Strong Mind Weak Mind

It's the era of social media nowadays. For better or worse, the direct effect of this phenomenon is that people are expressing their thoughts freely using their statuses; be it Facebook, Twitter, Path, or other. Some people share their composed thinking on an issue, and it's great to learn an interesting point of view every now and then. Other times, we are faced with people either boasting or complaining about their situation. "Oh its so tired" "I'm so grateful!" I might even have done it once unconciously :). However as an individual who values "mental strenght" I have a particular disgust to people who rants or complaints in social media about LOVE. More so if its a guy in their 20s. I mean, come on, you're not a teenager anymore. Doesn't work with a girl ? Move on. No need to show the world for your weakness.

I had my share of troubles also with girls, or friends, or colleagues, but I still survive. I got cut off from social interaction and people hated me for a period of time, yet here I am still breathing. So when comparing to my experience like that, the thought "Seriously dude, love problems ? Why can't you just deal with it? You're like 20 something and working! DON'T BE A LOSER." Everytime a status like this strolls by  my news feed I get seriously annoyed and got real close to comment unimaginable ruthless words.

Yesterday though, I read a status like this and got annoyed as always. But then that got me thinking, why is it that I can pretty much deal with girl problems easier this days ? Is it true that I have a strong mind over mental issues ? Well I am indeed an introvert, so solitary and isolation is my forte. Yet as I drill my memory back in time, I remember how I have also been really frustrated and sad. But I don't want to rant on social media, I don't feel like showing a hint of weakness anywhere. I guess pride got the better of me instead of sadness. But I still need to channel my frustration somehow, where did I vent them to ?

As I remember, it all makes sense now. There was always someone to rant to. Always someone to cry to and be perfectly weak. It's not that I have a strong mind, I am indeed very weak. Probably not any different with the people ranting about love in social media. I remember it was indeed Jesus who calms my mind. By His grace and love that I was nurtured and hugged. That when I was in my most vulnerable and weak, I can find rest in Him. I would cry to Him and surrender everything to Him, since there are really nothing that can be done. But it was always that when I give Him full control, when I stopped forcing my way and just trust him that things got a turn to the better. It wasn't me, it was Him who made me strong. 

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8-9)

I kinda feel bad now for looking down at someone's weakness.How I wish he would know that he doesn't need anything else, that Jesus is actually enough.

Facing Sins

Taken from a recent sermon by Tim Keller titled How to Change Deeply.

Here's what he said about facing our sins :

O Lord, when I fall into pride
When I am upset by what people are saying about me
When I get so upset about losing face
I have to remember this :
that at the cross You make Yourself of no reputation.
You give up all Your power and all Your glory for me.
and the more I thank and rejoice You did that, the less I need to worry about my own Honour and reputation whether people are approving me or not.

O Lord when I fall into coldness and irritability with people , I remember this :
That in the garden just before You died, You were so gentle and affirming of us when we went to sleep on You.
On the cross You have  yourself to people who abandon You and mock you and the more I thank and rejoice You did that to me, melts away my hardness of heart and makes me able to be patient so I can tend to the people around me.

O Lord when I fall into anxiety and fearfullness, I remember that you faced the most astonishing dangers for me.
You were torn to pieces so bravely for me so I can be utterly loved and eternally saved.
The more I thank You for that, the more I get myself getting calm because I don't have to prove myself anymore and that gives me a kind of courage I never had before.

Do you know how to use what Jesus has done to You, and say, "Why would I need to this anymore ?"

What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him. (1 Cor 2: 9 )

It never really happened really, what I felt months ago. To meet someone so suitable I instantly thought that she might just be the one I'm looking for. But even to that, it's a no. Makes me wonder sometimes, if not even her, who will ? I set my standard at 10, yet someone appears at 12. How could a 12 out of 10 still be a no? God are You out of Your mind? 

I can never really predict Your plan now can I ? But I will hold fast to Your promise. If You even held a 12 from me, I can't even imagine the partner that you will have for me. I will abide. I already know whenever I insist of going out of your way, only bitterness and disappointment awaits. Track record kinda speaks for itself, especially when it comes to You. I will put my faith in you again, cause there's nothing else I can really do to outsmart Your will. 

An encounter with Heidi Baker.

My church held a conference last weekend, inviting foreign pastors to speak the word of God. One of the speakers is Heidi Baker. She is the reason why I want to go to this conference. All that I know when I bought the ticket was she is a missionary in Africa and dedicates her life there. Little do I know that she is far far more than that story. She is a woman who truly loves God, to the point that I who was sitting 50 meters away could be touched just seeing her being immersed in the Holy Spirit. It was said in Acts that even touching the robe that Paul had worn can do healing. After seeing Heidi, I can see why she can perform miracles of healing and such. She truly loves the Lord.

