Every Day with Jesus on 31/10/08 - In my own voice

"We are asking God that you may see things, as it were, from his point of view..." Colossians 1:9

No matter how insignificant you may feel, the truth is that you are included in God's big story. Your name is written into His universal epic. One day, when the whole story is unfolded in eternity, you will see what part you have played in the eternal scheme of things.

Trust that the Casting Director has given you a role that highlights not only your special talents and individuality but, more important, the way in which divine grace is at work in your life.

Just to be part of God's great epic, to be caught up in the narrative He is telling, is one of the highest privileges afforded any human being.

Drop your anchor into the depths of this reassuring and encouraging revelation. In the strongest currents of life it will, I promise, help to hold you fast.

My Father and my God, how can i ever sufficiently thank You for the priceless privilege of telling in my own voice Your story? Help me from this day forward to see all things from Your point of view. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Every Day with Jesus on 30/10/08 - How do I get in?

"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3:3

We must invite those who do not know Jesus Christ to become part of His story. Every Day with Jesus is read by people who are interested in Christian things but have not yet commited themselves to Jesus.We must invite those people who are not yet included in God's salvation story to enter into it.

How do we enter into a relationship with God and become part of His eternal epic? The answer is: We enter into a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus by being what the Bible calls "born again". The necessity of the new birth is spoken of throughout the New Testament.

We divide people into races, sexes, nationalities, the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, but Jesus divided all men and women into only 2 classes: the once born and the twice born.

If you already kow Jesus Christ, if you have been born again, you are in the kingdom of God, and if you are not, then you are not in His kingdom.

If you have not been born again, I invite you now to open your heart to God and His Son Jesus Christ. Say the following prayer and you will receive the new birth as countless multitudes down the ages have done. You will be born again.

Heavenly Father, I want to be part of your story. I come to You now to be born again. I surrender everything to You - my whole life, my heart..everything. Accept me and make me Your child. In Jesus' name I pray.

Every day with Jesus on 29/10/08 - A transcendent drama

'Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish.' Isaiah 38:17

A good part of our life has been spent listening to people's stories. We have discovered that people can tell their story in many different ways. Some tell it as if it is a comedy. Others tell it as a tragedy while others talk about their lives in terms of a transcendent(inspiring) drama.

They recount the things that have happened to them with the clear awareness that a loving God has allowed them to pass through these things for a purpose. We have to recognise that in allowing accident to take place, God had a purpose for our life that has touched the lives of millions.

Father, I am on the spot. How would I tell my story? As a comedy, a tragedy, an irony or a divine drama? Please help me think this matter through today. In Christ's name I pray. Amen.

My Prayers' List

Dear Lord Jesus, every day help me to remember all that You have done for me. Thank You for the teaching You give me in the Bible. Help me to think about Your words and act on them. Sometimes I find it difficult to sit down, read, and think about Your Word. Help me not to give up and think about what Your Word tells me to do and then I can walk on that ‘path’ safely with You. I can avoid making the same mistake twice if You will please help me to learn. Thank You that the Holy Spirit helps me as I think about Your words in the Bible. Help me always to remember how good You are, how good You want me to be and to be willing to do whatever You want me to do. Thank You that You died to ‘wash away my sins’.

Heavenly Father, help me to take your message about Jesus to those who don’t know Him. Help me to be obedient when Your Word tells me to do something hard and remember that Your Holy Spirit is with me to help me. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that I don’t need to worry in troubled times. With You, I can face any storm! I pray that nothing will put me off or stop me following You. You’re the best teacher!

Dear Jesus, You are so amazing! Thank You that there is nothing You cannot do and that even in difficult times You are still taking care of us. You are my King and I want to obey You. Please help me to do that. Thank You that for each time You have used Your great power to help me. Help me to trust You when things seem to be going wrong and keep away from things which I know are wrong.

Thank You, Lord, for helping me to do what is right and good. No one is as good and great as You, but I want to be more like You. Help me to be glad to do good things for my family and friends. Thank You that You love even nasty people, and help them change. Help me to speak out against wrong things – as You did.

Thank You, Lord, that You are always with me and that my sins can be forgiven because of Your death on the cross. Thank You, Lord, that my future is in Your hands. Please help people who have never met You to see that they really need You. When I am facing difficult things, Lord, please give me Your peace in my heart and help me not to be afraid.

