Filthy No More

Hello All,

When was the last time you felt guilty about something you have done wrong?

What was your response to that guilt?

Filthy No More

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (26 October 2016)

Filthy I stand

On sinking sand

Filthy with sin

Stained from within

Filthy I am

Before I AM

Filthy with shame

Until Christ came

Filthy no more

With Christ, I soar

Righteous I stand

Saved by God's hand

Points for Reflection:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1 John 1:9 ESV)

·         Guilt drives us in 2 opposite directions – towards God or away from Him.

·         Many will attempt to minimise and rationalise their sinful behaviours and make excuses for themselves. Some will try to perform more good deeds to make up for the bad ones. Others will hide away from God and wallow in shame.

·         Those are common responses that drive us away from God. So, what is the right response?

·         The Bible tells us to come boldly before God and confess our sins to Him. Our boldness does not come from our righteousness. It is Jesus Christ’s death on the cross that has taken away our guilt and shame. We are to approach God in humility for we are undeserving sinners who have received mercy from Him.

·         What sins are you reluctant to confess to God? Is it a secret sin you need to repent of?

·         Let guilt drive you to the foot of the cross, not away from it. Lay your burden of sin at the feet of Jesus Christ.

Forgiveness

Hello All,

Is there someone you are struggling to forgive?

What stage of forgiveness are you at? Are you unwilling to forgive? Are you willing but unable to forgive?

What is holding you back from offering forgiveness?

Forgiveness

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (13 December 2016)

Forgiveness is not a feeling

It’s not a feeling but a choice

It’s a gift I am withholding

It’s a choice that has lost its voice

The emotional hurt I bear

Cuts deep into my bleeding heart

Is there forgiveness anywhere?

I’m hurting from a deadly dart

Lord Jesus, help me to forgive

To pardon those who have wronged me

Let me, Your strength and grace, receive

That I may show others mercy

Points for Reflection:

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

(Ephesians 4:32 ESV)

·       It is true that forgiveness for an offence so great requires time. Many of us are waiting for the ‘feeling’ of forgiveness to emerge in our hearts.

·       However, forgiveness is not a feeling but a choice. Our hearts may be bursting with anger and bleeding from the raw wound inflicted by the offender. Thoughts of revenge may even cross our minds.

·       While we may still be struggling with vacillating feelings of anger and sorrow, we can choose the path of forgiveness. After having made that choice, we need to rely on God’s grace and strength to counter the angry thoughts that threaten to invade our minds.

·       The Gospel of grace is all about forgiveness. We can show mercy because God has shown us mercy. We can forgive others, even if we feel they do not deserve it, because God has forgiven us when we least deserve it.

·       Are you willing to surrender your rights against the offender to God? Have you decided to forgive the offender just as God in Christ has forgiven you?

My Soul is Downcast

Hello All,

There are moments in our lives that overwhelm us with grief.

It seems as if things couldn’t get any better than the current state we are in.

We’re tired, not just physically but emotionally as well. Our souls are downcast within us.

My Soul is Downcast

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (5 November 2016)

My soul is downcast within me

My eyes are weary from weeping

My heart is faint; Lord, have mercy

Restore my faint heart that's failing

My soul is downcast within me

My hands are weary from working

My faith is weak; Lord, have mercy

Restore my weak faith that's failing

My soul is downcast within me

My eyes are tired of seeing

My strength is gone; Lord, have mercy

Restore my faint hope that's failing

My soul is downcast within me

But Christ is present in suffering

He gives me grace; He shows mercy

He gives me a sweet song to sing

Points for Reflection:

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

(Psalm 42:11 ESV)

·         Why does the future seem so bleak? Why are your hope and strength nearly gone? Why is your soul not at rest?

·         This may seem like the darkest of times. But it is in the darkness that the light of Christ is most evident. It is in the hardest of times that we learn to depend on God, casting all our cares on Him.

·         Our hope is not in ourselves or in anyone else. Our hope is in the One who calmed the storms, healed the sick and cast out demons. Jesus is the Rock upon which our hope and salvation rest.

