This year, the Lord will take care of us. The Bible has records that attest to His lovingkindness and faithfulness since the beginning of creations and the Lord Himself promises He will never forsake us, who else could make this promise to us with an everlasting credibility.

Never also implies that the Lord will always be available for us at all times, any time and everytime. Doctors, bankers and services are usually available to us from Monday to Friday and immediate appointments are not always guaranteed with them but with the Lord, He guarantees around the clock care; He will never forsake you.

​Let us heed the wisdom of the ​Bible for it is written, “So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today - to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul- then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.” (Deuteronomy 11: 13 - 15). 

This year, the Lord will take care of us, obey His commandments and honour Him in all you do. Truly, you are blessed.

- Irene Soon

Dear blessed friends and families, 

Happy New Year 2023

In this new year, we pray that you have the confidence and boldness of David when he penned Psalm 23.

"Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Praise the Lord that always lavishes His mercy and goodness upon us even when we feel we are the most undeserving; He doesn't see us the way we see ourselves; He condemns not. Rejoice, blessed ones, the Lord is always with you and surely, surely you are never without His goodness. Your name is engraved on the palms of His hands - "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me."- Isaiah 49: 16

- Hopeful Heart team

As the year is drawing to an end, let us take the time to recount the goodness the Lord has brought to our lives; giving thanks to the seen and unseen protection and provision the Lord has lavished on us. We will give thanks to the lessons and tears that this year brings as well for the Lord has strengthen us through it all.

Jesus constantly remained in constant communion with His Heavenly Father, He looked for opportunities to seek His Father in prayers. I believe, this is the way our Lord Jesus Christ coped with daily demands that depletes His human energy.
​​
The book of Matthew wrote that when Jesus heard of the ill fate that befell John the Baptist, He withdrew by boat privately to seek solitude but upon seeing a large crowd following Him, He had compassion, healed them, attended to their needs and fed them. After it, He went to the mountainside by Himself to pray. 

Jesus repeatedly helped multitudes who seek Him yet He did not rely on His own strength, stay haggard and hurried, He nurtured His communion with His Father through prayers in solitude and thanksgiving. Will we follow this example and intentionally make time for the Lord before the year ends and starts it afresh with prayers? In your own solitude, be refreshed by His mighty strength and gracious fulfilment; giving thanks trusting that our days are in our Lord’s good protections and provisions.

Matthew 14: 13 - 14
When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. And when Jesus went out, He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
 
Matthew 14: 23
And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.

- Irene Soon

I came across a writing that states, “men are better than walls and faith is stronger than castles.” I believe one of the ways our God strengthen us is by making us strong in the inward might, this is done through perseverance, quiet trust and giving thanks amidst all situations and faith, faith being our spiritual weapon; the castle and unshakeable fortress  of our inner man.

When we place our faith in the author and the perfecter of our faith, God can take the feeblest of us and make us to be courageous like David. He could fortify you better than walls before your enemies. We serve a living God who gave victory to a small shepherd boy who had only a slingshot and stones against an almost 7 feet trained military soldier. We, the armies of the living God as proclaimed by David, are not weak and hopeless, our confidence is in our living God; He makes His champions mightier than all of their enemies. Let our faith be strong, let our stance be strengthened, the Lord is our Victor and He gives us victory!

Lord, infuse Your strength unto my faith and fill me with the courage to rise above my situation and take up my victory. Amen!
 ​
Hebrew 12: 2- 3
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

- John W. 

When Jesus first called His disciples, He told them, ‘I will make you fishers of men.’ (Matthew 4:19 KJV) Yet after hearing His promises, they went back to what they were doing before they met Him: fishing. God will use your past experiences to teach you, but He always leads you forward, never back. When fear and uncertainty make you want to go back to the security of what you know, you end up like the disciples: "That night they caught nothing."
 
But the good news is: if God has called you, you’re still called. In spite of your lacklustre performance, you’re still God’s redeemed child.

In the Bible, Jesus approaches the discouraged disciples and instructs them, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. "When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish…Then, as soon as they come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it and bread (John 21: 9 NKJV). Despite the disciples going back to 'their ways', Jesus provided them abundance including cooking them breakfast. Jesus then ate breakfast with the disciples and renewed their fellowship. Jesus knows what you need before you even asked Him to, He has you always in His minds; He is your provider.
 
When you work outside God’s will, it’s like fishing on the wrong side of the boat; you wear yourself out and end up having little to show for your efforts. Are you struggling? Things will start to change when you submit to Christ, renew your fellowship with Him, and allow Him to direct you.

John 21: 3 NKJV
Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat and that night they caught nothing.

- Bob Gass - Word for Today Devotional 

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

We too, do things for God because of “just in case.” We store our good works like cookie points for the Lord to answer our prayers or needs whilst the businessman believed his good deeds would earn him an eternal place in Heaven if there is a God.

May I respectfully say, “it is foolish to think we could buy our own righteousness or answers to prayers.” If we think of such, we allow pride to bound ourselves to human law and we deny the free gift of salvation including the righteous privileges that Jesus has died for us to have.

