Psalms 111
Praise to God for his faithfulness and Justice

vs 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

Father Lord, help us to fear you so that we may gain wisdom. Help us to understand You more each day so that we may do your commandments. Help us Lord. 

Psalms 112
The blessed state of the Righteous

1Praise the Lord!

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,

Who delights greatly in His commandments.

2His descendants will be mighty on earth;

The generation of the upright will be blessed.

3Wealth and riches will be in his house,

And his righteousness endures forever.

4Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;

He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

5A good man deals graciously and lends;

He will guide his affairs with discretion.

Father Lord, help us to fear You, to know You and Your commandments, to follow all your commandments. Because Lord we know that You bless those who obey you and You are happy with them. Help us to be that light in the darkness. That even as we live our lives, help us to be Your light. To be a good testimony to Your name and who You are. Help us to be gracious, full of compassion and righteous. We are not there yet but we long to be someone who will be worthy of who You are as God. We long to be more like Jesus. It's not easy but as we become more like You, we will be more gracious in our dealings with people. Come and teach us afresh how to be more like You Lord. 

Psalms 113
The Majesty and Condescension of God

Psalms 114
The power of God in His deliverance of Israel

Psalms 115
The futility of idols and trustworthiness of God

Psalms 116
Thanksgiving for deliverance from death

Psalms 117
Let all people praise the Lord

Psalms 118
Praise to God for His everlasting mercy

vs 14 The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.

1 Chronicles 26- 29

Chapt 26: 
Duties of the Gatekeepers and Treasuries
Many names were named. One insight would be that if God deems a person important, he would have it recorded somewhere. Hope our names are recorded in one of His books!

Chapt 27: 
Military Divisions
Each division took turns every month of the year to do their military duties. And each division consist of 24 000 people. So huge! So there are 12 divisions that are headed by 12 captains! (According to the months in the year)

Leaders of the Tribes
There was also a leader over every tribe, they were called officers.
One thing I notice is that God don't like to count the armies. He made the promise that He would multiply Israel like stars in heaven but everytime someone starts a census to count the strength of the team, the wrath of God would fall upon Israel. Why ah? That's a question to ask in our heads.

Other state officials
There were people doing different roles, taking care of different things:
1. King's treasuries (Finance)
2. Storehouses of the field, cities, villages, fortresses (Logistics)
3. Work of the field
4. Vineyards
5. Produce of vineyards for the supply of wine
6. Olive trees and sycamore trees.
7. Store of oil
8. Herds
9. Camels
10. Flocks
11. Donkeys
All these were officials over King David's property.
12. Jehonathan (David's uncle) was a counselor, wise man and scribe WA SO CAPABLE
13. Jehiel was with the king's son (I suppose he teaches them something?)
14. Ahitpiel was the king's counselor
15. Hushai was the king's companion (Like the taijian)
16. Joab the general of the king's army

Wa the king's officials super organised hor. I wonder whether governments learn some of these organisation from the bible.

Chapt 28
Solomon instructed to build the temple.
David gathered all the leaders of Israel, officers of the tribes and the captains of the divisions, captains of the thousands, captains of the hundreds, stewards of all substance and possession of the king and his sons, along with the officials, valiant men (brave men?) and mighty men of valor.

King David rose and told everyone that they need to build a house of rest for the ark of covenant of the Lord. Because God said to David that he is not allowed to build the house for he have been a man of war and have shed blood, even though He has chosen David's house to be the king over Israel forever. God told David that Solomon was to build the house and the courts of God. God will also establish his kingdom forever, if he is steadfast to observe his commandments and judgements.
(I think the same applies for us. For God to be with us, we really need to observe his commandments and judgements.)

I like this part!
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. 10Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.



Nice hor. We need to do it also ok?

So David gave Solomon the plans for everything. He also gave the gold, silver to be used for the different services in building God's temple.

This part also very nice.
And David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God—my God—will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

He also told Solomon that everyone under him will be completely at his command.

Chapt 29
Offerings for Building the Temple
David has prepared all that he can for the house of God. (David is really a man after God's heart hor, everything that he did for God, he did with all his ability and all that he can)
So he gave a speech and said what are the things he prepared. After that he asked who is willing to consecrate themself to the Lord. So all the leaders, captains and officials gave willingly for the work of God.

David's praise to God
David blessed God before all the assembly.

Solomon appointed King
After that they made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord.
(wonder where they have such a big place to hold such a big meeting with so many people. And without microphone. David must have a very loud voice or its a place with very good acoustics)
The Lord exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

The Close of David's Reign
David reigned in Israel for 40 years. 7 years in Hebron, 33 years in Jerusalmen. And he died in a good old age and Solomon reigned in his place.

Psalms 127
Labouring and Prospering with the Lord. 
Solomon wrote this.

Unless the Lord builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the Lord guards the city,

The watchman stays awake in vain.

2It is vain for you to rise up early,

To sit up late,

To eat the bread of sorrows;

For so He gives His beloved sleep.

3Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

5Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;

They shall not be ashamed,

But shall speak with their enemies in the gate

Do you know the name Young Arrows is based on Verse 3 -5?
Really very happy to be serving the children (:

Okay abrupt end.

God is just so good. Often times when we give, we find ourselves blessed in an even deeper way. 

Psalms 84: 1 -2 , 11 
1 1How lovely is your dwelling place,
    Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
    from those whose walk is blameless.

It is my prayer today that I'll always desire to dwell in God's presence. That our souls, hearts and flesh would cry out for God to be with us. And the promise is that God will be our sun and shield.

Thank You God for being so good to us. May we always desire for more of You to fill our lives. 
In Jesus name, amen! 

1 Samuel 8

God wants us to acknowledge Him as our only king. That's why in ot times he only appointed judges over the Israelites.
But the Israelites did not care and insisted Samuel appoint a king for em

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God never forgets His children

Read Isaiah 47 to 49 and was reminded of how God has so much grace for us and how forgiving is He.

Isa 48:1
“Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel
and come from the line of Judah,
you who take oaths in the name of the Lord
and invoke the God of Israel—
but not in truth or righteousness—

This verse says that even though we call ourselves Christians, we cannot be faultless. The most important thing for us to do is that we must be righteous Christians, meaning we have to speak and do God's Word with sincerity. We know that God looks at the heart.
This verse came at a very exact time. Just yesterday, I had lunch at my house coffeeshop downstairs. I ordered cai fan and the cashier gave me a dollar extra change. However, I didnt give her back immediately as I was too hungry. While i was eating, I kept thinking in my head, 'if i give her back the dollar, the boss will see and probably punish her. but if i dont give back her, it is not right in God's eye.'
So after i ate, i went back to give her the dollar. Her boss immediately gave her a disappointing look! I was sad when i saw that and wondered if it was worth it to return that dollar. I immediately prayed for her for job security! haha

From the passages I read, even though God was angry at Israel for being stubborn, God was graceful enough to forgive them and even wanting to give victory to them over their enemies!

Every Sunday, I always thank God for His grace shown to me and us. Without this grace, I dont think I would have done as well as I did for my exams. Without this grace, I think we would have struggled a lot in our rs.

Must thank Him ok? :)

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.