www.TheUltimateGift.com
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Faith: One of God's gifts I've forgotten about until recently:
All of us have a lack of faith in God, in certain areas.
And through our doings and thinkings it is evident that our trust in God is sorely lacking although He is the Alpha and Omega, the infinite one, the God of the impossible.
Though all creation around us shouts, God of wonders - our faith remains pallid with fear at unanswered prayers.
And, 'What-ifs'.
What if He does not answer?
What if He does not care?
What-ifs.
We need to know, MORE
Give me a sign, God.
One more word, God.
Our prayers are often in the form of "Help me God", no wonder we cannot have faith, it is only in our most desolate, desperate times that we cling on to this pillar of hope - when we should have done so in the first place.
We make empty promises honoring God should He answer accordingly, and because most of us only have the ability to remember only the most important things in life;
the important but temporary,
We forget about God;
the important and eternal.
We forget our promises.
We forget we are powerless.
We forget that things should be birthed in prayer, and we leave it to chance.
Faith, to me, is an unspeakable hope based on God because we know we are standing on the promises of the living God.
It's an unquenchable joy living in the kingdom right here, right now.
Faith means we can see beyond the circumstances no matter what the circumstances may be.
No matter what may come, even if, for a moment in time, time stands still and we realize all we have in this world is just ourselves, and God.
And we realize that we do have a little faith. To believe. To hope, to smile again and one day, love again.
God says that with a little faith, I can move mountains.
With a little more, perhaps... I can change the world.
And through our doings and thinkings it is evident that our trust in God is sorely lacking although He is the Alpha and Omega, the infinite one, the God of the impossible.
Though all creation around us shouts, God of wonders - our faith remains pallid with fear at unanswered prayers.
And, 'What-ifs'.
What if He does not answer?
What if He does not care?
What-ifs.
We need to know, MORE
Give me a sign, God.
One more word, God.
Our prayers are often in the form of "Help me God", no wonder we cannot have faith, it is only in our most desolate, desperate times that we cling on to this pillar of hope - when we should have done so in the first place.
We make empty promises honoring God should He answer accordingly, and because most of us only have the ability to remember only the most important things in life;
the important but temporary,
We forget about God;
the important and eternal.
We forget our promises.
We forget we are powerless.
We forget that things should be birthed in prayer, and we leave it to chance.
Faith, to me, is an unspeakable hope based on God because we know we are standing on the promises of the living God.
It's an unquenchable joy living in the kingdom right here, right now.
Faith means we can see beyond the circumstances no matter what the circumstances may be.
No matter what may come, even if, for a moment in time, time stands still and we realize all we have in this world is just ourselves, and God.
And we realize that we do have a little faith. To believe. To hope, to smile again and one day, love again.
God says that with a little faith, I can move mountains.
With a little more, perhaps... I can change the world.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A lost (and broken hearted) sheep
A light* sharing...
I was watching a Korean drama series when the 'gangster' who fell in love with a pastor's daughter quoted the story of the lost sheep to the pastor, which softened the pastor's heart towards him.
Which goes to show that God can speak through random things!
==
"I am lost, help me find my way." -Lee Seo Jin, as Ha Kang-Jae, Gangster boss in "Lovers", 2007.
Sheep. Some of us have seen them. Not many of us have had the chance to own them. But... I believe all of us have eaten them? Haha! Ok, bad joke.
Imagine if you were a sheep, and one day, you got lost. Sheep do get lost quite often, like humans sometimes get lost in the daily grind of life. Perhaps you, mr sheep, got lost while chasing a butterfly. Or wanted to eat the greener grass on the other side of the pasture. Or followed your own tail.
The fact is that, you got lost.
So think about:
1. The reason WHY you got lost
2. How you felt when you realised, you were truly, lost, with no means to go home and no idea how to, either.
I'm sure you are feeling slightly afraid, now. Maybe you fear being killed out there in the wild by some savage beast. Or, you just long for the comforts of home and your sheep friends. Maybe you are fearless and adopt a 'lost then lost, lor' singaporean attitude. Heck care. Just enjoy your time outside. Just eat grass and don't think too much. But sooner or later, you will long for home and a place to rest, safely, with sheep who love you.
