Labour in ur walk with God

Yest morn, while i was reading e bible, i was reminded by God abt labouring in our prayer/ walk with god/ relationship with god.

What does it mean to labour? Jasmine mentioned in one e services abt labourin in prayer and last sat's service, think shirley melinda also mentioned abt labouring in our prayers, our walk with god.

I was reminded of this as i was reading Joh 6:27.
It says "do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give you. on him God the father has palced his placed of approval"

I wanna share with you my thoughts on "do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life"

What is food that spoils? To me it represents physical things that i hold important in my life, which will cause me to compromise God (spending time with him), things such as my studies. I was just reflecting about my life, abt my attitude towards my studies. It is true that i labour for my studies. I study really hard fr pri sch until now. And i want to do well in my studies. I do my homework and when exams come, i really mug for it. I spend time studying and doing tutorials and spend time studyin for tests and exams. Time is spent on it and I want to do well.

The second part of the verse talks abt "but for food that endures to eternal life"
Here it simply means that we have to work for food that endures to eternal life. I was thinking eternal life means my relationship with God. So with the same attitude towards my studies, i was thinking if this is my attitude towards God too.
Do i spend time with God as much as i spend on studyin? Do i want to do well in my relationship with God as much as i want towards my studies? Sadly the ans is no and yes.

No i do not spend as much time nor am i always faithful in growing my relationship with God. But yes i desire for our relationship to deepen, to understand God more, to know Him more, to experience more of Him in my life. So, what do i have to do? I will have to work on this relationship. Like any other relationship, to understand the person more, to love the person more, i need to spend time with him/her, so as to know him/her better, so as to love him/her more.

Sat's service was abt loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (mark 12:30). I think it is really timely and appropriate for me at this point. This is the start of 2008 and many of us (including myself) have set our new year resolutions. But is one of our new yr resolutions abt lovin God more? Loving God more will lead us to Love God in action and our relationship with God will Grow (and this is food that will endure to eternal life!!!!)

Personally, this is a very good stop-check for me to set my heart straight and my eyes fix on God. Not that i neglect my studies and just be a person who day-in and day out hallelujah. The point is that am i that faithful towards God as i am towards my studies? Am i that passionate towards God as i am towards other things? Do i spend as much time with God as i do with my studies?

My answer is no. I always hurried my quiet time and prayer time. I myself my guilty of not spending time with God, using things around me and being busy as an excuse. This yr my everyday prayer will be to experience God every single day and I am going to labour in my prayer and labour in reading God's word.

For it is through prayers and through God's word which is living and active that life is transformed, that life is touched, that healing comes about, that breakthrough happens, that we find peace, that we find strength, that we grow to be more n more christ-like, that we find purpose and destiny.

Want to encourage all of us to realign our focus back to God and to really love God with all our heart,soul,mind and strength. If we can labour/work for the things in our life that are not eternal (such as studies, relationships, sports, money), then why don't we starting from today, labour/work for things that are eternal (our relationship with God).

Want to end of with this verse that i am memorising and mediating on:
"... your work produced by faith, your labour prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our LORD Jesus Christ." 1Ths 1:8

new yr resolutions

I want everything to remain the same except for my studies basketball and trading
studies, i must maintain my 3.5 or get better
I must train up to be like my Coach, esp shooting so i can look more frenly playing with anyone, i can play serious n have fun BUT when i play serious ppl feel im too tough, i may hurt them, so to be able to play with ANYONE, mus be gr8 shooter, GR8 SHOOTER
I MUST DO MY BEST to become a CONSISTENT trader by the end of the year

i know this journey is tiring, the Lord will give me strength, and personally, if i cannot do well, i might as well just go heaven sooner

either do ur best or not do at all,
Minghan

2008 - a 16 day late post

long time since i posted anything, think since the birth of this blog space. today was the first day of school. somehow made me think a lot and also fine-tuned some of my resolutions for 2008. lemme share my new year goals/objectives/resolutions/whatever-else-you-call-it.

the CRESH framework seems like a good way to plan for myself in this already started year. so i decided to plan according to it.

