Farewell Aunty Florence

Farewell Aunty Florence. We will miss her very much.

I just saw her 2 weeks ago and then she had not known it was 4th stage cancer. She thought it was an early detection when the cancer in the appendix had been removed about 2 weeks ago. Still the doctor advised that there was a bit remaining in the colon and operation would need to be done. So aunty was with great hope that it was just at the initial stage.

She shared with me then that she sensed that God will give her a second chance. But by yesterday after a sudden return of abdominal pain, she said she is dying and that her time is up. I told Sharon if God gave her the assurance, He would be faithful and not change His mind. It is the devil that deceives and I taught Sharon and my mum how to bind the devil using their own spiritual authority.

This morning I received a sms from my uncle Allen stuck in Genting. He told me he received a word from God. It is now or never. To ask her “Will you commit yourself to serve Jesus and to go share the gospel and share your testimony of God’s mercy upon your life if He heals you?”. If she says “Yes” wholeheartedly, she will start receiving her healing. I guess it is the same as my journey as well and it all happened to me the first night at the hospital when I repented from my fears and said “Yes” to go tell it to everyone. But it is faith either way, faith that God will take her home and faith that God will heal her. When I heard the words from aunty that “My time is up”, I thought “Oh no! Please don’t have such words in your mind if you want healing.” Because God loves us very much, He knows the desires of our heart and He has our best interest in mind. We do not know why some don’t get healed but God’s Word and Him are one. We trust that Jesus has already borne our disease on the cross 2000 years ago and by His stripes, we are healed. Ultimately, God’s will prevails but we are to pray to the very end that it is God’s will to heal.

The very end was the same for Aunty Beverly and Aunty Florence, both knew their time is up and will return to the Lord. That is faith too. To return to God knowing God is with them.
And God has been revealing himself so much to her. My testimony was that a few nights ago, I could not sleep and I asked God, “What is it, Lord? Who do you want me to pray for?” Aunty Florence was the impression I received. So, I started praying and found some bible verses to encourage her and actually smsed her at 4am! I did not expect any reply but suddenly she replied to say she could not sleep to and she guessed she was the one that prompted me to pray! There are no coincidences with God and the angels were very active that night watching over her. Later, I found out that even my mum got up at 5 am to pray for her too! I guess that was probably one of the many experiences that assured her that God is with her that gave her the peace she needed.

Yesterday, when I heard the news of the emergency operation, I didn’t have a good feel. When I started talking aloud to God, I started crying, my heart was beating fast and then I decided to ask for your prayers. And as the messages started pouring in I felt God’s peace over me and I started thanking God. God is with her in the operation room. I asked for a vision to encourage her. I had an impression of big angels wings and God holding her right hand.

Speaking to cousin Tammy this morning I asked her “Why does God make us pray only to take Aunty Florence away? She said that as a result of prayer, we also learn to grow in the Lord. We learn how to pray. We learn how to encourage others. We learn to become more and more like Christ. We become His voice for the family during difficult times. It is true because I started forwarding her all your smses to Sharon to encourage her and it must have encouraged her as much as it encouraged me.

I just wanted to share with those suffering from cancer that if your faith is in God’s healing then trust God, not the pain, the negative report or the circumstance. Because we walk by faith and not by sight. Whatever we see – the symptoms, the negative report is only temporary but God who is in us is greater than he in the world. Don’t give in to the Spirit of death, the spirit of pain and fear that is disturbing you. Rebuke them in the name of Jesus and cast them out! Everyday! Grip something even in pain and cast it out in Jesus name believing that you are God’s child and that it is His will to heal you. Because as soon as we are shaken God can read the desires of our hearts and He will know where your faith lies but ultimately both ways are faith.

So, we rejoice that Aunty Florence has returned to our Lord where there is no pain anymore. Praise the Lord! Our condolences to Sharon and Tat King and family and to Jason and Cheryl. May the Holy Spirit be your comforter during this period. We will really miss Aunty Florence. (Aunty Florence passed away 8am this morning after two and a half months of suffering. She didn’t know before then she had cancer. It was 4th stage colon cancer.)

Farewell 2009, Welcome 2010!

Blessed New Year 2010!

Come Friday will be the year 2010! How quickly time flies. How quickly our children have grown. How rich an experience my whole family has gone through. Most importantly, how wonderful for us to connect with God more intimately.

For Nic, this year was his turning point. Before he turned 6 this year, he could not read or spell not even “is’ or “a”. He could not stay focused in completing his homework and it was like squeezing blood out from a rock to get him to do any school work! We’ve tried caning but it only made matters worse and he can’t seem to remember the pain he received! The turning point came when in March, we put him for full day in school and called it “Homework school”. We explained to him that it was to allow the teachers to help him with homework since he had difficulty focusing at home. Amazingly, he started to become more responsible. Very soon, he even knew what home work he had missed out. We believe that because of the familiar surroundings, teachers as well as peer pressure, Nic started focusing on his homework.

Today, Nic can read more words but still has a long way to go. His spelling has only just started. I have no idea how he coped in school the whole year with comprehension when he could hardly read! Nic attended a highly academic kindergarden designed to send children to Chinese school. Interestingly, Nic did extremely well in Mandarin. He actually loves the flow when writing Mandarin – like drawing fountains (which is his first love since 2 years old). So, we are at least at ease with the decision to send him to Chinese school for Standard One in 2010. We just pray that the Chinese school will enhance his creativity and his love for music!

Ethan on the other hand loves doing home work and would play pretend doing his home work. He’s the sports guy. Having myself played squash before, I can tell you he has very good squash strokes for a 3 year old boy. He has the “finishing swing”. Football, basketball, badminton, tennis – he will be only too happy if you will play with him! I haven’t found any court though that will let him play tennis or a squash or tennis racket light enough to let him practice!

Both Ethan and Nic have common love for ultramans, aliens, monsters, babies and swimming. Their latest favourite movie is Avatar. “I be Avatar girl, you be Avatar boy” says Ethan.
So, it was a pleasant surprise for us that Nic has fallen in love with Jesus and in healthy food too, would prefer to tell “Jesus story” to friends over “monster stories”. It was a surprise to us that Ethan understood that the devil caused him to be ill and it is Jesus that kicks the devil out. It was a surprise to us that Nic changed from being curious about what the devil looked like 2 months ago to disliking the devil now! This November, both Nic and Ethan found Jesus.

