SYATP

"O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water." - Psalm 63:1

Today was the national day of prayer at flagpoles in schools all around the world. Praying with other people who believe in God, I was just so encouraged. God really reminded me that he listens to my prayers. Two years ago at Grace Retreat when I went to the prophesy room, they told me that God listens to my prayers. Praying with others reminded me that yes, God does listen to my prayers. I don't know when he will answer them, but he does. It encouraged me to keep going, to keep on praying even though I don't see everything in front of me. When I pray, God listens. Keep praying for big things guys 'cause God's going to do great things, but you have to go after Him. He has amazing plans for you guys, but you have to seek Him. (:

God has also been teaching me about the importance of prayer. If you read the gospel, we see that Jesus prayed in the morning in a solitary place. Before he began his day, he came to God in prayer. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (Mark 1:35). Before Jesus performed miracles such as casting out demons and healing people, he prayed. I believe we receive power and authority through praying and spending time with God. Today a thought came into my head. When things get hard, how do we keep going on? We pray. And we keep praying. Today God reminded me of my junior year. It was impossible for me to get through it by my own strength, but I got through the difficult times by praying. When we spend time in prayer, it may seem like a waste of time because we could be doing something efficient with our time. However prayer is never a waste of time. In fact, I believe it's vital to Christian life. How are we going to know God's plans for us and what he wants to do through us for the day without asking him each day? So I encourage you guys to spend time praying everyday. Set a time in the morning, no matter how long it is and begin your day by spending time with God. As you do, I'll try my best too. (:

By the way, when you ask God for things in prayer, have faith! Believe that it will happen. Expect it to happen. It will if it is God's will.

Guide

Jesus, I say that you are the God who guides me through my life. You are the one that guides me through each day, test, season I encounter in life.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (Psalm 23).

You will guide me as I take my physics test tomorrow, as I write my college essays, as I apply to colleges, and just throughout the whole year. I thank you that you have the best plans for my future, a vision for my life beyond what I can see right now. I ask that you may reveal your plans for my life now and throughout the year. I know that I do not have to worry about my future because it's safe in your hands. I thank you for the peace you continually give me and I pray against any worries about anything.

I thank you that you are always with me! I ask that you may show me more and more things each day. (:

Everlasting

Last week was spirit week. The tradition at my high school - Eleanor Roosevelt High School is that every Friday of spirit week is class color day. In the fall spirit week, each of the classes get a designated spot in the school and they must decorate it according to the theme given for the year. This year we had Lion King. I stayed after Thursday until six to help out as well. It was the first time for me seeing all kinds of people coming together to work on something together. There were all kinds of people in one room. It was an interesting sight seeing the artistic people, nerdy people, "cool" people, etc. all in one room. I can tell that everyone was working really hard. However the sad thing is that all the decorations have to come down by 8:30 on Friday. So people are working on decorating the hallway for more than a week and in thirty minutes, everything has to come down.

This thought is really sad and it made me think - what am I building my life on? You can work on something so hard all your life but if it's not on a firm foundation, it can be wiped away in the matter of minutes. I don't know about you, but I want to build my life on something that's lasting - everlasting. It would be terrible to work so hard all my life and realize everything I have done is in vain. I want to build things that will last. Then it got me thinking - what will last senior year? All the decorations and memories will last only for so long, but I realized that friendships/relationships will last. I have to build my foundation upon Jesus and love people the way He loves them. Then it will last.

Let's build our lives on something that will last not only for a short time, but forever. (:

Devote time into your friendships that you already have and make the effort to make new friends this year! I want to build genuine friendships that will last.

Exhibit

Hmm, do these pictures look familiar to you? It's a picture of pictures I took. (:

I couldn't get all the pictures into this picture because I only have the 50 mm lens at school today, but I got one of the two. The photography teacher printed these out to put on display for the back to school night.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to have my pictures up. I think it looks cooler when they're printed than when you just see them on the screen. It's different. God is so good!

All the glory goes to Him.

