Thankful Thursday - We are God's precious children (Letter to My Child)

Thank God that I am finally able to join Thankful Thursday again! I do miss all of you at Thankful Thursday. Thanks for stopping by!

♥ I have been very ill over the last few months and I am thankful to God for preserving and strengthening me daily as I continue to look to Him and wait upon Him.

♥ I am thankful to God for His Words and His presence which comforts me daily.

Isn't it wonderful to remember that God (our Heavenly Father, our beloved Lord Jesus Christ and comforting Holy Spirit) is with us always and He loves us dearly?

I saw this very encouraging "Letter to My Child" on Amy's website. I am thankful to our Heavenly Father for His love for us and what He has done for us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Hope this letter will encourage you too as you remember with thankfulness the love and goodness of God.

Dear Child,

You may not know me, but I know everything about you (Psalm 139:1). I know when you sit down and when you rise up (Psalm 139:2). I am familiar with all your ways (Psalm 139:3). Even the very hairs on your head are numbered (Matthew 10:29-31). For you were made in my image (Genesis 1:27). In me you live and move and have your being (Acts 17:28). For you are my offspring (Acts 17:28). I knew you even before you were conceived (Jeremiah 1:4-5) and I chose you when I planned creation (Ephesians 1:11-12). You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book (Psalm 139:15-16). I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live (Acts 17:26). You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). I knit you together in your mother's womb (Psalm 139:13) and brought you forth on the day you were born (Psalm 71:6). I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me (John 8:41-44). I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love (1 John 4:16) and it is my desire to lavish my love on you (1 John 3:1) simply because you are my child and I am your Father (1 John 3:1). I offer you more than your earthly father ever could (Matthew 7:11) for I am the perfect Father (Matthew 5:48). Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand (James 1:17). I am your provider and I meet all your needs (Matthew 6:31-33). My plan for your future has always been filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11) because I love you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore (Psalm 139:17-18) and I rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). I will never stop doing good to you (Jeremiah 32:40) because you are my treasured possession (Exodus 19:5). I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul (Jeremiah 32:41) and I want to show you great and marvelous things (Jeremiah 33:3). If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me (Deuteronomy 4:29). Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4). It is I who gave you those desires (Philippians 2:13). I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine (Ephesians 3:20). For I am your greatest encourager (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles (2 Corinthians 1"3-4). When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you (Psalm 34:18). As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart (Isaiah 40:11). One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes (Revelation 21:3-4) and I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth (Revelation 21:3-4). I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus (John 17:23). For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed (John 17:26). He is the exact representation of my being (Hebrews 1:3). He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you (Romans 8:31) and to tell you that I am not counting your sins (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you (1 John 4:10). I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love (Romans 8:31-32). If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me (1 John 2:23) and nothing will ever separate you from my love again (Romans 8:38-39). Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen (Luke 15:7). I have always been Father, and will always be Father (Ephesians 3:14-15). My question is will you be my child (John 1:12-13)? I am waiting for you (Luke 15:11-32).

Love, Your Father,
Almighty God

♥ I am thankful to my family, church and friends for their prayers, encouragements and kindness. I thank God for blessing me with them.

♥ I am thankful to all of you, my dear blogging friends and visitors, for your friendships, prayers and encouragements. It's a joy and blessing to know all of you.

♥ I am thankful to God for Iris in hosting Thankful Thursday. Thanks Iris and thanks to all of you at Thankful Thursday for sharing with me your thankful heart and encourages me in my walk with the Lord through your sharing. Some of you have been visiting me although I didn't manage to participate in Thankful Thursday for many weeks and it so encourages me in my difficult times. Thank God for sending you in my time of need. Many thanks again and may God bless your kindness to me!

How about you? How has the Lord blessed you through the past week?

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a blessed and thankful day!

For more participants of Thankful Thursday, do visit Iris at Sting My Heart. It will be a very blessed and spiritually uplifting experience for you!

Word-Filled Wednesday : The LORD is my strength and song

The LORD is my strength and song. (Psalm 118:14)

Thank God that we can look to our Lord Jesus Christ each day and find our strength and joy in Him Who loved us and gave His life for us.

May this be our comfort and encouragement always!

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods. It will be a very blessed and encouraging experience for you.

