I See Grace

Jesus my help

I call on Your name

I cast my cares on You

Jesus my hope

my tower of strength

my faith is found in You

[Bridge]

I see You pierced

wounded for me

when I look to the cross I see

[chorus]

I see grace

sealed by Your sacrifice

I see love

reaching for me

Precious blood,

washes and sanctifies

Healing flows

setting me free

I see grace

Bearer of sin

Afflicted and tried

You paid Redemption's price

Bearing my curse

You set me on high

Your death has brought me life

Lyrics Composer : Karen Lim, New Creation Church

Thoughts: Adam's Fall

This thought just came to mind yesterday when I was sharing the story of Adam's Fall to a friend.

When God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God specifically said to Adam:

"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2.16-17

So, the question is this: Why Adam did not die on the same day, but instead went on to live until he was 930 years old?

As I was sharing the story, this answer came to mind:

Adam did not die that day because an innocent animal died on his behalf.


We read later in Genesis 3.21:

"The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

Adam committed a sin that is punishable by death. God was merciful to Adam, but the sin had to be punished. An innocent animal died on that day to provide a covering for Adam's sin.

Today, Jesus Christ has died on our behalf as punishment for all our sin. Jesus was without sin but chose to die on our behalf, so that we who are sinful can live and not die.

For those who believe in Him, he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

"Trailblazer"

My care group leader, Corinne saw this picture when the care group was praying for me:

"You were in a wheat field, with the wheat ripe for harvest... taller than you. You were holding a sickle in your hand and were cutting off the wheat. I saw above it the word, 'trailblazer' ".

4 Times in One Day

It all started one day when a colleague showed me an article from a forwarded email about some "Latest Tactic From Christians". I got so annoyed with that email because of the blatant lies it said about Christians, and how it was simply ridiculous and illogical.

I had the weekend to think about how to answer that colleague in a convincing way (without offending her).

So as I was thinking i decided to make a search on the internet, on a related but different issue. I found one article particularly interesting. As I read that article, I was pleasantly surprised that the points put forward was rather good! It was backed up by references and the way it was presented was well done.

So the following morning I was excited to get my other colleague to chat with me about the things written in the article.

1. My first opportunity was with this guy colleague who was quite knowledgeable in the topic, so I asked him about the article I've found, basically trying to hear the other side of the story. Good conversation, and I get to share a bit from the Christian perspective.

2. Later in the afternoon, another colleague came into my room and asked, "come on, tell me what were you guys discussing just now?" I couldn't resist a good opportunity... I began to explain to her why she should begin to think about whether her present faith is the truth. She also asked some interesting questions, like why I believe in Jesus, and why I believe Jesus is the Son of God. Good question! I proceeded to explain to her about Christianity. The conversation ended by me asking her to go back and think. We agreed to discuss about this some other time.

3. Next, another lady colleague came in... We had some good chats some months ago, but had not really talked since then. She came in all out of a sudden, and just to hang out and casual chat. She told me earlier that she used to be a Christian. She used to teach bible classes in Sunday School etc. But she left the faith when she got married. I urged her to consider coming back to Jesus, and also told her about my conversation with my male colleague in my first story. She seemed to agree with what I said, but... its difficult for her now that she is married and changed to another faith.

4. Lastly, the girl who first let me read about the article about the christian tactics came in. I explained to her what I have thought over the weekend. How that tactic is not logical and so ridiculous. I pointed it out to her from that article itself, as the answer is found in the very article itself. How the so-called "Dr ..." who wrote the article, the supposedly learned person who claimed to having done extensive research on the issue, lacked common sense in what she said.


By the fourth time I was already getting tired, because discussing things like this, and arguing points, can be exhausting. But as I speak I actually got more energetic. I was passionate to talk about Jesus!

It was quite an experience for me. Sharing about Jesus is one thing, but the difficult part was to do it without offending the other person because it involves discrediting the other person's beliefs. The thing that I really need to thank God is that, the following days after this incident, I was still good friends with all 4 of these colleagues and we still joke and laugh together... I am very excited about what is going to happen next....

Illustration: The Man On A Cruise

This is something meaningful I learned from bible study lessons:

The Man On A Cruise

There was once a man who has used up all his money to buy a ticket to board a ship to sail to another country.

During the long journey, he would walk past the dining hall and look at the other passengers feasting and enjoying their food. He wished he could join them, but he had no more money to buy food.

He would then go back to his own cabin to eat the biscuits he had brought along, carefully eating it little by little everyday, hoping that it would last for the journey.

Then one day, the captain of the ship came up to him and asked him why he did not join the other passengers at the dining hall but instead ate biscuits at a corner.

"I have used up all the money I have to purchase the ticket, and now I have no more money for food." the man said.

The captain then said, "Don't you know that the ticket price included food as well?"


The Lesson of the Story:

Christians believe that once they have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior, they are assured of a place in heaven. However, many thought that that was the only thing they can have.

Some Christians even have a wrong belief that we can have all the good things after we reach heaven, but while we are still in this earth we are meant to suffer.

There are many Christians who live life like the man in the story. Many due to ignorance did not know that there are many other benefits besides heaven that we Christians can enjoy while we are in this earth, so we accept sickness and poverty as part of God's will and hope that one day it will all become better once we reach heaven.

However, the Bible says that we are meant to reign as kings and priests while on earth. We are meant to be overcomers!

We don't have to wait until we die and go to heaven to enjoy all of God's blessings. We can all enjoy heaven NOW!

The Bible is full of promises of God's blessings for us Christians, if only we would take time to find out. Our God is so wealthy and so kind, and He loves us so much. He has already given us the best He has - His Only Son, so would He not also give us all good things?

When we think of it, it makes sense... all God's promises are for us today, not for us only when we reach heaven. When we are in heaven, we won't need prosperity because we will be literally walking on gold! We won't need health and healing, and we won't need divine protection because there won't be any bad people or accidents in heaven anyway!

