Old-fashioned??

Being a part of our materialistic, money-focused generation, in many areas of life, I have watched, learned, and practiced at least some pride in my everyday dealing with people, be it asking someone for a favor, a romantic interest, changing one's major, business decisions, giving out information, apologizing, forgiving (others and ourselves),... the list can go on... Why waste time for attitude and pride when you can have it all the honest way? Not only is it easier to tell others (wisely) what is on your mind, but it also saves a lot of time and misunderstanding and can help bridge gaps between two people when they relate to each other.

I know everyone has their own way of saying and doing things but as far as I've observed, straightforward is the best way. No beating around the bush, no pride nonsense, just simple, plain old-fashioned truth. Okay, reconsidering what I just typed, I feel like the old-fashioned part of it may not be true, since it was the same way in "old-fashioned" times too. What I'm driving at really is the fact that we need to be more real in our lives instead of putting up a face when it comes to making decisions. That doesn't mean jumping into conclusions as a result of every possible thought that occurs in your head, however, it only means that life might be a little bit... no... a lot, harder most of the time because it'll probably make it harder for people to see that you mean what you say and say what you mean, but it'll totally be worth looking back at with satisfaction and thinking that it was worth it!

So this is basically a love song to your future husband or wife (maybe you've already met them or maybe you haven't), but this is mainly looking from the perspective of an unmarried person who writes a love song to his or her future spouse.

Faithfully (by Eric and Leslie Ludy, authors of When God Writes Your Love Story)

Tonight I saw a shooting star,
Made me wonder where you are.
For years I have been dreaming of you,
And I wonder if you're thinking of me, too

In this world of cheap romance
And love that only fades after the dance,
They say that I'm a fool to wait for something more.
How can I really love someone I've never seen before?

But I have longed for true love every day that I have lived,
And I know real love is all about learning how to give.
So I pray that God will bring you to me,
And I pray you'll find me waiting faithfully.

Chorus:
Faithfully, I am yours
From now until forever
Faithfully, I will write
Write you a love song with my life.
'Cause this kind of love's worth waiting for
No matter how long it takes.
I am yours
Faithfully

Tonight I saw two lovers kiss,
Reminded me of my own loneliness.
They say that I'm a fool to keep on praying for you
How can I give up pleasure for a dream that won't come true?

But I will keep believing that God still has a plan,
And though I cannot see you now, I know that He can,
And someday I will give you all of me.
Until I find you, I'll be waiting faithfully.

Chorus:
Faithfully, I am yours
From now until forever
Faithfully, I will write,
Write you a love song wit my life.
'Cause this kind of love's worth waiting for
No matter how long it takes
I am yours
Faithfully

The story of the man of sorrows and the vapor in the wind

"Man of sorrows" what a name!
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we
Spotless Lamb of God was He
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah, what a Savior

Bearing shame and scoffing rude
In my place condemned he stood
Sealed my pardon with His blood
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die
"It is finished" was His cry
Now in heav'n exalted high
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

When He comes our glorious King
All His ransomed home to bring
Then anew this song we'll sing
Hallelujah, what a Savior!

I love this song! =) Especially when sung in parts - it sounds BEAUTIFUL!!
Even the first line of the song ""Man of sorrows", what a name!" is such an awe-inspiring one that it's almost impossible that one would pay attention to each word in the song and not be drawn to tears by the end of the song if one knew what Jesus' sacrifice truly means.

"I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
Vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling
And You show me who I am
I am Yours!"

"Who am I" by Casting Crowns

This is another song that accents the fact that despite our status as worthless, ungrateful, disobedient beings that dishonored and hated God, He chose to love us more than anything else and wanted to draw us close to Him through sacrificing His own life without uttering a single word against His persecutors. I'm so glad He's no longer dead but is risen and that one day He's coming back to take me home. Can't wait to get there!

Beyond Imagination!