It's getting dark. It's getting cold.
Back home, at the other side of the meadow, Father Shepherd is counting your family for the night. One, Frank. Two, Kenneth... ... 98, Rachel. 99, the other Rachel.
Where is Sheepy? Lost? Again!?!
In the dark, Father Shepherd takes out his mega watt torch light and beams all over the meadow until he spots a small white figure, huddled in a corner beside a rock near the treacherous cliff.
Father Shepherd runs to the poor, lost Sheepy.
And hugs him, and safely carries him back.
==
I shared this story to a class of high-school students in Bali (translation was needed).
In Indonesian, the term they use frequently for broken-heartedness is 'bata-hati'.
Everyone there knows this term. Everyone understood this term.
Perhaps, they have been broken hearted before. I was told that most of them came from dysfunctional families. Broken homes, broken lives. Perhaps from an early age, they knew what it was like to be lost.
When I shared that I too, was lost, and broken-hearted, they understood.
No matter where you are in the world, you will know what it feels like to lose something or someone you really care about. This story tells us about the Father's love for us. A simple story, really. We often overlook it in Luke 15.
But the simple story of the Father's love for us has so much truth.
He left the 99, and came to look for you. Because God loves that one lost sheep.
All through your life, God showed you a Relentless Belief.
Our Father Shepherd took us in our arms and loved us with an amazing love.
"All I know is I once was lost, but now I'm found
I was blind but now I see...
And I know He will do for you
What He's done for me."
I was watching a Korean drama series when the 'gangster' who fell in love with a pastor's daughter quoted the story of the lost sheep to the pastor, which softened the pastor's heart towards him.
Which goes to show that God can speak through random things!
==
"I am lost, help me find my way." -Lee Seo Jin, as Ha Kang-Jae, Gangster boss in "Lovers", 2007.
Sheep. Some of us have seen them. Not many of us have had the chance to own them. But... I believe all of us have eaten them? Haha! Ok, bad joke.
Imagine if you were a sheep, and one day, you got lost. Sheep do get lost quite often, like humans sometimes get lost in the daily grind of life. Perhaps you, mr sheep, got lost while chasing a butterfly. Or wanted to eat the greener grass on the other side of the pasture. Or followed your own tail.
The fact is that, you got lost.
So think about:
1. The reason WHY you got lost
2. How you felt when you realised, you were truly, lost, with no means to go home and no idea how to, either.
I'm sure you are feeling slightly afraid, now. Maybe you fear being killed out there in the wild by some savage beast. Or, you just long for the comforts of home and your sheep friends. Maybe you are fearless and adopt a 'lost then lost, lor' singaporean attitude. Heck care. Just enjoy your time outside. Just eat grass and don't think too much. But sooner or later, you will long for home and a place to rest, safely, with sheep who love you.
It's getting dark. It's getting cold.
Back home, at the other side of the meadow, Father Shepherd is counting your family for the night. One, Frank. Two, Kenneth... ... 98, Rachel. 99, the other Rachel.
Where is Sheepy? Lost? Again!?!
In the dark, Father Shepherd takes out his mega watt torch light and beams all over the meadow until he spots a small white figure, huddled in a corner beside a rock near the treacherous cliff.
Father Shepherd runs to the poor, lost Sheepy.
And hugs him, and safely carries him back.
==
I shared this story to a class of high-school students in Bali (translation was needed).
In Indonesian, the term they use frequently for broken-heartedness is 'bata-hati'.
Everyone there knows this term. Everyone understood this term.
Perhaps, they have been broken hearted before. I was told that most of them came from dysfunctional families. Broken homes, broken lives. Perhaps from an early age, they knew what it was like to be lost.
When I shared that I too, was lost, and broken-hearted, they understood.
No matter where you are in the world, you will know what it feels like to lose something or someone you really care about. This story tells us about the Father's love for us. A simple story, really. We often overlook it in Luke 15.
