Rediscovering Eden

Ready? Set? Go!

The Lord brought something to mind today. Sometimes when the Lord brings challenges or trials our way, our first reaction is: "I'm not ready, Lord!" I think if we could hear God's voice answering us in return, He would say this, "Oh yes, you are!"

God never brings things along that He knows we are not ready for. But we sometimes mistake His plan for a mistake. But God makes no mistakes. He places us where He perfectly knows we need to be. His purposes are not clear to us: "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways." But His assessment of us is certainly more reliable than our assesment of ourselves. Our response when God brings us through difficulty, pain and perplexity should be, "Lord, since You think I'm ready, I'm ready!" We should never shrink back when God says "Go".

Lord, we have seen Your hand at work in the Campus Ministry, and we are thankful. But as we see many others who have yet to discover that joy of living their lives for you - that joy of surrender - we realise there is so much more than what we are experiencing right now. And in order to receive more, we have to give more of ourselves to You.

May we, O Lord, be willing to ask You to do all that it takes to mold and refine us. May we be willing to be put out of our comfort zones, and allow You to touch the tender portions of our lives where it hurts so that You can bring Your healing. May we be willing to be put through fire and water so that we may come into a deeper knowledge of You and be of greater use to You. We know our inadequacies, but we know that our God is sufficient for all things.

Give us a love for our brethren and a desire to help them grow in their relationship with You. We have experienced true joy of giving ourselves to You. Help us desire that for everyone too. But let us not wait till it comes before we step out. Rather let us step out and trust You to work in us as we obey Your command to "make disciples" of all men.

Lord, let us not be satisfied with what we have when there's so much more You want to give. Do, Lord, all that it takes to bring us where You want us to be.

When Trials Come...

If you read the New Paper today, you should have noticed the front page story about the girl who has constant seizures for unknown reasons and how her illness has resulted in heavy debts for her family. Well, that girl's sister is my friend. I just want to share with you excerpts of an email she sent some of her friends, myself included:

"Here's a short testimony I would like to share about how Jesus has carried us through.

When I wanted to see Wanying healed so badly, I used to dictate and ask God to fulfill my prayers and do it by such and such a date.

Now, I just leave it to Him and I know that whatever He wants to do is far better than what I can ever ask for.

I have surrendered our situation and mess to Him and asked Him to take over.

Now, I have a sense of peace and I live everyday knowing that Jesus is in full control and He will protect and love us more than I can ever understand.

I have gone through a trying period in the last 2 years. I learnt that I can lose all the world and have nothing, but I cannot afford not to have Jesus in my life.

Today, He is the one who keeps me going, who provides me with strength to go on.

I know each of you are going through your own difficulties and crises, lets look to Him and ask for a breakthrough, believing that He can do the impossible! Jesus loves U !"

You can visit the website she created for her sister here.

Precious In His Sight

Whew! Haven't been blogging for a while. It's been a week already! So tired now...

Just had a blessed meeting with Lova, Aly, Yixian and Irene for tomorrow's children's ministry. The Lord has raised up workers for this work who are so willing and eager to serve Him by ministering to these children. As the song goes,

"Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world."

Lord, help us to love them as You love them, and may they be precious in our sight as they are in Yours.

Blogging for Jesus
Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." I am encouraged to see that a couple of teens have desired to use their blogs to let their light shine for the Lord.

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Rom 8:32)

This morning I was feeling very discouraged because of something that happened. But I thank the Lord that He reminded me of His love as we sang the last song in the service. The song was Victory in Jesus, and it spoke of "His redeeming love". As we sang those words, the Lord spoke to my heart and reminded me how much it cost Him to save me; and if He considered me so valuable to pay such a high price, He is certain to take care of me in all aspects to the uttermost. He takes an intimate interest in me and in all that I do, even when I feel I have failed.

It does not make sense to sacrifice a fortune to purchase something that is not of great value to us, only to cast it aside after we have lost interest in it. Some people might do such things. But God does not have such a value system. He does not change. What was once of great value to Him, so much so that He would pay with His Son's life, will always be of great value to Him; and He will treasure it to the end. He did not treasure us only to save us from hell, and then leave us to our own after that; but He treasures us now - today - and always.

I'm so excited to see the Lord working in the Campus Ministry. I thank the Lord for Lova and Aly, Stephanie, Dawn, Jonathan, Pearlyn, Alicia and the 2 Irenes; also Maverick and Justin who will be going into the uni this year. It's encouraging to see each one coming and having that desire to serve the Lord and fellowship with His people. May the Lord open our eyes to the little blessings He brings along our way, and may we be always thankful for them. May He raise up many more who will live for Him and serve Him.

I hope you're as excited as I am :)

The Lily of the Valley

I have found a friend in Jesus, He’s everything to me,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul;
The Lily of the Valley, in Him alone I see
All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole.
In sorrow He’s my comfort, in trouble He’s my stay;
He tells me every care on Him to roll.

Refrain

He’s the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star,
He’s the fairest of ten thousand to my soul.

He all my grief has taken, and all my sorrows borne;
In temptation He’s my strong and mighty tower;
I have all for Him forsaken, and all my idols torn
From my heart and now He keeps me by His power.
Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempt me sore,
Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal.

