Answers

It can get really frustrating when you can't give or find answers to tough questions.

I have been bombarded with all sorts of questions within a sort time and the worst part, I'm questioning myself and God. I can't even help myself and now I have to help others? It does feel like being a hypocrite

- a Muslim friend asks about Jesus being God..it takes so much time to even study this
- a friend going tough times and all we can say is I will pray for you???
- at my work place, customers ask all sorts of questions
- questions about life , what success is , am I at fault to be where I am?
- am I on the right path?
- apologetic questions
the list goes on

God, I need help!


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Under Attack

This post will only apply to Christians, who are trying to walk with God, who try to follow Him.

It seems that we tend to fail in so many ways. I get very frustrated that I have battles that non-Christians don't have to fight. It's like we have so much to do(and not do) and the burden gets so heavy.

But, I am reminded that we are constantly under attack. We are tempted to give up, to give in, to complain, etc etc. Every time I fail, it feels like it an impossible task to try again. Somehow, I get up and ask God for help. TRY!

I don't want to use the excuse that men are not perfect to go on doing what is wrong or do not do what is right. In my imperfection, I can go to Jesus and ask Him to lead, one step at a step in the road to holiness. This is the hope we have, that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Are you doing anything about this? When was the last time you read a Christian article or listened to sermons?

The link below is something related to "being under attack".

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/watch-out-or-the-devil-s-gonna-get-you

 This sermons also really speaks a lot:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/resist-the-devil

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One Thing

How's 2013? Tough right from the start. We all have many things we want to tick off in our goal and to-do list.
Well, 2012 was really filled with so many challenges and setbacks. But, I'm glad God has given me the strength to start again. I repeated some old habits in Jan 2013 but I found that I was fed up of being ignorant and lazy and selfish.

So, I began a new journal (2012's journal didn't go quite well but better than the year b4) and started listening to sermons related to or reading about how to get things right with God and how I should start my year.

One thing to learn from the past is: never think you are too smart to do it all on your own or that you have read or gone through enough. Seek help and reminders (from the right sources, pls) . For me, my help was from books/articles and mostly sermons online.

We often fail because we aim to do too many things. If you have been failing, try doing one thing at a time this year.

Here's one example.
 ONE THING

To listen online:
http://www.touchinglives.org/multimedia/audio-broadcasts/?showAud=404

Download Link:
http://www.touchinglives.org/uploads/tx_wecsermons/3300_One_Thing.mp3

Did you start this year with a Resolution?  Most New Year's Resolutions fail, often because we don't know the best way to achieve the goal we hope to accomplish.   As we start 2013, James Merritt talks about the Biblical way of keeping that New Year's...

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To Bribe or not to bribe?

Ever been in situation whereby you were "forced" to take a ticket or pay a "smaller amount" to escape?
 It was really a challenge as I had my 1st SAMAN. In the past, I had escaped once because the officer was "too lazy" to book me when I told him I would rather pay the saman.

This time, there was no escape. I made a turn into a one way street coz I was rushing and didn't pay much attention to the sign. How blur can I get?
This officer kept wasting my time by asking me " You mahu saman? You mahu saya tulis? Kalau tidak, macam mana? Tiga Ratus Ringgit tau, boleh??'
@#$%!!!! argh!!

This particular incident kind of affected my mood as finance is a very sensitive or big issue in my life. Money seems to fly away so fast and now this???!!
I was in the Ignite Youth worship team, playing the guitar that evening. I had to surrender to God although it was tough. Guess what? The first song significantly was, I Surrender All.
The "down" feeling was still there but I had to continually battle that feeling.

Whether Christian or not, I'm sure we have heard of people complaining about about our officials taking bribes. They complain so much but in the end, they themselves contribute to this. Yes, I understand that it would be worth it to "pay less". However, this has become an issue of integrity.
For a Christian, it has become as issue of TRUST and obedience. Do we trust God enough that he will honor those who honor him? I know I still make mistakes but I can still choose to do what's right whenever I can.

But when it comes to ourselves, will we also give in to bribery when caught for breaking the law? It may be something "small" but it is the little things in life which count.

A test like this couldn't come sooner enough as I have been listening to sermons related to obedience.
Obey God and leave the consequences to Him.

You can read or watch more at this link .





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Giving Feedback?


Note: This isn't about a restaurant :P - Hidden Meaning - Isi Tersirat - An analogy

You go to a restaurant and have some comments about the environment and more importantly, how the food tastes. Comments about improvement and addition.
You tell the people who work there.
They say they appreciate your comments.They don't see why they should change and they are doing well.
The impression you get is as if this was the reply " If you think you are so smart, come and work here lah" Or "Mind your own business"

The issue here is: I can't possibly walk in and make a change just like that. Yes, they have worked hard but improvements can be made.
I find people don't really like to receive feedback although they ask for it. (Or seem to encourage it).
So, people end up keeping quiet....shhhh. That's my concern.

Sounds familiar? Haha. I personally have gone through 2 different scenarios this year.

Note: I dare not say that I am in the right and my feedback should be taken seriously. I have so much more to learn in terms of getting the message across and taking action, instead of just using words :)

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Encouragement through Listening

Being a Christian, it really really gets tough at times...listening to one sermon on Sunday may not be sufficient as we are bombarded 24x7 !!!!

Reading the bible, is one thing, but faith does come by hearing the Word of God, right?
What better way than to listen to sermons?

It can be a beneficial way to make use the time wasted when stuck in traffic jams.
Good also when your brain is jammed by the worries of life and such.

These are some examples which I have personally listened to and found encouragement / timely reminders:

http://www.intouch.org/broadcast/audio-archives

http://www.touchinglives.org/multimedia/audio-broadcasts/

If you wanna know how to download from these sites, ask me lah..

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How Church has helped me...

I know, it is not the physical "church" which has helped me, but Jesus.

But to say that church has helped me, I meant the act of simply going just to stand,sing,sit and listen to sermons.

At times, I can see all sorts of negative things of the church, the people and her activities. Although there are lots improvements pending, I found that focusing on these negative things can rob me of my joy.

So many times, I felt that it was "useless" to go to church when I have "so many" other things to do.
But, so many times too, I find "God speaking"...ok, that sounds so "spiritual"...In plain words, there will be at least a few words which will touch my heart, be it encouragement or even rebuke or a simple reminder.

I find that I am not humble on many occasions when I criticize the church. Times like these show that I have pride. Again, there are definitely are irritating issues occurring, no church is perfect. But, sometimes, I find the problem is just simply ME.

This reminds me of an analogy. There are people who criticize the education system. We blame lecturers or teachers for not being good enough. Etc Etc. At the end of it all, we still had to take the final exams. We still had to leave the education world and start work.
Obviously, there are those who pass or fail in the exams; have "good or bad" careers.
Conclusion: We have the same general issues to face but doing well is still a choice.

So, in short, church has reminded me about things I forgot and helped me grow. When I needed to hear "those words", they did come. Hearing and then doing is another topic. But to not get to hear at all, that's not going to help isn't it?
If I stopped going, I would have missed out.

There are times, even when I was sleepy( physically or spiritually), I still received some of "those words" which "woke me up" at the right time.


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