About a month ago, my husband sent his car for an engine 'transplant'. His more than 10 year old car had to be given a new engine as it was constantly overheating and stopping in the middle of nowhere. However the downside was that the mechanic who did the job did not register the new engine and chasis no for him. Instead he asked my husband to do it himself even though he charged my husband a bomb for the new engine!
The process was that the car had first to be sent to Puspakom (an agency that will inspect cars for roadworthiness) before the new nos could be registered with the Road Transport Department. The RTD will then issue a new 'birth certificate' for the car with the new engine and chasis nos endorsed on the registration car. Tim sent the car to Puspakom for testing twice. Each time, he had to wait for half a day due to the long queue and each time, the car failed the test. He became so frustrated and felt tempted to give some money to the tester in order to get a 'pass' for the car (that was what his mechanic advised him to do). Apparently that was what people were doing just to get a 'pass' for their cars and to avoid having to go to Puspakom again and again....
We prayed about this matter on the morning of the third test and the Lord spoke to us in Heb 11:1 that faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen. That day was a day of victory for Tim as the tester passed the car for roadworthiness without him having to give any 'kopi' money (bribe)!
Truly if we choose to honor the Lord, He will work all things out for us! No need 'kopi' money! Amen!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
A life transformed - together with others
Perhaps the most wonderful thing about our Christian walk is the friends that God has blessed us with, They are the brothers and sisters who make up our new 'family' in Christ. One of my life group members shared with me recently that she kept very much to herself before becoming a Christian but after coming to Jesus she felt that she had found a new family. Her 2 younger children had no other social activity except going for children's church on Sunday and her circle of friends were limited to only one or two people.
Together we go for Sat morning prayers, organize life group dinners and plan activities for the life group. What a blessing to have friends in the Body of Christ!
Peter, when he received the blessing of the huge catch, did not retain the blessing for himself. He called to his "partners" in the other boat to come and help. They helped themselves to the catch and filled up their boat as well causing both boats to sink! When the blessings of God overflow in our lives, we cannot help but share them with our brothers and sisters in church.
Not only do we share the physical and spiritual blessings, we also share ministry responsibilities. For this reason, our church requires every ministry (ideally) to have a leader, assistant leader and a ministry team. Every life group should also have a leader, an assistant and a core group. Members also partner with each other to reach out. It had been so much easier for us to minister to Shalini's family as a group rather then singly as together our resources are multiplied.
Luke 5:9-10 "For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and also were James and John...who were partners with Simon. So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him".
Together they followed Jesus. When our lives are touched by the Lord, our attitudes will be transformed, our generosity will naturally abound and we are eager to include others in the blessed overflow!
A life transformed and only move forward and grow from glory to glory when we partner with many others in the pursuit of forsaking all (setting our hearts apart for God) and following Him!
Together we go for Sat morning prayers, organize life group dinners and plan activities for the life group. What a blessing to have friends in the Body of Christ!
Peter, when he received the blessing of the huge catch, did not retain the blessing for himself. He called to his "partners" in the other boat to come and help. They helped themselves to the catch and filled up their boat as well causing both boats to sink! When the blessings of God overflow in our lives, we cannot help but share them with our brothers and sisters in church.
Not only do we share the physical and spiritual blessings, we also share ministry responsibilities. For this reason, our church requires every ministry (ideally) to have a leader, assistant leader and a ministry team. Every life group should also have a leader, an assistant and a core group. Members also partner with each other to reach out. It had been so much easier for us to minister to Shalini's family as a group rather then singly as together our resources are multiplied.
Luke 5:9-10 "For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and also were James and John...who were partners with Simon. So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him".
Together they followed Jesus. When our lives are touched by the Lord, our attitudes will be transformed, our generosity will naturally abound and we are eager to include others in the blessed overflow!
A life transformed and only move forward and grow from glory to glory when we partner with many others in the pursuit of forsaking all (setting our hearts apart for God) and following Him!
A life transformed - a great revelation
Simple fishermen leading a simple life, working at the shores of Galilee, comes face to face with Jesus, the one Person in the universe who has the ability to transform lives!
