The Last Days

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— (2 Timothy 3:1-4 NIV)

Dear Lord, I see this today. In fact, I find myself like that sometimes. Forgive me. And teach me to be pleasing to You, dear God. Lord, the preaching spoke of holy burden yesterday. I find that mine would be the changing of mindset and the remembrance of value through literature. I find it really lamentable that values are degrading, chivalry is gone, the good is no longer fashionable. And I believe this can be fixed through literature the children take in. I know I can do this, but alone, I can't. I need You, Lord. Just finishing the novel is virtually impossible for me. I am too easily distracted. I am too easily bored. I question myself if I indeed want this enough. I mean, if I really believe this will change the world for the better, it should consume me, right? But it doesn't. My time is more consumed by running the company. And You gave this to me so I will run it properly. But Lord, You also placed in my heart a problem and a solution. If You want me to act on this now, Lord, give me the drive and give me the story.

Lord, I thank You for the projects. Be with us. Help us finish it quickly. I lift to You the week, Lord. Guide us, protect us and be with us. This I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.

The Secret to Being Content

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12, 13 NIV)

Lord, I thank You for yesterday. We have projects, Lord. You are our Provider. Our Saviour. Lord, You said to me today that the secret to contentment is in knowing that I can do all this through You, who gives me strength. Thank You, Lord. Thank You. All praise and honor and glory be Yours forever and ever! This is I pray in the Holy Nameof Your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Remember His Signs

It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
his dominion endures from generation to generation. (Daniel 4:2, 3 NIV)

Lord, forgive me. I have been fretting these past few days. This lack of projects is making me worried. But You said to be still. And to call on You. And to remember that You've saved me before. Lord, I'm still learning to be dependent on You. I want to, Lord. And therefore, I will not fret. I will press on, doing what You've taught me to do, knowing that You saved me before, and that You are sovereign, and that it was You who gave this to me, and it was You who told me to stay. And therefore, why would You let my people starve if You have plans for this company, right? Forgive me for having such a small view of You. You are a big God, intelligent, in control, and You love me. And You have plans for this company. And so, Lord. I come before You this morning. Help us. Save us. Please give us projects. Please bring in money soon. You know our needs. I lift these concerns to You, Lord. Please bless these hands. I will press on. I will make calls and proposals. But bless these hands and this heart, Lord. Help me to do what You want me to do. And may I not fret, lest I speak harshly because of that. All this I pray and I lift to You in the mighty Name of Your Son. And I declare, Lord, that You are sovereign. You are the Almighty. You are the God who reigns, who is in control, who sees, who hears, and who speaks. You are the Living God. And You are my God.

Jesus Loved His Betrayer

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (John 13:1 NIV) 

Jesus answered, "Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. (John 13:10, 11 NIV)

The passage I read this morning was all about Jesus washing his apostles' feet. Yesterday, I listened to a podcast by Elevation Chruch called, "How to Hug a Vampire." He used the same passage then, too. I usually skim over this passage, thinking it a common part of Scripture, and thinking I already knew what the passage was all about: service. But the pastor speaking in the podcast pointed out one thing: Jesus washed the feet of Judas, too. And at his point, Jesus knew who would betray Him.

It gives a deeper meaning to service. It's easy to serve people you like. But Jesus shows us that his example includes the ones who hurt us, the ones who disappoint us.

Wait for your God Always

But you must return to your God;
maintain love and justice,
and wait for your God always. (Hosea 12:6 NIV)

Lord, I thank You for the weekend. I pray that I will not be weary waiting for You. Bless this week, Lord. May I not fret. Free me from being fearful because of what I see. I pray for my people. I pray for the new girl who's starting today. I pray for more projects. And may I run the company without forgetting why I do this. This I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.

God's Time vs Signs

We often talk about waiting for God. The first Bible verse that really hit me as a young Christian was, "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10) And there are a lot of other passages of God telling his people to wait. Wait for the Lord. Be still before Him. And in church, we speak of that. Be patient, we tell each other. Wait for the Lord. But for most of us, we get impatient. A lot of single people are guilty of this. And one of the ways we try to force God to answer us is when we ask for a sign.