I do my daily devotions from Our Daily Bread. I wanted to share this with you because I thought it was beautiful and very clear as to why one would want to go to heaven. I've talked to several people who don't think they want to go to heaven or don't think it's important. Go ahead and see if this appeals to you, because you're missing out on A LOT if you're one of those people who don't think it's important that you go to heaven.

Revelation 21:1-8 (New International Version)

Revelation 21

The New Jerusalem

¹Then I (John) saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

⁵He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."

⁶He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. ⁸But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."

The following are the thoughts based on the above passage from Revelation...

[It has not] entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. —1 Corinthians 2:9

A college professor at a Christian school perceived that his students held a distorted view of heaven; they considered it to be static and boring. So, to stir their imaginations, he asked them these questions:

“Do you wish you would wake up tomorrow morning to discover that the person you loved most passionately loved you even more? Wake up hearing music you have always loved but had never heard with such infinite joy before? Rise to the new day as if you were just discovering the Pacific Ocean? Wake up without feeling guilty about anything at all? See to the very core of yourself, and like everything you see? Wake up breathing God as if He were air? Loving to love Him? And loving everybody else in the bargain?”

In response to that professor’s intriguing questions, the students all lifted their hands. If that’s what heaven will be like, and even infinitely more so, they certainly wanted to be there.

“I go to prepare a place for you,” Jesus told His disciples (John 14:2). We all share the desire—really a deep-down yearning—to be in that glorious home forever. It is a place of indescribable bliss. And the supreme blessing will be the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself! — Vernon C. Grounds

When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We’ll sing and shout the victory. —Hewitt

The greatest pleasures of earth cannot be compared to the joys of heaven.

You don't wanna miss it do you? All you've gotta do is believe that Christ is good enough for you and that you can never get there by yourself or by any means but by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! God bless... (Let me know if you have any questions... :) )

Loads of love and prayers,

Me, myself, and I

Source: http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml (November 21st).

Random thoughts

I really love my jobs. I'm working one at Bojangles' (a fast food restaurant that's known for it's biscuits (real soft, crispy, flaky buns for those who don't know what the word 'biscuit' means in another country). The other job is as a merchandising associate at Macy's - which is a clothes and shoes department store and has branches all over the US.

At Bojangles' I work at the cash register which means I take orders, punch them onto the touch screen computer in front of me and call them out through a microphone using only certain correct terminology or else they make you correct it (Americans are really dumb, that's what I think but if that was the case people all over the globe wouldn't want to come here). For example, if I call out 'medium iced tea' when the iced tea comes free with a chicken filet combo, they say "Say, 'correction, free medium iced tea'". Isn't that truly dumb? Seveal times I get corrected this way. But then, you see that's where things are anonymous to you the reader. I didn't tell you how much noise there is on this side of the counter when chicken is sizzling in oil, and the drive-thru window is open and orders are coming in through the microphone overhead which the cooks have to pay atttention to. Also I didn't tell you that the cooks need to listen to the orders that I make through the phone and also to the person who handles the drive thru so they can make the items accordingly. Well, lemme just finish up what else I do - I also handle cash/credit at Bojanlges'.

What I was about to say was - this is how tensions and arguments occur, you see? One person thinks that (s)he is doing things perfectly right and everyone is unjust towards him/her. But it's not always that one thinks that there are several sides to one thing. You don't hear clapping without having two hands to do it. This is a conflict I face everyday. But what do you do when you can't point out to the one in higher authority that they're doing something wrong too? If you do, you're totally out and it's totally not worth it pointing it out to them - it only makes things worse. And you find those kinds of people in every sphere of life everyday. No matter how hard you try to do things right, you just end up on the wrong side of that person - maybe because I'm kind of a weak person, but I refuse to accept that.

The thing I find most difficult is losing someone's trust. I think we all do. All of us want everyone to believe in us right? We do all we can to build up that trust and then just one thing's enough to bring it all down.

Will let ya know what I do at my other job later... Glad to be blogging again after more than two months! :) Catch you later.

