Grace of God

Today, i really felt God's grace in my whole entire life.

I realised:
When i was proud, God still used me.
When i thought i could do without Him, He humbled me.
When i started drifting away from Him, He pulled me back.
When i am down, He comforts me.
When i am sick, He heals me.
When i am alone, He accompanies me.
When i seek Him, He is always there.
When i hurt Him, He forgives me.
When i need Him, He provides.
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I could go on and on. However, i shall not. I know i am just a mere human but i know God will use me when i surrender to Him. I know i do not deserve anything but by His grace, He gave me everything. How great is our God? That i cannot describe neither have i fully experienced His great love. Our God is a gracious God. And His grace never cease to flow. Thank you Lord! Hallelujah!

I still love God even if He does not give me all these because i know He loves me. That is shown through His act of sending His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross. Thank you Lord for your love once again! Hallelujah!

1 Chronicles 28:9 (New International Version)
v9 "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

In this passage, i have highlighted and underlined what struck me the most. This part of this passage really struck me. Whenever we serve God, or do anything in the name of the Lord. We have to make sure the reason/motive of why we are doing it in the first place is because we love God.


What i learnt from this passage is basically 2 things.
1) Confess that the Lord is our God. And there is no other gods.
2) Whatever we do for God, we have to do it to the best of our ability. Let us do it with all we have! And of course, let us do it willingly. If we do not do it willingly, we cannot do it to our best right?

God bless!

Time is slipping away....

It is the start of my JC life already... And i just realised that time has been passing by very quickly. It has been slipping pass my hands. However, one thing i am glad about is that i have spent my holidays meaningful in REAL. Though time was spent meaningfully, it still goes on and it never stops.

What i am trying to say is, we should live our life to the fullest every second. We must know who we are living for and what are we living for. For me, i know i am living for God so that God can use me. Nothing else matters. How are we using our every second of life? Have we been glorifying God with our every move? I hope we have.

God bless!

Another Season of Life

Today is the end of my REAL life while it is the beginning of my JC life... I already feel the emotional withdrawal syndrome from leaving REAL.

However, i am super happy as another REAL friend, Bryson, has appealed successfully to my school! PRAISE GOD! And we only prayed for it to be successful yesterday night! All glory to God and God alone! I have already thought of things i want to do and so for. However, i know it is a time of prayer.

My season of learning has ended while the season of action has not come yet. So now would be the season of prayer for me during this period of my life. I pray that God will give me a vision and use my mightily for His glory alone. I pray that God will give me a direction and nothing will prevent me from fulfilling His will. I would appreciate if you could keep me in prayer and pray for me. Thanks!

God bless!

End of REAL programme 2010

Its the end of my 1 month programme and i am really glad i joined REAL. I believe that i will never regret joining REAL.

Though i have invested my time greatly on it, forgo many outings and had to re-arrange my priorities, i shall never regret this decision i made 1 month ago. In exchange, God has humbled me, opened my eyes to the things unseen, convicted me of my sins and revealed to me plentiful of things. I thank God for the humbling experience and for this moulding process.

I shall miss all of you (including Joey), and i really hope to see you guys (and girls) soon!

God bless!

Bintan (Tanjung Pinang) Trip!

15 youths and 2 adults went for this trip. Nicole, Zhiying, Gaomin, Lengshan, Tiffany, Yixian, David, Jia Liang, Nigel, Bryson, Rafael, Kah Sheng, Joshua, Ian and Me. 2 adults - Joey & Brother Ronnie.



Day 1

I took my dad car and went to pick Yixian and Zhiying up so that we could travel to Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal together. When we picked up Zhiying and about to leave, Joey suddenly smsed us and asked us to regroup back at G1. I was stunned! The first thing i thought was, was the trip cancelled? I was very afraid as i really wanted to go. When we reached G1, Joey explained the situation. So we were given 2 options. 1) Wait for 3pm ferry. 2) We travel to Batam and take a internal ferry to Bintan. In the end, we took the second choice as we would arrive Bintan 1 hour earlier. Thank God we could make it! Thank God!



