Beautiful Seed

Beautiful Song

2007-11-24T17:47:00.000+08:00

When Kae, my 5 year old, heard this song for the first time, it touched him so much he came up with his own praise and worship dance. =)

Is Your Mind In The Desert? = Joyce Meyer

2007-11-23T23:16:00.000+08:00

The people of Israel wandered around in the desert for forty years, making what should have only been an eleven-day journey. Why? Was it because of their enemies, their circumstances, or the trials along the way? Or was it something entirely different that prevented them from arriving at their destination?

As I pondered this situation, God gave me a powerful revelation that helped me, personally, and thousands of others. The Lord revealed to me that the Israelites spent all that time in the desert because they had "wilderness mentalities."

We really shouldn't look at the Israelites with such astonishment, because most of us do the exact same thing. We go around and around the same mountain instead of making progress. It takes us years to experience victory over something that could, and should, have been dealt with quickly and put behind us. God showed me that wilderness mentalities are wrong mindsets. We can have right mindsets that will benefit us or wrong mindsets that will hurt us and hinder our progress.

Colossians 3:2 teaches us to set our minds and keep them set. We need our minds set in the right direction. Wrong mindsets not only affect our circumstances, but they also affect our inner life. There was a time when my circumstances weren’t bad, but I couldn’t enjoy anything in my life because my mind was "in the desert." Dave and I had a nice home, four lovely children, good jobs, and enough money to live comfortably. However, I couldn’t enjoy our blessings because I had several wilderness mentalities that had me trapped.

Some people see things negatively because they’ve experienced unhappy circumstances all their lives and can't imagine anything getting any better. Then there are those who see everything as bad and negative simply because that’s the way they feel on the inside. Whatever the cause, a negative outlook leaves a person miserable and unable to make any progress toward the “promised land.”

God called the children of Israel out of Egypt (bondage) and in to the land He promised to give them as a perpetual inheritance—land that flowed with milk and honey and every good thing they could imagine. It was a land where there’d be no shortage of anything they needed—land of prosperity in every realm of their existence. Most of the generation that the Lord called out of Egypt never entered the Promised Land; instead, they died in the desert. To me, this is one of the saddest things that can happen to someone—to have so much available but not be able to enjoy it. I was one of those people for many years of my life. I was on my way to the Promised Land (heaven), but I wasn’t enjoying the trip. My mind was in the desert, and I was dying in the wilderness. My wilderness mentalities, or wrong ways of thinking, were keeping me from dealing with those areas of life that God wanted to touch and redeem.

I was stuck...going around and around the same mountain; but thank God for His mercy. He helped me identify and change those wrong mindsets. Today, my mind is renewed. I have a new way of thinking, and I've been rescued from the desert. What God did for me, He can certainly do for you. Ask Him to show you your wilderness mentalities and help you make the necessary changes. He can deliver your mind from the desert and help you enjoy the journey to the promised land!

2006-10-25T18:59:00.000+08:00

HEROES OF FAITHING

NOAH

In this series of stories about the Heroes of Faithing we've never seen a faither like Noah. He faithed, or acted in trust of God's word, longer than any of the others. Longer than Daniel in the lion's den. Longer than Joshua at the battle of Jericho.

What made the difference in Noah's case, was that God told him and his grandfather to go preach for a hundred and twenty years to the wicked people in the land at that time. Noah and Methuselah were to tell the evildoers that they had 120 years to turn away from their ungodliness or God would send a rain and flood the earth. A hundred and twenty years is longer than a whole lifetime now days.

Now you have to remember that up to that time it had never rained on the earth. That's in Genesis 2:5. Some people say that a great water-filled cloud canopy covered almost the whole planet. Can you imagine what the people thought when Noah came around saying that if they didn't change their ways God was going to send a rain that would flood the earth? They must've laughed long and hard. I bet old Noah, he was then 480, got run out of town more than once.

Finally, after 115 years, God told Noah that he'd had it with those people. He told Noah to build an ark. And the word ark can also mean a "chest." So the ark didn't have to look like a boat. It could have easily looked like a giant shoebox that was close to a football field long. That would make it a lot easier for Noah and his sons to build such a big thing for all the animals. God also told Noah to make three levels with dividers inside the ark. I guess to separate the animals.

It's time to use our imaginations. We want to see what it was like for Noah and his boys when the people came around and saw that they were building this huge thing because it was going to rain. They couldn't even picture what rain was like. Those people must've poked a lot of fun at Noah. And it must have gone on for five years. That's how long it took to build the ark.

Now you see why Noah is the longest Faither in the Bible. He acted on God's promise to flood the earth, for one hundred and twenty years!!! One hundred and fifteen, he went preaching, and for five he acted in building the ark. Both those things are actions that people can see, and tells them that you trust in God's promise.

I bet you can remember one time when everyone around you was making fun of something you did or said, and you felt like you wanted to stop or take it back. It's very hard for us to not go along with a bunch of our friends; especially if we're embarrassed. It takes a great deal of courage. I'd say Noah was very brave standing up to ridicule for 120 years.

Have you ever thought about how Noah was able to handle all those animals, or pictured him trudging all over the earth for 50 or 60 years collecting two of everything? So did I. Well I found an old writing called the Book of Jasher which has an answer that makes sense to me.

God was to do all the rounding up. I bet Noah was relieved about that. God simply told Noah that he was to sit down at the door of the ark and when God sent him an animal that crouched down and showed meekness Noah was to send that one in for his sons to take care of. If an animal approached Noah and stood up, it was to be placed aside.

I found two more interesting parts to Noah's story in the Book of Jasher. First, about controlling the animals.

A few chapters after the story of the flood, it tells of one of Noah's sons, Ham, stealing some animal skins from Noah. Ham then passed them secretly to his son Cush, and Cush to his son Nimrod. Nimrod later became we could call the first emperor of the world; he ruled many cities. But Jasher says, that when Nimrod put on those animal skins, "God gave him might and strength and he became a mighty hunter."

If those skins were the ones God gave Adam for clothes, as it also says, and Noah had those very same skins, then the skins probably had some special power from God that helped the person wearing them to make the animals unafraid and easy to control. Maybe even, Noah had those skins on when he sat by the door of the ark. Any animal that could overcome the power of the skin's, and wouldn't crouch down for Noah, wasn't good enough to go. The second thing I've wondered about was the people outside the ark. I have a little Arguer inside my head, and my Arguer wants to say that those people weren't standing around laughing when the water started coming down. I can easily see a large mob of people with big timbers ramming the door of the ark. Well, Jasher says it was God to the rescue. When the people yelled for Noah to open the door, and he told them they were too late, 700,000 people started in on the ark. There were a great number of animals that didn't get chosen by Noah. They were still hanging around. God just sent all the leftover animals after the people and chased them away. Pretty neat, huh? By the way, those skins probably helped Noah calm the animals while the water tossed the ark around.

Well the rain and flooding certainly came, and it was a full year that Noah's family had to stay in the ark. It took that long for the waters to go down and the land to dry out enough for people to live. But in the end, all the animals came out and Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives. Noah immediately built an altar and made a sacrifice to thank God for taking care of them.

It's interesting to know that the Bible isn't the only place that talks about a worldwide flood. The ancient historys of all the different parts of the world tell of a flood happening at the same time as the Bible flood.

I hope Noah's faithing example helps you next time you find people making fun of you for doing something you know is Right. You can be sure that God will help you, too.

Before we leave the subject of Noah, let's do a couple fun exercises. First let's get an idea of how the people felt when Noah told them about the coming flood. Let's imagine that someone came on national TV and told us that we should build a 600 foot tower to put solar panels on for energy because a black cloud 500 ft. thick is going to cover the earth. We would have to install large fiber otpics bundles in order to get sunlight to our plants. Can you imagine anyone taking this person seriously?

Now I want to take a practical look at the 40 day rain. In order to flood the whole earth there would have to be much more rain than we could have in 40 days. How much rain could that be by today's conditions? If we allow for 100 inches of rain, we would have more rain than most places get in a year. Forty days at 100 inches per day makes 4000 inches of water. Four thousand divided by twelve inches per foot makes only 333.33 ft.. That's only a little more than one football field. The Bible says that the water covered the mountains, and took a full year to subside.

But mountains are thousand 's of feet high. The height of mount Ararat is said to be 16,873 feet. Then where did all the water come from? The Bible lists two other things. The "fountains of the deep" and "the windows of heaven." I'm not positive what the "fountains of the deep" are, but "the windows of heaven" certainly sounds like more than just rain. Genesis 8: 2 says three things stopped: 1. fountains, 2. windows, 3. rain.

So the world must have been very different. Maybe it looked like Venus. Except that other evidence indicates that there was an opening in the canopy at the poles. This would explain how the earth could have no rain but still not be a desert. Genesis says the earth was watered by a mist.

Two other things are explained by the earth having a canopy. If the earth had a canopy, the air would be much more dense than it is today. Scientists have wondered how the flying dinosaurs could fly. Our air is too thin, and those flying lizards couldn't run fast enough to take off. They would have had to have a good stiff breeze blowing. But in the thicker atmosphere of the earth under the canopy they would be able to fly OK.

Secondly, the canopy would block out the harmful rays of the sun and allow people to live longer. This would help explain the very great age listed for some of the people in the Old Testament.

Be sure to check out the Other Heroes of faithing listed in Hebrews, chapter eleven. See if you can tell what each did that showed he trusted things that God had said. I also invite you see how the whole book of Hebrews talks about faithing.

The Search For Peace

2006-09-19T01:59:00.000+08:00

The Search For Peace

Marybeth Whalen, Speaker Team Member

Key Verse:

John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (NIV)

Devotion:

Peace. The very word settles down in my soul and sits quietly there, hopeful and waiting. How I long for peace to well up to overflowing inside me. Instead, I search in vain for this elusive part of God’s promise to me. Didn’t Jesus say that He was leaving us with peace when He ascended into Heaven? Then where is my peace? How can I have peace in my life?

I make the mistake of seeking peace by trying to control my life, my circumstances and the people I love. Surely if I can exercise some control over what happens to me, then peace will be a byproduct of that control. Right? Yet, peace still eludes me. I realize that control is not the answer I had hoped for.

I know I am not the only woman who struggles with desiring to control my life. I think that it is in our nature to want to control things. When Adam and Eve were cursed by God, He told Eve, “Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16) God was telling Eve that her desire for control would be a struggle for the rest of her life. She would want to rule over things, yet that was not the responsibility God had assigned her. Eve and every women after her has struggled with this ever since.

In my search for peace, I found that peace was not a product of control but the very opposite of it! I find peace when I surrender control. When I say to God, “I can’t,” I feel the absolute serenity of knowing that He can. I have found that being “out of control” is actually a very peaceful state of mind! When I am “out of control,” I allow God complete control.

To help myself remember this valuable lesson, I developed an acronym for “Peace” that I want to share with you:

Purposefully

Embracing

All
Circumstances

Everyday

I don’t have control and never will. When I purposefully embrace all the circumstances that God allows to come into my life, and accept that He has allowed them according to His perfect plan to accomplish His purposes, then I can experience the freedom He intended and experience the peace that passes all understanding. Try peace God’s way today! It may not be what you expected, but I can testify that His peace is truly perfect peace.

Dear Lord, Help me to embrace everything You allow in my life. Help me to surrender the control that I have tried to have and to trust You instead. Thank You for giving me perfect peace as You promised. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Application Steps:

Write down the acronym for PEACE and the verse from John 14:27 on an index card. Carry it with you throughout your day. Ask God to help you surrender control and submit to His plans for you, whatever they may be. When you feel yourself starting to wrestle with your desire for control, reflect on the acronym and the verse on your card. Meditate on the Power Verses below. Spend more time in prayer seeking ways to give up control so that you can know God’s peace.

Reflection Points:

Why do you want to control things around you?

What steps can you take to lay down the control habit? What does the Bible instruct about this?

In what ways will it benefit you to replace control with peace in your life?

Power Verses:

John 16:33, “I have told you all these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (NIV)

Psalm 34:14, “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (NIV)

Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

Patience...

2006-08-14T18:31:00.000+08:00

Arek Appayim, Makrothumia and Hupomone

Three words are most frequently translated as either "longsuffering," "endurance," "perseverance" or "patience" in modern English Bibles: arek appayim in Hebrew, makrothumia and hupomone in Greek. When the time came to translate the Old Testament into Greek, the translators used makrothumia as the synonym of the Hebrew arek appayim. Both words mean essentially the same thing: slow to anger.

In writing the New Testament, the apostles added hupomone. Both Greek words generally mean the same thing. However, scholars have noted that each has characteristics that sets it apart. Spiros Zodhiates, in The Complete Word Study Dictionary of the New Testament, p. 939, says,

Makrothumia is patience in respect to persons, while hupomone, endurance, is putting up with things or circumstances.

The difference does not end there. While both words have positive connotations, hupomone tends to be decidedly more upbeat. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, p. 690, says, "As makrothumia is especially related to love, so hupomone is especially related to hope." The same volume also states the distinction between hupomone and makrothumia can best be seen in their opposites. The opposite of hupomone is cowardice or despondency, whereas the antonym of makrothumia is wrath or revenge.

Thus, while makrothumia is somewhat more passive in its implications, neither word allows us to be apathetic while enduring affliction. Makrothumia is somewhat more passive because, since people are usually involved as persecutors or instruments of our affliction, we should respond with greater caution and wisdom.

People, even those who persecute us, are not things, and we best represent our Father by not being hasty and rash. "Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves," Jesus says (Matthew 10:16). It is the soft answer that turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1). James writes, "The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity" (James 3:6). Jesus left retaliation to the Father.

Paul says in I Thessalonians 5:15,

See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

Two wrongs do not make a right, and in our irritated or angry impatience, we frequently say or do something just as bad or worse as was done to us! Then where are we? Often, our patience does not delay our wrath as God's does.

The obvious meaning of Paul's advice is that we should not take vengeance. In Romans 12:19, Paul repeats this more plainly:

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

This, in turn, feeds directly into Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:39-45:

But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy." But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

The consistent instruction is that we not set ourselves against an evil person who is injuring us, whether verbally, physically or judicially. Rather, Jesus teaches us to be willing to give the offender something that might defuse the immediate situation—and perhaps even provide some small example that will promote his eternal welfare. Patience is of great value in this respect.

