Monday, January 29, 2007

Everything in God's purpose

As i came back home it was the usual
go where?
why so late?

I was with my usual answer church la..

I have always questioned myself(and God) why? Why am i born to the parents i have now? Why born me with this two *ahem* irritating parents?

I know deep down its their way of showing concern for me but i just couldn't stop grumbling. Then God spoke to me.

If you are not with them, who shall be the one to show them the way to me? Who shall be the one to show them the light and guide them to me?

God was actually using me, me as a daughter to bring my parents to the light, to him. Of course my intial reaction was like no la, not possible right where got sense. Daughter show parents? Thought should be the other way round?

Then slowly the truth began to work in me. God placed me in this family, this school, this class for a specfic reason. Its is not like express class no more space put you in NA class ar... NO i am there for a reason.

Do i know the reason? No la i am not God what how i know.

But STOP grumbling. Ask God what to do in everything and obey. And God help us to obey you even when its so hard to. Indeed you will never put us through things that we cannot handle. And God help us to be reminded daily that you gave us your shield of victory and that your right hand will sustains us (psalms 18:35).

(=

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Consider this.

HE stoops down
to make me great.

~Psalm 18:35b

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Date with Ah Ber!

Belinda, myself and our Life Coachees (taken in May 2006)

I had another wonderful dinner last night with another beautiful gal Belinda aka Ah Ber or Ber ah. We were counting the years i have known her, and it came to a startling figure - 3! Time just flies huh. =)

We talked so much that we forgot we wanted to take a photo together. On the left is a photo taken 2 years ago when she told us she did not know how to smile when taking pictures. Then i always remember her telling me a while after she received Christ, that she has found herself smiling more naturally (and sweetly!), and i praise God because i know she has found joy and identity in Jesus. =)


* * *

By the way, Ber has an encouragement for those of us who feel stressed in their studies:

"Our brains need ample rest; a tired mind cannot absorb information. Even if you manage to cramp information in your head, you cannot remember what you have revised and write the answer out. You won't even have the energy to do the exams."

Belinda is speaking from her own experience in her secondary school, when she allowed fear to tell her she could never finish studying or do well and thus didn't give herself proper rest.

Dear gals, always paint the picture of victory in your minds, and claim it in the name of Jesus! Then darkness will fall away. And you will find that you are fighting from victory, not for victory, because by faith the victory has already been won. =) I am claiming the pictures of victory together with each of you! -mirabel

Monday, January 22, 2007

Date with Sharlene!


It was a beautiful time of catching up with Sharlene last night (though we had two unwelcomed 'intruders' sitting beside us..Ha just kidding =p). We laughed till our faces turned lobster red!


As i shared my Matrix and encounters with Jesus with her, i thought i saw her face turn slightly sad for some seconds. She said,

"I really hope to be able to come church again soon!"

"Pray, pray, pray! And you are not alone. We are praying with you!" i encouraged her.

"Yes! I will pray and ask again. Pray and ask again. Pray and ask again!" Sharlene exclaimed with a sweet smile.


Yes, its warfare. We will all Pray Until Something Happens! Our God is great!


Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Psalm 13 | Gratefulness keeps our hearts close to God

1 How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Sounds familiar?

Said similar things like above to God before? When lamenting?

Ever felt like the Lord has forsaken you?



3 Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
4 my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

Didn't God promise us in Deuternomoy 31:8 that He will never leave nor forsake us?

Very true. And David (who wrote Psalms) trusted in God's heart completely. He did not stop calling upon the Lord, while recognising that it is the our enemy, Satan, who caused us to be forlorn and sorrowful, not God.


5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.



The 2 reasons for why David could stand firm on Christ and praise and trust God, even in such great anguish and deep sorrow:

1. He rejoiced in his salvation. (v.5b)
David bore in mind that Jesus has won the greatest victory in his life - saving him from death to eternal life. Our salvation is the greatest and only eternal assurance anyone can have! And that alone should give us eternal joy and hope.

2. He remembered God's goodness and faithfulness since he knew Him. (v.6b)
"For He HAS been good to me." Always grateful.



Always give thanks, always be grateful. Remember His mercy, kindness and goodness as you jot down the little and big things He has done for us.


Our GRATITUDE determines our MAGNITUDE!

Monday, January 15, 2007

What exactly is the Armor of God?

