Faith and Christianity

When it comes to Faith and it's definition Hebrews 11:1 is the go to Bible passage for most Christians: 

"To have Faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see."

I was making notes on this particular chapter recently as I was reading through it. It didn't occur to me then to share what I had written down until I read over it today. It seemed like something everyone would know, until I realised that I only made those notes because even if I knew most of the things I often forgot them. So for those who are prone to forgetfulness like I am, I will leave this here so we can always come back and remember all that Faith is and should be. 

Through our faith we win God's approval: the Bible constantly reminds us that God doesn't bless us because of the works of our hands but because of His infinite grace and mercy. Yet it is by our faith in God that we qualify because we prove our obedience to God. God in His loving kindness never deserts us even when we desert Him, but it is important for us to understand that having faith in Him and trusting Him draws us nearer to Him. In this way we are able to please God because by putting our trust in Him we receive the gift of His righteousness. 

Because of our faith we present a better offering to God: before anyone bites of my head this isn't a prosperity gospel thing. Think of it this way. If you trust someone, you give freely to them. It's natural. In the same way when you put your trust completely in God you give freely to Him of ALL you have. Now of course that depends a lot on what it is that you have! You cannot give someone what you don't already possess. So by giving all you have to God I don't necessarily mean in a monetary way. I also mean an offering of the heart and the soul, a sweet smelling praise and worship, a heart wrenching prayer. Whatever you have, give.

Faith helps us carry out God's plan even when we can't see or understand it: believe it or not a few years ago saying "I surrender Lord" or "Not my will Father but Yours" was one of the most difficult things for me. Letting go of all that control just made me feel weak. I couldn't bring myself to trust God to do the impossible because it still looked impossible to me. Two things changed my mind. Firstly a lot of communicating with God about giving me the strength to let go made me realise that it took strength to let go. Thus releasing control stopped being a sign of weakness. Secondly it is easy to hold on to control when you're in control but when things are completely out of your control holding on becomes kind of stupid. 

Faith is a prerequisite for miracles: ask any children's book writer; the impossible cannot happen unless you are crazy enough to believe it. Faith MAKES the impossible possible. 

Through faith we can plan ahead: because we believe in the promise of tomorrow, we make plans for tomorrow. You cannot make plans for a time that does not exist.

Faith makes us reject sin by keeping us focused on heaven and it's future rewards, not on the world: saying no is never easy but it becomes much easier when there is hope for a better yes. Faith helps us defy the devil when he tempts us because we know that God has better things in store.

Faith strengthens us by helping us endure persecution: faith strengthens us in many other ways as I explained before but one of the most important ways for me is strength in the time of persecution. Now many will say they haven't faced persecution before and perhaps they are right. However if you think about it, chances are you have. Every time someone has laughed at you or ridiculed you for making time for God, every time someone has pointed out your faith as a reason for a joke, you have faced a degree of persecution. Of course that is NOTHING compared to thousands that are literally slaughtered for their faith in Christ. But how we deal with persecution shouldn't differ according to how serious we deem it. 

Matthew 10: 32-33

"If anyone declares publicly that he belongs to me, I will do the same for him before my Father in heaven. But if anyone rejects me publicly, I will reject him before my Father in heaven." 

Collab Post: 'Tis the season to be loving...

PHASE RANT: Where did all the love go?

Well I'm sure everyone is coming off the high of Valentine's weekend now. I hope you enjoyed it. On my way home tonight I saw a crushed rose, the remnants of the weekend of love.

Karl Marx must be doing cartwheels in his grave because he warned us but we ignored. Love is now seen as a commodity, something you can buy and sell. The reason I believe this is so prevalent is because people find meaning for love, as with most things, in the media. As a media student and practitioner I am SORRY to break this to you but the media is as much a part of capitalist society as any other institution. It is the media's job is to tell you what to buy. The media tells you through music that love and sex are the same thing. It tells you through movies that love is spontaneous, romantic, feisty, exciting and will always work out in the end. It tells you through advertising that to be successful and to love you need to buy everything from the right house to the right car, own the right pets, shop in the right supermarkets etc. Somewhere down the line love and money began to merge and we have not been the same since. There are 365 days in a year (366 in those odd ball fun years of surplus). Why is this one day such a big deal? Why do people go crazy in anticipation of one day then carry on with their lives afterwards like love is a mythical creature that only appears during full moons? Well because telling you to buy love everyday is not quite enough. People will lose interest after a while. But when you have that one special day where you can buy love and buy it extravagantly then you've really hit the mark. Thus Valentine's day, a day when many people celebrate the shallow misrepresentation of 21st Century through the trivialities provided us.

