Why am I still alive? Do I need to live through this?

From the Aug 6, 2005 post ...

Why am I still alive? Do I need to live through this?

These are some of the question that we ask ourselves, or some will even argue with God, when things don't seem to go our way. Or sometimes, things seems not to be moving to any direction, or sometimes we seems to be stuck at some low point of our lives which make us think when things going to get better.

This is not just a middle-age issue, it wide range of age group, from the golden age, the youth asks about it, even some children. The fact is, there will be time we struggle with it. Sometimes it comes and goes. Sometimes we just ignore it.

For the last few weeks, the Lord has lead me to these questions, and sharing these to a few. Then, today I came across this song by Superchic[k] on K-Life (32kbps|96kbps). I have heard this song across the wave over and over again, but today one part of the lyrics caught my ear.

There is a man who waits for the tests
To see if the cancer has spread yet
And now he asks, "So why did I wait to live till it was time to die?"
If I could have the time back how I'd live

an excerpt from We Live - Superchic[k] - Beauty From Pain

We are not alone.

No one want to stay in the period of a trial. I mean, when we are in a trial, will we ask God, "Hey God, can I have this longer ah? I am enjoying it. I am learning so much from all these hardship and adversities. You are building my character. Can I please stay in these suffering, please, please.". No, we don't. When faced with adversity we always ask "Lord, when is this gonna end?". We will pray that He take us out immediately. We may grow impatient, start to doubt, we may even start to hate and curse Him.

No one wants to stay in a fire to be burn ... but precious metal like gold are purified this way.
No one wants to stay being irritated ... but pearl only formed when there is constant irritation.
No one wants to stay under pressure ... but the most brilliant diamond is pressed out from tonnes and tonnes of pressure.

Maybe He wants us to pick up something while we are here in this very situation. Maybe He is using us to reach out to someone. Instead of asking Him to take us away, maybe we should ask him to reveal it to us, why is He putting us here in the first place.

This lead me back to the story of Joseph. Remember that Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and was sold as slave to Egypt, hundreds of kilometers away from his loving parents and family. To be away from them for years. Going through false accusations, jailed and even to the brink of being sentenced to death. Sometime we wonder, "How long more? Can this get any worst?"

In Joseph's case, he was sent to 'suffer' first so that he can in turn save not just the very people that sold him to slavery (his bothers) but also his whole family, his people and his nation! And when facing his brothers for the first time, which by this time, his brothers that was full of remorse and in fear of what their own very brother that they sold to slavery will do to them, this is what Joseph said ...

⁵And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. ⁷But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸"So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.

^{Genesis 45:5-8 [NIV]}

^{for a more detail account of Joseph's life you can read Genesis 37-50}

Man, how many of us can actually say that? But, if we did not persevere, and quit before the Lord have finished with us according to His plan, we would not have witness the fruits.

We are His unfinished article. The perfect article that He wants to mold us for eternity.

Just picture ourselves as a beautiful and graceful butterfly to be. We are now trying to break out of our cocoon. Struggling step by step, gaining from strength to strength. Without this "training" we may not be strong enough. When we finally broke through we find ourselves strengthen and ready for that flight. Equipped. Equipped to bring glory to Him as others will get to witness the wonderful works He had worked on you.

It is always easier said than done, but when faced adversity, we need to learn to put our complete trust in Him. Knowing He loves us more than anyone could love us. He knows us better than anyone and even better than ourselves. He is our source of hope and strength.

They say, when there is hope and a will, there is a way. I am sure that He will review better things to us. We need to hang on in there, stay on course. Sometimes when things get too heavy, we may want to give up or compromise our values, but He will reward us for our perseverance.

Run! Forest, run!

When we stay on course, and finish our race, He will smile at you and say, "Well, done My child.".

As Paul said, ...

^{24... I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.}

^{Acts 20:24 [NIV]}

^{7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.}

^{2 Timothy 4:7-8 [NIV]}

Hey, when we take a step back to look at the beauty of the Lord's Creation for a while, looking at the blessing God have blessed us, take the focus off ourselves once a while and look at the rest around you. Sometimes when we take the focus off ourselves and begin to look at the rest, hey, we will start to feel compelled to help the rest who are in worst situation than us.

And taking from part of the song again ...

^{We live we love We forgive and never give up Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above Today we remember to live and to love}

^{an excerpt from We Live - Superchic[k] - Beauty From Pain}

It is a gift from above that we are alive to live for another day. Why not make the best use of the day to love as He have commanded in His Words.

