There was a little boy who was trying to carry a huge sack of rice. He tried, but the heavy sack didn’t move at all. His father saw this, and asked him, “Son, are you using all your strength?” The boy said, “Yes, I am.” The dad replied, “No, you’re not. You haven’t asked me to help you.”
We call God our Father Almighty. Being Christians, we know beyond any doubt that he is Almighty, he is All-Powerful. And yet we always try to challenge him, as if wanting to prove to him that we’re stronger or more capable than him. Somehow we always prefer to take control of everything, to take things into our own hands, to depend only on our human strength, instead of allowing God to take over. Only when we’re out of resources then maybe we turn to God in desperation.
Ps 46 reminds us:
God is for us a refuge and strength,
a helper close at hand, in time of distress.
The Lord of hosts is with us,
The God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Let us be assured that God the Emmanuel is always with us; he is a helper close at hand. Let us, then, surrender our whole self to him as the Master of our plans; and not treat him merely as a backup plan
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Vocation Discernment
No, I am NOT going to be a priest, contrary to popular belief populated by a certain Poey Lau. Haha.
That aside, I'm sure most of you would know that 4 of us (Swee, Mel, Po and I) attended the recent vocation recollection at the Major Seminary over Friday and Saturday. For me I was pretty scared because when we were the first few to arrive. Was worried that we were the only ones there but I got a pleasant suprise when Br Jo told us that there were about 30 participants :D To quote Poey - "wa heng sia the pressure is off us!" Haha.
Anyway, I took a few things back home. First, is that in everything we do, we need to have a heart of love for others, and love must the the main motivation. We were asked what would be the one factor that would make us join the priesthood, and my answer was along the lines of "If God calls, I know that I can't run and whatever else I do will leave me unfulfilled and unsatisfied. Only if I respond can I feel a sense of purpose and meaning in life". On retrospect, this was an extremely selfish way of thinking as you can see from the many "Is" in the statement. Basically I was just thinking of myself, and how I would be better off joining the priesthood than doing something else (If God really calls, of course). I think what struck me after that was when more than 1 seminarian (including our very own Jude!) shared that their love for Christ, and love for others was what prompted them to join the seminary, and remains their strongest motivation to continue in this the long journey towards priesthood.
This can be applied to everything we do in ministry and in community, that the underlying reason for all our actions is LOVE. Pretty apt considering the session we had today! Thus we should always pray for a purification of intentions as it is human nature to do something for personal gains, and pray for the grace to die to our own selfish nature daily. I believe that this is what we describe as radical living and making a true sacrifice of ourselves, regardless of whatever vocation we are called to!
The second thing that struck me was how much I actually LISTEN while praying. As you all know prayer is supposed to be a two way communication with God but how many of us stop bombarding Him with our requests and petitions and actually listen in the silence of our hearts? This thought was triggered after I returned to the dormitory after spending some time in prayer in the adoration room, and Jude (yes its always him :/) asked me "so what did Jesus tell you today?". I then realised that I couldn't answer his question because I wasn't listening in the first place! Thus I conveniently pretended that I didn't hear what he said and just started another conversation. Haha. So I urge you all to "try to find a quiet place, to hear his voice and seek his face" in your daily prayer, especially during this time of Lent, and I believe that God will speak to the inner depths of your heart and soul. After all, we will find Him if we seek Him with all our heart! (Jer 29:13).
Alright, I think that is some of the many insights I've had during the vocation recollection, will post more of my thoughts if they pop up again. In any case, I urge all the LOG guys (esp Liver and Sim! Mark Tang you're safe.. for now. Haha.) to start on this discernment process as it will take a long time, and it is essential if we want to truly surrender our lives to God and for us to serve Him fully in His divine plan.
Have a great week ahead, and remember to pray for Melmel since he's away for holiday in Rome. God Bless!
