Donald Wong - 08/10/2010

Trusting the Lord

A lot of new things happen in my personal and spiritual life. These past couple of months it has been journey in my life, a beginning of a long journey. A journey where God shows his love for us and he care for us, but at the same time He want us to have faith and step out of our comfort zones.

As some of you guys know about my personal life recently, it has been quite a journey and task trying to make decision for all the arrangements, talking to families. It was definitely an area where God will want us to do the right thing; therefore, patient, prayer, and trust on God it is really important because He know what’s best and  He has a plan. We need to be obedient follow Him. So far all I can say is God has leaded us through with his light. And Yes, he definitely answer our prayers.

As of my spiritual life, I decided to lead my Life Group from the English Congregation as our current leaders are moving to California soon. It will be a challenging new task, stepping out in faith and trust the Lord. Being able to lead the group is a privilege but at the same time it carries a lot of responsibilities.          

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.      James 3:1-2  

It will not be an easy task, but I know God will work on me to change me and through me as an instrument of His to serve him not with my own wisdom, but with God’s wisdom.

Anita Lau - 07/20/2010

“Am I doing my best?”

Many of you know I changed to a new position in the company recently.  In the past few weeks, I worked with my colleagues closely; spent a lot of time with them to understand the business; and kept on thinking new idea and strategy to improve the current job.  I can tell myself that "I did my best" for my job. 

But how about for God, I am asking myself if I can tell God that “I am doing my best for God”?  Matthew 22:37-38 “And he said to him, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest rule.”

"Am I spending enough time with God every day?”  I think back to the past year, I spent much less time on God’s word compare with my friends over the phone. 

 “Am I putting enough effort when I serve?”  A lot of the time, I forgot the purpose of serving and did not take it serious.  And I also gave a lot of excuses to myself that I don’t have the talent or I don’t have enough time.

“Am I working hard enough build my character more like Jesus?”  I still do things that I know God doesn’t like.  Instead of praying and trying to improve my character, I just ask God to forgive me. 

This is a good opportunity to remind myself what is God’s greatest rule.

Mei Tung - 07/11/2010

God Will Make A Way

“God is faithful, despite our defiantly disobedience, and despite our deafening doubt.” These are the words that began an early Sunday morning sermon a couple weeks ago. That morning, I had wandered into church barely awake as a result of waking up early for a wedding the day before, but upon hearing those words, my mind became alert as I looked around in search of something.

Was God speaking to me? If so, where is he sitting at this very Sunday?

This thought came to me because those words are what I desperately need to hear right now. During my two years at MBA, the one thing that I did not expect was to graduate without a job offer. God had always gone through for me somehow in the past, despite my disobedience, despite my doubt, so why is his magic not at work this time?

I had thought about the answer to this question many times. Perhaps I had done something that was considered defiantly disobedience to God (ie: choosing to hangout with my classmates over fellowship, falling asleep at Sunday worship, forgetting to spend time praying, the list can go on); or perhaps my growing deafening doubt that now filled my spiritual life stops God from giving me that job offer. If that is the case, I thought, maybe once I do all the right things and convince myself not to doubt, then God will surely give me that job offer!  My past prayer had always been “God, if you give me a job offer, then I will do this for you at church, and I will share the gospel with that person for you, and I will…”

That’s when I heard the pastor read Genesis 28:20-22 “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "IF God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, THEN the LORD will be my God  and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth."

EWWW! That sounds awfully like my prayers - the “If-Then-Else” relationship. If God do this, then I will do this, else I will be rebellious. But God was faithful in that despite Jacob’s conditional prayer, God still delivered Jacob at the end and he did eventually return home safely (Genesis 33).

What I learn that Sunday morning was that if something is in God’s plan, He will simply make a way. He does not need my conditional promises. Instead, what our ever loving Father wants is for my heart to surrender all to him regardless of the outcome and result. He already has the best plan for me, and he is going to be faithful to deliver, and He will not hold back from me what is good. What I really need to do is to simply trust him because God will make a way!

Mei