Dear Lord Jesus, help me not to be careless about things. Please help me in times of trouble. When I feel down, help me to look up to You. Thank You that You are always with me, and that I can always turn to You. Thank You too for good friends who stand by me at all times. Dear Lord Jesus, thank You that You’re always with me, and that I can always trust in You. Thank You that You never leave me to fight my battles by myself. You are stronger than all my enemies. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You fight for me. But help me to do my best as well.

Dear God, thank You that I can pray to You at any time – like Nehemiah – and You help me. Help me to follow You and not listen to bad advice. Thank You that when we come to You for help, You hear our prayers. You loved John so much, even though he had a bad temper. You love me, in spite of my faults. Help me to be loving, not bossy. When there are troubles all around, help me to stay with You, like John. Teach me to love You as John did. Help me to use my mind to understand the proof You have given that You are alive. Thank You that You are the same everyday – so kind and powerful and exciting. Help me to do what You say even when others don’t want me to. Thank You for all I can read about You in John’s Gospel. Thank You that You give me life. You are the living One who conquers all fear and wrong.

Dear Father God, please help me to grow to know You better and to be more like Jesus. Help me to welcome strangers to my church or visitors to my home as if I was welcoming You. Thank You for being my Protector, always on watch to care for me. I am sorry for anything I have done to damage Your wonderful creation. Thank You for the Bible to guide me in the right way. Help me to obey what it says. Hallelujah! My Father, You are wonderful! Thank You for giving us so many good things that we can enjoy! In Jesus most precious name, I pray. Amen.

Every Day with Jesus on 01/09/08 - Nothing missed

'"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord..' Jeremaih 29:11

If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as your Saviour then your life is not a series of haphazard events, but a narrative.

God has the ability to take everything that happens to us and make out of it a story - a story that has coherence and purpose and that fits into the bigger story He is telling. A story has a beginning, a middle and an ending. Everything in it has a point. Nothing need be irrelevant.

A writer has been defined as 'someone on whom nothing is missed'. The Divine Author, I assure you, misses nothing. God can make a story out of anything.

O Father, drive deep into my spirit the truth that nothing is being missed in my life. Everything that happens to me is being used to form a story. You turn everything into something meaningful. And I am so grateful. Amen.

Every Day with Jesus on 31/08/08 - Growing in wisdom

'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.' Proverbs 9:10

From now on, I will steal time out of my schedule to read continually from the book of Proverbs; that I will drink regularly from its clear refreshing waters; that I will lie on your bed at night and mediate on its great themes; and that i will swear by the grace of God to put is powerful principles into practice every day.

Remember, do not seek wisdom for its own sake. Seek it so that you might more effectively represent Jesus Christ. If you still do not know Jesus Christ, then bow your head this very moment, repent of every sin you have committed and quietly surrender your heart and life into His hands. Committing your way to God is the beginning of wisdom; continual trust in Him will see it develop and grow.

Father, please grant me this wisdom, not so that I might have an advantage over others, nor to fulfil selfish needs, nor even to advance my fortunes. I seek it that I might know You better, love You more, and do Your perfect will. Amen.

Every Day with Jesus on 30/08/08 - No one has a double

'Do not forsake your friend...' Proverbs 27:10

The 6th and final step to developing friendship is to 'stay loyal and loving to your friends as far as you possibly can.' They may commit and continue in some sin, such as adultery, for example, and this demands action by the church as described in Matthew 18:15-17.

Discipline may have to be given and you will need to reconsider the grounds upon which friendship can continue. Clearly, the matter of friendship is of major importance and those who ignore it do so at their perils.

God made us for relationships and it is His will that we cultivate a circle of friends. Every friend is different. No one has a double in friendship. The more we have, the richer we are. Everyday we ought to move out from our base in the home and say to ourselves: Lord, help me reach out and touch someone deep in their being today, not for the rewards it brings me in terms of good feelings, but for the blessing I can be to them.

This is the way in which Jesus lived and related to others. Perhaps this is why they called Him 'a friend of..."sinners"' (Matt. 11:19). He hated sin, but He loved the sinner.

Father, one thing is clear: the wise are those who know how to make friends. Guide me in my future days so that in every frinedship I may be able to apply the principles I have just learned. In Jesus' name I ask it. Amen.

Every Day with Jesus on 29/08/08 - When not a true friend

'Wounds from a friend can be trusted...' Proverbs 27:6

The 3rd step to win friends is 'be prepared to be vulnerable'. By this means be prepared to be hurt. No relationship is free from pain this side of eternity.

Friendship demand that you leave the comfort zone of base camp and confront an entirely new and unknown wilderness. There will be times when your words or actions are misunderstood, but stay with it when this happens. This is what friendship is all about - sticking closer than a brother. It is loving as you yourself are loved.

