Palm Sunday 2014

The blood.
I never knew the blood of Jesus Christ meant so much till today.
By His blood, I am saved. There's life in His blood. I repeat, Life in His Blood.
Only His Blood, gives us spiritual life. Renewing us, sanctifying us, reconciling us to God.
Only by Blood, can sins be forgiven, that's why He is the atonement sacrifice.

Hebrews 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

It's it through faith in his blood that we are saved, forgiven, cleansed.

Please listen to this song-O the Blood as you reflect on the sacrifice made for us on the cross.

Who Am I?

In Christ, I am saved by grace through faith.( Eph 2:8-9)
In Christ, I am forgiven and made righteous. (2 Corithians 5:21)
In Christ, I am a new creation.( 2 Corinth 5:17)
In Christ, there is no condemnation. ( Rom 8:1)
In Christ, I am justified and have peace with God.( Rom 5:1)
In Christ, I am his workmanship-created to do good works (Eph 2:10)
In Christ, I am chosen and made holy to proclaim His excellency. (1 Peter 2:9)
In Christ, I am a child of God.(John 1:12)
In Christ, you are a fruit bearer (John 15:5)
In Christ, I am sealed with the Holy Spirit (2 Corinth 1:22)
In Christ, I am to be his witness to the world (Acts 1:8)
In Christ, I am given a sprit of power, of love and a sound mind.( 2 Tim 1:7)
In Christ, I am equipped to live out His word.(James 1:22)
In Christ, I choose peace over anxiety (Phillipans 4:6)
In Christ, I can boldly approach God in prayer knowing He hears (1John 5:14-15)
In Christ, I am an overcomer (1 John 4:4)
In Christ, I am helped by the Spirit (Rom 8:26)

I have the mind of Christ. (1Corith 1:16)
I have a God who is strong and provides grace to sustain me. (2 Corinth 12:10)
I am a heir of God.(Gal 4:1-7)
I am set free by Christ alone.( Gal 5:1)
I am redemmed through His blood.I am a part of God's plan for the fullness of time to unite all things to Christ. I am given an eternal hope. I am sealed with the promised Holy Spirit and given a seat in the heavenly places with my name on it.(Ephesians 1: 3-14)
I am His beloved.(Eph 5:1-2)
I am compelled and strengthened by God's grace to do good works and to be a light in the dark world.(Phillipians 2:12-18)
I am delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the Kingdom of the Son, presented to the Father as holy and blameless. (col 1:13-23)

Quiet!Be Still!(Mark 4:39)

God, don't you care if I drown?


I feel an overwhelming sense of confidence that of course!My Jesus cares!
Of course, My Jesus will not allow me to drown.
Of course, My Jesus controls the winds, waves, the storm...

What more should I fear?The exam?the stress?The reading?The memorising?
No,Nothing. Nothing can ever separate me from the loveGod.


So why am I so afraid?Worried?
The fear of not covering enough subject matter is crippling, paralysing my being, affecting my work everyday. So many What-If's.
What id I studied this, but that came out instead?What if I fall sick the entire day before exam again?What if I am not able to memorise the parts that are needed for me to remember?
What if..

See?It's bringing me nowhere.Really?Michele?Really?Is that what you want?
To place my confidence and trust in things on earth?These things that may be gone the very next instant?
To trust the amount of books I've read, or the essays I've written, or the cases that I've memorised?Really?
All these????????


All these will surely fail me.
Something might happen.My memory might fail me.My notes could be wrong.(It has happened!)
Essay writing could never prepare me for the exact question that is to come out in exams.

Yet, above all else, my God will never fail me.NEVER.
HE stands beside me, in the storm.He orders the storm to stop,and be quiet.
He speaks into all kinds of storm that I have in my life right now.
The constant rushing.The constant stress.The pressure.
How sad.My life does not revolve around all these!!!!
My life revolves around Him!The Him of the universe!
And yet, how of little faith I am.
To be reminded again and again and to forget again and again.
My God loves me!He loves me.
Doesnt that explain somehting?that He cares for me?More than Birds or flowers?


Therefore, He will be my shepherd, and I, his lamb.
He will lead me by still waters, stand beside me, alongside me, embrace me, assure me.
Through the storm.
All storms.Any storm in my life.

He shouts out in to the waves, and say, Quiet!Be still!And the storm obeys Him.
Therefore, when He says, Quiet, Be still! Into my busy havoc, rushing, messed up life.'
I will be still, and know that He is God.


