the bigger the lie, the more people believe it; the truth still stands!

I have been thinking about this matter these past few months, especially when interacting and talking to the people around me. I realized one thing, looking at the history of the church until today - Satan has changed his strategy against the Lord and the church from persecuting the Christians (in the first two centuries) to welcoming Christianity (and then mixing all the pagan and idolatrous things with the things in the Bible); from covering the Bible (the Dark Ages) to allowing people to read the Bible yet add their own flavor to it (thus creating division, many distractions, and "a Christian church supermarket" where people choose the church that fits their taste); and from allowing man to read the Bible to ridiculing and making fun of what the Bible is and stands for...

Still more, because of discrediting and ridiculing the Christians and the church, people today especially in the Western Europe prefer NOT to believe in God but rather believe an outright lie instead of accepting the simple truth! All throughout the ages the truth in the Bible stood strong, and today it is shining forth with more light in the local churches everywhere on the globe. But people prefer to believe a lie, something that would fit their taste, even though the lie is great, absurd, and even colossal.

The influence of Hollywood and the movies on people is clearly seen in many believing all kinds of crazy things like: re-incarnation, no sin - no punishment for sin, ignoring God meaning there's no God, elevating the self to the extent of believing in your self and not in God, accepting all kinds of strange eastern practices and religions as being something to try, etc. I can even go so far as to say that people would rather believe in movies like Star Wars and Star Trek than believe in God - even though, starting from when these movies came out until now, everyone knows such things don't exist. The movies and TV shows today expose man's thirst for supernatural, fantastic, surreal, and as far from the reality as possible.

The truth as it is presented in the Bible and as it stands throughout the ages is so simple, so pure, so un-complicated, and when man hears the truth - there's an Amen - that's right! in his being! When people hear that God created man in His own image and likeness so that man may be God's expression in a corporate way - man is satisfied and filled with purpose! When we hear that God became a man in the person of the Lord Jesus and then as the Spirit He wants to come into our spirit to mingle Himself with our whole being and make us even the same as He is - our reaction is, Wow, amen, that's it! It is so good to know the truth and be simple - touch God in our spirit, be filled with Him daily, and express Him in a normal way!

No matter what others say about the Bible, about the Word of God, and no matter how many books people put out as being "best seller" and "best selling book of all times" - the truth in the Bible still stands! The truth in the Bible, being the Word of God, stands throughout the ages - in the beginning was the Word (John 1:1) and when the Lord Jesus will return He will be called the Word of God. Actually, it is the Word of God spoken by Christ as the Overcoming One together with His overcomers that will destroy the enemy. Today it is "man's day", it is "the day of the ruler of this world" - but in us who enjoy the Word of God and are simple to contact Him in a living way, this one has nothing!

But I have noticed that in these last days as soon as you don't touch the Lord in a living way in His Word, it is so easy to just go along with the flow in the world, become like the rest of all the people, even to believe in an outright lie, and then live a life without a purpose... It is almost as if in the age of the degradation of the church the attack and degradation has been intensified, so that you can't even stand by yourself - there needs to be an intensification of God's organic salvation to produce some who would be overcomers, some who would stand against the current of the age and just be simple enjoying the Lord!

What a mercy, how relieving, enlivening, and meaningful it is to be simple! Accepting the truth and having a living relationship with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in a daily and habitual way - this really makes you feel you are one with the Lord, you fulfill the purpose of your life, and you are satisfied simply because God is satisfied! ... I just can't believe that the bigger the lie, the more people are prone not only to believe it but stick to it and uphold it and speak it! It is indeed the Lord's mercy that we would be simple, we would know our God, and we would allow the Lord to save us in His life much more today - so that He in us would become the overcoming One! Lord, do it in us!

One Picture in London - Tesco "You Shop, We Drop"

In London and everywhere in the big cities in the UK you see these trucks from Tesco - "you shop, we drop", meaning not that they drop your stuff on the floor but that they deliver! It's free delivery many times, and you can set what time you want it delivered! Pretty cool... :)

[What do YOU think? Does the truth in the Bible sanctify you to such an extent that the lie in the world - even the lie which is the world - is exposed? What is YOUR experience in this regard?]