C aka Career/Studies. i prefer to call it C for CAP, since thats like the most important tangible thing we need/get from university. reflecting back a bit, i set the goal of attending every lesson 2 sems back, and failed miserably as expected and set the goal of attempting at least every other tutorial last sem, since setting the goal of attending every lesson is like mission impossible, similar to how running weekly is impossible too. Thus for this sem, to deal with the issue of consistent work throughout the sem, i set for myself to attend 90% of ALL lessons, be it lectures or tutorials (labs are take-home and do at your sleep-time for SOC), and attempt every single tutorial for my core modules, and attempt at least every OTHER tutorial for my non-core mods aka EC1301 n PH1101E. :P another thing i want to set out and do for this semester would be to do up "helpsheets" or summaries for each module as well, which helps in extracting the main points of each chapter and might me to know what im studying better too.

Goal of this sem. 4.0+ (aka at least B+ average) for this sem alone. and 3.5+ CAP score.

R for Relationships. there are many aspects in relationships. and i haven had any real breakthrough in this area for quite some time. firstly would be for family ba. what i would strive to do is to spend more time with my mum and my sis since they are living alone. i also pray for myself to be more willingness in my attitude to do things for them or spend time with them. in terms of r/s with fellow brothers n sisters. i pray for a when dealing with everyone to allow for deeper and more meaningful relationships to be nurtured. also, may God helps to strengthen relationships with certain ppl as we all continue to serve Him. another aspect would be my r/s with my shepherd aka bowen. looking back at the past sem, i would say that the friendship has indeed grown, but i believe God wants more than just friendship in such a r/s. may God help me to grow in my more patient and accepting heartwillingness to be more open n vulnerable to share lives to him.

E for Economics. first thing that came to mind is finances. well it was off to a bad start this year though. for the month of january i'm left with like 20-30 bucks. thinking back about 2007, i spent like almost every single cent of my allowance, and justifying it with the excuse of needing to pay for car expenses and stuff. deep down i know those are just excuses, and at the very minimum i would stil be able to save at least 200-300 for the entire year. certainly a very bad steward of money. my goal for this year would be to save $1000 bucks. that would be like around 20% of my allowance for the whole year. what to do with this money, i shall decide at the end of the year, be it to go for overseas holiday, buy a new computer/ps3, or even just throw it into my savings acct for future use. i pray for God to assist and guide me in my management of money in this year. if i can't even manage my meagre allowance properly and wisely now, how am i going to manage my 4 or even 5 figure pay in future next time? :P another aspects of economics would be my time management. with 2 free days this sem and 6 modules, as well as first hand experience from a tiring wednesday today (even though w/o tutorials), i can safely assume that time management would be a crucial factor to determine my health as well as my academic performance for the next 4-5 months. one thing i want to do would be to force myself to sleep at latest 1am every day.

S for Spiritual. most tangible, i want to finish reading the Old Testament. more than half-way there now. but need to discipline myself to really go in-depth and not lose focus on trying to extract God's truth in the Word instead of just reading through. I pray for eagerness in this aspect and to focus really to understand instead of the goal of finish the bible once. On a more personal note, i pray for God to reveal to me in His timing direction and guidance in certain aspects of my life that i've been praying for. one such aspect would be simply what He wants me to do in this year for Him. even for the upcoming 3 month holidays, im praying for Him to show me what would be better for me, be it going for an internship, or just simply avail myself fully again for e annual matriculation season. (internship need to apply early one, so need to start asking Him for ans alr :P not ganjiong spider haha) Also, one thing i really want this year would be to have a deeper intimacy with God, and to experience Him more real than ever before in my life. wanna finish reading the books "Experiencing God", "Every Man, God's Man" and "Boy Meet Girl" too. as i shared during CG at parkway, i want to really grow in my M&Ms and put into practise the verse from 2 Tim 4:2 - Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. why so? i realised how inadequate i've been in sharing my faith as well as explaining/answering questions about my faith, and thats simply not the way things should be.

