peace . love . joy

A Song just to Praise You, O LORD

i stand beneath the sky so vast
and feel the wind blow strong and fast
i close my eyes and see You smiling
O LORD, be glorified

be lifted up on the wings of my praise
be blessed, my King, to me turn Your Face
be glad and be proud of me, Your servant
may You delight in me, God

my feet stand upon the grass so green
and on Your Promises i lean
meditate on Your Statutes, Your Works and on You
O LORD, be magnified

be lifted up on the wings of my praise
be blessed, my King, to me turn Your Face
be glad and be proud of me, Your servant
may You delight in me, God

the flames of the fire dance in my heart
i play a tune for You on my harp
to You i dedicate this song
O LORD, be duly admired

be lifted up on the wings of my praise
be blessed, my King, to me turn Your Face
be glad and be proud of me, Your servant
may You delight in me, God

streams of water meander down
like the water of Life, in heaven it's found
so wonderfully sweet, You give it freely
O LORD, be raised up on high

be lifted up on the wings of my praise
be blessed, my King, to me turn Your Face
be glad and be proud of me, Your servant
may You delight in me, God

well, i just got my first B- in my report card. a B- for Astronomy.

BUT

i'm thankful it's not a C =]

*thank you, Lord~!*

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and infants,
you have established stength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

When i look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of you hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

~ Psalm 8

(9) But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore i will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) For the sake of Christ, then, i am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when i am weak, then i am strong.

~ 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

i remembered this passage during my quality time with God today.

today's focus was on the needy, main passage was Proverbs 9:18. and the follow up question was "what am i doing to reach out to those in need?"

my answer :
materially in need - nothing.
spiritually in need - nothing. but the Spirit God sealed in me is doing something for me & them.

i am not perfect (horror of all horrors =o). so how can i help others spiritually? i myself am in need!

God spoke to me through 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. and it reminded me of a few friends i have. these verses (9-10) comforted me. it speaks of God being just who He is - God, and me being who i am - me. the God we serve is that powerful and that perfect.

if we were made perfect from the start, what role has God to play in our lives? what would we need God for? surely not to make us perfect, and surely not as our ticket to heaven.

God made us imperfect for a perfect relationship with Him.
He made us imperfect so that through us, His glory may shine forth from our faces, our words and our actions.
He made us imperfect so that we can appreciate what perfection - God - in all its marvelous splendour!

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall i fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall i be afraid?

~ Psalm 27:1

it brings about the question of whether or not we truly understand what it means to be a Christian, a lover, a follower, a disciple, a child of God.

yes, we will have anxieties. yes, we will have troubles. yes, we will suffer.
but God, our God, promises to listen, to answer, to uphold, to lift us up, to care for us.

in our weaknesses, God's power is made perfect.

we are also told to encourage others.

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

~ Ephesians 5:19-20

(7) Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun [in one of its peculiar forms].

(8)Here is one alone--no one with him; he neither has child nor brother. Yet there is no end to all his labor, neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither does he ask, For whom do I labor and deprive myself of good? This is also vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility); yes, it is a painful effort and an unhappy business.

(9) Two are better than one, because they have a good [more satisfying] reward for their labor;

(10) For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

(11) Again, if two lie down together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone?

(12) And though a man might prevail against him who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

~ Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

we CAN encourage and help others spiritually, no matter how undeserving or how ill-equipped we think we are (such sentiments should only propel us to dive into pools of resources to better equip ourselves to serve the Perfect One).

in helping others, we should not neglect ourselves, but that's a post for another time - i've got to work now =]

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 23-24

~love~

2 Corinthians 5: 11-21

(11) Therefore, knowing the dear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. (12) We are not commending outselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. (13) For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. (14) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; (15) and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

(16) From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. (17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (18) All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; (19) that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (20) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (21) For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

with mingwei's blessings, i shall now share his thoughts with you, sizzlers:

An embassy is headed by an ambassador, and is the diplomatic representation of one country in another country's land. Under international law, the embassy grounds are exempt from local law and are treated as territory of the embassy's home country. Embassies are used as places of refuge by refugees, and during an bilateral dispute, the ambassador can be summoned by the host to register the latter's displeasure.

A Christian is Christ's ambassador and representative of God's kingdom, located in but not of the world, and called to reconcile the lost to God's country (2 Cor 5:19-20). Since we have this calling, we are to treat our lives and bodies like property of God's country, living in a way that reflects that God's law and not the world's law operates in us. And the world vents its displeasure at how Christians behave, as its people sometimes realise something is wrong with themselves in comparison with Christians, and feel uncomfortable interacting with the latter.

Even though all Christians are entrusted with protecting spiritual refugees from the world, not all do their job well - some have one foot across the embassy gates into the world and don't want to give up entirely on both the world and God, some can't be bothered at all to operate God's law in their grounds, and some don't know what to do as new ambassadors. But for those who are appointed ambassadors of Christ and truly want to do Kingdom work will eventually find much blessing in following their call of duty, both in (meg: tangible and) intangible ways in this life and in all ways in the next.

F.I.S.H. sizzler-ettes
the F.I.S.H. sizzlerettes have attempted to have fellowship on thursday nights =]

so far so good (we're into our 2nd meeting this week)!


