Happy Birthday Henryyyyy!

A very blessed birthday to youuuuuuu...happyyyyy birthday to youuuuuuu...and here's a little surprise performance.....

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

God Cares

At the height of the discomfort last week, the song God Cares played on the Saddle Ridge Ranch on YouTube ministered to me and tears just started to roll down. This is my favorite VBS song this year. I do ask God why he allows even this fever and cough to come upon me. On Saturday, it was a deja vu of last year visiting the doctor, feeling cold (from fever) and rejected. I know it is simply not true but just Satan playing mind games with me. Henry was sweet as he took care of the kids and even reimbursed my medical claim on the spot after I returned! Anyway, what I sense God is saying is that no weapon formed against me shall prosper but to just yield, submit to Him and be humble. I cried again to God to show me how. In my spirit, I hear him say to yield is to allow the holy spirit to work in me every step of the way, big or small, even before swallowing the pills knowing that He is the provider of all. To submit to Him is to give my entire body to Him so that I am dead and Christ lives in me instead. To be humble is to be humble enough to follow His word and what He tells me to do. I asked for more compassion and more love to love others so that I could do his work. It is sometimes in these desperate moments I can see God working in my life because when Sunday night came, I woke up with big sweat on the pillow and my neck warmer soaking wet. My fever broke again. Praise the Lord! For the first night since Wednesday, I have been able to sleep well, with very little coughing.

I woke up this morning praising Him and thanking Him for delivering me out of all this. I will exalt You Lord because You have lifted me up and have not allowed my enemies to triumph over me. Lord my God, I cried to you for help and You healed me. (Psalm 30:1-2)

God loves
God leads
God hears
God speaks
God knows
God sees
God cares about me.

So I will cast my care on the Lord,
Because He cares for me.
I will trust in God no matter what.
I will cast my care on the Lord,
Because He cares for me.
I will trust in God no matter what.
‘Cause I know He will never stop,
Caring for me.

God loves
God leads
God hears
God speaks
God knows
God sees
God cares about me.

So I will cast my care on the Lord,
Because He cares for me.
I will trust in God no matter what.
I will cast my care on the Lord,
Because He cares for me.
I will trust in God no matter what.
‘Cause I know He will never stop,
Caring for me.

I will not worry
I will not be afraid.
Because I know my God is always working
to make a way for me.

So I will cast my care on the Lord,
Because He cares for me.
I will trust in God no matter what.
I will cast my care on the Lord,
Because He cares for me.
I will trust in God no matter what.
‘Cause I know He will never stop,

I will trust in God no matter what,
‘Cause I know He will never stop

I will trust in God no matter what,
‘Cause I know He will never stop

Caring for me.
He’s always caring for me.

See also:
Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS 2010 God Cares [music video]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZoGhDJootA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Update: VBS and fever

Shucks! VBS' showtime starts in an about an hour's time and I am going to miss it because I still have fever and need to rest it off. The GP told me this morning that my throat is red and gave me some flu medicine and antibiotics as well. I had difficulty sleeping last night as I was coughing. I switched on the praise music and just let it run the whole night and The bible verse that I clung on to was from:

Psalm 43:5

    Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
    my Savior and my God.

Yes, I will put my hope in God and I will still praise you Lord, my savior and my God. These are just symptoms and they are not from you oh Lord and I reject them in Jesus' name. I thank you for the medicine you gave me this morning and I pray that your healing power will flow through them into my body for my complete healing. Father God, grant me good rest and strengthen my immune system, stronger than I ever was before. In Jesus' name i pray. Amen.

Can't wait for the kids and Henry to come back and report to me the fun they had at the closing of the Saddle Ridge ranch today!

Vacation Bible School (VBS) 2010 Saddle Ridge Ranch YouTube

Nicholas told us last night that he was so sad that VBS is coming to an end! He was also feeling sad that Ethan had decided not to attend VBS when I felt unwell on Thursday. He was persuading his little brother to join him. I can imagine Ethan saying "No mummy, no VBS".

This is the second time that Nic has attended VBS and every time he goes, he experiences a growth spurt. Last year, he accepted Christ after VBS and he started sharing Jesus with his ah ma and friends. He really has a heart for those who have yet to know Jesus.

This year I helped out at the Blazing Star Stables and got to observe Nic when he came over for craft. I was shocked when after class he volunteered to hold the signboard "Arrowhead Coyotes" and led his class back to their bible bunkhouse. I quickly sent a picture of Nic to Henry and he too was very surprised and proud. :)

While I was driving the children back home, Gwen, Nic's cousin commented, "Nic, you are so active.....so er...powerful (hands flying here and there trying to find the right description)...so.... You mean "So energetic?" I said. Gwen explained that Nic used to be so shy and she plays with him everyday and they go to the same school together. This was a sudden change in Nic.

I told Gwen of Nic's secret. I told her I would get Nic to say "I am bold as a lion" three times whenever he says he is shy because as a Jesus boy, he agrees with what Jesus says of him and what the bible says about him. Nic quickly retorted, "Aiyo, I am bold now lah" meaning he did not have to say those lines anymore!

VBS 2010 has this wonderful song "I am who He says I am". How wonderful for those who believe his words and what marvelous transformation we can see when we are touched by God's words.

