CAR

Our life is a journey. In this journey, we move from places to places, levels to levels, stages to stages like a car. We are the vessel that God uses. We must always remember that God is in control of the car, the steerling wheel. He is in control of our life.

Commitment, Accountability and Responsibility are important attitudes that structures your character in our service to God.

Consistency, Availability and Reliability are key drivers that will determine distance you will go in life.

Communication, Acknowledgement and Responsiveness are key indicative signals that provides clear direction to not only yourself but also others.

When serving, we must always add OIL - Operate In Love - quoted by Santhi

Let's learn to be:

• Committed to God
• Accountable to what He has given us
• Responsible in everything,

• Consistency in all our doings,
• Available and stand in the Gap,
• Reliable person that can be trusted

• Communicate both upwards and downwards
• Acknowledge through humility
• Respond with love and grace

PAST

Shio Shio Gai Loti Entry #17

PAST is defined as the time which was before the present.

2010 is considered a PAST. 2011 is the present and future!

Everyone has their interesting PASTs. It can be our past victories, happy moments, hurtful defeats, saddening encounters, etc. I’m a strong believer that whatever we go through in life, be it our past, present or future encounters, they all add to our life experiences.

However, if we don’t manage our PAST experiences well, it could potentially hinder our progress in life. That is also one of the many reasons why people cannot last in the journey.

Some people cannot move on in life due to some bad experiences in the past. Others don’t want to move on because they stay in their comfort zone thinking of their past victories and sweet moments.

(Revelation 21:4-5)
V4: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

V5: Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold I will make all things new.”’

God is a God of new things. He makes all things new. He doesn’t focus on the PAST. He is always forward looking. However for us, quite often we focused too much on the PAST rather than the future.

In order to LAST in life’s journey, we must never ever be CAST down by our PAST.

PAST = Put Aside Sufferings Today
PAST = Put Away Sorrows Totally
PAST = Pray And Surrender Thoroughly


(Ps 65:11)
“You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.”

God has promised this year, 2011 with His goodness. He who promised is faithful to deliver. He is our Provider. God is always thinking of good thoughts about us. There will be abundance and overflowing in every aspect of our life.

Let’s start to forget the PAST, surrender to God, learn to move on in life and embrace the goodness and abundance that God has prepared for us.

2011 way to go!!

HEART

Shio Shio Gai Loti Entry #16

Time flies, 2010 has officially ended and we are into a new decade, 2011!!

I concluded that the year 2010 had been a busy and hectic year for me in general. It was definitely a year where I experienced the grace, favor and mercy of God in my life. Had achieved quite a bit in many areas.

Shall kick start the new year with a HEART message. I share it once during our zone meeting but didn't managed to load it. Hope it suits your appetite. ;)

God has given everyone of us a heart. It is not only a heart, but a heart that beats, one that is alive.

Throughout the bible, God emphasizes a lot on the word “HEART”.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding
My flesh and my heart fail, But God is the strength of my heart
The heart of the matter is always the matter of the heart.

(Proverbs 4:23)
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues life.”

Our walk in life is a journey. We have surprises along the way. Out of it, experiences were added

Keep = To look after or care for, to remain in good condition, to preserve

God knows that we have the potential to lose HEART if we don’t look after it

(Ps 27:13)
“I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”

To lose heart = to be discouraged, disappointed, hopeless, to give up

5 areas where we need to take care and not lose HEART

i) Hope
- Having hope, faith and expectation sustains us in the race
- Hope is like an oxygen that allows you to breathe despite the situations
- (Pro 13:12) “Hope defers make the heart sick but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life”
-(Jer 31:17) “There is hope in your future…”

ii) Enthusiasm
- Keep your fire burning, your passion renewed daily
- Don’t be lukewarm, half hearted
- Be excited and trust in the goodness of God

iii) Attitude
- Your attitude determines your altitutde
- People look at the outwards appearance but God looks at the inner hearts of men, our attitude
- Possess a great attitude at all times, at work, ministry, career,

iv) Revelation
- God has given us revelations – visions and dreams
- Without vision, a man perish
- The devil is here to steal, to kill and destroy

v) Temper
- Keep you cool
- The person who is able to remain calm in spite of the problem will be the one who is able to control the situation

HEART = Hope, Expect and Receive Today

HEART = Having Endurance and Run Through

We all have a heart beat. Listen to your where your heart is leading you.

Our life on earth ends the moment our heart stop beating.

Our heart beat tells us the condition of our heart – it reflects our state of mind, our emotions

HEART = He, EAR, HEAR, ART

It is an art to understand the matters of the heart.

Let’s learn to listen to our heart more.

When we cannot see the hands of God, we feel and hear the heart beat of God.

2011 will be an awesome year for everyone of us!

Recap 2010

I had officially closed my 2010 account as of 31 December 2010.

