Fast and Pray.

"So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in the ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,

Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it."

-Jonah 3:5-10 [New King James Version]


-kimmy, waiting... .. . .

"The Prophet" : Giving.

"Then said a rich man, Speak to us of Giving.
And he answered:
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers of life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And you receivers - and you are all receivers - assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;
For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father."

-"The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran.

-kimmy.

"The Prophet" : Love.

"Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.
And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.
Like the sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips."

-"The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran.


-kimmy.

p.s. after about three months of blogging, i learned that a blog [the world of internet in general, in my opinion] is not the place to expose oneself in an intimate way. thus, i decided to amend the objective of my blog: i want to share [and to reflect upon] what i've saw, experienced, and read in a hope that they will refresh your minds and enliven your hearts once again, as they did mine.

"Missionaries, Opening of Their Eyes"

i wrote a prayer in my art work for the mission's night, and here it is:
"a prayer to our courageous souls.
dear missionaries,
may God open your eyes,
and let you see what is beyond your world.
may God open your ears,
and let you hear the broken cries of the wounded and wandering souls.
may God open your hearts,
and fill your souls with the Love that God has for these people, His beloved children.
may God and the sharing of the Good News be your shield and joy,
and may you witness the mighty works of God through your faithfulness.
God's blessings
and love,
your sister in Christ." :)

here is another poem that my friends and i discovered during city mosaic:
"hours fly. flowers die. new days, new ways pass by: love stays." :)

and here is what someone wrote me, and i like this also:
"to me, life is living everyday doing what you should with God's grace and mercy. ..." :)

have a wonderful day. :)
-kimmy. :)

Judging and Hypocrisy.

"judge not, that you be not judged. for with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. and why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? or how can you say to your brother, 'let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? hypocrite! first remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
-Matthew 7:1-5 [New King James Version]
to see people as God sees them, as His beloved chilren.
i have recently realized that i've been having false expectations on human relationships, when only the Love of God can make me complete.
i've been idolizing people.
have a blessed week!
love,
-kim.
p.s. the mission's night was awesome!

Life and Heaven.

i like dwelling upon the story of adam and eve.

"then the serpent said to the woman, "you will not surely die. for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate."
-Genesis 3:4-6 [New King James Version]

and here is my scary confession:
when confusion falls upon my days, i, too, desire a fruit from such a tree.
the serpent whispers in my ears, "imagine that! the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. come and taste the sweetness of the knowledge of good and evil..."


recently my best friend and i talked about heaven.
i know heaven is the place i want to be.
but sometimes death and its uncertainty scare me.
no human being has ever been there or seen it.
will there be a golden road and a heavenly gate with the angels singing, as many envision? will it be the ideal and perfect place, where our wounds and the fallen states are restored? a ceaseless worship in the presence of God?
what will the heaven be like? what will we do in heaven?
beyond our imagination and knowledge.
hmmmm....


-kimmy, not feeling productive in her hands.


"for as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
as a father pities his children,
so the Lord pities those who fear Him,
for He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.

as for man, his days are like grass;
as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everylasting
on those who fear Him,
and His righteousness to children's children,
to such as keep His covement,
and to those who remember His commandmants to do them.

the Lord has established His throne in heaven,
and His kingdom rules over all."

-Psalm 103:11-19 [New King James Version]




p.s. sigmund freud annoys me, and immanuel kant disturbs me.

p.s.s. i love my brother! :D

Today I Feel ...

tired and weary.
lost and distracted.
overwhelmed and emotional.
prayers would help a lot. thank you.
sincerely,
-recharging kimmy.


"Abba Father, i belong to You."

A Star in the Sky.

when i hear heavenly voices.. such divinely polished voices,,,
when i see an art work whose perfection, such colours, lines, and expression as a whole, just tingles my senses,
when i read a poem whose beauty and words bring tears in my eyes,
such excellence...
as if they were birds in the sky and fish in the ocean..
when i see them soar with ease, their wings far-stretched across the whole clear blue sky,, flying through the clouds and soaked in the love of sun,
when i see them swim in such a harmony with the colourful streams of water,
as if that's what they were born to do, who they were made to be, who they were meant to be...


i simply go wow.



oh, Lord..
where shall we fly?
where shall we swim?
where shall we breathe?
where shall we shine?


let us put a beautiful preformance in our lives for God.


dreams are beautiful.
God-given dreams are worth striving for.

dreams are beautiful..




-kim.


"paint a masterpiece daily. always autograph your work with excellence."
-greg hickman

Worries and Faith and Patience.

not too long ago, a friend of mine wrote a blog on the importance of God's timing.

i guess the adventure and the excitement of life partly comes from the fact that we will never fully understand God's timing. the truth is that we cannot even be certain of what will happen tomorrow. life indeed is full of unexpected [good and bad] surprises.

what is keeping me from a complete surrender and reliance on God? idols? fears? what have i been worshipping and fearing other than the one true God?

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despite the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow or reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

Matthew 6:24 ~34 [New King James Version]

-kimmy.

"Mission's Night"

hello, friends!

Mission's night, an event held at my church, New Hope Fellowship, is happening in the evening of Saturday, June 16th.

there will be some art [yay!], music [dance!], food, and prayers.
the main purpose is to raise an awareness of what mission is in the general public and in fellow christian communities, and to pray and to fundraise for people who are on over-sea missions.
on a personal note, i got to serve God through art. :)
everyone and anyone is invited, so come on out!

love,
-kimmy.

p.s. my floormates and i have been sharing, comforing, encouraging, strengthening, praying, and doing devotions together. awesomeness. it has been AMAZING. God is good.