curious mind
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Usefulness or Relationship?
Taken from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost For His Highest.
Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven —Luke 10:20
Jesus Christ is saying here, "Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me." The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service—rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour "rivers of living water" through you ( John 7:38 ). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to "walk in the light as He is in the light" ( 1 John 1:7 ).
Our tendency today is to put the emphasis on service. Beware of the people who make their request for help on the basis of someone’s usefulness. If you make usefulness the test, then Jesus Christ was the greatest failure who ever lived. For the saint, direction and guidance come from God Himself, not some measure of that saint’s usefulness. It is the work that God does through us that counts, not what we do for Him. All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father. Jesus is "bringing many sons to glory . . ." ( Hebrews 2:10 ).
from basic to.. basic!
am not going afar, the 'basic' has grabbed hold of me! this time again, only a slightly different variant or else it remains an echo of a back-to-basic chant. visual basic to actuate basic (it exists!), at least a glimpse of hope in the midst of sudden attacks of information, ffuih!
giving up? not so soon =) finally, met my step soul-language.. gotcha! actuate has its own compiler for actuate basic. it's an enterprise reporting tool and platform, rather unheard of bec its main market is in US.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
ok, am overloaded.. help!
training has been interesting, lots of information, a bit overloaded tho. well, it has to, measuring by the thickness of the module materials given that have to be covered in days (my goodness! am so helpless to carry it here n there). it's a one-on-one like a private tutoring by default since i'm the only trainee so far. uni-mode has to be switched on again this time, a bit unease, perhaps am still covered in post-graduation euphoria sensation (noo.. don't wanna waking up!)
Monday, August 23, 2004
am a 'kiddo'
yep, a 'kiddo'.. starting today, for a while. first day has been briefings, introductions to colleagues, apps installations, small amount of paperworks, and early leave.
so, thought would utilize my weekly pass (perhaps catching ferry on way home for a picturesque harbor view at dusk), hmn.. where else is interesting to visit, or otherwise my pass won't be of much use, due to trainings in city for this week. wouldn't have bought a weekly pass if known that won't be travelling to work place for the rest of the week. would like to find out re the most economical option of commuting for next week.
search for super-flatmates continues
cat (catherine) will make her way to our unit sweet unit within weeks, and thus becoming a permanent residence with us for a while until the end of this year. cat recently stays in the middle-of-nowhere (hehhe, tat's what she thinks) in wollonggong (correct spelling?), therefore would like to rejuvenate herself by breathing in some fresh (or polluted??) air surrounding eastern suburb areas. so, hopefully she'll find it more convenient later on, and welcome to the cult! =) p.s. you'll know once you upgrade to the full residency status.
so, the search continues.. since both cat and tri will depart (for good) by the end of this year. if anyone is interested, feel free to ask around. conditions still apply.
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Pray for rain... But First!
An article from the Australian Christian Channel by Ramon Williams (17.08.2004)
Four hours after the Service, a faint rainbow seemed to promise better times
ahead.
Then you remember for 3 consecutive days starting last Sunday, rains rained down Sydney.. (yet more is to be hoped for coming..)
How amazing is that! prayers and God's action, they go hand in hand. Pray and ask. Pray and trust. Pray and wait. Pray and pray.. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Facts are:
· God is always generous, and He longs always to bless His people according to His perfect knowledge.
· God knows our needs, even before we realize of them (and could ask Him).
Question is: Why pray then?
Some thoughts:
· God likes His people to pray to Him.
· Prayer is the means by which God is fulfilling our needs through our prayers.
· Through praying is our communication channel with God. No relationship can develop and be nurtured without the presence of communication.
· Praying is a sign of our dependence on God.
Yet another further thought from Oswald Chamber..
We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the
biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.
A take-away message:
· With regard to the articles, yes, "We are a people in a dry land, living in materialistic rebellion against God. The drought reminds us to turn back to God."
A quote by Oswald Chamber..
To say that "prayer changes things" is not as close to the truth as saying,
"Prayer changes me and then I change things." God has established things so that
prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things.
Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working
miracles in a person’s inner nature.
Thus they go together..
p.s. the topic of prayer is always one of much interest for me.
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Get Moving!
Taken from Oswald Chamber's My Utmost For His Highest.
Also . . . add to your faith . . . — 2 Peter 1:5
In the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become "partakers of the divine nature" and that we should now be "giving all diligence," concentrating on forming godly habits ( 2 Peter 1:4-5 ). We are to "add" to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. Nor are we born with habits—we have to form godly habits on the basis of the new life God has placed within us. We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace. Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do. Yet, "Jesus . . . took a towel and . . . began to wash the disciples’ feet . . ." ( John 13:3-5 ).
We all have those times when there are no flashes of light and no apparent thrill to life, where we experience nothing but the daily routine with its common everyday tasks. The routine of life is actually God’s way of saving us between our times of great inspiration which come from Him. Don’t always expect God to give you His thrilling moments, but learn to live in those common times of the drudgery of life by the power of God.
It is difficult for us to do the "adding" that Peter mentioned here. We say we do not expect God to take us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and yet we act as if we do! I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all of the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I will do my duty, not for duty’s sake but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience all of the magnificent grace of God is mine through the glorious atonement by the Cross of Christ.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
flatmate, anyone?
looking for a flatmate, neat & tidy, personal hygiene matters. total stranger is not encouraged, so you have to be referred by someone that i know, at least. about me? as above, but can be flexible at times, apart from the fact tat Christ had died for me =) more details should become handy at a later stage.
rollercoaster..
a simple post re missing details since last update, n also where these people tat i know have moved along the stages of their lives. most of the details you may have known since a while ago, nevertheless am writing these again as a 'tribute' toward them, whose presence, however short n simple, have always been enjoyable to me and just how thankful i'm to God for all that have happened for good reasons as He plans in the lives of mine and theirs, for He is the One sovereign.
- bro is going to shanghai within weeks, for a year (miss him already).
- itin n edwin have gone back for good having finished their studies.
- ryan's turn tis sat, 21.08. last dinner with him will be tis thurs, 19.08 @ 7.30 pm at Maroubra's Thai Terrific. come along if u do know him
- rya has made a life-turning decision, and thus, is moving to neighbouring church for carefully thought reasons.
- The record for youngest member of IPC is now held by Caitlin (proudly belonged to Mr. [Father's first name] & Mrs. [Mother's first name] Wong), welcome abroad!
on a more unexpected note, this week is the last week, where am ceasing casual work at MQ (with sis n rose) n commuting daily with arwind (plus deb, who is adapting with her new work place now), rose n yap for the past month, and thus looking forward to the new one at north syd, only to work pretty close with some peeps from church again?!? (adi, hans, tris).
on a more shocking end, abt a month ago, injured my left arm, very shocked to see own flesh cut through around 75 mm depth and 380 mm width, because the glass table that i was trying to lift broke into pieces. ended up with 7 stiches, trust me, it's ugly (n SHOCKING ME!! to have seen the deep laceration of your own flesh through the sub-cutaneous fat part, nerves, and blood with your own bare eyes wrapped in pain!) n til nowadays, still don't feel like carrying stuffs with my left arm.
what a month of emotional rollercoaster..
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