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Monday, August 22, 2005

Wow..what a day =P get ready...this is gonna be one fun LONG blog :D

hmmm... went to rhccc yesterday morning... it was pretty touching --> pastor mark's final sermon here at rhccc... the topic of the sermon was dealing with life's trials... here are the 4 points he made:

* Spiritual Victory in Each of Life's Trials*
1. no self-pity
2. admit failure and root out pride
3. do not act out of anger or fear
4. seize the opportunity to grow in faith and love.

as i sat in the sermon yesterday morning... i have to admit that i was somewhat skeptical of these 4 steps... until I heard his testimony... it is one thing to have these words preached to you and written on a church bulletin and it is another thing to actually live it out... it's kinda bad....i find myself almost getting desensitized to certain messages.... why is it that some sermons do not make me think anymore? hmm.... i start thinking now and what stuck in my mind just now is actually preparing your heart each sunday or sat nite whatever for church the next day. I realized that I did not prepare my heart for yesterday morning's service... i forgot to ask God to settle my heart before Him... instead, i jsut kinda went.... but God works in amazing ways anyways... He spoke to me through Pastor Mark's life testimony... after hearing of the loss of his baby son...i kept thinking while sitting in my pew, what right to I have to ever complain about my issues... they seem retarded compared to others.... it kinda makes me forget about mine and really focus on helping out others if and wherever GOd wants...

onto the second sermon of the day :) --> Freedomize in Downtown Toronto..

haha..i had unknowingly passed by the Freedomzie church earlier this week with some other friends and I had commented that it was a pretty church...little did I know that I would personally venture into those church doors the coming sunday... needless to say, I truly did feel God's presence at Freedomize again. the topic was about the Christian family... and already in my head, i was thinking 'oh great... am i gonna feel really bad durin this service like previous ones pertaining to a somewhat similar topic?' Thank God...i really do marvel at how he works... The preacher brought to light certain aspects of the Christian family that I had not previous thought of before...it was great :) here's some tidbits: taken from Psalsms 128: 3-4
- The definition and purpose of family is shaped by popculture whose agenda is not to glorify God. We are to go to war agianst any ungodly thoughts that disrupt God's definition set out in the Bible.
- WIFE: why is our culture ruining the happy image of having large families? Why do people want less kids now? Is it because of their selfishness? their devotion to their careers? Are we destroying a godly heritage? Women, wives need to be cultivated, activated, and sustained by the Spirit through the man... this directly correlates with a Christian woman's happiness.... (btw...if any of this is confusing, feel free to ask me..this is just more of a reminder for me.. in the far future of coz =P ) Most Christian experiences at home flows through the woman... hence, do not become drained as a wife and mother.
- i'm too lazie now to write more.. o_O

next...

good times chillin in DT..just walking around..and i mean ALL OVER downtown :) haha... such a good day to walk... over to Harbourtfront (*Pretty*) and past Skydome (not roger's centre), Aire Canada, the CA head office (SOOO COOL) ... clubbin district, Queen St, a bit of China town... nice weather for a lovely walk =P

next...

frosh bbq... good times... came late so i didn't get as much a chance to meet all the new frosh...no worriez... there's a whole 2 more years for that =P good talks at the bbq and at home afterwards too...

** 2 Corinthians 4: 7 - 12 **

7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

i do not doubt that God is working in all of us. I can see it. I can feel it. Do not lose hope in those around you.

posted by ~*~VaNeSsA~*~  -- 1:57 p.m. (0) comments

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

*in between terms* mode --> ^_^

On my Knees - Jaci Velasquez

There are days when I feel
The best of me is ready to begin
Then there are days when I feel
I'm letting go and soaring on the wind
'Cause I've learned in laughter or in pain
How to survive

I get on my knees
I get on my knees
There I am before the love
That changes me
See I don't know how
But there's power
When I'm on my knees

I can be in a crowd
Or by myself almost anywhere
When I feel there's a need
To talk with God
He is Emmanuel
When I close my eyes
No darkness there
There's only light

I don't know how but there's power
In the blue skies
In the midnight
When I'm on my knees

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this is a good song.... i used to listen to her stuff when i was growing up as a kid (jaci velasquez)... then i just stopped listening to Christian artists altogether.... it's funny.... i never really thought about what it means to be truly on one's knees... what does it mean? when i think about it i picture a lot of happiness... there is a huge element of submission as well as worshipping the Father for who He is in all His glory and being in awe of Him... hehe...and i imagine a big fat smile on the person's face, glowing from the Father's love. wouldn't it be amazing if we were all like that? if every day we woke up and that's what we thought about automatically....being on our knees before God... wow... forget the stress, forget the troubles, forget the overwhelming thoughts, or seemingly exciting events.... and simply fall on your knees... now THAT is some power.

-----

next term will definitely be interesting.... it is rather exciting actually... i do not know what awaits us all...but what i do know is that it will be plenty of GOOD STUFF coming from our Heavenly Father. ^_^ been so busy these past couple of days...almost no time to reflect again and keep myself in check spiritually.... hehe...being home has definitely been good... the first two days were awesome jsut chilling w/ the good old family.... then started the major chillin w/ old and new frenz... i haven't even been back home for a week and God is continually showering me with blessings... i've got so much to be thankful for....

-----

again, i think and pray about what God's role is for me next term... and i think it's jsut ognna get figured out when i get there... till then... just be patient and don't sign mysel fup for too many things without fully hearing what He has to say...

posted by ~*~VaNeSsA~*~  -- 2:50 p.m. (0) comments

Saturday, August 06, 2005

*puts thinking cap on*

stress..... needless to say, for most poeple, final exams bring much stress... and over the past 3 terms i've been super at being stressed, whether due to school, co-op, other issues, etc.... but this term's been different.... there's been a constant sense of... relief, hope, and encompassing peace....

this is honestly the first term i can say that i carry around with me the least stress...and that there is truly peace in my life, fully knowing, acknowledging, and praising God for providing me with it all...

and at the same time.... there is a sense of uneasiness....not in my life, but in the lives of others... hmmm..this is very hard to put into words.... my brain is lacking brain cells at the moment =P recently, i think i've been seeing a shadow of who i once was through the life of someone else... and it all relates back to stress.... i've seen how stress can completely change a person's behaviour, attitude, emotional health, etc... and worst of all... i've seen how it causes people to focus solely on themselves... and now being a bystander to all these bad effects of stress, i find myself at a loss of words... in trying to cheer others up, it kinda fails... in trying to explain why and how there can be peace.... the msg is not heard.... i feel like in sympathizing with others, i find myself more and more pushed aside... there's a voice in the back of my head calling out saying... "I know...i understand... be patient... look around...and learn..... " learn what? good question... *scratches head*

- God calls us to be a light unto the world... how exactly do we do that? are we being too consumed in our own agendas (even if they a spiritually-related) to be that light.. it is almost as if having our own "spiritual" agendas is worse than having our own "non-spirtiual" agendas (ie. school, career)... they are so much more dangerous... and it takes a while to realize that BOTH are self-centered if they overcome our submission to Him... what do I mean by spiritual agendas? --> mapping out all the end results we want to achieve that are somewhat biblically based and using our own means to get there.... in doing so, many times we overlook our role and position in God's work... it shoudl be God accomplsihing things in and through us, rather than us accomplishing things for God..... hmmm.... at the end of the day, can i honestly say that i'm letting go of everything and allowing GOd to do the work... sometimes yes, sometimes no....

why not? cuz i dun take enough time to give Him the glory. it's not about me...it's all about You.

posted by ~*~VaNeSsA~*~  -- 11:44 p.m. (0) comments