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!

only the real water quenches my real thirst - One Meaningful Thing I Did Today(30-day challenge)

The MOST difficult thing to do in life is to REGULARLY do something that you know it's good and you should do it. For instance, blogging ONCE a day, as a "30-day challenge", together with the Lord, is not easy at all! There's the job I have to attend to every day, there's other things I need to personally take care of, there's the gym, there's the saints, there's the home meetings, there's the further coordination for upcoming events, there's the skype calls and skype coordination and skype prayer... - and then I need to write something before midnight today! O Lord Jesus.... As I was saying in a tweet today, I am still looking to the Lord as to what should I share today..

I love Pepsi. I don't like Coke, but I love Pepsi - it is sweet, fizzy, bubbly ;) and nice. I prefer Pepsi to Coke. Yet neither are not too good for health - so I need to keep the volume of Pepsi down... But I realized one thing - even though Pepsi is a nice beverage, it doesn't really quench your thirst! It gives you the fizz, the hype, the push to do something, it tastes sweet, but when it comes down to it, Pepsi(and any other fizzy drink / natural drink) doesn't really quench the thirst... And this observation brings me to today's,

One Meaningful Thing I Did Today - Only the Real Water Quenches My Real Thirst

Especially after a 30mins run on the cross-trainer at the gym, with a heart level way too much over the limit, on level 8 of "difficulty", you get thirsty. Yes, you sweat, you "loose water", so you definitely need to get some water in. So many times I chose to drink something slightly different than water - I shall not name the beverage, since, as many know, I like "mixing" drinks :) - which may have tasted good and got me hooked on it, but it didn't quench my thirst. After today's run at the gym I chose to drink water - and even though I had it not in a large quantity, I was satisfied!

 Water is really tasteless, colourless, it is not sweet, it is not "delicious", many times it is "stale" in the sense that it's not "fresh spring water"... It's not "exciting" to drink water, and water doesn't get you "hyped up". It's not very attractive(especially in the world today) to drink pure water. It's sometimes "boring" to drink water... that's why people choose to drink other things. [by all these things I'm not saying that there are not some people who love drinking water and love water, neither am I saying that there's something wrong with anything else but water. It's a principle I'm trying to put out and get to...]

It's the same with the Lord. Some people say, It's too simple and too "plain" to just call on the name of the Lord to be saved(Rom. 10:12) - maybe you need to do something difficult, you need to do some penance, you have to repent really really hard, to feel that you are very sorry, and even fast for a few days... and then the Lord will forgive you. The Bible says clearly that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness"(1 John 1:9). It's as simple as agreeing with the Lord when He shines on you and exposes you,

Amen, Lord, I agree - I have sinned. Forgive me and wash me with Your precious blood. I trust in You and not in myself. Amen!

And you are cleansed! It is the same with touching the Lord and being in His presence - you don't need to do some strange things like "going to the mountains to be alone with God and feel His presence", or "retreating in the desert to be closer to God". You don't even need to do a lot of physical effort or psychological research / introspective look so that you might find and touch God - "Whoever draws near to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him"(Heb 11:6) + "For the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all those who call on His name"(Rom. 10:13). It is as simple as calling on the name of the Lord,

O Lord Jesus!

and you touch Him! It is as simple and "plain" and "not exciting" and "not hyping you up" as opening your heart to the Lord - and you will get His presence! We are thirsty, just like the woman in John 4 - thirsty for "this water"(John 4:13). Whoever drinks of this water (career, money, golden futures, social ranking, good family, good husband or wife, good education, sports, etc - anything apart from God that we drink of and find delight in) will thirst again! But whoever drinks of the REAL Water - Christ Himself as the Spirit - he will by no means ever thirst again! I want this REAL WATER!

Today I realized that just as "I love drinking Pepsi thinking it will quench my thirst - but it doesn't!" I may tend to try to do other things than the simple practices of life (which need to be scheduled into my daily living) and I expect to be filled and satisfied, but I'm not! Only Christ satisfies, and only His way of redemption and salvation can bring us to drink of Him as the living water and be satisfied! Other waters - Christian Rock, Christian Hip-Hop, Christian music bands with all kinds of instruments, Christian drama, Christian pantomime, etc - all these "exciting things" outwardly really don't quench our thirst! Only the simple, pure, unadulterated, fine, nourishing, refreshing, renewing, healthy, flowing, and living Christ as the living water can actually quench our thirst!

No, Christian Rock music cannot quench my thirst! No, any R&B music or Pop Music cannot quench my deeper thirst! Not even classical music or jazz - no theater or movie, nothing of multimedia, no youtube movie... - nothing of the entertainment today can really really quench our thirst! No, a new gadget that comes out cannot satisfy my hunger! No human achievement and nothing physical or psychological really quenches the thirst in us! As simple and pure as it is, we need to drink of the Lord Jesus - as He said in John 7:37-39! At the end of a long feast, when supposedly the people were filled and satisfied, the Lord stood up and called all the ones who are thirsty to come to Him and drink! Just come to the Lord and drink!

Why drink of the "Pepsi" of the world when you can drink of the living "water" that Christ can offer you - and live, be refreshed, be renewed, grow in life, and be satisfied with the Lord - for real!?!