Previously, it was such a chore to share kids devotion with them and to lay hands on them to pray for them. All the whining and the restlessness! It was very difficult to get them to pray!
Like us adults, we find it hard to pray too when we have lost touch with Jesus. We give thanks to God that because of the cancer, it has brought Henry and I closer to God again so close that He is like daddy to us. Not only has Christ love been so real to us but it has also overflowed to our children, to our home group, to friends in church and to our family. So many of our friends have experienced that God is a miracle working God, a prayer answering God and have tasted His goodness once again. Our prayer is that Liz’s testimonies will continue to inspire others to “catch the fire” again and start a journey of knowing Jesus all over again.

We thank all our friends and family for praying for us especially for Henry, my mother, my mother in law and employer for sacrificing so much of themselves to allow Liz to rest and recover; for supporting us financially and for encouraging us. We thank God for the new found friendships and closer relationships with family and friends as a result of this trial. Indeed good things do come out from difficult situations. The devil intended it for evil but God intended it for good, to accomplish His purpose. We focus on God’s finished work on the cross and the victory He has given to us and by His wounds, Liz is healed.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”- John 16:33

Have a blessed and wonderful New Year 2010 and we pray that your faith in our Lord Jesus Christ will be increased. We pray that you will truly experience the Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We pray that you will experience His love more and more and that it will be so infectious that you too will want to pass it on to others. Wishing you an Infectious Faith In Christ 2010!

Love,

Henry, Liz, Nic & Ethan

Nic accepts Christ

Whoooey! Nic is now a Christian. He accepted Christ on 27 December 2009. It all started when all of a sudden he said he wanted to go to heaven. I was thinking "Of course you can go to heaven. You're a christian! No no, he's only a child!" So I asked him "If you want to go to heaven you must first believe that Jesus is the son of God. Do you believe that? He said "Yes".

"Then, you also need to believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again and now Jesus is alive! Do you believe that?" Nic said "Yes".

"Well, there's one more. You also need to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. Do you believe that?" And Nic said "Yes".

"Well then, you can go to heaven now. You are a Christian now, you are one of the family of believers" I said smilingly. Then Henry and I asked Nic. Why did you ask such a question? Nic replied "Because I love Jesus and I want to hug him". Then he surprised me when he added. I don't like the devil. Which I replied "Yes, the devil is evil. It has zero love". He said "Mummy, you don't have to tell me! I know the devil is evil. I don't even like him!" Harumppphhhh!

Wow! Nic has changed so much since going to VBS, thanks to all the teachers who spent so much time explaining and acting out what Jesus did, who He is and all. I keep thinking what a wonderful testimony that Nic would be to his peers. Really, he loves Jesus because he has tasted of God's goodness - from being free from head pain, from being free from eye pain, from being free from ulcer in the mouth after a sip of water, of God's protection from his fall and quick recovery, from getting to see a rainbow at his request and many car park spaces granted wherever he goes. Truly God has been so good to him. At a Christmas party recently, he wanted to tell the other children about "Jesus story" but the kids only wanted to hear "monster stories".

That is really a change in character from a boy who loves monsters so much. Truly, even at such a young age, God's words hold true for him.

2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

This mummy wants to cry...

Ethan goes carolling, mummy gets brave!

Jingle all the way!

Joy to the world!

..on a one horse open sleighhhhhhh!

I can't believe this actually happened. They probably only average 4 years old. I decided to do a rehearsal with 5 kids and they sang Jingle Bells so well that I made them stand on chairs to sing again. Then, many other children came to join in the fun. All of Ethan's toys came in handy..baby shakers, tambourines, hand bells - all were put to good use! They even managed to sing "Joy to the World" twice which is the real meaning of Christmas.

Praise His Name! Let earth receive her King!

Tasting God’s Goodness – First Baptist Church’s Christmas Play

After such an eventful week and also just recalling all of His goodness to me for healing me and to my family throughout this journey, it was not a surprise I started to cry watching FBC’s Christmas play entitled “Tasting God’s Goodness”! When King Wai told me he was going to put together bible characters like Martha, Mary, Lazarus, the tax collector, the lady with the blood issue, the blind man that could see again, I was quite doubtful how it would all turn out. What if it turned out to be “Rojak” (all mixed up)?

King Wai told me the script came to him very easily, definitely inspired by the holy spirit right down to the name of the play!

It turned out to be a rather brilliant play though the sound system could be further improved. A clever play of characters from the bible in a modern setting but set during Jesus’ time when He was still alive yet cleverly not showing Jesus as that would take the focus away from the audience when they start comparing Jesus. It was very focused on tasting God’s goodness right down to the songs chosen which sang of His goodness, His grace and resting in Him. What made it more credible compared to mere acting was that the testimonies are all true testimonies from these bible characters who lived many years ago. And it climaxed with much rejoicing with "High School Musical" like dance moves that had me thinking who the choreographer was. Clever. A very good ending indeed! It was also good to see so much young talent. I really believe something big is going to happen in our church! Ah, but there's much repenting to do too. I pray all evil will be exposed in Jesus' name!

But the part I cried was when the beggar boy, Ronnie, accepted Jesus and followed Him. He had almost the same complaint of Jesus compared with a girlfriend of mine just a few days ago. Ronnie’s complaint was “What can Jesus do for me. I have to go out and beg and fend for myself. If Jesus is real, why is there still so much suffering in the world”. The answer is because our world is so messed up. But that’s why He came to rescue us and all of us are living testimonies of His miracles in our lives and we are all tasting His goodness DESPITE the messed up world we live in.

My girlfriend said “I refuse to believe that God who is supposed to be loving can prepare a place of hell for people. I just don’t buy into your concept of God”. I told her that is the way God is. He is all loving, He only wants what’s best for us. He wants to give us everything. He wants to do it all for us. He wants us to rest in Him. But if we reject Him, we go to hell. She said she would wait and see later when it comes. I felt so sad for her I just said I would pray for her.

In the Christmas play, that was what these group of believers did for Ronnie, the beggar. They prayed that God would give Ronnie the wisdom and understanding to accept Him as Lord and Savior. That too is my prayer for my girlfriend that God might open the eyes of her heart to see Jesus once again and to experience His love and grace all over again. I felt sad that she could not see Jesus working in my life and His miracle upon me. But the Christmas play gave me hope that as long as we pray and intercede and love them because Christ’ love compels us, then there is hope that she and my other family and friends will return to Jesus one day. On a good day, I thank God for their salvation as I pray in faith and believe in Jesus’ finished work that they will receive His gift of grace.

History channel 555 is currently showing the “Seven Signs of Apocalypse” . It reports that scientists agree that there are cumulating evidence that what is foretold in the bible thousands of years ago will happen. It is just a matter of when and scientist says it is nearer than we think. They talked about warming climate, possible of gamma rays changing the chemistry of the sky blocking the sun out and possibility of red tide coming turning our oceans to blood.

