Lest I forget...all of Your goodness, the blood You have shed...

Trust

"All I need is you...All I need is you Lord..." - Hillsong United

The phrase above is from a song written by Hillsong United. I used to think that this song was a little unrealistic. It sure gave me 2nd thoughts because I'm so tied down to this world. I don't want to make a pledge I can't keep. There's so many things that I "need".

But tonight, I'm listening to the song again...with a new understanding. The lyrics are more from the perspective of someone who has probably lost something in life. Rather than a "boast" unto God, it is more like a cry unto God. As though we are clinging on to Him because our lives depend on it. "God, despite what happened, it's ok...i still trust in you...you hold the universe...you're all I need".

I think I desperately need to renew my trust in God and my adoration of His greatness. If merit in this life is given based on my relationship with God and the things that blossom from it, then I'm not doing very well.

Over the months I've become someone who prefers to hold on to everything and trust my own false sense of security. Why? I dunno. Maybe that's just human nature. To want to control everything. There I've said it! I'm quite the control freak. It's weird...I know He loves me, yet I don't trust Him to provide the best for me.

But today, I want to say it all over again. Just like the time that I first accepted Christ into my heart. I don't want to cling on to anything else anymore. Your promise of love is sufficient for me.

"Lord, take your place in my life. I know you love me, so I put my trust, hope, and future in your hands. All I need is you..."

Happy Birthday Mom!!

        First of all I wanna say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dearest Mommy!! You are truly beautiful inside and out. You've been an amazing influence on my life, and I wanna thank you for taking care of me all these years. Seriously, you're the awesomest mom in the whole wide world!! Thank you again - for always being there!!

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       Today, Ps Ashley Evans fr Paradise Community Church in Adelaide (www.paradise.asn.au) preached at Hillsong. When I laid eyes on him, I didn't think his message would be anything special...but how wrong I was!!
       Rather than give a sermon with several key points, he told more of his life experiences. And I think that's amazing. You know, if there's one thing people can't deny, it's when you tell them your testimony...what God has done in your life.

Story no 1:
        His first story was in the U.S. He was visiting a church there, and God put it in his heart to bless someone. God pointed out a woman seated 5 rows in front of him. Ps Evans then put a lump sum of $$ in an envelope and passed it to her. After the service, the woman approached him and told him her story. A few years back, she was attending Bible college and wanted to serve God. Then 1 fateful day, the car she was in was blown away by Hurricane Andrew. It hit a pole and she was heavily injured. All the $$ she had was spent on surgery. She was so poor she resorted to eating dog food to servive. She was so bitter about it that she swore never to serve God again. That night (for some reason), she went to church for the 1st time in 5 years. That night, what she needed most was $$. And God met her need. God sent someone half way around the world... and out of the hundreds or thousands of people in the crowd... God picked her out. So, the next time u think God doesn't care...think again!

Story no 2:
        He lived across the street from someone who was wheelchair bound. God had impressed upon his heart to go visit that man. However, Ps. Evans kept putting it off. So for 2 weeks he did not go. Then one day, he couldn't take it anymore. His heart was too troubled. So he asked his wife to bake a pizza for him to bring over. When he went over, he found out that the man had motor neuron disease. He had only 4 weeks left to live. The man knew that Ps. Evans was a Christian and went to church. He had been watching Ps. Evans from his window. And he prayed this..."God, if you are real, send that man (Ps. Evans) from across the street to come visit me". There and then, Ps. Evans led him to the Lord. A few weeks later, that man went home to a better place...to be with God. With a simple act of obedience, a man's soul was saved for eternity. How awesome is our God!!

Looking upwards...

Today I realised that sometimes I look to man/self for what only God can give. I seek every other solution, except God's solution. I don't do these things intentionally, but I do it nonetheless. I've heard it preached about a million times, but it's just something that creeps in. Today, in the shower, a song came to my heart. A simple and old praise song. So, I sang, and worship brought me freedom. After so many days, I felt close to God. So note to self: When you feel empty or in need, look upwards...towards Heaven!

Christmas - The Gift of Life

        Before I begin, I wanna wish all my friends and family out there a very Merry Christmas! A big shout out to everyone who supported me through 2006. Those of you who were not afraid to tell me the things I need to hear, those of you who spent hours praying for me through tough times, those of you who took the extra step so that I didn't have to, those of you who took care of me - I wanna say thank you from the bottom of my heart. May God continue to bless you and your families abundantly.

