What's Your Excuse?!?

 ¹⁵When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God."

 ¹⁶Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. ¹⁷At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'

 ¹⁸"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'

 ¹⁹"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'

 ²⁰"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'

 ²¹"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

 ²²" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'

 ²³"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. ²⁴I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "

The Main Thing Is To Keep The Main Thing the Main Thing

I first heard this quote from one of our Missionaries (/preachers) . Googling it, I found out that it was a quote by Stephen R. Covey (just for the sake of those who don’t know it).

What then is this ‘main thing’ that I have to keep as the main thing? Ooooppss.. Confused? Maybe, at first… what in this world is this main thing stuff? Musing about it…hmmm…it does make sense…!

Here it is: before Christ left this world, He has left something for us. Matthew 28:19-20 says “19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. 20And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

We are tasked to win, consolidate, disciple and send. These principles are basically to win a new person, consolidate him so that he will remain in Christ and disciple him so that he can be sent to extend the gospel through preaching the good news of salvation.
Besides, this is the very [purpose] of our existence.

That’s it! So simple… Hard?!?  With a positive [mindset] and God as our guide, everything is possible! ;)

“A great commitment to the great commandment and the great commission will make you a great Christian” (RT @RickWarren)

Are you keeping the main thing the main thing?!?… =)

..undone…

twenty ;)

19

Exodus 20:20 

Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."

18... The Battle Is The Lord's

 18...almost halfway to 40!=) 
Powerhouse Monday!...Never let your life be messed up! Be always on guard, and let not the [desires] of the flesh prevail... that's why we always need to feed our spirit---read, meditate, pray,pray..and pray!--Always be connected to Him!

... Had a great walk!... Heading home, I keep on singing my LSS of the day!..."I keep fallin' in love w/ You Lord!"...(wonderin' what could be my LSS for tomorrow..jeje)

12:20AM closing and opening a day...
Exodus 17:8-16
 "…for hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD…” (v.16)

As I was reading this, I was reminded of my role as an [intercessor]...Most of you already know this story--on how Aaron and Hur supported Moses...(read chapter 17 for the story) very timely message ;)

The picture in Exodus is vivid: the typical posture of prayer in the Bible is to stand with arms lifted and hands held out. Added to this picture of supplication is Moses’ staff, the symbol of [divine] power and conquest. As Joshua leads in battle against the Amalekites in the valley below, Moses stands in the hill above and holds out his staff over the battle. When his arms are raised and the staff is held out, Joshua’s army prevails; when Moses tires and the staff is lowered, the Amalekites prevail. So Aaron and Hur come alongside Moses to provide a rock for him to sit on and to hold up his arms.

The imagery of spiritual warfare in this story is also vivid. The battle always belongs to the Lord; we succeed only as we are ‘strong in the Lord’ and in His mighty power (Eph. 6:10). Prayer is one way we continue to stay strong in God. Only through an ongoing relationship with the Lord can we stay [vigilant] and fight the battle (Eph.6:18) and prayer is never a solitary exercise; even when we pray alone, we pray in the fellowship of the Church, the body of Christ. Paul urged the believers in Rome “ By our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” (Rom. 15:30)

As the spiritual life of the Pastor and leaders goes on especially in prayer, so goes the success of the spiritual battle in the Church. So people must be banded together to uphold their Pastor and leaders in prayer and to intercede for the health of the Church.

Let us hold our Pastors and leaders in prayer. They need protection and encouragement, so keep on praying… Gear up 'Aarons and Hurs'... ! =)

17... I Keep Falling In Love...

A not-so-busy (hmm) afternoon…feelin’ sleepy, but suddenly awakened by these words “I keep fallin’ in love with You Lord" (Now I'm so much awake) … Ohhh, I remember hearing these before (forgot where & when)...

Yes, Oh Lord how I wanna stay in love with You… everyday...forever… (haaay)
Your [unconditional] love---the sacrifice You did... and through the seasons, it never changed.


***mode: inlove...♥♥♥

16

Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart"

Day 13-15

Great weekend! thanku Lord!

...Night of worship (prax. went well...)... 

...soaked! revelations... keep moving forward..to continue running the race... if God is for me, who can be against me? weee! what an assurance coming from my Dad! thanks muchos Dad!

...Friday celebration was great! (I just love to be in Your presence Lord...!)

...[power] Message! fishing mode (be bloggin' abt. this soon..) 
... day 1 of worship prax for anniv..! 

