For 25.5.2012 Friday... which was last night ..
Last night, I went to Timothy Youth Group at my new church, and we watched the movie Courageous. This time, we watched with Eng sound and Chinese subtitles. Watching it a second time was almost like listening to a good sermon the second time... because you know the plot, know the progression, you can recall some of the dialogues between the actors and the theme, you are then allowed to read into it a little deeper.
Firstly can I re-emphasise that I really really think that Mr Shiny Guy is coming soon? Because somehow, and I believe it is more than a co-incidence but rather it's God's meticulous planning, that for the past 3 weeks or so, be it Sunday sermons, Sunday calling to build a Godly family, David Pawson's youtube videos (series: Male and Female), Youth group discussion topics, reading Revelation (c12 esp.), recent weddings attended ... anything, there is a i-never-had-this-before type of continuity in the messages about preparing for a marriage and a Godly relationship.
So from last night's Courageous, I understood deeper the responsibilities that one has as a wife, the responsibility that my future husband will have and what my role is in helping him nuture all that he needs to, see how important a father is in a family esp when the little girl that was chased by baddies ran up to the cubby house, and just kept screaming "Daddy! Daddy!" and the brave father just rushed out and saw the policeman and the baddie fighting and without hesitating just rushed in and tackled the baddie, then with the help of backups they put the baddie behind handcuffs. It was touching... and awareness prompting...
Then I saw the bit that they did the vow together.. and I was thinking... wouldn't it be good if my husband will do the same too? and have friends who will do that with him at the same time too? Though I wouldn't force him... and I don't wanna take the initiative, haha, maybe just subtly persuade him to watch the movie with me.... =P
The vow ended up with "as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord" (~Joshua 24:15). This is the same phrase dad and us hung up in our Taiwan and likely our Singapore home. And now, I have carried that to my life too, in my altar at work (Suncorp), I have that written on a hand-made greeting card with a origami heart in it, and on the heart those words in Mandarin.
What do I do with little Ed? Gotta get your relationship with God right first, repent fully of your previous sins and then you will be able to be on good terms with those around you and He will lead you to make wise decisions. Swap impulsiveness for patience...
The father (and mother) needs to give his daughters or sons the affirmation to each one of them of their adulthood -- the father in the movie who gave the girl a ring.
How do you define rich? Not by the clothes you wear, but by the God you anchor yours and your family's lives to.
Each generation needs to come to Christ on their own and don't even for one second slack off on the importance of this because uncle Lee said that his friend was like this, mis-believing that each generation of Christians will be blessed by the Lord more and more and thus need to put less and less effort. Well this is rubbish. And in a sinful and adulterous generation, to be more blest by the Lord means to cling even more closely to Him and endure even more suffering because of our faith. So in the end, his friend's family now, seldom even come to the church, drifted away, his friend married his friend's daughter off to an unbeliever with money and good 'family background' thinking that it would be better than marrying her off to a less worldly-wealthy but Godly Christian guy. So now that daughter has kids, and is severely persecuted in her family for her beliefs...
I can only say --- God is Supreme. And His principles are never wrong. And that if we deliberately deviate, then we have to eat the fruits of our own sowing... even with basins full of tears we will eat each single fruit one by one, like king David did (mum told me this too).
Mum said to me about Taiwan as we were planning to go there from Singapore when I was really young -- Taiwan is sinful and adulterous like Sodom and Gomorrah so Esther you gotta be very careful not to be like them -- and I had remembered that, and lived my life carefully each time. What she failed to say when we were heading back to Singapore was -- that Singapore is just like Taiwan, and also failed to say that -- Australia is even worse. Some of the sins I committed would likely have never had to happen if I had kept that vigilance in my heart if someone reminded me...
God and I shared last night with the young adults at Timothy, about how we women really really really neeeeed the men to step up and become our leaders. Even the bossy women need that. Shared with them what I heard from David Pawson's Genesis series -- how when Eve was tempted in the garden into a conversation she could not handle, Adam just stood there and did nothing, and
God and I shared with them our little secret -- about going to Indro bridge on train looking at Brisbane river that faithfully flows from upstream to downstream every day, and recalling Revelation 2&3 "你若忠心守我這純正,忍耐的道至死,我就賜你生命為冠冕", and I would always go "hai! (=>yep in jap) onegaishimasu (please continue to teach me), ganbatte masu (I'll work hard at it too)."
