Of Forgiveness

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord. On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

- Romans 12:17-21


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


Recently I felt betrayed by a friend of mine.
I was utterly disappointed and angry with him.
My blood was boiling.

But

I decided to make peace with him by talking things out.
It went well... on the surface.
But deep inside there is still anger.
The forgiveness wasn't genuine.
It started not to feel right.

But.

Jesus forgives us.
We can forgive because Jesus first forgives us.
I prayed and forgiven him.
I felt released from the resentment I had.

Thank you Jesus for your love.

Of Races

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

As all of you know, I love running, especially in long, gruesome races such as AHM and Standard Chartered. Running such races requires lots and lots of preparation. I have gone thru tough training programmes during my preparation for my races. Not training well enough can result in a poor race or even injures on race day.

Christians also run a race. We are running towards the day we meet Jesus and the heavenly rewards. The training comes from our prayer, going deep into the Word, and worship. And these are the very training programme that we need to adhere to ensure we run the race well.

My main motivation when I run are the flashback moments of me crossing the finish line, with the crowd cheering and seeing a new personal best timing on the clock.

The same goes in our spiritual run. Keep the God and his heavenly inheritance for you in mind and perservere on in the training!

Of 언어

Today during service, we sat around some Korean visitors. It was quite fun. I always enjoyed worhshipping among people of all nations, be it Americans, Africans, fellow Asians, etc... The last time I experienced this was probably during the G12 conference.

Our God is a God of many language. In fact his love trancends the language barrier. And everytime when I worship among them, there is a sense of joy within me. This is a sneak peek at how is it like to see ALL NATIONS, people of all tribe and tongue worshipping the same good God. Its an awesome feeling.

Let this be an encouragement to those going to Shenyang, especially those who might felt that language is a barrer. Let the language of love flow! The day for China will come!

신은 너를 강복한다 (God Bless You)

Of The Best-est Guide Ever

ORD loh! (Sorry Luke and Charlie bird!)

The day I've been waiting for 2 years is finally less than 20 days away. Super happy about it. But with it comes a question: What next?

This topic has been floating around in my camp (and most probably in the minds of most "ord personnel", and sometimes we really don't know what to do next. Thank God that he has given me a place in NTU, and even a good job before I starts school.

But what if all that didn't happen? What should we do? Pray. God is our best compass. God is all knowing. God planned for us. So when we are lost, seek him! He's our best-est guide.

Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me - Psalm 31:3

For this God is our God for ever and ever;
he will be our guide even to the end. - Psalm 48:14

Are we lost for directions? Seek the Lord and trust that whatever direction given will be good.

Send forth your light and your truth,
let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell. - Psalm 43:3

In Luke, Zechariah prophesied that Jesus has come...

...to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to GUIDE our feet into the path of PEACE. - Luke 1:79



Yeah. ORD loh! in 19 days.

Of ......

I'm crying again.




Psalm 42:5-6
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.


Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to him in song.

Of Frets and Worries

Psalm 37:8-9
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.




I am good at imagining things. But this strong sense and ability gave me a problem: it made me think too much, and worrying too much. For those who know me well enough should be aware of this. It can get out of hand sometimes.

Why am I worrying so much? Doing so will only makes me more anxious, makes me unstable.

Instead of focusing on my worries, I should focus on God, his goodness, and his mighty control over all things great and small. That would give me peace in times of troubles and uncertainty.

God is in control. He has been, and always in control.

Matthew 6:34
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.


Application: Focus on God when worries and paranoia kicks in. God is in control.

Of Significance

"You are significant."
Amen.



Jeremiah 1:5a
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
Amen.



At the altar today,
Charles and Daniel prayed for me.
God spoke.
Cried my heart out.

I remembered that God knew me long before I was born.

I was feeling discouraged.
I was feeling unwanted.
I was feeling inadequate.
I was feeling embarrassed.
I wished I could disappear.

But I remembered that God knew me long before I was born. He thought of me as valuable.
I am insignificant not.



Brothers, pray along with me as I fight this.

Of Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.



Amen.

Of Blessings and Curses

Blessings and curses- two things of opposite meanings, are placed together by Pastor Seng Lee today at the family meeting today.

Mismanaged blessings can become a curse, he mentioned. Just like good food (yum yum), everybody likes good food. But if taken out of proportions, uncontrolled, un-careful, may result in diseases, overweight, and many other health problems.

I thought that can applied to me and I felt God is reminding and warning me of that danger, from another perspective:-

I always thank God for giving me the talent of creativity and an eye for beautiful things; and using it as a career tool to make a living. This talent has blessed me richly, especially so recently with all the big projects and clients.

But this blessing can be mismanaged and be turned into a curse.

What happens when I get too busy?
What happens when I get too tired?
What happens when I get too lazy?
What happens when I get too engrossed?

Do I...
A. Skip quiet time, prayer time? Do I skip G12 meetings and even Church?
B. Choose to obey God, obey my leaders, and do what I am supposed to do?