Soo
Friday, February 19, 2010
Ps 46
I made a mental bookmark of this reflection a week back but only remembered to post it up now. It's from the SFX Seminarians blog, I follow their blog on Google Reader and their reflections are a constant reminder of God. This reflection led me to examine how much control I let God have over my life and i hope it will shed some light for you too. The reflection is based on Ps 46 so do look at it before reading the reflection.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Impossible is Nothing... not for Man but for God
Monday, February 08, 2010
HEYYYY LOG OMG MY HALL WON GOLD FOR THE FEMALE RACE:D:D:D! and the first thing i decided to do when i got back, was to faster blog out what i wanna say before the lactic dies off.
today was a really bad day leading up to the race; i overstretched a calf muscle on saturday evening and it didn't seem to heal even this morning, my team's fastest runner pulled out at the last minute, the guy's team's captain got into an accident and etcetc. up to 5 minutes before the race commencement, i was still feeling like hell and all, basically terribly demoralized by our string of bad luck. and i guess i was looking seriously freaked out cos one of my team mates came over to give me a hug. and i remember at that moment i don't know what made me blurt out to her, ' can you pray for me please' i didn't even know she was a Christian herself then, but just next to the start line, we just held hands and prayed out loud. a while later seconds before i was to run, my muslim team mate came over and said, 'i'm praying for you too'.
i know that was a simple few words, but it really floored me, and i remember nothing but prayer all through the run- and i know this sounds so airy and cliche, but He really carried me through. i never felt so spent chionging up the slope, ten, twenty times more painful than any training i had, but something just kept pushing me to go faster and faster no matter what, and i'm so convinced that it was my God was with me every step of the way to keep me going.
now i can't stop going around telling people, when they tell me congrats for winning, that it was God, it was nothing but God that let us win. i haven't felt so insanely happy to tell everyone i meet how wonderful God has been to my girls and i, and it feels so, so, so good. i guess, what im taking away from this race, that i want you guys to know, is that nothing is impossible with God. faith moves mountains, it really does, and i can testify to that. no matter what race you are running, struggling to finish work loads or whatever, God will strengthen you if you only believe that He would.
and i wanna thank all of you for praying for me, it means so much. thanks really. okay now i just realised i haven't warmed down, and i need to bathe.
log love & God bless,
anne
Sunday, February 07, 2010
helloo. i just wanna say how awed i am by this afternoon's lunch conversation. i really wanna affirm the SOWers for bringing enthusiasm for God into LOG. i rmb in the past, i used to compare LOG and Youthworks (now MSC) because we strived to be like them. and today i can say i felt the community-ness :D also wanna affirm the loglets like kenneth and andrew (first log lunch if im not wrong). there were some concerns that the younger loggers could not grasp for example, today's talk on love and lust, and other 'chim' stuff. but hearing kenneth and andrew talk so much abt church history (some info im not even aware of), im super impressed. i am reminded of hope and of God's future plans for us. really thankful for this new bunch and i wanna challenge the loglets to keep giving your input and not be afraid to say we are wrong or to challenge our beliefs or attitudes just because we are older. okay, have a good week!
loglove,
von.
Monday, February 01, 2010
It is God who chooses
Something I took off the OWL blog, from Good News Reflections
The first Apostles were a mixed bunch. Some of them were already friends when they met Jesus. Some were brothers. And some were strangers. Some were old, some were young. They had varied educational backgrounds, some with credentials and some with none. They came from a wide range of professions, and they differed in their expectations of the Messiah. And yet, Jesus wanted them all to be part of the same community.
Whom has God placed in your life to surprise you? Who's seemingly too different from you to be included in your circle of Christian friends or in your ministry? Who's a companion for collaboration that you haven't relied upon because you prefer to do the work by yourself?
Also notice that Jesus never asked for the group's input when he invited a new person to join them. This is what makes Christian community interesting. It's the Lord who chooses the members – or it should be, and if we ever try to control who's in our circle of friends, we should give it up and put Jesus back in charge. Oh, and if he adds a Judas to your group, trust that there's a good reason for it. He knows what he's doing. Sure, it will lead to suffering, but only for a good cause.
God knows who should be in our lives. When we do the selecting, we end up in relationships that go sour and communities that fall apart. But when we find ourselves in the fellowship of people we would not have chosen, we can be sure it's Jesus who pulled us together. God has a sense of humor. The very people we try to avoid are often the ones we end up working with in Christian service!
--
I thought this reflection was particularly appropriate as I looked back on my life in community as we celebrate our 5th year. It speaks of simple ideas - God's supreme plan in our community; acceptance of individuals; Christian love. Maybe it'll help your reflection too.
praise God for all that He has given.
