On Monday, I decided to be healthy and so went for a slow jog in the evening. I ended up walking half the time... There’s quite a lot of people given it is a normal working weekday, so either these people are super ultra rich and therefore don’t need to work or they are simply too healthy!!! It seems like the government’s effort in promoting healthy living through physical exercise kind of paid off :) Congratulations!
A couple of interesting observations made. I saw this dog literally wearing ‘shoes’. I haven’t seen a dog wear something like that except of course on tv when their owners dress them up like a clown for Christmas parties. These shoes I saw weren’t those pretty canvas types with laces and definitely not shiny heels or beach sandals.....haha.... From a distance, it looked like each foot was bundled with a black garbage bag. It’s quite a funny sight; at least it drew quite a few stares apart from mine. On a closer look, the shoes look quite comfy and for a while, it reminded me of the bandits in maplestory (for those who have played it before) because of the black gloves they wear. I hope the owner wasn’t afraid the little run would actually dirty his doggy’s feet coz that’s totally a clean freak :O
Then, I saw this Caucasian family also with a dog. Don’t ask me what breed, I never bothered. Just another skinny dog. Lady boss keeps stopping to teach the dog some manners because it was obviously pushing and it ain’t a very nice thing to do. So she at the top of her voice said, “Dog, you are pushing..............naughty dog.” This poor dog hasn’t a name so it’s called DOG. I realised a similarity there in training obedience in both an animal and a child. The other day when the kindergarten children were making their way to the pantry for breakfast, the teacher was holding back this girl at the lift lobby. The teacher told the girl that she is no to jump in the lift again. The girl was allowed to go off only after she responded. Quite similar eh except that the dog can’t say yes. It’s obviously a nightmare raising kids, and it doesn’t seem any easier training a dog. So why d people find trouble for themselves? Dog-lovers, please enlighten me!!!
Today I went to SGH to visit my uncle. All the beds were occupied. A lot of operations going on nowadays. 5 out of 6 in the ward are elderly men. Weird thing, men hurt themselves more easily? The remaining guy was a pretty young man, a tough-looking one in fact. He hurt his right elbow i suppose and therefore an interesting way of wearing his shirt. Basically the right arm didn’t go through the sleeve. Imagine!!! Looks quite man loh. One of the times when you can see the weak side of a guy is probably this ba.
Pastor Lynette has covered pretty thoroughly on how faith without deeds is dead. I’m inspired to touch a bit on faith on a personal level, something which I shared for devotions in TRACkers. The scripture reading is taken from Genesis 12. We all know Abraham is a god-fearing man and a man of great faith. Nearly every time God instructs him to do something, he proceeds without questioning.
What’s interesting in the first four verses is that God wants Abraham to leave his homeland and everything behind. And he followed with obedience. In the later chapters, this same obedience is demonstrated. He just believed that God would deliver on His promise. Like later on in Genesis 22, Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. He actually did just as he was told without hesitation. And seeing his faithfulness, an angel came to stop him as he prepared to slay his son with the knife. We look at ourselves and we realize that ‘Hey, why can’t we be like Abraham’. We ask ourselves: Do we question or doubt God every time He tells us to do something that perhaps disrupts our own plans or gets in the way of things that we want to achieve.
But we can take comfort in that Abraham has times when he lacked faith too. In Gen 12:10-20, the king shows Abram if he trusted in God and told the truth, everything would have been all right. Pharaoh was so far from any design to kill Abraham. Instead, he took particular care of him. Pharaoh charged his men not to hurt Abram in any thing even after the truth was uncovered. But Abraham was so fearful that he got his wife and servants to tell a lie to ensure his safety. We often perplex ourselves with fears which are altogether groundless. Many a time we fear where no fear is. Even if there’s a reason to fear, we pray to commit to God all our anxieties but we don’t really trust completely because we are so gripped by fear. Although we understand the nature of our Father, we are just afraid that we’re taking the wrong step in life when pursuing the various educational careers and options, afraid we won’t rise to where we are, afraid we can’t get a certain GPA, afraid our Sec 1s will not grow up into Godly men and women under us, afraid of deaths around us, afraid our God has been a lie all this while, etc (I’m not sure if you fear and what you fear).
