And we have peace, not the type the world can give, but the true peace that comes from knowing that our ultimate endings are good because we trust in You.

I will rest in your love

(Psalm 62:1)

I will rest in Your love

Put my trust in your goodness

And set my thoughts on peaceful things above

I will cast away my cares

And find my joy in Your presence

I will rest, I will rest in Your love

Whom shall I fear, why should I worry?

Your grace is enough for my need

Your joy is my strength

Your peace is my shelter

You faithfully watch over me

All of my doubts, all of my striving

By faith I lay down at Your Throne

Your Word is my shield, Your Spirit my power

You tenderly care for Your own

In Whom I can Trust

written by Steven Wee

You are the Lord

In whom I can trust

You are the Rock I can stand upon

Every step of the way

You take my hand and say

You'll always be here right beside me

When I call on You I know You'll come to me

You are the Lord

In Whom I can trust

You are my Fortress

You're my Deliverer

My Shield

My Strength

For all of my days

I place my hope in Jesus

Who loved me with His life

The Rock of my Salvation

In Whom i can trust

What to do if you wake up feeling fragile

read this :)

Lift up your head

Today i happened to have a look at Biblestudytools.com for their daily Bible reading. And i don't know how I came across it, but it was the Bible passage regarding the Israelites when they were in the wilderness. They spoke out against God and fiery serpents were sent on them. Many Israelites were bitten and died. The passage goes like this:

^{(Numbers 21:5-9)}

⁵And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water, and we loathe this light (contemptible, unsubstantial) manna.

⁶Then the Lord sent fiery (burning) serpents among the people; and they bit the people, and many Israelites died.

⁷And the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that He may take away the serpents from us. So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸And the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent [of bronze] and set it on a pole; and everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.

⁹And Moses made a serpent of bronze and put it on a pole, and if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the serpent of bronze [^[a]attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze], he lived.

Then again in John 3:14,15, it says this:

¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must [so it is necessary that] the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross],^(B)

¹⁵In order that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him] may ^[c]not perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever!

Numbers 21:9 Jesus said that as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, "that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him and relies on Him] may not perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever!" (John 3:14, 15). Obviously this implies that the look that caused the victim of a fiery serpent to be healed was something far more than a casual glance. A "look" would save, but what kind of a look? The Hebrew text here means "look attentively, expectantly, with a steady and absorbing gaze." Or, as Jesus said in the last verse of the chapter quoted above (John 3:36), "He who believes in (has faith in, clings to, relies on) the Son has (now possesses) eternal life." But whoever does not so believe in, cling to, and rely on the Son "will never see... life." The look that saves is not just a fleeting glance; it is a God-honoring, God-answered, fixed, and absorbing gaze!

I have an ulterior motive for doing this Bible search. Lately i've been feeling rather down and in need of encouragement. I keep wondering what might God's plan in all this be, how long i have to wait to get what i want, and what might be causing the delay, etc. I wanted, needed, to trust God. I want to be able to lean back and restfully say "God, it's all yours". In my rational mind, it's all possible. Yet, my feelings can't seem to come in line, and i find myself feeling panicky, anxious, upset, stressed about the situation which i seemingly have no control over.

I can't say I have achieved it. But I am comforted by this reading. Because it tells me to look. it's as simple as that. to gaze upon, to be absorbed by, to look to, to cling to, to believe, to have faith in, the work of Christ on the cross. And just as the serpent was lifted on a pole and all who looked were saved, Jesus was lifted up so that I may be healed, saved, redeemed, blessed. I am consoled because I cannot do anything more. And all I have to do, all i can do, is to look up at Him.

a day off

work to celebrate the husband's birthday.

We went to visit grandma who's is hospital early in the morning, had breakfast at a hawker centre. Love the morning market hustle and bustle. Then we decided to go to IMM because we were in the area and we are almost never in that part of Singapore.

Then we ran errands, reconfigured the furniture in the room for a fresh new look, tried to buy new shoes for me at City Square Mall and bought over $60 worth of groceries.

