The winds of change - Gods breath of fresh air

The only thing that is constant is change.
Life is full of changes.
Every day each moment is a change in the journey of life
Each change brings on new challenges
But always be assured

"fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10

A new day a new start

After almost 3/4 of a year, I'm back into the rat race. After numerous applications and approaches, I was contacted by my old boss with an available position in a new project. My new partner in the team was someone I knew from my previous position in the company and had worked well with him on past projects. With some good words from my 2 previous bosses, I was offered the role in this team.

Gods blessings and timing always astonishes me. I had just come back from a school reunion which I had planned for some time and my mum has stabilized a bit better after coming out from hospital so the timing was just right. I am a great believer of the passage :

Romans 8:28 (New International Version)



28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
 
Truely he has organized after according to his plan although sometimes we do not recognize it.

Getting through the day with GOD

Sometime there is a day where you feel that there is so much to do and so little time. Today was such a day. So much to tie up before a new dawn tomorrow. You will be surprised how much a space right in front of a bank is such a gift from God. Finding something you were looking for, covering all your tasks in a short time. If you are looking for great big miracles then you may be disappointed but miracles are happening all the time. You just need to be thankful for all the gifts bestowed upon you.

The window of time

Time is a great gift from God.
Not to be wasted
Not to be left there
Without result
He gives us all the windows of time
To do the things we need to do
Arranges our lives into little pockets
For he knows that that is what we can manage
I give thanks to God for the time he gives us
To accomplish what we can
What we need to

Surviving the storm and missing the beam

Today was an extremely wet day with strong winds and rain rain rain. We have to thank God that we did not have the full fletch hurricane like Alex. I went back to our old house and found the beam that held up the garage roof had fallen down. I thank God that my car,which usually is parked under where the beam fell, was not parked there. I also thank God that no other parts of the house were damaged.

A grey day which held a silver lining.

Time or lack of it

Time or the lack of it seems to be the order of the day.
We thank God for the time that we have but we also pray for more time
Yet the time give to us by God
Is the same for everyone
And some people achieve more with the same
Then others
So we should also thank God for the shortage of time
To be able to appreciate this precious gift given to us
For it should not be wasted
And should always be treasured
Fully utilized
Maximized
And also enojoyed
For this is the time
That God has given to us

Robert Green, the World Cup and God

Yes even the most non sporty person in the world is aware of the World Cup currently going on in South Africa and more than likely also heard of the terrible blunder made my Robert Green in the opening match for England when they faced the USA.

Imagine the anguish experienced by Robert as this happened on such a grand world stage and at a crucial point in his career. All of us make mistakes. But the amount of criticisms and blame that have been leveled at him, it would seem like a great weight has been placed at his feet. For all the England fans and critics alike to forgive his error and let him move on will be a huge hill to climb.

Similarly in our lives, we will have a moment like this where we stumble and fall. All the good that we have done before will count for nought.

It might be something very small or simple that becomes a huge thing. Isn't it blessed for us to know that God will always forgive us if we are repented ? That is a true blessing that we should not take of granted for we are sure to fumble the ball maybe more then once.

Count your blessing that we have a forgiving God.

Thanks for car parking space

Yes I give thanks for car parking space. This may seem like a trivial thing but is something we take for granted. Every day we go about our business and  look for car parking space, without  a thought that every time we find one, it is a blessing. How often we really needed a space near the entrance and we get it ?

Take for example today. I took my mum to for her follow up check up at the clinic and as expected the car park was packed with people double parking every where. I prayed that we could find a spot. Then I spotted a lady who was heading to her car and she indicated that she was going out. The space was also at the end of the row and thus wider then the rest, which allowed mum to fully open the car door to get out.

Then after the checkup, we went for lunch at the mall. I planned to use the central lift which would take us directly to the bank and to the place where we plan to eat. Again God provided a parking space near the lift.

Yes these are the small miracles that we take for granted.

