Dear blessed ones,
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Today Hopeful Heart turns 10 years old. (Facebook page Link)

A decade of journeying in faith and trusting in the Lord daily. We would like to humbly lift praises to the Lord for His grace to sustain this milestone and we are truly grateful of your being with us in this journey to encourage each other.

A powerful reminder for us is found in Zechariah 4: 6 – “Not by might, not by power but by the Spirit of the Lord.” It is the Lord who prepares you for the journey and it is also He who equips you for the journey. The success of any journey is not made through our strength and sheer will alone.

The Lord promises He will never leave nor forsake us (Deut 31: 8). This is a promise He spoke before the Israelites were to cross Jordan river without Moses as their leader. Essentially, the Lord is assuring them that all will be well and a change of leader will not affect their success; it is the Lord that goes before them. This also displays the Lord’s willingness to be involved in their journey actively; this promise still applies to us today.

The Israelites made it to their promised land and witnessed the fall of the Jericho wall through shouting praise to the Lord. Dear blessed ones, the Lord is faithful to His Words and His Omniscience assures us to not fear or be discouraged. He wants to be actively involved in our own journey too.
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We give the glory and praise to our Lord Jesus Christ who sustains us daily and we hope this community of faith will continue to help you to fix your gaze to the One who is the light of the world. Amen. 

Deuteronomy 31: 8
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

- Hopeful Heart Team

The human eyes is an extraordinary creation. No camera could replicate its complexities in size and functions. Human retina contains over 130 million light sensitive cells and it is able to differentiate approximately 10 million different colours. The eyes muscles could move 100.000 times a day making it the fastest muscle group in our body.

These facts are just a fraction of the many good creation the Lord has gifted our eyes and Charles Darwin wrote in his book of evolution, “to suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection (evolution), I freely confess absurd in the highest degree.” To say that the dubbed Father of Evolution himself admit to such finding could very well add to the truth that we are not merely a product of evolution but we have a mighty Creator who creates good thing around us, within us and for us.
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All good things in life comes from God and He freely gives us so we could serve and be a blessing to others. Let us give thanks to our Creator for He is a good God.
 
1 Timothy 4: 4
Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.

- John W.

Most of us may have come across the famous poem of “footprints in the sand”, the timeless words penned by Margaret Fishback brings of Christ’s saving grace in times of trial.
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“One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
 
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
 
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."
 
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
 
This poem painted a hope that God is always near when we are in need. He promises in His Word that
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…” (Isaiah 43: 2 – 3). The encouragement for today is – The Lord is closer than you think, He is always with you.

- Irene Soon

​In one old movie, I watched a story about a shrewd businessman who eagerly helped to restore a nunnery which was damaged during the WWII. When asked why he did it, the unbelieving businessman simply said, “just in case!” It made me ponder aren’t we all like this businessman at some point?

We do things for God because of “just in case” too. If you were asked, “what would you willingly do for God without any ‘repayment’?” Would you have done it whole heartedly?

The businessman wanted to do good just in case there is a God and he believed his good deeds would earn him an eternal place in Heaven. That was his insurance – his good deeds would not go unrewarded.
Let us cultivate a steward heart out of gratitude for the abundant forgiveness, favor, grace and mercy that God has provide us daily. A “just in case” mentality fosters a calculative mindset with God where our bitterness grow and we say things such as, “after all I have done for You, God”, “I tithed every week and now I’m unemployed!”, “Didn’t I serve you well, why I have to endure this?” The list goes on.

Can we trust the One who loves us? Just as Satan needed God’s permission to test Job, he is unable to test you without the Almighty God not being in control. The One who loves you will have the final say and you do not need fear and resort to a “just in case” mentality.   
 
Job 1: 9-12
Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

- John W.

John 3:16
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
 
Have you ever pondered on this passage? Imagine if it were you sacrificing for your loved ones. What would you want your loved ones to see and gain from your sacrifices for them?
 
Jesus sacrificed His life for us, He sacrificed willingly for us to gain hold of the promise of salvation, healing, peace, provision and abundant joy. In doing so, He demonstrated an incomprehensible love to us as a loving Father, Saviour and a Friend. This is what the Father and His Son want us to see. They gave the best treasure of Heaven and held nothing back to gift us eternal salvation.
 
Equipped with this knowledge, will you press on when the devil is trying to bring you down? Fix our eyes on our loving Saviour continually; fully trusting in Him. How can He who gave up his one and only Son gives conditional love and withheld anything that is good for us? Trust and continually seek His face
 
Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own son but deliver Him up for us a. How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.

- Annie Pisca

In ancient Israel, there is a clear distinction between a good shepherd and a hired hand. A hired hand only goes as far as tending to the needs of the sheep for the day.

A good shepherd tends to his sheep above what is required of his duties. He enjoys the time spent with his sheep and he answers to the faintest cry of each lamb. He comforts each lamb and knows their livelihood depends solely on his protection and provision. A good shepherd has deep knowledge for each of his sheep’s characters and his care is faithfully abiding.
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In John 10: 14 – 27 Jesus refers Himself as the Good Shepherd, “I know my sheep and my sheep know me…” Just like the sheep, we are able to place our helpless self to the capable care of our Good Shepherd, Jesus. How wonderful it is to know that we are not sheep with shepherd and with The Good Shepherd beside us, we are no longer helpless. We are able to rest in the promise of His sustaining care in each trial and season we face.

The Lord knows our livelihood depends solely on his protection, love and provision. Try our Good Shepherd, he is faithfully abiding.

John 10: 14 - 16
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

- Irene Soon

Do you wake up with a heavy feeling; constantly worrying about things? Do you feel alone with your thoughts as if no one is there for you? No one understands you?

​Have you stopped for a second and think that these thoughts would make us susceptible to the devil’s lies? We tend to trust our heart conditions and let it dictate our feelings.
 
Jeremiah 17:9 says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick, who can understand it. Our loving Father knows of our human trait and when we do not guard our hearts, it magnifies our problem to the point of exhaustion. In Deuteronomy 30:6, God assures us that He will never leave you nor forsake you. He also says that not to worry, He will take good care of you (Matthew 6:26-30). The Word of our Lord uphold the highest credibility as He is a God who doesn’t lie. When He assures us that He will never, He stands by His words to never forsake us.
 
If we human could place our utmost trust to one or few people in our lives to never forsake us and to always be there for us when we are in the lowest valleys, how much more have we belittled our Lord who is capable of an everlasting and consistent care upon us. He loves you so very much, dear friends. Let us reset and trust a little more in our Lord.
 
John 3:16
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

- Annie Pisca

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 

Dear blessed friends and families, 

We pray into the year of 2021 that it may bring you abundant favors and beautiful beginnings. May you continue to bring the Lord as the center of your 2021 and let Him lead you in all of your plans.

May you receive fullness in health, joy and love in abundance. Together, we proclaim the blessings of the Lord and may our cups overflow to bless others around us and in this, lead them to the Victory of Christ Jesus. 

In Jesus Name we pray, Amen.