AFFIRMATION OF ROMANS 8:28

While I was sharing about Romans 8:28, about God is an active working and provider.

I received a good news from my third brother.

You see, while my brother is working on his saving to support his son school expenses, God is also actively working together with him through Reyhan, his son.

He is active! Reyhan, quitely, without informing his parents participate on scholarship program. And God help him to received a full scholarship for his study.

Awesome isn't it.

POW!!

Love,
Kwang

HE IS ACTIVELY WORKING!

Roma 8:28 – Kita tahu sekarang, bahwa Allah turut bekerja dalam segala sesuatu untuk mendatangkan kebaikan bagi mereka yang mengasihi Dia, yaitu bagi mereka yang terpanggil sesuai dengan rencana Allah.

Dalam terjemahan bahasa Inggris NIV, ada dikatakan dibagian footnote sebagai berikut: Romans 8:28 - that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good

Ada beberapa hal yang menarik perhatian saya saat membaca firman ini:

1. KITA TAHU SEKARANG:

a. Kadang dalam kehidupan kita sehari-hari, seringkali kita melakukan kesalahan tanpa disengaja.  Seperti salah membelok ke kiri padahal ingin ke kanan, atau salah membeli bahan masakan, atau bahkan tanpa sengaja memasuki daerah yang dilarang. Dan semua ini sering kali kita lakukan karena kita tidak tahu. Atau kurang pengertian.

b. Tetapi, ayat ini menegaskan kepada kita sebagai anak-anak Tuhan bahwa sebenarnya KITA TAHU, kita mengerti, kita memiliki pengetahuan. 

c. Dan ada kata SEKARANG. Yang menegaskan arti bukan masa lalu dan bukan masa depan. Seringkali kita terbuai dengan kesuksesan masa lalu atau impian masa depan sehingga kita terlupa akan tugas kita di masa sekarang, kita terlupa akan penyertaan Tuhan di masa sekarang. 

d. Setelah kita tahu sekarang, pertanyaan yang timbul mungkin, tahu akan apa?

2. ALLAH TURUT BEKERJA DALAM SEGALA SESUATU:

a. Banyak sekali mujizat di dalam hidup kita. Kalimat ini mengingatkan saya akan semua berkat dan penyertaan Tuhan dalam hidup saya dari sejak kecil sampai sekarang. Kalimat ini seperti berteriak kepada saya akan hal di bawah ini:

• Bahwa Allah bekerja! Allahku bukan Allah yang hanya memerintah. That in all things God works together. Turut bekerja berarti works together – bersama-sama! Ini benar benar luar biasa! Kita tidak pernah sendiri dalam melakukan pekerjaan yang Tuhan berikan. Kita tidak sendiri dalam Project Gedung FGCC! Kita tidak sendiri dalam mengerjaan visi FGCC.
• Bahwa Allah tidak pernah berhenti bekerjasama dengan kita, Ia bukan hanya bekerja sewaktu membentuk dunia (Kitab Kejadian); atau saat dia menjaga keluarga Nuh saja, atau saat Ia mengutus Yesus untuk menyelamatkan dunia. Tetapi sekarang pun Allah masih turut bekerja! Allah kita Allah yang rajin dan kita haruslah juga rajin mengerjakan pekerjaan Tuhan
• Bahwa Allah tidak memilih pekerjaan atau tugas, Allah bekerja dalam Segala Sesuatu. Segala sesuatu ini artinya semua hal: Yang terlihat dan tidak terlihat oleh orang banyak, yang di depan layar maupun di belakang layar, yang berguna bagi orang banyak atau yang terlihat berguna bagi sedikit orang sahaja, yang terlihat baik ataupun buruk di mata manusia, yang dibayar mahal ataupun tidak dibayar (pro-bono), in joy and in suffering  – In everything – God is there with us.

b. Jadi sekarang,

• Kita semakin tahu, kita jelas, kita mengerti, kita dipenuhi informasi dan pengetahuan bahwa,
• Allah kita, adalah Allah yang rajin, bukan Allah yang hanya duduk memerintah, Allah yang bekerjasama dengan kita (God works together),
• Allah kita bekerjasama dengan kita sejak dahulu, sekarang dan di masa depan. Karena Dia berjanji bahwa Dia bekerja dalam segala hal!

