Publication | ‘Article’

By Natasya Karina

What do we pray for?
Everyday we ask the Lord for many things. We pray for health, future, family, and many others. Of course we also pray for those in Haiti and Chile, and for those who are not as fortunate as us. We also pray for our nation, our church, our care group perhaps, and etc as needed to or as requested to.


What else do we need to pray for?
A couple of weeks ago I drove a friend home and we had a good long talk that we never had before. I knew that she had trouble finding job but I never realized that the situation is that severe. Looking for job can be such a daunting and depressing task. There is always fear lingering and uncertainty that follows. We also talked about our other friends and how they are facing the same thing. The conversation really caught me off guard because truly I never realized how depressing the situations my friends are in.


Lately, more and more farewells are made as more friends are going back to Indonesia. With so many things in our prayer list already, it is easy to forget to pray for them. My conversation with my friend that night reminded me that in our prayers, we should remember our friends who are still looking for job here in US and our friends who are already pursuing their future in Indonesia.


The future is in the Lord’s Hands, but we can always ask the Lord to give our friends disciple hearts that are accepting and in peace with any position He decides they belong to. We should also pray for our friends to be given ample wisdom from the Lord in any decision and crossroad in their lives and to be strong hearted always regardless of the number of failed interviews or not-responded applications.


So, one more thing to pray for: our friends who are still looking for job.

By Robert M.

The Bible tells me that when I invite Jesus Christ into my life, I am invited to become a “new creation.” In 2 Corinthians, Chapter 5, Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone; the new has come!” In Christ, I am invited to get rid of the old person, to be reinvented. God promises me a fresh start, a clean slate. Thousands and thousands of people have testified to how God has turned their lives around. He can turn your life around too.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, in the Book of Jeremiah, God said this to a group of people exiled from Jerusalem: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.” (Chapter 29)

God has a plan for us. And he wants us to prosper. He wants to give us hope and a future. He knows us and treats us as individuals. He can help us find out who we are meant to be. It is in God that we can finally, fully know ourselves.

It doesn’t matter where we’ve been, what we’ve been through, or what we’ve done. Because of Christ, we are forgiven for our mistakes. God cares about where we are right now and where we are going. God wants us to live up to the potential He has planned for us. We are, after all, created in His image, and He wants to help us live up to that image.

This is why He sent the Holy Spirit into our lives, to comfort, to guide, to strengthen and to shape us. The moment that we invite Christ into our lives, we also get the Holy Spirit. They’re something of a package deal. The Book of Acts tells us that we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on us! (Acts 1:8) Power! Power to change, power to be, power to live!

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1:7). Do you think you don’t have the strength to walk away from something that hurts you, something that makes you weak, something you know you don’t want? Think again. Ask God.

When we reach out, when we ask God to change us, a transformation takes place. The Bible calls it a “renewing of the mind.” You will still be you, but you will be more than you. You will be a better, stronger, wiser version of yourself. In Philippians 4:13, the Apostle Paul says, “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
By inviting God to strengthen you, you are opening the world up to yourself. You will be able to do anything, with God’s strength.

You will be able to walk away from things or people who have hurt you or made you suffer. You will have the courage to be who you are supposed to be, a happy, thriving, vibrant individual with a purpose on this earth! The gift is there waiting for you. All you have to do is ask. Tell God that you want to change, and that you want to start today. If not now, when?

By Kong Hee

How can we be holy? Firstly, we must realize that holiness is a gift of God’s grace. Why did God choose Israel as His nation? God knew that no nation on earth was good enough to be called His people, His “own little flock.” He chose Israel in His love and mercy, not because of anything they had done. He chose Israel in spite of all the wrongs the nation had done and would do. It is all grace.


Secondly, holiness requires covenant faithfulness. In Genesis 15 and 17, God made a covenant with Abraham, promising to make his descendants into a great nation. That promise was realized when God restated His agreement with the Israelite nation, the descendants of Abraham. God promised to bless and care for them. The people promised to obey Him. The covenant was thus sealed. But the good intentions of the people quickly wore off. Have you made a commitment to God? How are you holding up your end of the bargain?


Thirdly, holiness comes from wholehearted obedience to God. In Jeremiah 23:5-6, Jeremiah prophesied about times of distress that would come upon Israel. But some people would be protected by God in the midst of tribulation. The distinctive mark will be their holiness, not their wealth or prestige. This holiness comes from a sincere desire to obey God and from wholehearted devotion to Him.