Psalm 103:3-5
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who:

1. forgives all your sins
2. heals all your diseases
3. redeems your life from the pit
4. crowns you with love and compassion
5. satisfies your desires with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

Wisdom at Work

Today the bosses called together all the top management of the company to have an emergency meeting to discuss about an issue.

There has been a problem that has cropped up, and the bosses asked us what is the best way to solve this issue.

The boss asked around, and each person there gave a suggestion. When it came to my turn, I also came up with what I thought was the best solution.

Each of us gave a different answer.

After all have spoken, the question was asked to the big boss, "What do you think?".

And he answered, "I agree with what Arden said..."

I just smiled, and in my heart I kept thanking God, for guiding my mouth what to speak, and granting me favor with the bosses.

Jesus is my wisdom!

God's Word to My Mum

Today Pastor Patrick did a visitation to my house.

We had some conversation, mostly on the topic of our upcoming marriage. I introduced pastor to my mother who was also around at that time.

When the time is up and before pastor leaves, he offered to pray for us. Since my mum was here, I decided to ask her to come around for pastor to pray for her. My mum says that she wants pastor to pray over her regarding her sleeping problems, as she suffers from severe insomnia.

As pastor prayed in tongues to seek the Lord for guidance, God impressed upon pastor that the problem is due to my mum keeping a lot of hurt within her.

Pastor told my mum that she should let go of her past hurts, and he asked her to "bless" my dad. When he came to this part, my mum began to feel uneasy. She told pastor that, she had never blessed dad before and that she doesn't need to.

Pastor wisely did not press the matter further and asked her to consider forgiving my dad.

As I sent pastor out to his car, I thanked pastor for the timely and accurate word. My mum has been bound by these hurts for all these years. My family history has been complicated and not a happy one, to say the least.

She did not respond immediately, but given time, I believe that she will be able to truly let go of her past. It wasn't easy for her to release her decades of hurt and betrayal on one single prayer session. I pray that God will continue to minister to her and heal her wounds.

Thank God for a godly pastor who is able to speak God's healing words into her life.

Proverbs Bear Fruit

This morning I had a meeting with my colleagues. We were discussing some matters and our CEO asked us for our opinions.

When came to my turn, he said, "As a lawyer, you are the wisest person among us... I would like to hear what you think about this matter."

This was the first time I heard him say about someone being wise, as this word was seldom used by him.

So I just shared my thougths about it, nothing spectacular.. just my point of view.

And at the end of the meeting, when everyone else has left, he told me personally: "I'm really thankful to have a wise person like you to guide me along... really!"

I am so thankful to God about this. All along I did not know whether my views were appreciated by them, and today he actually gave his recognition.

I believe that, as I continue to "hide God's words in my heart", God's words continue to change the way I think, and unknowingly my speech were guided by God's wisdom.

This was the first time I was openly acknowledged as a wise person by someone else. All glory to God.

United Live Concert

I've been waiting for this night for a long time.

The last time United Live came to town, I think it was some 2 years ago, I was pretty excited over it and even got myself a ticket. But something happened last minute and I had to give it a miss.

Not this time around. I made sure I got the tickets early and booked my schedule way before. I've invited Alexander along, and Alisha of course followed.

We reached the place about 1 hours early, but the place was already packed with young people. We managed to squeeze our way through to as forward as possible, and only made it halfway. Not bad, we stood right in the middle with the band in front of us, although I would prefer if we can make it to the First Class position, which is right in front of the worship leader.

The concert was awesome! Most of the songs they sang were my favourites, and I followed them singing through the songs - since I've been listening to it and practising for a few weeks in advance.

I especially liked the part where the band played softly and only the crowds singing. It was truly an awesome atmosphere... The voice was fantastic, and almost heavenly. It was beautiful.

I sang my heart out, and by the end of it, I was practically exhausted from the singing. And, as usual for me in these situations, I have lost my voice already from the second song onwards.

It was truly amazing... I'm very thankful for the experience.

"Kingdom Keys" Graduation Nite

After 12 lessons of Bible Study, I have finally completed the first part of the Kingdom Series called "Kingdom Keys".

At the Graduation Nite I was given a certificate of attendance, and get to go on stage to take pictures with Pastor Joshua and his wife. Just a simple ceremony, but we were all smiles for the whole night. Maybe its because it reminds us of our school days (where we seldom get any awards..)

Alexander was not there that night, but I got the certificate for him and handed it to him the next day. He was so happy and proud of himself. I was proud of him too... indeed it wasn't easy to commit to attend the 12 classes.

Attending the classes was not a problem for myself, because my office is just some 10 minutes' drive from the church. But the thing was that (for the first few lessons) I had to drive through the traffic jam all the way to pick up Alisha, and then crawl my way to pick up Alexander. We were often late for that first few lessons.

I was reminded of a time when, after picking up Alisha from her home, we were caught in a very bad jam on our way to Alexander's house. Class has already started and we were still in the jam. I was so very tempted to leave Alexander at home and proceed to go there ourselves.

Then finally I decided to press on! We picked up Alexander and we managed to reach there not too late (about 1 hour late.. only). Thankfully they don't deduct points for coming late.

Glad that I did not grow tired of doing good, and did not give up when faced with obstacles.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a
harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

I'll leave it to God about my "harvest", but right now I do feel this 'high' for having helped a new believer to grow in the Lord.

Where Did Sufferings Come From?

One day I was having dinner with my colleagues when this question was asked: "Where did sufferings come from?"

Besides myself, there were 2 other Christians on the same table.

The first Christian said, "God gave us sufferings so that we can learn a something from it."

The second Christian said, "God can ultimately bring out something good out of the sufferings because He is in control." Good answer, if it were given to a different question.

I kept quiet at that time, which is quite uncommon when such questions were asked, but I did not want to allow non-believers to see us Christians argue among ourselves about doctrinal issues. I knew that if I gave a third opinion to the same question, it might cause confusion to the non-believers around.

