Suit Up!

be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, 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.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Ephesians 6:10-18

Stand firm! easy to say, hard to achieve. i imagine in war, all we have to do is make sure we stand right to the end. hence the phrase "the last man standing". If we can attack but can't even stand firm when being attacked, we'll definitely be losing the war very soon. these are uncertain times(esp in Malaysia), we really don't know the full extend of the evil that satan is plotting to use as an attack, therefore we need, more than ever, to put on the full armour of God that we may stand firm and not fall in the ONLY war that matters.

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

1 Corinthians 15:58

Swimming Upstream

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Hebrews 12:2

Lately, people around me have signified their willingness to quit the ministry (ok, that was me studying too much law). It’s really sad because I feel so powerless to help them. It’s past the point of reasoning for some of them. Theoretically, they know their facts. It’s just that they either refuse to accept them or reject them or they just give up trying altogether because of the many failures encountered. It breaks my heart. I’m sure God is much more saddened than I am, the thing is I can’t figure out why He would allow this to happen. I’m sure he has his purposes, it’s just that I can’t seem to see things his way just yet. I still believe he is in control of all things, but I think there is something for me to learn as well through all this “chaos” and uncertainty.

I need to constantly remind myself that God is in control and whatever happens he has allowed it to happen. At least there is one constant in my life. Rock of Ages, yeah, that’s my God. While I’m still afloat, I think I need to take a more aggressive stance, swim harder as it were. I was just reminded by my wise dad that if I were to do nothing, the current will just take me downstream. Hence, I need to be vigilant, think with my head, be alert always, as it were, on call 24 hours. I cannot allow myself to be disillusioned or distracted which is so easy for me to become.

2ndly, I realize that what I can do is really nothing compared to what he can do. That’s why I need to pray more, which is hard considering me, a person who seldom sits down to just pray even for half an hour… but the less I spend my time in prayer, the easier it will be for me to feel discouraged or disillusioned. “he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak… they that wait upon the Lord shall mount up on wings like eagles…” Isaiah 40:29-31. I sincerely believe that God can melt the hardest of hearts.

“if my people…will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and… forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

2 Chronicles 7:14

how can i give up my dream?

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

i've always known god has great plans for my life. the one criteria i look for in any potential husband is that he must take me into the mission field. only one criteria. but then again, i've heard of stories where great women who knew in purposed in their hearts to do great things for god but ended up marrying and bringing up children and not going into the mission field at all. but all these for a good cause since their husbands in the end turned out to be huge succeses even in the kingdom.

take ruth graham, the wife of the great billy graham. she was all set to be single for life and to be a missionary in tibet. but by some twist, she married billy and stayed home to rear the children while billy traveled all over the world preaching the good news. what i don't understand is, how did she know that it was god's will for her to give up her so called "calling"? make no mistake, if given a chance, i'd be readily be a wife of some great man of god, helping him in his ministry if god requires. but my question is, how do i know? when the time does come, god, please let me know without a doubt ur plans for my life. amen.

Sufferings...

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Revelations 21:4

sufferings are part of life. agreed. sometimes the sufferings in life just overwhelms us. like when a friend of mine decides to be fired up for God's kingdom, suddenly the sufferings pile on her like a wheelbarrow pouring sand on her head. it just overwhelms. but there will come a day when there will be no more tears. ohh... how i wait for that day. i dream of a day when all these sufferings will pass away and the glory of god just surrounds us, when we will return home with our battle wounds, but a great crowd will be cheering our return. then finally, the master receives us, arms open wide, the glory just surrounds, and says "well done, good and faithful servant." .....just so glorious compared to the present situation.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9