Encouragement at Work

Had the pleasure of speaking with a fellow believer at work today. I thank God for the wonderful time of deeper sharing and encouragement. It has been some time since I last have such an encounter at work. These moments of encouragement certainly make working life so much more bearable and exciting.

A few things stand out in our conversation. We both share a common issue close to our hearts. We both desire to be vessels available for God. Using her analogy, we are supposed to be like sheets of transparencies, but many of us have become rather opaque, thereby blocking God's light from shining out to others. Have we been too caught up in chasing after what the world values? It is a conscious decision, to daily pray God's purpose into what we do.

Well, I am upholding her in prayers, specifically to some timeline that she is trusting God for, and I know that she is doing likewise for me. What a comfort! Thank You Lord for sending the encouragement along my way today.

Deleted!!

I am so upset with myself that I had accidentally deleted some of my blog entries!! Don't ask me how and why, it just happened, and I had thought that I was cleaning out my draft copies... sigh, so angry with myself! And I can't remember how many and which were the entries that I have deleted... So forgetful and blur...

Thank God that I have recollection of only 1 entry which was significant:

Presenting Myself Before God.

Blogged on 27/8, after I had returned from NCC. I had gone to the service, with the intention of presenting myself healed before God, giving Him all the praise and thanks. And I was so blessed as I encountered the Lord so personally and lovingly intervening in the circumstances leading to the service.

I quoted from Matthew 8:2-4
" 'A man with leprosy came and knelt before Him and said, "Lord, if You are wiling, You can make me clean.' Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' He said. 'Be clean!' Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, 'See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.' "

Another lengthy entry is actually what I had published only moments before regarding appraisals... oh well, am too tired to re-produce everything again... Will end off as such for today.

A Delight

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing." Zeph 3:17

Was led to this verse from a devotional guide. Not sure why, but it just left such a delightfully warm and tender effect on me. It is so reassuring to be reminded of God's great love. Its not the acknowledgement that yes, God loves all of mankind, but something so much more personal... Imagine, my Almighty God rejoicing over me with singing. He actually sings over me... ah, so Divine! He quiets me with His Love... Indeed, I rest in His complete love.

Work, work

Bumped into some difficult issues at work. Likely due to an oversight on my part... The negative consequence is quite far reaching, and I had been rather affected by this. Fear, anxiety, mixture of emotions...

But God is in control!! And I should not worry nor fret. I resolve to commit this martter unto Him. May I see His merciful leading and intervention. May He grant me favour with the parties involved..

Certainty of Victory

Had been looking forward to catch the table tennis semi-finals between Jia Wei and her opponent on Sat 5pm. Thank God for granting the opportunity to catch the last 2 sets at Ed's place. It was super agonising to watch the match though. I realise that I cant stand losing. The match was so closely fought through the last 2 sets, I had no idea who was gonna win. No leads. One thing I have learnt, if i cant take the mental anxiety of watching, i better keep away from such matches. :)

Seriously, the main lesson I learnt after the match, which Singapore lost, was that, boy am I so relieved that we are on the winning side of the battle!!! I meant, the spiritual battle. Until now, I had not known nor realised the significance to be in a battle which has already been won. I have always heard of pastors or speakers mentioning that the victory has been won and we just need to claim it. It has never really meant very much to me till now... How I had so dearly wished for a Singapore victory at the semis, and the uncertainty of the result was rather unbearable. The loss was a definite disappointment.

I am so thankful and grateful to Jesus for having won the battle. And we are on His winning team! Amen!

Simply Divine!

May I testify that I have been healed! No symptom for the past 1+ week. To me, this is nothing short of a miracle and God's divine intervention! Amen! I have learnt so much from God the past few weeks, it is so awesome.

And I am so glad that He is continually showing me little nuggets of revelation through His Word and stringing thoughts in my mind. May I be prayerfully considering these daily.

