Hidupku…

 

This song is sort of my ‘life theme song’ these days, describing my admiration, hope and desires. Listen to the chorus:

Hidupku…hanyalah untukMu…

Segenap hatiku kagum akan kebaikanMu

dan nafasku menceritakan kasihMu…

Ajarku berdiam dekat di hatiMu

Influence

I’m really inspired by the following few paragraphs, some of which are from my old posts, reread a few days ago and still give me some thrills:

1. Life is about taking risks
2. Several ways to make yourself miserable

 

Recently, I have found the truths listed below more powerful than before:

“The things God calls “sin”, Satan tells us are:

• Fun
• Safe
• Innocent
• Desirable
• No big deal
• Meeting our needs
• Unavoidable

The truth is that sin is dangerous, deadly and destructive

The truth is that we will reap what we sow

The truth is that every choice we make today will have consequences

The truth is that when we play with fire, we will get burned.

The truth is that “sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15)

List of the consequences of sin

• Sin steal joy (Ps 51:12)
• Sin removes confidence (1 John 3:19-21)
• Sin brings guilt (Ps 51:3)
• Sin gives Satan the upper hand (2 Cor 2:9-11)
• Sin quenches God’s Spirit (1 Thes 5:19)
• Sin brings physical damage (Ps 38:1-11; 31:10)
• Sin causes an ache in the soul (Ps 32:3-4)
• Sin breaks God’s heart (Eph 4:30)
• Sin opens door to other sins (Is 30:1)
• Sin breaks fellowship with God (Is 59:1-2)
• Sin produces fear (Prov 28:1)
• Sin makes me its slave (John 8:34; Rm 6:16)”

excerpt from Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh De Moss

 

I think we have grown soft to sin and somehow tolerate it at a great measure. We have been bombarded with worldly values, not realizing that we might just buy into Satan deceptions. We really need a fresh reminder of how destructive sin is and how it could enslave us. Get yourself a spring clean from Jesus now!

Reading Wish List

Just to share with you what I am indulging on these days:

• The bumps are to climb on by Warren Wiersbe
• Lies women believe by Nancy Leigh De Moss

Both books have been comforts and a great catch up with the Almighty! I am committed to finish them and apply it in my life. Wow, do pray that the Holy Spirit will use it to change me and strengthen my relationship with Him.

I have read quite a lot of books but I have not exercised patience and meditating the truths discovered. So, it’s an expensive waste. So, read your book prayerfully so the truths may change your life.

Wish to read:

• “Cure for the common life, finding your sweet spot” by Max Lucado –> because I had a sneak preview into the book and it helps you to unearth your God-given skills and talents which in turn gives you direction in career even things to do in life.
• “Facing your giants”, another book by Lucado which seems to be interesting and possibly an encouragement book like the Bumps.
• “The Purpose Driven Life” by Rick Warren, I read this probably 4 or 5 years ago. Felt like I need to be freshly reminded what I am to do on earth.
• “On being the servant of God” by Warren Wiersbe, I need to make it a daily reading ;p. Perhaps after the bumps and Lies.

I’d say I have that lust for books. Lust for knowledge and the truth. Is it a good thing? only when it affects your life in a positive way. Haha.

 

I am thankful for a little break in Indonesia. Thankful that my relationship with God is restored and sweet. Christ is my hero. I can truly say that He is the best thing that ever happened in my life so far… and I think will ever be in the span of eternity. He loves you too, He is willing to change your life too if you would allow Him. To have Him is to have hope.

Constant Care

Today I feel a bit lazy to write it on my journal, but not to write is like throwing away diamonds. (PS: my journal has been full with lotsa thoughts! weehee. I like writing :D)

Anyway, beside reading Nancy’s book, I am rereading Wiersbe’s The Bumps, uhuh! I had been flicking through that little book and really almost finish. But, I don’t think I gained a lot from that book so I decided to slow down and write what I got. Of course without applying the truth learned to my life, reading the most excellent book is really wasting my time and energy.

Today the reading was on God’s constant care for us. I would like to summarize some significant parts:

Yesterday God helped me
Today He’ll do the same
How will this continue?
Forever - praise His name!

Asking: Wiersbe said that we are to ask God to give us poor memory of our sins of the past and failures and good memory for all His goodness and faithfulness. The key I think is on the asking part. I have rarely asked God for the things above and rather pushing to do it myself. We must remember that in our condemnable nature, we are totally unable to be holy. Holiness is only possible with God.

