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Discovering God's Own Heart And Be Like Him

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Today, on Trinity Sunday, the Church turns her attention to the mystery of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is not merely a doctrine to be explained, but a mystery to be adored. And yet, while the Trinity is beyond our complete comprehension, the Scriptures reveal something essential about the heart of God: God is not indifferent. God is not distant. God is not unbothered, something all survivors need to hear: God is deeply concerned with his creation. He is moved by suffering. He is attentive to human need. He is present where there is chaos, and he brings peace where there is disorder. This is the witness of Genesis. In the beginning, the earth is formless and void, covered in darkness, and the Spirit of God hovers over the waters. Before God spoke order, the Spirit was already there, present in mercy and power. Then with divine authority, God spoke: “ Let there be light .” And there was light. Great revelation of divine purpose: He brings order out of chaos, life out of deat...
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True Transformation In The Power Of The Holy Spirit

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One question from the disciples in Acts has always stuck with me. They asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” You can almost hear what they were really wondering: Is everything about to be made right? And if we’re honest, that question lives in us too. Look at our world—its injustice, its divisions, its brokenness—and we wonder: Can things ever truly be fixed? Can we build a society that really works? We all long for a world that works—a just, peaceful, well-run society. Humanity has tried. Systems have come and gone—pure communism, pure capitalism, social democracies and everything in between. Some say that if the planet’s wealth were to be shared more fairly, if those who have much, gave more generously, we could correct the imbalance we see around us. But then a harder question comes up: how much of our own resources, our own comforts, our own security, are we ready to surrender for the sake of others? Not many of us are ready for that ki...
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The Wells We Draw Water From

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Our Old Testament reading today begins with these words from Exodus 17: “ From the wilderness of Sin …” Now, that doesn’t sound like a good place to be, does it? The Israelites found themselves in quite a messy situation—and honestly, it’s one we may find all too familiar. Have you ever been absolutely sure your plan was going to work out… only to watch it fall apart? That sinking disappointment? That’s where Israel was. God had already led them victoriously out of Egypt, through miracle after miracle. They were on their way to the Promised Land—but patience, as we all know, is not a common virtue, not then and not now. How patient are we this Lenten season? This time, Israel faced something serious: Lack of water. In the desert, that’s a death sentence. It’s serious! But, remember, this was supposed to be a people of faith! And yet, what did they do? They panicked. They freaked out! They looked at the problem—and forgot God’s promise. Before long, they were arguing, blaming Moses, a...
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You Must Be Born From Above!

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Most of us have seen what a full house renovation looks like! I don’t mean a little cosmetic here and there, I mean a complete transformation of the house. It can be such a joy to see the final result of a house being renovated! But the process is messy! We all want to see quickly the finished product but it takes time! Time to plan/ to refine, to remove walls and roof, to apply a new roof, new windows, new paint, new chimney, new Kitchen, new bedrooms, new pantry closets… It takes time to remove old things! I wish I can show you the before and after picture of a renovated house! It is simply amazing! Just to gaze at the transformation! Jesus did not compare human transformation to house renovation, I did. Jesus compared human transformation to a new birth! A Jewish leader in the Great Sanhedrin (Nicodemus) had come at night to ask a question about our souls’ salvation. What is beyond all this that we see in this world? He knew Jesus was a teacher from God with great revelation from h...
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The Best Of Divine Intimacy!

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The Gospel of John begins with the words: “ In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning .” John is a brave man. If it were you, what words would you have used to convey the idea of the God the Father’s relationship with the son? Obviously, John is calling Jesus God’s Son, the eternal word. Many OT passages talk about things done by the Lord, as done by the word of the Lord. John provided clear evidence that Jesus is the Son of God, who did not come into being only when he was born here, but rather he was already eternal before he came to be born into the world that he created for us. The Father speaks through the son as the son speaks to the Father about us, which is an amazing relationship that is observed in the words of Jesus especially when Jesus told us that He speaks the words that he heard from the Father. The more we know who Jesus is, the more the light of Christ shine forth through our lives, so others can b...
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Obedience Of Faith!

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God’s love for us is amazing! He never gives up on us! We see God’s tenacity to the promise he had made to Israel’s ancestors. By the time of the prophet Isaiah, God was still communicating the same promise concerning the redemption of humanity. The story is that all generations have made a mess of things, but God’s promise remained intact through time. God always tried to steer Israel back on track, sadly many times in vain. Here we are treated to a conversation between the prophet speaking for God and King Ahaz. Ahaz had already chosen his allies to save him in case he is attacked. Then God comes into the picture: to bid him to choose a sign so God would show him how powerfully He can save him. But Ahaz refused because he had trusted the Assyrians, their forces and their gods, and would not place himself under the God of Israel anymore. Beloved, Ahaz symptoms are still with us today, especially when our own choices reflect a level of rebellion to God’s ways. When we are conscious of...
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The Posture Of Those Who Truly Seek God

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Our readings (Isaiah 2:1-5 and Psalm 122) inspire us to reach out towards the house of the Lord or to the mountain of the Lord, looking beyond this mortal life. It’s a state of a person always seeking God in life. But sadly, often enough it’s when we realize that we have no options left, that we begin to genuinely seek God for guidance/rescue. That sounds a lot like Israel’s journey! Today as the first Sunday in Advent, we are encouraged to seek God regardless of our circumstances during this new church season to prepare for the coming of the Lord. How fitting that the prophet Isaiah is instructing Israel the correct posture of those who are seeking the Lord at the same time as we, ourselves are preparing to celebrate the coming of Christ our Savior into the world. What should be our posture in this new Church season? Will we be found reaching out to God in the house of the Lord? btw God’s house is here! It’s not going anywhere. Also, wherever you are, you can talk to God and worship ...
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