Newness of life

Sunday School Camp 2005 was a success by God's grace.

I've learnt much during this camp. Camp verses were Ephesians6:10-18 on the armour of God.

Yet, when I came home in the evening. I was struck by an overwhelming sense of a lack of love for God and a desire to have a truly intimate walk with Him. To say I'm a Christian who loves God is one thing, but to act out my love for God is another. How much time I spent in God's word, compared to TV, hobbies, internet chatting, etc.

King David in Psalms 119:97 "Oh how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day." Can I say that for myself one day? I hope so.

Picked up my Bible and it was at Romans 6. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." v5

God thought me that this verse is not only for new believers, but also for seasoned ones. Not yet yielded enough. If I wanted to be a man after God's own heart as King David was, I must start by loving God's laws as much as David did, that it was his meditation all the day. Seeking God and His testimonies and statutes above self-pride and righteousness. Today will start a difference in my life again. I will walk this newness of life.

1Pet 1:16 "Because it is written, Be ye holy ; for I am holy(Lev11:44)"

Accountability:
1) Cut TV
2) Read God's word more each day.

December Hols are here!

Exams are over and Sunday School Camp is coming up in 2 days time.
Have to entrust my results in God's hands.. some papers were just plainly difficult.

Pray that I'll be given the right mind and right heart to be in Sunday School Camp. As assistant camp master, I really desire to do what God would have me do in this camp. Whilst now, I'm just feeling a sense of emptiness and perhaps lostness. Many things to be done... Yet God is concerned about how I choose to do them each, and not that I simply get them done.

Is it not that "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"(Phil4:13)? Yes, it is. It's God who gives purpose, meaning and fulfillment to the works of my hand. And I will do my works to the best of my might(Ecc9:10).

Watched Saw II with friends today. Grostesque and horror films aren't my liking and this is particularly grostesque. If you watched it and did not find it particularly grosteque, then the world has succeeded in desensitizing you to violence and gore. The very instinct that makes us squirm, fidget and want to shut our eyes when we see violence, gore and other disturbing images flash before our eyes is what has been wired into us, helping us to differentiate what is good and what isn't. It's also a warning, indicating danger for us. Some people may find my opinions particularly extreme, but just look at the desensitized world out there. When 9/11 struck and the world had images of violence plastered all over their tv screens, how many had commented in curiousity "wow... this looks like a movie", before it even occured to feel pity and disgust? I know I was more curious then shock, and pity and disgust came much later then it should.

We ought to be good stewards for God with our minds and perspectives too. I hope that years later I'll still squirm at violence, bloodshed(and not see it as theatrics) and psychotic serial killers. On an added note, yes, I hope I'll be shy about sexual imagery thown about at me everyday and to mention even the word "sex". We seem to have traded our shyness for unfounded boldness and desensitized our minds to sex, as something that has found it's way to casual talk with every television drama and movie flashing a scene or two of suggested pre-marital sex(on this point saw 2 din have any, amazingly).

What to watch, listen, think and do then?

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
~Philippians 4:8

2 down!

Thank God! 2 papers down. Kissing programming and linear algebra good bye.

3 more to go. Japanese, COmputer Organisation and Digital Logic, Entrepreneurial Marketing.

But I feel... a sense of liberation already..

それから、日本語は勉強します！

Prying hard to see that glimmer of hope!

That describes my feelings right now. Not going to do a long entry.
Just want to say how much I can't wait for my exams to be over. Especially for the subjects of Computer Organisation, Linear Algebra and Programming Methodology.

Very typical of me to be thinking of play even before my exams are here.. haha... yeap, I'm thinking of how i wannna spend my time after exams already. Looking forward to sunday school camp, photography courses I signed up for and of course Christmas...!

On top of that I just bought a Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 (Tamiya) Kit on Monday... call it retail therapy.. haha ;)

Movie I wanna catch now would be Doom.. and soon Chronicles of Narnia and Chicken Little! (Invitations are open now.. )

God hears and God speaks. The Lord is at hand.

Am feeling troubled at heart. A few things have weighed me down yesterday. It started with a situation in my project group that has really gotten out of hand with something that a difficult charactor in the group has done directed at me. Also, I've got a math lab quiz later. Anything to do with Linear Algebra or Exams for that matter are giving me the jitters now. I feel unprepared. I did not know what to do, but to ask several people to pray for me. (Thank you for your prayers! I felt better and appreciate your concern.)

