Activate our FAITH =] !!

Today in my bible class, our tutor mentioned something that may be in a different context but it really struck me. She said "lets ACTIVATE our FAITH !!" (she was saying how we should start praying for divine healing instead of constantly relying on medicines :P..)

But yes, thanks be to God, He had reminded me of other things through this phrase =].. "To activate our faith.."

In a functionality point of view, if we activate our computer for instance then we can do so many things with it... It has always been able to, BUT if we don't activate it and know how to use it then isn't it just simply a box?

YES i feel like this is what I have been doing in the past... Yes I know and have learned so many things, sit through so many sermons, read a bunch of articles, sat for hours with my mentors, chat through problems and find a godly solutions with my friends. BUT did I activate my faith ?

I have let these things become a mere knowledge that I simply enjoy doing. But to activate our faith, we are meant to truly LIVE our faith ! To simply surrender EVERYTHING into His hands.

By faith, we believe that He loves us right ? By faith we believe that He is a good Father and He KNOWS how to give us good gifts right (Matthew 7:11) ?

Then we shall truly truly surrender every single thing into His hands isn't it? and to surrender everything i don't mean just circumstances that is happening to us, it's not just things that we wish to happen, not simply THINGS !!

God has taught me something so wonderful and maybe I was just slow to realize this but YES He wants us to surrender our everything, meaning our mind, body and soul !! and that includes ALL of our emotions !!

How many times do we feel sad, disappointed, happy, excited, angry and just complained about it.. Yes we cast all our anxieties to Him (1 Peter 5:7).. BUT it's not until recently that I started to learn to even surrender my emotions to Him...

I felt pain and hurt and I know nothing good will come out of it and there is no use in talking about this, BUT i still do feel it.. What is there to do I thought ? Do i wanna let these useless feelings continue to dwell within me or do I want it to go away? Why should I let these junk occupies my emotions and just ruins my days and makes me unable to spend my time as effectively? That's when I tried and prayed for Him to just take it all away. I asked my God to just take the pain and the hurt away coz I don't need it. I don't need to be feeling like this and I don't see how this feeling will make me bring glory to Him =]..

AND praise be to my God <3 style="font-style: italic;">(remember tho this is something new to me too, if you see me not doing things as what I have written in my notes its because I am also learning and I simply wrote down what I have been inspired to share.. My notes are there to also remind again of the things that God has taught me and Psalms 118:8 "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man" Always =] !!)


So let's activate our faith guys =] and bring it all back into His hands for He LOVES us SO MUCH !! beyond our understanding, beyond our own comprehension of what Love is for He is capable of doing great things beyond our understanding of what greatness is =D !!

Believe, really BELIEVE that He WILL take care of us only if we will let Him =] ! Believe that He will hold our hands through every trial and as long as we abide in Him, He will turn it for good and amazing things... Believe that if you are facing a storm that something GOOD will happen after it's over.. BELIEVE and EXPECT !!

Don't let the mediocrity of life lowers your standard... Expect BIG things from Him for He is more than able =] !!

John 5:20
"For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all he does. Yes, to your amazement He will show him even greater things than these."

God gave us Jesus, His only Son to die for our sins. How much more will He give us? If we can define good to be good, God's definition of 'good' is BEYOND our BEST description of that very word. HENCE would we not cast away all of our worries then if we let Him to be in control?

Matthew 7:11
"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Activate our Faith !! Let Him truly GUIDE you !! Let Him CARRY your life !! He will take you on an amazing journey. He hears every single one of your prayers... Let him be in control, pretend your whole life is a car then let Him be your DRIVER !! Give Him your keys and just SURRENDER !!

Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see."

We have the power, the promises and the knowledge... START to use it and really LIVE OUT our faith !! Activate our Faith and Be SURE that He will deliver =] !!

Father God help us Lord to seriously activate our faith Lord, for You know all the days of our lives and You are a good shepherd Lord and You will lead us to the green pastures. Let us entrust all of our ways, mind, body, soul, and emotions Lord, help us Lord to bring everything back into Your hands Lord. ALL of it Lord. That nothing may hinders us, weakens us or steals us away from the most perfect life that You have laid out before us Lord. You are amazing God and we NEED You Lord ALWAYS. Add on to our faith and captivate us lord with Your Love =] ! To You be the glory for ever and ever, AMEN...


ps: more on faith illustrated in this blog that i stumbled upon
http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/11/hebrews-1112-good-grace-charlie-brown.html
have a read, its interesting =] !! Enjoy guys, GBU all !

When the storm comes...

How many times do we seek others for help, counselling and comfort in the midst of our troubles? Most of the time? But how many of us actually cry out to God before we seek other ways??