A transformed life can only begin with a great revelation of our own heart condition. Peter, seeing the huge catch, fell on his knees saying "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" Not only did Peter acknowledge that he was sinful, he addressed Jesus as Lord. Only when we come to see Jesus as Lord can we enter into the full realization of our sins. I know that if I fail to read the Bible, to pray, to attend church or to fellowship for a season, my heart slowly becomes numb to sin and cold towards the things of God. I can understand why Jesus said that He would rather have me hot or cold and not lukewarm. To be lukewarm is to be ignorant of the wretched state of my own heart.
Holding up God's word as a mirror every morning, I see my sins magnified. I see the wrong heart atittudes that I adopt toward certain people or circumstances, I see the crookedness and the wickedness in my spirit exposed as clear as day. God's word is indeed like a clear mirror showing up every spot, every wrinkle, every blemish and 'pimple' in my heart.
Like Peter when I see the way the Lord looks at me in His word, I squirm in the spotlight of His search, I cry "Have mercy on me, O Lord for I am full of sin and wickedness!"
A transformed life can only begin with a great revelation of our own heart condition. Peter, seeing the huge catch, fell on his knees saying "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" Not only did Peter acknowledge that he was sinful, he addressed Jesus as Lord. Only when we come to see Jesus as Lord can we enter into the full realization of our sins. I know that if I fail to read the Bible, to pray, to attend church or to fellowship for a season, my heart slowly becomes numb to sin and cold towards the things of God. I can understand why Jesus said that He would rather have me hot or cold and not lukewarm. To be lukewarm is to be ignorant of the wretched state of my own heart.
Holding up God's word as a mirror every morning, I see my sins magnified. I see the wrong heart atittudes that I adopt toward certain people or circumstances, I see the crookedness and the wickedness in my spirit exposed as clear as day. God's word is indeed like a clear mirror showing up every spot, every wrinkle, every blemish and 'pimple' in my heart.
Like Peter when I see the way the Lord looks at me in His word, I squirm in the spotlight of His search, I cry "Have mercy on me, O Lord for I am full of sin and wickedness!"
A life transformed - a personal encounter & an act of faith
Last Friday, I had printed out a message to share with the life group (there were no sermon notes available as pastor and chin nee were away), however the Lord asked me instead to teach on Luke 5. It was really an inspiring discussion because every time I hear the members share, the flow of revelation is really wonderful.
Luke 5:1-11 is the account of Jesus calling Peter, James and John, simple fishermen to a different life. I call it "A life transformed". It intrigued me to read in verse 2 that they were "washing their nets". They did not seem to be part of the crowd, they were just honest, hardworking fishermen seeking to eke out a living through hard work. Probably they were half ears, half hard at work washing their nets. They were also very tired, having worked all night catching fish. In the midst of the distractions of the crowd and the activities of packing up their equipment, Jesus actually picked Peter out of the many people and spoke to him directly, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch". Peter had a personal encounter with Jesus on the shores of Galilee. Not only did Jesus borrowed his boat for his ministry, Jesus also addressed him personally!
Indeed a "a transformed life" begins with a personal encounter with the one who transforms our life, the Transformer of men,the Lord Himself!
To experience a transformed life, I realize that I would also need to act in faith, move in faith, speak in faith. An act of faith precedes a life transformed.
Despite toiling all night and feeling very tired due to lack of sleep, Peter did not object when Jesus asked him to cast down his nets. Although he expressed how he felt to Jesus, he obeyed "nevertheless at your word, I will let down the net". Isn't this a beautiful illustration of a man who did not allow his feelings to overcome the desire of the Lord? Ever so often, I allow my feelings to get the better of me...I wonder how many times I have said to the Lord "but I am feeling so angry, so upset, so depressed" and how many times I have concluded my complaints with "nevertheless I will learn to give thanks and look on the bright side of things". Much more the former than the latter, I am ashamed to say.....
