Tuesday, November 24, 2009
James 1:2 "my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials"
- Exams!!! (my very small trial. hahaha)
James 1:5 "if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach"
- how the Lord knows we lack so many things.. and He is a wellspring of goodness!
James 1:12 "blessed is the man who endures temptation"
- never blame God for any temptation you are unable to resist -- if the devil has a hold on you, its cos you havent been asking the Lord for enough strength
James 1:17 "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no variation and shadow of turning."
- God is truth. there is also one truth, one morality, and this is judged by God's standard - there is no grey area.
James 1:21 "therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."
- the Lord's Word implanted in your heart!
James 3:6 "and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. the tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell."
- be careful with the words you say!
James 4:7-8 "therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. draw near to God and He will draw near to you..."
- the Lord defeats the evil one. He is an everlasting God.. faithful, loving, gracious, forgiving. :)
James 4:14 "come now you who say 'today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit" (THIS TOTALLY SOUNDS LIKE OUR LIFE PLANS SOMETIMES which is terrible hahaha)
James 4:15 "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. for what is your life? it is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."
- only the Lord knows how im gonna do for this round of exams.. it is not because of what i plan, what i do, or what i hope. it is the Lord's will for my life.. He has proven to be gracious and merciful - i have no reason to doubt that His goodness will not overflow even in this season of my life!
James 5:16-18 (and all the above... enduring trials... enduring temptation... receiving the implanted Word... reigning in your tongue... trusting in the Lord's will...)
it all culminates into this- effectiveness in prayer.
"... the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for 3 years and 6 months. and he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit."
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours... and yet God paid very special attention to His prayers.
Daniel 10:12 "do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words."
from the day i set my heart to understand the Words of the Lord, He promised to hold onto me, hear me and complete the good work He has begun in me. im not always perfect.. always learning, but i am so much more at peace with the fact that exams are upon me (beginning tomorrow), and as much as there are still gaps in my knowledge of the law, i know ive done my best and the rest of it is in God's hands.
pray for me!!! :)
12:00 AM
Monday, November 16, 2009
2 Peter 1
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
and again in 2 Peter 3
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
being ever more diligent in moving towards an assurance of the Lord's calling for me in my life and being found in Him, pure and blameless. :)
4:10 PM
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
these few days i have been pondering the idea of love..
1 John 3:18-19 encapsulates this so perfectly
"my little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. and by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him."
it is in times of my deepest weakness that i realise how the Lord pre-empts our every move! and with each weakness He gives a promise. Philippians 1:6 says:
"being confident of this very thing, that He who begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
cos He knows i am incomplete and im always failing, lapsing into sin time and again, He promises me that He will continue working on me if only i will let Him.
to love is a commandment that i have not fully learnt to practise. it is a commandment that i have barely even begun to understand. but God is faithful, step by step.. :)
5:00 PM
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
first off, ms ng jinyee has enlisted my help to plead with all of you to please comment on this blog with an answer to that one short survey question. please!
real school is starting in FIVE DAYS. after a year and three months of chilling. i have finished 10 seasons of friends, 5 seasons of how i met your mother, 1 season of private practice and all the other intermittent episodes of random shows along the way. i have lived away from my friends, my family and my home. i have experienced a different climate (-30degrees), frozen half to death. i have learnt french. i have attended and served in a different church in a different country. i have sung in two different choirs and an a capella group. i have visited more places this past year than i have the last 20 years of my life. chicago, indiana, champagne, seattle, new york, L.A., vancouver, victoria, calgary, tofino, london, belgium, edinburgh, paris, bintan (haha).
all of that doesnt sound like much..and sometimes i do feel like i wasted my exchange experience. i didnt have as much fun as my other friends. i didnt get out that much, or see as many interesting things. i dont have as many photos or as many friends to account for that experience. but as i browse through my facebook notes and blogs that recount my time spent in that little city on an island far, far away.. i know that it wasnt a waste. i didnt grow as exponentially in faith as i wanted to- but i did grow a considerable amount. i grew in my friendships with 4 very special people..and i hope these friendships last a lifetime. i learnt to take things slow.. i had ups and downs in my faith, but i experienced service and a Christian community halfway around the world. my mindset is no longer as narrow, my faith less pharisaical, my heart a little more willing to love.
