Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

Jesus, my heart's dear refuge,
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of Ages
Ever my trust shall be.

I had never imagined that those beautiful lyrics from my favourite hymns, filled with praise and thankfulness, were written by a blind person. 'Safe in the Arms of Jesus', 'Blessed  Assurance', and more than 9,000 hymns were written by Francis Jane Crosby (Fanny Crosby).

In the matter of her blindness, Fanny Crosby said: "When I was six weeks old a slight cold caused inflammation of the eyes. Our usual doctor was away from home, so a stranger was called in. He recommended the use of hot poultices, which practically destroyed my sight. When this sad calamity became known, the unfortunate man thought it best to leave the neighbourhood, and we never heard of him again."

"But," she added, "I have not, for a moment, in more than eighty-five years, felt a spark of resentment against him; for I have always believed that the good Lord, in His infinite mercy, by this means consecrated me to the work that I am still permitted to do. When I remember how I have been blessed, how can I repine?"

Fanny Crosby's life story and her hymns has deeply touched my heart. Just like the aspostle Paul, she had learned to be content. She even counted her blindness as a blessing instead of a hindrance. She loved the Lord and memorized the Bible diligently. Her heart overflowed with praise and by singing her hymns, we're reminded of the Lord's grace.
​
Philippians 4:12-13 -
I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Corinthians 12:9 -

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

- Diven

We often live in tomorrows, we plan mostly for the future which prevents us from savoring the present moment. We keep that fancy tea cup sets for another day or even, stationeries. We reason that we may need it someday but using it today will be a luxury. Tomorrow became an illusion as we continue to postpone it.

We may find ourselves saying, “I will take time to pray tomorrow and listen to God without getting distracted,” but finds ourselves making another promise and losing our joy for not keeping our words. Perhaps, at work, we find ourselves saying many if onlys and only by having those satisfied, we are convinced we will be happy.

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5: 19 – To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life is a gift from God. Its commentary for it states that life is God’s gift and a cheerful spirit is a great blessing from within, it makes employment easy and affliction lighter. This way too, we ought to accept the calling of God with cheerfulness and gladness as it is too God’s gift for us.

God has made all things and given us the ability to acquire wealth/employment, friends, families, spouse, possessions and opportunities to enter into His calling. He has enabled us to enjoy every experience with all senses He has given us for this glorifies Him as a giver of both life and enjoyment.

May we learn to make proper use of our times, savor every present moment and present ourselves to God in full presence without worrying about tomorrow or putting it off when we are able to do what we can today, whether in personal or professional life. Enjoy the lot that God has entrust us with a cheerful spirit and with this, we will remember our days with pleasure and gladness as God has intended us to.
 
Ecclesiastes 5: 19
Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil--this is a gift of God.

- Irene Soon

Recently I heard a preacher echo a truth that God’s been sharing with me, about pain and trials. Sometimes I wonder why God doesn’t cushion me in pillows and feathers and puppies.

​Sometimes I wonder why pain even exists. But I’d be lying if I told you that I come out of trials worse off than when I entered them. I’d be lying if I told you that my character doesn’t grow from the experience. The truth is this - victory in my situation may not look like instant healing. Victory might look more like choosing joy in the trial. Because that would be spitting in the face of the enemy. And as our preacher put it - our default then becomes resilience. We win when we choose Christ - when we choose joy, love, faith.
 
James 1:2-4 ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’
 
Like a valuable but hardened rock, we must go through furnace in order to be refined. (Psalm 66:10 ‘For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver)
 
So instead of asking God to take the pain and trials away from me, I’m praying - may I learn everything I possibly can throughout this trial, so that I can be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 

- Rebecca Ng

No one knows what the future holds. We’re quick to wish a “happy new year” on January 1st, but we actually have very little control over how things will play out. “You do not know what a day may bring,” the Bible cautions.

It’s good to plan ahead and lay solid foundations in our personal and professional lives, but we know from the start that the year is going to be full of events and circumstances that we haven’t foreseen and that we will have limited ability to influence.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, if it reminds us that when all is said and done, the happiest and most secure place for us and our loved ones is in God’s hands. Perhaps rather than wishing the outward manifestations of happiness to those we care about, we should wish for them to be connected to the source of those blessings, the loving Father who promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Whether the upcoming new year brings prosperity or hardship, health or sickness, love or loss, we can be assured of God’s love and presence, His ability to answer our prayers, and His standing resolution to make all things work together for good in the lives of those who are His children and who love Him. God never forgets His promises and He’s never unable to keep them. As Paul observed, “All of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’”

God bless you with His presence and care in the coming year.

