Sunday, August 31, 2008
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zzZZ tired.. feels weird not having a car..less freedom haha. Had great fun at children's church worship with lots of guitar, which i think makes it much more livelier. Good too see that all the kids love Jesus, and actually confess it with their own lips. But then for the later half of the day, my mind was just in this huge mess and i was just confused..blehh..
Day 58.
Numbers 20:2-13. Water from the rock! Another amazing account of how God showed the Israelites his awesome power by somehow causing enough water to flow out from a rock which was enough to quench the thirst of all the Israelites and their livestock. What i don't quite understand from the passage was v12. Where God told Moses and Aaron that because they did not trust God to show His holiness to the Israelites, they will not bring the assembly into the land that God has given them. But in what way did they not trust God? Didn't do all that God commanded them to do?
Saturday, August 30, 2008
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Thank You LORD for watching over us and protecting us, and that You are always there in our times of need.
Day 57.
Some of the Israelites came together and started to rebel against Moses and Aaron, they were the Levites who were led by Korah. Cut the long story short, they refused to submit to Moses and Aaron, who were the people who had authority over them which was placed by God. And because they rebelled against the authority that God had put over them, God killed them all. It was recorded in the Bible that the ground beneath them split open, and swallowed them and all their households. Simple lesson learnt, do not rebel against the leaders that God has placed over us! We might get swallowed up by the earth as well!
God of mercy and grace
Lord of all our days
Wonderful Creator
We stand in awe of Your love
Great and mighty You are
Matchless in all Your ways
We declare Your glory
For Your worthy to be praised
So in our lives, be lifted higher
In our lives, be glorified
You're the one who died for me
Gave Your life to set me free
So I will run to Your throne
There in Your presence I belong
For at Your feet
There is where I find release
For all my days
Day 56.
The Israelites were cursed by God and they were overcome with grief, so they decided to go back to the place where God had called them to be, to fight with the enemy. But this time God told them that He will not be with them when they fight and that they should not go. The Israelites didn't listen to God again, and went up against the enemy anyway, and the result was a defeat. Even after the Israelites came back, they wept before the LORD, but God didn't listen to their request or pay attention to them because their repentance was too late and they rebelled against God again. I don't know what the Israelites were thinking when they decided to go up against the enemy the second, even when they knew how strong the enemy were and that God told specifically not to battle for He won't be with them. It's pretty foolish if you ask me, and was it an act of repentance on their part? But in the end, they still rebelled against God even when maybe they had good intentions in their heart..
What's scary is that in Numbers 15:32-36, a man gets stoned for working on a Sabbath! The Israelites caught a man who was gathering wood on the Sabbath day, and they brought him to Moses, who put him under custody. Then the LORD told Moses that the entire community was to stone the man outside of camp and to kill him! I found that pretty scary.. Here is a guy who most probably ran out wood, so he goes out to gather some wood. The next thing he knows, he is getting stoned for gathering wood! If they couldn't even gather wood on the Sabbath back then, i wonder what they could actually do!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
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An email i received from wen which i found pretty inspiring :)) [It's one of those chain emails]
I asked God to take away my habit
God said, no
It is not for Me to take away, but for you to give it up
I asked God to make my handicap child whole
God said, no
His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary
I asked God to grant me patience
God said, no
Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learnt
I asked God to give me happiness
God said, no
I give you blessings; happiness is up to you
I asked God to spare me pain
God said, no
Suffering draws you apart from wordly cares and brings you closer to Me
I asked God to make my spirit grow
God said, no
You must grow on your own, but I will prune you and make you fruitful
I asked God for all things that i might enjoy life
God said, no
I give you life, so that you may enjoy all things
I asked God to help me to love others, as much as He loves me
God said.....Ahhhh, finally you have the idea
haha anyway.. Had a great day at work today! Thank God for providing me with this job, and for blessing me with favour among my fellow night fillers and my manager(i hope!). God has blessed me tremendously with my studies, at church, and at work! Got a good family, and great friends!(can't ask for them to be any better!)
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So in our lives, be lifted high
In our lives, be glorified
You're the one who died for me
Gave Your life to set me free
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Day 55.
Read about the 12 spies being sent out to scout the land of Canaan which God was giving the Israelites. It's most probably nothing new to anyone, but i got reminded of a few things myself.
Just a recap.
1) God pretty much gave the land to the Israelites because He had already promised it to them, all they had to do was to go and take possession of it, which was God's command to them. God told them to possess it, and not to be afraid or discouraged. [ Deuteronomy 1:21]
2) The people who inhabited the land were of great size, and many of the scouts saw themselves as grasshoppers compared to them. Some even saw the descendants of Anakim there.(The offspring of Anak were descended from the Nephilim.) [Numbers 13:33] Why were the Israelites scared of them? In Genesis 6:4 the Nephilim was first mentioned and they were called the powerful men of old.
3) The Israelites were not willing to go up against the enemy and was rebelling against the command of God. [ Deuteronomy 1:24] And because of that, God swore that none of the Israelites of that generation would enter into the promise land , except for Caleb and Joshua. [ Numbers 14:30]
So has God given us things to do? Has He told us to go forth and possess certain things? And have we because of fear and discouragement, rebelled against the commands of God? Are we seeing ourselves to be grasshoppers in front of giants? And are there giants in our lives that are preventing us from moving forward in certain areas of our life?Are we doubting God of all the miracles and signs that he has done in our lives, like what the Israelites did? Because if we are, we will not end up obtaining the promise that God has set before us. Not because God doesn't want to give it to us, but because we don't want to get it ourselves.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
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Day 54.