We need not be discouraged. Abraham also showed a lack of faith before but God is in the business of growing Abraham into a man of great faith, and this requires circumstances where Abraham must trust God. Likewise, we should seek to grow in faith. Faith is an amazing thing. It is believing that the blessing of the Almighty would make up for all we could lose or leave behind, supply all our wants and answer and exceed all our desires. When we have faith, we are not easily discouraged by the difficulties in our way. What we undertake, in obedience to God's command, and in humble attendance on his providence, will certainly succeed and end with comfort at last. I am still learning too....
This irish prayer was given to us on a small card by our teachers before our O levels which I still find relevant today:
May God give you...
For every STORM, a RAINBOW,
For every TEAR, a SMILE,
For every CARE, a PROMISE,
And a BLESSING in each TRIAL.
For every PROBLEM life sends,
A FAITHFUL FRIEND to share,
For every SIGH, a SWEET SONG,
And an ANSWER for each PRAYER.
PRAYER for May 4 - May 10
Thank you, Father, for revealing your faithfulness to us time and time again. Forgive us, oh Lord, when we of little faith choose to take things in our own hands. Father, whichever level of faith we each are at now, help us to grow deeper in faith. Take our faith to a new level because want You to use the events in our life to teach us what faith is all about. Father, we also want to pray for faith to be no longer something we keep to ourselves. Because of the faith we have in You, help us to practise it through deeds which are seen by our family, neighbours, freinds and spheres of influence. For we know that as the body is dead without th Spirit, faith without deeds is dead also. Thank you for promising us salvation as long as we have the faith but help us understand that Christian living isn't just about paying lip service and telling others how important faith is. Many times in life we have to walk in faith, so grant us the peace which transcends all understanding, claiming the promise that You have nothing but the best for us. Amen.
“Faith is not a mushroom that grows overnight in damp soil; it is an oak tree that grows for a thousand years under the blast of the wind and rain.” (Barnhouse)
A couple of interesting observations made. I saw this dog literally wearing ‘shoes’. I haven’t seen a dog wear something like that except of course on tv when their owners dress them up like a clown for Christmas parties. These shoes I saw weren’t those pretty canvas types with laces and definitely not shiny heels or beach sandals.....haha.... From a distance, it looked like each foot was bundled with a black garbage bag. It’s quite a funny sight; at least it drew quite a few stares apart from mine. On a closer look, the shoes look quite comfy and for a while, it reminded me of the bandits in maplestory (for those who have played it before) because of the black gloves they wear. I hope the owner wasn’t afraid the little run would actually dirty his doggy’s feet coz that’s totally a clean freak :O
Then, I saw this Caucasian family also with a dog. Don’t ask me what breed, I never bothered. Just another skinny dog. Lady boss keeps stopping to teach the dog some manners because it was obviously pushing and it ain’t a very nice thing to do. So she at the top of her voice said, “Dog, you are pushing..............naughty dog.” This poor dog hasn’t a name so it’s called DOG. I realised a similarity there in training obedience in both an animal and a child. The other day when the kindergarten children were making their way to the pantry for breakfast, the teacher was holding back this girl at the lift lobby. The teacher told the girl that she is no to jump in the lift again. The girl was allowed to go off only after she responded. Quite similar eh except that the dog can’t say yes. It’s obviously a nightmare raising kids, and it doesn’t seem any easier training a dog. So why d people find trouble for themselves? Dog-lovers, please enlighten me!!!
Today I went to SGH to visit my uncle. All the beds were occupied. A lot of operations going on nowadays. 5 out of 6 in the ward are elderly men. Weird thing, men hurt themselves more easily? The remaining guy was a pretty young man, a tough-looking one in fact. He hurt his right elbow i suppose and therefore an interesting way of wearing his shirt. Basically the right arm didn’t go through the sleeve. Imagine!!! Looks quite man loh. One of the times when you can see the weak side of a guy is probably this ba.
Pastor Lynette has covered pretty thoroughly on how faith without deeds is dead. I’m inspired to touch a bit on faith on a personal level, something which I shared for devotions in TRACkers. The scripture reading is taken from Genesis 12. We all know Abraham is a god-fearing man and a man of great faith. Nearly every time God instructs him to do something, he proceeds without questioning.
