Rabu, 30 September 2009

My 26th



S Y A L L OM

WOW!! Hari ini saya berulang tahun yang ke 26! Puji Tuhan !! Begitu banyak hal menakjubkan yang telah saya alami sampai dengan detik ini. Setiap hal yang saya terima adalah kebaikan dan anugerah Tuhan.

Saya menyadari bahwa saya adalah ciptaanNya yang sempurna, lahir pada waktu yang sempurna, dilahirkan di keluarga yang sempurna dan bertumbuh dalam komunitas yang sempurna. Mungkin bukan sempurna menurut ukuran manusia, tetapi sempurna menurut standardnya Allah.

"Sebelum Aku membentuk engkau dalam rahim ibumu, dan sebelum engkau lahir, Aku sudah memilih dan mengangkat engkau ...” Yer 1: 5

Tidak banyak yang tahu bahwa sebenarnya saya bukan terlahir sebagai anak pertama dalam keluarga. Saya memiliki seorang kakak perempuan yang bernama Maya Devianti. Sayangnya, dia sudah meninggalkan kami pada hari ke 27 setelah dia lahir. Ukuran jantungnya yang terlalu besar untuk ukuran bayi tak kuasa membawa dia bertahan. Lama orang tua saya menantikan seorang anak. Diperlukan waktu selama 6 tahun hingga akhirnya Tuhan mengabulkan doa mereka, sehingga lahirlah anak perempuan bernama Mega Aseanthy Melala tepat 26 tahun lalu, pada tanggal 30 September 1983. Anda bisa melihat? Kejadian saya dahsyat dan ajaib!!


"Aku bersyukur kepada-Mu oleh karena kejadianku dahsyat dan ajaib; ajaib apa yang Kaubuat, dan jiwaku benar-benar menyadarinya." Mazmur 139:14


Segera setelah itu, saya bertumbuh menjadi seorang anak gadis yang kehilangan figur Bapa dalam hidupnya. Adalah sangat sulit terutama bagi seorang anak perempuan untuk hidup tanpa figur Bapa. Penelitian membuktikan bahwa sekitar 60 persen gadis remaja tanpa figur ayah cenderung melakukan hubungan seks di luar pernikahan. Tetapi lihatlah saya saat ini! Keadaan saya luar biasa baik. Saya sehat waalfiat tanpa kekurangan suatu apa pun, saya memiliki pekerjaan tetap, saya memiliki pendidikan yang sangat baik, saya mendapatkan fasilitas duniawi, keluarga saya baik-baik saja, saya memiliki hubungan dengan seorang pria yang luar biasa, saya belum menikah tetapi saya dapat menjaga kekudusan, saya berada dalam komunitas yang benar dan saya bertumbuh dalam pengawasan seorang Raja yang adil dan Kekal. Hidup saya adalah perwujudan nyata dari Kasih Bapa kepada saya.

“... Kita hidup dan bergerak dan berada di dunia ini karena kekuasaan Dia ...” Kis 17:28

Pernah terlintas sebuah pertanyaan mengenai hidup saya yang tersimpan rapi dalam benak. Tidak ada orang lain yang mengetahui hal ini, tetapi sekarang setelah saya mendapatkan jawabannya saya rindu membagikannya kepada banyak orang. Saya pernah bertanya kepada Tuhan, “Tuhan, Engkau tahu pasti aku membutuhkan kehadiran seorang ayah di dunia tetapi jika memang Engkau mengasihiku mengapa Kau biarkan aku lahir dan bertumbuh tanpa ayah. Apa salahku Tuhan??” Lugu bukan?! Melalui pengenalan yang bertumbuh tentang Kristus, saya telah mendapatkan jawaban secara istimewa langsung dari sumbernya. Melalui Roh Kudus, saya mengetahui bahwa tidak ada yang salah dari saya! Tuhan menciptakan saya seperti itu justru karena Dia begitu mengasihi saya sehingga Dia ingin saya bergantung 100 persen kepadaNya untuk masa depan saya. Dan siapa bilang saya tidak punya ayah???! Saya punya ayah selama ini!! Dia telah mengawasi saya dari Surga, ya..Dialah Bapa yang ada di Surga!! Bapa saya ada di surga dan Dia mengasihi saya lebih dari apa yang pernah saya pikirkan selama ini…

“Lihatlah, betapa besarnya kasih yang dikaruniakan Bapa kepada kita, sehingga kita disebut anak-anak Allah, dan memang kita adalah anak-anak Allah…” I Yohanes 3:1

Di hari ulang tahun saya, biasanya saya meminta berkat, panjang umur, kebahagiaan, dan kawan-kawannya. Tetapi kali ini, saya tidak perlu apa-apa karena saya telah memiliki segalanya. Ya, saya memiliki Bapa yang ada di Surga dan Bapa yang di Surga pun memiliki saya sehingga saya mendapatkan segalanya. Puji nama Tuhan!!

“Aku akan bergirang karena mereka untuk berbuat baik kepada mereka dan Aku akan membuat mereka tumbuh di negeri ini dengan kesetiaan, dengan segenap hati-Ku dan dengan segenap jiwa-Ku.” Yeremia 32:41

Melalui hidup saya, saya ingin memotivasi kepada setiap anak muda yang bertumbuh dalam otoritas Tuhan dan orang tua, bagaimana pun jeleknya orang tua, mereka tetap orang tua yang dipercayakan oleh Tuhan untuk hidup kita sebagai anak-anaknya. Oleh karena itu kasihilah, hormatilah dan taatilah mereka. Anda baru akan merasakan pentingnya kehadiran mereka pada saat mereka telah tiada dan saat itu lah Anda akan menyesal. Ketika itu, semua sudah terlambat.