So I waited for another opportunity when I was alone with this first Christian to ask her again the same question. She was so certain that God was the one who gave us humans sufferings and problems (although for our good). She said that all the while this was what being taught to her.

I asked her to go home and think about the question again. I said, "If God was the one who gave us sufferings, wouldn't it make Him a bad god? How can a good God give us bad things?"

A few weeks later... (which is today)

We met up, and I asked her if she had an answer to my previous question. This time round she gave me an even more interesting answer:

1. Sufferings came from God, to teach us something.
2. Sufferings did not come from the Devil - we shouldn't blame the devil for all the bad things that happens to us.

I was shocked! Firstly, sufferings come from God, then, sufferings did not come from the devil. Think about it - all of a sudden God became the bad guy, the devil became the good guy! Just by a slight twist in doctrine the roles were being reversed.

She immediately called up a friend who is supposed to be an authority in the knowledge about God. This friend explained over the phone the concepts in discussion and answered our questions. We later came to a conclusion of what should be the answer.

The Answer:

1. God does not give us sufferings, although He is able to make use of our sufferings to teach us lessons and to build up our character.
2. Most of the sufferings that we go through are self-inflicted, through our own sins, carelessness, neglect, wrong habit patterns, etc.
3. Some of the sufferings were brought about by the devil

This answer sounded fine with me. I'll stick to this for the time being, meanwhile I'm open to any better answers.

I ended our discussion with a humble advise: Don't simply accept what was being taught, although they claim to be teaching from the bible. Study the bible for yourselves and check through their teaching against the bible.

Making Use of Every Opportunity

Inviting A Family to Church

I was working in my office one day, when a group of insurance agents came over to sell their products. I was passing them by when one of them asked me if I can spare a few moments to listen to their insurance products.

My first natural response was that I was too busy to listen to these (which I really was), but suddenly a thought came to mind, "maybe there can be a chance for me to share the gospel with her." Fine, since I listened to her talk, she would be obliged to listen when its my turn to talk.

Okay, another reason is that I have just finished a session of doing some door-to-door selling of my clients' product (for the experience) and had some empathy for sales people.

So I told her that she had only 5 minutes to say whatever she wants to say, and I need to get back to work. She made her sales pitch, and we exchanged contacts, and she left.

Some time later she called for an appointment to meet up, asking for a time convenient for me. I said week days are out, so preferably on a weekend. We decided that we should meet up on a Sunday about 2pm, after church. The venue, at a restaurant nearby the church.

I brought along Alisha to the meeting, and she brought along her husband and her young daughter, a cute little girl aged 5. We had lunch and made some conversations.

When we were talking about religion and church, I talked about inviting them to come over to our church for a visit, and that the church is just nearby where we were.

Out of a sudden, an idea came to mind. I said that there is also a Sunday school specially for children. There their daughter can learn something and mix around get to know some new friends. And most importantly, she can get to learn to speak English, because the best way to learn a language is through interaction.

We went on with our other conversation, and she made her explanation on her insurance policy etc. We agreed to meet up at another date for her to prepare a proposal, probably in 2 weeks' time, since the following Sunday is Mothers' Day.

The week passed as usual, but on the second week, that is on the 13th May, while reading the newspaper I came across a news article that reads, "Bosses prefers English profiency as main criteria for employees". Then I thought, wow, this works really well to encourage the family to come over to church.

Then as I read on, there was another advertisement that reads, "the best time to learn language is before 12 years of age". Then I thought, WOW! this is double confirmation, two on the same day!. I got very excited about it.

Surely, a few days later she called me for an appointment to give me the proposal. I invited her to church, and told her about the newspaper article. After having a discussion with her husband, she called me to tell me that they will come this coming Sunday.

Today 3 of them came to visit my church. The young girl went over to the Sunday School, wearing in a pretty dress. The parents came with me to the church service. The church service went fantastically well, good worship, excellent preaching. Although they did not step forward to accept Jesus, I am sure they had been touched by the message.

On my way back I was so thankful to God, for giving me the right words to speak to them to invite them to church. I thank God also for the divine arrangement, for both the news article and the advertisement to appear on the same day, which was wonderful.

I wondered, they might not have heard about Jesus if I had followed my natural response and refused to give the lady 5 minutes of my time to listen to her. Praise God.


[My key verse for this year... "God's temple must be exceedingly magnificent." This year, my main purpose will be to build God's house. Since I'm not involved in any leadership capacity, I can only do what I am able to do, that is to invite people to church.]

God - a fun-spoiler?

I was asked this question: why did God put on us so many restrictions - that we can't have fun any more if we want to follow God.

He gave this scenario: He had a lady friend who is a Christian. She is dating somebody, but wouldn't have sex with her boyfriend. The reason why she won't do it is because God forbids people having sex outside marriage. So he concluded that God doesn't want us to have fun, because we humans want to have fun (ie. sex)

I did not answer immediately, but went home and pondered over this question. I came back to him today and gave him this answer.

Is God a fun-spoiler?

Let me illustrate with this scenario:

Imagine one day your daughter (this friend of mine is a father of 2 teenaged daughters) came and asked you for your permission to go for an overnight party. When you asked her what do they do there at the party, she answered, "We party, drink alcohol and have lots of sex. Anybody can have sex with everybody."

Firstly, would you allow her to go? - No. No way.

Why? What reason would you give your daughter? - She might get pregnant.

What else would you tell her? Because she might answer you that she will use contraceptives, and that problem is taken care of.

He told me, "I don't know... why don't you tell me the answer."

"Unwanted pregnancy is just one of the reasons, and there are many reasons why we won't allow our children to have sex freely, for example the danger of sexually transmitted diseases". I answered.

"The main reason is that we don't want our loved ones to get hurt."

Similarly, God our heavenly Father also loved us so much and does not want us to get hurt. When He gave us the rule that we must only have sex within marriage, He actually has our best interest in mind.

God who created us in the first place knew what is best for us. He knows that if we have pre-marital sexual relationships, it will damage us emotionally - and this applies to both male and female.

