Years ago, a successful surgeon shared her story of repentance.

For years, her business thrived; she had everything she desired and was extremely proud of her own achievement.

“I was very arrogant but on one fateful day, God had other plan. I and my team failed to perform a surgery for one of the country-leaders' wife. It led to her death and my medical license was revoked. I and my family had to survive with all the savings that I had,” she said.

It was then, she humbled herself and cried to the Lord for His mercy. Her medical license was reinstated and the Lord restored her.

In the Bible, we read about the proud King Nebuchadnezzar. He was convinced that the success of his kingdom was built through his own mighty power. " ...Is not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty ? " (Daniel 4: 30)

As King Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself, the Lord humbled him by taking away his kingdom and his royal authority from him (Daniel 4: 31) and he became insane ...he ate grass like oxen (Daniel 4: 33) 

But when he raised his eyes toward heaven to acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men, his sanity was restored and he was also restored to his throne and became even greater than before.

Pride comes with a price but humility brings a great reward. Let the Lord be the one who exalts you, lest pride will destroy you. With humility, there is a great reward.

Matthew 23 : 12 NKJV
Whoever exalts  himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

- FY

It is God who loves me and He loves you as well
Jesus chose to come to walk among us
He chose to suffer and die for you and me
Now, He has risen and He is taking care of you and me

When He saw my flaws, He didn't choose to abandon me So when I see suffering and tears in this world, I can choose to follow His steps

One can give without loving
but He who loves, can't love without giving
He has given His all
What can I do but to learn from Him to give my all

When I fall few times too many,
People may say that His salvation is cheap
because I can just say sorry and be forgiven by Him
But it is all about love

From the time we were little boys, most guys like to talk and show off their physical scars. I remember my friends and I refer to our scars as the war scars.

Whether it is a scar on our knee from climbing the tree, skin scrapped due to a motorbike accident or a scar from a surgery, we are proud of our war scars.

Scars follow us everywhere we go and every scar reminds us of the event or the people associated to the creation of the scar.

Now, did you know that God bears a scar for you? He has engraved your name and the very image of you on the palm of His hand. You are always present in His mind. He is proud of this war scar because it reminds Him of you.

So today, no matter how intense the storm you are facing, be assured you are always at the forefront of God’s mind. He is thinking of you, sustaining you and strengthening you. He will be your warrior, your way to everlasting victory.

Isaiah 49: 16
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

- John W

We can often see God portrayed in the world as a harsh and conservative figure who only blesses those who are ‘religious’ and the ‘good ones’. But God’s hand of blessing stretches out so much further.

Sometimes it is hard to connect our faith with the promises of God because how we perceive ourselves. We can be our harshest critic. But friend, we can’t comprehend how much He wants to bless us with because… wait for it… He likes us. At first I didn’t understand this when a friend was sharing this concept from a sermon that she heard but then it clicked- He likes us and when you like someone you do things for them ‘just because’.

I was praying at work when the Holy Spirit stirred this in my spirit and when it happened my prayers went from being half-hearted to full of faith! God isn’t a God that wants to hold back blessings and gifts! He loves us and likes us and wants to give to us! No matter my faults He still likes me! When I understood this I started praying with boldness because… GOD LIKES ME AND WANTS TO BLESS ME!

He likes you too! Don’t spend another minute without knowing how much God truly and unashamedly loves you. He wants to spend time with you show you that you are worth every blessing. Jesus didn’t die in vain for us not to understand the full amount of His adoration for us.

2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

-Sandra Iliev

The word "wait" which appears in Isaiah 40:31 is "qavah" in the Hebrew language. Qavah has a literal (straight forward) and a figurative (implied or symbolic) meaning. The literal meaning of qavah is to bind or twist together  strands of a rope. The figurative meaning of qavah is expecting, hoping, waiting, anticipating. 

When we put the two meanings together, we understand the full meaning of Isaiah 40:31 as the Hebrew writer had intended: as we wait, anticipate, trust in God, it is not just passively twiddling our thumbs, but it is a process of binding and twisting or entwining our lives with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

No longer are we relying on our own strand of strength, but our single strand becomes one with the supernatural strength of our Almighty and everlasting God! Entwine your life with God and watch your strength be like the eagle's.

Isaiah 40:28 - 31
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making
it to abound]. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted; But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

- Jo Voon -

There are days in which we wake up feeling sick, down, or simply annoyed. We just seem to get up from the wrong side of bed. Maybe we were mean to others because we were annoyed ourselves. Maybe we did something that we know we aren't too proud of. Maybe we belittle ourselves. 

