Isn't it strange..

Isn't it strange
How a 20 dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church,
But such a small amount when you go shopping?

Isn't it strange
How 2 hours seem so long when you're at church,
And how short they seem when you're watching a good movie?

Isn't it strange
That you can't find a word to say when you're praying but..
You have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend?

Isn't it strange
how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible but
how easy it is to read 100 pages of a popular novel?

Isn't it strange
how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts or games but
they do whatever is possible to sit at the last row in Church?

Isn't it strange
how we need to know about an event for Church 2-3 weeks
before the day so we can include it in our agenda,
but we can adjust it for other events in the last minute?

Isn't it strange
how difficult it is to learn a fact about God to share it with others;
but how easy it is to learn, understand, extend and repeat gossip?

Isn't it strange
how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say but......
we question the words in the Bible?



Do you agree with the statements above? I think most of us will agree..
It takes no hardship to do things we wish and like to do yet it takes so much effort to spend a quiet and intimate time with God.

Now that you've realised, would you make a change for God?

We certainly need the Holy Spirit to help us in this area!

Not gifts, but willingness that counts

Sometimes, we wonder how God can use us to fulfill His purposes in our lives. With our limitations, we often doubt that God will even use us to do mighty acts for Him. People may have spoken things that hurt us in the past.. words that brought down our passion to serve Him. Sometimes the problem lies within ourselves. We wonder how.. how will God use me? I'm disabled. I'm not smart enough. I'm not given the opportunity. I'm not talented.. he/she is more.. etc.

Today, those thoughts came across my mind. My talents are not utilized and developed good enough to serve Him and people around me. I doubted, I began to feel bitter bcoz of the things that obstructed me to work my talents for Him.

I began thinking about one of my greatest achievements.. that is I've done well in SPM. I wasn't a top student. Neither was I borned a smart girl.

During the start of 2007, I wondered how could people glorify the name of God through studies. Often the sunday school teachers pray for us, that we'll study hard to glorify His name. I prayed and I determined myself to glorify God in anyway I could through SPM. I told Puan Tan, my physics teacher who was also a christian, that I wanted to score all A's to glorify God. I worked hard, I trusted in Him and I succeeded.. even far more than what I expected - straight A1's in SPM.

This testimony is an encouragement.. to everyone and also to me.. that not only people with good talents are able to serve God.. but also you and I who have nothing in our hands. God only need our willingness.. if we are willing to be used by Him, He can work wonders through us. He will make the weak strong.. then people will know that it is not us, but it is Him that is in us, is real.

Offer up our lives as a willing sacrifice.

Who loves you?

Many people experience lack of love in their lives. The rejected, the oppressed, the poor, the disabled..

Are you facing that situation in life? You need not sorrow anymore coz have you heard that Jesus loves you? A simple statement yet so profound.



Think about it. What does it mean to have the Creator of ALL things to love you, to know everything about you and wants to be with you in every situation? What does it mean to have Someone who will always be there for you, who will never fail you? Ponder the fact and what it means that the Savior cared enough to die for you.

Contemplate on Romans 8:35 when Paul asked, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" The answer is "Nothing in all creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (v.39)

Having someone like Jesus means everything. Invite Him into your hearts today =)

Faith

Romans 4:13-25

13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations."He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." 23 The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

Her eyes saw the leafless trees in winter, but because her mind was clouded by Alzheimer's disease she thought the trees were dead. "Someone should cut down those trees," she would repeat day after day. "They aren't coming back."

How often we see our "leafless" circumstances with a mind clouded by past experience and disappointment. We may look at a friendship, a marriage, a family feud, and say to ourselves, "Cut it down. Sever the tie. Make the break. It's hopeless!: But God wants us to see with hope because of His presence and power. We can't bring life to these seemingly impossible situations, but He can.

God's promise to Abraham that he would have a son seemed to have expired with age. Sarah, his wife was barren, and his own body was "dead" at the age of a hundred (Romance 4:19; Hebrew 11:11-12). Yet Abraham believed God, "who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations" (Romans 4:17-18).

What leafless, lifeless situation do you see today? Don't believe everything your mind tells you about it. Instead, ask God for eyes of faith that we see with hope.

