Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Measure Of Love




Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. —John 15:13


On October 2, 1954, First Lieutenant James O. Conway was taking off from Boston Logan Airport, flying a plane that carried a load of munitions. When his plane became airborne, he suddenly lost power over Boston’s bay. In an instant, Conway faced a brutal choice—eject from the plane and save his own life, or crash the plane into the bay causing his own death.

If he ejected, however, the plane would crash into an East Boston neighborhood filled with homes and families. Amazingly, Conway chose to crash the plane into the bay—giving his life for the lives of others.

In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” The willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect others shows a heart that cares more about the needs of others than the needs of one’s self. Someone once said that “the measure of love is what one is willing to give up for it.” God the Father loved so much that He gave up His Son. Christ loved so much that He gave up His life—even taking our sins on Himself and dying in our place.

The measure of God’s love for you is great. Have you accepted His love personally? — Bill Crowder

When Jesus gave His life for me,
Enduring all the agony
Upon the cross of Calvary,
He showed the love of God. —Sper

Nothing speaks more clearly of God’s love than the cross of Christ.



Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Congratulation to Tee & Jenny!!



Specially for Tee & Jenny!!!
may the love of God always be with both of u!!!



Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry


Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests in the bosom of fools.
—Ecclesiastes 7:9

The e-mail contained nothing but Bible verses, and it came from someone I didn’t know very well at a time when there was disagreement among members of a church committee I was on. I assumed that the verses were aimed at me in an accusing way, and I was angry that someone who didn’t know all the issues involved would use Scripture to attack me.

Before I could retaliate, my husband, Jay, suggested I give her the benefit of the doubt instead of assuming the worst. “Perhaps there’s an innocent explanation,” he said. I couldn’t imagine what it would be, but I followed his advice and called. “Thank you so much for calling,” she said. “My computer has a virus and it spewed out e-mails using pieces of our Sunday school lesson to random people in my address book.” Gulp. I’m thankful that God used Jay to keep me from creating a problem where none existed.

By jumping to a conclusion that was logical but untrue, I came dangerously close to unnecessary conflict. The Israelites did the same thing. They were ready to go to war because they wrongly assumed that the altar built by their brothers was a sign of rebellion against God (Josh. 22:9-34). To avoid making wrong judgments, we must be careful to get the facts right. — Julie Ackerman Link

When you’re forming your opinions,
Do it carefully—go slow;
Hasty judgments oft are followed
By regretting—that I know. —Anon.

To avoid an embarrassing fall, don’t jump to a wrong conclusion.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Today's Verse Illustrated

























Today's Verse

What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted.

Proverbs 10:24 (NIV)

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

The wicked fear the triumph of goodness, holiness, and righteousness. They fear not being in control. They fear death's overtaking them. The righteous desire the triumph of goodness, holiness, and righteousness. They offer their lives to be controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. They recognize death is an enemy, but one that has been conquered by their Savior. In times like these, isn't it comforting to know that the things that the wicked fear are really things that they can be sure of receiving!

My Prayer...

O LORD God, please bring your justice, mercy, and righteousness to triumph in the lives of all who seek after you and your will. Please make my heart more like yours in regard to evil and those who perpetuate it, and stir in me a deeper passion to lead those to Christ who do not know you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.





Happy Birthday Chiew Sze....


~~TO OUR LOVELY SISTER IN CHRIST~~
Happy birthday,Chiew Sze


































































































































































and GOD Bless you always............................................XoXo by all the sisters~!










Posted by Rachel

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Jenny Tan's bridal shower


JENNY TAN'S BRIDAL SHOWER

Date :19 September 2009
Time :1pm
Location :Johnny Steamboat Restaurant
Attendance :Jenny Tan,Aunty Helen,Evelyn (and 2 children-Nichol & Phoebe)Ai Wah,Sue Ann,Chon Mee,Irene & Rachel.











