After a forest fire in the state of Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.

When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live. 

Psalm 91:4
He will cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you will find refuge.

- Anonymous

One of the main areas that may cause doubt and hopelessness revolves around unanswered prayer.

Maybe it is also an area you can relate to. You may pray for the salvation of loved ones, healing for friends or families, provision, opportunities or open doors and so on but you neither see nor hear of any result.

You may resign your will after praying from months to years. You plead, you wait, you doubt and you quit. Don’t cave in and give up.

In the book of Luke, Jesus spoke of the parable of the persistent widow. She pleads her need to the judge and the judge was worn down with her persistence. He gave in and the widow got her breakthrough. Know that God has more compassion than the judge, He is the all knowing and powerful God who will not trial us more than we can bear.

It is God who we can put our trust. We ought to always pray and not lose heart. Jesus says so and we know that He knows best.

Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

- Irene Soon

See how the Bible opens: “In the beginning God.” Let your life open in the same way. Seek with your whole soul, first and foremost, the Kingdom of God, as the place of your citizenship, and His righteousness as the character of your life.

As for rest, it will come from the Lord Himself without your being anxious about it. All that is needful for this life and godliness “shall be added unto you.”

What a promise this is. Food, rainment, home and so forth, God undertakes to add to you while you seek Him. You mind His business and He will mind yours.

He who is an heir of salvation shall not die of starvation; and he who clothes his soul with the righteousness of God cannot be left of the Lord with a naked body.

Set your mind upon seeking the Lord.

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

(Excerpt taken from Charles Spurgeon’s Faithbook)

- Irene Soon

In the small congested town where I live, there is only one shopping centre .It is always crowded hence finding a parking space is always a pain. I have to circle the building over and over again, queue behind many other cars and then mostly give up and park at other dark and smelly basement.

After many years of driving round and round the building, I recently discovered a small corner that not many people seems to know about, just nice for my car to park. So now, I conveniently park in my "secret parking space".

Sometimes life is like that. It is so crowded and packed with difficult phases such as heartache, being misunderstood, lost of a loved one, being jobless, being insulted or looked down at, caught in an unpleasant disagreement, being discouraged feeling that your life is stuck while other people's life seems to be progressing just fine. 

Among all these problems, we forget that we have our "secret parking space", our rest, our sense of peace and safety. We can come to Him daily in prayer. We also need to read His words with a praying spirit, allowing His words to fill our minds. If we do this constantly (day by day, year by year), we shall find rest and peace.

Matthew 11:28
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest

-  Diven

While riding on a ferryboat to Galiano Island in British Columbia, I struck up a conversation with Mr. Thompson, a gentleman who served as the Chief Clerk for the City of Vancouver.

I said, ‘I’ve heard that after a salmon is spawned, it will swim out into the ocean, and that after an extended time something happens inside the brain of the salmon, and it will then have the overwhelming urge to return to the place where it was spawned. The salmon will swim along the coast, find the right harbor, the right river, the right stream; and finally it will get back to the very spot where it started out. How in the world does the salmon do all that?’

Mr. Thompson replied, ‘Yes, that is true, but it is even more remarkable than that. An experiment was recently carried out in which salmon eggs were removed from the stream where they had been laid and were put into another stream some distance away. When the salmon grows up and swims out to the ocean and finally swims back home, which location will it swim to?’

I gave what I thought was the only sensible answer, ‘The salmon will swim back to the place where the eggs had been transported, of course. That’s where the salmon actually turned into a fish and got to know its environment.’

‘Wrong!’ said Mr. Thompson. ‘The salmon will swim back to the original place where the eggs were laid.’ I was dumbfounded then, and I still am, by the uncanny built- in guidance system of the salmon.

What a sermon on the guidance of God! If God provides such a marvelous guidance for a fish, there is certainly nothing fishy about believing that He can provide guidance for us. We are far more important to God than any fish. We are created in God’s own image.

Proverbs 3:5-6 
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

(Adapted from: Donald Russell Robertson “Dear You” 1989, Word, Inc)

- Jo Voon

We are very busy people. Whether at work or at play, our minds are moving at the speed of 100km/h, at least mine is. Some of us like to stay busy but there is not even enough time to do most of the things in our ‘to do’ list.

