Power!

Psalm 29

At His Word, the earth and heaven and every creation were formed...

At His voice, the cedar breaks, lightning flashed, desert shakes....

If you cannot imagine, cedar trees can grow to a height of 120 feet tall and 30 feet wide. (A girl is about 160 cm,which is 5 feet 3in, so the tree is 24 times taller, 6 human wide. gasps.) A normal rain tree we see along singapore's roads are only like around 3/4 times taller than us, 1 human wide? And a huge storm, so powerful, even a typhoon, is needed to break it, so rather uproot it. A cedar tree... at the VOICE of God. Gasps!

Eph 1:18-23. I pray that God will open your eyes to see His power, His hope and inheritance for you, the power that rose Jesus from death,placing everything under his feet. The power is available for us every day. This power which can overcome the power of death and controls all creation is available for you!

God says, "My power which can overcome death and controls all creation is for you. What can it not overcome, what can it not control? Ask and it will be given to you, according to My will."

sharing....

Just read one of my friend's blog.. and i was so encouraged, i decided to paste some here... hope it encourages you.. =)

'The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and i am helped. My heart leaps for joy and i will give thanks to him in song.'

this verse stood out to me when i was reading the psalm this morning because it says 'i am helped'. i found it interesting bcos the word 'helped' suggests that we are both(God and me) working at doing something. I was expecting it to have said something like 'i am saved'.

'Saved' suggests a kind of helplessness. That maybe we have got ourselves into a super jia lat situation and we are super stuck that the only way out if for God to supernaturally come and move the mountain away from us. But 'helped' on the other hand suggests that we are not totally useless/dependent, but we are 'assisted' by God. It doesn't mean we stop trying and let God do everything. It means that we keep on trying, keep on doing, and God will give us that extra boost, that extra assistance that will help us finish the task.

Sometimes we try and solve everything on our own, missing out on/refusing God's avenues of help for us because they may seem too 'commonplace' or 'unspiritual'. God can meet our needs in simple, practical ways too, and doctors and medication are no less of answered prayers than the miraculous healings at service.

God is our help, and He sometimes sends help to us through others too.

God wants to help us! No matter how small or big the thing is. Let Him help.. and things will be ok! =)

Not going to miss You

Psalm 28

David doesnt want God tobe silent, or he would become like one of the men who do not know go and were destroyed. Do you want God to be silent in your life? How would it feel if God doesnt speak to you? That will be terrible to me, cant hear God, it's like, i would be left lost, without hope, without love. Then how would it feel if you call and He will not hear you? When He ignores you? *glurps*

Verse 3-5 talks about the wicked, who are those who do evil, speak well with people, but actually have evil intents in their hearts. In other words, they are hypocrites. How many of us meet people like this? Or even are like that ourselves? God says these people have no regards for God and His work, thus God will tear them down and they would never be built up again.

But those who are willing to be His people, God will be their strength and shepherd. Again, God is not referring to those with strong faith in Him. Our faith may be small.. What God is looking for is willingness and obedience.

And i was reminded of a passage that hit me pretty hard on sun, luke 9:41-44. Jesus wept for Jerusalem because of the condition of the people. They did not receive the peace of God, through Jesus, nor were obedient to Him. They did not recognise the time of God's coming to them. Thus Jesus said they will be destroyed by their enemies. Wah... Are we recognising God when He comes to us? Though He is always with us and waiting for us, though His love and grace are unfailing, if we miss Him coming to us, we will be destroyed! Be it physically, like the people in Jerusalem, by war or attacks, or emotionally, or spiritually. Teared down and cant stand up again. So scary...

"Lord, i pray that we can recognise You coming to us today, so that we will never miss out on Your peace and blessings. Lord, teach me to be true and live a pleasing life to You. My faith may be weak, but i am willing. Amen."

Dwelling in the presence of God

Psalm 27

Are you feeling lost? Fearful? Lonely? Fear is a dark shadow that envelops us and finally imprisons us within ourselves. We may be fearful of many things, fear of rejection, fear of people and their disapproval, fear of failure, fear of sickness and death, fear of being weak and helpless, fear of letting people see our weaknesses or true self or background or sins... And many times, fear cripples us, causes us to make the wrong decisions. Like sometimes, we choose to hide our fears, choose to act strong, choose to ignore it. But these wrong decisions do not solve our problems, and finally, we may be imprisoned within the fear itself, living life with fear, losing ourselves.

How then? The only solution, is confidence and trust in the Lord, because God says He offers help today and hope for the future. When we conquer fear with God's light, we can stand in confidence and hope. But how to have confidence and trust in the Lord? We cant keep telling ourselves "trust, trust..." Eventually, we will becoming tired, dont see results and lose heart.

That brings us to verse 4. Huh? dwell in God's house? Means we stay in church 24 h? Actually, i love to do that, especially in the past, because church is where i can find my spiritual family who would love and accept me, where i can be in God's presence, cry when i'm hurting, receive peace and don't have to face all the problems and issues. (that's why my greatest wish was to be a tabernacle attendant, everyday just serving in God's house, don't need to face the problems.)

But actually, we don't have to be in church 24 hours in order to be in God's house. Being in God's house also means to dwell in His presence. How can we dwell in His presence? Then answer is given in the verse too.. To gaze upon His beauty and to seek Him. We can focus on Him and look to Him every moment in life, talk to Him, building a relationship with Him. And God's call is "Seek my face". "You shall find me, if you seek Me with all your heart."