Because, In Him.We live.And move.And have our being.Acts 17:28

Sovereign

Sovereign.
Something important to remember , and to realize, in times like this.

Sovereign by Chris Tomlin is my current favourite song.
That my God reigns. He reigns, He is sovereign over my life, my future, and everything else.
So I can trust Him, and I will trust Him.
I love how the song first affirms that He is trustworthy, that I can trust Him.
He is qualified for my trust, because He is God.
And then later the song changes into: I will trust You.
That is taking a positive step, making a choice, saying I will trust Him.
Such a lovely song, speaks depth of truth applicable in my life.



Sovereign in the mountain air, sovereign on the ocean floor,
With me in the calm, with me in the storm.

Sovereign in my greatest joy, sovereign in my greatest cry,
With me in the dark, with me at the dawn.

In your everlasting arms, all the pieces of my life,
From beginning to the end, I can trust You.

In your never failing love, You work everything for good,
God whatever comes my way, I will trust You.

All my hopes,all my fears, all I need, all I am, all of me, all my dreams,
Held in Your hands, I will trust You.

Perseverance

*Cries*
Another point in life where I felt like crying and shouting, 'I dont wanna be in this situation/position lah!'

                                                                XXXX

Seriously, little things in life stress me up. Esp when I realise that on my own, I will not be able to balance the tasks on my hands and produce a near perfect result.
I don't know why am I like that.
Why can't I just buat-buat selamba, and not care. Whatever happens, happens lah.
Psst..I'm pretty sure lots of people in this world ( if not Malaysia) are like that.
But I cannot lah!

So I was learning this new song,"The Gospel was Promised" by Sovereign Grace for CF's worship tomorrow.
And then I listened and listened and listened and listened and listened and listened......yea, you get it.

And then I started thinking about next week's worship.Like, who's gonna be the worship leader?
Coz I'm the one who's supposed to arrange the worship schedule, and trust me, on a human human side of me, it's easier for me to read ten law books(really thick ones) than to ask , invite them(ultra-politely) or to persuade them to worhsip lead. I repeat, THAN TO PERSUADE MY FRIENDS TO WORSHIP LEAD.
=.=
So susah one lah.
All sort of reasons everytime i approach them: Got class lah, cannot sing lah, choose someone else lah.bla bla bla
And then I got angry thinking about my seemingly huge task..
Yeah that's me.
hahahaha.yes lah I know I get angry at almost every and anything okay.
And I know it's not an elephant-like huge task.It's just to get people to lead worship lah for goodness sake.
But still, I really dont know why lah, WHY??? why me lah.go get someone else to do this schedule lah.Save me a lot of mafan.





And then I'm reminded that I am doing this for God.
For my God. So it's not for the CF, it's not for me, nor for anyone else.
I don't win applause from man, but from God.
And I will work at it with ALL my heart. Colossians 3:23



Oklah, at least now got reason and purpose as to why I'm doing this. Therefore, I will persevere and not complain.
*Victory!*







::

At The Cross

At the Cross

Lord You've searched me 
You know my way 
Even when I fail You 
I know You love me 

Your holy presence 
Surrounding me 
In every season 
I know You love me 
I know You love me 

At the cross I bow my knee 
Where Your blood was shed for me 
There's no greater love than this 
You have overcome the grave 
Your glory fills the highest place 
What can separate me now 

You go before me 
You shield my way 
Your hand upholds me 
I know You love me 

You tore the veil 
You made a way 
When You said that it is done 

And when the earth fades 
Falls from my eyes 
And You stand before me 
I know You love me 
I know You love me

                                                                    XXXX

I once went to a church, and was told to not sing Contemporary Christian Music.

Well, for reasons which I can understand, together with the good intentions behind it.

And I thought about it, and decided to not fight nor argue about it, because it isn't gonna make the situation better.And I might end up getting confused.

Some things need not be fought over. In cases like these, both parties are earnestly trying to decipher what the Lord wants, each trying their best to please Him, whatever the words they sing.

Whether it comes from Psalms, or the Proverbs or anywhere else.

I decided the best thing I could do now is to not argue about these trivial things because we have a greater mission to accomplish, that is to LOVE one another.

Hate the brokenness and the hurt after a dispute.Always seem to form cracks to our relationship. =(

Christian Woman, Pursue Christ Alone

source: Christian Woman, Pursue Christ Alone by Lauren Minor.

