Someone Special

Quite an interesting topic id say. Not one that many people will openly talk about. Wonder why that is, Shyness maybe? Well i have someone special and i have absolutely nothing to hide about it. Shes a gorgeous and beautiful girl whom i dearly love ^_^ lubu lubu man. Her names Em-mer-ry (emily) and i suppose you can say shes my high school sweet heart. We've known each other since i was 15, she was 14, or was it 14 and 13... well one or the other =) just a very long time. I wont tell you our story coz that would take a very very long time but i want to express how much she means to me. I feel so blessed that God would send me such an angel to watch over me, to guide me and to shelter me. Shes such a wonderful gift from heaven. I absolutely adore her. To even begin to tell you of all the things shes done for me is yet another book. However, one extremely important gift she has brought to my life is Christ. Without her, there wouldnt be the me i am today, im so thankful for her persistency, her undying faith for me and more importantly, her undying love for me. I can say with no doubt that with all my success in life (which technically, isnt much but none the less) she has been the core support. She is my shelter, and i hope i am hers.
She never fails to suprise me in all aspects of life. Let me tell you something she done for me last week that really touched me =) As we both attend theological studies, we have a class that we have together, and well happens that we have an exam for that class this week and she went through the trouble to study ahead and make revision sheets for me because she knows im a slacker. Now how can you not say.... What a darling!??! and then *hugs*
And then the other day... well yesterday we went out just for lunch. To us, its very special because we have been soooo busy these past few months with alot of church activities, work committments, studies, that we have had no quality time together, just 'us' time and im so thankful that we got that chance too. You know if you are a couple, and feel you havent spent much time together, you should really make some quality 'us' time and really reconnect. Anyway, we headed out to hilarys boat harbour aka sorrento quay and it was nice there, like a mini freo, with all the boats and stuff. We had fish and chips and and greek salad, somehow the fish and chips came a good 15mins before the salad, and too add to that, the fish and chips took about 15mins itself... a bit gg? but you know what, i had the best company in the world so who cares? then we jst walked around and enjoyed ourselves =) then we had youth which was also really good. So all in all a great day out. Heres some photos from that day.

So hope this gives the audience a little insight into my special relationship with my special person, emily. Oh one last and important thing about our relationship that should apply to everyone else's too... Put God in the center. When God is the center of your relationship, nothing can tear you apart. Nothing has ever been too big for God in our relationship. There have been difficult and overwhelming times in our past and will be in the future, but we have nothing to fear because we know that God is in control. So committ yourselves and your relationship too him and make it a 3 way relationship.

*Note all text taken from http://www.knowgodnow.com/ <- i stumbled across it and i found this is really nicely said. to those who do not know God yet, i hope this article will give you an insight on who our Lord Jesus Christ is.

Knowing God
To know an infinite God is a challenge for finite beings. We know God through what God reveals to us. We can see His design through creation. We can see His participation in history. But, His clearest revelation comes through His Word which is perfect and never changes. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh according to John 1:14. God has intervened in human history that we might know Him. We are told that God so loved the world that He sent His only Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish. Jesus was sent on a rescue mission by God the Father. The human race needs a Savior. 

Understanding God and all that He has done and is doing today in the world is only possible through the help of the Holy Spirit. When we place our faith in Christ, it is the Holy Spirit who does the work in our hearts to convince us that we need forgiveness and that Christ is more than willing to grant the forgiveness. When we confess our sins to God, God cleanses us completely, sets us free from guilt and accepts us as though we had never sinned. Furthermore, we are changed completely in our very being in that God changes our identity forever when we accept the Word of Truth in our hearts by believing the Truth. We become sons and daughters of God.

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12-13.

Where to go from here?
Eternal life and entrance into the family of God is a gift. None of us is worthy of such a gift. In fact, if we try to earn forgiveness and acceptance, it makes it impossible to receive the gift because it would cease to be a gift. God loves us perfectly. He loves every single person the same. That love can only be received by faith as an undeserved gift never as a reward for good behavior. Love is not love if it is a payment for services rendered. True love is a gift whether it be in our relationship with God, with a marriage partner, with our children or anyone else. Religion perverts the meaning of love by requiring rules and performance to win God's approval. Nothing could be further from the truth. God wants relationship not religion. Are you ready to enter into a relationship of love with Him? 

Choosing to love God is a personal decision of the heart that first says to God with all sincerity that I have fallen short and sinned. We need to be honest with God and tell him the truth about ourselves-it is confession. Next, we ask God to forgive us of all our sins past, present and future by placing all of our faith in the forgiveness provided by Christ at the cross. Finally, we invite God to come into our hearts and take control of our life and help us to walk through the remainder of our earthly life until we are united with Him in heaven. It is a love walk with God by faith in Christ from beginning to end just like a marriage.

