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!
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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. 

Through all ups and downs in life, I still want to testify that God is trustworthy.

I have started a new role in my team, as Assistant Prayer Coordinator (APC). It is a role that could overwhelm me with worry. Taking the role took me out of my comfort zone but I believe it is an opportunity to experience the Lord’s faithfulness and it is a learning curve for me to depend more on Him.
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I believe there will be times in our lives when we are asked to make decision when we have several choices in front of us. We may not be an expert decision maker but I believe when we choose to obey the Lord and step out of our comfort zones, He will grace us to have the strength and wisdom daily. Even if we doubt our own ability, He would still allow us to have the opportunity to advance beyond ourselves and abilities.

Choosing to obey and trust the Lord may seem like threading a path less known, it may seem uncertain but would you challenge yourself to believe that it would be the best decisions we could make? Not because of our own intelligence or discernment but because of the Lord’s everlasting love that gifted us everlasting mercy and grace. The Lord is truly trustworthy and we can put our trust in Him.

Ephesians 2: 4 - 5
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.

- Jenni Wang

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.

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

​Have you ever heard of toe wrestling? It is a well appreciated sport in England. Every year, people come from all around the world to attend its championship. The focus of this sport is to pin the opponent’s foot in a similar way an arm wrestler pins down their opponent’s wrist. All this done whilst two competitors sit on the ground locking their bare foot with each other.

Despite the toe being one of the most ignored or overlooked part of the body, it plays a significant support role in our body. The apostle Paul specifically used the example of a foot to illustrate how important everyone’s role in the body of Christ. He asked rhetorically in 1 Corinthians 12:15, “Now if the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.”

Each person serves a vital part in the body of Christ, you have value to give no matter how insignificant you think your role may be in the House of God. Together, we can serve and make a positive difference. Just as the foot or the toe is a vital part of the body, so is every small task you could possibly imagine you could do for the glory of God.

- John W.

If you’re trying to recover from a broken relationship, don’t rush into another one. As you become healthy you begin to make healthy choices. Some hurts take a long time to heal, but don’t be discouraged: ‘He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.’

Give God a chance. Take time to search His Word and find out how He feels about you, for that’s the true basis of all self-worth. If God can love and accept you with full knowledge of your imperfections, then the message is: "Lighten up, you can love, and be loved again, but remember the second greatest commandment, only with the same wholeness with which you love yourself.

When you don’t value yourself, you attract people who feel the same way about you, including those who seek to control you. So hold out for it for better! Remember, you train others how to treat you by how you treat yourself. As you become whole, you’ll start to see how unwholesome some of your relationship choices have been. If some people walk away, ‘so be it’.

Sometimes you’ve got to give up less so that God can give you more. He has new relationships in store for you, but He’s waiting until your values, perceptions, and self-worth line up with His Word. So take it step by step, one day at a time. And take heart —your best days are ahead.

Psalm 147: 3
He heals the broken hearted, he binds up their wounds.

- Word for Today devotional Bob Gass

The thing is to count the battle God's. The battle is not yours but God's. We shall not need to fight in this battle. As long as we count our dangers and responsibilities, we shall be distracted with fear. But when we realize God is bound to take care of us as His property and His representatives, we shall feel infinite relief and security.

If I send my employee on a long journey, I am responsible for his expenses and protection; if God sends me anywhere, He is responsible.

​If we belong to God and put our life, our family, and our all in His hands, we may know He will take care of us.If our body belongs to God, it is His interest to keep us well, just as much as it is for the interest of the shepherd to have his sheep well fed, well cared for and a credit to him.

2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.

2 Chronicles 20:15
He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

- A. Simpson

Most of us have heard the legend of Johnny Appleseed.  John Chapman (1774 to 1845) or affectionately known as Johnny Appleseed was a man from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was an American pioneer as well as a missionary who introduced apple trees to most parts of Pennsylvania as well as to West Virginia.
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He collected the discarded apple seeds from the apple cider mills and started an apple nurseries with the seeds and nurtured them until they were saplings, big enough to sell or barter for clothes and other items.

This barefoot tree-planting preacher was a welcome visitor to the settlers. They invited him into their homes, glad to hear news from the places Johnny had just been to and the stories he had to tell. Johnny also had his Bible divided up into sections and would leave one book with a settler home and then exchange it for another book when he passed through that same way again.

Though the apples from trees that are grown from seeds are seldom sweet, Johnny did not despair. He processed them into apple cider (used as a food preservative), and the trees were used to mark land boundaries.

Like Johnny, we can grab hold of the opportunities that come our way. When the doors or windows of possibilities open to us, we can enter in and partake of the blessings that God has for us and for others that we touch. Realizing an opportunity when it presents itself is just the first step, and then come all the steps that follow to bring that possibility to fruition.

James 2: 17
So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

- John W.

Muhammad Ali was known as the prize fighter who couldn’t be beaten. It was said that his picture was featured in sports magazines more than any other athlete in history, earning him the title – “Sportsman of the Century.” Wherever he went, the camera will follow him. He had it all; recognition, wealth, fame and all that stardom could offer.
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All that he had couldn’t buy him good health and Ali fell victim to the death grip of Parkinson’s disease.

Gary Smith, a sportswriter spent some time with Ali during this period and wrote on how he recalled Ali escorted him to a dark, damp barn where he saw a board displaying mementos – posters of ‘Thrilla in Manila’, pictures of Ali lifting champion-belts he had won over his heads and pictures of Ali in the ring fighting. What Smith noticed was the pictures were smeared with white marks caused by pigeons’ droppings. Ali picked up the board and Smith heard him mumbled, “I had the whole world but it was nothing. Look at me now.”

​The psalmist wrote,” We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. And so Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in You.” (Psalm 39: 6-7 NLT). Fame and fortune are may prove to be futile but it is a blessed thing to have our hope set on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

- John W.

What advantages have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? (Eccl.6:8)

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”(James 3:17-18)

As long as we still live under the sun, we will always have opportunity to join the preacher in his saying: Vanity all is vanity. But as we acknowledge God and make Him Lord over our life, we will find joy and purpose for our life, though it is just a short journey here on earth because we know that our home is not here but with God.

Life on earth is the opportunity for us to join in God’s work for His purpose: to reconcile the sinners to Himself through Christ and in the power of the Spirit. Because of this, we as the privileged one are also the responsible one: to submit ourselves to God and to proclaim the peace and to share the love of our Father. 

Only God knows human heart. We can do many good things, but our motive and purpose can be wrong. By having humility we can understand that wisdom and knowledge can only bring satisfaction when we acknowledge that God is above all our human understanding and knowledge.

Fear God and obey His commandments is the final conclusion of the Ecclesiastes and it is the beginning of the Book of Proverbs. God is the Alpha and Omega, which has no beginning and end thus we must involve God and acknowledge Him in all we do, from the very beginning to the very end because our life is from Him and when we finish our journey, we will also go back to Him. Amen.

- Jenni Wang