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Ivan and I were having a little MSN chat and we started talking about God.
IHHK™ツ says (12:29 AM):
just talking abt this stuff just get me so excited u noe
|| Karen || says (12:29 AM):
yknow it's so beautiful to see you talk about god like that and be excited for Him
'cos you used to have such a terrible attitude when you were young lol
it's so nice to see a nice, matured ivan
IHHK™ツ says (12:31 AM):
dunno maybe cauz i just accepted jesus as my savior so yeah
ya kinda erm actually i accepted last year
|| Karen || says (12:37 AM):
you used to go to sunday school right?
IHHK™ツ says (12:37 AM):
yup
|| Karen || says (12:38 AM):
last time i was supposedly a christian but never really knew what it meant until chc
i guess it's like that for you too lah
like "so-called christian" until you actually really accepted jesus and really realised what it meant
I think there are a lot of people out there like Ivan and me who call themselves "Christians" and go to church every week and pray and perhaps even read the Bible but in fact don't fully understand what it means to be a Christian. Some of us, like Ivan and me, are lucky enough to be really touched by God one day, and we realise that although we've been calling ourselves Christians our entire life, we've never really had a true relationship with God.
People who call themselves Christians but don't really have a relationship with God, like Ivan and me in the past, are those who are hardest to help and those I would pray for the most, because they think they know God but they don't. Thus they don't think they need to do something about their faith and don't feel the need to be any closer to God than they already are; they think that what they're doing is enough and they're contented with being the "Christian" that they are, when in fact they aren't Christians at all. Non-believers don't believe in God and know it. These people don't know God yet think they do.
I was like that until I came to CHC and the spirit of the Lord hit me hard and sent me crying buckets. Ivan was like that until he stepped forward to truly accept God during his youth camp and felt the Lord's presence that made him cry. (He says Ian stepped forward too but I didn't talk to Ian personally about it so I won't talk about him.) When God brings you close to Him for the first time, you know something's different and over time you realise you're a changed person. The presence of God in one's life can be seen by how his attitude and thoughts change over time, how he learns to love and help others, how there seems to be something different about him, a different sort of glow.
When Ivan was young and cute, he was a living terror. He had the worst attitude ever. Now I see so much more in him, and it's so obvious that he's changed. Not counting the constant riffs he has with Ian and Isaac (sibling rivalry is unavoidable sometimes), he's become so much more matured in his thoughts. I sense the presence of God in his life when he talks about Him.
Looking at Ivan, I marvel at the ability of God to change a person totally. I know of great, devoted Christians who talk about how they used to be rebellious gangster-like people until they truly felt God for the first time. With Ivan, though, because he's a cousin I grew up with, I'm able to witness for myself the change in him because of God, and that makes me so thankful, so amazed, so happy, that the Mighty God has shown His power and His works in a person's life. It's a reminder that nothing is too difficult for the Lord; He can change anyone. Like Jian Xiong the athlete (I talked about him in my Candlelight post); like Saul in the Bible (right?); God has a perfect plan for us, and when He wants to bring someone to Him, He does it dramatically, sending the servant on his knees.
God is amazing, and Ivan's just one of the many people who are living proof of that.
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