Venue: Matsushita Sports Complex, Shah Alam
Date: 1 May 2007
Objective: Promote unity and forge closer ties among the members of FGA
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
SMS Encouragement Message Part 1
I just receive an encouragement sms message from my dear sister Joanne after I shared with her my experiences with God:
" Don't worry. Continue to be strong in the Lord. The enemy will try to rise up against you but as you live and read in His word He will make you flourish. Protect and guard from the enemy. God is near."
I am glad that I can bless her with my sharing and be blessed in return.
" Don't worry. Continue to be strong in the Lord. The enemy will try to rise up against you but as you live and read in His word He will make you flourish. Protect and guard from the enemy. God is near."
I am glad that I can bless her with my sharing and be blessed in return.
Bible Verse~1 Corinthians 13:13
"And all these three remains: faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love."
Monday, February 26, 2007
Faith
Hebrews 11:6-And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
An unexpected incident happened in church recently. I believe God has a purpose for what that has happened. We always learn but seldom practise.Through this incident, God gave me a situation to exercise my faith. How we respond to situation indicates our maturity.
We must understand one's struggle and choose to forgive. After all, we all make mistakes from time to time. God is teaching me a lesson in forgiveness, love and conquering emotions. With this, I learned to guard my heart and emotion.
Faith is not just believing in the existence of God but also believing that God's ways are better than our own ways. I believe everything will work out well in our lives if we continue to have faith in God and obey Him.
Hebrews 11:39-40 - These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
An unexpected incident happened in church recently. I believe God has a purpose for what that has happened. We always learn but seldom practise.Through this incident, God gave me a situation to exercise my faith. How we respond to situation indicates our maturity.
We must understand one's struggle and choose to forgive. After all, we all make mistakes from time to time. God is teaching me a lesson in forgiveness, love and conquering emotions. With this, I learned to guard my heart and emotion.
Faith is not just believing in the existence of God but also believing that God's ways are better than our own ways. I believe everything will work out well in our lives if we continue to have faith in God and obey Him.
Hebrews 11:39-40 - These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
The Heart of Worship
" Surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes" (Romans 6:13)
The heart of worship is surrender. True worship-bringing God pleasure happens when you give yourself completely to God. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1).
Trusting God is an essential ingredient to surrender. You won't surrender to God unless you trust Him, but you can't trust Him until you know Him better. Fear keeps us from surrendering, but love casts out all fear. The more you realize how much God loves you, the easier surrender becomes. When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that he is not a tyrant, but a savior; not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend.
You know you're surrendered to God when you rely on God completely to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda and control the situation. You let go and let God work. The Bible says, "Surrender yourself to the Lord and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7)
The blessing of surrender:
1) We experience peace (Job 22:21)
2) We experience freedom (Romans 6:17)
3) We experience God's power in our lives
Surrender doesn't weaken you; it strengthens you. Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works. All other approaches lead to frustration, disappointment and self-destruction. You cannot fulfill God's purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans. If God is going to do His deepest work in you, it will begin with this. So give it all to God: your past regrets, present problems, future ambitions, fears, dreams, hurts etc.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). We must make it a daily habit to surrender and resurrender our lives.
Now is the time to surrender-to God's grace, love and wisdom.
The heart of worship is surrender. True worship-bringing God pleasure happens when you give yourself completely to God. "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1).
Trusting God is an essential ingredient to surrender. You won't surrender to God unless you trust Him, but you can't trust Him until you know Him better. Fear keeps us from surrendering, but love casts out all fear. The more you realize how much God loves you, the easier surrender becomes. When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that he is not a tyrant, but a savior; not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend.
You know you're surrendered to God when you rely on God completely to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda and control the situation. You let go and let God work. The Bible says, "Surrender yourself to the Lord and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7)
The blessing of surrender:
1) We experience peace (Job 22:21)
2) We experience freedom (Romans 6:17)
3) We experience God's power in our lives
Surrender doesn't weaken you; it strengthens you. Surrender is not the best way to live; it is the only way to live. Nothing else works. All other approaches lead to frustration, disappointment and self-destruction. You cannot fulfill God's purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans. If God is going to do His deepest work in you, it will begin with this. So give it all to God: your past regrets, present problems, future ambitions, fears, dreams, hurts etc.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). We must make it a daily habit to surrender and resurrender our lives.
Now is the time to surrender-to God's grace, love and wisdom.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Desires of Our Heart
"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4)
When we place God first in our lives, He will give us the desires of our hearts
When we walk closely and our hearts are right with Him, we feel peace and know that the decisions in life we make are the right ones.
God knows our deepest needs, worries, present problems, hurts, desires and questions of our hearts. When we fully surrender all these to Him, we experience peace, freedom and God's power in our lives. He will in return bless us and give us what we ask for.
When we place God first in our lives, He will give us the desires of our hearts
When we walk closely and our hearts are right with Him, we feel peace and know that the decisions in life we make are the right ones.