But the simple story of the Father's love for us has so much truth.
He left the 99, and came to look for you. Because God loves that one lost sheep.
All through your life, God showed you a Relentless Belief.
Our Father Shepherd took us in our arms and loved us with an amazing love.
"All I know is I once was lost, but now I'm found
I was blind but now I see...
And I know He will do for you
What He's done for me."
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
A Forgetful Faith (Warning - a looooong read)
Dear Mimosa Walkers/Mimosaians(ok watever!),
What we shared earlier tonight.... Anthony, we prayed for ur granny and will continue to do that until she gets better. =)
What Do We Mean By "Backsliding"?
"The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel" - 1 Kings 11:9
"I have this against you; you have left your first love." - Revelation 2:4
Backsliding is when a person who follows Christ turns away from Him. To the backslider, God is no longer the main focus of his life. Without God's leading, the person suffers a lapse morally and reverts back to sin. He "backslides" into his old way of life.
We no longer seek the Lords leading and we lack direction. We no longer fellowship with Him and so our hearts are empty. This is because you and I were created to follow the Lord. We were created to have a relationship with God. And as terrible as it is to have never have known the love of Jesus Christ, how much worse is it to have experienced it and then turn away? Once you've followed Jesus nothing else can ever truly satisfy you. That's why backsliding is such a terrible thing. You try to replace His prefect love with something inferior. But the Lord stretches out His hand to you and offers to forgive your backsliding and restore you.
Question posed to the floor: What makes a person 'backslide'?
A host of reasons were heard from the cell.... Prolonged unanswered prayers, disappointment with stumbling behaviour of certain church pastors and leaders, disillusionment seeing the power struggle in church and forgetfulness.
Could it be that I forgot what I believed?
C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, says "you will never talk a man out of his faith, never debate him out of his beliefs – but what can happen is that he’ll slowly, imperceptibly at first, forget what he believes."
And then he’ll begin to act upon that lack of belief.
It may be that the Apostle Peter understood this tendency toward a forgetful faith. He told the early Church, “I plan to keep on reminding you of these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.” (2 Peter 1:12, NLT)
Even though they already were standing on the truth, Peter saw it as necessary to remind them of their beliefs, that “on Christ the solid rock” they stood.
Now after tonight, we all knew Apostle Peter was a "loser" before he became a preacher of the Word. Peter was a "forgetful believer".
Luke 5:1-11
V5 – we worked all night and caught nothing.
Do u have any worn, wet, empty nets? Do u know the feeling of a sleepless, fishless night? Of coz u do. For what have u been casting?
Faith – “I want to believe, but…”
Healing – “I’ve been sick for so long….”
A happy relationship – “No matter what I do…”
For results (work, studies etc.) - "I've worked so hard... put in so much effort... yet... it comes down to NOTHING"
I’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. We all have felt what Peter felt. And now Jesus is asking u to go fishing. He knows your nets are empty. He knows your heart is weary.
He urges,”It’s not too late to try again.”
Listen to Peter’s reply: “I will do as You say and let down the nets.” Not much passion & excitement. Peter feels none. He's tired. Now he has to unfold his nets, pull out the oars and convince James and John to postpone their rest. Yes, he has to work.
If faith is measured in seeds, guess what’s the size of his? Inspired? No. But obedient? He certainly is. Even a smallest minute seed of obedience is what Jesus needs to perform a miracle.
v 6-7 - Peter lifts his eyes off the catch and unto the face of Jesus. In the moment, for the 1st time, he sees Jesus. Not Jesus the Fish Finder. Not Jesus the Rabbi. But Peter saw Jesus the Lord.
v 8-10 - Jesus tells him “It’s ok. It’s not too late to start over.”
Peter learnt the lesson. Or did he? But we all knew he didn’t... really. In fact, Peter forgot the lesson.
