What is the Bible all about? The Story (part 1).

Now, some people think the bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn't do. The bible certainly does have some rules in it. They should you how life works best. But the Bible isn't mainly about you ad what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done.

Others think the is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. the Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you'll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all. They make some bid mistakes (sometimes on purpose). They get afraid and run away. At times they are downright mean.

No, the Bible isn't a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. The best thing about this Story is - it's true. There are lots of stories in the Bible,but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. It takes the whole Bible to tell this Story. And at the center of the Story, there is a baby. Every Story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle - the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together, and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

And this is no ordinary baby. This is the Child upon whom everything would depend. This is the Child who would one day - but wait. Our Story starts where all good stories start. Right at the very beginning.....

The Gospel - Matthew 3:1-17 (Humble and Patient)

May every heart be opened and accept teaching from the Holy Spirit, the only Teacher of the Truth.

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Matthew 3:1-6
In those days came John the baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.
Matthew 3:11
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.
Matthew 3:13-17
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
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Reflection upon my impatience. God create an orderly world, we live in a world govern by systems. Many times, we wish for short cuts to achieve our goals. Jesus is our best example for patience. He had to wait for almost 30 years to begin His Ministry on earth. If Jesus can wait, I can too when I draw strength upon His patience.

Reflection upon my pride. May times, I overconfidence over my ability. I tends to think I can do better then others, especially my superior in work and life. Of course I can, God made me in His image, I can overcome anything through Him. But I miss the whole point. What God is looking at is not me ability, which he freely given to me. He is looking at the condition of my heart. Jesus humbly accept baptism from John, God accept baptism from man, in order to fulfill all righteousness. Upon this, God said from Heaven: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. God is especially please with Jesus' humbleness. If Jesus can humble, I can too when I draw strength upon His humbleness.

May God's peace be with you always.

What is worth living for?

This is the one important, sensible and profitable question that minority among the entire earth population seek after but the majority never ever ponder in their life. Please join me in this journey of discovery. Some people live with goals and others without. In general view, those with goals lead more fulfilling lives. Goals with commitment may lead to Achievements. Achievements in term of study, career, relationship, fame, wealth, etc. Someone quoted that life without goal is meaningless. I remember the story about a man named Solomon. He was known as the second wisest man ever lived. No one can surpass his fame, wealth, power and achievement during his time. Of all his goals, wisdom was the priority. At the prime of his life, he said that everything was so meaningless and explained in his Book of Proverbs. The key is that everyone will eventually die, so all that we work so hard to achieve will be for nothing eventually. Is there true lasting wealth and happiness on earth worth striving for? Will anyone truly appreciate your good work on earth? Yes, maybe for a period of time then its all forgotten. It's all meaningless. Will anyone truly appreciate your talent? A definite no. Other's talent is of value to your own gain, just the same, yours are for other's gain. we live in a world of selfish gains. So what if we gain the whole world, someday we will die and many others will work their life off trying to take over our gain and history just repeat itself. It's all so meaningless. In fact, all this obsession for worldly gain is the root of all the ugliness we see in our world. Why does people develop the sense of selfishness? It started since the fall of Adam and Eve. Since they disobey God and fell into the temptation of living without God, thus living for themselves only. That fall is the beginning of sin of mankind. Since then human cease their union with their Creator. The main consequence is death, of which previously was eternal life. Therefore, back to the search for worth of life. All answers are meaningless if the end is death. The good news is God the Creator loves His creation and even before their fall He has a plan since the Beginning, for you and me. Through history, human struggle and what kept them going is the faith in God's promise of deliverance, but no one knew the grand plan until God himself revealed in the form of human. God came to us in human form clearly tells us His great love for us. Not just divine, but divine and personal. And till today, his Church, through tradition and vigilance, preach His loving deliverance for all mankind also known as The Gospel.