Mold

There is an encouraging story I found while roaming around on the internet that will remind us of God's love and righteousness.

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The Potter and His Clay

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups.

One day in this beautiful shop they saw a beautiful teacup. They said, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke.

"You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'let me alone,' but he only smiled, 'Not yet'".

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!" I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, "'Not yet.'" Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled, and I knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'

Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better,' I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head, saying, 'Not yet.' Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful."

"I want you to remember, then," he said, "I know it hurt to be rolled and patted, but if I just left you, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life, and if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you."

By: Chelsea Chin
Taken from: http://www.soon.org.uk/stories/storyoct.htm

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Often times in life, we are faced with situations that we sometimes can't even bear thinking about. Let alone undertaking these things; we frequently whine and complain over what is being thrown at us. Whether it'd be involving people, objects, emotions.. we grumble about it. It's only human nature to fuss, but seriously, do we ever look at the brighter side of the matter? Or do we only scrutinize from a one-sided apprehension?

Like this analogy of the potter and his clay, who knew what that teacup had to go through before it turned to be a beautiful piece of work. God often disciplines us in life to prepare us to be strong and teach us how to endure the hardship that we encounter. We get impatient and our minds filled with inquiries of when it's all going to be over or when this pain is coming to an end. Life comprises of different phases. As a baby grows older with time, so our spiritual maturity deepens as our intimacy with the Lord advances. Jesus teaches us to possess the strength he had when he came into this world.

But just because you've been taken to a higher level in your spiritual life, it doesn't mean things will get easier. Believe it or not, everything will become sour; your life will probably turn upside down (and it can be either good or bad). However, this is God's way of disciplining and training his children, simply because of His great love and delight in us. "Because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." ~ Proverbs 3:12

11 layers of Hazel

This is what you call boredom.

Layer One: On the Outside
Name:	: Hazel
Birthday:	: 8th day of the 10th month.
Current Location:	: Canada
Eye Color:	: Brown
Hair Color:	: Black
Righty or Lefty:	: Righty
Zodiac Sign:	: Libra?? I don't believe in astrology.
Layer Two: On the Outside
Your Heritage:	: My parents' genes.
Your Fears:	: Rats
Your Weakness:	: Hmm....... sinning??
Goal:	: Glorifying Him in everything I do.
Layer Three: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Your thoughts first waking up:	: SHOULD BE about HIM :)
Your bedtime:	: Hah.. don't even ask.
Your most missed memory:	: Childhood T_T
Layer Four: Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke:	: Doesn't matter
McDonald or Burger King	: McD's
Single or Group dates:	: Both kinds are nice =)
Adidas or Nike:	: I don't care
Lipton Tea or Nestea:	: Aren't they both similar in taste anyway??
Chocolate or Vanilla:	: Both
Cappuccino or Coffee:	: Coffee!
Layer Five: Do You?
Smoke:	: NO
Have a crush:	: Not currently
Think you've been in love	: Yes
Want to get married:	: Most definitely
Believe in yourself:	: Not exactly in myself.. but in the One who made me ^^. But since He lives in me.. so yes.
Think you're a health freak	: Haha.. absolutely not
Layer Six: In the Past Month
Drank alcohol:	: Nope
Gone to the mall:	: Of course!
Eaten Sushi:	: Yes
Gone skating:	: No
Dyed your hair:	: No.. I haven't had the chance to.
Layer Seven: Have Your Ever?
Played a stripping game:	: Bwahhaha.. nooo
Gotten beaten up:	: Physically, never.. emotionally, all the time. Hahaha.. just kidding.
Changed who you were to fit in:	: Hmm.. I don't think so. Even though I THOUGHT I did, I don't think it really happened.
Layer Eight: Getting Old
Age you're hoping to be married:	: 23-25
Layer Nine: Perfect Mate
Best Eye Color:	: *Sighs*
Best Hair Color:	: Please refer to prev. question
Short or Long Hair:	: ----------//----------
Layer Ten: What were you doing...
1 MINUTE AGO:	: Filling this out
1 HOUR AGO:	: Reading something
1 DAY AGO:	: Staying home
1 YEAR AGO:	: Doing my homework
Layer Eleven: Finish the Sentence
I LOVE:	: Living life
I FEEL:	: Sleepy @_@
I HATE:	: No one =)
I HIDE:	: My acne scars and blemishes =(
I MISS:	: My old friends..
I NEED:	: .. to sleep right now.

#3

I digress - it's amazing how much one's opinions can influence another person's judgments.

You can never understand how I feel; how deep I was hurting; how bad my heart was broken. I can only watch as life unfolds. Sometimes I want to scream it out loud and just spill out the contents of my heart.. but I always realize that would be a selfish action. The world doesn't revolve around me =).

