Who's Stealing your Joy?

Are you a people pleaser? Always giving, always encouraging, always rescuing?
God does not want you to sacrifice your happiness to keep somebody else happy.
That's what I call "a false sense of responsibility."
When you free yourself from that—and give those people to God—you'll not only have more time and energy, but I believe you'll be happier and better able to fulfill God's plan for you.

************from live like a champion, Joel Osteen

Bigger Problem, Bigger Grace

You and I don't have a problem that is too big for the grace of God. If our problem gets bigger, God's grace gets bigger.

Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
Romans 5:20

My own reflection on this thought:
Isn't that really so?
You might ask that question after reading today's thought.
Yes, it is.
Even though it's hard for us to see, but actually it's true that God's grace would be bigger if we're facing bigger problems.
We can't see the result now, but we need to see it gradually.
Yes, I ask myself to endure when bigger problems come, because I know that God's grace is enough to see me through.

Not easy, but again, worth to try...

*from Sandra's friend, Fonny.

Am I in love with God?

Have you ever feel in love with God?
I mean, totally in love!

I don't think I am.
You know why?

I've been thinking how usually we acted when we fall in love.
Even when it's just "a crush", we can act beyond.
We tend to do most impossible thing to person.
Even the most stupid thing.
We tend to sacrifice things, just to make the him/her feel special.

What happens when you declare your love, after the crush?
We go beyond that. Sometimes sacrificing things, and goes over our most priorities.

So now, if we claimed we love God, in love with God, do we see ourselves doing the same thing?
Not just as simple as, "show God you love Him by obeying Him, and doing all His will".
For me now, it seemed like it's more of a "mind setting" and not came from the heart.

How about you?
Could you define yourself as totally in love with God?

If you are the same with me, this could be your prayer:
So God,
"a crush" is just fine,
but if You help me to go "totally in love" with You, would definitely be better!

Does God blesses bad coffee shops?

One day, a coffee shop owner came to pastor, invite him to come to his coffee shop to pray and blesses his business. The pastor agrees, and ask for the address.

So the following day, off went the pastor, looking for the particular street. He was lost for quite some time while looking for the road. So he decided to asked for direction. A guy then helped him to find the street, which turned out to be at the far end of a dark alley. The pastor couldn't even catch the coffee shop's board from the main street. Frankly, it's kindda like in a slump area.

Anyway, there he was in front of the coffee shop. He was not quite sure to get in. So he checked again for the billboard, just to make sure. Then he opens the door, and enter. Inside, he found that the room was pretty dark. He couldn't even see clearly. Only a few tables, with old table cloth. Some wooden chair, that doesn't look strong enough to carry human weight. The room has not much decorations, quite poor decorations if he may say.

There's a guy working behind the bars. So he approaches, introduced himself, and asked for the owner.
"Oh, welcome pastor. He's been expecting you. Please, take a seat. I'll fetch him for you. He's at the back, doing some work. Can i get you anything, coffee?"
"Ok, coffee would be fine. Thank you!"

So then, the pastor look for a table to sit down. It's kindda full with some dust. So he needed to clean it up a bit. "No problem," he thought, "i can handle dust."

While he was waiting, the guy, who turns out to be the only waiter there, came and brings him his coffee. "Here you are, sir. Please enjoy your coffee! My boss will be with you in a second!"

After thanking the waiter, the Pastor pick up the mug, and starts zipping the coffee.
"Ugh, it tastes totally bad! What kind of coffee is this? Never had a bad coffee in my entire life!"he thought. But then, there's nothing he can do. He can't just spit it out in front of the waiter. What should he do?

While figuring out, suddenly the owner came.
"Hi Pastor! Thank's for coming. I hope you didn't have much trouble finding my coffee shop."
So, he starts telling him how he jumps into this coffee business, why he loves it so much. That's why he wants the pastor to pray for it and bless his business.

The Pastor listens carefully to his stories, but in his mind he has his own conflictions!
"How am i supposed to pray for him? This is a terrible coffee shop. The location is not strategic. The exterior is bad, interior is worse. And the coffee itself tasted bad. Totally bad."

But then, he knows he still has to pray and ask blessing from the Lord. So, he started to pray anyway. "Dear Father Lord, i pray for this man. You know his heart. You know his plans with his business. Please bless his business, Father. In Your Mighty name, we pray. Amen."

End of story.
So, what do you think God will do? will HE bless this man's coffee shop?