Running The Race to Win

Yeah, just like the pictures above, our life is a marathon, and not a sprint, which is going through a long and winding path.When it comes to marathon, there are 2 critical times. One is when we start it, we often wonder how fast we should run or what it is all about. The other one is when we are halfway through the journey, more often than not we run out of passion.

According to Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929),
'Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent'

Don't grow weary, keep pressing on!

5 keys to finish the race of life despite all the dehydration, hurt, loss of sight of finishing line etc. :
1) Know what fills and drains your tank
(what causes you to get encouraged or let down)



Things which drain you are things you don't like to do or listening to the wrong people.
Things which fill you are things you enjoy doing.

50% full - anxiety attack
0% - nervous breakdown

2) Understand the law of balance
God is a god of balance which means proper order.

3) Lead or serve out of rest
Remember the 4th of the 10 commandments.

4) Find a lightning rod
That is people who are spiritually matured whom you can share you problems with.

5) Be disciplined in your daily devotions

God Works Through Us

Yeah, that's true! God works through people and not matter or method. As in Exodus 17:8-13, Moses was used by God and not the rod lifted up by him, it was Moses! It's the ordinary people like you and me God works through to make a great difference in the marketplace.

Wait a minute!! If you want to serve God and be used by Him to do great things, firstly you gotta be secure in God. No worries you won't excel in life because God's word in Matthew 6:33 says "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

4 areas we need to work on:
1) Self-image - how you see yourself
Imagination is powerful creative tools and you conform the image you imagine yourself to be!
If you think you are a failure then you are gonna be one! No matter what other people say about you, it doesn't really matter, it's how you see yourself after all. If you are formed by people's thoughts about you, you will be like a tree without a root system.



2) Self-worth - how you value yourself
To God, we are worth His son sacrificing His life on the cross calvary to save us!
3) Self-esteem - how you feel about yourself
We make decisions based on our feelings and that's why you gotta guard your heart make sure it's aligned with the Bible.
4) Self-respect - how you honor your dignity
Be a servant! But you gotta remember that servant-hood does not equal being servile!

3 trees

Hi Guys, just want to share some interesting story with all of you. Let us remember that God can use each of us yah =)

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.”
Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”
Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter,” and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
At the second tree the woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.
When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree, I’ll take this one,” and he cut it down.
When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.
Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said “Peace” and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.
Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.
The moral of this story is that when things don’t seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don’t always know what God’s plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Overcoming Disappointment

To begin with, God is a good God whose priority is for us to receive His love and respond to it. God wants us to release the bitterness, resentment in our hearts so that God's love could flow through us to other people we relate to.

It is understood that everyone must have gone through disappointment but we gotta remember that broken heart is a doorway for the devil, the sickness to come! Don't obstruct the purposes God has put in our lives like visions, healing, casting out demons and releasing the bitterness in us. However, He requires us to respond by embracing His love.

Disappointment is a part of our lives and it happens when something we expected turns out differently or expectations we set are let down by certain people.

In the world's context, like for the Chinese, when we are disappointed we tend to endure it as the Chinese character put it this way.

The above character symbolizes a knife put over a heart, which means 'endure' by suppressing what we feel inside our hearts. It completely contradictory with God's way , which is 'persevere'. This means believing that God is gonna carry on the thing with us and bring us out of it.

What do people do when they are disappointed?
1) Fellowship with the wrong people, i.e. those who are disappointed as well
Getting around with these people could bring us farther away from God whereas disappointment is an opportunity for the growth of our faith for God
2) Blame God and shooting out "Why me?" questions instead of asking "God, how should I respond?"
When we are disappointed, we don't recognize what God is doing. We drawback from God. We comfort the pain rather than finding the comforter, i.e. God Himself.

God has also gone through this pain of disappointment. How did Jesus deal with it?
As God won't draw near when people are disappointed, He asked them to talk about it, to draw out their feelings. He also began to remind them God's promises and words. Thus, disappointment has been overturned into faith.

When we are disappointed...
1) Come into the presence of God
2) Face the reality of what is happening and do not harbor hatred, instead, pondering on how it has affected us
3) Be honest with how we feel and react and be responsible
Express and pour out our feelings to Him through grieving or weeping over it. Fix our heart and mind onto the Lord as God is willing to forgive
4) Release the people who caused the disappointment
5) Open up our hearts and ask for God's help

Be willing to forgive!! =D