Bruises From Camp

"And lest i should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of satan to buffet (annoy) me, lest i should be exalted above measure. For this thing i besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me, and He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will i rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." –2 Corinthians 12:5

Not ranked in any particular order

1: On Seeking The Face.

"One thing i have desired of the Lord, that i will seek after;
that i may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord And to enquire in His temple."
-Psalms 27:4

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." –Matthew 6:25-34

I’ve realized that the reason why God told us not to worry was so that we could focus on His face. I’m not going to beg Him to save my friends. I’m not going to beg Him to show me my calling. I’m not going to beg Him for healings or miracles. Because I already know that He’s going to do these things. I’m a son. Not a slave. God’s a king. Not a miser. Instead of giving God my list of wants, I’m just going to praise Him. Coz He deserves more than just my gripes. I will go to war over lost souls. I will ask for healing and breakthrough, knowing full He doesn't have to give me these things for me to be in Love with the King.

2: On Joy

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” –Matthew 25:21

“Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.”-Psalm 119:77,143

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night”
-Psalm 1:2

“Neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” –Nehemiah 8:10

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man”-Romans 7:22

“For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” –Romans 14:17(this is ranked as one of the scriptures I keep closest to my heart)

The glorious Lord sang me a song:

All that I am, all that I haveI lay them down before You, O Lord
All my regrets, all my acclaim
The joy and the pain I'm making them Yours

“Have you laid your joys down at My feet? For I know that the joys you seek on this world when life lets you down will never satisfy. Why do you seek joy from the very thing which upsets you: the world? Assuredly I say unto thee, I am your joy. Everything else will fail you: Coffee, friends, food, dota, soccer. But I endure forever. When you are down, seek me first, and happy shall ye be”

3: On Humility (I always knew He was going to get me on this)

“Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.” –Job 5:17-18

“Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” –Proverbs 27:5-6

“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” –1 Peter 5:5 (Hallelujah!)

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” –Matthew 7:1-2(Darren, what were you smoking?)

4: On being a behind-the-scenes person

“That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal”-Matthew6:4,6,18-20

“Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” –Matthew 7:17,20

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” –Matthew 7:21

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints” –Ephesians 6:18

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” –Galatians 6:9

5: On Emotions

Go read Psalm 88 and you’ll know how I feel sometimes.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts" -Psalm 139:23

“But because I’m creative, I never knew what to do with the melancholy emotions that sometimes overcame me. I could always write songs and lyrics, but every time I spent too much time alone, my work would get very, very dark. I just never knew what to do about it. When I accepted Christ, He put a fresh and exciting perspective on my view of the world. Jesus brought life and enthusiasm to my creative moments” –Darlene Zschech

Read point 2 on how God dealt with me.

and always remember. For every Psalm 88, there's a Psalm 89:1

God 29,189,238,764,136,498,208,745,875,330,874,576,564,645,656,456 – 0 me

post-camp reflections

hey everyone,

how's it all going now that planetuni camp '06 is over? i know that camp was so mind-blowing, it's way beyond what words can describe.

just that i'll share something here. on pre-camp thoughts.

darren's right. the enemy was out to attack many of us before camp. why? because the devil knew that many of us are expecting something HUGE out of camp, a breakthrough for many of us and a change in our spirit. now that i've gone for camp and come back to mainland, trust me, the enemy is still out to attack us because it knows that we are now stronger and scattered. at camp, we were all one strong force, following God where He was leading us.

okay i digress. back to pre-camp thoughts. i was initially quite doubtful about camp. firstly it was the price. i thought "how on earth am i gonna cough up that amount, it's almost one week's worth of allowance". then later i was thinking "oh no, i have 3 mid semester tests, on monday tuesday and friday after the camp! i must study!" and then later i thought "oh crap, i've assignments due until the week before and i can only start studying after that!". i felt schizophrenic for quite a while, because i felt as though i kept hearing voices of "aiyar go for what?" or "you must remember that you have to STUDYY!". i even had friends telling me "oh yeah, i heard about it. why do you want to go? it's a waste of time you know?"

after i heard the last comment, i immediately knew it was the devil's works. i told myself, the more the enemy doesnt want me to go, the more i'll go, to infuriate it. welldone to myself, it sure made it really mad, because now i've emerged out of camp, stronger than before.

now let's back track a little.. how did i cough up the camp fees of AUD 135? how did i manage to finish studying marketing for my test on tuesday on friday itself? how did i manage to fit my studying schedule in? God pulled me through it. it's as simple as that. i really have no idea how i managed to scrimp and save and skip meals without feeling faint to pool a resource of AUD 135 and a balance of 30bucks for the rest of the month. how amazing is our God?

Jesus deserves it all. love (:

Get up.

Get up. Get up. God is on the move in this house. Doors are opening. People are getting saved. Christians are getting attacked. This week is the turning point for this house. Expect to get depressed over the next couple of days if you want to be in this fight. The time has come. A demon entered my room and tried to assasinate me in my sleep coz he didnt like me praying for people to get saved. Well I think we need to start picking up our swords.

"In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war...But David tarried in Jerusalem" -2 Samuel 11:1 (NIV+KJV)

Spring is here. I saw the flowers in the field, as winds make waves in them. Soon the leaves will sprout, and the grass will turn green again. Grass that will be stained red, either with our blood, or the blood of demons. The Lord has already given us victory (1Cor15:57). David tarried in Jerusalem and was thus mercilessly consumed with defeat by sin. I warn my brothers and sisters. Don't tarry. Don't hold back. For whosoever looks back during this time of warfare will not be used by God (Luke9:62)

I say we fight. It's too late to give up halfway. Push through the attacks. Fight hard with the weapon of obedience, and I say unto thee that the enemy will flee in 7 directions (Deut28:7). Stand firm brothers and sisters! If any comrade in this house has an issue with another comrade, let him/her humble themselves and seek forgiveness (Matt5:23-24). All Glory be to God, whose hand is with those who are united in the cause of bringing Him Glory.

Oh yar. Go for camp.