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

John 14:23 (NIV)
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

- Anonymous

The deep says, "It is not in me"; the sea says, "It is not with me." – Job 28:14

I remember a summer in which I said, “It is the ocean I need,” and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, “It is not in me!” The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, “The mountains will rest me,” and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, “It is not in me!” It did not satisfy.

Ah! I needed the ocean of the Lord's love, and the high mountains of His truth within. It was wisdom that the “depths” said they did not contain, and that could not be compared with jewels or gold or precious stones.

​Christ is wisdom and our deepest need. Our restlessness within can only be met by the revelation of God's eternal friendship and love for us.

- Margaret Bottome

In his autobiography, Blessings in Disguise, the late actor Alec Guinness wrote that as he was walking in the middle of an afternoon, he had an impulse to start running. He ran until he reached a little church. He’d never been there before, but he caught his breath and knelt to pray. For the next ten minutes he “was lost to the world.”

Guinness explained the compulsion as a “rather nonsensical gesture of love,” an outburst of thanksgiving. He ran to the church and fell on his knees in prayer not long after March 24, 1956, the day he had converted to Christianity after years of being an atheist.

Guinness learned in part what “fearing God” is all about. Although Scripture uses the word “fear,” God doesn’t want us to be afraid of Him. Instead, He wants us to realize how magnificent, awe-inspiring and deserving of our worship He is.

God always expresses His love in some kind of action toward us, and He desires that we return our loving expressions in action, as well as in trusting His leading and following His commands for our life.

God’s love, coupled with our sense of awe and reverence, leads us to action. It led Alec Guinness to run down the street and then fall on his knees in thanksgiving and adoration. Perhaps you’ve only recently come to know about God’s grace revealed through Jesus Christ. Perhaps you’ve been His devoted follower for years. Or perhaps you’re just looking for a fresh experience of God in your life. What actions will you take today to express your “fear of God”? Don’t be afraid to go for it!

Deuteronomy 10: 12 - 15
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations - as it is today.

- Unknown Author

“When the people complained, it displeased the Lord.”                        Numbers 11:1 NKJV

If you think complaining is no big deal, read this: “When the people complained…the Lord heard…and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp.” A wise man once said, “I complained that I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.” 

God has blessed you in 101 different ways, and He doesn’t want to hear you whining. What were the Israelites grumbling about anyway? “Adversity” (NAS). For some of us adversity comes through illness. For others it’s a faltering career, not enough money to pay the bills, or a family situation that happened years ago and now you’re left shouldering the responsibility. Some of us made poor decisions earlier in life, and as a result our plans fell apart. Now we’re struggling with marital problems, blended families, and the consequences of our choices. We all have to deal with some level of adversity. 

We each have something in our life that God doesn’t want to hear us griping about! Understand this: It’s hard to live with adversity, but when you complain you forgo the grace that will get you through it. By choosing to complain and cling to the image of a perfect life, you forfeit the grace that’s available to you and will bring you victory. 

So change your way of thinking. Get down on your knees and pray: “Lord, I want the landscape of my life to be different; to experience the joy You give to those who leave the wilderness of ingratitude and move into the Promised Land of thanksgiving.” That’s a prayer that will change you!

http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/stop-complaining-2/

Today we are accustomed to the concept of instant gratification. Constant buying and updating the old seems like a regular thing we find ourselves doing. Once the earthly thing loses its fun and appeal, we look for other gadgets or things till the bill comes and perhaps the interest of the credit starts to pile up.

We then find we don’t own the house, the car, the gadgets, the stylish wardrobes and so on. They own us as we are married to the house mortgage, the car’s repayments and not forgetting the caring and maintenance of all the things we own. True enough, we did enjoy them when we first acquired them but soon enough they will dominate and dictate our actions, “clean me, polish me, paint me, repair me and we spend our money and time working for the ‘things’ we thought will bring us happiness in the first place.

The Apostle Paul gave us the doable solution when he wrote in 1 Timothy 6: 6 – “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” The term godliness here is not a particular grace or speaking of certain character we have possessed but it is the constant need and practice of seeking the fruits of the Spirit and presence of God. Through that lifestyle, we will gain contentment that the world does not possess. Are you in constant pursuit of seeking something that satisfy? Try Jesus, you have nothing to lose and much to gain.

1 Timothy 6:6
But godliness with contentment is great gain.

- John W.