When I was younger, I strive to excel in studies and sports with a goal to get that coveted trophy prizes. Now, no matter how the trophies display my accolades over the years, they do not bring lasting happiness nor it determine my worth.
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As an adult, we too could unknowingly chase things instead of intentionally and mindfully making time for the Lord; time to pray, time to worship and time to listen to Him, to heed His wisdom and finding His strength in the quietness and stillness.

In Revelation 4, it tells of 24 elders who fell down before God, casting their crowns before Him who sits on the throne. The act of casting crowns down is symbolic in those days; it is essentially an act of casting down their honor whilst also pledging loyalty and faithfulness.

A crown often symbolizes our status, achievements, and the “trophies” we have worked so hard for. Yet in this passage, the elders willingly lay their crowns at the foot of the throne; giving all glory to the Lord. Being elders also suggests they hold a place of wisdom, authority and leadership, the kind of people whom others turn to for guidance and still, these elders humbly acknowledge that the Lord alone is worthy of all praise.

Let us learn to cast our crowns down before Jesus with an intentional reverence and adoration to our King of Kings and Saviour who alone is worthy of all praise and worship.

Revelation 4: 10 - 11
the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
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- John W.

Growing up, my parents taught us the children on the values of persistence, determination and commitment in all our pursuits and endeavours. Whilst they are good qualities, in my case, it imposes self-generated urgencies.

John 10: 10 tells us that our Lord has come to give us life in abundance opposing to the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy, but what if our self-generated urgencies are stopping us from living the abundant life God has gifted us?

Self-generated urgencies are weights or metaphorically, ‘the stones’ we unknowingly carry. They manifest mentally as a burden that we carry everywhere we go; it constants reminds that you have not done your best, the house is still dirty, your wardrobe is full of junk, you have not lost the weight or that you were passed for that job promotions and the list goes on.  The nagging will only stop if you heed the voices and urgently finish tasks that you think will bring you happiness. Yes, it will give you temporary satisfaction or happiness but it is a never-ending daily cycle that constantly tries to steal your peace and joy.

Dear friends, it is the Lord who gives us the wisdom to know when to lay aside or let go of the self-generated urgencies. The Bible heeds us to cast every burden to the Lord. Could I encourage you to lay every ‘stones’, aspirations, worries, anxieties with prayers to seek strength and wisdom. It is your heritage to receive the abundant life God has gifted you. Learn to let go and deliberately cast the stones that torments you. Let the Lord grant you wisdom that brings clarity; He will take care of you, cast each burden and He will strengthen you to let go of any false self-generated urgencies.
 
Psalm 55: 22 NKJV
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved

Isaiah 54:17 NKJV
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” says the LORD.

- John W.

 
Do your thoughts, speech and actions reflect your dependence and faith on God? Introspectively, my answer is no. Challenges and trials easily bring worries and doubt to my prayers and thoughts which leads to speaking negatively to my situations. To my dismay, the more I try to push the bad thoughts away, the more the doubts amplify and there goes my negative speech again despite my awareness.

The Bible writes in Luke 6: 45 – “…The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” When your heart is fully trusting and dependent on God’s Sovereign power, your speech will reflect the audacious faith outwardly which will also impact your thoughts and actions.

​Like a person expecting for a harvest, you would look forward to it with joy and elation. Oppositely, if you are expecting a drought, you would be dejected and sink into the mud of negativity. When you cultivate a trusting heart in the Lord, doubt and fear will still come but your inner-man/faith will be undeterred as you know the source of your strength and miracle comes from the Lord. God is the One who would strengthen you and He is the One who promises that He will not test you more than you could bear.

If you are relying on your own strength, let this be a reminder that you could involve the Lord and trust He would enable you to go forward further and work through you. Cultivate a trusting heart and may your speech flow with grace and faith expectant of harvest and triumph.
 
Luke 6: 45 NIV
A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

1 Corinthians 10: 13
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

- Irene Soon

Recently, I saw a car sticker – “not perfect but forgiven.” How wonderful it is to remember that we serve a God who does not look for perfection but able to see the condition of our heart and repentance.

Forgiveness has a tremendous healing power. Do you remember the moment an understanding is cleared or that both parties have forgiven each other sincerely? There is always a sense of relief that releases peace and joy that you are unable to explain but how it strengthens you from within? That is the life that God has come to give to us, a life forgiven, filled with relief, peace and joy to the fullest.

Yes, we are not perfect and so is life but always remember that we are fully forgiven and made righteous by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Christ who is perfect in all His ways has forgiven us so we could follow His ways and extends forgiveness to others.

Dear blessed ones, the Lord highly esteemed you and He forgives all your sins. He is a God who accepts us the way we are and He will work with us when we are willing to grow and be pruned, to embrace honesty, humility and forgiving others as we walk daily with Him.

The Lord forgives us not because we are perfect but because He loves us. Try again and falter not, the Lord is our strength, hope and miracles.
 
Psalm 86:5
You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call to you.

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Romans 8:38-39:
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
- Irene Soon 

There are times I really ‘envy’ the faith of great people who trust God and overcome trials in their lives but then I am reminded that I have the same great God who is with me and is within me. The same One Saviour who is working through the great men and women I read in books and in the Bible; He is at work in and through me and all of us who call on His name.

