***Heat Control***

*The girl in this story is me*

Tonight, it was unusually more freezing than at other nights. She was lying right there on the couch in the living room, a little bit noxious and a little bit drowzy. She had been doing her homework on the desktop, and too tired to go anywhere else to sleep she simply took the next best thing, the couch. Too tired to get up to adjust the temperature of the room, she moved her head to a softer part of the red fluffy pillow and drew the blanket higher up towards her chin. She tossed and she turned several times, until she finally got pulled into the sweet embrace of the unknown...sleep! Slowly, but surely...she was drowning in the luxury most workaholics don't seem to have.

When she's asleep, she gets into this mini-unconscious state where she can't feel any part of her five senses: she can't feel, smell, hear, or taste anything..but most importantly she can't see anything. The only thing she can see is the lover in her dreams, the fairy-tale mansion, and the dreams of a blessed, joyful, energetic, vibrant, peaceful, and blissful future. She usually smiles towards the end of the dream...or frowns, depending on the dream. Tonight though, she woke up to the sounds of footsteps drawing closer and closer to where she was lying. She opened her eyes and saw someone adjusting the honeywell thermostat in the living room. It was her older brother...and he said, "aren't you cold down here?" And she replied, "not really." He said he was freezing, adjusted the thermostat and walked back upstairs to his room.

No, this is not a thriller or a horror movie. Neither is it a poem or a prose. But my focus is on the word "thermostat." A thermostat is a device that regulates the temperature of a system so that the system's temperature is maintained near a desired "set-point" temperature. It's function is to control the existing temperature. On the other hand, a thermometer measures whatever temperature is available to be measured.

I read this scripture this morning, and it is what is responsible for my comparisons: Proverbs 18:14

"The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?"

After thinking I came to the rightful conclusion that as children of God we have thermostats inside of us. We have something that can always regulate our spiritual temperatures, and that thermostat inside us is called the "spirit." When your spirit is strong, then though storms, famines, and all sorts of things may throw themselves at you, yet you will still be willing to look over those things and realize that they can't take you out. Like the scripture said, in sickness a man's spirit can still sustain him. The only time you should have a broken spirit is unto repentance, for psalm 51:17 says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart." Yes, your spirit needs to be broken so that you can buy a brand new spirit from God. But when you have your new spirit, it must remain strong, because proverbs 25: 28 also says, "For whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls."

But if your spirit is broken, then your thermostat is damaged and you cannot control your temperature. Instead like a thermometer you begin to measure every adversity and focus on the present instead of the future..

As my "S" said to me this morning as I tried to describe this imagery, I will also say to every one who comes across this post, "make up your mind to train your spirit into becoming a thermostat and not a thermometer." When your spirit is strong, you can move mountains, you can control emotions, and you can focus on the prize and run your race well. Wouldn't you rather be a thermostat?

Presenting Your Musical Instrument...

"The Flamenco spanish-sounding guitar lay at the bottom of the pile of musical instruments. She took it out and proceeded to dust it up, removing cobwebs that had accumulated as a result of lack of use for the long period of a couple of years. Time waits for no man, she thought as she scrubbed it back into shape. She used a soft sponge so as not to cause a few scratches to the surface of her guitar. She couldn't wait to check the tuning and get each string close to the tuning peg. She couldn't wait to get the index finger of her right hand to strike each string and finally make music again. Music brought life into her atmosphere. Music was a phenomenal turn-around for a picturesque mind-frame. But she needed a teacher again. She needed someone to remind her...

So she took her guitar to the devil. He played a few notes, and she was reminded of a lot of things in her past. She stood up and began to dance, enjoying the comforting soothing sounds of familiarity. She laughed as she remembered the notes he played, she danced and laughed until she could do so no more. She practiced for a couple of weeks until she got tired of the lyrics. Then someone came into her life and introduced her to a new teacher.

There she was again. She took the same guitar and presented it to God. "God, please teach me how to play some new songs," she said. And God received her musical instrument...and He taught her some new things. He turned around the songs from the devil. She danced again, like she had never danced before. "I never knew I could experience anything better than my past," she said. And she knew there was no going back after this..."

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I used to think I was strong. I used to think I could get away with tricks. I used to think I could go a little way, but as far as I didn't go all the way with sin I was good. Little did I know that whoever I presented my guitar to would teach me how to play it and get comfortable, even to the extent of mastery. It's really not about me (or you), and it's really not about your instrument. It's about "who" you present your instrument to.

And so I read this last night, and it was what triggered this post ~ Romans 6:12-14, 16-19 "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace...Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?... I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh"

See, never get so caught up in your prowess...never get caught up in your own strength. We are all "weak" when it comes to our flesh, no man is excluded. If you present your musical instrument (your body) to the devil, he will teach you how to play the strings. But if you present your whole body as a musical instrument to God, He will also teach you how to make it a temple. You only dance to the tunes of your teacher, and you play your strings from the lessons you have learnt. Who will you present your strings to? Choose this day...there are two teachers, but you only need one...

