Arise and Shine...[53]

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."
[Isaiah 60:1]
There's another version to Isaiah 60:1... from the Amplified Bible...

"Arise (from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you); rise to a new life! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord); for your light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you."

[Isaiah 60:1]

This verse reveals four distinct truths:

1. A PROBLEM TO FACE - (from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you). There are times when circumstances happen in our lives, that really flatten us and cause us to be depressed. This is life and we have to face it.


2. A CHOICE TO MAKE - Arise.... rise to a new life! This is a decision of the will and has to be deliberately made if one is going to climb out of the depressing circumstances. It is time to re-focus on all the new things God wants to bring into your life.


3. AN ACTION TO TAKE - Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord) This is an active choice. You don't catch happiness, you create it. Each day we must put on "the joy of the Lord" and shine for the Master.


4. A GREAT BLESSING TO RECEIVE - for your light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. What a blessing to come out of the darkness and into His light and to have the glory and radiance of the Lord covering you.

Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. [Proverbs 10:6]

If Jesus is living on the inside, He should be seen looking out through the windows.

Struggling and Wrestling With God...

I can be a very spontaneous person at times. The trip to Ipoh was never in my holiday plan but I decided to go with just one phone call. Thanks for taking me in Pastor Hugh and Aunt Lai Yee. It was a great trip for me spiritually even though that wasn't my main reason of going there.
This time round, I remembered to pack something important to get a good nite's sleep... heehehe
Nice garden... I have the whole house's decorations in the camera... will put it up later...
There's something which I would like to share. This post is not to strike anyone down but if you feel like I'm pointing a finger at you, then you're free to feel that way... proves that you're guilty as found... as guilty as I am...

I've struggled with God for uncountable times this year itself. I even screamed at Him for choosing me to do something which I do not want to. I only want to find my way out of it but no matter how I fought with Him, I can't find a way out. I'm always crawling back to that man whom I love and hate at the same time. It's one shitty emotion... loving and hating him at the same time.

Driving back from Ipoh for 142km with an empty tank was the last straw. God, I did really wish that You'll just make the car stop in the middle of nowhere and I'll figure out a way to go home. Either I thumb-lift, walk all the way home or sit by the roadside and laugh and cry my heart out. No, I wasn't afraid at that point of time. I can't even feel my heartbeat. I was busy arguing with God and driving at 110 kmph.

I wasn't deaf. Every week in church, the same message came to me. "Let go and let God. Let His will be done on Earth as it is in heaven. I just have to do what I'm suppose to do." I really pray that this is the last time I'm twisting God's arm. The deal with God was take me home to Penang with that empty tank and I'll stay with him for another year no matter how torturing it is. Just one year... after 365 days we shall see what God says.

Making a deal with God is not good. Telling God, "God, if you ......, then I will...." It won't fit into the big picture. We only see the present but we can't predict the future. People change. Prayer changes things - I know that. I'm struggling and wrestling with God because I can't stand the present. Call me stubborn - I know I am one and I guess you've never met anyone as stubborn as I am.

Reminder: Do not twist God's arm like I do. Kindly do not drive anywhere more than 10km with an empty tank especially on a highway. If you insist on doing what I do, make sure you have the number of AAM or traffic police or tow truck services in your handphone. I have none... If you want to say I'm stupid, then you should know very well... desperate ppl always do stupid things.

Across The Earth: Tear Down The Walls...

Across The Earth by Hillsong United 2009... the latest if I'm not wrong...
In my playlist now... enjoy the songs...

1. "Freedom Is Here" (Reuben Morgan & Scott Ligertwood) - 5:40
2. "No Reason to Hide" (Matt Crocker & Joel Houston) - 4:43
3. "More Than Anything" (Joel Davies & Braden Lang) - 3:54
4."King of All Days" (Dylan Thomas) - 6:19
5."Desert Song" (Brooke Ligertwood) - 4:41
6. "Oh You Bring" (Matt Crocker) - 7:03
7. "Tear Down the Walls" (Joel Houston & Matt Crocker) - 10:23
8. "Soon" (Brooke Ligertwood) - 5:48
9. "You Hold Me Now" (Reuben Morgan & Matt Crocker) - 8:28
10. "Arms Open Wide" (Sam Knock) - 6:19
11. "Your Name High" (Joel Houston) - 5:05
12. "Yours Forever" (Joel Davies & Braden Lang) - 3:40

Pure Mind...[52]

Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Saviour through your apostles.