3. YANG MENDATANGKAN KEBAIKAN BAGI MEREKA YANG MENGASIHI DIA:

a. You see! Gosh I am excited! Dia belum selesai!

b. Dia bekerja sejak dahulu, sekarang dan di masa depan nanti, untuk apa? Untuk MENDATANGKAN KEBAIKAN. Mendatangkan berarti janji! Dalam setiap perjalanan hidup kita Allah berjanji akan menyertai kita (karena Dia selalu bekerjasama) dan mendatangkan (menyediakan, menjanjikan) kebaikan! I am jumping in Joy!

c. Dia, Allah yang menciptakan bumi dan langit, yang tahu akan jumlah rambut kita, berjanji untuk bekerjasama dengan kita, untuk mendatangkan kebaikan!

d. Allah mana yang seperti Dia! *Drop mike*

Secara pribadi, firman ini menguatkan saya, setiap kali saya membacanya. Perjalanan hidup yang Tuhan ijinkan dalam hidup saya menguatkan saya untuk terus berjalan bersama Tuhan. 

Walau saya pribadi masih jauh dari layak untuk di sebut ‘mereka yang mengasihi Dia’, saya rasakan bahwa ada cinta kepada Tuhan dalam hati saya, walau seringkali saya jatuh ke dalam Dosa.

Mujizat mujizat dalam hidup, seperti masalah keuangan di masa sma, sampai akhirnya bisa hidup cukup dan sederhana, mujizat Constance, mujizat Francis, dan sebagainya, merupakan penggenapan akan firman Tuhan ini.

Bahwa, Dia turut bekerja dalam segala sesuatu untuk mendatangkan kebaikan bagi saya yang sungguh mau berusaha untuk mengasihi Dia lebih lagi, yaitu bagi saya yang terpanggil untuk rencanaNya.  Rencana besar di mana ada janji bahwa Dia kan selalu menyertai dan membantu, menggulungkan lenganNya untuk membantu saya.

What a blessing

Thanks,
Kwang

FROM FAITH TO FAITH

By: Shien Chang

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek - Romans 1:16 ESV

MARK 10: 46-52 - SPEAKS ABOUT JESUS HEALS BLIND BARTIMAEUS:

1. NEVER LOOSE FAITH:

• We can read many people rebuke Bartimaeus when he shouts to Jesus as he is a blind beggar (his status)
• But in chapter 48 Bartimaeus did the opposite
• And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" - Mark 10:48 ESV
• He keep his faith!! 
• This is a strong message to us that we shall never let anyone shuts our believes, our faith.

2. NEVER STOP "SHOUTING"

• "he cried out all the more", not once, not twice but more!! Bartimaeus shouts to Jesus until He heard him and stops to asl for him.
• Keep shouting to God for your faith. For your dream, seek His help and guidance in every aspect of your life.

3. BELIEVE!

• And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight."
  Mark 10:51 ESV
• Bartimaeus believe. He is not asking Jesus if Jesus can or able. Bartimaues believes and ask Jesus to recover his sight.
• Do you? Believe completely that God can and able to recover our sights, recover our illness, our work, our projects, our education, our children, our EVERYTHING!
• "...fully convinced that God is able to do what he had promised" - Romans 4:21 ESV

THE POWER OF GOD THAT JESUS HAS SHOWN IS THE POWER TO: 

1. TO DESTROY THE DEVIL (Romans 16: 20) 

• The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you - Romans 16:20 ESV

2. TO TRANSFORM US (Job 23:10)

• But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold - Job 23:10 ESV

3. TO BE UPLIFTED

• When you kneel before God, He stands up for you. And when He stands up for you, no one can stand againts you.

CHRIST LIKENESS

By: Ps. Eddy Chang

Philippians 3:1-14: ".... I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Most of us enjoy and happy when we received gifts, material gifts. It's nice right? :) indeed it is. Paul shared with us in his letter to the Philippians about a greater gift. He wrote the letter while he was in jail, asking the people to rejoice in Him.

