The Lord’s Prayer - "Give us this day our daily bread" (13 Jun 2021)

We discussed this phrase during our family time last Sun, so I thought it would be appropriate to feature photos of the various food items we've received from others in the past two weeks. 😋

Here are some of the points brought up during our discussion...

Give

We have to ask for God's provision. And we also have to receive with thanksgiving when it comes. (Duh... you may be thinking, "Isn't that obvious?" Haha!) Sounds simple but we often take it for granted. The key here is that we need to be intentional in asking, and be thankful for what we receive, so that we are fully reliant on Him and do not start to think that we deserve whatever we have or that we gained it all through our own work.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that we won't need to work and can just sit around, waiting for His provision to fall down from the sky (in case you haven't realised, manna days are over!) 😅 It does mean, however, that we should be about God's work, doing what He shows us to do through the Holy Spirit. 

When we work, it should not be by our own strength, nor chasing after selfish or worldly desires, so we don't labour in vain (cf. Psalm 127:1-2). When we are led by the Spirit to do the work that He wants us to do, and doing it His way, then He will surely provide for us even when it may not be a well-paid job by the world's standards (sometimes it may not even be paid at all).

As long as we are in His will, then we have the confidence that when we ask for what we need, we will receive (1 John 5:14, Matthew 7:7).

Us

This points again to community - and a family is a community. Maybe like me, you've also wondered before whether there's any link between verses 1-2 and verses 3-5 of Psalm 127 as they seem to be about two distinct topics. But if we look at the first two verses in the context of God’s provision (when we build our homes according to His ways), then the next three verses imply that He will continue to provide for us when we have children (and that is why they are a blessing from Him, not a burden).

This day

We must keep asking everyday in order to practise complete dependence on Him, and learn to trust in Him alone.

Our

God has already alloted to each person the appropriate portion, which will always be sufficient (cf. Exodus 16:18). So there's no need to worry that we won't have enough or try to store up extra as insurance. It may very well turn smelly (Exodus 16:20)! 😜

Also, sometimes He may give in bulk to a whole community and then it's up to us to divide it among ourselves. So if we think at a macro level, it could mean that some of the extra provisions that we're getting is meant for someone else. Hence, we need to be sensitive to the needs of others around us and be ready to give to those He directs us to.

Daily

God gives us what we need for each day so we don't have to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). Certainly, it is wise to have savings. After all, He did instruct the Israelites to save up a double portion of manna for the Sabbath (Exodus 16:22-26).

However, we need to be careful we don't fall into the trap of thinking that we need to save more so that we can fund our children’s further education, help pay for their weddings, chip in when they buy their own houses, and even sponsor our grandchildren's diapers and toys and education... and the list goes on and on... When we start worrying about what all the tomorrows may bring, it's never-ending!

Just be contented with what He gives, and if He does grant us more than enough then save it up for there is probably a need that He is providing for in advance. But have faith that He will continue to provide for each day so we won't keep striving to earn more and save more than what we actually need.

Bread

In addition to physical food and other material needs, His bread also includes spiritual food - His Word. In fact, spiritual bread is even more important than physical food (Matthew 4:4), as it's by the Word of God that we can live out Psalm 127 (which we looked at above). So no matter how busy work may be, do not compromise on time spent in studying His written Word (logos) and soaking in His Spirit in order to receive His living Word (rhema) on a daily basis.

Bonus

There were two lies that I had believed in from young (as a pre-believer). One was that I had to prove myself in order to be loved. The other was that I must fend for myself so as to survive. These two lies led to a fear of failure in me.

Over the years, I had already cast out these two lies and replaced them with God’s truth that He loves me regardless of what I do/don't do/achieve/don't achieve, and that He will provide for me. I had also overcome the fear of failure for myself.

However, the Holy Spirit showed me that I had subconsciously imposed this fear of failure on my children. On the surface I kept telling them that they are loved and valued despite their results, and that God will provide the right school and course for them (provided they pass). Yet deep down I still hung on to the fear that if they failed, they might not be able to make a living or even be able to do what God wants them to do.

So when we started praying together after our sharing, I repented before God and sought the children's forgiveness for passing on this fear to them. And I assured them that it'll be ok even if they fail, as long as they have tried their best, for God will surely provide a way for them to go because He loves them unconditionally and our Father only has the best in store for His children (Jeremiah 29:11)!

