God is Faithful

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, but when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
1 Corinthians 10 : 13

None of us will be left in a lurch. God is forever faithful. His help is always timely.

However, we have to ask ourselves, if we are faithful too. Whenever we face with temptations, we tend to give in ........ how embarrassing! Yet, God does not let us down. He will still protect us despite all our weaknesses.

How great is our faith in God?

We love because He loves us first

John 15 : 12 - 15
".......My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ....."

Have you done anything that you think will please your friends? Well, in real life, we all do. We buy things for them, help them out when they are in distress .....etc. The reward? None. We did so because they are our friends. The bond is sealed as that.

However, most of us are unhappy because we found that most of our friends are still not happy! It is always not easy to please others!

Jesus had made it a point to die for us, because we are His friends. He had sacrificed Himself for our sins. I believe there are many fine samples of good friends out there who emulated Jesus too.

Look at us, the so-called 'friends' of Jesus. We are not happy too, despite all what Jesus did.

My verdict?

Do all you can for your friends. Their inner feelings are theirs. Even if they did not appreciate your friendship, God knows.

Jesus taught us to be loving. We love because Jesus loves us. The spark will be passed on.

Calming The Storm Inside You

Mark 4 :35 - 40
That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, They took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
The disciples woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be Still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to His disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

Most of us have forgotten that there are certain times we cannot handle things on our own. Of course, this does not mean that we are weak. But, we still need help.
We have gone through storms in our own lives, big or small. We know very well that there are many to come.
We waded through the storms not because we are intelligent, it is because the grace of God.
It is also faith in God that helps us to calm the storms in our lives.
Keep your heart quiet and be still to listen to God's voice.

Do You Believe?

Matthew 21:18-22
Early in the morning, as He was walking on His way back to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.
When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

I believe in my prayers. What about you?
Someone told me some time ago, if we don't believe in our prayers, then it is better not pray!
I think that someone is right, in fact, it is a good advice!
I have faith in God, first because He is the creator of every single thing in this universe. Next because He created me .....who, may be just another small, unimportant creature. Yet, He does not leave me to survive on my own.
You, too ...... must believe in your prayers. God is listening. Even if your faith is only as small as a mustard seed, believe in it too.

Have Faith

Isaiah 30:21
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
Many years ago, I heard a preacher shared a story about faith. He said .... "Faith is like driving along a lone dark road, you have nothing to guide you but the headlight of your vehicle. All you need to do is to drive on where the light shines on."

Many of us have forgotten that walking along the lone road of faith needs lots of encouragement as well as motivation. When these are not available around you, the Word of God is still there. There are millions of people who made the same journey and are always within reach through the church!

Walking in faith is not easy. However, we still have the light to guide us. This comes in the form of the Word of God as well as our prayers. Travellers like us make simple steps and enjoy every step we made, because we have faith in our Maker.

A Prayer for Help

Psalm 71 : 1 - 2

In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
Rescue me and deliver me in your
righteousness;
Turn your ear to me and save me.
Be my rock of refuge,
To which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.

Have you been praying hard? Most of us have. God listens. He knows. He is waiting for the right time to grant us our wishes.
I remember a long time ago, I heard someone said ..... "Patience is a strength. To wait is a strategy."
So, in your prayers, always be patient. Be ever ready to receive the answers. God does not disappoint us. Only we, who will disappoint Him.

Judging Others

Matthew 7 : 1-2
"Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Do you like to give others a good first impression? The truth is, all of us do. Even children are able to behave well in front of strangers!

As children of God, we are taught not to judge. However, how many of us remember this?

Yet, when you start to count your own blessings, then you will know how blessed you are. This, hopefully will remind you to stop judging others.

I started to recount my blessings years ago. I have already forgotten how to measure others, because I always remind myself ..... that poor and bend beggar could be me. I know how I measure others will always be used against me .... on earth or on Judgement Day.

Only God has the right to judge us. Yet, He has reserved the right to do so. He allows us to repent and gives us many chances to do so. If God has not in any way judged us, what right do we have to judge others?

Where your heart is .....

Psalm 84 : 1 - 2

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

Whenever I feel overwhelmed by the troubles I face, I will definitely remember these verses. There is also a song based on the verses. I can remember it well because I can feel the heavy burden on my shoulders being taken off everytime after meditating on the verses.

Yes, finding a shoulder to lean on is rather difficult now, especially when everyone has his own responsibles. Nobody cares to give you even two minutes of their time. The most anyone would ask is, "How are you, dear?" But, they never take the time to listen
to your answer.