Jess
Vocation Discernment
No, I am NOT going to be a priest, contrary to popular belief populated by a certain Poey Lau. Haha.
That aside, I'm sure most of you would know that 4 of us (Swee, Mel, Po and I) attended the recent vocation recollection at the Major Seminary over Friday and Saturday. For me I was pretty scared because when we were the first few to arrive. Was worried that we were the only ones there but I got a pleasant suprise when Br Jo told us that there were about 30 participants :D To quote Poey - "wa heng sia the pressure is off us!" Haha.
Anyway, I took a few things back home. First, is that in everything we do, we need to have a heart of love for others, and love must the the main motivation. We were asked what would be the one factor that would make us join the priesthood, and my answer was along the lines of "If God calls, I know that I can't run and whatever else I do will leave me unfulfilled and unsatisfied. Only if I respond can I feel a sense of purpose and meaning in life". On retrospect, this was an extremely selfish way of thinking as you can see from the many "Is" in the statement. Basically I was just thinking of myself, and how I would be better off joining the priesthood than doing something else (If God really calls, of course). I think what struck me after that was when more than 1 seminarian (including our very own Jude!) shared that their love for Christ, and love for others was what prompted them to join the seminary, and remains their strongest motivation to continue in this the long journey towards priesthood.
This can be applied to everything we do in ministry and in community, that the underlying reason for all our actions is LOVE. Pretty apt considering the session we had today! Thus we should always pray for a purification of intentions as it is human nature to do something for personal gains, and pray for the grace to die to our own selfish nature daily. I believe that this is what we describe as radical living and making a true sacrifice of ourselves, regardless of whatever vocation we are called to!
The second thing that struck me was how much I actually LISTEN while praying. As you all know prayer is supposed to be a two way communication with God but how many of us stop bombarding Him with our requests and petitions and actually listen in the silence of our hearts? This thought was triggered after I returned to the dormitory after spending some time in prayer in the adoration room, and Jude (yes its always him :/) asked me "so what did Jesus tell you today?". I then realised that I couldn't answer his question because I wasn't listening in the first place! Thus I conveniently pretended that I didn't hear what he said and just started another conversation. Haha. So I urge you all to "try to find a quiet place, to hear his voice and seek his face" in your daily prayer, especially during this time of Lent, and I believe that God will speak to the inner depths of your heart and soul. After all, we will find Him if we seek Him with all our heart! (Jer 29:13).
Alright, I think that is some of the many insights I've had during the vocation recollection, will post more of my thoughts if they pop up again. In any case, I urge all the LOG guys (esp Liver and Sim! Mark Tang you're safe.. for now. Haha.) to start on this discernment process as it will take a long time, and it is essential if we want to truly surrender our lives to God and for us to serve Him fully in His divine plan.
Have a great week ahead, and remember to pray for Melmel since he's away for holiday in Rome. God Bless!
Soo
2 Comments:
Hello Soo & Log :)
Okay, Praise god for your experience. And erm whoa, I think the part when you said we have to listen to what god says when we pray and that it is a 2 way communication, I think that what you said is really true. I realize I always tell god blah blah blah and end my prayer but today in ado I don't know why but I just sat there after I prayed and I just felt god’s love in a small way but I really did. And so I just wanted to say that what Soo is saying is actually the truth which many of us don't really consider. And so I would like to urge everyone to try this out when you pray the next time :P .
Take Care Log & Thanks Soo =)
By 
Greg,
February 28, 2010 10:29 PM
eh why u bo jio justin kong and dominic to become priest huh. no wisdom class love hahaha.
______________________________________________Friday, February 19, 2010
Ps 46
I made a mental bookmark of this reflection a week back but only remembered to post it up now. It's from the SFX Seminarians blog, I follow their blog on Google Reader and their reflections are a constant reminder of God. This reflection led me to examine how much control I let God have over my life and i hope it will shed some light for you too. The reflection is based on Ps 46 so do look at it before reading the reflection.
Reflections on Ps 46 (Bro Samuel Lim)
Jess.
for those who may want to bookmark the seminarians blog, the link is http://sfxms.blogspot.com
it is updated every other day.
