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hope church singapore NUSB1
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full-time serving God, part-time uni students
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Thursday, November 23, 2006
Hebrews 11 - meditations and thoughts...
Hey dear bros, sisters!
YF asked us to read and reflect on Heb 11, so went home and read through it. Ithink these particular verses spoke to me...
[Sorry, it's very long, so bear wif me... and do share your own thoughts too... it'll really help to encourage and edify others ok... thanks! :D]
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1. "[God] rewards those who earnestly seek him..."
I think God really wanted to draw my attention to this verse, because what He wants is a heart that earnestly seeks Him. Such a God-seeking attitude pleases Him, because it shows trust in Him.
I remembered this verse really convicted and encouraged me last time when I was revising for my 'A' levels, and I had really done very badly for my prelims (1B, 2Es and an O, and a D7 for GP.). So my parents objected me to going for church services as they wanted me to stay home and study. But this verse convicted me that I must have faith in Him, and even as I study my best, He wants me to seek Him earnestly too, and for my case, that would be committing to attend service and fellowship even though it wouldn't be easy. And thank God, He blessed me with 3As and 1B for my A levels, and the best blessing of all: an A2 for GP! :D So shared that testimony a long time ago...
But now, I was thinking about that, and wondering where my faith in God was, where I so childlikely clung on to this verse last time... but now many years later, I forget so often to seek Him earnestly in something as small as an exam...
But I think what He wants me to remember is that every difficulty - in fact, every moment is an opportunity to exercise faith in God. No moment is ever too small for Him - in fact He longs for us to put every moment of our lives under His perfect control. Eugene's sharing touched me a lot, because it expressed what I was struggling to articulate - my own frustration at not giving my best in studying for Him. But this verse reminded me to SEEK HIM EARNESTLY... because He has PROMISED that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him... He is SUPER-pleased when we have faith in Him!!!
2. "By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known...as the son of Pharaoh's daughter...
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God...
He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value...because he was looking ahead to his reward...
By faith he left Egypt...
..he persevered because he saw him who is invisible..."
Something I learnt from these verses is that faith is also a personal decision. Moses, when he was old enough to make personal decisions for himself, chose to refuse, chose to be mistreated, chose to regard, chose to look ahead, chose to leave, chose to persevere...
So an important point for myself to apply today is that faith is an active choice. Faith firstly is an active decision to unidentify myself with the old Yeu Ann, the insecure Yeu Ann, the selfish, arrogant, childish and prideful Yeu Ann... and to choose to identify myself together with the people of God, His universal church. To identify myself with the truth what God has already said about me - to see myself as He sees me as what I will be, even though I am not yet now what I will be.
And not just active identification, but actively choosing to forsake the "pleasures of sin for a short time" for a much greater REWARD, that He promised to those who love Him...
And why did he choose to do all these?
I think it's because it came from knowing God's heart, that He would never shortchange him with a lousy reward or even no reward at all... and also, more powerfully, he SAW Him who IS invisible.
Consider the semantics of the grammar tenses in that verse. It has a very powerful meaning. What it means is that Moses actually had a PAST experience in which he somehow managed to SEE a God who is ALWAYS invisible. So what does that really mean?
I think, even if we didn't see a burning bush like Moses did, we can choose to SEE God working invisibly in our daily lives.
To see how He sends the rain upon the thirsty earth,
to see how He feeds the birds every fresh morning,
to see Him present in fellow Christians who love and care for one another ("For where 2 or 3 are gathered in My name, there I AM with them...")
to see Him working fresh in your mind... (you were so tired, but somehow, after praying, somehow your mind started becoming sharper...)
to see His world in a grain of sand,
and His heaven in a wildflower...
to purposely sense His presence while you're worshipping Him...
to purposely sense His presence while you're using the loo...
to purposely sense His presence as you read His Word...
to purposely sense His presence as you read this blog...
And the opposite is true. Ever experienced times when someone chose to treat you as invisible even when you were right there in front of him/her? Think about how much that hurts... and map that hurt feeling multiplied by a trillion times onto Christ's heart when we choose to ignore His gentle voice and dwell in self-pity, even when He speaks to us very clearly, whether it's through His Word or through other bros/sisters or thru life experiences... when we choose to speak faithless words, even though we know that speaking like even God can't help us is a big insult to an omnipotent God.
3. "By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient."
Thought about this... personally, a lot of times, i really feel so bad in terms of character and attitudes, that i dun dare have faith in Him. But think He gently corrected me, telling me that nobody is too sinful in His eyes to have faith in Him. Wow! :D we serve a wonderful Saviour! :D
4. "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect."
