Hello my pretties, just discovered this nifty little space on the LURM website! (Okay, tbh, Aly was talking about it and if not for her, I would have never come across this site)

It's post-LURM and I'm feeling pretty super! LURM is fantastic, not only do I look forward to catching up with friends and lose a bit of weight, I find that I can always take something meaningful out of the devotions.

For this month's LURM (May), Vinh talked about the true meaning of 'fellowship' based on the official LURM bible verse from 1 John 1:7. When we have fellowship, we spend quality time with one another and bonding takes place. When Christians have fellowship, there is 'bondage' but it is bonding out of love, God's love. Vinh pointed out that as Christians, we may find it difficult to have Christian-like fellowship with our Non Christian friends outside the comfort of a church environment. But sometimes, being the total humans we are, we think that we can manage as we struggle to have fellowship with others, without the help of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. It doesn't work that way. To demonstarte the foolishness of such mentality, Vinh told this story:

One day, a man thought about sharing the word of God with non Christians without having to go to church. He felt that he didn't need the help from his Christian friends and that he was strong enough to do it on his own. He decided to take it up with his Pastor by visiting his house.

Once inside, the Pastor directed him to sit across from him, in front of a fireplace. The firewood was ablaze and the men stared at it for a while.

The man then spoke about his 'thought' as the Pastor listened. Without saying anything, the Pastor got up and picked up a pair of tongs. He used the tongs to pick out a piece of wood, burning from the fireplace. The Pastor set the burning piece of wood aside. He watched the piece of wood as he got back to his seat.

Together, the men watched the piece of wood flicker and burn. Slowly, the piece of wood turned black and the fire was gone.

Afterwards, the Pastor picked up the piece of burnt wood using the tongs and placed it back into the fire, where it set ablaze again.  

A moment later the man said, "That was the best sermon I've ever heard."

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Just like that piece of wood, Christians cannot go have a burning fire for God on their own. We cannot go out and do 'our thing' for God on our own. We need to stick together, have fellowship with one another, be there for each other. That is what LURM is for. Sure, there's fun & games but that's not the sole reason there is a LURM. It's so we can keep connected, stay in touch and spend quality bondage time! That's fellowship during the good times.

But what about the times we're down in the dumps? That's when fellowship is at its best. When we feel angry or sad, having fellowship brings light into our darkest moments. Times like those truly bond a relationship. A friendship based on good times is fragile. Inevitably, a rough time with come and the friendship will not last.

'Tis the greatness of LURM. Thanks to Vinh's devo, LURM is so much more meaningful to me. (And I'm sure this applies to everyone who was there tonight.) I sincerely hope everyone has a good think about the meaning of 'fellowship' and that we all practice it!

May we keep each other in our prayers,

Jenny.

P.S. A very big thank you to Andrew, Ook and Robert. Without you, LURM would not be possible. Your time and effort is very much appreciated and has not gone to waste. I would like to express my gratitude through this keyboard heart: <3