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Hope this passage will calm the raging storm within you. Notice that Romans 4 is based on faith?

Faith is important. With faith, we look to Christ as our fortress. We know that He is always there beside us, carrying us through winding roads.

Trust God at all times~

1 Peter 5:5-11

Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

"God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble."

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

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Pastor Dale Kurtz laughed so hard that his sides ached. He was watching a frustrated squirrel trying to climb the metal pole supporting a bird feeder. The squirrel repeatedly got part way up, then slowly slid down the pole in a heap. In describing this incident, Kurtz wrote, "What the squirrel didn't know was that I had greased the pole!"

Greasing the pole is one of Satan's tactics to hinder Christians in their spiritual climb. The "grease" he often uses is our own pride, complacency, and self-sufficiency. How satan must have laugh!

Peter listed 4 crucial steps to help us continue our spiritual climb without sliding back.

1. Submitting to one another. (v5)
2. Humbling ourselves before Almighty God. (v6)
3. Casting all our care on our caring Lord. (v7)
4. Discipling ourselves and being watchful. (v8)

These four actions and attitudes allows us to resist satan's attacks (v9) and allow God's grace to strengthen us and cause us to be established in our faith. (v10)

Satan wants to keep us from making progress in our spiritual life. Will you allow him to achieve that? Will you allow him to rule over your life? With the Lord's strength, we can keep on climbing.

Onward and upward your course plan today,
Seeking new heights as you walk Jesus' way;
Heed not past failures, but strive for the prize,
Aiming for goals fit for His holy eyes!

TO AVOID SIN'S TRAGEDY, LEARN SATAN'S STRATEGY.

Isn't this very relevant and useful for us? It's so amazing.. every truth, every precaution, every correction, every conviction and every thing is all in every verse in the Bible! God's Word is the BEST!

Wonderful poem

by Matthias Claudius

We thank Thee then, O Father, for all things bright and good;
The seedtime and the harvest, our life, our health, our food;
No gifts have we to offer, for all Thy love imparts
But that which Thou desirest, our humble, thankful hearts.
All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord for all His love.

Thank you Lord for everything! Make thanksgiving as part of our lifestyle!

1 Peter 2:1-5

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

The Living Stone and a Chosen People
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Unappreciated?

Perhaps you’ve had an experience when kindness was repaid with ingratitude, a generous gift was treated as an entitlement, kind actions were interpreted as an attempt to control, or well-intended advice was received with scorn.

David’s story reminds us that even when it seems as if we’re being repaid with evil for doing good, we don’t have to take matters into our own hands; we can trust God with the outcome.

Happy Earth Day!

The Earth is filled with awe-inspiring, wonderful creations of God. How marvelous it is to know that everything on Earth is created by our great God. His creativity and His greatness is potrayed in this universe. Knowing how beautiful the sun sets and rises, how dignified and high the mountains are, how wide and deep yet splendid are the oceans and how breath-taking nature is, leave us to ponder how impressive the planet that we live in.

However, let us not get so caught up by the beauty of the creations of God. This is ultimately a reminder for us to worship our majestic Creator for His splendor and His sovereignty, for the Creator is greater than the creation.

Thank you, God for everything! Your ways are perfect! Let us be good steward of His blessings and of this orb!

My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever. - Psalm 145:21

Life's Storms

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. - Psalm 37:5

The greatest sermons ever heard were not preached from pulpits but from sickbeds.
The deepest truths of God's Word are taught by humble souls who have gone through the school of affliction.
The most cheerful people met are those who have had the least sunshine and the most pain and suffering in their lives.
The most grateful people ever known were not those who had traveled a pathway of roses all their lives but those who had learned to depend on God.
From 'Our Daily Bread' - April 21, 2001

Personally, living in this ulcerous world is like gasping for air. We go through many phases in life. We meet different kinds of people. We go through mistakes and harsh circumstances and learnt valuable lessons from each of them. Each of us go through various and different tribulations in life and it hurts. Though some others' lives may be perfect, with perfect family and with everything they need and everything they want, let us not be covetous and let us not fret. Because our lives are wonderful gifts from God and we are to live it up to God and for God in spite of difficulties we face. Do not compare. Instead, count the blessings God has given to us every day of our lives. Because what is most important is to invest into eternity, to love God to the max and to live for Him to the fullest and not to fret over things which are of the world. By doing this, we will learn to be joyful in the Lord in the midst of turmoils.