"writing your own copy of the law", Psalm 68, YOUR Bible (1 Picture + 1 Experience with the Lord today)

The title is a bit "random", isn't it? Well, that's what happens after a whole day of rushing this and running to the gym, then a quick shower and run to the brothers meeting, and then back home to write an article... - but somehow, in all this "rush this" and "do that", there's an underlying enjoyment and peace because I can do these with the Lord! In the most craziest and busiest period of all, you can be at rest in the Lord because you inwardly turn to Him and are supplied in His Word by eating Him and drinking Him! What a mystery - living the divine history within the human history...

1 Picture Today - waiting for the bus at London Bridge at 10pm

Here I was, after the brothers mtg, waiting for the bus to come - at London Bridge. And as usual, the bus doesn't come when you want, so you need to wait for a while... London Bridge, by the way, is a huge place - the tube / underground comes there, the trains come there, and loads of buses come there. Many tourists are there, the Borough Market is right across the street, the Guy Hospital is there, the Shard is being built around there, there's loads of offices there, and... it's right by the river Thames: you can just walk on "the queen's walk" all the way to Tower Bridge....

1 Experience with the Lord Today - Writing Your Own Copy of the law, Psalm 68, YOUR Bible!

Whenever a king would be installed and start ruling over the nation of Israel, he needed to take the book of the law and make a copy of it - hand write it for himself - and keep this copy and read it his whole life. The real knowledge and wisdom comes from knowing God, and not from human wisdom or knowledge. This was in the Old Testament, in the old times.... but today, as believers in the Lord, we need to have "our own Bible", our own "copy of the law". Even more: we need to WRITE our own copy of the law! The Bible in its entirety needs to become ours - by praying over it little by little, here a little and there a little, bit by bit, verse by verse, chapter by chapter... the Word of God gets infused into us and constituted into us - it becomes ours!

This week we are in Psalm 68, and it is mainly concerning Christ as the center of God's move on the earth. Our God is a moving God - He stepped out of eternity and into time, stepping on the bridge of time, to reach us and come to us. God was incarnated and He passed through human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. In His ascension, He reached the highest point in the universe, and now Christ is at the right hand of God as both a man and God! There's a man in the glory - a God-man is on the throne over the whole universe! This One is also in our spirit - He is both at the right hand of God ruling over everything AND in our spirit today!

I want to get into this Psalm and make it mine! More practically, not just reading it (which I did at least 2-3 times by now), but also writing it! So here it is, I wrote it down here: Psalm 68 - to the choir director. Of David. A Psalm, a Song. I did not "copy and paste", neither did I adjust it... - I wrote it myself as I read it in the Bible. Try it - write the Word of God, write verses every day, and make the Word of God become Your Bible. We need to look for ways to take the Word of God into us, digest it, assimilate it, put it in front of our eyes, put it on our walls, on the door, in our notebooks, as our screensaver, as our wallpaper, as our screenlock wall paper, as our status on facebook, as our twitter update, as our profile picture... - integrate the Word of God into your life!

The above situations and places where we need to put the Word are just SOME of the many ways we can put the Word in front of us, in our hands, in our hearts, etc. If you read the Psalms you will see that the psalmists - who are loving seekers of God, just like us - loved the Word of God very much and treasured it, sought after it, mused on it, pondered about it, thought deeply over it, put it into their mind, spoke it, searched it, thought about it in the night, woke up early in the morning to get into the Word, found the word, were enlightened by the Word, ate the word, digested and assimilated the word... - the Word of God was so much to them, and they loved God so much!

So that's I wanted to do today - not just personally read this chapter, Psalm 68, and not just corporately read it together with the brothers tonight. I want to "write my own copy of the Bible", or at least this portion. There's no "copyright infringement" and there's no "Bible police" - but there's the conscience which is being purified as we get into the Word, there's the light of the Lord who can shine on us more as we have His Word in us, and there's the preservation in our being as we do things - because the Word in us speaks to us and supplies us! Praise the Lord for His living Word! We can make it OUR LIVING WORD!