Through my recent trouble God had really rebuked me... I have been a Christian for about a year and a half now... When I received Jesus and became a Christian, YES I have left my old life and YES I have became foreign to the worldly things that I used to enjoy.. BUT I did not realize that I still face my problems and lived just like a pagan... The difference is that yes I prayed more and read the bible more but when I am stuck in a situation that really frustrates me... I found that I still resort to the same things... and that is crying out to my friends, asking why did these things have to happened... and what was wrong in the things I did, etc.. Bottom line is I FAILED to firstly cast ALL my anxieties to Him alone (1 Pet 5:7)... I let Him be my last resort... I have let Him be an option...

And our God is truly amazing.. His love is everlasting and His mercy endures forever.. I had soon re-discovered my true reason for existence.. and that is for Him.. It doesn’t matter how many friends i talked to about my problems or how many solutions they have tried to advice me with.. I never felt content.. It helps but it never felt right.. Until I eventually depended on God and He changed my heart..

Why didn’t I do this sooner I thought? If I had then I wouldn’t have had to waste my time crying over the problem and letting the whole world know what I’m going through.. why did I fail to first of all pour out all my anxieties to My God, to the one who owns my life, to the one who I had said I surrendered my life to?? How can I say I surrendered my life to You oh Lord when a storm had come and I then shout out to the closest person I could get a hold of instead of fully relying on Him that He will protect me..??

I ended up being disappointed, things became messier when I tried to use my own strength.. And as soon as I asked for Him to jump in and take control out of my desperation, He was there.. He was always there for me.. He answered my prayers, He heals my heartaches, He listens and carried me through...

and even though the things that I had to go through was painful, He made me learned a lot from it. He had to take out the thorn to prevent it from seething in and eventually destroying me... It left a wound when He took out that thorn but that wound WILL heal... because He is the Jehovah Rapha, our God the Healer...

We know that in all things He works for the good of those who loves Him (Romans 8:28). And that verse is so true in my life today... doesn’t matter if the things that I had done were sinful that it was not according to His will... Because He will turn that against the enemy and make it become good.. It was like how Jesus was nailed on the cross through denial, betrayal and every other painful and sinful deeds that the people had done to hurt him BUT in turn God had made this His perfect plan... That through His death on the cross, we who believe in Him can be saved... We who are sinners can live and build a relationship with Him through Jesus’ death.

(NOTE: this does not mean that we should sin even more or we can freely sin, because if we know what God had done for us then His love would captivate us and keep us from continuing to sin. Also grace comes with responsibility!!)

Our problems may be big but our God is even BIGGER =] !! Our circumstances may not seem to be good right now but trust in His promises, His Word and His everlasting love for us!!

Matthew 7:11

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Isaiah 55:8-9

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Romans 8:37-39

^“37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

And one thing that I realise, the greater sorrow I had felt, the greater the joy that I will have at the end of it =D!!

Psalm 31:7

"I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul"

Lord let this be my prayers that I may worship you with all of my life. That I will always be faithful and abide in all of your ways... You are my God and my King.. You are the ruler of my life forever and ever... I know that You are always and ALWAYS with me =].. and You are my strength and I love You Lord with all of my heart. Teach me Lord to always trust in all Your ways and make me able to do your will Lord.. Thank you Lord for the works that You have done in my life, in the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

I Will Search (feat. New Breed)
Israel Houghton

How precious how lovely
Are your thoughts oh Lord toward me
How truly amazing
Is the grace that you have shown
Oh majesty I live to see your face

I will search for you
And I will find you
I will find you with all my heart
I will lift my hands to you in worship
And I will worship with all my heart

How gracious relentless
Is the Father's love toward us
Breathtaking the beauty
And the radiance of you
Oh majesty I live to see your face
And be transformed
Into your image

I will search for you
And I will find you
I will find you with all my heart
I will lift my hands to you in worship
And I will worship with all my heart (x 2)

Oh Oh I will worship you with all my heart
Oh Oh I will worshio you with all my heart

More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/i/israel_houghton/#share

The Green Olive Tree

Psalm 52:8

"But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever."

A little background:

To understand this verse, I have been doing a little research since God had revealed to me this verse few hours ago and thus inspired me to make this blog =)...

"To understand this verse might be significant for a person who experiences so much pain, it is necessary to know the characteristics of a green olive tree. This robust tree can live for centuries, even in dry, barren, and rocky places. To harvest the olives in Biblical times, the green olive tree would be beaten with sticks to knock the fruit from its branches. In spite of that, the tree would continue to produce new fruit. The strength of this tree comes from its roots, which go deep into the earth. The green olive tree’s roots are so deep and so strong that they survive even if the trunk is burned or cut down. The roots will send up new shoots, and they will bear fruit. The green olive tree knows how to survive and thrive even in the harshest of environments."
-Kathy Taylor- kathytaylortrigeminalneuralgia.blogspot.com



After I read this, there was a desire within me to have that kind of faith, to have the faith that does not doubt and will root on the LORD and remain fruitful despite all the troubles and pain that we have to go through...

AND that is how I named this blog "The Green Olive Tree" =]...

I'm not much of a writer, but I am only hoping that the outpouring of my heart lead by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration given by God will become a blessing to those who read it.

"To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen:"

Philippians 4:20