I have many days where I’m persuaded that I could not do anything for the kingdom of God in my line of work, I feel that my prayers for mission work do not bring forth any fruits sought and to top it off, we constantly get fed bad news from the media. All these are enough to think why we bother to be the salt of the world.

If you are tired and doubtful, may I encourage and remind you to remember that God is ever patient and present if you feel your prayers are repetitive or if you are plagued with constant doubts needing God’s assurance daily. Please continue to seek His Heart and focus on the Lord. The Lord will strengthen us ,let us march daily with bold confidence that God is on our side and are turning things around supernaturally in our favours. Amen!
 
Psalm 108:13 ESV
With God we shall do valiantly, it is he who will tread down our foes.
 
- Jenni Wang

Thank you, Father, for the privilege of being able to come freely to You in prayers.; to be able to have a direct communion with you and receive abundant grace and mercy at any given time. The apostle Paul encourages us to be strong in the Lord and in the Lord’s mighty power (Eph 6:10).

Paul knows how blessed it is to be able to draw strength, protection, discernment and wisdom from our Lord who gives never-ending supply; that we could say a prayer and feel the peaceful presence of the Lord enveloping our anxious thoughts.

Being strong in the Lord and in His mighty power grows from a deliberate immersion through prayers of every concern, worry, every thanksgiving, every tear and every joy to a God who dearly loves us. He loves to be part of our every minute and day; draw near to Him and receive His steadfast strength and conviction to fully believe in His good promises. The Lord promises and He delivers. Let us boldly come to His throne and claim His good promises.
 
1 Chronicles 17: 26 – 27
And now, Lord, You are God and have promised this goodness to Your servant. Now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever.

Hebrews 4: 16
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

- Irene Soon
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Recently I have been reading through the book of Jeremiah. There are lots of judgement - not only for God’s people, but also for other nations. Surprisingly though, it is not the focus of the book as God also promises restoration to other nation as well. This reminds me of the Sovereignty of the Lord, He is the Judge as well as the Restorer.
 
God’s grace and mercy is not reserved only for His people, neither is His judgement only for unbelievers. His fairness reminds me that we pray not only for believers to keep rooted in faith and be fruitful in Christ but we also need to extend His mercy and compassion to unbelievers because it is within His heart to restore, to see all be blessed abundantly and that everyone including those who are yet to believe in Him, can have a fulfilled lives through Christ Jesus.

Personally, it is hard for me to pray this, seeing corruptions, greed and suffering in my country, seeing people in power to be self-serving and harming the weaker innocents; marginalizing them to poverty rather than fostering peace and caring for the ones in need. It is however, not for me to judge as God is the judge of all and I’m called to extend His compassion and grace to unbelievers too, to pray for them to have the heart of Christ and bring the likeness of His Kingdom to the world, to instil in believers’ hearts the courage and faith to be a true ambassador of Christ, bringing hope and restoration in this uncertain, challenging and corrupt times. God want's to restore.
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May God strengthen us to bring changes and restorations in our own world through prayers and courage to do what is needed. God bless you.
 
2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)
"We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
 
Colossians 3:13 (NIV)
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

- Jenni Wang

​The year was 2000, the era of Y2K, the year where some embraced the excitement of entering to the new millennium, others felt trepidation, uncertain of what lay ahead; I belonged to the latter group.

Just a day after the dawn of the year 2000, I lost my mum. She was bedridden during the last two weeks I spent by her side. Having recently returned from my studies overseas, those final weeks were the only significant time I had with her before she passed.

25 years later, I still grapple with that overwhelming loss, often talking about it with the Lord. In difficult times, I have accused Him of not understanding my experience, feeling that no one, including Him, could truly comprehend my pain. It was as if I believed my tragedy was uniquely profound.

Then, with the gentlest prompting, Questions arose: What about Jesus? Could anyone truly understand Him? A person born with the destiny of crucifixion.

Matthew 27:46
My God, my God why have you forsaken me?

His cry of anguish echoed in my mind.

Tears welled up as it dawned on me how much He had suffered. What a heartbreakingly beautiful suffering. He endured, knowing that through it all, you and I could be together with the Father (John 14:6) and become joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17).

In that moment of reflection, my grief slowly transformed into a realisation of how minuscule my suffering is compared to His. Yet, in His ultimate suffering, He cried out in apparent heartbreak. This was a profound awakening to the truth that He truly understands what I am going through, having endured it all and more.

My pain, though deeply personal, is not isolated and misunderstood. In His anguish, I discovered a shared human experience, a powerful testament to His great empathy, love and the depth of His sacrifice. The Lord understands.

- Annie Pisca

Jesus came to our world in its brokenness and hopelessness to bring freedom and life. His resurrection is the very evidence that He has accomplished what He has set out to do as the Son of God atoning our sins; bestowing upon us righteousness to approach the Throne of Grace.

Let us celebrate His victory and share  the good news - He is RISEN! Praise His name for the new life He has gifted us. We wish everyone a blessed Easter Resurrection Sunday.

- Hopeful Heart Team

As we remember Christ's suffering and sacrifice on the cross, may we find His unending grace and mercy fill our days with peace, courage and hope.

We have hope because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross; He has given us the authority to trample upon our sins and no longer live under the bondage of sins but under the freedom He has purchased for us by His blood.

Praise His Holy Name and may you always remember that Jesus loves you.

-Hopeful Heart Team