Then we may think, we have tried to seek God. But... There is no answer. It seems like God is not answering or don't understand the urgency. God's answer to us is, "In My time, I make all things beautiful." He uses the waiting time to refresh, renew and teach us. So, "Be strong and take heart. Wait for the Lord."

In a world, people are often hurt, esp by people close to our hearts... being forsaken by our own parents, some literally, some cos the parents have different beliefs, addicted to drugs or alcohol, working and thus not spending time with their children, bad relationships.... The pain may linger, But God's invitation is for us to let Him take that place in ur hearts, fill that void, and heal that hurt. He may even place people over us to take the role of father or mother.. (thank God for my spiritual parents. =D) He reminds us again, His love is sufficient for us.

Growing through the Psalms

Psalm 26

The first thing i caught from this psalm is that David actually says that he is blameless, and ask God to test him. Like, wah... imagine God testing me, He will find so many "blames". So i guess i wont have that confidence to tell God, i am blameless and for Him to test me.

Then i went to read the NASB version. It says "trusted in the Lord without wavering." So actually blameless doesnt mean sinless. Well, it is impossible for human to be sinless. But being blameless means asking God to examine us, trusting Him to forgive our sins and clear our records according to His mercy. Trusting in the Lord, without losing the trust.

That has to do with our relationship with God. Another point is our relationship with man. Vs 4-5 resembles psalm 1. We are not to be like the sinners.. But does that mean we should stay away from prebelievers? Nope. In fact, we should go among them so that we can help them. However, it is important for us to watch ourselves, that being among them dont make us less obedient to God, nor does it affect our relationship with God.

So it ends off with telling us how we should be living our lives in verse 12, to praise God in the assembly of people. Are we comfortable in praising and sharing about God's goodness in the public, with our friends?

"Lord, i want to live a blameless life, knowing that You will forgive all my sins. But i do not want to take Your grace for granted. Teach me to receive Your grace and allow it to transform my life so that i live praising and pleasing You. Amen"

Reply to charis' tag;

The movie's not out yet, gonna be out soon I hope!! I searched on youtube, check out the trailer. (:
PS:It takes quite some time to load.

Gosh I'm SOOO excited!!!! Lucas is the voice of Jericho!!! AHHH!!! If anyone see's this vcd/dvd in stores please tell me kay!!! I hope it comes out in the movies then we should all go watch it together but I highly doubt it though.

Fearing God

Psalm 25

God is good.. =) I read the psalm in a hurry in the afternoon, because my mum was hurrying me to have my lunch. One verse caught my attention, and i felt "wow", that meant alot.. Thought about it. But since i read it in a hurry, nothing else really spoke to me. Until just now, i sat down to read it again from NIV, God spoke to me about three things we can learn from the psalm. Then i went to the NASB, life application bible.. and WOW, the three points were further explained and emphasized.

1) Deliverance of the Lord - Vs 7, 11, 15-21 talk about His deliverance, and in fact, throughout the psalms that we have been reading, David spoke about asking God for deliverance and praising God for His deliverance. God will remove all our sins, He will deliver us from our pains and enemies. And enemies do not stop at those people who are against us, but also those who are against God's way of living, meaning temptations like money, success, pretige, which draw us away from God. And definitely, the biggest enemy, satan.

2) Guidance from the Lord - vs 4-5, 8-10. The first step for us is to want to be guided by God. And then God will guide us, through leaders, Him speaking to us.. and of course, the bible. By reading and learning from it, we gain wisdom to peceive God's direction for our lives. Do you find yourself becoming wiser in the Lord as you read psalms?

Many things in this world call for our attention and lead us in different directions. Just like advertisement tells u slim is beautiful, so many people choose to go on diet or go for slimming when some are not very fat. Shows, people around us tell us that only when you are successful, rich and famous, then can you have power and enjoy happiness. What about those people like leslie chung who committed suicide? (no offense to him though, i like some of his songs..) Remember always, God's way is the best way for us.

3) Confidence in the Lord - Vs 3. When we trust in God, He will deliver us, and guide us so that we prosper. But God did not promise a bed of roses, we may still face trials and setbacks in life. But one more thing we need to remember, God can and will always turn bad situations into good. He makes all things beautiful in His time. If we put our hopes in the Lord, we will never be put to shame.

Remember i said there is one verse that caught my attention in psalm 25? It is verse 14: God confides in those who fear Him. In NASB version, the secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him. WOW. Imagine God confides in you?! He let you know His secrets?! How many times we wish we could know God's plans for us, how many times we pray and waiting for His answer is quite painful? I want to know! But this verse says there is a criteria...those who fear Him.

To fear God is to recognise God for who He is: holy, almighty, righteous, pure, all-knowing, all-powerful and all-wise. And when we have a correct view of Him, we see ourselves correctly: sinful, weak, frail and needy. It's not for us to feel bad about ourselves.. but it is for us to see how BIG God is, and how small we are. When we recognise who God is and who we are, we will fall at his feet in humble respect. Only then will He show us how to choose His ways.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

receiving the glory of God

Psalm 24

At first, when i read the psalm, i found verse 3-5 familiar, because these verses always remind me to keep myself pure or i will not be able to enter into God's presence. And truly, ascending the hill of the Lord and to stand in His holy place really means dwelling in His presence. Only when we are cleansed and come before God with the right heart, can we dwell in His presence. And we must watch ourselves too, that we do not lift our souls to idols, meaning giving ourselves to chase after money, fame, power... acceptance of people, ourselves... etc.

