Cool is the word we use when we are amazed with awesome things like gadgets, movies, songs, hip people, etc.
God created heaven and earth. All things come from Him. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He created Adam from dust and Eve from Adam’s rib. Ain’t that cool? Do you remember the parting of the Red sea to save the people of Israel? How about the manna that fell from heaven? Have you ever wanted to be inside Noah’s Ark? How about water turned into wine and blind men were able to see? And how about Lazarus rising from the dead? God gave His only begotten Son to save us sinners. Ain’t that the coolest? And please read the Revelation about Jesus’ second coming and you will know how cool it is. Those are some of the coolness of God’s love. It is so cool that words are not enough to describe it. His wrath is to be feared, yes, but with His immense love for us He gives mercy.
Nowadays, it is much easier for me to find bible scriptures through an online bible. Biblegateway.com is very helpful in finding a scripture about a specific topic. This online bible has a lot of cool features like "Passage Lookup" where you can just type the bible verse you want to find and you will get the bible passage of that verse. When you want to find the bible verse or a scripture about a specific topic , you can use the "Keyword Search" where you can just type the specific words of the topics you want. You can also choose from different Bible languages and Bible versions. These are some of my favorite features of this online Bible. So, for you out there who’s infront of the computer almost 24/7, there will be no more reason for you not to open the Bible. God has cool ways of reaching us. So, visit Him always because He is always online.
Psalm 77:11, 12 I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.
If one will be asked to list down all the problems or troubles that he/she has, we can expect a really long list. But when asked to list down all the blessings that he/she has, well, we can expect a short list and a longer time to finish that list. Most of the time, we focus on the things that we don’t have and the bad things that are happening in our lives and forget to be thankful for all the good things that we have. When we pray we always ask God for something and forget to be thankful for all His blessings. We forget that a long time ago, Jesus died on the cross to save us. We forget that God sacrificed His only begotten Son for us to have eternal life. Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. We should always be thankful for everything that we have even for all the problems that we have. For every problems, greater blessings are always in us. So, always be thankful and always remember the Love of God for you and for me.
Matthew 26:36
36Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." 39And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." 40And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41"Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." 42He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done." 43Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45Then He came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46"Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!"
Jesus knew that He will suffer alot after the betrayal of Judas. He grieved and was distressed. Actually, He prayed and pleaded to God "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me"… but he continued with full submission and trust by saying "yet not as I will, but as You will". So when we have problems and we feel like giving up, we should remember the distressing experience that Jesus faced on the night of his betrayal and the faith and submission to God He showed. We must trust Him that everything will be ok and that His will be done and not ours. God loves us and He will never leave us. So, have faith and never give up.
Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
An interviewee told to the actor who portrayed Jesus in the movie "The Passion of the Christ" that many viewers couldn’t look at the whipping scene because it was too bloody. He said that the real reason was not because of that but because the viewers were seeing their sins. It was really true for me. Every whips at him made me realize that they were all my sins. Jesus suffered to save us. He suffered a lot, was crushed, whipped, mocked, punished, etc. for our sins to cleanse us and for us to have eternal life. Jesus is our hope to be redeemed. He is our only salvation. It reminded me of this verse John 3:17 “For God did not send His son to condemn the world but to save the world through Him”. How great is His love for us. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16 So, rejoice, repent and believe in Him. Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
“Lord God thank you for your son Jesus Christ, for sacrificing Him for my sins. Thank you for your immense love for me. And thank you Lord Jesus for dying on the cross to save me. Forgive me for all my sins. Help me to be more like you and to be more pleasing to you. May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen me on following you. I’m not worthy of your love but I’m so thankful that you love me so. I love you and I pray all of these in Jesus name. Amen."
Habakkuk 3:19 The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. We are weak, we stumble easily but if we make God our strength we will never stumble. We can get up everytime we fall, we can go on even if it may seem impossible. All we have to do is have faith in Him and believe we can do anything through Him. Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. We hear this line from our loveones or friends "I will be ok because I know you are always there for me". So, why don’t we also tell this to God? Make Him our strength and everything will never be the same. Joy will be ours always. Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
Ephesians 5:18 - Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
When people get drunk the power of wine or liquor controlled them and they do stupid things…immoral things. But what about being filled with the Holy Spirit? Acts 1:8 - 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." Ephesians 5:22-23- 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control… Being filled with the Holy Spirit leads to Christ-likeness. The power of the Holy Spirit transforms us. When we want to change and we rely on ourselves, we got frustrated because we couldn’t do it. But if we rely on the power of the Holy Spirit , we’ll be surprised how we become a new person… a better person. We give up things that we couldn’t let go of. We have joy in everything even when we are at our lowest. Super COOL indeed. Galatians 2:20 20"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. So, being filled with the Holy Spirit is letting Jesus to take control of our lives…living by faith in Him.
James5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
Do you have any problems? Are you feeling lost? Do you need someone to talk to? Do you feel like giving up? If we have problems most of the time we always seek someone to talk to like our friends. There’s nothing wrong about it. But sometimes there is someone who could help us more who we always forgot. Don’t you observe that even if sometimes we alreay talked to at least 3 people about out problems we still feel heavy inside, as if it didn’t help at all? The Bible tells us what to do when we are in trouble, plain and simple "We should Pray".
HELL
Luke 16:22-24- "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell,where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
Mark 9:47-48 - And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where " ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death."
Matthew 25:30- And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
HEAVEN
Revelation 21:18-27 - The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Revelation 21:4 - He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Now, it’s our choice where we want to be when we die. The Bible clearly states that we all have sinned from God. Rom 3:23- for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So how can we get this God’s gift of eternal life? Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. John 1:12- Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. So, all we have to do is to believe and receive Jesus in our lives will all our minds and hearts.
Now, where is it gonna be HEAVEN or HEll? It’s your choice.
A quote from an email, "Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice." This is really true. We always tend to worry a lot about anything that sometimes leads to paranoia. The scripture tell us from Matthew 6:25-34 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Worrying is stressful and can affect our relationship with others and to God. Sometimes it leads to wrong decisions so as to avoid what we are afraid of what might happen tomorrow. God clearly tell us not to worry about material things and focus ourselves to seek Him. Then if we do, He will bless us more than what we could ever imagine. Psalm 128:2 -"You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours."
"We love Him because He first loved us." —1 John 4:19. ‘Aint this cool? God loves us so much. Most of the times I wonder if I’m worthy of His love. I have so many things to do… many things to change so that I will be pleasing to Him. I know He is always there patiently waiting for me, loving me unconditionally, and helping me to be the person He wants me to be. Sometimes, I want to ask Him "Aren’t you get tired of Me?" but before I can ever tell him that, he has his own way of letting me know that He will never ever leave me … that He loves me and that He is always there to forgive me. Thank you God and I pray that one day I will be more pleasing to you.
At the worship service last Sunday, the Pastor shared a text message from a christian before he died. It goes something like "please pray for the salvation of my family, grandmother, etc….." It struck me because it is my prayer too. Just like him I wanted to reach to my family, shared the gospel but I don’t know how. I was able to bring my parents one time in a worship service when they came here for a vacation. I love them very much and I wanted them to be saved along with the other members of the family. I pray that one day I will be able to bring people to Christ and that I will be a good example to them.
