Thursday, November 27, 2008
Our Daily Bread - 27 Nov 2008
Psalm 100 is one of the great songs of thanksgiving in the Bible. It calls us to realize that we belong to God our Maker (vv.3-4), and to praise Him for His goodness, mercy, and truth (v.5).
During a recent reading, however, I was struck by a phrase that speaks of expressing thanks in a tangible, willing way: “Serve the Lord with gladness” (v.2). Many times my service to God is more grudging than glad. I do what I consider my duty, but I’m not happy about it.
Oswald Chambers put his finger on my unthankful attitude when he said: “The will of God is the gladdest, brightest, most bountiful thing possible to conceive, and yet some of us talk of the will of God with a terrific sigh—‘Oh well, I suppose it is the will of God,’ as if His will were the most calamitous thing that could befall us. . . . We become spiritual whiners and talk pathetically about ‘suffering the will of the Lord.’ Where is the majestic vitality and might of the Son of God about that!”
True thankfulness is more than being grateful for what we possess. It’s an attitude that permeates our relationship with the Lord so that we may serve Him with gladness and joy. — David C. McCasland
Then let us adore and give Him His right,
All glory and power, all wisdom and might,
All honor and blessing, with angels above,
And thanks never ceasing for infinite love. —Wesley
For the Christian, thanksgiving is not just a day but a way of life.
Psalm 100
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
-blessed
3:25 PM
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Psalm 73 (New Living Translation)
An Asaph Psalm
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those whose hearts are pure.
2 But as for me, I almost lost my footing.
My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.
3 For
I envied the proud when
I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
4 They seem to live such painless lives;
their bodies are so healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like other people;
they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else.
6 They wear pride like a jeweled necklace
and clothe themselves with cruelty.
7 These fat cats have everything
their hearts could ever wish for!
8 They scoff and speak only evil;
in their pride they seek to crush others.
9 They boast against the very heavens,
and their words strut throughout the earth.
10 And so the people are dismayed and confused,
drinking in all their words.
11 “What does God know?” they ask.
“Does the Most High even know what’s happening?”
12 Look at these wicked people—
enjoying a life of ease while their riches multiply.
13 Did I keep my heart pure for nothing?
Did I keep myself innocent for no reason?
14 I get nothing but trouble all day long;
every morning brings me pain.
15 If I had really spoken this way to others,
I would have been a traitor to your people.
16 So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper.
But what a difficult task it is!
17 Then I went into your sanctuary, O God,
and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked.
18 Truly, you put them on a slippery path
and send them sliding over the cliff to destruction.
19 In an instant they are destroyed,
completely swept away by terrors.
20 When you arise, O Lord,
you will laugh at their silly ideas
as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.
21 Then I realized that my heart was bitter,
and I was all torn up inside.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
23 Yet I still belong to you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.
27 Those who desert him will perish,
for you destroy those who abandon you.
28 But as for me, how good it is to be near God!
I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter,
and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.
Our Daily Bread - 25 Nov 2008
One of the joys of being with kids is holding their hands. We do it to keep them safe while crossing the street, or to keep them from getting lost in a crowd. And whenever they stumble and lose their footing, we grab their little hands tighter to keep them from falling.
That’s what God does for us. Inevitably there are stones and cracks that trip us up on the sidewalks of life. That’s why it’s easy to identify with the psalmist, who said, “My steps had nearly slipped” (Ps. 73:2).
We all face a variety of issues that threaten to make us stumble. For the psalmist Asaph, seeing the prosperity of the wicked caused him to question the goodness of God. But God squeezed his hand and reassured him that, given the judgment of God, the wicked do not really prosper. True prosperity, the psalmist discovered, was found in the fact that God was always with him: “You hold me by my right hand” (v.23). And just for good measure, God reminded him that He would also guide him through life and ultimately welcome him home to heaven (v.24). How good is that!