It is also one of Ethan's favorite songs which he danced to last night following YouTube. It is amazing that the children all over the world are using the same dance steps! :) thanks to Lifeway.

Who He Says I Am, VBS 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFPpN-wZn_I&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I was feeling feverish the past two days and last night my fever broke while I was dancing to the Saddle Ridge Theme song with Ethan while watching YouTube. Praise the Lord! God really inhabits the praises of His people and where God's presence is, even fever has to go!

Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS 2010 Theme Song [Music Video]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VHEGJ2k8vA&feature=youtube_gdata_player


This song is Nic's favorite:
Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS 2010 Tumbleweed [music video]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on5xFllw3hI&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Enjoy!

Even though I could not finish my task in serving in VBS 2010, I am touched that I have been given this opportunity to reach out to the children and to share Jesus with them. It occurred to me that we can do the same while on mission trips - telling them about Jesus Jesus during arts and craft time.

The People Obeyed the Voice of the Lord

Haggai 1:12
"Then Zerubbabel...., and Joshua..the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD"

I was reading the book of Haggai this morning and cried so much when I read Haggai 1:12. I started asking God to keep sending forth His word to all my friends in church for He said in Isaiah 55:11 that His word will not return to Him void but will go out and fulfill His purpose.

The remnant I saw were my CCF friends in church and He wants us to know in Haggai 1:13 that "I am with you".

It is the Lord who initiates revival as in Haggai 1:14 "The Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel.., the spirit of the high priest Joshua..., and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They began to work on the house of Yahweh..."

It was just so beautiful to read His words to my church. And though God made us contemplate our former state of glory, this is what He tells us all, three times in fact "Be strong...be strong...be strong" in Haggai 2:4. And He even encouraged us further and gave us His promise in Haggai 2:5:

"This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.'"

It had been a long while since I could connect with God the way we used to connect. I was in Egypt, in the world, doing things my own fair, forgetting His power and how He could deliver me from my problems. But as I made my way back to Him and obeyed the voice of the Lord, He sent me His holy spirit to guide me right until now. Just only over the past two weeks, I have seen how God used me to speak to my friends and His words spoken to them made them view God in a different perspective. All glory to God!  It is really so powerful to be moving in the spirit.  I am in awe and am deeply encouraged by what the holy spirit has shown me. It has been a wonderful adventure to see my dear friends come out of Egypt too.

Yet God says in Haggai 2:6 that "Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land". The holy spirit is going to show my church great and mighty things and testimonies will be shared how their lives changed when they move in the spirit. I thank you Lord for your insight this morning. I praise you Lord for what you are doing in my church. Thank you for your promise of your holy spirit and your encouragement to us to be strong and not to be afraid.

Later, I did a check on the commentary and the lessons learned from these chapters were quite different from what God said above to me. Still, now i know better the difference between logos and  rhema. It was a Holy spirit guided bible study. :)

Update - prayer request for Nic

Please pray for Nic. Since coming back from Sungkai he has developed quite a bad cough. Please pray for healing and for the
medicine to relieve the symptoms. Nic had come down with fever since Sunday morning but he has recovered from it. Ethan had earlier also caught the bacteria or virus and had fever for two days but he has recovered today. Praise the Lord! The kids and I are sleeping separately as a precaution but I know that it is the good Lord that protects us all. Thanks for upholding us in your prayers.

Praying in the Spirit

Two nights ago, I dreamt that someone needed help and so I prayed in tongues. Suddenly I woke up and I caught myself praying in tongues. I have heard a few testimonies of people who experienced this before but this is the first it has happened to me. If I had not woken up, I would have thought it was just a dream! How wonderful it is to be used by God even though I am fast asleep. I can't even remember who I dreamt!

I am beginning to understand these verses better:

1 Corinthians 14:2

For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.

Romans 8:26,27

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

Thank you Lord for this experience. Thank you Lord for using me in Your Kingdom. It is really a new beginning for me. Thank you Lord for everything.

I am a Jesus boy/ girl

Hey! I found the verse that sort of says "I am a Jesus boy/ girl". I discovered the bible verse yesterday during the ranch helpers' meet at the Blazing Star Stable when we were having our hands on session with the crafts for the coming Vacation Bible Study (VBS - SADDLE RIDGE) next week.

The verse is from Philippians 2:5
'Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus'

I have been practicing parenting by grace to overcome my tendency to get really agitated when the kids misbehave. My tendency is to use the words "don't". It is really a challenge for me to use words positively to encourage them to do the right thing without using the word "don't". These days, I find it easier to apply words from the bible and get my boys to say God's words aloud eg "I am kind, I am patient". I started out with these two characteristics from 1 Corinthians 13 since it is much needed in my household. Ideally, if we could personalize 1 Corinthians 13 and substitute "love" with I, we would reap much benefits from the verses in difficult situations.

"I am patient, I am kind. I do not envy, I do not boast, I am not proud. I am not rude, I am not self-seeking, I am not easily angered, I keep no record of wrongs. I do not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. I always protect, always trust in what is true, always hope, always persevere.'

