Monday, March 28, 2022

From Depression to Finding God’s Joy

From Depression to Finding God’s Joy https://www.bible.com/en/reading-plans/30588 Today, i wanted to skip blogging but here I am. Last week was really a bumpy week with unexpected challenges. What's new? That's for another day. Back to the above bible reading plan. I decided to join my friend's suggested plan this time. What's new? We have just completed 2 short plans together this month. never been done before! Here are some highlights from Day 1. Join us!

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Monday, March 21, 2022

Seek and Wait

Isaiah 40:31(Amplified Bible)

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
Will gain new strength and renew their power;
They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];
They will run and not become weary,
They will walk and not grow tired
.

Wait, wait, wait. Many many times in my life, I got tired of waiting. Waiting to finally get a better job, waiting to get married 😆(lol), waiting to finally have a nice holiday, waiting to have "work life balance". The list goes on.

Something was missing. I've been waiting for the things I wanted or still want. I was not waiting for Him. I was not seeking Him. (Jer 29:13).

Sure, I was checking off some items in the list of spiritual things to do:
1) Go to church (online service)
2) Read bible (yes, not everyday)
3) Attend Homes (CG)
4) Serve (play guitar)
But, these were just surface level stuff. I knew I had not gone deeper in a long time.

Most of the time, I was waiting for the right time to spend more time with God. I remember using this excuse all the time "God, I'm too tired, how can i enjoy your Word now? Maybe tomorrow". There was always a show/movie to watch. There was always something else to do. Work was always not done well enough or could not be finished on time. (yes, many days were really really beyond my control)

I was not able to wait in silence. I lost the ability to wait and listen.
To cut the long story short, this month March 2022, I wanted a comeback from my setbacks. I wanted to get spiritually fit again. I had to learn to listen and abide in Jesus. Just like physical muscles can't be trained in just one month, I know there's a long way to go. So much discipline is needed to just sit with the bible and pray, journal, etc etc. Disciplne to do and not do (topic for another day).

1 Corinthians 9:27 (New Living Translation)
I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Side story: Again, I visited FGA. I have to give glory to God for speaking through His Word in such a convicting manner. What's even better, I will immediately message(or vice versa) a good friend of mine who also heard the same sermon.We would be amazed how God has been speaking in alignment with what we have been discussing over these few weeks.

Let's also share songs which spoke to you that week :) 

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Monday, March 14, 2022

Hebrews 10:24-25

  24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT)

What has the above image got to do with the verses? Let me explain. It is clearly one of the most commented Facebook post in Pastor Andy's FB wall (and i dare say, most who commented are Christians). What we see here are people recommending all sort of series which are on Netflix. Would you recommend a series you haven't watched and enjoyed? Probably not. It shows that many are spending lots of time on Netflix.

My thoughts: what if we spent more time on the Word? on Kingdom acts of love and good works? Would we then naturally be able to recommend Kingdom stuff to our fellow Christians? In other words, think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works?

The more time we spend with the Word (Jesus is the Word), the more we abide in Him, I believe the more we will be able to encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Let me give just a few examples how everyone encouraged me(fresh from just the last 2 weeks)

1) A friend asked me hard Kingdom questions, which encouraged and woke me up on 2nd March 2022.

2) On 4th March,we had HOMES and most of you shared so many things which were encouraging. I mainly recall one sister's testimony about how she chose to reduce social media and spend more time on Bible etc. She was greatly blessed both spiritually and materially. 

3) We all started to share in whatsapp about what we read. So much spiritual food. I felt the need to reduce entertainment/social media etc and spend more time reading what everyone sent plus my own bible reading, plus i would choose to consume biblical content on Youtube/books/podcasts/etc.

4) Because i had so much Word in me, i somehow was able to talk about Kingdom stuff with 2 Christian brothers 11 and 12 March 2022. They too were struggling and needed encouragement. 

5) I learned so more about the book of Job after spending time to watch videos on Youtube about the book of Job, instead of the mindless scrolling through of content. 

The Book of Job Explained
( i especially like this one. It's 44 minutes long and in the past, i never bothered to finish it. This time, i watched it by parts and learned a lot)

So my dear friends, let's keep encouraging one another!
After i publish this, i am rushing off to play futsal :)

6) Thought of this during futsal resting time. On 9 March 2022, Jason shared about the Peter healing the lame beggar. That somehow gave me faith to lay hands on myself the next morning before i started work. This was because i felt the inflammation (possibly from indigestion) and had been feeling tired the last 3 days. That day, i believe i received supernatural strength to go on and the pain subsided.