Glorious freedom, wonderful freedom! No more in chains do I repine... (1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord today)

Tonight is one of those very rare nights when I got home after the home meeting BEFORE 11.30pm! This is very rare indeed, since most times the home meeting goes on and we enjoy the Lord and being together up until close to midnight! Since most saints don't work the next day, most young people have no school on Saturday, and most students have no classes next morning, everyone chills and enjoys. And indeed, even tonight, what an enjoyment and what a good fellowship we had! To see how Psalm 51 is being applied today and how we as believers in the Lord can repent and confess our sins... It's one thing when you read about it in the Bible, and it's a totally different thing when you hear this from 13-year olds, 15-year olds, or even 18-year olds... Wow...

1 Picture for today - Even the Police needs AA

This picture was taken recently as I was walking home one night - it looks like even the police needs AA, that is, it needs to be towed away. I'm not sure whether they parked illegally ;) or maybe their engine just died - whatever happened, there were 2-3 policemen there and a car who took the police car away. Pretty cool, and also pretty mysterious... [I'll leave it like that!]

1 Experience with the Lord today - Glorious Freedom, wonderful Freedom, no more in chains do I repine!

This line is taken from a hymn we love so much, where the chorus says, Glorious Freedom, / Wonderful Freedom, / No more in chains of sins I repine. / Jesus the glorious Emancipator / Now and forever He shall be mine! This song mainly refers to the freedom which we get by believing into the Lord. He delivers us from Satan, from ourselves, from any bondage, from pride, sinful ambition, evil temper, anger, love of money, envy, strife, carnal affections, hatred, vain ambitions, worldly desires, fear and its torments, care and its pain, etc. Basically, once we come to the Lord, we are being set free!

We may say like the Jews in the Lord's time, But we are slaves of no one: God is our Father (John 8:33)! Well, I can tell you right now, we are being daily enslaved and oppressed. Especially when you get into a debt of money to someone or to the bank, you get enslaved. Also, there's all kinds of chores and regular things we owe to do towards others. Sometimes we make mistakes - for which we need to pay either with our time or with something else. All these things put a burden on us, they enslave us. We need to work in order to support ourselves, to sustain a certain life-style - this can enslave us.

And then there's the ambition and the desire to get something or be someone. There's the pride which rises up in us and we cultivate by going to schools, having achievements, accomplishing what we set out to do, getting some degrees, being praised by others because of some attainments we have or any other thing about us, etc. If there's not a career thing, then the cares of this age, the cares for this life, our family needs, the people we need to care for... the things at work, the people around us, etc - it's almost as if everything around us was designed by someone to occupy our time, take our time away from us, ensare us, enslave us, and bring us into bondage. We say we are free, but we are under much burden and in bondage to many things...

What about the entertainment and the media today? What about the new shiny and amazing gadgets? The new games, the new apps, the new music, the new movies, the new this or that.... The news, the pictures, the things happening - all these are "our food" so many times, and at the same time they are enslaving us, causing us to desire after them and not be happy until we get more.... There are things OUTSIDE of us that work together to wear us out and enslave us, and there are many things / thoughts / feelings WITHIN us that cause us to be burdened and enslaved....

BUT there's a GLORIOUS FREEDOM that we can experience! This freedom is not only initially when we touch the Lord, but it can be experienced and it SHOULD be experienced by all the believers in Christ every day! We can turn to the Lord - we can just open up to Him! He came that we may be free indeed - and in His word we are being delivered. We need to read His Word, enjoy Him in the Bible, and allow the Word of God to deliver us. There's a freeing-from-bondage effect in our praying over the Word of God and in spending time with the Lord personally. The other things are still there, all around us, waiting for us - but we take time to spend with the Lord... and we are INWARDLY FREED!