Fourthly, holiness grows in response to God’s Word. A follower of Christ becomes sanctified (set apart for sacred use, cleansed and made holy) through believing and obeying the Word of God (Heb. 4:12). He or she has already accepted forgiveness through Christ’s sacrificial death (7:26-27). But daily application of God’s Word has a purifying effect on our minds and hearts. The Scripture points out sin, motivates us to confess our sins, renews our relationship with Christ and guides us back to the right path.We are to be holy in the midst of an evil world. Jesus didn’t ask God to take believers out of the world but to use them in the world instead. Because Jesus sends us into the world, we should not try to escape from the world, nor should we avoid all relationships with non-Christians. We are called to be salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16), and we are to do the work that God sent us to do.

by Rachmat, Story by Unknown

This past month we have been talking about giving. There are many forms of giving. It can be in the forms of money, time, other material things and even “LIFE” like what Jesus Christ has done for us. The bible told us that it is better to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35) The question here is do you agree with what the bible said? Have you experienced it your own? As I ponder to my own question, I need to say that YES it is true. In my life, I am blessed with many people giving me things. I need to say that I am blessed for every new clothes, money, free stuff and many more that were given to me, I feel happy. However there are times when I learn to give to people and surprisingly I feel more blessed and happier than to receive. As we wrapped up this February month about giving, let us be reminded by what God has given in our lives and how we should not forget to bless others as well.

There is one story on how giving can change people lives. I hope this story bless you a lot. God bless.

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water.

She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”He said….. “Then I thank you from my heart.” As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

Year’s later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr.Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes. Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room.

Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case.

After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval.

He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill.

She read these words…..
“Paid in full with one glass of milk”
(Signed)
Dr. Howard Kelly

Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: “Thank You, God, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands.”

by Noreen Tjindra

When Christians are so filled with the Spirit of God in them, they would have a strong desire to give unto God. It is an anticipated response to the love of God in our hearts. There is no exact amount of how much we have to give back to Him but we are told that our giving should be done because out of cheerfulness, we are willing, secretly, generously, unselfishly and unconditionally give to Him.

Willingly & Cheerfully - Giving to the Lord or the formal term, tithing, means is to give one-tenth of your income to God. Many churches emphasize about tithing to their congregation. However, to tithe is to give unto the Lord out of willingness and with a cheerful heart. The Bible says, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” (2 Cor 9:7) If you are to tithe, make sure you do so because you want to do the Will of God and to be obedient to hear His instructions. Never ever allow any man to persuade you into giving out of your desire. If it is so, then it is better for you not to give at all.

Secretly - “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Mat 6:1-4) When you give, make sure it is not to be seen by men. Give secretly or as low key as possible because God sees our heart and rewards us. Never be concerned about pleasing men or impressing them because this is all between just you and Daddy God. From this verse too, we understand that prayer, fasting and giving are all governed under the similar principles; no sounding of your trumpet, it should come from your heart and unto Him alone. His approval alone is what we should seek for.

Generously & Unselfishly - “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (2 Cor 9:6) Ok, this is the trickiest part! You should read this verse very carefully and pray that you are lead by the Holy Spirit. The teaching of ‘law of reaction’ has blinded many Christians that they think that every good thing only comes when they tithe. So, they rush to be the first one to give a load of money to the church. This is so wrong. When we tithe, we should be careful whether our desire to give results from walking after the Spirit or after the flesh.

Unconditionally - “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ (Luke 17:10) Do you know that we are bought at a price? Everything that we are and we have, are blessings that come from Daddy God. He has richly blessed us with the riches of the Heaven. And, we have a relationship of being more than just the “unworthy servants” towards Him but as quoted from the Bible,” Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the Living God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” (1 Tim 6:17) So, be wise with the belongings that He has trusted us with. “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10). So as we receive much, also give much. Be conscious that we are also the stewards of it. Therefore when we give, it must always be without any expectation to receive again.

http://www.just4kidsmagazine.com/stvalentine.html

Valentine’s Day is one of our favorite holidays. Actually it is right behind Christmas. It is a day that we Celebrate our love for one another, and God’s love for us. Craig and I were married on Valentine’s Day so we Celebrate our becoming a blended family on that day too. In our house Love has always been very special, and always will be. Even as a little girl I always looked forward to our family Celebrating Valentine’s Day. My Mom and Dad would always buy us something special, and I always looked forward to receiving their gift and love.