Check out other insights we received about The Lord's Prayer:

• Our Father
• in heaven
• hallowed be Your Name
• Your Kingdom come
• Your will be done
• on earth as it is in heaven

The Lord’s Prayer - "on earth as it is in heaven" (6 Jun 2021)

Recently, I was involved in an arts project in a public space where we tangibly brought heaven down to earth! It happened not only because we featured a wide range of artforms from different cultures and traditions, which gave people a peek into heaven where all nations, tribes and tongues will worship Him with the incredible creativity that He has bestowed on every culture and people group. It was also because we had artists of all ages, backgrounds and abilities including some with special needs, hence reflecting the Kingdom of heaven as described in Luke 14:15-24. Another key factor was how we were able to serve together in unity and display God’s love for one another, such that relationships between artists that are typically broken through comparison, envy and pride were redeemed to reflect Psalm 133.

However, that was just a one-off event. It's much easier to bear with one another, and overlook each other's mistakes or things that annoy us when we know it will only be for a short while. So what would it take for us to enact the Kingdom of heaven on earth on a day-to-day and long term (think lifelong) basis?

As we thought about this during our family time, we realised that when we ask for heaven to be revealed on earth, we become God's agents who have been empowered to bring it about. Hence, when we pray, "Your Kingdom come," we cannot simply sit around and wait for Jesus' second coming. We need to be up and about, using the gifts and talents that He has equipped us with to do the work that He has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10), so that we display heaven for the world to see wherever He places us.

In order to do that, we have to be different from the world. We need to live out heavenly values and attitudes. But here we face the problem of not having a complete understanding of these Kingdom values. How do we work out seemingly opposing qualities like grace and truth, love and holiness, mercy and justice, meekness and power? And how do we know for sure whether each decision we make is right, when we have such a limited comprehension of these Kingdom traits?

The only way to be sure is if we hear directly from God Himself and follow His every instruction. And that's what it would be like if we are filled with the Holy Spirit, led by the Spirit and walk in the Spirit (see Galatians 5:16-26). Rather than acting according to our fleshly desires or be influenced by our own soulish thoughts and emotions, we need to let our spirit be so filled by the Holy Spirit that He is the one directing us in everything that we think, say and do.

Just like how meat is cured by burying it completely in salt or immersing it fully in brine solution over an extended period of time, we need to soak ourselves constantly in His word, prayer and worship so our entire being can be infused with the Spirit. Then similar to every flavourful bite of cured meat, we would ooze His fragrance through every word and action.

Furthermore, we should also be patient and continue doing the things He shows us to do faithfully even when we don't see the expected results. Again looking at the curing process, the salt takes time to thoroughly remove moisture from the meat and thereby preserve it. As the salt of the earth, the impact and transformation we bring to the world surely also requires time and perseverance. 

Check out other insights we received about The Lord's Prayer:

• Our Father
• in heaven
• hallowed be Your Name
• Your Kingdom come
• Your will be done
• Give us this day our daily bread

The Lord’s Prayer - "Your will be done" (23 May 2021)

We had viewed episode 2 of The Chosen Season 2 on Saturday night and while we were contemplating the meaning of "Your will be done" during our family time on Sunday, it suddenly struck me that allowing God's will to be done in our lives would mean giving up our own plans and following His plans. [spoiler alert] That was exactly what Nathaniel went through as he sat under the fig tree watching his architectural plans for the temple he had wanted to build go up in flames, literally! And how he sobbed, and rent his clothes, and sprinkled ashes on his head...[end of spoiler] the grief is real. 

But all that was nothing compared to what Jesus must have experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was in such agony when He said, "Not my will but Yours be done," that his sweat was like blood (Luke 22:42, 44). [spoiler alert] That's why in episode 5 of The Chosen Season 2, while pondering the heaviness of what they are called to do, Jesus says to John the Baptiser, "I'm always ready to do my Father's will, but that doesn't make it easy." [end of spoiler] So He understands when we find it hard to surrender our own will and yield to His will... the struggle is real.

God doesn't force us to submit for He has given us free will to choose. But when we willingly choose to lay our own desires down to take up His desire for us out of a heart of worship and love for Him, that pleases Him tremendously. Yet, we often start to look at the world around us and wonder why we should abandon the achievements and successes that others enjoy. Surely God has promised us an abundant life (John 10:10), so how could He be asking us to give all that up? And so... the sacrifice is real.