Refrain

He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here,
While I live by faith and do His blessèd will;
A wall of fire about me, I’ve nothing now to fear,
From His manna He my hungry soul shall fill.
Then sweeping up to glory to see His blessèd face,
Where the rivers of delight shall ever roll.

Refrain

Zeal For Thy House

Not too long ago I went to watch the Gospel of John with a few friends. One particular scene left a deep impression. It is found in the last portion of chapter 2.

Jesus had gone into the temple to worship. But to His horror, He found not worshippers, but merchants! What went through His mind as He saw money changing hands, and sheep and goats being dragged around? This was not the house of God. This was a marketplace!

"How dare they?!" Jesus must have thought. "How dare they profane the name of My Father?!" This temple was where the presence of the Most High was to dwell. How dare men and women come into His holy house and treat it with such contempt? Do they not fear God? Are there no better places to do their business than the house of God? Do they not regard God as holy, that they dare defile His temple?

The sight was too much for Jesus to bear. Wrath and indignation filled His heart. He formed a whip out of cords, and running into the crowd, he lashed out at them. Tables He overturned. Money He scattered to the ground. Sheep and goats He beat away. Doves and pigeons He let loose.

"Get out!" He hollered at the dumbstruck crowd. "Get out!! Stop making My Father's house a marketplace!!"

I can almost see the tears flowing from His eyes, and the anger burning in Him. How could anybody treat God with such contempt? Were there no worshippers of God who grieved at the sight? How could men have the audacity to treat the King of Heaven with such irreverence?

The scene in the show showed Jesus going berserk, if I may use the word (not suggesting that at any point Christ lost control of Himself, but rather the intensity of the moment). The disciples saw it and remembered the words from Scripture: "Zeal for Thy house has consumed me."

The heart that is tender towards God will feel pain when God's name is soiled. It grieves when God is dishonoured and treated irreverently. A person that can laugh at sin and make a light thing out of it has not learnt to love and fear God, for if we love and respect someone, we will naturally be angry when he is dishonoured. Have we learnt to fear You, Lord? Lord, teach us to fear.

"As our right response to God's love for us is love for him, so our right response to his jealousy over us is zeal for him. His concern for us is great; ours for him must be great too." (J.I. Packer, Knowing God)

Just wanted to share an article on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Several people, after watching the Passion of the Christ, have said to me that they don't believe that was what actually happened, or that the actual description of the crucifixion in the Bible is vague and open to interpretation. The reason for the lack of detail and documentation is quite simple actually. Those whom God used to write the Gospels wrote it during a time when crucifixion was known to everyone. There was no need to explain it, and what sufferings it involved. What's more, the people during that time were the same people who saw Christ die or heard about it from eye-witnesses.

But God didn't leave us guessing. There are still historical records that give us an accurate picture of crucifixion and the sufferings of Jesus.

Medical Aspects of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
http://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/terasaka/crucify.html

Tomorrow is Good Friday. As it approaches, I am reminded of a modern-day hymn written by Stuart Townend that tells us of its story and touches my heart like the old hymns. May it bless your heart also.

How Deep the Father's Love For Us

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulder
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Stuart Townend


"Until we understand the immensity of the cost, we won't understand the immensity of His love for us." (Townend, 2001)

"I believe that the reverential fear of God mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and admiration and devotion is the most enjoyable state and the most purifying emotion the human soul can know." - A.W. Tozer

Ancient Paths

"Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls"
~ Jeremiah 6:16 ~

In this modern day, things change so quickly and we are constantly looking for something new. But we need to look back and learn from the past, and this is especially true in the spiritual realm. We have to be careful of seeking something new and novel in the spiritual realm because what is new does not necessarily mean it is good. Rather, there can be nothing new that replaces what is "old" and still be called "good".

God often points us back to the past - to people like Abraham and Moses, David and the prophets - people who knew their God. He often points us to the examples of people who lived close to Him or apart from Him, and tells us to learn from them or their mistakes. He says, "Stand by the ways [roads] and see and ask for the ancient paths."

What is old may not be necessarily good either: "See and ask... where the good way is." But there is a good way, in which the faithful have tread; and there is so much to be gained from those who walked those ancient paths in their time. Their faith and knowledge of God is an inspiration and something to aspire to and follow - to "walk in it", that is, to walk as they walked.

Look for the ancient paths. Seek for them. Search out the good way. And having found it, walk in it. When we do, God promises that "you will find rest for your souls". It's not being old-fashioned. It is rediscovering for ourselves the place of blessedness that the old saints knew.

My God is Bigger than Me

My God is bigger than me.
He made each flow'r and each mighty tree.
He raised the mountains and made the sea.
My God is bigger than me.

My God is bigger than me.
He is the Author of history.
He knows the future and makes things be.
My God is bigger than me.

My God is bigger than me.
He gave His lifeblood at Calvary.
He settled my sins and made me free.
My God is bigger than me.

My God is bigger than me.
He rose to life that I may be
Together with Him for eternity.
My God is bigger than me.

My God is bigger than me.
Though all my weaknesses He can see,
He still is faithful, He still loves me.
Oh, my God is bigger than me!