Beautiful Day

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Thoughts from Stronghold Savvy --Bobbie Houston

Bobbie Houston at Hillsong women continued and finished her series on Stronghold Savvy last Thursday and today.
To me the strongholds are like garden, good strongholds are like flowers, and the bad strongholds are like the weeds.
Last week's focus was the decision and choice as to which stronghold you're gonna allow in your life. You can do nothing and just allow all the weeds grow and overtaken the flowers and live with a messy weedy garden, or you can choose to plant in the good flowers, get rid of all the weeds, and await for a beautiful garden to flourish.
Every little deed counts. If you don't stop the weeds, the weeds will grow and spread. It takes force and action. The action has its chains, one action followed by another action; no action, no result. Every good decision is like planting a flower. Looking at the future, looking at the result, and decide which way you want to go, and follow that decision. When you've made the right choices, then you've set yourself on the track, and you can be like Proverb31:25 "She smiles at the future."

This week Bobbie Houston continues on that foundation, and focused on the discipline that's required to get to our future destiny.
To get your flowers to grow properly, you need to know how everything works, you need to know the rules and follow those rules. The Lord gives us wisdom to live our lives, and we need to diligently follow those wisdom to allow ourselves to grow. One simple word... You've got to do things right!
In following the wisdom, we also need to have discerment. Recognise and examine whether the voices are from the Holy Spirit or the enemy. Use the blood, the Word and the truth to resist the enemy, but respond and put into action to the voice of your inner concience or the Holy Spirit. If you failed and made a mess, don't worry, there's always a place and home for the prodigal son. Don't give up on yourself, just return, the Lord says,"My grace is sufficient for you."

As seen by Susan @ 3:46 PM

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Here or there?

It looks like there's gonna be a fair bit of Bible study notes here. It's worth recording to me, but I'm not sure if anyone else wants to read them if you're not in the Bible study plan. So I'm thinking putting them all in another blog. What do you think? Leave them here or put them there? I'd appreciate your thoughts.

As seen by Susan @ 1:59 PM

Passion, compassion, reconciliation, becomes them -- Bobbie Houston

I was gonna write some thoughts down on Bobbie Houston's message yesterday at Hillsong church, but haven't got around to it. Just found out Jason has written a good post on it, so I'll just link it here. It's a great message, and he recorded very well.

As seen by Susan @ 1:18 AM

Sunday, September 26, 2004

Rehab -- Is lying Ok? (Joshua 2)

Nobody can stand before God and say he's sinless. Man sees the surface, but God sees the heart. My daughter gave me a card today, it's not a bought card with flash printings, just a plain white paper, but I can see she's spent quite a bit of effort trying to make it look nice. She cut the edges in a wave like shape and colored along, and she drew some pictures with pretty colors. Nobody told her to do so. In the card she wrote,"Dear Mummy: I love you. You are my sunshine. I know a song. It goes like this. Its your birthday, Its your birthday and we want to say, many happy, many happy returns of the day. Happy happy birthday birthday birthday happy happy birthday Our best wishes. Your my second best friend. love Ellie" (First best friend is Jesus)Well, this card to anyone else has no market value, it's just a piece of junk that goes straight to the bin. But to me, I know this is her best gift to me, she has tried the best she could to make me happy, and I treasure it. Maybe that's how God sees Rehab? Yes, she lied. But for a sinner, this is the best that she knew how to give to God, and it's from her heart. Her best gift looks like a little child's messy artwork. But to a loving Father, that piece of messy artwork is not a piece of rubbish, but a precious gift that He will not condemn.

