hunleeong-blog

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Pride, is it Godly?

Do you know any Christians who are proud? Proud of their intellect, their skills, their possesions?

Ask them why are they proud? Is it because feel they gain those themselves, or because they studied so hard to become smart? Could it be because they worked so hard for their skills or possesions? Now I ask, are these things not given by God? Is your mind not given by God? Is your skills not given by God? Are your possessions not given by God?

Therefore why do you hold yourself so high, when it was not yours to begin with, as it was given to you. Therefore instead we should give thanks and praise to the one who gives. The one who gave you all these things before you were formed in the mother's womb. The one who blessed you all these things. Look beyond what you are and look at how loving and gracious our God is instead

[hunleeong-blog]

Growing Faith without Faith

           So last week I was at Penang for Chinese New Year, it was good and all but I didn't professed my faith. Because It was never brought up. I never thought my faith would grow if I never talked to anybody about my faith, but it grew strong this past week. Because on Saturday Night, I told my Brother and Mother I wanted to go to church, and got a lecture about religion. 

            But in that lecture, I learned more of religion in general. That there are some people who go to church without believing in Jesus, and they do that because they saw the joys of people who believe in Jesus, but they themselves don't believe in Him. So they lie to themselves, saying Jesus is real in their minds but their hearts do not believe it. Other things he said were, if people are never broken, then we would not need a church. And as I think about it, it was true. If there was a man who was perfect, he wouldn't need a church. But in this world there is no man who is not broken, not one.

           That's why when he asked me.

           "Would you still go to Church if you learned everything in it?"

           So if I learned every single foundation of God, I learned of what problems affect people and how I could help people. I thought, am I needed in Church?

           "Yes, I would still go." was my reply

           but as he said I was foolish to still go somewhere where I learnt every single thing. Unfortunately, what he did not see was, it was my turn to be the teacher, the helper to others who come to church to know Jesus. He did not see the need to serve, because he did not believe in Jesus. Thus in his mind, I was just spreading lies to people and spreading the problem of religion.

           But that talk, strengthened my faith. Even though, I spoke little of Jesus. My brother was telling me all the reasons people go to church, why people are broken and why religion is for the people of the broken. They all use different books to teach the same story, how to live a morally good life. However, what is morally good? What is good to me, may appear to be chaos to another.

           "Then what different is it that you read a book that was written by a man, Moses, Paul, etc"

           They did not write their words, they wrote what God had implanted into their minds. Through dreams and prophesy.

           "How can you be so sure they were not hallucinating, or believed in their own lies, or wrote lies for their gain?"

           I couldn't, honestly, but because Jesus is real, and he indeed appeared on earth. Jesus quoted the old testament frequently in his life, and if he indeed is the son of God, he has acknowledged the credibility of the old testament.

           "How can you be so sure Jesus is the Son of God?"

           First, was there enough evidence to prove He existed? Yes, there were many scriptures and writings acknowledged Jesus. There were writings who didn't believe in Jesus, showing the credibility as there were many Romans who still saw him as a sorcerer, miracle worker, but not the Messiah. But He indeed existed, and was not a story made up by Christians of that time. 

           "Then if he existed, what makes you so sure he wasn't just another man who was a good teacher"

           Frankly, if Jesus was a moral teacher, he wasn't good at it. For he taught people that the way to heaven was through him, and if he were human, in his death his followers would have lost faith. But then he resurrected and everybody who had followed him believed him once more, because in the 2 days of his absence, there were no Christians.

           Jesus is therefore either, a crazy man or the difficult to comprehend truth, the Son of God.

           I believe he is truly who he says he is.

           The Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God

[hunleeong-blog]

Hidden baggage

           So I just came back from Grace Youth Camp 2017, and a lot was going through my mind. For one, I realized in my life I had a lot of baggage I had to carry. I didn't have a great father. The lack of a fatherly figure in my life, the lack of a personal Father-Son relationship and the hurts I received from my father. All these were secretly held by me my whole life, and I realized this in camp. During day 3 night service, Pastor Rudy was talking about Jesse, David's father, how he did not treat David well. Heck he treated him ruthlessly if anything, but despite of that, David obeyed and honored his father. To do a servant's job tending the sheep, and in the end he trusted God in everything he does, and eventually become a shepherd of man, being one of the greatest kings of Israel.

           This was very encouraging to me ,I will be honest, my father was not great. He was not the best, he was not understanding, and he was absent in most of my life. That’s why I felt God was speaking to me through Pastor Rudy. I went up to the altar call, and in that God has shown me that I was broken. I was broken for a father, I wanted a father that would love me, a father that would hear my cries, a father that sees worth in me. A father that gives unconditional love and encouragement. These were all missing in my life. My early father wasn't in my life to teach me how to love another woman, heck if anything he taught me how to not love someone by divorcing my mother. He didn't teach me worth in character, for he sees worth in the measurements of the world. But I learned through this camp, none of these matter. Because even the best earthly father can never compare to our father in heaven. So I have learned to forgive my father. For no man is perfect, and we are called to forgive others.

           "Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." - Colossians 3:13

           We are called to forgive, and so I forgive my earthly father, and will choose to continue to honor him, love him and serve him. He may not know what this life with God is like, and if anything he will likely be hostile through it. But I believe, that through God, nothing is impossible. That the loving God will appear in his life and bring him to the Lord just as the Lord had done to I. I will continue to love my earthly father, as he is the only earthly father I have, and I will continue to love my Heavenly Father, as he is the one who has truly saved me from this life of mine.

