Taken from somewhere: God-talk - There Is Still More Room
Tell me, is a man/woman thing about packing a car or, come to think of it, packing a dishwasher. There are not many practical areas in which I choose some superiority over my wife and this is due to laziness as well as incompetence... but, come the car to be packed or the dishwasher filled then I'm the man.
There's something really glorious about shouting the news, "There's still more room".
Imagine then the joy of the servant who told his master (Luke 14:23) that there was still more room even when "the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame" had been brought in from the streets.
Perhaps the early days of January are attractive for us because we look at days and months ahead and we feel "thank God, there's more room" for our tasks, ambitions, plans and hopes. But the joy and gift of the spiritual life is that "there's more room" in each and every day and in all the hopes and challenges even the challenges of seemingly irreconciliable differences.
And, praise God, for you and me in the heart of God "there is always more room".
We want pcs and macs, we want ipods et al to have more room, more room, more room... as always God has got there first!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Ushering 2011
For me, a new year has always been another year and nothing else. I've stopped making resolutions because they turned out to be the same every year. There's never gonna be a perfect year.
However, I have begun to see the coming of this year in a different light. I guess when you are in Christ and doing His work, you cannot help but be full of hope and excitement for the future. No doubt, there will be bits of fear but it will only serve to humble us and cause us to rely on God more & more. Well, certainly things may not be how you want it to be but every moment of your life is perfectly planned for you by God.
You may see the future as difficult, full of uncertainty but know that God is with you and for you. My life with God in the beginning had not been smooth-sailing but Sunday's sermon gave me insight about the hard times I had struggling to know Him. I believe that God gave us every trial for a purpose. And for me, I realised that that initial struggle bore in me that deep desire to walk with Him all the days of my life. And it is also this struggle that gave me the deep desire to do His will for such a time like this.
Upon receiving this revelation, I asked myself, "Would I trade places with someone else?" My answer is no. When you are in a difficult situation, you will lament. But after you have been through the refiner's fire, you will emerge stronger than before. For this new year, give thanks for 2010 and ask God to make you specific resolution for 2011! One of my goal for 2011 is to see 2 friends come to know the Lord.
However, I have begun to see the coming of this year in a different light. I guess when you are in Christ and doing His work, you cannot help but be full of hope and excitement for the future. No doubt, there will be bits of fear but it will only serve to humble us and cause us to rely on God more & more. Well, certainly things may not be how you want it to be but every moment of your life is perfectly planned for you by God.
You may see the future as difficult, full of uncertainty but know that God is with you and for you. My life with God in the beginning had not been smooth-sailing but Sunday's sermon gave me insight about the hard times I had struggling to know Him. I believe that God gave us every trial for a purpose. And for me, I realised that that initial struggle bore in me that deep desire to walk with Him all the days of my life. And it is also this struggle that gave me the deep desire to do His will for such a time like this.
Upon receiving this revelation, I asked myself, "Would I trade places with someone else?" My answer is no. When you are in a difficult situation, you will lament. But after you have been through the refiner's fire, you will emerge stronger than before. For this new year, give thanks for 2010 and ask God to make you specific resolution for 2011! One of my goal for 2011 is to see 2 friends come to know the Lord.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
where were you?
One of the first things that I noticed when I first joined FCBC is the songs that are sang during worship. I've never heard of most, if not all, of the songs prior to that and I really enjoy singing those songs. After some time however, I began to feel uncomfortable with some of the songs as I find the lyrics containing statements that are too strong like "Take it all". As someone with strong intrapersonal intelligence, I didn't want so sing such lines because I knew if God really take it all, I will not just be unhappy, I will seriously doubt if He is really good to me. As I walk closer with Him, I feel more comfortable with songs like these but sometimes I still fear proclaiming things to God that I am not willing to accept or do.
I've a friend who is a pre-believer and she reads books that supports her thinking that religion is for the weak and even loaned my one of these books but surprisingly she enjoys some of Hillsong's songs. She likes the tune and the melody but she does nor believe not agree with the lyrics. We can be deluded into thinking that singing lies is acceptable to God, we sing loudly "take take take it all" and give nothing when it's time to give of our time, money and talents instead we keep it all.