This in no way means we are weak, though to them we may at first seem so. Nor does it mean that we approve of their conduct. Though we may hate their conduct and suffer keenly when it affects us, Christ tells us to bless them, meaning we should confer favor upon or give benefits to them. We can do this by wishing the person well, speaking kindly of and to him and seeking to do him good.

Situations like this may be the most difficult test we will ever face. Patiently deferring retaliation and committing the circumstance to God's judgment is indispensable to the best possible solution. But the primary point of Jesus' instruction, however, is not how to resolve these situations, but that we may be children of our Father. By imitating God's pattern, we will resemble Him and take a giant stride toward being in His image.

The Fruit of the Spirit:

2006-08-14T18:10:00.000+08:00

The Fruit of the Spirit: Love
by John W. Ritenbaugh
Forerunner, "Personal," March 1998

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love" are the opening words to a popular ballad of a number of years ago. It expresses a desire that virtually everyone holds. But what is love? Judging by the commonly held understanding of "love," the world does not need any more of it! If what is happening in the world is evidence, it is very clear the world has only the foggiest of notions of what love is. If it does know, it is not doing it, or the song would not be making the statement of need.

Love is a much abused term. Because of our experiences, we all have somewhat different ideas about it. The most prevalent notion in the Western world is that love is a warm, topsy-turvy feeling, a thrill one gets in the pit of the stomach or a tingle running up and down the spine. We think of it as a warm sense of regard, a strong desire to be with or be satisfied by someone or something.

Some have equated it with caring, benevolent giving or nothing more than sheer emotionalism. On occasion, we use the term very casually and loosely. People express their "love" for the liturgy of a certain church. Some will say they just "love" ice cream, a certain beer, pizza, style of house, color, automobile, fashion, performer or team. People say they love an endless number of things. What some call "love" a theologian might call unbridled lust.

But these statements become ridiculous once we begin to understand what biblical love is. People's "love" of something is merely an opinion, a preference. A preference is not love, and to use "love" in this way devalues it.

To care about something is not love either. One can care to the point of obsession or lust. A measure of caring must be a part of true love, but by itself, that caring feeling or preference is not love.

Love's Supreme Importance

In I Corinthians 13, the Bible reveals love's supreme importance to life. Paul directly compares love's value to faith, hope, prophecy, sacrifice, knowledge and the gift of tongues and indirectly with all other gifts of God mentioned in chapter 12. He in no way denigrates the others' usefulness to life and God's purpose, but none can compare in importance to love.

The Corinthians took great pleasure in their gifts, just as we would, but a gift's relative importance is shown in its temporal quality. That is, there are times when a gift is of no use. But love will never end; it will always be of use.

Indeed, the receiving of gifts from God—unless accompanied by and used with love—have the potential to corrupt the one receiving them. God's gifts are powers given to enhance a person's ability to serve God in the church. However, we have all heard the cliché, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." If gifts are not received and used with love, they will play a part in corrupting the recipient, just as they were corrupting the Corinthians. Love is the attribute of God that enables us to receive and use His gifts without corruption.

The Bible says in I Corinthians 8:1, "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies [builds up]." "Puffs up," when opposed to "edifies," implies tearing down, destruction. Paul is saying that pride has the power to corrupt the bearer of knowledge. This statement is part of the prologue to the great chapter on love, written because the Corinthians had allowed their emphasis to drift into the wrong areas. Even as a gift from God, knowledge has the potential to corrupt its recipient, if it is unaccompanied by love.

Paul thus begins chapter 13 by contrasting love with other gifts of God. He does this to emphasize love's importance, completeness, permanence and supremacy over all other qualities we consider important to life and/or God's purpose.

Prophecies end because they are fulfilled. The gift of tongues is less necessary today as then because of the widespread use of English in commerce, politics and academia. Its value depends on specific needs. Knowledge is increasing so rapidly that old knowledge, especially in technical areas, becomes obsolete as new developments arise. Yet the need for love is never exhausted; it never becomes obsolete. God wants us to use it on every occasion.

Paul also admonishes us—by instructing us "to put away childish things" (verse 11), as well as his reference to a mirror (verse 12)—that love is something we grow in. It must be perfected. What we have now is partial. Therefore, God does not give it to us in one huge portion to be used until we run out of it. In that sense, we must always see ourselves as immature. But a time is coming when love will be perfected, and we will have it in abundance like God. In the meantime, while we are in the flesh, we are to pursue love (I Corinthians 14:1).

This indicates that the biblical love is not something we have innately. True, some forms of this quality we call love come unbidden; that is, they arise by nature. But this is not so with the love of God. It comes through the action of God through His Spirit, something supernatural (Romans 5:5).

Love, Debt and Motivation

In Romans 13:8-10 Paul injects love into the context of law, showing that it is the sum of all duties:

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

He does not say love ends the need for law but that it fulfills—performs or accomplishes—the law.

Notice love's relationship to law in context with what immediately precedes it. The context is a Christian's response to government. He should submit to and honor human government as God's agents in managing human affairs. A Christian is indebted to the government to pay tribute and taxes. When we pay them, a Christian is no longer financially indebted to the state until it imposes taxes the following year.

Regarding men, we are not to be in debt. He is not saying a Christian should never owe anybody money, but that there is a debt we owe to every person that we should strive to pay every day. This debt is one of love, paid by keeping God's law, and this Paul illustrates by quoting several of the Ten Commandments! Inherent in this debt is that no matter how much we pay on it each day, when we wake up the next day, the debt is restored, and we owe just as much as we did the day before!

This sets up an interesting paradox because we owe everyone more than we can ever hope to pay. The paradox, however, is more apparent than real because this is not what Paul is teaching. He is teaching that love must be the driving force, the motivation, of everything we do. This points out a weakness of law regarding righteousness. Law, of and by itself, provides neither enough nor the right motivation for one to keep it.

Notice verse 3. "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same." Laws are stated and have penalties. Rulers enforce them, but that does not stop people from breaking them—in many cases with impunity—especially if they feel no government representative is watching them. The government's power lies largely in coercion, meaning forcible constraint or restraint, whether moral or physical. In other words, it is government by force.

For instance, most people flagrantly disobey the speed limit on freeways and interstates, especially when they are not crowded, until they spot a patrol car with a trooper or two in it. Suddenly the speed limit becomes the norm until the trooper is again out of sight. That the law is on the books, prominently displayed and common knowledge are insufficient motivation for many people to obey.

But love toward God, the love of God, can motivate us to do what the law says to do but cannot motivate us to do. We can conclude that Paul claims that if one exercises God's love in paying his debt to man, he will keep the commandments.

We could also conclude that Paul says that if one does not break the commandments, he is acting out of love. This is the weaker of the two. Within this context, then, every phase, every facet of our responsibility to God and man, is covered if we make sure love has its place as the motivation for all we do.

If we really love another person, we cannot possibly injure him. Love would immediately stifle any thought that leads to adultery, murder, theft or any form of covetousness because love cannot harm. Since love cannot break the laws designed to protect another, it is supreme in providing the right kind of persuasion.

Love as a Bond

In Colossians 3:12-14 Paul shows another aspect of love's supreme importance to community life:

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Paul puts love "above all," showing that love is the epitome of virtues. Here, its importance is as "the bond," something that binds or holds things, like a congregation, together.

Eventually, all groups tend to fly apart. They do not remain united by magic. Generally, a group maintains its unity through a common cause. As each person contributes to attaining that cause, unity is generally served. However, even though individuals expend effort to achieve the cause, frictions arise from a multitude of reasons. Love is the supreme quality that enables the members of the group to maintain unity and keep it from flying apart. This is achieved by each person constraining or restraining himself to act in love.

Interestingly, qualities that we normally think of as being manly—like drive, courage, determination and aggressiveness—are missing from this list in Colossians 3. Though they are not inherently evil, they play directly into the human ego, frequently resulting in crass individualism.

Because it tends to produce division, individualism is not what Paul is aiming for here. Without strong spiritual control, those traits tend to descend into competitiveness, anger, wrath, malice, dissembling, accusation, slander, and foul talk. These in turn are nothing more than unashamed self-seeking, traits that split and divide.

Each virtue Paul lists is actually an expression of love, traits that make it possible to live in a community. There is nothing weak and effeminate about them: It takes a strong person to resist what comes naturally and do what God commands rather than go along with urges of our carnal feelings. Paul lists love as a separate attribute here to show that it is not limited to the qualities he names.

God, Man and Love

Some have called I John 4:7-12 the most sublime statement in all the Bible regarding God's nature:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.

If we are going to be like Him, these verses are important to us because they tell us much about Him and our responsibilities. First, love is of God—He is its Source. This love the apostles write about comes from God and is not normally a part of man's nature. It is agape love. Human love apart from God is at its best a mere pale and vague reflection of what God is eternally.

Next, John says "God is love." Sublime as this is, some have misunderstood it because it can be misleading. God is not just an abstraction like love. He is a living, dynamic and powerful Being whose personality has multiple facets. He cannot be boxed, wrapped and presented as merely being one attribute.

John's statement literally reads, "The God is love." The Greeks used an emphatic form of writing, and here the emphasis is on the word "God." The syntax means the two words "God" and "love" are not interchangeable. "Love" describes God's nature. A good paraphrase would read, "God, as to His nature, is love." God is a loving God!

This does not mean that loving is one of God's activities, but that every activity of God is loving. If He creates, He creates in love. If He rules, He rules in love. If He judges, He judges in love. Everything He does expresses His nature. God and His nature are manifested by what He does. By love God is revealed and known.

The very existence of life in others besides Himself is an act of love. His love is revealed in His providence and care of His creation. Since we are not robots, free-moral agency is an act of His love. God, by a deliberate act of self-limitation, endowed us to respond with mind and emotion. We are not animals. God's love is the explanation for redemption and our hope of eternal life. Out of love, God has given us something to live for. Life is not just a matter of going through the paces. We do not live our lives in vain.

God made humanity in His image and likeness. But the Bible says, "God is Spirit," and "God is love." Man, though, is flesh, and the Bible describes us as carnal, self-centered and deceitful. In practical fact, this means that man cannot be what he is meant to be until he loves as God loves. Only then will he truly be in the image of God because he will have the same nature as God. So, to achieve his potential, a person must love, but he must love with the love of God.

John 13:35 adds, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." Even as God is revealed by what He does, so will His children. Our love for God has not made this possible, but His love for us, as I John 4:19 says, "We love Him because He first loved us." Thus, our love for Him is a response to His love for us. Since God shows His love for us by drawing us to Him, it behooves us to do acts of love toward others to draw them.

God's act of love in giving His Son defines the ultimate requirement of true love, the giving of our most beloved possession in sacrifice for another's gain. We can understand, then, that godly love will almost always have sacrifice involved in its giving. Sacrifice is the essence, the essential or vital part, of love.

God's love originates in Himself, was manifested in His Son and is perfected in His people. God's love is perfected in us when we reproduce it in or among ourselves, primarily in our fellowship. We either use love and perfect it or lose it. This partly explains the apostle John's intense concern about fellowship. What concerned him is not just an optional blessing to believers, but a fundamental outlet for the manifestation and perfection of God's love among and in the saints.

How May We Have This Love?

It should be obvious that we neither have God's love by nature, nor is it self-generated. Romans 5:5 verifies this understanding: "Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which was given to us." We receive godly love from its Source, God, by means of His Spirit.

Only by knowing God can we have this love, and only by loving can we know Him! This may sound like a viscious cycle, but the two go together. Only by learning to love God can we learn His nature, that is, what He is like. We cannot have that love until we first come to know Him. By fellowshipping with Him, we come to know Him and receive His love, and in using His love, we become like Him and really know Him. We can only really come to know God by experiencing the use of His love ourselves.

All this is possible because God, in His love, initiates a relationship with us, grants us repentance, gives us His Spirit, and then, because of His love, takes the lead in sustaining the relationship. This is why Paul says in Romans 5:10 that "we shall be saved by His life." He primarily shoulders the burden of our salvation. How comforting!

What Is this Love?

I John 5:1-3 is helpful in defining God's love in a practical way:

Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

God intends the love of Him and the love of man to be inseparable parts of the same experience. John explains this by saying that if we love the Father, we also love the child. If we love the Father who begot the children, we must love the children, otherwise we do not have God's love. In I John 4:20, he amplifies this: "If someone says, ‘I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?"

I John 5:3 is the Bible's basic definition of love. The commandments define, make clear, what the basic elements of love are and what direction our actions should take if we would show love. This means that obedience to God is the proof of love. Obedience is an action that submits to a command of God, a principle revealed in His Word and/or an example of God or the godly.

In a sense, this is where godly love begins in a human being. Obeying God's commands is love because God is love. Because His very nature is love, it is impossible for Him to sin. Thus He gives us commands in love, and they will produce right and good results. Any command of God reflects what He Himself would do were He in the same situation.

Jesus says in John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." Keeping the commandments is how one expresses love. He adds in John 15:10, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love."

A person may have a thought to do good or to refrain from evil. He may have a feeling of compassion, pity or mercy. One may feel revulsion about doing an evil action. But none of these become love until the thought or feeling motivates one to act. In the biblical sense, love is an action.

Love has yet another aspect, however. We can show love coldly, reluctantly, in "dutiful obedience." We can also show it in joyous, wholehearted enthusiasm or warmhearted, thankful devotion. Which is more attractive to God or man as a witness?

Regardless of the attitude, it is far better to obey than not at all (Matthew 21:28-31). If we cannot get beyond doing what is right, the proper feelings will never be formed. Experience is largely responsible for training attitude and emotion. We will never form proper emotions without first performing the right actions with the right spirit, God's Holy Spirit.

Coming to Know God

I John 2:3-6 helps us understand how we can have the right attitude and emotion in our obedience:

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

We come to know God through the same general process we get to know fellow human beings—by fellowshipping or experiencing life with them.

Around 500 years before Christ, Greek philosophers believed they could come to know God through intellectual reasoning and argument. This idea had a simple premise: that man is curious! They reasoned that it is man's nature to ask questions. Since God made man so, if men asked the right questions and thought them through, they would force God to reveal Himself. The flaw in this is seen in the fruit it produced. Though it supplied a number of right answers, it did not—could not—make men moral beings. Such a process could not change man's nature.

To them, religion became something akin to higher mathematics. It was intense mental activity, yielding intellectual satisfaction but no moral action. Plato and Socrates, for example, saw nothing wrong with homosexuality. The gods of Greek mythology also reflect this immorality, as they had the same weaknesses as human beings.