Free Your Mind.........

Yesterday after the message, I became a self-assigned hooligan! According to my wiki darling, in the soviet union, article 213 describes "hooliganism" as any deliberate behaviour which violates public order and expresses explicit disrespect towards the society. But today, I choose to define my hooliganism as a deliberate behavior that violates the order of a self-restrained mind and expresses explicit disrespect towards whatever makes my mind a prisoner.

Lol. Yeah, I must sound like I've absolutely lost it, but sometimes we've just gotta free our minds. Let there be a liberation of your mind today! No longer should your mind be a prisoner of your thoughts. Do you know that the reason we get depressed sometimes is because our minds get over-illustrative over a simple fact and we turn this simple fact into a complex thing??? No, now is the time for liberation. Today, let your mind be free. The book of Ecclesiastes chapter 1: 9-10 says (catch this):

"That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us"

Therefore liberate your mind and free your thoughts. What is happening to you right now that may seem so oh-so-sad and oh-so-difficult has happened in ancient times before, and I'm glad to say that the people of ancient times did get over their problems and become great. Bringing this close to home, take one quick look around you. You've seen testimonies: you've heard of the sick becoming well, you've heard of the blind being able to see again, you've heard of the poor becoming rich...and so many other miracles. What makes you think that your miracle isn't coming? Oh, YES it is! YES it is!!! It is definitely coming.

Today, I say liberate your mind. For I became a hooligan to my own mind last night. I jumped around greeting people like I was meeting them for the first time. I smiled, I laughed, and I danced. Because I heard a word. I heard the preacher say "All God ever wanted was to create someone that looked like Him." For God said when He created man, "let us make man in Our Image." I am made in His image. You are made in His image. Though we may be different, there is something that is perfected in each of us. Imagine that out of the billions of people in this world, God placed something special in everyone...something that we can bring to the world to make this world a better place.

So liberate your mind today. Though you are different, though you may be going through a lot of stuff, though your story may be different...the bottom line is you're very special and you have a destiny and a future in God's hands.

Don't let depression make you its prisoner. Become a hooligan against whatever makes your mind a prisoner today. Go against the dictations of an imprisoned mind. Question less, think big, and dream bigger. Let the restrictions of today be the joy of tomorrow.

*A Love to Remember*

With affectionate hands He shaped me

He shaped my eyes, mouth, nose, and ears
then He selected my family

and there I was swimming in my mother's womb

with a new sense of warmth and belonging

With the push of a loving mother

I was slowly drafted into this world

My eyes were still closed

but I still felt His love

for His eyes followed me wherever I went

As I grew up I saw the world

I even dared to taste of its pleasures

daring even to taste the fruit I was told not to touch

but I still felt His love

for His eyes followed me wherever I went

Then one day I heard His voice

asking me to remember His love

telling me no other love can compare

and I listened in tears

and I ran straight into His arms again

He told me I'd never experience true love

unless I first understood His love

Then when I finally understood

He gave me someone to love

He gave me someone to share His love

There I was again

still in this world

but no longer of this world

No longer will I forget

that He loved me first

and it's the way He loved me

that I will never forget

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On this beautiful Valentine's day

I choose to remember God's love for me

I choose to remember the way He loved me first...

Happy valentine's day everyone

Loving my heart-shaped gift from mr. S

U made me jump with glee & excitement...

Thanks boo...(lol)

*Wounds that Won't Heal*

Wounds that won't heal are like an ulcer (a hole in the lining of the digestive tract that causes pain). Wounds that won't heal are like ulcers which when they are almost healed, the naturally produced acidic digestive juices pour out again, penetrating inside the pores of the ulcer, causing the wounds to be deepened as time slowly passes. Ulcers always come back to hunt the owner of the body. Why don't the wounds heal?

Emotional wounds are like ulcers. They keep coming back like a time machine that joins the things of the past with the things of the future and blends them into a unified theme. Why is there no healing? Because there is no revelation that there is a Balm in Gilead. There is no revelation that there is a Physician Who can cure all types of ulcers when you take your body to Him, be they emotional or physical. Today, I present to you the BALM OF GILEAD. Weep no more, for there is healing in His balm. Cry no more because His balm is like a mixture of massage aromatic spices: ginger, cloves, cinnamon, rice powder, coriander, turmeric, barley, jasmine, golden champa, pikake flowers, golden Belizian seaweed, brown sugar, the papaya fruit and even much more.

Jeremiah 8: 22 "Is there no Balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?"

Photo credits: Nubar Alexanian & Absolute Nirvana Spa

Upcoming post on February 14th: "A Love to Remember."

So I went Jogging by the lakeside...