To be led by a cloud in the day, and fire in a cloud at night is just something that is simply so extraordinary that i can never imagine it happening. Then after that, to have manna and quail in the middle of nowhere that is enough to feed a few hundred thousand is just so amazing, and something that seems so impossible!! The amount of miracles that God did back then and the type of miracles that He did was just something that is so out of this world, and hard to believe that it would actually happen in our present times. But what i found really interesting was this:
6 Then He said,
“Hear now My words:
If there is a prophet among you,
I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision;
I speak to him in a dream. 7 Not so with My servant Moses;
He is faithful in all My house. 8 I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?”
In these few verses, God clearly says that He will speak to His prophets(which we all are?) through visions and in our dreams. But for Moses, he was special, and God spoke with Him directly, openly, and not in riddles. So sometimes God speaks to us in riddles as well? And does that mean that God will not speak to us directly? or did that change since we now have the Holy Spirit?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
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God of mercy and grace
Lord of all our days
Wonderful creator
We stand in awe of Your love
Great and mighty You are
Matchless in all Your ways
We declare Your glory
Coz Your worthy to be praised
Day 53.
What i found pretty interesting/cool from my reading today was how Moses could hear God 's voice/command so clearly. It starts off in v1 with: "The LORD spoke to Moses..." Then God talks to Moses from v2 all the way until v16, and Moses is able to hear everything so clearly and remember everything that God had commanded Him to do. Most of the time when i hear someone say that God spoke to them or told them something, it usually is just a line or two.. But with Moses, the instructions that God gave Him were long and and can sometimes be confusing if lots of Hebrew names were involved as well. In Numbers 1:5-15, God gives Moses the names of the men that were meant to assist him.. and so we have this whole long list of names that are hard to spell let alone pronouncing it. I wonder if Moses knew them beforehand, or if God just told Moses a few random names on the spot and Moses had to remember them and search them out slowly. It's also really amazing how back then it was just God and Moses, there wasn't any Holy Spirit, or anyone who acted as a mediator.. God spoke to Moses directly all the time, and all Moses did was obey!
Another interesting thing is how God always keeps His promise. After Moses took the census for all the men who re capable of fighting and are over 20, he counted a total of 603,550. I don't think that these were even half the number of Israelites! God made a promise to Abraham many years back saying that He would make Abraham a father of many nations with descendants as many as the stars, and at that time Abraham was at an old age and didn't even have a single child! But Abraham believed, and here we see that God did indeed keep His promise. From one man, comes forth many nations!
Monday, August 25, 2008
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When I am weak
You lift me up
I find my strength in You
When I am lost
I'm found by You
You never let me go
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Was doing some thinking today, and i had this mini revelation haha.. We're at a war here, and the way to win the war is to lower the enemy's soldiers and to attack them when their scattered. One of the quickest way to cause the enemy's soldiers to scatter is when you strike down their general and cause to them to have fear and panic, and when that happens, everyone will start turning against each other and instead of unity, there will be division.
So similarly this is exactly what's happening to us. We are at war in the spiritual realm, where most of us are soldiers! Our leaders and pastors can be considered our generals.. so one of the quickest way for the devil to cause the church(us soldiers) to scatter and fall apart, is by striking down our generals. When that happens everyone starts shifting their focus from being united as one, and starts turning against one another, and slowly helping the devil to win by lowering our own numbers. The roles of our 'generals' are really important, because they have to understand the weight that they are carrying, and must not take light of what has been entrusted to them. Not saying that because we're just soldiers the devil won't attack us, he still will, but he will definitely try to hit us harder the higher we rise. The ripple effect of a fallen general is great, and it can lead many weaker soldiers astray.
All of us have to stand strong in this war that we're fighting, even though the victory has already been decided, the devil will not stop giving up, so we too must not stop standing in our faith. The devil is throwing lots of things at us to try and slow us down, and to keep our numbers low.. but all the more we have to advance stronger and more forcefully then we have been before! If the devil takes one step forward, we will have to take two or more steps forward! When the devil tries hard to push us down, we just have to press in harder!
Day 52.
What i found interesting today was in Leviticus 24:10-16. Where a guy cursed and blasphemed the Name. And because of that, he was stoned to death! Wow.. when i think about it, i know of many many people who just use God's name in vain and so flippantly as well. Sometimes they even use it as a swear word or when they curse something.. It's said in v16 that anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death, whether the foreign resident or the native. I wonder if that still holds true till today? If it does, lots of people are in trouble.. What we say can really determine whether we love or die, so we have to be really careful of what we say at all times. Something i have to work on as well.
Something else that i found cool and familiar was a priestly blessing from Numbers 6:24-26:
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.”’
Sunday, August 24, 2008
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Aahh Sunday! Had a great day at church! Had a fun time at children's church worship with three kids!(increase from last week's 2!), which was followed by good sermon from Ps Chris. Then at Bilingual service, i had a really really fun time playing drums for the worship, i was given the great opportunity to play with aaron on guitar and su and piano, and they were sooo good!(both very talented and anointed!) With an awesome worship leader: Henry! It was a real blast on stage just worshipping God, and it was literally like a party! Its a great feeling to be able to usher the presence of God into the place with worship, and to just linger and stay in His presence. After dinner, we had a short time of worship/prayer, then we watched a hillsong conference dvd on worship leading by Marcos Witt, and it was a great sermon! It was a really full on sharing Bible-based with just soo much meat! One of the amazing things was that he shared from a passage from Revelations, and he interpreted it really well!