Heidi Preaching in Mozambique (source: www.irisglobal.org)

Heidi was a normal girl particularly really loving ballet. She even spent a one year internship in Switzerland learning them. Please do note that I know nothing about dancing and such, so I'm not sure if there would be some discrepancies about my description in this ballet :). Anyway the point is she really loved ballet. Until suddenly she met Jesus in one point of her life. An encounter so powerful it seems, that she accepted Christ as her lord and saviour in one day and was baptised by the Holy Spirit the next day. Just by hearing her story I realised, God will definitely use her for something big. She said that she was born again in a Pentacostal church, and after she was born again they gave her a long list of what she can never do again. Heidi was so in love with Jesus that she didn't care whatever it was, she would stop doing anything. However one of the things that she needs to give up is dancing. 

Let's pause for a while and reflect, what is the thing you really love doing in your life? Travelling ? Drawing and making designs ? Playing music? Singing? (or if you're like me) Doing some science experiments? Making a whole lot of money? Climbing the career path? Imagine right now that God says you no longer will be able to do it anymore. I will definitely cry my heart out and say "ANYTHING BUT THAT LORD!". Heidi was also like me, she was deeply in pain and grieved. But note this: She loved Jesus more, so she gave up ballet. The grief lasted for around 9 days. Just as it's not enough, now God says to marry Roland Baker. Seems not a big deal, until she told us that she was already engaged to someone which she loved very dearly. Another thing got ripped out of her heart, and she obeyed the Lord. She met this Roland and after just one week of meeting him they got married.

However her obedience leads her to travel the world according to what God says to her. She went to Indonesia, Hong Kong, England, (maybe some other places), until finally landed in Mozambique. Where her ministry remains fruitful until today. There were a lot of struggles in her ministry there, if you're interested to know more you can open this link here . However one thing stays true : her supernatural faith and obedience to the Lord.

After she had spent some time in Mozambique, she got invited to a conference in Brazil. Before it was her turn to take the stage, there were ballet dancers dancing for the Lord. Heidi said that their techniques and turns were just perfect, especially if you were once trained for ballet. It reminded her about the ballet she once so loved about. Then when she preached, at one point the whole audience, her, and even the committee was so full of God's presence that they were all facing down to the floor. Unable to get up, the two ballerinas crawled their way up to Heidi and laid their toe-shoes in front of her. The message they brought was this, "The Lord says: Thank you for dancing with me across the world these past years.". It brought tears to my eyes. Heidi said how could you not feel so happy being thanked by the Lord ? She was completely happy, and then after the ballerinas, now come a man paralyzed from the neck down. He was brought by his friends to Heidi to be healed. Heidi then crawled to him, looked him in the eyes, and said, "Do you want to dance? Get up! Let's Dance!" And so he miraculously was healed and got up. They had the most amazing dance ever afterwards.

After telling this story, she said something like this, "I was so ashamed to think that giving up ballet was painful. Seeing a paralyzed man to walk on his feet brings joy far greater than ballet could ever give". 

I was so touched by Heidi, even though she didn't even laid hands on me at all. When I got home, I prayed and was immersed with the Holy Spirit. I want to love Jesus as much as Heidi Baker did. Then in my heart I felt a glimpse of what God's future for me was. To go to places I have never imagined before. I, was scared. For the first time in my life, I am afraid of God's plan. I am afraid what God has planned for me, requires me to throw away everything I possess today. I have always longed to love Jesus, and to trust Him unconditionally. But this one, it was the hardest ever. 

Good guys lose, but it doesn't matter.

Yesterday I watched the battle of Manny Pacquiao against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. I am not an avid boxing fan or anything, but sometimes I like to follow on their stories, especially about Manny. I remember seeing Manny fight in the TVs a few years back and he was astounding and amazing. Even better, he came from Philippines, a neighbour of my own country! However after a while when I watched Manny fought again, I felt like he was not as good as I imagined him before. 

And so came the fight that was really talked around (in 9gag, at least), and I get dragged to watch this boxing match again. My senses told me that, Manny is not as good as he was and this Mayweather guy (with 0 lose track record) seems to have the upper hand. But somedays before the fated battle, 9gag was filled with how Manny spends his time donating and helping the poor. Meanwhile Mayweather is just some douchebag who spends his ass with luxury. After slightly indoctrinated with this, I have the hope that Manny should win ! He's that nice guy and the whole world loves him ! He should be allowed to win, I mean he has this "Jesus is the name of the Lord" written in his T-shirt before his fight! He's the good guy, God must be with him!

