:)

for my Bible reading, i'm now in Deuteronomy.  it's interesting to see that even in the midst of laws, God's love for His people and His willingness to do things for them is evident.  Just reading Deut 7 today made me realize how much God really does for us.  The phrases "The Lord will" and "He will" appear so many times, indicating that the Lord wants to act on our behalf.  very similar to the terms of the new covenant in Hebrews 8.

12 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.
13 Six days you shall labour and do all your work,
14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God.  In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
- Deut 5:12-15

verse 15 caught my attention.  in this verse God tells us the reason for the Sabbath.  as Jesus said in Mark 2:27- "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath".  The purpose of the Sabbath was not so that the Pharisees could bind the people with their many laws of not doing work.  The whole purpose of the Sabbath is stated in v15, for the Israelites to stop and remember the mighty work God had done for them.

in the same way i believe that during the Sabbaths i take, i should not focus on not doing work, but focus on God's mercy and grace in my life.  remember that it is God who brought me through the weak.  that i was a slave to the trappings of this life, but God has set me free from all of it.  as i not do work, i remember that it is God who is the one who is really doing the work.

this line tickles me every time i hear it:

"She laughs at my dreams, but I dream of her laughter"
- Just the Girl, The Click Five

haha so funny.  anyway a more profound line, but in the same vein:
"When I make time for God, God makes time for me"
- Kenneth Tay, 11 Dec 2007

:D

All Is Well

All is well, all is well; angels and men rejoice.
For tonight, darkness fell into the dawn of love's light-
Sing alleluia!

All is well, all is well; let there be peace on earth.
Christ is come!  Go and tell that He is in the manger-
Sing alleluia!

All is well, all is well; lift up your voice and sing.
Born is now Emmanuel, born is our Lord and Saviour,
Sing alleluia, sing alleluia, all is well!

such a beautiful song.... i wish i had it on my computer!

today i went for two events that celebrated the birth of Jesus- church and the inter-fellowship vespers service.  during church, pastor matt, instead of giving a usual sermon, did a recitation of the christmas story from memory.  he picked out verses from all over the New Testament to make a coherent account of the christmas story and what it means.  i was really blessed by it, and it was such a good reminder that the Bible is the living Word, not just dead words on dead pages.  the vespers service is held once a yr, where there is choral singing, congregational singing and scripture reading.  beautiful music....

i heard the above song twice today, once at each service.  this song touched me more than all the rest, possibly because of its sweet melody, but more because of what was running through my head.  as the singers sang "all is well, all is well", the melody seemed to hint to me that even though all is well now, someone had to pay the price for my shalom.  there was some sort of sacrifice involved in my blessing.  as the song played the images that ran through my head were not nativity scenes, but scenes from the passion, from Christ's death on the cross.  the flogging, the ridicule, the cross.  the dark clouds, the loud cry "it is finished!", the resting of his head on his lifeless body.

christmas is a joyous time for us now, yes, but i can only imagine what it must have been for God then to send His Son down to earth, knowing full well that the only purpose of His life was His death.  as the song played, i imagined the bittersweet feeling God must have felt when Jesus was born.  what a sacrifice, to give up your most treasured to your enemies.  christmas is a joyous time, because of that very sacrifice.

and really, if u think abt it, the christmas story makes no sense without the gospel story.  there really is no good news to speak about without Jesus' death on the cross.  so what if God dwelt among us?  if He did not die for us, we would still be in our sins.  we would not be able to approach His throne of grace.  why would there be any reason to rejoice in his tabernacling among us?

an image that stuck in my mind was one that foreshadowed the death of Jesus, even as he was just born.  in Luke 2:7, it says that Jesus was wrapped in swaddling cloths, almost like the linen cloth that he would be wrapped in in the tomb 33 years later.  the manger that He laid in was also a sign that He was born to die.  i remember when i went to Israel in 2004, our tour guide showed us a manger in solomon's stables.  it was not wooden, as one would imagine.  rather, it was like a trough hewn out of a rock.  how interesting it is then, that little baby Jesus would be laid in a hole carved out of a stone, just like how his body would be laid to rest after 6 agonizing hours on the cross.