Many years ago I read a story about St. Valentine that really caught my attention. And I want to pass it on. In the Bible John 15: 13 reads “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” And that is just what St. Valentine did.

St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. At that time the Roman Emperor was imprisoning Christians for not worshipping the Roman gods. During this persecution Valentine was arrested. Some write that he was arrested because he was performing Christian marriages, but others say it was for helping Christians escape prison.

During the trial they asked Valentine what he thought of the Roman gods Jupiter and Mercury. Valentine said they were false gods and that the God that Jesus called Father was the only true God. So the Romans threw him in prison for insulting the gods.

While in prison Valentine continued to minister. He witnessed to the guards. One of the guards was a good man who had adopted a blind girl. He asked Valentine if his God could help his daughter. Valentine prayed and the girl was given her sight. The guard and his whole family, 46 people, believed in Jesus and were baptized. Because these people had come to know Jesus, Valentine praised God right there in his prison cell. When the emperor heard about this he was furious that Valentine was still making converts even in prison, so he had Valentine beheaded.

Valentine knew that he might get caught in his Christian activities. He knew that if he told the court the truth about the Roman gods that he would be thrown in prison. And he knew that if he continued to witness to Christ in the prison he would make his captors angry. But he continued, because he loved the Lord and his fellow humans. He was willing to risk his life to free the prisoners and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who needed to hear it.

The Bible Says: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”(John 15:13) God showed us this love by coming in Christ to die for our sins. And St. Valentine demonstrated this love when he died for his friends. This is the kind of love that Valentine’s Day is really about.

By Francis Chan

There is an epidemic of spiritual amnesia going around, and none of us is immune.

No matter how many fascinating details we learn about God’s creation, we still forget.

Most of us know that we are supposed to love and fear God; that we are supposed to read our Bibles and pray so that we can get to know Him better; that we are supposed to worship Him with our lives. But actually living it out is challenging. Shouldn’t it be easy to love a God so wonderful? When we love God because we feel we should love Him, instead of genuinely loving out of our true selves, we have forgotten who God really is. Our amnesia is flaring up again.

It may sound “un-Christian” to say that on some mornings I don’t feel like loving God, or I just forget to. But I do. In our world, where there are hundreds of things to distract us from God, we have to intentionally and consistently remind ourselves of Him.

We are programmed to focus on what we don’t have, bombarded multiple times throughout the day with what we need to buy that will make us feel happier or sexier or more at peace. We forget that we already have everything we need in Him. Because we don’t often think about the reality of who God is, we quickly forget that He is worthy to be worshipped and loved. We are to fear Him.

A. W. Tozer writes: “… Worship is pure or base as the worshipper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself…what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”

If the serious question before us really is what God Himself is like, how do we learn to know Him? We have seen how He is the Creator of both the magnitude of the galaxies and the complexity of caterpillars. But what is He like? What are His characteristics? What are His defining attributes? How are we to fear Him?

God is eternal. Most of us would probably agree with that statement. But have you ever seriously meditated on what it means? Each of us had a beginning; everything in existence began on a particular day, at a specific time. God is all-knowing. Isn’t this an intimidating thought? He knows our thoughts before we think them, our actions before we commit them, whether we are lying down or sitting or walking around. He knows who we are and what we are about. We cannot escape Him, not even if we want to. When I grow weary of trying to be faithful to Him and want a break, it doesn’t come as a surprise to God.

God is all-powerful. Colossians 1:16 tells us that everything was created for God: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” God is fair and just. One definition of justice is “reward and/or penalty as deserved.” If what we truly deserved were up to us, we would end up with as many different answers as people who responded. But it isn’t up to us, mostly because none of us are good.

by Simon William Prasetyo

Hebrews 11:1 says: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Many people write things about faith, sing songs about faith, and even bible also mention many things about faith. Many people in our church are often write something about faith on their Facebook, MSN Messenger, Skype, etc. However, many people still think that faith is acting like something is so when it really isn’t so, and if we do that long enough, then it will become so. But that’s not it at all. Faith is real. God’s Word daily. Speak and confess them aloud to yourself. Then act out whatever the Word says. God moves when you move—in a faith that is active.