So, instead of freaking out, I would tell the boys that a Jesus boy would be kind and gentle to give them a sense of an identity in Christ rather than say "You must not ....." or "You must ...." like obeying a set of rules. So, I would say "Are you a Jesus boy? Say I am kind, I am gentle". And this has been most helpful to bring calm around the house because even when Henry and I get out of hand in scolding the kids out of condemnation rather than out of grace, the children ask us to say the same too! "Mummy, why are you angry? Mummy say I am kind, I am gentle". Then my tone of voice changes and then I can discipline them out of love rather than out of anger.

Yesterday, I was very excited because the phrase "I am a Jesus boy or girl" is actually from the verse Philippians 2:5 and not something I psychology game I am playing. God's word is truth and they bring life to us, to our family. Thank you Lord for everything.

Update: I can praise aloud

On lazy days like this morning, when I wake up, I would start with praising God but the throat is very dry having just woken up. On good days ie If I am not so lazy I will get up, brush my teeth, go downstairs and start all over again. On lazy days when I am just lying in bed, I just praise God and pray in tongues under my breath. I don't actually hear what I say and if I increase the volume then i have the tendency to cough.

This morning I was pleasantly surprised I could sing praises to God aloud and the throat was not as dry as in the past. I could also sing in the spirit aloud. Praise the Lord! I immediately thanked the Lord. It is a small recovery and I believe whatever throat problem is clearing away. Alas, when I got out of bed, I started to cough again. That is when I looked in the mirror and started talking to my lungs, throat and all the cells within me to praise the Lord. Yeh, even did a jiggly dance in the bathroom to make my spirit rise!

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord for new healing this morning. His mercies, His healing is new every morning! Praise the Lord for His goodness.

Switch off, be disciplined

Switch off, be disciplined

Amos 3:3
Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

At one point in my journey I was thinking that if healing is only fully manifested when Jesus comes again, how do I live at this present moment. My prayers to God would just be a pleading prayer and my days ahead would be uncertain. Your problem may be different than mine but it boils down to how do we live on this earth meanwhile. Do we just take the blows again and again, remain strong, persevere and wait for God to deliver us if He wills it. During our women's devotion in my cell group over the weekend, someone said she does not know how to connect God's words to our daily lives. Someone else said that God's words are there but our problems still exist!

It is like we are persevering but without weapons. 

1 Corinthians 16:13
 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, do manfully, and be strengthened

1 Corinthians 1:10
He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

Even Paul did not just take the blows from the enemy, he persevered manfully and God delivered him from peril. God has equipped us to persevere manfully that each step we take, we are strengthened in Him.

There's this lady whom I sometimes give a ride to Elpizo every fortnight and every time we meet, she tells me the same thing, that she has fears and that she can't sleep. I have been trying to get her to read some scriptures that would help her but she would rather fill her days with activities so that she does not get bored because when her mind starts to stray, her fears start to flow in again!

In order to connect to God's words and reap benefits from it, there is a side to play on our part. We are not to just stand and take the blows. We are to do everything he asks of us and then, we can stand firm and watch our deliverance. 

Which brings me to the above verse, 'Can two walk together, except they be agreed?'.  Can you walk with God unless you agree what He says of you in the bible?

We begin our journey with God by AGREEING with what He says. Unless we do that no amount of praying or claiming God's words or friends praying for us will work or change us or bring healing to us. 

Mrs Gong who spoke at Elpizo at one meet said praying for others is like a tag placed on someone but the moment of unbelief, it falls off from them again. We will have to keep praying for them until that person's heart changes.

It's all very good to read God's word during quiet time but we have to also agree with what He says and do what He says. If we have fears, anger or worries, we have to stop thinking them, stop believing them, stop saying them, stop complaining about them to your friends for four hours and to another friend for another four hours. It is alright to discuss a problem with a confidant who could help you grow but otherwise it would just reinforce your problem. 

So for eg, what do you do if you have insomnia because of worries and fears?

1. Switch off your mind and STOP THINKING about issues that trouble you. Be disciplined every night.
2. Read and agree with what God says about you. Choose to believe what God says about you and say it out aloud for faith comes from hearing God's words.  
3. Pray in the spirit until you fall asleep.

God's word is medicine to us, it is life to us. I pray you will agree with God. He sees our baby steps and if we allow ourselves to be led by the spirit, you may be surprised to see yourself changed in an instance too. For Nic, it was just a word from the bible "Ephphatha" and suddenly God gave him courage to stand in front of the whole class to sing. Suddenly, he dared to leave home to camp without his parents. Thank you Lord for showing us your power in your words.

Proverbs 4:20-22

 20 My child, pay attention to what I say.
      Listen carefully to my words.
 21 Don’t lose sight of them.
      Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
 22 for they bring life to those who find them,
      and healing to their whole body.
 

Recieve God's love - Praise, pray, trust (simply trust His words)

Psalm 103
I was reading psalm 103 today and I realised that the first verse is an old hymn which goes like this:

"Bless the Lord
O my soul and all that is within me
Bless His holy name"
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbHV2TYGVso&feature=youtube_gdata_player)

David was talking to himself, telling his soul and all that is within him to praise God! So this morning, I told my lungs and my throat to praise the Lord and I went like this:

"Praise the Lord
O my lungs and throat
And every cell within me
Praise his holy name"

The psalm goes on to say in psalm 103: 2-3

"Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits"

Wow! Look at the word "benefits". It is actually from the bible and David is reminding us not to forget the benefits of knowing Him. What are these benefits? They are found in verse 3 onwards but verse 3 stood out for me.