Anyway just one of the things that just really stuck in my mind the whole day was something from Ps Chris sermon in the morning. He was preaching about how the devil uses those that are close to really attack us and hurt us. Then he asked us to ask ourselves this question: Am I being used by the devil to attack those close to me? As i was asking myself this question, a lot of things just went through my mind. Firstly, i never ever want to be the person that hurts anyone that is close to me, especially the ones i love. It hurts me more to see them hurt and if it were possible, i would rather take that hurt on myself. I don't really care if i feel hurt or anything, since i'm sorta used to it haha..(i think/hope) But to let the people who are close to me feel hurt, or even worse if i was the one who hurt them, would just kill me. Especially when you're hurt by someone who you really care for and love, when they betray you and hurt you, the wound goes really deep and it would take a lot of effort for it to be completely healed. So i thought to myself that i would never want to hurt those who care for me and love me, because i know that it would really hurt them very much(which i've also experienced it quite a bit), and that thought alone just causes my heart to ache.. Secondly, the thought of how much God loves us, and how close and dear He holds each and everyone of us close to Him, just makes me feel so sad whenever i imagine the pain that He'll feel whenever we hurt Him by sinning and going against His word. God must have gotten one huge wound already from just me alone, thinking about all the times when i disappointed Him, and disobeyed Him.. Yet He still loves me and cares for me. His love is unfathomable, amazing, and so divine.
If love suffers long, then i'd rather be the one suffering instead of the other person..
Day 51.
Leviticus 19-22. Another list of laws, commands, instructions, and conducts that the Israelites have to follow by. With the punishment of disobeying them resulting in death most of the times. But all these were part of God's preparation plan to prepare the Israelites for the promise land that He will be giving to them. Imagine if all the laws and rules were not made, i could just see Israel being one big mess, and the fear of God wouldn't be evident at all.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
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Another long saturday passed with nothing bad happening to me or anyone that i know of, so praise God for this great day! Had a good time at worshipnet, where we learnt a lot from the word. Then later on in the afternoon had another session of prayer/worship which was really cool as well, did things differently for a change. And then we had a farewell dinner for tony at rice :( Spent the whole day with fellow brothers and sisters, and it was really good, because that's what family is for. Sadly, because everyone is so busy during the week, we only get the weekends to meet up and actually spend time with one another building relationships. What kind of family doesn't spend time together? Can a bond of love and trust be created by not spending any time together?
Day 50.
I always knew that having sexual relationships with anyone in your family is wrong, and i was brought up that way, with it being taught in the society i lived in as well. But today i read the passage in the Bible where God says it as well! It's in Leviticus 18! So i learnt something new about the Bible today. If anyone asks me where in the Bible does it say that we mustn't have any sexual relationships with members of our family, i would know where to direct them to and know for sure because the Bible says it very explicitly. Other than that, i read up on the different types of feast that were meant to be held, such as the feast of the Lord(Sabbath), the feast of the Unleavened bread(the Passover), the feast of Weeks/Pentecost, the feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Booths/Tabernacles. All of which are good knowledge to know, but i don't think that we practice them anymore, besides maybe Sabbath..
Wow today's been pretty crazy... lots of spiritual attacks going on all around the world >.<.. Lots of prayer needed.. The only thing to do is to trust in God, and to stay close to Him at all times. Other than that, i had lots of fun at yaf worship tonight! Not sure how everything sounded, but it was a great feeling up on stage and just worshipping together with the whole worship team.
Day 49.
Man, Leviticus... what a book.. from what i've read so far, it'll be interesting to see if someone can give a sermon from it. I think i get the joke when Mike pilavachi said that he'll punish his youth group by doing studies from the book of Leviticus.. It is a pretty interesting book..
Read a bit on the law regarding leprosy today, that really is a horrible disease to have back then. The treatment that you'll receive most of the time would be shocking, and the all the things you have to do even after you get cleansed. Following the law is really like doing religion, where everything is so rigid and not flexible. But in the new testament, if im not mistaken, leprosy is often related to sin, which is more horrible than getting leprosy. So to be cleansed from sin, the feeling much be much better than getting cleansed from leprosy. The only question is how do we see sin as? Do we hate it because God hates it as well? Or is it something that we think we can live with..
Friday, August 22, 2008
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Help us to begin where we are
Help us love the people
Near to our hearts
Then give our faith a mission field
Wherever You may call
Lord love the world
Through each one of us
Until we've touched them all
Rawrr sin is sooo annoying. I hate sin for what it is, and i hate the devil for what he does.. Sometimes it just makes me wanna go up to him and beat him flat! I wonder how come the devil sometimes can be so powerful and so effective against us humans, then i remember that the devil is not powerful at all! In fact he is powerless. The day Jesus died on the cross, He took the keys, broke the chains, and defeated death right there and then! Rendering the devil powerless with no hold over our lives anymore! But the thing is that the only reason why the devil can tempt us, is because we give him room/space to let him tempt us, and we give him the power to control us. When we sin and give in to temptation, we let the devil have a 'landing pad' into our lives, and because we opened to door to him, he will enter and do as he wills. And we all know that the nature of the devil is to kill, steal, and destroy. So why would anyone want that in their lives? We see fellow brothers and sisters all over the world falling prey to devil, falling prey to sin, and get upset, angry.. because the devil is taking something that doesn't belong to him!
We gotta be strong! We have to stand firm! We need to rise up! We must not let the devil rob us anymore of what is meant to be ours!!
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Forgetting what lies behind
Setting our hearts on the prize
Always keeping our eyes on our Lord Jesus
We're running the race to win
All the way till the end
Breaking down every sin that would seek to hinder us
And we'll be faithful to our calling
For You are able to keep us from falling
For in Your promise, we will trust
We'll be faithful to finish
The work You began in us.
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Day 48.
