Miah Learns to Write

" But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.  Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. "  2 Corinthians 12:9 When Paul addressed the internal struggles and problems that the Corinthians were experiencing particularly the emergence of the "super-apostles" proclaiming a different gospel, he gave many accounts of his and the other apostles' struggles with persecution, imprisonment, and threats on their lives all for the sake of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, doing the work of the Lord, obeying the will of God by the leading of the Holy Spirit, and strengthening the different churches that they have established. Paul also indicated that despite all these problems and difficulties they encountered, it was God who sustained them and delivered them from their troubles. God enabled them to speak boldly and enter foreign lands to preach

" Seek first to understand, then to be understood. " Sean Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens Empathy. This is the word used to describe the idiom "putting yourself in another person's shoes." Many people today have slumped into depression. Many are lonely, discouraged, grumpy, and frustrated because they feel misunderstood by the rest of the world. Teenagers would probably have the feeling that no one understands them or cares for them. I have also found myself in this situation before and I think that is because we lack empathy, not for ourselves but for others. Instead of understanding other people first, we tend to look at our own condition and wallow in self-pity. I believe Sean Covey was correct when he said that we must first seek to understand and then to be understood. Instead of focusing on our own problems, I think it is better to help shift our attention away from ourselves and try to help others with their problems. Galatians 6:2  t

" But we have this treasure in jars of clay  to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." 2 Corinthians 4:7 We are just simple people, ordinary men and women, who surrender our lives to an extraordinary God. Apart from God, we can do nothing. If we look at Jesus' disciples and do a background check on their status, credentials, identity, and place in society, we have to say that they do not amount to anything. Many of them were fishermen, Levi was a tax collector, and Judas Iscariot was the only one among the first twelve disciples of Jesus who had any connection with prominent people. These men had nothing special about them. When Jesus was handed over to Pilate and crucified on the cross, these men, who had been with Him for three years and saw the miracles that He performed and heard the truth that He preached, ran for the hills and hid. John 20:19  mentions that " when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of

During the adolescent stage of a person's life especially when puberty kicks in full blast, certain changes occur not only in the physical body of a teenager but the mind and heart also develops. We become more aware about the capacities of our body and we become curious about the opposite sex so we start to explore about them. There is nothing wrong with learning about yourself, your body, and about others but we have to be careful. It would be best that we learn about these things from our parents first or at least talk about these things with them so that we would know what is right and what is wrong. Hearing their advice or guidance could greatly help us to walk in the right direction. Now the problem these days is that teenagers are becoming so alienated from their parents. Culture and mainstream media has severely affected the mindset of the youth so much that we try to cut ourselves off from our parents as much as we can. Instead, we are allured toward the company

Lately, I have been thinking about the reason why certain people who were once Christians before suddenly fall out from their faith and stop believing. I have also noticed that there are those who did not believe before but because God opened their minds to the truth and revealed Himself to them, they started believing. They were able to understand more about God and how real He is and how much He deeply loves and cares about us. I think this is quite a concern for many Christians nowadays. Perhaps, the reason why certain people turn their backs away from their faith may be in part because of us, the community of believers and in part because of what people expect from being a Christian or living for Jesus. I believe that faith is simply the act of letting go of our worries and fears due to uncertainty, placing our trust and submitting to the will and plan of God for our lives, and obeying God's commands through the leading of the Holy Spirit or as He reveals it through

For sixteen years, I had always thought that I was a Christian because my parents told me that I was a Christian and we wrote a couple of times on paper, so I began to believe that I was truly a Christian. I went to church with my parents every Sunday and I attended Sunday school in the early years. I had prayed each night before I slept and each morning when I woke up. I gave thanks to God before eating. I did all this for sixteen years and found out that the name I wore was, well, merely that - a name. I never really lived and experienced how it was to be a Christian. I never experienced the joy and excitement in serving the Lord. Most of the time, I was hesitant to raise my hands in worship to God because I was afraid of what other people might think of me. I was more interested in defending my faith rather than sharing the gospel. Jesus was with me but He was not dwelling in me. Until God finally opened my eyes to the truth, and I realized that being Christian was not any

I would like to address this post as an encouragement at the least but mostly as a challenge for many Christians out there who desire to experience God more and who want to live their Christian lives beyond the four walls of the church. This may also be considered as a wake-up call or message for all believers to burst out from the closet of ordinary, superficial Christianity and become more active in serving the Lord. I know these words may be tough but I really want to urge all of us to take part in the work of the Lord because it is good and it brings joy to bear fruit for the Lord. It is a great privilege that God has given us to be a channel of His blessing and an instrument to advance His kingdom to the four corners of the earth. I am not a scholar nor do I have any degree in theology but I am passionate for the Lord and I want to share this passion and urge those of us who have been cocooned most of our lives to listen to God's calling and obey it because God has grea

Have you ever had one of those days when you don't feel as excited to pray or to read the Bible? Have you ever felt like the fire in your heart is not as blazing as when you first accepted Jesus Christ into your life? I think that many of us have experienced this happen a few times in our lives. There are moments when we simply long for a fresh new touch from God to give us an extra boost and we want the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts anew with the desire for His presence bringing joy, peace, and excitement in our lives. I think it is in these moments when we need to turn more to God and to really seek Him wholeheartedly. I think that when our cup is dry, we need only to spend more time with God and allow Him to fill our cup once again because He can do it and He will when we ask Him and seek Him. God always has something beautiful for us to experience and enjoy in our everyday lives. As I have said, God is always going to surprise us when we seek and obey Him and when we h

