Patience is indeed a virtue

Have you ever heard your mum or your teacher saying that, patience is a virtue? Well, very so often, we all want the dull moments to pass quickly but yet want the richest moments to last as long as possible. Guilty of it? I am too.

Anyway, I was reading a chapter in I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris and he shared about a story on patience in the context of treasuring the moment we are in. Adapted from the Book of Virtues by William J. Bennet - The Magic Thread.

In this French tale, we read of Peter, a boy who is strong and able yet sadly flawed by an attitude of impatience. Always dissatisfied with his present condition, Peter spends his life daydreaming about the future.

One day while wandering in the forest, Peter meets a strange, old woman who gives him a most tantalising opportunity - the chance to skip the dull, mundane moments of life. She hands Peter a silver ball from which a tiny, gold thread protrudes. "This is your life thread," she explains. "Do not touch it and time will pass normally. But if you wish time to pass more quickly, you have only to pull the thread a little way and an hour will pass like a second. But I warn you, once the thread has been pulled out, it cannot be pushed back."

This magical thread seems the answer to all of Peter's problems. It is just what he has always wanted. He takes the ball and runs home.

The following day in school, Peter has his first opportunity to put the silver ball to use. The lesson is dragging, and the teacher scolds Peter for not concentrating. Peter fingers the silver ball and gives the thread a slight tug. Suddenly the teacher dismisses the class, and Peter is free to leave school. He is overjoyed! How easy his life will now be. From this moment, Peter begins to pull the thread a little each day.

But soon Peter begins to use the magic thread to rush through larger portions of life. Why waste time pulling the thread just a little every day when he can it hard and complete school altogether? He does so and finds himself out of school and apprenticed in a trade. Peter uses the same technique to rush through his engagement to his sweetheart. He cannot bear to wait months to marry her, so he uses the gold thread to hasten the arrival of his wedding day.

Peter continues this pattern throughout his life. When the trying times come, he escapes them with his magic thread. When the baby cries at night, when he faces financial struggles, when he wishes his own children to be launched in careers of their own, Peter pulls the magic thread and bypasses the discomfort of the moment.

But sadly, when he comes to the end of his life, Peter realises the emptiness of such an existence. By allowing impateince and discontement to rule him, Peter has robbed himself of life's richest moments and memories. With only the grave to look forward to, he deeply regrets ever having used the magic thread.

Very often, people want what they want or what they think they want, which is usually "happiness" in one form or another. The irony of their impatience is that by only learning to wait, and by a willingness to accept the bad with the good, do we usually attain those things that are truly worthwhile.

My new baby!

The IT fair at Suntec was crazy and I can't believe I was there! The massive crowd swelled to a number so BIG even before the fair was opened. Fortunately, the organisors were nice enough to open the doors 20 minutes earlier. As I did my homework beforehand and I knew what I wanted, I zoomed into Canon's corner. Within 10minutes, I made my purchase and walked out of the IT fair, a happy person!


Canon Ixus 870i

My new baby!!

The GAP Girls

I thank the Lord for the friendships that I've made ever since I started church more regularly. The GAP girls help me keep my walk with the Lord, never failing to lend a listening ear whenever I needed one. Thanks babes!

I'm SOOOOO looking forward to our Penang trip. I just know that it will be a GREAT trip where our friendships will be strengthened!

The Blessing Song

I heard this song being sung at the end of today's sermon and I really loved it. Heard it once before and I love the lyrics. Enjoy!

The Blessing Song - rivers of living water

The Blessing Song
by Dennis Jernigan

May the Lord answer you in the day of your trouble!
May the name of the Lord be your strong mighty tower!
May He grant you your heart's deepest dreams and desires!
May He answer each time you call!

May He pour out the blessing of heaven!
May you cast your cares on Him and daily fall!
May you live to see your children's children!
May Lord Jesus be your All in All!

May the Lord Jesus Christ satisfy beyond all measure!
May His Word light your path!
May His Peace guard your heart!
May your days be filled with gladness, joy and peace through any sadness
Filled with love that will not depart!

May your strength be renewed like the eagle!
As you run the race may joy flood every part!
May your memories all be sweet in each parting!
May the peace of Christ rule your heart!

May His word be to you health and life, joy and treasure.
May your home be a light.
May the Lord guard your ways.
May the Lord be your shepherd.
May His goodness and mercy follow after you all your days!

