One man’s waste is Another man’s treasure

I have returned from a trip where i visited the Smokey Mountains in Philippines. It has certainly awaken my senses to the poor and their real needs.

The New Smokey Mountain is a dumpsite whereby the poor ravages through the trash to salvage any sellable items they could, just for that few pesos (a few cents) for their meals.

The New Smokey Mountain Project brings a little glimmer of hope to the needy here. Groceries are distributed, games are played, clothes are given and most of all a heart to share the grief. (please refer to http://www.oikoshelpinghand.org/ for more info).
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Personal Reflections:
(an excerpt of my diary)

This is unacceptable. The air is pungent, mixed with choky fumes from nearby charcoal-making wood. This has been a day of great sunny weather but it seems that is the only good thing.

Everywhere you see is landfills of rubbish. It is a graveyard of waste. Somehow, the items that are found irrelevant by others have settled here, beneath my feet. This garbage has nowhere to go. Their final destination is Smokey Mountain. Daily, rubbish trucks make a pilgrimage and place them among their brothers. Likewise, Smokey Mountain is the final stop for the poor. In this rubbish, they found them relevant. They live and thrive on this trash. It breaks my heart. My discards turn out to be treasures for them. How can this be?

The hardy children are scavenging the garbage, hoping to find something useful. Buzzing flies, instead of justice, are their constant companion. They climb on top of rubbish trucks. With their iron claw, they rummage through the trash. They dig and dig; hoping to find something to heal their starving stomach. The chains of poverty have ensnared them. There is no hope. They cannot get out. They must keep digging in order to survive.

What is civilization when we have this nonsense around, whereby one man’s waste is another man’s treasure? My mind cannot comprehend this. Just like the poor in Smokey Mountain, it is empty. It simply does not make sense.

- ed -

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Last Saturday, we did Psalms 37:1-7 and we focused on Psalms 37:4. Till now, this verse has a deep impact on me. I am still meditating on it in my daily life.

I would like to share this verse to those who did not come to cell. Have a great week ahead.

-ed-

My life, a Cross

Recently, I drew the below picture out when i was doing my QT.

Basically, it shows that i am a see-through screen whereby my life and behavior will just be a display of the cross behind me. In another words, I will just be a transparent medium to depict Christ.

It is definitely a challenging thought for me. Just thought i share this with everyone

-ed

God's Love for us

Hi cell group,

I would like to share a beautiful verse with everyone. A verse I read during my quiet time which reminded me of the great love Jesus has for all of us.

Jesus fulfills Isaiah's prophecy of the Suffering Servant.

Isa 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

The reason we can worship and have peace in our lives was because Jesus took the punishment for us.

May this verse remind us of how much Jesus loves us and the extent that he was willing to go through for us. In light of God's great love for us, Do you trust in the Lord today?

A link below for a graphical representation of what He has done for us. May our lives and all we do be centered around the love He has for us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG5PkU92vpw

Ruijie

Being Baptized in the Holy Spirit

Here comes the analogy of being baptised in the Holy Spirit:

The Greek word for baptize is baptidzo, which means immerse. The analogy used was making pickles from cucumber. One of the processes in making pickles is calling for the cucumber to be immersed and soaked in the brine and the pickling solution for several weeks. What happens during this soaking time is that the marinade or the pickling solution soaks deep into the flesh of the cucumber until it takes on the flavor of the pickling solution so that it no longer tastes like a raw cucumber. Every fibre of the cucumber will be transformed completely and takes on the flavor of the pickling solution. This is what it's meant by soaking. When someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit, he is being marinated in the presence of the Holy Spirit, soaking in the River of God, that he no longer "tastes" like his old, raw nature any longer, but he has taken on the flavor of the Holy Spirit.

I would say that it's also like allowing the Holy Spirit to fill your blood so that the Holy Spirit is circulated throughout your body and regulates and control your every move.

Anna

A glove analogy

I attended the workshop called "Not I but Christ" from the women conference. The speaker was an English and she spoke like a small stream of water, nice and tranquil and it's like music to the ears, yet a bit hard for me to concentrate. But still, I was captivated when she gave us an illustration for the idea of Christ being the power source inside us:

Gal 2:20 — “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”

I may say to a glove, “Glove, pick up this Bible,” and yet, somehow, the glove cannot do it. It has a thumb and finger, the shape and form of a hand, and yet it is unable to do the thing I command it to do.

You may say, “Well, of course not. You didn’t tell the glove how to pick up the Bible.” However, I can instruct, and teach, and coach that glove until my patience is exhausted, but the glove, try as it will, still will not pick up that Bible.

Yet I have a glove at home that has picked up my Bible dozens of times…but never once before I put my hand into it! As soon, as my hand comes into that glove, the glove becomes as strong as my hand. Everything possible to my hand becomes possible to that glove—but only to the measure in which the glove is prepared to clothe the activity of my hand.

