So I went back to my parent’s home in the Bay Area for Chinese New Year’s and I’m kind of stuck here until we get the repairs for my van sorted out. In the meantime, I’ve decided to let my creative juices flow and make some birthday cards for people. This was one of the ones that I was eager to work on when the idea popped into my head. It took me about 1.5 days of getting my hands dirty and working out all the angles and the kinks, but I think it’s pretty good. I need to now backtrack and make a digital pattern/layout for the future, so I can just print these suckers out instead of painstakingly crafting it from scratch.
I told him, “You are worth the sacrifice, you are worth everything to me because I love you.” Those words echoed in me, in every fiber of my being as if God shouted that truth into the caverns of my soul. It unlocked everything. It all made sense. My Daddy thought I was worth it. I was, I had always been worthy in His eyes. How I missed that, I don’t know, but I’m glad I understand now.
Further up, Further in: Thanksgiving
I feel like there should be an obligatory Thanksgiving day post. It’s not just a cool holiday, but I also haven’t written anything in a little over a week and I have some free time this morning. The November craziness continued through the past week and weekend. There was Liz’s birthday party at…
Thanksgiving post from my staff blogness…
Further up, Further in: Inconvenience of Leadership
I’ve decided to start a blog so that people can read about what I am doing while I am on staff for Origins UCSD. I plan on writing at least once a week to briefly update on happenings and things that I am thinking about.
The past two weeks have been incredibly busy with the start of the new…
I’ve kind of moved to a new blog that’s for my time as being on staff for Origins. I’ll be updating the new blog more than this one, but I’ll probably still write something here once in a while~
Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the great mountains;
Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
“Abba”
You are a son, and you have a Daddy - Papa, Father, Abba.
Spoken word piece by Elizabeth Chung.
Shot by Jason Hartman.Such extraordinary talent.. I am so honored to be able to call these people my spiritual family. Everyone, check it out and get rocked by some Truth! Ahhh Jesus you are too goood t_t
What C. Cho said : )
So so much power <3
I almost never reblog content, especially stuff that has been reblogged quite a bit. Yeah, I like to believe I have some anti-crowd hipsterness in me, but this is reblog worthy. Liz and Jason did a great job, and I love ‘em lots. Get rocked while watching it!
Pearls
“Lord we know deeply that in every moment your love never, never diminishes, Lord we know deeply that in every moment, our only friend is you, our hearts long for you, our hearts long for you, because you’re the first in millions, no one can be compared with you, no one can be compared with you.”
-Canaan Hymn No. 56 “Lord, We Know Deeply” by Xiao Min
Xiao Min was a peasant girl in China who came to know Jesus and wrote more than 1200 hymns for the Chinese House Church during times of persecution. At one point, she prayed that she would be put in prison so that she could suffer for Jesus and identify with other believers who were being persecuted. This hymn was inspired and written while she was in prison. I can’t help but tear up every single time I read those lyrics. It’s ridiculous.
Faith
Awhile ago, I was challenged with the notion that I already have all the faith I needed. I don’t need more faith, I just need to rid myself of creeping unbelief and doubt. Someone brought up Jesus talking about having faith like a mustard seed, and asked if that meant faith was meant to grow like a mustard seed. Here are the passages where Jesus relates faith with a mustard seed.
So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20 - NKJV)
So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. (Luke 17:6 -NKJV)
Nowhere does Jesus say that the faith needs to grow. He’s simply stating how little faith is actually needed to accomplish seeming impossible things. The following passages is Jesus telling the parable of the mustard seed.
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32 - NKJV)
Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.” (Mark 4:30-32 - NKJV)
Then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” (Luke 13:18-19 - NKJV)
In all these versions of the parable, it is interesting to note that Jesus is not talking about faith. He is likening the kingdom of God to a mustard seed that grows, meaning that the kingdom of God grows and expands. However, He is not talking about our faith that grows.
It is encouraging, yet challenging, to be responsible with the revelation that I have all the faith I need to see the impossible happen. Weeks ago, crystals appeared during one of our meetings on campus a few minutes after one of our friends from Stockton, Matt Gonzales, prophesied about gemstones being a sign that God was going to do on our campus. Soon after, crystals appeared in our friend’s church in Utah and even at breakfast. I will admit that even seeing these crystals appear firsthand, I was skeptical to a slight degree. Like, sometimes I don’t actually expect God to do something impossible, you know? Being unsure of something is not a bad thing necessarily, but there is a fine line between caution and doubt.
I don’t need to increase my faith, I need to decrease my doubt. James 1 talks about how a man who doubts is like the sea tossed by the wind, and is double-minded and unstable in all his ways. Faith is a choice to stand on what He is saying and believing that He is faithful. The faith to believe for salvation is a gift, and I have the faith to see the impossible. Looking back at the past years in college, there are so many miraculous things that I thought I would not see for years and decades, but I have seen them with my own eyes. The glass ceiling is broken and there is no limit to how high He wants to take us.
Disciple
A disciple is someone who has no other options but to follow Jesus. There is no plan B. Do you have a backup plan?
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.
Written by Louisa M. R. Stead, after she lost her husband who died trying to save a drowning boy. There’s something about those old hymns that are so profound. They are still real and speak to the heart even over a century later..