But do you know that before all these, before all else, that God still loves you regardless of what happened? Sometimes we think that He is upset at what we have done. But the truth is, He hates the sin, but he loves the sinner. Pastor Prince once said that if you find this hard to grapple with, think about it as your loved one suffering from cancer. You absolutely hate the cancer, but you still love the person!

To God, sin is like cancer because it takes a hold on you and eats away at you. He hates it because He is a Father. If the entire gospel were to be summarised in one verse, it would be John 3:16.."For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

You and I are blessed, because God our Father sees us through Christ. Spotless, blameless, and righteous in Him! We are in perfect standing with God and blessings are pour forth from us. God isn't concerned about how much blessings HE can give, but how much WE can receive. Thats how much things have changed!

For the rest of today, I encourage you to reflect on what the love of Christ really mean to you and rest in all His promises for you. Be at peace.

John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

Elizabeth Tan

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” – Reinhold Niebuhr

Most of us are creatures of habit. We may wake up at the same time everyday, do things and think a certain way or similar. These habits become an ongoing pattern on how we approach or deal with things in our life.

Some habit may be good but it is up to us to discern the bad ones and have the courage to break the cycle of familiarity and enter into a season of temporary discomfort to form a better habit.  Researches affirm that a new habit can be formed within 21 days. If you could do the same things within 21 days, you will most likely do it the rest of your life.

Let’s seek God’s wisdom to know the things/ habits we can change and muster the courage to change what needs to be change but at the same time learn to accept and let go of the things we can’t change.

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

- Irene Soon

Now this is what I agree. “Betrayal is something others may do to you but bitterness is something that you do to yourself.”

Life throws surprises to us, good and bad. We might have an unfaithful friend or spouse, treated unfairly by a certain colleague or by our employer. We may even face slander from a used to be trusted friend.

Jesus too experienced a betrayal from His trusted friends. He called Judas friend but Judas betrayed Him. Peter who confessed his utmost devotion to Jesus, denied Jesus at the moment He needs Peter the most. I’m sure in today’s world those two doings could send someone to bitterness instantaneously.

Jesus however did not stay bitter. He mentioned Peter’s name specifically after the day of His resurrection. By doing so, I believe Peter’s life was touched by God’s undeserving grace and it completely transformed Peter to a God fearing disciple.

Jesus did not let the bitterness of betrayal manifested; He forgave the one who wronged Him.

Stop going over your bitter past and re-cast the scenes in your mind. If the old issues do not build your inner man, let it go and choose to forgive. You will only do yourself a favor by letting off a load of unnecessary burden off your shoulder.

Ephesians 4:31-32
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

- John W

I was watching fire for 5 hours the other day. I watched it grow and die down, over and over again. Even if it reduces to coals, you throw another bit of dry wood and it picks back up again. Fire cannot be smothered; it needs the air. It needs to breath.

We are like the dry wood. We need to be dry so we can catch the fire. We can so easily become wet pieces of wood- wet by troubles around us, sickness that cripples us and darkness that hinders us.

You and I need to be hungry and ready to be set on fire by God. Don’t let your passion dwindle down. Get around others that want to be alight as well! Seek God! Allow the Holy Spirit to fan the flame that is burning in you. This is feeding the fire!

God wants us to live a life on fire. He doesn’t want us to live on a mediocre warmish life. We can allow the troubles of this world to dampen out spirits but keep your spirit dry under the canopy of the Almighty. When the fire of the Holy Spirit comes you will be set alight, on fire. Spread the fire of the Lord!

Hebrews 12:28 - 29
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."

  -Sandra Iliev

If you were to have a coffee and chat with David of the Bible, you would hear amazing stories of his life; anointed as King while busy looking after sheep, killed a giant, became a national hero, was a fugitive from his own King and spent a large amount of time running and hiding for his life!

One of David’s lowest points of his journey was when he was fleeing from King Saul. He had no choice but to try his chance at finding help with a neighboring King. However, when that plan didn’t work out, David's Plan C was to escape by pretending to be a madman! What a difficult, unpredictable and fearful time it must have been. Yet, Psalms 34 shows the fruit produced during this testing time in David's life: “I will bless the Lord at all times…”

We too may go through similar patterns in our lives; a God-inspired calling or anointing, victories are followed by valleys of running and hiding, perhaps from disappointment, disillusionment or hopelessness. Yet, let’s turn these challenging times into times where our lives bring out the gold. Magnify the Lord together with me, let His praise continually be in our mouths. He delivers and continues to deliver and He will come through!

Psalms 34 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

- Jo Voon-