Leviticus 11-13. Talked about clean and unclean food and people.The laws back then of what God would consider clean, and what was unclean. This was important because God is a Holy God, and dislikes unclean things. It is written in the Bible that the unclean creatures on the earth back then were detestable to God. However that made me think, didn't God create everything? And after He created everything, He said it was good. Why would God then want to create something that is detestable to Him? That's if He made them in the first place.. But if He didn't, who did?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
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Just got back from the "Wednesday Night group" which is pretty much henry's group and me(honorary member), and we had great fun watching sermons from the hillsong conference and just having a loooong time of chatting after. It was good re-listening to the sermons again, and just taking notes and realising how much stuff i actually missed out the first time i heard it. Got reminded of how great God's grace is and that the picture word of grace, is the cross!(Judah Smith's sermon) How amazing is that! One question that i constantly asked myself throughout the sermon was: Am i still in worthy world? Coz we weren't and never will be worthy. The only time we can use the word worthy is when we're describing the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, Jesus! He alone is worthy. The closest that we'll ever get back to God with all our planning and the other stuff that we do, is a long way off. After that we watched a Joyce Meyer sermon where she talks about change and transition. The thing that really spoke to me throughout the whole sermon was just peace, peace, peace, and more peace. We have to actively set in our mind the have peace, and pursue it! When we lose our peace, we lose out power, and also affects the anointing placed over our lives. We have to rooted on peace, with it being our firm foundation because God is a God of peace. It is also really important for us to know who we are in Christ! One of the fundamentals that we need to know right from the start.
Oh ya not forgetting that i watched 2 other hillsong conference sermons in the afternoon as well with su, but i'll write what i learnt from them tomorrow.
During our chatting, stig asked a very interesting question.. What is revival? (Does the Bible define what revival is?) Do we really know what we're praying for?
Day 47.
Well read more in depth about sin offering, and how different people do their sin offerings differently with different animals. For example, the priest would have to sacrifice a young bull and do all sorts of things with it's blood when their sacrificing it for the assembly. Other examples would be how a sin offering was to be done if it's for a ruler and any of it's people, and other sins that are against the Lord. It was good to know, but we don't practice these sacrifices anymore because Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and paid for all the sins of the whole world when He died on the cross 2000years ago. That is why He is so amazing, and worthy of our highest praise!
There's gonna be a revival in the land...there's gonna be a revival in the land..
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
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Hebrew 6:11-12 (thx anne :D)
11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Two more awesome verses which really spoke to me and pushed me on. We're meant to show the same diligence tot he full assurance of hope until the end, so it's a constant thing which isn't like a roller coaster that goes up and down. We want to be able to maintain the fire that is within us, and not let it be just another 'high' moment where it dies off after a few weeks or months. v12 really spoke to me as to how we're meant to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promise. After reading the second part of v12, i thought to myself who could i imitate? I guess this is the part where the spiritual leaders come in, people like the pastors, and the more mature spiritual brothers/sisters that i have and who look after me. And as i imitate them, i might be able to be someone who others can imitate. But the key points in v12 was through faith and patience. One thing i learnt from Ps Judah Smith's sermon yesterday was that we have to realise that the Bible was written for us and nobody else! We have to understand that the Bible is speaking to us, and not about the people around us, or those whom we think need the Word more than us! Until we get to that point of realisation, the Bible will just continue to be a storybook to us where we read what's inside it, take it in as a story, and nothing more. The Bible is for US, and speaks to US. Day 46. Today talked more about the different kinds of offering.. it seems as though it's repeating itself. Read about how the Israelites were to go about giving the grain offering, offering of the first fruits, and sin offering. The one thing that i took away from today's reading was that God looks after us and provides for us when we do His work. In a lot of the offerings, a portion of it would be set apart for Aaron and his sons since they don't have any livestock or farms to sort of keep a proper income, and they're job to serve as priest unto the Lord. So because of that, God looks after them, and provides for them all that they need so that they are not lacking. Anyway, now we don't have to give any of these different kinds of offering to God anymore, since Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for us all!
Monday, August 18, 2008
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Started listening to sermon podcasts today, part of my plan on increasing my faith through hearing the word of God more. Listened to a sermon preached by Judah Smith in Generation Church and found it a really good and easy sermon to follow, also very practical since it's about being a doer of the word, which is what we all aim to be.
7 Indicators of a doer.(Psalm 1)
- Has good counsel. Who's giving me advice? Who's advice am I listening to?
- Has good friends. Who do we stand around with? What kind of decisions are we making?
- God's word thrills them. God's word isn't about anybody else, but about us.
- Meditates on the word day and night. Preach sermons to yourself.
- Is planted and rooted. A doer is a stable person that is rooted and isn't flighty.
- Has fresh fruits. Are there any fresh fruits on us? We are judged based on our fruits.
- Is full of life in whatever they do. Prospers in all they do.
Day 45.
In the past, whenever people sinned they had to give sacrifices of offerings to God in order to atone for their sin. Why? Because back then anyone who broke the law would mean instant death. The way God dealt with problems in the Old testament was just by killing people, or if it was a whole group of people that disobeyed, God would either wipe out all of them, or He would destroy the whole city.. That's why the role of priest were so important, and the different types of offerings like the sin offerings were also taken very seriously. Because if it wasn't done properly, it would result in their death. Today was about the procedure that the priest had to go to in order to present themselves to God in the tent of meeting, and all the different kinds of offerings and sacrifices they had to make beforehand to ensure that God doesn't kill them when they enter into the Holy place.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
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Had an awesome day at church today! It was great fun leading the children's church worship with 2 kids, and 6 teachers.. haha.. then Anne gave a powerful sermon on miracles, and got me really convicted in the alter call. Bilingual service worship had quite a big difference since we had 3 guitarist and a bassist, so the team for tonight was pretty big, and i think it made quite a big difference.. And not forgetting the awesome time of worship/prayer we had after the bilingual service! As we were worshipping, a sudden peace just came over me and the atmosphere was really peaceful, but also really pumped up and on fire for God at the same time(if you understand what i mean..). Sam, Su, and Rowan all had visions which was pretty cool, and we sang "let it rain" again, which was so awesome!