As mentioned, it is important for a soldier to recognise and be familiar with her own weapons and equipment. As i continued to look into the Armor of God, here is a chart which is useful to help us sharpen our armor.

(Click to zoom in)

TO DO:
1. Please do spend some time looking through (in the chart) the scriptures of Truth and power which the Armor is based on.

2. Pray through each piece. A guided outline can be:

The belt of truth: Thank You Jesus that You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. You are the only true and living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Sovereign King of the universe, my Father who loves me, and my Shepherd who leads me. You are my wisdom, my counselor, my hope, and my strength. You are all that i need.

The breastplate of righteousness: Lord, indeed who am i that You care and died for me. I, a sinful person, do not deserve Your mercy or even to be in Your presence, but You have shown me deep Grace by taking my sins to the cross and declaring me righteous. Lord, show me any sin that I need to confess right now, so that nothing will hinder me from being filled to overflowing with Your Spirit. [Take time for confession] Thank You for forgiving me and for filling me with Your righteous life.

The sandals of peace: Thank You for the peace You give me when I trust and follow You. I will not be troubled; i will not be fearful (John 14:27). Show me how to help others find that peace.

The shield of faith: Without faith, it is impossible to please You (Hebrews 11:6). Thank You for helping me have faith in You. We will not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but be strengthened in Your faith and give glory to You, being fully persuaded that You have power to do what You have promised (Romans 4:20-21).

The helmet of salvation: Thank You for promising me salvation both for today's battles and for all eternity. LORD, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure (Psalm 16:5).

The sword of the spirit, the Word of God: Thank You for the scriptures you have deposited in my heart. Please show me which one(s) You want me to use to cut through deceptions and gain Your victory in any battle I may face today.


3. Answer the question i posted in the previous post: Which of this areas do you think you have not regularly and confidently sharpened? Work on it/them!


(Reference from http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/armorofgod.html)

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Soldiers of the Cross... Full Armor gear up!

The Full Armor!
(And you thought that architectural students could draw all the time =p)

If there is no battle, there is no victory. We as daughters of God, warriors of Light, and soldiers of the Cross, need our full armor to engage in the battle - spiritual warfare!

Ephesians 6:12-13 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Get your Full Armor ready! (Read Ephesians 6:10-20)

* * *

Reflection

Please answer: Item 1-6, which ones do you think are weaker (i don't think non-existent) in your life?

For me: i think the Sword of the Spirit. I remember verses only part by part, and many times forget their references.

> I want to polish my Sword by going deeper in the word of God - memorising them in my heart, so that they correct and align my thoughts and intentions sharply according to God's will for my life.

> This also helps me rebuke the devil in times of temptation and weakness. (Check out how Jesus rebuked Satan with the Word of God many times when He was tempted in the desert in Matthew 4:2-11)

> This leads me to guide and correct others not basing on my own standards and wisdom, but only God's.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

HE is the greatest!

after i really felt the stress at school work etc, i felt like giving up. thinking, probably i really took the wrong subject combination after i started. felt like i was dropping... nothing to catch me.. then, i remembered one thing. i've forgotten that God is always there to reach out for me.. so i prayed and i felt a lot better. and i thanked God for being with us everywhere we are. btw, thanks to the rest who prayed for me, dina and the rest. good day!

Use me

Won't You Lord
Take a look at my hands
Everything I have
Use it for Your plan
Won't You Lord
Take a look at my heart
Mold it, refine it
As You set me part

I want to run to the altar
And catch the fire
To stand in the gap
Between the living and the dead
Give us a heart of compassion
For a world without vision
We will make a difference
Bringing hope to our land

We will answer the call
To build this church without walls
Let Your glory be shown
Bring salvation to the lost
To the lost


This song never fails to encourage me. Today as i hear of my friend backsliding and not wanting to go church, i was so discouraged. I just had a thousands question in my mind waiting to ask them.
Why don't want go church?
Got any problems?

But God just told me. Actions will definitely speaks louder then words.

Yes Lord. Use me. I avail myself for you, work through them using me Lord. Help me to shine in school and that not only them but the whole school can see it's You working through me.

1 Tim 4:16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both ourself and your hearers.

Lord help me to hang on till the end.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Trying to make some noise?

Hello Dearest,

I'm so not a blog nor email or a write something person. But I'll try hahahaa to pin down some stuffs. Hmm and still figuring out abt blog.

