Grace for Studies

This is an account of my studying years, times that hold a lot of bittersweet memories.

When I was in my secondary school years, I was in a very competitive environment. I was in one of the top classes in school and naturally, everyone was competing with one another. It was all about marks, all about academic, so much so that it didn't matter whether you really know what we were studying, as long as you do well during exams.

For me, I was considered average -- I was not outstanding among the top-scorers of my class, nor was I very active in curriculum activities. I could be labelled as 'insignificant'.

Those years, I was not very enthusiastic about studies. I found it a bore, a burden rather than an interest. But things took a turn when I started tertiary education in KL.

I accepted Christ when I had an encounter with God after a few weeks in KL. I was very touched by God’s love and in His presence, I received Jesus as my personal Saviour and Lord. At that point, what I understood was that the Lord loves me and is interested in my life, that He will bless me in all things.

However, I did not immediately connect this with receiving blessings for my studies, until I was approaching my first semester final exams.

It was a very stressful time because it was the first time I was sitting for a college exam. Yet, as I continued to study the final exams, I realised that God was with me in all the time, assuring me and giving me peace of heart. As I prayed to Him, He was constantly with me -- when I studied and memorised all the important facts, when I felt that I could not stuff my brain with more information, when I went into the examination hall, and even after the exams.

Initially, I thought I was just going to get an ordinary, average kind of results, but it turned out that I scored 4.0. I was so surprised and happy, and more than anything else, I was very thankful to God and I gave Him praise.

Since my first semester, I have scored many other 4.0s over the span of four years of studying in KL. Many of my friends thought that I was a very hardworking or smart person, but I knew that it was not by my own effort. It was all by God’s grace.

There were times when I was not able to finish studying, but it turned out that I could still do the paper and scored better grades than my friends who studied more than I did. I remembered those times when I cried out to God in desperate and earnest prayers, when I decided in my heart to rely on nothing else but Him alone. As I put my trust in Him, I sat through the exam with peace and joy.

John 15:5 says “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing.” Truly, I couldn't have done it without His strength and help.

Footprints in the Sand

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.

For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it:

"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me."

The LORD replied: "My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

Deut 31:8 "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Healing Rain

Michael W. Smith: Healing Rain

Healing Rain is coming down
It's coming nearer to this whole town
Rich and poor, weak and strong
It's bringing mercy, it won't be long

Healing Rain is coming down
It's coming closer to the lost and found
Tears of joy, tears of shame
Are washed forever in Jesus' name

Healing Rain, it comes with fire
So let it fall and take us higher
Healing Rain, I'm not afraid
To be washed in Heaven's rain

Lift your heads, let us return
To the mercy seat where time began
And in your eyes I see the pain
Come soak these dry hearts with Healing Rain

Only You, the Son of Man
Could take a leper and let him stand
So lift your hands, they can be held
By Someone greater, the Great I AM

Healing Rain, it comes with fire
So let it fall and take us higher
Healing Rain, I'm not afraid
To be washed in Heaven's rain

Healing Rain is falling down
Healing Rain is falling down
I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid

More often than not, we associate healing with being healed from physical sickness or diseases. But I believe the Lord wants to give healing for more than our bodies. I believe He wants to heal our hearts -- hearts that are sick with disappointment, bitterness, brokenness, hatred...

This song is on inner healing, although it does talk about healing for the body. But if your heart is dry, or broken, or aching with such pain that no words could ever describe, ask the Lord for His Healing Rain to pour over you and soak you. Ask Him to lift you up again.

Verse to Remember:

Psalm 147:3 He (The LORD) heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.

耶稣我赞美祢

耶稣我赞美祢
祢拯救我脱离一切黑暗
我呼求祢的时候
祢使我心中力量再次强起来
耶稣，耶稣，耶稣，耶稣
狂风暴雨巨浪中
祢的恩典不离开
祢是我盼望，我唯一的最爱

Translations:

Jesus, I praise You. You've saved me from every darkness. When I call upon You, You strengthen me from within. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Even in roaring storms and raging seas, Your grace never leaves. You are my hope, my only true love.

The Samaritan woman at the well (4)

John 4:27 Jesus' disciples came back and found Him talking with the Samaritan woman. They marvelled, but they did not say anything, even though their minds were bursting with questions for Jesus.