At Bintan, we quickly took our lunch/dinner before we rushed to check in our hotel. We quickly splitted into 2 groups. 1 group went to do children ministry at a Christian school while another group stayed at the hotel to pray for us and prepared a dance for the evening services. For the children ministry, Kah Sheng, Leng Shan, Jialiang, Joshua, Nicole, Nigel, Zhiying and me went. In the beginning, there were some hiccups along the way as most of us are first timers and we didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, everything fell into place once again and the programme resumed normally. Thank God!



After the programme, we went back to the hotel to meet up with the remaining team. After which, we took a 15minutes before we gathered and left for the night service. We went to Ps. Janu's church. It was just a small two-storey shop house building. We went to the second floor and attended the youth service. Before the sermon, the other group danced for them. They danced really good. After which, the sermon began. Ian was the preacher that night. Good job Ian! You did well! =) Then followed by altar call then we left~ We went to a noodle shop and ate supper before we went to sleep =) No wait! We had de-brief before we went back to prepare for tomorrow. It was like 12midnight Bintan time went we finished? Lol? Then i went back to prepare and redo devotion as Joey somehow said the same passage during the de-brief. And you know what? I only chose that passage in the morning that day! Awesome right! Hahahaa! I quickly redo, submit to Joey and it got approved! Weeee~ Then i quickly went to bathe and went to Nicole's room to help out for the children programme. She was leading Sunday's children programme and she was super super super stressed. Thank God she decided to re plan again. It was a 2hour programme and whatever i saw that night could last the most 45minutes to 1 hour? Thank God! Thank God for Saturday's (today) hiccups! We started throwing in ideas and started to just get to work. Some people were just too tired but they came to give emotional and mental support. Heh! So we planned until 3am! Yup! 3am! We went to Joey for his approval and guess what? He approved! First check and cleared! So we quickly went back and prepared to sleep.



Day 2

Woke up at 6:45am, met at Joey's room at 7:15am and started devotion. My devotion was not fully prepared and there were many loopholes in it. However, the Holy Spirit started to lead the devotion and just filled the place. In the end, many people shared about experiences of surrendering their lives to God and their opinions on surrendering. And i strongly believed we all left we different things but all was about surrendering. Praise God!



My Learning points:

1. Not surrendering our life is considered a sin as we are being disobedient to God.


2. Surrendering involves surrendering your all. Not just one aspect of life.


3. It is easy to surrender the outcomes of things that we cannot control to God. While it is tough to surrender the outcomes of things to God that we can control.

After which, Gaomin led us into prayer session before we went to eat breakfast. After which, we quickly left the place to the church for the service. We were splitted into 2 groups again. 1 group went to the adult service while the other group was below doing the children's programme. For the children's programme - Nicole, Lengshan, Kah Sheng, Jialiang, Nigel, Joshua and me. Adult service - Bryson, Gaomin, Zhiying, Ian, Yixian, Tiffany, David and Rafael. Bryson was preaching at the adult service. At the children's programme, i self proclaimed myself as the camera man and took pictures of them. I also observed them at the corner. I must say, they really could run the programme by their own even though they were super afraid and super freaked out. They must be super happy! =P Thank God that all went well! After which, Joey checked my sermon while we waited for the vehicle before we left for lunch. I was requested to do changes to my sermon... After which, i quickly took some time before lunch to prepare my sermon.

After lunch, we went to a restaurant as the youth programme was held there. We started to set-up things in 5-10minutes and started the afternoon programme. I immediately dived into my sermon. MAJOR RECONSTRUCTION! I was supper panicky and desperate. I had 2-3hours to almost re-construct my entire sermon. In the end, i managed to pull through as i allowed the Holy Spirit to take control. Thank God! Really thank God! I really learned through this experience that i am nothing without God. NOTHING! No matter how good i can talk, i needed God to pull me through. Thank you God!

Next, we went back to the hotel and had a long de-brief. Had an argument that night due to some stuff. We took a 5 minutes break before we came back to talk again. Some of us really needed that break. In the end, those who were involved apologised to one another and peace resumed. Hallelujah! In the end... ended at 2am! Next, went to help Nigel with his devotion the next day. However, it didn't seem he needed help. So i left to play cards with Joshua, Nicole and Leng Shan. So we talked almost for 1 hour and Ian joined us in between. Had a great time of fellowship there! Thank you Lord! At 4am, someone could not take it and went to sleep. So i went to sleep too as i had nothing to do.

