More Than Conquerors

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

In loving memory of my beloved friend

My beloved friend and sister-in-Christ, Madam Chan, born AD 1916, returned to be with Christ Jesus her Lord on 6 February 2009, AD at the age of 93.

"For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:" Job 19:25-26

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by my combined Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursday.

Thanks for your comments, prayers and encouragements.

Sorry for my long silence. Sorry that I have not been able to visit most of you.

My health has not been good in the recent weeks and I was rather overwhelmed by various commitments at home and in church. I am compelled to slow down and rest whenever I can.

I do miss blogging and many of you. Thanks for stopping by. I will try my best to catch up with you as soon as I can!

I am thankful to God for giving me grace and strength daily.

I am thankful to God that my beloved friend and sister-in-Christ, Madam Chan, is now safe in the arm of Jesus. Our dear Lord called home this precious servant of His on Friday, 6 February 2009. Now she is in the presence of the One Who loved her and gave His life for her, to worship Him and enjoy His love and fellowship for all eternity without the hindrance of sin, sickness or sufferings.

I shared about a wonderful reunion with her recently after 10 years interval. Madam Chan is 93 years old and came to know the Lord more than 10 years ago and I was then given the privilege to minister to her. Thank God that she was baptised recently on 7 December 2008.

On the day of her baptism, she said that was the happiest day of her life. She was thrilled and overjoyed to become a part of the Church of Christ. She daily began to pray for her brothers and sisters-in-Christ in the church many of whom she has never met. Being bed-ridden due to her health, she was never able to go to church. But her love for the Lord and His people remain the same.

It is a comfort to be reminded that this is not our home. We too are pilgrims here sojourning for a season and travelling towards the celestial city. One day, we shall be with our Lord Who loved us and gave His life for us, to worship and enjoy His love and fellowship without hindrance.

Meanwhile, we must press on and run the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, seeking, loving and serving our Lord until He calls us home in His time.

Thanks again for stopping by. May God grant you a very blessed week. Take care.

or more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy.

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Before they call, I will answer (Isaiah 65:24)

(I took this picture near my house during a brisk-walk session)

Dear Friends,

A very blessed and joyous new year to you!

Thanks for stopping by my combined Word-Filled Wednesday and Thankful Thursday post. This post was originally posted on Monday.

♥ Thank God for seeing us through another year of walking with Him and serving Him. May God grant us a closer walk with Him and a deeper love and devotion to Him.

♥ Thank God for granting me a very refreshing and fruitful weekend and Lord's day of worship, fellowship and service. Trust you too have had a very blessed and restful weekend!

♥ Thank God for preserving and restoring the health of Madam Chan. I shared about a wonderful reunion with her recently after 10 years interval. Madam Chan is 92 years old and came to know the Lord more than 10 years ago and I was then given the privilege to minister to her. Thank God that she was baptised recently on 7 December 2008.

Madam Chan was very sick last week and I thought the Lord might take her home. Thank God for restoring her health and she is better now. She is continuing to trust in the Lord and waiting upon Him to call her home to Himself. She is full of thanfkulness to our Lord despite her bodily afflictions. She is a wonderful encouragement to me and my brethren.

♥ Thank God for providing my family, church brethren and blogging friends who continue to care and encourage me in many ways.

♥ Thank God He knows our every need and will provide for us. A friend and brother-in-Christ send me this very very encouraging story of God knowing our needs and providing for us even before we ask Him. May this encouraging story encourages our heart in this new year as we walk with our Lord Jesus Christ and serve Him, trusting in His love and mercies that He will provide for all our needs spiritually and physically.

Isaiah 65:24 "Before they call, I will answer"

This story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator).

We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in.

Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

"All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm."

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died

During prayer time, one ten-year old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God" she prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon."

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?"

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say,"Amen". I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door.

By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children.

Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the.....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out - yes, a brand-new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly too!"

Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted!

Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?"

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon."

"Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24)

(My friend, AR, took this picture at Changi Airport, Singapore)

Thanks for stopping by. Take care and have a great week ahead!

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy.

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Where the will of God leads us, the grace of God will keep us

“We will be glad and rejoice in Thee. Song of Solomon 1:4”

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by.

A very blessed and joyous New Year to you!

Thank God for seeing us through another week and another year.

♥ I thank God for His mercies and faithfulness through another year of walking with Him and serving Him.

♥ I thank God for providing for my every need through the year. It's been more than a year since I do freelance work due to my health limitations. I am thankful to testify that God has provided for my every need in His many wonderful ways. Truly, the Lord is my Shepherd and I shall not want (lack) - Psalm 23:1.

