Good and Evil

What is good? What is evil? What is right? What is wrong?

In today’s world, we are taught at a very young age to differentiate GOOD from BAD – and that’s good ;) These things were not instilled into us by birth but rather through external factors in our society, the education system, our parents and through our experiences.  But who can say what is right and what is wrong? One culture may say its good to eat dog, which I am still very intrigued to give it a shot, while, in another, its like eating your best friend. Who’s to say what is right? To be very honest, its all relative and much is also true in our relationship and obedience to God.

We go back to the very beginning where God commanded:

“And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”” (Genesis 2:16-17)(NIV)

What does this mean? I really don’t think God’s intention was to hide knowledge away from us or to create mindless robots but rather, the tree of good and evil distorts the purest form of relationship with God by setting a stage for us to rely less on God and depend more on what we know.

In many situations, generally, we choose to do things because it is the “right” thing to do and avoid things that are “bad”. We do this because of societal expectations or because of what we’ve been taught or maybe because its based on the people closest to us or simply just because we FEEL it’s the right thing to do. All these things are GOOD but I think it should be much deeper than that and we must search deep within our core self and heed the Holy Spirit. It could be the right thing to leave your current relationship but is this what the Holy Spirit is prompting you? It could be what is expected from me to live the conventional lifestyle but is there an ache somewhere to do greater? The knowledge of good will bring you down as quickly as the knowledge of evil. You may feel good about something but what does your heart really tell you?

Crazy enough, even when you follow the Holy Spirit, it does not always bring you into a “nicer” place. The Holy Spirit even led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted (Matthew 4:1) but there was a purpose. Sometimes listening to the Holy Spirit will be the tougher decision but know that there is a greater divine purpose that’s for us.

I’ve come to this season realizing that everyone is different; we come from different backgrounds, different upbringings, different experiences, different lives and actions from one person may not arrive to the same result for another. We have been uniquely and wonderfully made through the image of God and doing “good” may not necessarily be what God has for us; its doing what our heart is telling us and what the Holy Spirit is leading us towards – this is when we depend more on God and less on what we know and if we truly believe in this, it will change the choices that we make.

I am back!

It has definitely been a long long time... and much has happened. So much that attempting to fit everything into one post will not serve it justice!

One thing for certain is that I am back in Canada - and have been back for a few months already. It has been a time of refining to say the very least. God sure knows how to place me directly into His testing ground and pour down wild fire to reveal the weakest parts of me.

As this is my first post back from a very long time, I choose not to write too much and having this being a random impromptu post, I rather not ramble on either.

However, one thing I will share is that my "new" found interest and love of photography and the arts have captured my heart. I've always been an artistic/creative individual but somehow along the way of chasing expectations, it carelessly dwindled away like something that shouldn't be brought over into adulthood. The thought of rekindling the flame that truly set joy into my very being of creating through imagination and the things around me has sparked - now, what next...?

the storm.

It was a sunny Saturday – a day where Saturday-morning-cartoons have lost it’s novelty but instead, a day that brought a new purpose of restoration. It was a weekend where nothing else occupied my thoughts except for spending and enjoying my hours with fellow brothers and sisters. As the warmth of the sun embraced me, I then cheerfully transferred that energy of excitement into taking ownership of a selected kayak and rushing into the open waters.

With laughter, joy and even insecurities of the sea soon filled the air, you can’t help but feel a sense of healthy competition rising to the occasion to be the first to arrive at “Point B”.

As I travelled amoung friends - some were ahead of me, some were behind me but most comforting of all was that some were right beside me. For the ones with me, we paddled to keep up and to reach that common goal which faired to be attainable yet so far.

Soon enough, as things appeared to be stable, secure and fun, a speedboat made its dreadful appearance and sent gradually horrific shock waves into our path and tossing us into a frantic frenzy. With such an abrupt change, we naturally fought back paddling harder and determined to overcome the waves with all the strength we had in our dwindling arms. To a certain extent, we were able to maintain our course, with the rawness of our manhood and even that, being at stake; but found ourselves quickly battered and tired from the “storm”. With most of my energy drained from the one-sided fight, I had nothing left but to revert to placing my focus on “Point B” and maintaining a steady pace. It was THEN, that I realized, and to my surprise, the journey, even with the beating waves, becoming more tolerable as I didn’t allow the waves to greatly affect me but instead, to embrace it.

It was through this experience that God impressed in my heart that such is life.

Many a times where life gets you down with disappointments, unexpected circumstances and simply times where you just can’t find any good. We, then, naturally allow the “storm” to affect us and want to fight harder, either in the form of worry, anxiety, stress and essentially wanting to take full control of it. Let us not lose focus on what is important… and that is reaching “Point B” – to seek God’s kingdom and grace. Once we truly place our focus on God, He will transform us to be able to understand what He sees is best and not what WE think is best.

This immediately reminded me of when Jesus calmed the storm.

“Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” (Matthew 8:23-26) (NIV)

Faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. As I rested and placed my confidence and focus on “Point B” / towards God, I was able to “stand firm” and brace the storm and it is THEN that we will find peace. Even in the midst of a storm, we will still be able to appreciate the NOW and not stress and lose sight on what God is revealing to us through what is currently happening.

With family and friends, either ahead, behind or with us, let us continue to support one another and journey on together with FAITH that Jesus will supply His perfect plan for us in His perfect timing!

In life, whatever our circumstances are, we can choose to fight our own battles but will soon grow tired and weary. We can only go as far as our strength allows but through God and His limitless power and everlasting love, we can go as far as He allows – and that’s pretty darn FAR! So let us enter God’s rest with a steady stride through the waves of life, continuing to seek His face and allow Him to direct our paths in the midst of any storm – it will come to pass, lets not stress about it! (Easier said than done BUT so much is true.)

A Year To Be Thankful.

2011.

A year to be thankful.

A year of continuous trust.

A year of great faith.

A year of exponential change.

A year of new beginnings.

A year of recovery.

A year of building relationships.

A year of following the peace of God.

It has been an amazing year, to say the least. God has presented me in situations to grow, to be stretched, to lean on Him and to be reminded that He will never leave me nor forsake me.

As things progress into the New Year, I am excited to see the plans He has for me. I am excited to see how I will, again, grow for the glory of the Lord.

2012.

A year of… unexpected expectations with a relying mindset of focusing on God’s grace and love. (confusing?... yeah. basically means i have no clue whats gonna happen in the new year... excites!...)

Goodnight! :)

Philippine Getaway

This is a long overdue video from my time in Philippines last month.

Enjoy! =)

Heart's Desires

Just returned from a much-needed trip to the Philippines.

In the midst of being involved with Church, voluntarily spending time with an NGO and embracing myself into the busy-ness of Hong Kong, time sure can hide away for a bit and appear itself when you least expect it – I now have less than 2 months until my return flight back to Vancouver.

My time spent in the beaches of White Beach, Puerto Galera allowed me to be in the quietness of God. He reminded me to be myself and allow the Holy Spirit to conform in me and not to the expectations of this world. Just like when Paul preached to his brothers and sisters, he did not use clever and persuasive speeches, but rather, he spoke plainly and relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit for wisdom. (1 Cor 2:1-5)

I have never really been a Bible thumper or one who read the Bible that often. Honestly, I didn’t know much about Paul until of late… but even with that, I am still discovering much about this crazy dude who has REALLY placed God’s desires before his own. This takes me to the next verse:

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.” (Psalm 37:4) (NLT)

I believe this is exactly what Paul did. When we delight in the Lord, His desires will then be ours… not the other way around. It is submitting and allowing God to work in us, which is the hardest part, but once that is established, I believe we can truly rest in God and truly have peace.

I would say, I am still a work in progress. 

Ask, Seek and Knock. (A.S.K.)

One evening, I was sitting around and enjoying a copious meal with brothers and sisters of a, recently decided, home church when God spoke to me.

I was delighting my hunger on a bowl of hot soup and a side of steaming rice. As I was going away at my dish, I noticed a plate filled with deep-fried “crispy on the outside, tender and juicy in the inside” pork chops in front of a sister. My eyes were drawn to this plate and consistently caught myself starring and bracing the curiosity of its taste.

As I finished my dish, along with everyone else slowly coming to the same conclusion, my eyes, again, shifted over to the plate of pork chops – which remained untouched! One of the brothers then turned to me and enquired, “Are you going to finish your pork chops?”. I responded, almost immediately and in certainty that it was not mine. After a quick memory jolt, I looked up with amazement and underserving joy and realized that it was, in deed, mine and I had ordered it! The sister, in front of me, gently pushes the plate towards me and says, “Here, enjoy – this has always been yours, all you had to do was ask”.  A few minutes before this, we were discussing that to ask God for things, we must also seek and knock.

If only I had asked my friend from the start if I could try a piece of the pork chop, I would have known that it was already mine and could have enjoyed it from the very beginning (while still HOT!).

God has already given it to us. He has already blessed us. He has already forgiven us of all our sins. He has already taken care of us. He has already provided. All we have to do is to accept it, believe it and receive it.

“…His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue…” (2 Peter 1:3) (NKJV)

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..." (Ephesians 3:20)(NKJV)

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7)(NLT)

If we do not ask, we will not receive. If we do not seek, we will not find. If we do not knock, it will not open.

Some times we may just need a reminder that God has already provided all things through Christ. More often than not, we are more focused on our situation - what we have, what we want, what we see and what we understand – very apparent when I was enjoying my soup and eyeing down the plate of pork chops. It is THEN, that we should turn our focus on God and ASK, SEEK and KNOCK by His word and guidance through trust and faith. It is THEN, we will see His blessings pour down upon us!