It is so good to be born again

As of recently I have been going to a church called New Life Community located in Little Village. I felt a need to go away to a church to relearn to love Jesus and learn to better love God's people. Little Village has an area of about 6 square miles with a very dense population of about 91,000 people as of 2008. I am sure that there are MANY people who still have not been yet redeemed by the Lord Jesus. About 30 percent of the population here live below the poverty line.

About 65 percent of the population has less than a high school education. About 20 percent of the population has a GED or a high school diploma. Less than 4 percent of the population has a bachelors degree, which is saying that out of 91000 people, only 3600 people have gone to college.

This area is plagued by gang violence and poverty. At times it feels like the city has given up on Little Village, there are like a million pot holes whenever I drive in this area! This past Thursday there was an incident of 3 murders within 8 hours. I read of a few more deaths by murder on the news. A body was found behind the church this week....

We spent part of small group on Friday morning praying for Little Village. Today in service I learned that someone who was affliated with the church was murdered by gang violence this past week. It was so beautiful to see the people of God continue to rejoice in the living hope that we have in Christ. I pray that we as the church can be a beacon of hope to the world and can play a central role in God's strategy to make all things new once again.

Since I have been worshipping with the believers in Little Village these past few weeks my passion for our great God has been renewed. I have been delighting in God's word again and have a renewed passion and intimacy for God. These lovers of God have retaught me that all we need and will ever need will only be found in Christ. Though we live in a world plagued with sickness, poverty , violence, corruption and what not - Jesus will be the only one who will MAKE US WHOLE and COMPLETELY SATISFIED.

For the people of Israel - God gave them a Torah to tell them and the future generations about himself. God wanted them to live life knowing that they have a God who wants to fulfill their every need

Exodus 19:3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

For us as believers God has given us instructions to lived the blessed life. It definitely is not an easy one to live - but it is the one that will allow us to take a ride with the creator of the universe. It is this life that will allow us to see the impossible happen through us because God is able. This new life in Christ is a call to a life of obedience. We must give ourselves fully and trust God. The end result is an empowerment to live life to the full.

Here are instructions for the blessed life.
Psalm 1 says that
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

(Psalm 91 gives us an idea of how good the blessed life is too)

We have all probably seen the Karate Kid right? (The one with Mr. Miyagi) Mr. Miyagi makes Daniel-Son wax his car, paint his fence, and all these other chores. One day Daniel gets fed up with it because it all seems worthless and stupid. Mr. Miyagi shows him in his frustration the importance of the discpline that Daniel has undergone - IT WAS NOT WORTHLESS after all because in the end Daniel won the championship in the fight.

I think that is an example about prayer and reading God's word that we should think about. We should be reminded that THERE IS VALUE in our obedience to God through seeking him. We should be thinking about the satisfaction that can be found in Christ - we must continue to thirst for the living water that only Christ alone can provide!