♥ I am thankful to God for providing precious people in my life ie. my family, church, friends and blogging friends who love and care for me in their very wonderful ways. These are tokens of God's love for me and I treasure very much.

♥ It's been almost a year since I started blogging. I am very thankful to God for the many blessings I have received through blogging.
- I am thankful that I can share and testify of God's goodness and mercies to me through this blog
- I am thankful to God that I can share the resources I have found useful in coping with bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness) with my readers on this blog
- I am thankful to God once again for all of you, my dear blogging friends and visitors. I have been so greatly blessed by all of you and I thank God upon every remembrance of you. It is wonderful to read of how God is guiding and blessing you in your walk with our Lord and it encourages me in my walk with God too. Thanks again for your prayers and encouragements.

♥ Thank God for the joy of knowing Him, trusting Him and serving Him. May these words of CH Spurgeon be our hearts prayer too:

"Since, O sweet Lord Jesus, Thou art the present portion of Thy people, favor us this year with such a sense of Thy preciousness, that from its first to its last day, we may be glad and rejoice in Thee.

Let January open with joy in the Lord, and December close with gladness in Jesus."

May God continue to bless you with His love, mercies and blessings in many wonderful ways in this New Year.

May you continue to know His love and all-sufficient grace through this year.

May the assurance of God's love and mercies strengthen our heart to continue to walk with Him and serve Him despite whatever uncertainties or turmoil we see in the world today or in future. For we are assured that we are More Than Conquerors through Him Who loved us!

Where the will of God lead you, the grace of God will keep you.

"I have been young, and now am old;
yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his seed begging bread."
Psalm 37:25

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Praising God for guiding us through another year

"From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised. Psalm 113:3"

Dear Friends,

Thanks for stopping by! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements.

Thank and praise God for seeing us through another year. Soon 2008 will come to an end and we will enter into year 2009.

This morning, during the morning worship in my church, we were reminded to be thankful to God for His mercies and faithfulness daily.

I am thankful to God for all His goodness to me throughout the year. I am experiencing His love and mercies in many wonderful ways.

Though the world is going through a financial crisis and there are unrest at various places, thank God that He is our refuge and strength. Thank God that He gives us peace that passeth all understanding in Christ Jesus our Lord and He is able to provide for all our needs.

May God continue to give us peace and joy in trusting in Him. May He continue to draw us nearer to Himself, make us useful in His kingdom and make us lights that shine for Him.

Last evening, I was reading Spurgeon's Evening 27 December, and greatly encouraged by this precious reminder that our Lord will guide us continually. May you find comfort and encouragement in this article too.

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually.”
Isaiah 58:11

“The Lord shall guide thee.” Not an angel, but Jehovah shall guide thee. He said he would not go through the wilderness before his people, an angel should go before them to lead them in the way; but Moses said, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.”

Christian, God has not left you in your earthly pilgrimage to an angel’s guidance: he himself leads the van. You may not see the cloudy, fiery pillar, but Jehovah will never forsake you.

Notice the word shall—“The Lord shall guide thee.” How certain this makes it! How sure it is that God will not forsake us! His precious “shalls” and “wills” are better than men’s oaths. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Then observe the adverb continually. We are not merely to be guided sometimes, but we are to have a perpetual monitor; not occasionally to be left to our own understanding, and so to wander, but we are continually to hear the guiding voice of the Great Shepherd; and if we follow close at his heels, we shall not err, but be led by a right way to a city to dwell in.

If you have to change your position in life; if you have to emigrate to distant shores; if it should happen that you are cast into poverty, or uplifted suddenly into a more responsible position than the one you now occupy; if you are thrown among strangers, or cast among foes, yet tremble not, for “the Lord shall guide thee continually.”

There are no dilemmas out of which you shall not be delivered if you live near to God, and your heart be kept warm with holy love.

He goes not amiss who goes in the company of God. Like Enoch, walk with God, and you cannot mistake your road.

You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you. “Jehovah”—mark the word—“Jehovah shall guide thee continually.”

(Taken from Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, Evening 27 December.)

Thanks again for stopping by. May God grant you a very blessed New Year!

Take care.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Word-Filled Wednesday : God is our refuge and strength

This picture is taken by my brother, Arthur, at Muriwai Beach, New Zealand.

Psalm 46
1. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3. Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

It's been quite sometime since I last participated in Word-Filled Wednesday. I do miss all the encouraging WFW friends and posts.

Today I am thankful to be reminded that God is our refuge and strength. Thank God that He loves us and He is with us always.

May God continue to bless you with His love and mercies today and every day :)

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy.

Thanks for stopping by. Take care!