always followed. On the whole, His every act can be concluded as the salvation of me (us) from the endless dark hole. I can't image how's my life going if He did not intervene in my critical moments in time.

Dear Lord, I am not smart enough to understand your act on us and always misinterpret your kindness and love. Please forgive me. Amen.

When I heard a sermon in a morning assembly from Dr. Yeung yesterday, the image of Holy and Almighty God stunned me though I had heard of it many times (Isaiah 6:1-8). Even the angels seraphim and the only righteous man, Isaiah, told themselves they were not holy enough to see His throne and God. How about me? 'O, Jah, if you took note of every sin, who would go free? (Psalms 130:3)' 

"Before Isaiah was sent to the people for sending messages from God, his sins were first cleansed by the burning coal. "Before we accept God's call to speak for him to those around us, we must be cleansed as Isaiah was, confessing our sins and submitting to God's control. Letting God purify us may be painful, but we must be purified so that we can truly represent God, who is pure and holy." (NLT)

"Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said,"Here I am. Send me."                      Isaiah 6: 8

My reponses in the sermons?  I closed my eyes and prayed ... 'Lord, if you don't cleanse me, how could I stand in front of You? how could I be your servant? You are the ONLY one who is capable to cleanse me at once. I am so impure when I stand in front of You. "PUT YOU ASIDE."    Yes. (I always put me as top as Him or even higher)    "PUT YOURS ASIDE and FOLLOW ME"     Yes. Wherever You lead me to go, I will follow You. I would like to be a servant of You. (I concerned my future ministry, confronting sins, toefl and GRE results very much) "YOU ARE CLEANSED" ' When I opened up my eyes, everything went brighter and lighter. I was so peaceful and joyful and I smiled.  

His cleansing did not come from what I could give, in fact, I have nothing to give since He is so rich in everything and He lacks nothing from the beginning! What I know about Him is His generous Grace and Love. He humbled himself, suffered and eventually died on the cross, just for manifesting His Love and Glory to us and building up the fellowship among us. I am still deeply touched by His acts (particular at the time of my preparing my theology exam. I know more about Him).

Thank you, Lord. May Your name be glorified ever. Amen.

(I got my GRE exam result last night...better than what I expected...Dear Lord, million thanks!)

But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.' I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those whol exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves wil lbe exalted.                        Luke 18:13-14

The tax collector showed his genuine repentant attitude in front of Jesus. Our dearest Jesus understands our situations and difficulties ... He sees through our genuine hearts ... I never try to evade my responsibility i.e. try to carry the consequences of our faults, pursue a holy living and keep me from doing something evil. BUT Jesus sees our broken spirit as very precious. I truly believe at times when I think there is no further turning back in hopelessness, Jesus is STILL here. He would hear our prayers and like to offer His merciful hands to everyone in need.

The offerings of God are a broken spirit; a broken and sorrowing heart, O God, you will not put from you.   Psalms 51:17

"... For your (human's) love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight."        Hosea 6:4

"I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings."         Hosea 6:6

Dear Jesus, You know human's nature very clearly, so fragile and thankless ... BUT You still show Your PERPETUAL LOVE to us. What you need us is to SHOW OUR LOVE AND LOYALTY with ACTIONS and PRESS ON TO LOVE YOU through reading the Bible, loving others, ... etc. Lord, I truly believe we'll become strong when you are staying with us, not depending on our capacity. Please teach us how to be the ones You love most. Amen. 

Three verses that inspire me a lot.

(Even the Israel did not change themselves and turned to evil) "Then I (God) will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me."                            Hosea 5:15

Our dear Lord never abandons the ones He loves!!! Though we do something really bad sometimes, He still keeps His promises and waits for our changes.    'Do I repent easily without seriously considering what changes need to take place in our lives?' (NLT)

"Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in eary spring."                      Hosea 6:3

(我 們 務 要 認 識 耶 和 華 、 竭 力 追 求 認 識 他 ． 他 出 現 確 如 晨 光 、 他 必 臨 到 我 們 像 甘 雨 、 像 滋 潤 田 地 的 春 雨 。)

For this reason let us go on from the first things about Christ to full growth (i.e. become mature in our understanding); not building again that on which it is based ...                          Hebrews 6:1

Dear Lord, lead me to a place where You want me to stay and learn. Please teach me how to be a more mature Christian, more importantly, to have encounters with You always. Amen.