[2 Peter 3:1-2]

"Your CONDUCT is largely made up from your PAST THINKING".

Peter's call to 'stir up pure minds and stimulate wholesome thinking' is indeed a challenge to our modern day, negative and often impure thinking. Our world has been flooded with corrupting pronography, an avalanche of violence and to say the least, unwholesome thinking. How we need to change channels and switch on to God's pure and powerful thinking programme.

We should have clean rooms at the centre of our lives. Your mind should be your personal clean room. You should have security checks on who and what enters your room. Let me challenge you to set up a clean room, at the very centre of your mind. A place so clean that Christ is totally comfortable and at home!

Change your thoughts and you change your world.

PS. Err... not like that... :o)

Friends...

Surprise! Surprise! Very last minute indeed. I'm still wondering how come 12 years later we're still so crazy... never change. Of course we have good jobs but we're still like 13-year-old. Had a great time listening to CL's experience being a doc... but I don't think I'll ever want my own frens to be my personal doc... too crazy... Ah Pao - the pharmacist in GH... come come smuggle some medicine for me when I'm not well... oh, btw I don't like taking medicine... so no need. Yee Voon, my kindy mate, now an engineer. Then everyone was talking 'bout how stressful working life is. I can only say I'm busy but I'm still free compared to any of you. Stress-free.... my own time... busy yet free.

I have no idea how to organize a holiday for next year. I was amazed when I heard Yee Voon and Ah Pao already booked their flight tickets for middle of next year. Gals, how do you want me to plan when all of you don't even know when you can take a leave? I'm more spontaneous as in call now, I like the plan, I shelf everything, pack my bag and off I go. That's better than planning ahead, a year ahead. I'm not even sure what I want to do an hour later, not to mention a year later.

We shall see what I come out with next year....

All At It, Always At It...[51]

Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve...

[1 Peter 5:2]

A ready mind is one where you "Control the script in your imagination and imagine godly and good things".

May we serve the Lord today with a willing and ready mind and a cheerful attitude that reflects the Master.

What God needs is drain pipes, open at both ends and clean in the middle.

When There's Not Much To Do...

Another way of spending time with my precious and her friend. She has been bugging me to play with her and I can't seem to find my Scrabble set... but she rummaged thru the pile of 'asset' I have and found Boggle. She's not really as crazy as I am to build words and place them onto a board. Thus, I took out my Australian Edition of Monopoly. It was a nice game and we played with our hands busily turning the Rubiks Cubes while waiting for each other's turn.

Oh, well. The game didn't turn out nice for me as I ended up bankrupt after putting all my properties on mortgage yet, I was still not able to pay back the rental for that one little hotel lot. Today is Monday so I'm looking forward for another round of seeing who will be a bankrupt after she comes back from school. HHhmmmm... I think I should buy a few more different editions of Monopoly.

Temporary Shut Down...

Will be active again on the 28th of September...
Harap maaf... aku sudah tak larat nak blog... penat... kering kepala otak aku...
Masa cuti raya ini aku nak main puas-puas tak mahu melekat kat skrin empat segi ini... macam orang bodoh rasanya... aku tak mahu duduk dalam rumah... bangun saja aku nak keluar melepak sampai malam hari separuh nak pengsan baru aku balik rumah tidur...

Selamat Hari Raya.. Maaf Zahir dan Batin....

Hip! Hip! Hooray!!

Today is Tuesday....
Tomorrow will be Wednesday...
The day after tomorrow will be Thursday...
Friday comes after that...
AND....I'm declaring my own holidays... one whole long week!! From 19th to 25th... yippee!! I don't want to get stuck to my computer for the whole entire week... better get out of the house... muahahahaha.... Bye! Bye! Computer...
About my gym session for the whole of next week... errr...hahahaha....
Great life.... don't ya think so? Heheheheh....

The Five Of Us....