But when the bell rang, it was clear only just after a few rounds that he can barely hit Mayweather who is controlling the pace of the battle. In my opinion, Manny lost deservingly. The way Mayweather fights is not cowardly, that is a strategy to win and it pull through. He won by a well-deserved unanimous decision

Now this event will certainly broke the hearts of the many fans. A good guy who helps the poor lost while the rich douchebag wins. Life is just not as fair as the movies isn't it? Movies will end with Manny giving Mayweather the K.O punch, but real life just is not as good. Just because you are good,   just because you are kind and royal, just because you love Jesus Christ your God, does not mean that you will win all your battles. It doesn't mean 100% winning rate like what Mayweather has in his boxing career (up until now). It still means that you will lose the fights you so deservingly should be given victory of. It still means that even after all that money you donate, after all the volunteering and after all that love, you will still be treated badly. Even if you do the good things, the world might still defeat you in the end. 

It's a reminder that it's not always about the output, but it's about the process. Manny lost, yes indeed, but his boxing career has been an inspiration and has saved a lot of people. Even after he lost, he still has the love of the people for him. God gave Manny enough wins already, enough for him to touch a lot of people by His name. Maybe He thinks winning this fight is not as important, compared to the other things God has planned for him. It's also the same with us, isn't it?

We love Christ, and we do good things because He loved us first. But then why is my financial still a problem ? Why is it always that douche who got the credit ? Why is my research still standing still ? The answer should be obvious : who promised you an easy life ? God saved Paul from being an abuser of Christians by saying "For I will show Him how much he must suffer for My name's sake". It's a mistake to think good guys always win. No, we will still lose, but to a renewed heart, what does it matter ? The perfect gift for us would be seeing our Father smile at us and say "I am well pleased in you, my child". 

Fire

Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, I can't control. I want more of You God, I want more of You God. (Jesus Culture - Set a Fire)

But if I say, " I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot (Jeremiah 19:9 - NIV)

For my generation Lord, I am crying out for more. Come and fill me with your fire, set me ablaze. (Planetshakers - Set Me Ablaze)

I don't really have anything to say, just that these words, relates to me for a long while now. I long that my heart will always be burnt with His love. Burning brighter and hotter with each passing day.  

Discipline for the heart

Last week I got tricked by a guy and lost around 400 Kroners + 50 Euros from my wallet. I was furious and felt really dumb when I realised. However there is more to this story than just that. A story of how God tests the heart of His children. A story of how God chastises his child to always be in the right path.

This is the fourth month I've been in Denmark, and that would also imply I have received 3 monthly salaries. I checked my monthly balance and became surprised of how much I can actually save up in a month. So that tragic morning I was wandering around Copenhagen and Nørrebro to get a cheap haircut. Inside the train and inside the bus, my mind was wandering around on what I could do with the money I have. Should I go on a vacation next month ? Should I buy an expensive racket instead ? I was indulging myself in the imagination of luxury. I guess those are pretty normal thoughts for someone who never earns a lot of money (If I change it to IDR it is really a lot).

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:8-9)

So I was switching trains in Hellerup Station when someone calls me with Danish (looked like an immigrant) and the only word I can hear is "change" while He is shoving a coin of 20 Kroners to me. Usually I would just shrug him off and say I don't have any change, but that fateful morning I took my wallet out in front of him and showed him the coins I have. Sort of saying which one do you want ? As soon as I took my wallet out He closed in to a really uncomfortable distance that I want to back off, but I didn't. So for a 30 seconds I was just looking at my wallet with Him while showing him the coins I have. After 1 minute or so He suddenly backed off, while before he was really insisting of getting some change. It was really fishy, but then I gave him 4 kroners and went away. Feeling uncomfortable, I checked my wallet just 1 minute after encountering that guy, and realise that all my paper money has been gone. I had a good look of my money when we were looking at my coins, so this really hit me and made me really furious.

Thankfully my anger doesn't last for long. I realise what had just happened. Just the sunday beforehand, my church sermon was talking about having just enough (above verse). Cause If we have too much we might be proud and forgets that it was all given from Him. This is the message that I (think) I got :

See Hans, you may have some extra money,  but remember as fast those money was entrusted to you, they can be taken away as fast. Is this not what I said in Matthew 6:19-20 "19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal" ? Have you forgotten why I have put you in Denmark? You are here for my purpose, not to indulge in worldly desires. 

I used to pray: "God lead me to the right path. Discipline me if I wander off your path, do anything that you want so I will stay in the right track because I will surely stray off your path." Funny how He answers in such a way. 

(Hebrews 12:11) No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.