sweeleen says:
my life is good.. i love it..
sweeleen says:
but u n i know it cannot b perfect
sweeleen says:
so. depends on how we overcome our problems
Priscilla says:
the Lord is interested in every detail of your life. every detail. he knows the strengths and flaws. when you will stand and when you'd need help. he knows us more than we know ourselves. the smartest thing is to let Him lead. I tried leading my own life. Screwed up. So yea....yea, depends on how we overcome our probs.
_________________________________________
EoS is approaching fast! i know we are all very worried about how we would fare... but there's only so much we can do. surrender all to Him. let Him lead. and everything else will fall into place.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
God's Amazing Ways
Okay since this blog has only been actively updated by Teong Rhen (and supposedly Pei - PEI WHERE ARE YOUR POSTS!), let me do my part by sharing a little about my walk with the Lord.
(brain is currently saturated with lots of G.I. information so please pardon my below-par writing =p)
there are many times which i would feel like i'm at the bottom of the pits. most of the time it's due to frustration with studies but sometimes it happens without reason.
what's amazing is that almost everytime i feel that way, God will speak to me through many means. for instance, Edwina will send me a verse via SMS which i can totally relate to - just out of the blue! what's even more amazing is that this has happened more than once. it's as though she has psychic powers but i know it is all the works of God.
just last week... i was again feeling very down. i kept worrying about the outcome of EoS. will i pass? will i not pass? what if i blank out for OSCE despite the many practices i have had? what if i were to fall sick like i always do?
worries worries worries.
so i took out my bible. without a chapter in mind, i randomly opened to a page and picked a verse. it was Mark 4:35-40 (Jesus Calms The Storm). it was about Jesus and His followers crossing the Sea of Galilee when a large storm comes up - so large that the boat threatens to sink after so much water has entered it. His followers started to panic, worrying that they would drown. Jesus was asleep amidst the storm so His followers woke Him up. He then ends the storm and restores the sea to total calmness, and says to them (in Mark 4:40), "Why are you so afraid? Do you not have faith?"
see what i mean?
another time was a few days ago. i was feeling very very frustrated and annoyed with myself because i was at my study table staring at my notes but nothing seemed to be going in. nothing at all. i would read a line and the next second i'll be asking myself, "OK so what did i read again?!"
i was on the verge of pulling out my hair and tearing my notes apart, so i chose to take a break and i went online. somehow, without much thought, i decided to google one of my favourite Christian songs sung by Darlene Zschech (of Hillsong), Shout To The Lord. i'm sure you've heard of it since it's a famous one. i was reading about the song and how it came about when i came across this :
Darlene composed the praise anthem inspired by Psalm's 92 to Psalm 96 at the time that she was feeling discouraged. "I felt I could either scream and pull my hair out — or praise God" she said. [Wikipedia]
i immediately felt my spirit being uplifted. the solution to our problems is obvious but perhaps we are too stubborn or too self-absorbed to acknowledge it. just praise the Lord! talk to Him! it is so easy.
God is amazing! He has shown me SO much over the years... made me mature as a person - emotionally, spiritually, mentally. i am just really thankful to have found Him.
and i'm VERY thankful to have you guys as friends and to be able to learn His word together.
=)
see you tomorrow! happy studying.
- Swee Leen -
(brain is currently saturated with lots of G.I. information so please pardon my below-par writing =p)
there are many times which i would feel like i'm at the bottom of the pits. most of the time it's due to frustration with studies but sometimes it happens without reason.
what's amazing is that almost everytime i feel that way, God will speak to me through many means. for instance, Edwina will send me a verse via SMS which i can totally relate to - just out of the blue! what's even more amazing is that this has happened more than once. it's as though she has psychic powers but i know it is all the works of God.
just last week... i was again feeling very down. i kept worrying about the outcome of EoS. will i pass? will i not pass? what if i blank out for OSCE despite the many practices i have had? what if i were to fall sick like i always do?
worries worries worries.
so i took out my bible. without a chapter in mind, i randomly opened to a page and picked a verse. it was Mark 4:35-40 (Jesus Calms The Storm). it was about Jesus and His followers crossing the Sea of Galilee when a large storm comes up - so large that the boat threatens to sink after so much water has entered it. His followers started to panic, worrying that they would drown. Jesus was asleep amidst the storm so His followers woke Him up. He then ends the storm and restores the sea to total calmness, and says to them (in Mark 4:40), "Why are you so afraid? Do you not have faith?"
see what i mean?
