Quote:
“Change does not mean the absence of struggles, but Change means the Freedom to choose holiness in the midst of my struggles.”
wow
—-
Anyway, it is almost time for me to end the day but I wonder whether my two dear friends can truly rest knowing that God is sovereign.
in times like these, all our hope is in You God. To whom shall we turn to but You ?
i have been having a lot of thoughts relating to crisises. and i start to wonder, what would happen if all my material stuff were suddenly gone in a single flash
when i’m utterly helpless, roofless, without the bare essentials - food, water. without this laptop, handphone, watch, mp3 player, stationaries, toiletries, clothes etc
so many things that i take for granted and yet there are millions out there facing a crisis in different parts of the world where not only material things were lost, but the lives of many as well
i don’t know whether i will fully understand what it means to be without anything and anyone and yet know in my heart that God is with me
will u cling on to this promise even if u were caught in a crisis?
Jesus said, “I will always be with you, even to the end of the earth”. (Matthew 28:20)
S in P ride E vil C ontempt I mpurity A pathy L ies
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Dear Friend,
Many have lofty dreams to make the world a better place. But I ask, how many brave young souls are truly out there to change the world that we live in?
If you ever had thoughts about fighting against a force that has claimed the lives of millions, we ask of you to prepare for battle. With you to fight along us, one day, we can win the war against tobacco!
Visit us at http://www.yah.sg/wntd2008 and register for our 2-day battle plan workshop!
off to save some more lives,
aurelia
——————
Ironic. If you are a Christian reading what I have written, just replace tobacco with the forces of darkness. Have all my dreams and plans been lofty? Sadly, yes. But this has to change. It has to.
An Interview with Rick Warren (REMEMBER HE WROTE ‘PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE’)
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now
having cancer and him having ‘wealth’ from the book sales. This is an
absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,
‘Purpose Driven Life ‘ author and pastor of Saddleback Church in
California
In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell,
life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and
God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body–
but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of
years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God
wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.
We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t
going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just
coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one.
The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than
your comfort.
God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your
life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the
toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that
anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like
two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good
and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad
that needs to be worked on.
And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something
good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness,’which
is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid
of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of
thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for
her.
It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her
character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a
testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.
Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For
instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million
copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.
It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with
before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or
for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety
and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide
what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the
church.
Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan
to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and
educate the next generation.
Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I
started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able
to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?
Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or
am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if
I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You
better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more
interested in what I am than what I do.
That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
God’s Blessings on you today.em>
Everywhere by Michelle Tumes
When the road is too lonely walking out in the rain
Through a faceless crowd where no one knows your name
Remember He’s with you every stop of the way
Leading you through the endless maze
You can’t find the forest on a hillside of trees
And you can’t make sense of anything that you see
He’ll sit beside you make you understand
The last shall be first, the lame will stand
All your life, wherever you go, wherever you are
He’s by your side, He’s leading you through the dark
Chorus:
Every smile and every tear
Every hope and all your fears
Journeys reaching near or far
He will lead you like a guiding star, oh
Every night and every day
When you leave and if you stay
Closer than your beating heart
Please believe, He’s everywhere you are
When you can never begin to find the end of your tears
When your heart cries loud and no one seems to hear
The river is wide, He’ll take you by the hand
You’ll walk on the water to dry land
All your life, wherever you go, wherever you are
He’s by your side, and He’s leading you through the dark
(chorus)
Sun and rain, moonlit haze
Know that He will find you
In all your pain, loss or gain
Please believe
(chorus)
Seeing this article really really reminded me of the decisions i had to make in the past - jobs, relationships, ministry…
What the writer wrote in those first few lines- (”It seems like every time I ask God for direction I get a question in return. “What do you want me to do?” I ask him. “What do you want?” He responds. “) is so scarily similar to what i have experienced that is totally freaky!!! But i guess many have had similar experiences lar..just that to see somebody else actually writing it is “wow”.
For my job, He has answered my prayers according to what I have asked for this season…and if my long term dream is not what i really want in the end, i still can change jobs…As for the*ahem* special relationship, my prayer is always to be with someone that i would eventually marry…but this decision is really difficult as i can’t change husbands right? LOL!
Sigh..time to think about what i really really really want and ask Him for His perspective
p/s: would like to add to the article tho’ (if u read it) that i think God doesn’t say YES to everything that we request from Him :P He is a good God that knows better than us!
Was walking from home to buy some groceries, looking at the sky and telling God how i only want to be in a journey with Him without compromising on other things…and i felt like He was beside me, asking me to look up- and there it was, an eagle soaring high above the sky!
It is so hard though sometimes to know exactly what You are trying to do in my life when i thought You were guiding me all along…Everything that happened within the past 2 years may have the reasons which I do not understand fully yet, but who else can i trust but Him who has proven over and over again that He is faithful?
Maybe, God is asking me to wait on Him and to be renewed inside out. Though the process can be very painful at first, i will always be reminded of the eagle soaring without effort, completely free from the forces of gravity…
For those who want to view pics from my office and home at KL, visit my previous blog here!
Just got back from my aunt’s place in Johor and I just feel soo blessed! :) Like what I said in the other blog, I think I’ve made an association between food and love…My aunt cooked a spread for us and my cousins brought me around to eat and buy snacks back to Sg. Gosh, I’m just a sucker for this and it doesn’t help that I feel a thin layer around my waist :P Need to exercise!!!!!!! Didn’t take pics for this trip though coz my phone didn’t have enough memory…guess I will get a camera soon!
Too bad I can’t vote this year coz I found out that we need one year for the goverment to validate our registration form before being allowed to vote..sianz…Anyway, I will vote for Barisan Nasional - the most likely candidate to win…So, why bother right?
Watched 50 first dates at my aunt’s house…again…! and I can’t help but imagine how similar Adam Sandler aka Henry is like God who pursues us everyday, reminding us of His love in the moments He can have with us. And I am just like Lucy in the show who forgets His love and my relationship with Him the very next day … It’s really funny that He reminded me to write in my journal through this show as well…just like how Lucy writes in hers to remind herself of Henry. I’m always so amazed at how God chooses to speak to me sometimes..hehe…so creative and funny!
P/s: you’re looking at a new Stentorian fan! ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Songs i like: Mist and Contemplations
check em out here!
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