As we become the same as Christ
In life, nature, expression, and function,
We are qualified to work with Him
For His Body.
As We trust in the Lord helplessly,
Depend on Him as our love and strength,
And listen to His speaking,
Our hope is to be raptured
Through the redemption of our body.
And out prayer is
Come, Lord Jesus!
And our prayer is
Come, Lord Jesus!
Come, Lord Jesus!
Lord Jesus, come! "
The sweet hymn above is one of the songs we sang in the college retreat today, and once I close my eyes, I could feel that I'm singing this hymn to the Lord face to face.
http://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn.php/ns/285
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvO0F0m2B5s
The message we discuss this weekend is about the Lord's return and this is what I enjoy so far. I appreciate that we, as college students, are encouraged to get the highest education as possible. We are advised to get at least a college degree, get the highest grades, and reach to advanced levels (The Lord's Return (Part Two) Western Canada Retreat 2013 booklet, page 28). I don't think I can get the highest grades, but I'll definitely try my best to reach till a master degree in fine arts. And when this happens, we will be useful for the Lord. We will be needed for the Lord's recovery. I also enjoy that we need to learn another language other than English/ our mother tongue. We need to be at least bilingual so that we can preach the gospel to other people and be useful to the Lord as well. I remember how much I hated Mandarin and Malay back then. But after realizing that I have learnt 6 years of Mandarin back in elementary school and 11 years of Malay in elementary school AND secondary school, I must not regret too much that I've learn these two other languages. And so...I guess I can try to speak a little more of these two tongues. I'm thinking of learning Japanese too, so I'm finding the opportunity to do so. =)
So dear young people and all Christians, you must endeavor to gain the best education! You also need to learn a new language! The more, the better! Oh! And I guess why I enjoy the retreat so much is because of the brothers' speaking, including brother Willie's (Willie Wise-in case you're familiar with this brother, he used to be an NBA basketball player back in the old days, I don't know when but he sure was famous at that time, yup we have a former celebrity here in the church family). I remembered that he shared with us a brief testimony. He said that he was in Taipei back in the 1980s and he joined a group for door-knocking to preach the gospel. A couple stood at the door and they were surprised when he said a Mandarin phrase (I couldn't remember what he said). We all laughed when he showed a surprised expression and shouted, "Hei Ren Jiang Hua Wen!" (That black man speaks Chinese! This was the reaction from the couple, not him). I learned that even one phrase of a different language will get a person to listen. There will be a connection between two people who can speak one word of a second language. Brother Robert, another speaking one, also shared a testimony with us and it was about him who was disappointed of not knowing how to speak Filipino language even though he was raised in the Philippines for many years of his childhood. He was a Filipino Chinese, and he learnt English and Mandarin throughout his school days. He dreamed of going to America to study, and this caused him to hated Mandarin (sound familiar? This is a coincidence =P). He made it to America to study in university, he lived with four Chinese brothers who couldn't speak English, so he had no choice but to speak Chinese with them. I guess, what he's trying to say is, even though we might hate speaking our mother tongues (sometimes), we have to know how to speak it. We are encouraged to be bilingual (at least). Psychologically, those who are bilingual are meant to have better character. I actually agree on this, because I've learnt about bilingualism back in the Psychology course I take this semester. Speaking of character, "we need to build a good character" by "exercising ourselves to build a character that is useful to the Lord" (The Lord's Return (Part Two) Western Canada Retreat 2013 booklet, page 28). We need to have a good character so that we can be vessels to contain God. But most importantly, we have to allow God's attributes to work in us (Philippians 4:13~I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me).
I also enjoy that "we must pursue and grow in our spiritual life", and we can do this by "maintaining a living fellowship with the Lord, fully consecrating ourselves to Him and having proper dealings with Him, to be the Lord's overcomers" (The Lord's Return (Part Two) Western Canada Retreat 2013 booklet, page 28). To be succinct, all we have to do is to just simply love the Lord! Just. Love. Him. It's that easy! Do you love him, Christians? We must "grasp the opportunity to love him" (The Lord's Return (Part Two) Western Canada Retreat 2013 booklet, page 28). Mary is an epitome to this matter. She "sat at Lord's feet and was listening to His word, having heard and received the Lord's word and revelation concerning his death"; she even "looked for the opportunity to anoint Him before he died" (The Lord's Return (Part Two) Western Canada Retreat 2013 booklet, page 28). She listened to the Lord because she loved him. So we should listen to the Lord's speaking if we love him.
We are reminded that the Lord's return is near. We need to be watchful and eagerly awaiting for the Lord to come back for the second time. It is said in the Scriptures that he will "steal" "His treasures" (those who love Him), as a "Bridegroom" for us to enter into His wedding feast, and as a "judge" to the nations (The Lord's Return (Part Two) Western Canada Retreat 2013 booklet, page 10-11). He will also come back to "solve all social problems in the world", including "injustice", "sicknesses", politics, and negative activities (going to clubs, drinking, smoking, premarital sex...) (The Lord's Return (Part Two) Western Canada Retreat 2013 booklet, page 5).
Christians, we're living in a corrupted world and Satan is behind all this. Don't you want all this to be put to an end? There are nice things that we can't take our eyes off, and plans that we're waiting to begin in the future, but there's not much time. Christ is coming, and he's approaching soon! I have a lot more to say, but I'll stop here. If you would like to know more about what we talked about in the retreat, let me know in the comments below. =)
LORD JESUS, PLEASE COME! COME QUICKLY!
No comments:
Post a Comment