A qn: How many of us will instinctively reach out and touch the garment of Jesus and believe that healing will flow, if not for the example of the woman with the issue of blood (Matt 9:20-22)? I was reading Matt 14:34-36 that "pp brought all their sick to Him and begged Him to let the sick just touch the edge of His cloak, and all who touch Him were healed." I was puzzled why the people had acted this way. And the revelation just hit me that these people had probably heard of the woman with the issue of blood who was healed in the manner, and they believed in Jesus' power as a result. Maybe, some of us just require that same testimony / results of God's work, before we take the first step to believe His goodness. If so, may I be that testimony of His divine healing!
My daily prayer for the past 1+ week , as worded in the little book that I bought.
" Father, I now understand that it is Your will that I walk in completeness, soundness, and perfect wholeness in my spirit, soul and body. Jesus Christ, Your Son, and now my Lord and Savior, paid the price in full at Calvary's cross for my health and well-being. I refuse to be robbed of this provision any longer, in Jesus' Name.

The alien forces of wrong thoughts, oppression, depression, torment, fear, affliction, infirmity, sickness, and disease cannot reside in me, because You live in me now, Lord Jesus, through the Person of the Holy Spirit. With the authority You have invested in me I command every alien force to be replaced by Your ressurection power.

Today, I receive an exchange of Your strength for my weakness; Your joy for my sadness; Your pleasure and delight for my sorrow and heaviness; Your hope for my despair; Your peace for my torment; Your prosperity of spirit, body, mind, finances, and relationships for any lack I have experienced; Your ability for my inability; Your acceptance for my rejection; Your obedience for my rebellion; Your encouragement for my discouragement; Your soundness for my brokenness; Your comfort for my pain; and Your courage, Lord, for my fear and timidity.

I command my muscles, tissues, cells, and blood to come in line now with Your ressurection life, Lord Jesus. Thank You for fully aligning my spirit, body, and mind - and every other area of my life - with Your perfect soundness provided for me through Your shed blood at Calvary, Lord Jesus. Through daily doses of Your Word and meditation upon Your promises, Lord, I will walk in divine health, in Jesus' name. Amen"

Answered prayer

I was pretty awed and excited about a little prayer that God answered today. For those aquainted with corporate meetings, we know that updates are reported by members during meetings, often in accordance to previous meeting's minutes. Well, I had such a long weekend that I kinda forgot to obtain updates on some issues at work. Had absolutely no time to prepare before my morning meeting today. So was rather uncomfortable with the prospect of saying that I have no updates.. Afterall, it would reflect rather badly on me.

I prayed, and prayed during the meeting, not knowing how it would be possible for me to smoke through intelligently coz if I don't know, I don't know. Fullstop. Yet, at the back of my mind, I knew that God would bring me through, though I wasn't sure how God could do it. Impossible.

Wow, was caught pretty off-guard when my item came, and the chairman simply commented that the item be dropped!!! I didn't even have to speak a single word! Certainly very uncommon and never in my list of possible outcomes :) My heart is just so thankful and amazed at God's goodness and kindness to me. There's no doubt that He intervened.

Retreat

Hi yo! It seems a long time ago since I last blogged. Came back from a retreat in JB last weekend. Must say that it was physically quite rewarding (enuff sleep, food, relaxation), and a great getaway from work.

Well, but we did spend substantial time planning, praying, feedback-ing, discussing, listening, thinking... I am certainly quite impressed by some of the observations made by the others, the perspective, the macro view... something which i think i lack... Certainly more issue(s) to work through even after the retreat. Will prayerfully approach these.

I will also need to spend some time pondering on how to convey some of the ongoings to my cell. I certainly do not want to do injustice to the endless discussion and exploration we've had, by simply presenting the outcome alone. Definitely require wisdom and sensitivity to God in this.

TGIF

Bought a little book containing scriptures on healing. If I am gonna be trusting in God, I better be grounded in His Truth.

Glad that the weekend's finally here!! Think that it has been a tiring and trying week. Nevertheless, it was somewhat fruitful since I got to talk to several people more in-depth...

