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luke 8:5-15 (ncv)
5 “a farmer went out to plant his seed. while he was planting, some seed fell by the road. people walked on the seed, and the birds ate it up. 6 some seed fell on rock, and when it began to grow, it died because it had no water. 7 some seed fell among thorny weeds, but the weeds grew up with it and choked the good plants. 8 and some seed fell on good ground and grew and made a hundred times more.” as Jesus finished the story, he called out, “you people who can hear me, listen!”
9 Jesus’ followers asked him what this story meant. 10 Jesus said, “you have been chosen to know the secrets about the kingdom of God. but I use stories to speak to other people so that: ‘they will look, but they may not see. they will listen, but they may not understand.’
11 “this is what the story means: the seed is God’s message.
12 the seed that fell beside the road is like the people who hear God’s teaching, but the devil comes and takes it away from them so they cannot believe it and be saved. 13 the seed that fell on rock is like those who hear God’s teaching and accept it gladly, but they don’t allow the teaching to go deep into their lives. they believe for a while, but when trouble comes, they give up. 14 the seed that fell among the thorny weeds is like those who hear God’s teaching, but they let the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life keep them from growing and producing good fruit. 15 and the seed that fell on the good ground is like those who hear God’s teaching with good, honest hearts and obey it and patiently produce good fruit.
these few weeks, we are being fed with the series about the presence of God and praying. vs 11 says that this is God’s message.
maybe there is a handful among us whose hearts are liken the road as stated in vs 12. this group of people are most likely to be unbelievers where they find it hard to accept messages of God’s presence and about praying. to a certain extent, it’s understandable. however, today’s altar call saw alot of people responding to God. i’m convinced that people are touched radically in the presence of God. afterall, yt responded to God that very weekend when pastor taught about tithing and she’s still as fervent. PTL!
question is, for the rest of us who call ourselves christians, are our hearts rocky/ thorny or of good ground?
answer is, if we have been praying more and have been more sensitive to the presence of God than ever, our hearts are of good ground. however, if we still have little desire to pray and have difficulty being in the presence of God, our hearts are rocky/ thorny.
in the past 21 days, how much time do you spend praying and lingering in His holy presence?
indeed, how can God entrust the great future and destiny He has for us when we cant even take ownership of our lives?
the good news is, it’s never too late to start desiring to pray and discipline ourselves to pray. we have to dump all the excuses of not praying, starting from this moment.
the church is growing and will continue to grow. as such, our spiritual life must grow too.
if we believe 2008 is going to be the best year yet, we have to cultivate the habit of praying especially in this season.
let’s not come to that regretful day where we ask ourselves “where has everyone gone to?”, when we are the minority left behind because the rest have moved on far ahead…
let’s not miss this kairos time.
it’s time to pray and be in His presence.
matt 13:23 (nkjv)- but he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces
matt 13:23 (nlt)- the good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God’s message and produce a huge harvest
a) excited
b) heavy
c) burdened
d) b and c only
e) a, b and c
here’s a story of brave little samantha hughes who lost her battle to neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer.
may her story brings encouragement to you.
-timothy r. valentino-
the story is told of a man who joined a monastery where, in addition to the vows of celibacy and poverty, he was required to make a vow of silence. according to the rules of the monastery, the man was allowed to speak only two words a year and to utter them only during his annual review in front of the evaluation board.
the new monk served his first year in absolute silence. at the year’s end when his performance was being evaluated, he was permitted to speak. the two words he uttered were “food cold.” the monk served his second year in absolute silence. at that year’s end, his two words to the evaluation board were “bed hard.”
the man then served his third year in absolute silence. at the end of the year when he showed up for his final review, his two words were “i quit.”
the monastery leader responded, “your decision doesn’t surprise us. after all, you’ve done nothing but complain since you got here.”
if only our complaining were limited to just two words per year. how much quieter life would be!
