Sunday, May 24, 2009,1:29 PM
Hindrances to Victory Part 1
Yups the service is brought to you.
1) Lack of faith/true faith
There will still be fear as Ian has posted in the previous post( Bro you're fast! )
2 Timothy 1:7
Some fears...
a)"We're not good enough"
2 Corinthians 12:7 - 10( Paul was humble enough to recognize his weaknesses and acknowledged God's grace on his weakness )
b)"God is not good enough"
Numbers 14:6 - 9( Out of the 12 spies sent out, only 2 , Joshua and Caleb reported that the land was good cos they trusted God, while the rest of the 10 spies said that the land was filled with giants and decided that the land was bad )
Numbers 14:11(God had done all the miraculous signs and the Israelites continue to treat God with contempt, kinda God was frustrated/'pek chek' at them)
c)"God does not love us anymore"
Psalm 13: 1 - 2 (Even King David struggled with God, knowing whether God still loves him but if you read further in verses 5 - 6, he trusted in God's unfailing love)
Here we talk about what is not true faith, there are 2 types.
- Deluded Faith (Faith based on presumptions and feelings)
Galatians 2:11 - 14 (Even apostles can be deluded)
Galatians 5:7 - 12 (Paul questioned the people as to why they were deluded)
Joshua mentioned when we say God is with us, its a pretty dangerous prayer. Why? Cos God is holy! We've sin in us! If He is indeed amongst us, we gotta expect pruning and cleansing from Him.
He challenged us to exercise wisdom/discernment to speak truth in love into people's lives. A verse supporting this challenge is Galatians 6:1.
- Head Knowledge Faith(Only in the head, theory)
James 2:14 - 26 (James tells us faith without deeds is dead)
James 1:22(Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.)
2nd point
2)Physical & Mental tiredness
Its funny but many identified with this point at svc at that time ahah!
Exodus 18:17 - 18(Moses father in law told Moses he cant 'bao ka liao' cos it will wear him out.)
REST! Please do so and even plan for it. It is so important as God intended rest for us too at appropriate times! So if you've been sleeping late or if we do see each other online in the wee hours, please tell them to get REST once they are done with whatever they are doing.
That's all folks, cant wait for part 2 but WJ was doing what he is preaching at this moment, that is to have rest and carry on next week =)
Edmund
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>>and i live just for you my lord.
Fear
After yesterday's sermon, I felt a feeling of relief. I felt God knew what was going through my heart at that point. It was fear. Fear that I cannot do well for the upcoming results release, fear of losing this family because of my need to escape the hurt. God really showed me that he will be with me through this time. I felt very relieved because I was quite scared that God will sabo me.
Romans 8:28 says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
This verse has changed my heart towards this fear. I know God will deliver me through the results and the flak that comes after it.
On a side note, I researched a bit and found that "fear" appears 326 times in the Bible and God has said "do not fear" 18 times, the word "afraid" appears 206 times and the words "do not be afraid" appears 65 times. Fear is normal but God has said 83 times that we should not be afraid for he is with us and he will protect us from what we fear.
I'll end this post with the lyrics from "Fear" by Casting Crowns.
Oh,what I would do
To have the kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves
To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown
Where Jesus is,
And he's holding out his hand
But the waves are calling out my name
and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
time and time again
"Boy, you'll never win,
you'll never win,
you'll never win."
Oh, what I would do
to have the kind of strength it takes
To stand before a giant
with just a sling and stone
Surrounded by the sound
of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armour
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand
But the giant's calling out
my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
time and time again
"Boy you'll never win,
you'll never win,
you'll never win."
But the stone was just the right size
to take the giant down
And the waves don't seem so high
when I'm standing on top of them looking down
And I'd soar with the wings of eagles
if I could just ignore the sound
Of the waves and the giants,
the waves and the giants in my mind
Lord, you've not given me a spirit of fear
But of power and of love,
and of a sound mind
So from now on,
I won't let the tempter's lies
turn my eyes away from the prize
That you have set before me.
That you have set before me.
2 Comments:
The lyrics are from the song "Voice of Truth" btw =)
SL
Yeah. Eh... The modified version with the extra part behind is called "Fear".
The original is Voice of Truth.
Subtle differences but I agree they should just called in Voice of Truth
Ian
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>>and i live just for you my lord.