So what can help us to be confident that we are making the right decision when we follow God's will rather than our own? God is not bound by time, instead He sees the beginning and the end (Isaiah 46:10). In fact, He is the beginning and the end (Revelation 22:13). Hence, when He reveals His will to us, that is Him letting us in on the good that is going to come out of it, for His plans are never to harm us but to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). Because He is a loving and faithful Father, we can trust Him to make all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28) when we do His will... the promise is real.

We also need to redefine what 'success' means according to how God sees it. He does not measure our achievements in the same way the world does. When He calls us to do His work, we can be assured that it would bring about something of eternal value, even if it can't be seen by our physical eyes. If we are willing to forsake the things of the world to build His Kingdom here on earth, we not only leave behind a spiritual legacy, our works would also survive the fire when we meet Him on that day (1 Corinthians 3:13-14)... the reward is real.

Finally and most importantly, God yearns for us to do His will because then we would be partnering with Him. That means, we would be working alongside Him and spending time with Him. That is God’s desire, to be with us.  [spoiler alert] Again, in episode 5 of The Chosen Season 2, when Simon the Zealot asked Jesus why He would want him to join His team when he had nothing to offer, Jesus replied, "I have everything I need. I wanted you." [end of spoiler] And of course, when we get to walk with our Father daily, listening to His voice, wrapped in His embrace, watched over by Him, in perfect communion with Him... the joy is real!

Check out other insights we received about The Lord's Prayer:

• Our Father
• in heaven
• hallowed be Your Name
• Your Kingdom come
• on earth as it is in heaven
• Give us this day our daily bread

The Lord’s Prayer - "Your Kingdom come" (16 May 2021)

Continuing with our family discussions of The Lord’s Prayer, we talked about what God's Kingdom is like and how we have experienced it in our own lives.

We considered the concept of 'already but not yet' in that His Kingdom has already come but not yet in full until Jesus comes again to establish His complete reign over the "new heaven and new earth" (Rev 21). In the meantime, we are often torn between staying under His Kingship and authority while being tempted to go over to the other side and relinquish the authority He's given us to the enemy. 

This struggle could come in many different forms. For instance, we might not have a proper understanding of what it means to be princes and princesses of God. For some, we may not realise the authority and the riches that He has given us and continue to live with a poverty mindset. For others it could be the other extreme where we flaunt God's gifts and blessings or Lord it over others with a holier-than-thou attitude. 

There are also those who may appear to be doing God's Kingdom work actively but end up building their own kingdoms instead due to pride, relying on their strength, or following their own plans rather than God's plans.

In fact, from OT times God had been telling His people how to live in such a way that His Kingdom would be actualised through them. But they didn't quite get it so when Jesus came, He explained it to them again in a different way through His teachings such as in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). Unfortunately, these lessons are so counter-intuitive that many of His children still don't really get it.

So although His Church is meant to display such Kingdom values and way of life, in reality we often find it lacking. Yet, all is not lost because we can still enact God's Kingdom in our own lives as well as through our families and communities. For through the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we build His Kingdom here when we display His fruit through our words and actions, love one another with His love, and submit wholly to His Lordship and authority in our lives.

Therefore, when we pray, "let Your Kingdom come," we are asking for His help to teach and mould us so we can be empowered to reveal His Kingdom to the world through us!

Check out other insights we received about The Lord's Prayer:

• Our Father
• in heaven
• hallowed be Your Name
• Your will be done
• on earth as it is in heaven
• Give us this day our daily bread

The Lord’s Prayer - "hallowed be Your Name" (9 May 2021)

We paused our discussions in this series for the last two weeks as there were other more pressing topics to cover. But today, we managed to get back on track during our family time with the next phrase in the Lord's prayer, "hallowed be Your Name."

The definition of the word 'hallowed' includes 'holy', 'revered', and 'honoured'. There are various versions of this phrase and one of them in particular is, "May your holy name be honoured" (Good News Translation). 

So when we pray for God's name to be honoured, it is not only a declaration of our reverence for His holy name, but also an expression of our hope that all peoples, tribes and tongues will one day know and honour Him as we do. This phrase thus encapsulates the two most important commandments (Mark 12:30-31) - to love God as well as to love our neighbours! 

