Light of the world

Matthew 5

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

God's created us as 'light' in this world, and a light is not exactly something you can hide. Even if you hide them under a table, you can still see the radiant. On Sunday God opened up my eyes and reminded me again the reason why I'm here, the purpose of my life. What we think is an 'accident' or a 'coincidence' I believe is not an accident/coincidence in God's eyes. Everything happens for a reason.

On Sunday Ps.H was meant to preach in the English service. Due to an accident, he was late for approx 40 mins. After praise & worship he was meant to go straight into preaching, but because he wasn't there yet, V had to buy some time. First he called brother R to sing, then he gave some announcements, then he just started to talk and he rambled on for a few mins. That's when I realized that I could use the time to share some testimony and give God some glory, so I did.

I shared Proverbs 3:3-4

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

I shared about how God has worked in my career life, and His favor has brought me to where I am now.

At the end of the service, some people came up and thanked me for my sharing. They said they were encouraged by it. Thanks to God. I just believe that if He has given me that opportunity to share, even if it's only to speak to one person, so be it. Let thy will be done. I'm just glad that I was able to shine His light.

But not only that opportunity bless others (even if it's only 1 person), it blessed me more than anything. Because at the end of that I realize that after all, there was definitely a reason, a purpose, a divine plan, on my existence. I know I have believed this all my life, but to come to a realization again on my whole existence, is a fresh reminder, encouragement and a blessing!

I am the light of this world, because of what He's doing in my life. His light cannot be hidden. Even if I try to hide his glory, it will eventually reveal itself. His light that is in me will shine, because that's just the nature of God's light, and it is in every single one of His believer, you and me.

Today I was excited to start the week. It does not matter anymore whether I'm no.1 at work or not.
It doesn't matter anymore whether I win every competition or not.
It doesn't matter anymore whether I get recognized for my work or not.
What matter is my attitude of surrender to God. He has me here for a purpose, and that's to glorify His name. Whatever it takes.... I'm ready, to surrender this life, for the purpose of His kingdom.

So that if I were called to go 'home' tomorrow, I have done things that matters in the eternal life.

My daily experiences, my daily learnings, the people I meet and I serve, on a daily basis, EVERYTHING happens for a reason, and He is always IN CONTROL over everything.

In the end, I just believe that if we let Him take over, to use our lives for His purpose, He will then meet our every need. Everything!

I love walking with Him. It's so exciting, because everyday something new can happen, something new is revealed, something new glorifies Him. Every week is a testimony of His love, His grace and His mercy. This is what I live for! :)

Acts 20 (NIV)

24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the taskthe Lord Jesus has given me —the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

Pallazo Versace, Gold Coast

I've just found out today that I won a luxury trip to Gold Coast from work :) Honestly it was when I least expected it. This year so far has been such a blessed year for me. I totally don't deserve all these goodness God's showering me with. I have nothing to say apart from God's just being faithful and keeping His promises.

I went through a couple of tough years in 2010-2011 where I demoted myself at work, had two miscarriages, had some tough times financially, and my faith were being challenged a few times. Through it all, it was His grace that carried me through, gave me humility, gave me strengths and kept the faith inside of me.

This year, all I've done is proclaiming His goodness, day by day. Despite of good or bad circumstances, I kept declaring His faithfulness, His love, His goodness, all the time. In everything that I do, I do it to glorify His name. I only wanted to give Him the best and be faithful in the smallest things, like coming to church on time, mopping or washing dishes at church. I wanted to be faithful in my giving, no matter how broke we were. I wanted to be faithful in my worship and in giving Him the praises that He deserves, no matter how I feel.  I wanted my life to simply be used to glorify His name and promote the fact that a God, an all-loving God, no condition, no pre-requisite, no requirement, EXISTs, and He exists to simply love us and want to be loved by us.

The result is AMAZING..... this year, in a span of 3 months, I have been promoted at work, met & work with some really awesome people at work, won a few competitions,  and now... to top it up: won an amazing luxury trip to the Gold Coast!

God is good, all the time. Even when it looks bad, He is good. Declare His promises... He never lies. He's the same yesterday, today and forever.

Here are some of His promises for us who believe: 

Malachi 3: 10 - Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

Jeremiah 29: 11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord

Matthew 6: 31 - So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the unbelievers run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Ephesian 3:20 - Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. 

Proverbs 3: 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Proverbs 3: 9 - Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; ¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. 


So to those of you who believe, I encourage you, dig into the Words! There are some amazing promises there waiting for you to claim, and declare them everyday of your life! Don't ever loose sight of God's faithfulness :)

... and to those who don't yet believe... well all I can say is... give Him a try, He's been waiting for you ;)

Grumbling

I don't know about you, but I don't like whining babies or children. I find it annoying, and it certainly isn't the best way of getting what they want from me. Naomi knows that we have a 'no whining' rule at home. When she start to whine, she knows that she's not going to get what she wants. So she's learnt to 'negotiate' he way to everything now :) Yeah... smart move, but it's just a tiny bit annoying when I find myself giving in just coz she actually makes sense and had all the right reasons. 

Lately we've gone through some tough times and I've had to remind myself not to complain or grumble. As I went through it, I was reminded of the story of Moses and the Israelites in the desert. 

If you read from Exodus 14 - Numbers 14 (you may skip some bits and pieces in the middle), you'll find that throughout the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, the Israelites again and again grumbled against God. 