H for Health. as i said earlier, aiming to run weekly is close to if not totally impossible heh. let me start from a more realistic goal. gym/run/bball every week. so far for the first 3 weeks of this year, i managed to do it. may God provides me with the determination and strength to continue on this workout journey. An end goal would be to lose some weight in this year. hopefully to the extend where i look like what i am when i finish BMT. that would be good lol. it will makes my life easier too when i go back for reservist. haha. Also to at least pass my IPPT and aim for silver timing in my 2.4km run.

super wudi long post of mine. haha. as we commit our resolutions/goals/objectives/watever for 2008 to God, may He help us in every aspect we pray for and be with us as we strive towards achieving these goals.

just a verse i thought we should hold on to when we make resolutions. PHI 4:13 I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

=)

2008 prayers :)

Firstly I really want to dev a prayerful and fasting habit. Not just fasting for 'special'occasion such as easter and christmas but to dev a daily fasting habit for myself and also for ppl. this has been lacking in my life and really want to grow in this area. Thru this i believe i ll draw closer to God, my eyes fix on Him and that there will be even greater breakthrus in my life.


1) grow in self control towards food (hee.. i always feast on choc and chips even when i m sick, not good for my body and when i m sick i m not effective!)

2) emotional maturity (refer to the way i handle situations and ppl. tend to be easily upset and unsettled by happenings and ppl. REally praying for God to help me in this area, want to grow to be a strong woman for God :)

3) love and grace. (God has beeen speaking to me abt these 2 areas in my life. Lack love and grace and would easily be upset with ppl or ve unreasonable expectations of ppl which isn't healthy. Praying for God to help me grow in my understanding of ppl too, help me to love and accept them for who they are)

4) exe once weekly (jogging): sun evening (improve on my health, cause i fall sick easily)

5) read papers at least once weekly (build up on my knowledge on daily affairs. Need to be relevant to the world)


Just to share briefly, these are some of the areas and things that i wanna grow in and God has convicted me to grow in. Will be committing all of them as prayers to God :) Excited for 2008. Not sure what God has installed for me but i m excited to grow in Christ and for more breakthrus in come :) Breakthru comes when we put God first in our life and allow Him to lead us. Obeying His word and His ways. Without 'sacrifice' (for example time for other things), there will not be breakthrus.

In 2008, i really want to grow to be a strong woman of God who knows God as He knows me and to love his people :)

Reflections of 2007/ last semester

Generally feel that i ve grown in the way i'm managing my life and handling things around me, as well as relationships with people. Especially in the area of managing my time such that while serving God, I still ve time for my family, studies and also very important --- my personal time and space with God. Over the past sem, started to be a shepherd and from there, think i ve grown to understand the heart of a shepherd and the roles (which serves to guide/help them to God). Another area which i felt that i ve grown in is disciple, especially in the area of studies and my relationship with God. More faithful and desire to be excellent in the things that God called me to do or be. Because of this change of attitude, last sem was the only sem i really enjoyed mugging n found joy in it even. I enjoyed studyin and learning n also relying on God for wisdom. I experienced wisdom fr God for 1 paper and got an A- for it. Really thank God for showing me such kindness and grace.

Last yr was a big change for me. 1st time change cg, change shepherd, jitsy left, becoming a shepherd. Challenging and many times i felt down. But i really thank God for these changes. Jit leaving has pushed me to draw closer to God and to rely on Him more rather than my ex-shepherd. Changing cg, challenged me to relate with the brothers and learn to be more sensitive to brothers. Changing shepherd was really cool, not initially though. ahhaha...

A new style of teaching, shepherding and huili isn't afraid to scold me manz. Really learned alot of things fr her esp in the area of skills. REally thank God for her in my life, pointing out truths to me and helping me grow, teachin me to take care of ppl and how to grow them.

Becoming a shepherd was also another challenge. hahaha... i definitely drew closer to God and found myself praying more. Many times i felt super inadequate and lost, did not know what to do with my sheep and even with myself. The relatiionship btw me and my sheep was really sweet (hahha) i should say bitter sweet :). There were downs moments but there were moments whereby there were breakthrus too. Can see that God is workin in her life and am truly encouraged to see that. God is indeed faithful and really wanna conclude 2007 with lots of thanksgiving towards God. Without Him, i think my life ll truly be lost and meaningless. God is my strength !!!! Amen :) hee...