Psalm 103:3
"who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases"

Jesus came more than just to forgive our sins. He made us whole again so that we are fully equipped in this world to live on earth by the power of his holy spirit and to fulfill His purpose in us, to share our testimonies with others of His wonderful acts (Psalm 105:2) until Jesus returns again.

Psalm 103:3 says he heals ALL our diseases. He healed then, he healed during Jesus' time and he heals today too because Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Healing is for us today who believe. If this verse becomes rhema to you, there is no stopping you from receiving healing from God for that is what the bible says and His word is truth. He watches over his word to perform it.

Jeremiah 1:12
The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled

I believe it is God's rhema that speaks to us who believe and receive His healing. We cannot rely on other people's revelation and it is different in every case. It might not even be 2 Peter 2:24. it might be Psalm 103:2 that strikes a chord in your heart.

Faith comes from hearing the word of God. Listen to following reading of Psalm 103 and I pray you will be blessed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auJx_6IABW4&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Revel in His love and praise Him even though your days are filled with storm. It is when we praise Him that we silence the enemy, the foe, the avenger, the devil (Psalm 8:2). Praise the Lord!

It's your love - Hillsong 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEjpoojKUlM&feature=youtube_gdata_player


The wonder of your love - Hillsong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jyrpdztKIg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sungkai hols - Receive God's love (Part 7)

One of the "must do"s at the Felda Residence Hotsprings at Sungkai is boiling eggs.

Science project for the kids. 6 mins to boil an egg. We brought our own kampong eggs, amino soy sauce, bowls and wired scoops!

Felda Residence Hotsprings at Sungkai is even before Bidor. However, we ventured to Bidor's Pun Chun to savor their "ngap tooi meen". No ducks for me for now. Sungkai is between Slim River and Bidor and is about an hour and a half distance from KL. However, since we were at Bidor, we hit the plus highway again and turned off to Sungkai. You could also take the old trunk road south to Sungkai from Bidor and save yourself a toll of RM2.10.

The hotspring gets pretty crowded during the weekends. We observed people going into the water fully clothed but that is quite a common sight in Malaysia. We observed a kid with his pampers on. The water at "Refreshing Hotsprings Resort" at Kg Gumut is definitly cleaner since it is newly opened with absolutely no crowd and moreover, it is not opened to the public.

Felda Residence's cold pool is equipped with slides but you will have to watch out for people pushing rather than to take their turns. Little Steffi came out with bleeding toes and wanted to lodge a complaint. I think all the kids enjoyed themselves because they were doing things together - eating and playing and sleeping together. They brought their own sleeping bags. Little Ethan could not decide where he wanted to sleep but he finally did, he fell asleep very fast!

Oh, they even sell ice creams, burgers, floats, tshirts by the olympic sized cold pool. My favourite was the "warm springs", not too hot and can soak in it water for a longer time. The crowd was smaller here too. Thank God! Next favourite was the therapeutic park where hot water runs over the reflexology stones. It was mighty hot and painful at first but I got used to it in the end.

Room prices shoot up from RM170 to RM220 nett over the weekends. Over and above this price, you have to pay RM30 per child (over 5 years old) which will cover breakfast and entrance to the hotspring park. RM220 nett covers the cost of the room, and breakfast for 2 adults. They have an addional foldable mattress in the cupboard which you can pull out to use but you will have to pay RM45 for an additional adult.

Besides enjoying the hotsprings, I was glad that we could gather together for praise night and for men and women's devotion. It was my first time sharing devotion with a group of women for about 3 hours. I think it was too long but time sure passed so fast and soon the men were yelling at us to hurry up because breakfast was going to end in 30 mins' time!

I loved sharing rooms with two other families and it was more fun because both our rooms were adjoined as well. All the kids were running in between the rooms enjoying the space.

Sungkai hols - Receive God's love (Part 6)

Praise Night! We experienced God's presence! Praise the Lord!

The smaller kids were in the adjoining room playing........monopoly and more crafts!

Sungkai Hols -Receive God's Love (Part 5)

Chicken with salted eggs but taste like "nai yow har"

Fried also got

Greens for me! But I did sink into other food after receiving God's blessings :)

Steamed also got

These shots were taken during dinner. We drove out for dinner at this restaurant called "Tien Tien Lai". It is on the way to Bidor from Sungkai using the old trunk road.

Sungkai Hols- Receive God's Love (Part 4)

On the way to Slim River from Sungkai using the old trunk road

Chicken in wine and wolfberries

Famous Tapah fish. Aun Aun tells us it is the most dangerous fish in Kenyir Dam!

Eggs oozing out from the fresh Tapah fish

Sungkai Hols - Receive God's Love (Part 3)

We had women's devotion facing the mountains at the background at around 7am! The cool winds were flowing from the mountains, our bible pages were fluttering hard! Praise the Lord for His creation, the mountains, the wind, the sun, the birds, the trees and the flowers around us. Praise the Lord!