So, next time you stumble, remember that the powerful hand of God is holding your hand and walking you through life—all the way home! — Joe Stowell
Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand. —Stanphill
© Renewal 1978, Singspiration.
Let God do the holding and you do the trusting.
This reminds me of Godpa's sharing in the youth quite a few weeks back. There's a big difference between us holding God's Hand and He holding our hands! When He says He'll hold our hands, it means that He'll never let go. :)
-blessed
3:30 PM
Monday, November 17, 2008
Irritatingly irresponsible. Total lack of initiative, commitment or any level of prioritizing.
So. Fed up. Right. Now.
-blessed
10:10 AM
Thursday, November 13, 2008
YAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Yay yay yay yay yay I'm done with presentations for this entire sem! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. That picture totally illustrates my feelings that are currently suppressed cos other groups are still presenting and I can't possibly jump up and throw all my belongings around the seminar room. :D :D :D
No more presentations, no more assignments, no more school! Only exams. And the break's only for a month. Hmm. But still happy! YAY.
I really wanna thank God cos I had my worries about this module. The prof would interrupt the speaker halfway to question/add his comments, and that is seriously scary to the poor presenter, not to mention disruptive. BUT during our presentation just now, the prof did not interrupt, not once! And for every other group, even the group presenting now, he interrupted while they were speaking! He only spoke after we'd ended, and that was to make a comment. And we only had ONE question from the class. Yay God is SO GOOD. I prayed for favour, and He granted us favour indeed! :) :) :)
STEAMBOAT! :D
-blessed
5:03 PM
Monday, November 03, 2008
The Quiz I was supposed to have done a loooooong time ago.
1) The person who tagged: DEE
2) Your relationship with him/her is: My sister!
3) Your five impression of him/her:
- Has a tender heart
- Random
- Can talk, ALOT.
- Can eat, ALOT.
- Makes me laugh. :)
4) The most memorable thing he/she has done for you: Hehh... HMM... She wrote a speech about us! :)
5) The most memorable thing he/she has said to you: Hmmm... maybe not memorable, cos it's often said, but it's special. She calls me 'Jie'. :)
6) If he/she becomes your lover, you will: HAHAHAHAH. URM. 1. Die of laughter. 2. Be driven crazy by her *u***ing and **r*ing. Hahahah!
7) If he/she becomes your lover, thing he/she has to improve on will be: *u*** and **r* less PLEASE! :P :P :P Hahahahahha.
8) If he/she becomes your enemy, you will: Be rah-ther sad. Rather being an understatement. Next time Chinese New Year howw?? No ang baos for my kids! HAHAHAHAH! :P
9) If he/she becomes your enemy, the reason will be: Cannot la. I've only one sister!
10) The thing you want to do most for him/her now is: Bring her out shopping! I KNOW you wanna buy things. :P
11) Your overall impression of him/her is: Sweet. Vivacious.
12) How you think people around you will feel about you: Hmm hmm hmm. Normally nice, sometimes random. Crazy when happy, scary when not. (Huh huh huh?? Am I right about myself? :P)
13) The characters you love of yourself are: Whaaaaat? Dee you didn't even answer this question!!!! Not phrased properly, tsk tsk tsk. Dunno! My ability to have different 'modes'???? Oh goodness. Dunno laa.
14) On the contrary, the characters you hate about yourself are: My ability to somehow spoil everything by being 'black face'. Sometimes it's useful, other times I really wish it wasn't so.
15) The most ideal person you want to be is: Don't really have an ideal in mind.. but I know what I want more and less of! :)
16) For people who care and like you, say something to them: Thank you, love you, sorry if I scare at times. aaaand. Look past the black surface! :P
17) Pass this quiz to 10 persons that you wish to know how they feel about you:
#1 Alvinn
#2 Dot
#3 Lydia
#4 Shee
#5 Nana
#6 Ray
#7 Jon Jr
#8 Poof
#9 Evan
#10 Josh
*Eh you guys don't have to do this if you don't want to :)
18) Who is #6 having a relationship with?Haha err.. so zun4! Ah Mui (as I read off his blog) :P
19) Is #9 a male or female? Female!