Duh? B!

But I don’t rule out the possibility of option “A” happening if I am not careful. I should then guard myself and know the balance. And God will bless us back for we have placed Him #1.

Of Negatives

This is a picture of me putting on my uniform AT HOME for the first time since BMT. Due to a series of unfortunate chain of events, we were made to book in and out in smart 4, even at 53 days to ORD. And many other nonsense is coming our way. Mess closed. Nights off banned etc, thank to an insane superior with his insane punishments.

I can be negative about this and be complaining 24/7 or I can face this positively, showing other how christians behave. This has also brought me to the issue of being negative, and its consequences.

Numbers 13:25-29

They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hitties, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

When we are facing a difficult decision, or met with challenges, do not let potential difficulties stop us from God’s power to help and guide us. Focus not on the negative side. Do not let the giant “Amalekites” overshadow God’s greatness, goodness and His helping hand.

Luke 1:37

For nothing is impossible with God.

Numbers 13:30

Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Have Faith. Have courage. DO NOT WORRY.
Be negative, NOT.

Of Distractions and Excuses

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion in Christ.

The Lord led me to this passage and it presents a problem in many christians today- distractions.
As easy as naming the goodness of spending quiet time with God, we can also give a long list of things we can do other than quiet time. Endless work, television, internet, tiredness, procrastination, laziness, and the I-will-do-it-before-I-sleep mentality, which I myself is guilty of sometimes (very often, it would end up like an eight-hour prayer when you will say “amen” when you wake up)

Pastor Seng Lee emphasized not long ago regarding the importance of spending time with God and I, we, need to repent if we have been giving discounts on our time, giving excuses, distracted by a million other things.

I was on guard duty on Sunday 2 weeks back and caught up on the sermon via the video (which is really really cool! It is a also a good way to revise and reexperience the sermon once again). Pastor Melvyn said in his sermon of "Sow What?" that we reap what we sow, we reap AFTER we sow and we reap MORE than we sow.

Rid all distractions, stop giving excuses, and press on, and we shall reap what we sow!- a closer relationship with God, a more sensitive ear to the Holy Spirit, more insight and knowledge on the Word of God and the list goes on and on...

Have you done your Quiet Time today?
God is waiting for you.

Of Courage

I was on the train travelling back home from G12 Conference and Mr J, my camp mate messaged me. He asked if he could sleep on my bunk bed tonight cos' his bed was dirty. I asked him why is his bed is dirty he said there's some beer on it.

This evening is the opening of G12 conference. It is also the opening of the Specialists' Mess in my unit. So everyone was invited over for a (or lots of) drink; Beer to be specific. I was lucky enough to be away from it thanks for G12 conference. At least I won't get intoxicated by the alcohol be it accidental or not, deliberate or not.

So back to the beer on bed thing: After a few exchanges of SMSes, I found out that the reason why Mr J has beer on his bed was because my guys were aiming Mr A's (some guy whom everyone dislike, and i mean ultimate dislike) bed and some of the liq ended up on Mr J's.

I asked myself. If I was there, what would I have done? I started to imagine me stopping everyone from doing such a horrible act on Mr A. Saying stuff like "if you want to do it, do it to my bed first." (whoa!), or maybe using brute force to stop them.

But seriously. Would I have done that or would I just stand there and look at Mr A's bed getting trashed.

I don't know.
Maybe Not.
Perhaps.
What if...
Alright... but...
I don't know. Really.
Maybe.
Yes.
Argh!!

It would be very very very bold of me to do what I imagined. I may be subjected to scoldngs or even beer on my bed! Or at worst, being put together with Mr A and labelled at a 'reject' (although I think the possiblity of that is very very very small; my friends quite like me. Hahaha! Shameless me.) It is very unatural of me to do so. BUT...

Hebrews 13:6
So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"

2 Timothy 1:6-8
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline

The power of the Holy Spirit can help us overcome our fear of what some might say or do to us. I pray that I will be able to exercise this and show the world what a true christian is made of.


To be or not to be?

Of Ways and Plans

I need to apologize for not being able to be part of this exciting blog before today. There are a few reasons. First is of course due to my situation of being a stay-in personnel, and I am really tied down with work commitments and guard duties during the weekends. But I am glad that I finally took time to write this. So, hello again.

Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This scripture popped out at me when I was reading the book of Isaiah (yes, Isaiah is reading Isaiah).

Have you found yourself in this situation?:- When a problem hits us, there are many reactions we can have- we can blame, be it ourselves, others, and sometimes, even God. Then we will try and rectify the problem ourselves by thinking of solutions ourselves, or asking help from others. And only when we are on our wits-end, THEN we pray.

On the other hand, even if we pray, are we praying to ask God to let (our plans) take place or ask God for a direction or solution. So since its in God’s plan that a certain problem hits you, would you just ask for a solution and live happily ever after or would you also ask God what is He trying to teach you?

Is God your plan or your planner? Is God your tool or teacher?