Let Our Hearts Burn Like Fire!

Yo Girls!

Its been really really a long time since there had been any post up here. I guess its because of all the changes, all the confusion and the problems with all our lives. Didn't expect myself to post up something here again because of that, but Holy Spirit spoke really strongly and i know i couldn't just let it go.

I am especially encouraged today when Zhenhui called me earlier on tonight, she asked me abt God, we shared abt God and she said that for such a long time she had been away from God-to the extent that she almost forgotten abt everything, every goodness that God had done in her life. I am thankful that she had come to realise and have such a great desire to come back and cry out to this Father, whom has been patiently waiting and will always be waiting for her. She had came to realise how perfectly planned her life was..how prayers had came true for her in her life, in her family. I am really really thankful for all that. No words could describe how grateful i am because her words brought me into the light again.

My life was in a mess for the last few months, full of fears, darkness and pain. I almost couldnt make it through. I couldnt understand why i am being put through something like that at such a age, where people are enjoying carefree lives, and without any of such burdens. Why must i be so complicated, why must my life be like that?!

These words carries frustration deep down to the soul and attacked my self-confidence greatly. For a period of time, not long after my O-level oral exam, i could no longer speak properly, couldnt carry myself properly and lots of distractions just continue to spark negative thoughts..My aunt got brain stroke just at the start of my O-levels, went through operation twice and right now one side of her limbs are already paralysed. The family had been rushing in and out of hospital. There are changes in church, i need to get use to all the changes and establish new relationships with everyone again..a place which i totally don know anyone. At that time, there are changes in sch, wt frens, and my family. I know that probably to some, it might just be a period in life. But to me, when i saw all coming towards me at a time n trying to force myself to focus on O-levels, there are just so much fears and uncertainties that overwhelms me...i couldnt tell anyone, because some things are just beyond words and certain things doesnt help even if i tell..i didnt have any energy to as well.

Just when i was about to have the very last paper, i am down with Chickenpox! I thought i am going to have a gd time wt my frens b4 some of them return to China, and some on hols etc. I never expected it to come at such a wrong time. I had to take a taxi from Hougang down to Jurong for my exam, the journey is just so long..for a 1hr paper..i really couldnt understand why it seems that God is fooling me!! When my mum learnt of the changes in church, she had stopped me from attending service, the other reason is due to O-levels and now, i got chickenpox! I cant go again! WHY! Even my hols tickets is booked, but i am like that now!..........

Its the very first time that i have not touch the bible for months, since i came to know the Lord..the bible used to be by me every single day, wherever i go..only till i started packing some books n i saw my bible, my heart suddenly stopped for a while..i don know why i had become like that..i hate it! I started praying again, and during my trip(which thankfully my mum agreed for me to go)God had really showed up..Holy Spirit started revealing things and values, something that never came to mind b4..i was sick during the trip and my mum as well, i prayed for healing for the both of us, with all e faith i have at that time, though i know might not be a lot, but guess what!? Both are well and well enough to enjoy ourselves wt e activities that had been arranged.

I remember one of these nites when i was in pain, God brought a dream, releasing healing to e heart. That morning when i woke up, i could sense freedom and acceptance...for the next few days, i prayed through to ask Him to interpret the dream, but i didnt get the answer till quite sometime later when i heard Him again, that i almost forgot abt it. That's when i saw e picture and route He had planned for me in this season.

I took a lot of courage to finally get to Evangeline, to tell her that perhaps its time for me to leave FCBC, at least for now..when e Holy Spirit came upon me, i sense so much grief that i know its impossible for me to feel this way..i don understand either, i fear this feeling, this grief that it actually gave me strength to do something i usually cant, which is to come clean to a person that i need to leave somewhere i am thought i should be..at one instance, there is also doubts that i could have heard the wrong voice, probably its my voice, probably its e devil's..so i never dare to take out a single step after that..