Later, Mei Lu told me as she was washing up dishes, "我從來都不知道啟示錄裡面有這麼好的一個經節。＂ 我回：＂嗯！那是我最寶貴的一個經節之一。＂ 她又說：＂除了這幾句之外，其他的都是一片模糊。＂Then I saw my responsiblity. I gotta bring the message of Revelation to them, so that all us Christians can have a further view of the world and God's plan. And prepare for persecution and the great tribulation, and also prepare for coming back on earth to rule for 1000 years. David Pawson and now me too, we would rather be wrong our way, than be wrong the other. I also found out that Mei will be leaving back for Melbourne at the end of this year when she graduates since her family is all there.
This morning, I received an sms Wilda sent me last night at 11.47pm -- "Hi, dear sister. It was so grateful to hear what you said to the boys. I am still thinking of it. I am so thankful to God for sending you to us. U r so good. I can see God is helping us by sending you in. U have a good night. We love u because Jesus loves u." It warmed my heart. I paused at "U r so good." I am not good. There is not an ounce of goodness in me, as God would recall me saying several times as I struggled recently with some sins. But notice the captial U. Lord, I think, she means "U". like.. YOU. It is true, You are so good. I replied, "Heya dear Wilda, thanks for your kind words, those words to the boys are actually a very deep cry from my heart, n I believe it is the same cry from all my fellow good Christian ladies... We gotta do our best to submit to them n each other n train those boys up to be the true courageous (pun here... note movie we saw was name "Courageous") leaders that God made them to be.... I'm not great, actually just like everyone else, but I believe u just saw the Greater One who is in me =)". People clapped after my sharing last night. And I was all shaky afterwards. And man did I have a hard time battling with my pride that oughts to just go die. It was suppressed. This morning I woke up recalling that, and had to battle pride again -- with the Holy Spirit's Sword which art His Word pulled out at the right verses and in time, God and I were victorious. It is now gone, and as it tried to resurface as I am typing now, the reverence of the Lord fixes it. I remembered what Lecrae just posted on his facebook -- we care about impacting people, not about impressing people. To God's name be all praise.
I also recently realised that -- a lot of time I get prideful cuz I do something I should that is in God's will. Or get praised for something I did in God's will. But actually, instead of being all arrogant and prideful, and boasting of the self, I realise that all that pride on my face should be returned to God. I think I understand better now what Paul means when he said "I will not boast in anything, no power no gifts no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart -- His wounds have paid my ransom." His wounds have paid the ransom for all my arrogant pride... This excerpt from Paul, many would realise, was made into a song -- How Deep the Father's Love for us -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vmY2ztb5xc.
Recently, I've been praying more about a future partner. Constantly, and a lot more. uncle Lee yesterday ignited my fighting spirit, by reminding us all (me), that he prays for his daughter for a good husband, but he said, "I pray to God, that if He prepares one good one for her it would really be good, but my attitude is -- if there is none, then I would rather for her not to marry than for her to marry the wrong guy.". ＂不要妥協。璇璇，你向來要求的水準，我已答應你，預備了那位很美好，很美好的。不要妥協。＂ 我說：＂主，我不妥協。謝謝祢，鼓勵我，提醒我。＂神就這樣地用微小聽不見但是聽見了的聲音常常跟我直接說話，mum's so not gonna believe this... but I'm gonna just accept it as You talking to me. And make sure I don't dream up any additional words that I'll make you 'say' that way but you really haven't. Please help...
Woke up this morning... remembered what God told me on 21.5.2012 Monday as I was rushing to go to work in the bathroom brushing my teeth, "keep yourself Holy so that I can use you to funk", yo. "Hai. Wakatta (I understand/know/accept/hold as important). Onegaishimasu. "
Responsibilities as a mum to keep husband and all kids in the statues of God. Leadership and discipline are male.