        Christmas. Indeed, it is the most wonderful time of the year. Christmas trees, roast turkey, reindeers, santa, presents, shopping, and jingling bells. The list goes on and on. But I've just been thinking a little about Christmas and the one person that makes Christmas different from any other religious festival...Jesus.

        For me as a Christian, Christmas is the time of the year when I celebrate the birth of my Lord Jesus Christ. In the gospel of Matthew, it is written about Jesus:

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us" - Matthew 1:22

The person who wrote the statement above was one of Jesus' deciples, and hence lived during the same time as Jesus. He was merely recording what had happened.

        But about 600 years before that, a prophet by the name of Isaiah had already prophesied the birth of Jesus:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given..." - Isaiah 9:6

        To some, Jesus maybe a distant deity or a good moral teacher...but the Bible is clear about who Jesus Christ is. The Bible was not a book written by someone who had too much time on his hands...neither was it written because the people of Israel needed story book as entertainment.  It was written by many different authors and was written as a record of Israel's history. Time and again the Bible points out the person of Jesus.

"For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life" - John 3:16

        During Christmas, we celebrate the birth of our Saviour. With Him, comes the gift of salvation from God in Heaven. A gift that cannot be bought with all the money in the world. A gift paid for with flesh and blood.

        So, on this day I wanna say, "thank you" to God in Heaven...thank you so much for your priceless gift...and Happy Birthday to my precious Lord Jesus!

Who am I?

Kogarah Bed Racing
        These are just some funny pics from the Kogarah street festival where the main event was a bed race to raise money for charity. I had a great time with my mom.

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Amazing Friends
        A giant "Thank You" to Aaron, Ashley, Darrel, Nydia, Melissa and Jeanne for hanging out with me last Saturday! Just wanna say u guys are amazing and I'm honoured to do life with u.
I appreciate u all for taking time out cause I know for most of u, it's exam week. Really touched...=)

From left: Jeanne, Melissa, Nydia, and Ashley

For some reason, no one took pics of the boys...hmm...lol!
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Who am I? (inspired from the song "Who am I" by Casting Crowns)
        That's a question that recently caught my attention. "Who am I?"
In the light of eternity, I am, but a 'vapor in the wind', 'a flower quickly fading', and 'a wave tossed in the ocean'....

Yet...

For my empty promises, I've received His blessings...

For my wandering heart and adultery, I've received His faithfulness...

For my ungratefulness, I've received His forgiveness; a second chance...

For my pride, I've received His mercy...

For my foolishness, I've received His divine guidance...

For my inability, I've received His favour...

For my idolatry, I've received His holiness...

For my torn heart, I've received His un-failing love...

For my broken body, I've received His healing...

For my troubled spirit, I've received His hope...

For my insanity, I've received His peace...

For my weaknesses, I've received His strength...

For my sins, I've received His grace and eternal life...

and having nothing of true value to give in return, I've received His only Son...

   Truly I am nothing but a vapour in the wind...but I'm thankful that I have someone that places value on my life. Someone who catches me when I'm falling. Someone who protects me when I'm hurting. Someone who saves me when I'm drowning. Someone who watches over me when I'm sleeping. Someone who chooses to light the way, even when I go astray. Because of that someone, the sun shines for me, and life is worth living =)

Life and Death

Dear friends, below is a true story by my friend, Angeline, from Malaysia. It's the story of how God healed her father when the doctor said he only had a couple of months left. It was on her blog Angie's Blog and I got her permission to copy and paste it here cause i thot it was just amazing. Please take time to read it:

Life and Death

Some or most of you may already know that I'm a Christian. I believe in God, more than anything in the world. There's no doubt about it. Being a Christian means to have a personal relationship with God. I know by this point, some will choose to argue and some will agree. Many times, people will ask me "Why did you become a Christian?" I was a non-Christian many years back. The first 10 years of my life was spent doing religious ceremonies that I didn't like or understand. It was just a religion to me. Something that you put in the "Religion" field whenever you fill up a form. I didn't really understand what I was doing or why I had to do certain things. All I know is, I was borned into that and I simply followed.

So the question is "Why did I become a Christian?"

