Say A Daily Prayer

One Church One Home

2011-08-31T19:30:00.000+10:00

United we stand, divided we fall.

Psalms 133:1 “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”

1. Unity Takes Intentionality

- Apostle Paul wrote to the church of Ephesus in the book of Ephesians 4:3-6 “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

- We are called to keep unity, not create unity among ourselves.

- We are already united together in Christ, but it takes humility and love to grow the strength of the unity.

2. Unity Does Not Mean Uniformity

- When we are united, it does not mean we should be parallel in everything.

- Our interests should not be forced to be the same.

- It is not necessary for us to look physically alike.

- The only thing that matters in unity is our heart to keep it.

3. Differences Do Not Mean Disunity, but Difference in Vision Leads to Di-vision and Division

- Di-vision means having two or more visions, which sometimes contradict with each other.

- Division means a group being divided, every one heading his/her own way.

- 1 Timothy 3:1-3 “Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.”

- It is okay to disagree, but not okay to be disagreeable.

- Disagreeable means unwilling to accept others or accepting without a sincere heart, usually caused by pride.

Matthew 12:25

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”

We are one body in Christ. In Colossians 1:17, Apostle wrote: “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” In Jesus Christ, all disciples hold together in unity, like concrete being strengthened by steel bars, like the flesh being held together by the bones.

We need to have united hearts in our lifegroup, local church, and ultimately the church of Jesus Christ.

Memory verses:

a) Psalms 133:1

b) Ephesians 4:3-6

c) 1 Timothy 3:1-3

d) Matthew 12:25

e) Colossians 1:17

Turning Deficiencies Into Victory

2011-08-28T10:00:00.001+10:00

By Pastor Simon Eng

28 August 2011

Judges 20:14-16 “From their towns they came together at Gibeah to fight against the Israelites. At once the Benjamites mobilised twenty-six thousand swordsmen from their towns, in addition to seven hundred chosen men from those living in Gibeah. Among all these soldiers there were seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss.”

1. Turn Liabilities into Abilities

Ø The Benjamites were right-handed but they converted to use their left hand.

Ø We should turn our weaknesses into our strengths.

Ø We won’t know our strength until we face the test.

Ø We need to turn discouragement into courage.

Ø 1 Samuel 30:6 – ⁶David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

Ø Winston Churchill: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is your courage to continue that counts.”

Ø Strength and courage are not gifts, they are character traits built in the battles.

Ø The moment we stop making excuses, that’s when we begin to win.

Ø 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 – ⁹Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” ¹⁰Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

2. Decide to Advance, No Excuses to Retreat

Ø Our decisions define us.

Ø Our choices reveal who we really are on the inside.

Ø Our ultimate victory depends on our choices today.

Ø John 6:60-71 talks about Many Disciples Desert Jesus.

Ø We should not waste our experiences.

Ø Grow through our pains and scars.

Ø Once beaten, try again, try harder.

Ø Our troubles will not crush us, it shall complete us.

Ø The wounded way is the way of Christ.

Ø Isaiah 53:5 – ⁵But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Memory verses:

a) Judges 20:14-16

b) 1 Samuel 30:6

c) 1 Chronicle 4:9-10

d) John 6:60-71

e) Isaiah 53:5

Choosing The Road Less Travelled

2011-08-27T15:00:00.000+10:00

By Pastor Lawrence Lee

27 August 2011

Matthew 7:13-14 – ¹³Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴Small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

1. See Beyond the Immediate

Ø There is a wide gate, broad road, and it is a popular choice.

Ø There is a small gate, narrow road, and only a few find it.

Ø We need to see beyond convenience, comfort and popularity.

2. Choose the Path that Leads to Life

Ø Proverbs 15:24 – ²⁴The path of life leads upward for the wise to keep him from going down to the grave.

Ø Joshua 24:15 – ¹⁵But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But ass for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

Memory verses:

a) Matthew 7:13-14

b) Proverbs 15:24

c) Joshua 24:15

Pray During The Rain

2011-08-04T22:49:00.004+10:00

Testimony:

1# Yesterday evening was drizzling, so I was suddenly prompted by the Holy Spirit to pray. While driving, I prayed for good weather, safe journey, safe drivers on the road and fun time at Kuching Fest.

When I stepped out from the car, it was still drizzling. I wanted to take the umbrella. At the same time, I felt the spirit prompted me again, to take a step of faith. So we walked under the rain without any umbrella.

Sat down at the table, the spirit prompted me again. Pray together. Indeed, the rain stopped after a few brothers and I said a short prayer. Praise the Lord.

