Out of Darkness; Day319; Daughter @17

Psa 107:14  He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke apart the bonds that held them.
Act 2:1  AND WHEN the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all assembled together in one place,
Act 2:2  When suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.
Act 2:3  And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them.
Act 2:4  And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words].

Out of Darkness:
A big question comes to mind – What is darkness? How do you get out of the darkness?  
Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21  Envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

These are darkness:
Adultery – extramarital sex: voluntary sexual relations between a married person and somebody other than his or her spouse
Fornication – consenting sex involving somebody unmarried: sexual intercourse between two consenting adults who are not married to each other
Uncleanness – unchaste: sinful, especially involving or guilty of committing a sexual sin
Lasciviousness – lewd: showing a desire for, or unseemly interest in, sex
Idolatry – Image worship, watching undesirable images/videos
Sorcery – Practicing magic or witchcraft
Enmity – Hatred, hostility: the extreme ill will or hatred that exists between enemies
Strife – Quarrel, bitter conflict or rivalry: bitter and sometimes violent conflict, struggle, or rivalry
Jealousy – Possessively watchful of something
Anger – Strong feelings of grievance and displeasure
Selfishness – looking after own desires: concerned with your own interests, needs, and wishes while ignoring those of others
Division – disagreement: a disagreement or strong difference of opinion, especially when this leads to a split in a group
Heresy – unorthodox opinion: an opinion or belief that does not coincide with established or traditional theory, especially in philosophy, science, or politics
Envy – feeling bitter and unhappy because of another’s advantages, possessions, or luck
Drunkenness – intoxicated: overly excited by or as if by having consumed too much alcohol
Carousing – drink and become noisy: to drink and become noisy, especially in a group

How do you get out of the darkness?
I don’t claim to be totally 100% out of darkness in my life.  I am just like you and I am tempted just like you.  Until the time of our departure, we will experience some type of darkness in our life.  On the big ones above, those are ‘uncheck’ in my life already but it does not mean that I will not fall into temptations, we all are and that is why being a Christian is a daily walk.  We have to do it daily, renew our vows daily, renew our faith daily and walk faithfully daily.  For those who don’t me personally and haven’t peek in my past, don’t ask but I’ve been there and done that (not so bad though) and the bad thing is a few people knows about it.  I’ve hurt people (emotionally, not physically), I’ve crossed the line made by my parents, I’ve disobeyed/violated some rules before and I used to drink and smoke and party (boy’s only).  I don’t do those things anymore. I don’t even go to a party anymore.  I kept myself separated from those temptations because I’ve been reborn into a new ME.  Believe me, cleansing my lifestyle took a long time.  I always wanted to clean myself up physically, mentally and spiritually but the efforts were just wasted. I had so many resolutions that never made it into the next week.  I’ve tried mind control, self control, meditation, physical discipline and Aikido etc, never work.  Even having a beautiful girlfriend (now my wife) did not work.  Each of us has our own struggles, we noticed it every time we get up in the morning.  Those craving of something, those ill feeling, those anger, those jealousy and envy, depression, sadness, uncertainty …. how we wish it will be replaced with PEACE.  I don’t have a magic wand to get rid of all that but I know a way to get into a peaceful state. 

I am at peace now. Nothing bothers me anymore. Not because I survived many near death incidents … but because I believed in something.  Keep searching, keep looking and one day you will be set free from your darkness.  There is a cure out there and it is freely given to us. I never heard of Acts 2:4 before but after I went through the infilling of the Holy Spirit, my whole life changed.  Please read this article – The Baptism of the Holy Spirit for more information.  It has 13 pages but I want you to known that this thing exists.  A true change in our life will happen only after the Holy Spirits dwells in us.

Today is the 17th birthday of my daughter. Nothing fancy. All four of us attended the Sunday service at Celebration Church.  Normally, it is just me and cc. The message was “Moving Forward on your Giving”  I did not realize how hard it is for us to give – not necessarily money but our life, our dedication, our trust, our attention, our time, our love, our devotion, our faithfulness, our honesty, our ears to listen to others.  I do hope that one day by my example, people will freely give.

MIT (Most Important Task)
1. Celebration Church
2. 1Mile Run
3.
4. Work on Poweredge 2850 problem

0000, Sleep
0100, Sleep
0200, Sleep
0300, Sleep
0400, Sleep
0500, Sleep
0600, Sleep
0700, Breakfast
0800, 1Mile run
0900, Celebration Church
1000, Celebration Church
1100,
1200, Lunch
1300, Nap
1400, Nap
1500, Journal
1600, Poweredge Troubleshooting
1700, Poweredge Troubleshooting
1800, Poweredge Troubleshooting
1900, Poweredge Troubleshooting
2000, More Log Parser 2.2 testing
2100, More Log Parser 2.2 testing
2200,
2300,
2400, Sleep

LOOKING BACK – YESTERDAY
What went well?
1. Had a simple dinner with the wife. After all, she said she finally missed me after working 5-day straight.
2. Two ongoing projects at work is moving in the right direction.

What didn’t go so well?
1.
What would you do differently next time?
1.
Conclusion:
1.