As seen by Susan @ 11:41 PM

Concert

Ellie and Jamie had their annual production concert yesterday at Hillsong church with Hillsong Performing art Academy.
The concert started with Ellie playing the piano piece "Fur Elise" by Beethovan. She was so elegant and confident on the piano. She had 8 performances and she did really well. From ballet to Jazz, tap, street, singing, acting... my favourite one for her is contemporary where she really showed her talent. Jamie had two dances as well. When she came out on the stage, there was a big plaud, as she looked so cute and petite and she was the youngest tap dancer(4yo). It was a lot of costume changes for a 6 yo girl in one concert, but Ellie handled quite well. I thought she'd be exaulsted by the end of the concert, anyway I was. But Ellie went straight out to the street to play with neighbours for the whole afternoon, then went to church with me in the evening, and after that we still went to a Chinese restaurant! Don't know how kids have so much energy.

I'm just so so proud of my children, especially in days like yesterday.

As seen by Susan @ 3:54 PM

Pray to know His will --Bible study notes Col1

I decide to use NASB version. Verse 9: "...pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding," What the Word spoke to me most this morning is to know His Will, and pray for others to know His will. If we know His will not only in big directions, but also in daily everyday life, at work, with friends, raising children... we learn to listen to the little promptings in our spirits as what we should do, who we should talk to...Our lives will be different. I think a lot of energy are missing, wasted and misused simply because we don't know or are not sure what God's will is. And His will is rooted in His Word. If we know His will, we'll do life with a different passion, strength and result, "like a tree, yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers."

Updates from the next day:
I was just talking here yesterday morning about pray to know the will of God, then yesterday afternoon there raised a pressing issue to me that I really needed and wanted to know the will of God, basically I need to make a big decision and take actions today to two choices that are going definately different directions. This morning I woke up still feeing very disturbed, then I reminded myself of the verse I read yesterday, to pray to know the will of God, so I prayed and asked God to reveal His will clearly to me this morning when I go to Hillsong women. And the speaker went up, the first thing she said was, I felt the spirit of the Lord is saying to some of you this morning....., and tears just flowed into my eyes, it was exactly a word that I needed to hear. And now I know what His will for me in this situation is. Sooo, pray to know His will.... it actually works.

As seen by Susan @ 3:43 PM

Legalism --Bible study notes on Col2

This chapter to me is like the prodigal son, he can be told to stay home and do all the right things, he can act like his older brother, with the religious outfit but hiding the sin inside. But at the end of the mess, he's convicted, and he wanted to do all the right things without being told. Maybe that's the difference of living under the law and living in the Spirit? Sometimes I think God created man not so that he will not sin, but he has a free choice to sin, but then also have a choice to come back in the spirit. He doesn't want the man that didn't sin, but He wants the man that sins, but comes back through Christ. What the law does is like a father who overprotect the son and wouldn't let the son leave home. And if the prodigal son doesn't have enough freedom to leave home, he'd never discover the truth and weight of sin, and he'd never repent, and the sin stays within him, and the father doesn't have a returned prodigal son. I think God rejoices in the returned prodigal son that wants to do all things right himself rather than a son that's been bound and told to do right. Maybe that's why He hates the pharasees so much because they robbed Him of the joy of returned prodigal sons.

As seen by Susan @ 3:40 PM

Bible study notes

My favourite verse today is Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you sall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperious, and then you will have success." God didn't command Moses to be strong and courageous, because the foundation of success hasn't been built yet. So many people felt the calling of God, and just want to step over the foundation part and go straight into posession mode, they try to be strong and courageous, but soon finds out that it doesn't work. Moses' life is a foundation for Joshua, to let him know what will work, what will not work. And if you build upon the foundation of verse 8, you'll be safe, if anything astray, you're in for trouble. ... Proverb 1:8-19 to me seems to be a continual part of Col 3 of yesterday. Husbands, love your wives. It's a most precious thing to see a man love with full passion. It's hard to see a man love in love's full strength, that's why it's so beautiful in movies to see man love with a passion and romance. It's not hard to see woman romantic, but hard to find real romantic man. That's probably why the enemy tries so hard to steal the love of man, and usually once the first love of man's gone, it's very hard to get him passionate again. Probably the weakest point in man is the lust of eyes. The enemy works so hard to get, distract, kill the man's love through their weak points. I've seen many women hurt in relationships, and after a while they can still love with passion. But if a man gets hurt, when he's fully in love, especially when he's young, it might take a lifetime to heal. And sadly for most men, their first love can never be regained. And when the love of men's gone, you can't blame that the women find it very hard to submit. I think too much teachings are focusing on to get women to submit, but not enough teachings to really help men to love properly.