2# I finished work at 5:30pm. I started driving at 5:35pm. At 6:15pm, I still haven't driven more than 1km, because of serious traffic jam + rain. Cars everywhere, water everywhere, mud also everywhere.

Out of the blue, I just prayed: "Lord, please bless all the drivers here on the road. Bless them so that they can drive diligently and safely. And Lord, I pray for the traffic to move because it's raining, the sun is setting, it is dangerous to drive at such time, and we want to go back home. Amen."

Then the traffic started to move. And I reached home before 6:30pm.

Committed

2011-07-06T19:30:00.000+10:00

Life as a Christian is not just about us accepting Christ as our Lord and Saviour, but it is also about the Great Commission from Lord our God.

Matthew 28:16-20 said it all. Things to note:

- (v17b) but some doubted

- (v19a) go and make

- (v19b) baptizing them

- (v20a) teaching them

Question:

The people that know you are a Christian, are they:

a) the people around you outside the church, OR

b) the people in your church?

We are looking at how these can be put into practice in our everyday lives.

1. WORD

- Nehemiah 8:8 “They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.”

- 2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,”

- These verses interpret themselves for us: the Word of God is the BIBLE (Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth).

- If we truly believe that the Word of God brings life, what are the things that are stopping us from reading/learning from God?

- We do not want to be only NICE people, but we want to aim to become GOOD people, good in God’s eye, servants of God that has a heart that is chasing after God.

- Often, through reading the bible scriptures, the Holy Spirit will come and speak to TEACH, REBUKE, CORRECT and TRAIN us.

- Only with a full denial to our old self and submission to the way of the Lord, then we can experience transformation in our lives.

- 2 Timothy 3:17 “so that the man of God can be thoroughly equipped for every good work”.

- Therefore, it is important that we commit and dedicate our time for the Word of God.

Tips:

- Find opportunities to share with someone about what you have learned daily (or weekly) from the bible.

- Try to remember at least one verse each week (the preacher in Sunday Service always gives more than one).

2. WORK

- Apostle Paul wrote this in Philippians 2:12 "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling".

- Notice the Word of God says "work out" and NOT "work for".

- I believe in order to touch & impact people's lives, it all starts from deep within us.

- We don't need "churchy" actions or appearance to show the world about Jesus Christ, but as Pastor Denis said, "We need to have an intimate relationship with our God".

Nevertheless, it's quite dangerous to think that we are working for the salvation of people. This is because we are saved by grace not by work. Instead, we should work out our own salvation so that the world may know the Lord and receive their salvation.

Working out our salvation:

- 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray continually”.

- Mark 12:30-31a “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” and “Love your neighbour as yourself”.

- John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”.

Our God the Father is a creative genius. Somehow in His brilliant plans, if we choose to fully deny ourselves and take up the cross (working out our salvation), then the people around us will see the difference through our Holy Spirit-filled character.

"I would rather open a rescue shop before the gates of hell than to live in the comforting sound of a chapel bell." - Brother Isaac Biju (2011)

It is by our commitment to the Lord that determines how much God can use us for His plans “to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” – Jeremiah 29:11.

Memory verses:

a) Nehemiah 8:8

b) 2 Timothy 3:16-17

c) Philippians 2:12

d) Mark 12:30-31

Essential of the Bible

2010-04-28T13:57:00.001+10:00

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

What can the Bible do?

Teaching

1. It gives us the correct information.

• Everybody needs teaching, not just believers or Christians or disciples, but everybody.

• For Jesus has come for the sinners, not for the righteous.

• We gain knowledge when we are taught.

• That is why we never regretted not going to school when we are young. The ability to read and write that we have learned, we appreciate its usefulness today.

Rebuking

1. It repairs our wrong ways of thinking.

• Most of the time, we always think we know about how something works. Sometimes we got it right, sometimes we got it wrong.

• The Word of God is the way that God points out to us about our wrong thinking, but it is up to us if we want to repent or not.

• For example, we won’t know if it is okay to drive straight through red lights at the traffic lights, unless we study about the laws and regulations.

Correcting

1. It corrects our character.

• Routine becomes habit, habit becomes character. Therefore, bad habit causes us to end up with bad character.

• We want our character to be good, not bad or just useless.

• Like an open book test, we only get the correct information from the book to answer the questions in the test. Of course we will avoid writing down the wrong answers or answers that are not related to the questions.

• When we open up ourselves to be corrected, we grow more in maturity.

