God CAN settle ALL our troubles

Kar Keat's gleanings (by His grace)
Response to ODB 15th July 2009

Dear youths,

hope you're doing fine after Youth Day *smile*

My OT readings today: Psalms 13 - 15

My NT readings today: Acts 19:21 - 41

The one similarity that came upon me, from Psalms 13, 14 and the Acts verses, was that no matter how troubled we can be, in the end, GOD WINS.

Psalm 13 (NKJV)

4 Lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him”; Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. 5 But I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.6 I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 14 (NIV)

6 You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge. 7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Acts 19 (NKJV)

And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

No matter how OVERWHELMED you are today by your troubles, God CAN settle ALL our troubles - praise Him! And how nicely it ties in with the ODB lesson:

Luke 14:27 (NIV)

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Bless you, youths

Kar Keat

What we can learn from (Good) Job!

Karkeat's Quiet Time reflections
Response to ODB (OT/NT readings) 5th July 2009

Preamble: S5, please kindly give me feedback for my posts. You are the experts in this field. What's a fast way to get pictures for my blogs since I only have 5Mpbs connection? *smile*

OT reading: Job chapters 30, 31

In my Bible reading today, Job chapter 31 has several examples which we can emulate. I'll only mention the following 7 sections of verses, which are more relevant to teens/ YOYA, and give you 7 assignments for the week ahead.

v13-14 "If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant when they complained against me, what then shall I do when God rises up?"

If you have a maid at home, have you been nice to her? When was the last time you greeted the school attendant uncle/ auntie who sweeps the floor, washes your toilets in the school?

Assignment 1:
If you have not been nice to the above-mentioned uncle/ aunties, starting Tuesday, smile and greet them, and be nice to them, genuinely.

v16-18 "If I have kept the poor from their desire, or caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or eaten my morsel by myself, so that the fatherless could not eat of it (but from my youth I reared him as a father, and from my mother's womb I guided the widow);"

Have you ever seen a classmate whom you know to come from a struggling family and does not have enough pocket money to buy food every recess?

Assignment 2(a)
If God has placed such classmates in your midst, treat your classmate to a drink/ cake/ snack. And say,"Jesus bless me, so I bless you lor!" and grin after saying that *grin*

Assignment 2(b)
If you know of any of your neighbours who are very poor (like me), whose children roam the streets instead of going to school, buy some snacks/ food and QUIETLY hang on their doors. Let them think that angels have brought them food. In actual fact, YOU are the angel sent by YHWH *smile* (I've personally done this before, after much prayer, and found great joy.)

v19-20 "If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or any poor man without covering; If his heart has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep;

Because my family was not so well-off when I was in secondary school, one of my Christian friends probably noticed, and he, being a school athlete, actually GAVE me his "old" Asics running shoes! I was overjoyed because that was my FIRST ever track shoes! May God bless Joo Peng for his kind heart!

You can be a blessing to your friends too, youths!

Assignment 3:
Do you have any nice t-shirts/ clothings/ shoes that are STILL USABLE? GIVE them to a friend whom you know who needs them!

v21-23 "If I have raised my hand against the fatherless, when I saw I had help in the gate; then let my arm fall from my shoulder, let my arm be torn from the socket. For destruction from God is a terror to me, and because of His magnificence I cannot endure.

Assignment 4:
If you have been bullying your classmates/ friends, stop. Repent.

v24-25 "If I have made gold my hope, or said to fine gold, 'You are my confidence'; If I have rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because my hand had gained much;

Assignment 5:
If you honestly have been greedy, consult your parents/ youth leaders, and use some of your OWN money to do the assignments mentioned above.

v26-28 "If I have observed the sun when it shines, or the moon moving in brightness, so that my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth had kissed my hand; This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment, for I would have denied God who is above.

Have you been loving the things of God more than the God of things? Sun and moon etc. i.e. nature. E.g. Overzealous about studies (pride, anxiety), science, beauty in photography, pets etc.

Assignment 6:
Consult your parents/ youth leaders if you have made an idol of the above-mentioned e.g. spending more time with your d.o.g. more than your G.O.D., etc. ask your parents/ youth leaders what you need to change. (This will be tough, but we're praying for your growth in Christ- love God, love man *smile*)

v29-30 "If I have rejoiced at the destruction of him who hated me, or lifted myself up when evil found him (indeed I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking a curse on his soul);

Have you been gloating over the misfortunes of your "enemies" in school?

Assignment 7:
TRY being nice to your "enemies" in school. Why? You may just see him/ her in heaven one day, because Jesus died for him/ her too!

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. John 13:17
Kar Keat

PS. Church elders, please kindly correct me if i've interpreted the Scriptures above inappropriately. Thank you for your grace in Christ Jesus.

Ever-ready?

