“I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one”- 1 john 2:14b

We have a God of strength, and He, in all His generosity and grace, has appropriated His children with a measure of strength. We have to receive it and celebrate it! 

Strength is not strength until you are able to face the evil one and overcome him.

This verse was written in the context of discussing the world. The lust, allure and attraction of the world is something that makes us youths vulnerable. Can we find the strength to say no to the works of the evil one through evil people? (might be very subtle!)

It’s not as if we should ask for a way out of this difficult life, but perhaps, we should think of why God put us here. The least we can do is to cope, and overcome. I want to determine to live in the strength of God. I’m positive the strength you choose to take from God will last a lifetime.

My relationship with God is really..weird, I know he’s there but I don’t know him very much and sometimes I am filled with longing when I see people really having a relationship with God because its so amazing to see that God, Jesus is alive! And when I read the posts here, I feel that yeah God is somewhere! But anyway.

During a sermon last week, I learned this interested acronym:

BUSY: Being Under Satan’s Yoke

It’s true isn’t it? I love being busy, I love having things to do and having to-do lists and stuff like that but the bible said that God wants us to “be still and know” that he is God. Being still means letting go, relaxing, trusting and surrendering! I think I saw for the first time how much of my life is controlled by MYSELF. Not God. And I don’t know how to hand it over to God because I don’t really know where he is, it’s like trying to pass something fragile to someone in the dark, you don’t just let it go because you want to be sure his/her hands are there before you hand it over or it’ll just crash.

So while I’m still fumbling around, I thought I should remind you guys that even in our business, we should remember whats more important:

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)- Of course I’d like to see how Mary would do in the IB.

And also maybe cos I’m so obsessed with getting my life in order, I don’t take time to hear God’s voice but I was also reminded in the sermon that Jesus has promised that he will never forsake us, and Jesus is pretty trustworthy.

Finally, the important thing about being a Christian is to live out these things that we talk about right! The practical lesson I took out from it is that in June I’ll be devoting my month to Short Serv! I was hesitant at first because I was thinking of all the other things I could do during that time but it struck me that God wants me to put him first in everything and part of surrendering my life to him involves giving him time. Jesus gave his life, our ‘sacrifice’ is nothing compared to that! So I encourage all of you to join Short Serv if you feel God prompting you to do something.

Hebrews 10:25, Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (NIV)

Thats all, sorry if its confusing.

Your Majesty, I can but bow
I lay my all before You now
In royal robes I don’t deserve
I live to serve Your Majesty

This is the chorus from ‘King of Kings, Majesty’ by Jarrod Cooper. 

And why I uploaded it is because I felt that this encompasses who and what we are as God’s children. Our posture before Him, our actions and our heart towards Him.

‘Your Majesty I can but bow’ - I can only bow towards MY KING.

 King = we are his people = we follow exactly according to His rules. 

‘I lay my all before You now’ - I have to give my all to you

my ALL = everything, life not just one part but every part. My mouth is now His, and now reflects Him, my actions before man, same thing, my thoughts before myself and God. Same thing. etc. All for His glory.

‘In Royal Robes I don’t deserve’ - Grace = something that we don’t deserve

‘I live to Serve Your Majesty’ - up to you to decide, how do you serve the King. 

Tf :)

Hi friends!

This week is our common test week, so some of us have decided that instead of just meeting on Tuesday, we will meet every day before assembly to pray for the exams and for the cohort in general. Do join us! Depending on the day (I’m not sure if all the papers start at the same time for all the days) we will meet 20 minutes before assembly. I think it will be a good time for us to quieten our hearts, find peace amidst all the anxiety and fear and to pray for the spirit of Wisdom to guide us! We shall meet at the usual spot outside the library on level 7:) Hope to see you all there and have fun studying!

M

Hi guys! 

I was thinking about what I learned last year during my family camp, and it also relates to the good friday story. 

When Jesus cried - “It is finished”, he did it because He came to earth to carry out a task that God asked Him to do. It was a difficult task, as Mariel talked about, but He nonetheless followed through it, and furthermore, He went beyond fulfillment.

It’s a thought that has been at the back of my mind since my pastor talked about it, and it is a tough challenge. Jesus finished the work that God set out for Him through fulfilling the scriptures. He did it through

1. acquiring knowledge of the scriptures when He was young,
2. practising God’s commandments 
3. fulfilling prophecy and scripture (eg Obey your parents, haha)
4. doing God’s will (not His! - “not My will, but Yours be done” Luke 22:42)

The basics are what we as young christians should be endeavoring to carry out, but greater still is Jesus’ example - He went beyond what God had expected Him to do. He forgave His killers. He cared for His mother. He spared a thought for the sinner beside Him. All at the point of death. God never did ask Him to do all that, and yet He did. 

This inspires me to press on - what I do now is never enough, not yet. 

-janel

If not grace, if not His love, then what? We are SO insignificant YET loved, treasured and treated as children of the King, because of who He is.

Happy Easter!

I must say I never really understood what that most (overused and) famous quote in the bible meant.

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

I must admit that growing up I never really thought much of it, and it was only until recently (yes, I’m slow I won’t argue with that:P) that I truly understood why Jesus had to die for us. The realization hit me so hard that even when I meditate upon the crucifixion and resurrection today my heart is flooded with a torrent of this incredibly overwhelming feeling.

