Who am I?

Is who you are determined by what you do, or is what you do determined by who you are?

--> We need a firm grip on the truth of God's Word before we will experience much success at practical Christianity. A fruitful Christian life is the result of living by faith according to what God said is true.

--> Believing something doesn't make it true; God said it is true, therefore we believe it. (the cool thing is when we believe and obey His Word, practical victorious living also testifies to the truth of the Word)

--> We are neither saved nor sanctified by how we behave but by how we believe.

--> You have to know and believe positional truth to successfully progress in your sanctification or you are going to try doing for yourself what God has already done for you.

--> We are what we are by the grace of God.

--> You must believe that you are a child of God to live like a child of God.

--> We are redeemed saints, not forgiven sinners. We are saints who sin, but we have all the resources in Christ we need not to sin.

--> As believers, we are not trying to become saints, we are saints who are becoming like Christ.

--> It is not what you do as a Christian that determines who you are; it is who you are that determines what you do.

--> We don't serve God to gain His acceptance; we are accepted, so we serve God. We don't follow Him to be loved; we are loved, so we follow Him.

--> I already please Him by who I am in Christ.

--> God has not given us the power to imitate Him. He has made us partakers of His nature so that we can actually be like Him.

Some other thoughts
We affect others significantly by what we say about them, and what we say is determined by what we believe about them.

Being filled and led by the Spirit may take you places you never planned; but the will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.

A good theology is an indispensable prerequisite to a good psychology, but if good theology doesn't result in a transformation of heart, then the knowledge gained will only seek to puff up and in turn, be meaningless.

Thoughts n notes from re-reading Neil Anderson's Victory Over The Darkness.

Proverbs

Reading through Proverbs on my way to work. A very practical book indeed. Verses that convicted me about the words that one speaks. A reminder for us to walk or, in this case, talk as children of God.

31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised"

30:5-6 "Every word of God is pure, He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar."

29:5 "A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet"

29:11 "A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back"

29:20 "Do you see a man hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him"

28:23 "He who rebukes a man will find more favor aftrwards than he who flatters with the tongue"

24:26 "An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips" (boy, what a way to give kisses... =) )

22:11 "He who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for his friend"

18: 2 "A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart"

17:27 "He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit"

16:1 " The preparedness of the heart belong to man, but the answers of the tongue is from the Lord."

13:3 "He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction"

Particularly convicted, for over the weekend, my normal bantering wounded a friend. While it's true that such teasing treatment are reserved only for ppl that I am comfortable with, but the fact that it caused hurt still stands. Certainly not one with gracious and merciful words, but by the grace of God, the Spirit will guide the words that I speak. May each word proceeds from love and carries with it the love, grace and peace of the Lord.

Sing to the King

Sing to the King who is coming to reign,
Glory to Jesus the Lamb that was slain.
Life and Salvation His empire shall bring,
Joy to the nations when Jesus is King.

Come let us sing a song,
A song declaring that we belong to Jesus,
He's all we need.
Lift up a heart of praise,
Sing now with voices raised to Jesus,
Sing to the King.

For His returning, we watch and we pray,
We will be ready the dawn of that day.
We'll join in singing with all the redeemed,
Cause Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King

Week Ending 16/10/05

To say the least, it's been a tiring and "sick" week... meaning mua was sick for the most part of it... sore throat, fever, cough, all the glorious symptoms of the bug, or so I thought... more on this later.

Alrighties, in case u r still unaware, am performing at library @ the esplanade on 23rd and 30th Oct at 4pm. u can't miss us once u enter by main entrance... btw, since it's amateurs performing, it's free... heehee. Thus, had rehearsals on evenings of Mon, Weds, Thurs and Fri + Sat afternoon. There, so i don't have to repeat later in the daily summaries.... =) ...as my youth would put it.... "the smartness I have" .... hahaha!

Highlights include:
--> activity-less Tuesday evening, but no visible improvement in physical condition after the rest...

--> rushed for QW's birthday celebration after rehearsal on Friday. In my frenzy, left 1/2 of her gift in the cab... what a sotong! =P hung out w/ some of the S26 folkies @ a club street bar that evening, n found out a few factoids.... 2 of them started smoking =( 1 of them can really sing =) if I join a consulting co., will join the M&A division = *neutral espression* (incidentally, this sentence captures my entire range of smiley faces....)