Day 3

Woke up at 7:15am today. We had a short devotion and breakfast before we splitted up into 2 groups. 1 group went to a secular school to give tuition while another group went to visit locals. Children tuition - Bryson, Gaomin, Zhiying, Joshua, Rafael, Ian, Nigel, Nicole, Lengshan and me. House visitation - Jia Liang, Yixian, Tiffany, Kah Sheng and David. For the children tuition, it went on smoothly and all went well. Me like! For lunch, we headed to a fast food restaurant to eat at the locals fast food restaurant. Haha! Yummy~ Next, we went back to the hotel and took a ferry back to Singapore. Amazing trip!

Conclusion a.k.a. Learning points:

1. I really learnt i cannot do anything without God. It was really a humbling experience for me.
2. God has no language boundaries and He can work through anyone. Including those of different languages, races, culture and so on. God's love is inclusive.
3. God works in mysterious ways.
4. God is faithful and He never fails.

3 Days Bintan Trip Pre-Post =P

Yo people! I just came back from a 3 Days Mission Trip to Bintan (a.k.a. Tanjung Pinang). I am like super super super tired, so i will not blog about the trip today. Hopefully it will be done by tomorrow night.

Though it was a short 3 days only, God is still faithful, God is still awesome and God is always personal. Many things happened during the trip. One word to describe the trip would be "revelations". I learnt through experiencing things during the trip that would shape my character and make me a new and improved Samuel that can be used for the glory of God.

Will share with you about the trip asap! =D

REAL Program Update 2

So far... it has been physically draining for me due to sleeping late and waking up early part. Other than that, the lessons and workshops was exciting. I don't really suffer from mental tiredness or anything actually. If i am given something to do, i can still go on for hours. So yup... more on physical tiredness.

Other than that, i have been discovering more about myself and how i work in different situations. I also feel it is time to be disciplined once again as i have been really slack lately... so yup! Back to seeking God once again!

God bless!

A Thank You Note!

Today, when i went to my blog (the one you are in now) to prepare to blog, i saw a comment by someone named stranger on my tag board. You can read it if you want to but it is up to you.

To tell you the truth, i was shocked when i first saw that comment. I really got stunned when i saw that comment because i did not know i was giving people the impression that i was doing it for myself.

However, i would actually like to thank him/her because i was reminded of the reason why i started blogging in the first place. I remembered the first time when i thought of blogging. I told myself i would not last a month or two and it will die down very soon as i am not someone who can sustain things for very long. In the beginning, i was also quite hesitant as i was also afraid of teaching the wrong things on my blog. In the end, i was inspired by God to touch lives and reach out to people through blogging. Anyone could have access to my blog and read from it. Therefore, it would be quite an effective tool. As you realise, my blogging has not been very consistent lately because of the busyness of my life. Having to commit to many different things. Blogging has became a chore and i really struggled to think of topics to blog.

Now, i am on fire once again as i recall and remember why i started blogging in the first place. Thanks for questioning me stranger! I appreciate it! I thank God once again for you! God bless!

Nothing Definite.

I was looking at the car park cement floor today when i realised different shades of grey. Thus, i concluded the following. A certain colour can have many different shades due to the intensity of light. In the dark, grey may be one colour. In light, it may turn another. It is hard to say which is the correct grey. Even professionals can not guarantee which is the 100% correct grey. Only the Creator (God) who defined grey can guarantee which is the correct grey.

In the same way, we humans are the same (cement floor). However, we have different shades during different situations in our lives. No one can say that he/she knows you 100% well or he/she knows you perfectly well. We humans may have a pattern of behaviour but we are definitely not 100% predictable. Thus, we do not judge each other on what we see or perceive. We DO NOT try to correct them using your own understanding without understanding why they did it in a certain manner in the first place. You first try to understand why they do certain things before you give your suggestions or opinion. You might even realise you are wrong in the first place. Therefore, try to understand the other person before judging or criticizing them. God bless!

Hope in the LORD!

Isaiah 40:30-31 (New International Version)
v30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
v31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Ever felt like giving up on life? Ever felt that life is meaningless?

Ever felt like you had made the greatest mistake in your whole entire life? Ever felt that what you have done is too sinful?