This year had been a busy year, literally running from places to places, events to events. It had indeed been a fruitful year for me.

Reflection and recap of the things that happened is important as it helps to understand clearly how God is moving in your life. It helps us to be thankful to Him, the provider of our life.

Over here, I just want to to share 10 of the more significant things that happened and the feelings behind the scene:

1) JAMs Ministry Outstanding Worker 2009
Started the year 2010 by winning the outstanding award for 2009 at the JAMs Worker's Appreciation day. It's a great honor and privilege to be recognised. Will continue to serve God with all my heart, mind and soul.

2) Passed my driving license (Class 3)
It's the never give up attitude that got me the license. It's actually my 3rd attempt and thank God for his grace ;)

3) Easter Carnival
Had the opportunity to organise the Easter Carnival together with Joli and Lizhen. Learnt a lot from the different ones. Thank God for strength to plan and organise this event in the midst of other commitments

4) Open door at SingTel
Thank God for the opening at SingTel to do F1, BPL and iMedia. Thanks Lisha for the leads and good words.

5) Stanchart Marathon 42.195km
This really demonstrated the grace and protection of God. I didn't really train for the marathon and went for it by faith. This race clearly indicated the strength of my WILL and DETERMINATION. It's all in the mind!! If you can see it, you can have it!

6) Favor at Work
Thank God for favor. I was recognised by my previous workplace probably because of my attitude. Before I left my previous company for SingTel, I was actually approached by 4 companies (previous clients) to join them. It definitely gave me a great boost.

7) Holiday Trips
Managed to go for a few trips - Hong Kong, Taiwan, Phuket. The most noticeable one is the Taiwan trip. It was the first family trip with my mum, sis and bro in law. Enjoyed the trip and will be planning another trip this year

8) BROTHERS' Services
Honored to be asked to by friends to be their brother during their weddings. It's truly a privilege to serve them in such manner. Thank God for friendships

9) JAMs CG Appreciation
This was organised in a busy month - December where we have our outreaches, drama rehearsals, saturation, work etc. The theme: Superheroes/heroine/villain was cool.

Every event that I was asked to do, I will always put in my 101%. I enjoyed the planning, organising and doing up of the little stuff (Superhero tag, etc). Guessed everyone enjoyed themselves at the end of the day. Salutes to all who dressed up for the night.

On the other hand, I was rather provoked and unhappy by some comments the night before the event.
- The list of award winners (supposed to be confidential) were already released to someone outside the committee before the actual event.
- Someone commented that the tags I did were useless
- Someone commented that this is the first cg appreciation that the award winner doesn't have any gifts/presents

The people may not mean it but I was upset because instead of seeing the effort, they only look at the practical side. Totally not appreciated. Anyway, it's over already - move on.

10) Promotion to EM
This came as a pleasant surprise. Thank God and all the leaders (Pastor, er jie, santhi, etc) for the opportunities to serve God in such manners. I was also invited to the CHC Leaders' Appreciation Nite. All these really marks my 2010!!

Above all and beyond, I thank God for being with me in 2010. I thank all the leaders for their support and concerns rendered to me. I thank all my friends for their love despite of who I am.

Goodbye 2010. Hihi 2011 here I fly

TAP

Shio Shio Gai Loti Entry #15

I shared a simple offering message at last sunday JAMs service and thought it might be good to share it as part of my Shio Shio Gai Loti collection. I promise that this is a very small piece of bread, won't be too long but easy to chew.

A TAP is a type of device (usually with a handle and valve that can be shut or opened) for controlling the flow of liquid. We can find usually find TAP at home or in the toilet.

Whenever we turn on the TAP slightly, water begin to flow out of it. However, when the TAP is turn off, water is ceased from flowing out. This is primarily because there is a window inside the TAP that determines whether water will be flowing out of it.

When the TAP is turned on slightly, the window will be open to enable water to flow of it.

When the TAP is turned off, the window will be closed and that means water will cease from flowing.

When the TAP is turned all the way to the maximum, you would see water splashing out of it, causing an overflowing scenario.

(Malachi 3: 10)
"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try me now in this, Says the LORD of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it"

Malachi 3:10 is a very familiar verse that many of us would have heard or see a thousand times.
God is saying here that as we begin to bring forth our tithing into the Kingdom of God, He will open the windows of heaven over our life and pour out blessings so much that there would not be enough room to contain it.

It applies the same as the TAP function. As we bring our tithing faithfully to God, He will turn on the TAP in our life. When that happens, the window would be open and blessings will be flowing onto our life. There will be overflowing in our life. Provision and prosperity will follow us.

TAP = Tithing Activates Provision

TAP = Tithe And Prosper

Mal 3:10 is so real and applicable to our life today.

The key is our willingness to give God our tithing faithfully.

As we give, God will give us provision and prosper us.