“do all things without murmuring,” said paul in philippians 2:14. is that really possible? can a believer truly live a complaint-free life? sounds impossible, doesn’t it? yet God’s commands are not up for negotiation.
what is complaining?
believers who want to take paul’s words seriously first need to know what complaining is. simply stated, complaining is giving expression to one’s self-centered discontentment. it’s a heart murmur with vocal chords.
it should be pointed out that complaining is not the same as grieving. the Bible clearly invites us to mourn when it is time to mourn. neither is complaining the same as speaking out against injustice, danger, or heresy. the Bible gives us guidelines on when and how to do that. complaining is not even vocalizing the deep distresses of heart and soul when life is difficult, provided we do so in a biblical manner. the psalms are loaded with such laments.
complaining is much more sinister because it involves the assertion of self to secure one’s comfort, rather than the denial of self to promote God’s glory. it is significant that paul denounced complaining while shackled in prison-not exactly the best of circumstances. for paul, complaining was not a legitimate response, even to the lousy accommodations of a wicked world.
most people think they will stop complaining when they finally get happy. paul indicates that people will get happy when they finally stop complaining! the difference is profound.
paul implies in philippians 2:14-16 that complaining christians look and sound like the depraved generation of which they are a part! that’s a serious charge, but the stakes are high. what unbeliever would want to accept Christ into his life if Christ apparently made no difference in the life of a christian?
walk it off!
one of the saddest cases of God’s people complaining is recorded in Numbers 14, where God said to those who complained: “your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. … doubtless ye shall not come into the land.”
what a tragedy! israel complained about their leaders, their food supply, and the difficult challenge to occupy canaan. God was fed up with such relentless carping. in fact, according to Deuteronomy 1:2, it should have taken the Israelites less than two weeks to travel from where they had received the ten commandments to the edge of the promised land. as it turned out, their trip took forty years. it was God’s way of telling them to “walk it off”!
the end result was that many died in the wilderness and thereby were denied entrance into the land. why such a harsh judgment? from God’s perspective, to complain is to doubt His promises and provisions. to complain is to slander His sovereignty and assault His lordship. to complain is to accuse God of being a bad Father!
like Father, like Son
when all the complaint stories are studied together, several truths emerge about how Jesus handled complaints about other people:
- Jesus never gave the complainer the satisfaction he was looking for;
- Jesus never allowed the complainer to persist in his complaining;
- Jesus never tolerated an excessive ripping apart of the character of another person, even the ungodly;
- Jesus often turned the tables and offered a penetrating insight about the complainer’s own heart; and
- Jesus sometimes even issued a spiritual warning to the complainer himself.
essentially, Jesus responded to every person’s complaint about other people with a simple and sobering rebuke: complaint denied!
the antidote to complaining
how does a person eliminate complaining from his mouth? is it just a matter of sticking a sock in it? absolutely not! God uniquely deals with each of His children at the heart level. a liar does not cease to be a liar when he stops telling lies; he ceases to be a liar when he starts telling the truth.
likewise, a complainer does not cease to be a complainer when he stops complaining; he ceases to be a complainer when he starts giving thanks as a way of life. christian gratitude must be cultivated in order to conquer complaining.
ultimately, we must recognize that Jesus Himself was not a complainer. He was a worshipper. and the prayer that He prayed in the garden of gethsemane must ever be our prayer as well: “Father, not my will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).
dad was hospitalised last friday due to water in his lungs. thank God he’s discharging today.
docs said he needs to go for a heart operation as his heart is not in very good condition. we’ve all yet to know exactly what’s happening.
the money he won from his lottery will be used to cover the medical expenses. what a waste.
something’s not right when people at home keeps going in and out of hosiptal.
i dont like this.
洋葱 – 杨宗纬
如果你眼神能够为我
片刻的降临
如果你能听到
心碎的声音
沉默的守护著你
沉默的等奇迹
沉默的让自己
像是空气
大家都吃著聊著笑著
今晚多开心
最角落里的我
笑得多合群
盘底的洋葱像我
永远是调味品
偷偷的看著你
偷偷的隐藏著自己
如果你愿意一层一层一层的剥开我的心
你会发现 你会讶异
你是我 最压抑
最深处的秘密
如果你愿意一层一层一层的剥开我的心
你会鼻酸 你会流泪
只要你能 听到我
看到我的全心全意
听你说你和你的他们
暧昧的空气
我和我的绝望
装得很风趣
我就样一颗洋葱
永远是配角戏
多希望能与你有一秒
专属的剧情
five loaves and two fishes – corrine may
a little boy of thirteen was on his way to school
he heard a crowd of people laughing and he went to take a look
thousands were listening to the stories of one Man
He spoke with such wisdom, even the kids could understand
the hours passed so quickly, the day turned into night
everyone was hungry but there was no food in sight
the boy looked in his lunchbox, at the little that he had
he wasn’t sure what good it’d do, there were thousands to be fed
but he saw the twinkling eyes of Jesus, the kindness in His smile
and the boy cried out with the trust of a child, he said:
“take my five loaves and two fishes
do with it as You will
i surrender
take my fears, my inhibitions
all my burdens, my ambitions
You can use it all
to feed them all.”