• The enemy can use the Word of God against us too, just like how Jesus was tempted.

• If we know the Word of God deep enough, we can correct our thinking, even when the enemy uses it against us. This is demonstrated when Jesus was tempted to turn stone into bread.

Training in Righteousness

1. It trains us to be ready to make the right choices and decisions.

• God allows us to be tempted, so that we know how strong we are against temptations.

• When temptations come, knowledge about the ways of God allows us to be able to stand firm in righteousness.

• When we have decided to be a disciple of Jesus, following His ways and abandoning our old ways, we need to take the initiative to train ourselves.

• It is like signing up for gym and make effort to exercise to build up our bodies.

• Jesus said in Matthew 7:24-25 – 24Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Why do we need the Bible?

1. We need a guideline to be prompted.

• Do we want to build our lives based on just what we think is enough, or do we want to build it to the highest standard available?

• The Bible tells us which lifestyle is the best for us.

2. We are yet to reach God’s standard.

• Our standard of “perfect life” is way too low compared to the God’s standard of life.

• Things that we think is “alright” may not be alright after all.

3. We lack of gratitude.

• When we received a blessing, we thank God.

• But when we face problems, we question God about His promises to keep us away from all sufferings.

• God never promise days without pain, laughter without tears, and light without darkness.

• But in the days of pain, He provides us with the strength to carry on; in the days of tears, He provides us with joy for us to be thankful; in days of darkness, He provides us His hand to guide us through the darkness.

• He provides everything so that our faith will grow if we choose to trust Him.

4. We do not understand the importance of the Word.

• The result of following the Word of God is only seen after we put them into practice for some time.

• When we look at those who fully follow the commandments of God, we may think that they are trying to be holy.

• But we will never understand it unless we do the same. Matthew 13:13 – 13This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

• Only when our lives are totally changed by following the teachings, we will realise the importance of the Bible.

5. We have not apply the teachings fully.

• We can know the Word of God, but still sin intentionally.

The reasons for God to give us His word

1. John 17:17 – 17Sanctify them by your word, your word is truth.

• All the things written in the Bible are true.

• No one can prove the Bible wrong.

2. It is to change, to mould and to remake us.

• So that we can grow.

• G – grounded with the word of God

• R – routine in prayer

• O – open for corrections

• W – worthy of God’s calling on the appointed time

• We are made in the image of God, but sin has destroyed that image.

• This is the reason we don’t see the glory of God when we sin.

• We have to build up our image to be like Christ, and the very manual to do so, is the Bible.

3. Forgiveness is only found in the Bible.

• Our sins are forgiven when Jesus gave His life on that cross and we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour.

• John 3:19-21 – 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.

• When we confess our sins to God, we will be forgiven. The weight in our hearts are lifted up, we won’t be carrying the weight of our sins anymore, because Jesus will be carrying it for us.

• But, we also need to live by the truth, which is the Word of God.

Reasons to put Bible into our life

1. We need to know the importance of the Word of God.

• John 1:3 – 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

• Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth

• The Bible teaches us the way to avoid committing a sin.

• We are not sinless, but we can sin less if we train hard.

2. The Bible shows us our sins.

• In the morning, our room is dark.

• When we pull open the curtains, sunlight comes in.

• Then we realised the air is full of dusts.

• Our sins are like the dusts in the air, there is so much of it that we lost count. They are hidden in the darkness. Until we open up the curtain for Jesus, the ray of bright light, to show us our sins, we will never realised how unhealthy we are when we breath in the air full of dusts.

3. The Bible helps us to build a good life.

• In fact, it is the best life.

• Normally we choose the course we want study because we believe we can enjoy a wonderful and fruitful life with the knowledge that we gain. This is because we know the knowledge will benefit us.

• The same goes for the Bible. We build an even better life by studying the Bible.

Conclusion

The Bible is made out of paper and ink, we can easily destroy it. However, the knowledge that comes behind the paper and ink is the Word of God, and it is indestructible. Those who treasure the Word of God will find their true treasure of life, outside the wealth of this world.

Introduction

2009-11-02T23:37:00.001+11:00

I created this awhile ago, but never had a chance to update it. This is solely for recording my walk with God as I take each step in my life, understanding God and His teaching more and more.

As time passes by, I will take the opportunity to pen down my experience, my learning, and I hope it can be a testimony about God as well as an encouragement for all the readers out there.

It has been a year since I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, so I have plenty of testimony to share. It will take me some time, but I'm very enthusiastic about it.

Thank you for reading.

Matthew 28:19-20

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nation, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.