But i was abit lost like, why did the psalmist include verse 1 and 2? What is the link to having pure hearts? Then verse 7-10 is about inviting God's presence...What is the link? Then i was reading the life application bible tonight, and i had a new revelation. vs 1-2 talks about the earth and everything belonging to God. We are just stewards.. So we should be committed to take care of the things God has given to us, our talents, blessings, but we must also not become devoted to them, or they will become our idol... So time to ponder... are there anything in life that we are devoted to besides God?

And the psalm ends off with vs 7-10, open the doors display a symbol of the people's desire for God's presence among them, to invite Him in.. So remember, God reminds us that everything is His, we should not be devoted to other things, so that we can dwell in His presence. And we should have that desire to want to see the King of Glory, not just His glory and blessings in our lives.. and open up the gates of our hearts, so that He can come in and cleanse us, that we may dwell in His presence. =)

"Lift up your heads, open the doors, let the King of glory come in. And forever, be our God!"

Hey, all. I'm gonna POST. HAHA.

Shu wen's birthday pics. (=

Check this out... I was really encouraged when I saw it. (= Apart from it being the voice of lucas grabeel and that the happy song at the end was composed by himself!! It is really encouraging. LOL.

He is with us always. (:

Growing through the Psalms

Oops.. Sorry girls, late for a day. Was having a throbbing headache yesterday, so couldn't type in my reflection and pointers for psalm 22. But here it is... with psalm 23.

Psalm 22

This is a psalm with many of Jesus' last words, filled with prophecies of what will happen to Him and the eventual victory He will have. Really seems like a record of Jesus' life, and sometimes it may relate to us too.

The psalm pointed out the times when we may be rejected by people around us, even our loved ones. And we may be treated badly and felt like worm (vs6), worthless, rejected... "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, i'm going to eat some worms."

But again in verse 9-11, David reminded us that God loves and cares for us.. not only at birth, but throughout eternality. We may face many trials, like the sufferings mentioned in verse 12-18, having people going against us, feeling weak and oppressed, even naked(vs18) when our sins or secrets are exposed. But verse 24 promises us, God will never despise us, nor will He hide Himself from us. He will hear our cries...

Psalm 23

A very familiar psalm i guess... But let's remember what it is trying to tell us. The Lord is my shepherd. It's really saying that God is our shepherd and we are His sheep. Sheep are obedient and follow the instructions of the shepherd. In John 10, it says the sheep will recognise the voice of the shepherd and the shepherd loves the sheep so much, that He is willing to lay down His life for them.

I guess we have to remember that God, the shepherd knows the best ways for us, to feed us, restore us, comfort us and anoint us. But if we choose not to listen to Him and go our own ways, we may walk into dangers (wolves, cliffs...).

Even through death, God promised He will see us through and bring us back into His Kingdom. Only He can do that.. and verse 5 and 6 assure this again, that God will bless us and we can dwell in His presence forever!

"My shepherd, Help me to hear Your voice today, no matter where i am, no matter what's the condition of my heart. Help me to recognise Your voice, and go in Your ways, so that i will walk in the correct paths, away from danger. Amen."

Righteousness vs evil

Psalm 21

This psalm spoke to me about righteousness again, in fact, there is a contrast between how God deals with the righteous and the evil.

Verse 1-7 talks about God blessing and glorifying those who trust in Him. They will not be shaken, in order word, they will be stable and enjoy great peace and hope. Look at the list of gifts God blessed david with... God is really generous! Similiarly, we can look at the gifts God has given to us - family, talents, wealth, abilities... We should be thankful for every blessing and use them to give glory back to God. Gratefulness is sometimes the key to joy and satisfaction in life.

Verse 8-12 talks about God's judgement and ways with the wicked. Sometimes we see the wicked prospering and succeeding in their deeds, and we may feel disappointed, unjustified and puzzled. But God reminds us here again, that we dont have to be dismayed, because it is only temporary. God will spoil and destroy the wicked's plan and power, and He can do it in split second. That is His power.

This thought brought peace to my spirit, especially when we do face trials and difficulties in life. God says, it is only for a while... He will soon come and remove all the difficulties and pain we are facing. Then we will be like the righteous in verse 1-7, receiving the joy and peace in life. =)

"Lord, what i am facing now may be too big for me to handle. But nothing is too big for You. I will continue to trust in You, knowing that You will soon come and i will be set free. Amen."

Psalms - giving us answers

Psalm 20

Ps eugene went through it during church, and as he read out the psalm, I was assured. I was trust in the Name of the Lord. I will trust in the Lord.

Verse 1-4 seem to be prayers of people, asking God for answers, protection, help and support. Praying that God will remember our sacrifices and accept our offerings. Praying that He will give us the desires of our hearts and to make our plans succeed.

Verse 6 then seems to give the answer - God saves, God answers.

Verse 7-11 ends of the psalm by bringing us back to trusting the Lord for all our prayer requests, and His answer to us. Many nations and people trust in their armies and power, trust in themselves. But finally, their armies and power will fail them... Think about the nations in the past, no matter how glorious and mighty, eventually, they fell. The dynasty in China, even nearer to us, the british government during WWII that failed to keep the territories in Asia. And even Japan and Germany, who eventually fell and were subdued.