What’s interesting in the first four verses is that God wants Abraham to leave his homeland and everything behind. And he followed with obedience. In the later chapters, this same obedience is demonstrated. He just believed that God would deliver on His promise. Like later on in Genesis 22, Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. He actually did just as he was told without hesitation. And seeing his faithfulness, an angel came to stop him as he prepared to slay his son with the knife. We look at ourselves and we realize that ‘Hey, why can’t we be like Abraham’. We ask ourselves: Do we question or doubt God every time He tells us to do something that perhaps disrupts our own plans or gets in the way of things that we want to achieve.
But we can take comfort in that Abraham has times when he lacked faith too. In Gen 12:10-20, the king shows Abram if he trusted in God and told the truth, everything would have been all right. Pharaoh was so far from any design to kill Abraham. Instead, he took particular care of him. Pharaoh charged his men not to hurt Abram in any thing even after the truth was uncovered. But Abraham was so fearful that he got his wife and servants to tell a lie to ensure his safety. We often perplex ourselves with fears which are altogether groundless. Many a time we fear where no fear is. Even if there’s a reason to fear, we pray to commit to God all our anxieties but we don’t really trust completely because we are so gripped by fear. Although we understand the nature of our Father, we are just afraid that we’re taking the wrong step in life when pursuing the various educational careers and options, afraid we won’t rise to where we are, afraid we can’t get a certain GPA, afraid our Sec 1s will not grow up into Godly men and women under us, afraid of deaths around us, afraid our God has been a lie all this while, etc (I’m not sure if you fear and what you fear).
We need not be discouraged. Abraham also showed a lack of faith before but God is in the business of growing Abraham into a man of great faith, and this requires circumstances where Abraham must trust God. Likewise, we should seek to grow in faith. Faith is an amazing thing. It is believing that the blessing of the Almighty would make up for all we could lose or leave behind, supply all our wants and answer and exceed all our desires. When we have faith, we are not easily discouraged by the difficulties in our way. What we undertake, in obedience to God's command, and in humble attendance on his providence, will certainly succeed and end with comfort at last. I am still learning too....
This irish prayer was given to us on a small card by our teachers before our O levels which I still find relevant today:
May God give you...
For every STORM, a RAINBOW,
For every TEAR, a SMILE,
For every CARE, a PROMISE,
And a BLESSING in each TRIAL.
For every PROBLEM life sends,
A FAITHFUL FRIEND to share,
For every SIGH, a SWEET SONG,
And an ANSWER for each PRAYER.
PRAYER for May 4 - May 10
Thank you, Father, for revealing your faithfulness to us time and time again. Forgive us, oh Lord, when we of little faith choose to take things in our own hands. Father, whichever level of faith we each are at now, help us to grow deeper in faith. Take our faith to a new level because want You to use the events in our life to teach us what faith is all about. Father, we also want to pray for faith to be no longer something we keep to ourselves. Because of the faith we have in You, help us to practise it through deeds which are seen by our family, neighbours, freinds and spheres of influence. For we know that as the body is dead without th Spirit, faith without deeds is dead also. Thank you for promising us salvation as long as we have the faith but help us understand that Christian living isn't just about paying lip service and telling others how important faith is. Many times in life we have to walk in faith, so grant us the peace which transcends all understanding, claiming the promise that You have nothing but the best for us. Amen.
“Faith is not a mushroom that grows overnight in damp soil; it is an oak tree that grows for a thousand years under the blast of the wind and rain.” (Barnhouse)
P.S. Jun Bin, remind me to give you your Christmas card!!!
meapple
2 comments:
I lover dogs because i enjoy their simplistic nature, their companionship and the fresh joy they bear whenever they see you, their owner.
Anyway, regarding faith and fear, sometimes im just too weary to fear anymore, to be on my guard all the time, so i just give up all my cares and concerns and leave it all to him. Its not surrendering to him because i choose to, but because im too tired to hold on to them any longer. That isnt faith is it? heh...
Just as the RGPS motto reads 'Knowledge begets Success', i believe acknowedgement begets faith, of course with a lot more steps in between. But we've gotta start somewhere right Action need not always come after conviction :)
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