In 1 Timothy 6:8, it says that having food and clothes, with these I shall be content. If we were to lose everything we have in this world, for instance, family and wealth, we shouldn't be blaming God or be against Him, or to give up our lives. Because all we need is God. With God, He is able to pick us up again. He is able to fill our emptiness till it's overflowing. He is able to provide ALL our needs. And in Him we find the joy, love and peace which is fulfilling, special and different that we can't obtain it from anywhere. Because of His eternal love, His sacrificial love, we can trust in Him for He loves us and because His love for all of us is perfect. Although we have sinned a lot that we feel so undeserving, so shameful to be loved by God. Although we are nothing compared to Him due to our flaws and imperfections. But you know what? There is no sin so great that God can't forgive. There are no sins you've committed which can make God love you less. Even the worst criminal of this world does God loves and is ready to forgive him if he were to repent and turn to God. God wants to draw close to you. God desires to have an intimate relationship with you.

God promises that His plans for us are to prosper us and not to harm us. You may wonder, "why am I facing so much trouble and why is my life so miserable if God loves me? " Spiritual realm exists and every second there are spiritual warfare going on in our lives.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
1 Peter 5:8, 9.

Satan well knows how, in every frame of mind to make our condition minister to his devouring purposes. He will follow you, when your soul is all but despairing and he will whisper in your ears—“God has forsaken you and given you over to the will of your enemies.” Because Satan doesn't want us to be with God, he sends problems like diseases, quarrels, broken family, etc so that we will be kept far away from God. Will you allow this to happen? Will you allow the devil to keep trampling on you, overcoming you and laugh at you? Or will you stand up to be a victor?

God has given us the power to overcome the power of darkness in this world. And we need not fear because the One in us is greater than anything else in the universe. We have God, and God will always be on our side helping us. In life's miserable moments, look to God. Do not be overwhelmed by the problem caused by our enemies but seek God and ask God for His strength to go on life's adversities. I strongly believe that God will carry you through in His everlasting arms. He'll never let you go through alone. He is always there waiting for you, you just have to respond to Him. =) Trust in God, in His divine timing, He will do the impossibles.

When we are striked down, battered and trampled by the storms of life, we may tend to give in to feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, we feel abandoned and unloved. But if we commit our ways to Him and trust in Him, we will find the peace and the joy of the Lord in the midst of ordeal. We can trust in God to bring us through the storm. So, don't be striked down by your past. Move on forward in life. There are great plans ahead of you..

Although this life may bring us pain,
Our faith in Christ can help us see
That if we obey His Word
He'll give us joy and victory. - Sper

Lift up your eyes, discouraged one,
The Lord your help will be;
New strength will come from Him who said,
"For rest, come unto Me." - Anon

Jesus said that we'd have trouble
In this world so filled with sin,
But we need not be discouraged-
He'll give peace and joy within. - Sper

Athough the stress and strain of life
My thread of faith may break,
The cable of His faithfulness
No storm can ever shake. - Anon

God tests our faith through trials and tribulations, so that we may trust His faithfulness!

Though crushed by winds of adversary,
I shall never be in despair.
Though torrents of destruction overwhelms,
I shall keep praising His glorious name.
Because of God's perfect love,
I can trust and count on Him.
He never fails me, He never forsakes me,
Because His faithfulness is everlasting.

First healing touch

Today, I woke up feeling a slight soar in my throat maybe due to late nights these few days. If I ever continued like this every day I'm sure the pain will intensify.

But thank the Lord ^^ for He is good. I did my devotion today and I prayed over my throat. And I was healed ^^ whee! So happy!! My first time.. whoa..

I was so thrilled that I quickly went downstairs, took my bro's big o' cup and drank two cups full of water. And then I started to feel so sick in my tummy, lol.

Thank you, Lord! You healed me!

Why?

Proverbs 3

1 My son, do not forget my teaching,

but keep my commands in your heart,

2 for they will prolong your life many years

and bring you prosperity.

3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;

bind them around your neck,

write them on the tablet of your heart.

