Monday, June 28, 2010

My way to glorify Him

Senang nya setiap hari aku dikirimin renungan dari Bahasa Kasih via FB ...
Ada baiknya, jika aku bantu menyebarkan renungan ini .... :)


Hari Raya St. Petrus dan St. Paulus, Rasul

Kis 12:1-11
Mzm 34:2-9
2Tim 4:6-8,17-18
Mat 16:13-19


My way to glorify Him

Bagi-Nyalah kemuliaan selama-lamanya! Amin. - 2Tim 4:18b

Sejak pertama kali melakukannya hingga hari ini, saya masih merasa gemetar dan dag-dig-dug jika diminta memberi pengajaran. Bayangkan, berdiri di hadapan orang banyak dengan semua mata tertuju pada saya selama minimal sete-ngah jam. Hiiii…rasanya lebih dari menonton film horor yang paling horor sekalipun.

Perasaan yang sangat bertolak-belakang jika saya menari mengiringi pujian dan penyembahan yang dinaikkan bagiNya. Saya merasa sangat bebas dan leluasa untuk mengekspresikan perasaan saya untuk mengagungkan Tuhan. Tak ada rasa canggung yang menjadi rintangan.

Hal yang sama saya rasakan ketika saya mensharingkan atau memberi kesaksian tentang betapa baik dan setianya Tuhan lewat tulisan-tulisan saya. Jari-jari saya dengan lugas memencet setiap tuts di atas laptop seakan saya tak perlu berpikir sebelumnya.

Ya, saya menemukan cara yang bisa saya lakukan untuk memberitakan tentang kasih dan penyertaan Tuhan. Dan saya percaya setiap kita dipanggil untuk melakukan hal yang berbeda untuk mewartakan kabar sukacitaNya. Setiap kita diberi talenta yang berbeda dengan tujuan untuk saling mengisi dan melengkapi. Dan semua itu hanya bagi kemuliaan namaNya, selama-lamanya.

Jadi, temukanlah apa yang bisa Anda lakukan untuk mewartakan tentang kasihNya sesuai dengan apa yang telah diberikanNya pada Anda. (Jc)

Apa yang dapat saya lakukan untuk membagikan kasih Tuhan?

--------------

13 Setelah Yesus tiba di daerah Kaisarea Filipi, Ia bertanya kepada murid-murid-Nya: ''Kata orang, siapakah Anak Manusia itu?''
14 Jawab mereka: ''Ada yang mengatakan: Yohanes Pembaptis, ada juga yang mengatakan: Elia dan ada pula yang mengatakan: Yeremia atau salah seorang dari para nabi.''
15 Lalu Yesus bertanya kepada mereka: ''Tetapi apa katamu, siapakah Aku ini?''
16 Maka jawab Simon Petrus: ''Engkau adalah Mesias, Anak Allah yang hidup!''
17 Kata Yesus kepadanya: ''Berbahagialah engkau Simon bin Yunus sebab bukan manusia yang menyatakan itu kepadamu, melainkan Bapa-Ku yang di sorga.
18 Dan Aku pun berkata kepadamu: Engkau adalah Petrus dan di atas batu karang ini Aku akan mendirikan jemaat-Ku dan alam maut tidak akan menguasainya.
19 Kepadamu akan Kuberikan kunci Kerajaan Sorga. Apa yang kauikat di dunia ini akan terikat di sorga dan apa yang kaulepaskan di dunia ini akan terlepas di sorga.''


Jakarta, 29 June 2010
_rosita_

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Don’t Be A Zombie

Great .. i've got another email from Andriy ..


