JOY

"Joy is serious business," writes Pastor John. "It's the kind you fight for by cutting off your hand (Matthew 5:30) and selling your possessions (Matthew 13:44) and carrying a cross with Jesus to Calvary (Matthew 10:38-39). It has scars. It sings happy songs with tears. It remembers the dark hours and knows that more are coming. The road to heaven is a hard road, but it is not joyless."

Pride

"Pride is the great enemy of the Christian;
pride holds you back from asking forgiveness;
pride leads you to deny the need to reconcile a broken relationship;
pride will convince you that you deserve better treatment;
pride will impede your serving others;
pride will have you listen to flatterers and ignore honest counselors;
pride will lead you to isolate yourself so that you are not accountable to others."

謝謝你們 愛我的每個人

心中有好多说不出来的感动。

from young i've always heard people share about how God can be our closest confidante, the One who knows everything, the One whom we can tell everything to. these words have gone through my ear, but not into my heart.

but as my walk with God deepens with age and experience, i'm starting to understand what these people were saying. i realised that in this world, there can never be a perfect friend. i realised that there are just some things.. may they be emotions, thoughts, or secrets.. that i just can't tell anyone. perhaps they're too hard to be put into words. perhaps they're just too close to the heart. perhaps they're too ugly to be unearthed.

i realised that after so many years, i'm still quite an emotional person. i stopped resisting tears and started embracing the fact that if my heart is willing, these tears bring me closer to God, my Abba Father. just yesterday, before Good Friday service, it dawned upon me that these tears are a symbol of my relationship with Him. i still vividly remember the first time i was moved to tears by the Holy Spirit during a prayer & worship session 4 years ago. i guess it was one of my first personal encounters with God and my life has never been the same.

although there're countless timely blessings when God has sent angels, certain people around me to be there for me.. i'm really thankful that God Himself is there, always. that i can cry to Him, pour my troubled waters to Him, turn to Him when there's no one else to turn to.

because He knows, He understands,

He comforts.

He heals.

(:

"I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world."

- Mother Teresa

In The Valley - Sovereign Grace

When You lead me to the valley of vision
I can see You in the heights
And though my humbling wouldn’t be my decision
It’s here Your glory shines so bright
So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown
To be low is to be high
That the valley’s where You make me more like Christ

Let me find Your grace in the valley
Let me find Your life in my death
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow
Your wealth in my need
That You’re near with every breath
In the valley

In the daytime there are stars in the heavens
But they only shine at night
And the deeper that I go into darkness
The more I see their radiant light
So let me learn that my losses are my gain
To be broken is to heal
That the valley’s where Your power is revealed

The Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,

Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;

hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;

let me find Thy light in my darkness,

Thy life in my death,

that every good work or thought found in me

Thy joy in my sorrow,

Thy grace in my sin,

Thy riches in my poverty,

Thy glory in my valley.

"deny thyself"

i feel God peeling off the pride within me,

layer by layer, day by day.

it's difficult; it's painful.

it makes me cry

in guilt & shame.

but i'm thankful,

because i want to be more like Him.

Deeper in Love

There is a longing only You can fill

A raging tempest only You can still

My soul is thirsty Lord

To know You as I'm known

Drink from the river

That flows before Your throne

*Take me deeper

Deeper in love with You

Jesus hold me close in Your embrace

Take me deeper

Deeper than I've ever been before

I just want to love You more and more

How I long to be deeper in love

Sunrise to sunrise

I will seek Your face

Drawn by the Spirit

To the promise of Your grace

My heart has found in You

A hope that will abide

Here in Your presence

Forever satisfied

投靠者的讚美 (':

万军之耶和华啊

哪一个大能者像祢

祢的信实在祢的四围

藐视祢的都要羞愧

万军之耶和华啊

哪一个施恩者像祢

祢的慈爱流传到万代

敬畏祢的欢喜敬拜

大水泛滥的时候

祢在宝座上为王

任凭狂风巨浪凶悍

属祢的人大有平安

举世动乱的时候

祢在宝座上掌管

祢的右手高举在全地

属祢的人大有保障

what does love look like?

"What does love look like?

It has the hands to help others.

It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

It has eyes to see misery and want.

It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

That is what love looks like."

- Augustine of Hippo

将心归主

将心归主 将心归主

求祢成为我的帮助

把祢时时放在我心深处

决不忘记祢的嘱咐

将心归主 将心归主

我愿成为祢的奴仆

把我一生时间全都给主

今生今世将心归主

words of wisdom

If professionals are to support people in recovery, they must live in hope and understand no one is beyond hope. No one is completely lost. No one is chronic. All are of value. No one is a waste of your time. In other words, professionals must be willing to look into the places where human hands cannot reach and abide in faith that there, too, God dwells.

- Patrica Deegan

A Modern-Day Boaz

http://www.startmarriageright.com/2011/09/a-modern-day-boaz/

The Refiner's Touch

There was a group of women in a Bible Study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week this woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest or her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered "yes," he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eye on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh that's easy - when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of this world's fire, just remember that God has his eyes on you and will watch over you until He sees His image in you.