I remember Sing Ai told me that i shouldnt be carrying my frens' monkey, just go on wt e current cell, not to worry abt them and pray for them and so on..n God could actually tell me to go out there n form a group wt them again? When we were seperated? How can that be possible?!!! I cant do it! I had reservations..so i had never told anyone abt what i dreamt or heard till today. That's why i was so encouraged by Zhenhui, when she told me that she wanted so much to do bible study, go to cell, pray and go to church! Within words, i sense that excitment in e spirit, my whole heart get lifted up again..n i was again reminded of the dream and words i heard a period time ago..i always thought that its just wishful thinking of my part, wanting u girls to attend church wt me, pray wt me and share together..just when i was on e trip, one nite, when i was doing quiet time and audrey sent me sms-es, i just had a urge to send her an sms to ask if she is willing to join me to attend service weekly probably wt a few frens that she knows..but in fact at that time i didnt know if i could find even one or two that's truly willing to..she agreed!

I am starting to see the picture God had painted. Perhaps these changes which are put in place, is just to test my endurance and stretch it to a maximum so that i could be further developed in other areas which i am weak in, such as being positive, telling jokes, sharing funny/lame stuff..honestly speaking, i dreaded the days, how glad i am now that it is already over!:) Maybe saying in words seems easy, but a lotof emotions cannot be felt till e moment u go through it yrself.

Girls, what i wanted to tell u is that remember that no matter how far u had gone away from God, He had never stopped following up wt u, He's been just like a guardian angel protecting and blessing u in a way or another. Take every difficulty as an opportunity. And bear in mind that there is always people ard for u...never never make a foolish mistake like i do, keeping everything to myself, its painful and being alone u will not be able to keep captive of the negative thoughts put in by e devil. Let God do it, give ppl ard u a chance to be a vessel used by God and be a blessing to yr life.

I am not sure how many of u girls are willing to attend church, prayer group..for me, definitely i have no ability to conduct a cell, i am learning-not strong, not firm enough yet. But if anyone of u does share the same dream God had place upon my heart, even if there is just one, i will still be there to pray together wt u, to attend church wt u, to be there to share wt u..because i know its time to face up and take responsibility for what God entrusted me wt, no matter what e outcome maybe. So regardless of whatever peopple is going to say or think, if they are going to lecture me, judge me because of that or i may have indirectly cause inconvenience to them, i am not going to bother nor let it continue to hinder His purposes, i am going all out.

"Above all, let's guard our hearts for it is the wellspring of our life"-Let our hearts burn like fire for God, not only because of He is great, mighty, but also because of His unconditional love shown though His patience wt us, each time when we are just like those rebellion kids running away from home and being rude to our elders.

Love Languages

Ashlyn:

Score Love Language
6 Words of Affirmation
9 Quality Time
2 Receiving of Gifts
9 Acts of Service
4 Physical Touch


Fong Yee:

Score Love Language
5 Words of Affirmation
8 Quality Time
2 Receiving of Gifts
9 Acts of Service
6 Physical Touch


Kai Ting:

Score Love Language
6 Words of Affirmation
7 Quality Time
2 Receiving of Gifts
8 Acts of Service
7 Physical Touch

Motivation

Principles for People Development

adapted fr John C. Maxwell's Developing the Leader within you

"My success in developing others will depend on how well I accomplish each of the following:

- Value of people. This is an issue of my attitude.
- Commitment to people. This is an issue of my time.
- Integrity with people. This is an issue of my character.
- Standard for people. This is an issue of my vision.
- Influence over people. This is an issue of my leadership.

Fr my own experience and through observation of other leaders who excel in this vital area, I have discovered that there are three areas in which successful people-developers are different from those who are not successful in developing others.

Successful people-developers:

1. Make the right assumptions about people;

2. Ask the right questions about people; and

3. Give the right assistance to people.

Successful People Developers... Make the right assumptions about people

Motivating others has always been relatively easy for me. For years I was asked, "John, how do you motivate people?" My pat answers were things like, "Stay enthusiastic"; "encourage others"; "lead the way"; "believe in people." I would watch others follow my advice and be successful for a short time, only to fall back into the old habit patterns and the resulting low morale.