The Jews believe that God's name is too holy to be spoken and thus replace it with the tetragram YHWH. Although it is true that God is our Friend (James 2:23) and Brother (Mark 3:34-35), we have to be careful that we do not take God's grace and love for granted and forget the fear of the Lord. 

In fact, all our actions should be governed by it. Joseph is a good example of how one can even set aside deep-seated emotions and desires like anger, bitterness, self-righteousness and revenge, in order to put God and His purposes first.

In addition to our physical well-being, our emotional and mental health are also tied to a proper awe and reverence of God.

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:7-8)

The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm. (Proverbs 19:23)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)

However, it is not enough to merely fear God. We also need to know Him. And it is only through experiencing Him that we learn to know His voice (John 10:27). We shared with one another the ways we each experience God most intimately:

• He speaks to us when we worship Him through music and the arts
• He reveals Himself to us when we read His Word
• He communes with us when we spend time chatting with Him
• He shows us His ways through people and circumstances around us
• He sends insights, revelations, ideas and solutions whenever we seek and ask 

Hallowed be Your Name, o Lord! And may our reverence for You lead others to also honour Your Name.

Check out other insights we received about The Lord's Prayer:

• Our Father
• in heaven
• Your Kingdom come
• Your will be done
• on earth as it is in heaven
• Give us this day our daily bread

The Lord’s Prayer - "in heaven" (17 Apr 2021)

This evening, we continued our discussion of The Lord's Prayer during our family time with the phrase after 'Our Father'.

One of the kids wondered if heaven were all white, so we read Revelation 21:19-20 which says:

 

The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.

We searched online for pictures of all the different precious stones mentioned and were amazed at the wide range of vibrant colours, textures and opacities. Then I realised that the batik pieces Aimee and I had painted earlier in the afternoon (beautifully designed diamonds by our friend Farah), may very well look as colourful as the gemstones in heaven!

With such incredible riches and beauty in heaven, what a stark contrast it must have been for Jesus when He entered this world in a dark and dirty manger! I was reminded of Philippians 2:6-8 which tells us about Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!

God in heaven is also Emmanuel who is with us. So where God's presence is, there heaven must be too! Therefore we as carriers of His presence, help to reveal glimpses of heaven on earth through the Holy Spirit working in and through us. This is not only in terms of signs and wonders or miracle healings, but also in the day to day working out of our faith as we grow in Christ-likeness and display His love for others.

Having a Father in heaven also reminds us of our identity as heavenly people and that our home is in heaven (Ephesians 2:6). Since we are only passing through, we should focus on storing up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).

We tried to imagine what the earth would look like from heaven and figured that everything must be really tiny to God! His power transcends all that we know and are limited by in this world, and nothing is too difficult for Him. What a mighty God we serve! And if God be for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31)?

Check out other insights we received about The Lord's Prayer:

• Our Father
• hallowed be Your Name
• Your Kingdom come
• Your will be done
• on earth as it is in heaven
• Give us this day our daily bread

The Lord’s Prayer - "Our Father" (11 Apr 2021)

We've decided to discuss the Lord’s Prayer during our weekly family time, phrase by phrase. So I will try to capture here some of the main points and insights received as we go along... 😅

1. Our 

This points to community. God is a community in Himself - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are made in His image, so we also need to be in community with one another.

It also implies communal worship and prayer where we are in agreement, and everyone is of equal status before Him. Therefore every person's unique relationship and experience with God is equally valuable.

2. Father

The moment a baby is born into a family, it is to be expected that the parents will care for, feed and protect the baby. So we can also be assured that our Father will care for, feed and protect us. 

There is no need to earn His love by proving ourselves worthy. He already loves us and always will just because we are His children.

As a Father, God not only loves and forgives us, but He also teaches and disciplines us. So He is the God of both the OT and the NT.

God is not distant but is always near to us. Just like how a child can run to an earthly father who lives in the same home whenever there's a need, we can call out to Him anytime.

For many believers, our perception of God the Father have been marred by the imperfect parenting we have received (or possibly also from the influence of imperfect spiritual elders/parents we have encountered). We need to examine ourselves and repent if we have been a stumbling block to anyone. We also need to seek God’s healing and restoration if anyone has caused us to stumble. 

3. Our Father

We are all His children and belong to the same family. He has no grandchildren and every believer has direct access to Him as His child. There's no need to go through one's earthly parents or anyone else.