but more than all of that, i have found the Lord to be faithful above all of this. He was with me the day that i freaked out in victoria cos i didnt have a place to stay for the night, when i MISSED MY FLIGHT and through all the other crappy things.. He stood with me the rest of the way through.
just like He's gonna stand with me the rest of the way through my final year at NUS! i cannot believe im in my 4th year.. seems like just yesterday that we were in year 1. ben bitching about everything in sight (some things never change.. HAHAHAH), shopping online during lectures, lunches at adam road, da paoing dinner when we're all chionging for exams in school.. ITS GONNA BE OVER SOON AND IM GONNA SIGN MY LIFE OFF TO SOME LAW FIRM AND THAT WILL BE IT FOREVER. :(
the prospect of school starting freaks me out. but im going to go with the lessons i have learnt from the book of Proverbs..from Psalm 27.. from the Ephesians devotions enoch and i are reading together..from Luke 5 in Pastor's class.. from Numbers being taught at prayer meeting. and im going to pray for strength, focus and revival.
CS Lewis: When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. if He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others- not because He has favorites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight, though it has no favorites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one.
You can put this another way by saying that while in other sciences the instruments you use are external to yourself (things like microscopes and telescopes), the instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred- just like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope.
how true. the times i see Him the most clearly is when i have asked for forgiveness and cleansing. when i recognize my wretchedness but accept His grace. when i do my best to work through my sins. when i love with my actions and my words, when my heart's motives are pure. and that is not through my own doing, i think. for i think God is also the hand that cleans the mirror of my self as He is the sunlight that shines on it.
its a new beginning.. and i hope it will be a great one (:Labels: new beginning
10:31 AM
Saturday, July 04, 2009
i have read this article and i am amazed.
in these past two weeks i have been wondering about the real argument why Bethany stands against tongue-speaking. after a lengthy discussion with Pastor Mitch, i was convinced. after i read this kick-ass awesome article, i am doubly convinced!
if you have no interest on this subject, dont even bother. the article is insanely long, you'll get bored and you'll leave with a half-baked understanding on the subject. if youre gonna read it, read every word right till the very end, and it will show you the Biblical perception of speaking in tongues.
there is no way out of this.. some of my friends have told me that they believe in the gift of tongues because they have experienced it. what is experience when you compare it to the Word of God? experience is flawed, God's Word is perfect. experience is subjective, God's Word is not. i especially enjoyed the first and last part of the article.. it starts with a big bang and it ends with a bigger bang. hahaha. i am especially impressed by Bible scholars who have extensive knowledge of the original text of the Bible..sometimes the English translations do not bring across the intended meanings of the writers adequately, sometimes resulting in misinterpretation of the Word.
i especially like how the author has a real nice sense of humor: For the past two years I have made it my practice to ask many of the leading Bible teachers and scholars, some of whom having a rich working knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, if they have ever spoken in tongues. Among them are college and seminary presidents and professors. To date I have not had one of about sixty men tell me that he ever spoke in tongues!
I have been asked if I ever spoke in tongues. No, I have not. God and I have gotten along nicely for the past forty-five years in English. I speak to Him in English and He hears and understands me. He speaks to me in English through His Word, and I understand Him. (haha)
ive listed 3 points that struck me about this article below-
points that struck me!
1) Paul was addressing the misuse of tongues in the Corinthian church, he was NOT advocating it. this can be seen from 1 Corinthians 3:1-3. they even engaged in gross sin (1 Corinthians 5:1)
2) "Perfect" in 1 Cor 13:10 is a reference to the completed Word of God, the Bible. it cannot be a reference to Christ.
If Christians would take seriously, within context, all of the teaching about tongues in 1 Corinthians, they could not fail to see that tongues-speaking would cease. Paul writes, “Charity (love) never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away” (13:8). There will always be the need for love, therefore love will never drop off. But when the canon of Scripture is made “perfect” (or complete), there will be no further revelation from God, neither in predictive prophecy nor in divinely revealed knowledge other than prophecy. The gifts of “prophecy” and “knowledge” will be entirely unnecessary with the completion of the Scriptures. And “if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book” (Revelation 22:18).
