After the first service for our growing church plant, God provided my outreach prayer team with some wonderful experiences.  Both D and J were on my team and they also communicated that they enjoyed it.

We believe in relying on God before going out to the community, so D led in praying that the Holy Spirit lead us those whom God would have us pray for.  During D's prayer, I received an impression that we were looking for a person with a red shirt and whose name starts with "A."  D was coordinating the group and he wanted to go to a park.  So, when we arrived at the park, we prayed for a few people.  I approached her and her friends, introduced myself.  Both D and J also introduced themselves.  When we discovered that her name started with an "A," I knew that God wanted us to pray for her.  However, her friends were not receptive.  We ended up blessing the group.  Outside the park's fence, J told us that we should pray for this woman any way because it was clear that God wanted us to pray for her (referring to the impression earlier).  So, we stood there and I prayed for the woman and asked the Holy Spirit to continue planting seeds into her heart.

We walked around and eventually came to another park.  We also prayed for a few people.  During one of the prayers, I got an impression that we needed to pray for an E-----.  I asked the man we were currently praying for if he knew someone with the name E----- who needed prayer.  He said no.  After praying for him, we left and prayed for someone else.  Then, J pointed to a man and said that God was her telling to pray for the man.  I stated that the man seemed "busy."  But I approached the man, as we are a Spirit-empowered community of believers (and I believe that my brothers and sisters are spirit-led), and offered to pray for him.  He introduced himself to us as E-----.  I told E----- that there was an impression to pray for a person with his name.  We then prayed for a very important request of his.

What I am learning more from these prayer outreaches is that the body of Christ works together to reveal God's love to the world.  D and J both listened to the Spirit and led us to the persons that God told me we should be praying for (D - by pointing to a park - and J - by pointing to the person).  Praise the Lord for a wonderful time and praise the Lord for His presence with us as we prayed for others in our community.

It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. (Proverbs 20:3 NIV)

The Holy Spirit led me to this verse during my morning reflections today, not only to remind me that endless quarrel is not the way of God, but also to remind me that standing for truth and dispelling lies is not quarreling.  When it comes to quarreling, God is not talking about truth versus lies.  He is actually talking about opinions.  Thus, a wise and discerning mind, grounded in the truth (knowing the difference between opinion and truth), is essential and necessary to the application of the versus above.  In fact, God further says. "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions (Proverbs 18:2 NIV)."  Notice that the Proverb state "his own opinions," it does not state "airing the truths of God."  The truths of God are not opinions -- the proverb is not referring to truth - it is referring to opinions.  What is truth?  What is opinion?  What is the difference?  How do we know?

The difference or more accurately to know the difference between truth and opinion is related to one's relationship with Christ, who is the Truth Incarnate.  How much one knows the truths of God and how much those truths are integrated into one's life is a reflection of one's relationship with Jesus.  Jesus clearly states that "He is the truth."  Those who are not grounded in truth do not know Jesus because Jesus is truth.  In fact, Jesus is the Word Incarnate and being the Word Incarnate, He has the last word not only against death, but against everything.  It is He who spoke the world into existence - it is not smart, intelligent, or wise to argue against Him.  But how does anyone know that if what others say regarding His word is Him speaking or if what those people say are their opinions of His word?  The answer is simple.  You must have a solid relationship with Jesus Christ to know what the truth is because He is the truth.  You must have a relationship with Truth Himself to know what Truth is.  And, being grounded in truth (abiding in Christ), lies will fall for the Bible promises that the light will continue to shine and the darkness will not overcome it.

But you say, "the Bible says that a foolish person quarrels endlessly."  Remember that Jesus Christ came into the earth as a man, to fight on the side of truth and to disarm the demonic powers of this world.  In fact, the war between truth and lie, between the light and darkness, continued for a long time and continues today.  If we were to take the verse and apply it to God, then there seems to be a contradiction - as God is quarreling endless against lies/darkness.  Again, the verse is not talking about truth.  In fact, the Bible tells us to stand firm in the truth and fight the good fight if necessary.  Proverbs 20:3 is talking about opinions - truth is not opinion and truth should be defended.  In fact, Saint Paul clearly refers to "disputable matters," those things of opinion (Romans 14:1 NIV).  Again, there is a theme - the theme is that we should learn discern and recognize what is truth and what is opinion.  Knowing the difference between the two is essential to Biblical application.