God knows our deepest needs, worries, present problems, hurts, desires and questions of our hearts. When we fully surrender all these to Him, we experience peace, freedom and God's power in our lives. He will in return bless us and give us what we ask for.
What I did during CNY....
1) Visited family members and relatives
2) Spring clean my room and wardrobe
3) Gave away old clothes to my cousin sister
4) Collected ang pows
5) Spend quality time with my parents
6) Ate mom's delicious cooking
7) Eat and eat good food
8) Send my parents to airport to catch their flight back to Singapore
9) Cook pizza together with a few others and made ice cream and fruit dessert at Daniel's (IBridge) open house
10)Visited my Christian colleague in hospital
11) Reunion dinner with family members and relatives
12) Fellowship with new Christian friends and had the privelage to visit an elder and his family of a church who worked together with my dad in FGB many years back
13) Met up with my dear sister Jess for lunch
14) Went back to work on 4th day of CNY (the worst and most boring time to work but I did not have a choice as I need to save my leave for UK in July)
15) Went to the bank to do my banking and paying off credit card bills (CNY is the best time to go to the bank....no traffic and no queues)
16) Did my daily devotion and prayer (surprisingly I had time to do it during CNY....praise God!)
17) Most amazingly....I am glad I was able to memorize so many bible verses for the very first time in such a short time period
2) Spring clean my room and wardrobe
3) Gave away old clothes to my cousin sister
4) Collected ang pows
5) Spend quality time with my parents
6) Ate mom's delicious cooking
7) Eat and eat good food
8) Send my parents to airport to catch their flight back to Singapore
9) Cook pizza together with a few others and made ice cream and fruit dessert at Daniel's (IBridge) open house
10)Visited my Christian colleague in hospital
11) Reunion dinner with family members and relatives
12) Fellowship with new Christian friends and had the privelage to visit an elder and his family of a church who worked together with my dad in FGB many years back
13) Met up with my dear sister Jess for lunch
14) Went back to work on 4th day of CNY (the worst and most boring time to work but I did not have a choice as I need to save my leave for UK in July)
15) Went to the bank to do my banking and paying off credit card bills (CNY is the best time to go to the bank....no traffic and no queues)
16) Did my daily devotion and prayer (surprisingly I had time to do it during CNY....praise God!)
17) Most amazingly....I am glad I was able to memorize so many bible verses for the very first time in such a short time period
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Love
Life is all about love. Often we act as if relationships are something to be squeezed into our schedule. We talk about making time for people in our lives. That gives the impression that relationships are just a part of our lives along with many other tasks. But God says relationships are what life is all about.
Jesus summarized what matters most to God in 2 statements: love God and love people. He said, " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. Amd the second is like it: "Love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22: 37-39)
Love should be our top priority, primary objective and greatest ambition. Love is not a good part of our life; it's the most important part. The Bible says, "Let love be your greatest aim." (1` Corinthians 14:1)
Love will last forever. Another reason God tells us to make love our top priority is that is is eternal: "These three things continue forever: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Love leaves a legacy. How we treat other people, not our wealth or accomplishments, is the most enduring impact we can leave on earth. It's not what you do but how much love you put into it that matters most.
The best expression of love is time. When we give someone our time, we are giving them a portion of our life that we will never get back. Our time is our life. It is not enough just to say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless. "My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action." (1 John 3:18) Relationships takes time and effort and the best way to spell love is "T-I-M-E."
The essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves. Whenever you give your time, you are making a sacrifice, and sacrifice is the essence of love. Jesus modeled this: " Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave Himself to God as a sacrifice tot ake away your sins." (Ephesians 5:2)
In summary, love means giving up-yielding my preferences, comfort, goals, security, money, energy or time for the benefit of someone else. The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.
Jesus summarized what matters most to God in 2 statements: love God and love people. He said, " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. Amd the second is like it: "Love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22: 37-39)
Love should be our top priority, primary objective and greatest ambition. Love is not a good part of our life; it's the most important part. The Bible says, "Let love be your greatest aim." (1` Corinthians 14:1)
Love will last forever. Another reason God tells us to make love our top priority is that is is eternal: "These three things continue forever: faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)
Love leaves a legacy. How we treat other people, not our wealth or accomplishments, is the most enduring impact we can leave on earth. It's not what you do but how much love you put into it that matters most.
The best expression of love is time. When we give someone our time, we are giving them a portion of our life that we will never get back. Our time is our life. It is not enough just to say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Words alone are worthless. "My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action." (1 John 3:18) Relationships takes time and effort and the best way to spell love is "T-I-M-E."
The essence of love is not what we think or do or provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves. Whenever you give your time, you are making a sacrifice, and sacrifice is the essence of love. Jesus modeled this: " Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave Himself to God as a sacrifice tot ake away your sins." (Ephesians 5:2)
In summary, love means giving up-yielding my preferences, comfort, goals, security, money, energy or time for the benefit of someone else. The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.
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