another time was a few days ago. i was feeling very very frustrated and annoyed with myself because i was at my study table staring at my notes but nothing seemed to be going in. nothing at all. i would read a line and the next second i'll be asking myself, "OK so what did i read again?!"
i was on the verge of pulling out my hair and tearing my notes apart, so i chose to take a break and i went online. somehow, without much thought, i decided to google one of my favourite Christian songs sung by Darlene Zschech (of Hillsong), Shout To The Lord. i'm sure you've heard of it since it's a famous one. i was reading about the song and how it came about when i came across this :
Darlene composed the praise anthem inspired by Psalm's 92 to Psalm 96 at the time that she was feeling discouraged. "I felt I could either scream and pull my hair out — or praise God" she said. [Wikipedia]
i immediately felt my spirit being uplifted. the solution to our problems is obvious but perhaps we are too stubborn or too self-absorbed to acknowledge it. just praise the Lord! talk to Him! it is so easy.
God is amazing! He has shown me SO much over the years... made me mature as a person - emotionally, spiritually, mentally. i am just really thankful to have found Him.
and i'm VERY thankful to have you guys as friends and to be able to learn His word together.
=)
see you tomorrow! happy studying.
- Swee Leen -
Sharing, Receiving and Giving
Hello Joon Heng, Yilin, Pei Shern and Swee Leen.
This blog is for a sole purpose: to share and grow stronger in our faith for Christ. I concede to the fact it may seem inappropraite to share here. But there's a reason why we set up this blog.
It's not cowardly to post up anything. It's not inappropriate to share here. Words are effective, and can be as effective as speech, if not more. Certain items need to be adressed with words, which points to the existence of this medium. I strongly encourage u to utilise it, as we share and grow in areas where Christ intends us to.
Our Bible Study session is for everyone in it. I'm learning a lot from all of u, and I thank God for that. A newly defined thirst and hunger for God's word has sprung from the Holy Spirit that compels me to learn more about God. This is due to God's work for bringing the 5 of us together.
Each of us have a role to play. If we don't lift a step, we won't be able to move. I do not believe in coincidences, because truly, everything is brought about by God. It wasn't a coincidence that the 5 of us were brought together to partake in our deeper search for God's word.
I want to grow. I want to see all of us grow. Let's start sharing. One more thing, anything that's posted can be discussed in our Bible Study sessions!
- TR
This blog is for a sole purpose: to share and grow stronger in our faith for Christ. I concede to the fact it may seem inappropraite to share here. But there's a reason why we set up this blog.
It's not cowardly to post up anything. It's not inappropriate to share here. Words are effective, and can be as effective as speech, if not more. Certain items need to be adressed with words, which points to the existence of this medium. I strongly encourage u to utilise it, as we share and grow in areas where Christ intends us to.
Our Bible Study session is for everyone in it. I'm learning a lot from all of u, and I thank God for that. A newly defined thirst and hunger for God's word has sprung from the Holy Spirit that compels me to learn more about God. This is due to God's work for bringing the 5 of us together.
Each of us have a role to play. If we don't lift a step, we won't be able to move. I do not believe in coincidences, because truly, everything is brought about by God. It wasn't a coincidence that the 5 of us were brought together to partake in our deeper search for God's word.
I want to grow. I want to see all of us grow. Let's start sharing. One more thing, anything that's posted can be discussed in our Bible Study sessions!
- TR
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Pressing Forward, Fulfilling Destiny part II, 27th Jan 08
Hello people. I'm starting to take notes every Sunday, and I'm going to try typing out the sermons and post it up the blog. If u have any thoughts on the sermon, please let me know. There's nothing as interesting as discussing God's word.
Today's message is a continuation of last week's. The Bible verse for the sermon is taken from Hebrews 12:1-2. To the keypoints :
1) There're 3 points that Ps Suresh presented on: dealing, determination, dependency. Let's start with the 1st point- dealing.
2) Some examples were taken from last week's passage. We read from Numbers 13 that the Israeilites had to fight the giants to inherit the promised land. But instead of obeying God and putting their trust in him, they lost faith. They decided that it was better to turn around and return to Egypt, where they were slaves. They were filled were doubts, and their mindset and ultimately, thier choices, were clouded by doubts. They took it to themselves that God was not being fair to them, that it wasn't possible to claim the land from such a "strong" nation. They feared the giants, when the only one they should have feared is God.