It affects our self-worth and self-image - we will be burdened with guilt and condemnation, and will result in low self-esteem. We will feel used and unappreciated. We begin to despise ourselves, and feel we are no longer "whole".

Surely, God is able to heal us from all these, but God loves us too much He doesn't want us to go through all these hurt in the first place.

It affects our future relationships - If we end up marrying someone else, we will have feelings of guilt towards our partner because we failed to give to our partner our best. We feel we can't give them the whole of us, because we have already give a part of us to someone else.

Even if we were marrying the person we had sex with, there is also a problem of appreciation and respect. Either way it is going to affect our marriage in the long run. (Again, God is able to heal this if we go back to Him)

The reason God put this restriction of no sex before marriage is to protect us from the hurt. He is not out to spoil our fun, because he knows that the "fun" we get from pre-marital sex will eventually lead to a lot of hurts and broken relationships. He wants us to have the REAL FUN, which can be found in a lasting relationship built from a mutual trust and appreciation.

Invited Friends to Church

I have been inviting this Christian friend to my church for some weeks. She hasn't been going to church for a quite a long while, so during a conversation I suggested that she should come visit my church one Sunday.

She liked the idea and agreed to come over that coming Sunday.

However, something cropped up, and she told me that she couldn't make it that week. I suggested the following week, but when the time comes there was still some other reasons that prevented her from going.

Then today she finally came...

After church I brought her to "vineyard lounge" where some church members will introduce more about the church to newcomers.

While talking, she shared that in the past she has had friends inviting her to their church, but none has made the follow-up and encouraged her to go. From the way she shared, she sounded so thankful that I had been persistent in encouraging her to come.

I almost cried when I heard that. Persistent!... All the while I was reluctant to continue my follow-up phone calls and sms, fearing that I may annoy her and sound too pushy.

Thank God that I did not give up. Come to think of it, why should I be afraid? I wasn't doing anything wrong... I am glad that she enjoyed it and has agreed to come again next week...

Sharing Gospel to My Junior Boys

At the start of the bible study, I threw out a question to them: "Do you think wisdom is easy or difficult to get?" Almost all of them said difficult, their reasoning was that if wisdom was easy, then everybody will certainly have it. I told them that in today's lesson we are going to discover the answer from the bible.

The text was taken from Proverbs 1:20-33.

"Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares" (Proverbs 1:20)

Here wisdom is illustrated as a person who is calling aloud to the people to respond to her.

This is what wisdom is saying to the people:

"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?" (Proverbs 1:22)

Wisdom further said what she would do if the people had responded:

"If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you." (Proverbs 1:23)

From the above passage, we can learn that:

1. God wants everyone to have wisdom. God wants to give wisdom to everybody.
2. The reason why many people are not wise is simply because they wanted to remain foolish.
3. If we would only ask God for wisdom, God would freely give us all the wisdom we need.

"So," I asked the boys, "who wants to be foolish?". (Nobody raised his hand). "Who wants to be wise?" (Everybody raised his hand)

"We have just read that God would give us wisdom if we ask wisdom to come into our hearts. Who wants to ask Wisdom to come into our hearts?" (Everybody's hand still raised)

"The bible also said that Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God (see 1 Corinthians 1:24), so when we invite Jesus, we invite Wisdom into our hearts... so, who wants to invite Jesus to come into our hearts?"

At this, I led these precious ones to say the sinner's prayer. Among these, 2 of them accepted Jesus for the first time in their lives. Praise God!

My New Job As Legal Advisor

It has been more than a month since my last post. At first it was because of the hectic Chinese New Year celebration, then i got this new job... Oh! This is so exciting! I thought I must get back to my blog to record it down, to give glory to God.

I was approached for this job from a friend whom I have not been in contact for some time. Quite unexpectedly too! He said that his company is involved in a new project, and needs to hire an in-house lawyer.

I went in for an "interview" and agreed on the job on the spot. The terms were so appealing, what I would call an ideal job. It's like God had the job tailor-made just for me:

1. The retaining fee (salary) was slightly more what I used to get when working as a legal assistant, with a promise to increase it to almost double from what I used to get after 3 months.
2. My main job functions are to advice on company law and drafting agreements. Exactly what I had wanted. Something I enjoyed doing, and something I'm good at (I think!)
3. The job is on a retainer basis, meaning I can still practice as a lawyer or even get retained by another company (or companies).
4. They will give me a room to work in. My own office. They even invited me to set up my permanent office there. This one I'll have to consider. The downside is that I'll be "on-call" the whole time, but I can sure live with that. The plus side is I get my own office rent free, and I get to meet my own clients there.
5. The project they were planning to do is going to be a huge one. It is a nation-wide campaign involving some big names. In terms of exposure and experience, this is surely a God-sent. How I can get myself into this? This is surely by the grace of God. I soon found out that they are actually planning another large-scale project, and there's still another one in the pipeline. Talking about God's double blessing... this is a triple or multiple blessing.

All these I have been wishing and desiring in my heart, without actually putting it into prayer. All I remember doing was just a simple thought in my heart, "wouldn't it be nice if..."

Now I'm already in the job for about 2 weeks. During these 2 weeks, God has granted me favour upon favour with my "bosses":

1. The CEO offered that I may charge a further small amount for each of the agreements signed. This is being generous because the whole idea of retaining a lawyer is to save up on costs because they are doing the agreements in bulk. This "side-income" is expected to add up to a lot, as they are planning to get some couple of thousand agreements to be signed.
2. The Owner asked me one evening after dinner in which we had conversations about when I'm going to get married, etc, asked me, "So when do you plan to get married?". I said, "probably end of this year or early next year." Then he replied, "Good... because by that time you will probably get a big angpow from me. If your wedding is now then I can't afford a big angpow."
3. The CEO said to some of us in the executive level, that he will try to get us a salary of xxx (what they promised to give me after 3 months) starting from this month.
4. One of the managers, my friend who had invited me into the company, told me that he will try to talk to the bosses to double up my salary, ie. what I will be getting this month because now I'm handling the matters for 2 companies (ie. for the second project).
5. The CEO again. This only happened today: As part of my job, I have been requested to draft and prepare letters and correspondences with other parties. So, this afternoon as he was going through one of my draft letters, he said that I can bill the company separately for each of the letters prepared. And he said that I can bill the company for xxx amount (a very generous sum for drafting letters), just send him the bill and he will sign it. He added further that, he wants me to earn xxx amount (a very, very generous amount this time) every month while working here.

