Proverbs 18:16
A man’s gift makes room for him,And brings him before great men.
Do what you are Good at,
Excel in what you Do,
Grow in what you Excel.
BE,
A fish that swim in the water,
A Jarguer that runs on land,
A Monkey that climbs tree,
A Eagle that soar.
DON'T BE,
A fish that try to walk on land,
A Jarguer that try to take off from ground,
A eagle that climb tree,
A Monkey that swims.
Sound ridiculous? But that's what many of us are doing....
But why?
1) Fearful of others' opinion about you.
2) Envy of what others have.
(Note: Having desires are good. But envies are bad. Desires simply means you want something better but at the same time you are contented and give thanks as to what you have now. Envy is when you are constantly wanting what others have but never happy nor thank God for what he has given you.)
3) The grass looks greener on the other side.
4) Don't dare to be truthful to yourself
You live only once. Be honest to yourself, be a blessing to others and most importantly be faithful to what your Creator has deposited in you. No one gift is greater than another gift. Gifts from God are never meant for you to compare, but it's for you to be thankful to God and be responsible to grow this gifts and use them to bless others.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Who Do You Say I Am??
Just had a good fellowship with yapster for lunch at the coffeeshop nearby my place. Yapster had come all the way from Toa Payoh to Pasir Ris just to meet me. And what make this fellowship so precious was that he travelled all the way down by MRT and bus, not by car which I initially thought so. I really enjoyed my time with him. We ate and share about our lives as Christian, after which I introduce him to the beautiful and friendly neighbourhood of Pasir Ris. We parted after that but it was really a fellowship that I enjoyed. Like what I'd told Jack last week, that with all honesty, what I look forward to during service and cell group days are really the fellowship.
Back to the fellowship, bible says when two or three gather in His name, Jesus will be in our mist and this prove to be so truth. Every time I fellowship with Christians, there will bound to be revelation. This time round it was also true. We were sharing about the different trademark of the christian from the various church that we had come across. We concluded that Christians from Lighthouse are very good in healing, while christians from New Creation Church(NCC) are very good at receiving blessings from God. These conclusions are not unfounded. Recently a colleague shared; Mr. Kah, shared with us that he knows of this Christian from NCC. This brother from NCC is super rich, a multi-millionaire and he attributes every blessing to God and always very thankful towards God. However he live a very promiscious life and cheated in his business but yet he is always prospering. On the other hand, for the last few nights I had been fellowshipping with some Christians from Lighthouse and they shared countless of healing testimonies. Wow!! It was like miracles after miracles as if a Bennyhinn crusade is ongoing on every weekly service and cell group. Just as bible says, as a man think so he is. How true this verse is.
At that very instant, as we were sharing about the trademark of the Christians from different churches, suddenly I begin to understand Jesus's conversation with Peter in Matthew 16:13-17.
13When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
So often as Christians, we defined Jesus by that one unqiue and life changing experience/encounter we had with Jesus. For example, a person that is dying and miraculously healed by Jesus will say that Jesus is his/her healer and whenever they share with others about Jesus, they declare and potray a picture of God IS a Healer. On the other hand, a person that is on a point of bankruptcy and miraculously saved by Jesus of His bankruptcy and became so prosperous will testify that Jesus is his/her Blesser. I guess this is what Jesus mean when he say flesh and blood in verse 17. We define and conclude who Jesus is by that one life changing encounter. After which we go around testifying of Jesus like what those people in verse 14 did. However, this is and will never be a complete picture of who Jesus is. Jesus wants us to know Him in totality, not just in parts. That's why when Simon Peter said that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God,it was such a powerful knowing and truth that Jesus declare this, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." It was after this declaration that Jesus goes on to say 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed[d] in heaven.”
The fullness of living a victorious Christian life is a result of knowing who really Jesus is (by communion with the Holy Spirit-Relationship) and not by that one life changing encounter. A life changing experience is for that Kiaros time, Jesus has moved on so we need to. There's so much of God to explore.
Back to the fellowship, bible says when two or three gather in His name, Jesus will be in our mist and this prove to be so truth. Every time I fellowship with Christians, there will bound to be revelation. This time round it was also true. We were sharing about the different trademark of the christian from the various church that we had come across. We concluded that Christians from Lighthouse are very good in healing, while christians from New Creation Church(NCC) are very good at receiving blessings from God. These conclusions are not unfounded. Recently a colleague shared; Mr. Kah, shared with us that he knows of this Christian from NCC. This brother from NCC is super rich, a multi-millionaire and he attributes every blessing to God and always very thankful towards God. However he live a very promiscious life and cheated in his business but yet he is always prospering. On the other hand, for the last few nights I had been fellowshipping with some Christians from Lighthouse and they shared countless of healing testimonies. Wow!! It was like miracles after miracles as if a Bennyhinn crusade is ongoing on every weekly service and cell group. Just as bible says, as a man think so he is. How true this verse is.