Sungkai Hols- Receive God's love (Part 2)

Craft time for the kids while the men were at their men's devotion

Ethan painting spots on his photo frame

Brothers in arms - love this pix

Me with Steffi at the hotsprings. Ethan calls it "warm springs" coz the water is

like a nice hot tub but not too hot. :)

Sungkai Hols - Receive God's love

God Is Greater Than Our Feelings

1 John 3:20

“Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.”

Last week, this verse struck a chord in my heart. Anytime that our feelings, our circumstances or our situations CONTRADICT with the word of God, we are to choose God’s word OVER our discovery. This bible verse actually supports that we are to choose to believe God’s words and it gives greater meaning to 2 Corinthians 5:7 “we walk by faith and not by sight”.

God is GREATER than our feelings. Wow! For me, I read it as “God’s word is greater than our feelings”. What God says about us holds more weight than what we think or feel about something that is contradictory to what He says. Many a time we say “I can’t I can’t”. He says “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Many a time, we over-analyse our problem, our situation, our circumstance. We use the words “I think”, “I feel” and the more we think and feel, the problems gets even more intense for many more possibilities are added on. No doubt the devil helps fuel more thoughts when we begin to think that way e.g. we start to compare with other people.

The bible tells us to make a choice and even gives us the answer! To choose life. This is not human life but God’s life. God came to give us eternal life and His words are life. We are to choose life.

Deuteronomy 30:19
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.

It is a constant choice we make daily. That is why faith is not a religion but an action of believing, of “faithing”, to receive God’s love daily, to receive his eternal life daily, to receive God’s words daily. It is one thing to know but it is another thing to believe. My cell group just returned from Sungkai hotsprings over the weekend. The theme of our meet was “Receive God’s love – Praise, Pray, Trust (simply trust His word!)”.

I love this song that I just discovered this morning which sings about how we look to Jesus over and above our pain, our storms and we choose to praise Him for when we praise Him, God inhabits our praises and the devil flees. We choose to sing, to praise Him, to believe Him, His words, we lift Him up, let God arise. Then even our storms, our pain will grow dimmer, we believe.

Believe – (From Hillsong’s album, Beautiful Exchange)

You are my life

You are my strength

You are my Rock

On Who I stand

I lift my voice

I raise my hands

I lift my soul

With all I am

PRE-CHORUS:

In Christ forever I'll stand

I will believe

CHORUS:

You are strong enough

In my weakness

God be lifted up

And I will sing

Lift Your praises high

Lord be magnified

You make all things new

I will believe

So, hear this song

Receive our praise

You are my strength

For all our days

We lift You up

Our voices high

In every storm

Let God arise

BRIDGE:

Oh, Your loveYour love will never fail

Your love, it knows no end

Your love will never fail

Oh, Your love

Stronger than my strength

Greater than my pain

Your love will never fail

I will believe

Enjoy the youtube movie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgEMZvi9-7I&feature=related

Father God, I receive your love all over again this morning. I choose life. Lord, I choose to believe Your words over my feelings, my circumstance. Even though the xray shows denser mass, even though they say tarceva only suppresses cancer growth. I choose to believe your words O Lord that you bore my infirmities (sickenss, disease), that by your stripes I am healed and you say O Lord that you sent forth your word and healed me and delievered me from cancer. I believe I have already been healed despite the circumstances. For you have already shown your miracle that by one tarceva You took all my aches and pains away even though the doctor says it is impossible. You spared me from radiotherapy. You showed me my rhema of Isaiah 7 that the cancer attacks will not happen, it will not take place, that they will be too shattered and I am to just stand on my faith and it is established and so it was shown in the following scan that majority of the nodules have indeed reduced! Just like that! Just by believing your words! For You ARE greater than my feelings and I choose YOU and watch in awe of your miracles in my life. Thank you Lord for you ARE an awesome God.

Knowing the God of Heaven & Earth Through Chinese Characters

Dennis passed this website to me. It reminded me of the book "The Discovery of Genesis: How the Truths of Genesis Were Found Hidden in the Chinese Language" by C.H. Kang and Ethel R. Nelson.

Now, you can read about the same subject on an interactive website as well. Be encouraged that Christianity is not a "gwailoh religion" but a personal experience with our Creator, the maker of heaven and earth. Enjoy!

http://students.washington.edu/cbsf/cool/Chinese.swf

Our New Look

Wavy Hair - straight hair all cropped off

Painted at Get Crafty, One Utama by me amongst toddlers. "J" in the middle for JESUS.

Ethan's new look

The boys' (Nic, Ethan & Ryan) new look by uncle barber

Love with action, no condemnation, listen & obey = ask anything

I found these verses that spoke to me this morning.

1 John 3:18-24

" Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us."

There are many verses in the bible that promises us that God will give us anything that we ask but i have been taught that it always depends whether it is God's will. If that is so, we can never be sure, we can never be confident even though the bible also says that we are to be confident when we pray.

1 John 5:14,15

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

I managed to piece it together on how God delivers His promises. I suppose the term 'action speaks louder' comes from the bible. Ultimately, I gather from the bible that we are to love one another because I think that is what we will be doing in heaven too. After all, God is love and the new jerusalem will be filled with God's love! He also says that our joy will
be complete when we love.