I think that this is our experience every day - maybe not the above mentioned items, but for each one of us there are some things, some matters, some situations, that enslave us, put us down, and we have to "take care of them" and be under them. And you know what? God doesn't want us to escape those things necessarily - He wants us that right there, in these things and in these situations, we would open to Him. We need to turn to the Lord and take Him in as the fresh breath of spiritual air. Pray over His Word - with your heart being turned to the Lord, and You Will Be Freed! We can and we should experience the glorious freedom TODAY and EVERY DAY!

the Bible is the living word of God, so real and nourishing! (1 Picture + 1 Experience with the Lord today) 30-day challenge

I was mentioning somewhere else that I started this Bible reading schedule, where you finish the whole New Testament in 3 months. I'm now in my second month and I'm going through Acts... It's not easy, some days I forget about reading, while other days I read 6-8 chapters... The average is to read 3-4 chapters every day. I have to say, even though I read the New Testament many times, going through it again in a consecutive way is so good! The Bible is really the living Word of God - it speaks to us and nourishes us! I love it when I have a 30mins or even 15mins to read the Word... But before then, here's

1 Picture Today - The Greenwich University in London

This is one of the many pictures I took of the Greenwich University in South East London, close to the Greenwich Maritime Museum and the Greenwich Mean Time. It is composed of some old buildings ;) that look very cool, and has lots of large and tall halls for lectures and stuff. Many times when you walk through you hear the students practicing the musical instruments... and when there's a nice weather, there's lots of people out on the grass! I apologize for this shallow introduction to such a wonderful university in London, but to find out more please visit the University of Greenwich website or University of Greenwich on wikipedia, the Greenwich maritime museum website, the Greenwich Mean Time / the GMT, etc. The best thing about this place is that there are SAINTS there, there are homes open around the campus, and there are many seeking students there!

1 Experience with the Lord - the Bible is the living Word of God, so real and nourishing!

What is the Bible to you? Is it just a book of knowledge? Is it a book of history? Or is it a book about God and His plan? Maybe you have read the Bible many times, but did this book become to you a book of life? I grew up reading the Bible, so I don't know as much history of my own country or of the world as much and as thorough as I know the history in the Bible. But at one point in time I had to make my own decision to continue reading the Bible and to continue feeding on the Lord. Actually, every day I need to make this decision - to drop other things and make time to read the Bible.

There are so many ways to read the Bible, but I recently started this "3 months reading through the New Testament" schedule, and it's going pretty good... - especially since there's the lettheword.com website where I can log in with my facebook credentials and input my daily reading! :) And I also have a companion to pursue with! That's so good... Now, as I'm reading through the New Testament, I am so impressed by the life of the Lord Jesus... He had 4 biographies that described many aspects of His life, His reaction to things happening, the persecution and opposition He encountered, the things He taught, the things He did... - so many things about Him.

But the Lord's life was kind of "tragic", since He died when He was 33 1/2 years old... Yet He resurrected and now - as we read in the book of Acts - He is with us all the time! It's amazing to see that the same Peter that the Lord rebuked and exposed so many times, the same Peter who denied the Lord - this one, after receiving the Lord's breath(John 20:22) / after receiving the divine life, he took the lead to speak for the Lord! And in one day there were 3000 people who received the Lord, and on another occasion 5000 more! What a difference does it make when you have the divine life! Peter became so mature, he took the lead in opening the gates of heavens with "the keys of the kingdom of the heavens" for the Jews (in Acts 2) and for the Gentiles(in the house of Cornelius, Acts 10).

As I'm reading the Bible, I'm so supplied and nourished! I love the Lord so much more, and I am so glad I can be washed by the water in the Word! I may not remember everything, but as I'm reading I love the Lord more and I know Him more.... It's not just words on the paper, and it's not just stories - even in Acts where we see that the Christian believers in the first century were persecuted and killed, we also see the Lord Jesus so present with them, giving them peace, speaking through them, strengthening them... There's a flow of the Spirit, there's a sweet church life, there's a speaking of the truth in the Bible... - it's the LIVING WORD OF GOD! I love the living Word of God, the Bible! It is so real, so nourishing!

I am praying that I would continue in this - it's a DAILY matter, a daily slot in my schedule - and I would read the Bible until I meet its Author! Let's pray for one another about this - that we would continue and persevere diligently in reading the Word of God daily... And maybe in the meantime I would get some companions who would also run with me in this!

Treasuring the Morning Revival Time with the Lord - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

This particular matter is in no way "special" or particular for a normal believer in Christ, since every morning, a normal Christian wakes up a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord! Right? O Lord Jesus, make us this kind of normal believers! This really should be normal - the first thing in the morning to contact the Lord, spend time with Him, enjoy Him, read the Word, pray to the Lord, pray over the Word... - just open to Him to enjoy Him!

