I want to share this song, originally called “Allah Yang Setia” by @givingmybestband , the translation of the title would be He is Faithful. Jesus, is the One that started all the good things in me, shaping me to be like Him, because I am precious in His eyes. He started the work in me and gave His life in exchange for mine. He never left me alone. Complete my life so it will be wonderful for You.
Friends, when life gets hard, who do you turn to? He is there listening, He is with you, He wants what is best for you and He is faithful. No matter what beliefs you have, He welcomes you and He is the one that seeks you. He knows all your worries, fears, doubt. So whenever you feel down and discouraged, turn to Him.
He pulled me into His embrace during the darkest moments of my life. And He does not disappoint. I hope this song will give you the encouragement you need.
This is a picture of a bride in Sydney Opera House.
I will begin sharing my walk with God. When I was 15, I decided to accept Jesus. Throughout the years, I have been running all over the places to search for full satisfaction to my heart’s desire: the desire to be loved and accepted. I search satisfaction in finding love, in pursuing achievements, in eating; but all of them never brought me ultimate satisfaction, or in other words contentment. I would like to share a verse from Hosea 2:19, where God says: “And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.”
God desires an intimate relationship with us, that like a marriage relationship. It is hard to make that commitment, but God woes me, and brings me to know Him more through His word. In this process of learning, I came to the point of seeking Him and finding Him. He was there all along, never leaving me behind. I struggled to give and surrender two areas of my life- health and desire for marriage in the past. I know He died for me, but I was struggling in these two areas. How is my difficult situation evident of His love for me?
It was a long walk, a 12 year walk, where I was in the desert before coming to the promised land, but He never left me once. I was struggling with my worries, anger and anxieties all these years, He never left me, He is walking with me, guiding me each step of the journey. I am made aware of my anger which made me suffer, Jesus helped me to be aware of the anger and to surrender it to Him, to face it with calmness and self-control. I feel satisfied in Jesus. He is more than enough for me. I am choosing to be content in my singleness right now. I know that what He plans for me whether to be single or married, it is for my good, and He knows me best. Sometimes He allows pain and difficulties to come through my life, but that is to help me grow more mature and to realise the depths of His love for me.
It seems hard to say God is good when all is hard, it is hard to say that He loves you when you go through something painful, but remember He loves you so much and there are some things we do not understand- He is sovereign over it all and He is good. So friends, do not be discouraged, when the walk is hard, turn to Jesus. He is the One that can and will truly satisfy your longings. He invites you to be His partner. I trust Jesus, through my difficult emotions, through my desires, that He will be my guide, my Love who never leaves me, and will continue moulding my heart to be like Him. Whatever difficulties you are facing right now, look for Jesus. I pray that anyone reading this may know and experience His love.
I used Procreate app to draw this flower. It comes from drawing repeating shapes and putting layer of colours.
Do you have times when you question your worth? What is the meaning of your life and purpose? I want to share a verse from Psalms. It is in Psalm 139:13-14 which reads (ESV version) : “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Let us read that verse again. I am created by God. He knows me and He loves me. He made no mistake when He created me. God has a purpose for my life and yours too. He intricately wove the pieces that makes you you. You have worth in God’s eyes.
When thoughts arise that try to question your worth, turn to Him, turn to Jesus, who loves you and knows you from the inside out. He can be trusted with all your sorrows and pains because He has the best plan worked out for those that love Him that are called according to His purpose. He knows us best and that is why we can trust Him with all our heart. He knows our pain because He has been human himself but did not sin. That is why you can rest assured when you trust Him because He loves you dearly, my friend. So do not give up and put your hopes in Him!
Many of us have goals in life. It takes time for people to reach their goal. I am just starting out, in my career. I guess it does take time, where patience and perseverance are needed. However, when striving for a goal, even though you must work hard, there is also a time for rest. Even in the patience and perseverance, there is a time for resting. Where can I rest O my soul? When I am tired, who do I turn to? Many of you have different ways of managing stress. It could be through eating, spending time with family and friends, or maybe through hobbies… but truly who gives joy and peace to our soul?