Roman Soldiers

On Sunday Pastor Jacob compared the Christian life to the life of a Roman soldier. Even though I probably heard this analogy several times before this time, it clicked! Before I talk about Roman soldiers, I want to say that I am so thankful I took Latin in high school. Though I often wish I took Spanish because it's spoken in most parts of the world, I'm extremely glad I took Latin. It really helped me learn about the Roman culture and thus, it has helped me understand the Bible times multiple times. Before taking Latin I did not understand who the Romans are and why they were so important during Jesus' time. The Jews were scared of the Romans, especially Caesar, but that meant nothing to me. Anyways, an "Aha!" moment came to me on Sunday when I had my Bible study. When the Bible talked about "legions" before I understood what a legion was, I was like "oh, okay" but after understanding that a legion consisted normally of 5,000 soldiers, it made so much more sense in context. For example in the end of Matthew when Jesus was arrested after Judas betrayed him, he told Peter "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" (Matthew 26:53-54). Before I would have read "twelve legions of angels" and skimmed through it, but then I thought about it. Twelve legions. A legion consists of 5,000 soldiers. Twelve legions of angels is 60,000 angels. Whoa. That shows the authority Jesus has! It also taught me that Jesus chose to die for us on the cross even though it was meant going through excruciating pain. Even though Jesus would be separated from God while he was on the cross bearing the sins of the whole entire world from the beginning and end of time, Jesus chose to obey God in order to fulfill the scriptures so that we can live and have everlasting life.

Continuing about the Roman soldiers, this is an excerpt of the requirements of a Roman soldier in from my Latin book:
"A young soldier should have alert eyes and should hold his head upright. The recruit should be broad- chested with powerful shoulders and brawny arms. His fingers should be long rather than short. He should not be pot-bellied or have a fat bottom. His calves and feet should not be flabby; instead they should be made entirely of tough sinew. The whole well-being of the Roman state depends on the kind of recruits you choose; so you must choose men who are outstanding not only in body but also in mind."

A Roman soldier was held at a high standard. In the same way, as Christians, we are held at a high standard. We need to be fit and ready in order to serve Jesus with everything we have as the Romans soldiers served Rome.

The Roman legions were extremely talented. They were not just soldiers. They were engineers, architects, carpenters, smiths, doctors, clerks, and accountants. After marching twenty miles a day while carrying 90 pounds worth of materials (dagger, shield, food, materials, etc.) they set up camp every evening and every morning they dissembled their whole camp. They left nothing behind. Seeing how diverse and talented the Romans were, it reminds me of the body of Christ. Following the analogy, we are all called to be soldiers for Christ. However we all have different talents. Some of us are engineers, some are architects, some are doctors, some are teachers, and the list continues! As the Romans utilized each person's talents to strengthen the group, I believe each person needs to do their part in the body of Christ to strengthen the group as a whole.

The Romans were highly successful during the time they reigned. They conquered most of the world. In the same way, we are called to be victorious in our lives. But don't be proud as the Romans were. (: Their domain was great, but like everything else in the world, it lasted only for a period of time. However our God's Kingdom reigns forever. Forever is a hard concept to grasp, but yes, God's dominion reigns forever.

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17). Keep sharpening your iron and use your sword to fight for God's Kingdom!

Apple Picking!

Today the youth group girls went apple picking! It was such a beautiful day. It was bright and sunny, but cool due to a slight breezes throughout the day. It was so peaceful - a theme for this year.

Here are some pictures. (:

lessons from the Bible:

