That 4 lettered word

Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incomplete's will be canceled.

1 Cor 13:8-10 (MSG)

I guess sometimes, its good to remember that if we understood everything, there wont be a need for God to teach and guide us, would there?

"we only know a portion of the truth" - that He showed us anyway. Its quite humbling that sometimes we get caught up in doing things, learning, teaching, and feeling oh wow we're there! We're definitely not there. But its important work nevertheless, because He first loved us, then only we are able to love Him and others.

Also, it is not fair to say Christianity is illogical, senseless, brainless just because its based on faith. Its more like, faith is what we believe will bring us to knowledge - complete, perfect, and truthful knowledge, because our God promised completeness in Him. Dont get me wrong, the human pursuit of knowledge is important, and I advocate finding out as much as possible in science and nature. But specifically I am of opinion that the careless dismissal of faith and emotions as medieval charlatanry is bigoted.

Interesting that Love was the only one that didnt die out when He comes to complete us. Maybe, thats the only complete part of us that didnt need fixing.

In conclusion, v13 (MSG) goes on to say:

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Deeper

Howwwwwwwwwwwwww laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Godddddddddddddddddd?????

I turn to You, not expecting, but wanting to draw deeper, because the best way for me is Your way. Please show me something!!!

Hwaiting! (C'mon, I am Your son!)

Longings

Of warm weather and a bright future.

Photograph

They say that when words are not enough, a picture comes in handy.

Or even flashy lines like "A picture speaks a thousand words" come to mind. 

But, ask yourself, what does that even mean???

A picture is most definitely not a thousand words, it is much more than that. It is a human attempt at capturing emotion, and the reason why we are touched by a "good picture" is because it has in a way, succeeded.

However, even with the best equipment available that will ever be invented, one cannot fully capture a moment. To put it simply, how do you describe an experience? You cannot, it is a bittersweet thing, for it is yours to keep but you cannot fully share it with another. You can only show a part of it, through art, dance, music, and other forms of sensory communication.

In the same way, Christianity is like photography. God is to be experienced, not simplified or put in a box. A simple analogy would be how do you put the same scent of mountain fresh air into a picture? I do not need to go into the rest of the senses, plus any thoughts and emotions that was invoked during the phototaking. Following that train of thought, we calling ourselves Christians are the photographers of this experience. We go experience God, and then bring back beautiful photos so that people might glimpse and see a small part of what God is doing.

And then, maybe they will take some photos of their own.

Without You

I am nothing.


The past few weeks. There has been good news, and the bad news and the in between news.

Let it not be my burden to bear.

at the same time, let it not be my hands that are glorified.

only You can move the mountains!

So, guide me.

Just a Picture

Through the triumph and trials alike.


exhales.

All honor and praise.

I hope for the very best for you.

Sidetracked

lost my focus for a moment there.

back to normal! Studies and Gym Studies and Gym.

silly heart.

13.3.12.

If you want me,

Questioning, is essential to find the answer. It is the first step, and you should never be afraid of it. Challenge with gentleness, and an open heart. Growth is a process not a level up thing after all, and relationships are about wanting to finding out more and more.

random thoughts on spirituality/life.

Have I mentioned that Ive seen Taylor Swift face to face??? Shes so pretty lah! :D

you better speak up, I wont wait.

Where do we go from here?

"Go, be free"


First week back in good ol' Melbourne. Updates!

Arrived at the apartment at 2am Thursday, crashed till morn.

Went to see my aunt, chatted and stayed over. Woke up for breakfast the next day (a rare occurance)

First OCF! Made new friends! So many new people (like 60% of the room yo) as usual DDWL made lotsa noise i mean COMPETITIVE SPIRIT SOUNDS during the icebreakers! :P We all are winners regardless.

Leaders retreat! Gave a new meaning to testing by fire, as it was 38 degrees + aircon didnt work. :O But the Lord is good and refreshed us all with the Word and also brought people together under His perfect plan. Wouldnt have traded the two days for anything, in fact it was too short!

Spent the next few days getting used to Melbourne again, life is good cause all I have to think about is shifting in, meeting people, what to cook for dinner, studying, making it for classes.

Gear will kick in after shifting in I guess. Its a new year, in more ways than one. :)

"But come back home to me."

Origami

Fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold.

*squints

"I don't see it."

"Carry on. Trust Me."

Fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold.

*Rrrrip!*

"Still dont see it, and my paper is torn."

"Here take mine, and I'll show you again this time."

Fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold.

*mutters

"Nope, I still don't see it."

"Why is this so hard?"

"Because you're folding with your hands, and not your heart."

fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold fold.