“Taatilah orang tua mu di dalam Tuhan dan hormatilah ayah dan ibumu karena haruslah demikian. Ini adalah perintah yang penting…” Efesus 6:1

Saya juga ingin memotivasi kepada setiap orang tua dan calon orang tua, khususnya para bapak karena Anda adalah kepala rumah tangga. Kepemimpinan, kehidupan dan tanggung jawab keluarga diletakkan oleh Allah pada tanganmu. Para orang tua, janganlah menyakiti hati anakmu, nasihatilah dan didiklah anak-anak dalam kasih, ajaran dan nasihat Tuhan. Saya pernah membenci ayah saya karena sakit hati yang telah membusuk. Tanyakan pada saya bagaimana rasanya sakit hati seorang anak kepada orang tuanya, ketahuilah bahwa kebencian seorang anak terhadap orang tua bisa melebihi kebencian seekor anjing terhadap seekor kucing. Oleh sebab itu, firman Tuhan mengatakan untuk mengasihi anak-anak
.
“Hai bapa-bapa, janganlah bangkitkan amarah di dalam hati anak-anakmu, tetapi didiklah mereka di dalam ajaran dan nasihat Tuhan” Efesus 6:4

GBU all

Senin, 28 September 2009

I still believe in miracles

I've been watching you closely up from Heaven
See the dark clouds hanging above Your head
As the enemies and vultures closed behind you
You feel you've lost with nowhere left to go

But I've promised you that I would never leave you
Though My timing's hard for you to comprehend
Do you trust Me and know that I am there
To see you through right until the end?

Do you believe in miracles?
That I'll part the sea and save your day?
Do you believe in miracles?
That I will be with you all the way?

For so many days and nights I've prayed to Heaven
While the enemies were waiting for my fall
When all around me felt like sinking sand
No place to stand, with only Your name I can call

Now I know my faith in You is being shaken
And I'm not afraid to say that I am scared
But I do know You're true to all Your words
You are my God and I know that You'll be there

I still believe in miracle
That You'll part the sea and save my day
I still believe in miracle
That You will be with me all the way

Rabu, 09 September 2009

Worry is Like a Rocking Chair

You might be rocking away, and it might feel like you're getting somewhere; but in the end, you are exactly where you started. With the state of the economy and the unemployment rate, it's easy to worry.Most of us remember the first time we heard officially on the news that our economy is in a recession.


But did you know that the next morning, the birds still woke up and sang? They didn't fall off their branches in unbelief and start flying around here and there worrying, stopping their song. No, the little birds sang and the big birds sang, and it was like a beautiful symphony.


You might be thinking, "that's great, birds singing and all; but come on, our economy is in a crisis."


Listen to what Jesus says, "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure to his stature or to the span of his life? And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his magnificence was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will he not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?"


Therefore, do not worry and be anxious, saying, "What are we going to eat? Or "What are we going to have to drink? Or, what are we going to have to wear? But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things taken together will be given to you. So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own." (Matthew 6:26-30, Amplified)


Friends, nothing is new under the sun. They might not have had economists back then with the term "recession", but there have been many who've gone before us that worried about what to eat, drink, wear, where to live, where to send their kids, how to pay for this or that; but God lovingly reminds us that He takes care of the flowers in the field and the birds in the air. How much more valuable are we to Him?


Jesus made it so clear about worrying. How many more days to our life will we added by worrying? Are you going to grow taller? Are you going to grow smarter? Are your problems going to disappear? Worrying does us no good! But what does us good is when we magnify God and not our problems. The Bible even says, "Do not fret, it only leads to evil."


So what are we to do? Trust God, and just like the birds, praise Him. Keep that song of praise in your heart. When the praises go up, the blessings come down. His joy is our strength through the hard times. When you spend your time worrying, you're not putting your faith out there.


Worry says, "I'm not going to get a job. I'm never going to get my retirement back."


The garment of praise says, "Father, I thank you for the victories you've already brought me. Thank you for the favor. Thank you that you're turning my situation around."


One thing I've learned is that you can't worry and praise at the same time. You can't say, "I know You're on the throne, and You're good all the time. You always cause me to triumph. You make a way when there seems to be no way," and then worry and think, "I don't know how this is going to turn around."


Supernatural things will happen when we praise. Supernatural things do not happen when we worry. Worry does nothing but rob your joy. You might feel like worrying is getting you somewhere, but it does nothing but zap your strength. We need our energy for the battles in life, and we need the knowledge of who God is during these difficulties to keep singing.


Suddenly, God can change your situation around like Paul and Silas when they were in prison. In the midnight hour, they were set free. But was it from them crying, fretting and wringing their hands, being in despair and complaining? No, they were praising God and the prison door went wide open.

No matter what the news report says about how many points the Dow Jones is down, each day, wake up with great faith and keep your joy and praise God.


And don't forget to enlarge your vision. You can't do that when you're worrying. You might have lost a lot in the stock market, but God can cause you to make back everything you lost, plus more. There is no limit to what God can do.


But what does limit Him is when we don't believe, and we allow worry to rob our joy and faith.


This is what Scripture says in Jeremiah 33:11, "'…Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before.' says the Lord."


That means when you wake up, praise God. Believe Him for restoration in your retirement and savings. Believe God for restoration in that business you lost. There is nothing too difficult for God to do. Everything that was stolen can be restored in your life. God always gives us double for our trouble, and He likes to outdo Himself. The question is do you believe He will?


Keep your hopes up. Don't let worry have any room in your heart today.


Keep a song in your heart. And when you wake up in the morning and hear the birds singing, let it remind you to praise God during these difficult economic times. He has the whole world in His hands. In fact, He has you in the palm of His Hand. Nothing is a surprise to Him. If you will stay full of hope and praise, God will show Himself strong in your life, and you will not be disappointed!


Source: Joel Osteen Ministry