For a long time, I had felt so angry, so bitter with my boss for sending me 'nasty' emails, setting unreasonable deadlines for work assignments, scolding me in ways that were just so humiliating.....until I decided to do what the Lord wanted me to do, to serve her like serving the Lord Himself. I decided as an act of will to humble myself and eat the humble pie in my dealings with her, to swallow my pride, to yield in humility, to shut up and let her scold me, to bless her and thank the Lord for her in my prayers. Things have changed so much in the office. Today I cannot remember all the bad things that happened between us...all I know now is that I respect her as my superior and that I have learnt so much from her.
A life transformed begins with a "A personal encounter with the Lord" and "An act of faith". All who desire to be transformed will need to hear about the love of God and to exercise faith to appropriate the love for himself!
Luke 5:1-11 is the account of Jesus calling Peter, James and John, simple fishermen to a different life. I call it "A life transformed". It intrigued me to read in verse 2 that they were "washing their nets". They did not seem to be part of the crowd, they were just honest, hardworking fishermen seeking to eke out a living through hard work. Probably they were half ears, half hard at work washing their nets. They were also very tired, having worked all night catching fish. In the midst of the distractions of the crowd and the activities of packing up their equipment, Jesus actually picked Peter out of the many people and spoke to him directly, "Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch". Peter had a personal encounter with Jesus on the shores of Galilee. Not only did Jesus borrowed his boat for his ministry, Jesus also addressed him personally!
Indeed a "a transformed life" begins with a personal encounter with the one who transforms our life, the Transformer of men,the Lord Himself!
To experience a transformed life, I realize that I would also need to act in faith, move in faith, speak in faith. An act of faith precedes a life transformed.
Despite toiling all night and feeling very tired due to lack of sleep, Peter did not object when Jesus asked him to cast down his nets. Although he expressed how he felt to Jesus, he obeyed "nevertheless at your word, I will let down the net". Isn't this a beautiful illustration of a man who did not allow his feelings to overcome the desire of the Lord? Ever so often, I allow my feelings to get the better of me...I wonder how many times I have said to the Lord "but I am feeling so angry, so upset, so depressed" and how many times I have concluded my complaints with "nevertheless I will learn to give thanks and look on the bright side of things". Much more the former than the latter, I am ashamed to say.....
For a long time, I had felt so angry, so bitter with my boss for sending me 'nasty' emails, setting unreasonable deadlines for work assignments, scolding me in ways that were just so humiliating.....until I decided to do what the Lord wanted me to do, to serve her like serving the Lord Himself. I decided as an act of will to humble myself and eat the humble pie in my dealings with her, to swallow my pride, to yield in humility, to shut up and let her scold me, to bless her and thank the Lord for her in my prayers. Things have changed so much in the office. Today I cannot remember all the bad things that happened between us...all I know now is that I respect her as my superior and that I have learnt so much from her.
A life transformed begins with a "A personal encounter with the Lord" and "An act of faith". All who desire to be transformed will need to hear about the love of God and to exercise faith to appropriate the love for himself!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
About Shalini
There is also another family in our life group. Shalini and sisters and an invalid mum lived on the edge of poverty. Their father,a taxi driver and the sole breadwinner of the family died of pneumonia when Shalini was 19. Some relatives attended the funeral, gave some money and dissapeared from their lives. If not because of some Christian friends, the family would really have been in dire straits or chased out of their home. A local church helped them with foodstuff and monthly love offering (later Sunbeam and our church stepped in). Our life group also contributed cash and kind. Lydia's kind friends also visited her home, repaired the lights and toilet, bought some provisions and painted the house. Through the kindness of some members of our life group, the last few payments for her house instalments were also settled.
Shalini with a not so good Form 5 qualification drifted from job to job. Through fervent prayers, she ended up with a good job at a local bank near her house! In fact the bank branch was just below our church! Since the first day at work, God had been with her meet and helped her with all her sales targets. Not only that, she was able to pass all her banking exams (even after having to re-take some of the papers). God was truly moving in her life. I could see God's love, mercy and compassion upon her....4 sisters with ages ranging from 13 to 20 and a mother who had not been able to move much for the last 6 years due to a bad stroke, Shalini had done a great job taking care of her family and honoring her mum.
When I think of her love and devotion to her mum and the sacrifice of her youth for her other sisters so that they could have a better life, I am inspired always to be a better daughter to my mother and a better mother to my children!
