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Psalm 19:7-14

The Law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Giving Thanks

Most of the time, we as Christians don't give thanks enough. We live blessed lives, filled with what we need and what we want (most of us), that things get taken for granted too easily. As Malaysians, most of us feel that we have a lot to complain about. And here are several of the most common complaints:

1. Bad government- corruption, dirty politicking, unfair policies, racism, etc.
2. Transportation- jammed roads, late trains (the KTM come to mind?), expensive fares
3. Weather- it's always too hot, or too rainy, never "just nice"
4. Economy- things are always too expensive, and getting more so by the day
5. Infrastructure- Bad infrastructure, leading to all sorts of problems (jams, water shortage, flood, power cuts, etc)

All of which are valid complaints, and all of which I have to admit, I too complain about almost on a daily basis. Yet, is complaining all that we can do? What is there to give thanks for? Here are a few simple reminders:

1. At least we HAVE a government, and we can vote (however unfair/fixed you think it is, at least you CAN VOTE)
2. Transportation- We have it. Try walking 5 miles a day to school, then see if you'll complain
3. Weather- We are blessed to not need to freeze our faces off in the winter, or burn ourselves in the summer. We need not suffer droughts (barring certain circumstances), and spring and flowers blooming is year round
4. Economy- We have a relatively stable economy, despite a fluctuating GDP
5. Infrastructure- Hey, at least we have infrastructure to even complain about

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying we should just sit back, relax, and accept it all. We need progress, we need better governance, we can improve our GDP, we can improve our infrastructure. Compared to some nations (Korea, Singapore, Japan, China), we are far far behind. We have a lot of room for improvement true, but in our pursuit of improvement and better standards, let us not forget to give thanks as well. Being thankful and grateful doesn't mean being laid-back, and having a need to improve doesn't mean we can complain about all that we have now.

We keep complaining about our situations, and ask God why it doesn't get better. Like kids, we moan and groan, and whine and complain. Think about it. Will God want to give you more, when you can't even give thanks for the things He has given you? It's like a kid who has a toy car, and complains that it's not good enough and wants a helicopter, and leaves the toy car in its corner unused and unappreciated. If you don't give thanks for the things you have right now, and make the most of it (after all, improvement is making the most of what you have to gain a better future), don't expect God to give you bigger things to handle. It doesn't work that way.


The one hero I look up to in terms of complaining is Job. Here was a man who had everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. He had the land, the livestock, a large united family (they often had parties and invited everyone). And in one day, everything was taken from him. His livestock, his family, his possessions. And what was his reply?

"And (Job) said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.""- Job 1:21.

What a reply! What humility! What serenity of acceptance! Here was a man who had everything, and had everything taken away from him without rhyme or reason, and he replies in such simple yet profound words, giving praise to the Lord for all He has done. What does the Bible say about him?

"In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." -Job 1:22.

He DID NOT SIN by CHARGING GOD WITH WRONGDOING. How many times have we done that? How many times have we complained about something to God, get angry over something we can't have, as though it was our right to have it, as though we were fit to demand from our Creator? How many times have we charged God with wrongdoing?

While Job himself complained, he knew to give thanks to God, and not once in his complaints did he ever forget that God was the Creator, and he merely the creation. Not once did he demand that God return to him what was his, or for God to give him more. We have a lot to learn from Job. A whole lot.

Let us learn to give thanks, for the things that we have. God knows what we can handle, and gives to us in proportion to our abilities.

-God, give us the courage to change the things we can, serenity to accept the things we can't, and wisdom to know the difference.-

Help me to love Lord, teach me Your ways,
Help me to love Lord, every single day,

Teach me to love Lord, to love like You do,
Teach me a love Lord, that ever rings true,

Work through my heart Lord, a heart that desires,
For someone to love, to care and hold,
Open my eyes Lord, light up that fire,
To reach out in love, the needy ones to behold,

This is my heart Lord, I offer to you,
My love for today, that went unused,
I offer it to You Lord, to do as You please,
And pray for more Lord, come the morning breeze.

The One Thing

"One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple." -Psalm 27:4

Recently, I've been led once more on a road of rediscovery. Rediscovering the love of God for me, His never failing faithfulness, and His never ending grace, that after ignoring Him for so long and pursuing after life's empty promises, He is always there waiting with His open arms when I eventually turn back to Him broken and weary. It's been amazing, the love that God has shown.

And yet recently I find myself distracted again, by something. I am all too aware of what that means. When I find that something that catches my eye, I wind up making that a priority, the thing that I want most in my life. Afraid of going down the same path again all too soon, and desperate for something, anything to help, I just cried out "Oh God you know how I feel and what I long for now, help me please."

And He replies with that verse. ONE thing I ask of the Lord, THIS is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. How amazing the Father's love for us, that He may answer (just in the next moment when I decided to listen to a sermon online)like that, so immediately, so accurately. A reminder of what my ONE thing should be, and that's Him, and ONLY Him.