It's nice to have so many siblings but last time we were not even close to each other. More like living a solitary life. Now that we're closer, the other two are so far away... If 5 of us are under one roof, the whole house can come crashing down with our laughter. I wonder who I look like most. All the uncles and aunties I met when big ma took me around the 'jungle' said I looked like my eldest bro... LX... you're the only one saying I look like my second bro... Let's see...

Errr... I don't see I resemble anyone in all these photos... everyone hallucinating hor??

Hahahah... My TV Kaput...

Cik LX, aku tahu nanti engkau baca karya aku dalam Bahasa Malaysia, pasti engkau meradang... tapi memang mood aku hari ini nak tulis dalam bahasa kebangsaan kita. Entahlah kenapa... aku pun kurang pasti.

Aku ini terpukau dengan buku cerita...

yang itu baru habis aku baca... sekarang aku baca yang lain pula... satu rumah ini macam library... seronoknya aku... tentang televisyen aku yang mati.. aku tak kisah sangat.. tapi tak tahu nak buat apa dengan tv sebesar 29-inci itu. Berat gila... aku pun tak tahu macam mana aku angkat masuk bilik dulu... nak repair ke nak beli flat screen yang baru, ya... aku asyik beli benda mahal-mahal nanti mak aku jerit sampai aku terpelanting... tiap-tiap kali dua orang mak aku macam berpakat... telefon masa yang sama... cakap benda yang sama... entah dia orang buat recording dulu sebelum call aku kut. Aku nampak nombor telefon mak aku berdua itu, terkedu aku. Soalan yang ditanya pun sama... buat apa? Sudah makan? Ada pergi jalan-jalan? Pukul berapa kerja? Bila nak balik rumah? Kerja sampai 'kul berapa? Tak serikkah tanya benda yang sama... kata mereka masa aku bekerja lain daripada yang lain... asyik berubah... ni aku belum turun ke laut... kalau turun ke laut... habis miss call berpuluh-puluh...

Gelaklah kau... Astro aku kena potong... malas aku nak pergi bayar... tv itu mati... jadi biarlah... nanti masa nak tonton tv baru aku pergi bayar... hahahahah eh.. Astro kena potong aku tak bagi tahu mak... takut dia terpengsan dengan aku...

Aku tak sms engkau pun engkau sudah tahu Maxis aku kena bar... melepasi limit aku RM450 sebulan.. entah macam mana aku pakai telefon pun aku tak tahu... macam tak payah duit... tapi masa kena bar seronok juga... tak payah tekan... tekan pun tak boleh hantar... hahahha.. Nasib baik engkau ada semalam, aku tak ada telefon macam orang cacat pula... My mother tak meletup when I told her my Maxis kena bar... dia mengeluh panjang... tak tahu nak buat apa dengan aku...

Ish... malas nak tulis dah... Tengoklah esok atau lusa aku online lagi ya... aku ini memang ketagih Internet...

Happy Birthday Juju!!

I haven't reach she already started eating... too hungry hor?? Sorry la... reached late a bit, some more sesat a bit. This lady also has her own strangeness... suddenly out of the blue sms asked to go for lunch.... mamak mi goreng... cik, aku bukan peminat mi goreng.. I baru telan New Zealand ice-cream with my precious, then I replied her sms ask her where... she pulak tak tahu reply. Susah orang ini... kalau nak tunggu dia reply sms alamatnya berbulan-bulan kadang-kala dia reply yang tak ada kaitan dengan soalan yang ditanya.... dia reply 'hehehehee'. Terus call her better... call saja bukan kata 'hello'.... giggling away... orang tanya mana tempatnya... dia gelak saja... ish! Geram aku dibuatnya.... dahlah aku nak meronda di Queensbay dengan anak... tapi seronok jumpanya... gelak tak bertempat... I'm seriously wondering... those patients about to die in onco... you just giggle your way thru... or giggle their way thru???
Tell you why I don't like mamak mi goreng. Tengok itu... yang aku nampak ialah mi... yang lain-lain aku 'tak dalam mulut, aku kunyah apa benda tu pun aku tak tahu. Dahlah orang pesan tak mahu pedas.... katanya langsung tak pedas... each mamak stall also tipu orang... aku makan sesuap macam nak keluar asap daripada hidung dan telinga... nasib mata aku tak berdarah... pedas gila! Macam terbakar lidah aku... lagi aku minum air sejuk, lagi rasa nak meletup... dia pula gelak terkekeh-kekeh.... Habis berpeluh aku macam lari marathon satu Padang Kota... aku lari 5km pun tak berpeluh setimba....
Happy burfday!! Lawak orangnya... asked her no need to work hor... she said need... need to go back to hospy... ask her what time... gelak lagi... pengsan aku... then she said must go back before 1pm tapi masa itu sudah 1:30pm.... lenggang lagi... adoi... apasal dengan doktor-doktor semua ya... patutlah ada yang pergi hospital beratur berjam-jam kata tak nampak batang hidung doktor... alamatnya aku berlenggang sama doktor itu di warung mamak... hahahahhaah.... Love you Ju!!

