How did God perform the miracle of the Red Sea? By shutting His people in on every opportune side so that there was no way out but by the supernatural  way. The Egyptians were behind them, the sea was in front of them, the mountains were on both sides of them.

There was no escape but from above.The devil can wall us in, but he cannot roof us over as we can always get out at the top. Our difficulties are but God's challenges, and many times He makes them so hard that we must get above them or go under.

During such trial, it presents us with highest possibilities to build the muscles of our faith. We are pushed by the very emergency into God's best inteference. Friends, this is God's hour. If you will rise to meet it you will get such a hold upon Him that you will not be in extremities again; or if you are, you will learn to call them not extremities, but opportunities.

Like Jacob, you will go forth from that night at Peniel, no longer called Jacob, but as victorious Israel. 

2 Corinthians 4:9
We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

- Writing of A Simpson

The goodness of God endures continually.”- Psalm 52:1

Good things show up in our lives in many ways: friends and family, health, a roof overhead and food on the table, the enjoyment we receive from music, nature, books and so on. The Bible teaches us that God is the giver of these blessings. “God’s gift to us is the happiness we get from our food and drink and from the work we do. “Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created the heavens.”

These gifts however, as wonderful as they are, are just a small illustration of God’s love. God didn’t have to send His Son; and Jesus didn’t have to lay down His life for our sakes, but He did, and as a result, we are eligible to receive forgiveness of sins and the assurance of an eternity in God’s loving presence.

Without Jesus’ sacrifice, without His sufferings on the cross, without His death, without His resurrection and triumph over the grave, we would not have the promise of everlasting life. Let us take some time to thank God for His gift of salvation. Thank Him for these eternal gifts of forgiveness and redemption.

“Thank You, Lord for sending Your Son, Jesus, to bear the punishment for all my mistakes and shortcomings. Please keep my heart, mind, and life open to You, so that I always remember Your daily goodness in my life.” Amen.

James 1:17 ESV
​Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

- Anonymous 

As we have just celebrated Thanksgiving recently, let it not only be a practice on that one day. A life of gratitude expands goodness that the Lord has provided to us, a smile breeds another and a thankful speech delights another soul. 
  
The Bible shows the miracle of giving thanks when Jesus faced a lack. Jesus did not fret when He did not have enough to feed the multitudes. He did not heed the requests of the disciples to send the multitudes away instead, He gave thanks to His Father in Heaven for the little He had and we knew the rest of the story about the miraculous multiplication that left twelve basketful of food and the 5000 people fully fed.

In another words, Jesus did not listen to the negativity of the disciples, he did not walk away from the trials, instead He focuses on what He already has and He gave thanks. The Bible did not record any lengthy prayers either. Everything God did, He does it with purpose and faith in His Father’s love for Him.

Let us embrace a thankful and grateful approach to all lacks, stir ourselves to praise the all-knowing Lord and avoid complaining or murmuring. Surely, He will not let His children fade away.
 
Psalms 100: 4
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

- John W.

We often ask the question, "Why didn't God help me sooner?"

It is not His order. He must first adjust us to the situation and cause us to learn the intended lesson from it. His promise to us is, "I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him."

God must first be with us in the trouble until we step into our own persevering quietness. Then He will take us out of it. This will not come until we have stopped being restless and fretful about it. He desires for us to be in calm disposition and trustful. Then we may find Him say, "It is enough."

God uses trouble to teach His children precious lessons. They are intended to better us. When the good work is done, a glorious recompense will come to us through them. The Lord does not regard trials as difficulties but as opportunities. Without difficulties we cannot have a mercy worth praising God and the glory to see His sovereign power. 

Psalm 91: 15
He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

- Writing of  A. Simpson 

Oh, how it helps and comforts us to remember that we have a Saviour who spent the first thirty years of His life swinging a hammer in the carpenter shop at Nazareth, he was covered with sweat and grimy dust, physically weary as we often are, and without a doubt, able to understand all our experiences of drudgery and labor of daily lives.

Moreover, He still loves to share our common tasks and equip us for our difficult undertakings every day every hour. Yes,  He will help you at the kitchen and the house as gladly as at the hour of prayer. Yes, busy laborer, He will go with you and help you to swing the hammer, or handle the saw. You will be a better mechanic, a better student, a successful worker at the office because you take His wisdom for the common affairs of life.

There is no place or time where Jesus is not able and willing to walk by our side, to work through our hand and minds. In this way He proves Himself to be our all-sufficiency for all things. Prayerfully lay your task to the Master and let Him guide and strengthen your every step with His loving peace. Find His promised rest in your souls.

Matthew 28:20
Jesus said, "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

- Writing of A. Simpson

O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? …and You have not rescued Your people at all (Ex.5:22-23).