However, I still have God to listen to me. His Words are precious ....... Amen .....

Who Is The Greatest?

Matthew 18 : 3 - 4
"........ unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whorever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven ..."

How can we be little children again? Many years ago when I first read these verse, I used to wonder aloud. Then, I began to observe littele children. Yes, they do have the innocence. The way they trust and follow their parents' and teachers' advices really amazes me. They really believe in everything people they trust said. Any child is humble and innocent.

In the East, children who go to school are taught to reverend and respect their teachers. Every time I see children greet their teachers, they will make a small bow. That is a show of reverence. However, these beautiful gestures are not seen after they grew up.

I think that is why the Lord says, "....unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven ......" It is not our physical He means, but our minds. Life fills us with lots of worries and false hopes .... and we sometimes even lost faith in God. Isn't it time to change and become child like again ..... for the sake of the kingdom of heaven as promised by God?

His Requirement

Micah 6 : 6
With what shall I come before the Lord
and bow before the exalted God? ...................
Micah 6 : 8
.............. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Many of us prefer to walk our own ways, instead of following God's way. We think as He is with us, He would allow us to do so. We have forgotten how much He has done for each of us to help us sail through safely. We always think God wants so much from us, yet read again the last verse, His requirement is .......... so simple!

Only He can do this

Habakuk 3:17 - 19

Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the field produces no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God, my Saviour.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
He enables me to go on heights!

In a depressed mood? I know that. Why not let God know about your feelings now? He will renew us and help us find a way out. He is our strength and only He can do this, if we let Him!

What are you seeking?

......... But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. ......
(Matthew 6:33-34)

We always wonder if we would be alive tomorrow, whether we would be richer tomorrow, ...etc.
We also worry about our daily lives, necessities, wealth, relationship and a host of other things. We rant, grumble and do lots of things, except to let go and let God handle them.

Even after we pray about our problems, we would continue to worry. These worries will seriously effect our relationship with God. As we never let them go, God will not be able to take over. As He can't take over, well, these problems are not really solved. So, that's when we start blaming God for not helping us.
I always ask myself this question: What am I really seeking? Material or Spiritual? The world or God?

Who are we in front of God

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rugs;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Isaiah 64:6

We may be great achievers in this life. We all yearn for praises and recognitions from our fellow men. When we received all those, we yearn for more.....
But, is God please with our achievements?
Do not forget that we are nobody when we are right in front of God. We will be back to square one ..... the sinful ones.
There are so many things we should and ought to do to for God while we are working our way to be at the top, yet, we miss them.
When the day comes, we are just sinners in front of God.

Little Faith

Matthew 8 : 24 - 26
"Without a warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord. save us! We're going to drown!"
He replied' "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."

Mark 6 : 47 - 51
"When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ................"

We are just like Jesus' disciples. We claim to know Jesus, but we are still in doubt whenever there is a difficulty in front of us.
How many Easters do we need to get out of this doubt that Jesus will not leave us alone in stormy weathers ?1
Do we need to hear Him rebuking us again and again,

"You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"

The Light

"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes aye good, your whole body is full of light. When they are bad, your body is also full of darkness. ........ See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you."

Luke 11 : 34 - 36

Do we have enough light in us to be considered as light of the world?
Are we willing our lives to be lights of the world?

Do not worry

Luke 12: 22
"Then Jesus said to his disciples: 'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or, about your body, what you will wear...................'"
Luke 12: 27
"'Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his Splendor was dressed like one of these. ..........'"

Many times, we worry for nothing!
Every time I'm uncomfortable with my situation and start to get worry, I'll remember these verses. I sure dislike the rebuke from the following verse ......

Luke 12: 28
"'If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith!'"

I believe God has many times said that to me! Our faith in Him will carry us through!

Our Stronghold

The Lord is my light and my salvation -

whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life -
of whom shall I be afraid?
(Psalm 27:1)

We all stumble along the journey of our lives. Sometimes, we fall deep and know not how to get out. We have fears when we cannot see the light in front of us.

Yet, we have all forgotten that the light is not the physical eyes to see ...... we have to see with our hearts. If there is a light in your heart, you will know. For the Lord is our saviour, always. There is nothing to be fear ..... He will help us through. He promised us that ........... if only we have faith in Him!

Living Spring

John 4:14
"............. but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in hinm a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Amen!

