3 Ways to Be Different (Today)

You want to be different? Sameness is okay, even necessary, but if there is too much sameness with other people, then you are somewhat... a boring person. Here are three (3) ways to be different (I think la):

#1 Read Books. Although there are a lot of people like to go to bookstores or even buy books (maybe holding a book make them feel smart), actually, not many people really read a book nowadays. While people holding phones, you hold a book... how cool is that?

#2 Be a Doer. While many people 'wish' or 'dream' to be this and that, share quotes or philosophies or success articles, most don't really practice what they preach or teach. If you be a doer, you can get more things done!

#3 Say 'Thank You.' This is maybe just me, but I feel that this generation doesn't really know how to say 'Thank you.' Young and old people alike (maybe less for older people). If you have a good meal, say thank you. If someone fetches you to church, say thank you. If someone compliments you for a job well done, say thank you. Have this gratitude attitude, and you'll be one of the kind.

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THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Timothy, the First Thing I Want You to Do - Before Preach, Teach and Lead - is Pray (1 Timothy 2:1)

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers,

intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…”
(1 Timothy 2:1, NIV)

“The first thing I want you to do is pray.

Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know” (The Message)

My NIV Bible begin chapter two with a title Instructions on Worship; and NLT Instructions for the church. Okay, if the apostle Paul is going to talk about the church he certainly will start out with either preaching, teaching or church service order, right? Wrong! “The first thing I want you to do is pray.” How different from us, from me. No doubt, we affirm that prayer is the most important thing in a church and the highest privilege of a Christian, we said. But we live as if it didn’t amount to much at all. The busier we become the less time we spend in prayer. I once leading a prayer meeting, and if you had too, I can be sure that (most but not all) it is the poorest attended meeting of the week compare to Christmas party, family outing and youth concert. Where are the prayer warriors?

Now, back to the text. Paul uses four words to describe prayer: requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving. The first is “requests” or “supplications.” It is an expression of need, coming helplessly to our Heavenly Father to bring all our needs to Him. The second word “prayers,” is the general word used for prayer and it carries with it the idea of worship and reverence or the fear of the Lord. The next word is “intercession.” Simply put, it mean to pray for and on behalf of other people. If you read verse 2, Paul asked Timothy to pray and intercede “for kings and all those in authority.” I think one of the reason many people (especially netizens) complaints and criticize our political leaders (yes, they are wrong most of the time) is because they didn’t pray for them. If we understand what it means to intercede for others, we would pray more and criticize less.

The last word is “thanksgiving.” I like to highlight this word because I sense that people of God today lack the attitude of giving thanks. Two things that, if people said it, it make them super rare these day are: “I appreciate you” and “thank you.” After people send you home, say “thank you”; after someone helped you, say “thank you”; when God answered your prayer, say “thank you” (even before you received it, say “thank you”). Hey, thanksgiving is a form of prayer! It is interesting that one of the sins mentioned in Romans 1:21 that cause God’s wrath against mankind is that they “neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.” Yes, thanksgiving to God is not natural to our old natures, so we need to cultivate it in our hearts.

So Timothys, “the first thing I want you to do is pray.” Do it.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Letters to Annie: Place a High Value on Your God-given Gifts

Dear Annie,

            You’re kind and most honest woman I ever know (Yes, I saw your flaws as you had seen mine. But it’s okay). There is not a single moment where I ever doubt your love for me and every words you said to me really encourage me a lot. Thank you for supporting me in the ministry. Thank you for being so committed in our relationship. Thank you for not giving up.

   

            Dear, I have to tell you this: You’re very talented woman. Even though you can’t compose words like I do (you said), you can do decorations very creatively. And much more. You, and every Christ followers, are a unique blend of talents, skills, and gifts – that you may consciously and unconsciously know of – which makes you an indispensable member of the body of Christ. Zig Ziglar said it nicely, “You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.” So use it!

            Face it, Annie, you’ve got an array of talents that need to be refined. Don’t waste it. Use it all for God’s glory. I’m doing what the Apostle Paul was doing to Timothy: “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God” (2 Timothy 1:6). All people possess special gifts – bestowed from the Father above – and you are no exception. You have God-given gifts, so use it my dear love. Don’t keep it for yourself. Your gift(s) is no guarantee of success; it must be cultivated – by you – or it will go used… and God’s gift to you will be squandered.

