The Best Way to Test Yourself and Know Christ Lives in You

I remember when I was a baby Christian, I used to doubt if Christ really lives in my heart. So I asked God about it and He confirmed it to me through His word and showed me how different I am after I met Him. The real test of having a personal relationship with Christ is a changed life. If you can’t pinpoint the difference between your life before Christ or your life after you met Him, then think again, repent and make up your mind to accept Him in your life as your personal Lord and Savior and be determined to renounce your old life and follow Him all the way.

Dave Malnes's avatarWITNESS WELL

The most compelling promise given in the Bible for believers is that Christ lives in you. It is a reality that our human minds cannot comprehend. For the Spirit-filled Christian, Christ is no longer an abstract image looking down from the heavens, but a real presence absorbed in their day-to-day life.

How does a believer make Jesus more real in their life?

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Reckless Trust, Naked Faith

Reckless Trust. Naked Faith.
These are the recurring themes of my quiet time with God for the past few months. God knows how willing I am to be used by Him for His kingdom but every time I try to take the first step, things get in the way and I get discouraged and feel trapped so I can’t move on. Praise God for this video for it is really an encouragement. What I need is a major heart operation and I know it will be very painful.

Will you please pray for me? I really want to win this battle but I know I can’t do it alone. Your prayers will be very much appreciated. Thank you.

The Parable of the Two Sons

    “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
    ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.    
     Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
     “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
     “The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. (Matthew 21:28-32)

I hate to admit it but between the two sons from the parable, I can identify myself more with the second son. God knows how guilty I am when it comes to commiting the sin of omission. Everytime  God reveals something new to me, I always tend to answer, ‘yes Lord, I’ll do it.’ Or sometimes I’ll say, ‘yeah Lord, you’re totally right and I agree with you!’. Then I will think about what I‘ve learned for a long time until I totally forgot the things that God has told me to do.

When I was a younger Christian, I thought that it was okay. I mean, I thought it’s ok to think about God most of the time. It was only this year (or maybe late last year) when I finally realized that God does not want the Truth He revealed to me to just remain as an idea. He wants me to really act on it and take a step of faith. And God will not stop until I’ve learned to apply it and has eventually became part of me, even if I have to go through it for several times.

So what have I learned from this process? Doing the will of God requires cooperation on my part. He is very much willing to accomplish great things through me but I need to put myself in proper position where I can easily receive the grace He has poured out on me. I need to unlimit God by taking the necessary step of faith he requires from me.

The Truth is, I’m not actually busy

But I feel so exhausted and unproductive these past few months. Ironic, right? And it’s the truth. I’m in the depressive mood for the past few weeks and I don’t understand why. I want to spend time with people but being with people drains out all the energy in me.

Will you please pray for me? I want my joy to be restored again.
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I wrote this draft earlier today, on my way to church, but praise God  because He somehow answered my prayer through the message during the worship service.

The message is about the importance of connection and I was encouraged because God made me realize that I can’t afford to live a life of isolation anymore. I am a member of Christ’s Body so I should now live a life that is connected to the body. Words can’t express how joyful I am about today’s msg so lemme just say, praise the Lord!!

By Faith

I was meditating on Hebrews 11 for my quiet time yesterday. This chapter of the Bible is known for being the Hall of Faith. Aside from providing the definition of the basis of our relationship with God, which is Faith, this chapter showcases the stories of the Bible’s greatest men and women of faith. image I’ve always loved this chapter because it gives me inspiration and examples of the kind of faith that really pleases God. But because the Bible is a living word of God, I am amazed at how God has provided me a new insight and perspective yesterday on where my faith in Him can and may lead to based on this chapter. I was specifically drawn to verses 13 and 39-40 where it says,

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. (v13)

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. (v. 39-40)

Based from this verse, living by faith will not necessarily mean I will receive what God has promised for me in this lifetime. I believe yes, God will be gracious enough to allow me to see a glimpse of His promise, as in the tip of an ice berg, but the whole picture of this promise will not be found in this lifetime nor in this world. Just like most of the men in the Bible, Moses for example, I may not be able to enter the promised land. Thus, a great faith in God will require renouncing and hating this world for the sake of His heavenly Kingdom. I must be willing to die because of this faith if I truly want to follow Him all the way. Praise God because He has somehow changed my heart about this matter. I was praying about this last year, when my bible study leader shared this to me. She said that it’s easy for us to say that we will live our life for Christ but can we also say the same thing about literally dying for Him? During that time, I know in my heart that I’m not ready yet. Dying because of my faith is a scary thought. But now that God has shown me the possibility of this worst-case scenario, I hope and I believe that by the grace of God, I will be able to finish this race well.

Confessions

I think I need to write this to help me process my thoughts and feelings. It’s no secret that I’ve been thinking a lot about eternal realities lately. When I say eternal realities, yes, I mean heaven and hell, life after death, and the second coming of Jesus Christ.

