It was easier to have longer, isolated time with God when I was younger. I could go for extended afternoon runs and I'd worship, talk and pray. It became a very regular thing to the point when I'd run everyday. Running was my rendezvous with Him.
It still is. The regularity and quality of it however has taken a dip and I've known it for a while. Times when I'd reminisce, I'd cry. I think I've romanticised God to some extent, but all I can say is romance with God is as real a romance as any can get. I love Daddy, my Father.
I can either love Him only as much as I did, or more and more and more. This is my reminder from Pastor John Piper: He is my daily bread. I cannot go on without Him entering and surrounding my every morning, every night. Now that I'm older with possibly more to think of and accomplish, I want to strengthen this bond at all cost, not let it weaken.
Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." -------- John 6:27-29
Saturday, November 21
Tuesday, September 8
to you with love
Remember how you used to dedicate your blog segments to certain people especially on their birthdays? Here's one from me :)
Firstly, thank God for you! Getting to know you and who you are deep down has been such a blessing to me 'cos you're so beautiful as a person, strengths and flaws. You exude a warmth that comforts me and tells me your heart is open to know and there are no barriers up to restrict and wear me out from pursuing this friendship- thank you. You're a raw example of someone who's kept her heart tender and childlike, something I admire a lot, and we both know how important that is, how often it is threatened. So on this birthday, I especially celebrate that with you. You're definitely someone I wanna be standing beside with when He comes. :) Praise God for His abounding love and grace in your life, so evident. Love you dearly..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST JOETTE *hugs*
Firstly, thank God for you! Getting to know you and who you are deep down has been such a blessing to me 'cos you're so beautiful as a person, strengths and flaws. You exude a warmth that comforts me and tells me your heart is open to know and there are no barriers up to restrict and wear me out from pursuing this friendship- thank you. You're a raw example of someone who's kept her heart tender and childlike, something I admire a lot, and we both know how important that is, how often it is threatened. So on this birthday, I especially celebrate that with you. You're definitely someone I wanna be standing beside with when He comes. :) Praise God for His abounding love and grace in your life, so evident. Love you dearly..
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST JOETTE *hugs*
Monday, September 7
Thursday, August 13
He is jealous for me
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realise just how beautiful You are and how great Your affections are for me
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.
Thursday, April 30
My April
"Let now Your church shine as Your bride
That You saw in Your heart
As You offered up Your life"
All my righteous acts are like filthy rags.
I was thinking how human righteousness fares in comparison to the righteousness God has. That phrase stuck in my mind, how it is filthy rags to Him. But is there no relation between His and mine? If You live in me, and I live in You, what does righteousness look like? Are my thoughts right in Your eyes?
You smiled and told me so tenderly that what I see is from experience and what You have tutored me. You told me not to judge, but simply live as I've been taught.
"God, what is Your righteousness?" I asked.
In a moment, I was moved for those neglected, those without a voice in our rat-race society. The poor. Psalm 72 is like a prayer. Solomon may be talking about Jesus from the mid-portion onwards but he prays for himself before that. And if all the capital Hs were made lower-case letters to represent us, as we are called to rule and reign with Him, it becomes a very personal prayer.
How may the church shine as His bride?
I think it is largely elaborated in that prayer of Solomon. His righteousness is to fend for and save those in need. But he was a king. I don't seem of much help...
It was probably easy for Solomon 'cos he had such a great Dad. That was important but so what... I'm not disqualified. God only sees one thing, my heart. So imperfect, so frail.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Let me not worry about how to make it big in terms of wealth and position, because that is His to bestow if I pursue His will and live to make it done here on earth. And that would be without meaning if I don't love Him.
I don't think I'll ever know the full essence of what this means though I will keep me this way. God, Yahweh, Father, I will live to love You...
As a generation, may we love You, truly love You.
And teach us to love You more and more.
In Jesus' name, amen.
That You saw in Your heart
As You offered up Your life"
All my righteous acts are like filthy rags.
I was thinking how human righteousness fares in comparison to the righteousness God has. That phrase stuck in my mind, how it is filthy rags to Him. But is there no relation between His and mine? If You live in me, and I live in You, what does righteousness look like? Are my thoughts right in Your eyes?
You smiled and told me so tenderly that what I see is from experience and what You have tutored me. You told me not to judge, but simply live as I've been taught.
"God, what is Your righteousness?" I asked.
In a moment, I was moved for those neglected, those without a voice in our rat-race society. The poor. Psalm 72 is like a prayer. Solomon may be talking about Jesus from the mid-portion onwards but he prays for himself before that. And if all the capital Hs were made lower-case letters to represent us, as we are called to rule and reign with Him, it becomes a very personal prayer.