The 4th step to win friends is to 'love your friend enough to talk with him or her about anything you feel is not right.

One of the greatest tests of friendship is to ask yourself: Am I prepared to lose this friendship in the interests of God's kingdom? If not, then you haven't got a true friendship. You are in it for your own reasons, not God's. You are not a true friend.

Where you see wrong, deal with it, but do so lovingly, gently and firmly. You see, that's what friends are for - to help us see what we might otherwise be missing.

The 5th step to win friends is to 'allow your friend to have other friends also.' Don't suffocate your friend by being processive and demanding that he or she maintain just your friendship and no one else's. It is this attitude, more than any one thing, which is responsible for the death of friendships.

Give your friend the freedom to move out into other relationships, to make new contacts and see new people, and be happy for them when they do so. You will desecrate a friendhsip if you try to dominate it.

O Father, may i never suffocate a friendship by being processive. And help me to have such a secure relationship with You that I can risk losing a friend if it is the interest of that which is right. In Jesus' name i pray. Amen.

Steps to friendship

'A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.' Proverbs 18:24

Everyone needs at least a small circle of friends. The first step to friendship is 'be friendly'.

'A man who has friends must himself be friendly.' You should not, however, become friendly just in order to gain a friend. This is an unhelpful motive because you are more interested in gaining a friend than being a friend. Self-centredness will get you nowhere.

Friendliness is tha art of going out of yourself and appreciating others as much as you appreciate yourself. It is really a mind-set, an attitude. The main reason why some people have no friends is because they demonstrate an unfriendly attitude. To have a friend - be one.

The second step to friendship is to 'allow time for friendship to develop.' In friendship, it is futile to try to force doors open. Instead, be like Christ in the book of Revelation (Rev, 3:20); stand reverently at the door - and knock. Only if the door is opened from within should you go through it.

Some relationships you have with people may never develop into close friendships. Don't be upset about it. If you are open and friendly, then God will guide you and show you where deep frinedships are to be developed.

Father, help me be a friend who does the knocking before i enter instead of knocking down after i have left. And show me not only how to sympathise with my friends' weaknesses, but how to draw out their strength. In Jesus' name. Amen.

'A Friend with skin on'

'As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.' Proverbs 27:17

One good definition of friend is: 'A friend is someone who knows all there is to know about you and loves you just the same.'

Looking back on our life, we can see how valuable our friends have been to us. Because we have felt safe with them we have been able to reveal ourselves, and in the revealing we have come to know ourselves in a way that we could never have done with a mere acquaintance.

Yes, God is our Friend, but we need human friends too. This might be difficult for some to accept, but the more effectively we relate on a horizontal level with our human friends, the more effectively we will relate on a vertical level with our heavenly Friend.

Father, I see that my best friend is someone who brings out the best in me. Help me to be a best friend to someone - and to bring out the best in that person. In Jesus's name i ask it. Amen.

Every Day with Jesus on 26/08/08 - Synergy

'A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.' Proverbs 17:17

Christians who bring their friendships under the authority of God and His Word need not be concerned about anything that comes, for they have or should have an internal security which enables them to deal with anything and everything.

A friendship can be exhilarating, exciting, and at times exhausting. But it can also open up new possibilities, new trails, new adventures, new territories and new continents. We live deprived lives if we live without friends.

Father, I see that I am made for relationships, not isolation. Help me understand this principle of synergy and how it can work to the extension of Your kingdom. This i ask in Jesus' precious and incomparable name. Amen

The fusion of friendship

'Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.' Ecclesiastes 4:12

-'It's good to have a friend because if you fall down a friend can help you up, or, if you are suffering the effects of cold, a friend can help keep you warm'
-'A strength and a power which comes out of the relationship and which you could never have known had you both stayed apart.'
-'In the fusion of friendship, you discover a power that could never be discovered were you not bound together in the relationship of friendship.'
-'Your strength plus your friend's strength produces a new and even greater strength.'

Friends with godly motives are good but not those who only befriend you for a purpose which does not honour the kingdom of God! So, let all of us, with the help and strength of our Father, able to choose only those true and wise friends which will bring honour and glory to Jesus.

Father, now i see into the heart and meaning of friendship. Out of it comes a power and a strength that is greater than the sum of the two parts. Teach me more, dear Father. In Jesus's name i ask it. Amen.

I passed my RT IPPT Test!!!