0 Comments:
______________________________________________Sunday, February 14, 2010
Impossible is Nothing... not for Man but for God
The impossibilities of life and the further impossibilities of God’s Will always return to haunt me. I have always thought that building God’s kingdom is not meant for me; I am just going to get married and have children and build God’s kingdom in this niche area of mine. I never really conceived the idea of doing God’s Will every day, but reflecting about it this morning, WHAT AN UPHILL TASK IT IS. These words “Let thy kingdom come, let thy will be done” are deceivingly simple. Here is a simple example.
The Stool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3qh2dJxUy8
But the perfect example of the utmost surrender to God’s divine plan comes first not from Jesus, but from Mary His mother. It is as possible for us to do God’s Will (or overcome any problem you’re facing) as it was for Mary to conceive without the help of a man. There is no question about the impossibility of conceiving without original sin. When faced with this situation from the Archangel, Mary herself asked this question, “How is this possible?”
But the Archangel replied in Luke 1:35, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you… For nothing is impossible with God.”
And Zechariah 4:6-7 says, “Not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit, says the Lord.”
To believe that Jesus died on the cross is to believe that Jesus was first borne into this Earth by Mary His Mother. To believe in Mary Our Mother is to believe that she was immaculately conceived, that it was possible for a baby to be born in her womb WITHOUT THE SEED OF A MAN. To believe in Mary is to believe that the impossible is possible, by the power of God which is the Holy Spirit.
In Luke 1:38, Mary says “Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy Will.” So in surrender of our own lives to God, as hard as it is to fight our human nature, let us repeat these words to ourselves.
I know I don’t offer any practical advice or a life testimony, but I would just like to share with you that part of our faith is to believe the possibility of the impossible with God the Holy Spirit. Impossible is just a state of mind where such results have never been achieved. So I will leave you with the lyrics of this song by Sixpence None The Richer. Part of it is from Proverbs 3:5, and it’s one of my favorite songs. God Bless!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N_5B5F2otk
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart
Lean not on your own understanding
In all of your ways acknowledge Him
And He will make your paths straight
Don’t worry about tomorrow
He’s got it under control
Just trust in the Lord with all of your heart
And He will carry you through
Love, joel
The Stool
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3qh2dJxUy8
But the perfect example of the utmost surrender to God’s divine plan comes first not from Jesus, but from Mary His mother. It is as possible for us to do God’s Will (or overcome any problem you’re facing) as it was for Mary to conceive without the help of a man. There is no question about the impossibility of conceiving without original sin. When faced with this situation from the Archangel, Mary herself asked this question, “How is this possible?”
But the Archangel replied in Luke 1:35, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you… For nothing is impossible with God.”
And Zechariah 4:6-7 says, “Not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit, says the Lord.”
To believe that Jesus died on the cross is to believe that Jesus was first borne into this Earth by Mary His Mother. To believe in Mary Our Mother is to believe that she was immaculately conceived, that it was possible for a baby to be born in her womb WITHOUT THE SEED OF A MAN. To believe in Mary is to believe that the impossible is possible, by the power of God which is the Holy Spirit.
In Luke 1:38, Mary says “Behold, the handmaiden of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy Will.” So in surrender of our own lives to God, as hard as it is to fight our human nature, let us repeat these words to ourselves.
I know I don’t offer any practical advice or a life testimony, but I would just like to share with you that part of our faith is to believe the possibility of the impossible with God the Holy Spirit. Impossible is just a state of mind where such results have never been achieved. So I will leave you with the lyrics of this song by Sixpence None The Richer. Part of it is from Proverbs 3:5, and it’s one of my favorite songs. God Bless!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N_5B5F2otk
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart
Lean not on your own understanding
In all of your ways acknowledge Him
And He will make your paths straight
Don’t worry about tomorrow
He’s got it under control
Just trust in the Lord with all of your heart
And He will carry you through
Love, joel
Labels: god's will, trust
0 Comments:
______________________________________________Monday, February 08, 2010
HEYYYY LOG OMG MY HALL WON GOLD FOR THE FEMALE RACE:D:D:D! and the first thing i decided to do when i got back, was to faster blog out what i wanna say before the lactic dies off.
