A Place of Freedom
A place of Destiny
What will result when the two clash
Awaken the chaos within
The point where light and dark converges
No matter what happens, I chose to follow You Lord.
Even if I can see no light, You will be my light
Ok happy youth day to all the youths in singapore… That applies to those who are in pri, sec n jc and to Adrian and me wahahaha.. Was really enjoying ZZZZ land till euny smsed me… Man I got to get rid of this habit la… Got up, wash up, left home and when over to AMK hub…
20 mins later @ AMK Hub
Went down to coffee bean for breakfast.. Which consisted of a pie and an ice blended.. Which is White chocolate dream. Walked around for a while and went over to the mrt to wait for the girls.
Met them (ivy, bel, euny and val) and took the train to jurong east. While on the train I called Adrian and it went something like this:
Me: Hey Adrian where are you??
Ad: I’m on the train, I just kranji.
Me: Huh? I’m also on that train as well.
So that was how we met up with Adrian. Reached J-east, met up with Felicia. When to JEC and found bryan.
Ok the skating… Well I have not skated since sec 4, so it felt a bit weird at first. But then I got the hang of it la… And well as I guessed, I became part time coach for them… But thank goodness, I really only needed to watch out for euny, val, ivy and bryan….
It was easier for us as, bel knows how to roller blade so she was more proficient with the skating. Adrian and Feli also could skate quite well too… So only euny, val n ivy… And Bryan…
By the end of the 3 hrs skating session, all the girls could more or less skate already… Well all except for Bryan.. Who still could not… I give up on him le la…
Had really lots of fun… and 1 super serious fall too. I was going super fast when I had to avoid a little kid… And at that moment I jumped to the left, I hit something and fell on my right hip… Slide for a few meters… (While still sliding) Got up and continue to skate… It was fun doing that la.. But still super painful.
On the side note, after going home, I found that my skin was actually bleeding… well it dried up le la… But my hip bone still hurt and my right thighs still hurt as I am typing this… Hahaha.. I believe that God’s power of healing will be on me, and I will be healed by tomorrow.
The 5 sweet girls (from left to right) Felicia Mirabel Eunice Valentina IvyThe Children of God :: COSBT :: Youth Impact(s)
Except for Bryan... Welcome to the world of ice skating.
Went to the arcade after that and both Adrian n me played basket ball game against euny… We won, but it was a close match la… hahaha. Then had lunch at mac… And was being tempted by euny… hai… why is she so like that… Thank goodness I had training in camp and during encounter retreat la wahahaha.
We (me, euny, val, ivy n bel) then went to AMK hub again, the girls wanted to get yogurt la… Man why does euny always tempt me la… especially with stuff I love like cookies n cream stuff… hai I don’t know la… Val n bel when home and the three stooges with mr pai kah, went to orchard cineleasure to get their elmo n cookie monster thingy… The rest… Bus go home rest… hmm I don’t know what to do la..
Tmr will be going to bishan lib to study my organic chem. T_T… I have no life..
Lord I need Your healing now.
Lord please strengthen me and take away this pain.
For only You can do it Lord.
Reluctance to face my past :: I’ve hurt you in the process ::
Thursday 3rd July :: Study at Bishan Library
I was haunted by my pass, by my guilt I felt towards ,y mom’s death, my bitterness towards my dad. But the most importantly is my undesired to let God heal me. And in the process I hurt her feelings, I would like to say sorry to you hui min, for not sparing a thought for your feelings, for being such a jerk and an idiot.
I prayed to God and God told me that what was preached this week would be a personal sermon from God to me.
Friday 4th July :: Encounter retreat
Reached church early for the encounter retreat. We learnt more in-depth on sin. That sin will affect us in ways that will cause us to be detached from God. But only the power of confession and the power of the cross can we be set free.
As said in Psalm 32:3 If we don’t confess our sins, Our body, emotion and finances will waste away.
And as we confess to our sins as in Psalm 32: 1-2,7 We will find renewal and strength in the peace and forgiveness that comes from God.
Sins separate us from God whether in actions or in thoughts.
Sin also comes in other forms as well, forms that we would call bad habits, bad attitude, no commitment and so on. All these are just other forms of sin. And to God, sin is sin, and we must clear ourselves away from it.
The only way to salvation is a repentant heart and Jesus.
When we don’t give Jesus and God our all, we are committing a sin. Jesus is the only way, the truth and the life.
EXCHANGE ON THE CROSS
Jesus was punished so that we would be forgiven.
Jesus was wounded so that we may be healed (Isaiah 53:4-8)
Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness so that we may be righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Jesus died our death that we might share His life (Hebrews 2:9)
Jesus was made a curse that we might receive the blessing (Galatians 3:13)
Jesus endured our poverty that we might share His abundant wealth (2 Corinthians 8:9)
Jesus suffered because of God’s love.