Praising God In The Storm...[50]

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

[1 Peter 4:1-2]

The Christian life is a battleground, not a playground and we must arm ourselves in every area of our lives. Victory in the mind is absolutely essential. If we struggle with negative, critical and fearful and worrying thoughts, we will become very tired and depressed. If you fight battle thoughts all day, you can expect to suffer battle fatigue at night... :-) *Don't get too stressed up with work, nite time is time to sleep not time to think*

Therefore, each day you must learn how to face, handle and remove all negative and corrosive thoughts.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

[Mark 1:35]

How you process an event will indicate how it will affect you.

Your Control Centre...[49]

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

[1 Peter 1:13]

A prepared mind truly achieves great results! Whether it be in the physical or spiritual realm, this principle applies.

The mind is the control centre of the body and directs a person's behaviour.

Feed Your Mind Properly...[48]

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace..

[Romans 8:6]

A spiritual mind is one that thinks in line with the Spirit of God and the Word of God. It has been renewed; the old ways of thinking have been swept out and replaced with new thought patterns. Most born again believers have never been taught how to renew their minds, so their carnal mind has them in a constant dilemma. They love the Lord, and they are going to heaven, but they're not enjoying their rights and privileges as a Christian now. If we are just supposed to get saved and then wait until heaven to receive God's riches, we wouldn't need the Holy Spirit now. We wouldn't need the weapons of our warfare now. You see, God wants us to receive His abundant life right now, but we must be spiritually minded to do so. The carnal mind is the enemy, in opposition to God, but the spiritual mind is life and peace.

This kind of life is only for the spiritually minded. Only those who have been transformed by the renewing of their minds can have life in its highest form. Those who are carnally minded have death. The way we think determines whether we have life or death.

Your body and your mind need to be fed properly.

Stefy , My Precious...

I'm more like her replacement mother since she was 7. That time I was only 20 and having a child with me... I wanted to scream my lungs out at a point of time. I didn't know why I agree to the arrangement. I'm one who loves my freedom... I do not like to be tied down with anything. The first few weeks she was with me, I was quite ok. Then, I became very agitated with everything. I remembered going to school during her break time to make sure she's ok. Then, usually we went to coffee shop for lunch, I bathed her after school... yes... I bathed her... and she changed me a lot.

Because of her, I started cooking. I'm one person who's adamant not to enter the kitchen no matter what. At the age of 19 I still had no idea how to boil water not to mention cooking instant noodles or making Milo for myself. Shuddup... don't laugh. Don't even shake your head and say I'm one hopeless case. Because of her, I'm a good cook now and I'm a pro in buying raw materials in the wet market. I don't want her to eat hawker food everyday. I wanted to shower her with everything that's from the best.


Because of her, I sacrifice some of my leisure time to spend my time with her. I'm one stingy person but I surprised myself when I bought clothes and stuff for her, I didn't even look at the price. As long as she wants them, then off those things ended up in paper bags.

I don't like noise... I don't even like sound. I like quietness. Because of her, I have her friends coming over and the whole house turned upside down. I was mad but I didn't scream at her. I'm responsible for her, for her safety, for her upbringing, for her happiness and yes... I love her as my own. She has grown to be very much like me.. she talks like me, she reasons like me, she's everything like me but of course not 100%. If 100% we'll be at each other's throat. Because of her, I think I can do anything just because of her... fancy seeing me rushing to school just to bring her lunch when she has to stay back, sitting in the car waiting for her to come out... There was once she came out late....10 minutes late... and I was searching for her high and low from one block to another... scare me half to death...