today was a really bad day leading up to the race; i overstretched a calf muscle on saturday evening and it didn't seem to heal even this morning, my team's fastest runner pulled out at the last minute, the guy's team's captain got into an accident and etcetc. up to 5 minutes before the race commencement, i was still feeling like hell and all, basically terribly demoralized by our string of bad luck. and i guess i was looking seriously freaked out cos one of my team mates came over to give me a hug. and i remember at that moment i don't know what made me blurt out to her, ' can you pray for me please' i didn't even know she was a Christian herself then, but just next to the start line, we just held hands and prayed out loud. a while later seconds before i was to run, my muslim team mate came over and said, 'i'm praying for you too'.
i know that was a simple few words, but it really floored me, and i remember nothing but prayer all through the run- and i know this sounds so airy and cliche, but He really carried me through. i never felt so spent chionging up the slope, ten, twenty times more painful than any training i had, but something just kept pushing me to go faster and faster no matter what, and i'm so convinced that it was my God was with me every step of the way to keep me going.
now i can't stop going around telling people, when they tell me congrats for winning, that it was God, it was nothing but God that let us win. i haven't felt so insanely happy to tell everyone i meet how wonderful God has been to my girls and i, and it feels so, so, so good. i guess, what im taking away from this race, that i want you guys to know, is that nothing is impossible with God. faith moves mountains, it really does, and i can testify to that. no matter what race you are running, struggling to finish work loads or whatever, God will strengthen you if you only believe that He would.
and i wanna thank all of you for praying for me, it means so much. thanks really. okay now i just realised i haven't warmed down, and i need to bathe.
log love & God bless,
anne
1 Comments:
tt phrase always reminds me. " saviour, he can move the mountains, my lord is mighty to save.. " :D
-po!
By 
poey,
February 11, 2010 9:34 AM
Sunday, February 07, 2010
helloo. i just wanna say how awed i am by this afternoon's lunch conversation. i really wanna affirm the SOWers for bringing enthusiasm for God into LOG. i rmb in the past, i used to compare LOG and Youthworks (now MSC) because we strived to be like them. and today i can say i felt the community-ness :D also wanna affirm the loglets like kenneth and andrew (first log lunch if im not wrong). there were some concerns that the younger loggers could not grasp for example, today's talk on love and lust, and other 'chim' stuff. but hearing kenneth and andrew talk so much abt church history (some info im not even aware of), im super impressed. i am reminded of hope and of God's future plans for us. really thankful for this new bunch and i wanna challenge the loglets to keep giving your input and not be afraid to say we are wrong or to challenge our beliefs or attitudes just because we are older. okay, have a good week!
loglove,
von.
3 Comments:
whether or not understand just remember the principles or a few points when your life comes to it
dom
By ,
February 07, 2010 11:39 PM
thanks von!(:
-kenneth.
By Kenneth Emmanuel,
February 09, 2010 11:57 PM
cannot use 'loglets'!!! we are all loggers =)
By MeL,
February 11, 2010 12:10 AM
Monday, February 01, 2010
It is God who chooses
Something I took off the OWL blog, from Good News Reflections
The first Apostles were a mixed bunch. Some of them were already friends when they met Jesus. Some were brothers. And some were strangers. Some were old, some were young. They had varied educational backgrounds, some with credentials and some with none. They came from a wide range of professions, and they differed in their expectations of the Messiah. And yet, Jesus wanted them all to be part of the same community.
Whom has God placed in your life to surprise you? Who's seemingly too different from you to be included in your circle of Christian friends or in your ministry? Who's a companion for collaboration that you haven't relied upon because you prefer to do the work by yourself?
Also notice that Jesus never asked for the group's input when he invited a new person to join them. This is what makes Christian community interesting. It's the Lord who chooses the members – or it should be, and if we ever try to control who's in our circle of friends, we should give it up and put Jesus back in charge. Oh, and if he adds a Judas to your group, trust that there's a good reason for it. He knows what he's doing. Sure, it will lead to suffering, but only for a good cause.
God knows who should be in our lives. When we do the selecting, we end up in relationships that go sour and communities that fall apart. But when we find ourselves in the fellowship of people we would not have chosen, we can be sure it's Jesus who pulled us together. God has a sense of humor. The very people we try to avoid are often the ones we end up working with in Christian service!
--
I thought this reflection was particularly appropriate as I looked back on my life in community as we celebrate our 5th year. It speaks of simple ideas - God's supreme plan in our community; acceptance of individuals; Christian love. Maybe it'll help your reflection too.
praise God for all that He has given.
Jess