Observing this downward cycle, I would ask myself why the people who took my advice couldn't continually motivate others. Then one day it hit me! I was giving them the fruit of my motivational gifts, but not the root. They were writing down my outward answers without the benefit of my inward assumptions about people. My assumptions about others are what allow me to continually motivate and develop them. In fact, a leader having the right assumptions about people is the key factor in their continual development.

An assumption is an opinion that something is true. My assumptions about people largely determine how I treat them. Why? What I assume about people is what I look for. What I look for is what I find. What I find influences my response. Therefore negative assumptions about others will stimulate negative leadership of them. Positive assumptions abt others will stimulate positive leadership of them. Here are several such assumptipns about people that I have found to be extremely valuable.

ASSUMPTION: EVERYONE WANTS TO FEEL WORTHWHILE.

The most successful teachers, writers, managers, politicians, philosophers, and leaders, and leaders who deal with people instinctively know this simple fact: Every person in the world is hungry. Yes, every person in this world is hungry for something, be it recognition, companionship, understanding, love -- the list is endless. One thing I kalways find on a list of peopel's needs is the desire to feel worthwhile. People want to feel important! Donald Laird says to always help people increase their own self-esteem. Develop your skills in making other people feel important. There is hardly a higher compliment you can pay an individual than to help that person be useful and find satisfaction and significance. I believe that!

My travel schedule is heavy, and often I stop in the terminal in San Diego to get my shoes shined. Melvin, the man who shines my shoes, has become a friend. As we talk I always try to bring two things into the conversation. I enquire about the Little League tea he coaches, because that is the love of his life. And then I tell him, and anyone else who might have been listening, that Melvin can polish shoes better than anyone I've ever known.

~ To be continued ~

Forgiveness and Trust, Is there a difference???

Hey everyone, it's been a long time ever since I saw e blog with a new post.

I had decided to post again is because I felt that it's a time where I share God's word with everyone again. Of course, it's done with a heart of thanksgiving, there are wonderful testimonies that I have to share, because I believe that whatever He had bless us with, we should always give thanks no matter what circumstances we are facing in our lives, we should always open up our heart to His word, so that more of His miracles and works can be done in our lives. In the bible, it states that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”-James 1:17-18

I believe that the first step to waiting a miracle from Him, is to trust and have faith in Him. For it's faith in Jesus that make us children of the living God. Certain times, when we are betrayed by our friends, we know that God's will is for us to forgive, but deep down in our hearts, our spirit is filled with anger, anguish and hurt that we are unwilling to release.

Firstly, it is largely because we don't understand what is forgiveness, that's why we don't know how to forgive that resulted in us not wanting to forgive. But the word of God had said and commanded us to forgive anyone who had hurt us or criticizes us, and it not only said to forgive, but forgive immediately, or even bless that other one who had hurt you in one way or the other.

Forgiveness and trust is 2 different things, we can forgive immediately, but trust from others or your trust towards others had to be gained or earned. I always could not understand or differentiate what these 2 things mean, till I read it in a book which is used for our cell group discussion right now, "The purpose-driven life", that I fully realized the true meaning behind each word. By differentiating and understanding between the two words, forgiveness and trust will definitely be beneficial for every one of us, because there are so many things in life that we can't predict or control. Humans tend to be negative, selfish and demanding, this is an undeniable fact that both you and I can't escape from. We might not be selfish, negative, but in us there's definitely something that others can't tolerate. We are imperfect ourselves, but certain times we expect others to be perfect, isn't humans weirdoes?

We want our friends to be faithful, helpful, our parents to be understanding and loving, but think and consider for a moment, are we faithful, helpful, understanding and loving to the people around us? Have you been a good buddy to your friend, a good child to your parents? Are there times where you yourself had failed them? How do you feel? This is something that is very secret that only you yourself know, and most of times we won't want people around us to know, so that we can maintain the positive image of ourselves in their hearts.