A few hundred years later, the Greeks pursued becoming one with God through mystery religions. One of their distinctive features was the passion play, which always had the same general theme. A god lived, suffered terribly, died a cruel, unjust death and then rose to life again. Before being allowed to see the play, an initiate endured a long course of instruction and ascetic discipline. As he progressed in the religion, he was gradually worked into a state of intense expectation.

Then, at the right time, his instructors took him to the passion play, where they orchestrated the environment to heighten the emotional experience: cunning lighting, sensuous music, fragrant incense and uplifting liturgy. As the story developed, the initiate became so emotionally involved that he identified himself with and believed he shared the god's suffering, victory and immortality.

But this exercise failed them in coming to know God. Not only did it not change man's nature, but the passion play was also full of lies! The result was not true knowing but feeling. It acted like a religious drug, the effects of which were short-lived. It was an abnormal experience, somewhat like a modern Pentecostal meeting where worshippers pray down the "spirit" and speak in tongues. Such activities are escapes from the realities of ordinary life.

God Reveals Himself!

Contrast these Greek methods with the Bible's way of knowing God. Knowledge of God comes, not by speculation or emotionalism, but by God's direct self-revelation. In other words, God Himself initiates our knowing of Him, beginning our relationship by drawing us by His Spirit (John 6:44).

What God reveals is equally important. He reveals Himself as a holy, loving and giving God with a purpose so awesome that our minds cannot grasp its full implications, though we can appreciate it. He shows that if we truly desire to be part of His awesome creative purpose, our covenant with Him obligates us to be as holy, loving and giving as He is!

God guides and empowers us in this great pilgrimage by the Holy Spirit, but obedience, following God's commands, is the way we begin to experience and grow in God-life, called "eternal life" in the Scriptures. By obedience we come to know God. It is like walking in His shoes, as it were.

In its biblical usage, the word "know" implies intimacy. From biblical examples, this implication can even mean sexual intimacy. That is really knowing someone closely, especially considering how long a relationship with God exists. When we apply this to our relationship with God, the sexual dimension disappears, and the intimacy becomes a deep and abiding reverence, devotion and loyalty.

People may think of God as nothing more than an intellectual exercise. They might say "I know God," or believe in a "first cause" or Creator without having any moral compunction. They go to church on Sunday and live the rest of the week just like all their neighbors and coworkers.

People may be emotional, saying God is in them and that they are filled with the "spirit," yet fail to see God in terms of commandments. They see God as something warm and snugly, a grandfatherly figure who rushes to their aid to blow away their problems, but they do not see Him as still purposefully creating.

Unmistakably and without compromise, Jesus, Paul and John show that the only way that we can show we know God, that He is in us and we love Him is if we have been begotten by His Spirit and are obeying Him.

How High Is the Standard?

We can approach this question in a number of ways, but in comparing some scriptures, the answer becomes clear as we see a pattern develop. Jesus states the second great commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). All by itself, this establishes a very high standard because we love ourselves so much. We will sacrifice a great deal to please ourselves.

He raises this a notch or two when He says in Matthew 5:44, "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." This is a great challenge, confirming that the love of God is certainly not natural to us.

Our Savior also says in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." Paul draws this standard out even further by reiterating Jesus' own example in Romans 5:7-8:

For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He adds in Ephesians 5:25 that we are to love "just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it."

We are dealing with a love of such towering strength and determination that one with it will sacrifice himself over a long time even for his enemies. And if that is not enough, he will finally give himself totally in death for their well-being before it is reciprocated!

Will we ever live up to that? It is possible but only because God has made us partakers of the divine nature. We now have the same Spirit in us that enabled and empowered Jesus. Peter writes:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (II Peter 1:2-4)

Love, godly love, is the fruit, the product of that Spirit which now courses through our lives. That Spirit guides us and leads us into truth. It remains our responsibility, however, to choose to follow its guidance, to obey the truths of the great God who is creating His image in us. Obedience to His commands is godly love, the fruit of His Spirit that empowers us, the supreme virtue of the Almighty Creator.

Oops long time never write

2006-05-26T00:48:00.000+08:00

I have been through quite a bit lately... lots of soul searching and being lost. Today is one of the better days... not as blue and mebbe the 2 chocolate cakes i had helped afterall haha.

The only thing that made me blue today was a long distance fone call I had that made me wish I was a stronger, wiser Christian who is blessed with the gift of touching the most frozen heart and turning it back to Good Ol'Dad again.

He consumes me with the fire of His love.

2006-03-16T11:59:00.000+08:00

The words of this song really spells out what I feel about my King, my Father...

Every time I open up the bible, I see new things I have never noticed before and passages that I've read before seem to have a new meaning... All that treasure, I had never noticed before... like a consuming fire fanning into flames creating a new passion for His name (from another praise song that really touches deep within).

I was telling Ian the other day, the deeper I venture into letting go and letting Him... the more some worldly goals no longer matter. Yes I still want to write scripts and do films... but more than that, I want to serve Him with what he has given me- my talents... God forbid that i should waste them on materialistic pursuits instead of using them on promoting His Kingdom, His name.

How true this verse of the song:

You've given me though I deserve nothing
Everything I have,I owe it all to You

With each new day, I realise that what I have in this world are
blessings from Him... there is no such thing as luck. No such thing
as astrology or fate. Just blessings and leaps of faith... trusting
Him, building that amazing relationship with the true Majesty...
El Shaddai himself.... the rest are just shifitng sand. He is the
only rock that has stood firm in my life from the beginning and He will
be there till the end. Indeed, boyfriends and crushes aside...
Jesus will always be my first love...

I remember singing to Him all alone in the school chapel when it
felt like i had not a friend in the world...

I love you Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship you
Oh my soul rejoice!
Take joy my King
In what you hear
May it be a sweet sweet sound
In your ear...

No one would understand or accept me except Him.

He held out his hands to me, embraced me in His love and gave me the
solace and rest I sought... from the politics of a convent school
that seemed to teem with girls that shared the herd mentality and hurt
another to please themselves.

I was very dark and very alone then... but He showed me the way back
to Him again.

Jesus never ostracizes or bitches or hurts...
Our broken hearts are met with only grace and compassion in Him who
heals and loves unfailingly.

We can run and hide away from Him or fly beyond the horizon and still be
overtaken by his amazing love for us... becauseit is so great, it covers
us no matter where we are, regardless of the time of day... He is always
there.

Overtaken
Zach Neese, Walker Beach

Key: A

Verse 1:
A
Jesus Christ, I worship and adore You
D
Every day I live, I'm living for You
E
What else can I say?
                 A  Esus
You've overtaken me

A
Every day with You is getting better
D
every word from you is like a treasure
E
Giving all of me,
                    D  Esus
I'm finding more of You


Chorus:
A
God, You're taking over
F#m7
all of me I'm letting go, so
D                 E                A  Esus
You can come, and have Your way in me
A
I leave it all behind for
F#m7
Jesus You saved my life, now
D          E               A
everyday I worship You, my King


Verse 2:
Jesus Christ, I thank You for the love
You've given me though I deserve nothing
Everything I have,
I owe it all to You

Nothing that this world has got to offer
satisfies my soul, I still hunger
Pouring out my heart
I'm filling up with You


Bridge:
     D           E
It's only by the blood
         D                E
And it's only through the cross
         D   E     F#m7 (E)
You have overtaken me (4x)

Every parent must memorise this by heart... and of coz apply it with love...

2006-02-23T00:04:00.000+08:00

"The greatest gift you can give your child is a home full of love
......because children learn what they live,
If a child lives with criticism, he/she learns to condemn,
If a child lives with hostility, he/she learns to fight,
If a child lives with ridicule, he/she learns to be shy,
If a child lives with shame, he/she learns to feel guilty,
If a child lives with tolerance, he/she learns to be patient,
If a child lives with encouragement, he/she learns to be confident,
If a child lives with praise, he/she learns to appreciate,
If a child lives with fairness, he/she learns justice,
If a child lives with security, he/she learns to have faith,
If a child lives with approval, he/she learns to like themselves,
If a child lives with peacefulness, he/she learns to trust themselves,
If a child lives with acceptance, he/she learns to love themselves,
to find love in the world, and to spread love throughout the world.

I just love to sing His praises lah

2006-02-20T12:52:00.000+08:00

I have been feeling inspired to write to Him songs of praise... songs that can also move hearts for His glory.

I wish that I could make a career out of it. I wish I could make my living by praising Him... what a wonderful job that must be. =)

I wish I had learned guitar or piano or something... I did learn organ and piano but never learned em fully and I kinda cannot remember how to write "dao geh" or scores anymore.

So the only way I can document the tunes before they fly out of my head, is by recording my songs with me singing them.

Of coz the embarrassing thing is that is very raw and that I can go off key as well as off beat! Oh dear... =) But I never dare to stop halfway because I am scared that I forget how it goes.

So the songs are amature and the recording sucks... but I am lucky the one I write these songs for will still take it lovingly and say "Good job...".

Here are some of my songs in their most (shakes head) standard:

http://s12.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3CGA7DU1FLRQO05J8V16QUGEAI
(this one is the mp3 for ONE)

http://s13.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1W9NWD0ZBRY6220890HQQIQVNB

(for the untitled song posted today also)

http://s4.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=300H678B3ND5J02NY7Z3L9T2Z5

(this one has not been transcribed yet... I just sang it and recorded at the same time w/o writing down the lyrics... random song tp praise His name)

One (Copyright Geraldine Tan Xiu-Yin 2006)

2006-02-20T12:00:00.001+08:00

There is one way
There is one truth
There is one life
That's through Jesus Christ
There is one cross
One mighty Lord
There is one Father
And that is God

There is one King
Over everything
And we all lift
Up our hands and
Hearts to sing

There is one Joy
There is one Peace
There is one Love
And it is all found through Him

Raise your hands
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
To the One and Only King
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
All His people shout and sing...

There is one book
One chronicle
That tells the story
Of a miracle

There is one Body
That was shared for all
There is one Blood
That was shed for all

There is one Yahweh
There is one Lamb
There is one Sheperd
And I am glad He holds my hand

There is one path
One way to righteousness
And I will walk on
Through the light and through the darkness

Raise your hands
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
To the One and Only King
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
All His people shout and sing...
To the King

Hallelujua
Hallelujua
Hallelujua
Praise the Only King
Hallelujua
Hallelujua
Hallelujua
We all sing...

Raise your hands
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
To the One and Only King
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
Raise your hands
All His people shout and sing...
To the King

(Yet-to-be-named Praise Song) - Copyright of Geraldine Tan Xiu-Yin (2006)

2006-02-20T11:39:00.000+08:00

I come to you Lord
All broken into pieces
I had a fall Lord
And it hurts so bad
My soul is troubled
But still I will say
For this brokeness
I will praise your name

And though the road is
Long and winding, Hot and burning
And the sky is a'raining on me
My soul is overcast
But still I will say
For this trials, Jesus
I will praise your name

It is in the darkness
That we best see the light
It is in our weakness
That we find the strength to fight the fight
And when I'm feeling tired
I know that I can rest in you
For your grace and mercy
I will praise your name
For this brokeness
I will praise your name
For this trials, Jesus
I will praise your name

A to Z of God's love!

2006-02-14T13:19:00.000+08:00

Although things are not perfect
Because of trial or pain
Continue in thanksgiving
Do not begin to blame
Even when times are hard
Fierce winds are bound to blow
God is forever able
Hold on to what you know
Imagine life without His love
Joy would cease to be
Keep thanking Him for all the things
Love imparts to thee
Move out of "Camp Complaining"
No weapon that is known
On Earth can yield the power
Praise can do alone
Quit looking at the future
Redeem the time at hand
Start everyday with worship
To "thank" is a command
Until we see Him coming
Victorious in the sky
We'll run the race with gratitude
X'alting God most high
Yes there'll be good times and yes some will be bad, but...
Zion waits in glory... where none are ever sad!

Overcome (copyright Geraldine Tan Xiu-Yin 2006)

2006-02-13T17:32:00.000+08:00

verse 1

When the pain rips through you

And your heart thinks its through with love

Take time to heal

He will be there as a friend

When the Sun doesn't shine anymore

And dark are all your corridors

Take time to heal

He will be there to hold your hand

bridge:

Every heart must take a fall

Sometime

And when you feel so very small

That's when you will find

chorus:

He will be there to lift you up

He will be there to help you overcome

If you place your trust in Him

He can help you walk on stormy seas

Take every mountain and turn them to dust

If you place your trust in Him

Place your trust in Him

If you place your trust in Him

You can overcome

verse 2

When burdens weigh you down

And you're too tired to smile so you frown

Take time to breathe

He will be there to give you rest

When the climb just gets too rough

When every battle seems too tough

Take time to pray

He will give you the strength

bridge:

Every heart must take a fall

Sometime

And when you feel so very small

That's when you will find

chorus:

He will be there to lift you up

He will be there to help you overcome

If you place your trust in Him

He can help you walk on stormy seas

Take every mountain and turn them to dust

If you place your trust in Him

Place your trust in Him

If you place your trust in Him

You can overcome

The Window

2006-02-13T13:34:00.000+08:00

I read this years and years ago in an email forwarded to me... and it still touches me. May we be windows of such great love, inspiration and hope for the people around us too.

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up; he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of
the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window
portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making
sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to
encourage you."

Epilogue. . . .There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.

If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy.

"Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present."

To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of one month:Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one hour:Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute:Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second:Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond:Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

((The origin of this letter is unknown.))

An interesting story =)

2006-02-13T13:28:00.000+08:00

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenlyoccurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that his faithful dog had been dead for many years. He wondered where the road was leading them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. As he reached the wall, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch, and the street that led to the gate made from pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?" "This is heaven, sir," the man answered. "Wow! Would you happen to have some
water? We have traveled far," the man said. "Of course, sir.Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." The man gestured, and the gate began to open. "Can my friend," gesturing toward his dog, "come in, too?" the traveler asked.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets." The man thought a moment, remembering all the years this dog remained loyalto him and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going.

After another long walk he came to a plain dirt road, which led through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book. "Excuse me!" he called to the reader. "Do you have any water? We have traveled far." "Yes, sure,
there's a faucet over there." The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in and help yourself." "How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to his dog. "There should be a bowl by the faucet; he is welcome to share." They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned faucet with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog
walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting for them.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked. "This is heaven," was the answer. "Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was heaven, too." "Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates?
Nope. That's hell." "Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?" "No. We're just happy that they screen out the folks who'd leave their best friends behind in exchange for material things."

