haha, the title sounds very corny =) but i like it :)
I think, God has really blessed me this term and He has given me the gift of community again this term... that gift has been taken back for quite a few terms now... almost 2 years, but now, it's almost as if, God was asking me to trust Him in the times where spiritual community was lacking... and in the end, God is always faithful.. He always listens, always hears, always follows through on His promises to us...
this term, i've kinda been given this new burst of hope and passion for being athletic =) and God is showing me so many lessons through the life example of keeping fit.
Discipline... when we are disciplined with our readings, our prayers, and our love for the world (including the nations, our nation, our community, our friends, our family, and yes, even ourselves), God blesses us with passion and He rewards us with an even closer relationship with Him.. the difference between a Spirit-led life and one which is self-led is so apparent.
I pray and hope that my life is Spirit-led and focused solely on God. This is how we overcome the problems that arise in our lives... this is why we have hope despite such a pain-stricken world filled with natural disasters as of late...
I want to have more of God in me and I'm praying continually that God will continue to convict me over and over again, each and every day to love this world and everyone in it. It starts with the hardest things... things like reading the news, and not just reading it for the sake of reading it, or cuz i'm bored, or simply out of practice.. but reading it to learn of what my community's needs are, what my nation's needs are, what my world's needs are... with disasters occuring in Sichuan, China, and Myanmar (Burma), it is so easy to just keep in touch with the news just to know what's going on and to forget to pray for our neighbours. Furthermore, it's supremely easy to forget the needs of our own nation in the midst of such travesties abroad.
i must confess that i am horrible at praying for my nation and the world in which I live in... it comes in spurts, here and there... and a huge apathetic perspective written all over me. I forget that God not only loves me and those i know personally, but my God is the same God who cares for those people across the globe. How can my own needs (i.e. getting thru Masters, passing the UFE, working, etc.) surpass in importance things like... not having a home to live in anymore, possible health epidemics at the cause of unclean shelters and living conditions, child-rape, child prostitutes, little boys of 10 holding guns and shooting people with them...
God tells us not to be discouraged at all these saddening things that go on daily in our world... right now, i'm not sure what makes me sadder... the fact that these things happen on a daily basis unnoticed, or the fact that many of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters don't care and don't pray.... i think that this area is a deadly spiritual battleground that Christians in North America tend to forget... with us being so focused on our immediate community needs... do not give up the fight.
in other news,
super thankful that I have people here to keep me on track and accountable =) weekly jog and prayer meetings :)
