Friday, September 21, 2007
I'm so glad it's holidays where I can get rest physically. More than that I have time for things that matters to me most. God and people. As promised I wanted to tell you why the spiritual world is more impt. One, bcos the spiritual world existed first, then God create the physical world. Two, bcos spiritual world is eternal, physical world is temporal. Three, bcos things happen 1st in the spiritual realm then in the physical. Four, bcos we were created to be spiritual beings. As you know, each of us has the soul, body and spirit. The spirit is suppose to be the master where it communicates with God, the soul, as the steward, and the body as the servant, to act in accordance to what the the master says. Yet, many of us, we are living the exact opposite of what God has intended. We allow our body to be the master, our soul, as sth to satisfy our body and what happens to our spirit? Suppressed. It no longer wants to seek God anymore. Isn't this interesting? I do admit that many a times, I live to satisfy my body which more than often leads to a little more sleep, a little more slumber, a little more folding of arms to rest. The word procastination seems nothing new. Gluttony? Not too far away as well. Perahps, it's time for me to have a paradigm shift again. To relook and rethink what am I really here for. Something that's already at the back of my mind, yet I've lost it still. :p
Monday, September 17, 2007
Would like to apologise to many of whom I've missed your calls and delayed my replies. Was having attachment the last 3 weeks straight after exams. Well, though it's only 8 hours of work, I spend additional 3 hours on travel, 1 hour on preperation, another 8 hours for sleep and the other 4 hours... either resting or meeting up with ppl and of course with God. Some other commitments have to be on hold for awhile. I'm glad to have a week break now. My table is piling since exams! My room's in a mess! LOL. Anw, looking back... had very very nice classmates during my poly years. Love them! Had learnt so so so much thru campus crusade too. The ppl thr has been a great source of encouragement, love and support. More imptly, they direct me to the ONE who's always there, created me & loves me from the beginning. HE who can do anything and everything! I was just feeling very meaningless one day when I wake up for attachment. What difference have I made in my patient's lives? I realised this world we live in is so finite. I'm jus merely meeting their physical needs. Then one day they are going to die. I mean we are all gonna die. No matter how much medical knowledge we have, there is still limitations in being able to save a life. No matter how good we are in behavoural science (my fav!), social work or counselling we are still so very limited in helping another individual change to a better person. Looking at the newspaper makes me wonder, why did God even create men? So much death, suicide, destruction and evil in this world. Why do we have to go thru so much since all of us have to die one day? So I prayed that He will show me and that I will make sense of why am I here.
This week's sermon was helpful. :) It talks abt the creation of man. Main reference from Genesis Chap 1 of the Bible. (Btw, I just read a book with evidences that proves the Bible to be an accurate, just like all other history texts. It's good to do some research sometimes.) From Gen 1:26-31 there are 7 reasons why God created men. One, God wants us to have His own image & likeness (Gen 1:26). Not physically. But our every actions are supposedly to be motivated by LOVE, just like HIM. But after the fall of man in Gen 3 when Adam & Eve disobeyed God, their actions are no longer motivated by love but by fear as they hid themselves behind the bush when God walked past the garden that evening (Gen 3:8). Fear causes us to be selfish, jealous and greedy. In Singapore, it is also known as, "kiasu" with "kia" as fear. Heavenly Father will be so happy if we are like Him. It's just like how our earthly father beamed as someone says, "Hey, your son looks like you". Two, God wants us to rule over the earth and excercise our delegated authority (Gen 1:26). Yet, we've lost it by sinning agaisnt God (Gen 3). So often, we went searching for authority and power over other people instead. Also known as power-hungry. Nothing wrong with being a leader. In fact, wise leadership is necessary everywhere. (Prov 11:14). It's just the motives. Do we lead out of love or jus bcos of that position we want to have? We may often seemed justified yet, if we dig deeper, we'll realise how our heart is so deceitful (Prov 16:2). Note the word delegated. God is the boss, not us. Three, God wants us to know Him. It explains why in Genesis 1:26 uses the word, "Us" and "Ourselves" when there is only one God. In Col 1:15, it says God is invinsible. We can't see God physically bcos of His glory. We'll melt. However, God wants us to see Him, know Him and feel Him. So, Jesus became the image of the invinsible God (Heb 1:3). Four, God wants to bless us. In Genesis Chap 1, we can see how God created the whole earth before He created men. It's just like what our daddy & mummy would do. Even before we are born, diapers, room, baby cot/sarong (i slept in this!), clothes, everything we need is prepared for us. Why? Becuase they love us. Five, God wants us to live a fruitful and multiplying life. (Gen 1:28) Does it means giving birth to more babies? In Adam & Eve's time, definately yes because the whole earth consist of only 2 human beings. In John 15:16 (New Testament), the command is repeated. It simply means multiplying godly character in people's lives. Six, God wants us to enjoy His provision (Gen 1:29). That is why His name is also known as Jehovah Jireh, The Lord is my Provider. If you are in His will, He will provide everything you need. Seven, God is pleased with all He had made (Gen 1:31), just like a painter who looks at His work and smiles. In Summary, God loves us.
