It's Christmas yet again....

uhuh.... it sure is! the time of the year where you get presents for people besides their birthdays. don't mean to feel like the grinch who stole Christmas, but it seems more and more irrelevant to me as the years go by.


what i'm trying to get at is, i'm beginning to find celebrating Christmas unnecessary. let me get this straight. it's not that i've become anti-Christmas, all i'm saying that it's not necessary to get all hype up for it. before anyone starts knocking at my door looking for an argument, let me justify my statements. sure, it commemorates the birthday of Jesus. and as a Christian, i do think that it is important to remember that because Jesus came into the world, He would then be able to save us from all our sin. however, what i'm trying to get at is that, it's all becoming really fake nowadays. or maybe it has always been throughout history.

i mean, getting presents for people only during their birthdays and Christmas? why not bless them once in awhile? especially those who cannot repay you? would that not be even better? at least it is for me..

also, it seems that Christmas has become an excuse to be (extra) nice to the people around you, including your family. seriously?? aren't we supposed to be doing it everyday?? whatever happened to our caring society?


lastly, but the most important thing of all. only remember and honour Christ on that day? how about every day of our walk with Him and in everything we do? and sharing the gospel should not be done just on a "special day", but everyday of our lives.


Jesus is the reason for the season everyday of my life.

Blessed Christmas to all. and remember Him and live for Him everyday.

cheers.

Job's Tears

nope, not talking about that plant or herb or whatever that is. i'm talking about the guy in the Bible, who got everything from him yet he was patient enough to let God restore him to his wealth, and he still chose to bless God's name despite all that ensued.

to be honest, i've read the whole book of Job a number of times and this is the first time it actually dawned upon me the lessons i can learn from there. all this while i've been wondering why such a thing must be put in the Bible for us to read.

well, here's what Job taught me:

1.   Life is always unfair – even Job, a righteous man got it bad.
2. Friends are not always comfortingly helpful – Job’s friends could only hurl insults at him.
3. Amidst suffering, bless the LORD. (Job 1:21)
4. People do not always know the whole situation, yet they want to have a say in things and play God.
5. If you don’t know anything but want to be of help, it’s sometimes best not to say anything. Instead, just be there for the person – Job’s 3 friends tried to console him, instead they only made things worse for him. [personally, I would prefer if Job’s 3 friends just kept silent as they had. But without their whining, I  wouldn’t be learning this lesson.
6. It’s not always that the older ones are wise. Sometimes the younger ones are the ones filled with wisdom. Just like Elihu. What’s more, he waited politely for everyone else to speak first.
7. When God speaks, especially out of a storm, you better listen.
8. Like Job, we should humble ourselves before God as He is Ruler over all and knows every single thing.
9. Patience is certainly virtue!

this are personal lessons which i learned. if you have any you would like to share with me, feel free to leave a comment :D

Down and Up again

I'm at that point where I feel like giving up, have no idea what I'm doing, have lost the passion for what I am fighting for; basically just feeling that life sucks. Big time. I'm just tired of everything and I always wish I could go back to when times were much simpler, less stressful, and when life was more in control. Or was it?

On Sunday, the church bulletin had a note from the pastor. It was such an uplifting short (but definitely sweet!) write-up. I was reminded that I was not the only one who has had horrible time down in the dumps. The verse he quoted was 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 in which it says

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (NIV)

Certainly, God does give us comfort! And many times I ask God why I have to go through times like these. It is through times like these that I am able to use it to glorify God, as it later says in chapter 12 verses 9-12.
I can also use my experience and the comfort I received to comfort others when they are feeling the same way.

The pastor also brought up Psalm 42.

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One^[d]
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

⁶ My soul is downcast within me;
    therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
    the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
    have swept over me.

⁸ By day the Lord directs his love,
    at night his song is with me—
    a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹ I say to God my Rock,
    “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about mourning,
    oppressed by the enemy?”
¹⁰ My bones suffer mortal agony
    as my foes taunt me,
saying to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”

¹¹ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

I can see how much it reflects my life at the moment! As the psalm suggests, I will put my hope in God and will still praise him! "Blessed be Your Name" by Matt Redman also reminds me to bless the Lord in every circumstance.

It is a great reminder to submit everything to God and trust that He will bring me through it!