The Israelites were captivated in Egypt as slaves for hundreds of years. I can't imagine living as slaves being good. They must've been praying for a hero, a saviour, a rescuer every single day. From generation to generation, they must have been praying. Finally, after so many years, so many generations, Moses came to rescue. Empowered by God, he led the Israelites out of the slavery in Egypt. 

The destination is a land full of milk and honey, land so prosperous you can grow anything and it will live and bear fruit. It's the land God's promised His people a long time ago. The catch is... they need to travel through the desert to get to the other side, and this is where the grumbling began.


To have been able to escape out of Egypt was a miracle in itself. God sent ten different plagues or disasters so that Pharaoh would let these people go. God did great things so that the Israelites could witness with their own eyes His great mighty acts. They've seen water turned into blood, plagues of frogs, boils, flies, locusts, and many more. They've seen all Egyptian firstborns died while the Israelites' firstborns survived. They've seen thunder and hail, and they've seen the RED SEA PARTED!!! How much more did God have to show how mighty and able He is??? 

Despite of having seen these miracles,... 

When they ran out of water, they grumbled against God (Exodus 15:24). With great patience, God asked Moses to threw stick into a bitter oasis so they can drink. 

When they ran out of food, they grumbled again (Exodus 16:3). With great patience, God threw manna/bread pieces from the sky every morning and provided them with their daily bread. 

When they ran out of water again, you'd think they would just trust in God's provision and ability, but NO, they complained and grumbled again (Exodus 17:2). Without anger, God asked Moses to hit the rock with his staff and water came flowing out of it. 

When faced with challenges to enter the promised land, once again they grumbled against Moses and God, and repeatedly they said they'd rather be left to die in Egypt! 

Just reading this makes my head boil with anger.... what a bunch of ungrateful people! 

God's rescued them out of bondage, but instead of getting appreciation and thanks, all He got is complaints and grumbled one after another. They complained against the very thing they've been praying for their whole life! It sounds like they really did prefer to be in living in slavery! 

Finally God's had enough. Right at the gate of the Promised Land, right near their destination, God said He would not let these ungrateful people enter the Promised Land. 


Numbers 14:26-29
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron. "How long must I put up with this wicked community and its complaints about me? Yes, I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making against me. Now tell them this: 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things I heard you say. You will all drop dead in this wilderness! Because you complained against me...


Because when they complain, they always say something along the line of God wanting to kill them in the wilderness. So God did to them "the very thing he heard them say". 


I don't blame Him, I would have killed them a long time ago! 

Thank goodness God is so patient and loving, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. 

Throughout the past 6 weeks we've been trying to lease out our Melbourne house, and for the past few years we've never had any issue. Normally we could get new tenants as soon as the old tenant left, but this time around week after week passed by and after about 6 weeks we still didn't hear any good news. 

We wanted to sell our Audi, so that the sale proceed could help us cover the costs while it's vacant, but even that was a struggle in itself. 

So we ended up spending weeks just on our knees, praying for both of these issues to be resolved. 

It wasn't easy... Every single day we have to remind ourselves not to be like these Israelites. We had to make a conscious decision to keep thanking Him daily, to keep believing in His ability, in His love, in His great plan for us. We chose to stay positive, to stay in faith, to stay serving Him. We chose to believe that He was able. That with a click of His fingers, everything will be resolved. That all these difficulties happened for a reason. 

Thank God after about 6 weeks, just a few days ago, our battle ended. In the same week, we received good news for both our Melbourne house and our Audi (it was sold!!!!!). It was honestly like a massive stone was lifted off our shoulders. It was a celebration! It was a victory! We finally saw the light!!! The praises and the faith paid off, we didn't end up staying in the 'wilderness' for any longer. 

Do you know that.... the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land (Jericho) was suppose to take only 11 days, but the Israelites spent 40 years because of their attitude. So I didn't want to make the same mistake as they did.

See this map below (taken from  http://www.keyway.ca/htm2001/20010411.htm):

The red line represents their journey/route through the wilderness. 

"YOUR ATTITUDE DETERMINES HOW LONG YOU STAY IN THE WILDERNESS" Joyce Meyer. 

Grumbling and complaining doesn't do anything good for you. Just like Naomi could not get what she wants by grumbling or whining, so can we with God. I'm sure He has a lot of patience and He's very loving, and He might still give you what you want even though you grumble a lot, but you might get there quicker if you just praise Him and make Him happy instead :) 

When you want something from someone, you 'bribe' them with kindness, not make their ears hot listening to your whining and complaining. That will give you the biggest chance of winning. 

So today, whatever you're grumbling about... can I just remind you of what happened to the Israelites in the desert when they grumbled against God after what God had done for them. My suggestion is... try counting His blessings, you'll find that your list of blessings might actually be much longer than your problems. If it's not.... well my friend, time to take a look at yourself. How long have you been grumbling for? Maybe it's time to try praises and smiles, your 'dark tunnel' might soon come to an end :)

If you do not know God, or you're still doubting His existence, may I challenge you.... SEEK HIM and you shall find Him! He wants to be found by you. He has loved you long before the creation, and He has a great plan for your life, here and in the eternity. He's just waiting for you to accept Him into your life, as your personal Lord and Saviour. If you want to find out more, Joyce Meyer has a very simple teaching on Salvation. Visit her website: http://www.joycemeyer.org/EverydayAnswers/BecomeAChristian.aspx and check it all out for yourself. 

Good luck and God bless you!