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Reflections

Press the Reset Button

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reset

Victory and greatness can sometimes blind me of the real important things in life.

Defeat and challenges can sometimes paralyze me to focus on the things that truly matter.

I feel like I always have to press the “reset” button every time either of those happen in my life.

And now, as I just turned 31 this month, I feel like I need to do a reset of priorities again.

I felt like I’ve lost the end goal in mind and I merely chose to live each day as it comes.

I lost a sense of target, a vision.

I realize that for the past months, I’ve wasted a lot of my time doing unnecessary things and sometimes not doing anything at all.

What happened to me, maximizing my life being single?

I don’t know. I just lost it.

But I’m grateful that I can always start again. I can always go back to my list of faith goals that I set at the start of this year.

I’m just glad I made a list!

As I once again press that “reset” button, I pray that I will never lose sight again of the vision that God has given to me at the start of this year. I pray that everything I will be doing will always be aligned to what God had already set for me for this year.

And as I continue to wait on certain things in my life, I pray that I will never grow weary and lose hope.

I will continue to live with God’s vision in mind, enjoying the present.

————-o————–

My heart is not proud, Lord,
    my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
    or things too wonderful for me.
 But I have calmed and quieted myself,
    I am like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child I am content.

Psalm 131:1-2

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Diary of a Princess, Reflections

Waiting is Grace

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I got to answer one of the questions during our small group icebreaker activity.  The question is, “How did I experience God’s grace in my love life?”  I could not give a fit answer as I’m not in a relationship but it reminded me of something very important.

I know I’m not alone in the journey of waiting and for sure a lot of single women like me would agree that waiting is never easy. In my own season of waiting, I have failed so many times. This is not just in the context of waiting for the “right” person but in all other areas of my life that God had asked me to wait.

Why did I fail? Because I thought that getting ahead of God would not really cause much trouble. Because I thought I will be able to handle it. I thought I could be in control. And because I was foolish, consequences were not just painful but they left scars. And those would not happen, if I waited.

We fail to realize that the purpose why God allows us to wait is because we are not yet ready. Not yet ready of what He wanted to entrust to us. Just like when we were in school, we can’t wait to finish and get a job. But a degree is needed to be able to find a nice paying job. So there must be preparation.

God is actually gracious enough not to let us do or have something we could not handle YET. It is God’s way of protecting us from things that we are not yet ready of. In the time of waiting, He lets us see what truly are in our hearts. He reveals to us our true motives and desires for the things that we ask of Him.  He allows us to also get to know Him more and His will for us. It is a season of pruning, molding, preparing and growing.

So how do I experience God’s grace in my love life? For now, it is through WAITING.

one fine day

 I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:13-14

3 Days - Giving it All

[Giving it All] Day 3: God Will Honor You

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Reading: Matthew 26:13

“Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Reflection:

My older sister, Amity passed away eight years ago. She was the person who taught me how to dream big and how to value family more than anyone else. Aside from her laughter and bubbly personality, these are the things I will always remember about her that I can share to people to give her honor.

Same with Jesus, He also honored the woman in the presence of the disciples and other people. Jesus did not just accept the offering of expensive perfume of the woman but He even praised her and promised her a lasting legacy.

People will sometimes not understand when we surrender our life to God. They may think that it doesn’t make any sense. However, God promised, “If we do not lose heart in doing good in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” (Galatians 6:9)

What does surrendering our life to God means?

It means that we are letting God take control of our life. We are trusting God our entire future. We are allowing God to transform our mind and hearts that we may see things in His perspective. This simply means, in every action we do, every word we speak, every thought we ponder, every decision we make and every relationship we have – it will not cause us to sin against God, instead it will please God and glorify Him.

But then, this is impossible right as no one is perfect like God? That’s why we need Jesus to be our Lord, our Master, our Savior. God can only honor people to be in heaven if God will see Jesus in our life. While in this lifetime, as you surrender daily to God, He will also honor you in ways you can never imagine. You just have to trust Him for that.

So, what kind of legacy do you want to leave for the next generation to come? How do you want to be remembered? Are you willing to make Jesus the center of your life?

In the gravestone of Amity, we put this verse to show people who would pass by that she never gave up on her dreams, on her own battles, on her faith in God. That’s how we want her to be remembered.

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Are you struggling in letting go things in your life that’s hindering you to let God? Hope this prayer will be a start as you desire to make Jesus the center of your life.

Prayer:

Dear God,

Thank You for reminding me today how important it is to have a life centered in Jesus. Teach me Lord to surrender my life to you. Help me to let go of the things and relationships that are drawing me away from you. Help me to trust You in every step of surrender I will make knowing that You always have the best plan for me. May I be able to leave a good legacy of my faith and walk with You to others. I surrender my life to You, Jesus. I accept You as my Lord and my Savior. Thank You for a new life that I will journey with You. This I pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Song:

I Surrender by Hillsong

3 Days - Giving it All

[Giving it All] Day 2: Your Priorities

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Reading: Matthew 26:8-12

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.“

Reflection:

What’s wrong with the disciples? Was it wrong to give the money to the poor to help them? The problem here is that they missed the point of why the woman poured out the expensive perfume on Jesus’ head (Matt 26: 6-7).

We are like the disciples at times. We sometimes miss the point of why God allows things to happen in our lives. We sometimes fail to see things in God’s perspective. We tend to get angry with God without even seeking Him.

What the disciples saw as a waste, Jesus described it as “beautiful”.  The woman acknowledged who Jesus was and without having second thoughts offered her perfume to Him. She knew that  Jesus was very much worthy of the expensive perfume.

woman perfumeSource

Is Jesus worthy of your precious time? Is He worthy of your resources and services? Putting God first in your life is never a waste. In fact, it is the most worthy thing you can do in your life. Your life will never be the same once you have set your priorities right, with God being the first.

Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”  This is the great and  foremost commandment. The second is like it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)

How do we put God first?

  • Making time for God. Have a quality time with God by reading the Bible and prayer.  When Jesus was on earth, He always wakes up early in the morning and even avoids the crowd when He needs to spend time with the Heavenly Father.  ( In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Mark 1:35)
  • Acknowledging God and His Word as your authority in life. The values and principle we live by should always be aligned with what is in the Bible. In our day to day, we will always face trials and temptations that is why it is important that we know what is right in God’s eyes through the Bible.  The standard of this world especially today is very immoral. We need to have a clear stand of what standards do we follow – the world’s or God’s. (And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2)
  • Choosing God in all circumstances. Compromise is very dangerous in our spiritual walk. When we start giving in little by little to the wrong things, we will eventually find ourselves justifying the wrong and making it look right. God does not allow temptations that we can’t handle. Temptation is not a sin but when we stop choosing God and gave in, then that’s when it becomes an act of rebellion against God – aka sin. But God does not let us overcome temptation on our own. He will always sustain us. ( No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13)

With God being the first on your priority list, loving our neighbors is the second most important. Who are these?

  1. Family – next to God should be our families. In the 10 commandments (Exodus 20), the first 4 talks about our relationship with God. The 5th commandment talks about family – “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.”
  2. Ministry, Work – our ministry in church and/or work should never take priority before our family. When we fix our weekly schedule, there should always be an allotted quality time with family. Work takes us most of the hours in our week that’s why other activities should be properly planned. Ministry is also important as this is our service to God and other people. But if this takes up more time than spending alone time with God and quality time with our family, then, we need to drop it. God first, Family second.

If you want God to help you set your priorities right, you can say this prayer.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

Thank you dear God for reminding me today of how important it is to put You first in everything that I do. Thank you for Your Son, Jesus who taught us how to live a life that honors You.  Lord, help me to make my priorities right. Give me strength and teach me discipline that I will be able to spend more time with you in my day to day. Guide me also that I may be able to spend more quality time with my family. Teach me to properly plan my week so that the other things that I need to do will not take the time I should be spending with You. This I pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him,  and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-7

Song:

Forever by Hillsong

Diary of a Princess, Insights

Take it Slow

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Since I started working, I felt I’ve become an expert of multitasking. I’m always in a hurry to complete two to three tasks at the same time. I felt like I’m always running out of time.

And as I did this, it somehow influenced even my day to day non-work tasks. I noticed that when I walk with people, I always go ahead of them. When I do my chores at home, I start thinking what to do next when I’m still finishing something. And I noticed, when I do things, I’m always in a fast-paced like I’m being timed.

And now that I’m currently out of work, I still feel like I don’t have enough time to do so many things when I have all the time right now. I want to complete things immediately. I want to accomplish a lot within a week. I want rapid progress in my goals.

No wonder God has been teaching me big time on waiting. I want everything to happen in an instant while God is taking His time in slowing things for me. What can I do?

I made a sort of commitment to myself that while I’m waiting on God for His direction for me, I will learn to slow down on everything. I will do chores in a normal pace, thus, avoiding dropping or breaking things. I will plan out tasks weekly and not kill myself to do all in one day. I will take time to rest, walk slowly, observe things. I read this somewhere, “Take a pause and smell the waffle.”  

I’m excited on how God will change me to be more patient and more trusting.

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Faith Journey

Delays are not denials

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As I shared in my previous blogs, I was working on my PR application for Canada with all the requirements and stuff.

I’m happy to say that I made it to the required score for my IELTS exam! Praise God for that! Just a little story about it – I was really nervous that I would fail especially my listening exam. It’s really where I was struggling the most when I was doing my self reviews. I was more confident with my writing and speaking since I believe they were my strengths. And you know what, I got the lowest in my writing. I was actually expecting it because I really got stuck in my writing when I can’t even properly elaborate my thoughts about a topic that I totally have no idea! I realized how difficult to write about something you really don’t know anything about. But as always, God is really good. I needed a 6 for my writing and He gave me a 6! 🙂 That was really close. I placed everything in God’s hands after I took the exam.

I already submitted my PR application. It was really a challenging process with all the documents and requirements that I need to procure. Not to forget the very tedious details that I should follow in the instruction kit. But really really helpful. After a month of submitting my application, I got my application number. Yay! 🙂

I’ve been expecting their next updates after 2 months I got my application number but I haven’t heard still. There has been an ongoing strike in the immigration offices which could possibly cause the delays. But then, I told myself, God’s timetable is always perfect. His timing is always right. While I’m waiting for the next update, I still have enough time to prepare for what’s to come. And if this is really what God would want me to have, it will happen.

I was reminded by a status post in FB and I really agree, indeed, God’s delays are not God’s denials. He holds what lies ahead. He knows what’s best. As long as we are aligned to His will, we will learn to wait by faith.

Please pray for me as I press on to this journey. 🙂

God bless!

Faith Journey

My Faith Journey

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Written on Jan. 20, 2013

My theme verse for this year is Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”  Faith is a gift from God. It enables us to trust Him. But at this time of my life, I can sense God testing my faith. I can feel His hands pushing my faith beyond what I am used to. And I realize how small my faith is; which makes me even more grateful that I have a BIG GOD.

If you are reading this, it’s because I want you to be a part of this journey. And most importantly, it’s because I need your prayers and encouragements. Just like what Solomon said, “Two are better than one…” I’m grateful to God for blessing me with people like you.