Whether we like it or not, God is who He says He is. And He brings all this calamities as a last warning before the coming of Christ and Judgment day so that more will be saved. That is how much God loves us. He is not evil. All in Him is good. It is without His protection that we will face eternal fire because He is a Holy God and all sin must be punished unless we believe that all our sin has been nailed on Jesus, that Jesus is the son of God, that He rose again and that He is our Lord and Savior. That is all He wants of us - a relationship with us.

I continue to bask in God’s love and taste of His God’s goodness and pray for the salvation of my friends and family to enjoy the same when they know Him.

Tasting God’s Goodness – Evil Seeped in on Christmas Day

Evil Seeped in on Christmas Day but it had no power no dominion over us. There was a small miscommunication between Henry and I but it was enough to cause downcast within the family during Christmas lunch and dinner. Now, I can feel the despair that many couples experience in troubled marriages whilst putting on happy faces for the children and really, trying to enjoy ourselves but only to a certain level. Deep within, our hearts are troubled. Thankfully, with the power of the Holy Spirit, I guessed correctly what was troubling Henry. Then I tried coaxing him to talk about it. It is a sense of “no way out of a problem” but really that is only perception from a human mind. There is NOTHING that cannot be discussed especially with the help of our great big God. To hold something in our hearts when we could discuss about it in a gentle manner would only fester and we are giving a foothold to the devil to make the problem grow bigger and bigger everyday. That is how it all begins. That's how the devil wants us to react. But I really thank God it was resolved before bed time and I communicated the same to Henry the next day. Then, I felt peace return to my family. It was a close call. Evil seeped into my family on Christmas day but “God who is in us in greater than He who is in this world”. I could feel the love, joy and peace again this Christmas. Thank you Lord Jesus for giving us all we ever need. Truly, the answer to all our problems lies in You.

Christmas at Thistle Port Dickson Part 5

My sweet sweet mummy.

Tasting God’s Goodness – Twas the Night before Christmas

Well, actually it was the DAY before Christmas, a day after returning from Port Dickson. Ethan woke up early in the morning and started having vomiting bouts. After the fourth round of vomit, I started getting anxious and took Ethan to see a doctor. The doctor said it he had a bit of phlegm in the chest but nothing to worry about and he had a bit of redness in the throat.

Oh no, it sounds really bad to me as Ethan has a history of respiratory problem. The doctor recommended antibiotics which I wasn’t too keen on. Still, it was doctor’s advise. Why see a doctor if you don’t trust him. Doctor said it could be the sea air. How can sea air be bad for you?

I decided to hold back the antibiotics till Henry returns and decide then whether to give. Even the anti vomit did not work because half an hour later he started to vomit again. Oh no, I started panicking and changed my mind and gave him his first dose of antibiotics. An hour later, he vomited again. Looks like even the antibiotics did not work!

Then, I realized I had not turn to God and I was panicking the whole morning. Ever since the beginning of my journey, I’ve begun to turn to God as my family’s healer in all sicknesses ranging from sniffles to yes, cancer and we have tasted His goodness as we see Him heal us, often times really quickly, other times longer but without medication.

Ultimately, we acknowledge God first before our next action. Or we say a prayer before popping any medication. That Christmas eve morning, I forgot to acknowledge God first but thankfully, I turned to Him - sigh - only because the medication did not seem to do anything to improve Ethan’s condition. But I repent and turned to Him once again.

When Henry returned, he assessed the situation and I asked Henry “Can we trust God to heal Ethan without the antibiotics?”. Once I heard “Yes”, I felt God’s peace fall upon me. Ethan still continued to vomit the whole day and night but the period between vomits seemed to be getting longer and longer.

We prayed over Ethan every chance we could and also before bedtime.

The next morning Ethan sat up on bed and said “I’m better already”. Praise the Lord! “Ethan, say thank you to Jesus!” I asked Ethan. I wasn’t sure whether it was for real but I just went with the flow. Ethan explained in his own little way of what happened, “Yesterday, the devil made me vomit. Then Jesus came and kick kick kick the devil away- no more vomit”. I was so touched when he said that and I started to believe it is for real.

“Surely He will save us from the fowler’s snare” Psalm 91

And surely indeed, the whole family went to church on Christmas day, Nic in a sling, Ethan free from vomit and we all watched the Christmas play directed by King Wai “Tasting God’s Goodness”.

Praise the Lord! He truly is our Healer and Provider in every way. We only need to trust in Him and He will pull us out of the pit no matter what the sickness is – big or small! That's because God is mighty. To Him there is no such thing as a big or small problem. We are mere human beings. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

Praise God. All honour, glory and power belongs to our God!

Christmas at Thistle Port Dickson Part 4

Stuffing sand into the shoe is the way to go

At the "Mushroom Rain Fountain"

"Mummy, see me see me ah" No Ethan, "Look at me"...

Christmas at Thistle Port Dickson Part 3

Christmas at Thistle Port Dickson Part 2

Pretending to be an acrobat

Nic following after mummy

BBE - Bubble Bulls Eye!

Christmas at Thistle Port Dickson Part 1

Carps in the pool?

Drama Nic in sling enjoying hotel room after the fall

Tasting God’s Goodness- There were angels all around

On our second day at Thistle Port Dickson, 22 December 2009, the kids were still splashing away in the pool and my castle skills were improving even with limited tools. I was beginning to get the chills after only a day of exposure. Sigh. So, I decided to listen to my body and leave the care of children to Henry. It’s so wonderful to have my mum with us as screams of “Grandma” can be heard all the time and she would patiently shred salad and slice apples for me over and above oats or sandwiches that I eat at the hotel. I am really blessed!

They even have a movie room, all carpeted. The kids managed to catch “Tom and Jerry” and “Captain America”. Ethan took a fancy of drinking his milk while watching movie in darkness.
Anyway, by 5.30pm while I was taking a nap, a screaming Nic came upstairs with Ethan and Henry. He hurt his arm during a fall from a monkey bar. He must have fallen awkwardly and either twisted or fractured his arm. We decided to take him for an x ray to be safe. We laid hands on Nic and prayed for him while he was screaming away. Also, while Henry took Nic to the clinic, I quickly smsed to my home group to pray for Nic.

Henry and Nic were caught in a jam (in Port Dickson!) and he said they were heading to a hospital instead. Later, he related to me that there seem to be angels all around as everything went very smoothly. A hotel staff had compassion on Nic and decided to follow Henry to help guide them. Unfortunate, he was later reprimanded for following Henry and someone came by the hospital to fetch him back to the hotel. The person manning the x ray had to be call back to the hospital but even he showed up pretty fast. The doctor then confirmed it was a mere soft tissue injury and there was no fracture. Nic was given a sling and some pain killers. All in all, the x ray, consultation and medicine cost only RM1. Praise the Lord!