Jesus bore our shame that we might share His glory (Hebrews 2:10)
Jesus endured our rejection that we might have acceptance with the Father (Matthew 27:45-51)
Jesus was cut off by death that we may join to God eternally (Isaiah 53:48)
Satan can only have a place in our hearts when give in to negative thoughts and when we sin. Negative thoughts are like fiery arrows that satan shoots into us.. We have to put out the fire immediately. We must not let negative thoughts take control of our hearts, we must cast them aside when they enter our mind.
Next was a confession session for all of us. And it was through this session that I finally felt the burden being lifted off my shoulders. Finally I am free.
Finally, the last part consisted of an extended praise and worship session. We were to find a spot and praise and worship God in ways we never done so before. So we all just let loose and the whole room was just filled with the presence of God. I wished God would just freeze time then and there and just let us all praise God for all eternity. But sadly everything will come to an end. And that marked the end to this wonderful retreat.
I got home and it was there that I realized that I might have had received God into my life 12 years ago. Thinking back to my childhood, I realized that I was extremely rebellious and naughty. Doing of sorts of things that would not be condone. But then at primary 4, my friend julian’s mom prayed with me the sinner’s pray… I cant remember, maybe I accepted God then. But then, I went from delinquent kid to being the mr nice prefect in sec sch. Maybe it is God that was helping me through my life all these while. For all these wonderful time, God I thank You, thank You for guiding me and bringing me to where I am now.
Saturday 5th July :: Dreaded service (for this week topic only)
Even though I was really reluctant to go, God burned my passion for Him through the praise and worship session during the encounter retreat.
And from this sermon, I learnt about honoring our parents. For it is said that disobedience to our parents are the mark of the end of days. And it is satan’s plan to destroy the mark of our society which is our home. And I also learnt that in order to be successful in our lives, we need to be successful in our homes. And that successful living begins with God and He is the source of everything.
It is because of this importance that God placed great emphasis of honoring our father and mother. For it is said in Exodus 20: 12 – Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
From this we can see that God had attached a premium on to this command, that as we honor our parents, God will give us long and full life. It is the only commandment that God had attached a promise. So therefore, we should honor our parents by giving the respect that they deserve. And when we don’t have joy in our homes, we won’t have joy in our lives.
There are 3 main things in our honoring of our parents.
1 Home is the place where authority is learnt.
Our parents are given the authority over us, their children by our God. If we can follow our parents’ authority at home, we will be able to follow the authority outside our home. And what our parents say counts, but they must also carry out their discipline of their children without fail. I have learnt to submit to the authority of my parents in their discipline of me.
As it is said in Proverbs 20: 15 – Our parents discipline us for our own good. Hence, when we honor our parents at home, we are honoring God and following His authority. For if we are unable to follow the God given authority that our parents have, how are we able follow the authority of God. So we must accept the fact that God is shaping and mounding us into the person He wants us to be.
2 Home is where heritage is acquired.
Our parents are a wealth of experience. And it is through them, that God wants us to learn and tap into. But as time changes, our knowledge that we have acquired may be more advance then our parents in the terms of technology. Or that we are Christians and our parents are not, we must only choose to reject the teachings if they go against the bible. But in all we must still treat our parents with respect and be gentle when we try to correct them.
3 Home is where love is experienced.
God wants us to experience His unconditional love; He is showing us this love through our parents. If we are unable to experience this unconditional love that comes from God through our parents, we will not be able to fully know and understand the unconditional and unfailing love that pours out from God. But even so, our parents are not perfect people and it is also their first time being a parent. But 1 thing that will remain unchanging and always true, our parents loves us. Thought the way they show that loves may vary, they still love us unconditionally nonetheless. To fully experience the love of God, I learnt that I have to love my parents unconditionally.
But as we grow up, we face changes in ourselves, changes in our thoughts as we go through our rite of passage. As we face these changes, we start to break away from our parents, and we start to find our own identity.
But as youth, we tend to have very intense emotional response. The good things we feel may not be as good we would imagine and the bad things we feel may not be as bad as we imagine. So in our youth, we must not be too attached to our feelings, but to work to have God show us the true feelings that we should have. Only our parents’ experience and God’s guidance can we grow to be the person God wants us to be; in heart, thoughts and morals. And I’ve learnt that what maybe blocking us from God maybe the bitterness we feel towards our parents. So we must remove ourselves of these bitterness in order to go to God.
Rain down on me
Rain down on me
Here in Your presence I am free
Pour down like rain
Come and touch me again
Lord let Your presence fall on me
Lord only You know all my thoughts, feelings, worries and desires
Lord I lift us into Your hands, please show us Your ways and carry us through it