Amen!

31st Jan 2010 Monday Shady

Perhaps a step of courage is what i lack of?

Praise the Lord still!

Bro Avalon and Bro Elden have been urging me for this post for almost.....a semester? haha

here you are my brother.

Since come into UTP, have been worried about church i m going to attend, most of the bro and sis in penang knew that i m coming to tronoh perak for my degree persuing, 1st ever thing that they tell me is..

"remember to find a good church a.."

honestly, should i be pressure? but then seriously worry...btw, thanks to prayer from bro and sis, manage to know Bro. Elden through Bro Chun Hong who is my primary school friends, secondary school mate, Uni buddy...

Such a joke, bro. elden have been staying in penang whose his house is less than 10min driving distance from mine. A bro that share the same birthday as me (08.09.1991), and i never see this guy appear whether in farlim, paya terubong or even penang area. Thank God, at last i know him, and i believe is His plan...everything start in him, start in Hope....

I do not know Pentecostal, Evangelical, Methodist or Baptist....but i know, I am Charismatic...and Bro. Elden brought me to Hope Ipoh. Together in the car, Bro Avalon.

Have been an AWESOME experience with Hope, a church that full of passion towards Christ the Lord, a passion towards prayer, a passion towards the Word, a passion towards Love..

Joining the Sunday Servive have been an INTERESTING event, flooded with joy, filled by Holy Spirit, drowned in love all around. Though we dont have full band (drummer, pianist, bass guitar, keyboardist, dancer, electric guitarist, back up singer), but congregation is passionate, passionate about Christ. We worship in spirit, we proclaim the truth, we shout out His name, we claim His promise, we REJOICE in HIM!!!!

Regular live group in V4C common room also grow me a lot. Sharing of bible verses from Bro Christon had seriously brought me deeper into His Word, discovering His will. Together with Bro Elden and Bro Avalon, a buddy meeting had been a weekly occasion for me as well. Frankly, at 1st i do feel tired about this, thinking "argh...buddy meeting AGAIN..." but I do really thank God that bring me through this, overcome this....Spirit of lazyness, spirit of passionless for God..

Burn with the Fire of God is totally refreshing, awesome and wonderful.. it can really keeps you energetic even late in the midnight..p/s: dun eat kuih. haha...passion for Christ is so awesome and it really indescribable....we have been praying for each other prayer needs in buddy meeting, pray for salvation of the regular listed friends =), of course craps and sharing and help we three to know each other more and more and more...even build up our relationships, with each other, with God, we tends to trust each other more, share more until the time is out of our consideration....that why sometimes meeting can be conducted late in 1230am, till 2am...and no one is yawning for tiredness...haha...BURN!! BURN!!!

Recently, Sis Joey come to accept Christ in Hope Ipoh, what a significant day! 30th January 2011! the whole heaven is rejoicing!!! 1 Cor 3:6, a bible verse that would encourage all the intercessor i guess..."I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow." and seriously, me, Bro Elden and Bro Avalon and Bro YC were really rejoicing that God heard our prayer, and He let the seed grows...haha...Sis. Joey, Welcome to the family of Lord!!

"Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thes 5:16-18

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Phil 4:4

Love you Lord, Amen!

A new day

I never expect myself to accept Christ so soon.
Because i always have unknown doubts apart from my family problem.
Pray hard and i believe one day the problem will be solved, like what happened to sister Alexis.

Seriously, I believe that's God's Will to let me went for the pre CNY celebration last Fri and listen to Brother Chee Lim at that very night. Frankly, i was so tired that few days and i really want to escape from the celebration. Thank God i am able to turn up and really think a lot on what Brother Chee Lim told me. A special thanks to Brother Khay min for sharing his testimony to me that very night as well.

Believe in God's existence when im in secondary school form 4 but somehow due to family problem, it halt half way. Really glad that im able to take the initiative to go to church this semester, since elden n avalon has asked me many times before last semester and due to certain circumstances, i failed to turn up. Praise the Lord!!

I still remembered the joy when i got to know Lord several years back, and yesterday im filled with the same joy, even greater. The passion, the keen to seek more, to ask more from God really grow a lot. Pray to Lord so that i can keep this passion to seek more guidence and courage from Him, a loving caring Father.