David knew this, he knew that true might of his country was in God's power. Only God can preserve a nation or an invidual. Thinking about this, David did not see the defeat of his country ya? He always prayed and he had a mighty nation, which he passed to his son, solomon. God can win all the battles for us too!

"I trust in the Name of the Lord. Emmanuel - God with us, Jehovah Jireh - God our provider, Jehovah Rapha - God our healer, Jehovah Shalom - God our peace, King of kings"

Psalmthing about God

Psalm 19

In psalm 19, there are three things shown about God. From verse 1-6, God is revealed through nature - we can learn about His power and our finiteness. Nature, which its design, intricacy and orderliness, shows that there is a God, since it's very impossible that nature came to be by chance. But though nature shows the existence of God, we are still needed to explain the bible, God' love and mercy, and how to have a relationship with God.

From verse 7-11, God is revealed through scriptures - we learn about His holiness and our sinfulness. We often think that law will restrict us, stop us from having fun and make our lives boring. But on the contrary, God meant for laws to revive us, make us wise, give joy to our hearts and light to our eyes, warn and reward us. How can that be? Because, law really point at danger and warns us, then point at success and guide us.

Verse 12-14 says that God is revealed through daily experiences - we learn about His gracious forgiveness and our salvation. Guilt can bring us before God and keep us behaving properly. But we must be careful not to allow guilt to cripple us and make us fearful... remember God forgives ALL sins, those we know and those we committed unknowingly.

Ending of to remind us of verse 14 again, may the words of my mouth and the meditation of our mouths be pleasing onto the Lord. =)

Growing through the Psalms

Psalm 18

A pretty long psalm, when i saw, truthfully, i was abit sian, like... so long. But i still read, and i was blessed. Even by the title. It says that this psalm was written by david when God had delivered him from saul and his enemies. Immediately i thought like, wa, david is such a man of God, after having victories, he immediately praised God. Good good. But then, i started to ask myself. What about me? How many of us really remembers to thank God? Or do we celebrate the victories and forgot about God? Or worse, think that we have worked for the victories by ourselves?

I know i have a tendency to forget about God. Sometimes in the midst of worldly celebration over good results, joy of experiencing breakthroughs and excitment of seeing things work out well, i forget that God made all things possible. He is the blesser.

"God, i pause to thank You for all the things You have done for me. Sorry that i sometimes forget You. Help me to always remember You and what You have done for me."

In this long psalm, God reminds us again, as in other psalms, that He will always be with us. Sometimes, we faced with many troubles, which like in verse 16, are drowning water that cause us to feel lost and choked. But God promised, He will either deliver or support us, He will be our stable support and we will never be hopeless.

However, one point we must all come to realise and know is that God never plans for us to be weak. Through the troubles, He stands by us and strengthens us like in verse 32-34. But He also guides and trains us so that we will be stronger in our faith, in our spirits, so that we can fight for Him. The difference between christians may be the difference in the way they deal with their trials.

"Lord, through all the trials and issues i have to face, let them strengthen me,

like sharpening a sword. That i might become useful and strong for You. Amen"

Still psalming?

Hey hey... tag and let me know how you all are doing leh. HAHA. i seems to be talking to myself here. =)

Psalm 16

Verse 3-4 wrote about the saints and glorious ones in the land. At first i didnt really understand what it means. Then i read the small prints are the bottom of the page, these ppl are pagan priests and nobles in whom all delight. Pagan means one who has no religion. Pagan priests? I was reminded of the priests and pharisees during Jesus' time, where they sought their own benefits, riches, power and fame. Just like the nobles who think only of themselves... Think now in the world, there are many people like that eh?

And in verse 4, it wrote that these who run after other gods, may be themselves, money, power... their sorrow will increase. Which is so true.. People who run after such things are difficult to satisfy, and they just run n run, feeling tired, empty, no joy. And these things do not last and cannot give us the joy that we need. Think about the singers, artists, famous people who commit sucide. They have money, fame... but why do they still choose to die?

Not so for us. =) As christians, we do not need to seek man's approval nor chase after such things.Cos in verse 5-6 God says He will provide for us a portion and give us an inheritance that is secure. We can thus have joy (rmb the difference bet happiness and joy) and security cos God is always with us. Esp in vs 10, which could be related to the resurrection of Jesus. We can have an eternal hope to know that our future and lives are secure cos Jesus lives forever!

"You are my Lord; apart from You i have no good things."

Psalm 17

Went for rehearsal and the worship leader, joshua, shared from psalm 17:1-4. God listens to the prayers of a righteous man. but how to be a righteous man. 1) My mouth will not sin. 2) Keep myself from the ways of the wicked. How much more do we need God to tell us again, that our tongues and speech are so important that we need to watch what we say to people and also to ourselves, so that we do not cause pain to others nor ourselves. =)

And in verse 8, talks about being the apple aka pupil of God's eyes and under the shelter of His wings. Refers to the protection of God over our lives. But the application bible wrote something really interesting. God's protection during trouble does not mean that He will help us avoid/escape from the pain, but His protection is meant to guide us through the pain so that we grow in Him. So interesting... that's why it's protection in, not deliverance or protection against.

In verse 15, it talked about being awake and seeing the likeness of God. Death is frequently referred to as sleep, so awake might mean life after death. And it's nice to note that we canbe satisfied after death cos we have eternal life and blessings. Compared with verse 14, the people who run after the other gods, might be satisfied with the treasures of the world, but they do not last.