"Are You there?"

"Always."

"Will You help me please? I can't do it on my own."

"Here you go."

*fold.

Masterpiece.

Jigsaw

Well, I don't quite know where this piece fits.

Will it fill that space? What if its not mine to keep.

All I know, is that if you dont place it against the emptiness,

I guess you'll never know, and the jigsaw will never grow.

But for now, the joy is in holding the piece(peace).

Talents

So I realised I hardly talk about myself here, haha and thats supposed to be the purpose of having a blog, no? :P But maybe I like leaving it up to you and me to find out more about each other. But maybe you need a preview, so if you laike, then you buy? But maybe, we just need to talk more and fight less, love more and think less, but maybe, things worked out, and will get better now. But maybe... :)

If you could have a talent give to you right now, (write, draw, dance, paint, play something, talk like a boss, tell jokes properly, combust spontaneously).

What will you choose?

For me, I think I want to have the natural ability to sing. Music is so important to me and I think its my major form of art-food, apart from photography. Plus music engages all the senses, (yes,even the guitar smells musical :D) and cause, well I find myself singing a song in my head all the time, but what comes out... ah, lets say its an acquired taste at the moment. So yeah, I hope I will be able to sing, or play the drums. Whichever comes first. :)

Once again,

What will you choose?

Oh the fallacy!

The world tells us how to think, how to run our lives, how we should behave.

I say, enough of being just another one of the many, saying the same things, wanting the same life, expecting the same things out of people, baseless stereotyping, and judging one another just because someone else said so, are we what the media or majority tells us to be?

I am not challenging the world's perception, but rather your perception. Remember to think for yourself, find the facts, submit and listen only to the right authorities, before accepting an opinion. For it is not truly your own, if you did not earn it in the first place. Be it culture, social, political or technological,  Be it religious, financial, economical, and yes, gossipical. :P Be it even our dreams for our own future, or in our daily conversations. Let us remember that we have our own mind, our personal stamp, our watermark. Use it, yes?

Step by Step Part I

Honestly, I realised I was avoiding writing this post, but no good reason not to. So yeah sat my butt down and started putting it down at 12am like a BOSS... Who am I kidding, if I'm the boss I would get my assistant to write this, So, putting it down at 12am like a normal dude. Word.

Where do I start? Lets break the long-time-no-post-ice. Cue fat polar bear. *badadish* Anyhoo, Updates. I turned 21, 3 weeks ago in the company of friends and family. It is certainly will be one of the memorable ones, for those spared the facebook pics, I assure you, contrary to my grinning face, the makeup was the horriblest feeling ever. But having friends around you that love you, is one of the best feelings ever, so I guess that Makes Up for it. (You see what I did there?). Also, the steak was very nice, thank you everyone! :) Apart from that, I started internship the day after my birthday, and its great, I am really blessed to be where I am in a decent internship just 5 minutes away from my house, thank You!

So after all that hoo-haa, its suddenly December and I'm sitting here thinking about 2012. Thats alright, everyone will look back at their year, and look forward to the next one with resolutions, goals and expectations. But then I realised that it means I am sitting here thinking of my future but limiting it to next year only!I can think further ahead, plan my steps with more certainty! 2012 is the next step, but there are many more after that, equally as important. But that is another story.

More importantly, was what followed that train of thought. In your steps ahead, how do you accomplish your goals, your dreams, your needs, your wants? Setting a target, vital. Have a game plan, of course! For Christians, submitting it to Him, done thing. Praying, in the process already! But ultimately I realised that in everything we want to do, if we want to see a change, if we want to see things happening the most important step is actually to begin here *taps heart*. People search for change everywhere and always want to do things. Dont get me wrong, I also agree that things have to get done. But what I mean is that for REAL change to happen, it always has to come from the inside out, and not outside in. Let me give you an example from Christian faith. What is it that Jesus did, the miracles, the healings, will that save us? Does being cured, or saying a simple prayer grant us eternal life? No, it is deeper than that, because behind the miracles, the cures, the prayer, we believe that by grace He has died for us, and now lives in us, and promises to change our hearts to be like His. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." This tells us that 1)Grace, not our works saves us, and 2)Change, to God, starts from the heart.

Thus for now I am trying to understand that change comes from within and flows out to affect things around you instead of thinking that by changing the things around us, we can achieve the change we want. Its getting late, and I should sleep. But, I hope that the next step, begins with the heart.

Drop Everything Now

The most memorable snippet of advise I remember reading is from non other than AMA Artist of the Year 2011 Ms Taylor Swift.

She said that she likes to divide things into two categories. 1) Things I can change and 2) Things I can't.