May His mercies be new every morning!
May His grace and Holy Spirit help you stand!
May you live your life to die for the gospel!
May you hold to His unchanging hand!

May the Lord answer you in the day of your trouble!
May the name of the Lord be your strong mighty tower!

I am His righteousness

You know, I have never felt so down in my life since I started loving God all OVER again. He has been my constant support of strength, love, health and anything else that you can think of. Anyway, I had a rather rough start to the working week and I am really glad that the weekends are here.

Okay, I made a really silly/huge mistake, which I have never committed before. No, I did not prescribe the wrong feed to a patient - even if I did, I can still make the change. I had a patient who was admitted for dehydration because of short bowel syndrome. He had only 100cm of his small bowel left that he needed to be on elemental feeds i.e. Peptamen or Alitraq. Anyway, management of the patient was fine until it was time for him to be discharged. So on the day of discharge, the nurse rang me and informed me to order more Peptamen for the patient as he needed 1 tin a day for his daily requirements. Without considering the cost (1 tin cost $40), I asked the patient if he wanted me to order a carton so he need not have to come down to the hospital weekly to get it. He said sure! So, I made the order. Before I knew it, I received a call from my boss informing me that the Pharmacy rang her and asked why her dietitian ordered so much Peptamen knowing that it will cost the patient ~$800. At that time, I felt so CONDEMNED! I have never made such a mistake before. In fact, I felt so bad that my mood was affected (fortunately, it was towards the end of the day!) that I feared talking to my boss for the next couple of days.

However, God has been very gracious indeed. For the past week since I made the silly mistake, the Lord has assured me of His big heart. While reading the Daily Devotional this week, the topic has been on righteousness. Its as if God is assuring me that no matter what mistakes I make, big or small, severe or silly, there is now NO condemnation because I am His righteousness in Christ! Isn't it amazing?

• Wednesday's Daily Devo:

The Antidote To Fear

1 John 4:18
18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…

Experts tell us that babies have two natural fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. A study on fear was conducted on 500 adults of varying ages, backgrounds and lifestyles. The results showed that they shared some 7,000 different fears. This means that they must have learnt 6,998 fears since they were born. That is a lot of fears!

Actually, our bodies are designed for faith. Fear was foreign to man until Adam sinned against God. For the first time, Adam knew fear, and he hid from God and said, “I heard Your voice… I was afraid… I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:10)

Since then, man has been living in the realm of fear — fear of the future, fear of what others might say, fear of diseases, fear of flying… Actually, every fear is born out of the feeling of being cut off from God. If you think that God is still mad at you, that He is out to punish you, how can you have faith that everything will be all right? How can you have faith for your miracle?

But I have good news for you. There is a sure antidote to fear. The apostle John says that “perfect love casts out fear”. When you know that God so loves you that He gave His Son to take your beating so that you can take His blessings, you will stop fearing.

God so loves you that at the cross, Jesus was rejected so that you could become God’s beloved. It was not the nails that kept Jesus on the cross. It was His love for you. And if God did not withhold Jesus, why do you think that He will withhold healing, finances or a blessed marriage from you? (Romans 8:32)

Today, when you hear His voice, you will hear Him say, “You are My beloved child, in you I am well pleased.” And you don’t have to hide but you can run to Him without fear because He is not out to punish you. He is out to protect, prosper and provide for you, so fear not!

• Thursday's Daily Devo:

God Is Not Judging You

Romans 8:33
33Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.

Some people see God as a judge who has exacting demands on man. When they fall short or when things go wrong in their lives, they think that God is judging them.

My friend, the truth is that if you are a believer, God does not bring any charge against you. Instead, He justifies you because of the blood of His Son. In fact, God’s Word goes on to say that the One who has the right to condemn you, chose instead to die for you and is risen at the Father’s right hand to be your righteousness! (Romans 8:34)

But what the devil tries to do is to get you to believe that God watches you with a critical eye and punishes you when you do wrong. He has deceived many sincere Christians into believing that if they have done something wrong, sickness or some other evil thing has a right to come upon them and their families. And when these things happen, he convinces them that they are suffering God’s judgment because of their wrongdoings. In the meantime, these sincere Christians struggle with condemnation because they think that they are the cause of their problems.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Ever since the cross, where Jesus was judged in your place for every one of your wrong actions, thoughts and words, God no longer judges you, His child. You need not accept condemnation or evil things happening to you because Jesus took all your punishment at the cross.