I was preoccupied with busyness that I forgot how to pause and rest. Rest does not only mean physical rest, but also for the mind to rest, and for the soul to rest- it all comes in one unity. Who can I turn to, who will give me rest? And now I remember who to turn to, to Him who gives rest and peace to my soul. Despite the busyness, when I spend time in His word, the truth sets me free. That it is said that if you love Him, you would obey Him. But why do we need to obey Him? We obey Him because we love Him…- with this statement comes again our tiring pursuit of obeying Him- His laws are there to set us free not to make us law doers, but we want to obey Him because He loves us. And the truth is…His laws are there to help us in this life. He made those laws with His intention. His intention is based on His love for us. So the laws would not be burdensome as long as we do it with Him. And this, my friends, takes patience and perseverance.
Same with all things in life, whatever things we try to reach, may it be weight goals, career goals, relationship goals, it must take patience and perseverance, discipline and commitment. You are not alone in this journey my friends. When the road gets hard, turn to Him, He is always there, and He will surely satisfy your soul.
Do not give up, He is rooting for you and He will be with you each step of the journey!
I used Reeves gouache paint and watercolour from Kuretake to draw this peacock
I want to share all with you the verse from 1 John 2:15-17 and Colossians 3:2. 1 John states “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in this world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remain forever.” This is further emphasised in Colossians 3:2 where it is stated “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Many times I am enticed by worldly desires. Nice things to buy, delicious food, all the world can offer. Sometimes I also desire to be approved by people, and what I am struggling with is doing marvellous things so that people would approve and accept me. To be honest, I have a high ego, and a lot of pride, and I am proud of my achievements. But now I say, that I am no longer proud of what I have achieved, because I know that it is God who did all these things. He gave me love and support. He gave me parents who would sacrifice a lot of things for me. He gave me brothers who really cared for me. Mentors, physicians, professors, friends; He provided them all for me. I would not have reached this point without support from all these people I have just mentioned. God is humbling me to the point where I say going to a good university is by God’s grace, and not my own doing. Being able to finish with struggles of course, is by God’s mercy. I cannot be proud of my intelligence, because it does not bring me anywhere. My dependence on God, pleases Him and brings me to know Him more, that He delights in giving me gifts. Now I know, that God loves me so, and He will never leave me and also this verse from Psalm 91:14-16: ” Because he has his heart set on me, I will deliver him; I will protect him because he knows my name. When he calls out to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will rescue him and give him honour. I will satisfy him with a long life and show him my salvation.” This particular verse helped me in times of extreme stress, and helped me manage my emotions.
7daysofgrateful
That is why I learn to have 7 days of grateful. Not setting my mind on worldly things, but setting my mind on Him, who truly satisfies. He never disappoints. He has the best plan for your life. Whatever hurdles, disappointments, hopes and dreams we have. He always listens and replies, but He sometimes replies in a different way than we ever think. As Isaiah 55:8-9 states, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
I was a prideful young woman, but Jesus taught me daily to depend on Him, which leads me to humbling myself upon His feet daily. My current health is because I depend on Him. He renews my mind, and He gives me peace and joy, and also contentment in all circumstances. I hope those who are reading this may understand and know God’s love and not set your minds on worldly things. Wealth, riches, accolades may pass away, but God’s word remain true, and it will change you.
I used goauche paint and Affinity Photo Editor to edit this painting.
What does it mean to love someone? Yesterday..there was a sermon about hurting the Holy Spirit’s heart. These three bees represent the three times I hurt His heart. I remember it again.. a few years back, last year and now.. And I want to share that with all of you..
The first time was the pain in my heart… like a broken-hearted feeling. The pain of unrequited love. I understood that feeling.. but that pain was not mine.. It was the Holy Spirit. At that time, I didn’t love Him at all, and that hurt Him. I remembered the time when I liked someone but that person did not like me back, and it hurt.. I cried..but this pain was more heart wrenching. It brought me back to the years when I got broken hearted.. that was the same feeling.. that life meant nothing without that person. I can relate to how God is feeling too.. that life is more beautiful when He can relate with us… His creations..
