The Lamb Over Me...

"It is because if him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has became for us wisdom from God- that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30)

Being a righteous man in the society's standard would already be a hard thing to do. Being a righteous man would most probably mean that you do not cheat in anything at all, you do not talk bad a bout a person, you are trustworthy, full of integrity and honour. Now,imagine being righteous in God's standard. Wow,that seems like an impossible feat to achieve. How can I claim to be righteous and dare to stand before God blameless?

Well,I've recently got to know this interesting fact from a friend's blog (thank you Clarence..^^) about the word "righteousness" in Chinese. Here is a picture of how it looks like. 

Now now,before all of you who can't read Chinese (this includes me) start scratching your heads in confusion, I'll explain to you all why this particular word is interesting. 

The word "righteousness" in Chinese consists of TWO individual words combined together. The upper part of the word is made up of the word "羊" which means "lamb/sheep" and the lower half of it is the word "我" which means "me". When the two individual words "lamb" and "me" are combined together, it forms the word "righteousness". And since the word "lamb" is above the word "me", I guess the phrase "the Lamb over me" is more than appropriate to describe righteousness. 

Before Jesus came, the people of God cleanse their sins yearly by going to the priest,bringing an offering of lamb,bull,goat,etc. What happens next is that the sins of the person who brought the offering will be transferred to the animal. What's left to be done is for the priest to kill the animal and offer it to God, and the person walks away blameless; righteous in the eyes of God. The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming- not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once and for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder for their sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:1-4)


The imperfect offerings of animals did not take away their sins once and for all, but reminded the people of their sins and made them have a guilty conscience. When Jesus, the PERFECT sacrifice, came and died for us on the cross, we can finally be cleansed ONCE and FOR ALL. Being made RIGHTEOUS before God NOT because of what we've done, but because of what the Lamb has done. 


So,the next time I feel unworthy & ashamed of my sins, I just have to be reminded that I no longer need to feel guilty since the perfect sacrifice has come. Instead, I will remind myself that my righteousness comes from Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God. I just need to remember to bring my Lamb. Because the Lamb over me has done it perfectly once and for all on the cross that day. 


p/s:For those who may have a problem/doubt in the theological soundness of the phrase that I made about no longer needing to feel guilty, it's okay. Feel free to respond & I might even post another post explaining the reason for it. Be blessed. Remember, RIGHTEOUSNESS is the result of the Lamb over us. 

Christmas Is Christmas because...

"What is Christmas to you?" That would most probably be one of the most popular questions to be asked during this time of the year. As a Christian it's almost a default answer that CHRISTMAS isn't about Santa at all, nor is it about the gifts. "It's about Jesus, about remembering His birth. Jesus is the BEST GIFT we will ever receive." Well, at least that is something I would say. I say these without even having to think at all sometimes. What is Christmas to me then??

To me, Christmas would not be complete without Easter. Well, I'm NOT talking about the "festive" seasons here. What I mean is that Jesus' birth will have no significance to me IF He did not DIE for me on the CROSS, on the 3rd day  RESURRECTED and there defeated all my SINS and has taken away all my SHAME, giving me NEW LIFE. There would be no point in celebrating Christmas if all that happened was that Jesus was born and did not die. No point in celebrating Christmas if Jesus died and did not came back to life. It will just be another "remembrance", like the Agong's birthday.

But the answer is that He DID!!! So, Christmas is Christmas to me because Jesus was BORN, Jesus DIED for me, Jesus RESURRECTED and thus Jesus SAVED me. He came all the way just for ME, and for YOU too. 

So, don't just tell the story of Christmas, because it's just about Jesus being born. Instead, tell the story of JESUS CHRIST, because it's about His LIFE, His DEATH, His RESURRECTION and ultimately our SALVATION.

A very BLESSED CHRISTMAS to EACH one of you. I hope you've been blessed by my "long-windedness" all these time, May God bless you all as you move on to another year of exciting adventures with Him. Be blessed =)

When the GAME ends...

Everyone likes games when they're young. If you didn't, then I guess I kinda feel sorry for you. HAHA,just joking. I used to love board games. I used to play them all the time with my family. Those were the days...

