Little favours from God

I was listening to a Joyce Meyer sermon about the grace of God and she talked about how we need to expect and learn to pray for favour. Our words have power and so we need to declare that “we have favour with God and He gives us favour with men.” http://jmm63026.edgeboss.net/download/jmm63026/podcast/tv/december/122808_video.mp4

That’s very true in my life. Very often, God gives me little favours to remind me that He really is a Father who provides. But the question is, how often do I actually see it?

This morning I drove to the pool so that I could practice my parking. After arriving safely with my car nicely parked, I realised that I didn’t have any parking coupons. That’s when I went, “you have got to be kidding me, I drove all the way here!!” It was pretty early so there wasn’t anyone around but thankfully, there was a construction guy walking towards his truck so I went up to him and asked him if he could sell me some coupons. He asked me how much I needed, I said a dollar and he just gave it to me. I wanted to pay him back but he just smiled and told me to take it.

It was a rather refreshing experience having someone just give you something without asking or expecting anything in return. I didn’t have to “charm” or do anything and the person was just nice! I know Jesus did it on the cross but the average man on the street isn’t exactly Jesus… These things don’t happen very often in the “real world” and even though it was only a dollar, I wonder if the guy knows that his simple gesture made such a big difference.

That was a favour from God. I don’t deserve it but God showed me favour by providing someone to bless me in my time of need. It may be small but it’s moments like that that shows that my God is real, very very real.

As 2008 comes to an end today, I pray that God will continue to show me His favour and more importantly, give me a heart that seeks Him so that I don’t take His favours for granted. 

My resolution for 2009 is very simple. May I be like what it says in Ephesians 2:20, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” May His grace truly make a difference in my life so that I can be a good testimony for Him, “for we are God’s workmanship, created in Jesus Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10)

All this reminds me of a question my pastor asked a while back, how has knowing Jesus made a difference in your life? Hmm… I guess that’s something I need to remind myself think about as we approach the new year!

Thank God, simply because we are healthy

I have been ill for several days, common flu but it’s enough to drain my energy and cause frustration and anxiety. It was worse when I had a press conference to work on and could hardly keep my nose from running, while trying to get work done.

At some point, I felt so miserable, I started to think of how people who are severely ill manage with life everyday. It also reminded me of how we should really slow down, take care of our body and thank God for every moment we are alive and healthy. Some times, we really are ill-treating our bodies and taking our health for granted.

I prayed many times a day when I was ill, thanking God that I am healed (even when I was blowing my nose till it turned bright red). And I was on my feet just right on Christmas eve.

Thank you, Jesus, for by His stripes, I am healed!

Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken,Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

The Thanksgiving Blog

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the number of negative news way surpasses any good news when you flip open your newspaper each morning? Sure, there are terrorism concerns, economic crises and many more everyday hiccups in life that take joy away from us.  But rather than sinking to feed on those negative news, my co-author of this blog, Steph and I decided that despite all the bad news, we should always remember that there is a God who is GREATER than the bad news and our problems. Even in the midst of bad times, we want to find time to thank God for all the blessings He has given to us.

As Christmas draws near, we thought this is the perfect time to start this blog!

We want to celebrate life. And eventhough we may at times post our struggles and share our problems, our goal is to pray and look back some day to say ”hey, look what God has seen me through and blessed me with!” That ultimately, God has always taken care of us and been in control.

Stephanie is an ex-colleague, a great friend and a beautiful sister-in-Christ. We often meet to share how rough the world has been and how people and work have caused fear and discouragement in our lives, but we never forget to remind each other that if we really take a step back and see all the good things that happen, even if they are just little things, we should still be giving thanks.

We hope to share these little joys, revelations and little thanksgiving notes with friends and whoever comes across this blog.

So, join us in our celebration! And when we fall, pray for us!

(PS: we are not preachers or full time church workers. We are just two ordinary girls who believe that God sent His Son to redeem us and with that comes prosperity, grace, health and endless blessings).

Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;