Father's Love

Pertolongan Tuhan memang tidak pernah terduga. Cara-Nya selalu ajaib. Bulan Juli lalu saya merasakan pertolongan-Nya melalui orang-orang asing, yang bahkan tidak saya kenal sama sekali. Sepintas kalau diingat bagaimana kami bertemu, orang akan bilang bahwa itu hanya kebetulan. Tapi saya percaya tidak ada yang kebetulan. Tuhan benar-benar bekerja di dalam segala sesuatu untuk mendatangkan kebaikan bagi orang-orang yang mengasihi Dia. Sekalipun kasih saya kepada Tuhan begitu sederhana dan dangkal, sejauh langit dari bumi demikianlah kasih Tuhan.

Kadang-kadang ada saatnya kita berbuat salah, mengaku salah, bahkan minta maaf, tetapi tetap tidak dimaafkan. Lalu kita merasa tidak enak. Namun apakah yang bisa kita perbuat jika seseorang tidak mau memaafkan kita? Bisakah kita memaksa?

" Baliklah dan katakanlah kepada Hizkia , raja umat -Ku: Beginilah firman TUHAN , Allah Daud , bapa leluhurmu : Telah Kudengar doamu dan telah Kulihat air matamu ; sesungguhnya Aku akan menyembuhkan engkau ; pada hari yang ketiga engkau akan pergi ke rumah TUHAN . (2 Raja-raja 20:5) Ayat ini adalah salah satu favorit saya. Firman Tuhan begitu indah menyentuh hati Raja Hizkia yang saat itu sedang sakit keras bahkan sebelumnya Tuhan berkata bahwa ia tidak akan sembuh, melainkan mati. Saya membayangkan apa yang mungkin dirasakan oleh Raja Hizkia.

These few days, I feel grateful as I now reading the gospel of Matthew. Every time I read this gospel, I feel God's grace more and more again. His grace is endless. His love endures forever! When I read the first chapter, I can always see God's grace. He had put Tamar, Rut, and  Uria's wife (Bathseba) in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Tamar slept with her father-in-law, Rut was a Moabitess, and Bathseba was an unfaithful wife. How could a holy God set those sinners in the genealogy of Jesus Christ? Continue to the next chapter, I read on how the Magi visited baby Jesus. They were also gentiles, but once again God gave them a privilege to know that the King of kings was born so they could come and worship Jesus. Was it a grace, wasn't it? Jesus taught and healed many people. He even ate with the sinners and tax collectors, including Matthew. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?...

1 Chronicles 16:34 "Give thanks to the LORD for He is good; His love endures forever" I never had an idea of how His love endures, until today. My love to Bennett (one of my students) cannot endures all the pains he caused every time he punched me. For every discipline word I said, he punched me. I was about to give up, but God reminded me of His love. His love endures forever to those who keeps sinning and punching his heart! Could you imagine how great is His unfailing love? :')

Capek. Satu kata ini bisa cukup, bahkan terkadang kurang tepat untuk menggambarkan dengan jelas apa yang aku rasakan pada awal tahun ajaran ini. Awal tahun ajaran memang penuh tantangan. Tadinya aku cukup optimis dan berani menghadapi tahun ajaran ini, namun setelah 6 hari sekolah, aku tahu bahwa tahun ini tantangannya lebih berat. Kata 'capek' saja tidak cukup untuk menggambarkan betapa sakitnya tubuhku dipukuli dan ditendang (sebut saja) Bennett. Hampir setiap kali ditegur, Bennett marah dan memukul. 6 hari berturut-turut aku dipukuli. Aku harus berkali-kali bilang, " Bennett, stop! Tidak pukul-pukul Miss Novi lagi! Miss Novi juga tidak pukul Bennett, kan? " Di satu sisi kalimat ini untuk menghentikan kebiasaan Bennett yang suka memukul. Di sisi lain untuk mengingatkan diri sendiri bahwa apapun yang terjadi, Miss Novi tidak akan memukul Bennett. Tidak sama sekali.