Today I visited her and I could see that her mum was getting better. Shalini told me that her mum could now stand up and take a few steps. A great breakthrough considering that she had been unable to do so for the last 6 years! I prayed for her and encouraged Maureen with the verse in Heb 11:1 "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen". I encouraged her to have faith in God in her total and complete healing. Truly one day, she will be able to walk again and climb the few flight of steps to our church and share her healing testimony with others!
Amen! Amen!
Shalini with a not so good Form 5 qualification drifted from job to job. Through fervent prayers, she ended up with a good job at a local bank near her house! In fact the bank branch was just below our church! Since the first day at work, God had been with her meet and helped her with all her sales targets. Not only that, she was able to pass all her banking exams (even after having to re-take some of the papers). God was truly moving in her life. I could see God's love, mercy and compassion upon her....4 sisters with ages ranging from 13 to 20 and a mother who had not been able to move much for the last 6 years due to a bad stroke, Shalini had done a great job taking care of her family and honoring her mum.
When I think of her love and devotion to her mum and the sacrifice of her youth for her other sisters so that they could have a better life, I am inspired always to be a better daughter to my mother and a better mother to my children!
Today I visited her and I could see that her mum was getting better. Shalini told me that her mum could now stand up and take a few steps. A great breakthrough considering that she had been unable to do so for the last 6 years! I prayed for her and encouraged Maureen with the verse in Heb 11:1 "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen". I encouraged her to have faith in God in her total and complete healing. Truly one day, she will be able to walk again and climb the few flight of steps to our church and share her healing testimony with others!
Amen! Amen!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
About Alvin
There is a brother in our life group, Francis who is really on fire of God. He is really such an encouragement to us. He had gone on a 40 fast drinking water only!
Well, he shared with us that an old friend of his by the name of Alvin had contemplated suicide recently. Suddenly something moved Alvin to check his names cards for that someone he could call for help. Francis's name card fell out 3 times and Alvin decided to call him (a sign from God?) Francis brought him to see Pastor and Alvin accepted Jesus.
Alvin started to shared his financial needs. He owed the "Ah Long" a lot of money (that's the reason for the contemplated suicide). After coming to Christ, God helped Alvin solved his problems one by one. We also saw Alvin attending church regularly. One of the reasons Alvin had financial needs was due to his kidney condition. He suffered from kidney failure and had to go for dialysis 3 times weekly. When out of funds, he had to borrow to pay for the treatments.
Somehow God moved us to begin praying for him to receive a creative miracle i.e. new kidneys so that dialysis will no longer be necessary. The verse in Heb 11:1 really encouraged us to pray all the more fervently for him, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen" Every life group meeting, we remembered him before the Lord. Tim and I also prayed for him during our family altar.
Recently we heard from Francis that from 3 times a week treatments, the dialysis had been reduced to 2 times a week and as recent as last Friday, he had stopped going all together! Truly faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen! The exercise of faith in God always begins with us approaching God in confident prayers!
Well, he shared with us that an old friend of his by the name of Alvin had contemplated suicide recently. Suddenly something moved Alvin to check his names cards for that someone he could call for help. Francis's name card fell out 3 times and Alvin decided to call him (a sign from God?) Francis brought him to see Pastor and Alvin accepted Jesus.
Alvin started to shared his financial needs. He owed the "Ah Long" a lot of money (that's the reason for the contemplated suicide). After coming to Christ, God helped Alvin solved his problems one by one. We also saw Alvin attending church regularly. One of the reasons Alvin had financial needs was due to his kidney condition. He suffered from kidney failure and had to go for dialysis 3 times weekly. When out of funds, he had to borrow to pay for the treatments.
Somehow God moved us to begin praying for him to receive a creative miracle i.e. new kidneys so that dialysis will no longer be necessary. The verse in Heb 11:1 really encouraged us to pray all the more fervently for him, "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen" Every life group meeting, we remembered him before the Lord. Tim and I also prayed for him during our family altar.
Recently we heard from Francis that from 3 times a week treatments, the dialysis had been reduced to 2 times a week and as recent as last Friday, he had stopped going all together! Truly faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen! The exercise of faith in God always begins with us approaching God in confident prayers!