One day, a female doctor was working late in the hospital.
       She was on the elevator with another woman. 
       When the elevator doors opened, the doctor saw a girl running towards the elevator. She gasped. She pressed the button and closed the doors.
       The other woman asked her, “Doctora, why did you close the doors? I think that girl was coming in…”
       With cold terror in her voice, the doctor said, “I know that girl. She was my patient. She died yesterday.”
       “Died?” the other woman said. “How could she be dead? She was running. You must have been mistaken.”
       The doctor shook her head. “Did you notice the red tag on her wrist? When a patient dies, the nurses attach a red tag on their wrists.”
       The other woman said, raising her arm, “Like this one?”
Are You A Zombie?
You have two choices in life.
You can live deliberately or you can live passively.
There are many people alive now, walking, talking, eating… but inwardly, they’re dead. Especially when it comes to their decisions in life. They’re zombies.
       Why?
       They live passively.
       They just accept what’s happening.
·        Tempted to do the wrong thing? “I’m weak,” he’ll say.
·        Can’t get a job? “Tough luck,” he’ll say.
·        Family life is shallow? “I was raised this way,” he’ll say.
·        Health is deteriorating? “My genes,” he’ll say.
·        Poor and in debt? “My lot in life,” he’ll say.
But not to choose is already a choice!
Friend, God doesn’t want you to be a Zombie.
       God wants you to live deliberately.
       God wants you to choose wisely and pass the tests that life brings to us.
       Let me share a beautiful story written by S.I. Kishor about a man who passed the test.
Will You Pass The Test Of Life?
John Blanchard was a soldier.
One day, in a library, he found an old book with a lot of writing in the margins. He read her handwritten notes in the book and admired their deep insights. At the front cover, he saw that the book was previously owned by a certain Hollis Maynell.
With much effort, he located her address. He wrote to her and told her about her old book and how he liked her written notes. 
And she responded, thanking him for his kind words.
But that day, he was shipped overseas to fight in a war.
Still, they kept writing to each other. During the difficult times at the battlefield, her words inspired him and gave him hope.
Little by little, John was falling in love with her.
He requested for a photo, but she replied that if he really cared for her, it won’t matter how she looked.
Finally, he was going home.
They decided to meet at the Grand Central Station at 7pm.
He said he’d be in his soldier’s uniform bringing her old book.
And she said, “You’ll know me by the red rose I’ll wear on my lapel.”
When the train arrived at 7pm, John was there, wearing his neatly pressed military uniform, with her old book in his hand.
The first woman to step off the train was a beautiful woman in a green suit. But there was no red rose on her blouse.
John was disappointed. But she was so lovely, he kept looking at her. She walked in front of him, glanced at him with a smile, and asked, “Are you following me, soldier?”
A part of him wanted to follow.
But no, he had to wait for Hollis Maynell.
The next woman who stepped off the train had a red rose on her lapel. She was perhaps 45 years old. She had graying hair beneath her hat. And she was very overweight. Meantime, the beautiful woman in the green suit was walking away.
John was torn. 
Yet he looked again at the woman who was wearing the red rose. He remembered her letters and what a fascinating a person she was. He remembered how wonderful her words made him feel. He told himself, “This may not be love. But this may be more than love. This will be a beautiful friendship with a lovely person.”
He walked up to her, straightened himself, handed the book to her and said, “My name is Lieutenant John Blanchard. You must be Ms. Hollis Maynell. I’m so glad you could meet me. May I have dinner with you tonight?”
The woman smiled. “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit asked me to wear this red rose on my coat. She also said that if you asked me out for dinner, she said she’d be waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”
Your Choices Shape Your Destiny
Imagine the end of this story: John and Hollis getting married, having kids, and growing old together.
Because he lived deliberately.
Because he made the right choice.
Because he passed the test.
Friend, life is a series of tests. 
And your choices—your answers to the test—
will shape your destiny!
       Sometimes, it’s a choice between love or lust. 
       Sometimes, it’s a choice between selfishness or selflessness.
Sometimes, it’s between what your heart wants and what your flesh wants. 
Sometimes, it’s between what will bless you forever and what will give you pleasure this moment only. 
Your life is really all up to you.
       You’re the chef of your meal.
       You’re the architect of your house.
       You’re the scriptwriter of your movie.
       You’re the composer of your song.
       You’re the painter of your masterpiece.
       At the end of the day, you decide how happy, fulfilled, and blessed you want to become.
For A Bowl Of Soup
One day, Jacob was cooking some bean soup.
       And his elder brother Esau walked in very hungry. Esau was so hungry, he could eat a horse (with the jockey included). He said to Jacob, “I’m starving; Give me some of that red stuff.”
       That was when his younger brother offered the most preposterous deal of the century. He said, “I’ll give it to you if you give me your rights as a firstborn son.”
Do you know how absurd this is? 
It was like Jacob said, “I’ll give it to you if you give me your kidneys,” or “I’ll give it to you if you give me your eyeballs.”
We don’t see how insane it is because we don’t know what “firstborn” means. 
As firstborn son, Esau enjoyed the highest honor.
As firstborn son, Esau represented his father in society.
As firstborn son, Esau had first choice in the family’s inheritance.