For it is written, "Know the truth and truth shall make you free."

How do you know the truth? -- By repenting and accepting one is a sinner and that Jesus Christ came onto the earth to save us from our sins.  By accepting Christ sincerely into our hearts and knowing that He is who He says He is, a relationship with Him will start and one will grow in grace, grow in the truth, and grow to know Him personally in wonderful ways.

While on the way to work to today, I noticed two cars waiting at the red light.  When the left turn signal changed, one car started to move forward to turn left.  The car on the straight started to move too.  The driver subsequently realized that the light was red because the car that made a left turn was in his path.  The driver stopped and waited for the red light to turn green.

Metaphorically speaking,

When you drive, do you pay attention to the authority regarding the traffic light or do you base your driving and actions on what others do? What are the distractions on the road, distracting you from what is truth (the light being red in the example above)?  What distractions in our life distract us from the truth of God?  Do you base what you learn from the Bible on what the Holy Spirit teaches or on what others tell you or how they move/live?  Do you go straight to the source, to the traffic light itself for the truth?

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (John 1:10-11)

These two verses have popped in my mind as of late, not only because we had been sharing God's love and praying for people in the streets, but because there is something wonderful, reflecting God's grace, mercy, and love in His Son coming to seek the lost.  It is not only amazing that Jesus still loved those around Him despite their denial of Him and their inability to recognize Him, such as with Peter who denied Him three times (Matt 26:75).  Imagine that a person found a long lost relative, but upon visitation, the relative does not recognize the person.  This scenario is not only hurtful, but also destroys hope.  However, Christ having been on earth seeking the lost did not lose hope when He was rejected - instead, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Phil 2:8).

Reflecting on these verses, Father God not only emptied Himself in His Son, but also who by very nature God, did not see equality with God something to be grasped (Phil 2:6).  Father God through His Son Jesus Christ challenges us to offer []our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is []our spiritual act of worship (Rom 12:1).  Through the gospel, Jesus not only sacrificed equality with God, humbling Himself as a man, and lived in obedience to the Father, but He also offered everything that He had as a man - His entire self, so that through His death and resurrection, as a living sacrifice, we are set free.  This is the challenge that Jesus calls us to and the example that He has left for us.  Even with the divine gifts of the Spirit, we must learn to love, for God is love -- if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing (1 Cor 13:1-2).  It is love that matters.

This is the example that Christ gave to us.  It may look different for different people because we are built differently.  It also depends on where we are in our lives and what God is calling us to surrender to Him.  It depends on the current challenges that God has for us and how He wants to work through His Spirit to sanctify us.  And, so we can certainly say that being a living sacrifice is not the same for everyone, but we are called to be living sacrifices.

In a sense, I am inspired by Jesus Himself to love others because I look at Jesus and know that He is God - yet, He never held that over anyone, humbling Himself as a man (Phil 2:8), and allowed people to choose their own way and own path, letting the rich man attached to his wealth walk away (Matt 19:22).  Instead, Jesus loved the rich young man, answered the man's questions, and let the man choose for himself to accept God or not.  It is clear that we are not able to accept God on our own and that He needs to reach out to us through the prophets and finally in the person of Jesus Christ.  And, because God Himself is love, we are called to love God first (Matt 22:37), then to love others (Matt 22:39), let that love shine, and others, having experienced God's grace, mercy, and truth will come to Him and embrace the cross.  We, following the example that Christ gave us as a living sacrifice, living as Jesus did -- that we are to die to self and let Him become greater and us become less (John 3:30).

Last Tuesday night, we went out to pray for others and to share the love of the Father.  We prayed for a handful of people God led us to.  One person in particular continues to stick out in my mind this Wednesday morning.

We prayed for a man who wore a red shirt.  The Spirit of God was definitely operating during this session, at least to me.   I prayed for Him to continue to walk closely with God and for God to continue to walk closely with Him, for him to grow closer to the Father, for God  show him His love, and for Him to experience it in a special way.