Monday, May 18, 2009,11:27 PM
WWJD
As I was reflecting on a joke I heard on youtube, I realised something very interesting.In Matthew 9:12-13, Jesus said he came for sinners. He used the analogy of the sick needing a doctor. It struck me that Jesus came to this world to heal. Physical, spiritual, psychological and emotional healing.
To heal the festering wound called sin, Jesus died a death of a sinner despite without sin. The sacrificial lamb, the ultimate guilt/sin offering.
Jesus came down not to start a revolution but to heal. He healed the madman and cast out demons. This was psychological healing. Madness has many forms. In the days of Jesus, the mad were said to be possessed by demons thus Jesus' ability to cast out demons is psychological healing. This in itself is miraculous because most people do not ever recover for mental disorders. It consumes them much like how sin consumes us. Jesus was able to heal the madman completely by cast out the demons to the herd of pigs is purely amazing.
I feel if we ever as ourselves what would Jesus do, I feel we should ask ourselves this follow up question: What would be the best way to heal this person or situation?
If we are tempted to cheat in exam, we know it is wrong. WWJD? How can we heal this situation? It would be not to cheat. How is this healing? In a way, it is healing to the soul of the invigilator. Jesus did things to heal the rift between Man and God. It is up to us to do the same. Only by understanding why Jesus came down, can we make good decisions to help the kingdom and help the people, whether lost or saved.
INC
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>>and i live just for you my lord.
Reflections
Today I went back to school to train but God had better plans for me.
It turned out there was no training today so I decided to use the time to take time to seek God while swimming. To reflect on how things have been with God and with people.
I realised that I am not as nua as my baptism name describes. I have passion. Passion to succeed in swimming, passion for soccer and passion for growth. I can be very nua when it comes to studies and God mainly because of lack of progress. After reading Wen Jiang's blog entry on the Uni-Ya blog. I realised that I can turn my passion for worldly things towards passion for Godly things. I can achieve more for God and grow my love for things holy and good. I can be quite nua about QT, saying grace and other things of God but as Timothy said during the Managing Your Life with Christ workship, habits take time to form. I will hold myself accountable to spend Q^2T (Quality Quiet Time) with God and to seek him.
I also redid my spiritual giftings test. I see a need to grow in Faith, Music, Evangelism and Prayer as well as maintain my strengths in Hospitality, Service and Giving. There is so much I can grow. I was talking to God about this and I felt him saying that even though I am very strong in Hospitality, I am very far from pulling my weight for the harvest season.
My time in the water gave me time to think though my life and revive much of my belief. Swimming to me is quite like a walk with God. Various people get in your way, the air you need to survive sometimes slows your progress and God is the lifeguard ready to drag you out of the world (water) when you are struggling to survive.
Let us continue to trust in God and swim to our final objective.
Ian Noah Chan (INC)
1 Comments:
Thank you Ian for "reviving" this blog again. Encouraged that you took time off to evaluate your relationship with God and your analogy about God being your Lifeguard in life, very much like the Saviour side of him. Continue to discover and share your insights =)
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>>and i live just for you my lord.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009,9:21 AM
HI ALL~!!!
As we all know, restructuring and farewell is happening so so soon... In less than a week's time... And unknowingly, this blog has been around for about 3 months plus!
I hope this blog has really blessed us all in one way or another, be it sharing of lives, testimonies, perspectives or even further teaching of the sermons from one another.
On the other hand, please do take note that our own cg farewell aka celebration for after exams will be on Friday Evening and its gonna be a stayover! Exact details will be up soon! (I hope! =X) haha...
In the meanwhile, for those still having exams, JIAYOU!! And for those who have finished exams (including me), let's continue to pray for those having exams! =)
OH OH And I'll be asking you guys for some things, some help this week wor.. haha.. be prepared to hear something from me... but will definitely ask you all after exams... everyone should hear quite different things so you guys better not tell one another OK... until FRIDAY itself! =P
Michelle
1 Comments:
Heya hope this blog has been a blessing to the cg, which i can see it evidently in opening up n sharing lives more closely as you all spur one another on in your walk w Christ. May the beautiful memories and frienship carry on in your journey w Christ in uni group =)
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>>and i live just for you my lord.
Friday, May 1, 2009,12:06 AM
Exam,Prayer & Fasting
Some pics...
We ain't just mugging, we're living out the WOG.
Hebrews 10:25
25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Edmund
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>>and i live just for you my lord.
- memories -
- the children -
SL, at
May 24, 2009 at 10:20 AM
, at
May 24, 2009 at 11:27 AM
