Sunday, Sunny Day, Super Day!!

May 17, 2010 pwnickydesu

Yesterday at Church was an AMAZING day!!!!

Not only was the music just wonderful!! The messages, too, were so awesome!!!

11AM – Pastor Paolos –> Protecting Your Heart from Greed!!

We had a guest speaker from Indonesia, Pastor Paolos, and his wife visiting us at JLH!! It was AAAAAAAAWWWWEEESSSOOOMMMMEEE!!! He spoke about protecting our hearts against greed, because it’s kind of like a disease that, once it gets into your heart, will destroy and isolate you – God give us everything so generously and all He asks is that we pass it on!!!

Makes sense right!! If someone did something nice, like maybe baked a cake for your birthday and then, come another friend’s birthday, you decided not to bake a cake, cos you didn’t have the time or money…well, it’s not really paying it forward, is it?

Anyway, the point of Paolos message was very simple: GIVE!!!!

It got me thinking…

We often get so caught up in our lives, thinking, I have no money, I CAN’T give – yesterday, I learned to be very careful before I go making statements like that – I have SO much!! Don’t you??

So…if you have the chance, just GIVE to others!! Remember…giving isn’t only about money – it’s about time, love, prayer…!! We have so many opportunities to do things for others! Reading this, I hope you won’t feel overcome with a sense of guilt about being selfish – no! See it as an exciting and encouraging motivation to start giving to others!! I tell ya, it’s the best high in the world, to selflessly give of yourself!! And God sees and will give back…more than our minds could ever comprehend!!

4PM – Pastor Rod –> Change – Stronger or Weaker?

Pastor Rod spoke about how, in our lives, we are always changing – in our jobs, relationships, and well…in everything!! The question is, in what direction are you moving? Are you getting stronger? Or weaker?

If I’ve learned anything in the few (wonderful) years that I’ve been at JLH, it’s that your DECISIONS are so, so, so, so, so important – they really will change the course of your life!!

Talking from the Bible, Pastor Rod summarised the life stories of two kings of…Judah (or Judea…?). Their names were Saul and, his successor, David. These two guys had a lot in common! They were both strong warriors and both had been chosen by God! Although they both rose to the position of King over the people, they were both from unimportant, obscure backgrounds and both had weaknesses – they were really no different from you or I…ordinary people, given authority to do great things by an extraordinary power!!

Sounds like their two lives were just a repetition of the same story, right?

Wrong!

David went down in history as one of the great heroes of his time – a King who did amazing things and whose legacy left a lasting impact! He was, to sum it up in one word (and pretty much my favorite word), AWESOME!!!

Saul, on the other hand was….kind-of, well, a bit of….a prize fool! He DIDN’T make good decisions and as a result, was a terrible leader in the end. So much so that he was forcibly ejected from his position of King and was replaced by David – he didn’t take it lying down either…he was slightly put out, to say the least – in fact, he tried to kill David! (The Old Testament is full of stories like these – they read like a modern day drama, but teach like the best educator!! Pretty awesome reading really!)

So…what was different, then? How did one King go one way (up and up and up!!) and the other, well…NOT up?

Saul – a man of fear, fearful of men’s opinions, and yet, relying on them to guide him through life – made dum decisions, based on the wisdom of people which…well, can be subjective and at times, NOT wisdom at all!! He was gifted, for sure, but lacked the integrity to apply these gifts in a way that had any impact – his words and actions didn’t often match – and on top of this, when he did screw things up, he then did something that we’ve all been guilty of at some stage (I know I have!!) – he looked for where to put the blame and put it anywhere but where it really belonged – on himself!!

David – he didn’t care what people thought – but there was one opinion that he sought above all else – and that was God’s! When he made a mistake, he went to God and prayed a very simple prayer: “HELP!”

When he did something stupid and things went pear-shaped, he went to GOD and said, “Dad, I messed up. I’m sorry. Can you fix it?” – And god honoured his humility and integrity!

So…who do you think is the best role model for your life? Saul, who got weaker and weaker? Or David, who just grew in strength?
Follow his example to be the best you can be and have the best life EVER!!!

5:30PM – Shinsuke –> Keep It Simple!

The last message of the day was delivered with passion and overflowing excitement, and was remarkably simple – keep your LIFE simple!!

Humans…we have an overwhelming ability to think, analyse, act, and react! And it’s not always good…

How many times have you, facing an issue, a hard time, a problem…reacted by thinking, and then thinking some more…and then some?? Until you have driven yourself half mad, and have reached a point where your thoughts, sub-thoughts and the little trails of thought have led you into a knot of thoughts, anxieties, speculations and fears that are just…crippling?? I know I’ve done that! And the only way I’ve gotten out is to stop and think: “Hey, actually…it’s okay.”

Shinsuke gave us a few bits of advice for how to keep your life simple:

1. Identity your priorities – what’s important to you? Think about these things and put energy into these – think the right thoughts – good thoughts, joyful thoughts, thankful thoughts, HAPPY thoughts, kind thoughts, loving thoughts, giving thoughts!

2. Cut the crap –> take out the stuff that isn’t important and that isn’t going to help you – I don’t think you’ll find a person in the world who could actually, seriously argue that negative thinking has been proven to be productive, helpful, or therapeutic! So…why bother with it? Your mind and heart are too precious to bother with that!

3. Decide to do something – and do it! Don’t decide you want to change and pencil “changing” into your appointment diary for Wednesday next week – do it now and do it quick – a split-second decision is all it takes – following through can be more of a process – but if you try, you’ll actually find it’s easy, effective and, well, better for you then a month at the world’s top health spa! Make over your mind and you won’t regret it!

Finally…there was one analogy that Shinsuke used to talk about having a simple thought life, leading to a simple overall life – be childlike! Doesn’t mean you have to act like one, throwing tantrums or spilling ice-cream down your front…but, THINK like a child – their faith, their purity of heart, their simplicity never fails to amaze me – they take things at face value and never feel the need to over-analyse! Children can make simple decisions and follow through on them. Cliched as it may sound, we can learn a lot from kids!

I had the best day yesterday – it was the kind of beautiful, sunny day that makes you feel light as a feather! And thanks to the awesome messages at JLH yesterday, my heart felt light, free, and liberated! I love Church! It’s so uplifting!!

To hear more of these messages and more, check out http://www.jesuslifehouse.tv/

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