Purpose

I remember one time at the managers' leadership conference, we had
this bike-building exercise. There were over 100 of us, and we were
divided into groups of 8-10. We were given a box of kids bicycle and
the only instruction was that we have to ensemble the bike within a
certain time-frame.

As soon as we heard the word 'go', all the groups started to open the
packaging and the teams tried to work together to ensemble the
bicycle. Everyone played their part, contributed what their good at.
Some read the instruction, some put the parts together, some worked
on the brakes, and some simply cheered and cracked jokes. Naturally,
we all started to compete and tried to be the first few to finish our
bikes.

Finally time was up and we went back to our tables. All of a sudden,
the conference room doors opened and about 10-15 little kids, aged
between 4 to 10, entered the room. They were accompanied by some adult
representative from this particular organisation that helps
under-privileged kids with their basic needs. The kids come from all
sorts of difficult backgrounds. Some of them have been passed on from
one foster care to another because their parents are in rehab for drug
or alcohol abuse. Some of them have been taken away from their parents
due to domestic violence. Some of them are being taken care of by a
foster family with 5 other kids, and the list goes on.

After we were briefed about these kids, we were then told that those
bicycles were going to be donated to them. There were mixed reactions,
mixed emotions in the room. Each group then got to pick a child, and
bring him to the bicycle for a test ride. We got to interact with the
child, learnt his name, his favourite colour, favourite food,
favourite activity, etc. We saw mixed reactions from the children.
Some had the biggest smile on their face because perhaps for the very
first time in their lives, somebody gave them a bike! Their own bike!
But some seemed so shy and scared, perhaps because we were strangers
to them, or perhaps because of what they went through as a child.

We were also told that there will be trained bicycle mechanics who
will check each bicycle for safety before it's delivered to the
children. This was kinda funny, because before we knew that the bikes
were going to be given to these kids, we thought it was simply a
bike-building exercise, or some sort of team building activity.
Naturally we were competing with each other. Naturally, we didn't care
so much about the quality of our work and the safety of our bikes. The
first priority was to get it done, and if possible, to be the first.
After some of the groups finished their bikes, some even went around
the room, teasing and mocking the other groups, making it known that
they've 'successfully' accomplished their goal. Some went around to
lend a helping hand, but often got rejected because some were too
proud to seek help.

After we finished the exercise, we had a group discussion about the
activity, and some of the comments made were "If we'd known that the
bike was for little kids, we would've been more thoughtful about its
safety." "We would've helped each other to make sure we have good,
high quality, save bikes for the children". In short, knowing the end
purpose of the exercise changed their behaviour.

Purpose: "an anticipated outcome that is intended or that guides your
planned actions"; "the reason for which something exists".

I wander how many of us really know our purpose. This life is short.
What do you do with it? If you really understand what you will be
measured on at the end of your life, would it change how you live
today?
What's your purpose for living?
Do you know what your God-given destiny is?
Do you understand why your are who/what you are?

I'll leave these thoughts with you for now... something to think about...

Abba, Father

Galatian 4:4-7

God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, ⁵so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. ⁶Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" ⁷Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

I'm just trying to comprehend what it really means to have been adopted by God, to be His child, His beloved child.

The only way my limited mind can begin to understand this is to look at my relationship with my child, Naomi, who is now 5 years old. As a mother, it is natural to care about my child. I make sure she has all her basic needs, that she goes to a good school, that she gets her favourite food, that she's entertained during the school holidays, and the list goes on. As parents, we want to make sure our child is happy, healthy and fulfilled.

Last Monday public holiday hubby and I took Naomi to Hillary beach. It was a hot day, so we spent nearly the whole day just hanging out in the shade, by the water, while she played with other kids. Well, she was actually playing by herself because she has no other sibling. From the beachside we kept watching her following two other girls about the same age as her as they were playing with each other. She seemed pretty contented just watching them and following them, and every now and they seemed to interact with her, making her feel welcomed.

As we sat watching her, hubby and I felt kinda sad for her. We felt sorry her, not having any brother or sister to play with, and her cousins happen to be out of town. Otherwise we would normally take them with us. We watched her for a good 15-20 mins, and all of a sudden, hubby stood up and he said, "That's it! I'm going to play with my baby!" and he went.

