oh..
Ex Wanderer and Ex Grandslam coming.
sispec, oh sispec.



it's gonna be rough. outfielddddddd.



Job is a cool book of the Bible!
It's incredibly relevant to human life.

here's something i read that impacted me in camp:-


Job 22:21-30 (NKJV)

[special thanks to biblegateway.com]

This is Eliphaz comforting Job while Job was complaining about how things are really really really really really not going well in his life. like really. Job lost everything in his life.

Just some background about the initial part of the Book of Job:

Job was tested by God, by allowing Satan to remove everything from Job's life, except his very life. God wanted to show the devil that he was wrong in saying, "i am sure Job will curse You and blame You for everything if You were to allow everything he has to be taken away from him." Everything meant everything, his wealth, his land, his livestock, his CHILDREN too.

Job stood firm, though he was down and emotional and completely broken apart. He may have complained and emo-ed. but "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." (Job 1:22 NIV)

one verse before that, Job praised God despite of such a tragedy. "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." (part of Job 1:21)

Here's the cool thing.

Job 2:9-10
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Job's very own wife already gave up on God and insisted Job to forgo his integrity and blame God. Yet, Job obviously loved God more than his wife. He held fast unto God and reprimanded his wife. Job accepted anything that God puts him through, not only the good things. Job held unto God tighter than anything else in this world.

Strangely, it wasn't his wife that was there to support him at all. it was simply 3 of his friends, who sat beside him on the floor for 7 days and 7 nights. they didn't even began to comfort him during this 7 days and nights. they just simply sat beside him and cried with Job. (Job 2:12-13)

then, from Job 3 onwards, are conversations between his friends and himself. How Job was pouring out everything and questioning his situation, while his friends corrected his thinking, his mindset, his words and encouraged him. What was it that kept Job sane and away from sinning? Fellowship.

This emphasizes on the importance of fellowship. Mushy-Mushy-Husband-and-Wife-Love isn't gonna work all the time. Romance isn't gonna prevail everything. Romance isn't a factor that held people together. The issue here is that, ROMANCE doenst equate to LOVE!

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

What Job's wife said to him in Job 2:9 was the completely opposite of God's idea of love.

She was impatient and unkind; she was envious of those who had God's blessings, she was arrogant in thinking God is wrong and she was right; she was undoubtedly rude, and selfish, and said evil to Job; she wanted Job to sin along with her AND wanted Job to tarnish his integrity with God; she doesn't bear, believe and hope in God or anything.

She displayed not love towards Job by telling him to give up. Telling someone to give up on God is expressing an action of hatred. That includes telling yourself to give up on God.

However, it was Job's 3 friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, who were patient in comforting him, kind in words, selfless to have spent 7 days and nights with him, polite, encouraging, and full of hope and faith. Job may have chose the wrong wife to marry - he attained temporary romance with her, but no prevailing love from her; but Job chose 3 awesome friends who loved him more than his own wife did.

If you read Job carefully, Job's words are excruciatingly painful and harsh on himself. if I were Job's friend, i dont think i will be able to take his over-reacting words on himself. But Job's 3 great friends stood by him all the way. Fellowship isn't everything, but fellowship is crucial in every single one of our Christian life.

That is why we go to church.
That is why we hang out with our Chrisitian friends.
That is why we do not mix with people of negative influence.
That is why we choose to give our lives in building His house. This is where the broken receive fellowship, guidance, and encouragement.

without Church, a Christian will almost surely falter.
without Church, a Christian is like a loner without a home.

the Church is where fellowship begins, and also where fellowship endures - forever. yes, even after we die.


romance isn't the ultimate goal in a relationship. it is fellowship and love.
and romance doesn't always mean love is involved.


this is the same for peer-to-peer relationship and man-to-God relationship.


---


For me, personally? It is fellowship that kept me in hoGc in the first place.
and fellowship is one of the biggest factor of my life that keeps me going even now.





ok, i will write more when I get more from God and His Word!

Loving life,
-dexter

hello.


you've been a carnal fleshly boy dex.
insecurity? tsk tsk tsk!




know your position in God.
all that matters is that you know who you are in God
and God knows who are you - duh, of course He know you.



1 Peter 5:6-7
remember.




be humble, there is nothing to prove to anyone.
just lay it in His hands.


stay holy
stay spiritual.









it's a tough fight inside of myself.
but it's a fight that i cant lose
because giving up is NOT EVEN CLOSE TO AN OPTION.






DEXTER MAY NOT BE STRONG ALL THE TIME
BUT DEXTER SURE CAN HANG ON FOR A JOLLY LONG TIME.
HANG ON LIKE A STUBBORN VINE ON A TREE.




woooooooohoooooooooo!!






oh, something about army?
actually, sispec isnt that bad! haha.
i got 5 points for sit ups
4 for shuttle run
4 for broad jump
4 for 2.4km run (10:22 mins)
i did 9 pull-ups, but 2 werent counted due to lack of standards. that gives me only 2 pts.



in other words, i missed silver but 1 [standard] pull-up.


bwhahaha. thats quite silly.
i cant navigate well. i really need to calibrate my compass properly
and walk straight.

actually, army is pretty good.
it gives me time to grow myself and to tighten the loose screws in my life.
even if i were to get an 8-5 vocation now, i dont think i will be able to excel to my best in church.
God really planned for me to use army to oil the rusts off and tighten those loose ends.

army is also a hideout for myself.
i dont have to think too much about things that makes me upset, and awkward.
sometimes guilty (which i shldnt be already).


ah! wells.







love,
-dexter