i often think about that boy when I’m feeling small
and i worry that the work i do means nothing at all
but every single tear i cry is a diamond in His hands
and every door that slams in my face, i will offer up in prayer
so i’ll give You every breath that i have
oh Lord, You can work miracles
All You need is my “amen”
so, take my five loaves and two fishes
do with it as You will
i surrender
take my fears, my inhibitions
all my burdens, my ambitions
You can use it all
i hope it’s not too small
i trust in You, i trust in You
so take my five loaves and two fishes
do with it as You will
i surrender
take my fears, my inhibitions
all my burdens, my ambitions
You can use it all
no gift is too small
the room at joo chiat was pitch black. i could barely see the outlines of hands stretching upward but i could hear the people praying fervently.. i have been invited to join the pm to pray for our christmas event. honestly speaking, my sprit was willing but the flesh was weak as i had just removed a wisdom tooth that afternoon. i went anyway and felt encouraged and strengthened that night for the presence of the Lord was overwhelming.
last night, i was placed in a very very familar setting. the room at riverwalk was pitch black and i could only faintly see the outlines of hands stretching upward. the people were praying just as fervently. there was no doubt God’s presence was very tangible. but somehow, my flesh was a bit unwilling, somehow.. i dont know why..
and then as i sang the song “Lord You are, more precious than silver.. Lord You, are more costly than gold.. Lord You are more beautiful than diamonds.. and nothing i desires compares with You..” it came upon me that it’s all because of my love for Him.
how true..
if not for this love, i would have said no to pm that night in joo chiat.
if not for this love, i would have rejected those leaders who refused to gave up on me.
if not for this love, i would have thrown in the towel.
if not for this love, i would have been.. only God knows..
i love, because He first love me.
i hang on, because of Him.
11 april 08, friday, awesome!
prayed for cheng cheng and beckie to be baptised in the holy spirit before cgm and both of them felt the weight of God on them.
minutes before the meeting started, i taught the people the greatest thing in all my life & o Lord my God to prepare them for the meeting. we also kicked start with a mini prayer meeting, which i think i’ll continue to have a mini cg pm for the next few weeks to build up their spiritual life.
during testimony time, the various ones shared of how God answered their prayers. i was so encouraged when cheng cheng, who came for her very first cgm, shared of how her parents allowed her to come that night! this is the child-like faith Jesus wants us to have!
after the word, we worshipped God and His presence came so strong and mightily. many worshipped on their knees and some were weeping. newly added young ones like beckie and cheng cheng were on their knees too.
i’m sure many lives have been touched by God significantly.
thank you Lord for such a glorious night and i believe the following meetings will just get better.
Your presence amazes me and gives me strength to carry on.
i went for a full body checkup as part of my company’s benefit on 11 march and was generally given the following report on 25 march:
- excellent cholesterol level
- red blood cells appears to be smaller in size but there are enough red cell to counter. as such this should not be a concern to my health
- not hepatitis b vaccined although i took the vaccine in my poly days. this means that my body may not be absorbing this vaccine or i could be immune to the disease. i was advised to take the vaccine again to confirm
however, one of the blood test reflected that I have an abnormally high CA 19.9. this is a tumor marker of the pancreas. the normal range of CA 19.9 is between 0 to 30, while mine read 108.7 which was tripled the healthy level. that was the beginning of my 3 weeks mental and physical torture.