If you know Victor, you know that he is naturally tanned, well... almost dark, and he hates it (although I think it's cute). Therefore he would do anything to stay out of the sun, and that's exactly what he did the whole time we were there. So for him to step into the water, to play with Naomi, was kinda sacrificial. It simply showed that he loves her, that he loves her dearly, and that he cares not only about her basic needs, but also for her emotional need, well being and happiness.

If we, who are human, flawed, sinful, and sometimes bad and evil, can do such things for our children, then imagine how much more God can do for His children. I just dont think we can comprehend with our little mind, the depth, width, height, and measure the love of God for His children. I mean... He gave up His only Son for us! What can be more sacrificial than that?

The great news is, this actually applies to everyone who choose to believe. It doesnt matter who you are, where you're from, what you've done, what you used to believe, who you used to worship, or how bad you have been. Nothing matters! God's waiting for you to accept Him as your 'Abba',... your heavenly Father.

　

Who do you rely on?

Isiah 31:1
¹You are in for trouble if you go to Egypt for help, or if you depend on an army of chariots or a powerful cavalry. Instead you should depend on and trust the holy LORD God of Israel.
(Contemporary English Version)

Today God's reminding me that He is more powerful and stronger than any other thing you can think of. Whether it is here on earth, in the physical world or spiritual world. He is still the most almighty and powerful God. If He shakes the world by just one inch, everything would be destroyed in a blink of an eye. If He stops our heart from pumping, we wouldn't be here tomorrow. He created this universe, He breathes live into every living being in existence. He died and rose again, defeating death. Who else is more powerful than Him?

So why do we rely on so many other things but God? For our future. For our finances. For our health. For our well-being.

The Lord spoke to Isiah, saying you are heading for trouble if you rely in human strenghts or any of humanly wisdom, if you rely on anything else but Him. I've seen it all: family and friends, who were once successful in their career, business, finances, who relied on their own streghts and wisdom, ignoring the Lord. Ten years down the track, some of them declared bankrupt, or lying sick in the hospital, spending all their life-long worth of savings battling for their lives, lying in hospitals.

Some people refuse to acknowledge that He is the creator of the universe, that He is the one and only God, who is able to do anything. I cant even comprehend how such a complicated human being can be formed if not by the hands of God. I'd rather be save than sorry. Denying His existence does not do me any good. I don't have anything to loose by believing that a God, a big great God exists. I have seen it, experienced it. He cured my tumour, 8 years ago. He provides for all our needs, big and small. I have learnt to believe that a God, much greater than me, exists to love me.

What about you? Who and what do you rely on? For your future? For your finances? For your success? For your well-being?

Smelly Fish

I was woken up this morning by the worst smell ever. Words cant describe it enough. It smells like some rotten, spoiled, faul smelling, decomposing pile of rubbish. I thought it was a combination of the hot weather and our rubbish bin, so the first thing I did was went to the kitchen to empty my rubbish bin. However, my bin was not full and the smell didnt come from there. So I started opening up the pantry and all of my cupboards in search for the source of this faul smell. I thought there must be some rotten food somewhere in my pantry that needs to be thrown out, but I could not find anything. The smell persists.

 

I then sat outside with my dad and as we were chatting over our morning coffees, I could smell whatever it is and it seems to be coming from my next door neighbour's backyard which is right next to our fence. So I drew a conclusion that my neighbour must be lazy and has not rolled out their green bin for tomorrow's rubbish collection. I thought they must've thrown out a lot of excess or leftover food from the NY eve party and the heat must've created such faul odour in and around my house. So I told hubby my theory, and he agreed that our neighbour is lazy, and that the smell is their fault!

 

We went out the whole day and when we came back at 6 pm, our house was still smelly! V walked around the whole house thinking there might be a dead mouse somewhere, causing such an odour. Dilligently he went to every bedroom, sniffing here and there, in search of the source of this smell. When I went upstairs, the smell was particularly strong in our toilet, which had a small ventilation window facing our neighbour's backyard. So we were bitching, moaning and complaining about how lazy they are, and how they have not emptied their bin yet, and even had the idea of knocking on their door asking if they need help rolling their smelly bin outside so the odour doesnt travel to our house anymore, but we didnt think it was appropriate :)

 

At about 10 pm, V all of a sudden jumped up and out of the bed, and he looked at me like something very very very bad is about to happen. I was so scared that my heart must've stopped beating for a second. Then he said, "OMG... there's bag of seasoned fish fillet that I completely forgot to BBQ on Friday (NY eve). I left it outside and it's been sitting next to the fence since Friday!" 