If you placed a monetary value to that, it would be worth millions. And Jacob was asking for all that for a single bowl of red soup!
But here’s what’s more preposterous: Esau agreed!
He threw all of that for a bowl of soup.
Absolutely nuts.
Don’t Be Like Esau;
Live Deliberately!
       Don’t live passively.
       Don’t live life sleeping on the wheel.
       Don’t live by simply going through the motions.
Don’t live your life simply accepting what happens.
       Don’t exchange your sonship for material things.
       Don’t exchange God’s wealth for man’s wealth.
       There will be many Jacobs along your path, who will try to steal your greatest treasures. There will be many Jacobs who will offer momentary pleasure in exchange for your sonship, for your dignity, for your peace-of-mind, for your long-term happiness.
When I think of Esau, I think of a man who had an affair with his secretary.
For a few moments of pleasure, he lost the trust of his wife, the unity of his family, the blessings for his children.
I too had an affair with my secretary. This affair lasted for 12 years. Of course, before I had an affair with her, we got married first. Because I live deliberately. (When I was still single, I was the boss and Marowe was my secretary. Now that we’re married, she’s my boss and I’m her secretary. Hay, buhay.)
Is The Driver Asleep?
       Here’s another analogy: You’re the driver of your car!
       I’ve heard people say, “God is now the driver of my life.”
       That’s impossible.
       God will never take the steering wheel of your life.
Because He asked you to drive.
You hold the steering wheel.
You call the shots.
You make the decisions.
You choose where to go.
But I’ve met a lot of people who fall asleep in the wheel.
They doze off. 
They don’t take the right turns.
Worse, they take the wrong turns.
And disaster happens.
Even If You Fall,
Rise Up Again!
       I repeat: Life gives you tests.
       Sometimes, you fail those tests.
       You make the wrong choices.
       You fall.
       You stumble.
       You sin.
       But failing in one test doesn’t mean you’ll fail in life.
       I should know.
       I’ve failed in many of my tests. (Many, many, many tests!)
       But I’ve never given up.
       I’ve got a word for you: God is the God of Second Chances.
       Some people condemn themselves for making wrong decisions in their lives. 
They are their own cruel judges.
·        “I married the wrong person. I’ll never be happy.”
·        “I got pregnant out of wedlock. I’m a single mom now. I blew my chance. I’ll never have a complete family.”
·        “I had an affair. It destroyed my marriage. I lost my family. I will always be miserable.”
       But don’t lose hope.
       We all make mistakes. All of us do!
       But God says, “I don’t look at your mistakes. Stop condemning yourself. Move on. Stand up again. I can still make your life beautiful. I can still fulfill your dreams. I’ll be here to supply all that you need to create a new life.”
       Let me tell you my last story of how I failed a test…
How I Fell
I was twenty years old.
       And still single.
       I was attending a meeting in a province. 
I asked one of the members of my organization, a young woman, to join me and help me in the meeting. (I never realized how dangerous this was. I never did this again. Since then, I’ve always went with another guy.)
       We rode the long 9-hour bus trip together.
       And we talked everything under the sun.
       She had an attractive smile. And a demure, quiet disposition.
       But something else was going on.
       Sitting beside a young and lovely woman stirred up sexual feelings within me. My arm touching her arm. My leg touching her leg.
       The long trip made us both sleepy.
       Or I pretended to be sleepy. (Sorry, Lord.)
And I rested my head on her shoulder. (“Style mo bulok!”) Soon, I locked my arms around her waist—like she was my pillow. And she didn’t resist.
       Why? As her religious leader, she trusted me so much.
Thankfully, nothing more happened.
When we got off the bus, I felt ashamed for what I did, because I exploited her trust. What I did was wrong. I abused my authority. I exploited our friendship.
       We parted ways as though nothing happened.
That event happened more than twenty years ago.
It Could Have Destroyed Me
       I was reminded of that experience recently.
Because one day, someone called me up. 
She said she belonged to another prayer group. And she asked for advice. She said her prayer group leader was caught having sexual affairs with his female members. It was shocking. The news is now breaking the prayer group apart.
       I sighed and prayed for her group.
       After I put the phone down, I realized there was really no difference between that prayer group leader and me.
       We both were guys.
We both fell.
       We both were weak.
       We both were surrounded by a lot of women who trusted us.
       The only difference is that I stood up after I fell.
       I exploited my female friend in the bus with an inappropriate hug. And I can remember falling at other times in my life.
       But it never became a habit. (Jim Rohn says, “Failure is not an act. Failure is a habit.”)
       I rose up from my failure.
       I didn’t wallow in my sin.
God says in Isaiah 43:18-19Forget about what has happened before, do not think about the past, instead look at the new thing I am going to do.
       I repeat: When God looks at you, He doesn’t look at your failures. God doesn’t look at your mistakes. He looks at your beauty, your goodness, your holiness buried deep inside. He believes in you. He trusts that you’ll rise from your fall.
       I’ve not lived perfectly.
       But I’ve tried to live deliberately.
       When confronted with choices, I try to be awake.
       Not a zombie.
       Not asleep in the wheel.
       I invite you to do the same.
       Live deliberately.
       Pass the test.
       Choose the best.
       Your great future awaits.
       May your dreams come true,
       Bo Sanchez