This is saying that faith is real. It is the evidence of things not seen. Notice it didn’t say “things that don’t exist.” They do exist. They just aren’t
seen. Now, do you want to experience that faith? Before that, you should know that faith without deeds is nothing. In bible, James 2:14-26 explains this by emphasizing on:

James 2:20, “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”

I believe you will see that faith really works. However, you must do your work diligently with pure heart and fully rely on God. I believe that God is a faithful God. He never abandons us.

In our consumer society where fast food commercials try to convince us to instantly satisfy our every craving, a fast is a countercultural statement. Add to that the fact that it’s a rich and biblical part of Christian tradition. If you are undertaking a fast, and it is your first time here are a few tips to help you succeed.

Remember to Pray

This sounds simple, but it’s amazing how sidetracked you can become when you’re thinking about your stomach. The whole point of fasting is to focus on prayer. You’re not engaging in a starvation diet. Every time you start obsessing about food or how hungry you are, pray. When a Subway commercial comes on TV, PRAY!

Ask for Support

While Jesus tells us not to go around bragging about our fasting, there’s nothing wrong with asking a couple friends to hold you accountable and pray for you. Hopefully, they’ll also be kind enough not to eat massive amounts of food in front of you.

Don’t Tempt Yourself Unreasonably

You don’t want to isolate yourself while fasting, but it’s important to be smart about what situations you put yourself in. For instance, in the midst of my fast I went to my favorite barbecue restaurant with a group of friends and watched them eat. One of them tried to convince me that if I drank baked beans they counted as a beverage. It almost made sense. Stay away from situations that are going to put unreasonable strain on your fortitude.

Drink a Lot

Chugging a lot of water will make the hunger pangs less severe. Also, going without food for a while can make you extremely lethargic. Water will boost your energy. You may also want to think about drinking juice. It will keep your blood sugar from plummeting too much. Stay away, however, from caffeine and alcohol. Without food in your stomach as a buffer, caffeine will have you bouncing off the walls and alcohol will probably put you in a coma.

Fasting is tough. There’s no way around that. But it can be an incredible learning experience. During my fast, I realized how much of my life was centered around immediate gratification. Fasting and prayer are often mentioned together in the Bible. Prayer takes on new meaning when you’re weak enough that you sometimes feel the wind might blow you over. It is a physical manifestation of a spiritual reality: We are husks of nothingness without God.

We run into problems when we make the soul all-important and the body totally insignificant. When we forget that our bodies matter, we live lopsided lives. We forget to rest. We forget that our very cells are holy and that the clearest word God’s ever spoken came to us as a body with red blood and breakable bones. The spiritual intersects profoundly with the physical.

Our souls are all tangled up in our bodies, and when I fast, I know this. I become more aware of each small physical thing and each small spiritual thing, and that they are not so separate as I once believed.

by Kong Hee - www.konghee.com

For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes,
I shall be made well.” Mark 5:28

One time, as Jesus was moving through a huge crowd, there was a certain woman who had been sick for 12 years with a hemorrhage. She had many bad encounters with doctors who could not give her a cure for her disease. She was not getting any better; in fact, she was getting worse. By now, her huge medical bills were pushing her toward bankruptcy.

Then one day, somebody told her about the wonderful miracles Jesus did. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). The Greek word for “hearing” is in the present continuous tense. That means you need to hear God’s Word spoken to you again and again. That is also the reason why listening to good, faith-building sermons is so important. You can hear them in church, from an audiotape, through a radio or television broadcast, through the Internet, or simply by reading the Bible aloud to yourself.

So this woman heard about Jesus. She then started saying to herself, “I can be healed. If I could only touch His clothes, I know I can be made whole.” Again in the Greek text, it indicates that she rehearsed and confessed this to herself again and again. Faith is speaking out—again and again. Jesus says, “Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says” (Mark 11:23).

Then this woman acted out what she believed. She came behind Jesus in the crowd and actually touched His garment. Immediately, power left Jesus and healed her of her affliction. Jesus felt the outflow, she felt the inflow.

Jesus commended the woman for her faith (Mark 5:34). What was her faith? She heard. She spoke. She acted. This woman didn’t just trust God passively. She translated her faith into positive, physical action.

Don’t be a passive Christian. Decide to hear God’s Word daily. Speak and confess them aloud to yourself. Then act out whatever the Word says. God moves when you move—in a faith that is active.