Day 44.
Today was the consecration of Aaron and his sons, again for the second time i think? But this time it's because the tabernacle and everything is completed, so maybe that's why this time they had to go through this long process, and also had to give sin offerings, burnt offerings, and fellowship offerings.
23 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people, 24 and fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
I found the 2 verses pretty cool, cause it talked about God's glory appearing to all the people, and the next instant fire came out! So it's pretty much God's glory appearing, then *BAM!* fire comes out right after that! Not only that, when all the people saw the fire of God, they all shouted and fell on their faces! How cool would that be..if God's fire just appears in our church, and the whole church just shouts and fall face down! This is especially exciting since we've been praying for God's glory to be manifested in our church, like to see His glory in such a real and heavy way.. And we also know that after the glory, comes the fire!
Glory, glory.. Send Your glory..
okay.. worshipnet this morning was pretty cool. Anne did a short time of sharing this morning, and what she said really convicted me. She asked who were still praying for revival.. and i wish i could've raised my hands, i but could not since i haven't been consistently praying for it. Anne shared that it is not how much on fire we were for God at the start or for like 5 weeks, but its those who persevere and endure to the end that sees the results. That convicted me and reminded me of how i had gone 'slack' in praying for revival in NLCC, its not that i've stopped praying or anything.. but its just that for some weird reason i just stopped praying for revival, i've got to get my eyes back on focus to what the original goal was once more..
After that, Anne read a short passage about Smith Wigglesworth(i think that's how it's spelt) from some book, and the things that he did and experienced were just amazing. When i first heard it, i thought that it was some kind of story or fairytale that it's so unreal.. I know that God does stuff like that, but a part of me didn't believe what i was hearing because even though we always of these great stories, we don't see it happen anymore. Then right after that thought came into my mind, God spoke to me and convicted me immediately, He asked me why I was limiting Him? I realised that all this time it's not that God doesn't want to use me or work His miracles, it's just that i've been limiting Him to what i expected of Him all this time.. While listening to Anne speak of all the crazy and amazing things that Wigglesworth was doing, i thought to myself that the same God that lives in him, lives in me.. Why aren't i able to do the things that he was doing and be like him? But i realised that i've been limiting the infinite almighty God all these while to my low level of expectancy, in other words my low level of faith..
Faith comes by hearing.. time to listen to some podcast?
Day 43.
16 Thus Moses did; according to all that the LORD had commanded him, so he did.
I read that verse, and found it so awesome. So simple, yet meant so much to me when i read it.. It just stated that Moses did everything that the LORD commanded him to do. Then i imagined how hard it must have been to write that verse down, for someone to just completely do everything according to what God wants us to do, especially when sometimes God has these crazy commands.. I tried imaging how cool it would've been if my name was there instead of Moses'.. Not an easy verse at all..
34 Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.How cool is that? Moses could not enter the tabernacle because the glory of the LORD filled it! Wow.. reminded me of when Anne read the story of Wigglesworth and when God's glory literally filled the entire room he was in and he just fell face down under the weight of God's glory! I have felt God's presence before and it's an amazing thing, but to be able to feel or even see His glory is like a whole different thing in itself.. God's glory is like a matter that can take up space, and it's not just something like air. In the verse it's said that God's glory filled the tabernacle, and because of that Moses couldn't enter.. It's as though the tabernacle was full to the point that nothing else could enter it anymore.. The weight of God's glory is something so amazing and it's one of the things that i've yet to experience. How cool would it be if God's glory fell in the same amount in our church!! in our sanctuary during one of our services, and everyone in the congregation falls to the ground under the weight of God's glory!!! I wouldn't want to miss out, and i'm sure that no one would either.. Wow exciting it could even happen tomorrow! We will never know!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
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The material for life group tonight was pretty interesting.. and the stories that adrian told was pretty funny as well.. But i'll just get straight to the point and write down what really spoke to me tonight. Adrian asked us what the phrase "we love Him, because He first loved us" meant..Does it mean that we love someone because they loved us first? Is it normal for us to love everyone who loves us? Then he talked about how when you love someone so much, you'll do everything for them at the expense of anything. He gave an example of how Hannah has been all the things for Adrian over the past two weeks, like buying him gifts, presents, clothes, medicine when he's sick, cooking for him, and just doing all these things for him out of love. In the same way, God has been and is still doing all these things for us, like keeping us safe, making our path straight, looking out for us, protecting us, caring for us, blessing us, and just giving us everything we need.. all out of love.. to the point that He sent His only son to earth so that we may live with Him. After realizing all that God has done for us, would we love Him the same way we would love our boyfriend/girlfriend or husband/wife?(for those who have one..) Would we love Him sacrificially, giving Him all we got, and being available to Him whenever He needs us? Are we willing to live this life for Him, and His cause?
I guess this just really spoke to me tonight.. If i'll love Him the same way i would love my loved ones which i hold really dear to me. Would i treat Him the same way even when i can't see Him as an actual person, but always having Him on my mind at all times, thinking of Him, and seeking to please Him and make Him happy.. How much of my love am i giving to God?
Day 42.