Have you ever wondered why it was necessary for Jesus to die? What made His death different from the two prisoners at His side, from Peter’s, or from anyone at all for that matter? I’m sure many people in history would have suffered and been tormented at by the brutality of men, or have died a more horrible physical death than Jesus. I guess that is debatable. But what exactly made Jesus different from the rest of these people?

The fact is, Jesus suffered most in His soul. The pain that He had gone through in His physical body comes from the brain, but everything else comes from the heart, and the torment He went through came from His separation with the Father, the one person whom He loved so, so much. Can you imagine that? We feel so tortured when we are unable spend time with the one we love, yet Jesus forsook His being with His Father, the one whom He is united with, for our sake. 

Jesus is God, He knows all our sins and all our shortcoming, and I’ve come to learn that the reason He had to go through physical death is because sin lives in the physical body, and so by bearing all our sins in His body on the cross, He took away all the sin of the world and opened the gates to eternal life. Now can you even begin to imagine that? The sins of all the people in the past, throughout their own lifetimes, and even the people in the generations to come. Imagine the amount of sin He had to carry, but hey, imagine the magnitude of His love for us. Omg.

And then there’s the burden of knowledge. During the last supper and in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knew exactly what was to happen to Him and yet, because He loved God so much He didn’t let anything stop Him in fulfilling His Will. He didn’t stop Judas from betraying Him because of He didn’t want to deny him of his free will. But imagine knowing that you are going to be separated from the one you are one with. Was He fearful because of the physical blows He knew He was to receive, or even the crucifixion? No. He was afraid of being separated from His Father. Jesus knew that by carrying the burden of all our sins He was going to be separated from the Father, because sin and God cannot exist together. He had to be separated from someone whom He was so intimate with. (And can you imagine how God would have felt?) Jesus surrendered His freedom for us. He became an atheist on the cross, for us. He was stripped naked and became a fool for us. But when you are in love, you have no shame. For when there is love, there is humility.

“My God, why have you forsaken me?” 

Jesus was rejected by God on the cross, because He carried so, so much sin. The silence of God will kill you, the silence of your loved one will kill you, but at the moment of death Jesus still had so much Faith- “Father, into Your hands I commit my Spirit”. Look into the eyes of Jesus and see how much love He has for you. The passion of Christ’s soul is the ultimate expression of His love! 

Can you imagine? This is the Jesus we talk to everyday.

He is super duper (x3424924923423) amazing! I guess for me really understanding the passion of Christ makes me truly able to rejoice in His resurrection! Appreciating how much He had to go through makes His resurrection from the dead all the more meaningful. And it gives so much more meaning to that (almost) hackneyed old verse from the bible-

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” 

This man, I tell you, He is absolutely amazing, even after 2000 years I just want to fall deeper and deeper and deeper in love with Him. I want so much to love Him more, and I really desire to be able to love more like Him. 

Well happy Easter guys, hope this lenten journey has been a truly meaningful one for you :)

M

Warning, Reminder, Encouragement :)

Hello!

‘Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but if he keeps His word, in him truly the love of God is perfected               - (ESV) 1 John 2:4,5

Today in BS we were going through 1 John 2, and yeah one of the most important parts was this. A grave reminder and a warning for all that we are not saved just by words, that living a live for Him is a must and a commandment. Because as followers, we follow the King, and His commandments. Because as children, we know the Father and we are called to have a personal relationship with Him. Now, definitely, we know the Father, definitely we have to live by His standards. BUT, if we go on sinning and living like our mouths are ours, our thoughts are our own and our actions reflect just ourselves, do we therefore follow His commandments? Are WE therefore as the apostle John wrote - liars? Is the truth in us? What does truth here mean - the truth is the eternal life that God has given us - ‘God has given us eternal life…he who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son of God does not have eternal life’. A life fully and wholly focused on Christ the King, Lord, Savior and our Advocate and the Father who gave His son for us OR a life that is lived in darkness, sin and death. No in the centre just either one. Love God or Love sin.

The next verse however affirms us that, if we struggle and based on God’s strength live a life that is fully focused on pleasing Him, viewing Him as the King of Kings, then, truly we know him and we live for Him. Then, the love of God will be perfected in you. The love of God = what He has done but also His rules, that His commandments reflect Him - we are created in His image, I think He knows best how we should live. So grow to become more godly not, grow in darkness :) 

therefore, a warning, reminder but also an encouragement :)

TF 

Good Friday

I guess everyone knows and remembers the Lord for what he has done for us. Although I know that Good Friday was yesterday, i just thought that I share something rather interesting that I have never thought or heard of from the message.

As we all know, Christ died for us… But I found out that Barabbas’ release had a meaning to it, a hidden meaning that emphasizes the significance of Christ’s death on the cross. The message lies within the name BARABBAS:

BAR - it has the meaning of “son of” just as malays use “bin” to refer to the son of someone, the name coming after.

ABBAS - this is derived from the word “abba” meaning father, a term we all know God by.

Put together, Barabbas means the “son of a father” or in other words any child under an earthly father, as well as the Heavenly Father. That would also mean us. Barabbas was condemned to die as well on the day that Christ was crucified and in that way, Christ took his place when the people asked for his release instead of Christ. Barabbas symbolises all of us, all under the father. Therefore, we were all condemned to die a horrible and painful death for our sins (Barabbas’ crimes) but we were freed and the Son of Man, of the One and Only God, took our place on the cross and died for us.

kyn