More pictures of the big gathering of Ps Yeang Cherng, Ps Yueh Ping, Ps Adrian, Ps Hee Guan, Ps Shufang, Ps Hee Jhee and their Twelves can be found at http://magicbox.org.sg/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=51&page=6 :)
(Photo courtesy of bro Benruth)
i have had people asking me,
'Why is (your) GOD so vain??
Why does He always want people to praise, glorify and honour Him?'
Today i thought John Piper answered it wonderfully succintly well, in his book Desiring God.
'What does it mean to glorify God? It does not mean to make him more glorious. It means to acknowledge his glory, and to value it above all things, and to make it known. It implies heartfelt gratitude (Psalm 50:23). It also implies trust (Romans 4:20).
God created us 'in His image' so that we would image forth His glory in the world. We were made to be prisms refracting the light of God's glory into all of life. Why God should want to give us a share in shining with his glory is a great mystery. Call it grace or mercy or love-it is an unspeakable wonder. Once we were not. Then we existed for the glory of God! Therefore it is the duty of every person to live for the glory of God. 'So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God' (1 Corinthians 10:31).'
So you see, God is not vain. You are being the vain one when you steal His glory in your life.
(the picture above contains a group of volunteers from Save the Children Singapore, who always chooses to see the spark and potential in you. Found me? :) )
did i ever tell you that my full name is actually
ong ling yeng mirabel Yours sarah abraham who belongs to God forever and ever. Grace
?
in short, you can call me olymysa-Grace. Not so much of an acronym huh. :P
This name is actually an snapshot of my life:
i was born and given the name ong ling yeng by my parents.
when i was 18, God popped the name mirabel into my mind, without telling me that
this will be the name He calls me by....
at 20 i received Jesus into my life, after which mirabel became my baptism name three years later.
in early 2005, when i asked God who i am, through a song He gave me the answer: i am... Yours.
i came to a point of immense faith, when i wanted to start clinging unto my destiny to be a mother of nations- to be like Sarah in the bible, to be Sarah. And of cos' the husband name has got to follow - Sarah Abraham.
Once when i wrote my name stuck together like this: mirabelong, i was stunned to see the word 'belong' in it. As silly as it may seem to you, that moment froze me in bewilderment that God was using this to remind me that i truly belong to Him.
As Grace abounds more and more in my life, i realise i cannot live at all without God's grace. i cannot serve God outside of His grace as well. in the first place, He didnt need anyone at all to assist Him in His great redemption plans for the people. Grace, you can't rub it off my life. :)
As you might have guessed, my full name may not end here. Stay tuned! :P
it took me quite a while for the news of the death of a church brother to sink in. After Ps Eugene announced it, because i only heard bits and pieces of it, i was still asking someone 'Whose 12 huh?', and only after five minutes into worship did i discover, hey that's the Alvin i know.
i remembered making myself sing through choked tears at the beginning of worship, through the song 'i'm a friend of God'. Shuffling between sadness and the release of it, God reminded me that this wonderful brother had gone to meet the Lord who would have called him friend when their eyes met so close for the first time in Alvin's life.
And before i ever subconsciously join many others in sighing over his young age, i choose to cling unto Hebrews 11:39-40 for my brother: he was commended for his faith, yet he did not receive what had been promised. God had planned something better for him so that only together with him would they be made perfect.
Ironically as it may seem, i had been further strengthened in my faith through this. *grins*
‘I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.’ And it’s that ‘by it’ – Christianity puts everything into perspective.'
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ~Ephesians 4:29
i came across this verse interestingly enough, after having told a few of you that one of the ways i want to build myself up in the new year, is to seek to speak only words of eternal value.
Sounds like an daunting task? What exactly is 'eternal value'?
This goal i had set for my life refers to an intentional effort to speak to edify. This does not imply that i would not kid or entertain harmless jokes anymore; come on, you all know how much i love humour, and all that the word encompasses. Chuckles, giggles and hearty laughters are terribly effective antidotes to lethargy, both physical and mental, in me.
But this does mean that i will be making more conscious efforts to note how i address my peers (just one of the areas). The playful and cheeky girl in me likes to give people innocent names (i can hear many of you exclaiming 'yah lor!'). Whereas all of them are really good-natured names out of contained mischief, ie. 'whale' equates to being 'big-hearted', i do not deny i can find no way to call some such as 'cockroach' (er..herm =P) edifying.
And praise the Lord that He does not leave me scratching my head over the strategies and tactics of learning to speak for the eternal value, cos' Ephesians 4:29b is an excellent God-blessed manual:
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