That is what it is to have Christ, by His Spirit, dwelling within you. You are the glove, Christ is the Hand! Everything that is possible to Him becomes possible to you, and with Paul you may say, “I have strength for all things in Christ Who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).

(Illustration from The Saving Life of Christ by Maj. Ian Thomas)

There was another illustration on the idea of being baptised in the Holy Spirit. I will write on this...

Anna

Women's Conference

First of all, I would like to thank Sarah for inviting us to attend the Women's Conference. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from the conference but it turned out well. The speakers are really good.

One of the speakers, Wilma, she shared a few of her personal stories with us. One of the stories that struck me is the one about her personal experience in helping others. She shared that back in U.S., her cell has a nice practice of taking care of young mothers during their confinement period. So, the ladies in the cell group will volunteer to cook for young moms who are having their confinement. Despite Wilma's busy schedule, Wilma also volunteered to cook for one of the young mom. One day, when she was preparing the dinner for the young mom (Sally or something), she asked herself: Am I cooking for Sally because I care for her or am I doing it because of other reasons? personal reasons? She realised that she did that so that she can prove to others that she is good.

I was surprised that she can be so honest to admit things like that. Given our human nature, it is true that sometimes we are like her.

Today's quiet time is quite relevant to this topic. Thought I would like to share this. It's about having a Christ-like character - having a heart like Jesus and a mind that thinks like Him. Pray that I will grow closer to that. Same prayer for our cell group.

-Lishan

Promises of Strength in Times of Stress

Hi everyone, I would like to encourage everyone with verses that will help us in our times of stress and fear.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"
Psalm 27:1

"Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in the Lord."
Psalm 46:1-3

"He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power."
Isaiah 40:29

"Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with my righteous hand."
Isaiah 41:10

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
John 14:27

"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

"Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7

Rgrds,

Ruijie

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 107:1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

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My all-time fav verse for the past 3 days.

-ed-

Intentional/unintentional sin?

I just wanted to write down my thoughts after reading Numbers 15. It is about the penalty concerning unintentional sin and presumptuous sin. The chapter was suggested to me after I brought up my view that having the desire alone or having the action alone does not constitute to sinning. Numbers 15 mentioned about unintentional sin and there was punishment to that, so it may suggest that having the action itself is sinning. That got me rethink my view.

I think the sin that was mentioned in Numbers 15 was referring to those acts that violates the Ten Commandments "that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses" (Numbers 15:23). So at that point of time, if any act that was contrary to the Ten Commandments, that's sin. However, as we have already discussed in the recent Bible study, sin can be interpreted as anything that is not pleasing in the eyes of God. This goes far broader than the Ten Commandments in our present context.

I would interpret the chapter as such: In the context of the Old Testament, God has given the law to the people "as a means of defining themselves ethnically as against the 'unclean' Gentiles" (quote taken from "Encounter with God"). That was a specific set of rules at that time and that's how they automatically judged an act as sinful or not. Therefore sinning in the context of the Numbers was acting against the Ten Commandments. What Numbers 15 emphasized however, i think is the huge difference in penalty for unintentional sin and presumptuous sin. I think the focus is on the fact that something unintentional is not the cause of God's wrath. However if the sinful act is presumptuous, that really brings "reproach on the LORD" (Numbers 15:30).

On the other hand, the death and resurrection of Jesus has brought us forward to another age. We are no longer living just by the law given to the people at the time of the Old Testament, but by the grace of God, or the Spirit of God. We have also discussed that sin is more to the Ten Commandments. Therefore, how we define sinning (not sin, but committing sin) is probably also different. Maybe my suggestion that sinning is a result of both the sinful desire and the sinful act can still hold.

That's just my thoughts.

Anna

Disappointments & Failures

This morning, I was reading Luke 24:13 - 35 and I decided to blog about what I have learnt. These are the 3 main pts:

1. How can we not see Jesus in our life?
2. We can read the bible & still not see God
3. Jesus allows us to live a life of faith with deeds 

1. How can we not see Jesus in our life? 

The 2 men were downcast (v 17) with what has happened. They have so much expectation (v21). Their human perception of how things should work out did not happen. And they were disappointed.

 My thoughts:

The amazing thing for me is that they were talking to Jesus & they did not recognize him. How can it be?

 I will suggest that it is because of disappointments & failures. For me, sometimes, I get so bogged down with disappointments that I fail to see Jesus. When things do not work out as I expect it to be, I over-analyze and I become downcast like these 2 men in the bible. Often, I allow these disappointments to miss the big picture.

 This is strange despite still believing in Jesus Christ and being blessed with so much personal testimonies. 

2. We can read the bible & still not see God

 V 25 -27 shows Jesus giving a sermon or bible study. Yet, despite receiving bible knowledge (or teachings), they fail to recognize Jesus.