Amen!

Humble Miracles (30/1/11)

It was definitely the most morale boosting day of the week. In such a short time, God actually bring my friend, step daughter perhaps to know and finally accepted the LORD. Praise God! and to add to the expected surprise, another person accepted Christ in my church today.

I woke up today being prompted to bring the beads that I used to share the gospel to church and I was having this unusual bravery to decide without going through any logical thinking of evangelizing to the people that had came to church last week.

Cut the story short, at the end of the youth session (actually jst 1 of the 6 attended today), I finally mustered the courage to PURPOSELY ask him into the pastor's room (still a bit scared la, want pastor back-up me ;0). And with some introduction, we (pastor and me) shared the gospel to him....and PRAISE THE LORD again!!! He decided to accepted Christ!! Amen!! Let whole heaven rejoice...I was like....wow....in such a short time, with such simple sharing (this is the most simple way I ever shared the gospel)...I remember how clear his word  '愿意' was that moment. He make a sinners prayer, pastor lend him a Bible and I pray that the Devil will not take a way the seeds in his lives.

And there it was, first time evangelizing to someone unknown before, and I can say I finally understand what is the taste of it~

Awesome day, God saved Pei Shin, God saved Chun Lai and also God delivered Joshua Lim from his fear and hidden stress in his heart. and I must say, my fire was burning more and more!! =D God maintain it in me please~~

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow -- 1 Corinthians 3:6

Growing in Prayer Life

Growing in Prayer Life
Let's start our discussion by these verses from (Matthew 6:5~13) which are some verses related to prayers...In our daily life, we can continue to have a personal and yet intermiate (close) relationship with the Lord through prayers besides reading His Words. Prayer is more like talking to a person; in Christians case, we do talk to our Lord. It is important to let everyone to know that we cant just do prayer alone without reading the bible. This is because we will become "floating Christians" where we do not have "an anchor" to grip the ocean floor when waves arrive. Therefore, both act must be well balanced so that we won't pray for something which is out of track and the bible shows us the reality. As a Christian, a non-prayer life is definately DULL!!! Some of us indeed may require help when it comes to Prayer lives because they do not know how to pray; as in starting and closing it.

Below are the components of prayer. You are NOT necessary to follow it, just a guideline!
a) Praise --> We should praise God for who is He and for what He has done for us. We can also begin by telling how great He is[e.g. Our Heavenly Father, The Creator of Life, Almighty God, and  etc..]. They are two kinds of praise which are Adoration; where we proclaim His Character. Another praise is with Hallowed which is through Respect.

b) Thanks Giving--> We should show our gratitude towards God for what he has done for us; may it be an abundant and little blessing. We also should thank Him for His mercy [what we do not deserved] and grace[receiving something that I don't deserve] towards us. The most important thing we should thank Him for is "salvation". Therefore, we should never stop being thankful towards the Lord.

c) Confessing our sins --> We should always confess our sins that we have either done it intentionally or unintentionally and either sinning against God or man. We usually commit sin when we disobey God and we behave in a manner that is below God's standard. Confession of sin will able to free us from bondage of sin and give us another chance to start a new day with the Lord. However, do not misuse/abuse the chances given by committing sin again and again. Besides, we can also make restitution to others if necessary [Matthew 5: 23~24]

d) Asking --> As Christians, we have the right to ask God for what we need because we are His children. We know that our father loves us, therefore we ask God to provide us our daily needs. Furthermore, we should not only ask God for what we need but we ask for other's needs as well. However, please do remember that we must ask Him according to His will; It's all about the Father's will to be done not ours.

e) Closing prayer: It's rather simple, you can just say " In Jesus name I pray to, Amen". Some ask why in Jesus name...This is because God's blessing come to us by the power of His name
[Matthew 7:7~8]. Therefore, always pray in Jesus name.

Why must we pray?
a) It is command of the Lord. [1 Thessalonians 5: 17 says "pray continually"]
b) Apart of our lives
c) Even Jesus also pray to His father early in the morning... [John 17:1~26]
d) God delights in hearing our voice..God wants us to depend on Him.
e) Will not be easily defeated when we face trials and temptations.