Thank you for stopping by. Thanks for your prayers and encouragements. Hope you have a blessed day!

(I took this photo at a Flower Exhibition at Sentosa Island, Singapore)

Just think, you're here not by chance but by God's choosing

I received this very encouraging message from DaySpring which sells Books, Cards, Gifts, etc:

DaySpring's Best Loved Message by Roy Lessin

Just think, you're here not by chance but by God's choosing

Just think,
you're here not by chance,
but by God's choosing.
His hand formed you
and made you the person you are.
He compares you to no one else.
You are one of a kind.
You lack nothing
that His grace can't give you.
He has allowed you to be here
at this time in history
to fulfill His special purpose
for this generation.

-Roy Lessin

The Story behind the message:

For almost twenty years, the words above have touched thousands of lives. Now DaySpring Writer and Cofounder Roy Lessin shares for the first time how God placed this message on his heart:

I received an assignment to create a birthday card. I had written many birthday messages over the years and wondered what I could share that would be new and different. My thoughts quickly went to Acts 13:36, "For David, after he had served God's will and purpose and counsel in his generation, fell asleep."

I decided to write a birthday card based on this Scripture because I had recently been thinking about the teaching of evolution and the impact it was having on people's lives. "There are many people who find life meaningless," I thought. "they need to know that life is not by chance and that God has a purpose that they can fulfill in their generation."

I lifted my pen and began writing, "Just think, you're not here by chance, but by God's choosing..." A few hours later I put the final touches on the card.


What an encouragement!

When our life is difficult, especially when struggling with clinical depression or other difficulties, we may question whether there is a meaning to our life.

But no matter what we are going through now or how insignificant we feel our life is, may we be encouraged to know that our life is not by chance but by God's choosing.

We are precious in God's sight.

Life is not meaningless. God loves us and He has purposes for us here.

Thank God for His love for us!

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalm 139:14

Thanks for stopping by and for all your concerns and prayers. Thank God for His goodness and mercies daily as I continue to wait upon Him for restoration.

May you have a blessed week!

Word-Filled Wednesday : What shall it profit a man?

Mark 8

34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mar 8:37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

God has been bringing these verses to my mind recently. These are solemn reminders to me to take up my cross daily and follow Christ. I am reminded to set my priority right daily. It will not profit me if I shall gain the whole world but lost my soul. But if I have Christ and live for Him daily, even if I have little in this world, I can have the assurance of eternal fellowship and joy in the Lord.

May this be your comfort and encouragement too!

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods. It will be a very blessed and encouraging experience for you.

Thank you for stopping by. Thanks for your prayers and encouragements. Hope you have a blessed day!

(I took this photo at Changi Beach, Singapore)

What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

In the daily challenges of life with various ups and downs, it is sometimes very easy to get discouraged.

In my battle with bipolar disorder and especially in coping with clinical depression, sometimes I do feel discouraged.

But I am daily reminded of God's love, goodness and mercies. Though in this life we have various difficulties, God is with us and He will work all things for His glory and our good as we put our trust in our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a great comfort to me.

As I strive to live for the Lord daily, I am reminded that my life is not just for enjoyment of things in this life but rather to do the will of God. During clinical depression, I lost all ability to enjoy everything. But I am reminded that this is a medical condition that can be treated.

While I await God's restoration through medication, exercise, and other means, I realized that God will give me strength to live meaningfully for Him as I seek to do His will.

I read this very encouraging devotional recently which reminded me afresh of what really matters in this life.

"What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"-- Mark 8:36.

SIMON PETER had been urging our Lord to spare Himself the suffering to which He had referred, but He answered that this could not be for Himself, or for any other who would follow in His footsteps. Proceeding from His own deep experience, He went on to show that in the same measure every one must deny his own choice and will and pleasure, in order that he may reach the highest life for himself and others.

It is not necessary for any man to make a cross; it is our part simply to take up that which God has laid down for us. The cross is no exceptional piece of asceticism, but it is the constant refusal to gratify our self-life; the perpetual dying to pride and self-indulgence, in order to follow Christ in His redemptive mission for the salvation of men. And it is in proportion as men live like this that they realize the deepest and truest and highest meaning of life. When we live only to save ourselves, to build warm nests, to avoid every discomfort and annoyance, to make money entirely for our own use and enjoyment, to invent schemes for our own pleasure, we become the most discontented and miserable of mankind. How many there are who have given themselves up to a life of selfishness and pleasure-seeking, only to find their capacity for joy has shrivelled, and their lives plunged into gloom and despair. They have lost their souls!