The amazing thing is, all these "additional terms" were offered by them out of their own initiative. I had not requested or demanded for a single item.

I believe that this year my life is going to be marked by God's favour. God's goodness and love will surely pursue and hunt me down, because the LORD is my Shepherd.

Teaching Junior Bible Study

This is my first week at work at my new job (read my post on 7/2/2008), and it has been really busy for me. It's not that kind of hard labour, but it is mentally exhausting.

That was my reason (excuse) for not preparing for my bible study lesson.

I had considered skipping bible study this week and teach other things, but since I haven't prepared for anything else either, I decided that I would stick to bible study.

I had just come back from work this morning itself, and so was quite tired. Up to the time when I distributed the bibles, I had no idea what I should teach on. I thought I would just read some verses and explain a bit, and dismiss the class.

Then I thought, wait... I'm not going to settle for this kind of lazy attitude, because I am going to preach God's word. God's word must be preached with excitement everytime, all the time. I prayed to God, "Lord, please speak through me to these children."

I began to teach them, continuing where we left off the last time. At first it was just plain and ordinary, i constantly had to remind myself to put on a smile, but things came to life halfway through. God brought to my mind a particular experience that well illustrates my point. Praise God! This is the summary of what I taught today.

Solomon's Guide on How to Get Wisdom:

Text: Proverbs 1:8-19

1. Listen to your parents' advice. Learn from their experience.

Parents can give us some very good advice, if we will just slow down and listen

2. Don't listen to a bad advice.

a. Learn to recognize which is a good advice and which is a bad advice.

b. There will be someone who constantly think of how to do bad things or how to harm other people. Some of them will ask us to join them - Don't do it.

3. Choose your friends carefully.

a. There are some good friends, and there are some bad friends.

b. We may eventually follow what they are doing.

Illustration:

When I was still studying at 16 years old, I was mixing around with a group of friends. Since most of us had just gotten our motorcycle licence, we were very excited about riding our motorcycles outside the school. A few of us already owned a motorcycle and rode it to school. I was one of them.

It began with just some harmless riding around to and fro, until later when someone suggested that we have a race. The race was to see who can go to 100 km/hour when riding along a narrow stretch of road just outside school. What actually made the race difficult was that in the middle of that stretch there was a sharp 90-degree turn that no one could manage to make that turn without slowing down, and therefore no one could make it till 100 km/hour.

I was a new Christian then, being young and adventurous. I arrogantly told my peers that I would try to win that race, and the way I'm going to do it is by doing a grand-prix style cornering at that turn. So I got to my bike as they watched on.

So off I went... at the speed of 90 km/hour I was already nearing the sharp turning. I decided to pull of my stunt as planned, but the road was too narrow my bike began to swerve to the other side of the road, and went out of the road towards the grass at the side of the road.

I tried to pull my brakes to the max but the bike was just going too fast. I was heading towards a lamp post and there was nothing I could do. My mind went blackout for a moment as my bike hit the lamp post headlong with a small thump.

I was stunned for a while and looked around. The bike was okay. I remember I had hit straight on the lamp post. At the speed I was at there should be more serious damages than this.

I checked and I realize that at that particular lamp post there were some soil being piled up around the lamp post, as a result of some digging work being done nearby that area that particular day. That pile of soil had actually absorbed much of the impact.

After that day, I began to wonder what would happen if there weren't any soil being piled up at that lamp post. I began to realize that God had miraculously delivered me from a serious accident.

I began to think how my life would be different if I had lost a limb on that day. I could have even broken my neck. From then on, I ride my bike very slowly, because I value my life. (Even to this day I would not speed on my car.)

Moral of the Story:

Sometimes, we would do some stupid things that we won't normally do, but because we mix with the wrong group, we will tend to follow their ways. It is wise to choose your friends.

Conclusion:

Wisdom is - knowing which is the right decision, and the ability to make that right decision.

Go Back, or Go In?

This is the brief outline of what I shared at a Morning Devotion session at a Boot Camp for 4th Kuala Lumpur Boys' Brigade.

Introduction: Israel the people of God

This is a true story that has happened many years ago, around the time when the pyramids in Egypt were built. There was a nation called Israel. Israel was an ordinary nation, but it was special because its people worshipped God. That was why God help them in many ways.

There was an incident where God has helped the people of Israel to overcome their enemy. At one time, they were being pursued by the armies of Egypt, which were the most powerful force at that time. The people of Israel were afraid because they were no match for the powerful Egyptian army with their iron chariots and they had no where to run, so they prayed and asked God for help. God helped them to overcome their enemies by sending a mighty wave to totally wipe out the entire Egyptian army with their king. That incident happened at a place called Red Sea.

The Promise of a Fruitful Land

God promised the people of Israel that He will give them a good and fertile land called Canaan. That land will be so well watered and fruitful that all the people will be very properous and successful. The land will also have houses that have already been built, and wells that have already been dug.

However, there will be inhabitants living there. The inhabitants there were very wicked, so God wants the people of Israel to remove the inhabitants so that the land will be given to them. God promised that He will help them.

The 12 Spies

So, they moved on from Red Sea to Canaan. When they reached the border of Canaan, they decided to stop for a rest before going in. They sent out 12 spies to go into Canaan to scout the area, with a mission to learn more about Canaan, to find out how best to conquer it.

The 12 spies went as instructed, and then returned with a report to the people what they have learnt.