Check out other insights we received about The Lord's Prayer:

• in heaven
• hallowed be Your Name
• Your Kingdom come
• Your will be done
• on earth as it is in heaven
• Give us this day our daily bread

Chinese New Year 2021 Reflections (2/2)

During this season, it's very common to hear greetings like 万事如意 (all things go according to your desires) and 心想事成 (whatever you wish in your heart will be realised). 

So some Christians have tried to justify these two greetings by referring to the second half of Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

However, by looking at the other common Chinese New Year greetings, we soon discover what these desires and wishes might be:

恭喜发财 (hope you will strike it rich)

黄金满堂 (your rooms will be filled with gold)

财源广进 (wealth and success flowing in)

大吉大利 (great fortune and success)

年年有余 (overflowing abundance every year)

Could wealth, success and prosperity be the desires that God wants to fulfil? So all we need to do is just spend some time in prayer and maybe read the Bible, and He would grant us whatever we wish for? Wouldn't that then make God into a genie in a lamp?!

I've written before about how Psalm 37:4 is more than just a transactional relationship with God, but that in fact when we truly enjoy spending time with Him then He will transform us so our desires are aligned with His will. And that is when He would gladly fulfil our desires.

Today, I received another insight into this verse. Could it be that actually the innermost desires of our heart were already programmed into us at creation by God? Perhaps one of the deepest desires that we all have even from the womb is to be known and loved. Another could be to discover and achieve our purpose in life.

Yet we have been deceived into thinking that wealth, fame, success and power are what we really want. Just like how the devil tried to tempt Jesus into believing that these things were better than worshipping God (cf. Matthew 4:1-11).

So the only way we can be fulfilled is when we spend time with God to find out what these desires are and have them met by Him. Maybe that's what Psalm 37:4 really means.

So instead of worshipping the golden calf (cf. Exodus 32) like the world does in the hope of getting our selfish desires granted, in this Year of the Ox, let us worship the One who willingly bore our yoke. Only then can the innermost desires of our hearts be restored, and we'll find true contentment in Him.

A Prophetic Arts Prayer Trip... What's That???

It was already crazy enough when God said to prayer walk the land of Japan. I mean, how huge and outrageously expensive that would be!! But then He added on that He wanted it to be a prophetic arts trip too! Like, how many Christians even know what 'prophetic arts' means?! Who would come with me on this wild venture?? But within a week, He led me to three people who said they would pray about joining the team - and all of them are prophetic artists! So I had to say 'yes' to Him, and started preparing for the trip with much fear and trepidation... Firstly, Job wouldn't be able to come on the trip so I'd have to lead the team on my own. Secondly, I sensed that there would be some fierce warfare involved and I wasn't sure if I or the rest of the team would be ready for it. However, on both counts, God showed up and did all the hard work for us so we breezed our way through with great joy and celebration!

So how prophetic can the arts be?

God spoke to us so clearly through the arts. For instance, on our second day in Japan we had visited the Peace Memorial Park in Okinawa. There's an art gallery with a series of paintings by a particular artist on the theme of  'War and Peace'. I noticed that nearly every one of his paintings had similar wavy lines that looked like the wind.

I was especially struck by this piece which depicts the strength of the people in the face of hardship, as represented by the flowers that stand strong in the midst of the billowy winds. We had heard that we just missed a typhoon as we had arrived the day after it hit Okinawa. But little did we know that for the rest of the trip, God would protect us from two more typhoons - one changed direction midway and the other struck Tokyo the day before we landed there! So this painting was God's way of reassuring us that He would keep us safe even when typhoons are raging around us.

Then on another day, God prompted us to do team drawing so we all prayed and drew one picture each. Turned out that all the pictures formed a map for the rest of our trip as we kept seeing real-life representations of the things we had drawn thereafter! (I can only show you my picture as I don't have the other members' permission to show theirs...yet...)

We got to visit a pottery in Okinawa and through learning about the process of how clay is turned into ceramics, God also showed us many lessons about our Christian walk. The master potter was from the church we had just visited and as he was sharing about how he realised his true identity was to be found in Christ and not in culture or even the arts, I suddenly saw the link between his testimony and the impromptu dance that Aimee had presented in the church earlier on. The pastor (the potter's wife) had requested to see Aimee dance so she chose the song 'Who Am I' on the spot and improvised to it. Amazingly, God had already started speaking to us about our identity in Him through the dance and continued the same message during the potter's sharing.