Time flies. My brother and I have been fatherless for 10 months. Today is easier to live as fatherless than few months ago, but the "side effect" of being fatherless is getting harder. We no longer have Papa as our protector and provider. We have to learn to protect ourselves and provide our needs. It's not easy at all. But God has promised to be the Father for the fatherless. And He is faithful!

Sekitar 12-17 tahun yang lalu, setiap tahun pada hari ayah, aku akan menyanyikan sebuah lagu pada kebaktian umum. Sementara aku menyanyi solo, teman-teman sekolah minggu yang lain akan berjalan ke arah bangku-bangku jemaat sambil membagikan sebuah souvenir untuk para ayah. Setiap kali aku akan menyanyikan sebuah lagu berjudul "PAPA". Tidak diketahui siapa pencipta lagu ini. Yang pasti nadanya sangat oriental. Syairnya sebagai berikut: Tak pernah ku lupa Kasihmu padaku Papa Dalam kelelahan bekerja Kau tetap bri senyum padaku Jerih payahmu Papa Semua hanya untukku Oh, terima kasih Papa

Tuesday, May 28, 2013. I supposed to be excited because on May 31, 2013 I would be commissioned as a Christian teacher. My family and relatives would come, but someone is missing. My dad would not be able to see me graduated and commissioned. Family photo would be weird because he already passed away. So what is the meaning of my graduation?

Di postingan sebelumnya, aku sempat cerita bahwa salah satu dosen pengujiku itu didatangkan langsung dari Corban University. Nah, saat aku harus melangsungkan sidang skripsi yang kedua pada hari Kamis, 25 April 2013, dosen yang bersangkutan sudah kembali ke negaranya. Jadi supaya sidang bisa tetap berjalan, maka digunakanlah teknologi yang namanya internet. Awalnya aku diberi tahu bahwa sidang akan dilakukan menggunakan Skype. Unik ya?

My tears dropped as I read this article . Somehow I remember Romans 8:38-39 that God had put it into my heart for these past two years. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate me from the love of God. And there is no condemnation for those believe in Christ.

My friends and I (TC Students) have mandatory chapels every Tuesday morning, Friday night, and Sunday morning. Last year, we (TC Students who become Church-members of HMCC) asked Ps. Andrew to write a letter of permission for us to miss the Friday Night Fellowship so that we could join the Good Friday Service at our church. This year, we tried to do the same, but the leader of dormitory and the rule were changed. As the result, we are not allowed to miss the Friday Night Fellowship so that we can join the Good Friday Service at church. All TC Students in our church are sad about it, including me. As we are committed to our home church, it is our desire to attend the Good Friday Service.

When I was meditated on Isaiah 57, I found that in verse 15, the Lord said that He lives in a high and holy place but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. Every time I read this verse, I always feel amazed. How could The Most High God wants to be with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit? Why does he want to revive the spirit of the lowly and the heart of the contrite? Does not he know that we are nothing? This is really beyond my understanding!

I joined Foundations Class during this past month. Here are some notes that I put here so that I will always remember it and be able to read it anywhere, anytime. Hope you’ll be blessed!

In my time alone with God this morning, I meditated on Isaiah 51-55. Here are some highlights that the Holy Spirit emphasized for me. 1.      LISTEN to the LORD. Give your ears and LISTEN. --> this is the calling that I need! 2.     The Lord comforts you, don’t forget your Maker . God wants me to always remember Him. 3.     Jesus was pierced for our transgressions and he was crushed for our iniquities. Our punishment was upon Him, and by His wounds, we are healed. 4.     We are like sheep, have gone astray, have turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all. 5.     It was the LORD’s will to crush Jesus and cause him to suffer. He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. 6.     Novi, do not be afraid ; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace ; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your yo...