Its simple, yet it works. When dealing with an issue, I am able to identify with this and divide it into these 2 categories. It doesnt mean giving up on 2), but rather concentrating my efforts into the stuff that has a higher priority. Thats revolutionary, because Sag's like me and Taylor love nothing better than to overcomplicate, overthink and want to deal with every minor detail that crops up. Remembering this helps me keep on the right track.

Interesting thoughts Ive got from this so far in my life.
1) One thing you can always change, is yourself.
2) Things that you cant change, wont stay unchangeable forever.
3) Sometimes, you need to realise that you cant change things by yourself, and you need Someone to change it for you. :)
4) All that being said, sometimes change can wait.

So, heres to never changing, yet never staying the same. Its a Sag thing. after all.

and meet me in the pouring rain

Imagine

If everything you wanted was granted to you,

If you never faced disappointment,

If you just had to ask and it would be given immediately,

If everyone acted the way you want them to,

If all your desires are met,

If all your expectations were exceeded,

If there was no obstacles,

Imagine, all that.

I say,

How boring.

Whatever You Say

may matter, but the real truth in it will come out in what you actually do.

I'm choosing to believe that actions matter, not merely words by itself.

After all, as the wise people in life will say, time will tell.

On another note, 

:)

Au Revoir

Why so gloomy, O Mind?

Why so sorrowful, O Heart?

Have you not received more than you deserved?

Have you not been taken in?

Have you not been pardoned, when you should have been condemned?

More than that, have you not been promised greater things than what you thought you wanted?

Train the mind and guard the heart, all for the single purpose, that,

In the end, the only one that matters is You.

On this day

may the prince of peace and the lord of lords, be my strength, as in, replace my strength with His.

Joy

It can be said that today, I am literally at the edge of everything. Exams are starting tomorrow, I am feeling so tired, I slept so much and forgo-ed my studies for the day, I skipped meals and took friendships for granted, I stumbled in my walk, and in the process caused others to stumble as well. Most of the time, I chose myself, over God. Even when things are going well, I manage to mess it up.

But I woke up, not feeling the weight of all these upon my shoulders, I woke up, with a sense of peace and a Psalm in my head. It is not my own strength that lifted these things off me. It is by grace that I,with all my imperfections am still secure. He said that He will change me for His glory, and that for change to happen, repentance must come. I share with you now the Psalm that I have never seen before this.

Psalm 7

¹ 

LORD my God, I take refuge in you; 

   save and deliver me from all who pursue me,
² or they will tear me apart like a lion
   and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

 ³ LORD my God, if I have done this
   and there is guilt on my hands—
⁴ if I have repaid my ally with evil
   or without cause have robbed my foe—
⁵ then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;
   let him trample my life to the ground
   and make me sleep in the dust.^[c]

 ⁶ Arise, LORD, in your anger;
   rise up against the rage of my enemies.
   Awake, my God; decree justice.
⁷ Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
   while you sit enthroned over them on high.
 ⁸ Let the LORD judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
   according to my integrity, O Most High.
⁹ Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
   and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
   who probes minds and hearts.

 ¹⁰ My shield^[d] is God Most High,
   who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a righteous judge,
   a God who displays his wrath every day.
¹² If he does not relent,
   he^[e] will sharpen his sword;
   he will bend and string his bow.
¹³ He has prepared his deadly weapons;
   he makes ready his flaming arrows.

 ¹⁴ Whoever is pregnant with evil
   conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.
¹⁵ Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
   falls into the pit they have made.
¹⁶ The trouble they cause recoils on them;
   their violence comes down on their own heads.

 ¹⁷ I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness;
   I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.

The message I take from this is threefold. v12-v16 Firstly, nothing wrong can be justified in God's eye, and nothing evil will go unpunished. IF you have done wrong, God knows and will display His wrath. Keep in mind that this is from a position where one KNOWS better, and yet does not repent (v12).

But at the same time, God loves righteous people and will bring an end to wickedness and make them secure (v9). God saves the upright in heart (v10). So here it is, its not a matter of whether we can earn our love from God, that is already given, but the message here is that God is not a PASSIVE God that stands by idly, but a RIGHTEOUS and HOLY God that transforms and changes us so that we might do greater things.

Lastly, I take refuge in the Lord my God (v1). There are always situations we find ourselves in and realise that we cannot depend on ourselves any more, because we end up failing some point down the road. Stubborn as I am in always doing that, I hope to bring this verse into my life as I keep on learning to listen to Him. v10 - My Shield is God Most High. No others above Him.

May the joy of the Lord be my strength, because that is the only joy I need, not any other.