Praying myself, I began to ask God to answer my cries. I'm lost, troubled in spirit, heavy hearted, worried and afraid. But I don't seem to see God immediately working. Seems almost like He may not have heard my prayer. Then I remembered Phil4:7.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

~Philippians 4:4-9 (New International Version)

I felt better realising that I could rejoice in the Lord always, coz He is in-charge, the head honcho around this town(called the Universe). And what an amazing verse 5, "The Lord is near(at hand says KJV)"! Yes, He is! He is like a life-guard, except better yet, a life-guard that swims with you. At hand to rescue me. So I made my prayer and petitions with thanksgiving to God and slept well.

Woke up this morning (unduely) worried again. How faithless I am. Yet, God proves faithful again whilst I'm not. Praise God for this mornings QT Psa34:11-22.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

¹² Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,

¹³ keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.

¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their cry;

¹⁶ the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all;

²⁰ he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

²² The LORD redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. ¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. ¹⁹ A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
Yes, God hears and He is attentive to my cries! Wonderful isn't it? Having God tell u that. Once again reminding me he is close and will deliver me from all my troubles.

I prayed for wisdom, and what was God's will. Now I know.

¹¹ Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
¹² Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
¹³ keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
¹⁴ Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

I will deal with all things justly. Will not lie in ths situation, will not speak ungodly words, will not do evil but do good and seek peace! So that "my gentleness be evident to all.(because) The Lord is near." AMEN!

Trust in God.

Trust in the Lord with all thine hear and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

And old truth revisited in the past few weeks. Was physically tired and mentally overwhelmed by my work. The catch up game on school work and projects seemed endless[still is endless] and all these culminating to exams coming up in November. Perhaps, I was relying too much on my own strength to go through each day. It was about trying to get things done asap. It was so unconscious that i did not realise I wasn't trusting in God but my ownself to work things through.

But thank God for seeing me through. My work did not get less, but I did know who was in charge and I had peace to do my work. Now I'm able to blog, to testify that the Lord is good ;) and I'm beginning to get on top of work, or at least I'm not anxious about it anymore.

For as His ways are higher then mine and His thoughts higher then mine, so will I trust the Lord and not look to man for support nor strength. If you're down-trodden and feel like you've got heavy burdens that are weighing you down, making it hard to breathe, hard to carry on walking down, difficult to catch up, look to God who created all things and is in-charge of all[yes, even in whatever situation you're in].

For Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto you souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."(Matthew 11:28-30 KJV)

"I've tried it it really works!" sounds like a new slimming advertisement? haha... but really, it works!(with my life I can garantee that)

Now it's how to acknowledge him in all my ways...

The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.~Psalms 29:11

I've forgotten

I've forgotten about penning down some of my thoughts in the past month or so.
It wasn't that nothing happened. In fact a lot of things happened and many to the glory of God.

Amidst struggling homework, programming labs, tutorials, quizes and all... I will gladly testify that the Lord was with me and saw me through! Admittedly, it was a struggle, that sometimes I lost, to do quiet time and pray but God is faithful still.

Friends around me seem stressed out by the work and the pace of uni life... Japanese language, programming labs, maths tutorials and many new concepts are also weighin me down.. but I thank God that He planted in me a fountain of life.. that I may have life more abundantly through Jesus ;) So yeap, I'm enjoying life in university, inspite of the work and the stress!!

So finally it's mid-term break. It's time to study for some tests and rest. So that's it.. from 1st week of school to last week of term.. time really flies..

Orientation and week 1.

Been awhile.. the 1st week of lecture timetables have started.

Freshmen orientation week was made fun entirely by the company ;) I thank God for putting me where I was and meeting all my orientation mates. It really is enjoyable to make new friends and suddenly, I'm dozens of friends richer :P Also getting to share the Gospel with 2 friends was a joy.

Rag Day

KBox


Throughout the fun, was the overwhelming CORs bidding rounds. What to bid, how much to bid, when to bid, and so much more... am thankful to God that I managed to obtain 5 modules.