^{30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' 31...'Love your neighbor as yourself.'}

^{Mark 12:30-31 [NIV]}

^{35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.}

^{Luke 6:35-36 [NIV]}

^{44... Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ...}

^{Matthew 5:44 [NIV]}

May we all draw near and find strength in Him.

in Christ,
kuancheen

^{Artist: Superchic[k]
Album: Beauty From Pain
Song: We Live}

^{There's a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost a son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be their last time she'd trade with him for a little more time
So she could say she loved him one more time
And hold him tight
But with life we never know}

^{When we're coming up to the end of the road
So what do we do then
With tragedy around the bend?}=

^{Chorus: We live we love We forgive and never give up Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above Today we remember to live and to love We live we love We forgive and never give up Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above Today we remember to live and to love}

<sup>There is a man who waits for the tests
To see if the cancer has spread yet
And now he asks, "So why did I wait to live till it was time to die?"
If I could have the time back how I'd live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well this is your story and it all depends
So don't let it become true
Get out and do what we are meant to do
Chorus

Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day is a gift somehow, someway
So get our heads up out of the darkness
And spark this new mindset and start to live life cuz it ain't gone yet
And tragedy is a reminder to take off the blinders
And wake up and live the life we're supposed to take up
Moving forward with all our heads up cuz life is worth living
Chorus (to fade)</sup>

^|source|

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Christianity Without Religion?

From the Apr 22, 2005 post ...

Interested in Christianity, but not in the trappings of religion that so often seem to come with it? Find out how you can be a true Christian without being religious.

How to Be Sure You're a Real Christian

To find and know God without having to be "religious"

I walked into a Religious Education classroom in a public school in Australia and with tongue-in-cheek wrote in large letters across the blackboard:

"I hate religion"

"Man, in this class, you'll get shot," gasped one student in amazement.

"But I'm sold on real Christianity," I responded.

"Well, what's the difference?" several chorused.

"Let me explain," I replied. ...

1. God's Purpose

True, Christianity is a religion, but people can be religious without being Christians. Christ condemned the religious Pharisees of his day because they hid their real selves behind a facade of religion and external morality.

It may sound odd, but God isn't into religion or external morality. He's into relationships and reality. That is, he wants us not only to have a right relationship with him, but also with each other and with ourselves. And he wants us to be real—to see and admit what we truly are so he can help us.

Neither is it God's goal to make us good. It's to make us whole, for only to the degree that we are made whole will our actions, lifestyle, and relationships be wholesome!

Religion tends to want to fix us from the outside in. God wants to fix us from the inside out. The first can become an impossible burden. The latter is what brings freedom. Christianity is not a set of rules and regulations. It is experiencing divine love, divine acceptance and divine forgiveness.

It helps to realize that God isn't out to zap us for the wrongs we've done. In fact, no matter what we have ever done or have failed to do, he loves us with an everlasting love and has a wonderful purpose for our lives—for this life as well as the next! As Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."¹ And again, "My purpose is to give life in all its fullness."²

2. Man's Problem

On the outside we may look like we are doing very well, but on the inside everyone of us has a major issue. Seneca, the ancient Roman philosopher, put it bluntly when he said, "We have all sinned. Some more. Some less." God's Word, the Bible agrees. It reads, "We have all sinned and fallen short of God's standard."³ Sin, however, is not only doing harmful acts. It is anything that falls short of the standard of perfection that God envisioned for us. This includes nursing grudges and other negative emotions, pride, jealousy, mixed motives, etc. Most of us, too, are guilty of sins of omission; that is, not doing what we know we should and could do.⁴

Another misconception about God is that he is out to get us or to punish us for our sins. We bring sin's punishment on ourselves because sin has its own natural consequences. If we try to break the universal law of gravity, for instance, we can't. It will break us. Neither can we break God's universal moral law. When we do, it breaks us, and besides its painful effects in this life—suffering, sorrow, sickness and spiritual death—its ultimate and tragic consequence is eternal death or separation from God.⁵

We are like a burned out or "dead" electric light bulb that cannot respond to its power source. And because we are spiritually dead, we cannot respond to God's love and power either, without his first "fixing" us. Furthermore, because of our spiritual deadness, it is impossible for anyone to save him or herself. Only God can do this. This is why all the "good works" in the world cannot make us alive to God. Only when we see and admit this, is God able to "fix" us!