An inspiring movie

I've had my fair share of movies this year, but none got beyond emotions. The movie I just saw today, 'A Walk To Remember' was so touching to me that I just couldn't stop singing the song 'Only Hope' "over and over again" :) It wasn't the words in the song as much as the message the movie gave, that touched me. Oh and Mandy Moore has an amazing voice! Check out the song Only Hope for yourself if you don't believe me.

All I have to say is "WOW".

I mean there have been other inspirational (or something of like nature) love stories I've watched. Let me tell you the story before I go on to confuse you with my reactions on it.

The story is about a girl who is very simple, God fearing, and stands up for her own beliefs without being ashamed about it, while at home about being more matter-of-fact when required, and while in a high school where she's made fun of and criticized for her faith. She very gradually wins over the love of a guy who was part of a gang earlier, by no particular effort of her own. Jamie, daughter of the Reverend at the church she attends, is portrayed as a girl who keeps her own standards and principles high in her life, even when no one's watching. The guy, Landon, and she go to the same church but he's part of a gang and definitely does not share the same belief as she does. He gets caught by police in the event of one time when the gang meets. He ends up having to help the janitor clean up and take part in the spring play as punishment, both of which he doesn't exactly love doing.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, Landon eventually ends up falling in love with Jamie and asks her out, with her dad's permission to do so, because she's not allowed to date. Some time after they begin to be together, he finds out, while he asks her what she plans to do after school, that she has leukemia, which totally breaks him down. After this, the story goes on to show all that he does for her, to make what remaining lifetime she has, special for her. But she never lets go of her faith. In fact, it only gets stronger. The cancer gets worse, and knowing that on the top of her list is a wish to get married in the same church her mother (who died when she was little) had, he asks Jamie to marry him. I'll leave the rest a suspense for you just in case you watch it. It's a really sweet movie - you just can't not like it, unless you are determined for some weird reason to not like it. :)

What I wanted to share was just the fact that Jamie had so much faith in Landon, that when she told him she thought she "saw something good in [him]", it changed him so much. That is definitely something to think about. Even as I watched the movie, I was thinking to myself, "Yeah right, that doesn't happen in real life". But then again, I don't know everything in this world, do I? Maybe there are people who have changed like that... I don't know... I truly don't know...

You must see it! The movie I mean. Just google it up (type in 'a walk to remember', hit search, and see if something comes up). Shane West and Mandy Moore are the lead actors. The song 'Only Hope' is sung by Mandy Moore herself. Altogether, I think it's a great movie!! Totally loved it - haven't felt this way in a long time about a movie.

The greatest thing I like about the movie is there is always hope for them. They don't act like there's no hope left, although they're not clear as to what it is that inspires that hope. It's probably the hope in God that drives them forward. I don't know - they don't mention anything like that.

But I like it all the same.

Living Christ is hard!!

It's really hard... Maybe the things I do, in the world's perspective is not a big deal, some of it may be a big deal too - but each time I do something wrong I just realize how sinful I am and the fact that no amount of good I did could make up for the sins I do every single day - big or small. I'm so glad I have His love!! Oh and hopefully someday I'll make a pledge to one other person who'll love the Lord as much as I do (or maybe better than I do) - coz I don't love Him enough. And he and I will live every day of our lives - not on our knees the whole day but living with Him as our perspective - so that when other people look at us, they won't look at us as hypocrites or "oh they belong to that denomination". Rather they should be able to say, "Oh, they must be Christians - that's the reason why they're such loving, gentle, sensible people - seems a lot like how a follower of Christ would be" - so that the credit goes to the Lord, not to me or my family because it was from Him through His Word, the Bible that I got to know how to be that way. I just choose to do what He says - as long as I'm aware. Even then, after that much, there's so much lacking in me - SO MUCH!! I still sin every single day, be it in the smallest way - I still do sin - sometimes knowingly, and sometimes unknowingly. Either way, it's still sin. I don't want to be the type who, when people look at me, feel I'm very religious and won't tolerate any kind of nonsense. I want to be the type that knows how to have good, clean, not just fun - but lots of fun while, doing it and a lot more for the Lord's glory. Today my chemistry final got over. It was my one and only cumulative this semester. It wasn't that big of a deal but while I was preparing for it, I felt somehow the Lord had something in it for me to learn. I can feel a lot of things changing in my life as I make this transition at this age. Maybe its because of my age but I feel a lot more mature. I make it sound very supernatural but that fact is there's a lot behind it... all of which it is impossible to describe.... Catch ya later!!! Jesus Reigns!