An Irish Blessing

2006-02-13T13:26:00.000+08:00

May there always be work for your hands to do;
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Some interesting quotes to keep close to the heart...

2006-02-13T13:20:00.000+08:00

Only as we give no thought of getting do we really get.

I always seek the good that is in people and leave the load to Him who made
mankind and knows how to round off the corners.
-Goethe's mother

The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.
-Gilbert K. Chesterton

And Anonymous said:

"I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.
I believe in love even when not feeling it.
I believe in God even when He is silent."

"The secret of life is not to do what you like, but to like what you
do. God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage."

Great occasions for serving God come seldom, but little ones surround us daily.

God cares for people through people.

Amor vincit omnia ( Love conquers all)

Corrinne May - a voice in the wilderness of Pop

2006-02-13T01:50:00.000+08:00

Today, m'dar and I had the honour of listening to Corrinne May LIVE in NUS. =) We then Q-ed up to get a chance to meet her, get her autograph and take a photo with her. She's as pleasant as she looks, a humble and talented artiste who is friendly and really sweet.

While her Contemporary songs were beautifully written, one felt the OOMPH whenever she sang one of her Christian themed songs.

Her voice resonated wih conviction and through the lyrics, one could take a peek at the daily struggles she has faced in her life as well as the many convictions she has in her heart.

Her last song (Beautiful Seed... which inspired the new name of this blog)from 3 of the new songs that she sang when the crowd cheered for an encore was beautiful! It cried out for us to be witnesses (of Christ no doubt about that) and the power of the message in the song could not be missed :

"Every heart
Every power
Lies in the heart of a
seed that flowers ..."

We are all flowering seeds and like the parable of the sower, how we spring up depends on what ground we fall on. May we fall on fertile land so that our hearts are in the right place- with God, and that we serve Him and not the secular world.

Sometimes it is hard. The struggle between serving God and serving Man is a daily battle for some of us. We want to do more for Christ but at the same time, we are bound by work and time constrains. We want to serve Him more. give more to His cause but then sometimes a tight budget makes it hard for us to do so.

At the end of the day, despite all the struggles, let us put Christ in the centre of it all. We must know what to fight for and what to surrender to him to battle for us. For we are weak but HE IS STRONG... and in Him, we can find great victory.

We're all "seeds in the Maker's hand", planted on this Earth here to grow in His way. Let us not grow wayward like weeds but bask in His Sun (Son) and blossom in His Time whilst growing in His Word with each new day.

Thanks Corrinne for reminding us about that.

May that voice touch more lives not just through secular love songs, but through her love songs for Jesus.

2 articles on it being ok to question God about the way life is going....

2006-02-09T16:44:00.000+08:00

Frederich W. Schmidt Jr writes, the Lamentation Psalms in the bible do three things:

´They give us permission to ask our own questions about suffering. They model the capacity to ask questions we might otherwise suppress, but can never escape. And they model how those questions might be asked without fear of compromising our relationship with God or with other people.´

======================================================================================

Did you know that it’s OK to question God and to feel perplexed at the way your life is going?

Did you know that it’s perfectly acceptable to God to have other than positive feelings concerning how your life is unfolding?

Did you know that it’s normal not to want to accept the tragedies, major and minor, that come your way?

Did you know that it’s no sin to ask God why? It’s no sin to want to get out from under the crosses that come our way. And we’ve all had our fair share of cross carrying, have we not?

It was my turn to ask God why. And do you know what I discovered? I discovered that the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is full of people who had asked God why.

Let’s take Abram, for example. In the fifteenth chapter of Genesis we find Abram wanting answers to questions that I’m sure had been troubling him for a long time. The first question is found in verses 1-3:

“After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’ But Abram said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? . . . You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’”*

Now, I don’t know about you, but I think Abram showed a great deal of courage in answering God as he did. Sure, he started out very diplomatically, very politely, in verse 1, where he addressed God as “Sovereign Lord”; but then in verse 3 he drops the polite diplomatic routine completely. He basically points a finger in God’s face and attempts to hold God accountable for his lack of offspring.

Abram didn’t see where his “great reward” lay. All he knew was that he was an old man and he didn’t have any children. You see, in Abram’s day there were no company retirement benefits, no IRAs, no Social Security benefits. You worked as long as you could; then it was the responsibility of your children to see to your needs. If you had no children to support you, your future in the latter years of life was grim at best.

So God grew angry at Abram’s attitude of frustration and the idea that he would dare question Him, the Al-mighty One, right? Did God confront Abram and say, “How dare you doubt Me, you little man? You will pay for your lack of faith!”

No, quite the opposite happened. God took Abram aside and made the promise found in verses 4 and 5: “Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.’ He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” Apparently this was enough to satisfy Abram.

Now something interesting happens—God makes Abram yet another promise, and again Abram immediately asks God for assurance that this promise will be honored. Now, I admit, at first glance it may appear that Abram was pushing his luck just a little bit. Maybe he thought he was on a roll. Then again, maybe Abram had grown from that first confrontation he had had with God concerning the issue of being an old man with no children.

I think that Abram learned two things in that first encounter: First, I think that he learned that to keep feelings of frustration and unmet expectations pent up inside only causes one to lash out eventually, even if the person at whom we’re lashing out is God.

And second, because of the calm, attentive, nonjudgmental way that God dealt with him, Abram learned that he could really and truly trust God enough to ask the hard questions in life—questions that might even reflect doubt and distrust.

So what was God’s response to Abram’s newfound boldness? Verses 9-21 of Genesis 15 tell us that Abram was instructed to cut in two a young cow, a ram, and a goat. After falling asleep, Abram had a vision of a firepot and a torch passing between the halved animals as God pledged to give the land from the “river of Egypt to the . . . Euphrates” (verse 18).

Sounds like something you would hear about the day after Halloween, doesn’t it? “Chopped-up animals found in local pasture—suspect says it was part of a covenant with God. The unidentified man is currently awaiting trial pending psychological assessment.”

In reality, Abram knew exactly what the seemingly bizarre ceremony meant. In his day and in his culture it was a fairly common way of entering into a contract with someone. However, the catch in this type of contract is that it carries the death sentence to anyone who breaks it. God was telling Abram that the Creator of the universe will give up His own life if He breaks the deal.

Can you see how far their relationship had progressed just over one question that Abram finally ventured to ask? I bet he wished that he had asked the tough questions a long time ago! Their relationship went from suspicion, to communication, to trust, to a pledge of life and limb if the relationship were to ever go bad, and all of this began with the question “Why?”

He Showed Us How
We can think of many other people in the Bible who had questions. We can talk about the answers they received. But how can we fail to point to the One who is our example in all things? Christ is our example, especially when it comes to our relationship to our fellow human beings and to God. And when it came time to ask God the tough questions, He showed us how. And with the tough questions He showed us that sometimes there are tough answers.

When He was faced with His own death, He showed us that it’s OK to be apprehensive, that it’s OK to have feelings of fear. He showed us that it’s normal to want to find a way of avoiding the trials and tribulations that come our way. Three times in the Garden of Gethsemane He asked whether there might be another way to accomplish His mission. Three times the answer was no. But that in no way shattered His trust in God.

Jesus even trusted His heavenly Father when the answer to His “Why?” question (as in “Why, O God, have you forsaken me?”) was a silent one. Christ died without receiving an answer to the most heart-wrenching question ever asked. And just as He died without having an answer to His most pressing question, we have to be prepared to do the same, realizing, though, that God is always beside us, and oftentimes carrying us, just as He was with Jesus.

And as in the case of Christ, the answer to many of our questions may not come until after our resurrection, when God has set aside 1,000 years for us to ask our questions one on one and face to face with Him.

In Retrospect
Looking back on my life, I can see that the events I described to you concerning the car wreck, the broken engagement, and a cash shortage are minor inconveniences, compared with what many others have experienced. Such as my friend who died at age 34 of breast cancer, leaving behind four children, two of whom were in diapers. While working as a chaplain in a suburban Chicago hospital, I watched a 17-year-old girl die of cancer, and a 6-month-old infant die of SIDS. Then there was the murder of a 32-year-old mother whose boyfriend had decided that if he couldn’t have her, no one else could either.

These kinds of tragedy demand that good people ask why. And far from being a sin, asking why is, I believe, what God expects from us. For if we do not ask why in the face of tragedy and injustice, we run the risk, as did Abram, of wrongly implicating God in matters of death, disease, and suffering.

And if there’s no apparent answer to our question, as there was none to Christ’s as He hung on the cross, then I find comfort in the fact that God is not in the business of handing out crosses. Rather, He is in the business of helping us carry them, weeping with us every step of the way.

The hardest P&W song I know to sing and really mean it especially when all is not going well...

2006-02-09T16:29:00.000+08:00

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

====================================================================================

Job is one of the most amazing characters I know in the Bible. I used to wonder why would God just randomly select someone to inflict on this bad stuff just to gamble with the Devil.

Then I realise that God knows Jacob trusts him and he knows that Jacob can pass this huge massive test being thrown at him because of that great faith he has. Job was not cursed but blessed to be able to be tested the way he was. And God did indeed bless him many more folds after all the suffering he was made to go through.

And in the same way, we can be assured that God will never test us beyond our means.
But if he does, hold this in your heart:

Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

God will give us the strength to overcome each trial... we cannot rely on our own strength but on his. We are weak but He is strong and if we claim the Victory in HIS name, we can overcome.

But sometimes it is very difficult and whenever I am tested, I wrestle with so much fear and so much doubt but I hold His promises in my heart and will praise Him until I overcome. I hope I can follow Job and Abraham and Mary and Christ's example to trust in God even when the most impossible thing happens in my life ever.

But I also pray that God will not have to test me until too jialak. =)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Empty Cradles, Greater Faith

2006-02-09T15:44:00.000+08:00

I was very sad yesterday.

Ian told me a friend of ours whom I last saw expressing so much joy about expecting a child, might have lost the baby.

The doctor said he could not detect the heartbeat of the child.

That was what they said years ago about Kaelen when I first saw the gynae about him, yet here my little blessing is, standing right beside me.

As a mother, you never know how blessed you are... how much that child is a miracle until you experience another's grief.

I can only imagine the disappointment and the deep sorrow. For even though she never got to see or touch or hold the baby, her love and her grief is that of a mother's.
And that kind of sadness I can empathise with as a mother myself.

I wanted to call her but what would I say? That I understood? We can never truly understand anyone's grief because we are all individuals with different histories, different background, different aspirations in life... I can only hold her hand and ask her " How best can I pray for you?"

K and I prayed for her yesterday. He lifted his little praying hands and closed his little eyes and lifted heartfelt prayers to Jesus for her. They say a child's prayer is one of the strongest... I hope that his prayer and mine will make a difference.

It is funny but over the last couple of months, 4 different mummies around me have experienced the same disappointment.

The first one was that of a choir mate who had a flu and went to see the doctor. He could not detect the baby's heartbeat. The baby had died within her. He could not operate on her to take the baby out till she got better from her flu and she was devastated. However, when they finally did the op a week or so later, the doctor said that the foetus was abnormal. The skull was too big.

The second one was that of the wife or our choir conductor's. She had some bleeding and had to be admitted to the hospital for bedrest. Our conductor stayed with her for a whole day or 2 and then was adviced to go home to rest himself. Whilst he was at home, a song we sing in choir came to him "You give and take away... you give and take away... my heart will choose to say Lord blessed be your name." And he knew that God had taken away the baby. But he trusted God and still he said blessed be God's glorious name. The next day, the call came as he knew. They had lost the child. A few days later, he resigned from a job he was unhappy in before they could fire him because of a difference in opinions (ie my conductor let in quality students not quantity and the school wanted him to admit in quantity, to hell with quality).

The third one was a friend and his wife who tried hard for a baby for years. Then, they turned to IVF. Many of the eggs were fertillized which meant a great chance of having a baby out of all of them. Then, they were told maybe twins. Then, they were told none of the eggs survived. The pain, the cost of the IVF and travelling abroad to do it... these made them very sad. They can only try 6 mths from the last attempt.

I know that God will touch the many mummies who long for a child the same way he blessed Sarah. I pray that he will make their wombs fruitful and bless these wonderful people with not just one child but as many as God wills it.

In the meantime... here is a poem I composed... inspired by the sadness and hope of these would-be parents:

I never knew you
Still I love you
Never saw your smile
I wish you had stayed a while
I long so much to hold you close
But you're in a better place I know
And even though I am broken
God never lets it get too cold

Your cradle seems empty
But I know better my baby
That you are watching us
As we are holding fast
To the brokenness inside
The tears we cannot hide
But I will give these shattered pieces
Someday to Jesus Christ

Just let me grief awhile now
Let me ask the whys and the hows
I still trust in our heavenly Father
'though I shed tears of a mourning mother
So hold my hand and be a friend
As I heal and as I mend
For even though I am broken
God's love for me, I know, will never end

How many bibles does a person need?

2006-02-08T18:24:00.000+08:00

This was rich... about a month back, I was asking Ian what the differences btw the catholic and protestant bibles were. I took out my trusty good news bible which i called the catholic bible and the niv (also trusty bible... all bibles are trusty) for him to compare. Our conversation went something like that... not exactly like that coz I am recreating scenario from sheer lousy memory.

Dar: Eh the contents look exactly the same.
Me: Cannot be what.
Dar: You sure this is a catholic bible?
Me: Ya leh... everyone in my youth group last time used it. Then the prayer room also got stock this one.
Dar: What bible is this again?
Me: The Good News Bible.
Dar: (silence) Dear... the Good News Bible is protestant. I have one somwhere.
Me: Huh? Serious?
Dar: Ya. That's why your NIV and Good News Bible look the same
Me: Oh my gosh. You mean we've been reading the Protestant Bible all this time in Catholic Youth Group?? (collapses in laughter)

I later dug out the Christian Community Bible which is actually a real catholic bible that i bought from a second hand store and compared it this time. (why can't they name it the Catholic Community Bible... confuse me lah all of these bible printers)

ORH... catholic bibles have additional chapters called Judith and Tobit and Wisdom. I never recall ppl quoting these books even when I was attending catholic church leh. Ok maybe book of wisdom got but who is judith and tobit?