This few verses tells us that WE WILL get tired. We WILL feel useless and we WILL feel like giving up. It also says that we WILL make mistakes in our life. Not only that! It has even gave us a cure to solve this problem! The answer is... HOPE IN THE LORD! When we trust God and ask God to give us strength through our lives, and we believe He will, we WILL be given strength. Strength to continue running this race without feeling tired. Strength to go through whatever nonsense the world throws at you. The strength to go through all the mistakes in life. So trust in God! Believe God can give you the strength you need!

Let us lean on God today for strength and direction. Only the Creator of the universe can provide you with what you need. God bless!

REAL Program Update

Remember the program i told you that i joined? Yup, here is the update.

This week, we did Contact Work (CW). It means we go to secondary school students to ask them to do a short survey for us. And get their contact number if possible. However, it is mainly for us to make more friends. After which, we will plan an activity for the students! Exciting? I guess? Excited? I sure am!

However, now we have to do plenty of administrative work such as collating the data... GOSH! Hmmmm, so far the program has been more physically draining while the mental drainage starts tomorrow. I have no idea if i should be happy or not... Oh well! I have God, there is nothing to fear!

Want more update? Tag on my board! Don't worry, you can use all sorts of funny name you want. HAHA! God bless!

Jesus got tempted, why not you?

Matthew 4:1-11 (New International Version)
v1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
v2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
v3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
v4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
v5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. v6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:" 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"
v7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
v8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
v9 "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."
v10 Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
v11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

In this few verses, it shows that even JESUS got tempted! YES! Jesus got tempted by satan! However, Jesus was able to resist temptations and defeat the devil.

First temptation, the devil wanted Jesus to make stones into bread. Note, Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights! I am sure you will be eating ANYTHING if you fasted that long. Jesus must have really controlled Himself from turning the stones into bread for Himself.

Second temptation, the devil wanted Jesus to prove that He was the Son of God. The devil wanted Jesus to test God. However, Jesus did NOT. Jesus managed to counter the devil's words.

Third temptation, the devil promised to give Jesus anything in the world. ANYTHING! Money, jewellery, palaces, mansions, cars, lands, property and MUCH MORE! However, Jesus knew what was more important, obeying God! Jesus was determined to worship only the Lord our God!

How did Jesus overcome the temptations? Jesus used the Word of God! The devil will try and bluff us with the Word of God, therefore, we must be sure of what we are studying and who God is. Only by constantly reading the bible will we know how to counter the devil's lies. So... START READING THE BIBLE! It will REALLY help you counter satan more easily! God bless!

Do NOT Worry!

Matthew 6:25-34 (New International Version)
v25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
v26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
v27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
v28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
v29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
v30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
v31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
v32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
v33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
v34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.


This post is mainly to those who have not done well in 'O' levels and are worrying about their future. Verse 27 says it very clearly, since we cannot add a single second even if we worry, why do we worry then? Why not just trust God and let Him deliver you through the tough times. I know it is hard to trust God and surrender at this point of time, you may even begin to doubt God and start giving up. But i just want to remind you of your purpose on earth. Not to do well in studies, not to be rich and powerful, not to have the most friends BUT TO DO THE WILL OF GOD!

How much you can surrender to God is how much you trust that God is in control. Pray to Him now for Him to take away all your worries, sadness and emotions. And for Him to show you your path in future. God will still listen to you no matter how crappy you feel about yourself. Trust God and hang in there! God bless!

'O' levels result day

Today was the day that i collected my results =)

I wont tell u what i get unless you ask me =) hahaha!

I just want to thank all my friends who encouraged me before i collected my results. Verses after verses, jiayous after jiayous, encouragement after encouragement. It was just so heart warming =) Thank God for these people!

That's all! God bless!

What have you been focusing on?

Luke 10 (New International Version)
v38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
v39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
v40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
v41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
v42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

This passage is very interesting. Actually, a short conversation with Yi Xian reminded me of this story. Thanks Yi Xian! Hahaha!

In this story, Mary was listening and just focusing on God the whole entire time when Jesus entered the house. However, Martha was so busy preparing things to welcome Jesus (Maybe food and some drinks?). However, Jesus said 'Mary had chosen what is better'. Jesus DID NOT say what Martha did was wrong, Jesus just said Mary chose what is BETTER.

