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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries

An amazing story of faith in adversity. If Nick's story doesn't convince us about God's love & His power & what faith can do, then nothing else will.

My name is Nick Vujicic and I give God the Glory for how He has used my testimony to touch thousands of hearts around the world! I was born without limbs and doctors have no medical explanation for this birth "defect". As you can imagine, I was faced with many challenges and obstacles.
" Consider it pure joy, my Brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."

....To count our hurt, pain and struggle as nothing but pure joy? As my parents were Christians, and my Dad even a Pastor of our church, they knew that verse very well. However, on the morning of the 4th of December 1982 in Melbourne (Australia), the last two words on the minds of my parents was "Praise God!". Their firstborn son had been born without limbs! There were no warnings or time to prepare themselves for it. The doctors were shocked and had no answers at all! There is still no medical reason why this had happened and Nick now has a Brother and Sister who were born just like any other baby. The whole church mourned over my birth and my parents were absolutely devastated. Everyone asked, "if God is a God of Love, then why would God let something this bad happen to not just anyone, but dedicated Christians?" My Dad thought I wouldn't survive for very long, but tests proved that I was a healthy baby boy just with a few limbs missing.

Understandably, my parents had strong concern and evident fears of what kind of life I'd be able to lead. God provided them strength, wisdom and courage through those early years and soon after that I was old enough to go to school.

The law in Australia didn't allow me to be integrated into a main-stream school because of my physical disability. God did miracles and gave my Mom the strength to fight for the law to be changed. I was one of the first disabled students to be integrated into a main-stream school.

I liked going to school, and just try to live life like everyone else, but it was in my early years of school where I encountered uncomfortable times of feeling rejected, weird and bullied because of my physical difference. It was very hard for me to get used to, but with the support of my parents, I started to develop attitudes and values which helped me overcome these challenging times. I knew that I was different but on the inside I was just like everyone else. There were many times when I felt so low that I wouldn't go to school just so I didn't have to face all the negative attention. I was encouraged by my parents to ignore them and to try start making friends by just talking with some kids. Soon the students realized that I was just like them, and God kept on blessing me with new friends.

There were times when I felt depressed and angry because I couldn't change the way I was, or blame anyone for that matter. I went to Sunday School and learnt that God loves us all and that He cares for you. I understood that love to a point as a child, but I didn't understand that if God loved me why did He make me like this? Is it because I did something wrong? I thought I must have because out of all the kids at school, I'm the only weird one. I felt like I was a burden to those around me and the sooner I go, the better it'd be for everyone. I wanted to end my pain and end my life at a young age, but I am thankful once again, for my parents and family who were always there to comfort me and give me strength.

Due to my emotional struggles I had experienced with bullying, self esteem and loneliness, God has implanted a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenge they have in their life and let God turn it into a blessing. To encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.

One of the first lessons that I have learnt was not to take things for granted. "And we know that in all things God works for the best for those who love Him." That verse spoke to my heart and convicted me to the point where that I know that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence that these "bad" things happen in our life.

I had complete peace knowing that God won't let anything happen to us in our life unless He has a good purpose for it all. I completely gave my life to Christ at the age of fifteen after reading John 9. Jesus said that the reason the man was born blind was "so that the works of God may be revealed through Him." I truly believed that God would heal me so I could be a great testimony of His Awesome Power. Later on I was given the wisdom to understand that if we pray for something, if it's God's will, it'll happen in His time. If it's not God's will for it to happen, then I know that He has something better.

I now see that Glory revealed as He is using me just the way I am and in ways others can't be used.

I am now twenty- three years old and have completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. I am also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share my story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. I have developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. I am also a speaker in the corporate sector.

I have a passion for reaching out to youth and keep myself available for whatever God wants me to do, and wherever He leads, I follow I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the "Oprah Winfrey Show"!

Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called "No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!"

I believe that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. As humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all! What's worse is putting limits on God who can do all things. We put God in a "box". The awesome thing about the Power of God, is that if we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him. Once we make ourselves available for God's work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? God's!

May the Lord Bless you
In Christ,
Nick Vujicic

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

The Power of Forgiveness

Forgiveness is never easy. It is really the struggle of the heart. Even more difficult is to initiatiate, either to ask for forgiveness or to tell someone that you have forgiven him/her for the wrong done to you.

How could we forgive someone who has abused us, a spouse who has cheated, and the boss who humiliated us. How could we come to terms with the sufferings and humiliation?

So what exactly is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is admitting that I am human

Phillip Yancey wrote: "Forgiveness is another way of admitting, 'I'm human, I make mistakes, I want to be granted that privilege and so I grant you that privilege.' "

Forgiveness cancels a debt someone owes us and restores relationship. It is the only solution in a world ridden with sin and evil to help us start over with people and with God.

Forgiveness is not forgetting.