It has become something of a habit to me - going through the training in FTTL (which I warmly recommend everyone!), then being in the church life, working, having responsibilities, serving with the young people and with the students, serving in the church life, being in the brothers' house - to have morning revival every morning. I treasure the Holy Word for Morning Revival and we recently went through The Crucial Elements of the Bible, the Central Line of the Bible, the Crystallization-Study of Isaiah, and now we are in the Crystallization-Study of the Psalms. Wow, every morning praying over the verses in the Bible - even while dressing up, brushing my teeth, cleaning, fixing a small breakfast, or... on the way to the bus! This brings me to today's topic of,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Treasuring the Morning Revival with the Lord

As I was saying before, by the Lord's mercy and NOT from myself, somehow every morning I have a time with the Lord(it has been built up in the past 10 years!) - and I treasure it! Why bring it up now today? Well... last week we were in, The Excellency of Christ(as seen in Psalms 8), and this week we're getting into Psalms 15 and 16, so this morning I was excited about it: YES, a new week, a new topic, new Psalms....

BUT - there's always a BUT, right? - I don't know how this happened, but I realized that I need to do two important and urgent things before I left for work! Many times things happen - urgent things, important things, things that demand our attention - right when it's time to have morning revival! Most mornings you feel fresh and ready - especially after breakfast or after shower, but when you come to have morning revival, it's almost as if you're either too tired to do it, or too busy to do it. It's late, so you need to get going with the day - get a "fast food morning revival": a "doughnut pray-reading of the Word" and a "sip of reading the morning revival", "wiping our mouth with an Amen, Lord!" then run off to the things of the day!

O Lord Jesus... why do we need to have morning revival? Why do we need to be revived every morning? Or, to quote many young people I am around, Why do I HAVE TO have morning revival? When you're on your own, setting some time aside in the morning to wake up a bit earlier and spend time with the Lord - you pay a price you pay to meet your Beloved Lord Jesus! The Lord is so real, fresh, and living in the morning for you to touch Him! His mercies are new, and His compassions never fail(Lam. 3:22-23)! The Word of God which we read and pray over in the morning is a source of supply for the whole day! The portions in the Word and in the ministry which we enjoy in the morning time are being deposited into us and become a constant supply for the day, the week, and for our whole life.

And it's all because we PAY THE PRICE to wake up a bit earlier to spend time with the Lord. Or maybe on the way to the bus stop to go to school / work, you call on the name of the Lord + on the bus you read some verses / the morning revival. Or while you're on the tube as a small sardine compacted with the others around you - they read the newspapers or listen to music, but you inwardly call and outwardly read and re-read the Word / the morning revival. Or maybe you go for a walk or a run, and you open to the Lord, converse with Him, take some verses and muse + pray over, digesting them and chewing on them.

Or maybe... - it's up to you: you can experiment, try, and invent your own way in your own time, your own schedule, to touch the Lord! It is so important to touch the Lord first thing in the morning that you will treasure your time with Him more than your apportioned food! Yes, you're physically hungry, but you're more hungry and more eager to enjoy the Lord than to have some breakfast! Or maybe you have the morning revival / the Bible right by the cereal bowl / "the full English Breakfast" / your breakfast dish, and as you eat(physically), you really eat(spiritually)!

Coming back to this morning, even though usually I set aside 20-25 minutes of pray-reading the Word, musing on it, reading the portions, reading them again, praying over the main points, reading the outline, etc - however the Lord guides me - this morning I only had 5-10 minutes with the Lord! I was distracted - I took care of "those two urgent things", and time was up - I had to go to work! Then I realized - I need MORE of the Lord! Ooooo.... I need more of Christ! More FOOD! More of the Word! So on my way to work I continued to pray over the Word... at work I re-read the portion really quick... and something really precious came out -

Who may sojourn in God’s tent? Who may dwell with God on His holy mountain? Only Christ is qualified!

