Good fruit we bear?

In sermon of the mount (Matthew 5-7, read it ya?) by Jesus to His disciples, teaching them different things. From beatitudes, to how we should live as His disciples, the higher standards that God has for His people so that we do not disregard the law as we receive grace through Christ’s death on the cross.

It’s a long sermon, today i like to just share what i learnt from Matt 7:15,20 “ By their fruit you will recognize them.”

The ‘them’ in the 2 verses, repeated twice in 5 verses, refers to false prophets. They claim to be God’s people, speaking in God’s name, do miracles and wonders in the name of God, but do not actually know God. How do we recognize them since they come in the name of God? By their fruit, Jesus says.

I am not going to talk about how to recognize the false prophets. I want us to allow Holy Spirit to search our hearts, our minds and spirit to see what FRUIT are we bearing? what Tree are we?

What FRUIT are we bearing?
From the seed to the plant to the flower to the fruit, we know what tree they came from, without actually seeing the mother tree. Similarly,our lives, behavior, beliefs,principles,values, people will know who we belong to.

The danger I see in these words of Jesus is this, that we can do things, do signs and wonders in Jesus name, but yet,we do not know Him, like the false prophets, in God’s sight, we are evildoers. He is more concerned about what is inside, who we are in the closet than what the public sees and know.

"The Private us vs The Public us"

Are we the good vineyards that bear good fruit?
We are all familiar with Galatians 5:22-26, are we bearing the fruit of the Spirit?

If Christ is the one we claim to follow, imitating Him, being holy because He is holy, then can we see the fruit written in the scriptures in our lives?

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Not conceited, not provoking, not envying one another. Love one another, love your enemy, be righteous and the list goes one and on if we dig into the scriptures.

We have the seed of good fruit in us as Holy Spirit lives in us. But we need to sow rightly daily so that this seed, the nature of Christ will not wither and die without blooming,instead this seed will grow and eventually bear fruit.

We have the faith in Christ and desire to be more like Him, that I am sure, we know the way to sow rightly, so let the Holy Spirit ripen the fruit that is coming forth.
What is real cannot be fake…真的假不了

Strength in Praise!

When we choose to praise the Lord (Hallelujah!), we choose to believe there is power and strength to see us through the toughest times in our lives. we choose to stake our all upon God's Almightiness and His promises on whom He say He is. we choose to take our eyes away from our circumstances, our weaknesses, our struggles, our disappointments, our discouragements, our speechlessness, and fixed them on the Lord who says He loves us, who says His love is better than life itself.

It is this revelation that revealed my weakness and my lack of strength, vigour in my personal walk with God. It is this revelation that revealed to me i have backslided to become religious in my dealings with God. It is this revelation that reminded me that i have stopped walking with God's strength, i have stopped relying on God's wisdom and guidance. It is also this revelation that resurrected a desire, a hunger for His presence, His word and revering His name.

I thank God for this reminder in this season. I believe not only for myself, but for all of us too. Let us come before the Lord again with a heart of gratitude filled with thanksgivings for all things that God has given in our lives, going against murmurings, complains and discontentment. Let us come before God with praises that arises from the heart of thanksgivings, let our beings be filled with praises for God's goodness, faithfulness and holiness. Let the praises that flow from our heart unto the Lord gives us the strength to stand firm on God's words, see the power of praises that can breakthrough our stagnation, our circumstances, our mindsets, our discouragements, our weakness and lack of faith.
With that transformation taking place inside us, our prayers will come alive. they will no longer be a string of words, no longer be a routine, but they will be an aroma before the throne of God.

祷告赞美感恩 goes hand in hand, they never separate.

As written by Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:15-16, let us learn to be thankful. Let us allow the word of Christ dwell in us richly......, and let our hearts be filled with gratitude to God as we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

Coram Deo

Coram Deo is a Latin phrase that means "before the face of God"

Coram Deo

Living all of life

in the presence of God

under the authority of God

and to the glory of God.

I was taken by this phrase while reading a book last week. Asking myself how have i been living my life? Self absorbed? self centred? too busy with all the things that i HAVE to do that i have no time to do what is important and life giving? too busy worrying? anxiety filled?

Let us take this week to examine our hearts, our lives together, our actions and reactions towards people and things around us. I like to encourage all of us to desire to, to want to, to make Coram Deo our life's very purpose, the centre and core of all the things we HAVE to do.

Always remembering that life is to be lived every minute, every second, every single moment in the presence of God, under the authority of God and to the glory of God, and not just FIND TIME for Him, then will we find security, contentment, stability, satisfaction and fulfilment.

Shalom.

Encouraging Song :)

Song: Before the morning
By Josh Wilson

Do you wonder why you have to
Feel the things that hurt you
If there’s a God who loves you where is He now
Maybe there are things you can’t see
And all those things are happening
To bring a better ending
Someday somehow you’ll see you’ll see
Would you dare would you dare to believe
That you still have a reason to sing
Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling
It can’t compare to the joy that’s coming
So hold on you gotta wait for the light
Press on and just fight the good fight
Cause the pain that you’ve been feeling
It’s just the dark before the morning
My friend you know how this all ends
You know where you’re going
You just don’t know how you’ll get there
So say a prayer
And hold on cause there’s good for those who love God
But life is not a snapshot
It might take a little time but you’ll see the bigger picture
Once you feel the weight of glory
All your pain will fade to memory
It’s just the hurt before the healing
Oh the pain that you’ve been feeling
It’s just the dark before the morning

An encouraging song to share that i heard over christian radio recently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qG1ThtgguE

虽然有时我们看不到，可是等待是为了看到灿烂的彩虹。。
Everything in His time :)

Hello!

hello! this place died for a year.. but i think there is a need now to resurrect it as stated in the email.

To all my lovely ladies... Charlene, Cindy, Huijing, Baobao and xin ren! Shijia :)
Welcome back.. hope this place will be a good place for us to read, share and grow together in this journey of walking with our Lord.

Invites have been sent out so that all of us are co-owners of this place whereby you can write/post pictures etc things, word from God that you feel encouraged by or a miracle the Lord did in your life.

Shalom.

With our funky youths!

With our youths n guest (Jessica) at Watchnight Service 2008.

Us!

Us at Young Adult camp ^_^