The Bad Report

The spies reported that the land was indeed very fertile, and brought out evidence of it. They brought out a single cluster of grapes they have bought from the land... it was so huge that it required two person to carry it!

Then, 10 of the spies went on to say, "...not only were the fruits of the land huge, but the inhabitants of the land were also huge. There were giants in the land! And not only that, the cities were fortified with huge and high walls!"

The 10 spies spread fear to the people, and suggested that they should forget about the whole thing and go back.

However, the other 2 spies spoke out: "Don't be afraid of them! Remember how God has helped at Red Sea? Let us go in and fight bravely, God will help us!"

Life Application

When we are faced with difficulties and challenges, majority of the people will just give up and choose rather the easy way out. They will say, like the 10 spies, "Let's go back."

But there will always be a few who will face challenges with boldness and will not give up easily. They will say, like the 2 spies, "Let's go in, God will help us!"

Example 1: Many who find studying difficult, will just give up and go instead to do easier things, like playing computer games or watching TV. They would rather spend their 5 years of school enjoying life and lazing around, but in the end spend 50 years in difficulty because they did not have a good education.

Example 2: There are many others like you who would rather spend their Saturday afternoons at home sleeping or sitting comfortably at home, but you chose to do the more difficult thing of joining Boys' Brigade to be trained in discipline.

Who would you choose to be? Will you choose to be like the 10 spies who says, "Let's give up, and go back..." or like the 2 spies who said, "Let's go in, God will help us."?

Back to the Story: Did they Go In, or Did they Go Back?

As the story goes... the people of Israel decided to listen to the 10 spies and went back, because they were afraid. But God did fulfill his promise to the people of Israel to give them the land of Canaan, but only at a much later time.

God was angry at the people because they refused to believe that God was able to help them. So as a punishment, God sent them to wander in the desert for a very long time - 40 years! When the time was up, God sent them again to claim the land, but this time it was a different generation. The entire generation has died, and now it was their children who will go in to the land.

Again they came to the border of Canaan and sent out spies to scout the land. This time, they sent out only 2 spies.

When the spies came back, they reported that they managed to speak to a lady. The lady said that 40 years ago, when they knew that the people of Israel were about to invade their land, they became very afraid because they heard how God was with them and how God miraculously defeated the entire Egyptian army at Red Sea.

Amazing to know, what they were afraid about, all along were actually afraid of them.

Conclusion: How They Conquered Canaan

This is how God helped them to conquer Canaan:

Before they went in, God gave them specific instructions on how to attack the fortified cities of Canaan with the high walls, and they carried out the plan as instructed.

The people of Israel marched to the city with their weapons, and naturally the inhabitants of Canaan, the giants, got ready with their weapons, arrows, and prepared to fight. The Israelite army, however, did not attack the city directly. They just marched around the city walls, with their mouths kept shut, and then went back to their camp.

The giants there were puzzled, and fear gripped their hearts. They knew they were up to something, and certainly God was behind this.

The Israelite army repeated the same thing the next day. No fighthing, just marching silently around the city wall, and then went back. Third day, same thing... so the fourth, fifth and sixth.

Then came the seventh day. This time they came out as usual, but instead of circling the city walls once, this time they marched around it seven times. By this time, the army inside the city were trembling with fear and their hearts melted.

At the end of the seventh round, they together gave a loud shout, and God helped them by causing the whole city walls to crumble. As the walls crumbled, the people of Israel rushed in to battle and killed their enemies.

Israel won a great victory that day.

Teaching Morning Devotion - Boot Camp

I was approached to lead a morning devotion session at a Boot Camp which is designed as a welcoming to the new recruits of 4th Kuala Lumpur Boys' Brigade. The date is on 2nd February 2008.

The Boot Camp is a 2-day camp, and the participants will mostly consist of lower secondary students aged between 13 to 15, numbering about 30 members. The venue will be in a classroom at St. Gabriel's School, Kuala Lumpur. Their English proficiency will be rather low, so I intend to speak to them in Malay.

I prayed and asked God for wisdom, for his guidance to show me what topic I should be teaching on. I was only given slightly over 1 day to prepare, so I suppose it should be a "ready-to-go" topic, since I can't have much time for research or preparation of props.

Most of the participants will be hearing bible stories for the first time in their lives, so it must be on an easier to understand topic. Moreover, as it is an all boys audience, I wanted a teaching based on a more fast-moving and action-packed story of the bible.

As I was praying I felt that the Holy Spirit dropped an idea on what to teach. I was excited!

So I went to teach that morning. It went some 10 minutes overtime (I was allocated 30 minutes), but on the overall I was happy with it. The campers responded very well, and we had a fun time together. Some of the campers who started out with their eyes closed and napping, presumably due to lack of sleep, also join in attentively later on. I enjoyed the session, and I thank God for the opportunity to share God's word to these youngsters.

The text of the teaching is outlined in my next post.

Praying in Tongues Boosts Immune System

I recently came across an article that says our bodies release 2 chemical secretions that can boost our immune system. And according to this article, these secretions are triggered only when we pray in tongues. You can read more about it here.

It is very interesting to know that God in his wisdom has hidden within our bodies a mechanism that only unlocks when we respond in faith in obedience to his word.

Praying in tongues really require some faith on our parts. We do not know what we are praying about or even whether we are doing it right. For those who do not understand it might even look foolish. We just have to rely on the Holy Spirit and trust that He will lead us to pray the perfect prayer. We are actually exercising our faith when we pray in tongues.

This is like a "side-benefit" for praying in tongues. For me, I wanted to pray in tongues more because I wanted to be more "connected" with God and have the Holy Spirit guiding my every day decisions. I felt that I needed his guidance more desperately following an incident that happened sometime end of last year.

One day, I was approached by a lady while walking on the street. She told me some sob stories about how she had lost her money and needed some money for food and to rent a place to stay for the night before she gets some money from her boss who is coming in the next day. And she promised the money will be returned the next day.