If a fire is raging, and a millionaire saves his palace from destruction, but in so doing loses his own life, does it pay? And are there not many who are building for themselves palaces of wealth and pleasure, but are losing the power of enjoyment because they are destroying all the finest sensibilities of their nature. Our Lord asks, what does it profit to gain the whole world, and forfeit one's own soul?

But not to adopt the policy of the world is certain to bring upon us dislike and hatred, before which many have been daunted; and yet to refuse Christ's policy of life, and to be ashamed of acknowledging that we are His followers, will mean ultimately our rejection. For how can our Lord use us in any great schemes of the future, if we have failed Him in the limited sphere of our human life?

PRAYER
O God, we have been disappointed because the cisterns that we have hewn out for ourselves have not given the water needed to quench our thirst. Fountain of Living Water, of Thee may we drink! Bread of Life, of Thee may we eat! Light of Life, shine upon our hearts, that we may walk in Thy light. AMEN.

(Taken from Meyer's Devotional, 9 July)

Thank God for His presence and His Words which encourage and strengthen me daily. I pray that God may enable me to live for Him each day as He strengthens me.

Thanks for stopping by, dear friends! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements.

Your friendship, prayers, encouragements and concerns have been used by God to be a great encouragement to me!

The thought of God and you encourages my heart daily. May God bless each of you in His special ways.

Hope you have a blessed weekends! Take care.

Word-Filled Wednesday : Be still, and know that I am God.

Be still, and know that I am God... Psalm 46:10

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear...Psalm 46:1

No matter what we go through in this life, may we always find peace and comfort in the Lord because He is our God! May this be our comfort today and everyday!

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods. It will be a very blessed and encouraging experience for you.

Thank you for stopping by. Thanks for your prayers and encouragements. Hope you have a blessed day!

(I took this photo at East Coast Beach, Singapore)

Word-Filled Wednesday : We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us

Thank God for His precious promises:

"... we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:37

May this be our comfort today and everyday!

For more Word-Filled Wednesday participants, do visit Amy at The 160 Acre Woods. It will be a very blessed and encouraging experience for you.

Thank you for stopping by. Thanks for your prayers and encouragements. Hope you have a blessed day!

(My friend, Sau, took this lovely photo in Saipan)

Enjoying nature and photography once again

Thank God for strengthening me day by day as I wait upon Him.

Yesterday, a kind friend and sister-in-Christ, Grace, took me for a walk at Hort Park. It is a beautiful park with flowers and plant. We had a good time of fellowship together.

I am thankful to God that I can enjoy nature and photography once again!

Whenever I go through clinical depression, I seemed to lose all ability to enjoy anything. Due to chemical imbalance in my brain, I was not able to think or feel aright.

Thank God for restoring me. Now that I am better, I am so thankful to be able to enjoy nature once again.

I love nature. The beautiful flowers and plants remind me of the wonderful creation of God. God creates these beautiful flowers and plants for us to enjoy. I am thankful that I can enjoy photography once again. It helps me to capture some of the loveliness of God's creations.

God also creates us so that we can enjoy Him and His creations. I am reminded that He will take care of me and all of His beloved people no matter what we may have to go through in this world.

Thank God that He is with us through all the changing scenes in life, and He never leaves us nor forsake us. He give us grace and strength to live for Him each day. We are weak but He is strong. We can look forward to the day when we are with Him forever, no more to be burden by a weak and frail body or mind.

Recovering from depression always give me a sense of a new life in Christ. It's like being born-again or being raised from the dead.

Thank God for His presence and His Words which encourage and strengthen me daily. I pray that God may enable me to live for Him each day as He strengthens me.

Thanks for stopping by, dear friends! Thanks for all your prayers and encouragements.

Your friendship, prayers, encouragements and concerns have been used by God to be a great encouragement to me!

The thought of God and you encourages my heart daily. May God bless each of you in His special ways.

Hope you have a blessed weekends! Take care.

Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Psalm 73:25-26