"Why's He talking with this woman?" "What does He want? What's He asking from this woman?" "What happened?" they thought within themselves.

Then, the woman left and went her way into the city and told the men about Jesus. (v28 & 29)

Meanwhile, the disciples who have 'tapau' back food for Jesus, asked their Master to eat. (v32 - 34) But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."

Pause for a while and see this situation. The disciples and Jesus are in Samaria, a land were Jews were not welcomed. They went into the city to get some food for themselves and for Jesus, since Jesus wanted to sit and rest at the well. They have probably faced some difficulty in getting food. The Samaritans, seeing that they are Jews, may not have wanted to sell any food to them, or they may have cheated them and hiked the prices, etc.

So they come back with food that was so difficult to obtain, but Jesus said "I have food to eat of which you do not know." and "My food is to do the Father's will."

If I'm one of the disciples, I'd probably be thinking, "What's Jesus trying to do? We went to buy food for Him, so difficult, but He was here talking with this woman, dunno for what. And then we ask Him to eat, He says he's got food, and His food is to do the Father's will... What's all this? If he don't want us to buy food for Him, he should have told us. No need to lecture us this way..."

But Jesus continued to 'lecture' the disciples. "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together." (v35 & 36)

I think Jesus wasn't disapproval of them going for lunch or packing food for Him. But He was showing them that urgency in the Kingdom of God was greater than filling up their hunger.

He was also saying that if we are to put our heart to declare His Kingdom and to do God's will, we need to be in focus -- in such focus that we do not let anything trouble our hearts.

v35 & 36 are always quoted to say that the end time is here and we've got to see that urgency and begin to go and fulfil the Great Commission. Yes, indeed the fields are white for harvest! But if we are tied down by the many things in this world and be occupied by them, we will never sense the urgency of doing His will, and hence, we will never obey what He commands us to do.

Verse to Remember:

Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

Found

Hillsong Church: Mighty to Save ~ Dave George

Amazing love, now what else shall I need?
Your name brings life; it's more than the air I breathe.

My world was changed when Your love You gave for me.
My purpose found, and all that You want for me.

And I found myself in You, Lord.
And I found myself in You.

So take me to a place where I can see You face to face
And all I wanna do, all I wanna do is worship You.

Jeremiah 29:12 - 14a -- Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord...

Psalm 46:10 -- Be still, and know that I am God.

The Samaritan woman at the well (3)

Jesus declared the beginning of spiritual worship not in the Temple but at the well; not in Jerusalem but in Samaria; not to a male religious leader, but to a rejected woman. Spiritual worship is for all people, in all places at all times.

After he spoke to the Samaritan woman about her sins, he didn't implied that she was disqualified to obtain the living water. On the contrary, he declared that this was the time that she would truly know (by experience) what it means to worship God.

John 4:23 - 24 [Jesus] "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

Worship in spirit and in truth means to engage the hear and the mind, feelings and intellect; it involves the spirit and soul. God's presence is felt and His purpose understood.

This verse is popularly quoted when we talk about worship, but to really understand what worshiping in spirit and in truth means, it takes more than just knowing that we need to worship God in this manner. Spiritual worship is an expression of love from deepest part of us -- our spirit and soul.

This means that our sole reason to worship God is because we love Him. And if we love Him, we don't let anything hinder us from worshiping God, including the people around us, including formalities and the format of worship. We don't let the worship leader or musicians or vocalists to hinder what we express to God from our hearts. We don't let the style of music hinder us. We don't let the stiffness of our body to hinder us. We don't let fear of being ridiculed by people hinder us.

This means, if you feel like crying to God during worship, or you feel like kneeling down, grinning, waving your hands frantically, singing in tongues, dancing, etc. just express it out to God, because you are worshiping God.

There were times I just felt so strongly in my heart that I need to bow to Jesus. But it wasn't to kneel down. It was just to give Him a bow. Incidentally, I was standing right in the middle of our church hall...

So I bowed. But it didn't feel right. So I did it again. And again. Until I felt that it was more like a princess curtsying to her King. And that was exactly what I did: I curtsied to the King.

After that I was just so in awe of the presence of God, I felt like saluting Him. So I did. Several times.