So psalm 17 i guess, is telling us to live a righteous life and to get to know God, so that we will receive the rewards after death, which is to get to see God, to have eternal life n joy. =)

Growing through the Psalms

Psalm 15

David wrote about the standards of christian living in order that we may dwell in God's presence.. and there are 10 listed here. To me, these could be summed up in three things that are very important to God.

1) We must live a righteous life. vs 2 tells us those whose walk is blameless and do what is righteous, will dwell in the Presence of God. Again, we know that by ourselves, we are sinful. Bu that doesnt give us an excuse not to live a righteous life. God's desire is for us to live a righteous life to the best of our abilities. We try. When we fail, we must recognise our wrongs, come back to God and repent. He will then forgive our sins and make us righteous again. So it's really living a life concious of what we are doing, doing what is good and having on-going sanctification.

2) We must guard our tongues. Weird it seems, but God spoke about 3 things related to our tongues. One, we must speak the truth, two, we must refuse to slander, three, we must keep our promised. Such a small part of our bodies, must such great attention. Rmb jas 3:3-12. Words have power, and the things we say reflects the condition of our hearts, our love and relationship with God. Ever wonder why some people are always optimistic and encouraging, some are so pleasing to be with cos their words make us feel good.... When we have peace and love of God, our words will be seasoned with peace, joy and love.

3) We must not love money and remember the poor. Where your treasure is, where your heart also is. And we cant serve 2 masters. If our concern is always money, we get controlled by it and will bend God's standard, affecting our relationship with Him. Do you always feel that you have not enough money? Always wanting more, always calculative of money? When we are controlled by money, we lose control of ourselves. And i was reminded again of God's heart for the poor. Give to the poor, and He will reward you. "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for Me" Mat 25:40

"Lord, prepare me, to be a sanctuary. Pure and holy, tried and true.

With thanksgiving, i'll be a living sanctuary for You."

Psalm updates

Psalm 13

The psalm started with david sounding sad/despair, feeling forgotten, full of sorrow and defeated by all the trials and enemies. He then asked God to open his eyes so that he can see beyond his own circumstances and see how God is working. Similarly for us, sometimes it's better to talk over the problem with a friend or God, to put things into God's perspective. through prayer, we can tell God how we feel and share all our problems and struggles. He will open our eyes to see from His view and it will give us peace, cos God always gives us the best. =)

Sometimes we may also be like david, impatient in waiting for God's reply or response, so much so that we may end up complaining to Him, questioning Him.. But after praying from the start, david started to see things from God' point, and continued to have faith in God no matter what. Same, as we read the psalms, telling God how we feel and what we face, may us see God more n more such that we continue to have faith in Him.

"Lord, open the eyes of my heart, open the eyes of my heart, i want to see You, i want to see You."

Psalm 14

The verse that spoke alot to me is verse 2. God looks for people who understand and seek Him. It's like us human, we want to be understood, to be appreciated and want people to take note of us. God too, looks for people who understand His heart and ways. So many times, we may complain that God didnt hear our prayers, didnt respond to us... and we fail to try to understand God's purpose and Himself.

Another point was the word, "men". It wrote that all the sons of men turned away from God, are corrupted and does not do good. Sons of men, to me, means people of the world, not of God. That's why they fall away from God. It is like in verse 1, only fools says that there is no God. These people are really turning away from God, ignoring the facts. Or they are corrupted, which means to have evil desires (2 Pet 1:4). But no so for us, sons and daughters of God. We are the righteous ones whom God is with, vs 5.

Well, some of us may feel that we are not righteous enough that God will be with us. But God reminds us again that no one is perfect. All of us are guilty, on the same level, no one higher in holiness. Cos it's only by His grace that we are saved and made righteous.. Same level! All of us are just as righteous. Not pastors are more holy cos they serve in church, not leaders are more righteous cos they have a longer walk with God. Not by works, but by grace.

"God, we are all the same! Daughters of a living God. May You look down from heaven, and find us... help us to learn to understand You and seek You. Amen."

Psalming up confidence in the Lord

Psalm 11

What caught my attention is verse 1. "In the Lord i take refuge." And it goes on to say that people come to distract us, asking us to hide n run away from problems, trials and our enemies. These people may be even fearful of the circumstances thus asking us to flee and be fearful too. But realised that david stood firm in the Lord, knowing that God can and will still observe man's ways, even though He is in heaven. Similarly, we can be comforted and optimistic cos we know that God is greater than anything against us.

And in the life application bible, i like this line that says, "Nothing happens without God's knowledge and permission." Wow... Everything that is and has happened in your life, God knows and He allows it. Not sure why, but God does test the righteous n the wicked. When faced with all these dont run away, run to God! He will restore the goodness in His time.. Everything in life can either be a refining fire, to make us better, or a destruction. You choose. Run to Him! =)

Psalm 12

This psalm seems pretty straightforward to me. Talking about the tongue, how we lie, flatter, boast, gossip, speak evil with our tongues. Such a small organ on our body, what big impact does it has? Wow... u will be surprised. James 3:3-11 talks about our tongue, though small, it can cause great evil, problems and many cant tame their tongues. I know i struggle with this too... Only after you said something not nice, then u start to regret... After gossipping, then feel bad. After boasting, then feel humbled. I do..

but in constrast, God showed us in this psalm that our tongue can be used for good too! Look at God, His words are pure and true. Would you trust man's proud n lying words or would u trust God's pure and good words? And somehow, i felt God saying to me, that though i struggle so much with the tongue, it not necessarily be bad. It can be good. my tongue can be used by God to bring life, share the good news, to edify and strengthen, to bless and love. Maybe instead of focusing on the bad aspect of the tongues, i should learn to focus on using it for good! When u do good, u wont think about the evil right? HAHA.