Keep it short and sweet!

Maybe I should stick to keeping my blogs shorter than the current length... I usually don't plan out how long to keep it but I think that's a good thing to contemplate changing about my blogs...

Last Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time in our lives - turkey and all. It was awesome, although it was only all 5 of us in my family (which I'm thankful for). Mom started by saying she was thankful about being saved and for a home in heaven and for being able to come here ( NC - although she was not exactly for it... :) ). She was also thankful her husband chose to marry her and also for her 3 blessed children (of course, of course... ;)). She talked about 3 mins or so. I followed, and expressed being thankful for my family, for the people who go to our chapel, especially the young people who have really set an example to me through their every word, action, and reaction.

Now that I think of it (and didn't mention it during our little celebration) I'm thankful that I have been able to bring back that one-to-one relationship with the Lord, which I wasn't able to do for a long time... since the time that I had been away from my parents in my home state - after coming here, it's almost been like I was learning to be a Christian for the first time all over again.

Coming back to my original topic, I also said I wouldn't exchange my family for any other in the world, if that was the last thing I could do. Last of all, but not the least, I thanked the Lord for myself - just as I am, and for the way He was teaching and changing me in different ways leading me on my way to be perfect like Himself - ie, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Likewise, my sister mentioned a few things she was thankful for, followed by my brother (his thanksgiving included his perfect attendance certificate - how sweet to be that simple, I don't know if i could be that specific or thoughtful), and then my father followed, after which we gave thanks for the food and lo and behold... we had begun to EAT! The turkey came out well - had been in the oven about 3 hours or so and looked simply yummy! :) It wasn't a very big one but was just enough for all of us. There was boiled beans, "sweet potato and apple with honey and butter" (That was just YUMMY!!), bread - which no one touched since there was so much else to eat, and (okay, this is weird) - not iced tea, but Mountain Dew. The whole day went real good... I loved it - we've never celebrated anything of the sort but I really enjoyed the turkey (although it was made by my mother - so it's possible that's the reason why I liked it).

You might be wondering why I'm going on about all this - the reason is very plain - I only wanted to express that I am so thankful for anything and everything and everybody that has ever happened to me. I love myself as I am today and each part of me has become itself because of the effect of somebody or the other or some or the other circumctance in my life - even if it was something about myself that I used to dislike. Speaking of which, I have observed that I have a lot of weak points and I hate the way I act or react when sometimes those very weak points lead to me landing myself in trouble. But what I probably can't see is the good that comes out of those weak points. At first those foolish steps that I take might seem totally destructive but later, when the good has come out of it a long time after, I am always able to look back and say "It was for good that that had happened..." concerning that particular "foolishness" rather than crying over it "If I hadn'e done it this way, all this wouldn't have happened" or "If something else had happened then I would have been better off now". That is why the Word of God says "[A]nd we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" Romans 8:28, King James Version.

Whether it be hard, sad, easy, happy, or lonely times or times when it seemed like the whole world is on our side - all through those times, whether good or bad, my Lord was good to me. Times when I turned away from Him and forgot Him and didn't give Him the favor He far more than deserved, He remained faithful. Where can you get such a partner on the face of the earth? Sometimes the silliest of things can be the hardest to do and certain ways we once were against can suddenly become favorable to us. What I'm trying to say is man keeps changing and so you can't trust him (or her, for that matter). Then who can you trust? Isn't the answer obvious? God? Because He never changes does He? Isn't that something to be thankful for?
For all you know a person could promise you something today and tomorrow, something drastic can happen in that person's life to make him or her change his or her mind about that very same promise due to no particular fault of his or her own. But then its us who suffers isn't it? No matter what, there's no person in this world who'll love anybody else in this world other than themselves. Put a person who thinks he loves you at the edge of a cliff without any warning and tell him to jump. What do you think he or she going to do? Now come on, and be honest. If he's not stupid or downright crazy he won't jump until he finds out what really is going on right? Coz one wants to make sure all's going well only then will one make that decision of even jumping from the cliff for you... lol... sorry couldn't help it...