How do we enhance our prayer life?
a) Right Attitude-->we must always humble ourselves, correct motives, hatred & unforgiveness free when we pray. Hatred and unforgiveness can lead to unheard prayers because it forms a hinderence. One major point here is BE REAL when in prayer [Matthew 6:5]. We should not impress people like the Pharisees where you pray in different ways, colorful and bombastic words and try to cover our weakness. It is always the best where we go straight to the point where your heart leads you!

b) Be Relax ~> Find places where you can be alone and quiet. This helps us to be more focus into God. It is also important to set up a specific time to talk to God on daily basis. Find a time where we can leave all our worries of the day behind.

c) Be revealing (Matthew 6: 7~8) ~> Do not hide anything from God, as He knows everything and witnessing in what we have and will go through. Just be yourself, do not copy others when praying.

d) Recognize your position ~> We must always keep in mind that whose will must be done...It's the Lord's will not ours.We as man can only plan out things, but it's up to God to make the ultimate decision. We can also use a humble position when praying such as kneeling down.

e) Join Prayer Meetings [Acts 2: 42] ~> Group prayer is powerful

Conclusion
a) Prayer is a very powerful weapon that God gave us.
b) Praying in groups has greater effects.
c) Believe by faith in whatever you are praying for.
d) Prayer will also can help to train us to become more godly [more like Christ-like character]
e) Pray Daily!

When God moves (25/1/11)

Recently experienced, feel and see how God had started to move, either in my hometown church or at the university. 

In my hometown church, My vision is fulfilled when the youths in V Change start to see prayer and reading the Bible as something important in their lives. I hope they still haven't forgotten the importance of doing so. But as they start praying, God start to move, I sense God moving among V Change and sooner or later, people will start to come and know God through the youth group. Keep it up guys~

In UTP, it's very amazing at how sudden everything is evolving. People started to come and know more and more about God or at least to stir. For example:
1. Pei Shin -- She agreed to follow Khay Min to church after some persuasion and even heard and listen to us sharing the gospel to her. The amazing thing is she was touched by God during the Sunday worship to tears. That night, the Perak State christmas celebration also brings her even closer to God. She's only doubting a bit and having fear for her family's objection. But all in all, anytime now, she may just accept the LORD.

2. Derick -- His roomate Avalon had told us that Derick was actually being more and more open to the gospel, especially through musics. He's being starting to listen to more Christian songs lately.

3. Yik Chieng -- Well, he was a surprise to me when he say he wanted to fast DotA for the semester and is very determined to bring Wendy to church. It seems that God had awaken another person to do HIS job.

4. Wee Liang -- I think is because of my devotional practice that he also started his devotional practice.......errr...the wrong 1, of meditation, and intensifying his calligraphy writting on some Buddhism source. But I believe that what I do is more powerful than what he do because "we got a BIG God" -- Daphne Tiong

5. Yee Ling -- At least she did not reject directly a persuasion to be brought to church. =D

6. Wendy -- This one come as the most unexpected 1. as God put the burden on Yik Chieng to bring her to church, God is also doing work in her life. Out of no where, she is herself wanting to join the live group session this week...A two way work from God. Will she also be God's next fruit? who knows? For a strong Buddhist like her? God's work in her will be even more glorified! Amen!

Thinking of how God is moving is getting me excited to the point that I was getting some difficulty calming myself to sleep yesterday night. How happy would be for me to do God's work~

So that's how year 2011 gonna start? cool! the battle is intensifying, store up in your stomache while you still can because there's gonna be a lot of fastings coming as well as more intensified prayer against the Devil and for salvations! Time to embrace the motto -- 来一个，杀一个 in the church.. LOL!!! get what I mean right?

Perseverance 11/1/11

To be a faithful Christian, we must prepare ourselves to face troubles.

·         In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted – 2 timothy 3:12

Suffer for Christ

·         Facing temptations and addictions

Ø  Everyone will have their personal temptations that they need to overcome

·         Teased by friends

·         Rejected and hated because of our faith

·         Pushing ourselves out of comfort zone to do God’s work

Ø  If God wants us to work, The Devil will try to stop us

Reasons of suffering

Ø  Often when we start to draw closer to God, we tend to suffer more. But remember that these are God’s tests and when we triumph over it, there is a reward waiting for us. =)

Purpose of suffering

Ø  Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. – 2 Timothy 2:10

How do we persevere?