Monday, June 21, 2010

Never say never

Justin Bieber feat. Jaden Smith – Never Say Never (OST The Karate Kid)

 

See I never thought that I could walk through fire.
I never thought that I could take the burn.
I never had the strength to take it higher,
Until I reached the point of no return.
And there’s just no turning back,
When your hearts under attack,
Gonna give everything I have,
It’s my destiny.
I will never say never! (I will fight)
I will fight till forever! (make it right)
Whenever you knock me down,
I will not stay on the ground.
Pick it up,
Pick it up,
Pick it up,
Pick it up up up,
And never say never.
I never thought I could feel this power.
I never thought that I could feel this free.
I’m strong enough to climb the highest tower.
And I’m fast enough to run across the sea.
And there’s just no turning back,
When your hearts under attack,
Gonna give everything I have,
Cause this is my destiny.
I will never say never! (I will fight)
I will fight till forever! (make it right)
Whenever you knock me down,
I will not stay on the ground.
Pick it up,
Pick it up,
Pick it up,
Pick it up, up, up,
And never say never.
Here we go!
Guess who?
JSmith and Jb!
I gotcha lil bro.
I can handle him.
Hold up, aight?
I can handle him.
Now he’s bigger than me,
Taller than me.
And he’s older than me,
And stronger than me.
And his arms a little bit longer than me.
But he ain’t on a JB song with me!
I be trying a chill
They be trying to side with the thrill.
No pun intended, was raised by the power of Will.
Like Luke with the force, when push comes to shove.
Like Cobe with the 4th, ice water with blood.
I gotta be the best, and yes
We’re the flyest.
Like David and Goliath,
I conquered the giant.
So now I got the world in my hand,
I was born from two stars
So the moon’s where I land.
I will never say never! (I will fight)
I will fight till forever! (make it right)
Whenever you knock me down,
I will not stay on the ground.
Pick it up,
Pick it up,
Pick it up,
Pick it up, up, up,
And never say never.
I will never say never! (I will fight)
I will fight till forever! (make it right)
Whenever you knock me down,
I will not stay on the ground.
Pick it up,
Pick it up,
Pick it up,
Pick it up, up, up,
And never say never.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Let love be your highest goal. (1 Corinthians 14:1 )