Whoa there I go, wandering off to my favorite topic - Love... hahaha... The point I was trying to make was that no one else is precious to anybody else other than himself or herself. Only can God can love you more than He loves Himself - He's already proved that, right? Did He deserve to die on that cross treated like a criminal? No! He never did a single sin in His life! The Bible says "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that WE MIGHT become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). If you have something good in you how happy will you be with all the credit or half of the credit going to somebody else? That's exactly what the Lord did!! He gave up all his riches to put on skin just like you and me!
I think that's the most awesome thing anybody could do! You better think so too!! :D jus kiddin.. But I'm not kiddin about the facts I mentioned.

He lived all eternity in perfectness and having absolutely not known no sin at all and then lovingly made his most wonderful creation - man, who hates him. Knowing man was doing it purely out of ignorance, He left His heavenly splendour and came to earth, and was accused like a criminal - why? because He claimed to be God, and was put to death. Not only that, He rose from the dead and lives today and still people refuse to believe Him. Is that something you would expect a majestic, omnicient, omnipotent God to do? Wouldn't He rather sit in His heaven and reward "good" people and punish "bad" people? But no, He chose to take up your and my punishment Himself so you and I could live with Him, all you have to do is personally accept that love and allow Him to make you His.

Each time a new thought comes up in my mind even as I type right now, I feel even more thankful and even more unworthy because I don't deserve it. But I am definitely thankful and I want to make the sacrifice He made worth it, in order to please Him - He doesn't need me to please Him of course but i'm totally humbled by the fact that He died in order to have a wretched sinner like me to live with Him forever. And I will.... someday!!! Don't you want to have that same hope? Does it sound like I am in love? :) I sure am.... I have been for the past 10 years and will never fall out of it. Wouldn't give it up for all the riches in the world.

Fall in love or choose to love?

Is there something such as falling in love? Take for example a guy who sees a real good looking girl and he immediately "falls in love" with her. Is that love? Wouldn't you rather call that lust? Okay, I consent to the fact that he might have had an attraction to her because of her good looks and gradually he might have gotten to know her better. After getting to know her if he still loves her even if she's the haughtiest and charcterless person he's ever seen alive, maaaybe you could say he loves her. But you know what? Love has the power to transform even that!! But more of that later...

I'm talking about that certain instant in your attraction for this significant person when you decide for yourself whether or not you love that person. Everything you do in your life, you are making a choice.
You want to call that person up and talk to him or her or NOT - its your choice. Is love so empowering that you can't live without talking to that person? Do those kinds of feelings come the first time you see or talk to that person? Of course not! That is simply ridiculous! Those are merely reactions formed out of habits performed as part of a routine - that is no sign of the real love.

One can never love a person without deciding to do so oneself.
Sure, you might have had a particular picture in mind of a special "somebody" who will come along the way and suddenly this particular person comes along and fits that picture almost perfectly - almost! But wait - is it really that way? Isn't it that wanting to be considered special by someone else that motivates you to go forward? Is it really the true realization of commitment to one another that makes you go forward? Or is it merely the thought of being considered important ie given special attention ie fleshly pleasure ie sin that motivates you? Never thought of it that way? Think again for yourself. Its the need to feel wanted and loved or to get attention - basically a matter of pride that makes you want that somebody to fill that space - isn't it?

Is that what you really call love? Or falling in love, if you want?