Isaiah 41 : 10

So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will straighten you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Most of the time when we are lost and uncertain of our next move, we feel depress. We do not know who to turn to and what to tell them.

Now, you can be assured that God does not want you to feel that way anymore. He wants us to let Him be the one who takes over our fears and our lives.

Holding on to God's wonderful promises will bring us out of many unnecessary miseries.

Isaiah 55:6

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

call on Him while He is near.

A few years ago, a depressed friend contacted me for a drink. I knew she had some personal problems and needed someone to talk to. It was just, I was not in town at that moment. I felt sad because she would not talk to anyone else. When I got home, I called her. But, there was no reply. I contacted a few friends but they did not know where she was. It was a real sad time for all of us.

Later, someone told us ... she was dead. Apparently suicide. Her family did not even want to talk about her anymore. They had her cremated and we were not told where her ashes were scattered. Now, she is our greatest memory and regret ..... the fun and love we shared with her ....... and the time when we could not be there when she needed us ...............

She did not know God, eventhough she used to hang out with us when we had our Bible studies. She used to laugh out loud when she heard our prayers. She was there because there would be free supper after the gatherings. Well, she had wasted the only chance to know God.

If you read this, and you know, someone who is like 'she' in the story above, please pray for them. Nobody is perfect. Not everyone wakes up every morning wanting to thank God. We should be grateful that we seek and found our souls' Saviour!

Psalm 100

"Shout for joy to the Lord,
all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who mde us, and we are His;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gate with thanksgiving
and His courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise His name.
For the Lord is good and His love
endures forever,
his faithfulness continues through all
generations."

The Lord is good.

Amen.

Not Easy

It is not easy to be an upright man. But, be one anyway!

The Eternal Glory

"........ Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly, we are being renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4 :16-18

I'm not proud to say this, but sometimes, I judge a book by its cover too.

Most modern people have shallow minds. They are very quick to judge from the appearance. This is a hurtful behaviour, but we live through it. We judge others, and other judge us. By what standard? None, mostly use appearances!

I know a guy who left his blind date in the cinema just after he discovered that she was a plain and overweight spinster. Little did he know that she was a successful entrepreneur. Now, she is happily married, and running her own successful chain of boutiques. He, at 45, still an executive in a firm where he has worked for the past 15 years. He complains all the time, but makes no effort to improve himself.

We live day by day, exposing ourselves to more harsh judgements from others, at the same time, passing out even more judgements to others.

Beauty and wealth will pass. Even cosmetics, plastic surgeries as well as all the money in the world cannot renew our look for long.

But, eternal glory lasts forever.............

Good times, Bad Times

Ecclesiastes 7 : 14

When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider;
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, a man cannot discover
anything about his future.

As any normal person, we all wish to know about our own future. In my culture, there are many who seek the advice of the 'masters' who claim they can change their fate. This also results in loss of money, dignity and even families.

Who would you listen to? Your Maker or someone whom you do not know until that very moment you approach them?

Once, someone told me that I would not live to see the millennium. Hey, here I am and it is 2007!

We all should let God control our lives, afterall, He permitted us to be here in this world. He has the right to our lives. We all have only to live for Him. And the best yet, our future is His!

Amen.

Be on guard

Ecclesiastes 5: 2-3

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart
to utter anything before God.
God is in Heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

As a dream comes when there are many cares,
so the speech of a fool when there are many words.

We live among people with emotions. We always hear them grumble about others. Have you heard grumble about you? If that so, always be on guard. Do the best you can to please God. It is not so difficult to please God. It is very difficult to please men as they can only see things with their eyes, not their hearts.

Say few words to make your stand so as not to be thought as a fool!

A Promise

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11 : 28 - 30

This promise is as good as gold and it never expires!

My Provider and Shield

I look to the mountains,
where will my help come from?

My help will come from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let you fail,
your protector is always awake.

Psalms 121:1-3

The Protector

Psalm 124: 1
What if God had not been on our side?

Psalm 124 :4 - 5
Then the flood would have carried us away,
the water would have covered us,
the raging water would have drowned us.

What to worry?

Matthew 6:28-29
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow.
They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his
splendor dressed like one of these.

Everyday, we have something to worry about. Everyday, we live our lives with little hope and little gratitude. We have very little time to give thanks to God. We think He should give us more instead of that little.

Stop!

If this is you, then, think again. Take a few minutes off and look around you, especially the natural surrounding. God is so kind that He clothes every living cell around us. (All non-living things are our creations.) He does not have to ask our permission to colour our lives. He does what He thinks is good for us.