How did He made human then? He made human from the dust of the ground. (Now I realise why some elements in our body can also be found in the ground, like iron, zinc, potassiom, calcium, sodium... etc. and how mud facial would be beneficial to our skin.) Then He breath into us the breathe of life. And, we became a living person (Gen 2:7). It is the Spirit of God that made us, and His breathe that gave us life. (Job 33:4). When we die, our body goes back to earth and the spirit goes back to God (Ecc 12:7). Our body probably cost less than $30, without the soul and the spirit. It is just dust! An outer covering of the real us. So who is the real you? Our soul. Yet, often we spend the most money on the lowest things in our life. Why did God create us this way? God gave us a Spirit so that we can communicate with Him. The Spirit is God concious. The soul on the other hand is for us to communicate with people. It controls our mind, will & emotions. And then the body is for us to smell, taste & see. 3 in one (1 Thess 5:23). Animals have a soul and a body but they don't have a Spirit. Thus, they are not concious of spirits, be it God or fallen angels, unlike humans. In God's original design, we are suppose to be a spiritual being. The spirit is suppose to be the master, the soul as the steward and the body is suppose to act as a servant. The spirit recieves messages from God and the body is to act upon it. Men fell when we became the opposite of what God intended where the body becomes the master and the soul becomes sth to satisfy the body. The spirit is then suppressed and does not want to seek God anymore (a.k.a carnal man).
Well, that's alot. But knowing this helps me to see what am I made for. It is to enjoy a wonderful relationship with my Creator. Hmmm, I think I'll continue again and tell you more about the function of the spirit and how the spirit world, though in another dimension, is more real than the physical world.
I like how Rick Warren writes in his book, "Purpose-Driven Life": 'If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn't know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn't be able to tell you either. Only the Creator or the owner's manual could reveal its purpose. You cannot arrive at life's purposes by focusing on yourself. You must began with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God- until we understand that, life will never makes sense.' You can study, be successful, make lotsa money, achieve all your goals and still feel empty because you've missed what you are made for.