--> early morning rehearsal @ Hyatt 4 Lynn n Cal's wedding on 22nd. met co-emcee for the 1st time n believe by God's grace, we're gonna have a rolling good time that joyous day! do pray 4 good weather so the beautiful church wedding can happen @ the garden. incidentally, God is amazing (as always). When I first met Lynn n when Chee (co-emcee) first met Cal, we both hated their guts... haha... Glory to God, now we have the honor and official permission to "wreck havoc" @ their wedding!!

--> had church leadership elections on sunday... what an eye-opener, u could see the vote count live... mixed feelings abt having the 2nd least # of voted. though expected, but 4 one that's predisposed to excellence, there's an obvious tad of disappointment. If the Lord had not been transforming me these past years, could I be a willing servant? am still work-in-progress lar, n by His grace, His strength, His guidance, etc, He'll not let me disappoint Him or the church. He equips me, He calls me, He provides me with the necessary to do the job, where to find this kind of bargain.... u tell me??!! quite touched n privileged 2 b given this oppty to serve, but i'm almost certain that I probably will screw up along the way, but I trust that His grace will more than cover those screw-ups .... Amen?? AMEN!! (classic eg of "zi wen zi da"!!... )

well... finally decided to go see doctor 17th morning... got 2 days MC for having.... ACUTE BACTERIAL SINUSITIS.... go figure!

apologies for the late report... hope it's worth the wait... haha... do pray for complete healing n protection of time for this week!

Take My Life

An old hymn resung by Passion, one of my fav bands...

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee

Take my voice and let me sing, always only for my King
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use every power as You choose

Chorus:
Here am I, All of me
Take my life, It's all for Thee.

Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine
Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at your feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee

Indeed Lord... All of me, Only for You...

WAIT

Read this poem from my friend's website and my heart went "Lord, U R right!!" ....

an excerpt:
"So be silent, My child, and in time you will see,
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though often may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still 'Wait'."

Week Ending 09/10/05

Mon - Caught up with CY @ Cedele... rejoicing with her and praying for her work situation. Rushed off for dance rehearsal. got caught in the rain on way home, but apart from the thunder n lightning, actually enjoyed the walk home in the light rain.

Tues - Coffee break with Grace (X'tian colleague @ EDB). encouraged by her sharing n prayers wrt love/relationship. went home to sleep... body felt quite weak...

Weds - it's official, weak body succumbed a little to the bug... rested at home. read n sleep n msn n read n sleep n msn... what an awesome day! =) Barely stepped out of my room... heavenly!

Thurs - back to work, though still had sore throat and stuffed nose... but felt much, much better. productive work day. seriously contemplated going 4 a US trip next year... better start saving up. dinner w/ Christina and then BSF (Ruth 4)

Fri - had dinner w/ HX n CY @ O'briens. Ah Xian showed us magic trick that she would be performing @ AMK tomorrow.... she really quite good! SY joined us @ Bakerz Inn... yummz. we gathered to meet John, American friend from Purdue working now in TW, who was in Sgp for work. we ended up at esplanade till 12ish. took crazy pictures playing arnd with cool camera tricks that r beyond me (something abt exposure) that had the effect of making us look like ghosts if we move! then Teacher John (now turned engineer) gave the most awesome lecture/sharing abt his experience teaching 6-7 yr olds when he first started in TW. From "the Call of the Wild' to Northen lights to a young gal w/ extraordinary grasp of concepts to early childcare development to modified board games... he had us, the audience, captivated n standing for almost an hour. me was a tee-bit distracted by vicious, attacking mosquitos. reached home at 1ish am, yawnzzzz. parents were watching My Fair Lady so watched Audrey Hepburn before going to bed... =)

Sat - beauty appt in the morning. met the gang (HX, SY, Lynn + Cal, John) for lunch at Hong Lim food centre... famous crayfish prawn hor-fun. then headed off for pre-performance talk at library @esplanade for ODT's (Odyssey Dance Theatre) launch of Dance X'position (week long of performances n master classes w/ foreign artists). rehearsal @ 5pm for the youth concert. God really blessed the event... was nervous that didn't have too much practice but all went well...they even arrowed me sing 2 lines impromptu! then had dinner/supper w/ the smaller gang (CY, HX, John) @ Adam Rd... my fav ice-kacang in the world.... =) reached home at 2am after dropping humanoids off... zzzz

Sun - lunch w/ CY, HX, Lynn n John @ Soup Restaurant @ Suntec... discussed abt probable taiwan trip... have to pray abt it. John's flight @ 5.30pm so we sent him till city hall mrt.... bought cake for mom's birthday (10th Oct - Taiwan's Independent day too) massage will be b'dae treat.

These Inward Trials

I asked the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek more earnestly His face.

