Spiritual Thoughts

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’" (Matthew 7:21-23) 

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!" (1 Corinthians 10:12)

Sometimes I lie to myself and think I'm really smart and that I'm right and everyone else is wrong. I mean, I can quote verses and I pray and I read the Bible right? 

According to my actions, I could say that I'm a pretty good Christian... Then I read these verses and realise that no one, not even myself can be a judge of how "good" a Christian I am. 

There's no point in justifying anything I do in the eyes of men because the ultimate judge is God, who sees EVERYTHING, and judges the thoughts and ways of man's HEART. 

For example, sometimes I do good things out of impure intentions like wanting to be praised by other people. Or wanting to seem smarter and better than everyone else. On the outside, it may look good, but on the inside, it is a stench to our Lord Jesus Christ who perfectly embodies humility......

In A Song

Day will come when you don't have the strength

When all you feel is you're not worth anything

You were meant for so much more than all of this...

Answered Prayer

I am so amazed this morning at how God always begins answering my prayers before I even finish praying them!

As I was getting ready for work today, I prayed that God would soften my hard heart and open doors of opportunities for my mom and I to be "okay" again. I also prayed for my upcoming missions trip, with an ongoing hope in my heart that God would always provide. 

Well, would you believe it. 

I walk out the bedroom door and my mom (who hasn't really spoken to me in a month or so) out of the blue says she's going to give me some money for the trip. 

:O !!!

AND she said it in a really non-threatening way (which is hard to believe too). 

Woahhhh..... 

But even then, I could feel my heart cringe. I didn't want to forgive and I didn't feel like accepting the money. I didn't feel like talking to her at all. My skin crawled. 

Dear God, why do I feel this way? I thank you for opening doors of opportunity and channels of communication between us, but I also pray that you would step in to my heart right now and mend whatever needs fixing. Help me to be gracious, humble and submissive. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 

He Hears Me

Last night as I was lying in bed, I started getting depressed thinking about stuff. Worry, guilt, despair and impatience overwhelmed me. I wish I could list the things that bothered me, but strangely, I can't seem to outline any specific thing. Through my tears, I felt the Holy Spirit gently remind me that all these spring from being discontented. 

At that moment, I knew what I should do, but I didn't do it. 

"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do but doesn't do it, sins." (James 4:17)

I knew I should pick up God's Word and start letting His light shine into my darkness, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Finally, exhausted from avoiding God via Bejewelled Blitz and Kdrama, I fell asleep. 

This morning, I read the July 6th devotion in Oswald Chamber's My Utmost For His Highest. It was as direct a word from God as direct could get. The devotion talks about receiving a vision from God (ditto), and God bringing you into the valley to shape you into the person that fits that vision. 

Over the past month at House of Bread, we've been talking about how God led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness. It was a beautiful time of testing and teaching the Israelites how to become a community dependent on God, so that they could become His ambassadors to the world. 

Similar to my situation, those Israelites were also given a vision- one of the Promised Land. They were then led into a spiritual "valley" when they were in the desert. And it was during those 40 years in the desert that God tested them, moulded them, pruned them, until they were totally in love with Him. 

I felt that this morning's devotion was God's way of telling me:

I'm still here, and I'm still working on you.

Be patient. Wait for me.

Be content in me.

You're in the desert now and you will experience hardship, but all this is for your GOOD. 

Trust me. 

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for your timely words again this morning. Thank you for restoring peace into my heart. It is a peace that is not dependent on outside circumstances. Help me to rejoice in you, regardless of whether I am on the mountaintop or in the valley. May I never stray far from you, but always return to your throne of rest, in trust and obedience. Help me not to run away from your voice, but to turn to your Word immediately when I hear your voice calling me. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

A Little Answered Prayer

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

That picture was taken last year at the Fourth of July fireworks in Conshohoken, PA. 

Sadly, there will be no fireworks, hotdogs, BBQs or picnics for me this year. In this warm tropical country, nobody will be wearing red, white and blue all at the same time unless by accident.

Actually I was planning to wear red, white and blue today (the Phillies jersey is perfect for that) but my mind was totally stuck on something else this morning. 