As seen by Susan @ 3:35 PM

Gate

This is what I'm getting from Joshua2 this morning: If you mind the Lord's business, the Lord will mind your business. Joshua 2 talks about the spies and Rehab.

At the gate of the new breakthrough which leads to our inheritance of the promised land, there is a sinner. If we just brush her away, condemn her, we lose our opportunity. But if we listen to her, and find out what she needs, and look after her, then she'll be the key to our new territory. Sometimes it doesn't look related, but that's actually how the Lord opens His gates for us. Everyone of us has been called into certain areas. Sometimes we're so focused on the posession of the promised land we brush the "Rehabs" away when God has put them in our path. Salvation can be the key. Doing good to a certain person that God has put in your heart can bring you to a whole new arena. Reinhard Bonke ministed faithfully to one person in Nigeria, then that person leads him to the president, then the whole country opened up to him, and after that came the million salvation. Joyce Meyer served faithfully to her father and her relatives, and she believed with all her heart that this led to her success in ministry. So, is there any sinners in your way or people to help that the Lord has put in your heart? see beyond the inconvenience and all the hassle, if you mind the Lord's business, He will mind your business.

Prov 1:21 - Wisdom cries out at the gate of the city.

As seen by Susan @ 3:30 PM

Teamwork -- Phil Dooley

The youth pastor at Hillsong church Phil Dooley brought out a message on teamwork last night.

It's just like playing in a football team. First you've got to have the passion, see beyond the hard work, look at the goal, you want to win! Be focused and fired up about the championship, and it would be nice to have some cheer leaders as well.

Second you've got to position yourself well, always ready. You can't wait for the ball to come to you and beg you kick them, you've got to watch the moving of the ball, and automatically adjust the positions of yourself, and whenever there's a chance, always ready to give your best in best positions possible.

Know the rules. You can't break any of them! Anything you do careless will result the failure and shame of the whole team. Be responsible. When you're in a team, you're not yourself any more, the whole team must move like a one body, and you have to be quick to obey.

Be patient. Sometimes training and living together as a team can be hard in non-event days. But unless you're well trained and moulded together through ups and downs, you'll not be fit enough for the game and your selfishness and self-centeredness will cause big damage for the end result.

As seen by Susan @ 6:44 AM

Friday, September 24, 2004

Happy Birthday to Kate!

It's Kate's birthday today! Can't believe she's two already, I'm still saying my baby all the time. Wish I could post a picture, but it wouldn't work for me this morning. Maybe tonight when hubby gets home.
And my birthday is in two days, on Sunday.
Gosh, I've been so busy these couple of days, I haven't got time to post.
Bible study plan started on Wednesday, it has been awesome. I felt everyday the Lord's been speaking throught the words and I've been experiencing it. It's very relative. Exactly like what Ps. Phil Baker has defined it to be: Read>Think>Pray>Live.

