There is a limit

Isaiah 30:13

13 calamity will come upon you suddenly—
like a bulging wall that bursts and falls.
In an instant it will collapse
and come crashing down.

As I did my qt today from Isaiah 30 to 32, this verse struck me the most. God gave me a picture of a dam, even though it's meant to keep in water on one side, it will burst when too much pressure is applied. And what spoke to me was that this applies not only in my individual life, but also our couple life as well.

Constantly, we keep falling into lust and God has such tremendous grace to forgive us and cleanse us, but I feel that this verse is saying that we should not push out limits too far because God is really hurt to see us like this.

Individually, I have also been far from God, and I do not want to suffer any consequences from God's wrath. That is why I want to start this year right with him.

Another of my new year's resolution this year is to spend AT LEAST 15min everyday with God, no matter how tired I feel. Let's face it, 15min a day is really not a lot.

Let's make 2013 the year we beat lust ok?

Judges 13 The birth of Samson
At that time, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. A woman who was barren was blessed with Samson whom was dedicated to the Lord as a Nazirite (no razor shall touch his hair)

17Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”

18He replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.” 

These 2 verses struck me. Sometimes, we may ask things that may be unnecessary to God. And He shall answer to us: "Why do you ask? It is beyond understanding." Sometimes, certain things that God chooses not to reveal to us does not mean that He does not want to bless us. Maybe He just doesn't want us to dwell on thinking about things which He might not consider necessary and instead focus on how awesome He is. 

Also, was just thinking that when we want to dedicate ourselves to God, we need to keep ourselves in check that we do not do anything that may violate the temple of God- our body. We need to keep our bodies pure if we want to dedicate ourselves to the Lord. 

Judges 14 Samson's Marriage

Samson saw a Philistine woman and liked her. He went to his parents to ask for permission of the hand of the Philistine woman. However, his parents disagreed as the Philistine had a different belief from him. However, he insisted. This was the will of the Lord for Samson as He wanted to confront the Philistine at that time who was ruling over Israel. 

Sometimes, God allows couples to be unequally yoked but it will definitely be a reason for it to happen. In this case, God wanted to use Samson to confront the Philistines who were ruling over the people of Israel. 

Judges 15 Samson's vengeance against the Philistines

Samson took vengeance against the Philistines as they gave his wife to one of his companions. Samson ruled Israel 20 years in the days of the Philistines. 

God always desires for his people to live in peace and not oppression. I believe that is why He allowed Samson to fall in love with a Philistine woman. 

Judges 16 Samson and Delilah

Samson went to Gaza and saw a prostitute and he went in to spend a night with her. The people of Gaza waited at the city gate waiting to attack Samson. Samson woke up in the middle of the night and tore the city gate loose and lifted it to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

Samson went into the Valley of Sorek and fell in love with a woman called Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines bribed her and promised that she will pay her well if she shares his secret of his great strength. 

Samson continuously lied to her about the secret of his strength. She nagged endlessly until Samson was sian about it. Finally, he confided in her his secret. The secret was that he cannot have any razor touch his hair. When he fell asleep on his lap, Delilah called for someone to shave his hair. (AHHHH WHY DELILAH SO JIAN) At that, the presence of the Lord left him. The rulers of the Philistines took Smason and binded him in bronze shackles. But Samson's hair started to grow again. 

We need to be on guard against the enemy. Sometimes, the enemy may come in the disguise of something nice (in Samson's case it was Delilah a pretty lady) We need to learn how to discern what we should do or what we should not do. Samson knew that he should not tell Delilah about his secret, thats why he constantly lied to her. The enemy can be persistent (Just like Delilah) and bug us until we decide to give in. We cannot be like Samson, we need to stand strong in what we know is right. 

The death of Samson

The Philistines praised their god for "he" had delivered Samson into their hands. While they were having their feast, they called Samson out to have him perform for them. Samson prayed and asked God to have strength one last time to destroy the philistines. Also, he would die taking vengeance upon the Philistines. 