There are other letters that he wrote during his time in jail: Ephesians, Collosians and Philemon. His intention is to:

• Strengthen the people
• Alerting the people from false teaching
• Help the people (us) to know and becoming like Jesus.

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death - Php 3:10 NIV

This is our (the) mission in this world, our obsessions, to becoming like Jesus, we are on the way! Wouldn't it a tragedy to get to the top of the ladder and find out that we put it on a wrong wall?

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals - Zig Ziglar

John 15:5-6 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned"

John 14:26 "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you"

John 15:16 "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you"

"What would Jesus do if He is doing your job?"

VOLUNTEER BASIS

By. Ps. Seno Widjaja 

Why you want to be a "volunteer"? the key is our God have shown His lifestyle to us, a serving lifestyle! He is a volunteer himself.

WILLINGLY:

Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves - Judges 5:2 KJV

My heart is toward the governors of Israel, that offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless ye the Lord  - Judges 5:9 KJV

ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE & GRACE:

Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began - 2 Timothy 1:9 KJV

3 key points or basis of being a Volunteer:

1. APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICE - "PERSPECTIVE"

• Whatever your service is, know that it is good and important. And we shall do it with a grateful heart.
• Build a perspective that whatever we do is for God.

2. LIVE YOUR SERVICE - "ROLE MODEL"

• Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ - 1 Corinthians 11:1 KJV
• "Who is the most impactful person in your life?", it is interesting that each people maybhave different answer: parents, pastor, best friends
• A child may not do what they are asked to do but most of the time, a child will follow what the parents do.
• Our lifestyle, quality of life defines who we are. Whether we like it or not we may be a role model for someone out there.

3. LOVE YOUR SERVICE - "ATTITUDE"

• And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry - 1 Timothy 1:12 KJV
• Your attitude attracts your lattitude
• It is not about what's/who's right or wrong but about the right way to respond to what's/who's wrong.
• Love & Be faithful in our service, whatever we do now is for the benefit and blessing for us in the future. It is proven! 

4. GROW YOUR SERVICE - "EXCELLENCE"

• Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity - 1 Timothy 4:12 KJV
• Continue to grow our service, and not be stop by age nor years of experience. We shall continue to grow, continuous improvement.

5. FOCUS ON YOUR SERVICE - "PRIORITY"

• See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is - Ephesians 5:15‭-‬17 KJV
• When we put priority towards our focus, we will not be slowed down by hiccups in our life.

6. SHARE YOUR SERVICE - "TEAMWORK"

• Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.  And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men - Mark 1:16‭-‬17 KJV
• No man is an island! It is always about team work!
• Jesus is clear about this: he gathered, motivate, equipped and mobilized the disciples.

7. SOURCE OF YOUR SERVICE - "PRAYER"

• And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word - Luke 10:39 KJV
• Martha, without first listening to Jesus, already made herself busy, concern about the work, concern about not able to satisfy or achieve the work. But Jesus reminded us that we always need to start everything, in our service, with prayers (sitting at God's feet)

#Day 249: 06 September 2016, Tuesday

BLESSING

Isaiah 41:10 ESV - Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

I arrived early at the venue. Today is the HR Tech Interactive 2016 forum where I am invited to be one of the panelist for open discussions.

A new experience for me and honestly, I was nervous. I can easily list several reasons on why I am nervous: It is my first time doing it, a lot of great people taking part, which somehow challenge my confident level.

But God is Great!! He always with me through out the event. And I walked through it with gladness.

I firmly said it is not because of my competencies but solely because of His Blessing, His Grace and His favor.

Thank you Jesus for allowing me to take part.

Like my Site Manager wrote to me, "Thank you for bringing our flag out there, bringing DHL IT Services to the outside world to know"

I pray more blessing and trust will be given to me to bring forward my organization to even wider world.

Thank you Jesus for the blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #blessing

#Day 248: 05 September 2016, Monday

OPEN DISCUSSIONS

2 Corinthians 4:2 ESV - But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

A quick one today.

We had an open discussions tonight with important members of our church. We clarified some important points, aligned on ways moving forward and openly share concerns and feedback.