John 15: 9-12

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

So many wonderful things happen when we love the way God wants us to. I think most times we love out of our own strength, from what we have, from what we can accomodate but God wants us to grow.

I like the verse about no guilt, no condemnation too because it reminded me of why Jesus died for us. The punishment, the affliction, the scourge that was meant for us, all our condemnation - Jesus bore it on his body on the cross 2000 years ago and by his stripes we are healed! We are free now! No longer under condemnation. Everytime we feel condemned we can cast it down because it is not from God. The bible says that God knows our feelings and He knows everything about us - our sufferings and even the guilt that we feel. He gently leads us to grow, He never condemns. He gave us the holy spirit! We are a new creation when we allow the holy spirit to lead us. When we then move in the way He wants us to, even though sometimes it is hard at first, we can ask for anything we want! We can come to him in bold confidence!

Praise de lord! That is why it is important to listen to God and to do what He says. :) The things He tells us to do can be uncomfortable at first? For me is coming out of shyness and timidity and always having to confess God's words that I am as bold as a lion. What is God saying to you? We can only hear Him if we spend time with God and be still and let The Creator speak to His creation.

God allows and the devil brings it on

I was just thinking. Does it matter whether we say God allows for certain trials to come our way or whether the devil brought us the trials eg sickness? After all, either way we are in sickness and suffering.  I believe the difference is firstly, understanding the character of God that God is good and there is no evil in Him. Secondly, we know we are not alone in the world. There exists a heavenly realm where angels battle with the devil. Thirdly, once we understand how the devil operates, we can clearly see how we are deceived.  Fourthly, we begin to better appreciate who we are in Christ and actually apply it to our daily lives and live victorious lives! This brings us peace, not peace of the world but the peace that God gives. It is shalom, wholeness including healing, deliverance, salvation. Christ  has given us everything and His plan for mankind is still being rolled out but meanwhile He has equipped us well to live in the world that we may experience Him firsthand and then go tell others what Jesus has done in our lives!

Cousin Tracy shared with me today what she heard from her pastor yesterday:

"...Our sermon at church yesterday was on walking with God, James 1: 2-4 came up.  The pastor was referring to the times when sometimes we are confused by certain passages in the bible for eg. Vs 2 which says - consider it pure joy...whenever you face trials of many kinds..  With humour the pastor was saying it is not in our nature to find for eg. When you find a big bill to pay and we respond with any kind of joy.  That verse in James, The idea of pure joy is kinda like saying you will be rewarded.  With what? With perseverance....perseverance..so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  I am reminded that we have to ask God to help us see things differently, not through our understanding but see it through his, his purposes, his vision, praying for the renewing of our minds, our attitudes! Thank goodness God is such a patient God!"

This reminded me of a friend I know who is suffering from insomnia the past two months. She is really exhausted as she does not get enough sleep. She could hardly talk to us, really low on energy. Another friend of mine had a word for her to "rejoice in the Lord". She mentioned she would not be able to attend the graduation dinner and said "How can I rejoice being in a state like this?".

When Tracy shared the understanding of joy, I began to put two and two together. Rejoicing, being joyous is an understanding, more than an understanding, a deep persuasion, a deep sense of knowing that we know that we know how much God loves us and who we are in Christ and how He has equipped us so well to withstand trials until Jesus returns again. We know that God loves us so much He provides it all for us even when we are down, He is still holding our hand. That's the deep joy that we have, that everything will be alright soon and blessings will come pouring in, not only after the trial is over but during the trial as well. There is so much I have experienced and seen so much blessings poured out to my family way more than before this trial.  

Yet, it is not God who brought sickness to my life for He is all good. In many ways, I had left the door ajar for the devil to attack me from fears, self rejection, unbelief, doubts, witchcraft, sorcery to mind control - but once I knew how the devil operates, I could shoot them down one by one with Holy Spirit's help.

Talking about the devil, my mum just told me that my neighbor on my left related how she saw a spirit come towards her bathroom window. She said since she moved in next door to us, she has had two accidents. I have seen her lay out a table for worship outside the house several times. My mum told me to follow her I.e. to switch on the bathroom lights upstairs. I told her as Christians, we need not fear for He who is in us is greater than he in the world including evil spirits, devil, demons and minions. As Christians we have to guard our minds as the devil can put thoughts into us and sometimes we believe their words over God's words. That is why we need to spend time with God to renew our minds to align back to what God says about us and to believe what He says OVER what the devil says. I am no longer afraid of evil spirits around me as they are everywhere but I know one thing that they hate and fear - Christians praising God! Our praises silences the foe, the enemy, the avenger. Our praises causes our house to be filled with the presence of God and where God is the devil scoots off. 

Psalm 8:2

2 Through the praise of children and infants
   you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
   to silence the foe and the avenger.

Psalm 22:3

But you are holy, O you that inhabit the praises of Israel


The adventure with God never ends, we never say we have arrived but keep persevering, keep growing, keep pressing in for more and more of Him. That was my prayer this morning that He gives me wisdom where I lack, that He opens the eyes of my understanding that I will know Him more intimately and just rejoice being a child of God.