The moment that I prayed for God to appear and show the man His love in a special way, the enemy told me that this was not going to happen and I was crazy to expect God to appear and show this man His love.  There was a small pause in my prayer.  I do not know if the two people with me noticed, but the man who I prayed for immediately prayed for spiritual protection.  He went on later to say that there are hostile spirits operating in the world and what we doing is brave.  Hindsight is 20/20 and It seems to me that this man had the gift of discernment and knew that the enemy was coming into my mind during my prayer and countered that with a prayer straightaway.

The man was praying earlier so Person 1 told him that He felt God saying that the prayers were heard.  The man was edified and he smiled.  Person 2 stated that the man was a pillar and worked with kids, which was right on.  I was amazed that God appeared and provided to one of my friends a word of knowledge.  It is encouraging to see that He provides the same to my brothers and sisters.  And, when that word of knowledge was given and confirmed true, I knew that God had indeed appeared and had indeed showed His love.

After the encounter was over, Person 1 told me that when I was praying, it felt like God was speaking directly to the man.  I had no doubts that this may be true because I was just saying what I was saying then the enemy came and with the enemy doubt.  However, God did come, proving to me, at least, that it was a spiritual attack.  Thankfully, Person 1 reminded us to pray and rely on God before we left.

For a moment in time, I realized that this may be a part of what the body of Christ is: (1) the man watching out for us and praying for our spiritual protection, (2) God showing up through another person while we prayed for Him to do so, and (3) a picture of each person as God's workmanship working together to accomplish God's purposes.

Once again, it was Thursday night after house group.  Since this was the last Thursday of the month, we had a family dinner and communion.  It was an enjoyable experience.  Everyone had a great time socializing and bonding afterwards.  I had a chance to tell people that I loved them - it was incredible to have an opportunity to communicate and express that to them.  One of my friends took me home.

Once again, I thought it would be nice to talk and catch up on things.  We went to the normal hang out place - Subway - because it was open for twenty-four hours.  My intention was to talk to him.  However, Father God had other plans, plans to teach us some valuable lessons about His kingdom and the truths of His Bible - literally.

Once we were in Subway, I had some green tea.  My friend wanted to get change from his car for cookies.  As he was on his way out to the car, he saw a strange man near and it startled him.  He stayed inside Subway waiting for the man to leave, so he could get the change.  I saw the man and the Holy Spirit told me that this man needed prayer.  I asked for confirmation.  The man moved closer to us in the front of Subway [on the other side of front of the store through the glass].  He stood right in front of the store near the glass pane where we were sitting.  I knew that God wanted me to speak to the man, so I told my friend that I needed to talk to the man and asked my friend to pray.  I went outside.  My friend prayed inside subway.

I went up to the man and stood by him.  I said, "I sense that you need prayer."  He looked at me and said, "Yes, I do need prayer.  I need a job, but I have eighty cents here and need a dollar so that I could get a soda."  I asked him what kind of soda he liked and he told me that he liked coke. I offered to buy him a coke, but ended up buying/offering him a sandwich.  When we were in line, he gave me the eighty cents and I took it without really thinking much about it.  When he finished the food, he asked us for prayer.  My friend asked him what he wanted prayer for.  We prayed for him [in Subway in normal tone where everyone can hear us].  He thanked us for blessing him and then, left.

My friend and I talked about what happened.  As we were about to leave, I placed my hands in my pocket, found the eighty cents and said, "he gave me all he had - the eighty cents."  My friend answered, "Reminds me of the story about the woman who gave all she had and Jesus said that she gave more than the rich people did, though the rich people gave more."  Then, it hit me.  It hit me really hard.  So, hard that I told my friend, "that man blessed us more than we blessed him.  He gave us everything he had and we gave only a part of what we had."  There was a ton of things going through my head.  There were many thoughts going through my friend's mind too.  He said, "This is confusing, but incredible."  I, then, said, "[Who is this man?]  This man is closer to God than we are."  As close I am to the Lord, I knew that this man was further along than I was - I just knew.  And, I stated, "I feel like there is more we can learn from him."  My friend asked, "Should we look for him and talk to him?"  I answered, "I think we should ask him to pray for us."