1.       Do not give up

a.       Have an optimistic mind set.

b.      Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. (Sun Tzu)

c.       Do not feel discouraged when troubles arise

2.       Turn to Jesus

a.       Jesus who has been to earth had experience 1^st hand what is human suffering. What we face is what He had faced before.

b.      Surrender all our worries to Jesus

                                                               i.      Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Matthew 6:34

c.       Pray and read the Bible

                                                               i.      Share all our worries and burden and hurt with God

1.       Read Psalms 39

                                                             ii.      The more the pressure, the more we need to read and pray.

d.      Be Still, Know That He is God (Psalm 46:10)

3.       Give thanks

a.       Give thanks in every situation, just like in the story of Job

b.      We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character; and character, hope. – Romans 5:3-4

4.       Continue on with Love

a.       Be loving to others even when we are treated wrongly; Forgive others who mistreated you.

b.      Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. – Colossians 3:12-13

c.       Remember that only God is allowed to judge. We just continue to love~

5.       Hang onto God’s promises

a.       When we fall, do not feel depressed or down

                                                               i.      You fall into Devil’s trick if you gave up and feel depressed when failing

                                                             ii.      When we fail, be sure that God will not give up on us and will be there to encourage us up (just remember to pray for forgiveness ;) )

b.      If we believe that God can help us through, God will help us through.

c.       And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. – 1 Corinthians 10:13 (b)

d.      2 Corinthians 4:8-9; 2 Corinthians 4:18

Remember to pray about your sufferings above. Do not forget that only through troubles and problems that we can grow more stronger in Him

Holy Spirit (3/1/10)

What is the Holy Spirit?

·         A gift from God when we accept Him.

o   set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. – (2 Corinthians 1:22)

·         It is a promise from God to always be with us and in us.

Characteristics of The Holy Spirit

1.       Always contradicting with the sinful nature

a.       The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace – (Romans 8:6)

b.      The sinful nature is hostile to God – (Romans 8:7)

2.       The Holy Spirit works to turn us towards the Father

a.       Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father” – (Galatians 4:6)

b.      Holy Spirit cannot utter things against God, but will ackwoledge and praise God’s sovereignty and kingship. (1 Corinthians 12:3)

3.       The Spirit of God is Holy

a.       Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Temples are supposed to be clean right? ;)

4.       Always working (24 hours) inside us.

5.       Give life and peace.

a.       When we accept Christ, our body is dead but the Spirit of God is the one that give life.

b.      If you don’t feel peace, something must be wrong. You might want to consider spending some time to reflect and to seek God.

What can The Spirit of God do?

Ø  Help us to pray

      In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans (Romans 8:26)

Ø  Teach us how to understand the Bible and God’s words

      All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.– (John 16:15)

Ø  Change us and mould our character more and more Christ-like

      This is a life long process.

Ø  Grant us spiritual gifts and talents

      Different people will have different types and number of gifts according to God’s distribution.

      1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Ø  Grant us peace and life and all other good values

      The fruits of the Spirit are found in Galatians.

Ø  Enable speaking in tongues and prophesying

      Tongues are always an instrument to turn our hearts to God and to connect us with God.

What should we do than?

      Pray more in the Spirit

o   Pray in tongues frequently if you are able to; If you are not able to, ask God to grant you the gift of tongues

o   Seek fellowship with the Spirit of God in praying

§  Sooner or later, you will realize the power of the Holy Spirit working in you ;)

o   Listen to what God had to say through the Spirit

o   Listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit

      Let God change us through the Holy Spirit

o   Submit to God and allow His spirit to change us day by day.

o   Do not give up but be patience with the work of the Holy Spirit

o   Be obedient to God’s plan

      Be holy in your daily life

o   Do not contaminate the temple of the Holy Spirit

o   Allow the Holy Spirit to dwell in you

      Search for your spiritual gifts

o   Pray and ask God about your spiritual gift

§  It can be in music, social skills, technical stuff etc etc

o   Utilize your spiritual gifts to the fullest for God in serving

§  Do not be like the 3^rd servant in the parable of the Talent