As Thou Hast Been, Thou Forever And Ever Will Be

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:21-23, ESV)

Great is Thy faithfulness
O God, my Father and King
There is no shadowy presence
to Your promise I cling

Thy changest not
Thy compassions
As Thou hast been
Thou forever and ever will be

It's been a while since that Father's day post that I actually went in here and legitimately posted something. A lot of ups and downs in this journey we call life has happened. Some of which I really praise God for and some of which I find my heart sinking just at the thought of it. But if there's anything that I've been reflecting on of late, that song (despite the screams) and that passage pretty much sums it up.

To be honest, there are days in which I just suddenly feel at my lowest. There are days I let my insecurities get the most of me. Last week, even, there was a day in which I did not feel like waking up at all. Yet again, the mere thought of God's faithfulness to us keeps me going. To know that we love, live for, and serve an almighty God who's ever so faithful and ever so constant just blows my mind up, honestly.

I mean, just wow. To know that we have a God who's on our side even when we feel like He's not there... don't you find that more than encouraging? Now, I don't know where exactly each and everyone who would read this is current at in their journey, but what I just want to get to is simple: we have a God who is faithful. And to me, when there are days in which I look back and question why some things have occurred the way they are, I find it encouraging to know that God has indeed a faithful plan for everything.

He is indeed faithful to us. He is faithful then. He is faithful now. And He will be faithful in the future.

Assurance of Salvation

Last Friday, TPoon and I had the opportunity to visit some brothers and sisters from University of Toronto (St.George Campus) Chinese Christian Fellowship or UTCCF for short. It was definitely an interesting experience. We went through a bible study of Acts 4 and how Peter and John were common and ordinary men who spoke with authority and boldness that can only be found through Christ. During this meeting, the leaders posed a question for all of us;

" What do you fear? What is hold you back from sharing The Gospel?"

For me, it was judgement. I kept it broad because I was coming from different points of view. The first is being judged by others and the second was judging others out of my own sinfulness and hypocrisy.

The leaders gave us time to encourage one another anonymously through little sticky notes. I only received one sticky note compared to everyone else who had two or more. It read;

"I suggest you look up 'assurance of salvation'"

To be honest, I didn't think much of it. But when I finally looked it up. I think God really talked to me through this person.

Check it out:

https://bible.org/seriespage/assurance-salvation

This site explains  assurance versus security, reasons why people lack assurance, the foundations of assurance, and the principles of assurance.

It's a little bit of a long read so grab a mug of tea, find a cozy place, and be encouraged to look at sharing The Gospel in a different light.

Hope this helps,
G

Forgiveness

*Written on November 7th 2012
This Heart of Mine

This heart of mine

Is solely for the divine

Who died for me

Who had set me free

I can see why it’s hard for you to believe

A child born from a virgin

How can that be?

The book tells us that the world will see us as fools

That they will mock the believers and call them tools

So I will guard this heart of mine

And keep it solely for the divine

I’m not saying that you’re wrong

But I’m telling you that I’ll try to be strong

Because you probably won’t see where I draw the line

And your words will chip away at this heart of mine

Instead of seeking revenge

I will love you

For you are my sisters and brothers

Ultimately from the same spiritual father

___________________________________________________________________

I know I'm not the greatest poet out there but I tried. :P

Anyway, on a more serious note, I wanted to rant on forgiveness. Forgiveness is a concept that I personally struggle with. I try my best to carry my cross every single day and try to act lovingly to those who have hurt me (whether they know it or not). I guess a good place to start with is a little background on me. 

I grew up as a Pastor's Kid (PK) and I have always lived under some sort of expectation. I had not only my parents' expectations but the expectations of the congregation, my teachers, my peers, and my brother. I obviously could not meet all of these expectations, and eventually I went into a silent form of rebellion. I thought that fighting back would somehow preserve what little pride and dignity I had but ended up losing self-respect and found a new hatred for myself and the world. Long story short, I was a very angry, lonely, and hurt child.

It was in my first year of university that God began teaching and challenging me to learn how to love whole-heartedly, not act out on my anger, and to truly forgive and let go. 

He first taught me to be obedient and told me to leave an unevenly-yoked and unhealthy relationship I had with a Non-Christian. Don't get me wrong, the guy was practically the guy of my dreams but the one thing he could not do for me was challenge and support me in my fragile faith. There was a lot of hurt that came from that separation and I really had to talk to God and ask Him to give me His strength and love in order to let go, and also for humility to ask for forgiveness from the guy.

The second part of the lesson was to forgive a few brothers and sisters who have unknowingly hurt me. Here, He was teaching me that asking for forgiveness first and acknowledging that you have sinned against the second party before anything really puts you in your place. You have come before them in humility and when you finally forgive them, it's coming out of sincerity instead out of obligation. (This may be different for others, but this is where I am with God.)

The third part of the lesson is still ongoing. To this day, I have a fragile relationship with my family. We disagree on many things and I still have a harder time opening up to them. I have pride and so do they. I think the saying is something along the lines of "The hardest people to love are the ones close to you." And it's true. Your family can't stop being your family. You live with them for most of your life. Their love is the most important love to you in this world (after God's of course). We can hurt each other so easily and have a hard time building the trust again. So, what I'm trying to say is that God is teaching me to really love and forgive intentionally with my family. Whether it's with my father, mother, brother, or extended family. 

I'm not going to lie, my family has made the deepest cuts on my fragile heart. And the only reason why I haven't left this household is by God's grace and mercy. But this is definitely a hard lesson He's putting me through.

But a word of encouragement! 

1.When you forgive and have been forgiven, you definitely have this sense of being renewed. 

2.Our Heavenly Father loves even the hardest people to love. 

3.He is with you every step of the way. He knows how you feel and He will help you only when you ask Him to. 

4.You WILL find peace in Him.

What does the bible say about forgiveness?

Matthew 6:14-15

1 John 1:9

Isaiah 43:25-26

Acts 3:19

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 1:7

Hope this helps,
G