Now, I'm not saying the Lord does not give signs. He does. And we can certainly ask for them. But have we ever considered that maybe God doesn't want to give us a sign sometimes? And that the "sign" that we see is actually our own selves speeding up the progression of things by claiming a thing as a sign to justify the move that we are about to make? Can we truly say that we are waiting for the Lord?

"Lord, there were five coincidences involved with me meeting this man. That was a sign!" That was me, if you're wondering. But it didn't turn out the way I planned. That wasn't His plan. The man was part of His plan, but not what I planned for him. "Lord, the next girl that I have coffee with, that's the girl na ha! I claim it!" But what if He has other plans? Will you force the relationship, thinking, "this is my sign! I claimed it!" Like as if God has to follow us just because we claimed it. Now, sometimes, the person we eye is really God's chosen for us. But sometimes, He has other plans. And maybe, just maybe, the girl you have coffee with next is really just a girl you have coffee with.

What I'm trying to say is, when God tells you to wait, just wait. And when you ask for a sign, evaluate your motives. Because maybe you're trying to hurry God along, and are seeing "signs" He never intended as signs for something He doesn't intend to reveal yet. After all, our God loves surprises.

Lamentations: Men

An old friend of mine sent me a text this morning. She said she was attending the 10am service this morning, and was asking if I wanted to have lunch. I did. I hadn't seen her in a while. So, we attended the 10am service at Victory Fort (separately) and met up after to have lunch.

Friends with Benefits
She had just broken up with her boyfriend last December. Then recently, her ex had come back to her offering "Friends with Benefits" status. Of course, she was offended. Her ex didn't want to confront certain issues, like addiction and money. He wanted them not to talk about it, and just... date... and be friends... with benefits. Which really irritated me. And he had been her boyfriend of nine years! "Jerk!" A voice kept screaming in my head. "Selfish cowardly jerk!"

I really need to silence those voices in my head. (Still... Jerk!)

I'm glad to say I know not all men are like that. Another friend of mine, a guy, also broke up with his girlfriend recently. And when his ex offered to be a friend with benefits if it was the only way to get back to him, he was rightly offended. My guy friend's reaction was, "Is that how little you think of me? That you think I would just jump at a chance to bed any girl that offers?" He also felt bad about how little she valued herself, offering her body like that.

Still. Guys like my friend are rare. And the rise of people who prefer being friends with benefits, pleasure without the commitment, is something I find sad. Very sad.

The Decline in Good Men
Ask women today, and most would tell you, there is a decline in good men in this day and age. There are a lot of factors. There's the hypersexualization of media, and even children's toys! There's the rise in strong women. Some of my friends (even guys, even Christian guys) would even venture to tell you that deterioration of chivalry is partly also caused by the Christian church.

This is because some churches encourage their youth to start out as friends first before actually pursuing a girl. Now, I see how the church is trying to get the boys to avoid jumping head first into a relationship they might not yet be ready to be in. I understand that. And maybe if done properly, this works for some people. But for several of my guy friends, this practice leads to several negative things in their experience: 1.) They are immediately relegated to friend zone, and so have a difficult time getting out of it; or 2.) They feel like this practice promotes being a wimp, where guys can just "feel" around, not declaring their true intentions until they think it's "safe" that the girl will not reject them. (Which also frustrates the women, especially in this day and age where women are strong and would like men to stop beating around the bush and just be clear as to their intentions) 3.) They think it confuses the women because we have to create a sort of "limbo" category where guys are friends, but not quite. It is confusing and frustrating that we just throw them into the friends category if they take too long.

Strong and Loyal Men
We, women, like making lists. While it's not bad to list the qualities one wants in a man, I find that I throw this list out the window. The basic ones stay, of course. God-fearing, able to support a family, loving, loyal... But even at the basics, it's already so hard to find a suitable guy. I'm not compromising the basics. That's for sure. But "a loyal man, who can find?" And I used to want strong tough gentlemanly men, but the definition to that has changed over the past year. Most of them are only manly on the outside. But inside, where it counts, where it's now about honor and what is right, and no longer about opening doors and pulling out chairs, many fail. And I would much prefer a man who is honorable inside, than a suave disciple of Barney Stinson. But those honorable ones are rare. I've seen some. But they're just so rare nowadays.