Yesterday, I blogged about how annoying it can be to be awoken by my brothers and mother making noise outside my bedroom in the morning. 

Well, last night, after coming home from praying with Annie and Alu at HOB, I felt even more compelled to pray for many little things. And so before I went to bed, I prayed that God would somehow solve this "noise" situation for me.

Lo and behold.

This morning, I only heard them making noise minimally once. After that, I was able to sleep through until my alarm finally rang.

Yayyy!!!!!!!

Thank you God for answering all my prayers, big or small. Whether or not these things are really important to you, I am so grateful that You would take time to even listen. Thank you for letting me start today on such a good note. :)

Corrinne May & Stuff

Hoho! Can't believe I actually slept at 04:30 last night. Blame it on the bubble tea at 02:00... I'm dying to sleep right now but I've got to finish this post. \\

Sadly, all pictures were taken using an iPhone instead because I left my camera at HOB over the week :/ 

Saturday evening was a magical time. I went with Annie and Rodrigo to the newly-opened Gardens By The Bay.

To watch the Corrinne May concert! 

Sadly for me, I've not listened to many of her songs besides her National Day song. Therefore, I went to this concert without any hopes or expectations.

We got to the gardens really early and were greeted by an immense throng of people. Last time I was here, the place was not completed yet and there weren't many people at all. 

Beautiful orchids were planted all around the supertrees.

With more than an hour before the concert began, we went to Cafe Crema to have dinner first. There was quite a queue inside, but we were fortunate to get a table after about ten minutes.

I love going to concerts with them!

Rodrigo ordered this really tasty looking sandwich.

He then proceeded to demonstrate how one could wolf it down with a monstrous bite. Very nice! 

Annie and I both ordered mushroom soup each, and it was THE BEST MUSHROOM SOUP EVER! 

For $8, this is definitely worth it. I've never had so many chewy and juicy mushroom bits in one bowl of soup before. This dish deserves two thumbs up. 

If I knew the soup would be so filling, I wouldn't have ordered this bacon and mushroom aglio olio as well. It tasted just like fried chinese noodles and nothing like pasta at all.

I guess Cafe Crema must have just opened since they've got many lovely flower bouquets lined up outside.

With about forty minutes to go before the concert, we wandered through the supertree grove.

Am I the only one who thinks they look kind of ugly? Ugly but impressive. Very Avatar-like. Still, I wish there were actual centuries old giant rainforest trees instead of these purple poles.

Annie gazing up to take a photo. 

We finally made it to The Meadow. 

I didn't realise it was an open air concert. Fortunately, the organisers provided everyone with plastic ponchos that we could all use to sit on the floor with.

Annie happily snapping away while I lay down on the grass beside her. Was starting to feel quite sleepy by that time.

When Corrinne started singing, I was startled to hear such a lovely sultry voice. Annie wasn't kidding when she said Corrinne sounds like a cello! Though I spent most of the concert lying on the ground with my eyes closed, I was actually listening to every song (except maybe one where I fell asleep for a bit). Her self-written songs are quite meaningful and the audience was even treated to a free show of fireworks from the NDP rehearsals in the background.

Lying there in the cool night breeze, listening to Corrinne sing about God and other things was a beautiful experience that I won't forget for some time.

And of course, how could I not go skating that night? 

While Annie and Rodrigo stayed behind to watch a free movie screening of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, I rushed home and then to Vivocity with my skates to meet the NUS Skate Club for their annual urban skate night. Though i was never a student at NUS, I self-invited myself once I heard about this event because it sounded like so much fun! Do you know how difficult it is trying to look for skating kakis these days? 

Anyway...

It was only when I got to Vivocity that I realised that they were actually planning to skate from midnight till five in the morning!!!

Five is wayyy too late, even for a chionger like me. Besides, I had to go to House of Bread the next day. I ended up leaving halfway and got home around 02:30. 

_______________________________________________________

Last night, even though I slept so late, the time was still well spent. 

Sat in the bathroom singing some worship songs with my guitar (sound quality is best in there), read some of Eric Liddell's biography and decided to just plain spend some time with God. 

I wonder how God feels sometimes, looking at me shoving and squeezing activities into my calendar instead of being still at His feet.