Imagine this. I was 10 years old. At that time, the only thing that was probably in my mind was to be no.1 in my class or what cartoons will be showed on TV that day. Life and death? I hardly know the meaning of it. Everything in life was ok. I have good parents and a brother. I even had grandma who was staying with us at that time. When you are 10, your world seems to be perfect.

One day, my perfect world shattered. I cannot fully describe to you the emotions I went through as a 10 year old. My heart broke. My dad, who was healthy and all ... suddenly was admitted to the hospital. He wasn't involved in an accident but he suddenly became paralyzed. He was suffering from muscular dystrophy. His muscles were slowly being eaten up and we didn't even know. Doc told us "He has only 3 months to live. So, make him happy. Bring him on holidays. Give him what he wants to eat. Because he is going to die".

I mean, what da! We were all in tears when we heard that and for me, I wanted to just slap the doctor. I mean, what a thing to say! I know he was just telling the fact, but that isn't the truth. I was devastated.
After that, my dad tried many things. Mediums, bomohs, temples hidden in the jungles, acupuncture, therapy .. you name it, he tried it. But did he get better? No. He got worst instead. We were at losing grounds already. Nothing worked. Nothing helped. I saw my dad from a healthy man to a sickly man - half the size he was before. It was just terrible.

One day, as the whole family was busy preparing for some religious day, my dad was in the hall, sleeping. Or so we thought. We were so busy that we didn't even realized that he actually died! Yes, he died! And we didn't even know until our aunt, who came to visit my dad - tried waking him up. We all started panicking, crying hysterically, .. all in a frenzy. We didn't know what to do!

Then all of a sudden, my dad woke up with tears in his eyes. He told us that he had died and was in this really dark place. But all of a sudden, he heard my aunt's voice and that brought him back.
And you may be asking again, "What has that got to do with you becoming a Christian?"
You see, this aunt who came to visit us, is a Christian. She had been trying to share the gospel with my family for years. And everytime, my dad would make fun of her and sent her home crying. And on that day, when my aunt came, she "felt" like she had to come visit us and try again - never gave up on us, thank God.
And so, God gave my dad a second chance. A chance to evade death and live.
The story doesn't end here. After that incident, the whole family believed in Jesus. And my dad?? From paralyzed, he went into a wheelchair. From a wheelchair, he used crutches to get around. From crutches, he changed to a walking cane. And from a walking cane .... he is walking and running, as though nothing had hit him before. The doc got a shock of his life when my dad went back to the hospital to show him that he didn't die.
If you don't believe me, go take a look at my dad now. He being alive and well, is already proof.
And that was 14 years ago.
So, why did I become a Christian? Simple. Because He is real.

Living thru a Bad Day...

Hey all,

No, I didn't have a bad day. Haha...but that was the theme over the past few weekends at church. Btw, I'm currently attending Hope Church, led by Ps Paul and Janine Allen. http://home.austarnet.com.au/hope/

Anyway, Ps Paul's message this week was based on John 19:25-27.

"Near the cross...When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved (John) standing nearby, he said to his mother,"Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home."

Take home message: "Be sure to take care of those near to you". The example was set by Jesus, that although He was having His worst day ever (He was being crucified & all the sin of the world hung on his shoulders), He still took time out to care for those within His reach. How sweet is our Saviour...The following are the main points of the sermon with regard to our roles as neighbours to those close to us:

1. I will be there when you need me most

An interesting fact: The highest divorce rate in the US at the moment is amongst soldiers. This is because their wives were not willing wait for their husbands who were away fighting a war. How sad...especially when the marriage covenant they took vows "love through sickness and health, till death do us part".

"Look out for one another's interest, not just your own" - Phil 2:4

2. I will choose to be tight over being right

It's true. Sometimes human nature just drives us to want to be right all the time. Even with relationships at stake. For eg, as Christians, we sometimes argue to convince others about the Bible, but many times, end up scaring people away. Jesus never forced himself into anyone's heart. But instead loved us so much, that we give ourselves willingly to Him. That's what separates Christianity from many other religions. That Christ first loved us, and died for us, that we may know Him.

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins" - 1 Pet 4:8

3. I will always be honest with you

Good relationships require honesty & transparency. I think most of us struggle with this one...The Bible calls the devil the father of all lies and the accuser of the brethren. Being dishonest puts us in a similar category to him and makes us subject to his accusations.