In life, when we welcome Jesus into our life, some of us would passionately serve in many ministries. We get so busy with our lives and ministry work and we worry about many things. The saddest part is that we may even start to ignore God... It is good to serve in the ministry and serve God but it is even BETTER if we focus on God and listen to Him first. I am NOT trying to tell you not to serve! I am just saying, make sure you have a balanced lifestyle. Enough time for God, ministry and your daily lifestyle. Remember, the one who does better is the one who focuses on God and NOT the world! What have you been focusing on?

God bless!

Brothers and sisters in Christ

I am watching a show right now. There was a well respected gangster (lets call him Andy) who was just released from jail after 8 years. That gangster contacted 1 of his past brothers.

Brother 1: A very well known despicable lawyer who would do anything for money. He was having a conversation with a client. However, after he received the call from Andy, he immediately left and contacted the next brother.

Brother 2: A road stall seller. After being contacted he asked his family to go back to his wife's hometown so that he may help out Andy in his 'business'. And he contacted the next guy.

Brother 3: A florist. He was about to get a huge promotion plus pay rise. However, upon receiving the call, he quited his job IMMEDIATELY. And he joins Andy.

Why am i saying this? As we know, once we are son/daughters of God, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. However, when one of us is in trouble, will we go ALL OUT to help him/her?
Will we be willing to stop playing computer games just to listen to them? Will we be willing to give them money to bless them when they need it? Will we be willing to give up anything and everything for their sake? It is SUPER SUPER SUPER hard for me too... But i am doing my best!

When Jesus Christ came on earth, He died on the cross for us. When we still did not know Him, He already knew us and was willing to die on the cross for us. How great is our God! He sacrificed EVERYTHING for us! In the same way, let us show Christ love to the best of OUR abilities to one another. God bless!

Trust God in ALL situations!

Psalm 3:6-7 (New International Version)
v6 I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side.
v7 Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

This few verses was written by David. He is declaring that even if he has to fight thousands of people from every side, he is NOT afraid. Imagine thousands of people were to shout at you at the same time, i think you would faint because of fright. At least I think i would... It was such a scary scene/place to be in but David declares that he is NOT afraid.

Why? It is stated in verse 7! It is because David has the Lord our God! David knows that no matter what happens, God is with him! God will protect him and keep his enemies away from him! But it is impossible to have thousands of people to attack you in this modern days right?
I believe that it is saying that NO MATTER what crap/rubbish/nonsense/pain/suffering you are going through now, trust that God will deliver you! He will never forsake you! Trust in God! He only wants the best for YOU but only if u surrender to Him and allow God to take control of your life. Hang in there people!!!

Rejoice in the tough times!

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (New International Version)

v17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
v18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

In the past, what people counted as property/money was livestock (sheep, goats, cows), plantations (rice, wheat, olive, grapes) and maybe jewellery too? However in these verses, Habakkuk (prophet) told the Lord that even if his plantations fail and his crops dies. Even when he has no more livestock, he will still rejoice in the Lord our God.

In the same way, we can learn from Habakkuk. When God let us go through the tough times to prepare us for the future, when we suddenly lose something important. When we go bankrupt or we suffer from illness/diseases or maybe even lost our loved ones, will we still praise God and worship God? It is okay to grumble and complain to God but let us trust in Him and know that God is in control. Always remember our final stop in life is in Heaven, NOT during our life. So hang on to God and do not give up! God bless!

Focus!

Matthew 6:24 (New International Version)
v24 "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

I guess in life we want to master many things and excel in it. However, there are some things which cannot be done together. Matthew 6:24, man CANNOT serve God and money at the same time. It is not just about money. It can be computer games, MSN, shopping, arcades, movies and much more. We can only focus on God OR the worldly things.

With God, we will be disciplined, our character will improve. It may be hard, but necessarily. God will provide for us, love us and care for us no matter what. And we will go to Heaven to live with Him forever and ever.

With the world, you will NEVER be satisfied. When you level up in computer games, you want more. When you have money, you want more. When you are loving with your family, you expect more from them. The world CANNOT provide fully for you. Maybe temporarily joy.

But God can give you permanent joy as long as you trust Him. Sometimes it is hard to take the first step. However, by taking the first step to trust in God, it is a decision you would NEVER regret!