Due to that, we often are tempted to take care of those things that are ‘see-able’ at the expense of leaving those ‘unsee-able’ things that are not so obvious. In other words, we are more likely to prioritize the external things that others can see and not worrying much about the internal which few people can see.

We can go to church and help with various events or functions because that is what others can see but what about our own spiritual nourishment? Are we spending time in the Word or in prayer to be closer to God?

The Pharisees were more concerned about their outward appearance than their personal relationship to God. Jesus denounced their attempts to make themselves look good in giving, praying aloud, and fasting.  Being seen and praised by others is a fleeting reward, it is nothing compared to what God has in store for those who serve and love Him with sincere hearts.

Are you busy for the right reasons? Jesus is never too busy to have a relationship with you. He does not take shortcuts; He is available for you everytime, everyday.

Job 36:7
He does not take His eyes off the righteous. He enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever.

- John W

Have you ever been really thirsty?

Prior to my recent surgery, I was required to fast for at least six hours before the surgery could be performed. This includes fasting on water as well.

Due to hospital understaffing, I had to wait longer than usual and it led to a wait for more than half a day without water. Parched, I knew there is nothing I could do but wait. The longer I waited the more certain I am that water is one of the most crucial elements in a person’s life.

In the book of John, Jesus said “whoever drinks from the water I give him will never thirst again.” (John 4:14) What a reassuring statement that is. By using a parable, Jesus promises to always supply our needs to the point that we will not be in need anymore.  

Do you long to be quenched from your spiritual thirst? Do you long for something that this world can’t provide you? Seek Jesus, the source of the Living Water.

Only Jesus could satisfy the parching thirst that this world can’t provide. He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

John 4:14
Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

- Irene Soon

It is always easier to operate within our natural senses instead of our spiritual ones to solve any problems that come our way.

Our natural senses rely on our own power to make things happen at our own desired time. This practice will cause negative attributes such as impatience, greed and pride to mould our character. 

Our spiritual sense however, is the key ingredient in activating God’s power in our life.  Faith is able to bridge our life to an extraordinary faith filled life where we could be a living testimony of “been there, done that and succeed with God”.

Before a stone becomes a diamond, it was a carbon atom put under high pressure. Trials and tribulation reveals the depth of our faith and its authenticity. When we put our trust in God, HE will cause attributes such as perseverance, patience, trust and humility to refine us.

This refinement process will only bring out the best in us; the diamond within.

With the refined character, we would learn to rest in His power and promises, do our best in every opportunity He entrust us with and wait on Him with courage.

“My God will come through for me and He will come through for you too.”

Isaiah 48:10
See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

- Irene Soon

We see growth and expansion all around us. Right now the city or town that we live in is growing. Babies and being born, houses are getting built and new roads are being laid. We see external growth all the time.

God speaking through Isaiah the Prophet was telling the people of Israel to get ready for the growth and increase that was ahead in Isaiah 54:2:

"Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”

We need to prepare for our own growth. Just like the Israelites, we encounter trial and suffering where we have to come to an internal stance between us and God and decide ‘yes I will persevere’. There will come times where you may feel that God is stretching your tent curtains and lengthening your chords but zoom out and look at the bigger picture at what He is making your into.

God hasn’t called His people to smallness. He calls us to bigness! Receive stretching with joy and gladness! God is increasing your capacity for a reason. He is growing your character and spirit for a whole new season.

-Sandra Iliev

When one looks at the cross, one can view it as the lowest or weakest point in the life of Jesus. It was the moment where Jesus surrendered his life to God, his desires, his will. Yet, at the very same time, outside of what anyone would think is logical or reasonable, it was the moment where the power of God and the Wisdom of God was truly revealed.

There are times in our life where life throws us these moments - the lowest of the low, the deep valleys, despair, worry, hopelessness, stress, impossibility... 

But as we surrender our lives to God in those moments, that is when the power if God and the Wisdom of God becomes revealed - just as Jesus rose, we too rise with Him. Death is defeated, hopelessness, impossibility and despair has no hold over us. These moments become our opportunity to overcome and reign in life!

1 Corinthians 1:18
For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.

-Jo Voon-