World Cup Joy and Sadness

As we give thanks for the joy of the World Cup, we also need to give thanks for Nelson Mandela who has sacrificed so much for South Africa and brought his country together after years of isolation under apartheid to come on to the world stage. His latest tragedy was the death of his great grand daughter Zenani Mandela in a road accident after returning from the World Cup kick off concert.

Spare a thought and prayer for a man who has given so much to inspire so many.

Gods gift of precious moments

Thank God for the small miracles in my life.
After mum's scare falling down and landing up in hospital for a week, she has made great strides in recovery thanks to God's grace. It has been two week since she has been discharged and returned home. She now can walk quite steadily by herself and is able to eat her food with a good appetite. Her condition is good enough for me to be able to comfortably leave her for short periods of time at home while I attend to the daily errands. I was also able to spend some time with my girlfriend who came back from Singapore and attend a former colleagues wedding.

All of which would not have been possible without God's grace. 2 weeks ago I was starring at a huge hill which I could not see over. Day by day God provided the strength and peace to be able to cope with the situation. Each step is a small miracle and each day is a small miracle.

Thank God for his many simple blessings

After a scare with mum falling down in the shower, I had a chance to reflect on God's grace. On that day I had gone out to do my shopping and when I returned I saw that mum had gone to take a bath. I knocked on the door to let her know I was back and I heard her voice saying "I fell down". My heart almost stopped at that point and I quickly entered the bathroom and found her laying on her back with the shower spraying water on her. I don't know how long she was like that. I quickly turned off the shower and checked her. There was no bleeding and she was conscious. I grabbed a towel to put under her head and quickly called 999, emergency services. With no one else to call upon, I figured that that was the best option as I did not know if she injured her spine or anything else.

The ambulance arrived quickly within 10 minutes or so and we were whisked away to the hospital. After several hours in the emergency room as the doctors x-rayed and CT scan her. The prognosis was that other then a high BP, everything else was all right.

Looking back at the events that day, it was a strange day. Normally I would be out until dinner time when I would have bought dinner and come home around 6:30 or so. That day I had called up a service center which was supposed to have processed my road tax and still had not delivered. They promised to deliver it to me by 5pm that day so I planned to get home earlier to wait for them.

While I was out, our landlord called me and told me that someone had found and turned in my apartment keys. I had left them in my letter box again and I was kicking myself for being so absent minded again. I contacted our management office and told them I would come by to collect it. So I rescheduled again to ensure that I got home earlier to be able to collect he keys and still be in time to meet the road tax delivery guy.

As it was I got back around 4:30 pm which was around the time my mum normally would have gone to take a bath. I thank God that someone he worked it so that I would get home early to find her. I was considering the fact of what if I had been at home. Would I even I known she had fallen as I may not have heard her from my room.

Sometimes things don't go as we want them to, but there is always a reason. God's grace will see us through no matter what. We just have to have faith. We may not be able to see the end result of all the elements that combine, just as hydrogen combines with oxygen to become water, but everything happens in combination to a greater good. God's blessing even if we don't realise it.

Gods Blessing in so many ways

Gods blessings comes in so many ways. My mum fell down in the shower on Thursday and was admitted to the emergency ward in our local General Hospital. After much worrying, the doctor brought down the high blood pressure low enough to have her moved to the general ward to recover.

I'm not sure if our general ward is as bad as anywhere else but it is pretty scary for me as it was almost 3 years and a week since I sat there with my Dad when he passed away. Having 2 coffins go pass you, does not help to allay your fears.

After almost 9 hours waiting for the doctors to come around and the emergency treatment, mum settled down and I managed to grab a bite to eat. The general ward is really over crowded, pretty runned down and noisy.

Not really able to sleep much due to the noise and patients crashing in the middle of the night, we were both get weary. Today we had some good news that mum would be transfered to a new ward which was in a new building. Getting to this place, it was such a contrast as there were hardly any other patients here. It was new, clean and quiet. Hopefully this will give a better environment for mum to recover.