I believe that you will want to take some time to reflect about certain things that we expects ourselves to do, some values that we will want to commit yourselves to. Certain times we want to change, but does not how to go about doing it. I had been through such situation as well and I think most of the times, people do went through it, but if today you are determined that you will want to change and make a difference, I’m sure that you will be able to do it! But do you first believe that you can? If you think you are ready, I will start sharing the differences between forgiveness and trust.

Forgiveness is to let go of any hurt that a person had inflicted on you, especially your close ones, certain times only forgiveness to others will ensure that we ourselves are release. Often, we are too busy hating others that we suppressed ourselves, inflicting much more "injuries" in our heart. If you believe Him, then let Go, then you can let God, entrust God to do even more in your life. For example, if one day you own a house and hired a famous designer to decorate your house so that it will look impressive, but when the designer starts generating ideas for your house, you comment that his design for the kitchen looks terrible, colour for the background in the living room is too dull, putting that paint in your room will destroy the whole perfect atmosphere and so on…we have first allowed and asked the designer to do up the house for us, but have we allowed him the freedom and space to let his creative juices flows. If we did not give him a chance to do it, how do we know that it will not work out? Besides, he is someone reputable for such job! Now think back again. Isn’t that the same case with our Daddy above? He is our creator, He is God and that’s why He does not make mistakes because He can’t! He is perfect, holy, and righteous! When we face circumstances in our life, there’s always a tendency for us to take life into our own hands, thinking that we know what is best for us. Since we have first make the decision to surrender our lives to Him, should not we play our part to obey and follow His instructions, to allow Him to have more room to do more great works in our lives? Unless we place that complete trust and faith in Him, or else we can’t possibly be waiting for any miracles to happen! Remember He is the one and only person that creates miracles and all good works are from Him, because He is God-that’s why He is in control of all things and make no mistakes!

However, friends, don’t be fooled!! Trusting means that you believe with all yr heart, the person that you share things with. Trust has to be earned. You can forgive someone immediately, but it doesn’t mean that you need to trust that person immediately. Allow me to give you another example. For instance, if one day you had shared something that has always been staying closest to your heart, to a best friend, but unfortunately he disclose it to another person. He even went to an extent to tell everyone that he knows. He had made you embarrassed, had made you lost all the pride, all the trust for him and let you feel humiliated-not respected as a friend. At that moment, very naturally, the first reaction will be to hate him, never want to have any ties with him anymore and you will even want to take revenge-by hitting him, pay back evil for evil. Friends, bear in mind and tell God: “Father in Heaven, your grace is sufficient for me, by your grace, I will forgive him just as you had forgiven me as a sinner and even redeemed me with your one and only son, Christ Jesus. Amen.” Remember, Jesus did not commit any sins, but He was rejected, cursed, humiliated, and shamed just because of you and me!! Now you had only been through such situations, but how about this man who did nothing wrong but was condemned, going through pains that He could be freed from. If you don’t forgive this person who had done wrong to you, God can don’t forgive you as well! We have sinned; we can’t deny the very fact that we are imperfect in many ways. We need His grace and desires to be forgiven, in the same way, that friend desire your forgiveness too!

Contrary to that, if the person continually betray your trust (which you still need to forgive every time), but remember trust works both ways. You trust the person because he had proved to you that he is worthy of that trust. You will need to work for that trust. You can’t be walking up to a stranger and tell him or her everything about your personal life. But only your close ones will know. However, when a stranger accidently bumped into you and all your files dropped onto the floor, when he apologized, you will still forgive him right? Do it in the same way!

