Friday, August 31, 2007

No problemo

Friday evening, we're supposed to have lifegroup meeting, but nobody turned up. I'm supposed to be disappointed by now, but really, I'm not. Because I already made a commitment with God in serving his people, that even if no one turned up on the lifegroup meeting, I will still take this time in fellowship with Him, and to pray for my dear brothers and sisters -which i just did.

Wherever they are, whatever they're doing right now, I asked God to bless and protect them and take care of their needs. May God be their Comforter and Strength, for those who are weary, may God give them rest.

Well, the topic was supposed to be about "Problems" in life. Will keep this topic maybe for the next meeting. Let me just copy and paste some quotes I found on the internet:

God Sent Us a Savior

If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator,

If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist.

If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist.

If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer.

But our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior. --Author unknown

Don't tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big your GOD is! -Unknown

GOD MUST BE YOUR SAVIOUR BEFORE HE CAN BE YOUR PROBLEM-SOLVER!


Have a great weekend, God bless.

-jr-

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Grow up!

From Dr. Jack Graham Devotion, August 28, 2007


"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand".
--Isaiah 41:10

Perhaps today, you look at your life and ask yourself the question, "How did I get here?" Maybe life hasn't turned out the way you planned. Or maybe you're enslaved to your past and you wonder, "What do I do now?"

If this describes you or someone you love today, I want to remind you that God always preserves His own. Even in Genesis 39:2, we read, "The LORD was with Joseph." Now, remember--Joseph wasn't preserved from his circumstances. He was preserved in and through his circumstances.

The fact is we can't change our circumstances. We can't affect what happens to us at all times. But you know what? We can change how we respond to the circumstances of life. And that attitude is what God expects us to work on.

You know, God often allows winds of difficult circumstances to blow against us in order to knock the rough edges off of our lives. Kind of like how sandpaper knocks the rough edges off of wood. God uses the circumstances of our lives in order to polish us and make us more like the Master.

For example, perhaps God had to deal with Joseph's pride and ego before He could ultimately use him for His glory. So God allowed him to be sold into slavery and sent into Egypt . But remember this: While Joseph left his father back in Canaan, his heavenly Father went with him to Egypt .

If you find yourself in a difficult circumstance that you never imagined or never dreamed of, claim the promise from the Lord found in Isaiah 41:10: "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

When you claim that promise, you can be joyful in any circumstance, knowing that God is protecting you, preserving you, and holding His almighty hand upon you.

praise god he is using your circumstances to grow your faith

Monday, August 27, 2007

pain in the heels....

Maybe it's not a good idea to play tennis twice in a day at all.... which I did on Sunday. You can look at the scoreboard on the right somewhere, yes, I lost....both matches.... And my heels were in pain big time this morning, I had to tip-toe a little bit to walk.

So I went to see doctor, and he said that it could be because I'm a bit flat-footed, so he referred me to see a podiatrist, which I made an appointment for this Friday afternoon. Anyway, the doctor said if I were to continue my tennis hardcore, I will get this kind of pain more and more, so he recommended me to cut down my tennis, yes, I can play regularly every few days, but not twice in a same day, bad idea Jackson, bad idea.

Talk about sacrifice, looks like I have to sacrifice my tennis.... hehehe.... O well, that's life, our bodies are not perfect, but I know God can heal me completely, but even if He doesn't, I will still trust Him.

Anyway, that's it for now, gonna sleep soon and hope to wake up early and go to work earlier, God bless you all, bye now.

Ephesians 3:20-21 says: Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Alone, but not lonely

Another one and a half months has passed since my last blog.... man... what happened to regular daily blogging? Anyway, no excuses, I am just being lazy.

Now my wife is in Singapore having her holiday for few weeks, so I'm kinda alone, but of course, not lonely, because God is with me, He has promised to never leave nor forsake me.

Just found out my pastor also has started blogging, you can find his blog at http://www.markconner.typepad.com/

A lot of good stuff there to learn, and even participate, you can leave comments or feedback.

OK, so my wife is away, so what's gonna happen for the next few weeks to me? Don't worry, I still am quite occupied, got few books to read, house cleaning, especially my garage, I've promised her by the time she comes back, our garage will be clean(-er) . hehehe.....

Then my uncle just bought a new laptop, so I'm gonna setup for him, then another uncle and auntie will come from overseas for couple of weeks, I think they will arrive next weekend.

And tennis, winter is always not a very good time for tennis, last time I played was 3 weeks ago, and it was pretty bad, I hit the balls all over the place, definitely need to play more often to get back the swing.

Also without forgetting LifeGroup, really thank God for friends who have been coming regularly, and occasional visitors, I do pray for them regularly, but must admit, it's not enough. I need to pray more for God to bless and protect them, especially those who are hurting and confused.

By God's grace, I will spend more time in prayer and reading His Word, need to prioritize things in my life. Don't know about you, but in my priority list, God has been on top of the list, followed by my wife. But that's the list, in reality I need to ask myself do I really put Him above everything else? I'm honest enough to admit that hasn't been the case. Often in the journey of life, we get distracted by things, or people that come along our way, and from time to time, we lose our focus or goal.

Don't know about you, but there were things in my past that I should have or shouldn't have done, which I regret, and sometimes I do wish that God would turn back time just for me, of course it doesn't happen that way, we need to shake off the past and start anew in Christ. No matter what sins we've done in the past, or wrong decisions we've made, or bad things that are done to us by others, we can't change the past.

But we can change our lives by trusting God and putting our faith in Him. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith (Hebrews 12:2). And we also need to forgive those who have hurt us and release them. By forgiving them, we are opening God's blessing to flow into our lives. Most of us are familiar with the Lord's prayer: Our Father in heaven.... (Matthew 6:9-13), but most of us forget to see the next verses:
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Let me finish by a devotion from Dr. Jack Graham:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
--Hebrews 11:1


God loves you and has a plan for your life that is truly amazing. God has something significant that He wants to do in and through you.

Do you really believe that today?

Despite what our culture says, you're not here by accident! You're here by divine Providence ...and God has a plan and purpose for you. Not for just the Josephs of the world, but for the Joes, the Marys, the Bettys, the Sues, and the Bills. God has something significant for all of us to do...and that includes you!

Now, success is wonderful. As a matter of fact, the Scripture says that God gave Joseph great success. But beyond success, he had significance.

Joseph certainly had vision, courage, determination, character, ability, and perseverance--all the qualities of a leader. But there was one quality that stood out in this great man's life. That quality was faith.

Joseph trusted God throughout all of his days...in good times as well as bad times. And that faith is what gave Joseph significance!

In spite of the obstacles, against all the odds, this man persevered by faith. He started over many times in his life. He faced circumstances that would have defeated the average, ordinary individual. And yet regardless of the difficulties, he kept believing God. He kept following his Lord. He kept trusting his Master.

Why? Because Joseph believed that God had a plan for his life, and he was determined to discover his destiny. I mean, think about it: Joseph was despised and rejected by his own dysfunctional family! He was kidnapped and left for dead. He was sold as a slave. He was falsely accused and imprisoned. He was used and abused. He was failed and forgotten. And yet by faith he carried on!

And I want to encourage you to carry on by faith as well! Whether you're in good times or bad times right now, God has a perfect plan for you. I hope you will trust in this promise today...and know that as a child of God, you have true significance in Him.

TRUe significance comes from trusting god for your destiny