I was also blessed with being able to hook up my notebook and a wifi connection although some may argue that this is no blessing.

Anyhow I feel I need to thank God for this blessing and for my mum's recovery.

I have no one but I have God

I give thanks every day
For although I am one
With no brothers or sisters
To shoulder my burdens
I have God
To help me
To lift me up when I am down
To lighten my load when it is too heavy
To watch over my mum
When I am not around
To encourage and give hope
All the year around

Barnabas and Paul - Reaching out

Sometimes we need to think of others and reach out. Just like Barnabas who reached out to Paul after he reversed his life. Moving from persecuting Christians and becoming one himself, he still faced persecution due to his previous life and reputation. Fear breeds hatred and this was something very hard to overcome, especially if no one is willing to give you a chance. Barnabas was the the guiding light that reached out to Paul and gave hime a chance and to show God's grace. We need to look around to see who we needs to be given a chance and who we can reach out to offer a hand or a word of encouragement.

Reach out and touch someone.

Jeremiah 32:27 "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?"

Jeremiah 32:27



"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?"

The times in which we are most tested and pressed down ought to be the times of greatest growth and closeness with our Heavenly Father. When it seems we have no where else to turn, we ought to rejoice and trust Him even more! Let's put our life firmly in His Hands and submit to His guidance - even when we may not see where we are going or how we will get there. Let's trust His ways and always remember...for God, there is NOTHING too hard!

This was the message in my inbox today. Very timely in my circumstance, for I really feel there is no where to turn, no one to ask for help, no options available. I keep on praying and am constantly receiving assurance from God that everything is possible in his hands.
 

The ground shock again in Banda Aceh yesterday. I was sitting on the sofa when I felt a familiar side to side motion which was like not a normal feeling. This was the same strange feeling I had before during the last great earthquake in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. I had a feeling that this was happenning again. I did a quick check on the net and sure enough a 7.6 earthquake hit Aceh again around 12:46 pm. Thank God there was no Tsunami this time, but it brings back the thought that everything is in God's hands. The path we have choosen is in Gods hands. An event like this is totally out of our control.

Trusting in the Lord Psalm 91:15

He shall call upon Me,
and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honour him.
Psalm 91:15

Such a blessing to know that you will never get an engage signal or missed call when you call on God. He will always be there to answer your call at any time. I still wonder how the switchboard to God would be like but definitely our it is beyond our human comprehension.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be Joyful

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
— 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)
So simple yet so profound. Each and every day we should be joyful and give thanks for everything as everything happens for a reason and may not necessary be a good or bad thing. A journey consists of several events and their purpose may not necessary be apparent at the time.
 

2 Timothy 2:1 A verse of encouragement

2 Timothy 2:1


"You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
 

This is such a great and ensuring phrase. As we go about each day with our troubles and fears, we can be assured that the grace of God is always there to provide us strength to carry on and go through what ever trials and task that may be ahead of us.
 
Grace is one thing that is unique to Christians and the concept that brings a unique sense of belonging to something far greater then yourself and what you can accomplish with your own steam.
 
 
 

 
 

A moment of prayer

Take a moment to pray
For even God's creatures
Also know the importance of prayer.
To give thanks for the day
To give thanks for all the blessings
To ask for forgiveness for our trasppases
To pray for the health of our loved ones
To bring forth our greatest burdens
And to spend time with our Father.

Set a moment for prayer
Each and every day
Each moment that is precious
To communicate with our Father
Who art in heaven

The air that we breath

Every day we take for granted the one thing that keeps us alive...the air that we breath.


This unseeing force of life on our planet cools us with it's gentle breeze, powers our lungs, helps our plants to grow ...
Each breath we take is a blessing which we should give thanks to God for providing us with what we need each and every day.

Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you Hebrews 13:5

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you"
(Hebrews 13:5).