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Saturday, May 24, 2014

What's your life's mission?

Woah..when was the last time I blogged?

I was so busy the last few months but this week, I was relatively “free’er”. However, I kinda lost the drive. Perhaps I was on the brink of burning out. “when busy, say no time, when got time, no mood
To be really honest, I decided to take it easy. When I had empty slots, I watched a series I stopped watching for a loooong time. You know, how one episode can lead to another. (bad….)
But, I ended up feeling kinda empty. Coz, I knew I had important stuff to do. But at the same time, doing nothing important may have helped me unwind.
There is more stuff to say but let me go to the main part of my post.

Friday nite came: 23 May 2014 – CG Compassion Nite at church and again I was “available” to play guitar..hehe. I never expected much as I had no idea what the event was about. I also didn’t know I had to play guitar alone, CG style, plugged in! Nervous coz I didn’t really practice..hentam aje lah

Anyway, the time came for individuals to share their experiences about Mission Trips. What made the night special were real experiences by people from my church, from my island. We tend to read/share stuff about people from outside but what about the locals?

It was one of those nights I felt refreshed inside. I needed to hear those people talk. This is one way I believe God speaks to us. When it clicks, it clicks. It’s just hard to explain. I wonder if this is an example of “man shall not live by bread alone”?

I always wondered how going for mission trips for a few days could bring impact. Now I understand better, I think.
I’ll try to summarize what I can recall.
-God wants your availability, not your capability.
-mission trips aren't always about helping others, we may end up strengthening our relationship with God or finding out more about ourselves
-mission trips may remind us that we are nothing and have much more to learn

I was also reminded about the less popular ministries like the Hospital Ministry. These bunch of faithful people visit sick people at the hospital week in week out. One of them eventually became a patient but has recovered. He is back, giving his Saturday afternoons to the needy.

A facebook post mentioned: People don’t care how much you know, they want to know how much you care. Christians.....ouch........


The passion of the people who spoke that nite is something I am not good at explaining in words but their fire reignited mine. I would like to do more with my life than starting at this computer screen.  We all have missions to fulfill, it doesn't necessarily have to be mission trips. Just take a look around you!

What's your life's mission?

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! 

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Monday, May 20, 2013

Lazy Blogger

I've been pretty lazy to write blog posts..I guess Facebook has been the main platform for sharing stuff.

Not sure if I should continue blogging? Or maybe change platform liau?

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Friday, March 22, 2013

Standing Out

There are moments in life when we have to choose to stand out or blend in. They can do it, why can't I?

I will not go into details and neither do I want to boast of what I have done. Choosing to stand out and do what is right before the eyes of God has been really tough.

An article I read reminded me there are others out there who are doing the same:
http://www.proverbs31.org/devotions/standing-apart-everyone-else-2013-03/

One thing I would like to remind myself or hope to say it one day:

"What I have learned through making the hard choices is they come with a great reward: enjoying the pleasure of our heavenly Father."

 

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Monday, March 18, 2013

Do you wanna be rich?

The answer to that question is yes. But in what way? I would want to be rich financially but I have always thought of those poorer and less fortunate than I am.

Would we consider a person to be successful just because of the material possessions they acquire? Often times, yes. I do feel lousy compared to them.

How then can the poor relate? When we say that God wants us to prosper, do we mean financially only? There's a verse saying "It is God who gives us the power to gain wealth". But I feel this is often misused.
If you read it carefully, it actually means "God chooses those whom he wants to be rich" (referring to material wealth). That means, God has the right to allow people to be poor or better to say, not rich.

The rich will then have the opportunity to bless the poor, not lavishly spend on themselves only.

Now, what about us who are not poor but just surviving? We dream of being rich or owning a business but can we? Should we?


It is good to dream but meanwhile, let us have the right perspective of true riches.

We need to be rich INSIDE! I feel this can be applied to all.

I don't have time to summarize so I hope you will spend time reading an article and listening to the message below.

Article link: Asking the wrong question.
http://authenticmanhood.com/2013/02/asking-the-wrong-question/

Sermon Link: Recipients of His Riches
You gotta download it first.
itm.edgeboss.net/download/itm/audio/radio/2013/itm20130305.mp3
22.4 MB
Taken from http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/audio-archives

The greatest treasures of God cannot be bought or sold, and their value cannot be calculated. Nor can they be traded or bartered to acquire more. The Lord has already deposited His riches into our spiritual bank accounts, and as believers, we need only to utilize what is ours. In this message, Dr. Stanley talks about some of the many treasures we have in Christ that we often fail to recognize.

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