In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, And His children will have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, To turn one away from the snares of death.
A podcast from Mosaic.org almost moved me to tears while I was waiting for dear sis Casie and Eric at Raffles City Shopping Centre. Kinda was during peak hour at that time so I didn't want to appear crying.
The tears didn't really come from a bad conscience, but that the message I heard was so powerful and so touching that I can't help but be touched.
The title was "Seek". The Bible always say seek and you shall find. How true is that, I always ask. I know that sentence. I know that verse. I have read it before. But, to embrace it will be a different story. In fact, a life-altering one.
God IS ALWAYS with us. No matter how hard we try to push Him away or keep a distance because we want our own personal space, God is there and He LONGS for us! Do you even realise how powerful this yearning and character of God is? Do you even dare comprehend the magnitude of God's love? I myself didn't really understand nor embrace the truth wholly.
Throughout the days when my family had problems, God was there. During the days I was so nervous over O Levels, God was beside me. During the times I went through emotional torture because my ex-es dumped me (btw very long ago), God was THERE.
Just try picturing ourselves in the scenario which had occured in our lives and was truly a turbulent time. And then believe that God was with you. Do not doubt because GOD WAS THERE!
Is there any proof that can prove it?
Imagine the wind then. We do not see the wind but we can feel it. Similarly, we do not see God, but we can FEEL it. But we MUST seek Him first! It just takes that very simple step of faith! Non-believers keep arguing that they do not see God and they doubt that God ever cared for them. Why? I believe it's simply because they just fail to seek God! Coupled with lots of fear and doubt.. of course they cannot feel it!
All we have to is just to embrace the truth. Allow it to alter your life.
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
How great this verse is! And this verse is indeed no decorative verse in the Bible, but one of power.. if we choose to believe it.
I read something in the Daily Discipler yesterday. The truth is always there; it's only either we reject it or we accept it. Just like energy, it cannot be created neither can it be destroyed.
I suppose whenever I feel like the world is crashing down on me with all the workload I have been given, this verse will be a source of encouragement, not because it makes me feel good and reassured (definitely, but this is not the point), but that it is the truth!
The truth. I realise that in our lives as Christians, we keep facing truths. As we grow and learn, the truth that we know builds on each other and we've got to embrace each and every lesson we encounter as God speaks mightily to us. Sometimes the truth may scare us, put us away, but I pray that we may never rebel against God and His liberating truth, for it is the source of life and victory.
Proverbs 3:5,6 Lean not on our own understanding! From what I understand, knowledge puffs up if we only center it around ourselves. This includes God's words.. For example, if God says "forgive all men", but we do so without God in our hearts, then it becomes nothing. To put it bluntly, it is sin. Besides, I suppose it's almost impossible to forgive everyone who trespasses us without God taking control, no?
Now, then, is God a self-obsessed creature concerned only about whether people love Him? No. God doesn't need our love. He doesn't even need us to be obedient. However, He wants and desires our love because of the very nature that He is. He is love! And even if we pull away from Him, He still loves us. Now, as human beings, the only way for us to respond to such great love is to love God back.
God offers us the gift of victory and liberation (2 Corinthians 2:14), will we embrace it?
May contain spoilers, so don't scroll down unless you are ready.
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Narnia, Prince Caspian, was kinda like a restaurant experience. You've read about the restaurant, waited eagerly for the day you finally get to order food off their menu. There is the expectation of good food..the most fragrant, delicious, sumptuous meal you've ever had.
This was the kinda eagerness I had when I first entered the theatre. Of course, not every course was on par with my expectations, but nevertheless, it was a good experience.
Appetizer: Was when the familiar faces and characters showed up on screen. The Pevensie children and Aslan. And there's the new faces as well, such as Prince Caspian. The girl who played Lucy (I think her name is Georgie Henley) grew taller and prettier, Skander's (Edmund) voice had broken..and all of their acting skills have clearly improved quite a lot. And I must also say that I'm impressed by the actor's (who played Prince Caspian) imitation of the Medieval accent. Really good.
Main Course: To me, the plot or storyline will be the main course. It wasn't as great as my expectations because I based my expectations upon C.S Lewis' book which I recently read and the movie didn't replicate the book exactly. There were new scenes, new motivations... So, it was kinda weird actually. The children had matured, so it was no longer a kind of a pure fairytale whereby the children leave happily after their adventure was over. There were sort of..realistic kind of emotions, struggles etc.. which sort of darkened the plot. Anyway, it's not that I disliked the main course. It's still delicious..and quite exotic. Just unfamiliar.
Dessert: Ok, so enough harping about the less-than-satisfying differences. Some of the new ideas put forth I actually welcomed with open arms and these are what I call desserts. Scenes like the appearance of the White Witch, the war, the way Aslan fought back, the way Aslan made his appearance (which is totally different from the book) made the entire plot seem more exciting and action-packed. So yea, I enjoyed it tremendously. Thought-provoking. Especially for a Christian. =)
Ambience: Food aside, how can we forget the ambience of the restaurant? The soundtrack, set and effects come under this category. And what can I say? IT'S SUPERB! The sets were awesome (although kind of sad because we can't get to see the splendor of the palace which we saw in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe). Effects were not a let-down too.. the creatures were very realistic! The music.. wow.. Harry Gregson-Williams is just too awesome. I really like composers for blockbusters..such as John Williams (Star Wars and I suppose Harry Potter too).. I can't remember which movie Harry Gregson-Williams composed for..Pirates of the Caribbean? Peter Pan? hmm..
My favourite will be the "Return of the Lion".. all the screaming horns towards the end.. faints
It is a movie worth watching again and again!
Of course, there were many theological values presented in the movie.. but more about that next time. =D