Such a powerful and wonderful promise. No other place can you find this promise.
Even in your deepest troubles and your darkest moments, you can always fall back on this promise to be assured that God will always be with you, although thing do not seem to be how you want them to be. Each circumstance is neither good or bad. It is just something we have to go through because of decisions that have been made, of actions that have been taken, of paths we have taken. We just have to have faith that God will see us through what ever lies ahead.

Lady GAGA and the Devil ?

Was shared this video on Lady Gaga's connection with the Devil. Musicians and their music have always been connected to the Devil from the famous Eagles's Hotel California to Queen's Bohemian Rapsody. So is there any truth to all these findings ? Guess that depends on what you believe. If you believe that there is demonic influences at work then these are true, if you do not then these are just findings that look for too much meaning in things.

All said, we should give thanks to God for the ability to reason and to make up our own minds. To live a life on what we choose to believe and what we wish to have influence on our lives.

A call for help

After a scary moment last week when if seemed like mum's neck was getting worse, God sent an angel in the form of a good doctor who not only administered medicine but also some patient words which hopefully healed the soul as well. Now it seems like great strides in improvement of her health.

In life there are no magical miracles...only the miracles of life that God has granted. It only need us to take a momement to look around and see the miracles that God does every day. From the moment you wake up and take a breath is a miracle in it's self. Give thanks for the simple things for it is in these that you find God's hand.

Removing the dirt with a brush and a little effort

While tidying up the bath room today. I thought I would try to clean some shampoo bottles which were looking pretty grimy. The bottoms were looking really black and horrible. I was thinking that this would not come off and it was a stain on the bottles. Lo and behold as I took the brush to them, the grim came off fairly easily.

How often we have not changed a bad habit because we thought that it was too ingrained or moulded into us that it would be impossible to remove it ? In the same way, all that was needed was a little bit of effort to remove it and pherhaps a little help from a brush that cleans all sins. We can view God as the brush that helps us to clean up our lives but only if we make the effort to do something about it.

The brush has been sitting in my bathroom all this time, but if I did not use it to clean the bottles, it will still sit there and the bottles will remain as dirty and grimy as they were and even get more dirty as time went on.

Get that brush out today and clean up your act. Only you can make things happen ...

Age and deterioration of the body

Seems like what ever we do we can never turn back time. Time moves at a constant pace ever relentless, every moving. Watching my mum slowly deteriote is tough and knowing what could be ahead is scary. I have to place my faith in God that he will be there to hold my hand in these tough days to see me true.

I have to give thanks for the daily blessings that she is still mobile and can still handle the basic chores and taking care of herself. Each and every day that she can still move without assistance and has good coherance is a blessing.

Volcanic ash paralyzes half the world - an sign ?

These few days most of Europe has been paralyzed by an event which happened in Iceland. A volcano decided to spew ash into the atmosphere. This event has stopped all air traffic to and from Europe. Air travel, the pinnacle of mans technology advancement totally stopped. Could this be a warning of how fragile our efforts and advancements are in the light of the big picture ? Could this be a way of God trying to highlight to us our insignificance in believing that how great we are ?

It is a sobering thought especially in the light of the number of earthquakes happening in the world at this time. What we put our faith in especially if it is man made, may be more fragile then we know. In a blink of an eye it can be made useless and redundant.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have been stranded by the global event and may they get safely home.

Crossroads - a choice of paths

Sometimes we reach a crossroads where we need to make a decision. Sometimes it is a simple on - left or right.

The other day I had planned my route and was thinking I need to stop by the petrol station on my way to fill up my tank so I needed to go right as I exited the shopping mall rather then the usual left turn that I normally make to take me on a route to the petrol station. I kept reminding myself as I got into the car and on my way down the ramp as I tended to be on "Auto Pilot" at times. As I reached the junction at the bottom of the ramp, something prodded me that I should go left. It was a strong feeling so I made the decision to turn left instead of right, even though I had planned this and had constantly reminded myself of this all morning.