God gave his word that He'd deliver the promised land to the Israelites if they followed his word. Of course, the task would not be easy, but victory was nonetheless guaranteed. In this scenario, it wasn't the giants who stood in their way, but the Israelites themselves. They refuse to deal with themselves; they relied on human logic to scrap off the plan of attacking and claiming the land. It's not wrong to use our wisdom to come up with a decision, but when used to disobey God's command, it's a sin. It was a sin the Israelites did not listen to God. In the end, only the tribes led by Caleb and Joshua inherited the land. We have to learn to deal with ourselves; what is stopping us from growing? Is it the constant external pressure that is taking place within us, or is it merely the internal struggle that we're coping with? Pray to God that He'd give us strength to overcome our internal struggles, to lift off these hindrances which are preventing us from progressing, so that we can serve God with a faithful heart.
3) Determination. Lay aside any selfish, sinful desires so that we wouldn't be ensnared. If we're fuelled by desires, but not by a pure, genuine purpose of serving God, to reach a goal, we would fall into the devil's trap. For example, a mouse scurries along with desire of reaching a bait. It reaches the food, but falls into the trap instead of tasting sweet victory. Let's position ourselves to serve God.
4) The third point is simple to understand but difficult to apply. In everything we do, depend on God for the results. There's so much we can do, the rest, we have to leave to God.
That's all I could jot down. Hope it helps.
-TR
Today's message is a continuation of last week's. The Bible verse for the sermon is taken from Hebrews 12:1-2. To the keypoints :
1) There're 3 points that Ps Suresh presented on: dealing, determination, dependency. Let's start with the 1st point- dealing.
2) Some examples were taken from last week's passage. We read from Numbers 13 that the Israeilites had to fight the giants to inherit the promised land. But instead of obeying God and putting their trust in him, they lost faith. They decided that it was better to turn around and return to Egypt, where they were slaves. They were filled were doubts, and their mindset and ultimately, thier choices, were clouded by doubts. They took it to themselves that God was not being fair to them, that it wasn't possible to claim the land from such a "strong" nation. They feared the giants, when the only one they should have feared is God.
God gave his word that He'd deliver the promised land to the Israelites if they followed his word. Of course, the task would not be easy, but victory was nonetheless guaranteed. In this scenario, it wasn't the giants who stood in their way, but the Israelites themselves. They refuse to deal with themselves; they relied on human logic to scrap off the plan of attacking and claiming the land. It's not wrong to use our wisdom to come up with a decision, but when used to disobey God's command, it's a sin. It was a sin the Israelites did not listen to God. In the end, only the tribes led by Caleb and Joshua inherited the land. We have to learn to deal with ourselves; what is stopping us from growing? Is it the constant external pressure that is taking place within us, or is it merely the internal struggle that we're coping with? Pray to God that He'd give us strength to overcome our internal struggles, to lift off these hindrances which are preventing us from progressing, so that we can serve God with a faithful heart.
3) Determination. Lay aside any selfish, sinful desires so that we wouldn't be ensnared. If we're fuelled by desires, but not by a pure, genuine purpose of serving God, to reach a goal, we would fall into the devil's trap. For example, a mouse scurries along with desire of reaching a bait. It reaches the food, but falls into the trap instead of tasting sweet victory. Let's position ourselves to serve God.
4) The third point is simple to understand but difficult to apply. In everything we do, depend on God for the results. There's so much we can do, the rest, we have to leave to God.
That's all I could jot down. Hope it helps.
-TR
Monday, January 21, 2008
Sermon by Pastor Suresh (City Revival) on the 20th Jan
Hello everyone. Pastor Suresh of City Revival gave a great sermon yesterday. I took down notes so i thought of sharing it with u.
The message title was "Press forward, fulfill destiny". The Bible verses for this message were taken from Number Chap 13 and 14.
Ok, we know about the Israelites journey to the promised land after Moses had led them away from Egypt. A journey that shouldn't have taken a long time was unfortunately prolonged to a length of almost 40 years. Pastor Suresh took it from here. His mesage carried a lot of weight on the current situation in Malaysia. That is, however, how I intepreted his message. I'll squeeze in later in this entry about the connection between this message to Malaysia's condition.
I'm not big on preaching, so here's a list of the key notes I took :
1. everyone has to be positioned to serve God e.g. reach out to non-believers, etc etc
2. every choice has it consequences
3. the grass is not always greener on the other side
- trust God on where He intends to place us
- rise up and obey the Lord and pray so that we can be where He wants us to be.
4. don't focus on the circumstances, focus on God! We have to trust God's promises.
- very often, when dealing with a situation so grave, so adverse, we forget about God.
