Monday, March 07, 2011

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Leave a Comment
What is thy only comfort in life and death? 
That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.


Psalm 51
        Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
       Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
  Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
  Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
  Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
  Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
  Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
  O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
  For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
  then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.


Romans 5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sunday, March 06, 2011

midnight mumbles.

Leave a Comment
127 hours taught me a lot about Isaiah. It's when man is led by their selfishness, arrogance and pride to situations where they're stuck deep in affliction and suffering, that's when man realizes they are no more than a speck on the face of God's earth and develop a deeper respect for God. You have to come to a place where you are face to face with the fact that you are nothing, you can't do anything to get yourself out of the horrible situation you're in. In that time, the only response to God is "Thank you", turning to the One who's struck you (sorta like the moment after he cuts off his hand and says thank you to the rock) and be repentant. It's sad that we take so long to repent, who knows how long after that point of repentance it will take for us to fall into a crevice again.

As an aside, i realized something else about respecting God. Sometimes i wish that Christians who date non-Christians would have a little more respect for God and the church that Jesus died for. It's nothing personal, you see, but what's at stake is your own faith, trust, dependence and godliness (not to mention not glorifying God as you should). Understanding the nature of being bought by God, set free from slavery to be God's servant/slave, OWNED by God, that should change your perception of how you live your life, who you choose to be with etc.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

the most beautiful vertical garden i've ever seen

Leave a Comment

A bedroom for my six?

Leave a Comment

Number 23 and number 4(again)

Leave a Comment
I tried number 23 for a while. Growing a flower is not as easy as the three cacti i have right now, and the money plant that won't stop growing. It died. or is dying. But at least i tried. No pictures cos its not pretty hahaha. My next project is to propagate the cacti i have to make a vertical garden on my balcony.

In the midst of planning for number 4 : Go on holiday. yet again. Trying to squeeze a holiday in sometime soon. I think we both need a short getaway, me to gain creative inspiration, him to get some rest. Singapore? Terengganu? Taman Negara?

So far i'm enjoying getting through the list. Forces me to have some fun in between all the work. It's too easy to get obsessively absorbed into the creative work, it's like quicksand. Once you're absorbed you don't come out (for days). I'll be happily drawing and designing for hours without eating, while listening to glee music on youtube. Blah!!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

in the face of death

Leave a Comment
Isaiah chapters 38-39 : Hezekiah the king is 39-40 years old, he's sick and he's dying. It's a pity to be so near death so young. God tells him to set his house in order or he will die. And Hezekiah is right when his response to that is to turn his face to the wall and pray to the God who holds all of life in his hands.

Its strange huh? In light of sickness or death, that's when man comes face to face with his Maker, knowing that none of it is in his own control, he can't heal himself, he can't make himself live on. It's sad then, that stubborn and rebellious man comes to that point, and does not repent. That is folly beyond all rescue. Like in the rest of Isaiah, turn to Him who has struck you... repent and live. It's only the most stupid of fools, who will not see the hand of God in all of life, who will not see that dying an unrepentant death will only lead to eternal judgment without ease.

I pray for the foolish, that they will not be wise in their own sight, but see God's wisdom, see God and turn to him. To believe in God who made, sustains and preserves every living thing on earth and not in the lies that our deceitful hearts tell us. There is no rest or ease in pain after death. There is only rest and peace in God.

me wisdom

1 comment
i am acting like a dog that returns to its own vomit. repent, repent. turn away now.

wisdom = God who created everything with wisdom and order. 
wisdom = God who in spite of human sin and folly, works out his wise plan for the whole earth.
wisdom = God who reveals his plan in Christ, the wisdom of God.
wisdom = God, who teaches His people to live wisely in His ways.
wisdom = me now being transformed in the renewal of my mind to fear God, be wise and love the church and everyone else. 
wisdom = me not being conformed to the futile folly of this world's wisdom.

the world who disregards God is dumber than ilona (7yrs). 

God has made His world in WISE order, not in random chaos. Conforming self to his order = difficult because i rebel but necessary cos it is the way to life! Life is as God knows it, not as you know it. 

Folly begets folly. Be stupid, you'll get stupider. Be wise and you'll grow to be wiser. Keep doing your crap, and you'll grow crappier. That's God's wise judgment. Love it, and you'll grow to love it more. Hate it, and you'll hate it all the way to hell. 

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.  He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is led astray.
O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.  Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right,  for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips.  All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them.  They are all straight to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge.
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.
Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.

Wednesday, February 09, 2011

BHLDN

Leave a Comment
The prettiest wedding site ever!
(Anthroplogie's new bridal collection)








via stephmodo.com

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

awesome stairs!

2 comments
If i had stairs in my house, i would have these!

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Just one thing this chinese new year

Leave a Comment
Thank you to everyone who has been giving me angpaus in the past years, rest assured that it has been put to good use. (except for maybe a teensy bit) You have paid to support me and my family's ministry in my church CERC, so thank you ever so much for all of it!

It is my dear hope that the angpaus i give out this year will be put to the same good use as well. I leave you with this proverb, wishing you all the blessedness and gain, prosperity and security in life that you will find only in the LORD of Wisdom, Jesus Christ.

Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
and the one who gets understanding,
for the gain from her is better than gain from silver
and her profit better than gold.
She is more precious than jewels,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.
Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her;
those who hold her fast are called blessed.


The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;
by his knowledge the deeps broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew.


My son, do not lose sight of these—
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck.
Then you will walk on your way securely,
and your foot will not stumble.
If you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
Proverbs 3:13-24

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Iced lemongrass juice

Leave a Comment
Uber yummy! And really easy to do too!

a handful of lemongrass sticks, washed
6 tablespoons of sugar
10-12 cups of water
one lemon, grated zest and juiced

Stick everything into a pot, bring to a boil, make sure the sugar is melted, then turn fire down to low heat and leave it for 1 1/2 hours. Yep! It's that simple. You'll get a really refreshing drink at the end. Try it! Makes about 10 cups of juice, unless you cover the pot which is okay too.

I'm gonna try a nice barley drink soon.

Friday, January 28, 2011