            Today, as you read this, can we both make a New Year resolution to ourselves that we will earnestly seek to discover the talents and/or cultivate God’s gifts to us? Yes? Yeah! Let’s nourish those talents and make them grow. Then, let us promise also to share our gifts with the world for as long as God gives us the power and opportunities to do so. After all, my angel Annie, the best way to say “Thank You” for God’s gifts is to use them.

Assignment: Between this letter and the next, lets us take time to think about ways we can convert our talents into results. I’ll call you soon and ask about this okay…

Give thanks to God by giving back to Him and use our talents for Him. Amen.

I love you even more!

Richard

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Letters to Annie: Thank Your for Insisting Upon Mutual Respect

Dear Annie,

As I read the Scripture today, my heart-fall on this verse: “Here is a simple rule-of-thumb for behaviour: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get” (Matthew 7:12, The Message). This verse reminds me of you. Us. Annie, do you remember when you said to me that you respect me and in return, I should respect you too? You’re wise. As a man, I should say it first. My older friend once asked me, “Do you respect yourself enough to demand that your date respect you, too? Please, please, please answer that question with a resounding YES!” I nodded my head. “I told my youths, especially the young girls,” my desperate friend continued, “if you don’t respect yourself, other people may find it easy to take advantage of you.”

He urged me to understand this: the more you respect yourself and your partner, the more likely you are to make smart decisions and the smarter decisions you make, the more reasons you’ll have to respect yourself. This statement reminds me of a quote: “If you are willing to honor a person out of respect for God, you can be assured that God will honor you.” So, Annie, I asked my friend, how to avoid making such bad decisions and get self-respect? He gave me four tips: 1) Don’t do things that you know to be immoral, imprudent, or impulsive; 2) Make the conscious effort to invest yourself in activities that improve your own life and the lives of others; 3) Associate yourself with people who encourage you to think and behave in ways that are pleasing to God; and 4) Ask your Heavenly Father to guide your path and direct your thoughts. Then he told me to tell you: “Make sure Richard respects you and you respect yourself, and both of you respect God. Demand this from him!” I wrote it down because he looked very serious.

Thank you for respecting me – and I respect you. May God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit be honor and respect in our lives. That’s for now. I hope to hear from you soon. I miss you so much.

This much,

Richard

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Try Commending Others

I read a story, a great story it is: an old gentleman used to stop by at an antique shop to sell furniture. One day after he left, the antique dealer’s wife said she wished she had told him how much she enjoyed his visits. The husband said, “Next time let’s tell him so.” The following summer a young woman came in and introduced herself as the daughter of the old gentleman. Her father, she said, had died. Then the wife told her about the conversation she and her husband had after the father’s last visit.

The young woman’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, how much good that would have done for my father,” she cried. “He was a man who needed to be reassured that he was liked.” “Since that day,” the shopkeeper said later, “whenever I think something particularly nice about a person, I tell him. I might never get another chance.”

What a story! Let us make it a habit to find something in others that we can commend on. “There are some great people who make others feel small,” writes G.K. Chesterton. “But there are other great people who make others feel great.” Let us be humble and yet be great at making people feel appreciated and liked. Let us give more praise to others. Let us never tired of commend others when we see the good things that they have done because we might never get another chance again.

“I will speak evil of no man…

and speak all the good I know of everybody” (Benjamin Franklin)

God helps us. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

When You Receive No Thanks

When you receive no thanks, you have two choices: 1) Disappointed, or 2)  Whatever, do it anyway.

“Fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth” (Joshua 24:14, NASB)

Tom Hale, long-time missionary doctor to Nepal, says in his book Don’t Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees:

“The concept of disinterested love is totally foreign to Nepalese because their primacy motive for good works is to acquire merit that will benefit them in the next life. Most of our patients have no sense of gratitude for our services; instead, they expect that we be grateful to them for providing us an opportunity to gain merit for ourselves. That is why ‘Thank you’ is so rarely heard in Nepal; in fact, the Nepali language has no word for it. It’s just as well. We wouldn’t last long here if we had come to receive thanks.”

If we only do good things for the sake of receiving thanks then we are going to be the most miserable men and women in the world. Instead of waiting and expecting people to give thanks – be sincere in your service toward others. “Sincerity,” writes Charles H. Spurgeon, “make the least man to be of more value than the most talented hypocrites.”

In sincerity, add obedience also. Helping others and serving the Lord because you love to obey Him. Do what is right even though nobody see and appreciates it. Be sure that God sees your good works and bless you for it. Psalms 84:11 declares: “The Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right” (NLT).