But one more thing that caught my attention in this psalm. In verse 1. NASB version says that the godly cease to be, the faithful disappear. cease means stop being. So the godly stop being godly? faithful stop being faithful? Why? Cos of the triumph of the evil.. cos of the benefits of lying, boasting, sinning.. cos of life difficulties, trials, problems, causing us to lose our faith.. I dont know, but it does sound scary.

May i never cease to seek to be godly and faithful, but continuing to grow to be Christ-like, because God says in verse 5: "I will now arise... I will protect them." It's no longer the psalmist telling us about God's righteousness, faithfulness and deliverance. But God himself saying He will arise.. for us. For me.

Psalms update

Sorry! havent blogged up the past 2 psalms, cos i fell asleep before blogging. oops..=) But here u are!

Psalm 9

When i first read it, had a vision of God sitting on His throne among the clouds, angels flying around Him. Then He sees all the wicked doing their acts, and He passed judgement on them. People are also running to Him, the poor n oppressed... and He hears all their cries and delivers them. The angels will then hear what He says and fly off to do what He commands. Wow....

Sometimes we do feel falsely accused and not being appreciated, esp in times of trials or injustice. In times like this, if we dont go to God and trust Him for His love and help, we would often end up resentful or full of self-pity. But if we learn to trust Him, we can have His peace and be free from the worry of how others see and treat us. Remember, who we are is not defined by what people say of us. We are God's children, fully approved and accepted by Him! =)

Psalm 10

"Why do You hide Yourself..." To the psalmist, God seems far away. Maybe some of us may feel that God is far away too... like you cant see Him physically, and dont know if He really hears your prayers and see your deeds. But as we read on, we realised that the psalmist still continued to trust in the Lord and believe that God will answer him. Who else can we depend on when we need help? Our friends, family, dear ones, teachers, even spiritual family? Well, man doesn fail sometimes, cos we are still human. Only God can be there for you 24/7, regardless of what. And only He can help you.

Sometimes, we also see the wicked propers and we start to wonder if God really judge the wicked and help the poor.. Even the wicked may feel that God wouldnt see, hear or do anything about his wicked acts. But it doesn't mean that God approves of these wickedness. Wealth is not a sign og God's approval on a person's life. He is still a God of justice and righteousness. He will see that His justice be carried out.

And finally, i like what my life application bible says about verse 11. A proud person depends on himself rather than on God. But when we allow God's presence in our lives, we have no choice but not to be proud because He makes us aware of our true selves. Only by grace.....

Singing psalms to the Lord

Psalm 8

This psalm sounds very familiar.. like... "O Lord our God, How majestic Your name is, How majestic Your name in all the earth." Beautiful song singing praises to God for His beautiful creation, for His love for us, for His majesty.

First, looking at verse 2, the children, infants, young ones gave praises to the Lord. And we realise that children are able to praise and trust God easily and fully. However, as we grow older, we faced disappointments, hurts, trials and rejctions so much that we lose trust and may find it difficult to trust and praise God totally. But the great delight we can have is that God will not break our trust like man do. God will not rejct our praises to Him too! In fact, God says He takes delight in the praises of children cos it's just so simple n pure. He wants us to go back to the child-like faith, just believing and praising Him.

Next, looking at verse 3-8. Do you know how vast is the universe? How many stars are there? How regular the sun and moon are in their rotation so as to bring us day n night? How rain are planned to come so that we get water? God knows, He set the sun n moon in their place and planned for the nature.. He is indeed majestic!

But this majestic God has a even greater love... Who are we that God should love us? What have we done for Him? Nothing, and in fact, we so often disappoint Him by sinning, by going our own ways, by ignoring and rejecting Him... we just said we cant trust cos we have been hurt and disappointed right? But God still trust us! He trusts and loves us so much He gave the world to us, placed us above other creations to rule. He says, "You are so valuable to Me, i gave everything for you."

So we rule the earth... With great power comes great responsibility. We have power over the earth, but what are we doing about it? how are we using the resources, abilities and gifts that God has given us?

"Lord, when i see the sun, moon, stars and vast sky, i know how small i am, and how big the creation. Yet Lord, You hold everything in Your hand. Wow... You are really great! But greater is Your love for me, that You care for me even when i have disappointed and hurt you. You trust me with so many blessings in my life. Help me Lord, to be a good steward for the things You have given. I trust in an almighty God. Thank you.. In Jesus' name, amen."

Growing through the Psalms

Psalm 7

It's like a prayer for innocence, because david was accused to be plotting to kill Saul and seize the throne. But he was not, and instead of seeking revenge on the people who falsely accused him, he went to God and asked for God to justify him.

Sometimes in life, we do get falsely accused for sth, and we may get hurt in the process. How do we usually respond to it? Do we retaliate and repay an eye for an eye? Go around telling many people and get their support? Judge the people who accused us and form certain impressions about them? Or maybe we try to put the things behind us, cover up, bury the hurts and try to move on in life, but actually we are still affected by it?