You know, that word "us" really struck me. All along I've read this verse, and somehow it didn't really speak to me until now, when I realised that He has already planned something better for YOU AND ME. Yup, this applies to YOU AND ME. Somehow it's very heartening to know that He has planned something better for us... whatever it is, it's sure going to be wonderful... all part of God's ultimate plan to save and redeem humanity! :D
Saturday, November 18, 2006
breakthrough in sowing
hello everyone.. hmm it's been a while since i posted an entry.. anyway, really felt stirred to post an entry here to encourage everyone. :)
the other day during sub-d i was sharing about my prayer needs right.. well, just want to explain more about what's happening these days. actually since the start of the school term, i have been wanting to evangelise and reach out to people but i always didn't know how or lacked the courage to do so. it seemed even harder to me than in junior college, where i was so proud of my faith that somehow everyone in the class has heard me talk about God before. but when i came to uni, it just felt more difficult to answer people when they ask, "where are you going?" or "what are you having tonight?", when the answer was simply, "to meet my church friends" and "caregroup". i guess that the main barrier to me reaching out to them was myself. i had let many opportunities to evangelise fly past me.. and in doing so, i had unknowingly hurt God and caused discouragement to myself as well.
however, God is indeed gracious towards me and He is faithful in what He has planned for me. one night (i think a few days ago or last week), i had a dream. in that dream, i was with this primary school friend of mine. well in the first place, i don't really know him very well and besides, i don't really have a good impression of him (or at least i remb not having a good one). then what shocked me after waking up was that in the dream, i talked to him and after a while, i offered to pray for him and prayed for him there and then. when i woke up, i was like, "wah.. if i can do so for someone who's not so close to me, what more can i do for my closer friends!" i was determined that, yes, God is telling me to start sowing! together with YF's shepherding lesson on tue which was about reaching out and connecting to people, i was really convicted to start sowing once again.
then on thurs (okay the day of testimony!), it was a day when God so evidently put people into my lives and pointed out to me, "LOOK, these are the people whom I love". about 12 midnight (early thurs), i was suddenly prompted to call this junior of mine. she was taking Alevels and is someone whom i've been trying to sow on (she visited our church last year). during this exams period, i've msged her a few times but that night, i just felt like calling her on the phone, not knowing whether i'd disturb her studying/rest for the next day's paper. however, while talking to her, i found that she had no paper the next day and was actually taking a break from study. so thank God i called at the right time! we chatted and i even invited her to service. now, she has told me that she would come for next sat's service! PTL :D btw, her name is joyce too.. heehee.
yup, then on thursday morning itself, when i was in school, i just felt a lot of joy. really unexplained, cos when i usually get to my 8am math lect, i'll be feeling and looking grumpy cos of lack of sleep. but that day, i just smiled to people as i met them. it was like grinning la! and the thing was, i didn't feel stupid for being so joyful (ok norm i would, thinking that ppl would think im a goondoo). God helped me to see that it's always about people, not myself. also, that morning i smsed my friend who was having thai oral exam. this girl was my coursemate from SDE and i've been rather close to her ever since orientation. during lect, i smsed her a prayer for her exam and thank God that she replied with much thankfulness! it was beginning to be like what i dreamt - praying and caring for friends.
after lecture, i went to central lib with 3 friends. while studying, one of my friends received some bad news from home and was rather affected. at that point of time, i was prompted to share with her my headphones to let her listen to P&W songs which i was listening to at that time. i guess that was a big move forward cos i am not very close to her and it was the first time we were studying together. she's a christian too, but not "stabilised" yet. after our studying, i managed to bring her to HQ for a while cos i was walking her back to SDE. thank God for that time cos i managed to talk to her more about church and the importance of fellowship. at the end when we parted, she even said, "bye and God bless you!". wahh.. so cute right :)
then the last person that day was this guy called Alan who joined us for dinner before subd. most of you would have talked to him. haha this person is one potential leader! the fact that he came to join us for dinner is already a miracle. cos that afternoon about 5.30pm i was talking to him on msn. and when i said i had to go off for dinner with my church friends, and offered him to join us if he didn't mind (obviously in my mind i thought he wouldn't want to join us cos i said it was with christian friends.. but God still worked in him amazingly!) . and he was like, okay.. if you don't mind, can i join you for dinner? wow! during the dinner, i got to know him better and thanks to yeuann and hongtao who were there to learn Vietnamese history from him. haha. and i think Alan will be joining us for studying next week! let's get to know him better.