Things come and go. Nonetheless, I strongly believe my entire life has been planned. There hasn't been an accidental incident. God has perfectly mapped out my life, and now I just have to live it for Him. It's these small things that make life even more beautiful.

"It's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward."

Eva Cassidy - Time After Time

Eva Cassidy - Time After Time

Lying in my bed

I hear the clock tick,

And think of you

Turning in circles confusion

Is nothing new

Flashback to warm nights

Almost left behind

Suitcase of memories,

Time after

Sometimes you picture me

I'm walking too far ahead

You're calling to me, I can't hear

What you have said

And you say go slow

I fall behind

The second hand unwinds

If you're lost you can look and you will find me

Time after time

If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting

Time after time

If you fall I will catch you I'll be waiting

Time after time

Time after time

After your picture fades and darkness has

Turned to grey

Watching through windows I’m wondering

If you’re OK

And you say go slow

I fall behind

The drum beats out of time

Our love vs. His Love

Picture source: Google Images

The other day, as I was doing my morning devotions, I was submerged into this unusual state of disclosure. Let's just say God really revealed His love to me. It changed my general perception on love. I had been struggling, striving to love God. It's not that I don't, but I'd always feel bad.. because I knew I'd fail. Spare some time to think about the TRUE meaning of loving God. It's not as easy as saying the cliche 'I love you, Lord' a hundred million times, yet do nothing about it. Going to church, uttering profound words in prayers, singing praises, helping people.. is that it? No. It's not enough. It surely is ironic because the phrase 'I love you, Lord' consistently rings on my lips, yet I'm still such a fool when it comes to love.

I then realized that no matter how hard we try to love God, we can never love Him the way he does us. It occurred to me that there really isn't a point in TRYING to love God, rather, we should just focus on His love for us. That way, we can love him back without trying. I want to take you back and compare two of the most significant people in the bible: Peter and John. Do you remember the conversation between Peter and Jesus before the crucifixion? Jesus asks Peter if he loved him.. 3 times. Here is the dialogue from John 21:15-17 (NIV).

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
¹⁶Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
¹⁷ The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

You know what happens next, right? Peter denies Jesus.. 3 times. He told people he didn't know who Jesus was (Luke 22:57-60).

Conversely, take a look at John and his focus on GOD'S love for him. He considers himself 'the disciple whom Jesus loved'. Moreover, it is in the gospel of John (and his other 3 books in the bible) that we find loads of verses and teachings about love. In fact, the most well-known bible verse is in John 3, verse 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." You see, John did not boast his love for the Lord. He didn't try as hard as Peter to show Jesus his love for him.. instead, he manifested God's love THROUGH himself. Didn't Jesus love ALL of his disciples? Yes, He did. But, out of all the 12 who were with Him, only one of them heartily UNDERSTOOD God's love for him.. and that was John.

The Law in the book of Deuteronomy says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deut. 6:5). This is by far the first and greatest commandment, indeed. But if we were to expand and explicate this verse, we would get more than a billion words to meticulously explain what it means. What does it REALLY mean to love God? I'll leave that for you to ponder on as you deepen your relationship with Him.

We are not perfect. Our love fails. I'm sorry to break it up to you, but that's truth. We don't have the patience to love someone unconditionally.. let alone having eternity to sustain that patience. Think about this: how often do you love God? Reality checks in. Sometimes. Yeah, when he does this.. or when he does that.. or whatever. All the time? Never. Not one of you is able to love God ALL the time. If you say you are, you actually don't because it'll make you a l-i-a-r. We're all sinners and by what we were redeemed? By HIS love. By our love for him? No, but by HIS love and grace FOR us. We weren't required to love God in order to be saved (1 John 4:10). He loved us first (1 John 4:19).

This is what made me feel so guilty. How can a small, unworthy sinner like me be tremendously loved and adored by such an enormous God who created the universe? But, that's the whole point of it. If everybody in the world was righteous, there would be no need for Jesus.

I want to love God.. but not out of my own strength. I want to love him unshakably, but not BY my own power. What I want to do is to just enjoy the love of God which has been revealed to me through Jesus Christ (himself). Does this mean I'll stop loving God? No. I will stop loving God with my OWN might.. but let Him love ME, so that I can love him back with the love He's given me. It's kind of hard to elucidate, but here's a clearer way of saying it: 'you can't give something you don't have.' In other words, if we are not aware of God's love for us, how can we love Him back? It breaks God's heart to see broken promises, lying lips resuming its deeds.. people who constantly say they love him, yet not do it.