4. I will value you for who you are

"...love your neighbour as you love yourself" - Luke 10:29

The point being made was that we should not show conditional love. When God first loved us, He loved us just the way we were. Sinful, dirty, smelly, and what have you...Sure, he wants us to change and become more like Jesus. But if we don't, that doesn't mean he loves us any less. Our love for those around us should be no different.

Oh wells, just wanted to share that with everyone. Hope it wasn't too heavy. Btw, I had Holy Communion today. I wish they had it more than once a month. Twice would be good. Until next time...=)

         

Breaking radio silence...

Hehe...sorry everyone, for not updating u guys...been rather busy with uni work.

On the 19th of July 2006, I went for the Colours of Asia night at uni. It was organized by the Malaysian Society and Thai Society. There were some fun performances (eg lion dance) and some pretty odd ones as well.

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Today, I went to the Bond Christian Connection's (BCC) Big Day Out. It was a day long leadership/motivational seminar with time out for some meals and fun at the beach. Here are some pics from the Big Day Out:

Just something a friend drew on my hand...but what it says is so true (that I love Jesus!)

In recent days, I've been spending more time with God. All in all, I just wanna say this...that my God is faithful and HE cares about the little things YOU care about. The next time you pray, do it with all your heart and truly cry out to Him, for He hears your prayers. There is a promise in the Bible from Luke 18 about the persistent widow:

"...pray and not give up (v.1)...(read the parable yourself)...will not God bring justice for His chosen ones who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see to it that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (v.6-8)"

When we pray, we should claim the promises of God for our lives. The Bible is full of promises, and they are for us to use as a constant reminder to God. Not that God has forgotten us...for He numbers the hairs on our heads...but He desires our fellowship and faith in Him.

Adonai, I just wanna say...thank you!

Serenity Prayer

A friend recently gave me a bookmark with a pretty meaningful prayer. Well I dunno about everyone, but at least it was meaningful to me. lol...So I just thought I'd share it with everyone:

Serenity Prayer

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference."

More than life

"The Anthem of My Life" by Andrew Wong (inspired by More Than Life-Reuben Morgan)

Dear Lord Jesus, let this be the anthem of my life. 

That I will love love You, more than anything, anyone, and even more than life itself.

Your grace is so abundant in my life; and Your mercies are new every morning.

The heavens will fade, and the earth disappear, 

But Your Word and promises will persevere.

Most of all Lord Jesus...I thank You, for the scars that You carry.  

Scars that are permanent. Scars that are ugly. Scars that represent your broken body. 

Scars that constantly remind You of me... 

Sometimes when I lose sight of You, I become unsure. Maybe at times, even afraid.

But stay close to me Lord Jesus,

Closer than my heartbeat,

Closer than the air I breathe.

And I will fear nothing. 

You knew me, even when I was in my mother's womb. 

Even when I was formless...You knew exactly how I would look, and You called me by name.

You loved me before I was born,

before I ever knew or accepted You,

before the foundations of the earth.

If I ever stray away from You, bring me back. 

If I ever fall down, pick me up.

If I ever stumble into darkness, be my light.

In return, I have nothing to give You... 

Only my imperfect love and devotion.

But then...that's all You've ever asked of me...

Thank you, Lord Jesus. 

More Than Life by Reuban Morgan

Stand by everything You said
Stand by the promises we made
Let go of everything I've done
I'll run into Your open arms
And all I know

I love You more than life
I love You more than life

Fall back on everything You've done
Fall back on everlasting arms
When all the world is swept away
You are all the things I need
You're the air I breathe

How can it be
You were the one on the cross
Lifted for all our shame?
How can it be
The scars in Your hands are for me?
You are the king of all

First day in medical school

     Hi all! I'm back from medcamp and I officially started classes today. Before I say anything else, I wanna wish my cousin Mei Leng a very Happy 21st Birthday!! May God bless you and lead u in everything u do. And to my dear friend Ashley, all the best for your interview tomorrow. I've been praying for u and I'm sure everyone is too, so you'll do great! :) Love u both heaps!