God really honoured Samson by allowing him to die in an honourable way. 

Judges 17 Micah's Idols

Micah from Ephraim. He returned 11 shekels of silver to his mother and his mother made an idol from the silver shekels which he had given to her. 

Micah had a shrine in his house. He made an ephod and some household gods and installed one of his son as a priest. At that time there were no king in Israel. 

A young Levite left his hometown and chanced upon Micah's house. Micah paid the Levite and asked him to stay at his house and be his priest. 

Even thought the Jews knew about the Lord, they did not worship Him in the correct manner. God already decreed that they should not cast idols for themselves to worship. However, they did not follow and just did what they liked. In order for us to worship God in a right manner, we need to be right with God. We need to know what His word says.

John 4:24 says God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

In order to worship God in spirit, our hearts should be aligned to His will. And to worship God in truth, we need to know His word and understand what He is telling us to do. 

Judges 18 The Danites settle in Laish

Israel had no king at that time. The tribe Danites were looking for a new place to stay. They sent 5 men to search for a new place to stay. As they searched, they chanced upon Micah's house. They recognised the young Levite whom served in Micah's house. The Danites inquired of the young Levite whether God will give them the land. The young Levite gave them the Lord's blessing. They spied out the land and found it good. So they went back and told their fellow people to go attack the land. The 5 men went into Micah's house and took Micah's house idols and ephod and random things. They persuaded the young Levite to follow them as well. As they left, Micah caught up with them and questioned why they took their things. However, there was nothing that Micah could do as there were many Danites. 

The Danites continued on and took the city. They named the city Dan (Previously called Laish) Then they set up the household idols in the city. All the while, no one really recognised the true image of God. 

I think it can be scary sometimes when the intention is right. The people of Israel wanted to worship God. BUt they did things their own way and did not follow what God decreed. Instead of worshipping God in spirit and in truth, they bowed down to idols which they have created for themselves. Tsk tsk no good. We need to examine if there are "idols" in our lives. 

God, sometimes its hard for us to worship you in the right way. It is my desire to worship you in spirit and in truth. Help me to worship you the right way. Help me to discern when there are idols in my life. Lord, also help me when temptation is in my face, help me to stand strong against it. Thank You Lord for being the Lord of my life. In Jesus name I pray amen. 

donkeys in the bible

Signify a time a peace. Also, meaning whoever owns the donkey is a rich person.

Haha funny fact 101

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9

sacrifice comes with a great price

Judges 11
Jephthah promised that he would sacrifice anything he sees when he opened his food, should the Lord give him victory in war.

He saw his daughter when he returned home from victory. But still he kept to his promise and sacrificed his own daughter to the Lord.

Just reminds me of how God the father has also sent Jesus the son to die for us. Even though it was a sacrifice of His own.

Today. Let's learn to give to the Lord areas in our life that we want Him in.

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.9

19.09.2012 Happy 39 (:

Leviticus 23
List of festivals that the Jews celebrated. 

e.g. Feast of passover, Feast of firstfruits etc...
There were many festivals which the Jews celebrated to thank God for the many blessings that He has place upon their lives. For us, we mainly have Christmas, Easter and Good Friday. However, I feel that thanksgiving should be present every single day in our lives.

Let's try to find something worthy of celebration everyday in our lives. Thank God for His abundant blessings! Today I thank God that He led me into teaching. He is a God who knows all my ways indeed! (:

Numbers 5
Ceremonially unclean person isolated
In the Old Testament, many times when someone became unclean, they have to seperate themselves from the rest of the camp so that they do not come into contact with people who are cermonially clean. This shows how God is particular about purity of the congregation. Even if there is one impure person, it "contaminates" the camp. Let's pray towards having pure hearts and clean minds today.

Confession and Restitution
Concerning unfaithful wives
- Law of jealousy. (Kinda like how the Chinese burn paper and put into the water and drink)

Numbers 6
The Laws of the Nazirite
The Priestly Blessing
God told Moses to tell Aaron and sons how to pray and bless the children of Israel. 

‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:24 “The Lord tbless you and tkeep you;25 The Lord tmake His face shine upon you, And tbe gracious to you;26 tThe Lord tlift up His countenance upon you, And tgive you peace.” ’27 t“So they shall tput My name on the children of Israel, and tI will bless them.

Can we pray for people like that? Me like (: 

Reminds me of the show: Jane Eyre
So as the Lord is longsuffering, so shall we be. hahahaha

Victory through the Lord

Joshua 12- List of Defeated Kings
Whoa! Joshua and gang defeated 31 kings in total. This means 31 lands that God has given victory to them. Can you imagine the vastness of the land that is being given to them?

Joshua 13- Land still to be Taken
Haha God so funny. At the start He said to Joshua: "You are very old, but they are still many lands to be taken over." 31 pieces of land is not enough still.

This just reminds me of how God really fulfills His promise to Abraham that He will make him a Father of many nations. (Genesis 12) God showed Abraham the land. God used Joshua to lead the people into the land.

In this chapter, Joshua assigned the land to the Israelites (Which was actually assigned by Moses), except for the Levites cos their inheritance is the food offerings that is presented to God.

Joshua 14
Allotment for Caleb
Wa Joshua and Caleb very old already. Caleb (85 years old) asked for a place. He served God for 45 years. When he was sent out as a apy he was "only" 41 years old. God promised Caleb that He will bless him with a land as he has followed God wholeheartedly. So Joshua blessed Caleb with Hebron

Joshua 15- Allotment for Judah
Got boundary one. I suppose the boundaries are there to protect the people of Judah.

Caleb drove out the 3 Anakites. Then so random, he said he give the daughter Aksah in marriage to his brother Othniel.

Judah could not drive out the Jebusites. To this day, the Jebusites lived with the people of Judah.

I don't wanna be a judge

Isaiah 26:9 and 11

9 All night long I search for you;
in the morning I earnestly seek for God.
For only when you come to judge the earth
will people learn what is right.

11 O Lord, they pay no attention to your upraised fist.
Show them your eagerness to defend your people.
Then they will be ashamed.
Let your fire consume your enemies.

These 2 verses spoke to me. I believe God is saying that no matter how many times people try to mock or ridicule our religion or the things we do, I believe that as long as God has put the desire in our hearts, and as long as we do not do it out of selfishness, we will be rewarded richly in heaven. Although by standing firm in our beliefs might cause more retaliation from people, I feel that when judgement day comes, these people will be dealt with accordingly.

And in verse 11, it affirms what was said in verse 9. God, speaking through Isaiah, will defend us. In order for God to EAGERLY defend us, we must first show Him that we are worth fighting for. Therefore, we have to stand firmly when we are speaking up for ourselves or for God. Do not let other beliefs or criticism compromise our faith. :)

Coming back

Isaiah 22:12-13 The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, called out on that Day, Called for a day of repentant tears, called you to dress in somber clothes of mourning. But what do you do? You throw a party! Eating and drinking and dancing in the streets! You barbecue bulls and sheep, and throw a huge feast— slabs of meat, kegs of beer. "Seize the day! Eat and drink! Tomorrow we die!" I remembered you told me that it was depressing reading the book of Isaiah, and indeed! There were so many accounts of visions from Isaiah that God is unleashing His wrath and anger on people! However, amidst all these (it got kind of boring after awhile and it was so hard to follow all the names of the cities and places!), the verse I quote stood out to me. It simply says that God hates sin and hates it even more when we are nonchalant about repenting. The verse says that God wants the people to repent but instead, the people did not care and continued partying, thus, I believed it led to more sinning. It applies so much to us because we look past God when we sin and still sin even after awhile. God is calling us to come back to Him again in humility. That is why I felt strongly to come back to use this blog again for us to build each other up spiritually. :) Let us try to consistently post ok?