He was born to die.  and that is the true christmas story, that we can rejoice in His birth, because it was His birth that made His death, and our salvation and reconciliation with God, possible.  and as we celebrate christmas, let us remember, that truly (though this might sound cliched) He is the reason for the season.


As little children we would dream of Christmas morn
And all the gifts and toy we knew we'd find
But we never realized a baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

We were the reason that He gave His life
We were the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by we learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves and what that means
On a dark and cloudy day a man hung crying in the rain
All because of love
All because of love

I finally found the reason for living
It's in giving every part of my heart to Him
And all that I do every word that I say
I'll be giving my all just for Him, for Him

friday was not a good day for me.  i received 2 problem sets from classes which i thought had no more problem sets left for the semester.  that completely took the wind of out me, and even though i would say they aren't that hard, they really made me depressed.  having 7 problem sets to finish in 11 days was not a pleasant thought.  it didn't help that i hadn't been sleeping well the whole wk, routinely waking up before my alarm clock would ring.  i was very close to the tipping point... it's been a hard semester, not just in terms of work but more in terms of sleep i think.  the weather didn't help either, with the sun setting before 5.

but u know, God is good.  God is always there, whether I know it or not.  and God sent good friends that really cheered me up.  and i'm feeling so much better now (even though i'm still tired), i feel like i have it in me for one final sprint.  thank you :)

few days to home! :D

i noticed sth recently, sth that i guess is probably universally true.  when a guy likes a particular girl, that's all he can think abt.  and as a result, whenever he talks to anyone else abt relationships, all he can think/talk abt is how he can further his relationship with that girl.  the conversation inevitably centers on him.  maybe a manifestation of our selfish human self?  anyway it's pretty interesting to watch these guys :)

so today it snowed heavily.  it snowed almost enough to make snowballs, but not quite enough to have a snowball fight.  maybe next yr :)

classes are ending soon, and that's what i'm looking forward to.

mum why are u not returning my messages??

let's see...  this wk has been pretty tough, in terms of sleep and in terms of hw.  but i'm glad it's almost over! :D

Happy is the man who fins wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding;
For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver,
And her gain than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies,
And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
Length of days is in her right hand,
In her left hand riches and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are all who retain her.

Proverbs 3:13-18

5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"
7 The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."
8 Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."
9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.
John 5:5-9

I was reading this passage today for my daily reading.  In these short 5 verses are 3 lines of conversation, yet each of these 3 lines are so interesting and reveal so much of the grace of God.

Jesus' question to the man is one that is not only strange, but possibly offensive as well.  Can you imagine going up to anyone in the ICU and asking them, "Do you want to be made well?"  Why, who doesn't?  Who wants to remain in the bondage of their infirmity?  The surprising answer is sometimes, we do.  Sometimes we like the attention and pity that we get when we're sick.  Sometimes we use our sickness to excuse ourselves from our responsibilities.  Some people don't want to get well because they want to portray the image of being one who is able to endure suffering.

The sick man's reply is rather typical of what any of us would have said.  He didn't answer Jesus' question right on.  In his reply we don't get a sense of a straight yes/no.  what we do get is a statement of resignation to his fate.  from his answer we can see that he desires to be well.  however, that is not what he focused on.  all that was on his mind was the impossibility of his situation.  and how can we blame him?  having been sick for 38 years, never being quick enough to be in a position to receive healing, how can one hold on to any shred of hope?  we are often like the sick man, rationalizing the situation.  we look at the reasons why the impossible cannot happen.  i mean, that's why it's called the impossible right?

now look at the beauty of Jesus' words in response to his unbelief.  Not looking at the sick man's lack of faith, the love of God transcended the man's unbelief and healed him.  Jesus extended grace that was unearned, undeserved, unmerited, unasked-for.  That day the sick man received something that he did not even believe was possible.  Even in our unbelief, God is able to work.

Is there a lesson for us to learn from this passage?  Maybe, but that's not my point here.  Sit back and enjoy, revel in, the great love that God extends toward you :)

and on another note, it snowed today!  pretty heavy snow.  campus looked really pretty this morning, too bad i didn't bring my camera out.  2 more wks to singapore! :D

stumbled across this when i was searching for clues to help me finish my crossoword.  so funny!