The second time was when I cried… but it was not my tears. I was honest to God.. that my desires for a husband was bigger than my desires for Him.. and it pained His heart..It was like a knife cutting in my heart… I felt that pain..but it was not mine…it was His. My question is this to you all.. what if the person you love most love someone else instead of you? Would you get hurt? How would you feel? You love that person deeply but his love is not for you.. How painful it must be.
The third time is when I hurt someone else. It pains Him because He loves that person too..When we bad mouth somebody, when we hurt people with our words, when we curse someone, when we hate…it pains Him.. because He knows that those sins rots us and makes us sick. He does not want to see us suffer. He wants us to forgive, to speak in gentleness and wisdom, He wants us to bless people because those things gives us peace and joy.
Let me end this sharing with a verse from Luke 5:31-32:31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
We need Him.. We are imperfect beings.. who have been hurt, broken, and trampled through the waves of this world. He came to give us that love, the love which heals. He found me at that place where I am most broken. I am found and cherished by the One who loves me most, and through this, I want to not hurt His feelings and want to learn to love Him more because He is worthy. He is patient, waiting for us to love Him back, but how long more do we want to keep hurting His heart that loves us deeply?
According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), they estimated that UK’s economy grew by 0.7% in the three months to March, from 0.6% in the previous quarter. CBI’s monthly survey consists of 764 private firms from different sectors, the problem they were facing was ongoing Eurozone and Greece’s bailout, in addition the businesses in UK have to be ready to handle the strong pound, where the currency have been pulling down on weak export growth. The survey reads of 18% for the three months to March on the private sector growth indicator, where it shows that performance of businesses was improving. The survey shows that business and consumer services, along with manufacturing sector will strengthen in the near future. CBI’s deputy director general Katja Hall commented lower oil prices now which are felt by consumers, where cheaper petrol causes people’s household income and spending power to increase, and lowering costs for businesses.
When there is IPO, companies have option to “lock-up” shares from trading for the purpose of preventing major shareholders from flooding the market in the start of a trading period. In Alibaba, two of the company’s “lock-up” agreements has ended, releasing a huge amount of 437 million for trading, where in addition to that, another 1.6 billion shares owned by Jack Ma and Joe Tsai and investors Yahoo and Softbank will hit the market in September. To add, Alibaba has sold 320 million shares (13% of the company) in its IPO. All of these amount to a representation of 80% of their company, if sold Alibaba would get $165 billion. Due to this huge amount, China tax specialist, partner at Zhong Lun, Clifford Ng said, the more successful the company, the more reason for the government to collect taxes from them. The taxation in China is concentrated on worldwide income, where it applies progressive tax rate on employment-based income which ranges from 3% to 45% and a capital gains tax with maximum of 20%. IN the past, authorities have failed to collect taxes from rich Chinese who use creative ways to launder money abroad. Now, Beijing is working hard on solving tax evasion as government debt becomes more evident. The government now requires big firms like Alibaba to register with State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), to control how much money flows in and out of China. In response to this, Alibaba spokesman Bob Christie replied that they will comply. Governments required companies to register with SAFE because now Chinese companies are listed overseas.
I have a Chinese friend in class who told me about this saying: “君子之交淡如水” (jun zi zhi jiao tan ru shui); this means virtuous men will treat the friendship flowing as water. I guess love for someone first comes from friendship. I am amazed how my Chinese friends have a deep understanding of this. That having someone as a partner is having deep friendship with someone. He also advises me to treat that friendship as you treat yourself, to love that person as you love yourself as you do not get overwhelmed with the emotions. That is good advice. Sometimes, the emotions overtake us, and it can cause pain and other things. 我希望我那朋友会得到真心的爱因为我当成他是个好朋友！
7 Days of Grateful 