WARNING: Long story ahead
I had wanted very much to take the japanese language module for a number of reasons. Interest, Career, and possibly mission work. It never dawned on me that I'll not be able to take the module until the bidding round 2A started. by the night the bid had went up to 192 points [I am only given 350 points to bid]. When I decided to place 200 points as a bid, I was told that new minimum was 201 and I could not place my bid!!!

the next day was an even greater drama with the whole CORs system becoming inaccesible due to crippling traffic. Bidding was to end at 3pm and at 2.50pm I still could not get in to place my bids. I had 2 modules to bid for. I placed 5 points on the other and was outbidded already. I realized, what was I worrying about? I cannot control the server from lagging. There was nothing that I could do, but my Heavenly Father could! Why am I not praying? And God works everytime in His very own prefect timing! Right after saying a quick prayer, I heard someone from across the lab announcing that CORs has just decided to extend the closing time to 5pm instead!! Praise God! I managed to get in and placed my 345 point bid for my japanese module then ;)

Did I get the module? I was told at 7+pm that night via e-mail that I did not - the minimum bid was a mere 350 points. I was really disappointed. Could it be that God did not want me taking that language? really, was that the 1st confirmation that my desire is not what God wants? Although I prayed that God not give me that module no matter what if He did not want me venturing in that area; the sense of disappointment was a little hard to shake off. That night I asked, "if not, show me another way..."

True enough after searching through what's left, I came across "Entrepreneurial Marketing". The only thing that spurred any interest in me and it was only 1 point! Wow you can't get any cheaper.. thanks to the odd timing of 6-9pm. Thank God for leading the way, because I did not have enough points to bid for most of the modules and the rest simply were dreary looking modules. btw, the minimum bid for Japanse in round 2B was 1280!!

I had not entirely given up on Japanese yet. There was a 67 slots for arts students that will be opened up to all if it wasn't filled up by round 3. and so, there was 67 slots in round 3. I really did not know what to expect. I did not think that I could successfully bid for this module given that it is particularly popular and thus it's track record is "expensive". Nonetheless, I felt that I should try at least. And if God did not want the "unbelieving me" to get it, I won't anyway and I'll just have to trust Him to provide for something better out of whatever modules are left. I decided that I'll put 300 points in this time.

Later that night I really did not know what to expect in my e-mail. Clicking and opening the mail from CORs, I was half-expecting to just admit that this module isn't for me to have. But God is wonderful! He is Jehovah Jireh, my Provider ;) I got the Japanese Module! and I did not just succesfully bidded for it, I got it at a mere 31 points! What a far cry from the minimum 350 points in round 2A!!

• Programming Methodology CS1101x
• Computer Organisation CS1104
• Linear Algebra I MA1101R
• Entrepreneurial Marketing TR2201 (breadth)
• Japanese Language LAJ1201 (breadth)

these modules did not come easy and they sure weren't what I had originally intended. I learnt and am able to testify once again that God's plan and time is the BEST! I can do all that is humanly possible, but it does not mean that I will obtain what I set out to achieve. God provided and He did not just provide, He provided it at the best time for me that I would not have wasted all my 350 points to get it in round 2A instead!

In His time... In His time... He makes all thing beautiful in His time...
Lord my life to You I bring, may each song I have to sing. Be to You a lovely thing, in Your time.

O Happy Day!

Attended Lizhen's Baptism at Jurong country club... Indeed, it's a happy day!
Congrats Lizhen! Welcome to a new start. May you run the good race in faith, and hear the Lord say "well done, good servant!" when u reach the finishing line.

Happy day! Happy day!
When Jesus washed my sins away!

A lil setback before the start of University

Got an e-mail from School of COmputing today regarding my placement test. Yep, as you may have already guessed, I did not manage to pass it, so I'll have to take the programming module in the 1st semester.

A humbling experience, but nonetheless, I'm sure God will see me through. It's for the best and I'll see it through my stride.

A little late update to my blog. Not usually a narcist by nature... but hey, I got my haircut and highlighted! 

Finally, a tuition assignment.

Just wanted to give thanks to God. Indeed when we choose to honour the Lord that He will likewise and even better honour you!

Been looking for a tuition assignment for a very long time now(5 months). I've writtten to a dozen agencies. Responded to a dozens more emails, but none replied. Assignments all wanted girls, parents wanted women teachers even for their boys! I never thought that finding a tuition assignment would have been so tough for a guy. Nonetheless, I trusted God to provide; anxious to know when.

But God is perfect in His ways and timing. Today an agent SMS me for the 1st time. His only question was "Are you confident to teach JC1 maths C?". I replied, yes, and got it. Indeed, everything is God's to give. If He should will it so, He could give it to me easily - just like today. Or I could still be searching high and low to no avail.