·         Christ may or may not deliver us from our earthly troubles but He has delivered us from the jaws of eternal death by dying in our place. When all earthly resources fail, we know that Christ has won the victory over sin and removed the sting of death.

·         Allow God’s comfort and love to pervade your downcast soul. Let His joy lift your sorrowful countenance.

Closet of Shame

Hello All,

What are you ashamed of? What aspects of yourself do you hide from others?

Are you afraid of opening your heart to others? Are you afraid of getting hurt?

Closet of Shame

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (31 December 2016)

Hiding in a closet of shame

Ashamed of what comes with our name

Shielding ourselves in steel armour

Hiding our feelings from others

Hiding in a closet of shame

Hiding is no longer a game

Not a game we played as children

Our deepest fears are well hidden

Hiding in a closet of shame

By hiding, what do we gain?

We gain the protection we crave

By locking our hearts in the grave

Hiding in a closet of shame

Why are we hiding from our pain?

Why are we hiding from the Light?

The bright Light that renders us sight

Hiding in a closet of shame

We're sinners and we're all the same

Why hide our weakness with pretense?

We're all sinners under God's lens

Hiding in a closet of shame

Hiding from Him who took our pain

Hide no more; Christ has set us free

He's vanquished our shame on the tree

Now, open the closet of shame

Embrace Him who calls you by name

Open your heart; receive His love

Share the love from heaven above

Points for Reflection:

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

(Hebrews 12:2 ESV)

·       Since the fall of men in the Garden of Eden, we have been hiding from God and each other. As much as we try to deny it, shame is deeply embedded in our unconscious mind.

·       When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and reject Him as their King, they felt ashamed of their rebellion and hid from Him.

·       In a dangerous and ruthless world, we were taught to armour up, hide our weaknesses and protect ourselves from getting hurt.

·       Although discretion should be used when revealing hidden parts of our lives to others, many of us take precautions to the extreme. We hide from God and our loved ones. We even hide from ourselves, denying truths that we wish to evade.

·       We’re all sinners and we’re all the same. Shame is a by-product of sin. But Christ took our sin and the shame that comes along with it. He has vanquished them on the cross.

·       The Gospel liberates us from the closet of shame. Open the closet and embrace the freedom you have in Christ. Open your guarded heart to God, your loved ones and the Body of Christ.

I’m Not as Youthful

Hello All,

What are you looking forward to in this brand new year? Any plans? Dreams? Aspirations?

Some may view New Year’s Day as an opportunity to press the ‘reset’ button and try harder at achieving resolutions that they could not keep a year ago. It’s like turning over a page of a thick, voluminous book.

However, celebrating New Year’s Day year after year can get rather disheartening for others. I do not mean to bring down the celebratory mood but allow me to explain my thoughts on this.

Each year brings us closer to decay. We grow older, not younger, each year and as much as we contrive to slow down the aging process, it is virtually impossible to recapture the essence of youth.

I’m Not as Youthful

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (24 October 2016)

I'm not as youthful

As I used to be

Am I still beautiful?

What would you say to me?

I'm not as youthful

As I'd like to be

My muscles are painful

My back aches constantly

I'm not as youthful

As I hope to be

To God I'm beautiful

That matters most to me

Points for Reflection:

Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

(2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV)

·         Before I begin talking about the inner self, let me be clear that I do not have anything against taking good care of our physical bodies, our outer self. God has created us with amazing physical bodies, with efficient and complex biological systems, that we should not abuse.

·         God created everything good. However, when sin entered the world through the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, perfection has become a long, forgotten dream. We fall ill, we age, we suffer and then we die.

·         If this life is all we are living for, then we are to be greatly pitied for investing all hopes in the temporal.

·         For those who trust in Jesus Christ, we do not need to fear decay and death. Christ died to give us new life in Him.

·         Despite the aches and ailments that come with age, we can rejoice that our inner self is being renewed day by day. As we read God’s Word, the Holy Spirit renews our minds, softens our hearts and transforms us each day to become more like Christ.

·         Are you anxious about growing old?

·         Are you still youthful on the outside and taking pride in that?

·         Do you place more value in nourishing your outer self or your inner self?

·         Why don’t you make it your resolution this year to nourish your inner self by immersing your mind in God’s Word?