Our giving will activate the power and provision of God in our life.

As we turn on the TAP today, let's also learn to TAP upon the heartbeat of God and walk in obedience.

FIGHT

Shio Shio Gai Loti Entry #14

In our daily life, there are certain things that we are chasing after or fighting for. We could be working hard and fighting for our future in the market place. We could be serving and fighting hard for God in the ministry. We could be fighting hard and winning the heart of the love ones to build a good relationship in life.

(Eph 6:12)
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly place."

We entered into battles almost every day, often against pressures, stress, temptations, depressions, persecutions. We simply entered into spiritual warfare.

God has called us to be more than conquerors in life and to endure like a mighty soldier for Him. God is with us and He will not forsake us. We are not alone in the battle. We don't fight alone. He is there fighting everyday's battle with us. He is there to celebrate the joy of victories and share the burden of defeat.

(Exo 14:13-14)
v13: "And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever."

v14: "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace"

In many instances, when we are doing the will of God, many situations would take place. We might enjoy victory now but at a split of a second we could find ourselves on the opposite side. We might find ourselves being wronged by others even in the midst of doing good for others. Persecution would occur, people would be pointing finger at us, pressures and stress of the society would kick in. Bad things happen to good people.

Let's us not depend on our own strength. Let's learn to tap upon the power of the Holy Spirit. God had said in His word that He will fight for us. We should have faith in Him and be anxious for nothing, but in everything but prayer and supplication, making our request known to God.

(Psalms 91:7)
"A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you"

When God is with us, who can be against us. Even when we find ourselves in the valley of the shadow of death, we will not fear.

God will FIGHT for us and when He FIGHT for us, there is:

(1) Favor
(2) Intervention
(3) Grace
(4) Hope
(5) Triumph

Victory belongs to God. Having faith in God is essential.

Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

FIGHT = Faith In God Helps Totally

(1Timothy 6:12)
"Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses"

We need to always fight the good fight of faith. Having faith in God helps us to sustain and win the battle because the Lord will FIGHT for us.

HOPE

Shio Shio Gai Loti Entry #13

I had wanted to write this entry for the longest time. The entry is on "HOPE"..hope you will enjoy it =)

According to Webster Dictionary, the definition of HOPE are as follows:

(1) To desire with expectation or with belief in the prospect of obtaining
(2) Be optimistic
(3) To place confidence

The word HOPE was mentioned a lot of times in the bible.

A familiar verse in Jeremiah 29:11, God has given us a future and a HOPE.

God is a good giver of dreams and visions. At different stages in life, we would have different goals that we are pursuing. The essential reason that motivates us in pursuing our dreams and visions could probably be our HOPE in God to eventually see them come to past.

However along the journey, we might come across or experience a common statement such as "Maybe its not meant to be.......". This simple statement may not be as simple as it looks. A lot of thinking process would have been made before this statement would come out from a person's mouth. It simply reflects the discouragement and disappointment of a person.

(Proverbs 13:12)
"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life"

Personally I think, the number 1 killer of HOPE is when you have hope but the waiting process tires you as you don't see any results. Proverbs 13:12 mentioned that Hope deferred makes the heart sick. A person who hopes and waited with no results will often fall into disappointment. He might start questioning himself about the probability and possibilities of achieving them.

(Psalm 31:24)
"Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the Lord"

God has reminded us that our HOPE should be in Him. In Psalm 31:24, when our HOPE is in God, He shall strengthen our heart, so that ultimately we shall see the visions come to past.

HOPE to me is like the oxygen that we breathe. When we have oxygen, we are able to breathe with ease and able to think properly. However when we are in a situation where there is a lack of oxygen, our vision starts to be blur, we would find difficulty in breathing and eventually suffocate and die.

The same applies for the HOPE in our visions, dreams or goals. We should constantly feed them with the oxygen of heaven. Through praying, fasting, reading the word, positive confession, we are pumping oxygen into our HOPE in God. Under this environment, the HOPE we have would be able to breathe and grow under the purview of God.

If we do not feed our visions and dreams in an atmosphere of oxygen, they would slowly start to become blur, loses sight, struggle and eventually suffocate and die. Many people lose their focus and vision because they lost HOPE after waiting for a while and not seeing results.

HOPE = Hanging On Praying Expectantly

HOPE = Heart Of Persistence Expectation

HOPE = Having Optimism Plus Encouragement

HOPE = Happy Outlook Positive Ending

(Jeremiah 17:7-8)

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river. And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit"

Jeremiah 17 comes timely for many of us in this season. Many things had happened in such a short time. Regardless of the situation that we are in, let us not lose HOPE in the things that we are doing. Our HOPE is in the Lord. Keep on keeping on, let's not grow weary in doing good. Keep on praying, be positive, optimistic about the future, learn to encourage ourselves and put our trust in God. He is in control.