How precious it is that we can have a time with the Lord in the morning! I am learning every day to treasure my time with Him. Maybe even wake up earlier, spend more quality time with the Lord. Don't wait for inspiration, and don't wait even to "go to your desk to the morning revival book or the Bible" - start with the shower! Call on the Lord's name in the shower, ask Him to cleanse you with His blood and wash you in His Word just as the shower washes away anything of the old.... As you brush your teeth, why not muse on and pray within, Lord, what about my speaking? Sanctify and purify my speaking to others! You need to wash your hands - Lord, cleanse my doings and my deeds, sanctify my living! ... - there are so many little things you need to do in the morning, and you can enjoy the Lord / pray / do them with the Lord! O, Lord, our time with You in the morning!

Making a 3-months Commitment to Read the NT - one meaningful thing I did today (30 days challenge)

Wow, it's not easy to keep up with this, especially when the home meetings are so sweet! Tonight we enjoyed the Lord so much - just appreciating how much God loves us! God fell in love with man - for only God's love can make man just the same as He is in life and nature! ... What made You, Lord, to die for me... - I was Your enemy! Lord now I love You more and more each day - Lord I love You more this very day!

Believe me, the greatest joy on earth is that on Friday night you get together with the saints of all ages, races, colours, cultures, and backgrounds... and just enjoy the Lord! This is THE BEST thing you can do! Of course, on the way home you see Satan's usurping the humanity created to contain God - especially young ones being usurped and spoiled by Satan.... but there's One in us who is the most lovely One - and in the whole universe we just love Him! O, Lord.... nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus! But coming back to the 30-day challenge for today, here's

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - 

Making a 3-month Commitment to Read the New Testament!

Being raised up in a Christian family - with seeking parents who infused in me a desire to read God's word and a love for the Bible, I have to admit that the older you get, even though you know the importance of it, the reading of the Bible tends to be put aside again and again. I long for this, to have a schedule of reading the Bible consistently, consecutively, and even with a companion that would check on me and encourage me. Recently even more, after listening to some messages from the Team Reunion (saints from Christian Students on Campus), I was convicted, exposed, and enlightened + encouraged at the same time: I can do it!

Since I'm online a lot, even though it's better to read the Bible as THE BOOK, the physical book, sometimes it helps to be reminded online / by email about it! So these days I found these two great tools that help us with reading the Bible according to a schedule, in a consecutive way, and even in a consistent way:

• ReadHisWord.com - a website in "beta", with free registration, which helps you create your own schedule according to the time period you want to allocate to a certain reading. If you want to read the New Testament in 30 days / 90 days or any number of days, there's a filter there and a result that shows you what chapters you need to read every day! There's a calendar, a journal, and even alerts by email. Very simple, but this tool helps you set aside some time - in a scheduled way - to go through the Bible!
• LetTheWord.com - a website in development, recommended especially to the students - you can login with your Facebook account and form a group with someone(either by inviting them, adding them, suggesting it to them, giving them the key, etc). The website is simple - you just post your reading there - your smiling face (your facebook profile picture, unless you change it) shows up there on the board as having read that chapter. What's nice about it is that, according to the burden of the website, this is for READING the WORD with COMPANIONS! So you need to grab one or two companions and remind one another about it! I wish there would be more integration with facebook, as in allowing this api to post on facebook your reading, etc.

But coming back to this Meaningful Thing I Did Today - the Lord has been burning in me to start this, to get on a regular schedule and read the Bible! I began a schedule so many times... and I gave up either weeks or a few months later! But as I did this, I prayed, Lord, have Your Way! Be the initiator! You need me to do this and I also need to do this! - and there was a desperation growing in me... 

So here I am, I found a dear brother to be my companion, we formed a group on the LetTheWord, and now we're going on little by little! Even though I promised myself NOT to start with big bites, I want to go ahead with a 90day reading of the entire New Testament. Lord, what about my time right before I go to sleep?!? I want to learn to redeem my time - and also to fall asleep in a nicer / more positive / more constructive way than browsing, watching, or other things! Amen to the Word of God! Remember: 

Christians love to read the Bible! As loving seekers of the Lord, we will read the Bible every day until we will meet the Author of the Bible in person - face to face!