One of Jesus's missions on this earth was to set an example for us. He is like a template which we draw from.. the instruction guide to our lives. Each and every single day, we are to be more and more like him in what we do and say. He has showed and given us His genuine love. Now we are invited to love him back with that Love. The bible doesn't say we are constrained to love God, rather it is an open, cordial invitation. When we have come to discern God's love for us, it would be difficult to not do the same for Him. You can't help but to fall deeper and deeper in love with our beautiful Saviour.

I'm not saying we should stop loving God. I'm just reminding us that His love always comes first. He knows we will fail. God sees right through us. That's why we shouldn't be proud and boastful about our love for God.. or we're going to end up like Peter who incontrovertibly broke God's heart into myriad fragments. However, I'm sure Peter was forgiven in the end and is now in heaven with God =). I don't know if this has any relation whatsoever, but Peter's life ended by murder, while John died naturally. Jesus even bestowed his mother upon John before He died on the cross (John 19:26). Wow.. he really was the disciple whom Jesus loved. Or should we say, he was the disciple who TRULY knew Jesus's love.

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them." (1 John 4:16). What is it to love God? To love God is to keep his commandments (1 John 5:3). How do we do it? There's a lot of other references in the bible. One of them is to love your neighbour as you love yourself. (Leviticus 19:18).

It's easy to say we love something/one, but to fully comprehend love, is a very difficult matter. This doesn't end here, though. There are deeper meanings to what we're able to distinguish thus far. I'll end this post with a passage from Paul's letter to the Ephesians:

"... And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." ~ Ephesians 3:17-19

May you be more tactful of God's love for you because there's no other love, greater than the One He has sent for us... Himself.


Love in Him,
Hazel

Never be the same..

"... But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead..." ~ Philippians 3:13

During my devotional time today, I was shown this song:

I will never be the same again,
I can never return, I've closed the door.
I will walk apart, I'll run the race
And I will never be the same again.

I literally broke down into tear bullets as I felt God's powerful and tangible presence, telling me to not be afraid. I surrendered my life to him once more; everything, not just the best, able, mighty, strong part of me, but ALL of it. The weak and meek, helpless child, desperate for the love of the Saviour.. I gave him full permission to take me, use me, and fill me with his unquenchable fire. I'm devoting all there is to ME and I'm not taking it back.

I'm sure there are many people out there who can relate to my situation. Having to undergo a sour past, crammed with countless painful moments and regrets you don't want to recall. We've been to a ditch, where it was dark, muddy and dirty. We've felt so alone in the dead of silence, hearing not a voice but the sound of train moving so rapidly. We were blinded by the luminescence of the world that was stripping us away from our conscience. Making wrong choices, doing the same mistakes, hopeless as someone trying to catch their own shadow.

Compared to the people who really have been there, I can't say that I've experienced an extreme downfall. However, there were times in my life when I doubted God so much and I felt like it was the end of the relationship between me and Him because I thought I've had enough of it. I was on the verge of giving up. I was tired of living different lives, exhausted from having this weight on my shoulders, walking endlessly without a destination. I started to use my own abilities to solve problems and walk the paths I'd chosen for myself. I've had one too many heartbreaks, cried until I ran out of tears, ventured to see if there's even anything more to life. I inherently tried to solve almost all of my problems by myself.

To be completely honest with you, I truly admire people who have fallen in their tracks and eventually find their way back to the Lord. I know it must have taken a great deal of miracles (Psalm 77:14) and hard work to turn them 360 degrees around. It's amazing to see how much these people have changed and how they are changing the lives of others. But you know what else is amazing? They didn't do it alone. God fought the battles for them.

The day I rededicated my entire life to the Lord, I agreed to give him absolute authority to rule over my life. I've made the decision to close the door of the past and leave it all behind; locking the door and throwing the key as far as I could. I've concurred to close my eyes to the things that have passed. I've agreed for God to use me however he wants to - whether it's going to cause little or much pain, I've already made a lifetime commitment to Jesus Christ. He is my present and my future! By this, I mean trusting him with my every problem, believing in the truth that He will not let my feet stumble, for He is the one who carries me, and most importantly, being aware of His intense love for me.

I've decided to keep advancing and anticipate the greater things God has in store for me. His love has brought me to a whole new level and you know what? I'll never be the same again because Jesus has changed my life. Just because I've been a Christian all my life, it doesn't mean that I can't be spiritually renewed. We all need that constant refreshment. But, there are two things God requires of us: to RELEASE the past and be WILLING to be used for His glory.

I'm a renewed soldier of Christ who moves forward and is no longer afraid to be a tool for God's glory. I'm ready to run the race and I'm not backing down. I know, because my God is a God of victory. He's going to fight my battles and conquer my enemies. There's no turning back nor is there giving up. Let us set our vision on the Lord and be prepared to ride on! In the end, I want to be one of the people standing firm, saying:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." ~ 2 Timothy 4:7