I Thank You Lord for .....

I thank you Lord for guiding me throughout the 10 weeks of my attachment

I thank you Lord for guiding me every single day when I said a prayer to you

I thank you Lord for guiding me every single day even when i forgot to pray to you

I thank you Lord for providing the buses to my workplace which never broke down

I thank you Lord for providing superiors who were understanding and willing to teach me

I thank you Lord for the diff workers from various countries who were kind and friendly

I thank you Lord for providing safety to everyone that no one suffered any serious injuries

I thank you Lord for teaching me brand new things daily

I thank you Lord for the weather, be it rain or shine

I thank you Lord for helping me make the right decisions on most occasions

I thank you Lord for teaching me never to play my psp @ the bus stop after I miss 2 buses

I thank you Lord for giving me gifts to use to bless others @ work

I thank you Lord for the free food provided every day @ work

I thank you Lord for providing help whenever i needed it

I thank you Lord for providing a small amt of salary to survive on wk ends

And i thank you Lord for every other thing i might have missed out

Retreat - A year on & Beyond

Thanks to all the curious cats who read and gave their opinions on this which has allowed me to publish this with a peaceful state of mind. Happy readings, may God reveal things to you, hopefully !
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Certain things in life, one must personally go through it or be part of something to fully comprehend the full extent of what exactly is happening. For everyone out there, the Lord would have/will be in the near future, call you at a certain stage in your walk with him to serve in various committees to bless those around you. Each group is unique in itself, with a very interesting blend of people from all walks of life, coming together to achieve the end goal for God glory.

Last year retreat was, personally a wonderful experience and it's great to witness so much that God has done and is currently doing even at this moment in the run up to this year retreat. Just a few more days before this year retreat, so what exactly is on everyone mind and what do u truly want to experience during those 3 days? That I'll leave to you to think and pray about.

We are already so focus on praying for the retreat during this period of time, have we ever thought about praying for what's beyond retreat. True, its important to be focus on what's ahead of us, but its equally important to focus on the road ahead. If we keep on , as discussed in cell, year after year, keep asking for the same desires to be met during retreat itself, then something outside of retreat must occur for us to move onto a deeper level with the Lord.

That's when prayer for the other 362 days is important. Because, it serves no one any good to reach the peak of the mountain, the climax of events or meeting a full stop when the retreat is over. Instead, we must start to trust and believe that God will change us for the better, that we'll "Wake up", and that we'll be made anew in his image. At the same time, we must start asking questions like "So what's next?" JFK once said: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Maybe, it's time we do the same in the context of after becoming renewed, “Ask not what God can do for me, but what I can do for God". God doesn't need us to do anything for him but yet he desires an obedient heart that will listen and be willing to carry out things he wants us to do for him. Indeed, let the retreat be the jump start that we need to spur us on a more intimate relationship with him and also in serving him. Because serving him can be a great reminder for us to stay in tune with his blueprint for all creation.

In any relationship, God or human wise, both parties must be willing to play out their part for the relationship to work. Sir Alex, Man U manager, once said, He is driving a bus load full of passengers, and it’s going at high speed without any stops. If anyone thinks they can’t cope with the ride anymore, then he'll just leave them behind. That's how the world we are living in behaves but does God do that? Absolutely not! God, the bus driver in this case, will keep on coming back to the bus stop where you are situated to pick you up time and time again. The question is, are you willing to board the bus he is driving in the 1st place so that you can be moving along with him?

Lastly, I received something during cell on sat but mentioning it was a bit out of place due to the focus on retreat itself. We all acknowledge that retreat been a yearly event is something that helps us to refocus back to God. However, due to the time gap, we sometimes feel that we are back to square once again when a new year is upon us. There doesn't seem to be much growth. Well, maybe to look at things in a bigger picture, with service changing to sat and all of us getting older and busier with families in future, maybe the newly given free Sunday is something wonderful for us all. Why? Instead of a yearly retreat, a once every 3 or 6 month single day retreat on Sunday, will help us to realign ourselves with the Lord, prepare us better for the next few months and also set aside time to spend with one another on a greater level. Maybe this can be explored in future?

For now, let's continue to be focused on what's right up ahead and may each one of you, have a wonderful experience in being in His presence and being made new for future challenges for his glory ahead.

M'kkadesh - The lord Sanctifies

It's the quality, not the quantity

Singaporeans love different varieties of food. The more the merrier and we are constantly going for money's worth. Meaning the more quantity there is, the better it is in our eyes. When u compare it to Daso, u see the Japanese doing it differently. Here, quality is been presented to us as a more important factor to consider than quantity. Therefore, u see products with very nice packaging and stuff.

