The Ardent Christian is a Contrite Christian.

Is 57:15, James 4:6b & Ps 51:17

Where does God dwell? He dwells in the high and lofty places and He resides in the hearts of the contrite. The ardent christian is but imperfect, he is still as susceptible to falls.

There first be an acknowledgment that something has come between his relationship with God. Then there be an admittance and confession followed by renewed will to turn away from that dividing wedge. Grace is bestowed to those who humble themselves while those who continue to pride themselves with pretension may just find God as their opposition.

We must sometimes come to a point of acknowledgment that we simply cannot save ourselves and that we are desperately in need of God's grace. If we continue to hold to the "God-cant-help-me" attitude then we can surely expect no victory at all for we have reduced who God is. (oh what an insult actually!)

"A dire need leads to a desperate cry. We fail to see how dire the need (in this case, of humility) is and that's why we're not found crying anymore."

Testify To LOVE.

The Ardent Christian Knows that the War has Already Been Won.

John 16:11

The ardent christian knows that the war has already been won and the enemy now stands condemned. Satan stands condemned at the triumph of the cross where the Lamb of God was slain to take the sin of the world away.

So every battle we face now is understood as the work of a sore loser. As he fights these battles and temptations, he never forgets that the war has already been won. Though he may fail sometimes, he knows that nothing will ever change the TRUTH that God is triumphant.

God holds the victory and we are called to be heirs of that victory. Oh that we might shed that defeatist attitude and REJOICE in the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ!

The Ardent Christian is a Dependent Christian.

Psalms 121 & John 15:5

The ardent Christian is a christian that is dependent not on man but God. He goes thru the same circumstances, the same temptations, the same valleys as others go thru. So what makes him different?

He lifts his eyes to the mountains of obstacles ahead and questions himself, "Where shall my help come from?". He knows that his strength will fail him and his own wisdom will fool him, surely his experiences are enough to tell him that. Yet, his heart holds to this knowledge, "my help comes from the Lord my God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth". He knows that his help comes from the One who set him on the very journey itself and the One who allowed him to go thru these very obstacles. So why not trust Him?

As life goes on, he begins to examine and reflect upon his life. He counted the times he was delivered and wondered to himself, surely God is trustworthy so why not trust Him more? And he did. Now, it finally dawned on him that without God he can do nothing, he sees the times he fought with his own strength and lost utterly and he sees the times he trusted and was delivered.

The Ardent Christian.

As i look at the world around me i just cant help but realize it's really really not easy to be a Christian. We are bombarded by so many sensual materials, so many false philosophies, so much wickedness and everything's just shouting out loud, "There is no God!". Well, it has already been said that in the last days all this would happen, so i questioned myself and God, how would i survive and how would i run with EXCELLENCE?

"Be an ardent Christian."

"I'd love to be that and it sounds really cool!"

And then there was this surge of impressions of what an ardent Christian is like as i sat on the bus contemplating. I was so amazed at what the Holy Spirit was laying in my heart but i'm just so lazy to have taken them down in a notebook! (grrr. stupid me) Ha. But i'm gonna take it slowly and continue to see what God is laying in my heart. Oh this is gonna be so exciting! A new devotion series!

Love is Patient

Patient:

(dictionary.com) Bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc. With fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like.

(strong's) to be of long spirit, not to lose heart; to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others; to be mild and slow in avenging; to be long-suffering, slow to anger, slow to punish.

Patience is not just about waiting. Patience also comprises of mercy in view of wrong doings and it's the opposite of anger. So what does it mean by love is patient? I think it is loving in mercy and in tolerance towards mistakes and offenses. It's also about waiting and not rushing into fulfilling emotional demands and needs in a relationship.

For God to love us in patience is for Him to display His mercy upon us. He does not give up on us and continues to draw us back to Him. Ah! So many a times we fail to realize this and chose to run away and hide. (Like Adam and Eve first did.) Mmm i hope that as we grow and mature in Christ there will be less of such tendencies!

Actions.

"That world outside there is not waiting for a new definition of Christianity, it's waiting for a new demonstration of Christianity." - Leonard Ravenhill

I got reminded of this quote today and sure enough God had something for me to do. I spoke to this blind man selling tissue and it was quite an interesting encounter. I asked him questions about how he manage and stuff and we talked about the weather and the recent news as well. He's really friendly! Then i drifted to this question, "Do you think Singaporeans are kind?". His reply was that we're probably more helpful some 10 years ago, but times have changed and people are really busy nowadays (so utterly true, huh).

I was wondering how am i gonna share the gospel with my half-bucket mandarin. Then he popped this question, "What is your religion?" (in mandarin) and i replied, "wo shi ji tu jiao tu!". Guess what? He is too! Hahaha. So we spoke about what fellowship we go to and i found out that he actually wrote songs and sang them. I'm so privilege to be able to hear them thru his mp3 and though i could only make up some parts of the song, i could really feel the love for God in his voice and lyrics.

Turns out, he blessed me more than i could bless him. I could only give him that few dollars and yet from him i learnt so many lessons. The greatest is this, to rejoice in the Lord always, no matter the lack. He is blind, he needs to go for kidney dialysis every other day, he lives alone and barely makes a living, yet he continues to rejoice in His salvation and there was not even a hint of disappointment at all. Praise God! It's so amazing!

Wah really thank God man. Now i've got something to do, i needa find a recording studio! His desire is to record his songs into a CD and send them to other blind people in Singapore and China!

One Life to Live, One Life to Give

Worship retreat was awesome. The theme could be summed up in 1 verse, "So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom." Psalms 90:12. We only have one life to live and what are we doing with it? What are we investing it in? I'm faced with questions that really made me look at my 2+ years of being a Christian and honestly evaluating myself with the search-lights of the Holy Spirit. On top of that, there were also questions about our personalities and giftings (which were really tough!).

Till this point, i honestly still cant answer all of the questions but i guess i'm gonna take it slowly and see what God is speaking. Actually i find all these quite in line with what i'm dealing with right now. I'm contemplating what God really wants me to do with this life that He has given. There's a couple of inclinations and a whole lot of uncertainties. Is it teaching? Is it missions? Is it full-time? Is it to sign on? Or is it back to the (gaming) industry which is so contrary to my new found values?

Ahhh, but thank God for such opportunities (or uncertainties). Ha if God were to show us everything from start to end then where'd be the fun?! I totally agree with Alvin, who liken this to digging for gold. Though it's gonna be tiring and stuff, the outcome is really good (Gold!), to be at the centre of God's will. It really is a molding process and through this our faith is strengthen. So it's a win-win situation!