“So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.”
– (Genesis 29:20) –

Some time back I wrote about Jacob’s life which was full of suffering.
But now, let’s focus on a small part of his life. It was during the time he worked for the first seven years.

Jacob fell in love with Rachel. He longed to marry her.
Laban, his father in law, gave a condition: Jacob had to work for seven years.
So, Jacob agreed. He endured all the hardship.
He lacked of sleep, suffered the heat of the day and the cold of the night.
He made sure no animal came to kill the sheep or thief to steal the lambs.
Once in a while he had chance to talk to Rachel, but most of the time he could only see her from afar.
7 years of hardship but it felt like a few days to him… because of love.

In the past, I did plenty unimaginable things in the name of love.
This journey I have now is a hard one.
I experience stress, need to fulfill requirement and sometimes I lack of sleep too.
Hopefully, I can have finished it by August next year.
Nevertheless, do I need to find my “Rachel” to make this journey seem like a few days?

2 Tim 1:15, 4:10, 4:14.

It must have been tough for Apostle Paul.
He was alone in prison, chained for Christ’s sake.
There were many of his fellow workers who had deserted Christ and left him alone.
He felt betrayed and deserted.

When those whom we love forsake us, what should we do?
From the life of Apostle Paul, we learn:
1.) Don’t be surprised when betrayal comes.
2.) Don’t let bad people hinder our eyes from seeing good people around us.
3.) Forgive those who have deserted us. A quote by him: “Forgiveness sets prisoners free and very often, we are the prisoners.”
4.) When others leave, Christ stands with us. The Lord is always with us in any crisis we face.

This journey of studying, by definition, is a lonely war.
Many times, I am the only soldier, fighting all the enemies.
But, Lord Jesus is with me. So, I need to keep believing.
Keep the faith and keep trying.

James 1:12-15
It was a sermon about temptation. Temptation may come in many forms: anger, lust, porn, gambling, alcoholism, etc.
From this passage, we learn 4 things about it:
1.) Temptation will come. It is inevitable.
2.) Temptation does not come from God.
3.) Temptation is individual due to a person’s weakness.
4.) Temptation eventually leads to death, unless he/she does something about it.

There are things we can do to overcome temptation:
1.) Accountability friends. Sin is fueled by secrecy.
2.) Find reasons to pursue purity.
3.) Advance planning before temptation comes.
4.) Do the above weeks after weeks.

Indeed, we should keep our heart pure before the Lord.

Refreshment time over biscuit.
Thanks a lot, Gerald!

Some illustration for CBC216 students.
It was an easy and fast experiment.
Hopefully, they’ve learnt a lot, both in terms science and report writing.

Hungry after duty.
So, it was time to fill in the tummy.

Yummy.

“What essential here is the will inside you.
But if you don’t pay attention enough, you will lose that will at the end.
Yes, if you hit a wall!
If you forsake you will while hitting against that wall..
You will begin to make excuses and obtained hatred in exchange of your determination.
Listen now..
You have to step forward without abandoning your will!!”
– Shodaime Tsuchikage (Naruto)-

It was initially Will of Fire: protecting those we love.
That’s how we should relate with others.
However, when it comes to ourselves, we should adopt Will of Stone: stay determined, stay enduring.
Perseverance in the midst of adversity.
Life is tough, but we gotta be tougher.
Will of Stone.. Will of Stone..

Isa 43:18-21
Don’t dwell in the past as God is about to do new things.
It was said to Israelites who were living in captivity.
For us, even though we are walking in the midst of trouble, God will bring us to mountains as long as we keep walking with Him.

Three things we can learn from this passage:
1.) Forget the former things.
— Be them bad or victorious things. God wants us to look ahead, move forward with Him.
      Even when we can only see seas of obstacle around us, God will make a path through the seas.
      God has prepared a lane for us to run for. We must not get distracted by things on the left, right or behind.
2.) Get a vision of future from God.
— A condemned crime was crucified with Lord Jesus. Yet, even in the last moment of his life, he put his trust in Jesus.
      His faith was rewarded: Lord Jesus saved him.
      No matter how bad the situation, we should always see the future in God.
      There are always greater and even greater things in God.
      Since God wants to bless us, our family members, friends and colleagues will be blessed through us too.
      We should think positive things, according to God’s Word, and confess them times and again.
      Let’s make a plan to achieve goals in this year.
      God often speaks to us way in advance things which will happen in the future. He wants to strengthen our faith muscle.
3.) We give thanks and praise to Him.
— From Paul Potts’s life, we learn how God can use a very unlikely person to declare His praise.

Hmm, for me, God has been telling me one special thing.
Until now, it has not come to pass.
Yet, I will confess again and again until it does.

An Invitation You Would not Want to Turn Down.

It was my first time hearing a message from him.
You can see his biography here: http://www.philotrust.com/jjohn
He delivered a message about the true meaning of Christianity.

What is Christianity? Basically, it is an invitation.
An invitation, in general, has three parts: who is it from? Who it is for? What is it about?

Who sent this invitation?
God through Lord Jesus Christ.

Who is it for?
It is for all of us.
It is really a royal invitation.
Sadly, not all of us will accept His invitation.

What is it about? Threefold invitation:
a.) Forgiveness from the past
—- Lord Jesus offers forgiveness for all our sins.
b.) New life in present life.
— We should put Lord Jesus first. In what way? He is first in our:
Finance
Interest
Relationship
Schedule
Trouble
c.) Hope for future
— Our eternal destiny: to be with Him eternally.

A very interesting message.
As for me, I should always put God first in all those five areas.

 

Wasn’t in for service as the bookstore lacked of manpower again.
But at least, I got this lovely bookmark.
There are 20 tips to boost love feeling toward spouse.
They were taken from (http://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships/2011/12/20-ways-to-amp-up-the-love-boost-oxytocin-naturally-in-your-couple-relationship/)

Unfortunately, I am not able to carry out those tips..
I want to get married soon!!

“The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
-Jacob (Genesis 47:9 NKJV, emphasis added)-

It must have been tough for Jacob.
– Ran away from home when he was quite young.
– Was supposed to work for 7 years in order to marry Rachel, yet was tricked to working for 14 years in order to marry her.
– Worked additional 6 years for Laban’s flock. Yet in all 20 years of working, Laban changed his salary ten times.
– Was burned under the sun at noon and was frozen by cold at night as he worked.
– Had to manage a messy family: Reuben slept with Jacob’s “harem”, Simeon and Levi slaughtered the entire city and hence inviting threats to Jacob’s family.
– Mourned over the “apparent” death of Joseph, one of his favorite sons.
It is not surprising he concludes of his life: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life.
However, in the end, he passed away in peace as he had been reunited with Joseph and he could even bless Joseph’s sons.

It must have been tough for Lord Jesus as He walked through the journey of the cross.
– Bruised muscle.
– Torn flesh.
– Bleeding after bleeding.
– Incessant pain.
– Pierced bones as nails were driven through.
– Heart failure. But most importantly, He was rejected by the Father. That is the ultimate agony.
However, in the end, He won!

Jacob endured Laban’s unfair treatment.
Lord Jesus endured the cross.
It’s now my turn to endure tough time too. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I can do it.