too good to be true

Based off of a devotion plan on the YouVersion Bible app, The Promise of Easter by Our Daily Bread.

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope 

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

- 1 Peter 1:3 -

In His great mercy. There is nothing I could've ever done to deserve love from the Creator, the Almighty, the Lord on high; and yet, He had mercy. It's like a king, who has had his own treasure stolen by thieves, deciding to let them go free, unpunished. It's like a principal, who has had all the school rules broken by a delinquent, giving him a second chance. It's like a mother, who has seen her own son curse her and bring disgrace to the family, and yet, she embraces her son when he comes home with a remorseful heart. There is nothing they could've done to warrant forgiveness, and yet, forgiveness was granted. New beginnings, a living hope, just like salvation through Jesus Christ.

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. 

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

- 1 Peter 1:4 -

What's more amazing is that this second chance, this gift, this wonderful act of undeserved mercy... it's forever. There is no end to it. There is no human, no leader, no power, no spiritual force who can separate us from God's love. It's kept in heaven, a place so safe, where nothing can destroy it. It's a treasure that was passed on to us as an inheritance, because we are declared children of the Father in heaven. He died, so that we could receive our inheritance. 

who through faith are shielded by God’s power 

until the coming of the salvation that is ready 

to be revealed in the last time. 

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while 

you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 

- 1 Peter 1:5-6 -

But it doesn't end there! Jesus is alive and well, enjoying Heaven! How exciting it is to anticipate the long-awaited coming of Christ. The only response is gratitude as we come to realise that God's power protects us from things trying to distract us from God's kingdom, as we look forward to the day Jesus comes again. It really puts all our earthly trials in perspective, as we faithfully keep our salvation dear to our hearts, working it all out for the glory of God.

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith

—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—

may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

- 1 Peter 1:7 -

Wow! Pure, sincere, genuine faith is of greater worth than the most valuable of metals, because there is no material possession worthy to glorify our King. What strikes me the most is that God felt that our faith is much more precious to Him than anything we could ever deem treasure! It is so simple, but not exactly easy. In verse 7, it reminds us that the value of gold will still fade even though it has gone through the perils of fire. I can only imagine what kind of trials we have to face for our faith to be so strong that it is considered more worthy than gold itself. Nevertheless, I love how the testing of our faith results in wonderful things, and that staying faithful will not be in vain. Praise, glory, and honour for Jesus! That's the result of our faith! #whoooaaaa

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, 

you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 

for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

- 1 Peter 1:8-9 -

Ah, I just love how the mere belief in Him can produce an inexpressible joy. That's the kind of joy I want to experience, and that's the kind of joy I find myself being in awe at each and every day. And the result of our faith? Salvation. How could you not celebrate and party and dance, knowing that you've just been pardoned of every single thing you've done wrong? How could you not jump with ecstasy, discovering that just by BELIEVING, your guilt has been washed squeaky clean? How could you not sing your lungs out when you experience that inexpressible feeling of being loved by God?

I am humbled by his never-ending grace. This just spurs me on to live for Christ, live like Christ, and live in Christ! 

in Jesus - a poem

when fears creep up to scare me

and anxiety is a must

i stand unshakable, 'cause

in Jesus I can trust

bound by guilt and worry

doubts as deep as the sea

i know there's One who knows it all

in Jesus I am free

at times I break and weep

my heart can sing no song

i relish in the joy of Christ

in Jesus I am strong

and at the end I am assured

though our shells return to dust

our souls are safe in the arms of God

in Jesus I can trust

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The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
the righteous run to it and are safe.

- Proverbs 18:10 -

hustling culture.

Nine days into the new year, and I'm already swamped with work. If I wrote the previous statement just last week, it should be read in a dead, complaining voice. But as I'm writing it now, excitement fills me.

Just seven days ago I remember my cheeks being damp from the overwhelming expectations that came with this particular semester. Just seven days ago I was on the verge of letting it all go, meeting the most minimal of requirements and craving for a way to quit. And heck, it was only the second day of 2017.

Hustling culture is very real now, in this age of idealistic millennials. Bombarded with messages on facing the grind, on working for your goals, and on visualizing your wanderlust has filled the social media as my peers started to enter university while older friends began to arrive in the workforce. It's all good and inspiring when you're in the get-up-and-go mood, but hustling culture punches you real hard when you're just... not feeling up to it.

It's superficial, I feel. It's all goals and tasks and wins and money and success and dreams. It's so easy to lose sight of what's important, especially as a person who follows Christ. Hustling culture sugarcoats itself in the wonders of working hard for what you want. It presents itself as a solid, foundational purpose on which youths can base their lives on, because it's a win-win situation for everybody. Working hard pleases your boss, gets you a raise, makes your parents proud, and ideally gets you to where you want to be. Friends are envious, siblings beg for your help and seniors praise you for your hustle. It's inspiring and exciting, until you realise that the novelty of achieving a goal satisfies only one person: yourself. Being self-centred is a dangerous (and very likely) problem when hustling.