Last night, I went to Timothy Youth Group at my new church, and we watched the movie Courageous. This time, we watched with Eng sound and Chinese subtitles. Watching it a second time was almost like listening to a good sermon the second time... because you know the plot, know the progression, you can recall some of the dialogues between the actors and the theme, you are then allowed to read into it a little deeper.
Firstly can I re-emphasise that I really really think that Mr Shiny Guy is coming soon? Because somehow, and I believe it is more than a co-incidence but rather it's God's meticulous planning, that for the past 3 weeks or so, be it Sunday sermons, Sunday calling to build a Godly family, David Pawson's youtube videos (series: Male and Female), Youth group discussion topics, reading Revelation (c12 esp.), recent weddings attended ... anything, there is a i-never-had-this-before type of continuity in the messages about preparing for a marriage and a Godly relationship.
So from last night's Courageous, I understood deeper the responsibilities that one has as a wife, the responsibility that my future husband will have and what my role is in helping him nuture all that he needs to, see how important a father is in a family esp when the little girl that was chased by baddies ran up to the cubby house, and just kept screaming "Daddy! Daddy!" and the brave father just rushed out and saw the policeman and the baddie fighting and without hesitating just rushed in and tackled the baddie, then with the help of backups they put the baddie behind handcuffs. It was touching... and awareness prompting...
Then I saw the bit that they did the vow together.. and I was thinking... wouldn't it be good if my husband will do the same too? and have friends who will do that with him at the same time too? Though I wouldn't force him... and I don't wanna take the initiative, haha, maybe just subtly persuade him to watch the movie with me.... =P
The vow ended up with "as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord" (~Joshua 24:15). This is the same phrase dad and us hung up in our Taiwan and likely our Singapore home. And now, I have carried that to my life too, in my altar at work (Suncorp), I have that written on a hand-made greeting card with a origami heart in it, and on the heart those words in Mandarin.
What do I do with little Ed? Gotta get your relationship with God right first, repent fully of your previous sins and then you will be able to be on good terms with those around you and He will lead you to make wise decisions. Swap impulsiveness for patience...
The father (and mother) needs to give his daughters or sons the affirmation to each one of them of their adulthood -- the father in the movie who gave the girl a ring.
How do you define rich? Not by the clothes you wear, but by the God you anchor yours and your family's lives to.
Each generation needs to come to Christ on their own and don't even for one second slack off on the importance of this because uncle Lee said that his friend was like this, mis-believing that each generation of Christians will be blessed by the Lord more and more and thus need to put less and less effort. Well this is rubbish. And in a sinful and adulterous generation, to be more blest by the Lord means to cling even more closely to Him and endure even more suffering because of our faith. So in the end, his friend's family now, seldom even come to the church, drifted away, his friend married his friend's daughter off to an unbeliever with money and good 'family background' thinking that it would be better than marrying her off to a less worldly-wealthy but Godly Christian guy. So now that daughter has kids, and is severely persecuted in her family for her beliefs...
I can only say --- God is Supreme. And His principles are never wrong. And that if we deliberately deviate, then we have to eat the fruits of our own sowing... even with basins full of tears we will eat each single fruit one by one, like king David did (mum told me this too).
Mum said to me about Taiwan as we were planning to go there from Singapore when I was really young -- Taiwan is sinful and adulterous like Sodom and Gomorrah so Esther you gotta be very careful not to be like them -- and I had remembered that, and lived my life carefully each time. What she failed to say when we were heading back to Singapore was -- that Singapore is just like Taiwan, and also failed to say that -- Australia is even worse. Some of the sins I committed would likely have never had to happen if I had kept that vigilance in my heart if someone reminded me...
God and I shared last night with the young adults at Timothy, about how we women really really really neeeeed the men to step up and become our leaders. Even the bossy women need that. Shared with them what I heard from David Pawson's Genesis series -- how when Eve was tempted in the garden into a conversation she could not handle, Adam just stood there and did nothing, and
God and I shared with them our little secret -- about going to Indro bridge on train looking at Brisbane river that faithfully flows from upstream to downstream every day, and recalling Revelation 2&3 "你若忠心守我這純正,忍耐的道至死,我就賜你生命為冠冕", and I would always go "hai! (=>yep in jap) onegaishimasu (please continue to teach me), ganbatte masu (I'll work hard at it too)."