i was scheduled to meet specialist dr. steven mesenas at SGH on 31 march. he briefly explained that while my tumor marker was abnormally high, it doesn’t mean the tumor may be cancerous. however this wasn’t exactly encouraging since i have family history of stomach cancer and breast cancer. as such, i have to do further tests for confirmation.
test 1- endoscopy
to prepare for this test, i have to abstain from vegetables, fruits, red stuff and required to drink the following medicine to clear my stomach and colon systems
- sodium phosphate
- lavage powder
sodium phosphate was a very salty saline. it was so salty and difficult to drink that i took 20 minutes to complete a 45ml bottle and i threw up by the time I walked to my bedroom. the same thing happened as i consumed the 2nd bottle. I took another 20 minutes to finish the 45ml and threw up again by the time i reached my room.
next, i have to mix lavage powder with 1 litre of water. i was briefed that this was more difficult to drink, which i think otherwise. i was expecting some sort of bad diarrhea and bad runs initially. but all I experienced was rumblings in my tummy and each toileting was smooth.. haahaahaa. instead of having to complete the 2 dosages, i only did 1 since i was already excreting water. i didn’t wake up in the middle of the night to empty my bowels.
i did my scope on 1 april and had to go through a full sedation. lying on the surgical bed, i saw the nurse injecting anesthesia into my hand. the nurse saw me staring and asked me to close my eyes. i was knocked out as soon as i closed my eyes. fast huh? the next moment, the procedure was over and it was like 90 mins later. i rested a while and called doreen to pick me up.
the scope showed all is good and was told that i’ll experienced slight discomfort. the next day, cramp was bad. thankfully i was given 2 days of medical leave.
all in all, i was on mc for 3 days.
test 2- CT Scan
my appointment was on 3 april 5pm. there wasn’t much preparation except to fast after 1pm and to drink water at special intervals and no toileting after certain time. however, the scan procedure was a whole bad trauma for me.
an enrolled nurse inserted an applicator in my hand and it was so painful that I went “argggggggh”. my spirit sank after this. i waited for 5 minutes before being called into the xtray room. this experienced nurse saw my sulky face and asked me what’s wrong. i lamented that the applicator was painful and started tearing. the nurse was extremely nice and comforted me “auntie is here with you, don’t be afraid”.
lying on the bed, 2 kinds of liquid were injected into me through that applicator. the first was a cold saline which i managed to bear the discomfort. the next liquid was a dye. As I was still tearing, the lady who did the xtray told me she will inject the dye very slowly, but if it was painful for me, I just have to scream. What an expectation huh??
the pain was beyond my control and so I SCREAMED… the dye has a bad odour and i could feel the burning liquid pumping through my whole body in less than 2 seconds.
the whole xtray was probably 15 minutes or lesser and when i was done, i broke down. auntie asked if i want to visit the toilet since i was prohited for the xtray. in the toilet, i didn’t know how to undress as the applicator was still in my hand. so I came out of the toilet crying again.
i caused a bit of commotion and poor doreen was taken aback by my crying. auntie took out the applicator painlessly but i continued crying for the next 10 minutes. the pain remained through the night and my vein hurt.
i was totally traumatized and told God i cant take it anymore. what worse thing do i still have to go through?
i went back to collect my full report on 09 april was given all clear on my health.tumour was not detected, which means my body generally has higher level of CA 19.9 PTL! have to go back for another blood test 4 months later though.
i’m so thankful God has been keeping me up these 3 weeks.
thank you pastor for your prayers.
thank you wendy for sacrificing your monday off to be with me.
thank you doreen for making trips to the hospital, especially on your birthday. thank you for your present even though it was your birthday =P
thank you joanna for buying me lunch to celebrate my good report.
thank you friends for your concern and sms after hearing from doreen on her birthday. heh heh
praise God for blessing me with excellent health. i’m just more determined to live my life to the fullest for God and myself more than before. truly 2008 is going to be more glorious.
coincidentally for the past 3 weeks, i have people coming to me every single day and telling me that i’ve been losing weight. i’m not losing weight purposely. maybe my appetite dropped because of the various checkups. maybe my stomach shrank because of the detoxification.
whatever.. just stopped telling me i’ve lost weight k.. i don’t like to hear that as it sounds like I’m sickly.. just tell me i’m looking prettier, more beautiful and better =)