Let me explain what I think could be the case:
I'll start this way. There are certain standards by which you lead your everyday life - what you do and don't do are chosen by you - whether it be friends, food, clothes, choice of subjects, places you go, how you walk, what words you use, how you present yourself to others, how you think others think of you, and so on and on and on. When it comes to love, (and I'm not talking about mere attraction or infatuation; but the kind of love that makes you feel like you'll accept any part of that person's character as it is, no matter how much you don't like how he or she behaves), don't you think you are the one who gives in? Early in the stage we are the ones who choose whether or not we want to get ourselves in the whole thing, with or without realizing the consequences of it.

Look at "falling in love" literally - When you literally fall(not in love, just anytime you fall), you hurt yourself - you don't want to fall because you know the consequences. You don't choose to fall, as in, while you're walking, you don't say "Okay, I've been thinking about this for a long time now and I've decided that I want to fall down now" - and you fall. It's the same with love. You couldn't fall in love! If you fell, you surely regret that it ever happened - in that case was that truly love? Or just something stupid and silly or worse - lustful? None of us like to think that way - but this is us - you, me and everyone else. This is the way in which everybody , atleast most people think, unless one refuses to admit it.

That's why each of us needs a Savior from this lustful, sinful flesh so we don't have to ever regret doing wrong - that is if we ever thought of regretting doing something wrong. Even better - we have an inspiration for doing good (not a carefree attitude about doing wrong and still getting away with it) - ie Christ the Lord because when we think of how much He, the Creator King who "fearfully and wonderfully made" each and every one of us, gave up for the same each and every one of us, we can never return that same love after accepting it and live a life of ungratefulness by not living a life the way He wants us to.

Say, for example, you are a person who earns just about $8 per hour. One fine day, someone comes upto you and gives you a $50 bill for free what would you likely do with it? Maybe refuse at first?.... Maybe refuse a couple of times more... but what if the person persuades you to take it and that person seems sincere about it and promises to never ask you to repay it back to him? And he is gonna live upto that promise. Wouldn't you accept it? Gladly? After all, it's not everyday that you're offered a $50 bill for free, is it? Say you accepted it (truth has to be accepted atleast at times na? lol), what's your attitude gonna be like towards that person? Go and spend it on your friends and party right? Atleast do you think that's what you ought to do? No way, you'd take care of those $50 and make sure you use them well because you'd have to do just about a day's work to get that much otherwise, right?

Something like that can be likened to what the Lord Jesus is offering to you and to me and to everyone else in this world. Not just a day's benefit but an eternity's worth of benefit..... Is it worth the risk of letting go of it?

You may or may not find or intend to find the love of your life. But this is a decision you will have to make. If not today, then tomorrow. But by then do you know everything that's going to happen to you? It s ot scary if you just let your child-like faith take over. How does a son know his father will take care of him? He doesn't go around trying to test his dad's DNA to see if he really is his dad. He trusts him because his dad has told him so and he can see that his dad loves him from his very own health and well-being. Even if he falls down at times, it does not mean that his dad made him fall down. He knows that even if he falls down, his dad will lift him up and see that he's not hurt for the worse but for the better. The wise dad sees to it that his son learns something from that fall. That is exactly how our heavenly Father deals with us each day once we become His child.

Now you tell me what is love. Isn't love more of commitment, sacrifice, maturity, hardship and responsibility first? Sure it is caring, sweet talk and all the rest too but first comes the commitment. Only then can the full measure of that love be treasured. Else it is pure fantasy, or in other words, lust! That is why we have something called marriage because when you commit yourself to one person you are accepting the fact that neither of you is perfect and that each is going to "put up" with the other's good AND bad points.

Especially in today's world, since "love" is so projected and spoken of as a part and parcel of daily life through different means, like movies (which don't do a very good job of it) and books and several other means too, it is no longer falling in love, because you know where you're going when you get into a relationship - it doesn't JUST HAPPEN!

These are my thoughts. Other opinions are most welcome. I want to see how much I can unwrap of the wonders the Lord has kept in store for me.