During these times, we fall prey to intimidation and rely on natural instincts and senses
rather than being obedient to God. Here's an example, the Israelites were this close to
inheriting the promised land. 12 scouts were sent from each tribe to check out the land. On
return, 10 people came back with bad reports, and only 2 of them- Caleb and Joshua urged
for the Israelites to take the land, because it was how God intended it to be. They were at
the threshold of victory, but they didn't realize it! All they had to do was to fulfill the
prophecy. U can read about the reason for the Israelites' reluctance in taking hold of the land
Numbers 13.
5. as God suggests in the Bible, there'll be battles ahead. To reach a goal, we have to persevere.
Nothing is going to come easy. Stop running away from battles. We have to face each battle
knowing that God is helping us.
6. we must have the right mentality at a moment of crisis. Crises are essential in our
development. God reveals what's in our hearts at moments of adversity. The way we deal
with them reflects on our faith. God allows "bad" things to happen to us because He wants us
to grow, to mature; in other words, He wants to deal with us.
God touched me through this message in 2 ways. I'm a Malaysian. My country is in turmoil. Do i run away? Or do i choose to stay to face the hardships some ruling quarters have brought upon this country? These are the questions that I'm still facing. The 2nd point is the exact point from the message- dealing with our exposed weaknesses. I pray to God for humility and understanding of His word.
That's about it. I'll add in more stuff into this entry if I can remember more about what Ps Suresh said. And thank you Joon Heng for the new layout!
-TR
The message title was "Press forward, fulfill destiny". The Bible verses for this message were taken from Number Chap 13 and 14.
Ok, we know about the Israelites journey to the promised land after Moses had led them away from Egypt. A journey that shouldn't have taken a long time was unfortunately prolonged to a length of almost 40 years. Pastor Suresh took it from here. His mesage carried a lot of weight on the current situation in Malaysia. That is, however, how I intepreted his message. I'll squeeze in later in this entry about the connection between this message to Malaysia's condition.
I'm not big on preaching, so here's a list of the key notes I took :
1. everyone has to be positioned to serve God e.g. reach out to non-believers, etc etc
2. every choice has it consequences
3. the grass is not always greener on the other side
- trust God on where He intends to place us
- rise up and obey the Lord and pray so that we can be where He wants us to be.
4. don't focus on the circumstances, focus on God! We have to trust God's promises.
- very often, when dealing with a situation so grave, so adverse, we forget about God.
During these times, we fall prey to intimidation and rely on natural instincts and senses
rather than being obedient to God. Here's an example, the Israelites were this close to
inheriting the promised land. 12 scouts were sent from each tribe to check out the land. On
return, 10 people came back with bad reports, and only 2 of them- Caleb and Joshua urged
for the Israelites to take the land, because it was how God intended it to be. They were at
the threshold of victory, but they didn't realize it! All they had to do was to fulfill the
prophecy. U can read about the reason for the Israelites' reluctance in taking hold of the land
Numbers 13.
5. as God suggests in the Bible, there'll be battles ahead. To reach a goal, we have to persevere.
Nothing is going to come easy. Stop running away from battles. We have to face each battle
knowing that God is helping us.
6. we must have the right mentality at a moment of crisis. Crises are essential in our
development. God reveals what's in our hearts at moments of adversity. The way we deal
with them reflects on our faith. God allows "bad" things to happen to us because He wants us
to grow, to mature; in other words, He wants to deal with us.
God touched me through this message in 2 ways. I'm a Malaysian. My country is in turmoil. Do i run away? Or do i choose to stay to face the hardships some ruling quarters have brought upon this country? These are the questions that I'm still facing. The 2nd point is the exact point from the message- dealing with our exposed weaknesses. I pray to God for humility and understanding of His word.
That's about it. I'll add in more stuff into this entry if I can remember more about what Ps Suresh said. And thank you Joon Heng for the new layout!
-TR
Friday, January 18, 2008
First Post
"Seek first the kingdom of God, and the rest will be given unto u."
A couple friends, SL and I got together to form our very own Bible Study group. It was our third session today, and I absolutely loved it. There's nothing else like studying the word of God. Something good was said that sparked something in me, and I feel propelled to share it in this entry.
We were talking discussing about the bible verse of the day. It deeply concerns the sense of loyalty. I believe I've a few loyal friends. Inside this Bible Study group, I hope I can find a sense of loyalty in everyone participating. I know, if there's any negative feeling, any form of insecurity brought to any of us by the evil one, it will be a stumbling block to our development. Lord, I have very high hopes in this study group, God, do not allow anything to happen to us that may break the unity that we're sharing.