4 Then you will win favor and a good name

in the sight of God and man.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;

fear the LORD and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body

and nourishment to your bones.

9 Honor the LORD with your wealth,

with the firstfruits of all your crops;

10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,

and your vats will brim over with new wine.

11 My son, do not despise the LORD's discipline

and do not resent his rebuke,

12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves,

as a father the son he delights in.

Have you ever asked God why do you have to suffer in life? Have you ever asked the Lord why do you have to go through so much pain, one after another? And have you asked God why did He send you trials?

Different people go through different kinds of tribulations in life. God has His ways of dealing with us. However, much of this questioning is a misunderstanding of God's dear children with God. Remember that God is good and He has His own good reasons why He put us in perplexing state. And the reason is so that we will grow spiritually disciplined.

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.

Jer 18:1-4

Pastor Clement once talked about the potter and the clay. We are the clay and God is the Potter who molds the clay. And Jeremiah knew, as he watched the potter shaping and molding the clay, that he was looking at a picture of himself, of every man, and of every nation. Jeremiah saw the clay being molded into a vessel. Then, some imperfection in the clay spoiled it in the potter's hand, and the potter crumbled it up, and began anew the process of shaping it into a vessel that pleases him.

Jeremiah saw the wheel turning constinuously which brought the clay against the potter's hand. That wheel stands for the turning circumstances of our life, under the control of the Potter, for it is the potter's foot that guides the wheel. The lesson is clear. As our life is being shaped and molded by the Great Potter, it is the circumstances of our life, the wheels of circumstance, which bring us again and again under the potter's hand, under the pressure of the molding fingers of the Potter, so that He shapes the vessel according to His will.

So Jeremiah watched and learned that every one is a clay in the Potter's hands. God has the rights to make us who He wants us to be. If there is any impurities in the clay which mars the design, the potter simply crushes the clay down to a lump and begin again to make it yet a beautiful vessel according to His own mind.

Then the word of the Lord came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the good which I had intended to do to it."

Jer 18:10

This is another lesson Jeremiah learned at the potter's house. And this relates to our lives as well. When we face tribulations in life or when we may just have passed through it, that harsh circumstances are the wheel of God. If we are not obnoxious, if our will does not mar God's work by murmuring, grumbling, complaining, feeling resentful and bitter, or blaming God and turning away from Him, but accepts the work of God, then the pressure is sure to be relieved, and the vessel takes an even more beautiful shape. But if there is resistance and offenses in us, like some imperfection in the clay, chooses something other than what the Potter has in mind, then the Potter can do nothing else but to crush it down to a lump once again and beginning with the same lump, mold it over into a vessel which suits His heart and mind. The great lesson Jeremiah learned at the potter's house was that of the sovereign control of God.

Remember that God is the potter, and we are the clay. It was His love behind the Potter's hands in the process of molding the clay. In Paul's second letter to Timothy he says,

"In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, some for ignoble. If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble (wrongful attitudes, contentiousness, ungodliness, doctrinal aberrations, iniquity) then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work."

2 Tim 2:20-21

If we were to watch God carefully at work in our lives, we will find that His hands and His feet bear nail prints, and that it is through the blood of the Potter himself, that the vessel is being molded into what He intends it to be.

When we are in God's hands, feeling His pressures, feeling the molding of His fingers, we can relax and trust Him, for we know that this Potter has suffered much more than us and He certainly understands how we feel. He is determined to make us into a beautiful vessel, "meet for the master's use" (2 Tim 2:21) KJV.

The molding of God goes deep, but it is only in the end that we may forget the tribulations and rejoice in the blessings of bearing much fruits for Him; priceless blessings that we are not able to obtain from anywhere but only from the Lord.

As I look back in life, I rejoice in the Lord and thank Him for putting me in His wheel. Put God in the driver's seat of our lives and we can always trust in Him because God's plans for us are to prosper us and not to harm us. But in the process of shaping us into Christ-likeness, it will never be smooth-sailing, this I can promise, but in the end, we will reap harvest of great joy the world can never give.

And I am ever ready for more of His moldings though there is still much to learn, so that I can be turned into a beautiful vase of great use for Him! =)

"No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it" - Hebrews 12:11