And the peace of God...

Philippians 4:4-9

New International Version (NIV)

Final Exhortations
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Shu Jun, my cell group leader shared this http://odb.org/2011/12/12/a-growing-belligerence/ on FB today, and I felt compelled to share this with everyone as well.

For a few months now, since my return from London ( Yes, I was away for 2 months, and I'll talk about it sooner or later in the future ), everyone would be asking me, "So... What did you learn from your trip?"

One main thing that I can say that I've learnt from my trip was LOVE. It was as simple as that. Of course I've learnt and observed many a things over there, but the one thing that I treasured the most was LOVE.

Not that I didn't know what love was, but experiencing and witnessing it was a totally different thing. Now when I say love, it ain't that BGR ( Boy Girl Relationship ) kinda thang... But something deeper... and well simpler. It's love for your fellow man, loving everyone else as God loves us, as we love ourselves, loving your enemies ( Which I might add is easier said than done ). To love unconditionally and to be prepared to forgive... Pendek kata, jadi Kristian bukan senang (for my UK friends... Being a Christian ain't easy)

It's hard work, and as usual, you will always be discriminated for one thing or another. Jesus had tons of haters, being his followers, we should expect the same... Yet still love 'em haters all the same. (Sorry, I realise I'm bein' really street right now... ain't nothin' but a thang yo)

But it's true, worst yet, sometimes, actually most of the time, we have to be the peacemakers. I have always been the one who started it up in here, ya know what I'm sayin'... "Better yet, I always say" you may have started it, but I'm going to finish it.." Yea.. big man talk, but in all truthfulness, it doesn't take a big man to talk like that, I find it that it takes a Bigger man to keep quite and it takes an even Bigger man to defuse said tense situation, to step back and think, hey... let's solve this rationally, we're better than this.

I believe strongly that we should tell the truth, but I realise now there are better ways to do it. It is a constant battle for me to be kind/nice/ considerate, I've always been rather rude and straight forward to everyone, and being in Malaysia doesn't help either. My
experience in London or rather HTB was truly a humbling experience for me. From the office to the church I often hear nothing but encouraging words, no matter how small the task, they encourage you, thank you,and truth be told truly appreciate you doing what you do.Perhaps we do have the capacity to do the same, perhaps we have been too busy achieving excellence, and not realising all the feet we've trampled along the way. Perhaps all we need is to slow down a bit and appreciate the little things... Will this slow down progress? I think not.. Will this decrease productivity? On the contrary.

From personal experience,working with HTB London for 2 months, I have never been as efficient and happy. They appreciate your hard work and what's more, they respect your working hours, 9 to 5 means 9 to 5. Whatever extra curricular activities you might have after that is your own business, but I recall times in which I stayed on for even an extra half and hour, and they would constantly pester me to go back home and have a rest. Because rest is important, and prioritising your work is important. Knowing when to do what is truly important. Jesus himself had times of rest and times of work did he not? Who better should we model our lives to than Jesus himself.

Because of understanding, tolerance, patience, and most importantly, Love, I see people working hard and smart, with passion and perseverance and every hour, every minute used to its full potential. Truly all we need is Love, even if just a little.

Let our gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

Makes sense doesn't it.. and all I did was change "yours" to "ours". And it s clear and evident of what we should do, how we should react...

Then maybe...maybe, we can finally have some peace...

Till next time hommies, God bless !!!