I guess I know why sometimes we find it hard to; even I myself had times that I struggled with too. Reason is usually because we had committed ourselves to the friend and trusted them so much, but suddenly when things take a turn, we feel like we have been taken for granted and not being respected. To humans, respect is really a priority. Why people strive to earn so much money, is because they want to get respected by people. Why people go after material things like branded clothes, it is because of pride (which is because they don’t want to be looked down). Why people drive their children to get good grades, it is because they do not want to “lose face”. There are a lot a lot more examples if you take a careful notice again. But people are creatures that really desire to be respected, to be treasured and to be recognized. It also takes me a long long time to cast away all the pride to burry the hatchet with my friends. There is always thoughts that says: “it is not my fault, why must I take the first step to say sorry to them, they also have a part to play and they had hurt me too.” Guys, don’t have to escape anymore, the fact is that He desires peacemaker. Everyone love peace and want peace, but as His children, we have been entrusted the responsibility to spread the love, the joy and the peace that He had placed into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. And now, it is time for us to learn to stand in the gap and draw the “lost sheep” back to the shepherd.

Read Romans 12, you will understand what I mean. The last thing that I want to close with is that, guys always bear in mind that: “If God is for us, no one can be against us!” He is greater than any worries, any trouble, the devil and He can even overcome the power of sins. Read Luke 15:11-32 about the greatness of Father’s Love. (You can find all the verses from Bible Gateway, unfortunately the website can't be linked) Today, if you had make a decision to turn back to the merciful Father, don’t ever have second thoughts about it, He is a God of second chance. He has been waiting for you! Once you had taken the first step, He is going to run to you. The 1^st step is never easy, but today, are you ready for it?

P.S. This post had been typed out for a long time, but it is just that due to time constrait, never had a chance to post it. But recent testimonials and real life experiences is coming up soon...Again sorry for the improper language being used, am still trying to eradicate all the grammar mistakes and error in sentence structures.

God's promises

Author James Montgomery Boice once told this story about a French lady who was taught to put Bible promises in a box when she was young. Whenever she felt down or discouraged, her month would tell her to take out one of the promises, read it and let the Scripture verse encourage and cheer her up. It was a very difficult time during the Second World War and at a time when she was feeling terribly discouraged, she rememebered this little box with Bible promises. She searched for the box and when she found it, she began to pray, "Oh Jesus, if only I could just find one verse in this box that would cheer me up and lift my spirits!" As she prayed, she tripped and fell, spilling all the verses out onto the floor. At that point, God spoke to her and said, "My daughter, there is not just one promise for you - all the promises of God are for you!"

That's the truth: God's provision is extraordinary, and His resources of grace and riches are abundant. If you grasp this amazing truth, it will assure and anchor you firmly at all times in His abundant grace, enabling you to live the extraordinary life in every circumstance.

In Philippians 4:19, Paul declares, "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." And Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter to the church at Philippi. He is indeed a God of 'More than Enough" - our Jehovah Jireh, our provider.

I pray tt we will all hunger n taste of His goodness. Amen.

Are you worrying? Then worship! :)

Questions about LIFE(this big word)???

Just had the urge to really post something, felt that Lord had a word for everyone of us here...But first, share a good news with everyone here, some might had knew but not everybody..Zhenhui had nearly accepted Christ on Tue, but due to her strong Buddhist background, she feels obligated to obey her parents and still remain in that religion. Well..lets continue to pray hard for her, that God would touch her heart, that parents would soon come round to the idea. Pray for her that the word of God may stay closest to her heart and that she may seek refuge in Him whenever she had any trouble. Lets Praise the Lord for the great works that He had done in all our life. Believe Him for the impossible, because He made all things possible!(It might sound a bit silly and insensible, but it is definitely true!)

In life, there is always ups and downs, we rejoice at times, and might be pregnant with sorrows the next moment. Our feelings are just as unpredictable as the weather, we do not know what would be happening to us the next moment as well..but somehow many of us does take things for granted most of time. Recently, life had been really a challenge for me, i believe it shall be the lowest point for me right now..during this month, i had experience failures after failures, temptations after temptations, trials after trials..it not just drained me emotionally and mentally but physically too..my health had not been in good condition too:( At times, i am really in despair, desperation, that i felt like giving up everything and return to the original point where i has started this run. I asked God: Why? Why is life just so hard and unfair! I had been putting in my best and whatever that i am able to, why does things keep stopping me from moving forward in life and why, when people just do that little, they could reap as much, that is totally unfair! Has God not made everyone of us to be fair?

