Purposefully Being Private

Restricted movement declared for two weeks. 

God speaks to us in all circumstances

Dream On....

So the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat played in the city. What an amazing wonderful time.  

For seven-eight months they have been rehearsing. Last night was the finale. So many lessons from this amazing but true story!

Only God, and He alone, can deposit hope in hopelessness situations, bring about redemption, and an amazing beyond-all-imagination future. The promise that

biblia.com

“.....all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” 

holds true even today. We can't see the end from the beginning - only He can. We can't imagine what lies beyond the horizon - but He's seen it. We can foresee what is around the corner - He already knows.

Thankful!

Good Work Will Be Completed

This is such an assuring verse. What a promise. It can be applied to anyone who belongs to the family of God. It's a promise God keeps! Imagine putting your name after "you". Goose bumps

Being Diligent

It's been a while.

It's even on the header of this blog.

"BE DILIGENT TO PRESENT YOURSELF APPROVED TO GOD, A WORKER WHO DOES NOT NEED TO BE ASHAMED, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH." 2 TIM 2:15.

But I haven't been doing it so well. Forgive me Lord....

Be diligent. Effort is required. Exertion is implied.

Be diligent. Involves earnest endeavour.

Make effort, exert earnest endeavour to study, and to do so with haste. Don't waste time.

It's not being laid back. It's not being apathetic. It doesn't mean just waiting for something to happen.

Not at all.

It means to be forward, to be pro-active, to be intentional.

It means that words aren't enough. Actions need to back the words.

It means being diligent.

Lift My Eyes....

I will lift up my eyes to the hills —

From whence comes my help?

 My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

 He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

 Behold, He who keeps Israel

Shall neither slumber nor sleep.

 The Lord is your keeper;

The Lord is your shade at your right hand.

 The sun shall not strike you by day,

Nor the moon by night.

 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in

From this time forth, and even forevermore.

Psalm 121

Restoration!

"And we know that all things work together for good 

to those who love God, 

to those who are called according to His purpose" 

Romans 8:28

It's been some time now that I have not been able to enjoy the sound of my Ovation guitar without a dreadful rattle which didnt seem to be fixable.

I sent it for repairs and the rattle could still be heard. 

One day, my heart sank further when I picked it up and heard a dreadful clang - the entire sound control panel had fallen off! It fell right into the body of the guitar!

For months I let it be. I was too busy, and I was at a loss as to where I should send it. Was it worth fixing in the first case?? 

Then just before Christmas I decided I would do something about it. I felt I should pass it to someone I knew. His family owned a shop selling musical equipment but I sensed they could repair it. 

Initially my friend said he couldn't help. He would have to ask his father if he could do it. Dad was the sifu. 

So I waited.

And waited. 

Then I was told it could be fixed I was elated!

Then a setback - now that the panel could be mounted back on, the electronics was out. Sigh.

After another wait, I was told yes, they were able to fix everything! So I rushed over as soon as I could.

When I got there, I found there were a few things that still needed tidying up on. So I waited....  

Then, I played it.

It was better than before.

In fact, the rattle had disappeared!!

Another case of ALL things working out for good - the rattle had been caused by the loose bracket which eventually fell off. And now,  it was fixed back on, it was fine!

Praise God!

Ponder Fodder

Some days it can be a bit like this. Feeling kind of alone, out in a high dry chilly place. 

Thankful for the reminder that God knows about each and every sparrow. In fact, His Word says "....The very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" Matthew 10:30,31. Thankful indeed  

Speaks Volumes

It was just sitting there, waiting to catch my eye. This little gift from a friend to Arrow #1. He couldn't take it with him even though it was so nice. So we left it in his room, on the table, for guests to enjoy whenever any came by.

That day, as I sat in the room to do some reading, I put the case of my Bible alongside the pewter eagle and didn't think anything of it. 

Until it was time to pack up my Bible and go. Then I saw it.

Somehow it makes an apt picture. Don't you agree?

The Continuation

Since my last post, I have battled with ill health. It's not a nice feeling. I find it hard to think, to even find God. I make mistakes, I tire easily, I get breathless and I am functioning below par.

All I can do is to hold on to this.

2 Corinthians 12:9
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

More at a later date.

A Story of Forgiveness, Hope and Love

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. What a musical. What an inspiring true tale from Genesis.
God is so amazingly good. We embarked on the musical because the Senior Pastor felt that the Lord asked us to. So he told us.

And the church responded.

Over 170 people involved in one way or another for the days of the performances. This doesn't include those who helped out before the performances. That's a lot when you think the church is only 600 strong.
And what an amazing five-performance-over-over-four-nights it has been!

There were many responses received. Now to process them, link them, touch base with them and be a part of introducing them to a closer relationship with the One Who made it all happen....!