A fruitful discussion driven by strong commitment and love among each other and for the church.

As the verse said "...by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God"

I learned that only by having an open discussions, with a heart full of acceptance then we can bring the best out of everyone and make the best decision together.

Let us always be ready for an open discussions. What a blessing!

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #opendiscussions

#Day 247: 04 September 2016, Sunday

FREEDOM & PRODUCTIVITY

By: Ps. Eddy Chang

Matthew 25: 14-19 - Parable of the Three Servants

TRUE FREEDOM

During the Malaysia Independence day parade show, one of the tv presenter said that Independence is not merely a freedom from physical-slavery but it is also (and I believe is most important) freedom from the mind-slavery.

In Matthew 25, the parable about the three servants, it was not written of what the man wants the servants to do with the talents. This shows the freedom that the man gave to the servants.

For the man with one talent, although he was given the freedom, he did not practice the true freedom. He still live in mind-slavery.

Just like the Israelites after they were delivered out from slavery in Egypt. They spent 40 years in wilderness and unable to reached the promise land. They are not able to reach the true freedom, the victorious life)

As for the other servants, they practice their true freedom and we can see the result!

TRUE FREEDOM DRIVES PRODUCTIVITY

In Matthew 25:21 - His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Indeed, when we live in our true freedom, with God, we can see several feedback:

• Affirmation - "Well done! Good servants"
• Promotion - "ruler over many things, bigger things"
• Celebration - "enter the joy of the Lord"

REFLECTION:

What about us?

Matthew 25:14 NLT “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone".

• We are entrusted with our talents
• We will be asked on how we use the talents

Are we practicing our true freedom? Or are we still living in "slavery", our mind-slavery? Are we productive? (i.e easy to be angry, low self esteem, think highly of ourselves, stagnant on where we are, etc)

Are we F.R.E.S.H? Are we a true servants?

Galatians 5:13 MSG:
It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #Freedom&Productivity

#Day 246: 03 September 2016, Saturday

THROUGH HIS EYES

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."
—John 9:3

There a lots of things in life that may make us asking why it is happening. Especially when things happened not according to our expectation, be it about our job, about our relationship or about anything.

And a lot of time, we make an assumption about it. This not happening because his fault, that not achieved because her fault, and so on.

But I learned about John 9:3, I learned about how Jesus sees things, that everything happened for a reason, a good one, a good reason. Everything happened so that the work of God might be displayed in it.

I want to learn to see the good side of things.
I want to learn to see through His eyes.
What a blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #throughhiseyes

#Day 245: 02 September 2016, Friday

NETWORKING

Matthew 7:12 - "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you...."

One of the session on our 2nd day of facilitation is about Our Network, it touches on the area of reflection on how wide our network is, and who we think we would like to improve our level of networking or improve the relationship.

Some of them were asking "why do we need to build our network, isn't being expert in what we do is enough? People will come and ask us to be in their network"

There is a sense of truth in the argument. But as human, we know that relationship takes two to tango. We cannot always sitting in a passive mode and expect our network widen by itself. We need to take part in building our own network, actually, we need to take responsibility in building our relationship with others.

An african proverbs once said "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others"

It is so true! We can't go far by ourselves. We need others, we need to build our network.

Richard Branson affirmed this with his comments "Succeeding in business is all about making connections"

I guess the same advise can be apply in our community life, professional life and even personal life.

To build a successful community, successful career or successful life is about building our connections, and of course it have to be build on top of a strong integrity and values

So, what are we waiting for?

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #networking

#Day 244: 01 September 2016, Thursday

ABOUT GIVING BACK

‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ - Acts 20:35

A new start of the month and I am about to do my facilitation session again. Giving back as the Facilitator of Knowledge, sharing the importance of the Certified Logistic Professional

Denzel Washington, one of the best actor I know once said "At the end of the day it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It's about what you've given back".

What a powerful message. A really encouraging and motivational message that energize myself to share and give more. More of my time for others, more of my sharing to others.

Indeed, happiness is not from how much we get but how much we give.

So, be a cheerful giver! What a day full of blessing.

#fgccmalaysia #uplifting #aboutgivingback