Second Chance(s)

Sebagai manusia, tentunya kita tidak pernah luput dari kesalahan, baik yang disengaja maupun yang tak disengaja. Kita sebagai anak-anak Tuhan sudah sepantasnya selalu mencoba membuat Bapa kita tersenyum bangga. Kita berusaha sebaik-baiknya untuk selalu menyenangkan Dia dengan tidak jatuh dalam dosa.

Beberapa minggu terakhir ini, saya menemukan diri saya berjanji pada diri sendiri dan Tuhan bahwa saya ingin menjadi orang yang lebih baik. Saya janji tidak ngegosip di kantor, tidak menjelek-jelekkan orang lain, rajn bangun lebih pagi buat quiet time, tidak memakai uang untuk shopping melainkan untuk charity, selalu bersyukur apapun situasi dan kondisi saya, tidak egois memikirkan diri sendiri, lebih peka terhadap persoalan orang lain, dan pengontrolan diri yang maha dashyat!

Dan manusia memang makhluk yang sungguh menyebalkan, bukan?

Satu hari saya sukses tidak ngegosip, pastinya Tuhan tepuk tangan diatas sana - turut merayakan, turut bergembira, YAY! - only to find out that keesokan harinya, si A dari kantor sebelah bilang, "Ugh! Don't you just hate that annoying lady in accounting?" - yang lantas disambut dengan penuh semangat oleh saya, "Oh dude. Don't get me started on that one!" yang lantas berlanjut menjadi 10 minutes of character assassination.

Tuhan pun menundukkan kepala, bermuram durja.

"I was so good yesterday," saya membatin.
"What happened today?"

Today... is another day, Nit.
Today is another story.

Dengan amat mudah kita bisa terperosok dalam dosa dan dengan malas kita bisa bilang bahwa kita tidak perlu repot-repot keluar dari lubang ini. "Untuk apa? Nantinya pasti saya juga jatuh lagi. Daripada sakit jatuh berulang-ulang, mendingan saya diam dan tinggal disini saja. Bukankah ini hal yang sangat masuk di akal? Kalau sudah berada dalam lubang dosa, bagaimana kita bisa 'jatuh' lagi ke dalam dosa?"

Kita tahu bahwa pengampunan Tuhan baru setiap pagi. Setiap hari kita diberikan kesempatan kedua, untuk redeem ourselves - untuk bangkit lagi, berubah menjadi lebih baik. Mungkin kita berhasil dengan gemilang, mungkin juga kita gagal total. Tapi percayalah, Tuhan tidak melihat berhasil atau tidaknya usaha kita tersebut. Tuhan melihat hati kita, kemauan kita. Apakah kita senantiasa berkeinginan untuk menyenangkan Dia? Apakah kita berusaha dengan seluruh badan, pikiran, dan jiwa kita untuk melakukan kehendakNya? Apakah kita menerima dan menggunakan kasihNya yang selalu baru setiap hari untuk bertumbuh semakin dekat denganNya?

Seberapa sering sih kita manusia memberikan kesempatan kedua terhadap orang yang telah menyakiti kita? Si A pernah bohong, si B tukang maling, si C tukang tipu. Adalah bodoh jika setelah kita mengetahui fakta ini, kita langsung percaya semua perkataan A, meninggalkan B di rumah kita sendirian, dan meminjamkan uang kepada C. Tidak, kita tidak mau lagi disakiti. No second chance for them; absolute NO NO!

Lantas, apa Tuhan bodoh? Apa Tuhan bodoh memberikan kita kesempatan kedua setelah beracap kali kita mengecewakan Dia? (yang, by the way, bukan hanya sekali saja lho... mungkin lebih tepat kalau dibilang Tuhan memberikan kita kesempatan ke lima-belas-milyar kalinya untuk memperbaiki diri).

AnugerahNya baru setiap pagi. Kesempatan kedua itu datang ketika kita membuka mata setiap pagi. Dan Tuhan tidak bodoh memberikan kita kesempatan kedua tersebut walau sudah berulang kali kita mengecewakan Dia. Dia memberikannya karena cintaNya yang teramat besar kepada kita semua.

Bukankah itu pengorbanan yang paling berarti? Cinta tak bersyarat, this thing called "unconditional love"? Yang menjadi alasan mengapa Yesus Kristus mati di kayu salib untuk saya, kamu, dan mereka.

May the Wind Be Always at Your Back

Siung, Sinta, Renny, Chris, Jenny, Hady, Yuli and me completed our 5K Run/3K Walk this morning. It was a moving experience as we saw the numbers the people supporting this program.





In developing countries, 6 million children die each year, mostly from hunger-related causes. You can help give these children hope for a future. Their families are living on less than $1.00 a day. Every $30 raised in donations supports a child for one month with $360 supporting a child for one year.
Our race is over but you can still help fight this hunger battle by donating to:
http://www.firstgiving.com/
and look for Siung, Sinta, Renny, Chris, Jenny and Robert fundraising page.

Thank you for friends that have supported this ministry, thank you all for your generous giving.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (Galatians 6: 9)

Harvest Worship

The worship team at my church, Harvest Bible Chapel, is going to have a worship recording event on June 4, 2008. It will be just like a regular concert, except it is recorded live. Their songs are great, and it is free for us to attend, so.. consider it!