yup, i think that this is a super long post and thank you for reading up to here. haha though, i am not exactly done with what i want to say..
basically, it's just so heartwarming when God expands my heart for His people. to be stretched to love people more. and it's challenging to live out everyday filled with such great purpose - always thinking of how to bring in the gospel, how to capture that opportunity to stand up for Jesus. but really exciting and rewarding! i'm learning to depend on Him more and more each day.. and there is really a big difference in doing so! want to encourage all of us to walk closely to Him and never to put God at the backseat even as we study hard for our exams. with the HS's anointing, we will be able to do much better! Jesus is our
Thursday, November 16, 2006
I think some of you know that I missed my LSM2101 CA2 which was last week, cos I overslept. It really bugged me a lot that I missed the test, because it was something stupid that never happened to me before. It's just like missing an important job interview - you just make sure that it doesn't happen no matter what.
Woke up on that day feeling very bad. Even though my first impulse was to go take an MC to cover myself, I decided not to, because I felt it wasn't the right thing to do. So in the end, I had to walk around the various prof's blocks, to appeal to take the supplementary test instead.
I feel very grateful to God, as well as Dr Li QT, who allowed me to take the supp test, even though I did not have a valid reason. I'd readily admit that I'm one person who is not diligent academically, and in the process of these past few days
I was mentally bashing myself, but Dr Li's approval was something that cheered me up somewhat.
Also really thankful for the support of people like Shuyi and Calyn, as well as Jitsy and Guan Zhen, who encouraged and prayed for me in this dark (self-inflicted) period.
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Jiayou everybody, especially those taking NUS exams for the first time =) Feel glad hearing news about some people who have done well in their CAs. Let's work hard, and give glory to God.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
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Saturday, November 11, 2006
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Monday, November 06, 2006
=) Encouraged by the many testimonies of how God's hands are guiding us in our studies!
I’ve been quite busy..haha so tt’s why I only posted this now.. This post has been sitting in my laptop for quite sometime since the first QT =P
Think during this time, there are a lot of thanksgiving points onto God.
1)I wanna thank God too for giving me an idea for my protein engineering term paper, ha the one which many of ur had heard me rant about, having to come out with a novel protein..had been cracking my head over it for a long long time.. =P But eventually I really thank God for popping an idea into my mind as i was praying and researching at the same time. Thank God that I managed to come up with a first draft within the 'date of completion' which I had set myself..it's quite an amazing feat considering when i tried to think of an idea myself, i pondered for weeks, but with God, from no idea to research, to completing the first draft , it took around just a week.. =P Yup.. have handed up the paper, so it’s in God’s hands! =)
2) As all or most of ur know that I was having a sore throat last Tuesday.. then I have a project meet on Wednesday and a presentation on Friday.. I thank God for healing me by then.. =) n in a way Wednesday He made way to allow me to have a good rest.
3) Thank God for our new sister, Huiling as well!! If ur have not met her, can get to know her during service etc.. She really ‘dropped’ from heaven… =P She responded to God herself.. So powerful! Then, thank God for working in our midst, see frens like Wenjuan, Zhichun etc coming to know Him.. =)
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Yup.. before we have a QT tomorrow, maybe share to ur about this passage, the passage which we did not get to read during the first QT, cos first QT we are reflecting upon what we’ve learnt during the sub-d teaching ‘Forging a real world faith’ Did the rest of ur thought about it? Can share here or to each other when we meet .=)
If ur are feeling tired, stressed, discouraged even? Can read this passage.. David and the Goliath.1Samuel 17 .It will not be an unfamiliar passage I believe..
The passage talks about having victory in our battle..some points to think about :
1) What sets David apart from the rest of the Philistine that he is able to defeat the Goliath?
2) What can we learn from David in this case?
Application:
1) Are there any ‘goliaths’ in ur life? (goliath in this case can be challenges, struggles)
2) What are the steps that we can take to overcome them?
Ha.. it’s a long post.. Despite the busy period, let’s continue to draw closer to God ! This will be a great time to learn to trust and depend on Him!! =)
Jia you bro and sis!! Cya tml for QT!
Yufen =)
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, YEUANN!
this is joyce here :)
are you at HQ now?
if you are, i hope you are sitting on your SPECIAL SEAT now, as you read this cg blog. and you better not move about but stay on this seat the whole day okay!
hahaha just kidding, hope you are blessed and surprised, bro!
have a great day ahead and enjoy this special day!
