the310.net

Growing up in a non-Christian home, I’ve always wondered about death.  What would happen to me after I die?  Where would my soul go?  I didn’t know the answer to these questions until my first year at UCLA.  It was there that the gospel was presented to me for the first time.  The message was very clear—I had a one-way ticket to hell because I was living a life of utter disobedience to God.  But in God’s perfect and redemptive plan, He gave His only begotten Son, what whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  John 3:16.

Eternal life?  Can I, a wretched sinner, really go to heaven?  Can I really forego my current life to take up the cross and follow Christ?  After a year of searching, questioning, and counting the cost, God broke me and I became a believer.  I no longer live for myself, but for Christ who dwells in me.  My perspective is now based on a heavenly viewpoint, not a worldly one.

Paul says to “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”  Col 3:2-4.

How great is it that God has prepared a place for all His children! I can have eternal fellowship with all my believing brothers and sisters – it brings me such joy to think of my 310 and church family.  But I have to admit it wasn’t always like that.  I’ve been at the 310 since the beginning.  In a group of such transition, I oftentimes felt alone because the girls I have grown close to kept on leaving.  My first core group disbanded, and that was pretty devastating.  Out of my own selfishness and pride, I felt sorry for myself and didn’t want to try to get to know other people.

But God was gracious to me.  He showed me that it’s not about me and my desires, it’s about Christ and His work on the cross.  Today, when I joyfully serve Him, that is more than enough.  As we chase after God, He will give you the desires of your heart Psalm 37:4. His desires become our desires.  I joined another core group, and began to really connect with other girls.  Afterall, Christ in the only commonality we need to enable us to love and serve each other.  I love my core group gals!  They are a source of consistency, a reminder that I have girls in my life who will sharpen, rebuke, encourage, and admonish me.  They see my joys and struggles as we are transparent with one another.  It’s not a superficial relationship based on worldly conversations, but a time of honoring Christ with our lives as we are stepping heavenward. Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in abundance of counselors there is victory.  Proverbs 11:14.

Everything outside of Christ will fade away, but the heaven will not pass.  Our citizenship is in heaven Phil 3:20. Better is each day because I am one step closer to seeing God face to face!  How I long to be with my Savior in heaven one day.  But in the meantime, I am called to be a light in this dark world.  We cannot share the gospel in heaven – and that’s something that has really convicted me.  Have I been faithful in sharing Christ with my co-workers, my family members, my non-believing friends?  There really is no better time than now because our days are numbered, and we should have our “spiritual bags packed” (Dr. Greg Harris).   As I work harder in building these relationships, please pray that my conversations will reflect God’s love and mercy, that I will seek out opportunities to share Christ with them.  While I plant the seeds, I know that only God can cause the growth.  I am simply called to be faithful, confident that His will be done as I wait to be called into His kingdom.

- Lily Lam

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