And apparently, quite fictitious in feeling leh. Seems like itz not been a loss not knowing Ju and Tob all these years leh.

Oh well...

Then yesterday, I came across a bible called The Evidence Bible. Itz pretty cool actually. A real good study bible ( I feel like I missed out alot not studying or knowing the bible well all these years!) that also told me something interesting.

The Evolution Theory is BOGUS.

Yes ladies and gentlemen... Darwin's theory... no empirical evidence lor.

Just take a look at this:

I was like woah! I didn't know that.

And this was an interesting website that felt that dinosaurs did appear in the bible actually:

http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/dinos.shtml

And more evidence that the bible is scientifically accurate:

http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/science.shtml

Anyway like I said... The Evidence Bible is an eye-opening read. It explains things in greater detail, addresses questions and objections commonly spouted by non-believers and has very interesting Christian quotations from influential people in History.

And here is one of the interesting bits from The Evidence bible.

About 300 years ago, Galileo discovered the water cycle but centuries before, the Scripture described the water cycle! The Prophet Amos (9:6) wrote that God calls for the water of the sea and pours them out upon the face of the earth.

The Piltdown Man estimated by Darwin to be 300,000 to 1 million years old turned out to be a fraud. In 1953, carbon dating was done and they found out that Piltdown Man was composed of a skull belonging to a 600 year old woman and its jaw to a 500 year old Orang Utan from te East Indies (Our Times, The illustrated history of the 20th Century).

And if you read the captions in the pic above, most of the so called ape men finds were all FRAUDS.

Woah.

And we thought the NKF Scandal was bad. =p

So how many bibles do I have?

1) Good News Bible
2) Christian Community Bible (which is Catholic)
3) my NIV bible that is clothed in Denim (funky, portable and the one I bring to church)
4) The Evidence Bible (which seems to be KJV... Ian's favorite version I think)
5) Some other teenager Catholic bible that's somewhere hidden in the storeroom

But it is interesting to read every bible's interpretation of the same text... they all sound similar but the phrasing differences can give a bit more oomph to the translation... I am sure all modern day bibles got pretty lost in translation here and there. They did come from Hebrew and Greek writings y'know.

The best way is to understand the actual Hebrew and Greek bits to understand better the modern English translation.

I guess that is why I like Pastor David Lim's sermons. He does explain to people what certain terms in the scriptures are in Hebrew and Greek translation and what these mean... it gives you a greater appreciation and understanding of the scriptures.

tis a terrible wish

2006-02-04T15:15:00.000+08:00

but i wish my mother will just leave me alone...for good... like stop antagonising me the way she does... stop making me feel the way i do

i am so frigging depressed right now...

how are u supoz to honour a woman who makes you feel so angry towards her so much all your life even when all you want to do is to love her?

i am just so tired and at the end of my tether... since i was kid, she made me feel so rotten about myself... since forever a part of me dies everytime i am around her...

everyday i hope for freedom from her and her all the shite she throws at me...

everyday i just want to fly away. to break free...

i want to be good but all i am is bad in her eyes...

eternal struggle btw light and darknses deep inside... everytime we speak, all she makes me want to do is to wish that one of us would just disappear... so that all this frustration will end.

I am so sick and tired and this is not a very Christian entry but it is one of sheer depression and desperation.

If only parenting came with an Instruction Booklet...

2006-01-28T00:36:00.000+08:00

Alas all kids are different but the love of a parent should remain the same - unconditional, ready to forgive, ready to understand and discipline not out of anger but out of love.

As a child, I used to visualise my mother as an evil step mother who was pretending to be my mother. I guess you might say that we never really got off on the right foot.
But I did love her very much and I still do... Itz just that no matter what I did to try to please her, it would backfire.

My first mother's day gift to her - a cheap plastic Carnation (eh Primary 1 what else can you afford with the meagre allowance?? lol) that I had saved up to buy for her, was met with disdain. "Why you waste money? You think this flower is you buy one meh? I paid for it. Next time don't waste money to buy this kind of thing." So for her birthday, I learned my lesson. I made her a card... this time I was rebuked for wasting time and not putting in effort in my studies.

I wrote her poems but she told me I wrote rubbish.

I tried to tell her jokes to make her smile or laugh... she said she had no time for me.

We never really had bad memories only... there was once when we made craftwork together. I was much younger then. She brought me for my organ lessons and she would teach me how to make bubbles.

Then, one day, she changed... and some alien came and took over her body and has stayed eversince.

But sometimes, a glimpse of my mother of the past would appear.

One day, she came and cried in my room. She told me that she had received a mean email from a superior. I read it and thought it was just a comment... nothing mean to it. I took out the hate mails I received from the popular girls... letters that showed her how I had been ostracised for 11 years in that damn convent school just because I did not like the same pop songs, I did not carry the branded things they coveted... for not being pretty or witty like they thought they were. And she kept quiet. She felt so sorry that I had to go through what I had. Why had I not told her she asked... because I did not want to add to her worries was my reply. For that brief moment, my mother felt like my mother, my sister... a friend.

That is my last joyful memory of her. Today, she is still angry and hurtful... she tells me I am fat and that it is a miracle anyone likes me. She tells me I am useless and that I am a lousy mother. She tells me many things... that I am not a good girlfriend to my other half (who told me that my mother was talking rot and that he loves me and that i am a wonderful gf to him). She tells me I am sinful and that my grandmother died because of my sins (I thought that Jesus did that... gran died of Colon Cancer.)

Why all this ranting and raving?

Because now that I am a mother I know it is not easy to be one.

I struggle with the worry of how to mould this young child into someone with promise, with joy and love and hope... and more importantly, Faith... in his heart.
I struggle everyday with worries of how I can ever afford for his living when he grows up... for his studies...
I struggle with the knowledge that one day, this child who adores me will one day hug me less and find it awkward to pepper my face with little kisses like he does now.
I struggle with the fear that he will one day wonder about his real dad again...
I struggle with the fear of how I should explain the birds and the bees to him...
I struggle with the fear that one day... I might be like my mother... a hard, angry person.
I struggle with the worry that illness or harm might fall upon him...

And I put all those fears in a little box, label them SILLY WORRIES and give them to the Lord.

I know that HE will take all of these curmpled little dreams and fears, wash them white as snow in his blood and iron them straight and right for me.

And now, I can enjoy the sunshine my son has brought into my life. The laughter and joy. Every hug and kiss, every night watching him sleep is worth the price of the journey of motherhood.

My key to trying to be a good parent?

"Fathers (I think it pts out to parents in general lah... I think my mum took it too literally that mothers were not included in this advice from the Bible), do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

And that is what I will try to do every single day. And if I am not a perfect mother? Well at least, my family will share the same perfect Father who makes it all right again by virtue of His grace

What can we do with our worry?

2006-01-27T23:34:00.000+08:00

I found this website to be very helpful. It is on what we can do with worry: http://www.rbc.org/ds/q0711/

As humans, it is our nature to worry.

We worry about not our job security, bills to pay, our kids and how they are turning out... we worry about our relationships we have with the people around us. Has there ever been a time where you did not worry?

We worry if sweeping the floor on Chinese New Year will bring us bad luck... we worry if breaking a mirror accidentally means 13 years of bad luck... we worry about cats jumping over coffins during funerals or if walking underneath a ladder as kids doom us to be short... if pointing at the moon will cause a cut on our tongues...

We worry ALL the time about things that affect our lives and about what other people say.

But the thing we should be REALLY focus on, we don't.

When you worry, do you tell God it's not fair that you are in this position of worry?

I remember I used to worry alot more... I guess I still do but I have begun to realise that the saying is true "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?" (Matt 6:27) & this too "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:34)

The more we worry, the more frustrated we are. The more frustrated we are, we pass that frustration out to other people or we vent it out on them. Everyone gets unhappy.

Unhappiness begets more unhappiness.

That is why there's a chasm between parents and youths today... that is why divorce rates all around the world has gone up... that is why countries go to war.

Unhappiness spreads like a pandemic and snowballs into something beyond our ability to control.

So instead of being unhappy about everything? Why not thank God for whatever blessings you have? Why not thank Him for these trials that show us how much more blessed we are to have our Faith? Why not thank Him for the trials we have because they make us grow in FAITH for He will give us the Victory to overcome them?

Our God is a FAITHFUL God! How blessed we are. He loves us more than he loves sparrows so if he feeds them and clothes the wild flowers that grow by the roadside, how much more will he love us?

Let us always REJOICE in the face of obstacles for we are blessed. Let us not be short-sighted and worry about Tomorrow. About our worldly possessions... about superstition and office politics and all the silly things we tend to worry about with our blinkered eyes.

There before us, lies a greater future... a greater home. This is just a place of transit... a place to learn how wonderful He truly is! Our home is not here... Our home is with Him. And let us live our lives to the best, according to his teachings...

Our job is not to worry about the bread and butter we eat... but the body and blood of our Lord that is a communion unto our souls. To spread the Good News to people so that they too can see beyond today's cares and to walk with lighter souls and a joyful heart!

Let us not drag our feet and look down upon the ground, but keep our eyes on Him and on His wonderous plans for us! Let's live life to His glory and He has plans to PROSPER us so that we can PROSPER others... lets not forget that promise he has made. And although we often go back on our promises to Him, you can be sure that He keeps His promises if we are sorry and willing to walk His Way again.

"Dear Father, I trust in you and your plan for me. Thank you for all the blessings you've given me this day because without your blessings, your help and your Spirit, I would not have been able to overcome this day. I am sorry for the moments I have disappointed you. Thank you for forgiving all my trespasses and please give me the strength to overcome the many trials that still lie before me. Help me always put Christ in the centre of attention in my life and follow His example. I know you have plans to prosper me and I claim victory over all my trials in the most blessed name of my Saviour, Jesus Christ. Help me to bring your Word to other people and to help spread your love, your salvation to them. I have faith in you and I thank you for your grace that has saved me from Death and Sin. Keep watching over me and helping me to grow in your love and in faith. This we pray in Jesus's name. Amen."

2006-01-27T17:57:00.000+08:00

Oops have not been journaling my walk with Christ for quite a few weeks... but I have been reading and praising and learning and growing everyday.

Dar sounds down today. I think he got scolded or blamed for something but he cannot see where he went wrong.

IMHO sometimes, this is a Spiritual attack.

Sometimes the devil seeing how resolute your faith in Christ is, your trust in God is, wants to attack that foundation and cause you to call.

Well, zun zun (just coincidentally) Ian's second elder sister wrote this email to me. And I feel strongly that they are reminders to praise the Lord even when the ship goes down and He will save us.

Here's Sylvia's email in full:

Verses like these touch us at different times of our lives. May these serve as a reminder to all of us that God is always with us.

Love always,
Sylvia

BE JOYFUL IN HOPE, PATIENT IN AFFLICTION, FAITHFUL
IN PRAYER.
( ROMANS 12:12 *NIV )

HOPE DOES NOT DISAPPOINT, BECAUSE
THE LOVE OF GOD HAS BEEN POURED OUT IN OUR
HEARTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO WAS GIVEN US.
( ROMANS 5:5 )

Now when we are afflicted, we have God's promise that;
THE RIGHTEOUS MAN IS RESCUED FROM TROUBLE,
AND IT COMES ON THE WICKED INSTEAD.
( PROVERBS 11:8 ) For it is also written; I WILL NEVER
LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE YOU.
( HEBREWS 13:5 )

Therefore; DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING,
BUT IN EVERYTHING, BY PRAYER AND PETITION,
WITH THANKSGIVING, PRESENT YOUR REQUESTS
TO GOD. ( PHILIPPIANS 4:6 ) After all, it is written;
THE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN IS POWERFUL
AND EFFECTIVE. ( JAMES 5:16 )

Never let disappointments cause you to
lose hope, for God is always with you. Therefore my
friend; REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS. I WILL SAY
AGAIN REJOICE. Amen! ( PHILIPPIANS 4:4 )

Thoughts...

2006-01-08T18:50:00.000+08:00

My aunt used to be a Sai Baba worshipper which distressed me plenty. And then, the statue of the hindu elephant "god" appeared in her house before the larger- than-life photograph of Sai Baba. Then one day, she got a medium to come remove Sai Baba whom she had dumped for Buddhism. The elephant god remained though.

I am kinda amused watching her. She came from CHIJ itself so I wonder why she has never thought about turning back to GOD to CHRIST to find salvation, help and peace from the so-called "black magic" that has been thrown upon her by someone.

Instead of seeking the ONLY path of salvation, she has led her family from one idol worship to another and now to a somewhat safer and more middle-of-the-road religion of Buddhism. My younger cousin, the eldest daughter, as a 2 or 3 year old, prayed to Christ when she was by my maternal grandmother's bedside. My grandma was dying from cancer then and my cousin, bless her, who could not speak yet, would kneel before the cross and pray in her baby language.

Yet this same cousin, has grown up hopping from one religion to another... how can this be good for her spiritual growth or her sister's? I wonder if my aunt has ever realised that her search for her religion has only caused more harm than good to her loved ones... but perhaps God in his infinite wisdom and goodness will transform all that into His miracles, bless and use my cousins powerfully when they are older.

I have nothing against Buddhists and I respect them greatly for many are wonderful people. But my personal opinion lies as such- salvation is through Christ and only Christ.

So what is the difference between Buddhism and Christianity? I mean how big can the gulf be right? They are both on the side of goodness...

How wrong can we be... there are differences. Major and glaring ones between both doctrines.

Here is an article I found online:

How does Buddhism differ from Christianity?

1. There Is No God
Void vs. Loving God
(emptiness, apathy, ignorance)

In Buddhist thought, there is no supreme being, no Creator, no omnipotent omnipresent God, no Loving Lord over his creation. Ultimate Reality is an impersonal Void or Emptiness (Sunyata). Only the Void is Permanent.
To a Buddhist, saying that God exists is like saying that the Void exists. Saying that God is loving and desires relationship with us is saying God is Ignorance since all desire comes from ignorance. Saying that God created us and has a purpose for our lives is saying that God is Karma, the cause and effect of our existence. Thus, in Buddhist thought, the concept of God is closest equated to the Void, Ignorance, and Karma.
So who are Buddhists bowing down and praying to in their temples? Remember that Buddhism has adapted and absorbed many other beliefs rooted in animism and ancestral worship.

