"Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

God has been my strength and support throughout the exhausting period of year-end exams, and I just want to share the amazing personal experience I had with God.

By God's grace, I have been doing well in my studies since young. I am in the gifted education programme and I take pride in my academics. In the previous post, Yiyun mentioned peer and societal pressure. I experience both of them regularly, only in a different sense. People expect me to be very smart when they hear I'm in the GEP, and there's competition and peer pressure in my class to out-do the others. So although it is good that I work hard to do well in school, it becomes very tiring and pointless sometimes when I forget the true purpose of studying: 为了荣耀上帝, and lose sight of God's grace when I focus too much on what people expect of me.

Without God in my life, everything becomes bland and pointless eventually. That's why I need God to give direction and purpose to my existance. Earlier on, when I asked God to please show me the way He has paved for me, I thought I had surrendered myself to Him. However, I didn’t realise that I was still foolishly clutching onto something that I should have completely committed to God. I was like the child whose hand was stuck in the vase just because I wouldn’t release the half-eaten lollipop I was clutching.

My recent exams had been pretty stressful, because I was under pressure to do well, to score as high as my friends, and to get grades good enough to get into special programmes in JC. I faced the uncertainty and fear that I would not do as well as I wanted to. And yet, in one of my toughest time, God has lovingly given me new hope, and He has reminded me that His grace is sufficient for me.

Through my daily devotion, God comforted me and assured me that He is there and will always be there for me. First, God spoke to me through Galatians 6:4-5, “Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” There’s no need to compare ourselves with others, for God made each and every one of us unique, and has a different plan for each of us.

Next, God reassured me that I am destined to win with Him. I may encounter set-backs, but as long as I keep God’s word in my heart, be optimistic and have faith in Him, I’ll emerge victorious ultimately. 1 Corinthians 9:24 says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” God didn’t say we have to be the best to be worthy of Him. The Bible said “Run in such a way as to get the prize”, instead of “Run to get the prize”, with greater emphasis on the process rather than the outcome. We don’t necessarily have to be the winner, but we must do our absolute best for God.

The following day’s devotion material was about fears. “The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.” Psalm 118:6 is a very powerful verse and it spoke out strongly to me. By focusing on our fear, we create our own monster. The only way to destroy my fear is to turn to God. We fear, because we have no control over the situation. However, God is in control of everything and we are safely in His arms.

The very next day, I was directed to John 14:27, where Jesus said “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

I was also greatly encouraged by Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” I saw that the battle is the Lord’s. The beginning and the end and everything in between are all in His hands. He is my source and my strength; all things are possible with Him. I pray that God will take my weaknesses and make them strengths for His glory.

A few days later, the night before my Physics exam, God made everything come together to make sense. I realised that the reason why I have been struggling with all these stress, uncertainty, and fear is because I have not committed everything to God. I am still focusing on my own abilities, instead of what I can do through Christ. For God to reveal His divine purpose to me, I have to surrender myself completely to Him. I must trust in Him wholeheartedly, instead of leaning on my own understanding to pursue what I want to achieve. What we want may not be the best for us. Yes, God knows best, and we should trust His plan for us, because as our Heavenly Father, He wants the best for us too.

When we live in the world, we are easily mislead and distracted by worldly things. God wants us to come to Him with a willing and humble heart, ready and eager to do our best in whatever He wants us to. With God, all things are possible. With God, there is no need for fear. When we surrender ourselves to God, we experience a wondrous peace in our hearts that nothing in this world can offer.

O Jesus, I Have promised

I think this stanza of "O Jesus, I Have Promised" aptly describes what the situation is like now for us - the world is ever near us; the sights of this world dazzle and makes us want to go for what it has to offer. Our foes are truly ever near us - be it the secret thoughts that we may have in our hearts that no one else knows except for ourselves and God, or the many many temptations from the world coming from societal culture or peer influence.

May God draw near each of us and be within our hearts to shield our souls from sin, so that we may know what He wants us to do and may carry it out. And may He be our Strength and Guide so that we will not fall to societal culture or peer pressure but instead abide by His will.


O Jesus, I Have Promised (2nd stanza)

O let me feel Thee near me - the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me, around me and within;
But Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin.

我既生存在世间，容我与主相近；
我见迷乱的景物，听见诱惑声音；
今生身外和心内，常有仇敌相侵；
但望耶稣和我亲，将我灵魂保存。

For those who have Hymns of Praise at home, its HOP 404. Or if you guys want, you can listen to it at this page:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/j/ojihprom.htm


"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:2

hehe i wrote yesterday that i most probably wont be posting anything up till after my exam but today, just for today i simply have something to post.

Especially since i think its relevant to what we discussed in class last Sunday on prosperity doctrine and having faith in God to provide.

its an article from Our Daily Journey published by RBC which also publishes Our Daily Bread.

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March 8 2006 Wednesday
"not-so-rich uncle"

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?"
- Matthew 7:7-9


In this text, Jesus tells us only to ask and we shall receive. If we "seek first the kingdom of God" (see Matthew 6:33), can we expect God to add material things to our portion?