Outpouring of God's Spirit on me

Praise the Lord! This morning, I closed all the doors and windows and prepared for a travailing time in the Lord in prayer. I asked God for people to pray for and He gave me a few names and a country. As i prayed I was so afraid my neighbors would hear me because I was going to groan and wail out aloud praying in the understanding and then in tongues. I reached a point I received peace and i just praised God as He gave me a new melody in tongues. It is so wonderful to be with the Lord!

Last night, there was an outpouring of anointing on all of us to go and reach the lost souls and even Elaine shared his presence was so great.

This morning I received a reminder from Elaine which said:
"Keep claiming the promise that u r healed. Don't let the devil sow seeds of doubt. This is d time to stand up n claim your healing. God has already done it."

And before I could digest this information, I then received a call from Steven Lee who said he sensed God is telling me that in this season, He has poured out His anointing on me, not just a drop or two but pouring it out on me and there will be breakthroughs in respect of my healing. He quoted Joel 2:28

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:"

He told me not to let the enemy say otherwise to me and to just erase it all. I related to him that is so true because of the past week attack where weakness, pain and cough pounded me days before he appointment but during the day of the appointment, everything just left me. Ps Gerry also reminded us it is because we are not struggling against flesh and blood as if it is stomach bug or back ache but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).

I like how the Message outs it! :)

Ephesians 10-12 "And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels."

So, Henry and I moved in the right direction when we rejected the xray report! He said God has anointed me and that I am soaking under His anointing. Praise the Lord! He reminded me of Luke 10:19 that i have been given all authority under heaven and earth to trample on the scorpions and serpents! He told me to confess daily every morning, that the blood of Jesus washes away every cancer, cough and pain, that His healing to me is new every morning, like his mercy. He gave me this song "oh the blood of Jesus washes me white as snow".

And before he hung up, he gave me an assurance from God from Isaiah 54:17(
New American Standard Bible)
"No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD.

It is heartening to know that as God's child. NO weapon formed against me will succeed. I tell the devil that every lie, every doubt that it puts into my life which is against what God has in store for me will be shot down. For this is my heritage from God.

Praise the lord for this wonderful season of outpouring of his spirit on my life. Thank you Lord for your assurance of Isaiah 54:17.

Shooooooom! " It is done"

Shooooom! It is done.

Yesterday's class lesson was about learning to travail in prayer ( to have birth pains while praying) and to rise up in the spirit. Ps Gerry told us of how God would put in her heart to pray for a nation or a person. We don't know who God would place in our hearts. That person may not even be from our country. When she went over to Peru someone came up to her and said he had met her before, in the spirit. We could snatch someone out of their death bed or even from the fire. My own testimony was when I prayed to God to give me verses during the first night at the hospital. I was also desperately trying to call my cousin Tammy to give me some verses. Little did I know that the holy spirit then came to Tammy in a dream and bugged her till no end for her to pray for a desperate woman! Recently, I have also been burdened to  pray for her and when I checked with her, she told me she was going through some very difficult times and warfare. Even Leong Tien Fook shared during Hebrews class that he does not believe in praying from a shopping list but God would place it in your heart to pray for something or someone. 

An eye opener to me is that when we pray, something happens in the spiritual realm, angels are at work, battles won, God is making something happen. So,it is when we claim healing, healing has spiritually manifested in the spiritual realm but it takes time for the mind to be renewed and healing then pours forth into our body for healing.

Ps Gerry reminded us that Christians are not minority although statistically, we are a minority in the world. Guess who was there to help when Israel was surrounded by King Aram's army with horses and charriots: 

2 Kings 6:15-17

"15When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha.

16“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” 17Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire."

Indeed, we are not a minority in the world and He who is in us is greater than he in the world. We have charriots of fire and an army of angels encamped around us and we are certainly not alone when we pray.

Ps Gerry teaches us to travail in prayer, to labor in the Lord, to yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit, to allow the Holy Spirit to take us to greater heights, to be used by God in the spirit so that we may grow in the Lord and see how He uses each and everyone of us. I must say I have not prayed that many times with such groaning. Even if there were times like that it would be more for myself and my family. But Ps Gerry told us not to worry about ourselves because once we learn to travail in prayer, He would just take care of us and our family so PRAY FOR OTHERS as he burdens us.

Galatians 4:19
My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you

Isaiah 66:7
Before a woman goes into labor, she gives birth. Before she has labor pains, she delivers a child

God wants us to give ourselves over to the holy spirit, to birth forth salvation including healing  and deliverance for family and friends and to birth forth all those things God has promised us so that we can rise in the spirit and grow more in Him.

Even men can have labor pains says the bible!
Jeremiah 30:6,7

6Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

So men, put your hands on your loins and travail with crying, groaning, weeping, wailing! Last night, aLl of us in class travailed in prayer with groaning and wailing and crying. Elaine and I prayed for each other! Then, when it ended, she said it was one of the strongest presence of the holy spirit that she had experienced. She said it felt like a sudden "shooooooom" and then her hair on her arms stood up. She was praying for complete healing for me and for God to grant me long life and she heard God said loudly " Is is done. Go tell Liz." I was so touched to hear another confirmation from God. Indeed my focus is always on the author and the finisher of my faith, Jesus. Healing has already manifested in the spiritual realm and already flowing out into my physical body. I continue to stand on His words to me, God's rhema words to me and Elaine's and other friend's words for me. Thank you Jesus. I believe that by Jesus' stripes, I am healed!