In the Book of Exodus, I found it interesting that at the end of chapter two, God shows concern to His people by calling Moses to deliver them.

But at the end of chapter five, the situation of the Israelites worsen than before God came to their rescue. Only after ten agonizing plagues fell on the Egyptians, the Israelites were allowed to leave Egypt. As they continued on their journey, we know the Bible has recorded many troubles they had to go through but through all those times God has shown Himself as a faithful God who holds on to His promises.

During this time of uncertainties from Covid-19, I'd imagine that we are like the Israelites at chapter five. We pray and we believe God is listening, but things seem to remain the same or appear to worsen.
 
We may be tempted to ask God on why He has allowed such calamity to fall upon our world but the Bible has shown us records after records that He has been faithful with all His promises. Trials always reveal God’s glory at the end. He showed His greatest love at the cross and we can trust the Lord knows how this trial will reveal His victorious glory at the end.

- Jenni Wang

With news, social medias and radios discussing COVID-19 on a daily basis, it is hard not to let fear take hold of our imagination.

When we are in need to leave our homes for basic supplies and food, there is always a sense of fear if what is lurking out there.
“Is wearing a mask enough?”
“Should I wear gloves too?”
“That person just coughed!”
"Is today the day I catch the virus?"
The list goes on…

Fear often shows up when we are at higher risk of losing something – health, job, families and much more; it reveals our deep desire to protect things and relationships that are important in our lives. It also shows that having faith and fully trusting all of our cares to God is not something automatic nor natural. Fear cripples our spirituality and drains us emotionally. Fear tempts us to take matters into our hands and compromise the foundation of our faith.
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In this uncertain time, find hope in God’s promises and trust in the reality of His power, protection and provision. Only then, His presence will radiate and expel any fear from your life. The psalmist knows this testimony well, “ I sought the Lord and He heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34: 4
 
- John W.

The Lord has won the fight
He is your redeeming Saviour
He is risen and the enemy has been defeated. 
Praise His Holy Name!

​May the joy and celebration of Easter assures us that the Saviour is always on our side and with Him, we are more than conquerors in all seasons of life.

Amen.

In my recent travel, I have learned that autumn has the most rainfall in all parts of Scandinavia or at least that was what we experienced. We spent countless days walking in the rain, holding to dear hope that our waterproof gears could withstand the harsh weathers.

The gloomy days were enough to dampen any travelling spirits. I tried to pray the rain away and held on believing that the Lord’s favours surround us like a shield (Psalm 5: 12).

​Slowly but surely, the rains gave way to the sunny skies and we were able to hike the two most scenic mountains in Norway during the days rains were predicted to fall the heaviest.  At one of the mountains, we were the only group at the top and I saw how the clouds shifted dramatically as I uttered prayers under my breath. Many may say that what happened to us was pure luck as weathers could change instantaneously in that region but we continued to enjoy days where the weathers were bearable and we got to enjoy most of what our destinations have to offer.

We praised the Lord for His mercy and protections. No hails, snows nor storms could against the power of God, even the wind and waves listen to Him (Matthew 8: 27). Know that no matter how small your prayer may seem, the Lord cares enough to come down from His Heavenly throne and listen to our fearful whisper or bold cry. He has the power to change any outcome so cast your cares in prayers, take that step of faith and look forward to see the Lord intervene on your behalf.
 
Psalm 5: 12
Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour as with a shield.
 
Matthew 8: 27
The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

- Irene Soon

​We have come to that time of the year again, making New Year’s resolution that is. This time, I’m going to think small, yes you read it right, “think small.” Despite it sounding counter intuitive to the popular belief of think big, it is actually a healthier progression to thinking big.

We do not fail overnight. Simply said, failure is making repeated poor thinking and erroneous judgement/action everyday. In short term, these errors do not make much difference but the danger of such deludes us to drift from day to day repeating the same errors and wrong choices. Over time, these consistent bad actions will bring a series of failures in our lives.

The good news is the formula to success is also a similar process but instead of repeating daily errors, we choose to take good disciplined action every day. Over time, small positive choices will lead us to a series of successes and eventually, a major positive change in our new year. Ready to think small? Commit your plan firstly to the Lord and let’s think small.

Perhaps you resolve to read a full Bible this year. Make your timeline plan but instead of pressuring yourself to devour chapters within deadlines, aim to read your Bible five minutes longer than usual, daily. You can do better than five? Great, do ten minutes then. Grandiose resolution tends to intimidate and our motivation will fuse out quickly if we don’t see an immediate result or fail our goal but when we find ourselves achieving small goals daily, we are motivated to do better. Here is to your New Year and resolution making!
 
Proverbs 16: 3
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.
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- John W.