About my clerks
The other day during our devotion time, the Lord spoke to my husband and me on faith. Heb 11:1 "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen" The scripture really spoke to us and I meditated on it all day long.
Well, a few things actually happened. I had hoped for something to happen in my office concerning some of my clerks. Not only were they lazy, they gossiped, slept in the office(sometimes snoring very loudly) and sometimes go 'missing' from their place. I was frustrated as my boss had put me in charge of them yet I felt that they were the 'bosses' and not me.
Well, I asked the intercessory group to pray for me and that Monday following the prayers, one of them accidentally sent me a message she had intended for the other girl. I got a shock when I read the message. She had not only called me names, she also called my boss names. To cut a long story short, she got a warning letter from HR for what she did. Well, it really shook her up because she had not expected me to report her.
The other clerk had also started to change after the Sunday prayers (even before the incident). She began approaching me on Monday (yes,there was some sort of a cold war between us) and started talking to me about the work assigned to her. I had been assigning work to her via email as I wanted to keep records of the work given to her and to check whether they had been done or not. I was actually relieved that our relationship had been restored. After the email incident, she became even more cooperative!
This was what I had hoped for (that they will know who is the 'boss' and not try to boss me around) and it had actually happened! There is one precious thing I learnt from all this. God's word is true and it never fails. In order to exercise the effective working of His word, there's nothing like praying the word through! The exercise of our faith begins with prayer!
Well, a few things actually happened. I had hoped for something to happen in my office concerning some of my clerks. Not only were they lazy, they gossiped, slept in the office(sometimes snoring very loudly) and sometimes go 'missing' from their place. I was frustrated as my boss had put me in charge of them yet I felt that they were the 'bosses' and not me.
Well, I asked the intercessory group to pray for me and that Monday following the prayers, one of them accidentally sent me a message she had intended for the other girl. I got a shock when I read the message. She had not only called me names, she also called my boss names. To cut a long story short, she got a warning letter from HR for what she did. Well, it really shook her up because she had not expected me to report her.
The other clerk had also started to change after the Sunday prayers (even before the incident). She began approaching me on Monday (yes,there was some sort of a cold war between us) and started talking to me about the work assigned to her. I had been assigning work to her via email as I wanted to keep records of the work given to her and to check whether they had been done or not. I was actually relieved that our relationship had been restored. After the email incident, she became even more cooperative!
This was what I had hoped for (that they will know who is the 'boss' and not try to boss me around) and it had actually happened! There is one precious thing I learnt from all this. God's word is true and it never fails. In order to exercise the effective working of His word, there's nothing like praying the word through! The exercise of our faith begins with prayer!
Two mighty rivers
Last Sunday during pre-prayer in church, I saw this vision of 2 mighty rivers flowing in between the lanes seperating the rows of seats. I was reminded of Rev 22:1-2 "Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations" I felt that that morning the river of God was flowing mightily in the church in two mighty streams.
I responded to the message and pastor Bernard prophesied on me. He said he saw fire on me while I was leading prayer. He said that I had been like Mary and that I had chosen the good part. I have been interceding, now God wants to move me into the realm of praise and worship. Indeed it has been my desire, since I signed up for the guitar class to be able to intermingle worship with intercession. Truly God knows my heart!
After the service, the love of God continued to minister to me. I can really sense His arms envelope me, His tender mercies comforting me, His peace calming me and His lovingkindness surrounding me. The Lord has been reminding me morning by morning to update my blog....so here I am...welcome back to me!
I responded to the message and pastor Bernard prophesied on me. He said he saw fire on me while I was leading prayer. He said that I had been like Mary and that I had chosen the good part. I have been interceding, now God wants to move me into the realm of praise and worship. Indeed it has been my desire, since I signed up for the guitar class to be able to intermingle worship with intercession. Truly God knows my heart!
After the service, the love of God continued to minister to me. I can really sense His arms envelope me, His tender mercies comforting me, His peace calming me and His lovingkindness surrounding me. The Lord has been reminding me morning by morning to update my blog....so here I am...welcome back to me!
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