Sounds like a typical con-artist, but in my mind I kept thinking, "What if it is real?" So after some thinking I agreed to give her some RM10 for food. They sounded really sad, (by that time there were 2 of them) so I gave her RM100 instead, which was about all I had at that time. They even tried to persuade me to go to the ATM to get more...

On my way home, I kept thinking whether I did wrong. We were supposed to help people, but what about con artists? How do we know whether it was a real case that needed help? I myself have been in a situation like that, and Alisha had also experienced being without a single cent in town, alone and after midnight, where she also asked for help from strangers. So I can't say we should just ignore all pleas for help from strangers.

In situations like this I need help from the Holy Spirit. I thought it would be good if I can know which one is genuine, and which one is scam. Is it even possible? Well, I'll let you know the next time it happens.

To conclude the story, i think that particular one was a scam. When I reached home, at nearly midnight, I tried calling the handphone number they gave me, just to see if they had found a place to stay. Some how the line was connected but they were not aware of it. I overheard they were still on the street asking for money. Seems like they were still 'working'. Later, they ignored my calls and the line was even terminated.

The Measure of Wisdom

I have been reading, memorizing and meditating on the book of Proverbs for some time, and quite regularly for about 2 years now.

I particularly like Proverbs because I seek to have more wisdom in my life. Okay, I'm interested in the benefits of having wisdom, because "Long life is in her right hand, in her left hand are riches and honor." (Proverbs 3:16)

After some time meditating Proverbs, I should have improved by some measure. I wondered, "but by how much? Can I consider myself a wise person now? How much progress have I made?"

Then this verse came to mind:

"15Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people),
16Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil."
Ephesians 5:15-16 (Amplified Bible)

Actually there is a way to find out the measure of our wisdom.

This passage tells us that if we are wise, we will:

1. Live purposefully and worthily and accurately.
2. Make the very most of our time.

So, if we want to know how wise we are, one way is that we can start by checking how we are spending our time. How much of our time is spent purposefully, worthily and accurately, or are we wasting time?

As for myself, this is a particularly important lesson. Lack of discipline in this area is a great concern for me personally. In this year of 2008, one of my major areas that I hope to improve is my management of my time.

I have set it one of my main goals in my resolution. However, I do not want to make it as if it is by my self-effort. I know I can't achieve it on my own. (I know, I've tried) My approach this time is that my year 2008 resolution will be my declared intention, but I will rely on the Holy Spirit to guide me to it.

Hosanna - (Saviour King) Hillsong United LIVE

This is a song that I really like.

Comments from the songwriter Brooke Fraser




This is how it is played:

Sound The Jubilee

The theme this year for Renewal Lutheran Church (my new church) is "Sound the Jubilee". The verse for this theme is taken from Luke 4:19, "To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

The Jubilee is part of the old testament law where on every 50th year the land must be rested from all agricultural activities. The other significant facts about the Jubilee are:

• all the debts owing until that day will be cancelled or written off
• any Israelite that has been sold on slavery must be set free
• all the land that has been sold during the 49 years must be returned to its original owner

For us Christians, we believe that we have entered into a perpetual Jubilee from the moment Jesus died on the cross, where all our sin-debts has been cancelled and all those who are bound as a slave to sin has been set free once and for all, and we are to return to our inheritance as children of God.

However, our Jubilee, just like any other promises of God in the bible, it doesn't happen automatically. We have to firstly be aware that we have that promise, secondly ask God for it and thirdly believe that we have it.

That is why Ps. Joshua, having received the word from God, has proclaimed that year 2008 shall be a year of Jubilee for the whole church.

Quite amazingly, with just a mere few weeks into year 2008, the church has already experienced its manifestation of the Jubilee. The following testimony was shared in today's church service:

There is this anonymous church member who for the past one year had this secret desire to help paying off the church building debt (incurred for the purchase of the church building some 10 years ago), so he prayed to God to provide the money. Some time ago recently, the Lord has blessed this brother tremendously, that he was able to issue a cheque to pay off completely the church building debt, which amounted to more than RM2 million!

Wow! Talk about leadership by example! The pastor and the church leadership proclaimed the Jubilee by faith, taught the church about it, and God has blessed the ministry by the miraculous cancellation of debt.

God is with RLC, and he did not let the words of the pastor to fall to the ground! (1 Samuel 3:19).

The Jubilee has been proclaimed for this year. The church as a whole is already experiencing it. Now it is up to the individual member of the church to claim it for himself personally.

I thank God for this blessing. I am so excited for this year. I believe that this is going to be a year of breakthroughs! I am believing God for it, and claiming it for myself in Jesus' name.

Audio Bible

I found a website that provides "Audio Bible" service. (provided by BibleGateway.com)

Now I can use turn it on and listen to bible verses being read as I do my other work. I am quite excited about it, as now I can have one more way to saturate my mind with God's word.

If you have read my earlier blog on the benefits of being united with God's word, you would find out why this so excites me. CLICK HERE TO READ. I am now using it to listen to my favourite "Proverbs".

Along the way I have also put up a link to the web page beside my blog for your easy reference. Oh.. and also a bible verse quick search, just in case you need it.

"Do not be conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Romans 12:2)

Every time when I hear of preachers telling us how God spoke to them, and led them and guided them to make some decisions, I wondered how they did it. Why God leads them in such a way, but it doesn't happen to me? When I asked God for advice on which decision to make, why is it that I don't have answers from God saying, "do this" or "don't take the offer"?

This verse gives me an answer to my question. The Greek word for "test and approve" in this verse ("dokimazo") can also be translated as "discern". So, this verse can also be translated as such:

If our minds are renewed (by God's word), we will be able to discern what God's will is.

No wonder those preachers are so closely led by God! They have spent so much time reading God's word that their minds are so renewed by it. Hey, they don't simply go up there to preach unless they have read up quite a bit...

(In case you are wondering, I don't know Greek, but a software called "e-Sword" can come in quite handy if you want to do some research.)

