the football game tonight vs the Real Game going on (1 Pic + 1 Experience with the Lord today), 30-day challenge

I think I got myself into trouble with this "one picture per day", since sometimes I am not really going out in London - unless you count going to home meetings, prayer meetings, young people meetings, and the Table Meeting as "going out"... Today I was thinking - well, apart from work, gym, and the prayer meeting, where can I take a picture? And then it dawned on me, as I was walking to the saints' house tonight - it is such a privilege to be ONE with the Lord in His prayer today! One with the saints in praying for the Lord's interest! But then I got to come home after the prayer meeting and this is what I saw this...

The Football Game Tonight VS The Real Game Going On - 1 Pic + 1 Experience with the Lord today

This is how Holloway Road looks like on most Tuesday nights at 9.30-10.30pm, and this picture was taken close to Highbury and Islington tube station. Almost every Tuesday night there's a football game at the Emirates - Arsenal plays some team, and tonight there was Arsenal Vs. Shrewsbury in the Carling Cup. Don't ask me what that means, but it looks like Arsenal won 3-1(thank you, BBC Sport News). As I am intending to make my way up the Holloway Road, thousands of people are streaming down from the game, many reaching home close to midnight... The buses rarely work during this time, and both Holloway Road and Highbury & Islington stations have limited access... - too many people!

There have been many times I made my way up the Holloway Road against the crowd, being literally bumped and kicked shamelessly by the people streaming down from the football stadium... Usually the Brits say, "Sorry", or they apologize somehow - but not after the game, and not these people! Hundreds of British people, Polish people, Romanian People, Arabs, Indians, French, etc walking down the street from the game... You hear all kinds of languages being spoken when they pass you by. All these come from the tonight's football game - which sometimes coincides with the time for the prayer meeting, Tuesday night at 8pm.

So what about this football game? In the football game thousands of people get together to watch some select ones play ball on a wide football pitch, and usually one of the team loses and the other wins. But no matter whether one wins or loses, the score counts towards the final score - after many other games... It's a whole system, with points, penalties, goals, etc - it will give you a headache to try to understand... And then there's the many transfers of players, the coach, the boss, the TV commercials, the club, the fans, the magazine, the scarf, etc. Everything is to get people fully involved and occupied with this game, out of which they don't gain anything - but they spend lots of money!

What about the REAL GAME? As we were praying tonight, though less than 20 of us, I had the clear feeling that we touched the Lord's heart and we were praying one with Him. Can you believe that? We as human beings can move God's hand to accomplish His heart's desire by us praying in oneness with Him! We don't just pray for our needs, our problems, our families, our new ones, our jobs, etc - we pray for God's will to be done! We pray for God's economy to be accomplish! We pray that God's kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is being done in the heavens(Matt. 6:10)!

When we pray in this way, God has a group of people on earth that are one with Him in the heavens - this is all He needs so that He would go on in His move and accomplish what's on His heart! I believe that in the prayer meeting we're praying THE REAL GAME, the game that is played in the universe between God and Satan, where we already know the end score! In the end, Satan loses and has NOTHING, while God wins and gains the glory in everything. And we are here to "be God's team", be on God's side - not just "God's fans" wearing "the scarf with God's club initials", but to be One With God!

The "ball" we play with - and we surely do play ball in the prayer meeting - is our prayer one with His prayer! It's actually a real thing and also a very good experience to enter into Christ's prayer in the heavens and pray what's on His heart! Christ as the Great High Priest is interceding right now, and we can be those who hear His prayer, utter His prayers, and offer Christ's prayers to God as the Body of Christ. When this happens, when God gains a response and a cooperation from man in the principle of incarnation, He wins! He can tell Satan,

Look: these men whom you have usurped and damaged now have not only been redeemed and filled with the divine life but they also cooperate with Christ to pray God's will on earth! Go to the lake of fire, Satan! Your sentence has been uttered - and your full judgement is being hastened! 