A sense of loyalty is very important, especially when u're working together as a team. Yi Lin, Pei Shern, Joon Heng, Swee Leen and I- that's the current line up of our little group. God brought us together. That's undeniable. All of us are of equal status, none is holier than another, God brought us together so we can help each other, so that we can improve our service to God, ignite within us a stronger fire for God, and there's not a better place to do it than these sessions that we share every weekday, after lunch, in a PBL room.
Lord, this is a common ground that we share our thoughts. We shall not be offended by your word, because every word that we utter in these sessions, we utter in Your name. If there's dissastisfaction, let he/she speak out, so that the rest of the group can discuss the problem. Only in this way, we can develop to be stronger Christians. And this is, after all, the whole point of the study group. However Lord, let none of us be blinded by stubborness. Let us also not succumb into the trap of offense. Lord, bless each one of us, help us come into these sessions with expectant hearts. Forgive us if we ever think that it's a burden, give us strength and humility to make this plan a success.
PS, JH, YL, SL, we are all servants of God. let's keep in mind we're doing this for God. I pray that God will bless us with love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness and self control (Galatians chap 5:22). With all these values, I believe everything will go well for us.
I'm ending this entry now, But I have to end with this note: JH, u said u needed someone to push u. We all do. That's why we set up this group. I pray to God that with your help, we can develop into stronger Christians, all in Christ's name.
Also, I have this book- The Bait of Satan by John Bevere. It's a good read. To quote from the book:
The Bait of Satan exposes one of the most deceptive snares Satan uses to get believers out of the will of God- offense. Most people who are ensnared by the bait of Satan don't even realize it.
Anyone who wants to read it, I can lend it. It basically deals with the feeling of offense. I believe it sends out a vital message.
Also, I set tup this blog in case there's anything we need to share with each other and we can't gather at the particular moment. I hope this blog will be a blessing to us.
Till the next entry, goodbye. Praise God for bringing us together. Happy studying!
-TR
A couple friends, SL and I got together to form our very own Bible Study group. It was our third session today, and I absolutely loved it. There's nothing else like studying the word of God. Something good was said that sparked something in me, and I feel propelled to share it in this entry.
We were talking discussing about the bible verse of the day. It deeply concerns the sense of loyalty. I believe I've a few loyal friends. Inside this Bible Study group, I hope I can find a sense of loyalty in everyone participating. I know, if there's any negative feeling, any form of insecurity brought to any of us by the evil one, it will be a stumbling block to our development. Lord, I have very high hopes in this study group, God, do not allow anything to happen to us that may break the unity that we're sharing.
A sense of loyalty is very important, especially when u're working together as a team. Yi Lin, Pei Shern, Joon Heng, Swee Leen and I- that's the current line up of our little group. God brought us together. That's undeniable. All of us are of equal status, none is holier than another, God brought us together so we can help each other, so that we can improve our service to God, ignite within us a stronger fire for God, and there's not a better place to do it than these sessions that we share every weekday, after lunch, in a PBL room.
Lord, this is a common ground that we share our thoughts. We shall not be offended by your word, because every word that we utter in these sessions, we utter in Your name. If there's dissastisfaction, let he/she speak out, so that the rest of the group can discuss the problem. Only in this way, we can develop to be stronger Christians. And this is, after all, the whole point of the study group. However Lord, let none of us be blinded by stubborness. Let us also not succumb into the trap of offense. Lord, bless each one of us, help us come into these sessions with expectant hearts. Forgive us if we ever think that it's a burden, give us strength and humility to make this plan a success.
PS, JH, YL, SL, we are all servants of God. let's keep in mind we're doing this for God. I pray that God will bless us with love, joy, peace, gentleness, kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness and self control (Galatians chap 5:22). With all these values, I believe everything will go well for us.
I'm ending this entry now, But I have to end with this note: JH, u said u needed someone to push u. We all do. That's why we set up this group. I pray to God that with your help, we can develop into stronger Christians, all in Christ's name.
Also, I have this book- The Bait of Satan by John Bevere. It's a good read. To quote from the book:
The Bait of Satan exposes one of the most deceptive snares Satan uses to get believers out of the will of God- offense. Most people who are ensnared by the bait of Satan don't even realize it.
Anyone who wants to read it, I can lend it. It basically deals with the feeling of offense. I believe it sends out a vital message.
Also, I set tup this blog in case there's anything we need to share with each other and we can't gather at the particular moment. I hope this blog will be a blessing to us.
Till the next entry, goodbye. Praise God for bringing us together. Happy studying!
-TR
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