I hope that in some favored hour
At once He'd answer my request
And by His love's constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

"Lord, why is this?" I trembling cried,
"Wilt thou pursue Thy worm to death?"
"It's in this way," the Lord replied,
"I answer prayer for grace and faith.

"These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may'st seek thy all in me."

--- hymn by John Newton

GRACE II

Miracles broke the physical laws of the universe; forgiveness broke the moral rules.

• we are not righteous or guilty, but sinners who admit or sinners who deny. (John 8)
• Unless a flaw comes into the light, it cannot be healed... we need Radical honesty and Radical dependence.
• Imperfection is the pre-requisite for grace.
• You cannot earn God's acceptance by climbing, you must receive it as a gift.
• You can know the Law by heart without knowing the heart of it.
• The best reason to be good is to want to be good.
• Sacrificial love is the most powerful weapon in the Christian's arsenal of grace.
• the rules of power must not displace the command to love.
• The ladder of power reaches up, the ladder of grace reaches down.

"We cannot find Him unless we know we need Him" (Thomas Merton)

"Truly it is an evil to be full of faults, but it is a still greater evil to be full of them, and to be unwilling to recognize them" (Pascal)

"Grace substitutes a full, childlike and delighted acceptance of our Need, a joy in total dependence. We become "jolly beggars"." (CS Lewis)

"God blots out conscious guilt, but He brings to consciousness repressed guilt". (Paul Tournier)

"A low view of the Law leads to legalism in religion; a high view makes one a seeker after grace" (J.Gresham Macken)

"The lostness of the resentful saint is so hard to reach precisely because it is so closely wedded to the desire to be good and virtuous" (Henri Nouwen)

When Grace descends, the world falls silent before it.

Week Ending 2/10/05

Mon - Since e professionals r touring in Armenia, the amateurs had rehearsal for Jonathan's piece =P stayed up way too late trying to complete ICIT finals n uploading pics onto Friendster...
Tues - found out that Joshua's grandma passed away n he had to return to Penang urgently... keeping him in prayers. caught up with Lynn n her wedding preps... boy, it's getting close to Oct 22. did grocery shopping with shih-yang during lunch... we have a "chef" in the making! had youth leaders mtg.
Weds - pilates class got cancelled. had rehearsal for both Jonathan's n Vicky's pieces. went running at night... think covered 7-8km only.... how to run 10km for Standard Chartered run??
Thurs - had queasy tummy after eating bad smoked salmon =(... but had awesome fellowship lunch w/ lynn n grace, though i just watched them eat. skipped BSF to nurse tummy.
Fri - had ban mian @ lao pa sat with Huan n Liyi... good catch up, praying for Huan to have joy n fulfilment in her job. met Christina to pick up BSF notes... blur queen... first forgot to bring the notes down when she met me, then end up giving me her notes instead! dinner n drinks w EDB folks, including DMD, at Father Flanagans... turned out much more enjoyable than I expected... ringing "drink la" in my ears.
Sat - read n read n read in the morning. dance rehearsal in the afternoon n had 1st run to Marina South... that area really quite dead on saturday afternoon. Bought Ah-Len's belated b'dae present. Youth fellowship.
Sun - rehearsal for Emcee role at next sat's youth concert night... my church really have talented musicians/singers! Watched Corpse Bride with Ah-Len @ Yishun 10. movie was 6.5/10... Tim should've made up his mind abt whether it's gonna be a movie or a musical... was neither here nor there... else, liked the animation, the songs and the quirky plot. bought him belated bdae dinner @ Courdory n Fitch and had so-so gelato for dessert... hmm ah-len, b'dae thought for turning 27? Had a super long n "deep" phone conversation w Ziyen (dude is getting his PhD from GeorgiaTech)... praying for wisdom n strength to handle affairs as he prepares for his qualifiers. Intermittently watched the thrashing of Liverpool by Chelsea... 1-4.

Ramadan will be from Oct 5 - Nov 2.

GRACE

I know that I came face to face with God's love at my worst, not my best, and that Amazing Grace saved a wretch like me.

• Grace does not depend on what we have done for God, but what God has done for us.
• In Christian theology, when the servants erred, the King was punished.
• The free offer of grace extends not just to the undeserving but to those who in fact deserve the opposite.
• God's arms are always extended, we are the ones that turn away.
• We're all oddballs, but God loves us anyhow.

"The economy of undeserved grace has power over the economy of moral deserts" (Miroslav Volf)

"What is your primary identity in life? I am the one Jesus loves... He's very fond of me." (Brennan Manning)

"I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least" (Dorothy Day)

---- From Philip Yancey's "What's so amazing about grace?"