Fact: God has taken care of you up to this hour and He is never going to forsake you!

We forget: the enemy wants us to think that God does not care or God has forsaken us. When the going gets tough, the enemy says “If God really loved you, this wouldn’t have happened. How many times in pain or sorrow Satan has tried to cast doubts on the love and faithfulness of God. Somehow we have the idea when life is easy, God is good to us but when life is hard, God has forsaken us and just quite the opposite might true!

Complete Security: We are God’s children, and our loving heavenly Father will not abandon us to the enemy. Even if our faith wavers, God will remain faithful, and His words never change. God helps us because He loves us. We belong to Him and He will never let us down. Amen!

Reminder: “Never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light”

I like his illustration when he had to take flights to other cities:

Once I board a jet, I just relax and turn the whole trip to God and the crew. I don’t try to fly the plane. All of my worrying and fretting will never change one rivet or bolt in that airplane. Life is like this. You have trusted Christ as your Saviour, and you belong to Him. Just rest in Him. Don’t try to fly the plane—just yield to Christ and let His loving care overshadow you.

Trust Him: After all, God can not fail us, for if He does, He ceased to be God.

What a friend we have in Jesus
all our sins and grief to bear
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer...

A prayer:

Lord, I know that I amen all the above. You are the one I seek, most satisfying and most beautiful. There is no other place, no other fountain springs out the sweetest water like you do. You are the place of rest and refuge. Only in You, I can fully live and be. Holy, Holy, Holy...is the Almighty!

Lies Women Believe

“Helping people to feel loved and worthwhile has become the central mission of the church. We are learning not to worship God in self-denial and costly service, but to embrace our inner child, heal our memories, overcome addictions, lift our depressions, improve our self-images, establish self-preserving boundaries, substitute self-love for self-hatred, and replace shame with an affirming acceptance of who we are.

Recovery from pain is absorbing an increasing share of the church’s energy and that is alarming…

We have become committed to relieving the pain behind our problems rather than using our pain to wrestle more passionately with the character and purpose of God. Feeling better has become more important than finding God…

As a result, we happily camp on biblical ideas that help us feel loved and accepted, and we pass over scripture that calls us to higher ground. We twist wonderful truths about God’s acceptance, his redeeming love, and our new identity in Christ into a basis for honoring ourselves rather than seeing those truths for what they are: the stunning revelation of a God gracious enough to love people who hated him, a God worthy to be honored above everyone and everything else.

…We have rearranged things so that God is now worthy of honor because he has honored us. “Worthy is the Lamb,” we cry, not in response to his amazing grace, but because he has recovered what we value most: the ability to live ourselves. We now matter more than God.”

 

--a rather accurate description of Christians these days by Dr. Larry Crabb on his book Finding God. The paragraph above was quoted in an excellent book written by Nancy Leigh De Moss, titled Lies Women Believe. Her book is life changing!!! Do pray for diligence to read and revelations, all things for the transformation to be like His Son.

Bercermin sebentar

Dulu mungkin sering kuatir dan takut. Banyak sekali potensi diri yang gak berhasil dikembangkan. Kenapa dulu gak bisa sedikit lebih tenang, mungkin terlalu hectic dan terlalu banyak komitmen sehingga gak punya waktu berdiam diri. Gak boleh kayak gitu sih. Sekarang harus berubah!!! I know what I can do and what God put in my heart to do. I will do it!!

Tanpa disadari, doa-doa gua banyak yang self-centred. Seringkali gua lupa kalau hidup ini bukan hidup untuk tujuan menyenangkan diri sendiri, tapi hidup ini tuh buat Tuhan, buat memenuhi tujuan dan kehendak Dia masih membiarkan gua hidup di bumi ini. Biarlah mulai dari hari ini gua sadar akan hal ini, benar-benar celik lah which means menerima apapun situasi yang Dia kasih ke gua baik painful disciplines atau challenges. Semuanya itu harus dilalui demi menjadi orang yang dikehendaki olehNya.

Gua bersyukur untuk waktu-waktu diam sekarang, gua bisa mencari Tuhan dan kehendakNya dalam hidup gua. Gua bersyukur karena kerjaan kemaren biarlah menjadi batu loncatan untuk ke arah yang lebih baik selanjutnya. Gua kepingin belajar bisnis, gua kepingin mencoba hal-hal baru, take risks lah istilahnya... tapi bukan dengan membabi-buta, apa aja mau tanpa arah tujuan.