Instead of responding in your anger, lack of security or pain, why not first bring to God all our cases. And you know the best thing, God is just and He will bring justice for us! You do not need to defend much for yourself, God knows your thoughts and actions, He will make things right for you. =)

Not only that, in verse 9, God reminds us again that He knows ALL our thoughts and feelings, so there's no need to impress Him or put a false front and act in front of Him. Instead, we can be real before Him, showing Him all our weaknesses and trust that He will work through these weaknesses with us. And i was reminded again of verse 3-5, i realised it can also be a prayer for God to check our hearts and remove all evil so that we can stand righteous.

"God, thank You for showing me again that the people who do wrong n evil, will be repaid according to their deeds. Help me so that i do not fall into my own sins n evil. But Lord, check my heart and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. In times when i'm wrongly accused, help me to learn to bring all the problems to You. I know You will be able to bring me justice. Father, i really cannot act before You, because You know me so well. Let me be real before You today. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Growing through the Psalms

Psalm 6

It seems like David was asking God for mercy, not to discipline him in anger. It can be quite scary if God deals with us in His anger.. in the presence of a holy God, with sin in us, in the old days, we would be struck dead.... But God loves us SO much, He always want to give us a second chance, He gives mercy while keeping His justice. Sometimes we may do the wrong things, but we pray that God will speak to us, and disciple us gently, so tt we change and not have to face greater punishments.
"the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes those he accepts as a son." Heb 12:6

"How long, O Lord, how long?" a very simple verse... but it caught my attention when i was reading it. God has His perfect timing! We may not have the patience for an answer to our prayers, for things to move or change. But God knows best. And we need to learn to be patient and to trust in God... Even if it means waiting for 1 week, 1 month, 1 year.... will u wait? Or will you rush to do sth which may not be God's plan? I would rather wait... so tt i would not face the wrong decision, but receive the blessings of God' plan. =)

Verse 5 talks about no one rmb or praise God when he is dead. At first i thot like david was telling God to preserve his life so tt he can rmb n praise God, so tt God will be pleased. But i like feel... who are we, tt we can tell God, "eh God, preserve my life, so tt i can praise you. If i die, i cant praise You, then later no one praise You." God doesnt need our praises. He has the angels declaring His praises.

So i think think... wait wait.. then had a new revelation. this verse was talking to me about salvation, that God saved us, so that we can rmb and praise Him, to have fellowship with Him! He doesnt need it, but He wants and take delight in it! He created us so tt we can have fellowship in the first place. But now tt we are saved, do we remember God and what He has done for us? Are we praising and fellowshipping with Him?

"God, whenever i do something wrong and hurt You, reveal it to me. Show me and help me to repent and make things right. Lord, guide me to seek forgiveness so that You can discipline me gently and teach me in Your ways. Teach me how to be patient, to wait upon You, cos i know i will receive the best, only best, from You. Father, show me Yourself everyday, that i will remember who You are and what You have done. I am thankful for all that You gave for me. Thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Psalming through Psalms...

Sorry.. haha Psalm 4 is late. But i'mnot getting any reply from the tagboard. Hello? anyone there? HAHa...

Psalm 4

Another Psalm by King David, really on having joy and confidence in God who will hear our prayers and protect us. Interestingly, i see tt David was calling out to God for relief and mercy. And i saw God answering him by asking how long are we going to dishonour Jesus and seek lies.

When Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He has broken all powers of darkness over us, took and forgave all our sins, and gave us all we need, joy, peace and protection. However, sometimes, we like David, continue to be in distress, even though we say we trust God. When we live in depression, negative thoughts and feelings, we are living a defeated life and denying the power of the cross and what Jesus has done. We must stop listening to the lies of the evil one who says we are not good enough, keep us in the negative spirit....

Let God remind us again, that we dont need to feel that way... but allow ourselves to be silent before God and hear Him affirm us, hear Him comfort us, hear Him promise again, like for David, that He will watch over and provide for us! Trust Him!

In verse 7, 2types of joy are expressed. One is an inward, steady and everlasting joy that comes from the Lord. Another is an unpredictable, temporary happiness that depends on circumstances.. So if we really want to remain happy and postive.. what we need is the joy that comes from within.. and it can only be from God.. =)

Psalm 5

Again.. written by David.. see how much he communicates w God. And this is a morning psalm, like laying down his requests before God in the morning. Why Jesus, David... and many impt ppl in the bible always go to God in the morning? perhaps in the morning, we are still fresh, minds are not cluttered with all the things that have happened. So we can have a clear mind to receive what God wants to give us. Morning also so that we can commit the whole day to the Lord and fill our minds with His words first, then we can face what come later in the day.

Here we also saw david talking about the sin of lying, deceiving, being arrogant... God does not take delight in evil. But david knew he could stand before God, with a holy fear, because of God's mercy. God cannot stand sin, not even the slightest.... how are we then, responding to sins in our lives? How do we feel when we realise our sins? It's an important part of our christian lives to know how to respond and act when we know we have sins in our lives. Nobody is perfect... we do sin. i do.. even up till now... like throwing my temper, saying a lie... but how do we respond when we know we have sinned is the important thing.