 



God also spoke to others through us and the arts. At the church that was hosting us in Kyoto, we had presented the pastor with a postcard print of one of our team members, Chloe's painting, 'The Covenant'. The rainbow background reminded him of an actual rainbow that he had seen in the morning. It held special meaning to him as the church had just celebrated their 37th anniversary the day before. But he lamented that nobody else had seen the rainbow. We proceeded to get the four church members who were present to pick out one prophetic art card each from a bag and to our surprise, every single one of them received a picture with a rainbow! The probability of that happening was really very small as we had multiple copies of nearly 20 different pictures and only 3 of the pictures had rainbows. What's more, the next day when we met another church member and got him to pick a card, he got a rainbow picture too! So it was clear that God wanted to show the rainbow to the church members too, not just the pastor, in order to emphasise that He will keep His promises to the church.

On another occasion, Chloe was showing some missionaries-in-training the painting that God had inspired her to paint for and bring on our trip (you can also read about God's provision for her to come on the trip in her post). Through her explanation of how God wants to restore every nation, including Japan, He actually brought about reconciliation between a Korean believer and a Japanese believer who were listening to her!

The arts also helped to usher in great power to tear down strongholds. We were on our way to a place famous for its shrines and we were expecting a fierce spiritual battle there. However, a couple of days before the trip, God reminded us of how Jehoshaphat had won the battle through praise and worship (2 Chronicles 20:1-30). So throughout the 2.5-hour drive there, we kept singing song after song from our playlist and even added more songs to the list as they came to mind. When we finally arrived, we all sensed that God had already won the battle. He led us to a riverside instead of entering the shrine area, and released us to continue praising Him and making a joyful noise unto Him.

Don't forget God's masterpieces!

Of course, God also spoke to us wonderfully through His artworks painted in the skies and revealed through nature. Once when we had just finished praying, a butterfly landed on Jesse's thigh and rested there. Then on the day we did the team drawing, just as we had finished and were packing up, a butterfly hovered over Aimee's head for a while. To us, both incidents were signs of His presence with us.

On our first morning at Kyoto, I was woken up at 5.20am by a pink glow in the room. I looked out the window and for the next half an hour, witnessed the most amazing live painting with the clouds as His canvas. That was God's way of reminding me that I was indeed in the land of the rising sun, but also a confirmation of the word we had received earlier that the Son of Righteousness will rise over the land.

What about leading the team?

Well, my fears were unfounded, of course! I learnt to rely fully on God's prompting as He was the leader of our team, not me. Each time He prompted me or anyone in the team, there would be confirmation from the rest, and then we would act accordingly. Things would work out perfectly and we would even make pleasant discoveries along the way (one of them being the fantastically clear view of Mt Fuji even though it had been a cloudy day). However, the only time where the team disagreed and did not follow God's prompting led to a minor understanding with a couple of local people. But thankfully, when we admitted our mistake and apologised, things were quickly resolved.

To be honest, I hadn't been confident at all that the overwhelming itinerary (4 cities in 10 days, 6 flights and countless hours of driving) would be achievable, or that the crazy things (singing, dancing, playing instruments, flagging, bubbling, drawing, painting, giving out art cards) He had shown us to do during our trip would have any impact. But thankfully, my team members were willing to obey God's instructions and we got to experience incredibly divine things together!

The final confirmation that we had done everything right came when we saw this at the boarding gate of Sapporo airport as we were about to fly back to Singapore.

It's the same Hachiko dog that I had drawn (see earlier picture). But instead of waiting to hear the voice of his dead master, my picture shows the dog listening intently to his master's voice singing over him (with slight reference to the HMV dog who also happens to be listening to his dead master's recorded voice over the gramophone). When we incline our ears to listen to our Master, who is most definitely alive, we will find that:

The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

To live is Christ

Reflections (and prayers) while listening to Sidewalk Prophet's To Live is Christ:

If I rise, let me rise on you

Not on all of my successes, my esteem or my pursuits

If I lose, let me lose my life

Cause if I belong to Jesus, the flesh is crucified

Our identity and self-esteem should not be built on our achievements and successes, hence we do not pursue these for their own sakes. But whatever He allows us to achieve (or even lose) is for His glory and His purposes. May we be motivated by God and be willing to give up worldly pursuits (titles, awards, possessions, even relationships) that are not from Him.

