Month: January 2014

“Do you trust Him?” ——- Journal of reflection 1/26/2014

Last Wednesday, I saw my colleague with a downcast during a meeting. After the meeting, we had a chat and I found out that he was upset about his performance grading. To be honest, I was surprised too in learning his result as I know he led and drove many good achievements for the company. Oftentimes this kind of news is very demoralizing. The next day, I had a chance to talk to another colleague. I was also surprised to find out that he is in the same boat as the other one. This tells me that there is something unusual about to happen. In light of last year’s resource action, the rumor of a similar action may soon be repeated in the local area soars. “How do you deal with this kind of situation?” is a question swirls around my mind.

Coincidentally, we discussed a topic called “The Value of Suffering” during our small group meeting on last Friday. Most of us felt this topic familiar and practical as we all have our share in experiencing difficult situations and hardships during our life journey. The discussion was again centered on the same question, “What are our experiences and how do we deal with such situations?” From the past experiences, we learned that difficult situations may drown a person or upscale one’s faith to a different level. The key to deal with difficult situations is what kind of attitude we have towards the situations.

Someone once said, “Times of trouble are times for trust”. If we choose complaining and grumbling, like Israelites did in the wilderness, it will definitely make our situation even harder to bear – we will be drowned. On the other hand, if we choose to trust in God and wait patiently, then we can face the situation with peace and strength, because He promised us that “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. 但那等候耶和華的,必重新得力。他們必如鷹展翅上騰,他們奔跑卻不困倦,行走卻不疲乏。(Isaiah 40:31)”.  In a similar teaching, Apostle Peter also asked us to cast all our anxiety on our Lord Jesus because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). King David in his psalm 40 also indicated to us his experience of delivery from God. He said, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1) 我曾耐性等候耶和華,他垂聽我的呼求。

Life storms can be detrimental if we don’t know whom to trust. In disciples’ experience of rescue, by Jesus, during troubled storm in the Sea of Galilee, they realize that He is the Lord of Storms (Luke 8:22-25). Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, we have to learn that God may lead us into troubled waters in order to deepen our trust in Him — it is crucial for us to learn to trust our Lord Jesus as the “Lord of All”.  This is the reason why I ask the question, “Do you trust Him?”

Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

“The back pain problem” Journal of Reflection 1/19/2014

Last Sunday when I was in a rush to vacuum my car, I suddenly felt “funny” on my back – I can’t move, because a sharp pain traveled from my lower back up to my right hand. “Uh-oh” I told myself. As painful as it is, I realize that I messed up my back inadvertently. As a result, I have to ask my kids’ help to finish my work.

In the following few days, I have had a hard time to walk and to move around freely. Even the simplest daily task of brushing my teeth and washing my face is too difficult for me to perform because I can’t bend my back without pain. I have to rely on my wife’s help in a lot of things.

Back to my working place days later, my colleagues share with me their similar experiences – “It is always in the middle of careless acts or simple tasks that your back went out”, they said. Apparently, it is a common problem for those who like to be a handyman. 🙂

As we all know, our back is really where our spine is. It supports our body in standing and bending and, to move around freely. Problem in your spine, due to various reasons such as injury, would almost guarantee you to have a miserable life experience. Spine problem, a.k.a. back problem, is commonly seen either around the neck or around the lower back. In fact, the lower back pain is the single leading cause of disability worldwide, according to the Global Burden of Disease 2010. And, one-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year. So, back pain problem is very prevalent.

The seriousness of the back pain problem lets me think of a current problem in the States – expelling Christianity from all aspects of the country. If we consider spine is the support of our human body, Christianity is like the spine of this country because it was established by our founding fathers to serve as a foundation for the country.  When we don’t want the “back support” of the country, the country suffers from the similar “back pain problem” as our body.  It causes a lot of pains to the country – disintegrating marriage and family and shattering economical stability. The cure to this problem is to have a healthy back, i.e., Christian value system.

In this unsettling world, following the crowd is not always a wise and correct decision. When we follow the majority to forsake the Christian value system, we are bounded to have a back pain problem all over our life. To cure the problem, we have to come back to our God. This is the reason Prophet Jeremiah told the Israelites to repent because God promised that, “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding. 你們這背道的兒女阿、回來罷.我要醫治你們背道的病。(Jeremiah 3:22a)”.  It is my prayer that this country can free from the back pain problem – return to the bosom of the loving God again.

Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

“To choose a high quality of life” —– Journal of reflection 1/12/2014

Recently I had a chance to chat with my colleague, in the hallway, about his purchasing experience of a new automobile. He told me that he is tired of his car problems – not only there are so many recalls issued from the automobile manufacturer but also quirks and malfunctions are frequently encountered. “This is used to be a reliable and well recognized automobile that people love to own. But in recently years, its build quality was not there anymore”, sighed by my colleague. For this reason, he decided to retire his old automobile and try his luck on a different automobile manufacturer for his new car purchase.

As we are so depending upon automobiles as our daily transportation, a car problem is oftentimes deemed to be costly, inconvenient and even unacceptable. Without a good quality and reliable automobile, we are bounded to run into frustrations and inconveniences. Besides, they create many unwelcome interruptions and pressures to our life. Ironically, automobile manufacturers frequently risk their reputation in exchange of low manufacturing cost due to the ferocious market competition. This trend, however, is not unique to the automobile industry. It has been in every aspect of our daily life – cheaper technology and industrial bargains in the name of affordability. We may find that we could spend less in owning “similar looking” but “lower quality” products. The question here is this the kind of quality of life that you want? You may say, “So (just like my youngsters always answer us)…., I don’t but I have no choice!”

In one hand, yes, we may have no choice because we are living in this imperfect world. On the other hand, however, there is a choice being given to each one of us. In the letter of Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Philippi, he said, “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far 我正在兩難之間,情願離世與基督同在,因為這是好得無比的 (Philippians 1:23)”. Apparently, the way to have a high quality of life is to be with Jesus. The question is how to make this choice? Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6)”.  The choice we can make is to receive Jesus as our personal savior. Apostle John taught us that when we make this choice, we are immediately entering God’s kingdom as His children (John 1:12).

But, we are still in this world, as a matter of fact. The choice of receiving Christ into our heart, however, would change our status from “IN this world but NOT of this world”.  The Holy Spirit who is dwelling in us would gradually transform our character into more Christlike – our mindset would be changed from focusing less on this world to more on God’s kingdom. Essentially, we will experience a higher quality of life than previous one because we are no longer thinking that we belong to this world.

This choice is yours, my friends. Are you satisfying with this degenerated quality of life or you would like to have a higher quality of life? I think the answer is obvious! May you make this wise choice!

Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

“Keep your promise – New Year Resolution” —– Journal of Reflection 1/6/2014

In the beginning of the year, many of us would make a pledge, which is usually called New Year Resolution, for the sake of improving ourselves from previous year. We may pledge to live a healthier life style than last year, to surf less in the Internet, or to study the whole Bible in a year, etc. All in all, we have the good intention to finish it but before long, we find ourselves slip occasionally, and then become frequently, and finally all the time.  How can we keep our promise, sticking to our New Year resolution, is a good question to ponder.

I once heard an interesting comment from a pastor in a radio broadcast, he commented, “I have never set physical exercise as my New Year resolution. Because, what is the point to have such a resolution that I know I can’t keep it? I think the pastor has a good point – don’t make a promise to yourself that you know you will break it down the road. Implicitly, he points out that we all have our own weakness in flesh. Personally, I think there are two aspects in order to carry out a resolution successfully. One is to know who you truly are and the other is to learn how to persevere on what you have set for. To know who we truly are would give us a right perspective to set our goal correctly. And to achieve our goal successfully, it is imperative to persevere through all the temptations and difficulties that we face without giving up.

In this world, we may have four different roles – the one who we think we are, the one who others think we are, the one who we think the others think we are, and the one who we truly are. Do you know who we truly are? Apostle Paul told us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This is the reason Apostle Paul later sighed, “For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out”.  Realize the fact that we are all sinners leads to the need of seeking deliverance. When we choose to accept Jesus Christ, the deliverer, as our savior, we become the followers of Jesus Christ – Christians.

Someone once said, “A costume is something you put on and pretend that you are what you are wearing. A uniform, on the other hand, reminds you that you are, in fact, what you wear.”  A Christian is, therefore, the one who wears a uniform that is given by Jesus and the uniform should remind us of what we are currently. We are not to pretend to be what we aren’t but to become more and more what we are in Christ. Once we realize this aspect, it should be clear to us that our New Year resolution is to be set for living a life that is pleasing to our Lord.

After the resolution is set correctly, our next step is to carry it out. Charles H. Spurgeon once said, “By perseverance, the snail reached the Ark”.  It tells us that we can achieve our goal as long as we are persistent and persevering through all the difficulties by setting our priority appropriately! If we think God is the most important person in our life, then we should have Him as our first priority over any other things. There may be many obstacles lie in front of our path to our resolution; we just need to have faith and perseverance because our Lord is faithful. As we possess this understanding and keep this view persistently, we can execute our resolution successfully.

My dear brothers and sisters, in this brand new year, may you have a good New Year resolution and may you keep your promise by persevering through it.

Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.