The normal does the unusual

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

So I finished the first book of the summer, "Big God".
If you graciously follow this blod, you've heard many times I quoted from this book or the author Britt Merrick.

In the book, I studied Hebrew 11 aka "The Hall of Faith".
I saw the life of.....
Adel - faith worshipping
Enoch - Faith walking
Noah - Faith Working
Abraham - Faith Willing
Sarah - Faith Waiting
Abraham with Isaac - Faith Well-Tried
Moses - Faith Winning
Rahab - Faith Welcoming
David and the Rest - Faith Warring

One big thing I found throughout this book is that there people are so normal but did great things.
I know Bible records that Noah was drunk, Abraham lied, Moses was afraid. Rahab was prostitute and David committed adultery.
Pastor Britt in epilogue writes
"When you look at the list, you really have no excuses. These are the examples given to us in God's Word. They weren't great people, but they had great faith in a great God. At the critical moments of their lives, they exercised great faith and made the right faith decisions."

What a challenge!!
I always put those people in "the hall of faith", seeing so different from myself.
They were so great, bold and courageous I would think. And I am an ordinary man who might be able to do little for God.
I thought that to be faithful to the "little" was what I need to do.

In the sense, I was wrong.
I can do so much more if I trust and love the Lord more!!
Because they didn't earn faith, faith is a gift from God!!
In Him, I can do any thing!!!

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Ephesians 2:8-10

Glory to God

Am I Willing to Go???

Now the LORD had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,

From your family

And from your father’s house,

To a land that I will show you.

² I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you

And make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

³ I will bless those who bless you,

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

⁴ So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Genesis 12:1-4

So I have read "Big God" half way through and reached the chapter of "Abraham", who is called Father of Faith.

well, if you have read through Genesis, you know that Abraham had made many mistakes. Yes, but isn't it the theme of this book?? "God can use ordinary people like those are written in Hebrew 11, who made horrible mistakes yet lived the life of faith."

This chapter has made huge impact on my life!!!

It is such a joy that I can share this with you. Again thank your for all the faithful readers!!!

As I have shared before that I have thinking about what to do after graduating college.

God has been so faithful; showing me one by one that I need, step by step that I can take,

And God had had this chapter in store for me!!! Now I have seen!!

When God told Abraham to leave the land of Ur and go to the promised land.

But, Abraham was not told where is Canaan was the land God was taking about after he went!!

So, Why Did he GO????

It is so simple, "He trusted God.".

But how do I go??

I found that as I think about what to do after college, I am trying to collect as much information as possible to see what awaits in the path, rather seeking, praying and listening to God.

Well, it does not mean that I don't pray. But it's about priority, I think.

I read books and website that tells me about certain jobs or how to make good decisions on job hunting 2 hours and pray 30 minutes. this isn't cool.

I should read and be on Internet 30 minutes and pray 2 hours, instead!!!

isn't it Martin Luther that said,

"So many things to do today, I've got to spend the first three hours with the Lord!!"

You may have heard this thousands of times. But let me say it again,

It is All About God, Himself Glorified!!

I love God, my heavenly Father. And He is calling me to come, but I don't sometimes because I think I can't see what will happen when I really go to Him.

That's not a faith.

God has been telling me to go to where He wants me to go.

Yes, it is risky. But as Pastor Britt says

"As Christians we need to be willing to take risks according to that reality - risks that bring glory to God and benefit His kingdom, instead of benefiting us."

in Jeremiah 29:11-13

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

So what will happen when I call on Him, pray to Him, search for Him??

I will find the plan!! But what is the "plan"??

It is Jesus Christ!! God is the goal!!

I love how Pastor Britt says, it is convicting but encouraging as well.

"And it's this worldliness that keeps us from on authentic life of faith. Even though we may never act upon it, the inner desire to do wrong is the root from which we need to sever ourselves. To overcome we must fall more in love with Jesus and to see Him more desirable than anything the world has to offer. I've found that we can't force ourselves to be good - and we're not called to. We are called to be transformed by the Holy Spirit through a loving, meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ."

What is interesting is that as I write this post, God is speaking to me to GO!!!

So my challenge is " Am I Willing ?" like Abraham was willing to go and leave his home.

Hopefully, I can share what I believe God has calling me to do soon.

God bless

ps: if you have time, I recommend to go to this link and watch "Abraham, 'Faith,Willing'".

Faith Tested!!

So as many of you know, I have been reading a book called "Big God".
It is written by Britt Merrick, who is a pastor of Reality Carpinteria which is located in Southern California.
I have also been following him on twitter which is product of awesome internet technology God has given to us :)

well, in his book, he was sharing about how he and his family went through a difficult time with his daughter, Daisy's cancer.
And as I was checking my TL on my twitter, I found out that Daisy has beaten her cancer eventually and is going to go to Hawaii with her family.

It brought me such a joy. Because I was praying for her.

But, last week, I found another TL from Pastor Britt saying Daisy's cancer is back.
I couldn't find words to say. It was so shocking, so much!
Then my mind went through how her family is feeling like; just have finished long battle with cancer and celebrated and enjoyed the victory in Hawaii, but out of no where found out the cancer is back again.

I prayed for Daisy and her family.
Would you? here is the webpage you can check out.

I really think we need to grow in faith everyday. But we don't see how much we have grown often. But it is when the test comes that it is revealed how big our faith is.

I really encourage you to watch this video of Pastor Britt' last message.

I was so amazed how his faith is rooted in the Word and Who God is!

He has proven how "Big our God is" through his life.

here is the link for the video.

I personally really loved his saying "When we are broken most, Jesus is beautiful most."

God bless