Friday, December 24, 2010
{ 11:20 PM }
What is the true meaning of Christmas? We know that it is a public holiday, we also know that it is a day where we exchange presents with each other. However, why do we do that?
The true meaning of Christmas is love. In the bible, John 3:16 says that, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not sent his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." Christmas is the celebration of this incredible act of love.
The real Christmas story is the story of God's becoming a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. Why did He do that? Because He loves us! Why do we need Christmas? Because we needed a Saviour to save us from the wages of sin! Why does God love us? Because God is love himself! We celebrate this day every year because it is out of gratitude for what God has done for us. We remember His birth by giving each other gifts, worshipping Him and being especially conscious of the poor and the less fortunate people.
God gave His only Son to take our punishment for our sins. He paid the full price, and we are free from condemnation when we accept that free gift of love. "But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
Therefore, let us celebrate Christmas with this story in mind, that God has given us the best gift the world could ever get...love.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
{ 2:45 PM }
"What is the point of prayer when God knows the future and is already in control of everything. If we cannot change God's mind, why should we pray?"
For the first reason why we should pray is that it is a form of serving God. God has commanded us to pray. At the same time, Jesus also did pray to God when He is on earth to remain in the Father's will, how much more do we need to pray then?
The second is that God intends prayer to be the means of obtaining His solutions in a number of situations. In this case, we usually pray for major decisions, overcoming demonic barriers, gathering workers for spiritual harvest, to overcome temptations and for strengthening others spiritually,
The third reason is to present our requests in life to God. Our prayers are never in vain, even if we didn't get what we ask for. That is what God has promised us. He will give us what we ask for when we ask for things that are according to His will. When He delays in His answers, He wants us to be diligent and persistent in prayer. Everything will act according to his infinite wisdom and also for our benefits. We should never see prayer as a mean of getting what we want on earth but rather for God's will to be done on earth.
In situations when we do not know God's will, prayer is also a means of discerning His will. We always go off without anything because we didn't ask God for it. It is like the blind man mentioned in the bible, if he didn't called Jesus, he would not have been healed. Same for sharing the gospel, if we do not share, who will respond? Same for prayer, if we did not ask, how can we expect it to be answered?
Prayer helps us to see God's work in others' lives, sometimes in our own lives too. We just need to really lift all our burdens and pains, even joy to Him and let Him use it for the greater purpose on earth.
May we glorify God's name with our lives as we have faith in Him to come to Him often in prayer.