My 'Joseph' Moment

Last night I went out and had supper with some friends to discuss some matters. At midnight when I was driving on my way back, I received an unexpected phone call. It was from someone whom I got to know through another friend, when I handled his matters sometime back. He asked whether I will be free to meet up the next day, which I agreed. Then moments later he called again and asked if we can meet up immediately. I agreed, since I'm already driving on the way.

This friend wanted to engage me to handle a matter for him, which needs urgent attention. He is planning to make a bid to takeover a company, and is seeking my advice over some difficulties because some of the preliminary steps were not taken. He wanted to engage me to conduct the takeover exercise.

I was so overjoyed at the opportunity! This friend wants me to handle this multi-million dollar deal, which normally is being handled by large legal firms, all the while knowing that I run only a small firm and had just newly set-up. I am not a well-known lawyer and don't not have a track record to show. Humanly speaking, there is no way I can land up in these kind of deals. There is only one explanation for this: God's favour!

If I can solve the problem of this friend and successfully carried out the takeover exercise, that would mean a financial breakthrough for me... and not forgetting the other major jobs that will follow from a happy client. The result would be an abundant prosperity!

My situation now reminds me of Joseph before the Pharoah. He was in such a distressing state for a long time, humanly speaking, until a moment when God provided him with an opportunity. The Pharoah had a problem which needed Joseph's help. Joseph looked to God for the answer and said, "I cannot do it, but God will give Pharoah the answer he desires." (Genesis 41:16)

He provided the solution and Pharoah decided to raise him up to a position to be able to carry out the solution. All in it just took less than an hour for Joseph to experience his breakthrough.

One moment of God's favour is able to release a tremendous breakthrough!

Lord Jesus, I ask that you will give me the wisdom and knowledge to handle this matter. I can't do it on my own... please give me the ability to do a good job for your glory. I need your grace and favour!

Attitude Behind the Testimony

I was listening to a sermon by Joyce Meyer on the internet last night. Just want to share something that have caught my attention.

(Joyce Meyer's slot was right before Ps. Prince's slot which is at midnight, so sometimes if I was early I will listen to her message also, which I thought was very good and relevant and interesting)

She shared about this incident where she was having some problems (with her pantyhose that keep tearing up!). While she was in the toilet with a Christian friend, it happened again, for the fourth time that week. Out of frustration she just gave a sigh. Her friend said, "You know, I have prayed over my pantyhose and it didn't tear up, I've been using it for the past 6 months".

She felt discouraged after hearing that, it didn't occur to her that she needs to pray over her pantyhose. But the interesting thing is that sometime later this friend shared with her that almost immediately after she gave this "testimony", her pantyhose tore up! She decided to ask God why do these things happen so often... there are many times where we are experiencing victories in a certain area, but the moment we share it out, that victory stopped.

I thought that was interesting too... come to think of it, this "phenomenon" has also occured to me many times, just that i thought it was purely a coincidence and brushed it aside. Was it because God has decided to stop that blessing for a certain reason? What was the reason?

Wait a minute... aren't we suppose to share our testimonies to encourage and edify the church? Aren't the enemy defeated by the blood of Christ and the words of our testimony? So, why do sometimes when we hear other's testimony we feel discouraged and small instead of being encouraged and edified?

This was the answer given to Joyce Meyer:

The reason is because sometimes the motive behind the testimony is not to encourage others. Our motive is sometimes to show that we are slightly better than them.

Wow! I have learnt something important today. We should share out our testimonies to give God the glory, but the attitude behind the testimony is all so important because if we were not careful, we might end up getting the glory for ourselves... "God blessed me because I'm a good Christian, I did this and that...."

So, before we share out our testimonies, don't just blurt it out... apply some wisdom. Do some quick check:

1. What is our motive? Is it to give glory to God and to encourage our listeners? Does our testimony point to Jesus, or to ourselves?
2. Is this the right time to share it? We must also be sensitive to the situation of our hearers. An advice by Joyce Meyer: If someone is going through a tough time struggling in this area, don't share it at that moment... be sensitive!

Haha! I know it is quite a challenge... most of the time when we had a victory we are too excited to share it out, we will be too excited to think through what's the motive behind, whether it is the right time, etc... but growing in wisdom is also part of growing in our spiritual lives. Like the book of Proverbs say:

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." (Proverbs 25:11)

A testimony aptly given can really encourage and edify your listener. He will say, "Ahh... God is REAL! I want that victory in my life!"

Man + Word Unite!

The other day I was watching this Chinese drama serial. One of the characters jovially explained to his friends that the reason why he was so good in his golf was because he will sleep hugging his golf clubs every night... and therefore resulting in his "man-and-golf club united as one" state!

I thought that was funny and didn't think much about it, until last night when I was just smiling to myself while thinking over that joke. I suddenly began to think, what would happen if we Christians can reach a state of "Man-and-Word-united-as-One"? That would be interesting, I thought to myself.

So, I decided to do some research into that thought. The first passage that came to mind is the passage where God gave Joshua a "briefing" on how to do well in leading the people of Israel into the Promised Land:

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:8)

The next passage that has something similar to say:

"...But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:2-3)

Very interesting! Two different passages talking about what happens if you meditate on God's word day and nighthow: you will be successful and prosperous in "whatever we do" .

Imagine with me, how wonderful would it be if we can be successful and prosperous in whatever we do? We practically don't have to think much or worry about which course to take, which job to take, etc, because it really doesn't matter because whichever path you take will lead you to success. We will just enjoy life, worship God, literally walk into successes after successes without much worrying or struggling.

All this is very exciting for me. Since early this year I have been memorizing the book of Proverbs (18 verses so far), and that was exactly what I have been doing... meditating on it day and night. My aim is to memorize it at least once through chapter by chapter. Doing it together with Alisha makes it all the more fun, since we can recite it to each other and encourage each other. (Thank God for a girlfriend who shares your passion for Jesus!)

I am very excited to see how all these will turn out... I don't know how, but I know deep inside that 2008 is going to be a great year. For me, this year is going to be "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in lack... surely goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life".