It really makes a difference when we stand in the gap and pray for others. Again, there will be a flurry of activities in the spiritual realm and battles are won when we intercede! Thank you home group for praying for Nic. Nic’s sling came off on 26 December 2009 when he discovered he could lift his arm without pain. Praise God for rescuing Nic and sending His angels to encamp around and about Nic and Henry that day!

Tasting God’s goodness – Devil meant it for evil but God intended it for good

Genesis 50:20
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good”.

Our Christmas holiday with the family was spent at Thistle Port Dickson Hotel. I highly recommend this place. http://www.thistle.com/hotels/malaysia/port_dickson/thistle_port_dickson/index.html

It is the old Guoman. They just rebranded it to the UK Thistle brand and it is still managed by Hong Leong. Henry says that the new Cumulus pub near the beach reminds him of Bali. They have a beautiful overflowing pool overlooking the beach. And they were playing “Angel Voices” by St Philips Boys’ Choir (they are the publicly performing boys section of St. Philip's Church choir from South London http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEYXQBGw13Q , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yZJExEQBT8&feature=related). That is a magical combination of luxury on elegant rattan chairs by the pool, beautiful view of the sea and heavenly music! What more, at a fraction of a price- no need to fly to Bali!

The Cumulus pub area is meant for adults only. The pub looks brand new and they were busy setting out the furniture and putting up Christmas decorations that they did not mind Nic and Henry swimming in this overflowing pool by the beach while Ethan, my mum and I were designing our very own castle.

We were really contented with the abundance of pool everywhere, so much ground to run around. The hotel is very well maintained. They even built a new “Mushroom Rain Fountain“ as Ethan calls it. And this new water feature which has a slide going down to a baby pool would be Ethan’s fixed play area (other than the beach) for the full 3 days that we were there! He just could not get enough of it.

So everyone hit the sack after an enjoyable but tiring day. Lights out – we were all fast asleep. Suddenly, there were sounds of party revelry next door. They were loud. We could hear them as they were talking from their balcony as well. Henry said the corridor was wreaking of alcohol. He made 3 complaints to the management and finally a lady offered to change our rooms to another wing far far away from all the din. When Henry found out it was a smoking room his face grew even darker and she pacified him to check out the place first before commenting.

All this transpired when the rest of the family was fast asleep. Finally, when Henry said we were changing rooms, we had to carry the sleeping boys and pack all our bags in a jiffy! What a nightmare but as we entered the new room at the highest floor, Nic opened his eyes and said “Wow” and went back to sleep.

Indeed, it was a beautiful room, obviously upgraded to a more luxurious room. The TV is now flat screen. The headboard is more elegant. We now have glasses to hold our toothbrushes! The furniture is newer. But the best of all, we now have a central view of the pool and the sea beyond! Previously we only had side view of the garden. Later, we found out that we were actually upgraded from a standard King room to a deluxe King room!

Praise God! Really, I would not believe that our Abba Father would give us such a beautiful holiday only to spoil it with a rowdy crowd next door that night. This is not just God but Abba Father who loves us whom we call "Daddy".

So what the devil meant for evil to disturb our peace and fun, God meant it for good as we reaped even greater blessing when we woke up the next morning to a beautiful view of the pool, sea and room!

Thank you Abba Father for your blessings upon us.

Tasting God's goodness - Rainbow Over Our Home

Rainbow over our home shot by Nic

Last last Sunday on 20 December 2009, we were driving home when Henry noticed a rainbow in the sky and quickly asked Nic to look at it because that is God’s promise that He will never again flood the earth.


Rainbows are always breathtaking to me but Nic sort of scolded God because it wasn’t a full rainbow. It was probably only one third of a rainbow. He wanted to see a beautiful full rainbow. I rolled my eyes and told Nic to pray because God always seem to answer his prayers. We led Nic into prayer “Father God, please show me a beautiful full rainbow. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

We were almost reaching home about 3 km later after praying when suddenly, right before our very eyes was a beautiful full rainbow in the sky and right above our home as well! “Nic! Look! God answered your prayers yet again! He loves you so much and wants to show himself so real to you.” Nic said, “Thank you Jesus”.


I did not think that God would answer Nic’s prayers so quickly. I thought maybe the next day or something but that day He showed me again how much He loves Nic. Truly God loves us all very much and when we turn to Him and fellowship with Him daily these are the surprises we can expect – two beautiful rainbows in a day!


Thank you Jesus!

Update – God’s Goodness after the Attack

It has been a great Christmas week and I feel strong and energetic today. Like what Ps Joseph Prince said in one of his sermons - when the spiritual attack is great, we can expect even greater blessings from God. The devil senses something good is about to happen and they try to block the angels at work. There is a flurry of activities in the heavenlies. I must say it was the longest “attack” about 2-3 weeks i.e. ever since my holiday in Singapore on 16 November 2009 right up to a week after my Genting trip. It started with fever and more fever the following week during VBS week and feeling the lack of energy climaxing in a stiff neck during my Genting holiday.

So far in this entire journey, severe pain of diarrhea for me has lasted a maximum of 2 days and when some of you interceded for me, it went away. So really, this was the biggest attack. Thanks for all your prayers for WE have won the victory – yet again!

Wow, did I taste God’s goodness after that - one after another! So today, I feel strong. I actually had symptoms of hair loss as well since early November 2009. That’s why I cut my hair just before the Singapore trip. But as of last week, I started shedding less hair. Praise the Lord!

I had a flash vision last week – just about a second and it wasn’t a dream. I saw myself jogging but knees up pretty high, with a big smile and I was bald! Argghhhh! I almost freaked out!

I sense the vision saying that I am FREE, health wise much stronger after the “attack” and even my hair will stop shedding. I claimed the vision in Jesus’ name and rejected any thoughts that I will go bald in Jesus’ name! I want to share with you that if you receive a bad vision you should ask God what is it (e.g. could be a recurring dream of an accident or an ominous feel that something bad will happen to someone). You would normally know what it means when you ask Him. If it is still bad then you should reject “the bad circumstance” in Jesus’ name so that even when it still comes true, the impact will be small compared to normal circumstances because you have acknowledged God and also mentally you are prepared for it because you have been warned.

So I’ve been observing the hair loss and true enough it has gotten lesser. Previously, even when I wake up in the morning, I will find hair on my pillow. Sigh. Or even in the living room, you will find lots of hair everyday as we sweep the floor. But no more! All I’ve done with all these trials was to say back to God His promises to me that “By your stripes, I am healed” (1 Peter 2 :24) because His word is true and His word that goes forth shall not return to Him void. I also rebuke all work of darkness working against me. I bind and break them in the name of Jesus!

