The story of 3 years+3 hour =lasting memories

My convocation just passed last week. I had a great time resting and also sharing my joy with my family members and friends. 3 years in UM... I think God does not only put me in the place just to complete my studies but most importantly to teach me how to live my life esp continue be a light for him until he takes me home one day.

Sometimes it's hard to express my gratitude on things that happen in my life whether it's good or bad but everything comes with His purpose to mold me to be more like Christ. I cherish the time of gathering with Christians in campus..how we've struggled through bad moments and how we've celebrated the joy that happens in campus....

However..campus is not only a place where I've grown spiritually but also in all other areas... meeting up with friends, learning to be a person that strive to please God in all that I do. I thank God for all the friends that I've met, that have accompanied me throughout my life in campus, bringing joy to my life that has become great memories that I can hardly forget....

3 years in kl... I've stayed with my lovely housemates that still continue keeping in touch... i miss every seconds that we spent no matter in teasing each other, caring or learning to stay together under one roof... carrying our house theme " live harmoniously..." i miss them alot ...

3 years...away from Ipoh... recalling the hard times my parents have gone through just to make sure that their children are able to survive outside the comfort zone... providing their best not only financially but continue to show their love and care through phone calls..taking action in travelling down to kl to meet us and providing the best in accommodation, education and also whatever they can... and more and more...to pray for us, praying for our safety and also our closeness with God... thanking them for being my parents...my graduation is for them... it's not for myself but for them...

Phew...using 3 years to complete my degree while convocation only lasted for a day (or maybe just 3 hours??).. thanks for those who came and celebrate this joyous moment... thanks for being part of my life..making my life colourful in all ways.. thank you....

Learn to be lonely (Phantom of the Opera)

Child of the wilderness
Born into emptiness
Learn to be lonely
Learn to find your way in darkness
Who will be there for you
Comfort and care for you
Learn to be lonely
Learn to be your one companion
Never dreamed out in the world
There are arms to hold you?
You've always known
Your heart was on its own
So laugh in your loneliness
Child of the wilderness
Learn to be lonely
Learn how to love life that is lived alone
Learn to be lonely
Life can be lived
Life can be loved
Alone


The songs of Phantom of the Opera keep playing in my mind for the past few weeks. I searched back my CD collections and start to listen to the songs I like most-- The Phantom of The Opera. I love the ending song- 'Learn to be lonely'.

It speaks right into everyone's heart. It is undeniable that we have to learn to be lonely. Stepping into working world lets me discover that there are difference when I was studying compare to working now. People are more willing to share their thoughts and feelings while studying compare to working. We become more secretive and try to keep everything to ourselves, scared to expose our true self.

But God asks us to be true in our Christian life, to live every second that brings honour to Him. I know that I'm not alone in Christ. However, there are thousands and millions of people out there who live their life being lonely not only physically but emotionally.

Disappointments come, hardships occur... God says that it is through all these, we know how blessed we are and how God has brought and will bring us through. I can see problems as a way of God bringing me one step closer to knowing him. But, to those who don't understand.. disappointment is purely discouragement in their lives.

The call is there, to learn to serve and not to be served; to learn to comfort and not to be comforted; to learn to be a good listener to others..to learn to respect people... to learn to understand and be patient..to learn to be humble...

I pray that I may not be a Sunday Christian... but God may use me in my daily life to touch other's life. I want to be a living testimony... the road is narrow, hardship comes, disappointment appears but it's worth traveling when God is beside me always..

Be courageous, be strong.. my heart, my soul and my mind...do learn to listen to God's voice...may His peace surrounds you.. may you find joy in serving Him...

CHEERS!! :)

My thoughts...

My life, God's way... it's always good to reflect back the thoughts that once were in my mind, a commitment to God to live my life to the fullest to honor Him in all I do. Two months of stepping into a working world, I didn't regret taking this step to continue to serve God and obey Him in my daily life. No doubt, it is hard and there is still a long way to go.

I love my job a lot; not because it is an easy task. Indeed, it is a challenging one that uncertainties await me once i step into my office. God assures me that he has a purpose in putting me there. A Christian is a christian wherever he goes, whatever he does...not only on Sunday, but everyday, every second, we are God's children, His ambassadors. We should not be carrying a mask but to be a true self whether in church or outside the battle field.

I love my colleagues, everyone of us has different characters, unique in our own ways. Just like a church, we must work as a body. People may not see the importance of working as a body--a body built up by different parts,given different functions yet heading towards a same purpose. Indeed, it is always easy to speak than to do..yet, that is what I prayed--that God may lead, he may guide and he controls the situation. Bad things may come but it is only when we have gone through bad moments then only we know how to appreciate and give thanks for the blessings that come our way.