20) If #7 and #10 are together, will it be good? WHAAAAAT?! They're brothers. And that is so wrong. -_-"
21) What is #2 studying about? Music & drama
22) When has the last time you had a chat with #3? Ooo hmm. Last week?
23) What kind of music band does #8 like? Erm how do I classify this? :X Drum music. Rock! :D Did I get it right?
24) Does #1 have any siblings? Yeappp.
25) Will you woo #3? NOW?! In my current state, no way jose! Hahaha. I'd get killed. :P
26) How about #7? Oh and I forgot. I don't woo people! :P
27) Is #4 Single? Haha single but not readily available! She has high standards :D
28) What is the surname of #5? Tay!
29) What is the hobby of #4? Ahhh... Terrible terrible terrible. I dunno! o.O
30) Do #5 and #9 get along well? Most definitely.
31) Where is #2 studying at? National Institute of Essays :P
32) Talk something casually about #1: He's the best! :D
33) Have you tried developing feelings for #8? Urm. That is so wrong, cos he's my little brother. :)
34) Where does #9 live at? Somewhereeee, over the rainbowwww.. Haha kidding. But it's so far perhaps it should be over the rainbow. :P
35) What color does #3 like? Purple? Lilac!
36) Are #5 and #1 best friends? Haha ermmm.. not that I know.. :P
37) Does #1 have any pets? Haha nope! OHHH. There, apparently, is a disgusting (to me) little creature in his room that goes 'kak kak kak' >.<
38) Is #7 the sexiest person in the world? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAA OH GOODNESS. Hahahahahahhahahahahahaha. JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!! Hhahahahhaha. People who read my blog and are from Sojourners, you wanna answer this question? Hahahahhahahahaha I can't, he's like a little brother to me too! Hahahhaahhaahhahaa :P :P :P
39) What is #10 doing now? Hmmmmm. Probably in school! :)
THERE YOU GO, DEEE. A long awaited entry! (Finished this while other groups are presenting in class :P)
It's week 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1 more week of school, 1 week of study break, 1 week of exams and I'MMMMMMM OUT!!!! Can't wait.
On a much more solemn note, I'm seriously, SERIOUSLY getting very annoyed. 够了, ok! >.<
-blessed
10:13 AM
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Don't feel like getting started on my work yet. BAH. Sometimes I wonder if I infer too much from the tone of sms-es, emails... There's something about that tone... It just bothers me I guess. BUT no worries! I'm always rationally reflecting on things. :D
Hur hur. Speaking of rationally reflecting. That's 2 'R's! Which means, Alliteration! So I just have to blog about what I was thinking of today. I was just thinking of certain characteristics of mine, and I thought, man, I can be incredibly irritating at times! And then I thought, oooh, alliteration! So I came up with more! :D :D :D
I can be....
Incredibly Irritating
Super Stubborn (when I want to be :P)
Totally Terrible (when it comes to certain topics of discussion, haha!)
Frighteningly Fierce :P
Kinda Klutzy (I'm admitting it!)
Interestingly enough I came up with all negative descriptions of myself!!! We're often the harshest critics of ourselves, eh? Hahahahah! But I still found it quite amusing la. :D
Hm. I feel very happy cos I just had some time with my Buddy. Doing quiet time sure makes one's spirits lighter, encourages and draws a person closer to God. Yay! :) If you haven't been doing your QT, the time to start is NOW! If you don't start you never will. It's just like running. Step by step. :) And today's poem in Our Daily Bread really spoke to me about prayer! Many times we pray, seeking our own agendas... When we should really be praying God's agenda! His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, His ways higher than our ways. I shall share it here.
We can’t presume to know what’s best
When we begin to pray;
So we must ask, “What honors God?”
Then seek His will and way. —Sper
-blessed
11:21 PM