As i was reflecting my 2007 new yr prayers/goals, i realised that some of them were fufil while some are still work is progress ... Wanted to grow to be a cg guitarist and also overcome the fear of evangelism which was hindering me alot in 2006. These two areas came to pass and Praise God!! Thank you GOd :)

Other areas such as overcoming bad attitudes such as procastination, pride, lack of self control and discipline. Found that i had breakthru and am still workin in progress :) there are still times when i fall to temptation but God would be there to pick me up and help me thru again :) 2 major breakthru were towards --- the lack of self control towards you tube and discipline towards studies and my relationship with God. God has helped me to grow in these two areas which was not pleasing to God. Esp the you tube part. You tube really drew me away fr God and i would watch endlessly the dramas. Thru prayer (asking God to help me overcome) and His grace, managed to ve breakthrus!! so really Thank God :) if not my life would ve really been meaningless, endlessly watching drama.

haha... i wanted to be healthier and set goals to exe. Hee... other than playing bball once in a blue blue moon... i failed . Hee... think i was feeling super lazy man. So in 2008, 1 of my goal is to exe once a week. Plannin to start jogging :)

another area is reading the papers. REally wanted to grow in my knowledge of daily affairs. I managed to sustain for 2 weeks den ...................... hahahah... So for 2008 wanna commit myself to reading the papers at least once a week :)

there are much more things for 2007, but think i will sum them up briefly here ba :) 2007 is indeed a breakthru yr in terms of my r/s with God, my growth in christ and also personal growth and fruits in my life. 2007 is alsoa yr whereby i understand God more and because of this understanding, i able to stand firm in Him and continue to trust in Him even when circumstances seemed hopeless and i was disappointed. No words can express the love i felt and the thankfulness in my heart. God is really good and now i finally understood what the verse means: It is when i am weak that i am made strong !!:)

Coundown to 2008

Happy New Year!

On the last day of 2007, i spent it with my brothers and sisters at Nicholas house at Hougang. Although we didn't see fireworks that night, we had a whole lot of fun, spending time with one another over PS2 games, food, guitars, photos and games.

Our Dinner - thanks to the top chefs and some rising ones as well.

Looks like the sisters can't wait to eat. (top)

Brothers composed ourselves, keeping our hands away from the food before we give thanks to God for the food. (top)

The advanced version of poison ball was challenging and 'breath-taking'

A toast for the new year!

As I reviewed the past year 2007, I thank God for the experience i had and the people i met along the way. It has been a year where i had my ups and downs with God for quite a bit.

1) My small business - selling my handmade Valentine's Day cards. (UP! My NY resolution to commit 10% of my earning to God = i give all of it although the amount was not alot.) (February 2007)

2) My car accident - Banging onto a taxi along AYE on rainy day. (Down! Doubted God. Angry with God = making sense of my thoughts, understanding God's character and thanking Him for protecting my passengers on board.) (February 2007)

3) Water Baptism - an outward expression of an inward experience. (UP + Down! Struggled to come to this decision while facing some objections = but obeyed God and trust in His plans for me, having a greater conviction for God.) (March 2007)

4) Holiday to Phuket - a treat from my Da Ge. (UP! i didn't spend a single cent, just spending time = a time of retreat with my brother, enjoying the natural elements of God's creation, so beautiful!) (July 2007)

5) Participating in church drama production - acting as an average Joe seeking for an identity as a UNI freshmen. (UP! Gaining back confidence to act on the stage = looking forward to be used my God in this area.) (July 2007)

6) Physical Breakthroughs - running Army Half Marathon 21km and clearing my first IPPT as a NSmen with a SILVER. (UP! Keeping to another of my NY resolutions = keep my physical body in good condition, just regreted that i can't increase my weight significantly = wo 'shou' gou le!) (October 2007)

7) Involved in the planning of Christmas Party. (UP + Down! Struggle with my time spent at home vs time spent in serving God = Stretched and busy = re-visiting the meaning of serving God, finding Joy while serving God, people-oriented rather than task-oriented.)

Hey brothers and sisters in Christ, let's evaluate the year that has just past and take away points that will help us to walk with confidence in this new year. Pen down our thoughts and dreams for God to grow us strong this year.

Start the year right with God!