Pride Kills

I always think that everything is under my control and things will go smoothly as long as I keep my principal well, take good care of it and eventually, it will end well. However, I prove myself wrong. It is while I have so much confidence on myself that there the danger of falling flat is so near,strong and vivid. Humbly I come before the Lord, I seek for forgiveness as pride has overtaken me and create in me a strong confidence on myself yet unknowing that it's a no.1 killer that kills my relationship with God.

I'm so complacent with things that I owned. I have a job, though not earning alot, still afford to sustain my living; I have parents to accompany me; I have free time....But what are all these if there's no God in my life? I start to lose focus, laziness crawls slowly into my life,intends to comfort me with tonnes of excuses of not obeying God in my daily life. The power of His Word and the importance of prayer once spurred me to continue to seek Him daily. My previous few posts spoke so loudly about how important for me to depend on God daily... just less than a month, things change so quickly. I laugh at myself, hah!! My pride kills me, the second I start to rely on myself and my strength, there I start to fall unconciously. How easily can a person be defeated by himself when he starts to lose focus on God, yet, how many of us will take it seriously with this disease that will bring disaster to our spiritual life.

I questioned myself: Does coming back mean that serving God has stopped? Does starting my work life mean that I'm too tired to commit in serving in the ministry that God has called me? I tend to give myself alot of excuses of being a pew warmer..." I served before, I should take a short break now".. Instead,there shouldn't be any chance of 'pause' in serving if my heart, my soul and my mind is right with God. The passion and the love for Him should be so strong that there's no time to think of stop loving Him in ALL that I do... yet, I love myself more than the One who loves me so much, the One who gave His Son to die on the cross for you and me, the One who does not see my weaknesses and my ugliness and reject me...the One who created the whole universe yet sees a tiny little one of His creation as precious in His eyes.... How could I forget? How could I ignore? How daring that I just want to please myself not Him? Forgive me Lord....

Don't and never ever under estimate the power of our own desires, they can destroy us. Thank God for giving us His Holy Spirit to teach us and bring us back to Him wherever we go astray. One once said that a true Christian can never backslide easily, they may fall but once chosen by God, we can never run away from Him, His hand covers us, protects us, keeps us near to Him.. how wonderful it is if we learn to know Him in depth.

There's always a choice

He was oppressed and afflicted yet he did not open his mouth, he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. - Isaiah 53:7

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said," Surely this was a righteous man." When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. -Luke 23:47-49

I start to discover the beauty of God's Word and how it really becomes my source of strength and wisdom as I journey through my working life. Everyday, new challenges come my way especially in forms of criticisms, negative comments, false statements, gossips that I do not want to hear from yet happen.

When Jesus was led to be crucified and to die on the cross, knowing that He himself did not sin,He did not defend, fight back or flee away from the hands of those who captured him the night before his crucifixion. He said nothing not because he has done anything wrong but he knows what he is doing: to die on the cross, to save his people from eternal death and from the wrath of God. He humbly, consciously being led to the cross, all in all, to obey God and fulfill the wonders of God's grace and love that we will be saved through him. He did not fight back, argue even though he has the power to do so.

The wonder is that the truth will always be revealed at the end of the day; when Jesus died on the cross with the miracles that followed during his hour of death ( the temple curtain was torn into two, earthquakes,darkness covers the day..), soldiers, people who were on that spot knew that they have killed the wrong person...indeed Jesus is the Son of God! The truth is revealed, those who criticised Jesus felt ashamed, guilty of what they have done...some hide, some repent.. Indeed, God knows how to protect those whom he has chosen, not only Jesus, but His children on earth...

God's wisdom is what I need to face my daily challenges. I can choose to fight back when I hear what is unbeneficial to me, I can choose to be angry, I can choose to be ignorant and be stubborn. But, I am called to choose to follow God's way. Taking revenge or fighting back, though I may win the argument, may cause broken relationships, hardships, negative impressions and bad testimony. I choose to be like Christ, silent is not always equal to foolish, but to God, in some ways, it is the wisest choice compare to defending and rebuking. It makes my life easier, to see people back-stabbing, gossipping yet not affecting my mood because as long as God knows what I'm doing, as long as I know what I'm doing does not sin against God, I should not be so calculative and hold tightly on it... let God settle the problem, I should focus on the tasks given to me in my workplace.

I rejoice because I find peace and joy in living my daily life with God's Word as my guidance. There are more challenges ahead of me, I should not fear but constantly pray not only for myself but colleagues who help me and also those whom God has put into my life to make my life more challenging...haha... thank God for them as without them, I may not know how great is my God.