Oh, there’s so much to tell you of God’s goodness after the “attack”…

The Christmas Story Foretold

My favourite prophecy foretold of Jesus in the Old Testament is that Jesus would come out of Bethlehem. Thanks to Tammy’s Christmas e-card to me yesterday, I finally found the verse in

Micah 5:2. It is written:

2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times."

It’s my favourite because it shows that it wasn’t just a one-time event that Jesus came, did what He did and everyone just believed in this man Jesus.

But it was foretold long ago in the old testament of His coming, how He was coming, what He was going to do and what He will do and most importantly it shows God’s action throughout our history. That’s why Christianity is not a religion. It is God in action in history for us to accept Him for who He is and to have a relationship with Him. There is no legalism, there is no “dos” and “don’ts”. Real Christians aren’t pious, doing good acts but just loving Jesus and out of it comes action out of love for Jesus that compels us.

In Jesus’ days and before that, many claim to be the Messiah. There were many Jesus as I discovered in Discovery channel. I find Discovery channel rather disturbing – it’s facts and hearsays (deceit) all rolled into one and I really believe without the holy spirit, one can actually fall away from the living God. Still, it is a free will, free choice – your choice whether to experience God’s goodness or continue the life you are living – being the captain of your own ship.

There are many stories of many “gods” in this world but none so accurate right down to his birth place (a real location) and how he would be born (a real detailed description of his birth) as shown in Isaiah 7:14:

14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.

It was foretold He is to come from the Davidic line…In Jeremiah 23:5, it is written:

5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.

And true enough, He was from the branch of David as recorded in Matthew 1:1-16. His earthly father Joseph was from the Davidic line. But the seed planted by the Holy Spirit into Mary is from God.

It was foretold that he will be called Mighty God in Isaiah 9:6…

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

It was foretold how He would die and be rejected Isaiah 53:5,6…

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

For anyone to claim He is the Messiah, He has to fulfill all these criterias and many more not mentioned here! Jesus could not have faked it. Some things were not in a man’s control. His parents weren’t even from Bethlehem. They traveled to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world at that time and Mary was near to giving birth! And ultimately, Jesus was born in Bethlehem because of that!
Jesus was a man recognized in history so at least no one could say He did not exist!

The shepherds nearby bore witness to Jesus’ birth after they heard the announcement by an angel. The angel gave the shepherds a sign too of Jesus’ birth as is written in Luke 2:10

10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

If not for the angel’s announcement, there would be no witnesses to His birth other than his parents and some animals. But the shepherds came and much later, the three wise men came too to worship the new born King.

Could Jesus have manipulated his lineage or the prophecies or his own birth? Could he have controlled how he would die right down to the symbolism of hyssop, having no sin, and not having his bones broken? Yes, if He is God and he came (not to manipulate to fulfill the prophecy and fulfill Father God's will).

Because it was God’s plan to punish His beloved son for OUR sins, for our guilt and for Jesus to bear our shame, our sorrows, our pain, our diseases. So that by His punishment, we can be sin-conscious NO MORE, we can be FREE from condemnation, so that we can have love, joy and peace in our hearts, so that we can be healthy and lack in nothing.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Jesus wasn’t just with us when He was born to 33 years of age. Believe it or not, He was with us from the beginning of time because He is God.

In John 1:1,2,14
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

So to all who choose to believe..this is what the bible says:

11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

As children of God, we stand to receive all that God has given to Jesus, because we are his co-heir.

Romans 8:17 - Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
It is a divine exchange. Does it make sense that Jesus fulfilled all that prophecy so that we can just say He is a good teacher while He claimed to be God? No, He is either God or a mad man.

But man, was it really so much fluke He fulfilled all that prophecy?!

Here's a Christmas Story told on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWuiBKQDLtg

...and the names of Jesus...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWZPEU-doTQ&feature=related

Dear Doreen and Claire

I'm a kor kor now. Meet my twin cousins.
Move it! move it! move it!

Dear Doreen and Claire,

I miss you guys so much. Do try to email me when you get a chance at chochot7@gmail.com because I've lost all your contacts and after our call, I've wanted so much to chat with you again. I pray that God will keep you both well, in good health and all is well with you. Little Ethan is very boisterous these days and when he runs towards you and gives you a hug, you may fall backwards because he comes running with such force!

In his recent school concert, he gave such a gusto performance you can almost see the flesh on his chest whopping up and down! He was actually very sleepy by 5 pm but after some prompting from me he suddenly sprung alive from his state of zombieness. Quite amazing!

He's grown much taller now and is no longer the baby of the family. He stands taller than his younger cousins and he has been blessed with so many other cousins, more than 20, I believe. What a big family!

I do pray we will be able to meet again soon, maybe when you return for chinese new year? Do continue with your walk with Jesus and keep talking to Him! He loves you and Claire very much. Blessed Christmas!

Magic Wrappings

Hey Sue! That's wonderful. I didn't know some doodling and some reasoning can turn out to be a christmas story for the kids. It's because God has gifted you in story telling that something so simple can become so alive in your imagination! :)

Since you are about to share the story and I will certainly pray for you, I want to share with all of you the "magic wrappings". In my haste of sharing the drawing, I forgot to tell you I found it quite amazing that these christmas wrappings once opened seems to rewrap itself again after awhile!

That has certainly been my journey and maybe some of you have gotten the bigger picture but for me, I seem to be on this journey of rediscovering grace, righteousness and all the benefits from these gifts that God has given to me. And this rediscovery seems to take place almost everyday and it's like when I turn away too long, the presents get rewrapped again!

Then, it occurred to me these christmas gifts are there for all of us to receive. Yet, if we fail to open it, we will never know or experience what God has graciously given to each of us out of His love for us. Even if we open them, like most of us christians, if we fail to enjoy the gift and walk away instead and doing our own stuff e.g. doing good, trying to be obedient to the law, do charity, do God's work (as "dead works" rather than good works), then we miss out on His gifts to us and magically, the gifts get rewrapped again and neatly arranged again under the tree!

God is always there for us. He has His best interest for us. He loves us so much. He gave us all these gifts so that He can do all for us, so that we can just relax and enjoy His love and providence. That's how we were made to be, that's why He created us - to have a relationship with us. We just need to reach out and receive the gifts, open the gifts and savour them for the rest of our lives.

The Real Gifts of Christmas!

How do we break the tradition of giving gifts and tell people the real meaning of Christmas instead! I ask myself this Christmas - "What is the Chirstmas gift that God gave us?" We talk about gifts under the Christmas tree symbolising the real gift that God gave us when Jesus was born but what gift was that?