2 short years later, Peter who confessed Christ in the boat cursed Christ at a fire. The night before Jesus crucifixion, Peter told people he’d never heard of Jesus. From a person who saw the miracle of God on the boat that night, and followed and witnessed Jesus's ministry to a coward who confessed that he've never met Jesus.
What a dynamic 360 deg. change in attitude!
John 21:1-7
Fast forward. Jesus was hung on the Cross. On Sunday (the 3rd day of the Cruxifixion), Peter came out of retirement. And u know what? Despite of what he did, Jesus came looking for him! Peter and his buddies went back to the boat – same boat, same beach, same sea. They fished all night and again – NOTHING. Poor Peter. He blow it as a disciple. And he’s blown it as a fisherman as well.
What a loser!
Someone at the beach shouted to them, ”Any luck? Try the right side of the boat!”
v6 – So they casted, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.” It takes a moment for the déjà vu to hit Peter. When it does, he thunderbolted into the water and swam towards shore. A miracle was re-created for the betrayer. And this time the message struck into Peter’s heart and stayed there. Peter never again fished for fish but spent the rest of his life telling people,” It’s not too late to ever try again.”
Luke 5:4 Jesus instructs “Put out into the deep water.” Suppose Jesus knew something that Peter didn’t?
Some parents play a game on Easter Sunday – hide the eggs and their children will be searching high and low in the house for them. They will find most eggs on their own. But a couple will survive the 1st hunt. “Look,” Dad whispered,” behind the tree.”
And indeed they were.
Dad was right.
Spotting treasures is easy for the one who hid it. Finding fish is simple for the God who made them.
Have you given Christ your boat? Your heartache? Dilemma? And have you gone deep? Try the other side of the boat. Go deeper than you’ve gone. You may find what Peter found. The payoff of his 2nd effort was not the fish he caught, but the God he saw.
It open up his blinded eyes to the God who always say, “Never mind, let’s try again... this time with me on board.”
I'm glad we serve a God who gave 2nd chances to people who've truly "blown" it. Coz Peter really did and he was forgiven and accepted.
Cheerz,
Frank
He called out to them, “Friends, haven't you any fish?” ~John 21:5
What we shared earlier tonight.... Anthony, we prayed for ur granny and will continue to do that until she gets better. =)
What Do We Mean By "Backsliding"?
"The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel" - 1 Kings 11:9
"I have this against you; you have left your first love." - Revelation 2:4
Backsliding is when a person who follows Christ turns away from Him. To the backslider, God is no longer the main focus of his life. Without God's leading, the person suffers a lapse morally and reverts back to sin. He "backslides" into his old way of life.
We no longer seek the Lords leading and we lack direction. We no longer fellowship with Him and so our hearts are empty. This is because you and I were created to follow the Lord. We were created to have a relationship with God. And as terrible as it is to have never have known the love of Jesus Christ, how much worse is it to have experienced it and then turn away? Once you've followed Jesus nothing else can ever truly satisfy you. That's why backsliding is such a terrible thing. You try to replace His prefect love with something inferior. But the Lord stretches out His hand to you and offers to forgive your backsliding and restore you.
Question posed to the floor: What makes a person 'backslide'?
A host of reasons were heard from the cell.... Prolonged unanswered prayers, disappointment with stumbling behaviour of certain church pastors and leaders, disillusionment seeing the power struggle in church and forgetfulness.
Could it be that I forgot what I believed?
C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, says "you will never talk a man out of his faith, never debate him out of his beliefs – but what can happen is that he’ll slowly, imperceptibly at first, forget what he believes."
And then he’ll begin to act upon that lack of belief.
It may be that the Apostle Peter understood this tendency toward a forgetful faith. He told the early Church, “I plan to keep on reminding you of these things – even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth.” (2 Peter 1:12, NLT)
Even though they already were standing on the truth, Peter saw it as necessary to remind them of their beliefs, that “on Christ the solid rock” they stood.
Now after tonight, we all knew Apostle Peter was a "loser" before he became a preacher of the Word. Peter was a "forgetful believer".
Luke 5:1-11
V5 – we worked all night and caught nothing.