When you hustle, are you taking time to rest intentionally? When you hustle, are you hustling so that your parents can retire comfortably? When you hustle, did you use your life to appreciate the huge bulk of fees your parents paid for you to study in the UK? When you hustle, did you make sure you are celebrating your friends' successes genuinely? And for my brothers and sisters in Christ, are you hustling with God by your side? Has hustling become more important than the One who saved you?

My first paragraph mentions my excitement. I am excited because having stuff to do is good. Having projects to work on and assignments to complete is good. But above all, I love the fact that it is now more than ever that I feel the genuine concern and love from those around me. It is now more than ever that I'm placing my trust in the One who blessed me with opportunities to study, to serve and to impact society. It is now more than ever that I'm learning to hustle, in a way that pleases my Father.

convicted.

noun

a firmly held opinion or belief

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Conviction is a scary thing. It is also beautiful. I am, of course, speaking of it in the context of my faith. 

I just came home from our church's teens camp, in which I was a facilitator (called 'Handler', in our lingo). Handlers were there to facilitate group discussions, to follow up on the teens' lives and to be an all-round lookout for the physical/emotional/spiritual safety & well-being of our campers. 

I went to camp with the expectation to serve. My mindset was pretty firm on getting to know the teens a little better, guiding them closer to Christ through my words and actions, and to contribute to the camp the best that I could. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

It was the third day, and we had an hour of silence. We had this hour to meditate on Psalm 139, a passage in which King David speaks about God being all-knowing, all-present and all-powerful. These verses hit me like a ton of bricks:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Point out anything in me that offends you,

and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

[Psalm 139:23-24]

Without going too much into private detail, let's just say I broke down. Privately, and in front of the group of teens I led as I shared what I experienced. I was vulnerable and totally pierced by the force of God's whispers. He spoke to me in ways I never imagined; so much so that I lost track of time and returned to the hall half an hour later than the others.

I didn't know how a conviction felt till that hour. I never felt so strongly about something; something that I couldn't structure into a tangible, audible sentence. My perspective has never been this new, this fresh, that everything I see now is tinted with something indescribable, something of Christ. I was securely held by the still voice of God, and I had my guard down for the rest of the camp. I was open and I was strong, and yet I felt weak, too. It's complex, but I now understand.

Revelation after revelation followed, and it left me in awe. It felt like I got to know an old friend much better than I've ever had; but yet, I was in complete reverence of this King who came down to embrace me. I felt safe in His arms, and yet I trembled with respect for the God who created me. It was a completely new feeling, and yet it's like I came home to the place I grew up in. 

Thank You, Father. Thank You for Your love, Your mercies and Your grace so undeserving.

screens and dandelions

She smiles to herself as she watches another heart-warming video of a soldier coming home. She gives a small snort as another meme appropriately describes a friend's story. She rolls her eyes as another PPAP parody blares out of the speakers on her phone.

And after what seems like an endless conveyor-belt of stories on her Facebook news feed, she finds herself looking at something she already saw, and realises that she has been on Facebook for way too long. With two clicks and a press, she finds herself on Snapchat.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Her thumb mindlessly wades through hours of Snapchat stories, documented in noisy clubs, hipster cafes and college campuses. Her eyes take in frame after frame of badly-taken food photos, pretty faces of girls with dog snouts on them and distorted facial expressions. She puts filters on her own face, and amuses herself.

And soon enough, with two clicks and a press, she has wandered into the world of blue, blue Twitter. She scrolls through hundreds of mini blog posts that seem to amuse, offend, and interest her all at the same time. She taps on the little hearts, inviting a burst of red to symbolize her approval for a friend's funny thought. But as the swish of the timeline reveals zero new tweets, she moves on.

She teleports to Instagram, the vast world of visual images, moving and non-moving. Perfectly edited and symmetrical, she indulges in pictures of architecture, art and culture. And the food pictures, oh! What a stark contrast to the grainy cuisines on Snapchat. Other girls sweetly tucking their hair behind their ears, looking down at the ants on the gravel, being photographed by a compliant boyfriend admiring her beauty in a square frame. She wonders if she will ever experience the same thing.

Then a breeze moves across her face, and the voice of her baby brother chimes: "Look! Look what I found!" He holds up a bright, white dandelion, a brilliant grin plastered across his rosy cheeks.

She smiles, sets down her precious screen, and joins her brother in the warm, sunny backyard.

"That's a dandelion!" she tells him.

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