For me to live is Christ

For me to live is Christ

For me to live is Christ, to die is gain

“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10

God is searching for hearts that are willing to die for Him, to die to self and worldly things. He looks beyond appearances (attending church & prayer meetings, or serving) to see our true motivations. May we do everything to glorify Him and Him alone!

If I grow, let me grow in You

Wilt the seeds of wanting more

Rippin' pride out by the roots

And if I'm still, let me hear You speak

Not the tone of my transgressions,

But the song of the Redeemed

We are all good in something. Do we pride themselves and boast in our achievements or are we humbled by the grace of God working in our lives? For He gifts each one with talents that we don't deserve in order to reveal Him to the world.

My great desire is to be with You

But this is the place you chose for me

This is the place you chose for me

To lift my cross and give everything

This is the time you gave to me

God has placed each of us in our school or workplace or neighbourhood at this time for a reason, not by chance but to fulfil His purposes for our lives. May we discover God's specific destiny for us and be intentional in growing in love and knowledge of Him as well as be trained and equipped for His work.

More thoughts from John Piper's To Live Is Christ - What Does That Mean? in Desiring God:

So the upshot of Paul’s life is that other people are making much of Jesus by being joyful in Jesus and boasting in Jesus. This is what it means for Paul to say “to live is Christ.” To live is Christ means to live, to be the means, of other people making Christ look magnificent by finding Christ to be their supreme treasure and their greatest satisfaction. That’s what glorying in Christ and being happy in Christ means. So that’s the first answer...

Now back in chapter 1 (of Philippians), to die was to be with Christ; therefore, dying was gain. That means his dying magnified Christ because it showed that Christ was more valuable than everything he had lost in death.

Now here in chapter 3, he’s unpacking “to live is Christ” in the same way with the same argument. Only instead of losing everything by dying, he says, “I’m counting everything as loss even while I live” to show that the value of Christ is better than the things I have in life even while I am alive. So again, “to live is Christ” means to live in such a way as to make Christ look magnificent as your supreme treasure...

In both cases, the goal of Paul’s life is attained when Christ is magnified in his body, whether by life or by death. The key to magnifying Christ in life and in death is to find him more precious, more valuable, more satisfying, more joyful, more boast worthy than everything we lose in death — “to die is gain” — and everything we have in life — “to live is Christ.”

Great in me

During a recent prayer meeting in church, the leader said something about God being great in us and it got me wondering, "How does God become great in us?" And immediately, a question popped into my head, "Will you allow God to be great in you?"

The thing is, at the beginning of this year, I had looked at all the assignments and projects for the year and thought that my plate was pretty much full. So I decided I wouldn't take on anymore work. But soon after that, an offer came to do some academic writing and I couldn't refuse as it's something I've grown to love during the two years in Bible college! I thought this must be it, no more after this! However, God has proven time and again that whenever I say never, I would soon come to regret it. A week before the said prayer meeting, He had shown me a need and directed me to offer myself to meet that need. I've learnt not to struggle for too long because He always wins me over, so I said yes.

And God started to show me the answer to the question, "Will you allow God to be great in you?" If I only venture to do the things that I can cope with on my own strength, then I don't need God in me to accomplish all that. But if I obey His directions to take on tasks that are beyond my abilities, then I would only be able to work through them if God works through me. Therefore, when I become weak when faced with those insurmountable challenges, and His power in me helps me to overcome them, God becomes great in me!

In fact, when I look back, I see how this has happened many times in my life whenever I yield to His leading and attempt incredible things. Like when He told me to quit my job and be a fulltime mom. I had absolutely no idea how to take care of babies and children, cook, and do housework (my mom is a progressive who didn't believe that her daughter's place should be in the kitchen!) But He not only enabled me to learn to take care of my family, He also led me to mentor other moms. Even older moms sometimes look to me for advice on parenting!

And then when I thought I had gotten my act together, He told my husband and I to start a music ministry from scratch, outside the church, without any finances and personnel other than the two of us. To cut a long story short, after just about five years, we had reached out to tens of thousands of youth and had a team of over a hundred volunteers!

