Commitment.

Distractions cast aside, we bring you praise.

And thats what I'mma gonna do.

Today's message was a real shaker. Not because it was just another sermon, but because it has spoken to me very personally; something that hasn't happened so directly in a long time. And i think, that it's come at a really crucial point.

Many a times, I tend to say to myself: "hey, its okay man. Forget what you did, and live on! Its okay!" But today, I've learnt to not give excuses to myself. To not just believe in Jesus, but to really start following Him. And thus the question:

how are we following Jesus today? are we finding our first Love?

So what does it take to really follow Jesus? From Luke 9:57-62,
It's kinda broken up into 3 parts.

A. Placing our Security in Christ.
Dang. This one was really an eye opener. It speaks about us not relying on others, on ourselves, on the world, because these things can, or may fail us and fade away as the sands of time streams down the hour glass. But if we were to really be so rooted in Him, then we can have a firm rock to stand on; an unshakable tower of strength.

question: As we follow Jesus, we become vulnerable, and God asks us to give things up. What is hindering you from growing closer to Him?

My answer: I'm stopping DotA. Yes. I know its really hard. Taxing even. But I've really felt that this is what I gotta do man. There are also several personal reasons why I'm stopping my passion for this.

1. I'm another person online. I scold. I'm arrogant. I treat people like dirt. And that really, really, really sucks to the core. It's so... not me in reality? I don't really know how'da put this, but its like, everytime I'm gaming, this angry person comes out. As a result, I've lost friends. Hurtful? Duh.

As regards to this, I would appreciate my friends who game with me to try not to ask me to game. As tempting as DotA is to me as a MegaMac, a man's gotta do what he's gotta do! :) So I'll really appreciate all your support if you can. Perhaps in due time, I'll continue with you all soon, when the time is ripe.

2. I spend more time on the computer than in reality. The number of hours i spend gaming compared to GOOD QUALITY TIME spent on knowing friends, or even God, is like, 100:1. No, I'm not lying. This is really me. And thus, the change.


B. Put God First, Him being the Priority.
Thus the question: What are you commited to?
See friends, whatever you are passionate about, you become commited too. Whatever you desire to have, you treasure. So if one's heart is placed into loving something, then yes, you'll hold that more dearly. Hence, by really chasing the awesome God we serve whole heatedly, I am sure that He'll start to reveal to us His face, His purpose, His heart.

So guys, come on man! Let's start the day right by really taking good time, with all distractions cast aside, and start understanding what's on His heart.

Why? Cause when we see Him face to face after our journey on the third rock from the sun, it'll be a beautiful scene to see Him say: "well done, good and faithful servant."

Yep, so personally, by removing distractions in my life, I hope to grow more compassionately, learn to be sensitive to Him again like I used to, and even, hopefully, grow more. :)

Oh yes, and with priority being set in the right place, we must not let procrastination separate us from our goals and targets. Yep! keep them in mind yeah?


C. Serving Him Whole-heartedly, where is your Commitment?
So like in the pervious point, its really a step-by-step process.

First comes priority, which leads to the person being commited to it.
But how are we gonna sustain ourselves!? How do we not look back, or regret our choice? the answer is simple, really. Just actively seek and serve God.

Nothing is impossible for God; your problems are never too big for Him to solve; He holds you in His hands; His plans never fail, but are always out to prosper you.

So with those in mind, why not remain in Him, and let Him remain in you. My dear cell leader emphsises that our God is a gentle one. He won't force His way inside.

God can fix a broken heart, but He's gotta have all the pieces.

Being open to Him is the first step to growth. If we're gonna shut Him up, continue living our lives like we want to, then by golly, we're just gonna end up in alot of deep crap. Yes, I speak from experience. So people, don't fall into it.

I'm gonna trust God that by choosing this decision, I hope that He'll really see my heart, and that I really wanna grow in Him. I'm alot of talk, but no actions. But this time, I really wanna do this right. It's time to grow up, take mature control of my own faith. And I encourage y'all to do the same.

If you're struggling to let go of things, pal, you ain't alone. But seriously, talk to someone about it. Tell God. He'll tell you what to let go in His own perfect timing. :)

So yep, I'm expecting to grow. Perseverance, check. Hopes, check. State of heart, check.
Now lets rock this, God. :D

-

English Translation of Wedding Dress by Taeyang:

I would argue
Then you would cry
As you’re struggling, I would only get stronger
My heartaches behind these shadows
My face brightens up as I see your smile
I worry that you might notice my feelings
And I get scared that the gap between us would widen
I hold my breath
Then I bite my lips
Then I pray that she would leave his side.

Baby, please don’t hold those hands
Cuz you should be my lady
Please look at me, I’ve been waiting all this time.

