Journey to God in Small Steps

  The word “Surrender” does not always come easy. However, it has benefits to our spiritual walk. The benefit of letting God take over an area that He asks to surrender gives you unexpected but God-driven results. Try singing to God with a surrendered heart and try singing with an unsurrendered heart. The results are quite different. We grow closer to God when we surrender. Our prayers are more aligned with God’s will giving God the grace to answer according to His will for our lives. Surrender is a Lordship issue. Any area not surrendered to God reveals who is the Lord over that area, if it’s Jesus or that area is lord over us. Whatever is our lord drives our motives, thoughts, plans and will. To surrender is to carry your cross, to give God the area no matter how He leads it. An unsurrendered Christian still runs his own life. God can more use a surrendered Christian by His love and grace. Yield to God and allow Him to do which He wants in your life. A yielded life has fruit beca...

I have been thinking about fulfilling our purpose for our workplaces lately. Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life book had really made a mark on me. I believe deep down we have that hunger to know that we are making a difference, that we matter, and that the world is better off because we were in it. When I read that book 8 years ago, little did I know that this would be what I would do one day. I had to discover it a little at a time. While our perceived purposes may be different, the sense of purpose gives much life to our work. I have heard of a presentation lately where the executive's main idea was to make the workplace a fulfilling environment for his employees. That sounds like a good purpose. It might sound simple but when we're in the right place where God wants us to serve, with the talents that He has given us and we're doing each one well, applying His Word to work as if we're working unto the Lord, and not men, we are already fulfilling part of God...

Before I went off for the movies last Friday, God was making clear to me what my mission was and zoning me in on the things I was made to do and not do so I don't step out of bounds. Boundaries are a good thing. They help me to be clear on what efforts will pull me to my mission and what will pull me away from it. In however short or long this span of life, I need to be clear on the things I will and will not do to keep me from being sidetracked and maximize the purpose for the life that God has for me. Last Friday, I watched  The Monuments Men . It's about this group of men, art curators, who got involved in World War II because they wanted to save priceless artifacts from being destroyed by the Nazis. It was performed by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett and other wonderful actors. For me it was a good history lesson into something I did not know and I appreciate it for the unique purpose it was trying to do. These men were ordinary men and they gave me a pict...

Mr. Han, played by Jackie Chan and his pupil Dre (Jaden Smith) in the movie The Karate Kid (image:  http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/the-karate-kid-review/ ) We all love Kung Fu, Karate movies where the hero/student has to go under strict training from the master. I can't help but thank God for his training that started three or more years ago. During that time, God's training seemed difficult and to me it made no sense sometimes. God's training to me was very unique and shaped specifically for the task or purpose I was meant to fulfill. But back then, I had no idea what it would be. I thought I would be one type of instrument, only to find out I will be shaped to be a different one. His ways I cannot comprehend. But being trained for His purpose has been priceless. Proverbs 23:23 says,  " Buy the truth and do not sell it—  wisdom , instruction and insight as well. " God asks us to place a high value on insight and learning. Indeed all of life is a lear...

I had a good time watching the movie "Facing the Giants" earlier. I was just struck by the part where the Coach was making reforms in his team to turn their defeat around. He rededicated the football team's vision, purpose, training principles — essentially the team's foundations — on the word of God. One of the lessons the coach was trying to apply to the team was from the story of Nehemiah and his people when they were rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. Here is the clip from the movie. The coach resolved to have each of the team members guard an opponent in front of them as part of the overall team's defense. After Holy Week, I know life will continue. But the rebuilding of our country will also continue, each to our post. In the story of Nehemiah, they were building the ruins of their nation. For our country, so will we. My dreams for my country started when I was working. I did not want to leave the country because I have hopes that the countr...

Today, I was reading the first recorded prayer of Solomon in the Bible. 2 Chronicles 1 and 1 Kings 3. It's just amazing how I've read this chapter many times before only to receive a different revelation about it. That is the power of the Word of God and the Spirit when both come together to reveal something new —be it a  spiritual insight, spiritual knowledge or instructio n —that you can apply everyday because it speaks specifically about what is happening in the natural —your situation or perception about the situation itself — in a way that you can understand and know specifically. In the story Solomon offered a thousand sacrifices to the Lord in Gibeon. The temple was not built yet and Solomon was in his early years of rulership. In a dream, the Lord appeared to Solomon asking what he desired (2 Chronicles 1:7, 1 Kings 3:5).  ** Trivia: The books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles probably don't have the same authors and they were written in separate time periods but ...

Storms. Lord no please. Haha. My self would say that. " No Lord. Take me through the quiet waters. Take me to the mountains, even the hills. Anything Lord, just not the storms. Please =) " I still hear myself say that sometimes even though I know better what the purpose of storms are somehow. 1. I think storms clarify our vision. When pushed comes to shove, we remember what's more important. We don't try to dangle on the volume of the activity but we press toward what matters more. At recession times, we cut back a little. Present limitations remind us not to go after everything but the one thing - direction, plan, strategies - that will work. Life's storms have a way of pruning out what's not important. It zooms our vision to the eternal. During my last church service, I was having trouble staying in church. Tired. Worn out. Ministry did not satisfy me. The people will not either. I was worn out that day. But when I sat there, I was reminded again ...

One of my favorite stories in the Bible on giving is in Mark 12:41-44. It is just two short paragraphs. It is the story of a poor widow who threw in a "few small copper coins, worth only a few cents" to the Temple offerings. I love the story because it emphasized that giving is not just an external issue but an internal one. What did the woman have that pleased God? 1. Faith The woman gave out of faith. "...she in her poverty, put in everything." (verse 44). Her circumstances did not stop her from believing the God of the provision -- Jehovah Jireh, "The Lord is My Provider." The woman gave out of her faith in the Lord and not in her abilities. How do we know this? Read verse 43 and 44 again. " Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said,  “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.   They all gave out of their wealth ; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on. ” Th...

I would like to honor two heroes of the faith today - Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. Two very distinct and unique individuals that have moved history with their contributions and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Mother Teresa is a Catholic nun who received a call from God to be his representative to the poor. According to blogger Jenna from Caring Catholic Convert : " On September 10, 1946, while traveling by train from Calcutta to a religious retreat house in another city, Mother Teresa realized that she was being called to serve Jesus in the poorest of the poor. She also received locutions and visions where Jesus asked her to form the Missionaries of Charity and recruit Indian nuns.     Jesus told her the following:  “I want Indian nuns, Missionaries of Charity, who would be my fire of love amongst the poor, the sick, the dying, and the little children. . . .” The chief motivation behind the Sisters of Charity was not to engage in social work but -- instead ...

Could it be that we get lost sometimes looking at what people have and what we don't have? What is happening in their lives and what is not in ours? Is it because we fail to live our own lives with purpose? Is it logically sound that if we don't walk ahead, we eventually look around and merely react and watch? Yesterday, I've tweeted this line, " One day you don't spend doing what you're supposed to do, you've degraded yourself to reaction mode. "  I've unwittingly allowed myself to live my former mediocre life of reacting to circumstances without even going forward one step into my God-ordained purpose. I've already told God before I would let go of that life. I will not let the enemy take another step and ruin my day for all it's worth without advancing God's kingdom. It's like having an offense strategy but along the way, there's the defense as well. "No opposition will ever stop me from doing what I was supposed to...