Which was when He told us to drop everything and undertake a postgraduate course in a Bible college in the UK. We had neither the money nor the brains for it. After all, the only reading I had done in more than 10 years were the Bible and books on parenting. We also didn't have any prior theological training. Plus, how were we to move our whole family to the UK? What would we do about the children's education? Well, again He worked in and around us and now we have come back from the UK to Singapore, with our Masters degrees! In addition, the children slipped right back into the schools here and performed marvellously well in their national exams.

I am not saying all this to boast about our achievements and success. In fact, I'm boasting about how weak I had felt every time He called me to something seemingly impossible. Yet, each time He said, "My grace is sufficient for you." And when I had struggled enough and eventually said yes to Him, I allowed Him to be great in me and His power worked through me to do whatever He wanted. So, will you also allow Him to be great in you?

"Surely the people are grass"

While I was praying with some moms for their children recently, I suddenly saw a picture of an ear of barley in my head. Did a quick Google search and found that barley, like other grains such as wheat and rice, is classified as grass. It was one of the earliest grains to be cultivated and is currently the fourth highest in terms of quantity being produced. In fact, it has many uses and is seen as a highly nutritious health food.

As I continued to ask God about the significance of this picture, I realised that many people, including the young people we were praying for, probably feel like they are as worthless as grass. Thoughts of not being good enough, not valued by others, and not having any purpose in life, are common to many children and youth. Is that not like grass, which grows and withers quickly, without being noticed by anyone? Such sentiments also seem to be reflected in Isaiah 40:7, "The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass."

However, if we scan through the Bible, we actually find that grass is highly valued by God. Otherwise, He wouldn’t clothe the grass of the field in splendour beyond Solomon’s (Matthew 6:29-30), nor would the grass be so carefully mentioned in three out of four accounts of the feeding of five thousand (Matthew 14:19, Mark 6:39, John 6:10). And when the earlier verse in Isaiah 40:7 was quoted by Peter, he explained that when we have the living Word of God in us, we are no longer perishable like grass but we become imperishable (1 Peter 1:23-25).

Furthermore, He has created grass for a purpose (check Wikipedia!), just as how He has set us apart in our mother’s womb and called each one of us to a wonderful destiny (Isaiah 49:1, Jeremiah 1:5, Galatians 1:15). But if the grains are not gathered and processed, they would just remain as grass and the nutrients would be left untapped. So every individual needs to seek God to discover what his/her unique purpose in this life is and then pursue it, in order to fulfil the potential that He has given. Until then, we would go through life aimlessly and find it meaningless, for “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18a KJV). Yet when we have the Word of God in us and allow Him to direct us in realising the purpose He has ordained for our lives, we will find true fulfilment and joy. That is why the second half of the verse says, “one who follows divine instruction will be happy” (Proverbs 29:18b CSB).

Talking about suicide with our kids

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about how videos and social media are influencing children and young people to attempt/commit suicide (just google '13 Reasons Why' and 'Blue Whale Challenge' and you'll see what I mean). Even more sadly, there has in fact been a string of copycat suicide attempts in the schools/social circles that our own children are in. However, most of them had been intercepted and/or their lives were spared. So we have had to chat with our children regularly on this topic and I thought I might as well share some of the tips that we've given to them with other parents, children and youth.

1. Look out for one another

Look out for friends around you who may be suicidal - they may actually say they want to die, or they may be in depression or feeling depressed especially after experiencing failure or something demoralising. Talk with them, pray with or for them, and most importantly, alert an adult who can help eg parent, teacher, counsellor, pastor.

2. Watch your thoughts

Watch out for suicidal thoughts in your own mind and replace them with 'good thoughts' cos our thoughts will influence our feelings and ultimately our actions and behaviour.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

So if we keep dwelling on worldly ways of thinking such as 'life is meaningless' and 'I'll be better off dead', then pretty soon we will start to believe them and act them out. Instead, we need to fill our minds with Godly thinking which will lead to a transformation of our lives. Here are some egs of 'good thoughts'. There are many more in the Bible, of course.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life." John 14:6a

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:31-34

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. Psalm 23:1-3a

3. Get help!

Whenever you feel like you can't cope, go to God in prayer and worship, and read the Bible. Also, approach someone who can give wise and Godly counsel (a trusted adult eg parents, teacher, counsellor, pastor, youth leader) to talk with and get support from.