I rmb ps julie once said tt sanctification is an on-going thing. Not once and done... So everytime we realised we have sinned, we may feel guilty, disappointed with ourselves, unworthy, but it's important to go back to God and admit our sins, ask for forgiveness, and repent! Not going back to do the same thing again. What is important is the willingness to change... rmb. we can stand before God, because of His mercy....

Growing in the Psalms

Psalm 3

This psalm must be very special. HAHA. Cos, ps roland shared about it during rehearsal tonight and i decided to pop by vanessa's blog and read about it. haha.. Hope it has spoken to u, and u girls are doing fine in psalming.. Drop a tag to let me know how u are doing ok? =)

This is a psalm written by david, when he was fleeing from his son, absalom. It's really about trusting God for protection and peace. It talked about people rosing against david, but he didnt depend on his army to defend and protect him. Instead he went to God and asked for God's protection and deliverance. From there, he found peace, even to sleep peacefully at night, when the 10 000 were chasing after his life. He knew God has His timing to deliver him...

Similarly for us, we can overcome our fears during dark hours by asking God and trusting that He will protect and deliver us. God is always for us, and He always listen when we pray. And in vanessa's blog, she talked about vs 7-8, where God promised to give us His inheritance if we asked, because we are His children. It's first having a relationship with God, a Father and His daughter. The Father always listen to His daughter when she calls.

And pastor khong asked us to read psalms, probably because the psalmists were very honest and open about their feelings. They praised God, sang His praises, they also lamented, told God their griefs and pains, sometimes expressing their doubts and fears. But it's through these honest sharing that they grew to have a deep and true relationship with God.

Are you feeling happy, joyful or cheerful today? Go to God and share your joy with Him! Are you feeling depressed, hopeless or despair? Just tell Him everything, He is you listening ear! Talk to God today, and you will be surprised that He is really here, listening to you now. =)

"God, i'm feeling __________ today. I know You are now beside me, listening to my every thoughts even if i dont say it out. You know my thoughts, guide me, so that i can converse with You. Teach me how to be honest with You. Protect me against the attacks of the evil one and deliver me from all my fears, negative thoughts, struggles and problems. Thank you God. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Growing in the Psalms

Psalm 2

This psalm is written by King David and it describes the rebellion of the nations and the coming of Jesus to be King forever.

The first part talks about nations turning against the Lord and His people, which is true in the world today. Because of people's pride and hunger for power, they turned away from God, seeking to do their own things, be their own gods, sometimes going against God's will. But God laughs at their confused thoughts, like a father laughing at his children who think they can outrun or over power him when they are so small and weak in comparison to Him.

God knows our abilities and powers, and He knows that they are given to us by Him and He could take away all these talents and abilities. Imagine God taking away your talents, be it intelligence, music, sports, looks.... imagine one day, i cant sing, or dance, or look ugly.........

Sounds very sad ah? But no worries, because God said that He has chosen you as His daughter. He will give you an inheritance, and He will give you the power to overcome the trials in life. We just have to acknowledge that it is God who gives all these power and talents.

So really, let's always go back to the Lord for comfort, guidance, chosing Him as the King of our lives.. =)

"God, You know my ability and power. I cannot overrun or overpower You. And i acknowledge that all i have, You have given them to me, and You can take them back anytime. God, forgive me if there's any pride in myself. Help me today to humble myself and submit to Your Kingship. Please be King of my life everyday, guiding me, providing for me and empowering me. In Jesus' name, Amen."

Growing in the Psalms

Well, we dedicated ourselves to grow more intimately in the Lord in 2008. Starting by doing psalms every morning before food. Hope u all are doing so. I'm trying to blog as much as i can on my own walk through it. Hope this encourages u. Even when it may get dry and perhaps, boring, or strenous, press on my dearies. Cos u will receive far more than u have given. =)

Psalm 1

It says blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked. So if we dont walk in that, we are actually walking in the counsel of God! yep yep, we will be blessed if we walk in the counsel of God, allowing Him to guide and lead us. His ways for us are always perfect n best.
"God, please bless me with Your wisdom and Your guidance in this year."

We shall learn not to sin or mock at people, but to mediate on the word of God. To meditate means to think and reflect about it, and learning to apply it to our lives. For example, verse 2 say his delight is in the law of the Lord. To me, it means that we can receive joy from God's word, and it should not be a chore or duty to read His word, but a joy, because we can be refreshed and recharged by it. How can we not be joyful when we hear God encouraging and talking to us?
"God, please help me to receive the joy from You."

The tree that is by streams of water.. It really means if we stay near to God's word, we get our source of water, nourishment, and so be able to bear fruits. Fruits like our godly characters, people we could reach out to and even the rewards in life like breakthroughs, results, blessings from God.

And we can be glad because God watches over us! Cos we are made righteous by Jesus when we accepted Him into our lives. And when there are times we feel unfair or lost, remember God is always good to those who love Him. =)

"God, i pray that in this new year, You will help me be disciplined and diligent to read Your word every morning before food. It may be difficult, cos we may have to wake up earlier, struggle with the zzz monster, overcome ourselves... or it may get tiring, dry or boring... or i may lose the momentum or perseverence. Lord, help me! Help me so that i will enjoy these times with You. Help me so that i will look forward to meeting You and reading Your word, because Your word will recharged and and supply all i need. Your word will encourage me and draw me into Your love and word again. Thank you Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen!
Blessed new year everyone... may us grow intimately with the Lord and experience more of Him!"