Heading out onto the main road, on my way to my next destination, I passed another petrol station which I turned in to fill my tank. I had overlooked this petrol station in my planning of my route. Definitely this was more on the way to where I was going. It also avoided the school traffic at this time of the day.

Sometimes even the smallest decisions we will get a prompting for God. It is our decision if we want to listen and heed the prompt. When we say that we don't hear God, could it be that we have too much noise in our lives or we don''t listen hard enough ?

If he can lead us in the simple things, what more in the larger things ?

God's will

"This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven'" (Matthew 6:9-10).

Our burdens sometimes seem so overwhelming and we think that we are unable to bear. Jesus knew his destiny on the cross and accepted the path he had to take. Should we do any less ? It seems easy to say, but what ever each of us face in our daily lives, we know the weight that we bear. God also knows and has promised that we will not face more then we can bear.

When it seems darkest, we need to give thanks for without the darkness, we cannot appreciate the light and the blessings that God gives us. So in that darkest moment, give thanks for the trials and the weight placed upon you so that you can recognize the light and blessings given to you.

Of thoughts and dreams

Sometimes watching all the talent shows like American Idol, Americas Got Talent and so forth, I do wonder do we strive to gain acceptance and fame from everyone or are we happy to be who we were made to be ?
I sure God had a plan for each and every one of us from the beginning and we need to figure this out. But sometimes the plan is not clear for us and we go every where to find it. Is this the way we should go. Is this part of the plan ? Some of us are made to be famous and to use the fame to do God's work. Some of us need to play the support role in the background. But how do we find out which role are we ?


This is a challenging question that we all need to find our own answer. But we should remember that we should give thanks for the gifts that we have been given and ensure that we use them to our fullest ability. For if we do not, then we are not fulfilling the plan that has been laid for us.

Earthquake in Indonesia

Todays news of the earthquake in Indonesia reminds us how fragile our earth is and how our life is not our own. Everything is in Gods plan. An earthquake is neither good or evil . It is just an event to shake us from our complacentcy and to remind us that we do not control everything in our lives.

In today's Daily Wisdom reading which I get in the mail, it has an appropriate message in Not To Give Up. No matter what the circumstances are, the trials and tribulations, there is a reason for this. God knows our limits and in his greater plan has plotted our path for us. So let us renew our faith and work daily to renew our relationship with God and have faith in his plans for us.

Ode to my Lord - EASTER RESURRECTION

On this Easter Day 

I remember the sacrifice of our Lord

Who sent his one and only son

Jesus Christ to Earth

To be crucified

And risen up again

By his grace 

To provide salvation for you and me

On this Easter day 

I renew my pledge 

And seek God's help and guidance

To be inspired and have the knowledge

To grow this blog 

To spread his love

To share his grace

Across the land

As Christ has risen

I dedicate the resurrection of this blog to him

Amen

Escape from Haiti

We just learned that our cousin and his family has been air lifted out from Haiti and is now safe out from the disaster area. Thank God.



God has been gracious and kind to spare our family from this disaster but we still take the time to remember the families still in Haiti and the angels God has sent to help them. With miracles still happening in Haiti with another survivor found today, we pray that the food and water as well as all the help that Haiti needs to heal her self will be quickly distributed.


Amen

Haiti Earthquake

We want to give thanks for God's blessing in taking care of our family members during the Haiti Earthquake. 

Our thoughts and our prayers go out to those who have been affected and may the grace of God cover them

May he send his angels to comfort and help those who are in need.

Amen.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/13/nation/20100113161608&sec=nation 

Another year gone ...what have you done ?

Words from a familiar song as the first day of the new decade is over. It bears a thought of what we have achieved over the last year. Did we spare a thought for the blessings we received through out the year ?

We may need to take a look back to recall the blessings that were provided for us, from the small ones to the enormous blessings that changed our lives.

Think back and give thanks, so that we can strengthened and move on and make this a GREAT year.