Today was the allocation of service to the different clans of Levites.. Which clan was to do what job, and look after certain aspects of the tabernacle. What really amazed me was the obedience to God they had back then. I mean when God told them to do something, or assigned them to something, it wasn't recorded in the Bible of any disobedience or rebellion or anything like that, all the Bible states is that God commanded them to do this, and so they did! These days, when God tells us to do something, many times we would ask God why? or in some cases pretend to not hear or ignore and totally disobey what God has told us to to. Why the difference? The Israelites back then were totally dependent on God, they had to rely on God literally for their own lives! For the food to eat, water to drink, protection from enemies, and so on.. And whenever they disobeyed God's command there would always be punishment or even death! Nowadays many people misunderstand the grace of God and take it for granted, thus i guess that's why disobedience can be seen everywhere..
Friday, August 15, 2008
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its pretty late now coz i just ended work at 2, and i still have uni tmr, so i'll make this short..
Today before work, i went to a citizenship ceremony, and i never knew that Australia gives out Bibles to all the new citizens! Its like when we get baptized at church, and after that everyone that got baptized gets a new Bible, maybe to represent the start of their new life? Anyway, the same thing happened at the citizenship ceremony and all the new citizens get a Holy Bible! Its soo cool when you walk into a room full of strangers and all you see in their hands is the Bible, that warmed my heart, and i think made my day :) Thank God that Australia is still a Christian country where we have the freedom of religion, and don't have to be worried about being persecuted because of our faith. We must never take this blessing from God for granted!
Day 41.
The tabernacle, tent of meeting, was completed and God had Moses anoint and consecrate every part of the tabernacle with anointing oil so that it be made holy. God will not dwell in places that are not holy, so we have to make sure that we are holy if we want God to dwell in these earthly vessels. Do you want God to dwell within you?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
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Had another great night of fun at henry's place! This time chilling out with henry, aaron, stig, rowan, and eddie.. We watched 2 of the youth pastor & leadership sessions, and they brought back memories, and heard things from God as well.. Had a time of just chatting and getting to know each other better and just discussing about life in general!
After watching the videos, stig made a very good point, which was that he didn't learn anything new tonight, and that everything that was said was either preached or taught by Ps Chris/Ps Catherine/Ps Anne already.. and i totally agree with him. Everything we had heard and learnt from the sessions was nothing new and had already been taught to us in church. The only difference was the way the message was packaged.. Anyway, what spoke to me was that even though we knew everything that the youth pastors of the successful and large churches knew, why aren't we growing or as big as them? Then it hit be, that we can know a lot of stuff and be very knowledgeable, hearing and knowing everything about having a successful youth ministry but not having one because we aren't living what we learnt. We know all this stuff already, its all been jammed packed into our brains, we know all the teachings and what we should be doing, but we're not! Well i personally am not..How come? because knowing is one thing, but applying the knowledge learnt is another.. Hmm i either need practical lessons on applying what i've learnt, oorr have a lot more field experience..
Another thing which i got reminded of tonight was when mike pilavachi was talking about helping people to rise up, but many times we always say that we're not ready yet.. He said that we are never ready when we get sent out the first time, it is only after we get sent out then we are ready. He gave the example of Jesus sending the disciples out at the start, and they themselves weren't ready, and they came back after they failed to cast out a demon.. After that Jesus taught them that those kinds of demons would only come out through prayer and fasting. So the next time they encountered the same kind of demon they knew how to handle it! Similarly, the disciples weren't ready when they first got sent out, but it is through being sent out and learning by experience that made them ready to face the future problems. So we are never ready when the first time we try to do something new, because that's just how it is!
Day 40.
Hmmm talked more about the construction of the various tabernacle items, and then went on to talk about the making of the priesthood items, like their garments. I know everything in the Bible is written for a purpose, but i really can't see the purpose of us knowing these details.. Hmm maybe its to let us know what it was like back then for the priest?? I think i might be missing out on something here..
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
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Lord I love You
Coz You first loved me
And You listen to my prayers
And redeemed me with Your life.
God You're always there
And You care for me
You're my strength my joy my hope
In my times of trial and need.
If you know you're loved by the King, sing, sing, sing.
If you know you're loved by the King, then live for Him, live for Him.
Day 39.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, it was recorded that the skin of his face was shining as a result of speaking with the LORD. So firstly when Moses went to speak with God, he was at a higher place, and had to descend down to be with the Israelites. God is always at a higher place, and when we're with God, we are above everything else, on a higher plane as well! Second thing was that, just being in God's presence and speaking with God made Moses' face shine! He was radiating and reflecting the glory of God from just being in His presence! Haha i could imagine the skin on Moses' face being something like glow in the dark, and it was recorded that Moses had to cover his face with a veil whenever he spoke with the Israelites, but when he went to talk with God he removed the veil. I'm not too sure why Moses needed a veil when talking to Israelites, maybe because his face was too radiant? But we should be like Moses, whenever we go to speak with God, we must always remove any veils that are over our faces because veils prevent intimacy!
Another thing that i learnt today, or was reminded of at least.. was Bezalel, Oholiab and all the other skilled workers who were to work on the tabernacle, were all blessed with the wisdom from God. Exodus 36:1, The LORD has given them wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work of constructing the sanctuary. In v2, it was recorded again that the LORD had placed wisdom in their hearts. So when God has has ordered us, or appointed us to do something, He will always make sure that we are sufficiently able to carry out the task by anointing us with everything we need e.g wisdom.. We do not have to worry if we can't do, or if we're not up to it, or if we're not ready for it yet..because if it is from God, He will definitely make sure that we will be anointed to do the task that has been required of us to do! When we read chapter 37, we can see that Bezalel managed to create everything that God had wanted, and he managed to do it exactly as to how God wanted it to be.. How? because God had given wisdom to do the job.
So whenever God calls us to do something, we don't need to worry about anything since God is in charge. We just have to make sure that what we're doing is from God, if not it will not work out.