Later, Mei Lu told me as she was washing up dishes, "我從來都不知道啟示錄裡面有這麼好的一個經節。＂ 我回：＂嗯！那是我最寶貴的一個經節之一。＂ 她又說：＂除了這幾句之外，其他的都是一片模糊。＂Then I saw my responsiblity. I gotta bring the message of Revelation to them, so that all us Christians can have a further view of the world and God's plan. And prepare for persecution and the great tribulation, and also prepare for coming back on earth to rule for 1000 years. David Pawson and now me too, we would rather be wrong our way, than be wrong the other. I also found out that Mei will be leaving back for Melbourne at the end of this year when she graduates since her family is all there.
This morning, I received an sms Wilda sent me last night at 11.47pm -- "Hi, dear sister. It was so grateful to hear what you said to the boys. I am still thinking of it. I am so thankful to God for sending you to us. U r so good. I can see God is helping us by sending you in. U have a good night. We love u because Jesus loves u." It warmed my heart. I paused at "U r so good." I am not good. There is not an ounce of goodness in me, as God would recall me saying several times as I struggled recently with some sins. But notice the captial U. Lord, I think, she means "U". like.. YOU. It is true, You are so good. I replied, "Heya dear Wilda, thanks for your kind words, those words to the boys are actually a very deep cry from my heart, n I believe it is the same cry from all my fellow good Christian ladies... We gotta do our best to submit to them n each other n train those boys up to be the true courageous (pun here... note movie we saw was name "Courageous") leaders that God made them to be.... I'm not great, actually just like everyone else, but I believe u just saw the Greater One who is in me =)". People clapped after my sharing last night. And I was all shaky afterwards. And man did I have a hard time battling with my pride that oughts to just go die. It was suppressed. This morning I woke up recalling that, and had to battle pride again -- with the Holy Spirit's Sword which art His Word pulled out at the right verses and in time, God and I were victorious. It is now gone, and as it tried to resurface as I am typing now, the reverence of the Lord fixes it. I remembered what Lecrae just posted on his facebook -- we care about impacting people, not about impressing people. To God's name be all praise.
I also recently realised that -- a lot of time I get prideful cuz I do something I should that is in God's will. Or get praised for something I did in God's will. But actually, instead of being all arrogant and prideful, and boasting of the self, I realise that all that pride on my face should be returned to God. I think I understand better now what Paul means when he said "I will not boast in anything, no power no gifts no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Why should I gain from His reward? I cannot give an answer. But this I know with all my heart -- His wounds have paid my ransom." His wounds have paid the ransom for all my arrogant pride... This excerpt from Paul, many would realise, was made into a song -- How Deep the Father's Love for us -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vmY2ztb5xc.
Recently, I've been praying more about a future partner. Constantly, and a lot more. uncle Lee yesterday ignited my fighting spirit, by reminding us all (me), that he prays for his daughter for a good husband, but he said, "I pray to God, that if He prepares one good one for her it would really be good, but my attitude is -- if there is none, then I would rather for her not to marry than for her to marry the wrong guy.". ＂不要妥協。璇璇，你向來要求的水準，我已答應你，預備了那位很美好，很美好的。不要妥協。＂ 我說：＂主，我不妥協。謝謝祢，鼓勵我，提醒我。＂神就這樣地用微小聽不見但是聽見了的聲音常常跟我直接說話，mum's so not gonna believe this... but I'm gonna just accept it as You talking to me. And make sure I don't dream up any additional words that I'll make you 'say' that way but you really haven't. Please help...
Woke up this morning... remembered what God told me on 21.5.2012 Monday as I was rushing to go to work in the bathroom brushing my teeth, "keep yourself Holy so that I can use you to funk", yo. "Hai. Wakatta (I understand/know/accept/hold as important). Onegaishimasu. "
Responsibilities as a mum to keep husband and all kids in the statues of God. Leadership and discipline are male.
No comments:
Post a Comment