After all that I have gone through in this journey, I told myself -"It must be grace! No, no..it's gift of righteousness". Then I listened to lyrics to Christmas carols and I catch "Second birth". Yes, Jesus came to give us second birth! So, still searching, I decided to share with my bible study group. Some shouted "Love", Some shouted "Eternal life". I was taken aback! Hey! You mean there's not just ONE special gift?

So yesterday morning, I started doodling on a piece of paper all the gifts and tinsels and decorations that God has given us this Christmas. And my oh my, there were so many, too many to fit my christmas tree! I am sure I left out some gifts too e.g. this morning I thought of "Rest" from Matthew 11:29-30 (Message)

" 28-30"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Then I started coloring it and before I knew it I started making Christmas cards out of it. Because I shot it with my handphone, I could also send out MMS christmas greetings! Praise God for His wonderful inspiration. It's wonderful to be able to rest in the Lord and just let the holy spirit take over - the unforced rhythm of grace....a holy spirit directed christmas holiday activity!

So, I've put it on this blog for you to enjoy the tinsels, decoration and gifts of Christmas. If you can't read it, here are some of them:

Star: Second birth

Tinsels:

Holy Spirit

Eternal life

Encounter with God

God's power

Victory

God's knowledge

God's wisdom

Redemption

Protection

Good health

Providence

Blessings

Yulelog: God's goodness

Candy cane: Freedom

Decorations:

Joy

Hope

Peace

Gifts:

Grace

Love

Righteousness

I pray that this Christmas will be the beginning of your close encounter with God of the astounding kind - like mine! Because suddenly, my eyes have opened and I can see how real and how personal He is in every aspect of my life. Truly, He is faithful. He was there all the while. It is I who had turned away even though only slightly but it was sufficient to cause me to almost perish. But as soon as I fixed my eyes on Jesus again, He pulled me out from the pit and placed me onto a spacious place. That is How great, compassion, merciful and loving our God is. Praise be to God forever and ever! Amen!

Blessed Christmas everyone! May your hearts be filled with all the tinsels, decorations, christmas gifts from our Lord Jesus Christ that your heart can hold. May it be a very special christmas for you this year as you encounter Him, the almighty God.

It's Really Beginning to Look Like Christmas

I had so much fun yesterday. Even in the midst of a stiff neck I managed to drive out to do some christmas shopping, wrapped some presents, baked a cake and to top it off - I managed to create this manger scene from scraps of cardboard and colored paper and toys from a nativity set and placed them on the Orange sour cream poppy seed cake (recipe compliments from Cheng Yi). Can't wait for bible study tonight to surprise them all with this cake. The normal pagan christmas scene would include dusting of snow on the cake but since this is the REAL meaning of christmas, this is how one should sell cakes out in bakery shops.

A humble cake depicting our humble King - Jesus Christ our Lord!

If you want to make your own manger on your cake, check out this website where I received my inspiration:

http://www.abruzzo2000.com/abruzzo/traditions/christmas/xm_crib.html

It's really beginning to look like Christmas...

Lyrics and Youtube Movies to Boomerang Express 2009

Here's a list of all the youtube movies on this year's Boomerang Express V.B.S 2009 (lyrics included):

Boomerang Express Theme Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsPO4lcI9H8

This Is Why
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei5teFvC7hc

Working On My Serve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFS7_b4ekIY

Because
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5GzsrCxtfY

Gonna follow you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwE83qMcJT4

All things
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nx95QhRGOs

The Seed is Planted - Thank You!

Teacher Fee and Wee Li doing the "Boomerang Express" with kindy kids from "Geelong Jellyfish" and other classes. "All aboard"

Only today Henry related to me how Nic sang out line for line the lyrics to "Because" which he heard from VBS. I was so touched because out of all the songs, this is the most evangelistic one, the core of our Christian faith - the ABC - Admit Believe Confess.

I found the youtube movie and lyrics to share with you. It's all worth it sending Nic to VBS. Thanks to all the committee members, the teachers, the deco team, the helpers, so much sweat and hard work that went into making VBS such a success and most importantly planting the seed into their hearts. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5GzsrCxtfY

Because Lyrics

Because He
gave His life
Because He
bled and died

Because He
rose again
I come

And I admit to God
I am a sinner
and I repent and turn away from all my sin

I believe that Jesus
is the son of God
and that He came
into the world
to save us all

I confess my faith in
Jesus as my Saviour
and my Lord
And I do this
because of His
great love
Because He
loves me so
Because He
makes me whole

Because He
is my Friend
I come

And I admit to God
I am a sinner
and I repent and turn away from all my sin

I believe that Jesus
is the son of God and that He came
into the world
to save us all

I confess my faith in
Jesus as my Savior
and my Lord

And I do this
because of His
great love

For the wages
of sin is death
but the gift of God is
eternal life through
Jesus Christ

Will you admit
to God you are a sinner?

Will you repent
and turn away
from all your sin?

Will you believe that
Jesus is the Son of
Gof and that He
came onto the world
to save us all?

Will you confess
your faith in Jesus
as your Savior
and your Lord?

Will you do this?
Will you do this?

Will you do this
because of
His great love

Chilling out at Genting Highlands

The pub area with pool table and high stools and tables
The big pool. There is also a baby pool next door.


View from the pub area. The newly installed futsal court

View from Genting Permai Resort

Think of Genting Highlands and one would naturally think of casinos, theme parks, a city of entertainment. My mum loves her hideaway in Genting but none for the reasons I mentioned above. I was thrilled I could spend a night at her “hideaway”. It’s a studio apartment with everything you need, self sufficient, even a little garden patch with fresh vegetables ready to be plucked! It’s a home away from home.

When we arrived at 9 am on Tuesday morning, the mist was still surrounding the apartment but shortly after the sun came out and it was cool and sunny. I can hear the gushing waters from a nearby stream in the jungle right in front of us. I was pleasantly surprised by a “show of the jungle” by 2 species of monkeys, one grey, the other black with mighty big round eyes; and a family of squirrels prancing atop the canopy of trees. They’re that light!

By night fall, the cricket sounds added crescendo to the already playing instrumental music my mum was playing. “It’s amazing how nature can still complement the orchestra” I told my mum. It was getting cold by night and I had to wear two layers of T shirts and socks! I think it’s also because I’ve lost so much weight I can afford to layer the clothes on to feel warm. Also, layering is in fashion these days so I get to enjoy that aspect of fashion. Ha ha.

No need for fans although I did long for television. The next time I go up again with the kids I am lugging up the TV. There’s just so much of solitude I can have. I need entertainment!