Terlalu banyak passion di berbagai hal membuat gua gak fokus, akhirnya gak ada yang tercapai. Terlalu banyak bermimpi tapi tidak punya keberanian untuk menjalankan, akhirnya tidak jadi apa-apa. Tuhan, aku tahu engkau tidak meminta kita melakukan sesuatu yang tidak pernah kita enjoy. Justru melakukan sesuatu yang kita ingin lakukan akan membuat kita melakukan tugas itu dengan efisien.

Gua kepengin memulai lagi. Belajar komunikasi lagi, belajar menyelesaikan konflik, belajar mengatakan tidak, belajar memahami orang lain, belajar menguasai diri sendiri.

One goal: menjadi manusia yang hidup sesuai dengan tujuan dan kehendakNya.

To be holy is to be happy. So be holy!

The happiest man in the world is a man living up the creator's purpose for him on earth.

Cooking Craze Part 2

As you realize, I am mending my blog. It's to be fine tuned. I have spent ages on it and haven't even posted anything!! grrr. I am running out of my patience already :P :P

Anyway, a few pictures for your enjoyment (from my cooking adventure before I came back to Indonesia):

Mie Ayam Premier

Vegetable Soup

Spaghetti Bolognese

Life & Family

It's really good to be reunited with my family again especially my papa. This time around I was a little bit surprised, because he spent a little more time with us. This is very special and I wouldn't trade it with anything else. His words would calm me down and encourages me to keep going. I really love him. I really hope that Christ's love will touch my parents hearts and radically changed all of us. You know, I am praying for that. Nothing is impossible with God.

The love of Christ is too beautiful to be exchanged with materialism, cheap praises of men. His perfect love is healing for our fears, lifting up our shame and guilt. You are the answer, Lord! You are the answer for life abundant, nothing else.

These weeks are also a time for me to rethink of my life. What drives my life? What have I been living for? and God has been answering a lot of my prayers.

I realize that I have been harboring bitterness and it has to go. My worries are detestable in his eyes and it also has to go. I am grateful that the Lord spoke to me, never as clear but He asked me gently to repent from all sins. He kindly invites me again to walk with Him, hold His hands and trust Him. He is a strong tower, I can lean on Him whenever, wherever.

I have also been following too much the opinion of others. I would confess it's a weakness. Let everything be carried out for love and out of love. If it should deviate from what God thinks of us then we have somehow gave in for something worthless, cheap and unworthy. We need to start again.

I have been praying to get to know God more. The question "Do you have a heavenly father?" has impacted me profoundly. I found I am more like a prodigal daughter. It's so true, why should I live like a pauper when I am the King's child with all rights? I said to God, if I did not experience your love, what is the reason to even tell that God is good? Surely it made our words meaningless, powerless, no evident.

God has created me wonderfully.
I am precious in His sight.
He loves me more than anyone could.
He has a purpose for me.

I want to know this Jesus. ever more so.

I may have a few mountains to climb, but today I want to see them as inheritance prepared for me. I may have lost through many challenges but this time around I will not. I shall be stronger because my relationship with Him has been put right and continuously improved. The Lord will bring me through. He will surely do!

Never ever lose hope. He is my strength, He is preparing me back to ente the battle again. What will we do without the Holy Spirit? nothing. He is the source of power and love. Accept Him and experience Him yourself!!!

Cooking Craze

Gua seperti dilanda kepengen masak-masak belakangan ini.

Brunch for today:

Bihun cah putih
Maling goreng

At first, it all starts from imagination. We are going back to Jakarta soon and was wanting to clean up the fridge and pantry. My brother say he wants char bihun (the bihun we normally used is the one my mom bought in Jakarta, you couldn't find it here). Then, I said just used the Singaporean bihun and we will make bihun char putih (no dark soya sauce). A simple bihun, egg and chay sim mix. I like moist bihun char, so it would need extra water. Sorry, didn't take any picture. Since we still have maling luncheon in the fridge, fried maling dipped in chili tomato sauce are a perfect companion for white char bihun. My brother approves it. So, was quite happy for our brunch. After that, we had leftover ice cream and wafers. Half a lemon in the fridge had also been turned into hot lemon honey tea.

Dinner for today:

Cah Kol kapri
Pork and tomato soup

The vegetable dish comprises from cabbage, snow peas (my brother likes it sliced diagonally), spring onion and chopped fresh chili. Tossed them all in high heat with sprinkled salt, sugar and salty soy sauce made it a great dish.