Harvest Live is an interactive concert and worship event at the Elgin Campus on Wednesday night, June 4, 2008. Featuring Harvest worship leaders Andi Rozier, Josh Caterer, Lindsay McCaul, Meredith Andrews, Luke MacDonald, Steve Busch, (HBC Michigan) and Josh Seller (HBC Oakville, Canada). Go online at harvestliveworship.org to learn some of the new songs and for more information.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Necklace

A couple of weeks ago, when we learned about giving back our resources to God, I remember a story I read years ago about a little girl and a necklace. I am not sure who originally wrote the story or where it came from, but I found it online at: http://akpbible.blogspot.com/2004/11/necklace.html.

Here is the story from that blog.
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The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them; a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh mommy, please mommy. Can I have them ? Please mommy, please ?" Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl’s upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That’s almost $2.00. If you really want them, I’ll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday is only week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma." As soon as Jenny got home; she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner; she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday her Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace. Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up.

She wore them everywhere; Sunday school; kindergarten; even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet; they might turn her neck green. Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed; he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny;

"Do you love me?"
"Oh yes daddy. You know that I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh daddy not my pearls. But you can have Princess; the white horse from my collection; the one with pink tail. Remember daddy? The one you gave me. She’s my very favorite."
"That’s okay; Honey; daddy loves you. Good night."
And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later; after the story time, Jenny’s daddy asked again; "Do you love me?"
"Daddy, you know I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh Daddy not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."
"That’s okay. Sleep well. God bless you little one. Daddy loves you."
And as always; he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. As he came close he noticed her chin was trebling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.
"What is it Jenny? What’s the matter?"
Jenny didn’t say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver she finally said; "Here daddy this is for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny’s daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace; and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny. He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.

So it is with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures. Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go off? Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary relationships; habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing ..... God will never take away something without giving you something better in its place.

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God bless!

Giving To God's Work (1 Corinthians 16:1-11) - Arang April 25, 2008

In this letter, Paul reminds us 3 things:

1. v1-4: To be willing to give to the church. The 'church' includes not only our brothers and sisters and Christ, but also the community, people in need.
2. v5-9: We can make plans, but God makes the final decision. We should entrust our plans to God.
   
3. v10-11: To encourage and help young leaders to grow (the example in this passage is Timothy)

What does God ask from us?
We should be willing to give voluntarily and with a cheerful heart; not doing it merely due to feeling obliged or with complaints.
2 Corinthians 9:8 tells us that God will give enough to us to be able to give and help other people.
In Malachi 3:10, God promises us blessings if we bring our tithing to the church.
But remember to not give because we want the blessings, but believe that all our good deeds have eternal value and we will surely gain blessings in heaven.

How should we do it?
Consider putting aside some savings in advance, maybe in the beginning of every week (or every paycheck), for a few reasons:

• To be disciplined
• To not give the "leftover" after we use our income
• Enable us to save more
• To avoid procrastinating

Who should we help?
In Matthew 25:34-36, Jesus tells us that God blesses people who help those who are hungry, thirsty, strangers, need clothings, sick, and in prison.
We should be glad to help anybody in need, either monetarily (by giving monetary donations), physically (by lending a helping hand), spiritually or emotionally (by counseling).

The next time you are in doubt about giving back to God, remember that everything that we own is from God and owned by God. We are God's steward on earth; God trusts us to manage the resources that we have been given. Don't hold on to what you own just at the moment because God might be preparing bigger things for you. As Matthew 25:21 says:

"Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!"

In All Things...

Actually this is not a new post but recently I have been reminded of this verse as I took a reflection of my life.

Romans 8: 28
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

A simple verse at glance, and how I often missed the treasure in that simple verse. As I was seating at church a few sundays ago, once again I was reminded. In all things...all the good things and all the bad things, God works for the good of those who love Him... , who have been called according to His purpose.
As many the congregation are trying to make sense some of pain in their life, the pain from broken relationships, unexpected bad health news, death of the love ones and many other things, we were reminded that God works for the good of those who love Him. Some good will come out of all those pains...but wait, the promise is not for everybody, but God promised it to those who love Him.

For those who are in Before Pain state, a verse like Romans 8:28 is just a theory, just something that has a nice ring to it.
For people that are In Pain state, Romans 8:28 is a lifeline, this is what is going to make you or break you as the rubber hits the road, as your life story is taking a negative turn, as your world has came crashing down. Friends, love God with all your heart and cling to God's promise that some good will come out of it as your lifeline. God has a view from above looking at your life's tapestry and it is being woven seconds by seconds. We are looking at the tapestry from below, noticing the loose threads, the seemingly incomprehensible choice of colors. But God knows best, even with the mistakes that we made, the tragedies that He allows, some good will come out of it.
And, for those who are Recuperating from Pain, this verse is a treasure, as you looked back and saw that Jesus carried you through that storm, saw that you had leaned hard on His love and you saw that there are some good came out of it.

Hang on to this promise my friends and never lose hope. Put you trust in Jesus and know that you are loved.