As seen by Susan @ 10:28 AM

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Weekend at Port Macquarie

We had a great time at Port Macquarie. The wedding was beautiful, Peter said it was the best one he's ever attended. It was a bit pity that just when the fun part of the wedding started, our baby summoned us home, but I can't complain too much, as it was already from 2:45 to 9pm. Then we went to the beach on Sunday, the kids had a wild time. They loved it. The water was too cold for me, but the kids(especially Kate) didn't mind it at all. Port Macquarie is always great for a holiday, I just wish it could be 2 weeks instead of 2 days.
Peter bought a pair of shoes for Kate, and she fell in love with them immediately. The problem is they turned out to be a little bit too short(Peter bought it, that's why.) So we tried to take them off so we could change them. Gosh, talk about drama! kate simply refused to let go of them shoes. She'd fight and protect them with her life. She just couldn't understand and trust us enough that we'd give them back to her, that will just suit her better. Well, in the midst of all these, I just couldn't help relating to this saying, "He fits me like a pair of shoes." Sometimes we want to hang on to something or someone so tightly, but are the shoes exactly the right size? Can we just trust God enough that if we give Him the shoes back that He'd simply replace them and give us the ones with the right size back? Maybe that's one of the most popular reasons for an unhappy marriage, that the shoes we decided to hang on to was one size too small. They look ok and fine for now, but once we start our journeys, they'll start to look awkward and they'll make you hurt!
Am I making any sense? Or have I gone too far?
Ok, back to the holiday. It was great to see Peter's family and friends. We decided to come back late Sunday night, as the kids might all go to sleep. Ellie and Jamie fell asleep in no time, they've been running wild at the beach. But Kate must have got over tired, and got a bit sick as well, it took quite some effort to get her eventually to sleep. Then there's a huge storm on the way back, and somehow my side of the car window leaked. Just as well I had two pillows with me, I didn't get wet, only two wet pillows. I did send Ellie to school on Monday as usual, but when she got back from school, she went straight to bed and slept until nearly 7.
Phil Baker's Bible study blog starts on Wednesday. Just as well, I got two more days to sleep in. But from tomorrow, I'm planning to start getting up a bit earlier to spend some time in the Words. It's gonna be fun.

As seen by Susan @ 10:17 AM

Friday, September 17, 2004

This coming weekend

Just to let you know that we'll be heading Port Macquarie for the weekend this afternoon. We used to live in Port Macquarie and Peter built a house there with beach view. He never wanted to leave there, but work was getting less and less, as it's really a holiday town. We had a big house, half of the first floor was a garage-workshop, that can contain probably 8 cars. It had mountain views on one side and beach views on the other. The advertise for our house sale said it had breathtaking views. Peter was really sorry to let it go, but I'm much happier in Sydney. Peter's family is still there, his parents and his brother's family, so we still go up there from time to time. The main reason we're going this time is for a friend's wedding tomorrow evening, and we'll be back probably Monday morning.

As seen by Susan @ 9:10 AM

Thursday, September 16, 2004

READ>THINK>PRAY>LIVE. Bible study plan-- Phil Baker

Pastor Phil Baker at Riverview church in Perth is going to launch a Bible study plan from next week. What a good news!
I actually suggested to him of this idea, and he accepted it, isn't that amazing!
I have been hoping that someone will run a daily Bible study blog, so there could be an online community to follow the same study schedule, to share the insights, discuss the points, debate, and to encourage each other, and it will be fun being in a blog form. In a moment of desperation, I nearly wanted to do one myself, but I really don't have much influence to get people commited and involved. And of course with this schedule, it needs quite a few people involved, the more the merrier.
Phil Baker is one of the most influential speakers in Australia and around the world. I'm sure this plan will help many people establish a habit of daily Bible reading and devotion. Why don't you join in the fun as well?

As seen by Susan @ 5:18 PM

Kenneth Copeland

Kenneth and Gloria Copeland are having a conference at Hillsong church(Hillsong convention centre)next month. Yay! I'm so excited. I like their solid teachings. And the admission is free! That's kind of unheard of in this part of the planet...hehe.
Kenneth Copeland will also be preaching at the weekend service at Hillsong church.

