I praise the Lord for His loving kindness and mercy in my life. Though I have failed Him many times, He continues to draw me back to Himself.

The Advent season reminds me of waiting with hope and expectation. Though in my personal life, there are many uncertainties, there is a sure certainty in Advent season. The promised Saviour was born in a humble manger to redeem us and gives us hope to not be alone in our struggles and trials, that the Lord is Emmanuel – God is with us.

Recently, because of the cyclone-triggered flood and landslide, more than 900 people died in Sumatra, Indonesia. Many people are still left with no food, no resources. Many houses are destroyed, families separated with their houses and stores destroyed. In times like these, they are without hope, please help pray for them to find hope or that it will lead them to Christ this season.

When God is not involved in our lives, we are walking in the path of destruction without hope. We need Him to intervene, strengthen and guide us so that when it's all dark and hopeless around us, He will be our Light who will make a way out and turn all for good. Emmanuel, the Lord is with us, let Jesus be your hope and anchor this season.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.

May we continue to walk with Him as we finish this year and march to the new one with bold and renewed hope and faith!

Matthew 1: 23
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)

- Jenni Wang

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.

During my trip to China, I saw barbed wire fence along the border between China and the nation next to it - DPRK, it came to mind a picture of physical oppression. We as follower of Christ are no exempt as we may be under spiritual oppression – oppression of sins making us prisoners of sins.

God reminded me about freedom in Him, that we are no more slave to sin but slave to righteousness (Romans 6: 18). In the Bible, being slave o righteousness means we are fully repentant and committed to the cause of Christ, we strive to be obedient to His calling and seek to do what is pleasing to the Lord in contrast to us serving the sins that engulf and entrap us in cycles of defeat.

When I pray for clarity and guidance in trials, there are times I was met with no answers but am reminded of His promise in the Bible that when I obey, the Lord with strengthen me to continue and when I stray, He will lead me back to the path of righteousness.

This freedom is given by the Lord so we could have a life of living testimony and that we could proclaim the Good News to the poor in the spirit, freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free (Luke 4: 18). Proclaim the Good News of the Lord and set the prisoners free.
 
Romans 6: 18 NIV
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness
 
Isaiah 42:16 NKJV
I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them and not forsake them.

- Jenni Wang

“I’m human, I make mistakes …,” would be the most likely excuse I will use if I were to do something I shouldn’t.

It is pretty much the excuse that is acceptable without you having to explain further why you have faltered and did what you shouldn’t have. Others may dismiss and laughed it off with you, after all who are they to judge, some may judge, reading you as a generalized example of how Christians are but what matters is, are you truly repentant of the mistakes you have made?

We may just be the only doorway and example that some people see in their life as what a Christian is like. Do we aspire to inspire them to seek Christ and live a repentant life instead of one that is happy to make excuses every time we fall to sin and caught doing it?

Everyone is susceptible to sins. The Bible reminded us that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak hence we need to put on the full armor of God; taking on spiritual protection and relying on God’s guidance and wisdoms through prayers, praise worship and studying the Word; these will help us withstand spiritual warfare against evil, relying on God's tools and grace for defense.

Yes, I’m human and I make mistakes but God is there to help me every step of the way so I could try again and aspire to inspire others to seek Him more.

Ephesians 6:11-12
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

- John W.

The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 92 that it is good to give thanks to the Lord. He is imploring us to see how giving thanks to the Lord is good for our soul, mind and body. When we fill our thoughts with prayerful praise, it will bring tidings of gladness and shift our focus from negative thoughts, gloom and sadness. It is, therefore, good to greet each day & morning with thanksgiving at the works of His hands.

What work you may ask? The Lord is doing a good work in our lives so that we may have life and have it to the full, the devil however, works overtime daily to burden us with anxious thoughts, worries that steal aways our joy and peace and enough to push us to make hurried or impulsive mistakes. In knowing this, we also need to be reminded that God is bigger than every mountain against us and He will continue his good works in us; interceding for us in the supernatural realms and we could continue steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4: 2).

It is good to give thanks to the Lord for He who begin a good work in you will bring it to full completions (Philippians 1:6).

John 10: 10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

- Irene Soon

We pray for a bountiful and joyful start for you and your families. May you have the rest that you need and continue to place your faith and hope in the Lord for this year. 

The Lord promises in Philippians 4: 7 that we will experience His peace which will exceeds anything that we could comprehend or understand and this peace will keep our hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.

God loves you and blesses you. Amen.

- Hopeful Heart Team

Charles Spurgeon wrote beautifully referencing the promise that the Lord has made in Isaiah.

"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." (Isaiah 49: 16)
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In Spurgeon's active preaching years , it is said that He loved to preach on Isaiah 49: 16. It is a wonderful - wonderful promise and Spurgeon painted a visual reference for us whereby Jesus' wounds were engraved by nails, fastened to the Cross by thuds of hammers that His people will be truly engraved on the palm of His hands.

If and when we are plagued by doubts and thoughts that Jesus has forgotten us, we can look to our palms and remember Jesus' wounded engraved palm for us. Our names have been engraved on the palm of the Lord. He has put a permanent lasting mark on His palm for us, our walls are ever before Him; it is Jesus' way to say He loves you and me and He will always go before us; making a way and He will not in any way forsake us. Amen.

Deuteronomy 31: 6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

- Irene Soon

​Don't look back to the past, it is a burden you need not carry, the past can be a lesson but don't let it be your hindrances to moving forward; to trying new experience or give today a new chance instead of it being burdened by yesterday's worries.

Paul says, "I focus on one thing; forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead (Phil 3:13). When we have sinned in the past, we need to renounce it, forget and let the Lord begin His healing within us. The Devil however, likes to remind us of our sins, shame and regrets so we will live in continuous guilt or fear. The scriptures says that the Lord looks to establish a new covenant with us and He will remember our sins no more (Hebrew 8: 12) - For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and the lawless deeds I will remember no more.

Paul would have had a list of shame he carried, he prosecuted many Christians before his life in Christ  but the Lord graced Him to look ahead and endured suffering for his new faith boldly. Paul chose to forget the past and look ahead & rely on the Lord's promise that his sins are remembered no more.

Do not look back to your past and let it stop your growth in Christ. Jesus has bore all of your sins, shame, fear, regrets and guilts on the cross. He has risen victoriously over all; don't take back the defeat that the Lord has conquered and won for you. The Lord has made us victors through Him. Let us receive His forgiveness, forgive ourselves and look forward to what lies ahead.

Isaiah 43:18-19 
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

- John W.

Vision is a God given gift to enable us to have faith on the invisible. When God promised Abraham that his descendant would be as numerous as the stars, He brought him outside and told him to look up into the sky and count the stars. God knew Abraham needed to have the vision of the promise and picture it in his mind; that he would be constantly reminded as he look to the sky every night through the years of unfulfilled promise that he waits for.
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When you could see the Lord’s promise through your eyes of faith, you could have a stronger resolute when doubt visits. Your vision will light up your body with hope and surely you will experience joy as you wait for the fulfillment of the promise.  Ask the Lord to strengthen your vision of His promises for your life and picture it through your eyes of faith.

Matthew 6: 22 – 23 writes, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light but if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness.” What you can see will change your life and if all you could see is darkness, the Lord could give you a new vision. Trust the Lord to provide you a vision and trust his process. 

- John W.