Two weeks ago, I had been exposed to one of the most surreal experiences that I could ever have in my life. I was sent into the mission field to witness for Jesus and to bring the gospel to universities. It has changed me so much and God has taught me so much during the whole trip. My eyes were opened to the reality that many students and young people out there still have not heard about Jesus or have not made the decision to accept Him into their lives but I am grateful to God that by His grace, we were able to share the gospel and many students received Jesus into their lives. God showed Himself to be sovereign and merciful and gracious. He has shown me that He has the power to break barriers and overcome obstacles for us to bring the Word to the different parts of the world. During the week, we also had a day when we reached out to people through the internet and I have learned that all things are possible with God, no matter what medium we use, it is God who touches the hea

The solution to our daily problems in life is prayer. When we have no idea which way to go or when the problem seems too impossible for us to overcome, that is exactly the right moment to pray and ask God for help and direction. Matthew 19:26 says that all things   are possible with God.  If we can think about that for a moment and grasp it in our mind and heart, then we would find relief that no matter what problem whether it be at home, in the office, or at school, God will always be our ever-present help in time of need ( Psalm 46:1 ). God always hears our prayers and He knows the needs of our hearts before we even ask Him but we need to ask Him through prayer because that is how we communicate with God and it expresses our faith and humility toward God. However, you may ask why is it that whenever I ask God something, I seldom get the answers that I am looking for. Well, God is not a genie who grants our every wish. We have no right to command God to do whatever we want

Whenever God brings us to a hostile environment where we feel so out of place and intimidated, we have to believe that God places us there for a reason. We need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's work and just dive into it. I learned from one of my teammates in our mission trip that when God calls us to go somewhere, He has already gone before us and has started doing His work. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, we just need to sense what He wants us to do or where He is leading us. Then with readiness of feet, go where He leads at the very moment He urges us and do not hesitate. Lift your worries and fears to God and let Him work through you. I have learned that the Holy Spirit communicates to our spirit through deep convictions. He brings a certain spiritual desire into hearts or makes us notice a certain individual whom He wants us to share the gospel with or sometimes just to talk to. Then, when we follow His voice, He will grant peace to our hearts and show us the

For the past two weeks, I am grateful and blessed to have been part of a wonderful mission trip with some of the coolest, funniest, and awesome people that I had the pleasure to meet. Most of all, I thank God for giving me an experience of a lifetime, one that has allowed me to see His mighty work firsthand being fulfilled in the lives of students. God has been faithful and continues to work in our lives and I just felt humbled and privileged that God had given me this opportunity to share the gospel to different kinds of people and to see them excited and eager to receive Jesus in their lives. It has been such a spiritual joy ride because I really felt the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit throughout our journey in the mission field. I saw how God broke barriers and how true it is that God always has the best plan even though our plans may have setbacks, His timing is always perfect. Wherever God leads us to go, I have learned that He has already been working and pr

I have heard many times that Christianity is more of a relationship rather than religion. I personally believe that Jesus Christ did not come to the world to establish a religion but He came so that we may have a Savior and mostly so that we can be reconciled with God the Father. Jesus became the way for us to the Father so that we can enjoy a relationship with Him. It is said in the Bible that those who receive Jesus Christ and believe in His name, they have the right to become children of God. So Christianity is really about our relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. In my experience, the relationship we have with Jesus is very personal because He knows the problems that we are going through and He offers us help to overcome those problems. Sometimes, the solution to our problems is something that we have to resolve within ourselves like an attitude that hinders us from spiritual growth and blessings or perhaps it is a person whom God wants us to forgive or to a

Since I have recently gotten interested with watching movies adapted from books which have received critical acclaim, I bought the memoir turned major motion picture which captured the hearts of many and was awarded the Oscar for Best Picture in the 86th Annual Academy Awards, "12 Years a Slave." Written from the point of view of a freeman who was deceived into thinking that he was being offered a promise of a good position and a good amount of cash when, in fact, he was being sold into slavery and taken away from the life that he has built up without the knowledge of his family and friends. I have just started reading the book and I thought that Solomon Northup's view on slavery was interesting even though his perspective was quite normal and ordinary for a human being. To him, it seemed abject and incomprehensible that slavery was accepted and permissible for some and those who uphold it even try to justify it by the law or by religion. I do agree that the thought

Two thousand years ago, an extraordinary person walked on the face of the earth. What's so extraordinary about this person is that He changed the world through love and became the living embodiment of love. Everything He did was out of love for those around Him and for the world. He is love and to this very day, He continues to show His love for those who would receive Him into their lives by making them whole, healing their brokenness, mending their messed up lives and relationships, and giving them a fresh new start. He started a revolution that shook the whole world to its core and turned it around. The impact of that revolution is still being felt today and many people are becoming part of it. Although the revolution that I am speaking about is not one wrought with violence, hatred, and shedding of blood because that person already took that burden upon Himself. He took the shame, the pain, and the misery of the world upon His shoulders and He paid the price for it: He

It feels wonderful to do good to others, to give charity to the needy, to spread the love to our friends and family, and to bring joy into their hearts, but it is quite difficult for many of us to do good to those who do not deserve it like the people who have betrayed us and stabbed us hard in the back or those people who persecuted and cursed us. I tell you, sometimes we are tempted to feel angry or bitter against those people who have wronged and hurt us. In those times, we feel pity on ourselves and we might even rouse others to feel the same way we do against those people. But as Christians, Jesus commands us to do otherwise and instead of seeking vengeance against those who have hurt us, we must repay them with kindness and love. Hatred, grudge, and bitterness are not from God. They are from Satan and these negative feelings become stumbling blocks for many Christians. They become hindrances from experiencing God's blessings and abundance in life. Before I accepte

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