So when you start to feel condemned for your actions or when you experience negative circumstances, say, “It is written: It is God who justifies me. I am completely forgiven and made righteous before Him. I refuse to accept any condemnation and I reject every symptom of the curse that I am seeing in my circumstances!”

Then, simply stand on the truth of God’s Word, and watch Him deliver and bless you!

• Friday's Daily Devo:

Be Established In God’s Righteousness

Isaiah 54:14
14In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.

Have you ever asked yourself why some Christians are constantly beset with overwhelming challenges, sicknesses and defeat if God’s promise, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17), is true?

Well, this promise comes with a condition — “In righteousness you shall be established”. When you are established in righteousness, you will be far from oppression and terror, and not a single weapon formed against you will prosper!

This condition is not hard to meet. For a start, you already have righteousness! When you received Jesus as your Savior, you received the gift of righteousness which enables you to reign in life. (Romans 5:17) This righteousness does not come from you but the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17) And when you are established in His righteousness, no weapon formed against you will prosper.

But what does being established in righteousness mean? To be established in something is to have that something as your very foundation for security. So God wants you to know, be sure of and grow in the revelation that you are righteous by the blood of Jesus, by His perfect sacrifice at the cross.

When you feel as if you are in a storm, tossed here and there, and you begin to experience worry and fear, remind yourself of who you are in Christ. You are the righteousness of God in Christ and you have His righteousness!

As you do this, you will begin to notice the worry and fear slide off you, for when you are established in righteousness, “you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”! That is why God wants you to be established in righteousness. He wants you to be free from fear, and far from oppression and terror.

So when the pressure is on, hold fast to the belief that you are the righteousness of God in Christ. That is where no weapon formed against you can prosper. As you keep believing and confessing your righteousness in Christ, revelation will break forth and you will experience the release of God’s miraculous provision, divine protection and blessings into your life!

When one door closes, another opens

My emotions have been like a roller-coaster for the past week. I was rejoicing when I received the GOOD news from SDA that I passed my pre-learning task (PLT) as a pre-requisite for entry to the Sports Nutrition course. Soph told it will be easy-peasy for me (thanks for having a good opinion of my knowledge though! :)). However, I thought otherwise. While I was on sky-high, my emotions got to rock bottom too when I found out that my otherwise new colleague will be given the opportunity to run the COPD workgroup. Sigh! I thought I will be given priority since I have been in the department for a longer time and was running the ward until our recent ward rotation. I simply have no comments. I felt sore at that time.

However, Pastor Lian preached a very heart-warming message about faith. What spoke to me most was the last statement she made before closing. God will restore anything that has been taken away from me - DOUBLE!!! So amen to that statement and I know that DaddyGod will open other doors for me despite closing this one.

Just to share, I was reading the Daily Devotion by NCC today and how appropriate today's message is for me.

God Can Use Those Whom The World Rejects

1 Corinthians 1:26
26For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

You may think that you are a nobody, maybe even a has-been or a loser in the eyes of the world. Take heart because God’s Word says that if you are not wise, not mighty or not noble according to the flesh, then you are a prime candidate for Him to call on! And when He begins to use you, you will see His favor, power and increase change your life.

In the eyes of the ancient world, Moses was the rising star of Egypt. The Bible tells us that in the first 40 years of his life, “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds”. (Acts 7:22) But God could not use him then because he was too smart, strong and full of himself.

It was only 40 years later, after having been in the unglamorous desert of Midian, emptied of himself and thinking that he was a has-been, that God sent him to confound the might of Pharaoh.

The world may pass them by — the weak, the small, the forgotten and the losers, but God chooses them to confound those mighty in the world.

I know this to be true. As a little boy, I grew up facing rejection and ridicule because of my Indian-Chinese racial mix. And as a teenager, I was the butt of many jokes because of my stammering and stuttering.

When I was in my teens, I remember praying to God, “I don’t know what I can do for or give You, but You got me — spirit, soul and body.” I don’t know how many times I prayed that prayer. But I knew that God heard me because He called me. Only God would dare choose me, a stammerer and stutterer, to pastor a church for Him that has since grown to more than 18,000 members today.

I know what I was and where I came from. I know I have done nothing and can do nothing apart from His anointing and grace in my life.

My friend, when you think that you are weak and small compared to others in the world, that is when God can use you to do great and wonderful things for Him!