To be Content

"I say it is better to be content with what little you have. Otherwise, you will always be struggling for more, and that is like chasing the wind." -Ecclesiastes 4:6

In our society, happiness usually refers to the sense of well-being and contentment that occurs when the various aspects of our lives come into harmony with one another. When life goes south, however, our sense of happiness dissolves like a Popsicle on a hot sidewalk. Because circumstances change, our sense of happiness does too.

Our relationships in this life don't define us; our relationship with Christ does. So when our world is in disharmony, it's OKAY! This world is not our home anyways. The secret of contentment is found in the truth that when you have Jesus, you already have EVERYTHING! You can handle conflict in your relationships when you are at peace in your relationship w/Christ. And that WILL bring the greatest happiness you could ever know.

And isn't Christ enough?

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but.. Why?

When I first became a Christian back in '98 I didn't fully understand the extremities that came with it.. When I decided to dedicate my life as the Lords back in '03 I found the confidence that allowed my faith not to waiver regardless.. When I decided to go buck wild rebellious back in '07 hittin up the glamorous hollywood nightlife corrupt with the devils juice and candies, I found myself so engulfed in my own sins that I started to turn the blind eye to anything that would lead me to any feelings of guilt.. That time regardless of my doings I always found that strength inside me that never questioned my faith in God..
Now Don't get me wrong, I've had my own uncontrollable events that came about during my 24 years of existance that led me to question God, many many times..

The inevitable: "But God.. Why me...?"

Its been exactly 20 days today since the passing of my dear friend.. After his departure I re-evaluated a lot of things in my life, I decided to die to myself and follow Christ.. The hardest part of choosing Christ is introducing Him to my friends.. Its like getting into a relationship and having that excitement of introducing Him to all ur friends, but the thing is that they already "know" about him.. They just don't "know" Him personally.. Some have a negative outlook and some a positive.. Regardless they both ask me the question.. WHY??? The universal question that can pop all curious bubbles..

"Why?"

If I got the miraculous opportunity to choose any super power of my choice, it would have to be the power of being able to answer all questions of life.. Knowing the answers to the universal question: "why?".. Correct me if I'm wrong about this but doesn't God have this ability? The power to answer all questions in life? Am I capable to ask Him for you? Yes.. Am I able to give u an answer? Honestly, I don't know, possibly?.. Will God answer your questions if u ask him directly yourself? Yes, yes he will! When? I don't know..

But I do know this:

"suffering produces perseverance,

and perseverance-character,

and character... Hope" Rom 5:9

And isn't HOPE enough to get u by?

-live productively

take my hand

-The Kry

"Take My hand and walk where I lead
keep your eyes on Me alone
don't you say why were
the old days better
just because you're
scared of the unknown
take My hand and walk"

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everything

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Lord,

til the day I see you, face to face, help me to live everyday with strength, with love and with hope.

Amen

-Live productively

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Proverbs 11:25

"A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes another will himself be refreshed." (NiV)

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Every Day things to do

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Prayer Changes Things

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

(Philippians 4:6-7).

Sometimes the only way in life to ever find the right answer is through prayer. God answers according to His timing and sometimes what we pray for isn't always the YES answer that we're going to get. If it is according to His will then I believe and know that my prayers will be answered.. I trust God and God alone for my best interest in life.

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16).

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (Luke 5:16)

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Death.. brings Life..

Matthew 16:

²³Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." ²⁴Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.²⁶What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. ²⁸I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

Dear God,

I do not want to be one who has not tasted death before the day of your return. I want to be one who puts to death all the things inside me that so disables me from obtaining Life in you. I ask you to shine a miracle into my life and reveal the things that I need to bring to light. Lord, I DIE to myself so that through you I may LIVE...

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Savior, Please...

"I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this alone, God I need You to hold on to me

And be the God of all I am because You're all I have"

you choose

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Knowledge changes Perception

Growing up I've always been told by friends of many,

"My problems seem so insufficient compared to yours. You go through all this and yet you remain strong."

I always heard this being told to me but I never really took these words into my heart. I always knew that I'd have life, hard! But that much more I also believed that God trusted me that much more for me to endure it. Til this day I know in my mind and heart that he wills to use me and my life as a walking testimony to those who don't believe. To be used as his hands, his feet, his words.. bringing me so humbled to the ground at the thought that someone as IMPERFECT as me can be used by a PERFECT God, I just cannot fully fathom nor grasp fully that concept!

"Don't compare your life to anyone else's because you do not know what their journey entails."

When I go thru my dark times in life, I never try to place the mentality that "I'm going thru more than you are." But at times as a means for my hunger for love I unknowingly self-pity myself so I can TRY to allow people a glimpse of the pains that I had to endure. But I came to this realization when I came before the cross. I have NO idea how much pain and blood was shed for me. I cannot physically feel his pains that he bore for me to have LIFE. But likewise, no one else will ever know or feel my pains and sorrows. As I look to Calvary, I see all that Jesus endured and all that he sacrificed, for me. And that leaves me beyond humbled to the floor. I gained life through his sacrifices and likewise I pray and hope that all people who God sends my way will also see the dark times of my life as a testimony of how I found the light as a means for them to find LIFE!

Without darkness you cannot see the light. For in daylight you're oblivious to the sun. But when the sun sets, all you see are lights. Find the light that will guide you..

God is the way!

-live productively

"Every challenge we face presents an opportunity to either rely on Jesus and believe that He is at work or rely on ourselves and live as if He doesn't exist."

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09162009

"Once you realize

your past is just a story;

it has no power over you."