     Well, medcamp was hosted by the medical students society at Springbrook over the weekend. It was great fun but I'm so glad its over. Haha! It was pretty crazy. For initiation into med school we had to drink this cup of really yucky 'drink' composed of onion juice, onion chunks, vinegar, mayonaise and other disgusting stuff! I literally threw up after my first gulp! Super gross!! And we had people drunk and boys going on nudie runs and all...lol...and just a coupla days back we were given a talk on how doctors were the leaders of tomorrow. Yea right...For me, I just had a few beers and that was it. Social drinking is fine...but getting wasted (killing all those brain cells!) and acting like an idiot is not cool!

    There were good moments at camp though. I made good friends. My roomates were prolly the most 'sane' of the lot and so we had really good conversations getting to know each other and all. And the best part is...a few of them are Christians. One of them actually has parents from Malaysia. Although he lived in Brisbane all his life, but its still good coz he's a pretty strong Christian. He told me he was actually wondering if there were any other Christians in our course, so we became friends right away. Haha! Really really wanna thank God for that.

    Then there was that really nice trip to the waterfall. I'm not exactly sure where Springbrook is but it was in some mountaineous rainforest area. The scenary was amazing, making up for the lousy cabins that we stayed in.

A little rainbow at the base of the waterfall to remind me of God's love and promises...

   

    Today I was at the library and guess what I found...a bookmark with the footprints story on it. In my head I was thinking how true it was in my life. I mean, yea sure I've read it many time before, but how often do we as Christians remember it when we're goin through tough times, rather than always complaining? Anyway here's one version of it for those of u who never read it:

I Had a Dream One night I had a dream I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and the other to my Lord. When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only on set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times in my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma. "Lord, you told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed You most, you leave me." He whispered,  "My precious, precious child, I love you and will never leave you never, ever during your times of trial and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints It was then that I carried you." - Margaret Fishback Powers (disclaimer: I'm not particularly sure if she was the original author)

Easter 2006

Well, hi to everyone who may potentially read this! I never thought I'd see the day I start blogging...haha...but I've decided to use this blog to remind myself of all the wonderful things God has done in my life n the lessons I've learnt along the journey of life.

To kick things off, I just wanna say that since the end of 2005, its just been blessing after blessing for me. 2005 had been one of the worse years of my life. Many of you won't know of this but I suffered a serious back injury (required physiotherapy), went temporarily deaf due to an ear infection, fell sick often, barely passed my subjects, was an emotional and spiritual mess, and pratically struggled in everything. But I believe that God allowed me to go through these rough times to show me my weaknesses and draw me closer to Himself. Through it all, although some of my prayers were left unanswered during my rough times, but ever since the start of 2006, I've been blessed beyond measure. And my faith in God no longer depends on what I can see in the natural, but rather on the promises of His Word. Well, since the start of 2006, I attained 2 distinctions for both my summer school subjects, my back injury is slowly disappearing, I got my Australian Silver Driver's Licence, and most of all, I'm one step closer to achieving my dream of becoming a doctor. All glory to God!

To those of you who haven't heard of the news, I'm leaving Sydney and moving to Gold Coast on my own to study medicine. Woohooo!! Yeah I'm super excited, but also kinda sad to be leaving my family and friends back in Sydney. Gonna miss them all so much. However, everyone has been so supportive of my decision to move. Thanks guys! Currently my dream is to become an emergency room doctor, but I'm open to God's leading cause his plans for me are far beyond that which I could ever comprehend.

Well, enough of that. Just a few hours ago, I was at the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour for Hillsong Church's Easter celebration. For those of you who don't know, Good Friday commemorates the death of Jesus Christ and Easter is a time where we celebrate His resurrection.  Three days after he was crucified and buried for our sins, Jesus rose again from the dead, taking with Him the keys of sin and death, so that whoever believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. To my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I just wanna say, thanks for everything...for your grace, patience, mercy, and unfailing love! I'm eternally grateful.

At the Easter celebration, for the first time, I heard Rebecca St. James perform. She is a singer who sings both Christian and secular songs. Her type of music may not appeal to everyone, but I sure LOVED every bit of it! Yeah, so I spent AUS$30 on 2 of her cds. There was this one song that I really liked though. It's called Wait For Me. It's a song she wrote for her future husband (I think she's unattached), promising him that she would keep herself pure for him and praying that he would do the same. Haha...it's a good song for all the single people out there. But yeah, it really touched a soft spot in my heart. =)

Well, that's all for my first post. Will write again soon hopefully...thanks for dropping by! God bless!