We have often heard of the phrase “forgive and forget”. I must say that to forgive is difficult and to forget is even more difficult. Once we have experienced the healing power of forgiveness, we will never forget the release we feel in our souls. Through forgiving, we’re able to forget “what lies behind” and reach forward to “what lies ahead” (Philippians 3:13), which involves letting go of the pain and being freed from hatred, fear and bitterness. We remember those painful circumstances in a way that gives us hope for the future. True forgiveness gives us back our lives

Forgiveness is a choice

We can make the choice to forgive. Unless and until we forgive, we will be trapped in our thoughts. We be locked up in our cage. The endless rage, resentment, guilt and anger will drain the life out of you. When Corrie Ten Boom extended her hand to the former Nazi officer who abused her and her sister during their imprisonment, she did it choosing to follow Christ versus her feelings. Paul writes in Eph 4:31-32 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."NIV

Forgiveness brings about healing

Forgiveness is an act of mercy which brings about healing to our inner being. The moment we let go, our hatred, anger and resentment will be gone. There is a special connection between forgiveness and freedom. It brings about such release as majestic as setting the captives free or delivering from the evil spirits.

Forgiveness is not an emotion

Forgiveness is not an action we take without agony of the soul. It is never easy to forgive. Forgiveness begins as a decision to trust God, rather than a desire or feeling of wanting to be close to the person who has offended me. My emotions toward the person may be completely antagonistic, but that doesn’t affect my decision about forgiving that person.

Forgiveness is a process

Forgiveness is a process. The moment you forgive, the process begins but that does not mean that you will instantly feel the freedom of complete forgiveness. It may take years to experience the full freedom of forgiveness. I compare forgiveness to peeling layers off an onion. You can dig deeply and take off many layers at once, but there are lots of thin layers as well, which makes forgiveness a process of patiently addressing the issues that come up.

Committing to the process means admitting that we are powerless to forgive on your own, but we are willing to begin, knowing it may take years before we can feel the complete release of God’s work of forgiveness in our heart.

Forgiveness is a decision

No one can force us to forgive, and no one can keep us from forgiving. Forgiveness is a decision to trust not our own instincts but the voice of God. When I’ve decided to forgive, it wasn’t because the offender asked me to do so or even acted in a way that created a desire in me to forgive. I forgave because I trusted that God loves me and that He would never tell me to do something that wasn’t good for me.

Forgiveness is desiring reconciliation

As forgiveness does its work, you move from being an obsessed, embittered person to a willing agent of God’s love. The reconciliation that you desire is evidence of the changes going on in your heart through forgiveness. Perhaps the person we’re forgiving and seeking reconciliation with doesn’t see things the same way we do. But for reconciliation to take place, there must be openness in the hearts of both parties to admit wrong and come to a mutual understanding








Monday, May 29, 2006

Appetite for Prayer

Do we devote ourselves to prayer? Do we love to pray and talk to God daily? Do we have an appetite for daily prayer?

Are we not praying because there are things going on in our lives that we are afraid God might ask us to give up? Or is it because you do not know what to say when you come to Him in prayer? A couple who is deeply in love will never be at a loss on what to say to each other. Similarly, if we love God, there will always be something to say. Our love for God is a response to His love for us. As you think about that then love will spring up simply because it must.

Commit yourself to deepening your life of prayer by organizing your day around prayer your prayer time rather than the other way round. Make it the top priority of your day.

Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold on His highest willingness. Approach the throne of grace with confidence and boldness, because there is One on the throne who has worn our flesh and knows exactly how we feel. We do not need be hesitant or shy in approaching Him. Prayer allows God’s love, mercy and grace to flow in.

The best time to pray is in the morning – if at all possible. Over the years, I have learnt that if God is the priority in my life, I have to talk to Him before engaging in other activities. Moreover, when you pray in the beginning of the day, it is more forward looking.

False views about prayers:

Prayer is like a lightning conductor that prevents us being struck by the lightning of God’s wrath, which might fall on us if we fail to commune with Him.

Many share the view that if they do not pray then something bad will happen to them. Their prayers therefore, are not really prayers at all but self-protective devices derived from a wrong concept of God.

Another false view of prayer is the notion that through prayer we change the mind of God so that His will coincides with ours. What nonsense. The purpose of prayer is not to bend God’s will to our will; it is to bring our will in line with His.

Prayer does not pull God to us but us to God. It aligns our will to His so that He can do things through us that otherwise He could not do.


Prayer is the greatest privilege in being a Christian.

Access to the throne.
For prayer to be meaningful, we must look at prayer as a means to a relationship:
Speaking to our Heavenly Father and developing a relationship with Him. Getting to know His character, His precepts.
Spending time with Him, letting Him speak to you.

Prayer patterns to employ

Pray in modern language.
Choose a Psalm or Scripture to pray back to God.
Talk to God as your best friend.
Prayer requires creativity and concentration.
Elements of prayer – adoration, waiting, confession, watching etc.
Pray the names of God.