When we finally found the man, I said, "Hi, John (name changed to protect the innocent).  How are you?"  He answered that he was fine.  I showed him the coins and asked, "Do you remember these?"  He looked at them and said, "Yes."  Then, I looked at my friend and asked him to tell John the Bible story about the lady.  When the story was over, I looked at the man and said, "Thank you so much for teaching us more about God's truths.  The Bible says that blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God."  The man answered, "You understand me."  My friend answered, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. [The man blessed us with everything he had and even thanked us for blessing him before he left subway.  That's humbleness!]"  I then said, "I would like you to pray us."  The man prayed for us.  He encouraged us to continue what we were doing and said that he was not a man of many words.  We gave him more change when he asked for some money for be on the L so that he could sleep.  When he got enough, he thanked us and left.

On our walk back to the car, we wondered who this man was.  We never met anyone quite like him.  He was homeless.  Yes.  However, he was close to Father God.  We both knew it.  And, we both were amazed.  We noticed that he wanted prayer and when we finished praying for him, he left right afterwards.  When we asked him to pray for us, he laid his hands on us and prayed for us and he left just as fast.  He seemed carefree and he seemed to desire and want spiritual nourishment more than physical nourishment.  He also seemed to us unconcerned about material things, but more concerned about Father God.  Although he is homeless, he has indeed become an example and inspiration to me of the charity and generosity that we Christians should try to attain - that of giving to others the last of what we have - that of giving of all we have just as Jesus gave us all of Himself on the cross.

That's what 2 quarters and 3 dimes can teach me if the Holy Spirit is allowed to teach me.  Praise the Lord for that!

After completing the bar exam yesterday, I broke into tears of joy.  It was not because I completed the bar exam - I certainly had completed the bar exam last February.  It was not because there was relief that it was done - yes, there was relief but that was the major reason.  The number one reason why I cried was that Jesus was with me every step of the way despite my failure the first time around.  This experience had no nervousness, no anxiousness, and other feelings relating to stress - there was calm and peace throughout.

The Friday before I took the exam, at the school library, I bumped into a friend, who had also failed the exam.  He no longer had any motivation to take it again.  In fact, he told me that he was planning to leave the legal field all together.  I felt sad for him.  But at the same time, I was grateful and thankful to Father God for putting that motivational drive in me again, to study hard and to give it my best, not for me, but for Him.  Because I know that it is Him, as if it were me, it may have taken me more time to recovery from such a failure or not recover at all.

During the last two to three weeks coming up to the exam, something in me just clicked.  Not only was the Holy Spirit giving more power of self-control (as in reducing caffeine consumption), but He was also granting more motivation.  It was Him and the body of Christ who pushed me to apply for the bar exam when the first deadline approached.  The problem with the exam and with my taking the exam was motivation since the last failure and it was Him and the His encouragement through the body of Christ and pushed and propelled me forward.  It was difficult getting motivated again after an event like that.  Jesus is about second chances, third chances, and many more chances.  And, it was Him who motivated me this time.  It was Him who literally picked me up and got me going again despite my failures.

And, I would not taken it again after that failure in February if it were not for my Savior Jesus Christ.  I would not have had the strength, the courage, the drive, the motivation, the desire, the focus and whatever the Holy Spirit provided me directly and through the body of Christ to move forward and take the bar exam again.  Christ overcame the world so that we can overcome our challenges and move forward despite failures.

I proclaim July 28, 2010 a memory stone of God's faithfulness in being with me through a tough process, for being there when the enemy attempted to discourage and attack, and for being there through my brothers and sisters when times seem not at all that bright.  And, that was what completing the bar exam yesterday meant to me - it meant that God is faithful, not only directly to me Himself, but also through my community of brothers and sisters, especially my best friend.  For this, I am extremely grateful and thankful.

Last Friday night, after an event of deep worship, our small group went out to eat and hang out.  There was a really big thunderstorm.  Most of us had already gone there, but there were five of us who were straggling behind as we were socializing quite a bit and having a wonderful time.  We did not want to get wet traveling to the hang out place.  I did not want to get my Netbook wet because I would be using it for the bar exam, but something in me told me that we should be going and that it would be okay.  So, I communicated to everyone that if we waited for the thunderstorm to calm down, we may waiting forever.  Then, one of the five people suggested that we pray.  The person prayed that God would calm the storm down just long enough for us to walk to the car and not get too wet and to be able to get where we needed to be.  When the prayer was finished, I jetted out into the fierce storm on faith.  As I jetted out, I said, "I am stepping out on faith."