 

So I said, "So that's where the smell comes from!" It makes sense! We quickly went outside with 2 big rubbish bags and a pair of gloves. When V put the two bags of smelly fish in the bag, we nearly threw up from the smell. There were 2 layers of bags and even that didnt stop the bad odour from escaping into the air. We had to then hose the paving and pour this really strong floor cleaning chemical (industrial grade) to help ease the smell. It was so stupidly funny.

 

This reminds me of one of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7:1-5

 

¹ "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³ "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Everytime we smell the rotten fish, we blamed our neighbour. The whole day we were bitching and moaning about them, not realising that the foul odour comes from our own backyard, from our own mistake, from our own carelessness!

 

It reminds me of how easy it is for us to point fingers at others without first looking into ourselves to check our own behaviour and attitude. That's why Jesus said in verse 3, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

 

Funny as it is... there's a valuable lesson to learn for all of us: make sure you have no rotten fish in your backyard!!! Oh.. and do not be quick to judge others :) GBU

 

 

NY resolution

One of my NY resolution is to read and study one passage of the Bible everyday. It is now the 3rd of Jan and I've only just started. It's like satan just keep trying to occupy my mind with all sorts of things to do so that I dont have anymore time to spend with God.
Today I am determined.

Although the past few days have been good, although I've enjoyed celebrating xmas and new year with my dearest friends and family, although I've been busy with the church, the youth and doing things for the house of God, .... nothing can replace the deeper sense of peace from having a solid relationship with Him.

In Psalm 42:1-2 David says:
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God....

Our living bodies consist of flesh, soul, and spirit, and if our body is satisfied when we eat good food, our soul and spirit are satisfied when they connect with the Creator. It's hard to explain, it's like the connection between our spirit and God's while we communicate with Him releases some sort of hormone that makes us happy and peaceful. Perhaps similar to the effect of exercising regularly. This isnt exactly theologically correct by the way, it's just a simple way of explaining the effect of communing with God to the soul.

No wander when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, after fasting 40 days, the devil told him to turn stone into bread and Jesus replied "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:1-11)

The Bible is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16) and it is full of promises for every area of our lives. Check out this beautiful website containing a promise for every single day of the year: '365 Promises'.

What's your situation? Are you in financial hardship? Sick? Sad? Lonely? In need of forgiveness? Angry? ... God has a promise for every single one of your need, nothing's too big or too small for Him who has given up His only Son for us.

Romans 8:32
"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"

For me... blogging is one way of spending time with Him. Some days I'm quite happy to publish my blog, and some days I keep them in my private blog. I am pushing myself to come to Him daily and spending time with Him, learning and writing about Him because I know that it's what He wants us to do: to get to know Him more and more so He can be involved in our everyday lives, and therefore glorifies Him. In trouble times we often find ourselves on bended knee, seeking Him for help or answers, but in good times, we often forget to come to Him in thanksgiving. From experience, I know that God will do everything He can to draw me back to Him if I happen to forget Him. This might not be a correct theology or theory, but I am scared that if I dont keep my relationship with Him during good times, He will allow trouble times and sufferring in order to make me come back to Him. I dunno about you, but I'd rather come to Him with thanksgiving than coming to Him out of desperation.

If you never experience the word of God becoming alive and relevant to your situation, let me challenge you... start reading the Bible daily and study a passage or a verse a day. When you are faced with a certain situation in your life and you're desperate for God's words, encouragement or guidance, then the verses you previously memorised will be brought to live in your mind by the Holy Spirit, and it will be your source of strength, wisdom and cncouragement. It's not easy, even I am still struggling with it, but hey,... everyone deserves a fresh start, and my fresh start is today.

Hopefully every single day of the year I can at the very least blog my verse of the day. If not... oh well... there's always tomorrow :p