As the 4 years in TK come to a close, I look back.
What do I see?
I see inspiration
By the teachers we hold dear
I see friends
Companions for life,
Some champions and leaders of the future
I see my juniors
Rising up to their potential
To the gifted leaders they will grow into
I see myself
Taking the route of a TKsian -
A route of being inspired,
Leadership and excelling in all that we do
I remember love
I remember the hurt and pain
I recall the pew-ness!
And burning Cu in flame
I remember English lessons;
A three quater empty classroom
And the rest outside of it
I remember summing things up
And differenting curvy lines that make no sense
I remember audi-lessons
Things taught felt ever so dense
For the wonderful MT lessons;
The anger and rage
For punching the door
And leaving a dent permanently till the end of age
The list could go on
But where else would I rather be?
No, none.
Its TK that will always be in me
But all in all
With the picture in place
All that I now see
It was surrounded by His grace
---
Today's message was the continuation of Paul's journey, and it really impacted me.
Firstly, I went to church kinda heavy hearted, since the O's are coming really soon and stuff, but even as we went into a time of worship, the burden felt as if it was taken from my back. I could feel God - something that I haven't got in a long time.
And just like I always tell Samuel Do, things never happen for no rhyme or reason.
Reason? I've not been living right. I've not been behaving right.
And just like that, if there was no other way to say it directly to my face, God speaks through Elder Freddy Boey about "the world", "the flesh" and abit on "the flesh".
Gosh. The week has reflected every single thing in that one message. Lemme break it down for y'all.
The world - the system in which people are in; a world without Christ.
So, this week, alot has been going on about the AHS. I mean, just like how Samuel Yuan has blogged about "Grace" and the issue on Miss Ris Low, I'm really so glad that God has been able to show me that I've gotta love others like He would. Whatever happened to grace? Whatever happened to love?
It's hard to show it, I know, especially towards the people who never fail to be irritating to us. But, WWJD? - What Would Jesus Do? He would love them! Why? Cause everyone; be it an intelligent person, rich, good-looking, etc. Jesus would still take them in for the way they are.
But how can we do this? The point is, we can't. Not by our own strength, but only through the Holy Spirit. By being empowered by Him, I can do anything, including loving those that are may not appeal to us.
So, I really thank God that I was able to cling onto His Word and just remain loving to him. It was hard, definately, and I did feel like being part of the AHS. But thank goodness that I was able to stand firm on my stand that I wouldn't, and do exactly the opposite. I think its also not by coincidence that I sat with him during Geog! Haha! And in the end, it was kinda fun too. :)
See, there are two types of people, each leading to different paths:
1. Tree of Life (Genesis) -> People of Worship(having a relationship with God) -> Abel and Seth
2.Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil -> People of self-worship -> Cain
So we're here at a crossroad; to choose the Knowledge, or Life (A relationship with God). At first sight, sure, knowledge seems like a good thing - With knowledge, you can obtain power, you can obtain wealth, great intellect, the ability to comprehend things of this vast and amazing world. However, it can bring about another thing, that would be destruction. And sadly, most of the time, we see this more than construction.
I think I would always remember this phrase Elder Freddy shared:
If knowledge could solve our problems, then I think the last hundreds of years have shown that it doesn't work.And yes, I totally agree. "Then how can we solve the problems!?" you ask.
The answer is in relationships. All problems can be solved if we take the time to make a proper relationship between people. And our God is the God of relationships.
By remaining in God, we can be able to fight the struggle against our flesh, the sinful desires of the body and continue to be elevated to greater heights through Christ. Christ broke down the barriers that hindered people of different nations, tongues, colour to be in one accord to worship. It is in a Church that you can see the various races coming together to praise God. You see no form of clusters; there is no discrimination of classes of people, there is only a single people coming together in one desire, one objective, that is to lift up His name.
So I'll leave you with a checkpoint question:
Are you gonna be part of the world, or be out of it?
The flesh - our body, our sinful nature
I think like Paul, this is definitely the biggest thing to remain firm against and to resist all temptation. I have definitely failed this week when it comes to giving into the flesh. Included things like lust, vulgarities, anger. It's mega hard to change, that's for sure, but I've learnt a lot through this sermon.
So as stated as above, there are two types of people and the resultant choices. The path for knowledge would lead to death, because no great number of good works or flawless life would ever bring one to the gates of heaven. Unfortunately, those still lead to death.
And we must understand that we have a choice, to resist against the evil/sinful desires of the flesh, by clinging onto God to be our strength, to overcome the burning desires of the body. Just like how in Romans 7:14-20 states, Paul shows that it is the body that separates him from growing or walking with God, because God can only work through a clean and pure vessel. It is also therefore by His grace that we can have the Holy Spirit living in us, and for Jesus' death on the Cross, because now, we are clean!
Thus, there is hope! Although the flesh is us, we can still overcome!
So become overcomers and learn to rely on Him for strength. If you're facing a huge boulder such as vulgarities or lust or whatever big sin like I am currently facing and struggling with, fret not, dont lose heart! Its a process dear friends, really really ask for forgiveness first, thats a really good start. Then thank God for things He has done for you, followed by asking Him for strength to face the day and to change the inside.
Let God be lifted high in our lives from this day forth, forevermore!