2. Christ’s Deity Denied
If a Buddhist were asked who Jesus was, responses would likely include: a good man, a prophet, the founder of the Christian religion, a bodhisattva, the younger brother of Buddha. As it is hard for a Buddhist to understand the existence of God, it is inconceivable that Jesus is the incarnate Lord, God in the flesh.

3. Man Is Not A Spiritual Being
Mankind has no soul or permanence. In Buddhist thought, an individual consists of five skandhas or aggregates. These aggregates are disassembled at death and there is no longer a cohesive unit that can be identified as an individual person. People are impermanent and transitory, perpetually facing the problem of how to escape from suffering. All life is meaningless and without purpose. The ultimate hope lies in what is permanent: The Void. Before one can find permanence, one must disappear into the Void, that is, achieve nirvana.

4. Karma Is The Iron Law
Karma vs. Mercy
Buddhists believe that the totality of one’s actions and the results of those actions determine one’s fate in subsequent reincarnations. This is the cosmic Law of Cause and Effect. Karma is the ultimate impersonal, unmerciful judge. Karma is unchangeable, cannot be undone, altered, avoided, or forgiven. What is done is done and cannot be undone, nor can you be forgiven or released from it.

5. Sin Has No Consequences
The two systems` concepts of sin stand in stark contrast. To Buddhists sin does not have any consequences before a holy God. It is not defined by doctrine, for to them existence is sin. They think that "desire" or transitory deception is sin. Popularly, sin is killing life in any form. I remember a Thai woman once saying to me, "I have never sinned." It is difficult to help one who does not sense a need. At best, sin is an illusion, though the karmic consequences will accumulate for those who fail to break the endless cycles of reincarnation. The Christian identifies sin as a principle in all humankind, a flaw resulting from the Fall. In practice, sins are violations of God`s character, an affront to Him by missing the mark, and subsequently moral failures. (from Dr. Alex G. Smith)

6. Salvation Through Self, Merit vs. Grace
There is no savior. There is no grace or forgiveness. The Buddha said he could not help anyone; he could only point the way. One must overcome karma by one’s own merit and works.

7. Attain Enlightenment by eliminating ALL desire

In Buddhist thought, there is no difference
between good desire and bad desire. Even to
desire life itself is to not be enlightened.

8. Death, Not Life
To a Buddhist, hope lies in ending the cycle of
suffering and reincarnation. There is no Eternal Life for the Buddhist, no hell, no heaven. Hope lies in achieving nirvana. Hope lies in non-existence..

Also see: http://www.ankerberg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/apologetics/AP3W1101.pdf

You are Special by Max Lucado

2006-01-02T13:45:00.001+08:00

Eli...
A story about dots and stickers
by Max Lucado

ISBN 0891079319

The Wemmicks were small wooden people. These little wooden people were carved by a woodworker named "Eli." Eli's workshop sat on a hill overlooking the Wemmick Village.

Every one of the Wemmicks were different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the same village.

All day long, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing. They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of dull gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the city, people could be seen sticking gold stars or gray dots onto each other. The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got shiny gold stars! But if the wood was rough or the paint was chipped, the Wemmicks gave dull gray dots.

The talented ones got stars, too. Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing very pretty songs. Everyone gave them shiny gold stars! Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good that they did something else and got another star.

There were many other Wemmicks though that could do very little. They got dull gray dots! There was one little Wemmick and his name was "Punchinello." He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather 'round and give him dull gray dots. Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood, so the people would give him more gray dots. He would try to explain why he fell and, in doing so, he would say something really silly. Then the Wemmicks would give him some more dots!!!

After a while, Punchinello had so many dots that he didn't want to go outside. He was afraid he would do something dumb such as forget his hat or step in the water, and then people would give him more dull gray dots. In fact, he had so many gray dots that some people would come up and just give him one without any reason! "He deserves lots of dots," they would say. The wooden people would agree with one another. "He's not a good wooden person," they would say. After a while Punchinello believed them. "I am not a good Wemmick!" he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks who had a lot of gray dots. At least he felt better around them.

One day, Punchinello met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had no dull gray dots and did not have any shiny golden stars either. She was a wooden Wemmick and her name was "Lucia." It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just that the stickers didn't stick to her!!!

Some admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But they would not stick either!!!

"That's the way I want to be!" thought Punchinello. "I don't want anyone's marks!" So he asked the "stickerless" Wemmick how she did it. "It's easy," Lucia replied. "Every day I go see Eli." Punchinello asked,"Eli? Who is Eli?" She replied "Yes, Eli, He is the woodcarver. I sit in His workshop and spend time with Him." He asked Lucia,"Why do you do that?" Lucia told him, "Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill and visit with Him. He's there!" And with that, the sweet little Wemmick named Lucia turned and skipped away.

"But He won't want to see me!" Punchinello cried out to her. Lucia didn't hear him, as she was too far away. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other gold stars and gray dots. "It's just not right," he muttered to himself. Then he resolved to go see Eli after all.

Punchinello walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into the big Woodcarver Shop. His little wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tippy-toes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard and thought to himself, "I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave. Then he heard his name. "Punchinello?" said this voice, so deep and strong. Just then Punchinello stopped. The voice said, "Punchinello, oh how good it is of you to come! Let me have a look at you."

Punchinello slowly turned around and looked at the large bearded craftsman and said, "Sir, you know my name?" "Of course I do. I made you," Eli said. All of a sudden, Eli stooped down and picked little Punchinello up and set him on the workbench. "Hmmmmm," the Maker spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles all over him, "Looks like you've been given some bad marks." Punchinello explained, "Oh, Eli, I didn't mean to; really I didn't!!! I really tried hard not to." The Maker said, "Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, my child. I don't care what the other Wemmicks think." Punchinello asked, "Really? You don't?" Then Eli said, "No and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or dots? They are Wemmicks just like you. What they think really doesn't matter at all, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special."

Punchinello laughed, "Oh, me special? How can I be special? I can't walk fast. I can't jump. My paint is peeling. I make silly mistakes all the time and I am not a beautiful Wemmick like some of the others. How could I matter to you?" Eli looked at Punchinello and put his hands on those little wooden shoulders of his and spoke very slowly, "Because Punchinello... you are mine. That's why you matter to me." Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this before or say anything so nice, much less his Maker! He didn't know what to say!

"Punchinello, every day I've been waiting and hoping you would come to see me," Eli explained. Punchinello looked up at him and said, "I came because I met a sweet Wemmick girl who had no marks." Eli said, "I know. Lucia told me about you." So Punchinello asked, "Why don't the stickers stay on Lucia?" Eli said, "Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what anyone else thinks. The stickers only stick if you let them." Punchinello looked puzzled and said, "What?" Eli said, "Yes, the stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust My love, the less you will care about those stickers."

But Punchinello said, "I'm not sure I really understand what you are saying?" The maker said, "You will, but it will take some time. You've got a lot of marks. So for now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care about you."

Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the floor. "Now remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door. "You ARE special because I made you, and I don't make mistakes."

Punchinello didn't stop, but in his heart he thought, "I think He really means it." And each time he remembered what Eli told him and each time he went to visit and talk with Eli, one of Punchinello's dots would fall off. They kept falling off and soon they were all gone!!!

So like Punchinello, it's important for us to remember that while others may focus on outward appearances, our Creator is only concerned with what's in our heart.<<"Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)>>

(May all your dots fall to the ground...)

You Are Mine by Max Lucado

2006-01-02T13:08:00.000+08:00

You Are Mine

by Max Lucado

ISBN:1581342764 ( available on Amazon... Kinokuniya has it too. Buy this book and You are Special for someone who needs the reminder... the illustrations are so timeless and the story too! Max Lucado is a really good writer.)

Punchinello lived in Wemmicksville. Just like other Wemmicks, he was made of wood. Just like the other Wemmicks, he was carved by Eli, the Wemmick-maker. And just like the other Wemmicks, he sometimes did silly things. Like the time he began collecting boxes and balls.

Things started getting crazy when a Wemmick named Tuck bought a new box. Others had boxes, but Tuck’s was a new box. Tuck loved his new box. He thought it was the best box in the village. It was brightly colored, and he was proud of it—too proud perhaps. He strutted up and down the street, showing off his box. “Have you seen my new box?” he would ask the Wemmicks he passed on the street. “Would you like to touch my new box?” Tuck marched right up to Punchinello: “Don’t you wish you had a new box?” he teased. Punchinello thought Tuck’s box was beautiful, and he began to wish for a box of his own.

Tuck kept showing off his box, thinking he was better than the other Wemmicks just because he had a new box. Nip, another Wemmick, disagreed.“My box is just a good as Tuck’s,” he said, as he showed off his box to Wemmicks on the other side of the street. Nip’s box was not new, but it was bigger and a bit brighter and—a bit more than Tuck could take.

Tuck got very quiet and gave Nip a mad look. Then he had an idea. He stepped into a store and bought a ball.Now he had more things than Nip. He had a box and a ball.

Nip frowned at Tuck’s ball. Nip could do better than that. He bought two balls. With a smile on his face, two balls and a box in his hands, he marched over to Tuck and smirked, “Now I have more than you!” Before he knew it, Tuck was in the store buying another box. Then Nip ran to buy another ball. Then Tuck bought a ball, and Nip bought a box.

Ball. Box. Ball. Box.

Tuck. Nip. Nip. Tuck.

On and on it went.

Someone could have stopped the whole mess right there. In fact, that’s what the mayor tried to do. “You two are being silly,” he said to Nip and Tuck. “Why, who cares who has the most toys?” “You’re just jealous,” they replied, “because you don’t have any.” “Jealous? Of you? Ha!” But within a few moments the mayor was in the store buying an armful of boxes and balls.

Other Wemmicks began to join in. The butcher. The baker. The cabinetmaker. The doctor from up the street and the dentist from down the street. Before long every Wemmick wanted to be the one with the most balls and boxes. Some boxes were big, and some were bright. Some balls were heavy, and some were light. Tall people carried them. Small people carried them. Everybody carried them. And everybody thought the same thought: Good Wemmicks have a lot. Not-so-good Wemmicks have little.

When a Wemmick walked down the center of Wemmicksville with a stack of balls and boxes higher than his head, the people stopped. “Now there goes a good Wemmick,” they would say. But when a Wemmick passed by with only one ball or one box, the others would shake their heads and think, maybe even whisper, “Poor Wemmick. Poor, poor Wemmick.”

Of course, Punchinello didn’t want to be called a poor Wemmick, so he decided to get as many boxes and balls as he could. He searched through his closet and found one little ball. He dug into his pocket and found enough money for one small box.

“I know what I’ll do,” he declared. “I’ll sell my books to get more money to buy more boxes and balls.” So he did. He bought a blue and green box with clouds painted on theside. But still he wanted more. “I’ll work nights to get extra money,” he told himself. So he did, and bought a ball.And since he was working nights, hedidn’t need his bed, so he decided, “I’ll sell my bed.” And he did just that— to buy two more balls.

Soon Punchinello had an armful. But other Wemmicks had more. Some of them had so many boxes and balls, they actually had trouble walking. “It’s hard keeping up with all my balls and boxes,” they would say, acting like they were complaining, but really they were bragging.

Punchinello wanted to be like these Wemmicks, so he sold more stuff, and he worked more hours. His eyes were tired from not getting any sleep. His arms were tired from carrying toys. He couldn’t remember when he last sat down to rest. And, worst of all, his friends couldn’t remember when Punchinello last came to play.

“We haven’t seen you for a long time,” his friend Lucia said to him one day. “Why don’t you come and play again?” asked his buddy Splint. Not everyone cared about boxes and balls. Punchinello’s friends didn’t. But Punchinello cared more about having boxes and balls than he cared about having friends. “I’ve got work to do,” he would tell them. And his friends would sigh.

Punchinello didn’t care. He only cared what the other box-and-ball people thought. And no matter what he did, he couldn’t buy enough things to get their attention. Finally, he had an idea. “I will sell my house,” he decided. “That’s crazy,” cried Lucia. “Where will you live?” asked Splint. Punchinello didn’t know, but he didn’t care. All he could think about was the boxes and balls.

So he sold his house. He bought boxes and boxes and boxes and balls and balls and balls and more balls. He carried so many toys, he couldn’t see where he was going. His stack went way above his head. But he didn’t mind. So what if his arms ached? So what if he kept walking into walls? So what if he had no friends? He had boxes and balls, and when he passed Wemmicks, they would turn and say. “Wow, he must be a good Wemmick.” Punchinello heard them. He couldn’t see them, but he heard them, and he felt good. I’m a good Wemmick, he thought.

But then somebody changed the rules. It was the mayor’s wife. She was very proud of her boxes and balls. She not only had a lot of them, but she also had special kinds of them. She bought them at the fanciest stores with funny names and left the names on the boxes so everyone would see them. She wanted to be the best Wemmick. One day she had an idea. “Not only will I have the most, but I will go the highest.”

So she climbed on top of one of her boxes and shouted, “Look at me, everybody!” Immediately all of the box-and-ball people tried to outdo her. One climbed on a fountain, another on a balcony, and then another onto a roof. It was the mayor who spotted the mountain, however. Behind the village of the Wemmicks was Wemmicks’ Peak. “I’m going to the top of the mountain,” he shouted, hoping to get there first. The race was on to see which Wemmick would have the most and climb the highest.

Wemmicks loaded with boxes and balls began running up the mountain. It was a crazy, crazy race. Since the wooden people couldn’t see where they were going, they bumped into each other. Since they were exhausted, they fell over their own feet. Since the trail was narrow, some fell down the side of it. But they kept going.

Bringing up the rear was Punchinello. He was having a hard climb, harder than the rest. After all, he’d only been a “good Wemmick” for a short time. He wasn’t used to carrying so many boxes and balls. But he was determined. He kept putting one little wooden foot ahead of the other.And since he couldn’t see, he didn’t know that he had left the trail. All he knew was that—all of a sudden—he was all alone. I must be ahead of everyone else! he thought to himself.

And so he kept climbing up and up and up. I must be very near the top. I’m such a good Wemmick; I’ll be the highest with the most. About that time Punchinello’s foot caught the edge of something. He tried to keep his balance—his toys swayed to the right and then to the left. He leaned back, then forward, but he couldn’t stop. He was going to fall. He didn’t know, however, that he had walked up the trail to Eli’s house. He tripped on the step of the porch and tumbled through the front door of Eli’s workshop. When Punchinello realized where he was, he was embarrassed. For a long time he stayed facedown on the floor, surrounded by his boxes and balls.One of the balls rolled across the floor and stopped at Eli’s workbench. That’swhen the woodcarver turned around. “Punchinello.” Eli’s voice was calm and deep and kind.

