Rejoice Always

Rejoice in the Lord

God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.

Chorus: O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
Then peace came and tears fled away.

Now I can see testing comes from above;
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear.

...

Last Saturday,

God sent this song when I was driving home alone

And a good tear session followed.

Indeed,

God never moves without purpose or plan

Give thanks to the LORD though my testing seems long.

My Father knows best.

Oct Murmur

11:07 PM

Last day of October
Scariest day of my life

Rushed here after work
Still at the hospital
It's gonna be a long night

這樣吧

有心?

無意?

似有似無

還是無中生有

放棄

決定

輕微的刺痛

A Stranger in this World

Make Me A Stranger
Words and music by Mac Lynch

Make me a stranger on earth, dear Saviour,

Make me a stranger more like Thee.

Help me keep my focus on heavenly treasures,

And not on earthly things may it be.

Lord lead me onward as a pilgrim

Bound for heaven never to roam.

Make me a stranger on earth, dear Saviour,

Till I see my heavenly home.

Lord, I've found myself loving earthly treasures:

Simple pleasures taking Your place.

Nothing can measure to heavenly treasures:

Hearing "Well done," and seeing Your face.

Lord lead me onward as a pilgrim

Bound for heaven never to roam.

Make me a stranger on earth, dear Saviour,

Till I see my heavenly home.

>>><<<

Hebrews 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

1 Peter 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

>>><<<

This song reminds me as a Christian not to entangle with the affairs of this world which we are passing through. We ought to have eternity in view in what we say and do, choices we make.

Three months ago saw my lowest point in the search for a house. When I was spiritually uninspired, God used this song to comfort and refocus my attention back on Him.

It is incredibly stressful being a home buyer; aside from attending house inspections, there are other things such as finance provision, property valuation, offer clauses and etc to take into consideration. Admittedly, my eyes wandered away from my Saviour and took in instead the glamorous sights of property investment. Thankfully, the God of mercy intervened and the distraction was only temporary. The Lord gently reminded me that I am just a stranger and pilgrim on this earth, a people set apart for His glory.

This song replenished my courage tremendously to pick up my feet again and march boldly toward heaven. I peacefully rest in the sure knowledge that God is sovereign, and my life is best penned by my Master's hand. Some nights I am tempted to fret, but by God's grace I have let go of the self-imposed pressure on being a 'maximizer'.

Still looking forward to the day of home ownership; excited much by the freedom of opportunity to serve God with the blessing that He so lovingly will bestow. Simply going with God's flow, delighting in the promise that He makes all things beautiful, in His time.

"Bound for heaven never to roam".

Shrinking

I have the slight suspicion that my feet are 'growing' smaller...

Sliding into a pair of size 6 heels confirmed the suspicion.

YOU SIR, Expanding Waistline, are next on my suspicion list!

August Murmur

"If stress burned calories, I would be a supermodel!"


A perfect one-liner to sum up my August 2011.


SOME MAJOR EVENTS:
Work
Work meetings
Interview
EOFY Party
Morning tea fundraising
Church meetings
Dinner dates
Breakfast fellowship
Coffee catch-ups
Doctor apt
Dentist apt
Hair apt
Facial apt
Friends' birthdays
Dad's birthday
Adelphe Bible Study
Food buying & cooking
Wedding decor
Bridal shower
HL & A Wedding
Movies
Fremantle fish & chips
Airport
Lots & lots of house inspections
Housing offer & rejection


*Phew*


Looking back at the calendar for August I was surprised to realise that I had just two free nights alone out of the entire month. Being so busy with meaningful projects, both for church and for work, made every sacrifice worthwhile. I don't think that I have complained at all this month about the lack of personal time! Usually I am very much the creature of 'personal-space-now-leave-me-alone', so to have done well being constantly surrounded by people I am extremely pleased. My friends, you guys are a special bunch. MY special bunch haha!


Anyhoo, the month of August definitely flew by much quicker than I was prepared for. One thing I learnt out of this experience was to treasure my free time and use them more wisely. Quite often I like to procrastinate before committing down to something which can waste a lot of time and make my brain lazy. I believe that God allowed me to be this short for time so He could help me learn the lesson of time consciousness. Any wastage would be silly - and sleep deprivation later down the track! I am still learning in this area, but, definitely gained a greater time appreciation that every hour is precious. Through His enablement I am still up to date with the Daily Bible Reading and even had time to make advancement of the book that I love reading, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. My biggest tip is AUDIO BIBLE!! It is very handy when driving and eating breakfast both at the same time *smiley face*.


I am sadly disappointed about one thing though, a rejected offer on a house that I really liked. Oh well, more on this later maybe, if enough people are interested to hear the story.


Thank God for a fruitful month of fellowship with Him and brethren in Christ. The privilege of serving God through helping others was humbling and deeply satisfying.


So far September has been pretty cruisy which I am truly thankful for. A good time to rest up and enjoy a more intimate time with God.


G'nite with ♥


J

The real price of death

My work just heard the sad news this morning that someone had taken their life in the public toilet. This happened last night and the police have been around to clean up the scene.

What I found surprising and heart breaking was that apart from the disabled toilet, the rest of the shopping center was business as usual. Nobody was aware of what went on behind closed doors.. We only found out because the center manager is a friend and she came to tell us the story.

As soon as I'd heard what happened, my heart became incredibly heavy.. As Christians, we all know the sad, but sure fate of those who die without Christ. I remember reading something in yesterday's devotion:

This world is the closest thing to hell Christians will ever experience, and the closest thing to heaven unbelievers will ever know.

No matter much suffering and pain we experience in this life, everything comes to an end. BUT Hell never ends; it goes on and on for eternity.

This has definitely been a wake up call on evangelism for me personally.