If I regained my strength, the ultimate Genting experience would be a mixture of my mum’s hideaway, a sumptuous eat-out at Goh Tong Jaya nearby, a hop to the nearby cable car station that takes us right up to the city of entertainment and sip coffee and have a piece of cake at Starbucks while the kids have fun at the themepark. Neither Nicholas or Ethan has been to the outdoor Themepark as the minimum height requirement is 122cm. Ethan is still not tall enough but finally, Nicholas is tall enough to enter the outdoor Themepark! Yay!

I took some shots of the apartment. It’s actually a cool chill out place for a group of friends, maybe 10 to 15. Rent two studio apartments for RM150 each, and squeeze everyone in with sleeping beds and all. The reward is that you can party during the day with swimming, futsal and playing pool. They have this great look out area where you can have a drink and play pool and it overlooks the futsal court and the swimming pool. It’s really such a shame that not many people are aware of this and what more, it is a brand NEW futsal court! So you can actually have a bit of sports without sucking in the pollution at the peak and still go up to the peak just to enjoy the cable car ride and all.

A very hard working group of residence at the Genting Permai Resort have fought hard (with legal battles and all) to ensure maintenance of its surroundings but in order to do that the new management committee would also need to promote hospitality as a source of income for the resort. They have a website where you can check out more at http://www.gentingpermairesort.com/home.php

So, that’s my mum’s little hideaway getaway place. I can see why she loves it so much and the next time I go there I hope more people will go up with me! The more the merrier! And no stiff necks please…

You are supposed to be dead

“You are supposed to be dead”. “You don’t look like a fourth stage cancer patient”. These were the words from Dr Gary Green, the first chiropractor I met to treat me for my stiff neck yesterday. I found it all amusing. I did tell him I am recovering well not wanting to give an impression I was stricken with cancer. He has a little clinic next to KFC in Brickfields. We were busy chatting with each other (which did well to distract me from all that poking) as he was administering “dry needling” on me. It is exactly how I perceive acupuncture to be, just a prick followed by some needling. He said “dry needling” was first introduced in the European countries in the 1820s and is different from acupuncture.

Later, heat pack was placed on several parts of my back including the neck and shoulder areas for 10 minutes. I did feel the muscles relax. Praise God! I was feeling so miserable since Monday and it climaxed yesterday (Wednesday). I found it hard to sleep on Tuesday night and by Wednesday morning any small movement would hurt, even swallowing saliva!

This morning, I feel like a cloud of misery has lifted off me. My neck is still sore but it can move more. Dr Green did not want to risk giving me neck crunches so he asked for me to do an x ray first. I was praying this morning and decided against it and just let nature take over now. Thanks to Wei Ling’s advise, she said that it would normally take a week to heal naturally but I was taken in by Dennis’ advise because of the misery I was facing. I discovered in this journey, it is worth seeking medical help when worship is disrupted. Now that I can worship again this morning, all is well again despite a little pain!

What I found interesting is the lesson God taught me this week. I asked God, “You know a few of my friends and cousins including Tammy and Isaac ask me what is your rhema for me. God, what IS your rhema for me? I’ve learned so much from you, I sincerely feel there’s so much rhema you are pouring out to me. Are you sure that there is only one strong message? What IS your rhema to me?”. The reply came “STIFF NECK. Don’t look at others, look at yourself”. Amazingly, when I was up in Genting, I decided to continue reading Deuteronomy and I discovered an angry Moses scolding the people of Israelites being stiff necked and rebellious.

God sure has a sense of humour. The moment I get stiff neck, I read about a race of stiff necked people! I felt God was trying to tell me I need to learn to rely on him constantly and not just in bad times else I will be like the Israelites that “love and forget” over and over again. I continued reading the book of Judges and it was the same trend. Each time they forget God, they turn to their gods, Baal, Ashtoreth..mine would be AFC channel, Biggest Loser, 411, kids. It’s not that God doesn’t want me to have fun but I need to establish a relationship so close that I would do everything in His presence and not just find Him when I am in trouble. That is my take home for the week.

And it is an important take home for He warns me that He is my God not just for this journey but forever. That after I pull out of this, I cannot return to my old self and neither can Henry. All of us must move forward and to continuously enjoy this love relationship. After all, what is so difficult of being in love?

And the devil has really been having a field day for the past 2 weeks even my mum is beginning to admit that it is spiritual warfare. I was amused and touched at the same time when MY MUM said “Why don’t you bind and throw it away in Jesus’ name?”. Whoah, that’s my mum talking! She was saying normally people only get stiff neck on one side but BOTH sides??? It must be spiritual attack! The timing for attack after attack was also very good.

Fever- recover- fever- ct scan fever-lack of energy-stiff neck.

Better still, while driving home with my mum yesterday, we saw a car in front of us spotting the word “DEVIL” on its wind screen. My mum asked “Why would anyone put such word on his car”. I said “They think it’s cool mummy”. But to me, it was confirmation of spiritual attack.
Everytime I get hit, I have to quickly turn to God and ask Him why, where’s the open door? I’ve been attacked but unshaken and each time I come out unshaken, I come out stronger and stronger knowing that God’s faithfulness never fails me. This morning I read from Hebrews a reminder to focus on Jesus and how he disciplines us.

Hebrews 12
2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, ... 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

”5And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."

7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

…but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet,"so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”


Thank you Lord for this week’s lesson. Let me not be stiff necked any longer but to love you so much that you are in my every vibe, my very being every single day of my life. Thank you Jesus for everything.

All I want for Christmas

All I want for Christmas is my health in good shape again! Unfortuantely, that is NOT how we Christians ought to pray. That is just hope with all the warmth and merriment of consumerised paganistic Christmas everywhere. BUT by Jesus stripes, I am healed! But there is still fuzziness in my brain that is slowly but surely leaving me. I’ve been feeling low the past few days but it has no power no dominion over me. Today’s the first day that I have managed to jog round the neighbourhood which is a good sign that the energy level is slowly rising. I was taking up to 4 naps a day which is pretty scarry even to myself! But I hold on to His promises and focus on His finished work in me. Today is a good day. I only took my usual nap after lunch and feeling fine now even though it is 4.30pm already. Praise the Lord!

Only yesterday I was praying out aloud near my sis “Lord, give me back my energy”, my head flipped backwards coz I have no strength to even hold my head up. She said “what?”. I said “LORD, GIVE ME BACK MY ENERYGY!” I feel a bit like Samson having lost his powers. I’m not sure what Samson did to get it back. I guess he prayed! Yes, he did! He prayed to the Lord “O Sovereign Lord, remember me O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes”.

Well, I’ve nothing to avenge but I have a passion to testify! J God has been truly good to me. This hospital check up has been the most victorious as I personally witnessed Him rescue me the very last moment and he assured me that everything will be alright and signed off in the sky! Powerful!