Our God has indeed done a great thing in my life on Thursday evening. During the LSS (Life in the Spirit) Seminar on Wednesday, Jerry was arranging an interview for all of us in his group to be held after next Wednesday LSS. I told him that I won’t be able to make it on every Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday until 04/09/08 as I need to go for my Remedial training in my army camp near Bedok. This made it worse when Brother Daniel shared that he will be on night shift the whole of next week. So the arrangement was quite uncertain at that moment, as Brother Jerry is finding a replacement for Daniel.

That Wednesday night I went back home and before I headed off to bed, I did a small prayer asking God to help me pass my Remedial IPPT test the next day which was on Thursday evening. To my surprised, my prayer was answered…praise the Lord!!

There are total of 5 stations that I needed to take. Before I started my stations, I quietly stand at a corner and did a small prayer myself, telling God that I’m starting my Test now and I asked for his protection & guidance & most of all, lending me a helping hand to pass this Test.

1. Sit up station – Completed with 34 without problem. Got 5 points.
2. Standing Broad jump – Always having difficulty, normal practice can only jump to about 189cm. But to my surprised, I was able to jump 198cm (Got 2 points). It must be God that through His strength at that time that helped me jump 9cm further. I just got this feeling that he was with me at that moment when I prayed to him before I started jumping.
3. Chin Up – This station is also my ‘Killing’ station. Before I pulled, I really prayed so hard to Jesus asking him for help and strength to pull at least 2 times. Indeed, He helped me through and I just managed to pull 2 to get 1 point. Actually. I can feel that this station He helped me the most as I’m always a Zero pointer every practice. My arm was not even straightened when I was doing it. The Physical training instructor (PTI) at that time also "closed both eyes" just to let me pass. I really want to thank God for His help as He knows me well.
4. Shuttle Run – Before I started to run this station, I also prayed to Jesus, our God for help & His strength. I figured that I needed another 4 points (8 points for the first 3 stations), in total 12 points to pass this test. So, I needed to score at least 3 points to pass this exam, knowing that after getting this 3 points, I need to get at least 1 point for my last station, which is my 2.4km run. True enough, our God, Jesus Christ, has not failed me as my prayer really came true that I scored exactly 3 points for this station. So, now left 1 last station to go for another 1 point to pass this test.
5. 2.4km Run – After completing the first 4 stations, I was so happy as I got exactly 11 points which I have asked God for. This showed that God has answered my prayer. I know that He was with me then when I was taking the Test. Since I got what I wanted, I asked God again for the last time to help me gain another 1 point for my 2.4km run. True enough, I scored 1 point after running for 13:33 mins for total of 6 laps. During the 2.4km run especially after the second lap, I nearly wanted to give up as I had difficulty in breathing. But I continued running and at the same time, I really prayed to God asking him to provide me with His strength to go through the last station and He did. I really want to give thanks and glory to Him. He is so so great. Even at the last moment, He did not forsake me and guided me through my entire Test.

After passing my IPPT test, I was so happy. During this period of training, I have asked my boss’s permission to release me earlier from my work around 4.45pm without having to compensate for the time at all so that I can attend my RT on time. I told him that this training will be till 04/09/08.

After I passed my Test on Thursday, I experienced another great thing from God, which is His Holy Spirit.. Initially, my plan was to go back to the office the next day to lie to my boss that I have failed the test so that I can enjoy another few sessions of early release from work every Tuesday & Thursday till 04/09/08. But somehow I heard some voice keep telling me: “Are you sure you are going to do it? Do you think this is the way God wants you to do?” After hearing this, I was totally disturbed and in my mind I made a promise and assured to God that I will not do things that will not bring honour to Him. He had answered my prayers and I will walk rightfully with Him always. The next day, I went to tell my boss that I have passed my Test and I do not need to fall out earlier already. He too congratulated me. Through this incident, I have learnt that although there are many evil spirits around us, but if we can stand firmly and walk closely to our God, Jesus, He will definitely guide us and protect us from any evil thoughts and ways that will hinder our glory to his kingdom.

Lastly, I want to share with all of you brothers that Jesus has become a very important person in my life after I accepted him as my Saviour, my Lord & my close friend. As long as we trust Jesus, our Saviour whole heartedly, there is nothing else we will fear except Him as He will be around with us every moment guiding and protecting us. I always remember our pastor's very fearful sentence: ‘When Jesus comes down one day for judgement, do not face a situation where He tells you that He does not know you!”. This is the most fearful sentence that always stays inside my mind. I will always remind myself that I will not allow such situation to happen to me. No way! How about all of you, brethren?

First Blog

Hi,
This is my first blog created today.
Regards,
Kelvin