Rainbow and God's promises

 Spotted: rainbow appearing in our home!

Last Saturday afternoon, S and I were playing at the car porch when we saw a stripe of RAINBOW, from the tiles of the pond to the grass. I was thrilled! How cool is it to have rainbow in your own yard? We started to jump on-and-off the rainbow, touching it, taking pictures, fearing that it might disappear soon. You don’t get to have a rainbow under your feet everyday! By the time we alerted the rest of the household, the rainbow was gone. It was a little miracle for me, a confirmation from God of His promises of good treasure for us...I hope the rainbow stayed in S’s heart, just like it did in mine.

“The Lord will open his good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to you in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed his commandments of the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 28:12-13)

Soul nourishment

Perhaps having quiet time by myself, reading the word of God in the morning is what I miss most since my return to work after a long break. I could sit in the kitchen for more than an hour with a cup of coffee, sandwich and expound on daily devotionals. It also gave me the chance to embrace my neighborhood. It is almost certain that by 8.30am every morning that I would hear footsteps of stilettos walking past the alley. The old lady next door would also start to hum the same tune, plucking flowers from her garden or doing her laundry.

No wonder George Muller the evangelist said that the most important thing that he had to do every morning was to give himself to the reading of the word of God and to meditate on it, so that his heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed…

I know that the peace that I felt during these times (although not having to work played a big part) definitely derived from having my soul being nourished. Again, quoting Muller- “How different it is when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, fromwhat it is when the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one without such spiritual preparation.”

July's fruits - faith and speech

I feel that I got closer to God this month. I started to talk more to Him with shooting prayers which resulted in a lot of revelations.

1) Faith comes from hearing -So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
The more good news we hear, the more faith we have. Conversely, the more negatives we hear, it is inevitable that we become demoralized. I was affected after being the listener to my colleague’s complains and grief over our new work culture for about a month. Thank God for daddy M and good friends who point me back to Jesus…I started to mediate on the sufficiency of His grace. I also reduced the coffee breaks/ lunches with people with negative vibes… It definitely helped.

2) The power of confession - The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit (Proverbs 18:21). Believe and speak forth. A few of us started a group chat where we encourage and confess positively over each other’s circumstance on a daily basis. The power of standing in faith together beats worrying alone, hands down.

Deuteronomy 28

My life is mostly made up of routines and patterns- work, family, ministry and some episodes for drama slotted in between. This timely SMS from Gek made me STOP and REFLECT.
By the time I finished reading her SMS (it's a l.o.n.g one), I was empowered and 'happified', being reminded what to expect in life as a child of God.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 MSG
1-6 If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:

God's blessing inside the city,
God's blessing in the country;
God's blessing on your children,
the crops of your land,
the young of your livestock,
the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God's blessing on your basket and bread bowl;
God's blessing in your coming in,
God's blessing in your going out.

7 God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They'll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads.
8 God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he'll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
9 God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.
10 All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe.

11-14 God will lavish you with good things:
children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land,
the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you.
God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand.
You will lend to many nations but you yourself won't have to take out a loan.
God will make you the head, not the tail;
you'll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today.
Don't swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.

Unceasing fruitfulness

Nothing beats spending first week of Jan at home – resting. Well technically I was supposed to rest but in reality it’s not possible with an attention-craving 2-year old.

A brand new year. What do I look forward too? Loads. I expect to see fruits every month! I firmly believe 2012 will be much better than 2011. I see myself grow spiritually and gaining more kingdom friends. I see my family blessed and protected. I see constant favour at work. I see multiplication.

Jeremiah 17:7

Blessed is the man who TRUSTS in the LORD,

And whose HOPE is in the LORD

For he shall be like a TREE planted by the waters,

And will NOT FEAR when heat comes

But its leaf will be GREEN

And will NOT BE ANXIOUS in the year of drought

Nor will cease from YIELDING FRUIT.

Break-free

Two days after my previous post, God gave me one of the biggest revelations of my life – I need to give up my control freak personality to really experience His grace.

For years, I have prided myself as a person who likes to be in control and control the things I want.  While I know that God is the overall in-charge of my life, I still strived to be the ‘controller’ which often created a lot of self-induced stress.  This revelation somewhat set me free, feeling like a child running on the beach, chasing after waves!

Having realised that I should stop labelling myself as a control freak is one thing, getting down to letting go and let God is yet another journey that I am excited to embark! A journey to fully KNOW Jesus as the supplier of grace in my life and walk in that realm that I always see unmerited favour.

Bring it on

A friend of mine reminded me to leave what I can’t do to God.  Just as when our children stumble upon obstacles, from simple task as opening a bottle cap to challenging mathematic sums, all they need to do is to bring it to us.

When you feel that your plate is full, hear God saying: “Bring it on to me.”

“Whatever that you can’t handle, just bring it to Me”.  

“If it’s too complicated, just bring it to Me”.

“If you’re afraid, just bring it to Me.”

Are you facing any challenges today? Bring it on to Him.

His hand is mightier than you think.

Let the weak says 'I am strong'

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..."
~2 Corinthians 12: 9a

The world judges how well one handles challenges or crisis but the bible tells us opposite. What cannot be cured makes us dependent on God's power. God doesn't always remove difficult circumstances in our lifes but He is always there to support us. It is not about how strong our faith is but how much we KNOW God because He is the one who is faithful, not us.