Certainly not with a demanding attitude. Those who promote a gospel of material prosperity are twisting the Scriptures. God always provides for our needs, not necessarily our wants. Yet, if you are a parent, you know the delight of surprising a child with a gift. And that's what God does sometimes.

A woman I know had struggled for years to save enough to trade in her old car for a new one. When she hoped that she had enough cash to make the switch, her uncle from overseas implored her to come for a special anniversary celebration. "Since I have no children," he wrote, "it would mean a lot to me." So, my friend used the car money for her trip.

Now, heading overseas, she was truly broke - but not worried. God had always supplied her needs. Her riches were found in God's "inexpressible gift" (see Corinthians 9:15). He was her confidant. He alone knew about her desire that she might be able to buy a new car one day - maybe even a two-seater convertible. (Yeah, right! She couldn't even afford an economy car.)

But God already had a plan, and it was one that only he could author!

Her uncle was not rich. In fact, he lived very modestly. Therefore, what happened next was amazing. The uncle gave her his life's savings because of her faithfulness to hi, - an amount that would not only pay for the trip but allow her to buy a new car! "Why wait till I'm dead?" he said. And he handed her the money in cash!

Would you call that a coincidence? Or an example of the promise of Matthew 6:33?

- Elfriede Mollon - California

responding: Why do I doubt God at times? How has He provided for me in amazing ways in the past? what happens to my faith when the gifts don't come?
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hey people, my exams are in 2 weeks' time and i'll be mugging intensively so i most probably won't be posting until after my exams.

would also appreciate if you guys can keep me in your prayers, i think im super dead for all my subjects, especially Organisational Behaviour for which i need 60% in this final paper. it's not impossible, just quite difficult cos i dont find that subject easy at all. I'll need all the prayers i can get in order to get through this. thanks a lot!

Yi Yun

I came across this quote in a book im reading by Elizabeth Elliot.


"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" - Jim Elliot


Elizabeth and Jim Elliot are a couple, both missionaries sent to Ecuador in the 1950s. Jim Elliot was killed in his 20s, along with four other missionaries, while trying to spread the Gospel to the Quichua Indians. They were a very hostile tribe at that time and so it was a big risk that the missionaries took, in attempting to make contact with them. Following Jim Elliot's death 1956, his widow Elizabeth continued his mission with the Quichua Indians, which resulted in the conversion of many of the Indians, including some of the few who had massacred the five missionaries.


Jim Elliot's quote reminds me of verse in Luke 17:33.


"Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it"
"凡想要保全生命的，必丧掉生命；凡丧掉生命的，必救活生命"


There are so many things that we want in life - good grades, high-flying career, a comfortable life, financial security, our life partners, our family and friends, society's recognition and etc. But i was reflecting on this verse and i think it means that whoever tries to keep his life (worldly life - as in to hold on to the worldly things and comforts), will lose it (eternal life), and whoever loses his life (as in setting his sights on a higher purpose rather than focusing on what is on earth) will preserve it ( his life - meaning eternal life).


Its a sobering reminder that we have to learn to put God as first and foremost, and not the things of the world that draws us. Because if we focus on what is temporal, we will lose what is eternal. Only if we are willing to learn to fight our daily little temptations and learn to focus on what is eternal will we gain what is eternal.


I think its really not easy - its already quite tough to constantly strive to behave differently from our non-Christian friends, to strive behave the way that we should as Christians because we are set apart for God. But to learn to put God first and foremost is still something that i have to struggle with everyday and constantly remind myself. The temptations on all aspects are really too strong. There are too many things that distract us from spending time with God everyday, in reading His Word, and in praying etc. For me, sometimes the distraction come in the form of wanting to play computer games at night, and then dozing off after that because im too tired for QT. Not to say that computer games are totally bad or what, but if it interferes with my doing QT, perhaps i need to reconsider changing my QT timeslot. Or to play computer games at other times of the day instead.


And ya, i think this is something i have to constantly remind myself about - to not set my sight on what is temporal, but to learn to set my sight on what is eternal - God. Because, in the words of Jim Elliot, we are not fools to lose what we cannot keep with us forever, in the pursuit of a goal that is for eternity.

=)

Im currently reading a book, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan ( 《天路历程》，作者: 约翰．班扬).


It's a really good book that tells of every Christians' struggles and little victories while on the journey towards our eternal goal, which is Jesus Christ and heaven.


I can identify with many of the problems temptations and events that the characters face during their walks with God, so i think it will be useful for all of us. Highly recommended!


The only problem is that its told in the form of an allegory (寓言), so every single line in the book is rich in meaning. Often i have to think deeper about what it is trying to say, so it takes quite some time to read the book and process my thoughts.


I came across this section on backsliding, which i thought is very applicable for all of us, which we can use as a reminder especially since we have read 1 Peter which is about battling trials and temptations. Backsliding is an internal problem, and happens when we regress during our walk with God. It is actually much more scary than trials and temptations because the battle begins in our own minds, and when we get further from God, all the more we find it harder to resist temptations and trials which is an external force.


Will post it up here soon to share, but first i need to process my thoughts and think of the meaning behind the stuff said in the book =P