Few weeks ago, two sisters and I talked about a brother in our church. In our sights, he is so perfect. He is a godly man that every single-Christian-woman might dream about. I agree with them. Then one of the sisters said, “But, is he too perfect? Imagine, how can we marry someone like him? We are broken-hearted girls. Will he accept a girl like us to be his spouse someday?” I was kept silent. I did not know the answer until I shared our conversation to my accountability partner. “He is a sinner, Novi,” she said. “When you see him so perfect, it is not him that you see, but Christ, the perfect God, that lives in him.” That’s definitely true. “Then, if he is so perfect, just like Jesus, will it be possible that he accepts a broken-hearted girl like one of us? I mean, he is sooooooo godly.” “If he as perfect as our God, he must be merciful and able to forgive his future wife’s sins in the past.” “How if the sin is relate to a sexual relation? It is really serious. Will he fo...

Masih ingat tahun lalu Ps. Kong Hee (City Harvest Church, Singapore) ditangkap karena tuduhan korupsi uang gereja? Baru-baru ini heboh lagi kasus serupa di Surabaya. Sebenarnya desas-desusnya sudah lama terdengar, bahkan sejak aku masih SMA. Pdt. Abraham Alex Tanuseputra, gembala Gereja Bethany, Surabaya, dilaporkan menggelapkan dana sebesar 4,7 triliun. Tentu saja ini berita yang menyakitkan dan merupakan pukulan berat bagi jemaat dan orang-orang Kristen lainnya. Inilah yang disebut-sebut sebagai " co Ye Su " (bisnis Yesus) dalam gereja-gereja berbasis mandarin. Menurutku hal yang paling menyedihkan ketika membaca berita-berita tersebut adalah reaksi dan komentar orang-orang percaya yang menyudutkan dan menghakimi. Terutama komentar-komentar pedas dari orang-orang Kristen yang berasal dari denominasi gereja yang berbeda dengan gereja-gereja tersebut di atas. Seakan-akan orang-orang ini mau berkata, "Lihat tuh.... Denominasi ini nih selalu gak bener... Kerjaan pendeta...

I read Psalm 108-115 this morning and found three times the phrase "fear of the LORD" connected with the word "blessed". Yesterday I watched a sermon video about God in ancient China . Rev. Kong Hee explained the word "blessed" (福/fu) in Chinese character. To write this word in Chinese character, we should put "shen zi pang" first, it is God.    (神) => ["shen zi pang" is the "lines" without that square, see the left side] Then we write together at one (一/yi) with one mouth (口). So God together with a soul, one mouth, and the word garden below the mouth. So that is prosperity (福). Prosperity to Chinese is not just material wealth and money. But it's for God and man to have a one relationship. It is awesome! If you celebrate Chinese New Year with your family and relatives this weekend, I hope you can share this to them. Tell them that God reveals Himself in Chinese writing.

Chinese New Year is coming soon! By this weekend, some of my friends are going home to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their families. I am not going home, but it does not mean that I don't celebrate it. Chinese New Year cannot be forgotten. Somehow, I am thinking a lot of Chinese people in Indonesia this past few weeks, especially after I met Guo Shu Shu (Uncle Guo), a stranger and an unbeliever that sat next to me during my last journey by plane. We talked a lot during our flight from Surabaya to Jakarta. He really interested to talk with me. He said that he was thinking that I am Chinese-Medan because of the way I walk and move. I said, "No. I am Chinese-Surabaya." Then we continue our conversation. It was surprising that we have the same family name, "Guo". And we talked a lot about Chinese people in Surabaya.

Last Thursday, our LIFE GROUP had a hangout. We went to WTC Mall Serpong to play bowling together. Actually it was cheap. If you bring your student ID, you have to pay for IDR 10000 per game for weekdays. On weekends or public holidays, you have to pay IDR 12000 per game. You also have to rent the shoes. It costs only IDR 4000. If you total the money you need for this hangout, you just need to bring about IDR 50000 for the bowling, meal, and transportation. BUT cheap has no meaning if you have problem with FINANCE.