Our daily worries is not going to give us another few hours in a day. Just be grateful that we are still living to see every God's colourful creation around us. We do not have to live in a black and white world. That's already a blessing!

Be grateful with what we have and blessings will pour in. Praise God!

Search me, O God, and know my heart,
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
(Psalm 139:23-24)

Many times, we found ourselves lost materialistically. We fought hard to protect our rights. We had failed many times. We cried aloud and in silence. Desperation and disappointment are not alien to us. We had wanted so much then.

Now, let God decide: What should it be for us in our lives.

Let God decide : What is the best for us.

If we should fail, then, we haven't done enough what is needed.

The parable of the widow and the judge (Luke18 : 2-6)

"............ In a certain town there was a judgewho neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, Even though I don't fear God nor care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "

No, God is not like the judge in this story.

He wants us to tell him what we want. But, like the judge, He will grant us our wishes as we are persistent and sincere in all our wishes.

Luke 18:7 ... And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night?

Appreciating the best

"Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old, he will not turn from it."
Proverbs 22:6

Parents have been complaining about their children to me. Actually, after I gave some unfavourable feedback to them. I was rather shocked that most parents are a lot stricter than I thought they would be.

Now I know.

I guess most children these days are a lot luckier. When I was young, we have plenty of time to play, watch TV and do just anything I wanted as long as I finished my school homework.

These days, I can see parents racing here and there sending their children to tuition classes. Best of all, I got to know that none of the children I'm instructing take a bus to school! How horrible.

Their time is filled up with school, school activities and tuition classes, some even with drawing, music, sports and swimming.

I envy them, really. I never have those activities back then!

I just hope these children grow up to know and appreciate what they have! As for their parents, I think they have done more than enough!

Say it out!

Luke 11 : 9

"............. Ask and it will be given to you,
seek and you will find,
knock and the door will be opened ....."

Someone commented in my previous post about prayers. Well, let's just say, God does know what we want. However, if we do not tell Him specifically what we really want, it would only be another prayer.

I have a friend, who years to have a life partner. We told him to pray for it. He said he did. Once, in a prayer gathering, he said like this, "........ Please let me have a 'Miss'....". We almost laughed out.
Yes, he was brave enough to pray out, but the word 'miss' has ambiguous meanings. I guessed he did not know it at that time. Someone pointed it out to him later. A year later, he got married.

So, be very specific with your petitions. It is not that God does not know. He knows your every thought. But, like the verse ............ ask and it will be given.

Faith

Matthew 21 : 21-22

Jesus replied ... "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say this to the mountain, "Go throw yourself into the sea," and it will be done.
If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.

Most of us have faith before we do something. Yet, when we have done something, we lost the faith to see it through. Sometimes, we are even afraid to start all over again.

Do you pray?

Prayers can help us to unburden ourselves in front of God. We must trust Him to carry us through. If not, what is the use of us praying?

A prayer with faith is a powerful weapon. Use it wisely so that God listens and takes over your mission!

A hopeful seed

From the parable of a sower (Luke8 : 1-15)

".............................v11: The seed is the word of God"
"............................ v15: But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by preserving, produce a crop."

I would like to admit that I am, like one of the seeds,

"v14: The seed that fell among thorns ....... hear but blinded by life's worries ........."

I can understand why I 'm like that. Much as I wanted to be the seed in v15, I'm also chocked by all life's worries. I don't know how and when to let go!

If you are like me, then take a rest from your burden. Lay out all your worries in front of God. Let Him take over. Let Him make over. Allow him to bring the change in us.

Let us be like the butterfly......... bringing new seeds to everywhere it stops. Let us not be trapped by life's worries........... a butterfly never does!

A New Day

Sing to Him, sing to Him;
tell of His wonderful acts.
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek His face always.
Psalm 105 :2-4

It is already a few days into the new year of 2007. Any new changes or resolutions you want to make this year is another new hope for you.

However, most of us always forget to take in each day fully. We seldom appreciate every day that we are alive. We hurry through each minute, hour and then day, week, month and year. Finally, the whole 365 days are behind us.

The only time we would slow down is, when our health is affected or when there is a death that saddened us. But, do we have to wait for all these to comeby?

Should we live each day fully?

Certainly. Isn't that what God wants us to do? Like the butterflies polienating new plants everyday, He wants us to grow each day, seeking Him out for strength. Bringing joy not only others but ourselves and God as well.

So, live out and in the day!