I walked for about 500 feet or maybe more and everyone was still hiding from the storm.  I was just smiling to myself because the droplets of rain was getting less frequent on my umbrella as I was walking.  The drumming sounds were literally decreasing on my umbrella as I was walking.  At times, I felt that there was no rain water falling compared to what was falling before (that's the contrast here), so I took my umbrella aside to see it was raining at all.  In about a minute, the other four started to walk to the car, seeing that the storm was indeed calming down.  By the time everyone was ready to get into the car, we all did not even bothered with our umbrellas because it was drizzling, literally.  Without out umbrellas, I looked at the person and said, "This is so wonderful.  God answered our prayers."  The person answered, "All we needed to do was to believe that He would."

I would never forget last night - the night when Jesus actually calm a thunderstorm so that we could travel.  Then, this Saturday morning the Lord led me to the following passage.

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"

He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" (Matthew 8:23-27)

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (James 1:6)

I believe that He is telling some of us to step out in faith and if some of us do, we may see (metaphorically) more thunderstorms being calmed in the middle of a Friday night in Chicago if we were to believe.

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12)

However, we must know the Lord and abide in Him and ask according to His will with the right motives, for the glory of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, not for our own glory, for it is also written.

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3)

Here, it was not my prayer or my desire/asking, but the person's prayer/desire/asking.  It was clearly not for me as I was not the one doing the asking, nor was it my idea - I just I believed that God would grant the person's request.  In this way, we know that the body of Christ is working together for the glory of God and that none of us, not one of us can and could take the glory to ourselves - it is an effort not so much in and of ourselves, working by ourselves, but an effort of each of us working together according to the will and purposes of God.  And, that ultimately in the end, gives Father God the glory through Jesus Christ.  (1 Cor 12).

Yesterday, we went on a treasure hunt.  I led a group of a three people including myself on a hunt for people the Holy Spirit highlighted to us whom we needed to pray for.  While I certainly cannot speak about the experiences the other two had, I can speak about my experiences.  We prayed for the God to provided us with pictures, impressions, words, and ideas on who we should be searching for to pray for and to share His love with.  Here are the relevant things that the Holy Spirit highlighted to me: Juan (name changed to protect the innocent), Miranda (name changed to protect the innocent), singing, kilts, harmonica, musical instruments, singer, singing, waiting, looking, standing, and smiling.

We walked around for a while and this person caught our attention.  She was first seen by Person 1, who noticed her and saw that it was strange how she walked and how she seemed to be out of place, walking down this street.  It was so obvious that we felt led to walk down that street (not to pray for her though).  Walking down that street led us to this building, where there was a sign that said, "dancing."  The word "dancing" tipped me off because that was the general impression I had from the Holy Spirit when when God was talking to me, highlighting who we should pray for.  The kilts, harmonica, musical instruments, singer, and singings were all part of dancing. 

I immediately went to the directory of the building to see what God had highlighted there.  There, in the directory was an "Juanita Studios" which was close enough to Juan for me.  Sometimes, the words are jumbled and the impressions that we get are similar to point to that direction.  So, Person 1 suggested that we go in there to see if there is a person there that we should pray for.  On our way to Juanito Studios, we went pass a Buddhist Place (which was right by or near by that studio), where a person was meditating, but I didn't make anything of if then.  There was no one in Juanito Studios.  For the most part, the building was really bare.  No one was really there, it was a Saturday morning and most of the offices were closed.

I stated, "Don't be discouraged.  God is just testing our obedience.  Let's see what He has for us."  As we were leaving, I saw a person outside waiting, looking, standing, and smiling.  I opened the door and the person tried to rush in.  She told me, "So-and-so had a showing and I am late."  I turned around and walked back in and told Person 1 and Person 2, "I feel like we are supposed to be here and we are to pray for someone here."  Person 2 looked at me and said, "There is barely anyone here."  I looked at Person 1 and asked, "The door is locked and we got in here.  How did we get in?"  Person 1 answered, "It could be ajar, it could be opened." 