Posted by Rachel

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Potter's Hand

Beautiful Lord, Wonderful Saviour
I know for sure, all of my days are held in your hands, crafted
into your perfect plan
You gently call me into your presence guiding me by Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord to live all of my life through Your eyes
I'm captured by Your holy calling
Set me apart, I know you're drawing me to yourself
Lead me Lord I pray

Chorus:
Take me, Mould me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the Potter's hand
Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter's hand

you gentlly call me into your presence guidin me by your holy spirit
teach me dear lord to live through your eyes
i'm captured by you holy calling
set me apart, I know your drawing me to yourself
lead me lord i pray




Friday, September 18, 2009

Daily Bread-18 September 2009

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 82:3-4 (Read all of Psalm 82)

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Things Said In Secret

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious.
—Ecclesiastes 10:12

Some say that anonymity is the last refuge for cowards. Judging from mail and comments I’ve read that have been submitted anonymously, I would agree. People hiding behind the screen of anonymity or a false identity feel the freedom to launch angry, hurtful tirades. Anonymity allows them to be unkind without having to take responsibility for their words.

Whenever I am tempted to write something anonymously because I don’t want to be identified with my own words, I stop and reconsider. If I don’t want my name attached to it, I probably shouldn’t be saying it. Then I do one of two things: I either toss it out or I rewrite it in a way that makes it helpful rather than hurtful.

According to Ephesians, our words should edify and impart grace (4:29). If I’m unwilling to use my name, there’s reason to believe that my motive is to hurt, not to help.

Whenever you’re tempted to say something in secret—perhaps to a family member, co-worker, or your pastor—consider why you don’t want your name to be identified with your words. After all, if you don’t want to be identified with your words, God probably doesn’t either. He is gracious and slow to anger (Ex. 34:6), and we should be the same. — Julie Ackerman Link

O Lord, help us to turn aside
From words that spring from selfish pride,
For You would have Your children one
In praise and love for Your dear Son. —D. De Haan

Anonymity can be a coward’s way of hiding behind hurtful words.



posted by Rachel

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

What is God's will for my life?
















When people seek to now and do the will of God, many ask the question,
What is God's will for my life?
A seminary professor of mine, Dr.Gaines S.Dobbins, used to say,
"if you ask the wrong question, you are going to to get the wrong answer."
Sometimes we assume that every question is a legitimate question. When we pursue an answer and always come up wrong, we cannot figure out what is happening. Always check and see if you have asked the right question before you pursue the answer.

What is God's will for my life? -is not the right question.
I think the right question is, What is God's will?
Once i know God's will, then i can adjust my life to Him. In other words, what is it that God is purposing where i am. Once i know what God is doing, then i know what i need to do. The focus needs to be on God, not my life.

The right question is : What is god's will??

Posted by Rachel
from Experiencing God

What is human spirit?

WHAT IS HUMAN SPIRIT?

"There is a spirit in man"(Job 32:8),and this human spirit is man's key to experiencing Christ.The Lord Jesus said that God is Spirit and those who woship Him must worship in spirit (John 4:24),taht is, in the human spirit. If we must worship God in spirit, it is important for every believer to understand what the human spirit is.














Over the centuries, there has been confusion concerning man’s inward parts. Some Bible teachers argue that the spirit is no different from the soul. For our experience of Christ, to say this may be comparable to the dangerous endeavor of having cardiac surgery performed by a doctor that believes there is no difference between the heart and the liver. First Thessalonians 5:23 clearly tells us man is made of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. Hebrews 4:12 says that “the word of God is living and operative and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” This shows us that the spirit and the soul are not the same thing and can be divided. We need the living word of God to help us know the distinction between our soul and our spirit.

When we believe in the Lord Jesus, it is our human spirit that is born of the divine Spirit, regenerating us with the eternal life of God (John 3:6). So the apostle Paul says that the Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16). In Ephesians, Paul speaks of the human spirit in a crucial way in every chapter (1:17; 2:22; 3:5; 4:23; 5:18; and 6:18). Paul also told Timothy that the Lord’s dwelling place is in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22). In the book of Revelation the apostle John saw four major visions and to see each one, he was “in spirit” (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; and 21:10).



posted by Rachel

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Memory Words for Experiencing God-unit 1



"I am the vine;
you are the branches.
If a man remains in me and I in Him,
He will bear much fruit;
apart from me,
you can do nothing."


~JOHN15:5 NIV


Posted by Rachel

Friday, September 4, 2009

Daily Bread


I want you to know, brethren,
that the things which happened to me
have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel.

—Philippians 1:12

On a map in the back of my Bible, each of Paul’s missionary journeys is shown by a colored line with arrows indicating his direction of travel. On the first three, the arrows lead away from his place of departure and back to a point of return. On the fourth journey, however, Paul was traveling as a prisoner, bound for trial before Caesar, and the arrows point only one direction, ending in Rome.