She's growing up fast... and starting to go against me at times but not that bad yet... give her another year I think we'll be at logger heads. Now she still wants me to be around.. shopping, going out for a walk, talking bout her classmates, her ups and downs, that's what she does... she enters the car and she starts spilling out whatever happened in school from morning until noon. She wants me to play with her... skating, taking all those scary rides... goodness gracious.. I don't think my heart can take it any longer... those rides... my heart almost stopped...

I have to do away with fren's invitation for lunch... I have to cook then fetch her from school. I do not like to make her wait for me under the hot sun. Last time, I used to go to school half an hour before the bell rang, then the school set a rule where parents should not be in the school compound... argh! Now that she's older, I went to school just nice when the school bell rang. Then, meet the parents session... I hate to hear complains 'bout her.

Now, I know why parents make such a big deal when their children were punished in school. Teachers in school, you whack her, I'll do anything to get you transfer out within 24 hours. Yes, I'm very protective towards her. You want to whack her or cane her, you tell me... I do it myself.
I'm just thinking to myself now, how do parents take care of their children for those who are working office hours? How did my mom do it?? My mom's amazing.

Last week was the first time she came home so early... 9:15am... second day of UPSR. We went for dim sum for breakfast then we went to Queensbay coz I have to work... I left her reading in Borders as I had to work alone... then we had New Zealand ice-cream... expensive but delicious..


Now, she's planning for me to take her go places and do crazy stuff... and with her friends... oh, my... I hope I don't look so out of place among 12 years old... with my dear maybe still acceptable.. coz dear is only 16 years old... then I have another 11 and 14 years old... It's quite difficult spending time with all of them at once.

There was once, all of them had different ideas. One wanted to go to Gurney, another wanted to go to Queensbay, another one wanted to go to Prangin and another one wanted to stay at home. *blink**blink* Then when they managed to make up their mind where to go, walking in a group became a difficult task... one looking at shoes, one got hooked to clothes, one refused to move away from the arcade, one got her soul entered into a story book and another one walked from one shop to another without stopping. Choosing a place to eat was equally as difficult. Chinese cuisine, Japanese, Korean, Western? If it's so difficult to decide, go home, I cook!

Mind Like Christ...[47]

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

[Philippians 2:5]

As a Christian we have the privilege and responsibility of having the Holy Spirit to lead and direct us. It is always God's desire to give us the best, as declared in....

This is what the Lord says - your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

" I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go."

[Isaiah 48:17]

But to have the 'mind of Christ' there are certain activities we need to get involved in.

Meditate and memorise.

Spend time each day studying, mulling and meditating on the Scriptures and then taking key verses and write them out on cards and memorise them. *Hehehe... you no need to write coz I wrote for your in our memory verses thread liao*

Inspirational

Make sure, each day, you are reading, listening and viewing inspirational materials, books, tapes and videos.

Nourish

If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed.

[1 Timothy 4:6]

As well as what we put into our minds, fellowship with other vital Christians also nourishes our walk with the Lord.

Discipline

One of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit is discipline, and we need our minds to be constantly under His discipline.

The Bible says a born again believer 'has the mind of Christ' so let us develop and expand our Spirit controlled mind.

The task ahead of you, is never greater than God's power behind you.

Rearing Swiftlets...

Grandma's old house has been put to good use. Rearing swiftlets. It's not easy to let the swiftlets stay but once they start to make their nests in the house, they will surely stay for good. In order to attract the swiftlets, the sound made by swiftlets are being played over the loudspeaker. Irritating... no wonder ppl complain. But grandma's house is standing on its own, not in shoplots like other places.
Ahha! That first window on the left... I used to sleep in that room. The one in the middle and the last were connecting rooms.... brothers' room shared with another cousin. It was one big huge bungalow where the kitchen area was twice the living room and to walk up and down from the living room to the kitchen was like jogging in the house.

During Chinese New Year, we had our reunion dinner in the house. We can put more than 20 tables in the house.... then squeeze and put in more tables. Then extend to the office next door. If outdoor we can put even more.

What a waste... that land can build more than 20 bungalows... I wonder what I will do if I have such a big piece of land. Build my empire?