During one of my quiet time last year, I’ve prayed to God to teach me to number my days. I think I got my answer when He showed me earlier this year the reality that the time of Jesus’ coming is near. The signs that Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24 are now starting to unveil. I am now more convinced of the harsh reality that this world is not going any better because God has really meant to destroy it, to give way to the new heavens and new earth He has promised.

As much as I want Jesus to come back soon, I know that God’s love and mercy for humanity still prevails. He wants all people to be saved so He is still giving everyone a chance to consider his ways and turn back to Him, to acknowledge Him in their life. And until He comes, Jesus’ followers are commanded to proclaim the good news to all creation. So, I am really burdened by the fact that there are still a lot of work to be done for the advancement of God’s kingdom.

Actually, what I really want to share is my thoughts on the recent earthquake in Nepal. I am really bothered by the fact that I am thinking of the reality of Jesus’ second coming and the urgency of the Gospel when I know that I am supposed to feel compassion for the people  affected by the earthquake. So I keep on asking God if this is the kind of attitude He wants me to have. I also felt sad for the Christians who are being accused of being insensitive for fearlessly preaching the Gospel to the victims, because I am one with them for thinking that Jesus is all they need. They may not understand it now but I know that it’s true.  So have I stopped being loving for thinking this way?

I really don’t know how to answer this but I’m hoping that God will give me some enlightenment, soon.

Day 10: Google your name and talk about how it fits or doesn’t fit you

Hello there! Welcome to Day 10 of The Single Woman blogging challenge.
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Today’s challenge is quite interesting because honestly, I haven’t really thought about what google says about my name. Although I have some idea on the meaning of my name (I’ve read somewhere before that Cary means ‘courage’ and the Bible says my surname Isaac means ‘he laughs’), I never thought how my name suits my personality.

For a start, let me share to you my complete name…

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Since google can’t find the meaning of my name Carygine, I’ll just display the result when I googled the meaning of Cary and here’s the result:

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As to how it fits with my personality, I think I will agree with the description. The description fits with my ISTP personality type. I also agree that I tend to focus more on big issues rather than the superficial ones.

The meaning of my last name also fits with my personality type because I am really a jolly person by nature.

A ‘BALANCED LIFE’ is a Myth

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I know I’ve already said it in my IG account but I want to elaborate it further here.

I believe one thing that God is teaching me lately, and I know He really wanted me to learn and apply it, is to discard the myth about trying to live a balanced life, that is if I truly want to bear much fruit this year.

I’ve heard it for several times last year that the key to a good life is to maintain a balance of everything. Do ministry but don’t forget to spend time with your loved ones. Read good books but it’s ok to read out of your comfort zone from time to time. Learn to enjoy life but don’t forget your responsibilities.

I believe in all of them so I was really trying hard to get that superwoman out of me to maintain the balance. However, I ended up exhausted and restless all the time.

Praise the Lord that God has somehow corrected that faulty thought in me, sometime last year. I’ve read several articles and books about the benefits of simplifying my life, and they have made a great impact on me. It’s part of human nature to collect and try to accumulate a lot of stuff so we collect and collect, only to find out later that the things we have acquired are not those that really matter. I am a collector of nice and fancy things like notebooks and pens so I was really guilty of it as well. So as an application, I am now trying to STOP the buying and accumulation of things that are not really essential.

Going back to my point, I’ve learned that living a life pleasing to God is not about trying to maintain a balanced life but living a life that is TOTALLY surrendered to Him. Yes, God allowed me believe that I should maintain a balanced life for a long time but I ended up settling for mediocrity. I just allowed myself to just go through the motions so I have failed in giving my highest honor to God. So God is now starting to stir up my heart and push me to a higher level. But in order for me to reach that next level, I really need to pass the test and let go of the things that I’ve been holding on for too long. I need to give up the things that have become my idols, the things that I really love very much, so that I will have more room for God and the better blessings that He will give me. I need to empty me of me so that I will be filled more with His presence.

So there’s no balance there right? In the economy of God, we will never have a full and satisfying life unless we surrender our entire life to Jesus. Jesus said, ‘whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.‘ (Matthew  10:38)

I tell you, it’s really hard because I myself is really struggling about it. But then I made this commitment to God earlier this year that I will devote myself to Him so I believe this is His answer. All I need is to respond in Faith.

Will you please pray for me once again? I really want to experience great miracles this year but I know in my heart that I lack faith and courage to make the first step that God is asking me to do. Please pray for me that God will increase my faith and give me boldness to act on the things that He’s asking me to do. And please pray for my protection also because the Enemy is also doing his usual job to distract me. I really want to stand firm in faith but I know I can’t do it alone so your prayers are very much appreciated.

Thank you.

How growing in Christ is not about straining harder but surrendering fiercer

The growth in a Christian life is not about straining harder, but surrendering fiercer. When self is sacrificed at the altar of pride and works-righteousness — and other motivations that are not God pleasing — the Holy Spirit builds, strengthens, and inspires us to break free from comfort zones and serve God in ways we can never have imagined.

Dave Malnes's avatarWITNESS WELL

When God said, “Let there be light,” there was light.

When God said, “Let there be dry ground,” there was dry ground.

God’s Word created reality.

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