Disclaimer: Of course this article is not by me, Michele. I'm not that smart.HAHA But I'm posting it here on my personal blog,so that I can be reminded of my ultimate focus, that is, in Christ alone. Bearing in mind that I might get sidetracked of the things I want to do, feel like doing or thought of doing in the long run, this article will serve as a good reminder, I hope.=)





As a teenager and young college student, my life was very much consumed with people giving me advice about relationships.  

I didn’t want to be focused on finding a Christian guy to ‘pursue me’, but I was sent a message that I should be. The more women told me, “God will bring you a man if that’s your desire,” the harder it was to set my mind on things above, not on earthly things.

Waiting on a man gives our faith a very “me-centered” focus. All of a sudden it’s about God providing ME with a relationship…God providing ME with a happily ever after. And while He is fully capable of providing both of these things, it is not the picture of submission to Him we see in Scripture, nor is it the goal of our faith. 

The pressures of an ideal relationship and potential marriage cause girls to make lists of qualities they want in a guy (I’ve been guilty of this). Because apparently the God who created us, who is “intimately acquainted with all we do” (Psalm 139:3), needs us to give Him a little reminder sometimes of what we’re attracted to. And as if that isn’t bad enough, girls pray over their lists…instead of spending time praying for those who don’t know their Savior. I could be mis-interpreting Christian books I’ve read, but I’m pretty sure one of them encouraged me to do this.  When did Christianity become about ME?

Our purpose is all about HIM. Allow Him to use you in whatever way you can be the most fruitful in your fleeting time here on earth. Trust me (no, trust Him), He knows the desires of your heart. But our utmost desire should be to serve Him, not for Him to serve us. We were created to glorify God, make much of His name, and enjoy a personal relationship with Him. 

Our calling given in Scripture is to GO and make disciples. Over and over we’re told to share the love that we’ve received with those who don’t know of the hope we profess. We’re also told that God will equip us with all we need to accomplish His purpose here on earth. Yet a message is being sent to young women and youth saying, “Don’t WORRY girls…God will show you who your husband is going to be. Wait on God for him.” And yes, of course we are called to wait on the Lord, but specifically waiting for a GUY is different. 

If we trust in the Lord and have full assurance in His ability to provide, then we should GO and make disciples, knowing that if we will be the most fruitful in a relationship leading to marriage then He will make that clear. And if we are to be single our whole lives because we can accomplish His purpose more effectively that way, then that is what we are to do.

Waiting on the Lord does not mean waiting for Him to provide us with OUR desires. It means being faithful to our calling in Scripture and allowing Him to provide the rest. Christian girls need to hear a new message. Our God is so much bigger than the little genie we like to make Him sometimes. We like to think of Him as someone we can go to when we need a favor or need assurance that someday something will happen. This is so far from our purpose.

Be obedient to His purpose for your life, and He will equip you with all you need in doing so. He wants us to lead fulfilled lives. He wants what’s best for us…and that’s HIM.  The most loving thing He will do is move us to a place where we cherish Him more than anything else. So why are we still chasing worldly things? Sometimes our desires reflect a worship of the created over the creator. 

We cannot seek our highest satisfaction in anything of this world. 

It’s destructive to the human soul to take a created thing and make it an ultimate thing. I think a better line than “Do you trust God with the pen of your love story?” would be “Do you trust God with the pen of your life? Will you be completely fulfilled in your love relationship with HIM and allow Him to decide what comes next?”

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

We don't delight ourselves in the Lord in order to get something else, just like we don't seek first the kingdom to then gain something in return. We have an eternal hope and joy, so why settle for a temporary one?

As a wife I’m held to the same call I was before: glorify God and make much of His name.I have been given a partner in this journey, but my aim and ultimate goal remains the same. I realize my ultimate satisfaction can be found in Christ alone. As a wife, I finally see the importance of girls pursuing Christ in their singleness, so that they can be intimately acquainted with Him in their marriages as well. 

Marriage is the most amazing thing I’ve ever known because I get to see my husband how he is behind closed doors when no one is watching. I see him cry over lost people, find him buried in our closet praying, and hear him asking God every day to make him into a more Godly man. I see his PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus, and I want it. I want to know God more because of how Austin knows Him.We must know how to individually pursue Jesus now, so that we’re still pursuing Him in our future.

SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Lord I pray that you would be our utmost desire. More of You, a walk with You daily, a higher satisfaction in You... 

Amen.