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. :)
Showing posts with label Joel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joel. Show all posts
Monday, September 10, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
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?
Monday, September 12, 2011
Our hearts
1 Kings 15:14
14 Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the Lord throughout his life.
A rather simple verse but it spoke to me. King Asa was a descendant of King David and unlike all the other ancestors before him who went against God, except David, Asa had his heart solely fixed on God and this pleased God.
Actually i do not know why he did not remove the pagan shrines. I guess he did not want to upset others? More importantly, his heart did not falter.
14 Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the Lord throughout his life.
A rather simple verse but it spoke to me. King Asa was a descendant of King David and unlike all the other ancestors before him who went against God, except David, Asa had his heart solely fixed on God and this pleased God.
Actually i do not know why he did not remove the pagan shrines. I guess he did not want to upset others? More importantly, his heart did not falter.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
No judging please!
Before I started my qt today, I was just reminded of how David spared Saul's life not once but twice in 1 Sam. I mean, here is a king sending everyone out to bring David back dead or alive, yet, when David had 2 clear opportunities to behead Saul, he didn't! How noble is David! I'll never forget the reason David gave,
1 Sam 26:9
9 “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one?
It constantly made me realised that I should stop judging people, especially when it comes to commenting on drummers on the worship stage.
who am I to judge who is good enough to serve God when they are the ones who initiated in the first place
Now, to my qt today. 2 Sam 1-3
hmmm, basically, Saul's army (soldiers in Israel) led by Abner was going to war with David's army (soldiers from Judah) led by Joab. And from what I read today, the fights were initiated generally by the commands of Abner and Joab. If they said fight, means fight. If they said rest, means rest. If they said only let 12 men fight, means only 12 men fight (2:15).
It just made me wonder, here are 2 men with the control of the armies, and they could have easily prevented bloodshed if they had decided not to fight. I felt Joab was not in keeping with David's belief of sparing 'the Lord's anointed' since Joab defeated the Israelites later. He could have just walked away from battle when he met Abner or just simply reject Abner's war proposal.
It also made me thought of another question, am I submitting enough to my leaders/elders/parents? Or am I jsut turning a deaf ear to them like what Joab did to David's advice?
hmmmmm...something to think about.
1 Sam 26:9
9 “No!” David said. “Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one?
It constantly made me realised that I should stop judging people, especially when it comes to commenting on drummers on the worship stage.
who am I to judge who is good enough to serve God when they are the ones who initiated in the first place
Now, to my qt today. 2 Sam 1-3
hmmm, basically, Saul's army (soldiers in Israel) led by Abner was going to war with David's army (soldiers from Judah) led by Joab. And from what I read today, the fights were initiated generally by the commands of Abner and Joab. If they said fight, means fight. If they said rest, means rest. If they said only let 12 men fight, means only 12 men fight (2:15).
It just made me wonder, here are 2 men with the control of the armies, and they could have easily prevented bloodshed if they had decided not to fight. I felt Joab was not in keeping with David's belief of sparing 'the Lord's anointed' since Joab defeated the Israelites later. He could have just walked away from battle when he met Abner or just simply reject Abner's war proposal.
It also made me thought of another question, am I submitting enough to my leaders/elders/parents? Or am I jsut turning a deaf ear to them like what Joab did to David's advice?
hmmmmm...something to think about.
Friday, May 13, 2011
God is not deaf
Just read 1 sam 14.
King Saul was deciding whether to attack the Philistines at night and plunder them or not. But the priest that was with him told him to ask God first on such a huge decision (which required him to bring so many people along to risk their lives).
36 Then Saul said, “Let’s chase the Philistines all night and plunder them until sunrise. Let’s destroy every last one of them.”
His men replied, “We’ll do whatever you think is best.”
But the priest said, “Let’s ask God first.”
37 So Saul asked God, “Should we go after the Philistines? Will you help us defeat them?” But God made no reply that day.
38 Then Saul said to the leaders, “Something’s wrong! I want all my army commanders to come here. We must find out what sin was committed today. 39 I vow by the name of the Lord who rescued Israel that the sinner will surely die, even if it is my own son Jonathan!” But no one would tell him what the trouble was.
40 Then Saul said, “Jonathan and I will stand over here, and all of you stand over there.”
And the people responded to Saul, “Whatever you think is best.”
41 Then Saul prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, please show us who is guilty and who is innocent.[f]” Then they cast sacred lots, and Jonathan and Saul were chosen as the guilty ones, and the people were declared innocent.