It is difficult, to really surrender the hearts desires to God, especially since pursuing our desires is something I truly believe in (refer to previous post). Its simple to just give up on a desire, it is difficult to ALTER your desires to desire what GOD desires for YOU, and I struggle with it daily. Everyday its a battle, over the desires of my heart VS. the desires of God. And everyday the battle is long, drawn-out, tiring.

"I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death..." -Philippians 3:10.

Such a simple prayer, such a hard prayer. To truly know Him, seek His face above all else, and know the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings.

P.S.: Another reminder from God barely 10minutes after the posting of this entry about what I read in my devotional today. "I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I remain in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing," -John 15:5. When we acknowledge we cannot do it, and come to the Lord in helplessness, His strength and grace is made perfect in our weakness. Just the perfect answer to my last worry about how difficult it is! Praise the Lord!

There is no force greater than love. It overcomes fear, bolsters courage, dissipates anger, enables forgiveness, and generates will. It is what causes a man to try for the impossible, and achieve the improbable.

The Dangers of Desire

Sometimes I wonder, what is it about desire that makes people cringe? Everyone has their desires, their deep-seated heart longings, yet we frown on those who pursue their desire with reckless abandon, or upon those who voice them out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning the actions of those who go to extreme ends to satisfy their desire, indeed some of the world's most evil deeds were carried out simply because an individual decided to pursue his desire at all costs. Desires can be a dangerous thing if pursued recklessly, or when one pursues a reckless desire. But what of the everyday desires of the ordinary people? Of the heart?

Most of the time, to mention a desire would draw comments and expressions of disapproval, or in the case of children, a wry smile and a shake of the head, in condescension of the naivete of the child. Yet deep down in us, we all have our hidden desires which we long to see fulfilled, accomplished, pursued.

When I was a child I was brought up by my parents with one of life's biggest lessons drilled into my head, that I can't have everything I want in life, that the cookie in that jar is not mine to have, and I should stop whining or griping about it. I agree wholeheartedly with my parent's teaching, that you can't have all that you want in life. Sometimes the jar in the cookie is not yours, and you just have to accept that.

But that should never come in the way of pursuing it. The cookie in the jar may never be yours then, but you will grow up one day, and have the ability to get that cookie. By then, most people have become so accustomed to the idea of not getting what they want, that they don't get what they want, even if they can.

One of the greatest losses in life is the lacking of desire, or of giving it up before even pursuing it.

One of the truth about desires is simple, yet contradictory. Something seems more desirable when we cannot have it, and once you have it, all its seemingly magical qualities are gone, and the item loses its luster. A thing seems the most desirable when we pursue it. Yet once again, it is the journey that seems to bring meaning, and the possession of the object of desire falls secondary. Some people spend their whole lives desiring something, yet die without ever achieving it. While some see it as a waste, I see it as a life full of meaning, that they died having tried to achieve what they wanted.

Unfortunately, in our attempt to keep society in order, and to make sure the economic machine that is life runs smoothly, we are told to never pursue what we want, because if everybody did what they truly wanted to do, the world would be in chaos, and anarchy and mayhem would follow. In the end, we wind up stuck in a world where we work for money to buy the things and follow the paths we want, but spend it instead on things and paths we never wanted.

As is the case with everything human, there is a dark side to every construct, and desires are no different. The dangers of desire are clear; it can lead a man down a path of insanity. There is a term in Islam called the Zahir, which basically means something that enraptures the heart and mind of a man that he is compelled to pursue it, to go after it. It becomes his obsession, his life. This is when desires become dangerous, when we become so lost in our desires that we lose sight of who we are, or where we are headed.

Yet the irony of it all is that desires are precisely the things that give us direction. Whether a desire for material things, or a desire for the immaterial (God, heaven, a relationship), it all compels us to move in a direction.

Desires are unavoidable, and compels us as humans to move, to feel, to be alive. A life without desires would not be a life without worries or lacking, but a life void of meaning, life, love.

Yes, desires are dangerous. They can drive a man to insanity, they can ruin the whole functioning mechanic that is life.

Yet, desires are important. And one should never live without chasing one's desires because of fear, fear of failure, fear of never obtaining our desire, or the fear that, having achieved the object of our desire, to find that it was never as great as we thought it would be. After all, it is the journey that matters, the longing and compelling of desire that pulls us along its path to its goal. That gives us life, that gives us meaning.

Embrace the everyday desires of the heart. Pursue it, live it.

*I understand that some desires are best not left pursued, and by writing this I am in no way saying we should pursue every desire of our hearts. But to live a life where we choose to not pursue something whole and good simply because we are afraid, would be a massive waste. May we never live in regret because of that.*

*The author's views are purely his own, and open to debate. Please do not take every word without careful thinking on your part.*