The Gift of Tears

Hello All,

Are you ashamed of tears? Do you feel that tears are only for weak people?

Do you feel awkward seeing other people cry?

God has given us tears for a reason. Do not treat tears as a curse, but treat them as a gift from God.

The Gift of Tears

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling

Tears bring relief to a heavy heart

A heart clogged with unspoken sorrows

Why do we wish that tears would depart?

Tears heal the soul like a lush, green meadow

God has given us the gift of tears

No tears that wet His feet are wasted

Cry if you must; without shame and fear

Christ comforts the broken-hearted

Divine tears fell at Gethsemane

Can you feel the anguish of Christ's tears?

Tears and blood mingled in agony

Because of Christ, to God, we can draw near

Tears brought relief to my heavy heart

A heart clogged with unexpressed sorrows

God's love has caused sorrows to depart

God's love gives me hope for tomorrow

Points for Reflection:

Jesus wept.

(John 11:35 ESV)

·       Crying is not a sign of weakness. It takes courage to embrace and express the sadness of our hearts.

·       Jesus Christ, the only perfect man who ever lived, cried countless of times. He is God who chose to walk in the shoes of broken humanity. He cried over the death of His friend, Lazarus, although He knew He was going to raise him up from the dead. The knowledge of the future did not prevent Him from expressing the sorrow of the present.

·       Is your heart clogged with unspoken sorrows? Are you reluctant to express them in tears before God in prayer?

·       Divine tears fell at Gethsemane. Can you feel the anguish of Christ's tears? Tears and blood mingled in agony. Because of Christ, to God, we can draw near.

·       Find comfort in tears shed in the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ. He knows your sorrows and tears.

I Turn to the Lord

Hello All,

Have you ever felt tempted to forsake God? Does the Christian life seem too hard to live out?  

Are your desires for that forbidden fruit consuming you?

Has your heart been wandering away from God? Has your love for God grown cold?

  

I Turn to the Lord

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling

I turn to You, Oh Lord

My strong shield and sword

You keep me safe when I’m in fear

Your love and grace draw me near

You are my dearest friend

One whose love knows no end

When all fails, You do not

Guard my frail and anxious thoughts

I’m sorry for my failures

I’ve wandered from your pasture

Lead me back to flowing streams

Where waters glisten and gleam

Points for Reflection:

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

(1 Peter 2:25 ESV)

·         The grass always looks greener on the other end. Wandering from God’s pasture may seem like an easier and more exciting option. But trust me, it never is.

·         Why do we wander from the loving Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who laid down His life to redeem gullible sheep like us? There’s a reason that God describes us as gullible sheep instead of elegant stallions.

·         Sheep often wander away from safe pastures and find themselves trapped in a thicket or confronted by their ferocious prey. It is the Shepherd that guides us to safety and seeks us out when we have wandered from the flock.

·         Isn’t comforting to be reminded about the loving forgiveness of our Shepherd and Saviour, Jesus Christ? When we have wandered away from Him, He is always urging us to return to Him through the gentle rebuke of a friend, a heartfelt sermon from a preacher and most of all, His Word that glistens and gleams like living water that nourishes our souls.

·         Don’t wander away from the Shepherd, but turn to Him.

Learning Patience

Hello All,

What gets us on our nerves? What do we usually get angry over?

Who or what makes us lose our patience?

How do we express impatience in the heat of the moment? Do feelings of guilt wash over us in the aftermath?

Learning Patience

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (1 May 2017)

Waiting patiently for my turn

Getting impatient as I wait

It is patience I need to learn

Oh, when will a fish take my bait?

Waiting patiently for my turn

But time is draining my patience

Impatience makes my anger burn

Anger unleashed pricks my conscience

Waiting patiently for my turn

'My child, why are you impatient?'

'Forgive me, Lord. Please help me learn

To love like You by being patient'

Points for Reflection:

[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

[23] gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.

[14] For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

(Galatians 5:14, 22-23 ESV)

·         We are imperfect. But that is no excuse to justify our fiery moments of impatience.

·         We are imperfect people who belong to God. He uses challenges, difficulties, and trials to expose the sinfulness of our hearts. Through His Spirit, He is changing us to be more like Christ.

·         Are you struggling to be patient with difficult people and circumstances? Do you feel guilty after you have lost your patience?

·         It is possible to change our external behaviours. However, changing our external behaviours is not sustainable if our hearts remain unchanged.

·         Rely not on ourselves, but on the work of the Spirit in our hearts, to love and be patient with our neighbours. However, that does not mean that we become passive puppets.

·         God’s Word through His Spirit guides and convicts us when we do wrong. Just as a donkey is led by his master, we are to walk in step with the Spirit. I’ll have to admit that there are times when we are not much different from donkeys; especially in our stubbornness of heart towards a loving and gracious God.

William Tyndale - An Inspiring Tale

Hello All,

Whose words and opinions do you esteem highly in life?

How far would you go to honour the words of such a person?

William Tyndale - An Inspiring Tale

By Joanne Liaw Sook Ling (24 April 2017)

Dedicated to Reverend Andrew Cheah

Come, hear me now as I tell you a tale

An inspiring tale of William Tyndale

A man who poured out his life to translate

God's Word from Greek, not the Latin Vulgate

He fled from country to country

Living like an unsettled refugee

He had to flee to continue God's work

From his arduous task, he did not shirk

God sent him helping hands along the way

Partners in the Gospel, to ease his day

Walsh, Monmouth, Frith, Poyntz and others

Who aided the great Bible translator

After much sweat and perspiration

He finished the English New Testament

He tried to print it, but was discovered

From Cologne, he had to flee for cover

He printed copies in Worms by God's grace

They were smuggled and spread at great pace

Those were dangerous times of persecution

Having God's Word in English was treason

Bibles were burnt, but copies increased

God's Word brought the common people release

Sweet release from the darkness of their age

God's Truth shone brightly on each precious page

In Antwerp, he was betrayed by a friend

Imprisoned for fifteen months before his end

Vilvoorde Prison was a dark, cold place

In suffering, his faith was not effaced

With a noose around his neck, he still prayed

'Lord, open the king of England's eyes,' he said

Strangled to death, then burnt as a heretic

Executed in the eyes of the public

God answered Tyndale's dying prayer

The eyes of the king were opened a year later

He encouraged the distribution

Of the English Bible to the nation

Tyndale's blood was spilled upon the pages

Of God's Word that's lasted through the ages

Do we treasure the Bible we've bought with ease?

Do we value His Word in times of peace?

God's Word was brought to us with much bloodshed

How do we respond to the verses we've read?

Are our hearts burning with unyielding passion?

Passion for the message of salvation!

Points for Reflection:

Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

(Psalms 119:17-18 ESV)

·       Tyndale died to translate God’s Word for the common people. People who could not understand Latin. In Tyndale’s time, it was illegal for the common people to read God’s Word in their mother tongue. Doing so could lead to death if they were caught.

·       In our part of the world, many of us have the freedom of reading the Bible, God’s Word, without any fear of being executed. However, do we treasure the Bible we’ve bought (or downloaded) with ease? Do we value His Word in times of peace? Has reading God’s Word become more of a chore than a joy?

·       Whose words and opinions do you esteem highly in life? Do you value God’s Word?

·       How far would you go to honour God through His Word? Would apathy, laziness, criticism, persecution, and death deter you from doing so?

·       God's Word was brought to us with much bloodshed. How do we respond to the verses we've read? Are our hearts burning with unyielding passion? Passion for the message of salvation!