My thoughts:

Sometimes, certain of my experiences of QT, sermons, mirror that. 

I do receive knowledge as I listen to these sermons and read the bible. But, often, I fail to understand, i.e. I did not recognize Jesus. At this point, I will like to say that I am not referring to an extraordinary experience like a transformation or conviction. Instead, I guess I am referring to the biblical knowledge that takes into perspective of who Jesus is. More importantly, I do not want to miss the point of just getting the ‘burning hearts’ (v32) feel good factor & fail to see who Jesus is. 

3. Jesus allows us to live a life of faith with works 

After they recognize Jesus (v31), Jesus disappeared. Why did he do that? Why didn’t he stay longer? It is similar to some experiences when there is a deep conviction and, after a while, it disappears and is forgotten.

 My thoughts:

I believe that there is a purpose for this. And it is linked to the principle: “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).

 Faith without works is like saying that I can have the faith that Jesus can so easily solve our problems and I need not put in any human effort to solve it. For example, I can pray & faith that I will pass my CFA exams but if I do not work for it, then it is just faith without works. And this faith is dead.

 I believe that if Jesus deposits faith in us, he will allow the opportunity for faith to be manifested into works. The two guys in Luke displayed that. Jesus disappears after they recognize Jesus. Subsequently, in v 33, they got up and returned to Jerusalem and told that everyone that the Lord has risen. This is faith demonstrated through work.

 Conclusion

I just hope that in the busyness of my life, I will not miss out Jesus and learnt to be fruitful in the faith that Jesus has given me. 

Ed

The first lie

I found this on the net..it is quite funny especially after I recall what Ling shared on Sat.

Fortunately, i do not need to tell any lie in cell group..haa

- honest ed-

Prayer Requests

Hi everyone, here are the cell prayer requests as we shared last Fri. For those who were not able to share, please upload your prayer requests too so that the rest of the cell can pray for you. Thank you.

Amy: Seek God for guidance for the rest of the year

Billy: To allocate more time to spend with God.

Brenda: To know the gifts from God for her life.

Edmund Strength and wisdom for work and studies

Ling Ling: To look to God for answers and assurance, to spend more time with God

Sarah: To give God the better time for QT, to be able to clear work in PCC and missions before she leaves, pray for wisdom to handle her work.

Ruijie: To have the discipline to do QT and to give Him the best time, to be able to find a job.

Rgrds,

Ruijie

Jehovah Jireh

This morning, I just thought of writing a poem to God.

Jehovah Jireh

All day
His love

Long Hours
Lasting Joy

A minute
Amazing presence

Every second
His Love
endures forever!!!

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[Poetic Ed]

Smile

Through it all, God is great and His love is amazing!

-ed-

Fellowship for Friday

For our fellowship tomorrow friday, I would like us to prepare the following 2 questions to facilitate our fellowship session:

1)How has my quiet time with God been? Have I been doing things in my own strength or relying for strength and wisdom from the Lord to meet the challenges I face each day?

2)How I can improve my relationship with the Lord? Have I been spending enough time to read His word and enjoy His presence?

Please take some time to prepare as I hope that we will have a fruitful time of fellowship tomorrow. Thank you and see you :)

Ruijie

Amazing quotes

The bible is really profound and yet simple. Without a doubt, it is the best book i have ever read. With statement like the below, it has never cease to amaze me.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. - James 2:26

Amazing stuff!

-ed-

Cell Schedule for May-July

Hi everyone, here is the schedule for May-July cell meetings. As previously practiced, if you are unable to make it for the activity in the schedule, please assign someone else to takeover your role for the particular week. Thanks :)

Ruijie

The great book of James

Was reading James today & yesterday. The entire book of James is an excellent book.
It discusses true religion, true faith and true wisdom. Recommend everyone to read James.

The pts i learnt from James 1:1-18

1) Wisdom is given by God
And we can obtain Wisdom freely when we ask from God

Skills and knowlege comes through training.

2) We can ask SPECIFIC things from God.

If we do not know the clear gifts & specific things we ask of God, it may be that we are confused

3) Sin starts from a desire

Desire --> Sin --> Death

-Ed-

Christian at workplace

A quote from the notes given by Canon John Benson during the talk on "SALT + LIGHT, The Christian in the workplace" at the Easter Convention

God's Place [Mark Greene]

"The workplace is God's place...a place of opportunity - a place to express the compassion of the gospel in word and deed, to challenge non-biblical thinking and practice, to grow in faith and character and love.

God at work in us.
God at work through us.
God at work in those we work with."

Further resources given by Canon John Benson:
-Thank God it's Monday, Mark Greene, Scripture Union, 2001
-Working it out, Ian Coffey, IVP, 2008
-London Institute for Contemporary Christianity website at
http://www.licc.org.uk/engaging-with-work/

Enjoy your work!

Anna