SET APART CHRISTIANS

New year, new resolutions and new expectations. What kind of greatness do you seek to achieve this year? I remember being told when I was a kid to raise my bar high because that is what God wants for me. He promises greatness for me and a hope for future.  We heard that from church. As believers of Christ, we learn from the bible that God has given many great promises to His people. Look at Moses! An Israelite who was greatly called to save his entire nation from slavery. Isn’t it awesome to have a God who promises great things to us as much as He did to Moses? Or the great King David who was a skilled warrior in the battlefield and a thoughtful writer of the book of Psalm? However, as I grow older, I learn more characters from the bible who don’t seem to be living the same great life. While Moses and David was called to live a great purpose, Isaiah, on the other hand, was called to preach without result. Isaiah 6:9 - 11 He said, “Go and tell this people:  “‘Be...

Read Luke 7:1-50 The story talks about Jesus, having a meal at Simon the Pharisee. At this point of time, Jesus was highly controversial. The Pharisees were using anyway possible to destroy Him. In the middle of the meal, a prostitute came into the house and poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and broke down in worship. Before we go further with this story, has it ever occurred to you that this prostitute just walked into the house of a religious leader like a walk in the park? The only possible reasons for this chance are: the prostitute has access to the Simon’s house or that she has been to the house before. In verse 44 Jesus said to Simon, “Do you SEE this woman?” Often times we look through people without seeing them. How often do we look at people as idiot drivers, weirdo, or fat instead of seeing them as a human being? Simon looked at her as a sinful woman, Jesus saw her as a broken human being. Through this perspective, Simon missed Jesus because he was too busy j...

Just like the girl in the movie ‘Wreck It Ralph’, we have glitches in our life. 2 Corinthians 10:7-12 7  You are judging by appearances. [ a ]  If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ,  they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do.   8  So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us  for building you up rather than tearing you down,  I will not be ashamed of it.   9  I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters.   10  For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive  and his speaking amounts to nothing.”   11  Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present. 12  We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves.  When they measure themselves by themselves and compar...

God designs Christianity to be impossible without Jesus. This is why our relationship with Jesus should only remind us that we can’t change on our own. Progress is only visible by the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. John 14:23-27 Jesus replied,  “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.  My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to advocate us and to help us be better day by day. This is why we need to live a spirit led life. There is a purpose to our growth. The purpose is to be a blessing to others. Once we get a hold of this purpose, our locations won’t matter. You could be washing dishes for a living, but you could be blessings to your colleagues because you know that your purpose is greater than your positions. Acts 16:6-10 6  Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia  and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in ...

Multitasking is definitely one the traits I am most proud of. I find it very convenient to multitask all the time, especially when I travel. One time in India, I found myself using the airport’s WiFi ferociously as if tomorrow would never come and internet will be gone forever. Since I didn’t have much time before my flight back home, I walked fast to the waiting lounge dragging my luggage with one hand and checking my phone with the other. Things were pretty tensed as I was dividing my concentration to check on my phone without accidentally bumping into anyone, but that moment only lasted until I found a long moving walkway. I quickly hopped on to the moving walkway, stopped my walk and gave full concentration to my smartphone screen. Multitasking at its best. I was moving forward and having fun with my phone. In case you were waiting for something to go wrong, nothing wrong actually happened. But as I look back, I came to a realisation that even though I was movin...

Once, I heard a joke about the creation of mankind. As God walked on the garden of Eden, He saw that Adam was alone. We know what happen ed  next, He offered Adam a pretty, loving companion. Not just that, He offered to make a perfect woman that doesn't nag and shop. It doesn't stop there because God offered to create a woman who won't make Adam wait when she gets ready to go out on a date. It sounded to good to be true!  That was when Adam started asking God, "What's the price for this perfect woman?" God answered, "Not much, just give me your left arm." Since Adam was probably Asian, he bargained and agreed on giving his rib. That was how we ended up getting the i mperfect  women we have today. We don't deserve this. Kidding aside, this reminded me of an experience I had in India, where bargaining is a must. Without a set of bargaining tricks, you would be overcharged. As an Asian myself, I am proud to say that I quite master the ...