Now we are back home blissfully tired :) love off days. Love birthdays even more. Thank God for the husband. My answered prayer.

in His time

God I know in this process You are building me up, and while I cannot see why or how yet, I trust that You know best. So help me in this process to carry on, to hang on to your strength and find my identity in You.

forgetful me

Dear God, please protect us from any harm or less than beneficial situations. Cause good people who will stand up for our interests come our way. And at the end of every ordeal, help us to remember keenly that You have been faithful always. We choose to trust in You and we know that You always have the best in mind for us. And you know everything. So thank You God. In Jesus' Name, Amen Amen Amen!!

when the suffering continues

1 Peter 4

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

Cheryl's version:

If i suffer, it's because I have been redeemed by Christ's work; Because I live in this world, naturally i am affected by the way the world thinks. So my focus needs to be not living for "human passions".

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God (Cheryl: "word of God"); whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.


19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Cheryl's version:
In the meantime, do these things. And our God is trustworthy, loving and powerful.

Running baby

(photo is not mine :)

I have been keeping up with my running schedule, which really is, if i get home at a reasonable time (usually before 8pm), I will go out for a run. And this week, i've done it 3 times! Feeling quite proud of myself.

On Monday (the 1st time this week i jogged), i asked the husband, why should i do this, since i know down the road, eventually, i will give up. This is especially since i cannot imagine myself running when i'm forty. I'm also thinking of the upcoming holiday, which will serve as a momentum breaker. The husband had no reply, and i went on ahead and jogged. When i returned, he seemed to have a reply for me, when he said, never mind tomorrow, we just take each day as it comes. You feel good now right? I said yes.

On Tuesday, i worked so late, when i got home, i didn't have an ounce in me left. I had dinner and almost immediately went to bed.

On Wednesday i worked late again. And had to resort to working out on my stepper for 60mins to relive the feel good effect.

On Thursday i ran. On Friday i ran again.

London Paris Glasgow Manchester Munich here we come

I have been progressively booking the tickets required for our travel upcoming in the end of October. And I have to say, we're quite the go-getter couple. We're covering 5 cities (3 countries) in 3 weeks.

Total expenses so far (before even setting foot out of the country)

Flight to Manchester S$4,800
Flight to/from Glasgow S$410
Flight to/from Paris S$390
Trains to/from London S$90
Total: S$5,690


Accoms in Glasgow 7 Nights S$955
Accoms in Paris 1 Night S$90
Accoms in Munich 2 Nights S$240
Total: S$1,285

Oh my. Since we're spending so much, we'd BETTER enjoy ourselves. ha.

Kate Middleton is another person whom I find extremely pleasant to look at. :)

Rachel Bilson

my favourite actress+ballet=a photo i like.

Monday morning

I woke up this morning with a start. The iphone read 8:18AM. Ending up reaching work at 9AM. Still quite ok.

Went running with a friend yesterday. We ran 4.7km (according to google maps) in 45mins. Yes, it was a slow slow run. But it felt really good. By the time we finished, we were feeling fit and skinny. This morning, i woke feeling q amazing. The only thing about this running thing is that i doubt i can keep it up. The lure of tv and simply lazing around is simply too irresistible most of the time.

Squeaky

Am uncluttering again. I have 5 big boxes of bags. They range from tiny purses to large travel bags. I haven't bought a bag in the last 2 years at least, but the collection increases because my mum buys. Then she's happy to share the bags (and the guilt). Today i took them all out of the cupboard to go through them to remind myself which ones exist. My husband kept saying, how about give them to charity? But honestly, there's nothing i don't like. I love them all. So only the spoilt ones are going to be thrown out (not to charity, but to the recycle bin). And i wanted to clean some bags. Ended up searching the internet for tips. And it comes down to this: vinegar+water+baking soda. They supposedly work wonders. So i'm soaking some bags (obviously not leather) overnight and see how it works.

I've tried the vinegar+water method on some other parts of the house and it works well. Particularly kitchen and bathroom stains. Amazing.

after your heart

The person after God's heart is the person who is dependent on what God can do for him; and not what he can do for God.

thought

Anything in the Christian life can be done legalistically. Legalism is the outer obedience without the inner response of the heart. However, just because something is potentially legalistic doesn't mean we should stop doing it out of a fear of legalism. Rather, we should try to align our hearts with the action, with God's help of course.

for the things I have

My mum told me today that we often take little things for granted. Things like a steady income and basically, everything I have. She also reminded me that constantly thinking about the things i don't have is not the wise way to live life.

The stuff she said are not new. But it hit the spot today.