We might be tempted to call this an unfortunate time in Paul’s life, if it were not for his view that God was leading and using him just as much on this journey as He did on the previous three.

He wrote: “I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the Word without fear” (Phil. 1:12-14).

Even when our journey in life is marked by confinement and limitations, we can be sure that the Lord will encourage others through us as we speak His Word and trust in Him. — David C. McCasland


The journeys that we take in life,
Though unexpected they may be,
If we commit to follow Christ,
His work through us the world will see. —Sper


For the Christian, what looks like a detour may actually be a new road to blessing.



Posted by Rachel


Thursday, September 3, 2009

The LORD is my shepherd




The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want.

Psalm 23:1 (NIV)

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

A sheep is only as good as its shepherd. We are incredibly blessed!

My Prayer...

O Great Shepherd,
carry me like a lamb,
tenderly in your arms and close to your heart.
My life, my future, and my strength depend upon you.
Please help me hear your voice above the confusing distractions around me.
Under your care I have no fears.
Thank you for being my Shepherd.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.


Posted by Rachel

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Today Bible Reading-Psalm 106:1-6, 13-23, 47-48


God
will remember the people

Praise the Lord!

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures forever.
Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?

Happy are those who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times.

Remember me,O Lord,
when you show favor to your people;
help me when you deliver them;
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory in your heritage.
Both we and our ancestors have sinned;
we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly. ...

But they soon forgot his works:
they did not wait for his counsel.
But they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,
and put God to the test in the desert;
he gave them what they asked,
but sent a wasting disease among them.



They were jealous of Moses in the camp,
and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
They made a calf at Horeb
and covered the faction of Abiram.
Fire also broke out in their
and worshiped a cast image.

They exchanged the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
Therefore he said he would destroy them-
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them. ...


Save us, O Lord our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.


Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
And let all the people say, "Amen."
Praise the Lord!



Posted by Rachel

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Grace and a bunch of apples

CONSIDER 2 SCENARIOS :

Scenario #1 :
Someone has been caught stealing a pair of sandals from a shop in a market bazaar.The law of the land stipulates that the guilty party has to have one of their hands cut off in public,to serve as further deterrent to others not to commit the same crime.

Scenario #2 :
One cool autumn day,you are driving down a quiet country road where there are numerous apple orchards. suddenly you stop by one and see a table piled with the most luscious,juiciest apples you've ever seen.But there is no one manning the shall, just a cup with some coins in it. but there's a sign-and it says :



"Apples -50 cents each ;please leave your money in the cup and take your change from it, have a nice day!!!"





take a walk with me...

Those two are actual events that occur in real life.They serve to reflect two worldviews. One says that harsh laws are needed because man is depraved,cannot change his base nature and is thus always needed to be reminded of the consequences of their transgressions.The other takes a leap,goes on faith that man is capable of more noble intentions and practise.That he can be honest,and not selfish.

Which world would you like to live in? How would you make your world more like that? Take a looks at how you behave in your workplace, your home with your loved ones and your friends. That's the world you're shaping with your thoughts, words, deeds and intentions. Is that world what we would call the Kingdom of God ?

The Kingdom of God. One author asked this pertinent question :" Can you imagine what it would be like if people actually lived the Gospel and we lived the Kingdom of God". I can, It would be amazingly bizarre . "Oprah" would feature kids who actuallly like doing their homework and honouring their parents. Gossip magazines would be full of Hollywood celebrities who actually stay married to their spouses for life. And the orphans and old folks home would be empty bacause every family would want to adopt one. The unwanted will become the wanted.

You might say this is a pipe dream,a fantasy and not realistic.It can't possibly be real.True, all true.But....one day it will be. Christ will come again and then every tear, every pain and sorrow will be washed away. and the Kingdom he establishes will be like the one i wrote about, even better.A thousand times better. until then,what will you do with your life? How will you live it ?

Grace to be with you.

Verses for study and reflection :

* Romans 7: 7-25

7What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet 8But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

11For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. 13Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

*Galatians 2 :15-21

5"We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' 16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

17"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. 19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!

*Revelations 21 :1-4

1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Updated by Rachel
Vesper by Mr.Michael Gong (PJTMC)