Praise be to God!

Although I still feel like it's pretty unmanageable, I believe that I will be guided and led by Christ through this storm of life.

:)

M&M

Nope. I'm not talking about the coloured chocolates with really adorable mascots. Anyway, they are M&M's. With an apostrophe s at the back. :P


Recently, I began the second semester of the year. The first semester was not a bad one really. And I thank God for the good results He has blessed me with.
I haven't actually gotten down to update the blog. Here, let me tell you why.

Right through the semester, I was really busy. And then the busy-ness continued on into the holidays. The only time i "got a rest" was during a 5-day camp which I really enjoyed myself in.

People keep wondering why I was so busy during the holidays. Well, I was spending a lot of time socializing. Spending a lot of time with friends. Doing various stuff. I personally said yes to them because it was sort of like an accountability issue. I am accountable for and to many people. Whether they are directly here with me or elsewhere in the world, I made it a point to catch up with them, and if possible spend some time doing some activities with them.

Also, I got very involved with the Christian group on campus. The camp and other activities. I realised that I did not get much rest for myself.

Those times were pretty hard as well. Apart from the camp, I felt that God was pretty far away. I mean, I was pretty far away from God. I think I was being too much of a Martha.

In Luke 10, Jesus goes to the house of Mary and Martha.

At the Home of Martha and Mary

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one.^[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I was too busy making sure that I caught up with people, making sure that everyone was alright. Like Martha, I was ensuring that everything was in place for everyone, without thinking too much about myself. I had forgotten to take time of and sit at Jesus' feet and just be still and wait upon him. 

I am currently trying to space out and find time to really sit at the feet of my Lord. For indeed, being in the presence of God is definitely better than taking care that everything is in it's place. 

Who do you resemble?

God of Wonders

It's amazing how God works! Twice in a week! I prayed about a particular thing and the next day God answered my prayers!

God ALWAYS answers prayers.

Sometimes we expect the answers from God to be immediate. Well, they are. Only answers may differ. God may say yes, and we will know it straight away.  God may say wait. That is when it seems like God is taking a long time to answer that particular prayer. And when God says no, it is immediate as well, but may be through a particular event or something like that which we don't realise it is God speaking to us. It's mainly because it's not the answer we are looking for.We're not satisfied with the answer given by Him therefore, we assume that God has not answered it yet. But if we step aside from out pride, we will definitely notice that God does answer us immediately. It's only whether we can see it or not. So let us ask God to help us notice His answers without letting our pride get in the way.

I LOVE YOU ENOUGH....

Well, Valentine's day is around the corner. I may not have someone special to bring me out, but I still want to share the love around. This post is dedicated to all the people I love for the various reasons listed :)

I LOVE YOU ENOUGH...
.... to correct you when you're wrong
... to convict you of your wrong
... to confront you even though no one else wants to
... to ask you how your day was
... to take care of you when you're sick
... to nag you even though I know you don't like it
... to tell you what is wrong and what you've done wrong
... to tell you my mistakes so you won't repeat it
... to give you advice even though you won't take it
... to let you yell at me even though I don't like it
... to tell you when you should be getting enough rest
... to share with you my joy even though I know you think I'm bragging
... to share with you the love of my Redeemer
... to share Jesus with you, so that you will not perish
... to argue with you about little petty stuff
... to let you hurt me even though it would scar me for life
... to let you insult me
... to let you talk on and on about yourself
... to tell you in the face what I do not like about you
... to help you even though I never liked you
... to let you pour out your problems to me
... to lend you a shoulder to cry on
... to help you do your work even though I am tired
... to let you scold me even though it wasn't my fault
... to let you stab me in the back and not bother about it
... to let you call me names and not call you back
...to share my feelings with you 'cos i trust you
...to use my energy to talk to your closed ears
... to cheer you up when you're feeling down
... to share my food with you even though I'm hungry
... to lend you money and not ask it back from you
... to let you win the game even thought you would have to cheat
... to tell you how much I dislike the company you mix with
... to let you know your attitude displeases me
... to help you in your school work even though I have my own things to do
... to let you go even though I really want you
... to play with you even though I'm busy
... to let you use me even though I don't like it one bit
... to let you know that I LOVE YOU