How may the church shine as His bride?
I think it is largely elaborated in that prayer of Solomon. His righteousness is to fend for and save those in need. But he was a king. I don't seem of much help...
It was probably easy for Solomon 'cos he had such a great Dad. That was important but so what... I'm not disqualified. God only sees one thing, my heart. So imperfect, so frail.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Let me not worry about how to make it big in terms of wealth and position, because that is His to bestow if I pursue His will and live to make it done here on earth. And that would be without meaning if I don't love Him.
I don't think I'll ever know the full essence of what this means though I will keep me this way. God, Yahweh, Father, I will live to love You...
As a generation, may we love You, truly love You.
And teach us to love You more and more.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Thursday, March 5
Reading Isaiah
I was deeply encouraged by this passage from Isaiah 50, for myself and for some of my precious friends. Right now, Miao and I are reading this portion of the Bible, and though I'm not supposed to jump chapters, here I am when I read Isaiah's experience and knowledge of God, wanting more of God in the way he knew Him, agreeing with his instructions:
The Sovereign Lord has given me His words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all these weary ones. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will. The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. I do not rebel or turn away...
Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be dismayed. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do His will. And I know that I will triumph. He who gives me justice is near. Who will dare to oppose me now? Where are my enemies? Let them appear! See, the Sovereign Lord is on my side! Who will declare me guilty? All my enemies will be destroyed like old clothes that have been eaten by moths!
Who among you fears the Lord and obeys His servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God. But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from Me: You will soon lie down in great torment.
--------
The last few lines serve as a punch. We need to foremostly seek His counsel and that must firmly be our foundation. That is the light in which we must live and be guided by. Trust and rely on Him, what simple words! That by reading them already draws me to do that, when uncertainties mount and there's no clear indication where we're going. Then there's that warning that if we rely on our judgement, natural wisdom and intellect, all our clever opinions, boo, the opposite of prospering happens. I've to be so careful with that because people often measure each other by their opinions. I've many opinions but I've learnt failure after failure that they should never get the better of me, unless they are approved by God and charged by His wisdom as in the beginning of the passage when Isaiah then had words to say. I mean, there's no use of people thinking much of me when God winces at my pride.
Another part that I totally identified with was his exclamation of God being on his side. I'm happy knowing that and take pride and comfort in His reliability, yet I haven't until recently felt the elation that when upon embracing that fact comes. The blessing of feeling approval from Him, of feeling big because He is, is amazing. It overcomes expectations of others and of self, to be better or to be more which produces stress. It frees me to be more because I am, transformed, and still being so.
Day by day now, awaken me to revelation, sensitise me to Your movements, dictate me to Your wishes, stretch me to discern times, sharpen me for Your purpose. This I pray for you too.
"Oh when You said seek Your face
My heart says, 'Your face, I will seek' "
The Sovereign Lord has given me His words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all these weary ones. Morning by morning He wakens me and opens my understanding to His will. The Sovereign Lord has spoken to me, and I have listened. I do not rebel or turn away...
Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be dismayed. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do His will. And I know that I will triumph. He who gives me justice is near. Who will dare to oppose me now? Where are my enemies? Let them appear! See, the Sovereign Lord is on my side! Who will declare me guilty? All my enemies will be destroyed like old clothes that have been eaten by moths!
Who among you fears the Lord and obeys His servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God. But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from Me: You will soon lie down in great torment.
--------
The last few lines serve as a punch. We need to foremostly seek His counsel and that must firmly be our foundation. That is the light in which we must live and be guided by. Trust and rely on Him, what simple words! That by reading them already draws me to do that, when uncertainties mount and there's no clear indication where we're going. Then there's that warning that if we rely on our judgement, natural wisdom and intellect, all our clever opinions, boo, the opposite of prospering happens. I've to be so careful with that because people often measure each other by their opinions. I've many opinions but I've learnt failure after failure that they should never get the better of me, unless they are approved by God and charged by His wisdom as in the beginning of the passage when Isaiah then had words to say. I mean, there's no use of people thinking much of me when God winces at my pride.
Another part that I totally identified with was his exclamation of God being on his side. I'm happy knowing that and take pride and comfort in His reliability, yet I haven't until recently felt the elation that when upon embracing that fact comes. The blessing of feeling approval from Him, of feeling big because He is, is amazing. It overcomes expectations of others and of self, to be better or to be more which produces stress. It frees me to be more because I am, transformed, and still being so.
Day by day now, awaken me to revelation, sensitise me to Your movements, dictate me to Your wishes, stretch me to discern times, sharpen me for Your purpose. This I pray for you too.
"Oh when You said seek Your face
My heart says, 'Your face, I will seek' "
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