At my training course yesterday, we were asked to describe ourselves. I mentioned that I enjoy relating to people one-on-one, as it is less intimidating and offers more opportunity to influence the people I come into contact with. I've always admired people who testify freely and unapologetically about God to others, and I wonder if I would ever be able to do so. Well, one good outcome of my recent condition is that I am now more forthcoming in talking about God. The inhibitions and self-consciousness that held me back previously don't seem to matter anymore. I surprised even myself today by simply inviting a colleague to attend church service with me today. Just a simple invitation, with no worries whatsoever whether he was ready, comfortable, or if I would jeopardise the relationship. Well, he politely declined. Its alright with me. Timing is God's business, mine is to ask...

Itch!!

Itchiness flared up again today... didn't help that I am on course for 2 days, and that I have to move from building to building out in the sun... Was apprehensive in the morning, and prayed for divine grace and mercy to help me through the day.

Thank God that it was ok, no doubt it was bad at certain period, but the day is finally over... sounds pretty bad eh? But I did see God's Hand at work to keep the stinging itch in check. Leads me to wonder, is this gonna be my daily struggle for as long as I live? Not appealing in the least bit. So very discouraged. In fact, I feel like a sick person, whose health is spiralling downwards, and I can't quite cope with it. Tell me that my feelings are wrong, and not to be heeded.

"And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast." 1Pet 5:10

"His grace is sufficient for me, for His power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Cor 12:9

Love

What's love?? And how reliable is it? I have been thinking about this of late... Human love, with all its good intentions, is undoubtedly flawed and prone to failings. When such times come about, pain and hurt will develop and leave their marks in the lives of the persons forever. Or will they? Is there any possibility of a complete healing and restoration of the relationship? I'll like to think that there is, but the process to reach that point is definitely a very tough, uphill one.

In the xx years of my life, I have witnessed and heard of a number of marriages that went through some pretty tough patches, and two of them came to my knowledge recently. Being inexperienced in this field, I felt so inadequate to provide any wise counsel. My notion of a happily-everafter marriage is kinda evaporating. I think to myself, would I be able to weather it through if I were in their shoes? Conflicts, problems, struggles are inevitable, and how we go through each trial will either build us up or tear us down. Is it worth a shot?

I guess the bottomline for me is this, that much as I trust in the characters of other persons I hold dear, I should ultimately base my trust in the Almighty God, for even "the king's heart is in His hand; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases." (Prov 21:1) Humans are fallable, but God is faithful. When human conflicts and difficulties arise, I think that its not good to leave God out of the picture.

I am reminded of the bilical character, David, who committed adultery and murder. What terrible sins they are, but yet, he realised his wrong and repented. And God forgave him, and called him a man after His own heart. What tremendous amount of grace David experienced. A man who is forgiven much loves much. Do I realise that I have been forgiven much?

Finally!!

Yes, i finally got down to blogging!! Well done! Yes, I had wanted an avenue to air my thoughts and hopefully, some God-inspired lessons. Ah, thank God for the apt title which expresses my intention. Yes, I had wanted "precious", as some my friends are aware, but unfortunately it was unavailable. Then, explored "precious moments" or "precious thots". Evolved to "precious thoughts" and then am reminded of this verse, so bingo! So much for the evolution of this title :P

Have been thinking lots lately, with all the happenings round me... where to start? Realised that many of the people around me, myself included, are going through some tough times. I thank God that He is carrying me through this period. But I wonder how my dear friends are coping? If only they knew my Best Friend... In my helplessness, I said that I could only offer to pray. But wait, who says that praying is any less than doing a kind deed? How wrong my perception had been! If I had been totally convinced, I should know that praying is about the best way to bless a friend. Afterall, it is moving the Hand of the Almighty God! Surely this is as good as it gets.

Met up a friend for lunch today. Was really glad for the time of catching up and sharing. Was touched to see, to some extent, the depth of a father's love and the grief accompanying the loss of a child. How fragile are our lives. Yet, I am reminded of my Father's love for His people. Must have grieved Him so extremely much with each loss of life for eternity. Left me pondering for the rest of the day...