At that very instant, as we were sharing about the trademark of the Christians from different churches, suddenly I begin to understand Jesus's conversation with Peter in Matthew 16:13-17.
13When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
So often as Christians, we defined Jesus by that one unqiue and life changing experience/encounter we had with Jesus. For example, a person that is dying and miraculously healed by Jesus will say that Jesus is his/her healer and whenever they share with others about Jesus, they declare and potray a picture of God IS a Healer. On the other hand, a person that is on a point of bankruptcy and miraculously saved by Jesus of His bankruptcy and became so prosperous will testify that Jesus is his/her Blesser. I guess this is what Jesus mean when he say flesh and blood in verse 17. We define and conclude who Jesus is by that one life changing encounter. After which we go around testifying of Jesus like what those people in verse 14 did. However, this is and will never be a complete picture of who Jesus is. Jesus wants us to know Him in totality, not just in parts. That's why when Simon Peter said that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God,it was such a powerful knowing and truth that Jesus declare this, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." It was after this declaration that Jesus goes on to say 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed[d] in heaven.”
The fullness of living a victorious Christian life is a result of knowing who really Jesus is (by communion with the Holy Spirit-Relationship) and not by that one life changing encounter. A life changing experience is for that Kiaros time, Jesus has moved on so we need to. There's so much of God to explore.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
How Long Have You Been Unbelieving??!
Mark 9:20-27
"Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,[a] all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose"
This was our offering message for tonight. As Eugene was reading through this account in the bible about how Jesus healed a boy, I was particularly captured by the two sentences that Jesus asked the father of this boy (as you can see in red above). What stuck me was that instead of asking what is the cause of the boy's condition, Jesus's first question/sentence was "how long have this been happening?" and the second time Jesus spoke was " If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." To sum up this two sentences, Jesus is asking the boy's father, "how long have you been unbelieving?" WOW!!! What a powerful question that reveals the condition of our heart!!
At certain point of time in life there will be doubts in our heart towards the promises of God. The question that Jesus was asking in this incident was not why do you doubt. Jesus wasn't even asking what or who is the cause of this boy's suffering. In this context, Jesus was asking something even deeper; a unbelief/doubt that has not been dealt with for a considerable period of time, a unbelief that has been nursing inside his heart for a long time. To Jesus, it's not about finding the cause or who is at fault that matters. To Jesus, every answer/solution to our situation, our career, our finances, our relationship, lies in whether do we believe in the word of God. Finally the father of this boy decided to take responsibility over his heart condition. He decided to stop running, to stop procrastinating, to stop blaming life itself, to stop blaming others, but to face and deal with the doubts that he had been hiding inside the core of his heart since the boy was young. This was when finally he said enough is enough and came broken before Jesus (v24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears...) and confess to Jesus the condition of his heart(v24b...help my unbelief!) and repent (v24b Lord, I believe....). This was when the breakthrough which all along was his finally come into reality.
"Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth. 21 So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,[a] all things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!” 26 Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose"
This was our offering message for tonight. As Eugene was reading through this account in the bible about how Jesus healed a boy, I was particularly captured by the two sentences that Jesus asked the father of this boy (as you can see in red above). What stuck me was that instead of asking what is the cause of the boy's condition, Jesus's first question/sentence was "how long have this been happening?" and the second time Jesus spoke was " If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." To sum up this two sentences, Jesus is asking the boy's father, "how long have you been unbelieving?" WOW!!! What a powerful question that reveals the condition of our heart!!
At certain point of time in life there will be doubts in our heart towards the promises of God. The question that Jesus was asking in this incident was not why do you doubt. Jesus wasn't even asking what or who is the cause of this boy's suffering. In this context, Jesus was asking something even deeper; a unbelief/doubt that has not been dealt with for a considerable period of time, a unbelief that has been nursing inside his heart for a long time. To Jesus, it's not about finding the cause or who is at fault that matters. To Jesus, every answer/solution to our situation, our career, our finances, our relationship, lies in whether do we believe in the word of God. Finally the father of this boy decided to take responsibility over his heart condition. He decided to stop running, to stop procrastinating, to stop blaming life itself, to stop blaming others, but to face and deal with the doubts that he had been hiding inside the core of his heart since the boy was young. This was when finally he said enough is enough and came broken before Jesus (v24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears...) and confess to Jesus the condition of his heart(v24b...help my unbelief!) and repent (v24b Lord, I believe....). This was when the breakthrough which all along was his finally come into reality.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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