This morning, I was delighted I found these 2 passages in Philippians. He has been directing me to there and finally today, I did. Here it goes:

Philippians 1:6
“6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Yes, despite the fever and lack of energy, I continue to speak life and healing over my body (as taught to me by Deeper Life Seminar) and this scripture assures me and comforts me that He who has begun a good work in me will indeed carry it one to completion! Yayyy! Praise the Lord!

Philippians 1:9-11
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

I think this is the scripture that supports that because of this passion of seeking after Him, He will just give me a spirit of discernment. So, it doesn’t matter what sermon I hear because He will lead me. Of course, I won’t go totally out of whack and listen to some cultish stuff. Ha ha.

Then I will be filled with the fruit of righteousness. This is amazing. That is the fruit of grace! The fruit of having right standing with God is that our love will abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, having a spirit of discernment! Not by what we do but just seeking after Him! Cool!

Back to Christmas, how apt that Charles Wesley wrote this song “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, that by Jesus’ birth, we will never die – Jesus came to give us the GIFT of righteousness (right standing with God) and spiritual healing (born to give them second birth)….

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

All I want for Christmas is to renew my faith and receive this gift of righteousness all over again!

Draw Me Closer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JRn77vcixE&feature=related

"U C"

The King came down from heaven on dark clouds. Later he formed the words “U C” against the beautiful bright blue sky (like Australia!). Like he was telling me “You see, I told you that all will be well and you will rejoice”. I captured a shot of the sky specially for you but it was slowly changing to "Z". See if you can spot it. :)

God Surfing on Dark Clouds to My Rescue

Did you know that in Psalm 18, when David cried out to God, God came to his rescue and very dramatically so too. He came from heaven, parted the clouds, surfed on the dark clouds, mounted onto cherubim and rode on the wings of the wind. There were other dramatic parts where smoke rose from his nostrils and consuming fire from His mouth. He was angry that the enemies were attacking David. So, I called out to God at 3 am this morning though I have been meditating on it these few days. If He would do it for David, He would do it for me. After all, Jesus paid the price and I have right standing with God. All is right between me and God!

I cried out to God "Why haven’t you parted heaven and surfed on the dark clouds, you say you would. You said you would pull me out onto a spacious place. Please rescue me like you did David". That was 3 am this morning, still having fever at 38.4 degrees.

I was having fever since Tuesday realizing it after sending Nic to Vacation Bible School and feeling tired and wanting so much to sleep. Fever comes and goes after each panadol. Then my body will feel cold again and I would pop the panadol again. I was brushing it too close for the ct scan this morning so in my desperation, I cried out to Him.

This morning at 7.45am, I woke up and I felt all is well. I did not feel intensely cold as I would in previous mornings. A bit dazed but I feel normal again. I just fell on my knees and said “Thank you Abba Father” over and over again.

I felt or in my mind I visualized that God’s big hand was next to me. He did come to rescue me after all and I felt Him saying “The devil might have a field day the past few days but today there will be none of it”. Yay! Praise the Lord!

Mrs Liew called me shortly after in the morning and advised that I should tell the hospital that I had fever and there is a possibility they might not allow a scan on me.

I did tell the hospital nurses. They took my temperature. 36.2 degrees (7 hours after last panadol). No fever! So, she allowed the scan to proceed.

Have you ever heard the word “stout hearted”? When I asked Henry this he said “Sounds like Ethan!”. I found Psalm 138:3 very assuring. It goes like this:

"When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted."

“Stout hearted” is from the bible! God really loves us and provides for all our needs. Just meditating on that verse made my spirit grow stronger and stronger. Also, many times in the past few days I had to shout to my soul “Arise my soul, Arise! Bless your creator”. It is easier to understand how when our spirit is strong and tells the soul to arise, the soul will also communicate to our body to arise and heal faster. So much for endorphins but spiritually that’s how it works. On the contrary, if our soul dominates and is very much in the world then our spirit is trapped and we are not cooperating with the holy spirit even though it is our inheritance! Cool eh?!

So, I asked God for a vision while waiting for 2 hours before the ct scan procedure started. I saw a flag and suddenly the Sunday school song came to my mind.

Joy is the flag flown high
From the castle of my heart (3x)

Joy is the flag flown high
From the castle of my heart (3x)
For the King is in residence there
Then, I started singing..yes yes..in the hospital:
He has made me glad
He has made me glad
I will rejoice for He has made me glad
2x

Hopefully nobody heard me. The hospital was quite quiet today. I felt I had the victory because Christ has given me the victory. I had God’s peace all will be well. The ct scan would go well and the results will make me rejoice!

Indeed when I got into the ct scan room and laid down waiting for the procedure to start, I had a vision in my mind, a big angel in hospital robes landing on the top of the circular ct scan. Wow! I felt assured and on top of God’s peace already given, I felt even more secure that God was watching everything and protecting me. It was amazingly smooth. Even the setting up of the needle by Dr Alex Tang earlier was amazingly smooth though he sighed he could not see my vein and was using my left hand instead of my right. But as the needle went in, there was absolutely no problem and within seconds all was set up! Praise God!

Henry did his usual thing and dug in for the report. He read that the liver is CLEAR! Praise God!

The lung lesions are unchanged but later, Dr Foo Yoke Ching said it's good as there is no progression. Her exact words “Your lungs are very nice”. I reported the fever to her and she said it could be because the targeted therapy has lowered my blood count. So, she immediately asked me to do a blood test there and then. The results – my blood count is normal! Praise the Lord! So, I hope this answers my mum’s concern of what is really happening. It’s just a little bug. So she gave me some antibiotic for this sort of irritating flu with no symptoms of cough or cold.

Since I was still having fever as I visited her (38.1 degrees) she also suggested I lay off Tarceva for 5 days! Praise the Lord! No poison in me for 5 days! Also she gave me another month's supply gratis (which just arrived in a parcel this morning and unopened) and wished us Merry Christmas. God is truly good.

Thank you all for interceding for me. As I blog now, I feel well, fever is gone and finally had some wipe down after 3 days. Yuks. I was too weak, too ill to even touch water as I was freezing within. But God is good. He broke the fever in time for the scan. It is joyous news for us and thank you for all your prayers and smses that really cheered me up and send tears to my eyes, even the news that the whole VBS team was rejoicing today after hearing the news. Yes God will complete the good work in me and we will indeed celebrate together really soon!

The King came down from heaven on dark clouds. Later he formed the words “U C” against the beautiful bright blue sky (like Australia!). Like he was telling me “You see, I told you that all will be well and you will rejoice”. I captured a shot of the sky specially for you but it was slowly changing to "Z". See if you can spot it. :)


Psalm 18: 1-19

1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled me;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies ,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.