... house blessing... 

...and xempre...  sauna w/ mah gurls! (we missed teJen though)... 

John 16:21

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 

...another [victorious] week ahead...!

 

Prayer as [Big] as God

Exodus 3:11 "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"


The question "Who Am I?" has become one of the most tiresome questions of our age, and by the time Moses finishes asking it to God four or five different ways, in a conversation spanning nearly 2 Chapters, God is fed up with it too. It starts with surprise and a little humility (3:11); moves on to doubt (3:13); stays in the "What ifs" (4:1); mumble in self-deprecation (4:10); and finally stands up and refuses God's commands (4:13). The driving force throughout is self-preoccupation.


Prayer is a dialogue with God. Often, the dialogue breaks down, not because God won't speak, but because we don't want to hear what He says. Two things keep our ears plugged. One is our tendency to focus on what we believe about ourselves rather than on what we believe about God. After God promises to give Moses miraculous help, Moses still is more concerned about what he can't do than what God can do. But God's commands and promises are about Him, not us. In the same way that our salvation is about His grace, not our works. We're like children holding a parent's hand as we cross a busy street. The question is never how well we hold on, but how well the parent is holding us.
The other thing that keep us from hearing God's voice is that most of the time we would rather be tending sheep in Midian than freeing the slaves in Egypt. We're often like Moses: we may not like the life in Midian at all much, but we prefer the comfort of the boring but predictable to the insecurity of the fulfilling but unpredictable.
We may often think that it's hard to pray and listen to God. Well, not really. The safest place in the world is in the center of God's will. But it may be unsettling and our fear of that may keep us from hearing God. Thank God that He is merciful and relentless. Moses finally did...

Your Beloved

Lord it was You
who created the heveans
Lord it was Your hand
That put the stars in their place
Lord it was Your voice
That commands the morning
even oceans and their waves
bow at your feet

Lord who am I
compared to Your glory Oh Lord
Lord who am I compared to Your majasty

Chorus
I'm your beloved
Your creation
and You love me as I am
Yo have called me chosen
for Your kingdom
Unashamed to call me your own
I'm Your beloved

Lord it was You
Who created the heavans
Lord it was Your hand
that put the stars in their place
Lord it was Your voice
that commands the morning
even oceans and their waves
bow at Your feet

Lord who am I
Compared to glory Oh Lord
Lord who am I
Compared to your majasty

(Chorus)

I am your beloved one
oh yea
one you've called chosen
woa woa

I'm your beloved
Your Creation
and You love me as I am
you have called me chosen
for Your kingdom
Unashamed to call me your own
I'm Your beloved

Fruit-Bearing

Ps. 1:3 / Matt 12:33 / Jn 15:1-5

Those around us know what type of a person we are because of the FRUIT we BEAR in our daily lives. Here’s the truth that’s important to consider: just as a tree can’t produce fruit that’s not of its kind,neither can we. We can produce in our daily lives only fruit that’s consistent with our character. No person is such a deceiver that he/she can produce consistently what he/she does not believe or embrace.

...for us to bear successfully, we must...
1. ...be connected to the right source (Jn. 15:4-5) -  what a difference it makes to realize that to be connected to God means His power is our power! How can I allow God’s power to flow through me?

2. ...be pruned and disciplined to be fruitful (Jn.15:2) -  fruit bearing is God’s highest desire for our lives. He wants us to bear more fruit. Pruning is the price of production.

3. ...realize that God’s purpose for His children is fruitfulness (Jn15:8) -  once God’s

purpose is discovered, it’s much easier to do His will. The Fruits of the Spirit should be our key for effective fruit bearing

What fruit is on your tree?!?...

24...

10/01/10
The clock is ticking… I couldn’t stop it… as I watch it strikes its hands, I couldn’t help but think… ohhh I’m getting older… few minutes more and I’ll be unfolding another page of my life… weee!
I’ve waited (at tlgang nghintay..) till I saw the last ticking, bidding goodbye and welcoming another year in my life.
4
3
2
1…
12AM…this is it!… goodbye 23, hello 24!.. yeah, I’m now 24 (mkha lng 18..haha!)… Thank you Dad!


11/01/10
…woke up with a [great] joy… a new journey starts… a new page has been turned… more stories, more dreams [bigger dreams!] to write… more battles to conquer… more opportunities to grab…more responsibilities to accomplish… bigger vision!… and the race [still] continues…!