Friends, humble yourself before the Lord (James 4: 10) and have faith that the Lord always have your back, He will not forsake you. Jesus do not keep any scores for us to achieve till he unlocks another reward for our good works.

None of us could ever buy our own righteousness and salvation with any good works, Jesus is bigger than that; He gave it for free for us who needs and seeks it. Come to Him in prayers, friends. Jesus loves you. When we invite the Lord into our hearts, we gain in this life a wonderful Counsellor, a loving Saviour, a best friend, a Father and much more I could not fathom. He is the Rock we could lay our foundations on and rely on when the storm hits.
 
James 4: 10 NLT
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

Philippians 3:9 NLT
and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

- John W.

Mark 11:24
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
​
Faith is not working up by will power or mustering some sort of certainty that something is coming to pass, but it is choosing a belief as an actual fact that God has said that this shall come to pass and lifting praise rejoicing to affirm the promise and entering an active rest when doubts constantly attacks because we choose to believe God has won the battle for us.

Faith turns the promise into a prophecy. While it is merely a promise, it is dependent upon our co-operation; it may or may not be. But when faith claims it, it becomes a prophecy and we go forth feeling that it is something that must be done because God cannot lie.
​
Faith is the answer from the throne saying, “It is done.” Faith is the echo of God's voice. Let us choose to believe, speak boldly of God’s promises, and go out to triumph in His glorious power.

Hear the answer from the throne,
Claim the promise, doubting one,
God hath spoken, “It is done.”
Faith hath answered, “It is done”;
Prayer is over, praise begun,
Hallelujah! It is done.

- Writing of A Simpson

Where do I start? That is the most common question asked when it comes to reading the Bible for the first time. As a young believer, I remember starting to read from the beginning – the book of Genesis but I didn’t last long as I got to the Book of Leviticus. Nevertheless, as my personal relationship grew with God, I was starting to understand preached sermon better and took another try to re-read the Bible.

In my second attempt, I took into the Book of Psalm with full delight and studied the Psalmist’s struggles and prayers with a better discernment. A psalm may start in a tone of despair but as you read on, it always ends in praise and thanksgiving. There are 150 psalms and if we could read five in a day, we would be able to finish the book within a month. Another is the Book of Proverbs with 31 chapters making it a wise choice to read one day for a month.

When we come to God in humility and seek discernment from His Words, we will find strength for life’s battles. It will also help us to stay close to the Lord’s wisdom and assurance of His unfailing mercy and acceptance.

Where do you start? Start by asking God to help you understand what He wants you to learn from your daily reading and be willing to start on your reading wherever you are.
 
Psalm 119:18 - 19
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me.
 
-  John W.

A little boy hastened his steps away from the shelter kittens as I saw his mom shifted her gaze towards him. “Dan, did you touch the kittens?” she asked. “No,” the five year old shook his head adamantly and before I looked away, I heard my friend asked again, “Dan, which kitten is the softest?” He quickly pointed to the ginger tabby kitten and replied, “That one and it mewed at me!”

We often smile at such innocent lie but Dan’s lie displays our innate tendency to sin. No one was taught to lie ever since they were a child. Paul recognises this tendency to sin by stating in Romans 5: 12 - when Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Adam brought death and sin unto our path but Jesus gave us hope. He has redeemed our sins; Jesus is in favour to lavish us abundant grace instead of the punishments we deserve due to our innate aptness to sin. Adam’s sinful nature manifested to everyone in his lineage but the good news is what Christ Jesus has done for us on the cross has also redeemed us wholly.

Christ’s sacrifice has enabled us to receive a life of abundant forgiveness and grace. Come to the Lord in repentance and in faith and let the Lord strengthens you to win over the hold of any sins in your life.

Romans 5: 12 – 21
Just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead.

- Irene Soon

Recently I watched a movie that touched my heart and it made me ponder on the message of the movie. The message relayed - “If you are sincere enough, even flower will bloom in the rock.”
 
The saying reminds me of Jesus’ saying: “If you have a faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move a mountain”. I believe every God’s word is true and He will always fulfil His promise. But when I think of those people who are suffering, their hardships and tears shed, I wonder why their suffering persist? Also, if they do not know Christ but believe in ‘God’, did God just turn His back to them? What hope do they have?
 
Then I came to a resolution that God has entrusted us with the mystery of the Good News that is fit for all races, gender, tribe and social class; that each one of them would be able to feel His love and experience the supernatural life-changing touch from the Lord. As for us, the believers, we are to share the Good News of the Lord to our world and pray for the seed of the Good News will continue to grow in the hearts who hear it.
 
Maybe we can see flower blooms in the rock or maybe not, but it won’t be because that we did not put enough effort or sincerity in our journey; it is a gift from God.   Our focus should not be on the effort, nor the anticipated result that may discourage us if we do not see any progress but we need to focus on the One who promises and trust in His Omnipotence.
 
Let us trust.
 
Numbers 23: 19
God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

- Jenni Wang