• "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." - 1 Corinthians 4:20
• God's kingdom has power. It's time to live knowing that God gives us the power that raised Jesus from the dead. 
• "When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." - Matthew 26:30
• The disciples sung hymns with Jesus! Worship was and is really important.
• "The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. But select capable men from all the people-men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain" - Exodus 18:18-21
• Moses was the man. He was such a good leader and full of wisdom that he spent hours and hours listening to people bring their disputes before him. However when his father-in-law, Jethro, visited, he noticed something. Moses was wearing himself out by spending all his time listening to all these people! Even though Moses was anointed by God, he couldn't do everything all on his own. In the same way, I can't do everything by myself. You can't do everything by yourself. We have to work with other people to be able to accomplish things. If I did do everything by myself I would wear myself out and not everything would be accomplished.
• "In all this, Job did not sin in what he said." - Job 2:10b
• At this time Job lost everything he had - his children, livestock, health, etc. but as it says, he did not sin in what he said. Even through his struggle and pain, he never cursed God. I find that so amazing. Even when God allowed Satan to take away everything Job had, he chose to be loyal to God. This verse also showed me that what comes out of my mouth does matter. It matters a lot. Therefore I need to be careful about what I say to others, to God, and to myself.
• "Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" - Matthew 28:17-20
• "All authority" has been given to Jesus. Jesus is supreme over everything - the winds, the waves, etc. That is so amazing. We have access to the authority that Jesus has. At the same time it places a responsibility on us to go and make disciples of all nations.

These are some things God has been teaching me. (:

"Peace be with you!"

A Beautiful Thing

"Aware of this, Jesus said to them, 'Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me'" (Matthew 26:10).

"Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little" (Luke 47).

Last week I had a Bible study based on Matthew 26:1-16. Though I heard this story so many times, the woman's action still amazes me. "While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table." What was the disciples reaction to this? They thought it was a waste. Perfume and alabaster jars were expensive, worth a year's wages. Yet, this woman came to Jesus' feet and poured everything at his feet. The tradition was to spray just a little bit of perfume when worthy guests came, but this woman poured the whole jar of perfume on Jesus. The perfume could have been the one valuable object she had, something she should have saved for her marriage, but Jesus was worth more than everything to her. How beautiful is that?

In the same way, I want to pour out my life at Jesus' feet no matter how foolish it seems in the world's point of view. The way I live should answer the question - "Who am I living for?" If I am living for men, my actions would please other people but if I am living for God, my concern should be to please Him. Nothing else should matter. I find it so beautiful how the woman loved Jesus so well. I can't completely understand her actions at the moment, but it's amazing to see how she poured out everything she had to him. The second verse on top says "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgive little loves little." Today in Bible study we received books! The book for my class is title "A Love Worth Giving" by Max Lucado that focuses on 1 Corinthians 13. It introduced a new concept to me. Before I love, I need to receive. Often times we hear "love your enemies" and we try. We try on with our ability to love, which is really limited. When we can't do it, we give up. However, we need to receive Jesus' amazing love first and then our hearts, as a response, will eagerly love others.

To continually love, I must continually receive.

I want to be completely satisfied in Jesus and in Jesus alone. It's hard, but I want to be so satisfied that nothing else matters. I want Jesus to be my everything.

Savior

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18)

"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (1 Corinthians 1:25)

"I have told you these things, so that in me you have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

I recently had a dream that keeps coming back to my thought. In my dream, we were at church and there was this man who proclaimed to be Jesus. I'm certain that in this dream, people began to believe Him. I saw people embracing this man, believing with all their heart that he was their proclaimed Savior. Unfortunately, I believed him too (remember, this was a dream!). I also embraced this man, but it didn't feel right. I have no idea why I believed that the man was Jesus in my dream, but I did. But later in the dream, after my friend commented "Of course it's not Jesus! They're just actors." I realized my mistake. Of course he wasn't Jesus! In my dream, I felt sooo sad that I had believed a false prophet. Then I woke up.

This dream reminded me of the warnings that Jesus gave us - "At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect- if that were possible. See I have told you ahead of time" (Matthew 24: 23-25). I believe God was warning me with this dream to be alert so that I can be careful.

This dream really reminded me that Jesus is my only Savior. Nothing else can save me. No human being can save me because we are sinful. 

Jesus is my Savior.

This is comforting because I know that Jesus is wiser and stronger than anything or anyone of this world. As 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, "the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." Jesus already overcame the world. There is victory in his name! No matter the difficulties facing us, know that Jesus is stronger. This world will last only for a while, but remember there is eternity. (:

It's going to be all worth it all.

"Take heart! I have overcome the world."