Everything I know love to be is Biblical. I can't separate the two. And as such I cant separate one kind of love from another. I imagine that the way I love my husband would be similar to the way I love my mother-except the baby making part. As Christians we believe that God sent His only son down from heaven to be human and live amongst us in the flesh, suffering the same temptations we suffer but remaining steadfast to the Father. He lived a pure and holy life that was a blessing to all around him. That life was consequently cut short for our sake. So that our sins may be forgiven and we may be considered pure before the Father he sacrificed His life for our salvation. A love that runs so deeply is a rarity in these times of fleeting pleasures. Yet I will accept nothing less. This is what we should celebrate. Sacrificial love. A feeling so pure and so true that you'd give up your very last breath so that the one you love can breathe. Is anyone capable of that?

Museboxxe: Romantic Love, as told by someone who’s never experienced it.

When I was a child, I remember asking my mother why all the songs on the radio were about love. 

“Why can’t they write music about animals?” I had asked (it was my “animal phase”, when I was determined to become a vet, before realising I was actually terrible at science). 

“What’s so interesting about love?”

My mother had chuckled then, giving one of those infuriating smiles that said: Never you mind; you’re too young to understand.

As it turns out, I still don’t understand, much to the horror and amusement of most people around me. Don’t get me wrong, I understand many aspects of love, but they all fall in the friendship and family categories. I’ve yet to experience true romantic love, where I dream about spending my life with one person, raising a family and getting old and wrinkly together. 

It’s hard to imagine love as the Disney princess version, especially in these modern times. Nowadays, we don’t expect a Prince Charming to come riding in on his white horse, whilst the ladies primp and preen waiting for him: the modern world is much different. 

There are so many representations of love: the brokenhearted ballads or clichéd chick-flicks (that somehow only come out in cinema around Valentine’s day), the Romeo & Juliet style of love at first sight, to the tales of slowly falling in love with your best friend. It’s overwhelming. I can’t help but wonder: which story will be mine? Will I be swept off my feet or experience a forbidden love? Or will I realise that all along, my life partner has been right beside me? It’s one benefit of never experiencing love before: the unexpected. I don’t know how it will happen, so I’m free to daydream- though I suppose this could blur into a negative aspect if I decided to set the bar too high for myself. After all, if I’m fantasising about dramatic movie-esque scenarios, then Sod’s Law dictates that it has a 0% chance of actually happening.

When you think about it, love sounds terrifying: the complete vulnerability of entrusting someone with everything you are, wilfully handing over your fragile heart and praying it won’t be returned to you in pieces. Then there’s the commitment, deciding to tie yourself down for the rest of your life to one person, making every decision based on the fact that it might affect your other half. 

I imagine love to be like this: always wanting to be with one another, feeling incomplete without that person. When you have the same silly sense of humour and you text them because something you saw reminds you of them. When you want the other person to be happy no matter what, even if it means sacrificing some of your own happiness, because no matter what, they come first. I imagine love is a tingle of warmth in your fingertips when they hold your hand, spreading throughout your body. I imagine it keeps you smiling even in the most dire of situations, simply because you’re with them. When you look at everyone else round you and wonder if any of them are even capable of feeling what you feel. I think love is handing everything you are and giving one person the absolute power to destroy you- and trusting that they won’t.

I imagine after all the possible hurt and heartbreak and torment, love is worth the wait.