The Wemmick still didn’t move. He could feel his wooden face turning red.

“Looks like you’ve been carrying a big load.”

The weary Wemmick climbed to his knees but kept his head low. “These are my boxes and balls,” he said quietly.

“Do you play with the boxes and balls?” asked Eli.

Punchinello shook his head.

“Do you like boxes and balls?”

“I like the way they make me feel.”

“And how do they make you feel?”

“Important,” Punchinello answered, still with a small voice.

“Hmm,” Eli observed, “so you’ve been thinking like the other Wemmicks. You’ve been thinking that the more you have, the better you are, and the happier you’ll be.”

“I suppose so.”

“Come here, Punchinello. I want to show you something.”

Punchinello lifted his wooden head and looked at Eli for the first time. He was relieved to see that the Wemmick maker wasn’t angry. Punchinello followed Eli over to the window.

“Look at them,” Eli said.

Punchinello looked out the window at the swarm of Wemmicks still climbing the mountain. They were tumbling, stumbling, fighting each other, even elbowing each other to get ahead.

“Do they look happy?” Eli asked.

Punchinello just shook his head.

“Do they look important?”

“Not at all,” Punchinello said, noticing the mayor and his wife. The mayor was on the ground, and she was stepping on his back. She had a box on her head, and he had a ball in his mouth.

“Do you think I created Wemmicks to act that way?” asked Eli.

“No.”

Punchinello felt a big hand on his shoulder.

“Do you know how much your boxes and balls cost you?”

“My books and bed. My money and my house.”

“My little friend, they cost you much more than that.”

Punchinello was trying to remember what else he had sold when Eli continued, “They cost you happiness. You haven’t been happy, have you?”

Punchinello paused. “No.”

“They cost you friends. And most of all, they cost you trust. You didn’t trust me to make you happy. You trusted these boxes and balls.”

Punchinello looked at the pile of toys. All of a sudden they didn’t seem so valuable.

“I kind of messed up.”

“That’s okay,” Eli replied. “You’re still special.”

Punchinello ducked his head and smiled.

“You’re special—not because of what you have. You’re special because of who you are. You are mine. I love you. Don’t forget that, little friend.”

“I won’t.” Punchinello smiled. Then he paused and asked, “Eli?”

“Yes.”

“What should I do with these boxes and balls?”

“Perhaps you should give them to someone who really needs them.”

Punchinello turned to leave, but stopped again. “Eli?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t have a place to sleep.”

Eli smiled and offered, “Would you like to sleep here tonight?”

"I sure would. I’m very tired.”

And so that night Punchinello slept on a bed of wood shavings. He slept well. It felt good to be in the house of his maker.

Women proposed marriage in biblical times!!

2005-12-27T01:59:00.000+08:00

Hahaha... anyone who thinks it is too forward for a woman to propose marriage these days, get a load of this! It wasn't a taboo in the Biblical times. =) Have courage to speak of your feelings.

Ruth 3:9-13 (New International Version)

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am your servant Ruth," she said. "Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer."

The Bible on Superstitions

2005-12-24T14:55:00.000+08:00

Isaiah 2:6 (New International Version)

You have abandoned your people,
the house of Jacob.
They are full of superstitions from the East;
they practice divination like the Philistines
and clasp hands with pagans.

Superstition is based on the ignorant faith of an object having magical powers. Another word for superstition is idolatry.

The Bible does not support the idea of things occurring by chance, but nothing is done outside of what God works through His plan (Acts 4:28, Ephesians 1:10).

Scripture condemns those who practice astrology (Deuteronomy 4:19), magic, divination and sorcery (2 Kings 21:6, Isaiah 2:6). Idolatry is also forbidden, and no one who practices it will enter the Kingdom of God (Revelation 21:27).

We should get our faith not from objects or rituals that are mere folklore, but from the one true God who gives eternal life.

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:8-10).

Food for thought : On Christian Parenting

2005-12-24T14:15:00.001+08:00

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged."--Colossians 3:21

1. Never argue with your children. Your arguing means they win. Does your boss argue with you? Why not?

2. Always stay calm when talking with your children to teach your children to cope with problems. Anyone can teach your children anger, whining, blaming, and damning. Let someone else model the wrong way for your children to respond to adversity.

3. Give your children equal doses of love and discipline: not just one or the other. If you got too much or too little of one or the other--do not then blindly do either the same or the opposite as most parents wind up doing. Instead, do both equally well.

4. Your job is to help your children find direction and self-control. Yes, it is even okay and a good idea to purposely frustrate your children--if your intention is to then help them to learn to problem-solve and cope with that frustration.

5. Motivate your children with life missions and-or service to God. Stop using ego (pride or shame), money (presents), or pleasures.

6. Don't don't. Use positive scripts, directions, expectations. Don'ts put the wrong idea into their heads NOT the right one. Dont's also can induce rebellious attitudes

7. Teach boundaries (individuation, separation, space) and reciprocity (ask-ask, give/take, want-for-want).

8. Teach your children emotional responsibility (ER). This empowers your children and ends the blame game.

=============================================================

I grew up with my mother always trying to shame me, attacking my ego and hurting me with cutting words. She would take expensive gifts given to me by my dad's colleagues to give to my richer cousins because her theory is that my uncles and aunties buy me lots of expensive things but from a kid's pov, it hurt. It wasn't that I was selfish but I could not understand why my mother would take something I found precious away from me. I used to envy my friends whose mum would cane them but sayang them afterwards... my mum used to cane me and add salt to the wound by telling every one of her siblings and cousins and any relatives that she could how bad I was. It was as if she was trying to use that to make me good. But all it did was hurt me deeper and deeper.

I have always loved my mum despite all that but she presses buttons in me that causes great depression and hurt and frustration. Something I hope never to happen btw me and my kids.

Till this day, she still opens my letters to read, digs through my private belongings and takes my things to give others without asking first because she feels that she has that right as I am staying in HER house and living uner HER rule. She tells me I am fat and tells me how I look bad. She never fails to make me feel bad about myself.

Never once has she praised me or made me feel proud of anything I've done.

The hurt keeps piling up higher and higher... even on Christmas Eve, she has successfully dampened all my cheer.

I stayed up late last night wrapping gifts and making personalised gift tags for them and writing words of blessings for people I care for & she not only kept coming out to scold me, she'd tell me... Just anyhow wrap can already right? And I overheard her telling my Aunt I was so childish like a kid making art and craft late at night. I took pride at making special tags for everyone and letting them know I care. I even made one for her despite being so sleepy. Maybe it is her way of showing concern but there is no kindness in her words or her ways. Just hurt.

She always complains that I dun respect her despite all my aunts feeling it is amazing how I've turned out so well despite the way she puts me down. I have always told my Mum respect is a 2 way thing and that I want to respect her but she has given me no reason to except for demands that I do. I want to honour my mother but she makes it so hard... so very hard.

I love my Mum. Despite all these hurts, I do love her.... but loving her is also very painful... it feels like a cross I have to bear than a relationship I find joy in.

I really hope for her to be less hurtful, to be more giving, to be less imbued in superstitions and to be more Christ-like.... but it always feels so impossible.

Till this day I cannot believe how she put down my friends who had travelled for hours and spent lots of precious money that they can ill afford to come visit us and to bring their kid to play with Kae. Like me, they had a kid out of wedlock but got married before the child wa born. They have a second kid and are excellent parents despite their youth. And to save money, they hardly have hair cuts and when they did, they trimmed each others hair and their kids' too.

I was ashamed when my Mum came home early one day and in a pretty audible tone, she said "What did I tell U about inviting such people here? They cannot afford condo lifestyle and live in HDB flat so come here to xiang shou it is it? Cannot go public pool ah? Think what? I am a charity is it? Come here and use my water and waste my electricity."

I was so hurt by her ways. I felt she could have voiced it after people had gone home not when they were there. And I had Dad's permission. Kae and their eldest son are good friends n play very well together btw.

I was so upset I went out for dinner with them and hauled kae along. Dad was out with my aunt.

Later on, my aunt told me my Mum had grumbled to her and another aunt about it too.

" P ah... these kind of people ah so poor so come here and leech on other people's wealth ah... then the guy got long hair dunno what kind of character and the girl smokes (Amanda had quit already btw for a year plus but she based it on her smoking previously)... dunno what kind of character they have. Everytime go and mix with this kind of people. Then come and waste my water and electricity."

My aunt was saying that lucky the 2 of them (my 2 aunts) are not the sensitive sort... because they too were so called HDB flat residents who come to swim every week (once or twice) & my some of my older cousins smoke... and one used to spot long hair too. If they were sensitive they would have taken offence because they'd suspect that my Mum told people the same thing about them.

That is my Mum for you... she can never seem to say words of kindness to people. When she shoots her mouth off it is always bad things... curses in the form of superstition, bad things about other people... stinginess and then pretending to be nice about it but grumbling about others behind their backs or worse, in front of them!

I am trying so hard to be less depressed and to try to talk to her... but staying at home around her makes me so blue and so full of rage and anger... I just blow up at her because she always pushes the right trigger to upset me and then tells everyone I am mad dunno why everytime talk to her she cries or is so rude... when she is blind to the hurt she piles on top of me day after day, with each conversation...

Dear God, Jesus, Holy Spirit please help me to forgive my Mother and to heal... to learn that there are things that I can change and there are those that I cannot... and to learn the difference and how to conduct myself when placed in situations which cannot change. Help me to grow in patience and love and to let go. To learn how to close my ears and my heart to hurtful words and deeds. To learn how to seek solace in your Words and your Ways if I am hurt instead of hurting someone back. Lord, when I am weary, whisper in my heart words of kindness and encouragement so I won't be weak. Lord help me to control my temper which has seem to grown shorter these days around Mum. Help me Lord... I confess to You and my brothers and sisters in Christ who read this that I have been rude to my Mum but because many a times I feel provoked. I know that that is still wrong as 2 wrongs don't make a right. Please help me Lord. Only you can because nothing is impossible through YOU! Your Salvation has freed me from all this darkness and pain. I reject the hurt my Mum causes my family members and friends and myself through Your most precious name. I claim YOUR victory over her character and my temper through YOU! AMEN!.

What does God want? Really?

2005-12-22T15:49:00.000+08:00

I want loving-kindness and not a gift to be given in worship. I want people to know God instead of giving burnt gifts. - Hosea 6:6

What does God really want out of us? More tithes? To sing louder during praise and worship? To go to church every Sunday?

No... I feel that He wants a relationship. For us to know Jesus so that through Him we can know His Father... Our Father.

God does not want us to just blindly drop money into the offerings bag or to sing him praise songs with nothing within... He is not interested in incense... or repetitions of the Rosary with no heart placed in it...

He just wants us to make an effort to reach out to Him... to be honest with Him, to offer our broken hearts to Him, to seek His healing touch, His love, His word... He wants to have a stronger parent-child relationship with us... for us to tear down the brick wall we've been putting up between Him and ourselves.

I think that is what He wants from us... that that is the true worship He seeks from us.

After speaking with Lay Fong, after hearing the sermons of Pastor David's in church, I feel the need to rebuilt the relationship that I had with Him.

As a teen, I'd sit before a picture of Jesus and talk to Him knowing that He truly is there... not in the image but in the spirit... And I found such great consolation just chatting to Him. I'd leave him post-it notes on the wall to tell him about a bad day, a need, a petition, to praise and thank Him...

Then I stopped when I was really hurt by what a priest did to my family in my parish church.

Now at Grace, I feel healed and ready to build that relationship with Christ again. The need to put Christ in the centre... not those daily cares and worries... but Christ. To show more love and kindness as He showed us. To communicate with Him in prayer and in praise... to built that friendship with Him and that relationship with Our Father.

It was never His fault that things went awry for me but Humanity as it is and bad choices on my part... And worship is not always a me, myself and I thing... the Heart of Worship is HIM... Jesus Christ and the love, blessings, grace and mercy He has to offer us.

God answers prayers...

2005-12-22T10:25:00.000+08:00

Ian told me that his day went well yesterday and that the meetings mostly went well with suggestions on how to improve.

Praise God!

A reminder not to judge...

2005-12-21T15:55:00.000+08:00

"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. ²Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. ³So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? ⁴Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?"
Romans 2:1-4

It is so easy to judge another person and so easy to do so without realising that you are.

I confess and humbly admit that I have judged people myself. I apologise.

Have you realised how when you are the one doing the judging of another person, you feel a certain smugness or are glad that well...you are not like the person?

BUT what if the situation is reversed- What it you are the one being judged? How would U feel?

I remember being ostracized as a kid because I was not "cool"... not funky.... not with the "in" crowd... that feeling was horrible. And I used to hate those people who judged me... I guess whilst that has made me more mindful of trying not to make someone feel that same dismay, it also makes it a pot calling a kettle black situation should I judge.

That person you are judging because maybe he/she is with body odour or the person who has a disability that is physical, emotional or mental or that person who is "uncool" or who we think is a bitch... they have feelings too! We tend to forget that when we judge another person from one perspective, not seeing it from the other side of the coin. Not remembering how it felt like standing on the other side of the judgement.

In all our words and actions and thoughts, let us be mindful of each other and remind ourselves not to judge. For we do not know what the other party has been going through, his/her own personal conflicts and situations enough to judge at all. As a result, the only one who is perfect and who has the wisdom and the power to judge is God!

He has reminded us again and again that if we judge someone one way, we will be judged the same way. I'd rather try harder not to judge someone than to be judged that same way. I'd rather not be judged... I'd rather be SAVED!

And Jesus had come to do just that... without any show of favoritism, Christ came to SAVE US ALL... anyone who wants to achieve salvation through him just has to confess it and to believe it, to lead a Christ-centric life to be saved from judgement and wrath of God! How wonderful! We do not have to be judged because of the precious sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because God has bestowed upon us the gifts of Faith and mercy that we can choose to receive and partake in!

At the end of the day, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone"... Let us examine ourselves before we hastily cast our stones at the people around us.

Dear Jesus, for all the times I have judged another person, I am truly sorry. Help me to be more loving and in being so, more forgiving and understanding. Help me always to treat a fellow person the way you would want me to. Help me to be more Christ-like everyday. Although I am not perfect Lord, I can try to be a better Christian with each new day. Help me Lord.