Is there Techno in Heaven?

I know i'm starting to push into a new season of my life, pursuing a Godly life.

But I still love to listen to music.

I wonder if there's techno in heaven?

I can't help it!

it makes me happy

-live productively

Psalm 46:1

"God is our refuge and strength,

always ready to help in times of trouble."

I hope these words will strike you as it did for me.

Just as a story must have conflict, so life will have troubles- that's simply a fact! No amount of complaining/wishing/or manipulating will change this constant truth. You cannot talk it away/ pray it away/ or even live a good enough life to avoid it completely.

The hope of CHRISTIANITY is not that we will have no troubles but that God in all His love and compassion, WILL come to our aid.

You may find this strange, but you can actually use trouble to grow closer to God. When it comes- and it will- run to Him and don't let Him out of your sight. ASK HIM to bring his vast resources to bear on your behalf and to walk with you, hand in hand, until you can once again see a clear road before you.

God loves you and, like a good REAL father, He's there for you whenever you need Him. Bring your troubles to Him, lay them at His feet, and let Him help you sort it all out. You will not be turned away.

"The

world

can

create

trouble in peace,

But

God

can

create

peace in trouble."

-Thomas Watson

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Beauty for Ashes

-Shane&Shane

beauty for ashes
a garment of praise for my heaviness
beauty for ashes
take this heart of stone and make it Yours, Yours

i delight myself in the Richest of Fare
trading all that i've had for all that is better
a garment of praise for my heaviness
You are the greatest taste
You're the richest of fair

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just look

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a song from my heart

Your grace is sufficient for me
Your strength is made perfect
When I am weak
And all that I cling to
I lay at Your feet
Your grace is sufficient for me

-Live Productively!

When it RAINS.. it freakin POURS!

I have been going through the craziest RAINstorms in LIFE!

i'm going through all sets of seasons of emotions:

-intense sadness,

-waves of laughing, bringing about joy,

-immense internal pain,

-rising anger,

-annoyances!

-confusions..

Everyday is a new day and I honestly could not have said it better myself. One day I would wake up and everything could be fine and dandy. The next couple hours and throughout the day, somehow my whole life can be turned 360 degrees flipped upside down. Life is honestly a big jumbled up ball of frustrations just waiting to be unravelled. I'm in the unravelling stages now. Going through emotion after emotion, learning from mistakes, thinking about the possibilities of the "what if's", thinking about the present state. There's just so many life changing experiences that I have been facing in the past couple of weeks. My friend told me, "When it rains, it pours!" and I find it very ironic that not too long ago I mentioned these very exact words: "I feel like I'm waiting for another storm to come because Life is too quiet right now".. It's as if I foretold my own happenings. Ofcourse I'm not God and I cannot see the future and what it has in store but what I do know is.. THIS LIFE IS nothing BUT TEMPORARY.. the pains, the feelings, the everyday struggles amount to nothing compared to eternity with Christ. That is what I firmly believe and know in my spirit, that one day when God has fulfilled all my life's purposes that I'll be able to leave leaving behind my life's missions, whatever God's plan may be.

This week was the most pivotal life changing week of my life. I am no longer in the same mindset, I am no longer the same person, I no longer possess the same thoughts as I had prior to this week. The passing of my dear friend, Paul, has left me contemplating and wrestling with a lot of facts of life, that remain imprinted onto my heart. The very fact that through the testimony of his life I was able to find.. the meaning of LIFE! There are so many people that can say, "He could've achieved so much, he could've accomplished so much more, etc etc" but quite honestly, I do not think that there was much more than what was amounted to the short span of his 25 years of life. God had divinely appointed perfectly the people God wanted Paul to touch. He divinely used Paul's life as His hands and feet to reach out to those that God wanted to touch. Through the passing of Paul so many have found LIFE through Christ, as well as myself. I apologized to Paul that I cannot be with Him right now in God's glory because somehow God is not done fulfilling allllllll that he has in plan for MY life. Whatever it is God wants to fulfill, I'm still left here to fulfil exactly that. God's purposes for my life to be a blessing to those that he has given me to bless. At the same time, he's taken those away from me that I'm no longer to bless. I have reconciled many relationships and friendships, at the same time I've lost many relationships and friendships as well. Regardless of my gains or losses, I'm still thankful for the fact that..

He GIVES and TAKES AWAY..

Life is not always easy and I honestly don't think that I'll ever be content with my life here on Earth until I get to my appointed destination, heaven. But I do know that God will strengthen me and help me achieve the impossibles, the unobtainables and the things that I limit myself from thinking that I can! With that hope, I'm able to move another day forward into fulfilling the plans that God has in store for me. Whatever that may be!

-Live Productively!

Til We Meet Again...

Rest in Peace

Paul Dong Jin Kim

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in LIFE."

til we meet again,

Thank You, for being the light, as He is the light!

A Crack in the Front Windshield

For those who know me well know that I drive a car with that huge CRACK on the front windshield. For those who know me really well know the cause of that CRACK.

Today, I had my whole front windshield replaced. The old cracked windshield is now gone being replaced by a newly beautiful tinted one. When I first got into my car to drive it was like I was driving a new car.

This is exactly how I perceive life at my present season of life. I always kept that windshield as a reminder of my past. The anger that so lingers inside me, the cause of my actions. But now, I realize, I don't need the past anymore to linger inside me. I need to learn how to refreshingly let go and just move forward.

Now, when I drive, not just in my car but through life. I have a clear view of where I'm headed. And that's how I plan to keep it from here on out!

-Live productively!