3. Christ's Answer

Because our sin has separated or disconnected us from God, we have been left with a God-shaped vacuum, or spiritual emptiness, within. As Augustine put it, "You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you." The world's many religions are all evidence of man's endless search to find God and fill this vacuum. However, because God loved us so much, he sent his own sinless Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from our predicament.⁶

Christ did this by dying on the cross in our place to pay the consequence of and ransom price for our sins—death. Thus, Jesus Christ is God's only provision for our sin, and he is the only way back to God and the only door into eternal life.⁷

God's Word, the Bible, says, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men."⁸ Had there been any other way to save mankind, Christ wouldn't have had to die for us. Because he was without sin, he was the only one qualified to die for our sins.

4. Your Invitation

If you were found guilty of a serious crime and were condemned to death, and if offered, would you accept a free unconditional pardon?

Because of Christ's dying for us, that's what God offers us, and with it the gift of eternal life. All we need to do is to accept his pardon. Here's how to do this:

First: Confess. God's Word says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins."⁹

Second: Repent. That is, we need to turn from sinful and selfish ways to follow God and his ways. Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe."¹⁰ That is, we need to turn from sinful and selfish ways to follow God and his ways.

Third: Believe. "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,"¹¹ declares the Word of God.

Fourth: Receive. God also said, "To all who received him [Christ], to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."¹²

Admitting our sinfulness, believing that Jesus died for our sins, inviting him into our lives as Lord and Savior, and accepting God's forgiveness is what makes us real Christians. The following prayer will help you do this:

"Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and am sorry for all the wrongs that I have done. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins. Please forgive me. I invite you, Jesus, to come into my heart and life as Lord and Savior. I commit and trust my life to you. Please give me the desire to be what you want me to be and to do what you want me to do. Thank you for dying for my sins, for your free pardon, for your gift of eternal life, and for hearing and answering my prayer. Amen."

YOUR RESPONSE: "YES, I prayed and invited Jesus Christ to come into my life to be my Savior. I want to learn more about the Christian life." To do so, click on the PASSPORT link below, fill in the form and we will send you the web address for your FREE copy of the e-article, How to Grow, to help you in your new Christian life and the web address for the "Living, Loving and Learning: Steps for Spiritual Growth" web articles—also without charge.

Inviting Jesus into your heart and life as your personal Savior is your Passport into Heaven. Whatever, you do, don't leave Earth without it!

5. Here's Great Assurance

If you genuinely prayed the prayer to invite Jesus Christ into your life and truly meant it, you are now a true Christian and have the gift of a new spiritual life as well as eternal life. You are also a child of God and a member of his family.¹³ God promised this. Choose to accept it. Take it by faith and not feelings. Feelings change but God's Word never does.

God's Word says, "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."¹⁴

When you pray to receive Christ into your life, you have a brand new spiritual life and this life needs care and nurturing just as your physical life does. Again, if you prayed to invite Christ into your life, be sure to CLICK HERE or on the PASSPORT link above, fill in and submit the coupon and we will be send you the web address for helpful free articles.

FOOTNOTES: 1. John 3:16; 2. John 10:10; 3. Romans 3:24; 4. James 4:17; 5. Romans 6:23; 6. See Ephesians 2:8-9; 7. See John 14:6; 8. 1Timothy 2:5-6; 9. 1John 1:9; 10. Mark 1:5; 11. Acts 16:31; 12. John 1:12; 13. See 2 Corinthians 5:17 and John 1:12; 14. 1 John 5:11-13.

Written and © Copyright by Richard (Dick) Innes
More than 3,000,000 of this article in print.

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Work Place Integrity

From the Jul 24, 2005 post ...

There was an ad/message i heard over K-Life on the challenges we face to keep Christ-like integrity in the workplace. It start was a conversation between a boss and her suboordinate and it went something like this: -

Boss: Hi, the will be a person calling me up on the phone later, can you please tell that i am not in?

Guy: Will you be stepping out? I can't can't say you are not around when the fact you are.

Boss: I just want to avoid the call. Couldn't you do me a favour?

Guy: Well i think it will be more assuring to know that a peson will not lie for you and at the same time will no like to you won't you think so?

It's really hard to strike a right balance between living up to Godly standard and to Earthly standard. Though deep in our hearts we know there is only one standard to follow, yet we constanlty struggle...

I was again lead to the verse penned by Peter in his First letter:

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened." But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

1 Peter 3:13-17

One way we could to face this, is to face it with our fellow brother and sister in Christ. Encourage one another, pray for one another, share the challenges, testimonies for standing up for the Lord, in small groups or just among friends!

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