Manna

The ladies in the church are about to leave for a weekend away. It's called a Breakthrough Weekend where we are expecting God to break into our lives so that we can break free as we experience breakthroughs in areas that God highlights.

I have been asked to be a facilitator (despite not having been for one before since I am still fairly new to this church!)

As part of our personal preparations, we are asked to do readings.... a fair bit really.

One of them is a whole chunk of Isaiah.

This morning, I got to the 60th chapter.
To my delight, I found myself re-living a memory 5 years ago where the Lord had promised me something then.... and now, I see it coming to pass. I recall at the time when I received the promise that I didnt think the latter parts would be true for me.

Yet is is. And so I am blessed. I have received fresh manna for the day.... and I think this will last for a while more than a day!

Praise God!

The Tree by the Lake

This is a tree we saw in Korea when we visited one the famous buildings there. It was right next to a lake that was frozen over.
I could not help but be reminded of the Bible verse about being planted by the river.

Jeremiah 17:8 (New King James Version)

⁸ For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Scripture Memory

It's true.

The best time to do Scripture memory is when you are young, and of school-going age.

It's true.

As you grow older, it gets harder.

It's sadly true.

If you havent been doing it regularly, it is hard to pick it up again.

It's awfully true.

The ones that you try to memorize in latter age dont stick as well as the old ones.

So please pray for me as I embark on this mammoth memory verse exercise.

And do yourself a favour - don't repeat my mistake. Keep those grey cells going and treasure the Word by hiding it in your heart aka memorise it!

Thot for the Day

Truth alone does not set free.
Truth applied does.

Word Filled Wednesday #2

"Isn't this wonderful". "Isn't it majestic". "Such wonderful technology". "Amazing skills". "Wonderful designs". "Unique". "Masterpiece". "Majestic".

Such superlatives were used on a man-made creation we were shown recently. I could not help but think of man's pride as I listened to the effusive description.

Then I saw this display of flowers. And I was reminded.

Word Filled Wednesday

Found this site. It's cool. I like it. And I am not too late to join if I lived in another time zone! Hahaha!
Got these goodies from Mothers Day. I am not exactly weak, but felt rather overwhelmed by the display of love through these gifts from people who are not exactly well off... They saved their coins all year round - from one Mother's Day to the next....

Shaking Hands to Memorize

We have begun Intentional Discipleship Training in the church I work for.

Part of the training requires us to memorize Scriptures - naturally.

I find that when we put a physical activity to something we want to remember (e.g. writing a reminder, typing a text, doing an action) helps to jolt the gray matter. It somehow increases the retaining power.

So we did that recently - we did actions to recite our memory verse with.
I couldn't resist taking photos instead of reciting to my partner!

Sword Drill!

A lot of our day to day phrases are taken from the Bible.

"Money is the root of all evil" is an oft quoted one, although it is a MISQUOTE.

Another would be "A threefold cord is not easily broken".

Yet another phrase we use is "Let tomorrow worry about itself"

We use these phrases, and more, without realizing the source.

I think it's time we brought back the Sword Drill - the Bible being the Sword of the Holy Spirit, and the drill being us being challenged to find the verses in the Bible when commanded to!

Depressd?

Have you been feeling blue?

Well according to some experts, January 19, 2009 was the most depressing day in HISTORY!

In particular for places like England, where they are not only facing cold, miserable weather, but also having to deal with shattered New Year resolutions, fast faded mellow-Christmas memories and worse, a really bad downturn in their economy.

To make matters worse, being depressed makes you susceptible to colds and flus.

It was expected that millions will feel so miserable and sick that they will call in sick, deciding to stay in bed instead.

This is all through research of course. There is even a mathematical formula for working this out, based on six depressive factors!

It is just as well that the Bible teaches us that a merry heart does good like medicine. Also, it tells us that when we are not wise in our own eyes, when we fear the Lord and depart from wisdom, we have health in our flesh and strength in our bones. (Proverbs 1:13; 3:7) In Philippians 4:4-9 also has powerful gems for a good life. In fact, it talks about how to have a positive mindset, how to be cheerful and how to be at peace.

Pretty much like the news article quoting all these specialists actually...

But it was already written in the Bible centuries ago. There is no need to consult these specialists.

Just consult THE Specialist.

Lamp & Light

God's Word is a Lamp to my feet, a Light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Lamps and lights illuminate. They shine into the darkness and the darkness cannot resist. It has to flee. Darkness is the absence of light.

Lamps and lights show the way. They help to make sure we are on the right track.

Lamps and lights brighten up the dark space. They help to show what the potential pitfalls are.

Similarly the Word of God. There are many promises attached to us keeping the Word of God. This blogsite is dedicated to sharing more (short) insights and discoveries to the Word of God, as well as to encourage one another in our walk of obedience.

Today, ask the Holy Spirit, the best Counselor, Teacher and Guide, to show you insights into His Word unlike anything you have had before.

May you be blessed with the reading of His Word.