Once the music ends, you’ll be with him forever
I prayed and prayed that this day wouldn’t come
The wedding dress you once wore
The wedding dress you once wore
The wedding dress you once wore

You, who never understood my feelings
Because of that, I ended up despising you
Then I wished a misfortune upon you
But now, my eyes are dry
I try to talk to you but I realized that I’m alone
Every night, I would look back and think
If I already knew the results
Then I close my eyes
Then I dream an endless dream
Then I pray she would leave his side.

Baby, please don’t hold those hands
Cuz you should be my lady
Please look at me, I’ve been waiting all this time.

Once the music ends, you’ll be with him forever
I prayed and prayed that this day wouldn’t come
The wedding dress you once wore
The wedding dress you once wore
The wedding dress you once wore

By all means, be happy with him
So I can move on
Please erase me out of your heart
Although I tried my best but, no oh~

I’ve been living the lies for too long
Yet, she would look at me and smile.


-
Damn, I think its damn sad man, in relation to the video playing. Guess you gotta treasure your lady man, and get 'er, and hold her tight before you lose her. :O That would be the real heartbreaker.

Hmm..

[*`~.

New perspective

Hillsong - Desperate People.
You cross the great divide, You took our place
You offered up Your life, for we have failed
The veil was torn and love remained
You are holy Lord

Distraction costs us, how we seek Your face
We offer up our lives to bring You praise
A love the walls cannot contain
You are holy Lord

We're rising up in spirit and in truth
A living sacrifice we worship You
People undivided Lord hear us sing
We are Yours and You are our King

This is our love
Hearts joined as one
Desperate for all You are
Lord break down these walls
And see how we love
Desperate for all You are
We chase Your heart

We didn't come to leave here entertained
Or worship under any other name
We're crying out for You alone
You are holy Lord

We're rising up in spirit and in truth
A living sacrifice we worship You
People undivided Lord hear us sing
We are Yours and You are our king

This is our love
Hearts joined as one
Desperate for all You are
Lord break down these walls
And see how we love
Desperate for all You are
We chase Your heart

Show us the way to Your heart

We found our voice
We found our cause
We're on our knees, the carpet's worn
We join our hearts
With distant shores sing to You Lord

This is our love
Hearts joined as one
Desperate for all You are
Lord break down these walls
And see how we love
Desperate for all You are
This is our love
Hearts joined as one
Desperate for all You are
Lord break down these walls
And see how we love
Desperate for all You are
We chase your heart
We chase your heart

---

So the O's are finally O-VER! :D
Well, even though it was, to be honest, i didn't really feel all hyped up and stuff as I thought I would. Infact, it kinda turned out the opposite. I felt, burdened? Strange isn't it?

I guess, I kinda found the answer today, in service.

I had changed, for the worst.

I messed up life pretty much. In relationships, studies, friends, my walk with God. You know, it keeps me back to the real question that was asked today before the service:

Where's your heart? Towards man, or God?

A very simple, and yet powerful question. I knew the answer was man. I'd been rather selfish, very crude, violent, aggressive, loads of other hurtful stuff were done to friends. I didn't treasure them and because of that, I ended up tearing myself down instead of building relationships with people.

You see, I believe now , even more strongly that if one were to lose sight of his goal, his purpose, he'll end up falling. What can one do without a purpose? Obviously, nothing. He'll just rot his whole life away, wondering on the face of the earth like some zombie. So, what is my goal, what's my purpose? Its found in Jesus. This truth I now put close to my heart, especially after God revealed what the lone-wonderer I was for the last couple of weeks.

I get to see the real importance that if you're gonna remain far from God, or His Word, oh crickery, you're gonna probably end up very crapped up and lead a messed up life like I did. It's not cute, lemme give you that. I don't really wanna say what I messed up, cause I'm feeling horrid inside of me as i type this and as I think of the things I've done. But, please, know that remaining firm, rooted in God that your path will be made straight.


Healer. Provider. Friend. King. Saviour. This, is our God.

Thus with hearts joined as one, with everything, we'll tear down our pride, break down these walls, we'll run with the solution; to be Your feet, to be Your light. We'll run this race for Your glory.

My Jesus, my precious Jesus.
I'm forever yours.

Be Lifted High - A Heart's Desire.

The TK Journey

As the 4 years in TK come to a close, I look back.
What do I see?