Incidentally, Person 2 suggested why don't we pray and ask God to lead the person to us.  Person 2 prayed and two seconds after Person 2 finished praying, a person came by, on her way out.  I knew that was the person.  I went over, introduced myself and said, "I know that is strange, but we feel that God is leading to pray for someone here and it could be you.  We got into this building and we do not know how because the door is locked.  We were wondering if we could pray for you.  My name is Christenstein."  She answered, "Sure you can pray for me. Sometimes, the door here doesn't close completely, the security people should really look into that.  I am Buddhist.  Is that okay?"  I answered, "That's fine.  What's your name?  She answered, "My name is Miranda."  I took out my piece of paper and told her that she was exactly the person that God was leading us to pray for.  I pointed to her name on the piece of paper.  She was interested.  She suggested we go outside to pray.  We prayed and it was amazing how we shared the Father's love to her.  At the end, she stated that was wonderful and that people needed to share more love in the world.  The Holy Spirit wanted us to plant seeds at this moment for this person's life and that is what we did and by faith, someone will come for the harvest later.  It is obvious that Father God is in pursuit and He will not rest. 

We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7)

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." (Romans 1:17)

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

And, reflecting upon the event it was amazing how the Holy Spirit used all of us to lead us the group this person.  Person 1 saw the person who led him to feel led to lead us down that road to the building.  Person 2 suggested praying to God to bring the person to us and that person was the person that the Holy Spirit highlighted.  It is amazing how Father God teaches that we must work together as one Body, the Body of Christ.  And, I communicate to both people who I was appreciative that they played a role in leading us to find the person the Holy Spirit had highlighted.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (1 Cor 12:14-20).

Father God loves Buddhists too, praise the Lord!

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Eph 5:18)

During small group last Thursday, I asked for prayer for my caffeine addiction withdrawals.  At that time, it felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel though I knew in my mind that there was.  I was extremely irritable, crabby, and wanted to hit the wall.  How I managed not explode at someone throughout and participate in worship was beyond me - it was indeed a miracle of God.  People prayed for me and asked the Lord to fill me up with the Spirit instead of me filling myself up with caffeine.  I wrote about the transformation of the mind earlier that morning (see post Thursday, July 8, 2010). however, one should never underestimate the power of prayer.

Today, Tuesday, July 13, 2010, I have a praise report.  I woke up at 4 in the morning, did some effective and productive studying, wrote a devotional about my experiences with the poor in spirit, then went to work.  I no longer feel tired or out of energy like I did before.  Instead, I feel energized and ready to conquer the day and to study even further.  What is important here for me is not so much my energy has returned, but my motivation has returned.  My life, the desire and the want to go somewhere, to reach for something, is back!  It is as if I woke up from the dead and found my direction once again.  This reminds of the verses in the Bible where Father God reminds the Israelites and His people that if they turned back to Him, they will see and taste life!

Admittedly, I did not take great care of the temple of the Holy Spirit, my body and overloaded it with chemical substances that I should not have, but that is over now.  I have decreased consumption to one cup of coffee a day and some tea of other benign caffeine drink in the afternoon of evening.  And, for some reason, out of this obedience to Father God and His ways, He blessed me with energy, with experiences that I never asked for, with the joy that surpassed all understanding, and most importantly with motivation, motivation that I had been asking Him to give to me, to show me.  This was especially important because I had feeling that what He wanted me to do did not comport with reality of the desires and motivations of what He seemed to have placed in my heart.  The perceived contradiction between His words to me and the desires of my heart had been bothering me for some time.  I am overjoyed that they are now coincide. 

In times like these, Father God's love and mercy shine through like no other.  Despite our mistakes, our faults, our failings, and our silliness in consuming too much caffeine, Father God still loves us when we turn back to Him and He still welcomes us with open arms and reminds us that we are His sons and daughters - that He loves us.  It is wonderful indeed.

Drunk on caffeine no more.  I am now drunk with the Spirit, literally.  Praise the Lord!

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Eph 5:18)