Paul acknowledged the incomplete nature of the Scriptures in his day when he said, “For we know in part, and we prophecy in part” (13:9), or more literally from the Greek, “For in part we are knowing, and in part we are prophesying.” Then he adds, “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away” (13:10). The word perfect is in the neuter gender, and therefore refers to the perfect (finished or completed) Word of God. If the word perfect referred to Christ it would be in the masculine gender. The sign gifts were “done away” (rendered inoperative) with the completion of the New Testament.
3) this does not mean that i do not believe in miracles. God has the power to and He might do miracles today. BUT..
God does have a plan in His dealings with the human race, and that plan does not necessarily include the continuing repetition of the same miracles in every succeeding century. The miracles of God are rare occurrences in history. Enoch’s bodily translation from earth to heaven was the only recorded miracle performed by God in over 1700 years between Adam and the flood.
The Church of Christ does not need a new Bible, nor new apostles, nor new faith-healers, nor new charismatic movements, nor self-styled miracle workers. What the Church needs is to return to the Word of God and proclaim the whole counsel of God in the power and love of the Holy Spirit.
this is what i believe in. and i think point number 3 as emphasized by the author is quite right. what the Church really needs is a return to the Word of God. it is so hard to find a Church that preaches the Word of God in depth..so profoundly.
im done with my incessant ranting..but i have to end with this:
from past experience, ive realised that controversial notes always draw some not so nice comments and people get all riled up that im stating my stand, so just a disclaimer that i mean no offense and if you are a strong, Bible-believing Christian.. God meant gifts to result in unity, not division. so if you read this article, read it with an open mind. if you have a valid Biblical basis for a different belief, do share. but if you have something mean to say.. pray about it and ask God if you should at all! i am sure that He would tell you not to. hurhur.
if nothing at all, i hope the article proved to be an interesting read..it was an amazing read for me. thank God that He provides teachers of His Word! (:
12:28 AM
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
today i was reminded of the unconditional love of our Lord and Savior through this.
its sobering each time i falter in the vows i have made to the Lord. but yet back in His arms i know that i find healing, i find peace, i find love, open arms and hope.
ive been replaying 'sweetly broken' by jeremy riddle over and over on my ipod these past two weeks. the chorus goes:
at the Cross You beckon me
draw me gently to my knees and I am
lost for words
so lost in love
I am sweetly broken,
Wholly surrendered.
sweetly broken, Wholly surrendered.
this past year i have been learning many lessons on loving..to love with the kind of love that Christ displayed so fully, so flawlessly, so perfectly. as much as i realize that i am so far from attaining that goal, i thank God everyday that i have perfection as my example. when Christ came, there was not a hint of pride in His Being. before He died, He didnt make sure that He drummed into our thick skulls the extent of His sacrifice. He didnt yell, He didnt struggle. Like a sheep before its shearers is silent, He held His peace. He was unblemished in every way and yet He chose.. this is my perfect expression of love.Labels: perfect love
1:22 AM
Thursday, May 14, 2009
boston with t milton and aunty shiao yee has been AWESOME.. nyc was great but this is so much better. for one, sleeping in the kids' playroom is like staying at a 5 star hotel after 7 nights in the most kick ass rundown nyc apartment ever. hahahah. but the best part has to be having ethan and nathan around (: they are the sweetest little darlings! ethan is tall and verrryyyy handsome now, nathan has grown lots and chatters non-stop all the time hurhur. i love having these energizer bunnies around all the time, kids are just awesome.
so i thought it was pretty apt that i read 1 Peter 2:1-3 again today
1 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
when you hold a child, its a lovely feeling cos you know thats about as sweet as they ever get.. as they grow older it gets worse. hahahah. but i suppose thats why peter exhorts us to be as newborn babes- free of deceit, focused on the Lord alone.
you cant please everyone. no matter how close to perfect you might be, theres gonna be someone thats gonna pick you apart and dislike you no matter what. (and lets face it, all of us arent even close to perfect, what with all the mistakes we make haha). when people choose to pick you apart.. ive learn that the first thing to do is ask yourself whether or not the fault lies with you. if it does, admit that you are wrong, and move on. sounds simple eh..but not all the time! as i struggle with asking for wisdom to manage my human relationships, as i recognize that not everyone can forgive me my mistakes and shortcomings as easily as i have been forgiven in God's sight, i pray that i will appreciate this gift of salvation in a whole new and precious way.
i feel like there is so much that the Lord is trying to teach me at this moment..i pray that my heart be still enough to hear what He is trying to say.
10:21 AM