I see inspiration
By the teachers we hold dear

I see friends
Companions for life,
Some champions and leaders of the future

I see my juniors
Rising up to their potential
To the gifted leaders they will grow into

I see myself
Taking the route of a TKsian -
A route of being inspired,
Leadership and excelling in all that we do

I remember love
I remember the hurt and pain
I recall the pew-ness!
And burning Cu in flame

I remember English lessons;
A three quater empty classroom
And the rest outside of it

I remember summing things up
And differenting curvy lines that make no sense
I remember audi-lessons
Things taught felt ever so dense

For the wonderful MT lessons;
The anger and rage
For punching the door
And leaving a dent permanently till the end of age

The list could go on
But where else would I rather be?
No, none.
Its TK that will always be in me

But all in all
With the picture in place
All that I now see
It was surrounded by His grace

---

Today's message was the continuation of Paul's journey, and it really impacted me.
Firstly, I went to church kinda heavy hearted, since the O's are coming really soon and stuff, but even as we went into a time of worship, the burden felt as if it was taken from my back. I could feel God - something that I haven't got in a long time.

And just like I always tell Samuel Do, things never happen for no rhyme or reason.

Reason? I've not been living right. I've not been behaving right.

And just like that, if there was no other way to say it directly to my face, God speaks through Elder Freddy Boey about "the world", "the flesh" and abit on "the flesh".

Gosh. The week has reflected every single thing in that one message. Lemme break it down for y'all.

The world - the system in which people are in; a world without Christ.
So, this week, alot has been going on about the AHS. I mean, just like how Samuel Yuan has blogged about "Grace" and the issue on Miss Ris Low, I'm really so glad that God has been able to show me that I've gotta love others like He would. Whatever happened to grace? Whatever happened to love?

It's hard to show it, I know, especially towards the people who never fail to be irritating to us. But, WWJD? - What Would Jesus Do? He would love them! Why? Cause everyone; be it an intelligent person, rich, good-looking, etc. Jesus would still take them in for the way they are.

But how can we do this? The point is, we can't. Not by our own strength, but only through the Holy Spirit. By being empowered by Him, I can do anything, including loving those that are may not appeal to us.

So, I really thank God that I was able to cling onto His Word and just remain loving to him. It was hard, definately, and I did feel like being part of the AHS. But thank goodness that I was able to stand firm on my stand that I wouldn't, and do exactly the opposite. I think its also not by coincidence that I sat with him during Geog! Haha! And in the end, it was kinda fun too. :)


See, there are two types of people, each leading to different paths:
1. Tree of Life (Genesis) -> People of Worship(having a relationship with God) -> Abel and Seth

2.Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil -> People of self-worship -> Cain

So we're here at a crossroad; to choose the Knowledge, or Life (A relationship with God). At first sight, sure, knowledge seems like a good thing - With knowledge, you can obtain power, you can obtain wealth, great intellect, the ability to comprehend things of this vast and amazing world. However, it can bring about another thing, that would be destruction. And sadly, most of the time, we see this more than construction.

I think I would always remember this phrase Elder Freddy shared:

If knowledge could solve our problems, then I think the last hundreds of years have shown that it doesn't work.

And yes, I totally agree. "Then how can we solve the problems!?" you ask.

The answer is in relationships. All problems can be solved if we take the time to make a proper relationship between people. And our God is the God of relationships.
By remaining in God, we can be able to fight the struggle against our flesh, the sinful desires of the body and continue to be elevated to greater heights through Christ. Christ broke down the barriers that hindered people of different nations, tongues, colour to be in one accord to worship. It is in a Church that you can see the various races coming together to praise God. You see no form of clusters; there is no discrimination of classes of people, there is only a single people coming together in one desire, one objective, that is to lift up His name.

So I'll leave you with a checkpoint question:
Are you gonna be part of the world, or be out of it?


The flesh - our body, our sinful nature
I think like Paul, this is definitely the biggest thing to remain firm against and to resist all temptation. I have definitely failed this week when it comes to giving into the flesh. Included things like lust, vulgarities, anger. It's mega hard to change, that's for sure, but I've learnt a lot through this sermon.

So as stated as above, there are two types of people and the resultant choices. The path for knowledge would lead to death, because no great number of good works or flawless life would ever bring one to the gates of heaven. Unfortunately, those still lead to death.

And we must understand that we have a choice, to resist against the evil/sinful desires of the flesh, by clinging onto God to be our strength, to overcome the burning desires of the body. Just like how in Romans 7:14-20 states, Paul shows that it is the body that separates him from growing or walking with God, because God can only work through a clean and pure vessel. It is also therefore by His grace that we can have the Holy Spirit living in us, and for Jesus' death on the Cross, because now, we are clean!

Thus, there is hope! Although the flesh is us, we can still overcome!

So become overcomers and learn to rely on Him for strength. If you're facing a huge boulder such as vulgarities or lust or whatever big sin like I am currently facing and struggling with, fret not, dont lose heart! Its a process dear friends, really really ask for forgiveness first, thats a really good start. Then thank God for things He has done for you, followed by asking Him for strength to face the day and to change the inside.

Let God be lifted high in our lives from this day forth, forevermore!

Putting what we learn into practice!

It's been a rather awesome week, cause I'm really learning how to grow closer in my walk with God. Apart from the tiring days, and the never-ceasing-to-grow-pile of homework, life's been really good.