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Blessed are Those who Encourage Others

If you see anyone is doing something good, if you like what he or she’s doing, if you love it, if it worth praise, tell the person now – don’t waste a second! Don’t withhold your compliment till the person finished doing it and someday might forget about it. For then, no matter how you shout it, the person will never know about it, not know how much you appreciate it. So if you feel like you want to give the person some praise, now is the time to tell it. For who know, if you never see that person again… or the person might never see you again.

Who could the person(s) be? Perhaps; your parent, co-worker, employer, employee, classmate, cleaner, storekeeper, bus/taxi driver, cashier, teacher, waiter, friend, elder, stranger, or if you want to be more radical – maybe even to your so-called ‘enemy’. Give some genuine praise due to them. Give them encouragement for job well done. “There are high spots in all of our lives,” writes George Matthew Adams, “and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don’t care how great, how famous, or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause.”
Would you be the one who makes a different in someone else’s life today?

If the person earns your praise, bestow it. If the person inspires you, let it be known. If you love that person, go and tell. Your words may warm their heart, give them new hope, renewal their faith and encouragement to uplifting their soul into greatness. Do not wait till life is over.

William Barclay once said,

“One of the highest of human duties is the duty of encouragement… it is easy to laugh at men’s ideals; it is easy to pour cold water on their enthusiasm; it is easy to discourage others. The world is full of discouragers. We have a Christian duty to encourage one another. Many a time word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a man on his feet. Blessed is the man who speaks such a word.”

Be an encourager!

THINK BIG. Yes, THINK BIG! Even God encouraged, “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9NLT), how much more we ought to encourage others?

START SMALL. Give praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer wherever, whenever you have a chance and opportunity.

GO DEEP. Make it a habit; a godly habit. Don’t simply live, spend more time encouraging others.

..........................

P.s: I want to tell my mom that dinner today is awesome! Thanks, mom! Wooooohooo!!!!

Week 4: Thank you - For What You've Done

One day, I decided to say 'thank you' as often as possible to anyone whom I met that day. What triggered me to do that was maybe the books that I read or the audiobooks that I heard at that particular time - I’m not sure (could be both). I always remember this moment when I say it to my mother. Every morning after my mom made breakfast to my brother before he went to work, she will get ready to cook for our lunch together. Mom and me (At that time, I was taking my off day).

I enjoyed my lunch that day, as my mother is an excellent chef housewife. I always finished my meal first, because you see, my mother talked when she was eating. Right after that, I said something that I really can't remember the last time I said it to her... I said, "Mom, today lunch is wonderful and yummy, THANK YOU very much". As soon as I finished saying that, she smile ever bright and in replied she said, "You are welcome." I can see that her day was unusually great that day, just because I said those two magic words.

As a children to our parent sometime we thought that- 'Why should I say thank you to them? After all, this is their duty'. Sometime, we forget that we didn't appreciate them very much (not until someone is gone). Most of the time, we forget that we owe someone a 'thank you’ just because we thought that it was their responsibilities- cleaners, policemen, firemen, taxi drivers, doctors, nurses, teachers, friends, colleagues, Prime Minister, boss etc.

When you say thank you, you are saying 'I appreciate of what you had done to me'. Appreciation and gratitude, actively expressing can make your life meaningful both for you and for the one you verbalized it to. In his book, 10 Powerful Phases for Positive People, Rich DeVos lists 10 phases that are very important;
1) I'm wrong
2) I'm sorry
3) You can do it
4) I believe in you
5) I'm proud of you
6) I need you
7) I trust you
8) I respect you
9) I love you
10) THANK YOU

These are easy words to remember, but we (including me) are easy to forget about it as fast as we remember it. Jesus was going into a village when He met by 10 men suffering from dreaded skin disease. They shouted for healing and yes, Jesus healed them all. 'When one of them saw that he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself to the ground at Jesus' feet and thanked him... Jesus spoke up, "There were ten men who were healed; where are the other 9?" (Luke 17:11-19)

Give thanks to 'little' things that your parent did to you; cooked, washed your clothes, saving money for your college, make up your bed, brought you shoes, worry for your future etc. Give thanks to your friends who always there when you're up or/and when you're down. Give thanks to your brothers and sisters who stand for you even when they know you're wrong most of the times.

Above all, give thanks to the Lord because 'He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not die but have Eternal Life' (John 3:16) Question, who you will give thanks to today?