Christ's Ambassadors
anyways, i've been wanting to write a post on what MingWei shared abt what it means for us to be Christ's ambassadors.

so..look out for that post comin' your way, baby (by that i mean evryone, not jus my babies)!!

presents!
i'm kinda proud of the present i made for puiki, but i wouldnt have thought of doing that if it werent for God and Him granting me inspiration!

front

back

inside

here's puiki's present that i made (p\s: i didnt make the doll, u can get that at Ikea for $18). it's the armour of God. we're memorising it.

this is rebecca's gift to me from her trip to Japan! Japan, okay! so sweet =D *thanks*


some other stuff i got recently: ipod frm my dad who got it frm a lucky draw, remote controlled chopper frm my aunt *it really flies!!* (she knew i've always wanted a remote controlled something to control), rebecca's pen frm Japan & color pencils!!

thanks to YongZhi, i've got Barry Manilow singing "who needs to dream?" =]
i cld spend the entire of this post singing Barry's praises, BUT, this post is not intended for that.
HAHA.

the title being the dead give-away, i shall "speak" abt the TTB leaders' retreat\camp.

before the camp was officially switched 'on', puiki said she felt that there might be a "spiritual battle" between God and the evil one..and she fell sick and had to go home for the second night..i'm not sure if that "qualifies" as a battle, but i cannot judge that because i'm like a super super super green horn when it comes to spiritual battles and attacks. it may have been one. it may not. but i sure thank God puiki was there on sunday morning for GoFish =D

puiki has a headache now. so please pray for her!

she and i are gonna memorise Ephesians 6:10-20 by this Sunday! for those of you who dont know what that passage contains, it's The Armour of God.

anyways, that was puiki's "premonition" (is that the word??). i had a word from God. He said that He was going to use me and puiki..and He did~! we had bible study in preparation for GoFish lesson on sunday with Yap. me & Yap were supposed to lead BS, but i wanted Yap to take the driver's seat. i'd be the back-seat driver. i'm not sure if we pushed Yap the right way (something tells me we pushed a little too hard), but i pray that whatever the outcome, God use it for His Glory. our God is so brilliant in that He can use "hopeless" and seemingly bad situations and turn them into good. praise the Lord, all ye creation~!

the games were quite interesting in that they all enforce biblical truths. but (and here's megan the critic speaking), i think a stronger follow-up after the games would be more beneficial in that the passages and truths would be enforced instead of just seemingly going thru the motions of follow-ups flippantly without understanding =]

once, i cried cos the pple at my table were talking abt what rachel deems "spiritual attacks". now, you and i know that i cant take those ghosts and spirits stuff. i cant listen. sometimes, i cant even look at the movie posters! i switched tables, but then JD started asking questions, and KarYan was looking at me..and i cldnt take it anymore. so i cried =(

after that bout, felt a lil better, but then, i had doubts. i dont know why, but i started thinking "if i'm a spiritual leader and teacher, and i teach truths about God, yet i'm so fearful about spiritual attacks, does it say anything about my faith? am i truly understanding what i believe in?". and that got me even more fearful (and heralded another bout of crying) - because the one thing that is so precious to me, my faith, is at stake.

i spoke to YongZhi abt it. haha, yes, YongZhi. and i felt a little better. speaking to Angeline and puiki afterwards helped too.

i claim comfort in the bible verse:
For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin), [no matter how it comes or where it leads] has overtaken you and laid hold on you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.
~ 1 Corinthians 10:13 (AMP)

today's passage is Ephesians 6:1-20. and the question is about whether or not we are reflecting light to the world of darkness that those who are living in the dark will come to the light and know Jesus Christ.

but what i took from it..i took comfort..and found a challenge..in knowing the armour of God once more..knowing it will protect me from all the flaming arrows of the evil one. and i'm committing to memorise it yet again. and do what it says.

(10) In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
(11) Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
(12) For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
(13) Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day [of danger], and, having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].

(14) Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God,
(15) And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.

(16) Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].
(17) And take the helmet of salvation and the sword that the Spirit wields, which is the Word of God.
(18) Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty. To that end keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people).

(19) And [pray] also for me, that [freedom of] utterance may be given me, that I may open my mouth to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news (the Gospel),
(20) For which I am an ambassador in a coupling chain [in prison. Pray] that I may declare it boldly and courageously, as I ought to do.
~ Ephesians 6:10-20 (AMP)

from IBS, i learnt that having a big picture (general overview) of the passage is, AND, noticing little differences in the choice of words and puncutations used in the different versions of the Bible may be important in interpreting meanings. i urge you to look at other versions, including the much used NIV. for they use words like "in addition to" at v16 which carry a little more meaning.

Be joyful always; pray contunally; giving thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The One who calls you is faithful and He will do it.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 23-24

You were in my dreams
Always in my dreams
That was long before
I ever saw you standing there

When I felt afraid
Of the choice I made
I would close my eyes
And hope my dreams would comfort me
But now I'm free

Who needs to dream when there is you?
Who needs a heaven to look forward to?
For my whole life through
Who needs to dream?
You're my dream come true

In my fantasy
You believed in me
And as long as you were there
Then I believed in me
Now suddenly

Who needs to dream when there is you?
Who needs a heaven to look forward to?
For my whole life through
Who needs to dream?
You're my dream come true

Now you are my dream
You are my only dream
I'll hold you in my heart forever
Who needs to dream?
Who needs to dream?
When I see you there
Then I see my every dream come true

Who needs to dream when there is you?
Who needs a heaven?
For my whole life through
Who needs to dream?
You're my dream come true
Every dream
All come true
My dream come true!

P\S: i cldnt find the original version online (ie. with Barry Manilow singing it to Annette O'Toole in the movie\musical "Copacabana"), this is the closest and best quality i cld find.

it's a really lovely song, and if you can, go watch the movie (it's available at the Esplanade Library).

Barry's vocals really suit the song. sung straight frm the heart. i almost cried =,(