As seen by Susan @ 5:11 PM

Stronghold Savvy(2) -- Bobbie Houston

Bobbie Houston continued with her series on Stronghold Savvy at Hillsong women this morning. Her main focus today is about maintaining and managing the strongholds.
To me, it's like maintaining a garden. There're flowers that you laboured to plant in, and there're weeds that are uninvited. The flowers and the weeds can represent the two kinds of strongholds. With the flowers we need to continue to labour, to water, to fertilize, to nurture, to strengthen, and they're for us to enjoy. With the weeds we need to recognise them, and continue to labour to get rid of them. It's not a sin that they keep appearing, but if we let them grow wild without any restriction, they can soon become a big problem and overtaking the flowers.
Then Bobbie Houston mentioned a few strongholds that are significant and needs more attention. One is about honoring the parents. The other one she spent quite a bit of effort on is the church. An interesting verse that she mentioned is Genesis 28:17, about Jacob's dream of the stairway, where the angels of God ascending and descending, the verse 17 says,"How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven." So the church is a place where there're ladders, on which the angels going up and down. That's quite an amazing discription of church.

As seen by Susan @ 1:11 PM

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

Commitment and Odyssey --Thoughts from Ps Robert Fergursson's teaching

Life without Odyssey is legalistic. You do everything because you're told to do so. There's no adventure, no freedom, no extreme, no passion, no colour and character.
Life with too much odyssey without return and recommitment, there can be lots of fun, but there's no sense of ownership and fulfilment, and in the end there can be devastation.
Real ownership and responsibility comes from the inner sense of knowing, after the complete chaotic result at the end of the odyssey.
Maybe that's a journey from head to heart?
When we're young, we learn all the knowledge in the head, but the heart can be rebellious. It takes quite a journey for the rebellion to get out of the heart and let the heart submit to the mind.
You see this pattern everywhere:
God created human being to have a relationship with Him. But the man rebelled, and after suffering the result of the seperation, they have a choice to come back through Jesus Christ.
Moses was raised as a prince of Egypt, but in order to own the callings in his life, he had to go into the desert, and then come back out again.
The prodigal son was in his father's house, but somehow he felt that something's missing in his life, and he went out on a journey. He made a mess, and at the end he came back to his real ownership senses. His brother never went on a journey and had always been faithful in his father's house. But somehow his life lacked a certain colour.
If a young adult enters into a marriage without any odyssey, he can be commited, but the responsibility can be overwhelming to him, and in his heart he can be tempted to get out of the commitment at any time. But if he has been in an odyssey, at the end of the different experiences, the mess and hurt, he'll have a real longing for true commitment. And when he finally decided to settle down, he's ready for all the challenges and responsibilities that marriage requires.
The same is with church involvement. You can be told to do this and that, but to come to a real sense of ownership and fruitfulness, it has to be at the end of an odyssey, that you know deep down in your heart this is really what you want.
Life without a journey, you'll not be in the fullness of God's purpose. Life with journey but no return, you'll be in a mess. So if you're in the journey, or if your children are out in the journey, don't panic, just as a Chinese saying goes, "There's no gold that can compare when a prodigal son returns."

As seen by Susan @ 1:34 PM

Monday, September 13, 2004

Weekend

I had a full and busy weekend. First, I went to a Women's conference at Dayspring Christian fellowship,(Mind, body and Spirit),Friday night and most Saturday, then I had a visitor at our house where we had a good time of eating and fellowship, Sunday morning I went to Hillsong church where Robert Fergusson preached a powerful, "just for me" kind of message, which it seemed that every word was directed at me, then Sunday night we went to a Bob Griffin's meeting at Liverpool. Bob is an extraordinary prophet, who has prophesied the exact date, location of the 911, the capture of Sadam Hussein, and the Florida hurricane,etc. He also set the prophetic foundation of the million salvation(Reinhard Bonke) in Nigeria. It was amazing.
I have been struggling for quite a while now about some directions in my life. And over the weekend God spoke to me loud and clear, and gave me some of the answers that I have been seeking. It was just an awesome weekend for me.

As seen by Susan @ 2:10 PM

Friday, September 10, 2004

I love it when...