Monday, August 11, 2008
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I went to badminton hoping to get some exercise, but immediately after that we went to maccas and had a large big Mac meal.. so much for exercise! haha, but it was great fun just hanging out with fellow brothers and sisters chatting and getting to know them more, and building deeper relationships since life is all about relationships after all! It's so awesome just being in this family, God's family, and don't we all just love God for that? I know i love God for everything that He has already given me and blessed me with.. I also know for sure that i've been placed into a great family and i wouldn't want to be anywhere else!
Day 38.
As i was reading today's passage, i realised that the warnings that God gave to the Israelites back in those days weren't kind warnings of any sort.. God is as detailed as usual, and even in His warnings, He warns us of what would happen if we don't obey His law.. e.g terror, diseases, barren land, plagues, deaths of love ones, lack of food, and much more.. Just reading it alone sent shivers down my spine as i don't ever want to experience the vivid description of what God will put us through when we go against His law.. Many times when we go against the law, it usually leads to death. I reckon if i was to be judged under the law, i would have been long dead.. So it just reminds me of how amazing the grace of God is, and how much we need that grace.
I used to wonder that because the grace of God is so amazing, so many Christians are taking it for granted and are 'abusing' it, thinking that if they sin they can just ask God to forgive them. But at the hillsong conference, Judah Smith talked about that exact same point and he gave a very good example.. Because his wife loves him so much, so unconditionally, and always forgives him whenever he does something wrong.. does that encourage him to go and fool around with other women? No! it is actually the opposite! Because his wife loves him so much, all the more it makes him want to please his wife and make her happy.. In the same way, when we truly understand and get the revelation of the grace of God, we wouldn't ever want to take for granted or 'abuse' the grace that God has given us, on the contrary we would want to try our best to please Him and make Him happy! That's how amazing our God is! Knowing Him just wants to make me love Him more!!
Lord i want to know You more, deep within my heart i want to know You..
tiirreedd.. just got back from our Sunday night worship/prayer and it was fun! Sang lots of great songs, worked on some new ones, and had a loong time of talking after.Thank God for the great brothers and sisters that i have around me coz they're awesome, and thank God for everything that He's given to us already :))
Day 37.
So Moses went up to the mountain, got the tablets, came down, saw the golden calf that the Israelistes created, and threw the tablets down destroying it. The interesting thing is that, i would think the whole idea of the Israelites worshipping the golden calf was Aaron's idea, since he was the who told them to give all the gold and made the alter for the golden calf.. Why didn't God punish Aaron for it, instead punish the Israelites instead? Even Moses himself knew that Aaron had let them get out of control(Exodus 32:35).
One thing that i learnt however was that Moses had a true love for the Israelites, no matter how many times they failed him and the instructions of God, Moses would always end up pleading to God on their behalf. That really amazed me, considering all the danger Moses has been put through, and even after that the Israelites still sin time and time again.
The last thing which i found really interesting was that Moses was able to change the mind of God. Exodus 32:14, Moses talked to God and reminded Him of His previous covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and its sad that the Lord changed His mind about the disaster.. So if we plead with God now, would we be able to change God's mind? Would we want to change God's mind? Is that a good thing or a bad thing to be able to change God's mind?
Saturday, August 9, 2008
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Change my heart O God
Make it ever true
Change my heart O God
May I be like You..
Day 36.
Hrmm its on the stuff that the priest should do and wear, like their garments, and how they should consecrate them selves, and what food they should eat etc... buuut i don't think any of that would apply to us since we have a great high priest who's name is Jesus! So we don't have to worry about all these things :)
Singing Worthy are You Lord,
worthy are You Lord.
You who died and rose again,
Bore our sin and all our shame.
Well i found the Olympics at church pretty interesting for the first half hour or so.. but after that found it pretty boring.. Can't believe we actually stayed behind to watch the countries walk out one by on too haha.. If anne hadn't gone on stage, i wonder how long we would have been sitting there for!
Day35.
Exodus 27-28, a lot more stuff on the tabernacle items and the arrangements of everything. Items like the alter of incense, oil for the light, atonement money, bronze basin, incense and spices, priesthood items, and their garments... Don't think any of it would relate to us since we don't really follow the whole tabernacle system anyway.. Other than that, it was good to just read more about how the people entered into God's presence in the olden times, and makes me thankful that now we as His children can enter into His presence anytime we want! Thank God for Jesus!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
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For Who You areFor all You've doneWith all i amIn all i doYour still the sameYou never changeYour love remainsI love You Lord.Hmm met up with tim liu for badminton today, was good just to meet up and have a chat with him to see how things are going.. Realised that God has also showed me some of the friends i made in my new tute classes can be brought to church, and that i should get to know them better.. Since the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. I have asked God to send me, and so He has placed people in my life for me to reach out to. Obedience is key!
Day 34.
Well today its on the making of the tabernacle. God gave instructions as to how He wanted the ark, table for the bread of the Presence, candlestick, bread, curtains, and many more items to be made.. God gave very clear and precise information as to how He wanted everything to be, and even to the extend of measurements and materials for different parts of the items. While reading it, it made me realised how much of a perfectionist God was.. He wanted everything to be made in the tabernacle to be perfect and just as He had planned, but all this is no surprise since He is God and He is worthy. This perfect God was also the God who created the heavens and the earth, and not to mention, us humans as well! So if God who is a perfectionist created us, that means that we must be perfect in His sight! That's really great to know that we are at least perfect n someone's sight, and that person is God.