I'm still in NUS lab, mugging away for my exams. Time now is 11pm. Tomo, Thurs 11-01, I'm having a practical test and final theory paper next thurs, 18-01. Yesterday I just had an mcq paper. Pretty stress for this paper actually, seeking a lot of peace from God.

I wonder if my stress comes from proving to my mum that even though I spend a lot of my time in church (which she feels greatly so) I can still get great results. I didn't do as well as I usually did for my last module and she blamed it on going for tooooo much church activities. Even asked me "why u still wanna go church on sun ah?" During such times theres always temptations also to not go church lah, BUT, I started out doing life science cos of God. Felt God has something for me to do in this industry. So if i don't go church, i might as well drop my course and go back to my engineer life. Thank God for always reminding me He's there He's there, He's everywhere! And He's here with me in my lab where I'm all alone and cold and can be pretty scary hahahaha.

As long as I work hard for my exams, I know God will do the rest! Good or bad results.. Well, God always has a purpose for everything, which always ends up good for us anyway. So I need to go back to working hard! Wooosh!

Felt better after pinning down my tots and surrendering this to God.

Monday, January 8, 2007

I want to be an Oak Tree













In accordance to my previous post on my personal blog (why i want to be a tree), i had listened to Ps Khong's latest audio recording of his thoughts on his blog.

And i found out what tree i want to be.

Why an oak tree:

1. It takes a long time to grow but it is a strong tree that can stand alone. Its roots grow deep.

2. This does not mean that that i do not work together with the body of Christ, but that i do not lean on others to survive. I want to be a life that stands alone for God, and with God all the time.

3. And the desire to go deep goes accordance with Colossians 1:9-10 - Going deep in the knowledge of the God's will for my life:
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God..

The blue statement really sums up the oak tree i want to be.

And i am reminded "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7a). May this oak tree always be humbled before you, O almighty Lord of mighty love.

Control the wheel of my car.

I thank God for giving me the chance to teach Chee Foon pre-encounter. Of course it was a great experience for me to learn how to go through pre-enc and for Chee Foon hopefully(?) to learn what her salvation is all about.

But of course it wasn't easy stepping out of my comfort zone to do that. I had all the doubts and fears when mummy mirabel asked me to do it.
"Will she understands what i am teaching?"
"Why i teach?"
"wah why the question i don't even know how to answer one?"


So even after i finished session 1 with her, i was still wondering does she really understand?? And as my week went, i was too caught with my things in life it soon became pushed to the back of my mind.

But on sunday, while we were singing Holy Spirit, the part where
Come Holy Spirit,
come pour out your oil anointing.

God gave me a vision. It was me in the position which i was worshipping in. And i just see the anointing that flows so freely on my head but i just couldn't resist asking this question. "so what is this anointing for?" That question was answered for. I saw the anointing dripping from my hand.

*tekgong on my head* anoint others la!! And it was so qiao that Pastor Eugene started talking that indeed it was no accident for everything you are doing or in now. God has placed us there for a reason. And do not be afraid for the Lord your God is with you.

And there God said to me "daughter, yes were called to help/bless your sister but why do you worry so much? If i am in charge, do you have to worry?" .

Indeed God have called us to bless others but will He let you do it alone? The answer is a obvious NO. He will guide us but will you let Him to guide you today?

Saturday, January 6, 2007

How God has changed my life - in 100 words

(To be revised. Ps Eugene gave comment that i can add more heart voice, more feel. Will try again! =))

Why I am so passionate about God

I used to believe i could not achieve big things in life. There was always fear that bound me from trying and my family is not the type which openly encourages. After Jesus, i discovered He has exciting plans for me to touch and bless people's lives. That was what i always hoped to do since young. I have a heart for people, but fear told me i would be rejected. The fear is still present, but Jesus overcomes it and grants me courage to be a life coach and youth leader today. I have a purpose in Him!
(100 words)

-mirabel

* * *

Where is yours?

How come nobody is responding to the previous blog post?

Thursday, January 4, 2007

What do you think of the Blogname?

Drop comments here. I want to hear from you gals!

* * *

Why i chose Thank-Triumph-Bless :

Did you notice that they are all action words / verbs?
This means
1. We must DO IT (We will be Do-ers of God's word, not just Hearers)
2. Needless for reminder (i hope!), these are the 3 things we should strive to do in 2007 in order to B R E A K O U T!