miracles are gonna happen.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them." But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites (Numbers 14:5-10)

Eversince the start of uni i've been wondering what on earth i'm doing here.. i dislike it.. totally.. i dun fit.. school is occupying too much of my time.. it never used to be that way.. it's not tt the courses are too difficult.. it's just tt the work load is disgustingly plenty and sometimes even pointless...many a times i ask what God wants me to do here. Why couldn i have been more normal? Get a scholarship, get bonded, fly somewhere. Did i make a mistake??

Was complaining to cx today. Yet today when I got back, this was the devotion i read:

Have you ever had to stand up against the majority for a cause that wasn't popular? God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and promised He would lead them into a land of milk and honey. The process of moving out of Egypt was difficult. They could no longer do things the old way, for the old ways didn't work in the desert. God provided for them during this journey. But there came a point in which the people forgot what God had said. Their discomfort changed their belief about God.

A few questions were also included- Whenever God is slow to answer our prayers, what we believe about God is revealed. Do we change our plans and move in a different direction when pressure mounts? Or do we continue on the path God has directed for us?

This really made me think about whether i was just bending under pressure and starting to think that maybe this isn't what God wants for me just because i'd rather the easier way out (not that i think going overseas is the easier way). Still, I think it takes a lot of courage to be like the 4 men mentioned in the verse above., to go against the norms and dare to believe in what God has in stored.

Perhaps what i really need to do is:

Trust in the Lord, lean not on your own understanding, acknowledge Him in all you do, and He shall direct your path (Prov. 3:5-6)

holding on to you. 11:59 PM

Thursday, August 10, 2006

national day!! haha.... was really fun... my neighbours are the "funnest" pple to be wid.. dan, rome, bin and i finally had our "cousin-bonding" session. it was hilarious. dan called us over bout 2 plus and we started to have a bbq in his house. "in" as in literally in his house.

we had one of those disposable pits which his mum placed on a chopping board at the window sill. and guess what u get with a bbq in an enclosed apartment? the smoke starts to choke everyone!! so dan's mum holds the pit out of the window with all of us desperately trying to convince her not to, for fear of kevin's house (the guy down stairs) catching fire.. and well... successfully burning down everyone's home as well. in anycase uncle jack got a table and we laid the disposable pit down -- still in the house. u can imagine the whole house filled wid smoke and we were all in this sort of haze trying to keep the food cooking (u can't really see so everything got kinda burnt). in the end jerome and i spent a whole lot of time trying to fan the smoke out of the house (rather unsuccessfully i'd say... i still smell of smoke!!).. i'd hate to think what the passers-by were seeing from the walkway...perhaps lots of smoke coming from the window of the third floor.. i'm surprised no one called 995 actually... hehe.. quite scary.. in the event a real fire actually occurs.. someone will just go "relac la brother.. it's one of those wacky neighbours having a bbq in the house".. any case, the bbq ended quite soon when the chopping board which was made of wood, caught fire (btw the chopping board was also on a wooden table) and jerome came trying to douse the flames wid lots of water...and i mean lots.. all in all, considering the fun we had trying to get the smoke out of the house, the charred food, the burnt chopping board and table and the gd show we had on while cooking, i guess it was fun.. i bet our bbq can't beat ian's though... hehe.. having a bbq in the stairwell.. we were going to do tt later in the evening outside jon's house to celebrate mal's b'day and to gif jon a fit... too bad it didn happen...

guys went running later in the evening.. didn' go, went wid my bro in the morn.. o yar.. morn the prata man gaf me $4 discount.. hahaha.... poor brian tries so hard but nvr gets any... anyway... enuf of morning.. evening we played soccer... haven't played soccer for a long time.. made so many blunders yest.. thank God today was a clean sheet!! whee!! and we won!! haha.. considering we were playing against a much stronger team.. though of course the other team was handicapped once bri left.. ( i noe my timeline is kinda messy)

prata at night again.. i think we go almost every nite nowadays.. it's the funniest time of the day wid brian and his antics.. today mal's phone dropped in the fish curry.. it was hilarious... he placed it on his wallet and then it vibrated.. the phone edged closer to the prata plate and "ploop" it went into the oily depths...i think the prata pple were quite amused as well... dan took one hour to walk to the prata place.. excuse being he was out chasing some cat... he appeared drunk anyway and the ren bros almost conned all his money out of him... thank God bri has money to pay for everything or we'd haf had to sell dan away...

holding on to you. 12:43 AM

Thursday, August 03, 2006

met brenda yesterday... mentoring was great..i think God really did a work in my heart that nite.. all the fear, insecurity and sadness.. kinda like my spirit just lifted. i guess what God really wanted to talk to me about was humiliy. We didn't follow the lesson for this week, however, whatever i shared with brenda confirmed the word that was in her heart so she taught me with what she prepared (which was on humility) instead . i guess i was really convicted and realised that i had a huge amt of pride towards my new sch mates....haha.. yesh..i was reprimanded by God with this verse..

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-4

apart from getting right with God, i think God also reminded me of this verse

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

We always think about what we can do for God, what we wanna achieve and whether what we are doing is the will of God. Entering uni life, i guess i came with the same thoughts.. but it really is simple isn't it - "to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"... Simple yet words that carry a lot of weight.. not an easy thing.. half the time we get so attracted to the things of the world, we're so full of ourselves....we end up doing things our way and ask if this is what pleases God...

ultimately last nite what really encouraged me and lifted my spirits was this verse

For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy:"I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Isa 57:15

I was really reminded of how He is with me always and even as He is a God who judges and lets us go through trials and temptation, He is also a God of love and of grace...

haha... God is so amazing.. He really knows what to say to you at different points of your life. I guess u can't help but admit that the Word of God is living and has the power to teach, rebuke, correct and train in righteousness!!

I guess i'm ready to enter uni wid a renewed mind! Praise God!!

The Time Has Come
Hillsong

Found love beyond all reason
You gave Your life, your all for me
And called me yours forever

Caught in the mercy fallout
I found hope found life
Found all I need
Cause you're all I need

The time has come
To stand for all we believe in
So I for one am gonna
Give my praise to You

Today today it's all or nothing
All the way
The praise goes out to you
Yeah all the praise goes out to you
Today today I live for one thing
To give You praise In everything I do
Yeah all the praise goes out to you

All we are is yours
And all we're living for
Is all you are

Is all that you are Lord ...

holding on to you. 1:51 PM