In a game; whether it's monopoly, scrabble, chess, etc; the point of the game is mostly about who gets the most property, the most points, the upper hand in strategy. I started learning chess in Form 1 & I went for tournaments throughout my secondary school years. One thing that stunned me the most about of my opponents and even myself, was that we were all so absorbed in WINNING; whatever the cost. In a few occasions, I nearly cried just because I lost. What happened when I won? Well, I've won a few medals as well as represented Pahang twice. I've got recognition, glory & pride. I was praised by my school, teachers and friends. 1 month after that, my life was back to normal, as if nothing happened. 

The lesson that I've learned is that WHEN THE GAME ENDS, IT ALL GOES BACK INTO THE BOX. No matter how much pieces I've captured in chess or how many properties I've owned in Monopoly, when the game ends, everything I've won goes back into the box. Of course, I do get some temporary glory & bragging rights; which fades very quickly after that. LIFE in this world is very much like that. EVERYTHING that I've gained in this world; be it MONEY, EDUCATION, ACHIEVEMENTS, or even SOCIAL STATUS; it all fades away after I die. 

Living life in the light of this great TRUTH, changed my perspective of what is TEMPORAL & what is ETERNAL. The salvation of my friends are ETERNAL. So, when I see people, I see eternity ahead of them. That is why the thought of how much they meant to God, made me feel compelled to learn to make everyone in my life matter to me; simply because God LOVES them as much as HE loves ME!! Knowing this, it changed my whole perception of LIFE & what I intend to do with it. I must live my life in the light of ETERNITY.

P.S: Inspired by the Bible study I attend in church, "When the game ENDS, it all goes back in the BOX"- John Ortberg. 

Is There MORE to LIFE Than This??

"Life's too short to be spent on worrying". This statement is very true. Life's too short to be spent worrying everyday about everything. However, I also think that life's too short to be spent NOT KNOWING about ETERNITY. 


We're all born in this world. We eat. We sleep. We study then as we grow up, we'll go into the working world. Some of us get married,grow old, then we'll one day DIE. Is there more to life than this?  We all end up DEAD in the end. Full stop, end of story. Or is it? 


When I start to look of how magnificently this whole universe is made & how marvelous the creation of human beings and the rest of the living creatures here on Earth, I wondered whether there is a MAKER of all these wonderful things. As I searched for the truth, I've concluded that there MUST be a MAKER & a GOD that created all these. This thought came to me NOT when I was a Christian, but when I was a Buddhist (the main reason why I'm no longer a Buddhist now). 


I searched more into this so called "Jesus Christ" at that time & I later on concluded that this is the TRUTH, the WAY & the LIFE (I don't have to explain how I came to that conclusion,at least not now...). The point of all this is when we take time to look at things other than ourselves, and learn to look to the CREATOR of the heaven & earth, we will be able to see that LIFE is much much more than what we are experiencing now in the world. There IS more to LIFE than this!! He has given me ETERNAL LIFE & a REASON for me to live. A reason like none other; that goes beyond this lifetime. 


I can say all I want about how you need Jesus in your lives & how you must believe in Jesus, but that wouldn't make much  a difference. I just ask of you to look at all the things in this world, and ask yourselves"Is there more to life than this?" When you search for God, He will be found by you. The decision is fully yours to make. 


God bless;)

Time's Up!

Teen Scene Fest 2010: Time's Up! just ended!! It was AWESOME!!! Didn't expect as much people to come. The performances were GREAT!! All the hard work for the hand mime paid off. They really did a great job, except for the part where I screwed up=(. It's been a really great time preparing for today. I got to know more of the youth through the practice as well. I still remember I didn't speak much to ppl like Mariana, Katrina, Wern Nee & Alice before the hand mime pratice started. So, I'm really grateful for this opportunity to know them better & encourage them (the best I can, I guess.)

The sketch team did a great job as well! Uncle Stephen Low later spoke after all the performances to wrap everything up. It was really true, what he said. Sometimes we just don't want to believe that it's just that simple to be saved. "Just believe in Jesus Christ & I'll be saved? Come on...It's not as simple as THAT!!" Well, the most MAGNIFICENT thing is that, it IS really that SIMPLE!! Jesus came down from His throne to die for US because He thinks that EACH one of us is WORTH dying for.

So, nothing we do can "save" us other than by calling upon the name of the Lord. I don't know how many people really did accept Christ tonight, but I really pray that they'll make a CHOICE before Time's Up! One thing's for sure, it's that we have planted a "seed" of the gospel in their hearts tonight.

TO GOD BE ALL GLORY!!