I could be crazy sometimes. So I just woke up this morning and decided today was jogging day. There's this beautiful lakeside some 20 mins away from the house, so I partially jogged there and partially walked there...feeling good with myself (*insert haughty laughter*). When I got there I was doing crazy things like saying "hi" to the birds, and staring at the lake. Then all of a sudden I remembered this scripture in Habakkuk 2:14 that says, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea"

So I began to ask myself how waters can completely cover the sea, and why they should even completely cover the sea (the audacity!!!). Then I remembered one chemistry class that discussed the topic of molecules of water and their attraction for each other. Water molecules have the best chemical romance ever, so it's no wonder why God compared the knowledge of His glory to the romantic attraction of water molecules. I stared at the water again for the umpteenth time, and I could see that there was no breathing space between the molecules of water, in other words I couldn't really distinguish one molecule from the next molecule (lol). It was just like a huge blob to me. Anyways, so I decided that at a particular point in time in this world, the entire face of the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God. It won't matter what color of skin you are: black, white, yellow, brown, or polka dot...you will be filled with His glory. It won't matter what part of the world you're from...you will be filled with His glory. It won't matter what religious sect you belong to...you will be filled with His glory. You will be able to sense His heavy presence and His anointing on His people. You will be able to feel sensations in the atmosphere that something supernatural and unexplainable is going on. No one would have to tell you that the Spirit of God is moving upon the waters...

At this point though, you wouldn't want to not be among the people enjoying His presence each day...right?

Those times are already here...

*Behind the Mulberry Bush*

A mulberry is a tropical plant that is fast-growing when young, but soon becomes slow-growing as it gets older. It also changes color as it blooms from one season to another, starting out as white/pale yellow with pink edges, then gets red when it ripens, and then changes from dark purple to black (you guys must know wikipedia is my friend...lol). But I'll get to the inspiration of this post in a quick minute.

"She was a little girl in the suburbs. She lived in a house a little distant from town, where there were little mulberry bushes growing all around. She usually played this little game with herself, pretending to be hiding behind a mulberry bush and taking little peaks into the world all around her. She skipped along the road so many times and found several mulberry bushes along the way where she could hide behind and watch passers-by. The first time, she hid behind a mulberry with red leaves and peaked...and amusingly she saw a very young couple, seemed like they just got married because they couldn't stop giving each other naughty looks like they were love-sick puppies, and everytime they glanced at each other tiny smiles formed on their lips, even as they walked down the street.

One year later, this little girl hiding behind the same mulberry bush saw the same couple, and this time they were bickering at each other and disagreeing about a particular issue. There were little frowns on each of their faces.

Three years down the line, this little girl went back to that same bush, and she saw the same couple walking down the street. This time they had a little baby stroller and both of them were smiling at the baby."

So much for forming a story around a mulberry bush (lol). The point here is that I've come to the realization that as life goes on, little secrets of life are unfolded one by one. Sometimes things get ugly, and at other times they are extremely beautiful. Sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry. Sometimes we embrace and at other times we refrain from embracing. Sometimes we plant and sometimes we uproot what we planted. Sometimes we build and at other times we tear down what we so beautifully constructed (Ecclesiastes 3). But as God's children we have to be totally dependent on God in knowing the right time for everything. Also, if we are totally reliant on our Father, then the not-too-cool circumstances of our lives will not cause us to stumble in our walk. We'll keep moving, pushing, and running to the end of the track for our Olympic medals.

As I found out this morning while reading revelation 10, there are even some secret things that will not be revealed until the very end of times...according to a vision seen by one of the disciples of Jesus, John...

"Then I saw a mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire...when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them"...but in the days of the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be finished..."

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There are so many questions many of us may have about the existence of this world, about why crazy things happen, about the mysteries of the gates of heaven and hell, and about our lives and the journey of life itself. But there are some secrets that are being saved until the very end, when the mystery will be unveiled. It may sound so cliche, but its true. God Himself told John not to write certain things down in Revelation, because it is not the right time to know. As God's child though, He will definitely reveal His secrets to you, but little by little, as time goes on (so that you won't be completely clueless): Deuteronomy 29:29, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."

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So to every thing there is a time. To everything there is a season. Hiding behind the mulberry bush may take a little girl many years to peak through to see the world, but one day the full mystery of life will be revealed to her. She can start by learning about the world in bits and pieces...

"Never disregard the bits and pieces of your hearing of the word of God. At the right time, you will understand"

Endless Time...

Where does Time begin?

Who can do the calculation?

Is it 001 B.C?

Or was time before that?

Where does Time end?

Who can do the calculation?

How many years after Christ?

Or how many years after the anti-Christ?

There is only One who knows...

For He was before Time

And He will be after Time

He created Time

And He put eternity in our hearts...

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. And He has also put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to the end." Ecclesiastes 3:11.

I lost someone very dear a few days ago, he wasn't even in the prime of his youth. He just turned 22 in december of 2007. He would have been 23 this year. It didn't feel right, yet it made me realize that we are not the owners of our lives. You are not responsible for the oxygen you breathe. But God knows. He alone is sovereign. He alone knows where the keys of life and death are, and He has put eternity in our hearts. This is not the end. It cannot be the end. There's something more. This life is vanity, there's so much more to it. Please, I implore you to give your lives to Christ because there's more to life than what you see with your two eyes...

There's something more than time itself, and it's called "eternity."