Jesus Is The Center?

Hi everyone!! Blessed Sunday..

I bet pasti sudah tau, aleast pernah dengar lagunya Israel Houghton - Jesus at the center of it all. A great song and lyric, and we sing it quite often.

In this short writing, saya cuma mau mengajak teman2 untuk reflect sahaja.. Whenever we sing this song, and the lyric, have you guys ever reflect "Is Jesus REALLY at the center of at all"??

Pay close attention to the words "of IT ALL", yang bererti di semua hal. In our life, in our prayer, in our worship, in our fellowship, in our family, in our work, in our study, in our relationship...etc..

Let us reflect... sebenarnya seringkali itu OUR EGO is at the center of it all la.. Bukan Jesus.hehe

In our prayer..

Cuba re-check isi doa kita, seringkali doanya:

God please give me this, I need Your help for this, thank You I have this, You know my worry about this, I surrender all my problems to You about this, and so on and so on.. Who is the focus??? Who is at the center of our prayer?? US. Kita hanya fokus dengan hal- hal yang terjadi pada diri kita.

Well, I'm NOT saying that it is wrong, setiap kali ada masalah memang kita harus bawa dalam doa dan menyerahkan atau meluahkan kepada Tuhan. What I'm saying is that it is NOT ENOUGH untuk pray begitu sahaja, because we have not shifted the focus from ourselves to God. WE are still at the center.

Let's start today, in our prayer,
instead of asking about what GOD can do for us, start asking GOD what we can do for Him. Fokus ke hal- hal yang kita boleh lakukan untuk menyenangkan hati Tuhan, bukan hal- hal yang Tuhan boleh lakukan untuk menyenangkan hati kita. Let's start giving thanks not only for the things He has done in our lives, but start giving thanks for who He is.

Ingat doa Bapa Kami?? Yesus mulakan doanya dengan focusing on His Father first, bukan dengan His needs.

Belajar dari Samuel:
1 Samuel 3:9 "...Berbicaralah, TUHAN, sebab hamba-Mu ini mendengar...." Most of us don't realize that... Praying is NOT only about talking, praying is about LISTENING too!! Listen to what He want from us.

"Be still and know that I am God" = loosely translated to Be Quiet and Listen!

Well, mungkin juga banyak dari kita berfikir, saya atau kamu tidak pernah mendengar suara Tuhan, dan macam mana cara untuk mendengar suara Tuhan?? Here's a quote for you from Rick Warren :
"God's Will is in God's Word. Stop listening for a voice. Start looking for a verse." =))

In our worship, again is Jesus really at the center of our worship??

Saya juga agak binggung dengan segelintir anak muda yang berkata, "kenapa lagu ini sangat boring, dan kenapa jiwa saya tidak dapat menghayati lagu2 ini dalam worship??" I don't get anything from the worship..

I'm confused.. You don't get anything from the worship??? Well.. In worship, you are NOT suppose to GET anything, you are suppose to GIVE.. to GIVE praise to God.

Actually when we focus to God in our worship, when we sing without thinking about ourselves (how do we look, what can we get..etc) , regardless of you singing in tune or out of tune, regardless the song is upbeat or hymn, solo or choir, with instruments or acapella, your praise WILL go up to God, and He WILL accept it..

The same thing applies in our others aspects of lives.

 I understand that we're humans.. We have a tendency to focus on us, and lives as if everything revolves around us. That's actually normal. But if we do that, we will miss out on a lot of great things form the Father. But if we go beyond normal, and focusing from God, as if everything revolves around Him, we won't miss out on anything! =))

Saya berdoa agar kita semua, termasuk saya, memulakan hidup yang baru untuk menyenangi hati Tuhan, dan fokus untuk lakukan hal- hal yang Tuhan mau dari kita, bukan hanya minta hal- hal yang kita mau dari Tuhan.

Have a good day!! Hope it helps =)) Peace be with us....

Love,

Cynthia V.B.