[hunleeong-blog]

Faith. What is Faith to me?

Well, faith is the belief in something that one may not physically see. I started believing in God about Nov 2016, and I gave my heart to God at Feb 2017. Now, I first heard of God since July 2016, so what was I thinking in those 4 months before I accepted Christ as my God?

           Well, how do I know that this is the real deal? Are people seriously just worshiping a God based on a very old book, out of many other books?  How do I know God is real? there are so many religions after all. Are these people all believing in God because of random coincidences and psychological factors, and they claim they were miracles in their lives? When they say “Thank God for the food”, all I can think is you should just eat, since you paid for the food why bother wait to say thanks to an invisible being? Do you pray to God all your worries, because if you don’t, life would be unbearable? Would knowing God is not real be too much of a shattering fact to you, that it is just easier to keep on believing? So, I ask again, Why?

Just why? Why would you do all these things? How can you believe in all these things?

Faith. It is by faith, there is absolutely no other way to put it. To put things in perspective, we all have faith on things, religious or not. We put faith in the scientists, the doctors, the engineers, the historians. We have faith in the historical figures people “claim” to exist in history, then why is Jesus not believed to have existed? While I question how people have faith on Jesus Christ. I myself put a lot of faith on science. Equally, I do not see the process nor the people who did these things, yet I accept them. That is Faith. Therefore, I was a hypocrite myself. While I do not have faith on God, I myself placed faith on science and facts that I was thought of.

And especially when something extraordinary happens, I would always question. “Is this a coincidence? And what are the chances?”. Because if a coincidence is one in a million, 7000 people in this world would claim they witnessed a miracle and nobody would be able to argue with them. It is just too unlikely a coincidence, while ignoring the sample size.

However, as the day ends. God asked me

“If you had to choose, what life would you want to have.”

The choice was obvious - Jesus Christ. Although these questions ring around my head, and some are still unanswered. However, there is no doubt in what I want in my life, it is to know Jesus Christ more. To know that I can serve God dutifully, to be the salt and light to others. To be a vessel to bring God’s word to my friends and family. I myself had struggled with this decision for months. It is not easy to decide to follow up a faith, not with majority of your life believing there is no God. But I thank God, for softening my heart through bad events. Because in my troubled times, I came to know God.

There are many things that I cannot explain in my own life. Like, Why did I accept an invitation to go to Taylors CF camp in the first place? I had no affiliation with Christianity in my life. Why the sudden interest? During camp, what was this tugging feeling I felt, during every worship? I want to believe there is a God, but my mind says there isn’t. I want to really believe there is a loving Father, that loves us all and forgives our sins. But on the third day of camp, I told God

“No Lord, if you are indeed real, please give me more time. Give me another year Lord, then I will make a decision.” I made a prayer that day, to know more. But the Lord is good and has brought me to Him in a much shorter time.

And remember the part about coincidences? I count them subconsciously, and although they could be explained if they happened once in a blue moon. Them happening consistently makes it, amazing. To slowly see my thoughts go “Huh, another coincidence, HMMM okay”. God slowly breaking my walls down to my heart. Now I too want to be a vessel to others. To be the salt and light to others. I will not sit idle in this place, to be another bystander. I want to be an active vessel, active in bringing the word of God to them, active in telling them the love of God.

Luke 15:32 (NKJV)

“It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.”

I was dead, I was living an aimless live, living just for pleasures of my own. Life was meaningless, and had no reason to live. Life was just waves on the ocean, and I rode a boat wherever it took me.

I thank those who took their time and effort to be the salt and light in my lives. Because truly I have never felt more alive ever in my heart. This feeling of happiness, contentment and Joy. It is so amazing, that I wish to share with those who have not yet known the Lord. How can I not share the good news?

But, I am still learning, and there is much to learn. The Bible itself I have not finished, historical evidences of Jesus’s resurrection, wisdom to answer the questions I myself have. If I can’t answer these questions, how am I able to answer those who ask what my faith stands on? I therefore equip myself, so that others may love the Lord, as He has loved us.

[hunleeong-blog]

Is it worth keeping your problems from the world?

I've just had this thought come across my mind, as I was going up an elevator i thought of my stresses, my assignments and my responsibilities. Then I thought, maybe I should message my Mom for comfort, heck i havent message her in a few months. But I also don't want to worry her. So does that mean I should not share my problems and stresses? Does it really help the world? Am i really making them less worried if i dont't tell others my struggles? I dont share my problems because i dont want others to worry. But also thought, I dont think i am doing anybody a favour by not telling them my struggles. So although i have not came to a conclusion yet. I realise sometimes the cost to sharing my problems in my life is much lower than I realise. And it might bring benefit, as weird as it may sound. While others may worry, sometimes people are able to help your problems and your bonds will therefore grow stronger. I got to stop carrying my own burdens, God is always there for me, but sometimes i forget the people God has placed in my life. They are people i can genuinely trust sharing my problems with, but my choice not to, just to spare them the burden might not be as viable as I thought. Maybe they need to hear i have a problem so that they may be able to help and be the light in those days.

To be weak is to be strong, and to be strong is to forgive

#2AMrants