Rejoice!

We begin life wearing diapers and for some that live long, they have to end their lives wearing diapers too.

Babies are helpless and it’s normal having someone to take care and clean up after them. But for the elderly, they once had control and lost it. They go back to the same helpless state that they were as babies, which makes them feel humiliated.  It’s no wonder why so many of them suffer from depression.

It’s sad but it happens to A LOT of people when they grow old.  And no matter how much we try to empathise, it’s not something that we’ll be able to comprehend because we’re still “young”.

I can only pray that God will let me be victorious to the end,  let me have a short and sweet death without ever having to trouble anyone to take care of me.

I guess we just need to constantly remind ourselves not to take things in life for granted. Rejoice that we are capable to make our own decisions and take care of ourselves.

From now on I shall not complain and I will rejoice whenever I can pour myself a glass of water, cook or feed myself. I shall rejoice for the fact that I can shower without someone having to help me. I shall rejoice in all the little things that I can do and rejoice in the fact that God has given me the ability to do things for myself and others everyday. And I shall rejoice that when my problems get too big, there is a God who’s always there to take care of me.

Life indeed is a wonderful gift and we should rejoice and celebrate every day.

“Rejoice in the Lord always.” (Phil 4:4)

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.