“Today was a difficult day,” said Pooh. There was a pause.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Piglet.

​“No,” said Pooh after a bit. “No, I don’t think I do.”

“That’s okay,” said Piglet, and he came and sat beside his friend.

“What are you doing?” asked Pooh.

“Nothing, really,” said Piglet. “Only, I know what difficult days are like. I quite often don’t feel like talking about it on my difficult days either.”

“But, goodness,” continued Piglet, “difficult days are so much easier when you know you’ve got someone there for you. And ill always be here for you, Pooh.”

And as Pooh sat there, working through in his head his difficult day, while the solid reliable Piglet sat next to him quietly, swinging his little legs… he thought that his best friend had never been more right. (A.A Milne)

Sometimes, our quiet presence with a friend in need is more precious than offering a handful of instructions which may overwhelm them on their difficult days. Sometimes, there won’t even be any words or actions that may help at that moment but your presence can comfort and it is an earnest counsel that you could offer. Just like little Piglet with his quiet and understanding comfort.

Proverbs 27: 9
Oil and perfume make the heart glad; So does the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.

- Irene Soon

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

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

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

​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.

​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.

Dear friends and families, 

We collectively pray that this season brings upon you the Joy of the Lord; not as the world gives but as the Lord has given us and may your peace surpasses all understanding.

We the Children of God has been given this privilege and may you see His promises fulfilled in your lives.

May your words, kindness and living testimonies be a fragrant offering to everyone around you and strangers who are in need of Christ in their lives.

Amen.

- Hopeful Heart Team

Through the chapters of Exodus and I was drawn to God’s covenant: If you will obey me fully and keep my covenant. (Ex.19:5). The covenant is not only for the Israelites, but it is for us too, the children of God who declared Christ as their Saviour.

The covenant’s promise is the same: we will be His chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and people belonging to God (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9). The promise which was for the Israelites alone now is for everyone. But the promise comes with responsibility: to declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light. What a high calling and a difficult one if I may say but it is doable.

As we are celebrating Christmas, we are celebrating the impossible conception turning into a miracle. How can God become human? But Christ has done it in obedience to the Father so that those who walk in the darkness no longer will walk in the darkness. Because without the light, nothing can be seen but even in the darkness, a dim light will attract attention. So those walk in light can show to the world the Sovereignty of God.

The God we serve is the God who does not give us only promises and list of do and don’t but He has given us Himself. Nothing is impossible for a God who could uphold you in the callings He has for you. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden (Matthew 5: 14). Shine your light and declare praises for the remembrance that a Saviour has been born in the world for us.

- Jenni Wang

A friend of mine named Paul received a brand new car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul was walking to his brand new car, a street urchin was admiring it. “Is this your car, Mister?” he asked.

Paul nodded. “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was astounded. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn’t cost you nothing? Boy, I wish . . .” He hesitated.

Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that but to Paul's surprise, the boy went on and said, “I wish... that I could be a brother like that.”

“Would you like to take a ride in my car?” Paul sincerely offered then. 

“Oh yes Mister, I’d love that.”

After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes aglow, said, “Mister, would you mind driving in front of my house?”

Paul smiled a little. He thought the boy wanted to show his neighbors that he rode home in a new shiny car. The boy quickly got off the car and ran up the steps of his house. Then in a little, the boy came back. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step and pointed to the car.

“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m gonna give you one just like it . . . then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.”

Paul got out and lifted the little brother to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride.

That Christmas Eve, Paul learned what Jesus meant when He said: “It is more blessed to give . . .”

Acts 20: 35 
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.

- Dan Clark

During my recent house-moving, I came to realization that I have become a collector of things. You know those people who seems to buy and store things in their closets or wardrobes and suddenly feel their house is in such clutter.

I believe most of this problem originates from the popular culture of materialism in our society. Whenever we watch TV, browse social media or listen to the radio, we are presented by many advertisements selling us the newest and greatest things we should own. The rapid technological advancement even contributed to a shorter life span of us owning that new piece of thing.

Jesus puts this in perspective when He said, “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." If your possessions seems to clutter all your spaces including your mental space, you could decide to give what you no longer need to charity or those who are in need. Remember the golden wisdom that Jesus said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” As we give away our extra or earthly possessions in the spirit of generosity, we accumulate spiritual blessings and joy that no possessions could ever bring to us.​

Acts 20: 35 ESV
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

- John W.