The soup is made from pork meat ball, sliced tomatoes and 2 crushed garlic. Dark and light soy sauce are key sauces to brown the soup. My brother's favorite. Sorry though, I have no picture. We were too hungry.

We will give you a peek for tomorrow's menu:

Mie Ayam (premier, haha)
Nasi goreng + vegetable soup

This really shows that we are dead bored with Singapore food. Haha. If I remember, I will take some pictures tomorrow. Nitez.

Everything is possible with God

Nothing is impossible...nothing at all...

Grace Alone

my favorite!

My King and My God

Psalm 84 (with comments)

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.

“Lord, my heart cries out…glory to the King…my greatest love in life”

Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young,
a place near your altar,

“His eyes is on the sparrow, and I know He watches over me…”

O Lord Almighty, my King and my God
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage

Diberkatilah orang yang menaruh kekuatan pada Tuhan. Yang percaya sepenuhnya kepadaNya. Yang rindu berjalan bersama-sama dengan dia, melewati segala rintangan dan hambatan dalam hidup ini untuk mencapai satu tujuan, yaitu lebih menyerupai Dia dan dekat dengan Dia. Perjalanannya tidak mudah namun diberkatilah orang-orang yang mau ikut dan percaya padaNya.

As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools

The Valley of Baca is a place in Palestine (Baka) means the valley of weeping, describing a gloomy and sterile ground. Also, a place for Balsam tree to grow, giving out white and pungent “tears”. This ‘sacred pilgrims’ was said to create fountains in this gloomy place, sort of showing how we as pilgrims could be a blessing in this world of sadness but also noted that those pilgrims would have gained the strength to be a blessing from God. 

They go from strength to strength
till each appears before God in Zion

I love this verse! Truly. Michael Loh always say this verse, we only go from strength to strength. At first, I didn’t get what he means. Now, I know… :D. Waw, this is such a beautiful passage. God gives us strength to do what He called us to do each day. As for tomorrow, it is not on our plate yet. He will empower you with every task given. Also, I remember the quote at EE’s book “Secure in the everlasting arm”, As thy days so shall thy strength be. God has not made us. God is making us. Day by day, you may not realize it nor trace His hands, but He is working. He had allowed me to see it, happening in my life and others life. His patience with us is most calming. He hath ordained that maturity does not come through an instant process. Patience is still a virtue. If we are melancholic type of person, we really need to learn this virtue.

As we read the rest of the sentence, “till each appears before God in Zion”…we will be there one day, we meet Him and see Him. Indeed, this life, this journey of faith is so called a pilgrimage. Imagine! He is making us until we meet Him. How about that? a continual process, never forsaken nor abandoned until we see our Creator? amazing…deeply comforting…

Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty;
Listen to me, O God of Jacob.

Heres, a privilege that every God’s children would have, asking the Father to provide good things

Look upon your shield, O God;
Look with favor on your anointed one.

when I first read the verse above, it’s weird. Normally, God is our shield but why the psalmist seems to be asking God to look to the Psalmist’s shield. Thus, God and the Psalmist’s shield are actually not the same person. I tried to find who is the Psalmist referring to. The NLT version has this verse clearer:

“O God, look with favor upon the king, our protector! Have mercy on the one you have anointed.”

The psalmist actually uphold his king in prayer! the king whom God appointed to ensure the welfare of His chosen people.

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwells in the tents of the wicked.

The verse above describes the psalmist’s deep longing for God, to fellowship with Him in His sanctuary. I have found the sweetness of being near Him. He illumines my heart so that I may see the truth, experience His love for me at a greater level, He answers prayers such this. When you see His love among the congregation, you will know if it is genuine love because it will move you to praise God not man, it will make you draw near to Him, it will create thirst for Him. It is because He is love.

For the Lord is a sun and shield;
The Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does He withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

He bestows favor and honor. The proud truly has no hope indeed, if they are boasting around that is living under God’s mercy. When He took away, no proud can save his own name neither create his honor. God rules everything. His promises is like honey to those who are blameless, He promises not to withhold good things. This rewards sure bring comfort to the righteous. The reward is not the righteous’ goal rather, for their eyes are only fixed to Christ, focus on knowing more about Him and to imitate Him. No, the reward serves as great encouragement for the pilgrims to press on. The reward shows His love (again!).

O Lord Almighty,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.

At the end of such moving and persuasive passage, who does not want to trust God?

Holy Spirit, help us. speak to us ever so clearly. guide us into all truth. enable us to obey. in Jesus mighty name we pray. amen.