Think and reflect again, do things really always works this way. Look at little children over in countries like Africa, Cambodia, Sri Lanka (the list goes on and on..), do they have a choice? Everyday we woke up, we can decide what we are going to do with our day, but how about them? They do not have a choice, they have to even fight for their homeland in order to have a shelter over their heads..they have to worry whether where to find their food for their next meal..but here we are making a fuss what to eat, where to eat, whether how terrible is the food! They are just about the same age as us or even kids who are much younger then anyone of us! Have we ever give thanks for all that God had provided, and that He had allow us to live in a place of comfort, without any fears and worries about safety or about the question of having sufficient food..they desire education, but circumstances left them without any choice! But what about us? We complained, we go all the way out to irritate our teachers and play a fool in class..we could ruin, tore and destroy our books-its all at our mercy, but now think before doing that, they could not even get a proper piece of paper and a proper pen to write on! But that is not the point..the point is that God had place each and everyone of us in a special position that we would shine as bright as the stars in the skies..have you ever wondered what He had called you to be? Had you miss His point for your life? How will you react or what will be running through your mind at that day where He sits on the judgement seat and set this question for you? Have you been breaking His heart, with things that you know that you should not be doing but yet insisted on doing it-disobedience. Or have you always been asking for His forgiveness everytime when you did something wrong, but yet you had never have the heart to learn the lesson of true repentence? Remember God IS love, without love, there is no meaning to life. Without His perfect and unconditional Love, i am very sure to say that there would always be this little corner in your heart that is empty..this emptiness is for Him! Nothing in this world, not money, not any material possessions, not fame and not be love from your spouse or parents could ever fill up this place. He created everyone of us, He know us at the back of His hands, and even better than anybody..Imagine, u invented a toy car, you had planned every little details of the car, the little parts of engine and shape, how it should be, in order to perform to its best. You created it because u had interest in it, you love this particular object to be your companion and would always be proud of it. God works the same way as well!!!

I finally found the answer as to why things had been working in such a way..because failures is the best teacher, because failures bring forth humble character and humility before God, it brings us back to seek, to ask from Him and to increase the reliance on Him. Fear of the Lord prospers a man! Pastor Khong had mentioned that God way to up is always down, God way to success is always failures..without doubt, failures brings pain to our heart, tormented our souls and totally destroyed our confidence towards life and goals which we had first set. But contemplate about the fact that if anyone invention should had been destroyed or that some parts had been broken down, would the person not feel anything? Then think about how God really feels again..God cares, He sees and He is concerned for things that we are concerned about, or rather He is even more concerned than we are, because we meant more than anything else to Him.When you are DOWN to nothing..God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible!

People, no matter what might had taken place before, pray and ask Him for wisdom to resolve all problems. If u had loved someone before, u would definitely understand that if u truly love someone, u would go all out for them. What more, we are talking about this Daddy that had already given up His precious and beloved son for all our sake, had that not display any love? We can give by not loving but we cannot love by not giving. Matthew 7:7: Ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock on the door and it will be open to you...Ask from Daddy and He is sure to give generously to you! Always wait faithfully upon Him, He would never bring disappointment, but He honors and sees every effort that we had put in. Love God and serve men, serving people is never an easy task, but as long as put in your heart and soul, you will reap what you had sown. Believe! Faith in Jesus makes us Sons and Daughters of the living God..When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, 'Jesus, could you get that for me?' And lets all rejoice for we know clearly in all our hearts that He is waiting for us to join Him in heaven, and preparing us for eternity. FAITH, HOPE & LOVE. Today, are you ready to take on this challenge???

P.S Sorry for the terrible language being used.