When we fall, His grace is sufficient to pick us up.
When we fall, don't let condemnation cloud our minds.
It's the weak who need God.

Bottomed out

Bottomed out- a commonly used term in my course of work for companies starting to pick up in profits after a season of ‘lows’. Never thought it would be applicable to me. On the day my accident last week, my central nerve system sort of broke down and I accidentally bit my lip over lunch. It has since developed into a septic ulcer that requires antibiotic treatment. My speech and mood have been affected over the past few days as I couldn’t talk due to the pain. Colleagues told me that I have been jinxed given the series of ‘event’s that had happened to me recently - chicken pox, bb S falling sick, accident, back ache, knee, ulcer... But I rejected all in Jesus name, knowing that great blessings are in store for me. Yesterday I gloriously closed the chapter of my ‘episodes’ by accidentally stepping on someone’s poo in the ladies!Bizarre!! God knows how the piece of s.h.i.t landed on the floor…

Psalms 23: 4 ~ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Need I say more?

Soul refreshing

Psalms 23: 3 ~ He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake

My soul is refreshed. I am righteous not because of my own ‘works’ but by His grace and what He has done on the cross.  Righteousness again, is not something ‘holy’ or the feeling of up and mighty. It’s knowing that we are RIGHT in His eyes. Doesn’t matter what we have done or gone through. We are still loved.  So much more by Jesus.

Psalms 23

Psalms 23 is an awesome passage… simple and powerful. Every verse speaks of LIFE, if we take time to understand them… There are only 6 verses in this chapter. If we just take 5 minutes a day to meditate on each verse, we’ll be surprised how it breathes words to us as we go about our daily lives...

1~The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. 

This does not mean I am ‘holy’ and not having any ‘wants’. But it means I shall not lack. Simply because He is the shepherd. I am provided for.

2~He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters

He LEADS me. He makes me REST. Rest doesn’t mean physical inactivity. Rest = Believing. Knowing that the finished work is DONE because of Jesus on the cross.

To be continued….

Thankful list

Fever fever go away

Don’t ever come again another day

Little Sophie wants to play

In between Paracetamol and Nurofen at 4.30am last night, I started to think of my “thankful” list.

Thank God :-

• that neither M nor I are travelling now
• for the comforting SMS from friends to check on bb S
• that bb S’s paediatrician is only 5 minutes from home
• that I only have two results this week, hence no late nights
• for child care leave
• that bb S is still so cheerful
• that we have good help at home

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”

~Philippians 4:6

Never let go

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.

He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

~Psalm 18:2

Perfect conscience

Today’s meditation: Perfect conscience.

Things may not be perfect in our lives, work, stress, family etc but we just have to be aware that we are still PERFECT and RIGHTEOUS because of what Jesus has done on the cross. Perfect consciousness is not making sure that we have no sins or mistakes in our lives. It is not about keeping an 'upright' attitude or being 'right'. It is KNOWING that we are RIGHT because of what He has done, and not because of what we can or cannot do. We plunge knowing that He is our safety float.

One day at a time

After much thought over the last few weeks (in fact, months), struggling to find the best option for bb S ‘care’ arrangement, we finally decided to take her out from school (for 9  months) and turn to my mom and in laws for help. Evidently, her immunity has improved after staying at home for the past 1.5 months.

Quitting school (for now) is a tough decision because it involves complex coordination from various parties:-

1. my mom commuting to and fro Sg, having breaks in between to prevent cabin fever
2. accommodating my in laws’ medical appointments and travel plans
3. potential risk of my helper pulling another want-to-change-employer stunt on us
4. me taking days off work

The control freak in me drew up a month-by-month PLAN from now till end June 2011, incorporating leaves, allocation of ‘duty’ weeks between my mom and in laws, and hopefully still able to squeeze in two short holidays. The ultimate deadline: 1 July 2011, the day bb S re-enters school with a STRONGER immunity! Cynics may snigger at my idealism but there’s no harm hoping for the best.

I know there’s no ‘perfect’ plan but this is the best that we can work around, I’ll just leave the rest to Him as I’m exhausted planning and worrying.

"So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time."  Matthew 6:34

It’s tickle time!

A merry heart does good, like medicine.

-Proverbs 17:22

Whatever, Ask, Believe, Receive

Mark 11:24-

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Key words:

-Whatever

-ASK

-Believe

-Receive

PS: The picture has no correlation to today's post. I simply like sunflower and sawthis on Etsy.

Sheep

The
Lord
Is
My
Shepherd
- Psalms 23:-1

Seek ye first…

Meditation, the best therapy in life and a new category in my blog.

Nope, I’m not referring to “ohhmm…” and floating around with folded legs, but meditating on God’s word, ie remembering, muttering on verses.

So, verse for today/ perhaps this week for me is : -

Mathew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”

Let me attempt to dissect the verse for my OWN understanding.

Seek ye first = prioritise, keep our eyes fixed, put in 1st place above other things, above ourselves, above family, work, everything else

The kingdom of God and his righteousness= word of God, Jesus’s righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

And all these things = wisdom, peace, health, prosperity, favour, ALL things that concern us

Shall be = with NO doubt, for sure

Added = given freely, increase, taken care of

Unto you = ME!

Just keep our eyes on Jesus and His finished work on the cross, He will add the things that we need in life to us…