Picture a man whose wife is dying and in her distress sends him calls to ask for help but he didn't pick up the phone because he was at a KTV lounge happily singing with his friends, and the noise drowns out the distress calls sent by his wife. Later, he saw the missed calls but decided to wait till the session ended before responding. Hours later, the wife died while waiting for her husband to come to her rescue.
This incident was later found out by the mother-in-law and she asked "where were you when your wife was dying?" and he couldn't give a reply. When souls are perishing and the opportunity to pray for others come, where are we? Even if the song that the man was singing at the KTV lounge was "How Great is our God" would that have pleased God?
I've a friend who is a pre-believer and she reads books that supports her thinking that religion is for the weak and even loaned my one of these books but surprisingly she enjoys some of Hillsong's songs. She likes the tune and the melody but she does nor believe not agree with the lyrics. We can be deluded into thinking that singing lies is acceptable to God, we sing loudly "take take take it all" and give nothing when it's time to give of our time, money and talents instead we keep it all.
Picture a man whose wife is dying and in her distress sends him calls to ask for help but he didn't pick up the phone because he was at a KTV lounge happily singing with his friends, and the noise drowns out the distress calls sent by his wife. Later, he saw the missed calls but decided to wait till the session ended before responding. Hours later, the wife died while waiting for her husband to come to her rescue.
This incident was later found out by the mother-in-law and she asked "where were you when your wife was dying?" and he couldn't give a reply. When souls are perishing and the opportunity to pray for others come, where are we? Even if the song that the man was singing at the KTV lounge was "How Great is our God" would that have pleased God?
Saturday, November 13, 2010
I love Singapore Walk 2010
Praise God for the fine weather. I love Singapore not just for today but today I declare it afresh.Friday, November 5, 2010
Devotion at West Coast Park
Praise God for giving us a wondeful morning at West Coast Park to worship Him and to encourage and build up one another through the sharing of His Word.
The word released today is:
- God is in control
- Psalm 91
May we claim God's promises for our lives for He who promise is faithful.
Friday, October 8, 2010
The Substance of Prayer
Do we persevere in prayers because God is reluctant to answer them and thus we will have to seek His blessings through repetitive prayers spread over several days, with begging and tears? If this is not the case, then why are there times when we have to go through a season of intense prayer while waiting for our prayers to be answered?
There are several possible reasons for this:
1) God can be using this period of waiting to mould our character and while we persevere in our prayers, we develop the fruit of patience and faithfulness.
2) The period of waiting can also increase our faith so that we may know that it is God and not our own works that accomplishes things.
3)In the spiritual realm, there are things unseen and unknown to us
e.g. In Daniel 10:13, it is revealed to us that God answered Daniel's prayers and sent an angel to bring Daniel the message but the angel was stopped by the devil for 21 days before he could bring the message to Daniel.
Our prayers can change things in the spiritual realm in ways we cannot understand so we must pray until we see things move in the natural realm and this is related to this concept called the substance of prayer.
The substance of prayer is the concept that our prayers can release the power of Holy Spirit from us to do great things! Consider the following verses:
Revelation 5:8
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 8:3-5
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Our prayers are akin to the incense that is added to the golden bowl, the more we pray, the more quickly the bowl will be filled and when the bowl is full, great things happen! Therefore, we will not lose heart in praying but let us be encouraged to pray unceasingly!
-Short sharing from Dutch Sheets "Intercessory Prayer"
There are several possible reasons for this:
1) God can be using this period of waiting to mould our character and while we persevere in our prayers, we develop the fruit of patience and faithfulness.
2) The period of waiting can also increase our faith so that we may know that it is God and not our own works that accomplishes things.
3)In the spiritual realm, there are things unseen and unknown to us
e.g. In Daniel 10:13, it is revealed to us that God answered Daniel's prayers and sent an angel to bring Daniel the message but the angel was stopped by the devil for 21 days before he could bring the message to Daniel.