Find Museboxxe at: www.museboxxe.com and www.museboxxe.tumblr.com

Time is of the essence

Do you know what the problem with people is? We always miss the moments! Your crush tells you they are moving across the world and your answer is “OK!” when really you want to scream “No! Don’t go! Don’t you dare leave me in this limbo!” The love of your life takes a sudden interest in someone else, and for the sake of friendship or diplomacy or Christ only knows what else, you practically organise their wedding for them. The whole time you’re thinking “I love you more than mere words can express” I will love you till China and Africa meet. But we never say how we feel. And on the off chance that we do confess our hearts desires, we do it when it is all wrong, then we apologise profusely for our awful sense of timing. I think it’s because we’ve come to expect so little of the world. Timing is of no relevance to you if you believe the outcome to be inevitable.

It isn’t just about love either, it’s everything. Having the opportunity to do something profound with your life and passing up the chance because you think you’re unprepared or unworthy. Really, all you are is afraid. Afraid that if we venture into the unknown, we might not like who we’ve become when we have to leave. Sometimes it is ignoring an opportunity to say something life changing to someone, honestly answering a question that you’ve spent so much time lying about, it has become second nature. We have all told that lie, when someone asks “How are you?” and you say “I’m fine!” with pride, joy and a beaming smile. But underneath it all you are far from fine. Of course I’m not asking us to hold our heart out on a platter every time someone offers a simple greeting. That would be slightly awkward. But there are times, you have to admit, when you just need to honestly answer: “I’m not fine, in fact I’m awful. My day has been horrible, my week even worse and if I have to smile and play happy families one more time I might actually pull my teeth out with pliers.”

It’s outrageous and scary, almost humorous even. But it is oh so liberating at the same time! The truth is we are all guilty of letting the important moments slip through the hourglass.  

He's Gone to Hong Kong

I love to easily and fall too hard...that's always been my problem!

I suppose I should start by informing you that there is a he...a pretty amazing he if you ask me; what do I know?? I'm biased!
Anyway he exists and he is a beautiful mind, with amazing insight on everything. Now as a sapiosexual find his mind to be one of the most attractive things since Samuel Johnson's dictionary.
We've been dating for a while and I think it's definitely a good sign that I have taken things surprisingly slow with him. It could have been slower, no doubt. But this is the slower I have ever gone and I commend myself if no one else will.
Unfortunately, or fortunately as you choose to look at it, he is in Hong Kong for the week. Alongside a team of three other apparent brainiacs, he plans to dazzle a roomful of people and I'll miss it...and I'll miss him more than I actually thought I would in all honesty. I already checked and found that he will get there at 2 am my time and 6 am HK time...
Well that's it. Just needed to share that with my keyboard.

Au revoir 

My Loves

The power of words

People think “I love you” are the words that express the most emotions, understandably. But in an age where the phrase is often overused, and wrongly so, I think we can safely assume that there are some variations that are more powerful. For example I recently heard this one: “It’s a different feeling isn’t it, when you’re touched by someone who loves you?” For me, not only is that powerful, it’s unique. One phrase that is often underestimated though is this one:

I WILL WAIT FOR YOU.

How many of us have ever said this? Or better still, how many have had this said to them? I admit I have said it before, and I meant it when I said it. But we say a lot in the heat of the moment without realizing its impact.

Before I go further, I must admit, I am a true believer in the use of “I love you” when it is applied properly and used appropriately, not just flung around willy nilly.  But I also believe there are many other great phrases that remain unexplored, like the aforementioned I will wait for you. Which ever way you choose to spin it, the meaning is clear and simple; you’re telling this person that you are committed, that no matter how long you are apart you shall patiently (and often celibately) await your reunion. That’s a big commitment to see through. Much like I love you these words are powerful and often used in the heat of the moment and often regretted later. Here you are, bound by the most uncertain of vows, and yet feeling an obligation to see them through to the end. Turning to someone after making such a vow and then saying what essentially amounts to, “I’m not as patient as I thought I could be and moreover you aren’t really worth the wait”, is one of the most devastating ways to shatter ones perception of romance.

Essentially, what this entire ramble comes down to is this. We use words without considering their meanings and impacts. We throw heavy words around serious conversations and expect that no damage will ever be done. But even the most advanced bulletproof vest couldn’t shield you from the impact of words.