42 Then Saul said, “Now cast lots again and choose between me and Jonathan.” And Jonathan was shown to be the guilty one.
43 “Tell me what you have done,” Saul demanded of Jonathan.
“I tasted a little honey,” Jonathan admitted. “It was only a little bit on the end of my stick. Does that deserve death?”
44 “Yes, Jonathan,” Saul said, “you must die! May God strike me and even kill me if you do not die for this.”
45 But the people broke in and said to Saul, “Jonathan has won this great victory for Israel. Should he die? Far from it! As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair on his head will be touched, for God helped him do a great deed today.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
When King Saul asked God, God didnt reply him immediately, and this caused King Saul to panic and make rash decisions.
He thought that someone had sinned that is why God chose not to reply. And his rash decision was initially led to him killing his son! But the people of Saul rebutted his decision as Jonathan helped Israel to beat the philistines. So thankfully johnathan was saved.
What I learnt here was that we should not panic if God takes a long time to answer us. That's where faith comes in. Do we have the faith to wait on the Lord? Knowing that He makes all things beautiful in His time. And while we wait, we should not make any rash decisions on ourselves.
King Saul was deciding whether to attack the Philistines at night and plunder them or not. But the priest that was with him told him to ask God first on such a huge decision (which required him to bring so many people along to risk their lives).
36 Then Saul said, “Let’s chase the Philistines all night and plunder them until sunrise. Let’s destroy every last one of them.”
His men replied, “We’ll do whatever you think is best.”
But the priest said, “Let’s ask God first.”
37 So Saul asked God, “Should we go after the Philistines? Will you help us defeat them?” But God made no reply that day.
38 Then Saul said to the leaders, “Something’s wrong! I want all my army commanders to come here. We must find out what sin was committed today. 39 I vow by the name of the Lord who rescued Israel that the sinner will surely die, even if it is my own son Jonathan!” But no one would tell him what the trouble was.
40 Then Saul said, “Jonathan and I will stand over here, and all of you stand over there.”
And the people responded to Saul, “Whatever you think is best.”
41 Then Saul prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, please show us who is guilty and who is innocent.[f]” Then they cast sacred lots, and Jonathan and Saul were chosen as the guilty ones, and the people were declared innocent.
42 Then Saul said, “Now cast lots again and choose between me and Jonathan.” And Jonathan was shown to be the guilty one.
43 “Tell me what you have done,” Saul demanded of Jonathan.
“I tasted a little honey,” Jonathan admitted. “It was only a little bit on the end of my stick. Does that deserve death?”
44 “Yes, Jonathan,” Saul said, “you must die! May God strike me and even kill me if you do not die for this.”
45 But the people broke in and said to Saul, “Jonathan has won this great victory for Israel. Should he die? Far from it! As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair on his head will be touched, for God helped him do a great deed today.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
When King Saul asked God, God didnt reply him immediately, and this caused King Saul to panic and make rash decisions.
He thought that someone had sinned that is why God chose not to reply. And his rash decision was initially led to him killing his son! But the people of Saul rebutted his decision as Jonathan helped Israel to beat the philistines. So thankfully johnathan was saved.
What I learnt here was that we should not panic if God takes a long time to answer us. That's where faith comes in. Do we have the faith to wait on the Lord? Knowing that He makes all things beautiful in His time. And while we wait, we should not make any rash decisions on ourselves.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Give thanks, with a grateful heart
1 Sam 12:20-22
20 “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel reassured them. “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. 21 Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! 22 The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.
this few verses spoke to me the most. It just shows how weak and sinful we are as humans. At the same time, it shows the immense volumes of grace and love that God has for us (His people). The last line says 'it has pleased the Lord' really shows how much God wants us to be near to Him.
jiayou mong :)
20 “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel reassured them. “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. 21 Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! 22 The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.
this few verses spoke to me the most. It just shows how weak and sinful we are as humans. At the same time, it shows the immense volumes of grace and love that God has for us (His people). The last line says 'it has pleased the Lord' really shows how much God wants us to be near to Him.
jiayou mong :)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Samson
Samson has blessed HAIR!!!
Imagine my leg hair were as blessed as his head hair.. WAHHHHHH soccer sure pro hahaha
Imagine my leg hair were as blessed as his head hair.. WAHHHHHH soccer sure pro hahaha
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