So how about friends? Which is the factor u truly want, the quantity(no.) of friends or the qualities of a true friendship. In this modern society, we are blessed with many technologies. Like the Hp for eg, where we store all our friends and love ones' nos. , ever felt the sense of uneasiness and hopelessness when the Hp is lost/you forgot to bring out of the house? Or how about friendster, facebook, myspace, online forums and others, do we find it a sense of pride and satisfaction when we have a certain no. of friends or reach a certain status in the forums?

Don't get me wrong here, there's nothing stated in the Bible that says u cant register and sign up for them. I'm just saying is the time and energy used to chase after large quantities of friends worth it?(Unless u know for certain, that God has spoken that this is your ministry) Or at the end of the day/during a crisis, how many of these friends will really respond and come to our aid/side to support us? Sadly, in this world, be it friends or colleagues, we do to some extent make use of one another and thus, many are abandoned when their worth is no longer there.

So are friends still worth having? Of course they are, that's what God has given to us, especially if they are believers. Followers of Christ and great support to one another in life as well. However, be it they are christian or otherwise, we still love them and accept them as who they are. Friends normally come together when interests or common characters are similar. And as time moves on, numbers are added into the group as the Lord blesses the fellowship. Kind of similar to the olden times in the bible where it is written that God added new followers into the group of already recognised believers.

And it is here where u see the cell grp. Over the years, many are added into the mix and clicks do form somewhat. It is here where new comers do at times find it difficult to break into them cos in their eyes its a closely knitted grp of friends who already accept one another as who one is. But, they miss the point that in a cell context, we do our best to love and accept one another as who a person truly is without forcing them to change to become what we want. Of course, this will take some time to change their mindset as well as their individual efforts to foster friendships with the ppl in cell .

But even so, there is no need to rush to knowing all 26 other ppl in the cell well enough to a certain extent. This is because once placed into the mix, a strong network of friendships form and all it takes is for 2 close individuals to spread the blessing God has given to them. We don't have be worried about trying to know the quantity of ppl here but instead focus more on building up the quality with close friends 1st. And just as God adds more into the group over the years, in his timing, we'll get to know those among us on a greater level.

Personally, I'm thankful to the Lord for the current season where I'm force to spend my time wisely and give proprieties to different groups as well. From family to close friends, cell mates to good friends, to the adults whom i play badminton with, ministry & the camp com, time is never enough to set aside for them. Anyway, one will just drop dead if u meet up with all of them within a short period of time. (Pls don't try to ever go beyond your limits in mtg up with ppl). In the scientific term added with spiritual sense, to have kinetic energy, one needs to store up potential energy in order to expand it. And that's where spending time alone to recharge in God's presence gives one the potential energy to turn it into the kinetic energy, so that we can be a blessing to those around us. And yet, for the current moment, where he chooses, i'll hang out with, for it's always worth the time and energy to build upon all these relationships.

Cos why, as the saying goes, true friendships withstand the test of time. And i've seen how God has done wonders in this part. Was telling a close friend of a simple prayer in the form of that God help me find time to spend with those friends who are closed to me. And yes, despite my own bz-ness and tiredness, the prayer was answered in the manner where the ppl ard you automatically organise mtgs up together. (Save me the trouble of having to think where to eat for dinner, woohoo!). So despite our individual lives in which one moves along with, that causes us to meet up less @ times, the time spent back then to build up these frienships became the very foundation upon which God has given to us to continue to stay in touch with one another.

In life journeys, sometimes even close or gd friends have to move along on a different path for a certain period of time but that doesn't mean we can't update one another and still meet up. The true qualities of a friendship is when we don't have to spend a huge effort to get into the mindset of hanging out, sharing and enjoying one another company. God has built up each friendship to the extent where i'm sure there's at least one person besides God in this entire world that you are able to find it comfortable enough to share deeper stuff and that you really value this friend that God has given to you and the company that he/she provides.

Just as we sang, "Redeemer, Saviour, Friend" during cell, don't ever forget that the Lord our god is also the closest friend we'll ever have and he's the 24/7 hot line if u ever need him. And next up, close friends who put friendships on the line @ times to keep us on the right track. Cos only true friends are honest enough to be frank to us in the hope that each one of us can change for the better in God's eyes.

This is why for friendships especially, its the quality, not the quantity. Agree ? (Of course one can still eat a lot of varieties of food, buy things from Daso, appreciating the cute and unique things they offer and still log unto facebook to do what u want. We just need to know which is more impt to us esp. whenever our time and energy to give away is limited).