:) I want to choose to play The Real Game - and be on God's side! This doesn't mean I will never watch a football game (remember, some things like these can shepherd others or can "waste your time") - but when the time is for the REAL GAME to be played, when "the game is on", I want to join the winning team and learn to be One With The Lord in the Body so that He may accomplish His economy! :)

Playing Football with the Brothers - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today (30-day challenge)

Since today it is a Bank Holiday - no work, no school, etc - I had the whole day off, which is both unusual and kind of strange.... What do you do when you don't work? One thing I know, no matter whether I have work, school, training, travelling, etc - I need to have my Morning Revival Time with the Lord! Though I woke up a bit later than usual ;) I still managed to enjoy the Lord - we're now going through the Crystallization-Study of the Psalms, week 3, about the Excellency of Christ.

Though man failed God and did not fulfill the purpose he was created for by God, this only delayed God's purpose - but God became a man, and the Lord Jesus in His ascension was given dominion over all things, the lordship, and the kingship! Now God's name is becoming Excellent in all the earth because Christ through the Body - the church - is heading up all things, solving all the problems, and rules & reigns on the earth! O Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth!

I also managed to go by the new Amana Trust bookshop in King's Cross - my first time - and I checked it out. Today they had lots of saints coming to help, and there's a great need for more help. The work is going on, and the Lord blesses the dear faithful saints who give their time for the Lord's use. After a short visit to the bookshop to see how the work is advancing - I'll put some pictures on Facebook :) - I proceeded to do,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today -  Playing Football with the Brothers!

I used to play football all day long when I was young, and then I switched over to basketball... but football is "in the heart of every European man" :) So today the brothers - young people and students - went out for some football at Hackney Marshes, and I went to join them for a bit... It's so good to have activities together with the saints, no matter them being "outward" - there's something of God that is in us, and as we're being together, there's a building going on, there's a dispensing going on, and there's a blending that goes on...

I thought the game will be for 1-2 hrs, but after I arrived there and played for approx 2hrs straight, that was just the first half! 2 hours of playing football is not a small amount of time - if you're really into it, running about to kick that empty ball ;) and pass it around, .... it drains you and wears you out! You can "switch positions", staying in defense or even as a goalie, and then run again on the field... no matter how "small the field is", you still run about for a loooong time.... - FUN :) + TIRING :( I thought that going to the gym regularly helps, but it is "another kind of exercise" when you play football...

There were some brothers that play for a football team, and they were good - especially if they are put in the same team, it's wonderful just to watch them play (too bad if you're on the team against them!). Some other brothers know the game - they pass, keep an eye on the ones who need the ball, and dribble when it's necessary. Others just pass or simply go for the goal! Others were young ones / older ones that didn't play that well, but somehow they always gave these players a hard time - they didn't expect them to make those moves or to kick like that ;) Some collisions happened, ending in some fun and laughter, then others missed the goal, ... The funniest was having a 10yr old young brother in the goal - and he loved it! He was the BEST goalie!

O, my legs!... my whole body now hurts... even though I have the pleasure of recollecting scoring some goals, I had to withdraw from the game a bit earlier - 3hrs of playing football was enough for me! But others were just getting started - especially the young ones have lots of energy! Even while we were having a 10mins break they were still running around and kicking the ball... Praise the Lord, it's good to be with the brothers! It's good to play football together and learn to coordinate, play, and even learn their names(since we were approx. 16-18 of us) and where they are from, what they study, what they like....

Praise the Lord - we can be blended together in the Body! Also, praise the Lord - we are exposed when being with the saints! We think and are fully convinced many times that everything is OK about us - but when you're put in practical situations, or in this case a football game, with others, you realize that we're not fine! We are not OK! How much we need the perfecting, we need the training, and we need the Lord! I need the Lord! I need the Lord in my behavior, my attitude, my speaking, my demeanor, and in my whole being! I want to be saturated with the Lord more - to the extent that "it is no longer I who lives but Christ lives in me!"...