This week's sermon was helpful. :) It talks abt the creation of man. Main reference from Genesis Chap 1 of the Bible. (Btw, I just read a book with evidences that proves the Bible to be an accurate, just like all other history texts. It's good to do some research sometimes.) From Gen 1:26-31 there are 7 reasons why God created men. One, God wants us to have His own image & likeness (Gen 1:26). Not physically. But our every actions are supposedly to be motivated by LOVE, just like HIM. But after the fall of man in Gen 3 when Adam & Eve disobeyed God, their actions are no longer motivated by love but by fear as they hid themselves behind the bush when God walked past the garden that evening (Gen 3:8). Fear causes us to be selfish, jealous and greedy. In Singapore, it is also known as, "kiasu" with "kia" as fear. Heavenly Father will be so happy if we are like Him. It's just like how our earthly father beamed as someone says, "Hey, your son looks like you". Two, God wants us to rule over the earth and excercise our delegated authority (Gen 1:26). Yet, we've lost it by sinning agaisnt God (Gen 3). So often, we went searching for authority and power over other people instead. Also known as power-hungry. Nothing wrong with being a leader. In fact, wise leadership is necessary everywhere. (Prov 11:14). It's just the motives. Do we lead out of love or jus bcos of that position we want to have? We may often seemed justified yet, if we dig deeper, we'll realise how our heart is so deceitful (Prov 16:2). Note the word delegated. God is the boss, not us. Three, God wants us to know Him. It explains why in Genesis 1:26 uses the word, "Us" and "Ourselves" when there is only one God. In Col 1:15, it says God is invinsible. We can't see God physically bcos of His glory. We'll melt. However, God wants us to see Him, know Him and feel Him. So, Jesus became the image of the invinsible God (Heb 1:3). Four, God wants to bless us. In Genesis Chap 1, we can see how God created the whole earth before He created men. It's just like what our daddy & mummy would do. Even before we are born, diapers, room, baby cot/sarong (i slept in this!), clothes, everything we need is prepared for us. Why? Becuase they love us. Five, God wants us to live a fruitful and multiplying life. (Gen 1:28) Does it means giving birth to more babies? In Adam & Eve's time, definately yes because the whole earth consist of only 2 human beings. In John 15:16 (New Testament), the command is repeated. It simply means multiplying godly character in people's lives. Six, God wants us to enjoy His provision (Gen 1:29). That is why His name is also known as Jehovah Jireh, The Lord is my Provider. If you are in His will, He will provide everything you need. Seven, God is pleased with all He had made (Gen 1:31), just like a painter who looks at His work and smiles. In Summary, God loves us.
How did He made human then? He made human from the dust of the ground. (Now I realise why some elements in our body can also be found in the ground, like iron, zinc, potassiom, calcium, sodium... etc. and how mud facial would be beneficial to our skin.) Then He breath into us the breathe of life. And, we became a living person (Gen 2:7). It is the Spirit of God that made us, and His breathe that gave us life. (Job 33:4). When we die, our body goes back to earth and the spirit goes back to God (Ecc 12:7). Our body probably cost less than $30, without the soul and the spirit. It is just dust! An outer covering of the real us. So who is the real you? Our soul. Yet, often we spend the most money on the lowest things in our life. Why did God create us this way? God gave us a Spirit so that we can communicate with Him. The Spirit is God concious. The soul on the other hand is for us to communicate with people. It controls our mind, will & emotions. And then the body is for us to smell, taste & see. 3 in one (1 Thess 5:23). Animals have a soul and a body but they don't have a Spirit. Thus, they are not concious of spirits, be it God or fallen angels, unlike humans. In God's original design, we are suppose to be a spiritual being. The spirit is suppose to be the master, the soul as the steward and the body is suppose to act as a servant. The spirit recieves messages from God and the body is to act upon it. Men fell when we became the opposite of what God intended where the body becomes the master and the soul becomes sth to satisfy the body. The spirit is then suppressed and does not want to seek God anymore (a.k.a carnal man).
Well, that's alot. But knowing this helps me to see what am I made for. It is to enjoy a wonderful relationship with my Creator. Hmmm, I think I'll continue again and tell you more about the function of the spirit and how the spirit world, though in another dimension, is more real than the physical world.
I like how Rick Warren writes in his book, "Purpose-Driven Life": 'If I handed you an invention you had never seen before, you wouldn't know its purpose, and the invention itself wouldn't be able to tell you either. Only the Creator or the owner's manual could reveal its purpose. You cannot arrive at life's purposes by focusing on yourself. You must began with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God- until we understand that, life will never makes sense.' You can study, be successful, make lotsa money, achieve all your goals and still feel empty because you've missed what you are made for.
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