Then the later part of the passage it talked about creating the veil that would separate the holy place from the most holy place(Exodus 26:33). And this reminded me of one of the sermons at hillsong where one of the speakers was telling us that we have to get rid of the veil that separates us from God, because the veil prevents intimacy... He then went on to give a visual example of a married couple who is getting married, and the woman has a veil over her face as part of the wedding gown set.. in order for the man to kiss his wife, he first has to lift the veil which is preventing him from having "intimacy" with her.. Only after the veil is lifted, then can we enter into the most holy place where God is, and have intimacy with Him.
So the question is this: What is the veil in our life that is preventing us from intimacy with God?
hmm prayer meeting today was pretty good, felt a bit dry at the start... not too sure why.. maybe it was because i was just tired, but it got a lot better later on. Found it hard to get into God's presence at the start, and it normally isn't that hard when im at home or somewhere else trying to get into that secret place. Got me confused for a bit.. Maybe i haven't done corporate worship in a long time, since all i've been doing lately is just worshipping alone in my room, so that might be the reason as to why it was hard to feel God's presence when we started worship.. I think everyone went nuts at the last song which was the "let it rain, let it rain, open the floodgates of Heaven". That song is one of those crazy good songs which just brings people into that "declarative" state, where everyone in the room just starts shouting/singing declaring and asking God for Him to rain down on us. The atmosphere in the chapel was pretty tense if i recalled correctly, and for me personally, after repeating it so many times, it became like a heart's cry/desire where i would just give my everything into asking God to just LET IT RAIN!!
G Em C D
Your grace lifted me higher,
Your love brought me to my knees.
Lord You are all that i wanted,
coz Jesus Your all i need
G Em C D
Your praise is all that I'll sing of,
You joy for all of my days.
Lord you are all I desire,
So Jesus come take Your place
Am Em
I offer all I am
G D
To You my God and my King
Em G
In worship and sweet adoration,
C D
I sing You this song of love.
G
I love You.
Day 33.
So for today's devotion, i'm up to Exodus 22-24. They are all basically laws that God gave to the Israelites to follow, and guidelines for them to live by. However i don't think that most of them would apply to us anymore since life has changed? Most of the rules were regarding lifestock, land, property, wives, how to live a life of justice etc..
One thing that i'm not too sure about, Exodus 24:9-11
9 Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. 11 But on the nobles of the children of Israel He did not lay His hand. So they saw God, and they ate and drank.
It said that they saw the God of Israel, and He did not lay His hand.. But then later on, God called Moses up the mountain so that only he was with Him. Soo did the 70 elders really end up seeing God? or did they see something else?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
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All of my lifeIn every seasonYou are still GodI have a reason to sing,I have a reason to worshipGaahh, when i first heard these few lines, it was like a revelation to me! A totally mind blowing experience that just left me stunned for a few moments to let my brain slowly think it over. So the first time i heard it was at hillsong when they sang the "desert song" which these lyrics came from, and i was just so amazed at these words. They hit so hard because they are so simple, yet at the same time spoke to me so much. It's been coming back to me time and time again, that our lives are split into different seasons, just like a year..and that there are also perfect times for everything, e.g God's time. For the past half a year i've been through lots of weird times, not too sure if it's all part of the same season, but many of these times didn't leave me feeling too good.. in fact it left me feeling pretty dry and down.. At different times, i would be asking God why this is happening to me? or what's the meaning of this? or God are You even out there? how could You let this happen to me? What are you trying to show/tell me?
Then when i allowed these few words ring in my head, everything slowly started to click into place.. All of my life, and in every season that i'm in. God is still God, He is always there, and because of that, i have a reason to sing and a reason to worship Him! So in those moments in my life, God has always been there, near me, unchanging from being who He says He is. Be it what i'm going through, because God is still God, i WILL worship Him. The most recent event that happened in my life, would be the passing of my late grandma, and even though many things around me has changed, one thing that i know for sure that hasn't changed is God. His love for me will never ever change. And i thank Him for that. How do i thank Him? through my worship! So no matter how bad the situation looks like, God is always in control, and because He is God, everything will always work out. Because God's plan is always the best plan!
Ok back to buisness.
Day 32.(hope i'm not behind)
Today i read Exodus 19-21, and mainly on chapter 20 which is the ten commandments. Just to recap, here are the ten commandments. Do not have other Gods besides Me. Do not make an idol for yourself , and must not bow down and worship them. Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God. Remember to dedicate the Sabbath day. Honour your father and your mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false testimony against your neighbour. Do not covert your neighbours house, wife, slave, or anything that belongs to you neighbour. These are the ten commandments that are from God to us, they were commands for us to follow, not just suggestions. But if in the new testament Jesus came and gave us 2 commandments, which were both on love. Does that mean that we don't have to follow the old commandments in the old testament, since these were given under the law, and Jesus came through grace which is above the law? Do the ten commandments still apply to us?
Another interesting thing which i read yesterday which spoke to me was Exodus 15:26.
26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
I thought this was an awesome verse because it's like a cause and effect verse. If we diligently heed the voice of the LORD and do what is right in His sight, listen to His commandments and keep His statues. Then He will put/inflict any disease and illness on us like He did to the Egyptians. For He is the LORD who heals us! Hallelujah! How amazing is that! It another one of God's promises, and declaration of who He is!
Lord Jesus, i'm in awe of Your love and peace that reigns forevermore..
haven't posted a blog for the past few days because of everything that's been going on.. but i have been doing my devotions and been spending quiet time with God each day.. Hopefully I'll be able to start blogging once everything has calmed down, and life goes back to being less hectic.
Mum just left back to singapore, but i still have a cousin living over here in my room, and i might be moving over to another place to live just for a few days! Not confirmed yet, but if that happens, i'll be away from home for an even longer period of time.. zzZZ..
I love You Lord,
You rescued me
You are all that I want
You're all i need..
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