I love it when Ellie puts 20 or so hairclips and colorful rubberbands into my hair and braid my hair in all kinds of styles trying to make me look like a fashion doll;
I love it when Jamie teaches me how to sing the songs she learned from her daycare and shows me how to do all the actions and expressions; (She's a singer, I can tell you!)
I love it when Kate(nearly 2)pats me while saying "Sh...sh...", and gives me a cuddle and kiss now and then, trying to put me to sleep; (the only thing is she only pats me in the chest)

At times when I look at my children and think what differences they make in my life, this is what comes into my mind:
Ellie is my pride;
Jamie is my treasure;
And Kate is my joy.

As seen by Susan @ 9:43 AM

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Ellie and Jamie

As seen by Susan @ 4:55 PM

Kate

As seen by Susan @ 4:49 PM

Jamie and Ellie

As seen by Susan @ 4:37 PM

Jamie

As seen by Susan @ 4:22 PM

Dream again

I had a funny dream last night, that I went to Hillsong women this morning, and Lucinda Dooley's preaching, then God gave me a word for her.
So I did go to Hillsong Women this morning, and I loved the praise and worship as usual. And indeed Lucinda walked up the stage and started to preach(all this past week I thought it's gonna be Bobbie this week). She was so pregnant, it looks like she's quite ready to drop any minute. Then my child's number's up on the screen. I ran downstairs, and they told me she threw up.
I never missed Hillsong women at least for the whole year and I don't even remember any case my children's numbers on the screen except once Kate needed a nappy change.
Oh well, I had to leave, incase Jamie threw up again in church.
Now I'm wondering what that word could be....hmm.

Update: On Sunday morning while I was still in bed, praying randomly, I asked God, why don't you still give me the word anyway. So the impression came into my mind. As some of you know, Lucinda Dooley has two hats on her, one is the youth pastor, and the other one is the Hillsong women's leadership role that she has just recently taken on.
And the impression is about the difference between these two roles: the youth is God's blessing to the church, and Hillsong women is the church's blessing to God.
Along with that, there were two visions. With the Youth it was like an athlete trying to break the Olympic record, always striving for the best, maximizing the result and record. But for Hillsong women, it's like someone's collecting and gathering the beauties in the women and delicately wrap them up and decorate it like a beautiful gift pack and present it to God to enjoy.

As seen by Susan @ 1:49 PM

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Eagles and Chickens

I was listening to Joyce Meyer's tape at Hillsong conference about the eagles and the chickens. She really spoke to my heart.
Eagles fly alone, and chickens hang out together.She said she was feeling lonely a lot of the times, but "if all you've got left is God then you'll know Him really well."
Chickens belong to the farmyard, but eagles belong to the sky. The higher he flies, the closer he gets to the heaven, and the further he leaves the farmyard behind. If he keeps his eyes on the heaven, he'll see it closer and clearer, and he'll have more joy, but if he looks at the farmyard, he'll feel sad and lonely, and depressed. If all he sees is the chickens, he'll think, why are they all happily together like a family, and why can't I just be one of them? But when he does stay with them, he'd feel overwhelmingly wrong. Even among the chickens he just can't help talking about the sky, the scenes he can see, the sensations of soaring, but the chickens wouldn't have a clue what he's talking about and just make fun of him.
At times it seems the chickens are right. At least they're outnumbered. They're many.And they're loud. They form the culture.They make the rules. They look like they've got everything and they're in control. But, they belong to that little farmland and eating grubs and worms all their lives. If the eagle listens to the chickens, he'll be told he can't do this, he can't do that, don't ever think about flying, don't let your dreams take you too far... But if he listens to his spirit, he knows there's space way bigger than the farmyard that belongs to him, and if he chooses to follow that voice inside, he doesn't have to be bothered and messed up with the chickens any longer.
Friend, are you a dreamer? Is your dream of soaring in the sky way too big for the people around you to comprehend? Are you an eagle inside or you just want to settle with the chickens? Sometimes the only ones that can encourage you is God and yourself. And if you are in that place, let me congratulate you, because you belong to a much better place.