Our prayers can change things in the spiritual realm in ways we cannot understand so we must pray until we see things move in the natural realm and this is related to this concept called the substance of prayer.
The substance of prayer is the concept that our prayers can release the power of Holy Spirit from us to do great things! Consider the following verses:
Revelation 5:8
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 8:3-5
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
Our prayers are akin to the incense that is added to the golden bowl, the more we pray, the more quickly the bowl will be filled and when the bowl is full, great things happen! Therefore, we will not lose heart in praying but let us be encouraged to pray unceasingly!
-Short sharing from Dutch Sheets "Intercessory Prayer"
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Lord, I want to hear you by Donna Mitchell
Hey, I read this online and found it really helpful for me and I believe some of you are struggling with hearing and knowing God's will for your life. So here it is:
I’ll call her Jane. Jane is a new believer. We meet Monday evenings in prison. She is being transformed by God right before our eyes and weekly speaks the most profound truths. Last week was no exception. Jane looked at us and said “you know how you say the Lord continually whispers and speaks to us”? Well He is showing me that when I am completely surrendered to Him, I can hear Him whisper, but when I take back control I don’t hear Him.”
Profound. True. There are many of us who have been walking with the Lord for years and we have forgotten or have not realized this simple truth.
Like Jane, I want to be fully surrendered moment by moment. I don’t want to resist or rebel against the Lord. I wrote in my journal “LORD, I want to co-operate. I want to surrender to Your will, Your assignment, Your conditions, Your timing, Your opportunities and design…LORD to the best of my ability, I surrender myself to You. Please help me flourish moment by moment, accepting the grace You give.”
I remember being in Bible College when a student asked the professor “how do you know God’s will?” The Professor pondered the question for a few moments and then responded, “If you want God’s will with all of your heart, He won’t let you miss it.”
We often want to hear specific direction from the Lord. We cry out for clarity. Maybe surrender is the prerequisite – wanting God’s will above our own regardless of the cost. He won’t let us miss it. The night Jesus made the choice to go to the cross for us, He cried out to His Father in Luke 23:42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” In the quietness of surrender, God’s whisper is impossible to miss.
Write out or cry out your own prayer of surrender in the midst of where you are walking today.
Questions: What keeps you from crying out, “not my will, but Your will be done?” Ask the Lord to search your heart and bring you to a place of complete surrender and deeper trust.
I’ll call her Jane. Jane is a new believer. We meet Monday evenings in prison. She is being transformed by God right before our eyes and weekly speaks the most profound truths. Last week was no exception. Jane looked at us and said “you know how you say the Lord continually whispers and speaks to us”? Well He is showing me that when I am completely surrendered to Him, I can hear Him whisper, but when I take back control I don’t hear Him.”
Profound. True. There are many of us who have been walking with the Lord for years and we have forgotten or have not realized this simple truth.
Like Jane, I want to be fully surrendered moment by moment. I don’t want to resist or rebel against the Lord. I wrote in my journal “LORD, I want to co-operate. I want to surrender to Your will, Your assignment, Your conditions, Your timing, Your opportunities and design…LORD to the best of my ability, I surrender myself to You. Please help me flourish moment by moment, accepting the grace You give.”
I remember being in Bible College when a student asked the professor “how do you know God’s will?” The Professor pondered the question for a few moments and then responded, “If you want God’s will with all of your heart, He won’t let you miss it.”
We often want to hear specific direction from the Lord. We cry out for clarity. Maybe surrender is the prerequisite – wanting God’s will above our own regardless of the cost. He won’t let us miss it. The night Jesus made the choice to go to the cross for us, He cried out to His Father in Luke 23:42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” In the quietness of surrender, God’s whisper is impossible to miss.
Write out or cry out your own prayer of surrender in the midst of where you are walking today.
Questions: What keeps you from crying out, “not my will, but Your will be done?” Ask the Lord to search your heart and bring you to a place of complete surrender and deeper trust.
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