This we ask in your most precious name. Amen.

Christian Mobile Phone WP

2005-12-21T13:55:00.000+08:00

Some beautiful Christian Wallpaper for the mobile phone... 240 x 320 dimension.
enjoy =)

2005-12-21T13:52:00.002+08:00

2005-12-21T13:52:00.001+08:00

Give thanks unto the Lord - 1 Chronicles 16:34

2005-12-21T13:52:00.000+08:00

O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee forever. - Psalm 30:11-13

2005-12-21T13:51:00.001+08:00

2005-12-21T13:51:00.000+08:00

2005-12-21T13:50:00.000+08:00

If I speak in tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

2005-12-21T13:49:00.001+08:00

So now faith, hope and love abide, thes three: but the greatest of these is love.

2005-12-21T13:49:00.000+08:00

I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me...

2005-12-21T13:48:00.000+08:00

My children hear my voice and know that they are loved...

2005-12-21T13:46:00.000+08:00

There is no fear in love- 1 John 4:18

Planting a mustard seed...

2005-12-21T00:49:00.000+08:00

Hearing my beloved sounding so weary and so tired, I feel so bad... I wish I could do something for him yet i cannot... I feel so powerless!

That is why I surrender it all to the Lord because only he can work miracles for him... just have to trust Him! Coz that is all I can do... I can only plant a mustard seed in this area and trust in the Lord to fulfill His promises...

2005-12-20T18:51:00.001+08:00

Psalm 13:5 (New International Version)

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Father, in times of darkness, we sometimes question your love and your presence... forgetting that your love is UNFAILING.

Thank you so much for holding our hands as we journey through the best and worst of times in our lives...

I praise you and thank you for saving me, an unworthy sinner... thank you for granting me salvation through your beloved son, our Lord Jesus Christ... thank you granting us salvation not through deeds so that we may not boast but through Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice on the cross for ALL of us.

Thank you for blessing me with the gift of Faith that I may rejoice at the foot of the cross and praise your glorious name all the days of my life!

Father first of all... THANK YOU for letting Jenn's baby pass the down syndrome test today and that the baby is healthy! Praise you! Hallelujah!

Lord, Ian is asleep now, trying very hard to recuperate from the exhaustion he is going through from shouldering so many responsibilities at one go. Lord, I pray that you will refresh him and grant him the strength of the body, mind and soul to run that extra mile... Lord, touch him so that all the works that he does is done through you and hence perfect in your ways, a pleasing sacrifice to you and a testimony of you glorious name. Lord, we surrender again ALL the works of our hands to you right now and pray that you will bless them many many folds and that they will be accepted wonderfully by the people we have to submit them to.

Lord thank U for letting Ian have so many brilliant opportunities to show his talent off but he is no superman... none of us are... everything we can do is only do-able through you Lord... so we ask you to grant him that superhuman strength to finish all his task... a herculean deed but not impossible through your grace and your Holy Spirit.

I thank you Lord for everything you have done for us and pray that we may be able to accomplish much much more for your glory everyday of our lives!

Thank you Lord. Praise you Lord.

We ask all of these through our Lord Jesus Christ.
AMEN!

Priorities this season- a showroom looking house OR a heart prepared to rejoice in Christ's birth??

2005-12-20T16:13:00.000+08:00

I have always wished that some of the ppl close to my heart will understand this... that knowing Him, serving Him is more important than anything else (including housework)... here is a daily bread like thing I received last night that reminds us of our priorities as Christians:

This week's promise: Give your worries to God, for he cares for you

Details, details!

But the Lord said to her, "My dear Martha, you are so upset over all these details! There is really only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it—and I won't take it away from her."

Luke 10:41-42 NLT

Martha and me

I can relate to Martha. If I were planning a party, she'd be the one I'd ask to help. Martha knows everything needs to be just right.

When Jesus showed up at Martha's door, she did what I would have done. She started getting everything ready. But her sister, Mary, had other plans. Mary didn't share Martha's need to please, so she sat with Jesus. She knew the house was a mess, but she also knew that Jesus wouldn't be there long, so she forgot about the cleaning and plopped down at his feet. What nerve, Martha thought to herself. Doesn't she know there's work to be done?

Finally, Martha had to speak up and expected Jesus to scold Mary.

But that's not what Jesus did. "My dear Martha," he said, "you are so upset over all these details!…" Jesus took Mary's side. He said that Mary was the one who had the right idea. She did nothing but listen and was praised; Martha did everything but listen and was chastised.

The Lord's priorities are not the same as ours. Jesus isn't as concerned about our lace tablecloths and clean kitchens as we are. He's concerned with the state of our heart—the time we spend at his feet, reflecting on his words and resting in his presence.

by Tim LaHaye, Jerry B. Jenkins and Frank M. Martin (Tyndale) p 209

A prayer...

2005-12-20T04:14:00.000+08:00

Dear Jesus,

Everyday I thank you for the wonders that you have worked in my life.
Eversince I embraced you as my Lord, you have never been far from me and your hands have always been around me, your words my comfort and my shield.

Lord, thank you for sending me so much blessings. For Ian and Kae whose love keeps me going day by day... For my amazing parents who have given so much of themselves as parents... For the many faces I meet- both old and new- everyday who are a testimony of your love and your abundant blessings!

Lord, thank you so much for never giving up on me and for your gift of faith, grace, love, hope and unending mercy... thank you for bestowing all these on me. I am so undeserving and yet you give and give and give... I thank you Lord and I praise you for all these.

Lord, I now pray for brother Nelson and his wife who have been trying for a child. Make his wife fruitful O Lord... touch her womb and make it bear fruit for this is not impossible to you Lord. Nothing is! AMEN! We claim this victory for Nelson and his wife... we claim the promises of fruitfulness for them. AMEN! Praise YOU God!

I pray for brother Daniel that he will receive guidance about his work. Lord, brother Daniel must be rich in your favour for you have sent him so many trials of late as a testimony of his great faith and trust in you so that we too are renewed in our faith and our trust in you! He has come through each trial stronger and praising you louder than ever before and I thank you God for this affirmation through him. AMEN! We claim this Victory in YOU!

I pray for sister Pau Cen that her job will be secure, her faith strong and her blessings bountiful. I pray that you will bless her with the gift of motherhood and also bless her womb and make it bear fruit. AMEN! We claim this Victory in YOU!

I pray for sister Lanie who is undergoing spiritual warfare right now. I pray that you will strengthen her as she takes this journey of Single Motherhood and that you will especially bless her child and bless her so that all will go smoothly. God bless her such that everything she needs, you have already provided for so that nothing will stumble her Lord. AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for Eugene and Lynn Lord that their current spat will be resolved. Help them O'Lord.

I pray for my brother Jenn and his wife that their visit to the gynae today will be one of reassurance and that the baby will pass the test. Bless their child and prepare their hearts for the gift, the journey of being parents. I pray that his wife will have a safe pregnancy, no morning sickness or cravings, no hypertension or diabetes... I pray that she will have no stretchmarks and that she will have a painless delivery! AMEN! WE CLAIM THAT VICTORY IN YOU!

I pray for my brother Lennel whom I am so pleased that you have called to your servitude! I want to thank and praise you Lord for blessing his life with your precious word and for covering him with your holy blood! Thank you for sending him a cell leader whom he can identify with and vice versa. Continue blessing him in his new faith bountifully! AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for Ian's Dad's health as well as that of my Dad's. Lord... bless and heal their bodies Lord. Heal every part of them that is broken Lord... inside, outside... Lord you have healed the lame, made the blind see... this is nothing to you Lord for you ARE our creator and as you can create so can you heal! AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for Ian's sisters and their family. Wherever they may be, BLESS them GREATLY! Bless Vivien as she becomes a stay at home mother. Bless her with all the strength, love and wisdom she needs as a Christian mother and wife. Bless Von that he will always be recharged and that he will always have time to spend with his two daughters and still have amazing job security because it is YOUR gift to him. AMEN! AMEN! I pray for Sylvia and Dennis that they will be blessed with the gift of parenthood and the wisdom to be able to be great Christian parents too and that they both will also have great job security as your gift to them! I pray that they will all prosper as you have promised them and that you will send showers upon showers of blessings upon them.AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for my Aunt's salvation from idolatory. I pray for her entire family to find their way to your presence and to embrace you with all their heart. I pray that you will cause a GREAT miracle to happen in their lives so that they will let go of all idolatory and know that you are God and believe that there is ONLY ONE GOD and only one who can bless them bountifully and give them the mercy and love and healing that they need. AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for Aunty Betty who is journeying in the Faith right now. Fill her with your wonderful words and touch her with your teachings O Lord. Bless her path with many who can lead her to You Lord! AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for my cousins, for my relatives that are all over the world... may you send your angels to protect each and everyone of them. May you bless them and keep them all safe. AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for Eric and his family... I pray for Yuning and her family... I pray for Gen and her lovely family... I pray for Pearly and her family. Bless them all with greater faith if they are your children already and if they are not, I pray that you bless them with the Christian faith so that they may share in the mercy of Christ and the blessings of Your great love and eternal life! AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for the films we hope to make, the scripts we have to write, the business we are in the midst of building up... I SURRENDER all of them to you... as a living sacrifice along with us. Every victory won for them is YOUR victory Lord... a testimony to YOUR gifts Lord... I stand here humble before you because I know you plant each thought, each word, each imagery in my mind. I am not so great. Bless our films and every endeavour greatly. AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

Lord I pray for Ian. Touch him so he may have the gift of the ability to speak in the Spirit so that he may be able to converse effortlessly with the Chinese in mandarin. LORD you are the Lord of all languages so I know that ONLY you and you alone can help Ian right now. AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for Ian's Discovery project that his superiors in the project will find great liking and trust in him. That they will like what he has written and be at peace with Ian. That they will be understanding, open and embrace whatever ideas or script he has written because I know Lord that Ian writes them IN YOU, THROUGH YOU so I CLAIM VICTORY OVER THE DISCOVERY PROJECT RIGHT NOW LORD BECAUSE YOU ARE THE ONE DOING THIS PROJECT FOR IAN... blessing his hands, his mind, his thoughts, his lips so that what he writes and what he utters about it is well received and such that all he does will be smooth. BECOZ it is done IN YOU, FOR YOU and FOR YOUR GLORY! AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU! I CLAIM THE VICTORY THAT HE WILL BE SAFE IN CHINA, HE WILL COME HOME IN GREAT HEALTH AND REJOICING FOR A JOB WELL DONE BECAUSE OF YOUR VICTORY IN HIS LIFE AND IN HIS WORK! AMEN AMEN!

I pray for the F1 powerboat and Singtel projects of Ian that ALL will go SMOOTHLY with them because we lift them up to you right here right now and humbly ask for your touch, your assitance and for your grace to pour out on these projects.AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

I pray for Kaelen that with each new day, his every gifts and talents will grow in YOU and that he will one day be able to use all these gifts to further your glory and to serve you with all of his God fearing heart. AMEN! We claim that Victory in YOU!

WE CLAIM ALL OUR VICTORIES IN OUR GOD... OUR JEHOVAH JIRED... OUR EL SHADDAI... OUR WONDERFUL SAVIOUR... FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS AND GOOD THINGS COME! GOD IS GOOD and we pray all these, claim all these in the name of our wonderful and beloved Lord, JESUS CHRIST!

AMEN! HALLELUJAH!

What's Playing Today on my WMP

2005-12-20T04:08:00.000+08:00

Through It All sung (by Ray Boltz)

I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
There've been times I didn't know right from wrong:
But in every situation God gave blessed consolation
That my trials come to only make me strong.

Through it all, through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God;
Through it all, through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I've been to lots of places,
And I've seen a lot of faces,
There've been times I felt so all alone;
But in my lonely hours,
Yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus let me know that I was His own.

Through it all, through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God;
Through it all, through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I thank God for the mountains,
And I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms
He brought me through;
For if I'd never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do.

Through it all, through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God;
Through it all, through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

A Prayer for Victory (Psalm 20)

2005-12-19T20:00:00.000+08:00

It is kinda late at night but can't really sleep. Worrying about Ian although I have said that I placed my worries in the hands of my most gracious saviour. =) How human of me.

Opened the bible to seek His word, His promises and came across this Psalm. After reading it, I immediately called my dearest and prayed this prayer over him. We claim all its promises through the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ... We claim this victory in our Lord's gracious, blessed and merciful name. Amen!

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David. A victory prayer.

¹ May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

² May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.

³ May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
Selah

⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.

⁵ We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.

⁶ Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.

⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.

⁹ O LORD, save the king!
Answer ^[a] us when we call!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
FYI...

What does Selah mean?

This word is extensively used in the Psalms. And the reason is because the psalms are a prayer book, divinely-inspired songs of the people of Israel, often messianic, allegorical, and historically parabolic. That is to say, history, replete with spiritual meanings.

The Selah is there to signal the believer to 'measure' carefully the meaning of what has been said. i.e., here is wisdom, reflect and understand. Just as the Hebrew word Amen [amen] is an exclamation of confidence or truth and certainty of what has been said, so Selah [celah], is an exclamation that we should measure and reflect upon what has been said.

Words words words... listen! =)

2005-11-13T13:13:00.000+08:00

Better is one day in Your courts
Better is one day in Your house
Better is one day in Your courts
Than thousands elsewhere - "Better is One Day" Matt Redman

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them,
and they follow me. - John 10:27

The LORD is my strength and my song;
He has become my salvation.
He is my God, and I will praise Him,
my father's God, and I will exalt Him.
- Exodus 15:2

I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love. —Hosea 11:4

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-
surpassing power is from God and not from us.
- 2 Cor 4:7

You take my brokenness
Call me to Yourself
There You stand
Healing in Your hands
- "It is You" Hillsongs

"Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.
For if you do these things, you will never fall"
- 2 Peter 1:10

Why am I discouraged? Why so sad?
I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!
- Psalm 43:3-5 NLT

"As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you,
and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing
teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not
counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him."
- 1 John 2:27

Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

- 1 Chronicles 16:11

Though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand
- Psalm 37:24

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands. - Psalm 138:8

"I will not let you go unless you bless me." - Gen 32:24-26

"I live in a high and holy place,
but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite." - Isaiah 57:15

The LORD is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
- Psalm 27:1

===========================================================================

Matt Redman "Blessed Be Your Name" lyrics

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out 
I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering 
Though there's pain in the offering 
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name