By the time you read this BUZZ, we would have almost crossed one month of the Year of Sabbath...
Have you experienced Sabbath yet?
Have you experienced the delight of God?
Are the relationships in your life satisfying?
Personally, I am mindful that we could easily cruise through the year without realising or experiencing the promises of God. Unless we take time to pray and to seek His wisdom, we could easily be discouraged that this year is NO different from the previous years.
Yes I am talking about the need to spend time with God in REFLECTION.
Sabbath gives us time to reflect. Reflecting in the presence of God is different from normal reflection. Reflecting in the presence of God calls for us to reflect in the light of His Word and His Wisdom i.e. seeing our experiences through His lens. Do you see life as full of stumbling blocks or stepping stones? In Christ, every experience can become a stepping stone in our journey to become more Christ-like. Thus, there is a need for us to pause and to reflect, without which we cannot see God’s hand at work in our lives. Let the presence of God tutor us to see Him in all the experiences we go through this week.
Start reflecting in His presence today!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Road To Intimacy
"O God! Thou hast made us for thyself and our souls are restless, searching, till they find their rest in Thee. " - St. Augustine
Preparation of Heart: "Be Still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10)
Obstacles to cross: External Distractions & Internal Chaos
Identify source and remove any encumbrances blocking your way (Hebrews 12:1)
Pathways you must take: Confession of Sin (1 John 1:9)
Forgiveness (Colossians 3:12,13)
Forgetting (Philippians 3:13, 14)
Direction & Focus: "Fixing your eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith... " (Hebrews 12:2)
Food for the journey: Word of God. Chew on it - Remember the lesson from the cow?
Motivation to keep you going: Jesus, your Joy and Reward!
"The condition of lostness is not the same as the outcome to which it leads. We're not lost because we are going to wind up in the wrong place. We're going to wind up in the wrong place because we're lost." (Dallas Willard)
Preparation of Heart: "Be Still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10)
Obstacles to cross: External Distractions & Internal Chaos
Identify source and remove any encumbrances blocking your way (Hebrews 12:1)
Pathways you must take: Confession of Sin (1 John 1:9)
Forgiveness (Colossians 3:12,13)
Forgetting (Philippians 3:13, 14)
Direction & Focus: "Fixing your eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith... " (Hebrews 12:2)
Food for the journey: Word of God. Chew on it - Remember the lesson from the cow?
Motivation to keep you going: Jesus, your Joy and Reward!
"The condition of lostness is not the same as the outcome to which it leads. We're not lost because we are going to wind up in the wrong place. We're going to wind up in the wrong place because we're lost." (Dallas Willard)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Delight & Discipline
We are almost 2 weeks into our "a-psalm-a-day" corporate effort. How many of us are feeling the strain of DISCIPLINE more than the DELIGHT of hearing God's voice?
His grace to propel us towards seeking Him. Yet our discipline to press in to seek Him is our assurance of continuing delight, towards experiencing the depths in Christ.
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."(Jeremiah 29:13)
As we reach this point, it is so important to know that delight is a promise and eventual certainty. But the only way there, is for us to develop discipline to press in.
Delight drives us to develop Discipline
Discipline drives us to seek breakthrough to the next Delight
Child of God, let's dig in further whenever we feel like giving up, so that we will add self-control and perseverance to our character.
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-8)
His grace to propel us towards seeking Him. Yet our discipline to press in to seek Him is our assurance of continuing delight, towards experiencing the depths in Christ.
"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."(Jeremiah 29:13)
As we reach this point, it is so important to know that delight is a promise and eventual certainty. But the only way there, is for us to develop discipline to press in.
Child of God, let's dig in further whenever we feel like giving up, so that we will add self-control and perseverance to our character.
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-8)
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Finding Your Delight
We are going to talk a lot about delighting in the Lord in 2008. When was the last time you took delight in something? When you felt the thrill, that sense of pleasure? When was the last time your eyes lit up, your heart rose with eager expectation and you had a song in your heart?
It was a delightful moment for all at the Countdown Party when Senior Pastor led the congregation to read Psalm 1 just after the stroke of midnight on the first day of 2008. We kicked off the reading of 'a psalm a day' and committed ourselves to eat the Word of God first each morning, before food.
Psalm 1 is just the word to start us off in the Year of Sabbath. It gives us the key to a life full of blessings. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night " ( Ps 1:1,2 ) Remembrance and reliance upon the Lord ! It is in reading the Word that we know more about God and it is in knowing Him that we find our delight. Don't lose the impact of the word, "meditate". It is not enough just to read or even to memorise our favourite verses. We need to chew on it! Meditating on the Word takes time and effort but you'll see its transforming power when the Word of God gets into your system.
We're aware many of you are sharing your meditations and reflections on your blogs. It is exciting to see how the same word can come alive for each one of us in different ways. This is also the joy and delight we will experience in this Year of Sabbath.
It was a delightful moment for all at the Countdown Party when Senior Pastor led the congregation to read Psalm 1 just after the stroke of midnight on the first day of 2008. We kicked off the reading of 'a psalm a day' and committed ourselves to eat the Word of God first each morning, before food.
Psalm 1 is just the word to start us off in the Year of Sabbath. It gives us the key to a life full of blessings. "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on His law he meditates day and night " ( Ps 1:1,2 ) Remembrance and reliance upon the Lord ! It is in reading the Word that we know more about God and it is in knowing Him that we find our delight. Don't lose the impact of the word, "meditate". It is not enough just to read or even to memorise our favourite verses. We need to chew on it! Meditating on the Word takes time and effort but you'll see its transforming power when the Word of God gets into your system.
We're aware many of you are sharing your meditations and reflections on your blogs. It is exciting to see how the same word can come alive for each one of us in different ways. This is also the joy and delight we will experience in this Year of Sabbath.
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