As seen by Susan @ 1:25 PM

Sunday, September 05, 2004

New Look and the Australian Idols

Thanks Happy for giving me a new look of this blog. Now I feel like having all the make up on and ready to go out. I really love this new look, do you? Please let me know what you think.
I've been watching a lot of the Australian idol show lately. It's getting to the final 12 stage at the moment. Now all the stars are done up, dressed up, and it just looks so much different from their first auditions when they looked mostly original. I guess the look does make a huge difference, although they're still the same people.
I feel to pray for the Christian singers. They're doing good, but not thriving. Some singers are obviously into demonic things, and they're doing too good, it really bugs me. I hope the Christians will rise up and outshine everyone else.

As seen by Susan @ 6:12 AM

Friday, September 03, 2004

Strongholds

Bobbie Houston started a new series of teaching at Hillsong Women called "the Strong hold Savvy", it was awesome. Along with her teaching, this is what I felt the Lord's speaking to me.
Isaiah 54:2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; ......
We have two kinds of strongholds in our lives. One being Godly ones and the other being the negative ones. To put it in simple terms, each character can be a stronghold. Like deligence, endurance, anger, laziness,fear... Each one of them is a stronghold, it won't just go away overnight without any resistance. It's like a battlefield constantly in war, either the Godly characters win or the negative ones. Isaiah 54:2 refers to the Godly strongholds as our territories, or tents. We need to aggresively go into the battle and enlarge our Godly strongholds. But each stretch has to be a battle, with purpose,strategy, persistence, force and God's help.
With every obedience to God's leading, it comes the fullness of His promise and blessing. Every victory we win will lead to rewards that can be passed down to our future generations, way beyond our imagination and understanding.
Don't underestimate the power in the small beginnings. The little things we choose to do can set things in motion. For example, we start to take one cigarette, we think that won't make much difference in our well being. Then the next time it's easier for us to yield to the temptation to take another one, then another one, the temptation becomes bigger and bigger, then uncontiously we lose that part of territory and become addicted to smoking. Contrarary, if we yield to the little promptings in our hearts to do good, then the next time we'll find it easier and stronger to do another good, with the reward and blessings, the experiences we had, we'd be able to do more. Then the annointing increases, the tent stretches, we'll be able to handle more and more.

As seen by Susan @ 1:26 AM

Regrets

Regrets

We all have some problems in our lives. A lot of the times we put up with them or run away from them instead of dealing with them or confronting and overcoming them. Take for example, lazy or procrastination. If I have a problem of being lazy, I tend to just allow myself to be lazy if I'm not under pressure to change. But when I get old, too old to make any changes, when I look back all my life, what I have missed out on all the possible rewards and blessings had I chosen to deal with this problem when I'm young, I'd have heaps of regrets.
Every problem we have, little or big, if we don't choose to deal with it and overcome it, will mount up enormous regrets in the future. It's always a hassle and hard to deal with our problems and make a change, but if we can see the potential blessing that comes with the change, we might be more willing and ready to take the challenge.

As seen by Susan @ 1:19 AM

Wednesday, September 01, 2004

Build the Channel

Build the channel

One thing that Donna Crouch kept talking about at Hillsong church is to build the channel. The blessing will come and flow out if the channel is built and ready. It clicked to me these few days how important it is in everything we do, especially in ministry.
I have been pretty slack in inviting people over for meals and fellowship. Well, I've got lots of excuses, like we're building house, the house is not ready, kids are always too busy doing all their lessons, I'm not good at cooking, I don't like cleaning, my baby's always so clinging to me,etc. The result is, the blessing is there, but there's no outlet to flow out. I have just started inviting people over again. And in the midst of it, I feel I'm actually building a channel. Meals and house are not spiritual, but when they're ready and available they can be such a channel of blessing. Everytime when I do invite people over, after they leave, I always feel happy and blessed.
Administration, preparation are all chores. They don't look spiritual at all. But when they're done property, they'll open the way for the spiritual. For a household, the house has to flourish first before the whole household can be spiritual.

As seen by Susan @ 11:55 PM