And so is God's gift of salvation to ALL men - given freely and easily. If men would believe in His Gift. Are you searching high and low for something? maybe you should look HIGHER.

" So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide(-Jehovah Jireh). And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided. "

Genesis 22:14 NIV

Thank You Lord!

Heaven came down and Glory filled my soul!

This is what I caught on camera as I stepped into my corridor this afternoon from attending a Christian burial service in Kulai, Malaysia.

Do you know where we're headed to?

I thought I had it all planned out, all set and all scheduled. At least that's what my PDA told me. I was to cook dinner for the gals (Gwyneth, Erica and Eveline) at 6pm and then we're to head out to have a couple of rounds of tennis and squash, perhaps even swim at 8pm. It was not to be. Dinner was pushed up to 5.30pm, Squash and tennis was never played. Instead we found ourselves at "Garden of Remembrance" a Christian Columbarium attending a vigil service tonight. A fellow church sister's grandma had passed away and she flew back in from Dublin.

Once again I am reminded that death is a reality and it comes unexpectedly. No one can say for sure when it'll come. Am I too young to die? (Nope, at least not biologically) What eats me most about non-Christian funerals, is how clueless people are about where their loved one has gone. Everyone trying to get a good priest or good funeral procession to "escort" the dead to heaven, a better place in hell or to be reincarnated as some animal. What more can a priest who can't save himself to heaven do for the dead?

After all the rituals, crying and burning of paper possessions, are we really sure of where our loved one has headed to? God's word says that our bodies will wear and give way one day, but our souls are eternal.(Luke16:19-31) Are we then sure of where our souls are headed to?

16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son
~John 3:16-18

John 3:16-18 tells us exactly where we are all heading to. God has told us that we all will go to either 1 of 2 destinations. verse 16 tells us how to get to heaven and verse 18 tells us how not to get to heaven.

Jesus said "...and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this? "(John11:26)

I do. And I'm comforted that I'll get to see the people I love again in heaven. If you get there before I do, watch out for me, I'll be there by and by.

been waiting or 2 years and 4 months to say this...

"ORD OH!!!

WOOOO!"

Guess-The-Herb

Anyone can tell me what plant is this? It's definitely a herb. I once thought it was thyme, but now it doesn't look like thyme. I forgot to label when I planted, now I'm clueless what plant came out..

Let's see. I had lavender seeds, thyme and rosemary that most look like these plants. I thought it smells like lavender and looks a lil like lavender, but then I'm not sure if lavender actually can grow in Singapore. as for rosemary, I don't think I planted the seeds. And thyme, well, it jus looks different from thyme. I've nv smelt thyme before so i can't tell if it is thyme..

NUS Undergraduate Scholarship.

I wrote in to apply for the NUS undergarduate Scholarship just to try, despite it being my shortlisting only. Got my reply today. Apparently the interviews are already over(though the website read that shortlisted candidates would be informede by 30th June).

Thank you for your interest in The National University of
Singapore(NUS).

Kindly be informed that the interview for NUS/ASEAN
UndergraduateScholarship for AY2005/06 undergraduate program was completed.
There maybe another round of interview conducting in Singapore
aroundAugust/September 2005. You will be notified via email if you
areshortlisted for the interview

Well, thought i could relieve some financial burden off Mum and Dad. Praise God! As I continue to pray for His leading in this new area trusting in Jehovah Jireh - my Provider.

I kept my promise, i went.
I was there, as promised.
But the other wasn't.
We did not meet as agreed.

It hurts to feel forgotten.
It hurts to feel unimportant.
Or perhaps more, it hurts to seem so foolish to keep a promise that only I felt was important for a year.

Thank God...
Am reminded not to put my trust in man but in Him.
Am comforted that 'tho others may not care, but He cares.
Am just glad I kept my promise as He would have wanted me to.
Am relief that I can put away this burden in my heart.
Am just thankful that His will was done.


everything was a lil surreal this evening.

p.s. Sorry if this entry is vague and ambiguous. I once could tell someone everything, but now I realise I don't seem to have anyone I can tell this to, 'cept God.

A promise made a year ago.

I'm heading to the botanical gardens now to keep a promise I made a year ago. I'm not quite sure what to expect either. Am praying for God's grace to know what to do.