Update: x Ray results of 2.11.2010

The x ray today was compared to an old x ray about six months ago and it showed there was some denser mass in my lung but this despite the last ct scan taken two months ago which shows that the majority of the nodules have reduced. So, Dr Foo was again not alarmed but such results shows I would need to go for another check again in six month's time. This is the third time this has happened to me, being alerted with some new nodule appearing only to find out it wasn't there in the next check up.

So, Henry and I have rejected today's results and even Dr Foo's eyes was rolling when she saws the results. After all, ct scan results are more accurate as confirmed by Dr May Fong. thanks for your encouragement May Fong.

Today I was blessed with being able to have a bed right next to Lai Ping. She scheduled her zumeta bone treatment on the same day as mine so we kept each other company. Even our husbands got to meet each other for the first time! LP was complaining about ache on her Back and Dr Foo asked here to do a bone x ray. I really pray God will give her a discerning spirit to know when it is an attack from the devil. I told her I don't tell the doctor everything. I have gone through pain, diarheao, acne, hair loss but I have not gotten any medication from the doctor. Each time, I just bind and break whatever that attacks me and it just stops! I do take some kind of medication like charcoal pills, deep heat rub, aloe Vera whatever the holy spirit gives me an idea and say a prayer before taking it so thtat it is God that works through the natural. After all, we have a supernatural God and He will supernaturally provide for our needs.

Update: Check up tomorrow 2 November 2010

After the miracle healing rally on Saturday, I was so high having witnessed the many testimonies of people getting healed on the spot. Even when there was no laying of hands and Ps Vernon asked those who had a manifestation of healing to testify, quite a number of people came to the front including a few skeptics. They weren't sure they were going to get healed but they just acted in faith to raise their hand and got healed. Some went up with still a bit of pain left or so they thought and when Ps Vernon laid his hand on them the pain totallly left them.

I went home and the pain on my back came back that night. Sigh. More attacks from the evil one. I was feeling quite weak by Sunday morning and decided to just rest at home. I smsed my cousin to support me in prayer and she and her husband prayed and confirmed to me they sense it was just the enemy shaking me up just before my appointment tomorrow. Just as I sent out the SMS to her, I had this idea to strip off the anion strip from Love Moon's sanitary napkin and taped it down on my back where it was hurting. I also had the idea to say a prayer against the enemy from Isaiah 8: 9,10

"Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us."

Then, I started to pray in tongues.

Within one hour the pain subsided, just like that. Praise the Lord! Henry and I gave thanksgiving at night but another attack happened, my whole left leg was aching which is strange. Last Tuesday when I asked Sunny to pray for me during class he mentioned he saw in the spirit that my left leg was longer than my right leg and that my left leg was in pain and that God then was straightening out my vertebrae and
moving my pelvic bone. So, I am not sure what this pain is about, but something is happening to me in the spiritual realm. I put a strip of anion on my pelvic bone and the next morning the pain was gone! Praise the Lord!

God's timing is always so accurate because during the pain on the back, left leg and itchy coughing, Grace passed to me two negative ion clothing, a scarf and a singlet. My cough almost immediately stopped. I believe It is God healing through the natural. I had this itchy cough for quite some time and the pain on my back for a week but God just turned around everything in just a day. The gnawing pain on my left pelvic bone is still there but it has no power or dominion over me because God is with me. Cough and pain may rise up against me but the sovereign Lord says in Isaiah 7 that it will not take place, it will not happen. Both of these together with the cancer will be too shattered. I just need to stand on my faith and it will be established. And that is what I sense the Lord is saying to me today. Yesterday I saw an ad while driving. It says Fossil. Yes, the cancer, the cough the pain will be fossiled in Jesus' name, never to return again.

From straight to wavy hair

Yup! It is confirmed. I officially have wavy hair growing from my roots now. I was just at the hairdresser this morning and both the stylist and the washer guy asked if I had straightened my hair before. I told them I had straight, fine and soft hair since the day I was born so the wavy hair they see is a new phenomenon. They told me it could be hormonal change.

It is good to know that my hormones are working! I first noticed the curls when my eye lashes started to curl up last Christmas! I see it happening but I can't believe my eyes. Then the back of my hair starts to get wavy and my fringe never flops down anymore. It just stands up like as if I had just taken off my hair band. I have been keeping quiet about the wavy hair until Elaine and my colleagues mentioned it again. So, it is not just me noticing it. I have gotten to the point I decided i will just let it grow so it does not stand up so much but Henry says I ought to get them trimmed.

So, it was an interesting trip to the hair dresser today when they confirmed have wavy roots! Nope, I am not complaining, i have always wanted hair with more volume. I think kiehl's thickening shampoo helped clean up my scalp to make it healthier too. But most of all I think it is God just granting me the desire of my heart!

Now, I have to figure out what style goes with wavy hair and buy natural products to control the frizz and flyaway hairs! What a wonderful change to have! Thank you Father God for abundant, wavy, healthy hair. Thank you Lord for everything!