And there was once I sang in the spirit for a long time in a tune and a tongue that I was unfamiliar with. I sounded like I was an African.

And there were many times I was worshiping on the keyboard, but it didn't matter what I was playing. My fingers were just connected with that music flowing in my heart. I didn't have to think; there was nothing to think about, nor did I want to think about anything, but there was just that music that keeps flowing, flowing, flowing... And I just close my eyes and let my fingers be carried away...

This is what it means when it says we ought to experience spiritual liberty in spiritual worship. The Samaritan woman experienced it -- she gained an understanding that the Man before her was indeed the Messiah. The liberty was that she no longer felt ashamed to be out in the open, fearing that people would talk behind her back. She went into the streets and told all the men in the city to come to Jesus.

Evangelism in its purest form is worship. She did evangelism the next moment, as soon as she had experienced spiritual liberty through worship -- encountering with the Lord.

The Samaritan woman at the well (2)

Jesus said in John 4:14, "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

John 4:15 -- The Samaritan woman said, "Sir, can I please have this water, so I won't thirst again and don't need to come here to draw water?" She's actually saying, "I want this water. I don't want to come here at noonday to draw water anymore. It's so hot at this time. I only come at this time because no one else will come at this time. It's the way I'm avoiding all the women in this city, because they are always gossiping about me..."

Gossiping about what? Precisely what Jesus said next in v17 & 18: "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." She was an adulteress.

I used to think, why did Jesus risked having this woman just walk away and become closed up from His preaching of salvation? I didn't understand why Jesus could have uttered such offensive words to this woman who was going to receive Him as the Messiah, to expose her of her sins and ugliness of her personal life. Of course, it was also amazing that even with such offensive words, Jesus still gained her trust and belief.

But did you know that of the Armour of God written in Eph 6:13 - 17, there was only one weapon mentioned and all other equipment were defensive. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It is offensive. It cuts, but it cuts away everything that hinders the work of the Lord.

So this woman was practically saying, "I want the living water, because then my sins will not be exposed." But it was really the opposite. If she were to obtain the living water, she's got to have her sins cut off.

Hence, if we were to receive the Holy Spirit, to fill our lives with His living water that will empower us to be a fountain and let that water flow to others, we've got to let the Word of God cut off every sin and impurity in us that hinders the work of God.

When Jesus said that the water that we received from him will spring up into everlasting life, it means more than just having salvation and eternal life when we accept Him as our Saviour. It should also mean that we have become a channel for His living water to flow, we have become a channel for His Kingdom to make manifest on earth as it is in heaven. If we are to declare His Kingdom on earth, then we cannot be practicing things that will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Gal 5:19 - 21). But if we know the Word, if we know Jesus, we will bear the fruit of the Spirit.

Again, in John 6:35, Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

He was saying, "in Me, you will find wholesomeness for you life."

Let the blind man see

One day, William was walking on the street and he saw a blind man trying to cross the road.

He went up to help the blind man.

"Mister, let me help you cross the road," William said to him, held his hand and led him across the road.

When they had reached the other side of the road, William still held on to the blind man's hand. And though his hand was still sweating from nervousness, he managed to said to the blind man, "Mister, God loves you. He wants to heal you. I am a Christian, can I please pray for you?"

The blind man let go of William's hand and said, "I am born blind."

"It doesn't matter, God can heal you and He wants to give this healing to you."

"I am not a Christian."

"God loves you the same and still wishes to heal you, " said William, determined.

But the blind man said again, "Thank you, but I am not a Christian. I am of another religion."

"Would you rather choose religion over healing of sight?" William asked as the blind man stretched out his walking stick and turned to leave.

He stopped for a while, perhaps reconsidering... but then, to the disappointment of William, the blind man shook his head slowly and walked away.

As William stood there and reflected on what had just happened, he wondered if he was too insensitive to have uttered the last statement.

But then, he thought, even Christians sometimes would choose religion over healing.

Have we attended church on Sunday because our leaders expect us to be there, or do we genuinely want to go to church?

Have we given offerings with the intention that people would know we have given a large amount?

Have our lives become so busy we tell ourselves that we don't have time for God, hence we only pray on Sunday at church?

Have we observed any ceremonies or practices without observing it to the Lord?

Let the blind man see.