Green, Yellow, Red

Just want to say, sometimes, the smallest things can be a blessing and a teaching by God.

If not for the traffic light turning red at that right moment, i would have seen my bus zoom past me and needing to wait another 10mins,but not that day, God decided that i would arrive earlier for work.

If not for the traffic light turning red at that right moment, i would have to rush out of the church van since there were buses behind but not this time rd, God decided that I would have enough time to get out and even say a proper bye to the ppl inside.

2 diff timings, same traffic light, sometimes life can be viewed in a simple way of how God works if we can just stand still for a while and think abt what's happening ard us.

Green, Yellow, Red. God does want us to stop and think abt him and him alone. Maybe its time to stop right at this instant and give thanks for all He has done,don't u agree?

Didn't You ask for this ?

Prayer is an impt and (hopefully) a daily thing that we do in order to speak to God and as well as presenting our requests to him. As such, in this post, we are going to basically split prayer into the so called answered and unanswered part. I'm sure for many if not all, the unanswered part far outweighs the answered.

If we were to talk abt the answered parts, just what is our reaction to them? Are we very happy abt it at that moment and then later let the joy just fade away I must say that on some occasions, the "Forgetting to say thank you part" happens to me. Or even if i do say thanks, it's sometimes just like a "Say it for the sake of saying part". Do u guys ever have this happening to you ?

One impt thing that does happen abt prayer is the "I ask for it but i dont treat what God has given to me with the due attention/respect it deserves". Sometimes, one will just take it for granted. Recently, I was praying and asking for someone to come to share the workload as well as making the office filled with more people since my senior left. And wooo, express prayer answered. I was happy at 1st abt it but slowly you take things for granted that the person is ard to help out and later get frustrated with the person when he doesnt do things right and you've have to clean up the mess he created. It doesnt help that his style and pace of working is so different due to the country he is from. ( I can finally understand someone else frustation with dealing with ppl like them). And you just end up been somewhat un-christian like at times when you talk/treat them as a person. It's really a struggle to practice God's principle at work and even more to just have a diff mindset abt ppl that's diff from others.

This part is a very interesting one, it's about praying for something and then later regretting you ever asked for it. In a way, I complain and pray abt somethings and God answered me. The end goal was what i wanted though the process to get there isn't. Still it's good to know more about what God intends to do when you asked for things. Anyway, the more impt thing out of this is that, frustration sometimes does get the better of a person and when God answers your prayer to reveal exactly what your heart truly desires, He'll be saying like: "Didn't you ask for this, why are you having 2nd thoughts abt it then?" It's great that God can read between the lines of what we say and thus enable things to turn out right in the end. Thats why, do consider with care what you pray for and know that the end goal is really what you have in mind.

Sometimes it can be a painful and yet very enriching experiences to build one up as one moves along in life. Therefore, know what you truly desire when you pray for something and when you do get it, treasure and love that reward cos God gave it to you/the ppl whom you've been praying for.

For the unanswered part, know that deep down in your heart, God always hears us, just that the prayer will only happen in his timing not ours cos he knows the entire big picture not us. We just have to show a mustard seed size and beyond faith to let God do his wonders in ours lives and those ard us. Continue to keep P.U.S.H., cos why, our God do love us and want the very best for each one of us. Jia you to all in your daily struggles, He knows everything in your heart so yeah, don't be too overly worried abt matters cos tomorrow has its own worries.

Here's what its all about, have you seen enough ?

A week spent speaking to friends and kids can be a draining time. Yet the Lord is always good to reveal more abt his greater works and how He's constantly working among the ppl in our midst. Won't go too much into detail since most alrdy heard abt it on sat but yeah, it's wonderful to know that we as his ppl are his mouth piece and that the little things which we give can be turned into greater things for His glory.

I personally dont think no matter hw much u can talk to someone can the person be changed. The only ever changing will happen when God decides that it's time to do so. Of course, that doesnt mean we give up on even talking to someone. It just means we need to get it into our heads that we r the tools used, He's the one that's going to make it work on top of the tonnes of prayer we put into it. So keep on trying, cos a great event is going to happen in his timing cos u trust and believe in God's will for yourself, your loved ones and ppl you're reaching out to.

God has shown enough to each one of us in our life till this point that He's been working on lots of wonderful things in our lives as well as those ard us and the ppl that we reach out to. We just need to constantly remind ourselves that when the bad times come, our faith must never waver. That we rely on things such as past experiences to push us onwards in trusting that if He pull you out back then, He'll do so again.