He stands at the door of your heart and knocks. All that is needed is to open the door and let Him in.

Jesus said, "I am the way, the Truth and the Life" - John 14:6

"Whoever finds me... finds life" - Proverbs 8:35

God found me through my difficult times and He worked a miracle in my life and showed me the Way, and by taking that way i have learnt the Truth and now i have been given Life.

Poi

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10 NIV)

He paid a debt He did not owe,
I owed a debt I could not pay.
I needed someone to wash my sins away,
And now I sing a brand new song,
Amazing grace the whole day long,
For Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

We must never take lightly the salvation which we have. Although it is free, it is also costly, for it cost God the ultumate sacrifice. We must therefore always be grateful for what He has done; we must love Him in return and emulate his giving character.

here are some photos from our holiday (myself and emily, oh and leonie)

Emricals and Me

myself and jocelyn (emilys cousins baby so.. niece?)

meeting up with fin at KL

Up in the mountains of Penang (labu labu ^^)

Our transport up the mountains

@ Flower Show in Shenzhen

@ The Peak in HK

emry in shenzhen (lao Jie)

@shopping mall in shenzhen

The Disney Train to Disneyland =D

ok thats enough for now, i still have a few hundred photos but it takes too long to upload ^^

 More than meets the eye... the book of Numbers is actually very interesting. The Greek translation for the Old Testament uses the greek word "arithmoi". The Hebrew name for the book is "In the wilderness", telling about the 38years Israel lived in the desert. Author of Numbers is Moses (33:2)

Theme of Numbers is about Israel; their complaining, rebelling and judgement. The Israelites did not act in faith, did not give thanks to God and would not enter the land of Canaan which God had promised them. Through all that, God still guides, leads, delivers, provides and protects His people. Thats a really brief summary of the book of Numbers.

When Moses lead Israel out of Egypt, there were 603550 men (first generation numbered hence the book of numbers), that is approximately 2.4million hebrews leaving Egypt including wife and children... Thats alot of people to lead let alone split the Red Sea to let 2.4million people cross... what wonders our God can do. Despite the miracles and wonders the Israelites witnessed, they still disobeyed God and because of that, what suppose to have been an 11 day trip to the promised land turned into a 40year trip with only 2 people from the first generation actually entering the promised land. Due to the lack of faith from the Israelites and disobedience (many cases eg, praying to other gods, immorality, rebelion etc), they always grumbled against Moses and God, 14:2-4 "All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." Lesson to learn here is to never pray when your angry because God will answer your prayers... 14:26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. So tell them, 'As surely as i live, declares the Lord, I will do to you the very things i heard you say: In this desert your bodies will fall...not one of you will enter the land i swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb and Joshua.... your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for you unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. For forty years - one year for each of the forty days you explored the land - you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.'

Imagine how scary that would be, to watch bodies just drop and die everyday for 40years til theres know one from the first generation left. Ofcourse if you read the whole book of Numbers you will understand the anger which the Israelites had stirred up in God. If human was given the power of God, the Israelites would've all been wiped out within a year due to our lack of anger control and love. However, God was able to show such love and tender care towards such rebellious people under such circumstances.. it really is amazing. His love indeed is fathomless.

Besides the whole rebellious thing, another thing i found interesting was how God had organised the group so that everything was in order. i mean how would you organise 2.4milion people without having them stray away? here is an illustration:

This is as close as i could find without having me to draw it (trust me this is much better ^^)

To the North were the tribes of Dan, Asher and Naphthali 
To the East were the tribes of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun
To the South were the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad
To the West were the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin

The order in which they travelled

ARK     East Tribes     Tabernacle Buildings    South Tribe    Holy Vessels    West Tribe    North Tribe

You didnt thinkg God just decided to bring 2.4million people out of Egypt without having planned everything out first did you? You see, he has planned everything out without any errors, such wisdom and greatness. How did they communicate with so many people? Trumpets were made (read up on them yourself, cant tell you were because i dont know where)

Oh, did you know Moses never entered the promise land until 2000years later when Jesus was on the mount of transfiguration? Obviously not in human form but in his glorified form. I didnt know that =)

For those who have read this book, Balaam could not curse Israel because God would not allow it, however he taught Balak how to turn them away from God. Likewise with us, satan can never ever curse us because we are God's people, God is on our side, but he can use lies and deception to turn us away from God and sin. So be very careful when you are tempted and pray and ask for guidance. God is in control.