Anyway, thank God that I am recovering now, even though this body still feels a bit weak and lethargic, could be due to long break as well, and also, I missed my wife, but thank God she's coming back tomorrow, will pick her up from the airport in the evening.
I was planning to play tennis like everyday since I came back a week ago, but so far only managed to play once... on Saturday morning, I must say that it's not easy after not playing for one month. First forehand I hit, it went over the fence, not to mention the stamina, man... probably the first five minutes I felt like already played for five hours. My working pants are still quite tight, I have to exercise more, in fact I can say that right after this blog, I will do some sit ups and push ups, and maybe a bit of cardio exercise. You see, I made a promise to myself that I will never have a big belly like Homer Simpson, and by God's grace, I intend to keep this promise until my old age, God willing.
I guess it's good to get sick once in a while, otherwise how can we appreciate a healthy life, right? God also can show his healing power to the sick, because if we are not sick, then we don't need healing, do we?
If we are not lost, then we don't need to be saved, do we? The truth is, we all are lost without God. We all have sinned against the Creator of the universe. Romans 3 says this clearly: 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.
23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.
27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
I hope that we all can realize that Jesus is the only way to salvation, there is no other way. Whether you believe it or not, this is the truth of the Bible. When we trust Him and accept Him to be our Saviour and Lord, it means we must give up our selves, our selfish attitudes, ambitions and dreams and surrender all to Him. And allow Him to change us from inside out. Other people will be able to see if there is a change in our lives, because no matter what our actions are, we will bear fruit, and the Bible says that the fruit of the Spirit is as follows: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfullness, gentleness and self-control.
Many times it's not easy to bear this fruit, I mean, people will offend us in some way, we will get impatient over things like traffic jam, waiting for someone, the list goes on. But really how can we be patient if there is no test? How can we have self-control if there is no temptation, for example, I like to eat almost anything :P, but if I don't stop eating, I can assure you that I will break my own promise regarding my belly. That's why I need self-control.
Actually, all these are the choices and decisions we need to make every single day, we need to choose to be loving and patient towards others, I know it's not easy at first, but if we really want to please God, we will do it no matter how hard it will be. I'm not perfect, I still get impatient many times, ask my wife, she's the witness :P, but I at least now I am more aware whenever I stuffed up, there is this self-awareness that I need to be more patient and loving person, and therefore I confess to God and ask for His forgiveness.
Anyway, I'll stop now and start doing my exercise. May God bless you and prosper you as you put Him first in everything you do. Have a great new year in this beginning of 2007.
-J-
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