Do u have any worn, wet, empty nets? Do u know the feeling of a sleepless, fishless night? Of coz u do. For what have u been casting?
Faith – “I want to believe, but…”
Healing – “I’ve been sick for so long….”
A happy relationship – “No matter what I do…”
For results (work, studies etc.) - "I've worked so hard... put in so much effort... yet... it comes down to NOTHING"
I’ve worked hard all night and caught nothing. We all have felt what Peter felt. And now Jesus is asking u to go fishing. He knows your nets are empty. He knows your heart is weary.
He urges,”It’s not too late to try again.”
Listen to Peter’s reply: “I will do as You say and let down the nets.” Not much passion & excitement. Peter feels none. He's tired. Now he has to unfold his nets, pull out the oars and convince James and John to postpone their rest. Yes, he has to work.
If faith is measured in seeds, guess what’s the size of his? Inspired? No. But obedient? He certainly is. Even a smallest minute seed of obedience is what Jesus needs to perform a miracle.
v 6-7 - Peter lifts his eyes off the catch and unto the face of Jesus. In the moment, for the 1st time, he sees Jesus. Not Jesus the Fish Finder. Not Jesus the Rabbi. But Peter saw Jesus the Lord.
v 8-10 - Jesus tells him “It’s ok. It’s not too late to start over.”
Peter learnt the lesson. Or did he? But we all knew he didn’t... really. In fact, Peter forgot the lesson.
2 short years later, Peter who confessed Christ in the boat cursed Christ at a fire. The night before Jesus crucifixion, Peter told people he’d never heard of Jesus. From a person who saw the miracle of God on the boat that night, and followed and witnessed Jesus's ministry to a coward who confessed that he've never met Jesus.
What a dynamic 360 deg. change in attitude!
John 21:1-7
Fast forward. Jesus was hung on the Cross. On Sunday (the 3rd day of the Cruxifixion), Peter came out of retirement. And u know what? Despite of what he did, Jesus came looking for him! Peter and his buddies went back to the boat – same boat, same beach, same sea. They fished all night and again – NOTHING. Poor Peter. He blow it as a disciple. And he’s blown it as a fisherman as well.
What a loser!
Someone at the beach shouted to them, ”Any luck? Try the right side of the boat!”
v6 – So they casted, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.” It takes a moment for the déjà vu to hit Peter. When it does, he thunderbolted into the water and swam towards shore. A miracle was re-created for the betrayer. And this time the message struck into Peter’s heart and stayed there. Peter never again fished for fish but spent the rest of his life telling people,” It’s not too late to ever try again.”
Luke 5:4 Jesus instructs “Put out into the deep water.” Suppose Jesus knew something that Peter didn’t?
Some parents play a game on Easter Sunday – hide the eggs and their children will be searching high and low in the house for them. They will find most eggs on their own. But a couple will survive the 1st hunt. “Look,” Dad whispered,” behind the tree.”
And indeed they were.
Dad was right.
Spotting treasures is easy for the one who hid it. Finding fish is simple for the God who made them.
Have you given Christ your boat? Your heartache? Dilemma? And have you gone deep? Try the other side of the boat. Go deeper than you’ve gone. You may find what Peter found. The payoff of his 2nd effort was not the fish he caught, but the God he saw.
It open up his blinded eyes to the God who always say, “Never mind, let’s try again... this time with me on board.”
I'm glad we serve a God who gave 2nd chances to people who've truly "blown" it. Coz Peter really did and he was forgiven and accepted.
Cheerz,
Frank
He called out to them, “Friends, haven't you any fish?” ~John 21:5
~Amazing Love~ by Newsboys
Verse:
I’m forgiven, because you were forsaken
I’m accepted, you were condemned
I’m alive and well, your spirit is within me
Because you died and rose again
Repeat Verse
Chorus:
Amazing love, how can it be
that you my king should die for me
Amazing love, I know it’s true
It’s my joy to honour you
In all I do to honour you
Bridge:
You are my king
You are my king
Jesus You are my king
You are my king
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