And thus, Here's what its all about, have you seen enough ? If you have, trust that every single step that you take is a step of faith ! Believe, trust and persevere on in your daily life. Cos there aren't no better one to live through than one filled with faith in our God,our saviour and our dearest friend !

Not the words but the heart

This story goes this like. I was heading out on a normal morning and as i took the lift down the floors, it stopped @ a certain floor. I pressed the door open button and allowed a couple to enter. It was interesting as i think about it that i was a little bit annoyed right at that instant that they didn't even say a simple thank you. On almost any other occasions i won't even be bothered about whether or not someone said the words but it was a bit different this morning. Maybe it was their body language, making it seem like it was only right that i waited for them to get in and hold the lift for them as well.

I wondered what it means and though i type this, i sort of still cant get the full picture out. The closest i can come to understanding this is the person in the big picture holding the lift door open is God. And we are the ones coming into the lift. Though its not always the case, there's always the occasions where we expect God to do things for us and yet when He does it, we return his gifts w/o a single sense of gratitude. It became a sort of saying we deserve it and it was only right we were given it. Has this happen to you from time to time, that we become a receiver of His rewards as if we truly demand that it be given upon us and yet when we get it, our attitudes change completely?

As human beings, it does feel like God is the nearest in the bad times and the furthest person on our minds in the good times.Well, it's hard to continuously maintain the same state of mindset, been focus on him all the time. I will say we should be grateful that God always listens and gives us what we ask for in his timing. Matt 7:7 says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Indeed, no matter what we say, what the body language might be, God will always open that lift door for us to come in and into his presence as long as we desire to want to be with him. No matter what, he won't get angry (unlike us) even when at times, u might have forgotten to say that simple "Thank You" from the bottom of your heart.

Keep on praying, keep on trusting, keep on smiling, for our God is an awesome God who loves us for whoever we are and whatever behaviors we may have. All we need is an obedient heart that is after his own.

Thank You Lord for the bad times

When one goes through exams for quite a no. of times, u might become a bit too used to it that sometimes, the tension of waiting for the results is mostly non-existant. Of course, a lot has to do with the fact that one has become very dependent on God and great faith needs to be exercised.

In my case, i sort of didn't really bothered too much abt the date of the release of my exam results till i saw my friends msn nicks. Long story short, i tried to access my results but couldnt view it because the school says i havent seen my prof. Ah ! Luckily, God provided me a calm state of mind + great friends to spend the evening with so when i did the checking at nite, i sort of was too tired to think too much abt hw to solve the problem as well as what's the likely results i could be getting.

Oh well, a call in the morning to a friend abt the problem which she too experienced and an hr later, i could view it and yes i'm thankful i managed to clear everything once again. Weird feeling after u been failing for quite a stretch. Even better is those subjects u think that will fail giving your highest grades and vice versa ! Still, a pass is a pass, no more 3 mth same subjects again !

So whats the point of mentioning this. Of course, the most impt thing is to give thanks to the Lord for what He has provided. Another more significant thing is how this ties in with what i've been learning the past year. How the bad experiences one goes through becomes not only the test to stretch your faith but also becomes the strength to empower you to help others along life journey.

After the results were released, God has graciously given me a chance to share with a friend on how to plan his timetable to adjust and study harder for subjects he has failed before as well as a brother-in-Christ on whats the next steps after his Uni application didn't get accepted. It's only after what one goes through can u be able to share with someone on how to handle the situation and move on stronger.

In the same way, God sent his son Jesus to earth to experience what his creation experiened so that He could share and teach us on how to depend on him for strength and to overcome the obstacles. Indeed, that the son had already been through all that we are going through at the moment meant that since He has won us the victory on the cross, nothing is impossible for him as long as our faith in him is intact!

So how do u view your bad experiences in life? Do u embrace them as you look back in your life journey and know that God was there for you when you needed him most? How abt sharing the weaknesses we have, that God has overcome them for us, that in our friends darkest hours, our sharing of Christ victory in us might just spur them on to trust in him and his goodness.

It isnt easy and will never be. But if we accept that the worst of what life has to offer is God's way to strengthen us and those ard us, maybe, just maybe, we might be able to view the storms of this life in a different light altogether.

Regardless of what things might be, in the good and bad times, Lord help us to continue to give you praise, for its better to lead a life been cheerful and contented with the Lord, knowing the victories You have won for us instead of a doom and gloom life where one is defeated and unhappy. In God's hands, bad happenings will always be used to the fullest extend for the extension of his kingdom and for his people.

Thank You Lord for the bad times (even if it meant we struggle so much with their existances in our lives) .