I think through the last week, I've been trying to live according to His desire, and not just mine. Personally, I am one who really believes that lyrics of songs can speak to people. And that is how it has been lately. Here's some to quote as we, Riverlifers/Megalifers, begin to catch that wave of revival and ride it under eagle's wings:

Open our eyes, to see the things that make Your heart cry.
To be the church that You would desire, the light to be seen.
Break down our pride, and all the walls we built up inside,
Our earthly crowns and all our desires, we lay at Your feet.
- "With Everything" - Hillsong

Heal my heart and make it clean, open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me.
Break my heart for what breaks Yours, let everything I have, for Your Kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into, eternity.
-"Hosanna" - Hillsong

Alot of talk about purity has been goin' around in Church and yes, it is really true that unless we bring down our burdens, sins, cares, and place them below the cross, we won't be able to grow more intimate with God.

More of a time, we begin to rely on our own strength and face the day without God. However, without His guideance or strength, we really cannot do much on our own. I speak from experience, haha. And thats why its so very important to remain in Him and let Him remain in us. Its a two way thing! Christianity isn't a religion dear friends, its a relationship.

So I'll like to just encourage me brothers and sisters in Christ to know our God more. Taking the time out to do some QT wouldn't hurt. Cause after all, God's been waiting to tell you something all this while. What it is, tha's for you to find out today!

As for those who have yet to know this awesome God whom we dearly love, I pray that you will get to know Him intimately one day. :)

Let's learn to take a step of faith, and practice walking with God today!

And yeah, we're up!

Hello there world. :D
Its been so long since i last posted haha. Well, kinda owe it to Nick and Jesh, lol. And perhaps Kwa every now and then too. Suprised that people actually read, hoho!

So anyways, O's are really nearin' around the corner. People are pickin' up their books. Quotation from Jeshua when we wanted to sign up for a mousehunt tournament:

er gg 18h. idm but but but i wanna study so dan you gotta help me ^^

Haha. Anyways, its good stuff to see friends all gearing up and stuff. And yeah, even I'm gonna pull the plug out of this computer after this. :) Need to settle down, pull up these ankle socks and run the race.

So even as we (the awesome people taking O's) gear up, I really wish all of you out there all the best, work hard, and let's taste the sweet victory after this storm!

So don't give up on yourself, cause if ya do, then the battle is already lost before the war has started. Sometimes, all you need is a little faith in yourself. So why don't you put some into other people, I'm sure that'll be well appreciated.

So I'll try my best to update weekly, perhaps on Sundays. Keep the tags rollin' in; I wanna know what you feel about the new look haha!

And that's all folks. Till a week later.

NOTIFICATION!

Came to my attention that some people still read this blog haha. Well, heads up folks, keep coming back, cause there'll be a new skin, content and stuff! so keep your eyes opened! :)

Thanks.

Finally, blogger's up - eh wait, only part of it....

Hey there guys! Erm, at least i can now see the box in which the words are in.

Anyway, I'm mega exhausted from today. Had to run the rehersal for the POC this comming Saturday, 1Aug. I really dread it, cause firstly, it takes alot of concentration(after a tiring day of school + 2hours of chem + chem remedial = a product formed (A tired Daniel). Note the given equation is exothermic cause I was super pissed during the rehersal. Secondly, too many last minute changes and its super hard to do something of such a grate scale. Thirdly, I was rather annoyed at some of the sec 4s, esp NCC Sea and Land dudes. Like what they were doing with the baton, like in my mind;

"Aiya, how old are you guys man..."

But heck that. Some people do weird stuff. Haha, the world's filled with 'em.

Chemistry test came back, 33/40 for MCQ (A1 can!), but the disappointing one was the section C where i got 17/30 only. Zz. I needa do something to improve my inference skills even though Mr Tan says that its God-given. Well, I'm glad that I know my God can grant that for me! :)

On the whole for life so far, I think its pretty managable. My parents recently gave up on me, but for some strange reason, I'm kinda enjoying the wakin' up early, independence kinda thing? And I don't know about this, but I'm actually feeling better not having to engage in conversations with 'em, cause they usually lead to more quarrels and random shit. :S

Lets park the emo-side away lol. Hmm.. OH! There are quite a number of birthdays during this seven days, Todays Chua-la-la's birthday (Chua XinYi), so happy sweet sixteenth! :) Also celebrated mr LITTLE JUNIOR'S 15th birthday. Right Debra Lim? :D Haha, I'm still contemplating if i should put up the video despite her pleas not to do so... Hmm, to be evil or not? :)

Yep, tomorrow's E-math test, so I'm gonna rest early and do some math questions in shcool in the morning. Hmmm, another alarm ringin' at 5.25am then! Ciaos!