Repost from my inbox ... Thanks to Andriy ge ge ... :) 

 

The Only Key To Happiness. (Everything Else Is Fake.)

          I have an announcement to make: God wants you to be happy. In fact, I believe God has already lined up the right blessings, the right miracles, and the right people to bless your life.
Especially the right people.
Why right people?
Because God wants you to be happy by having happy relationships.
       He really only has one strategy to make you happy. He has no backup plan in case it fails. It’s through happy relationships or bust.
       If you don’t have happy relationships, you’ll never be happy.
       No matter how rich you are.
       No matter how religious you are.
       No matter how much you achieve in life.
       No matter how beautiful you are.
       No matter how intelligent you get.
       At the end of the day, your life is all about relationships.
In other words, your life is all about love.
That’s why the greatest commandments are about love.
Because He wants you to be happy.
Listen To Older People
When John Izzo interviewed 235 older people, he found out that their most common regret is not taking enough risks. 
But what was the most painful regret?
Failure in relationships. 
When I talk to older people, I’ve heard this same regret too.
“I didn’t spend enough time with my family.”
“I didn’t put people before things.”
“I didn’t express my love.”
“I didn’t apologize and repair a broken relationship.”
Our most painful regret is that we didn’t love enough.
That’s why the Bible says, Let love be your highest goal. (1 Corinthians 14:1) More than anything else, love must be our most important dream.
Often, Dying Men Are Wise Men
       One day, I visited a doctor who was battling with cancer.
       His own doctors told he had six months to live.
       When I saw him, he had all the signs of success: Big house, big cars, big job…
       But he told me something that struck me deeply.
       He said, “Brother Bo, please pray for me. I’m in pain. But the physical pain I experience is nothing compared to the hurt in my heart…”
       He wept for a long time.
He finally blurted it out, “Bo, my kids don’t even want to visit me.”
       I was shocked. “Why?” I asked.
       “I can’t blame them. My children and I never had a good relationship. When they were growing up, I didn’t have time for them. I was so busy with my job. I’d go home impatient. I blew my top often.  When I was angry, I couldn’t control my mouth. So I’ve said nasty things to my children that I wish I never said. Sadly, I can’t take back my words.”
       He kept sobbing.
I prayed for him.
       We were alone in his room. And it seemed like he was going to die alone.
       I couldn’t help comparing this scene with the last years of my father. He was always surrounded by his kids and grandkids. Everyday, we were there with him.
       Friend, how do you want to die?
       You determine that by what you prioritize today.
      
Why The Kings Of Israel Failed
I found something interesting in the Bible.
In the span of 300 years, Israel had 43 Kings. You know some of them: King Saul, King David, King Solomon, etc…
       But out of 42 Kings, only 8 were considered “good” Kings. 
That’s pretty sad.
       That means 34 kings were spiritually bankrupt.
       Why?
       Here’s the crux of the problem: Fathers were busy building their kingdoms, they had no time to build their sons.
Like anywhere else in the world, Kings passed their throne to their sons. Usually, a bad King begets another bad King.
       And that’s the same problem today.
       Fathers don’t have time for their sons. And daughters.
       Fathers aren’t leading their families to God. 
Fathers aren’t mentoring their children. 


Jakarta, 03 Juni 2010
_rosita_