(This was supposed to be a Friday posting hee)
KarKeat's Quiet Time reflections
Response to ODB 4th July 2009

ODB NT reading: Acts 13:15 (+ v 27)
Acts 13:15
And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying "Men and breathren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on."

Acts 13:27
For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath...

Ever-ready
What happens if one day, someone asks you, "Do you know of any verses (any "word from God") in the Bible that can help me?" What will you do?

Of course, that will mean we have to be REGULAR in our bible reading. But why should we do that? I've had 3 incidents this week reminding me I must be EVER READY.

1. One afternoon, I was suddenly asked to speak to the Prefectorial Board to encourage them.
2. I was suddenly asked to give testimonies during Prayer and Praise. (There were many thanksgiving, but I had to decide which ones to share.)
3. I trust that Reuben, Gabriel and Junming had started Saturday's Youth Day worship practice with a short devotion of God's Word. If they didn't, it was my fault, because I should have arrived earlier and shared God's Word to start
the practice. Leaders point their sheep to God's Word. In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1).

As you can see, we must be EVER-READY with God's Word.

What if we don't?
You have been in church for so long ("dwell in Jerusalem"). You've heard sermons every Sunday. ("the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath..."). Does Acts 13:27 describe you? Let's pray it does not.

Assignment:
Start reading your bible REGULARLY, starting TODAY! (*)

Let's GROW in Christ, youths,
Kar Keat

(*) If you're not sure how to start reading your bible, approach your parents/ youth leaders TODAY.

Kar Keat's response to ODB 27 Jun 2009 (post on 28 Jun 09)

Disclaimer: As a rule of thumb, emails, SMSes, blogs etc. should not, as much as possible, be sent at night. When we are tired, it's best to keep silent. But as I have given my word to S5, I must honor my word.

TRUST & OBEY
My 3 salient takeaways for sharing

Introductions
Like Cheris' sharing, mine is also regarding obedience.
OT reading: Job chapters 8-10
1) God’s sovereignty - you sure you wanna argue with… GOD?
Job 9:2 - How can a man be righteous before God?
Job 9:3 - If one wished to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.
Job 9:15 - For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge.

Can anyone argue with God? No way, based on what Job said above. The NT equivalent is Romans 9:16 - So then it is not of him who wills, or of him who runs, but of Him who shows mercy.

This may be hard for teenagers/ young adults to accept. But sometimes, we can only trust and obey. God expects us to treat Him with this level of respect. He also expects us to treat our parents/ elders/ leaders likewise.

2) It's NOT how good we are!
NT reading: Acts 8: 26 - 40

The above principle is echoed in the NT reading.

In the New Testament, three persons were recorded to have confessed their faith in Jesus Christ. They were

(i) Peter, the apostle in Matthew 16:16. Being a paternal society (i.e. male enjoying more authority), Peter's confession of faith in Jesus Christ, given his leadership position amongst the apostle, was expected. However, the next person was unexpected.

(ii) It was Martha, Mary's sister, a woman, in John 11:27. She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

(iii) The third person was an even greater surprise, an EUNUCH! In Acts 8:37,Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may."” And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

Again, this shows you, it is not how clever, how smart, how hardworking or how good we are. God, He reigns. (For further reference, see 1 Cor 1: 26-27)

(3) Hence, trust and obey!
ODB's passage – Proverbs 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of your father.

Amazingly, today's ODB - Advice for the Groom - is along the same grain, talking about the same thing! If we cannot even trust and obey our parents, elders, church leaders, how then can we obey God?

Homework
Read up till Matthew chapter 20 before school re-opens.

May you GROW in Messiah, dear children,
Kar Keat
PS. Thank you also, S5, for starting this blog, and putting up the memory verses.

Not to worry - post by Junming (26 Jun 09)

Hi peeps…

Have you tried going out yet don't know where to go?! Sounds silly isn't it? True true true. But to think about it, life is really full of silliness especially when our lives go hay-wire.

In our own sight of view, we often think that we are on the right track but how often is it true? 10%? 20%? 50%? 100%? Or... 0%? Actually, we don't and never will we know what is going to happen. The only thing I believe is, only God knows what He has planned for us ahead and it is a matter whether we see it or not, if He is willing to show us.

How to know whether we see it or not?! Simple. Continually examine our attitude toward God. But how?! Well. The simplest step we learnt in the past was…"WWJD". That's right…-”What Would Jesus Do? By placing ourselves in Jesus' shoes.

Easier said than done, isn't it?!... I got to admit I'm a failure in it too but, I still try and I'm still trying.

If you are like me, still trying, then trusting in God entirely might be the best/only way to do so. It is because of that "Trusting in Him" which leads us to no clue on what He has prepared for us, it keeps us Wondering more and more, which eventually spurs us to seek the end result that He has for us.

In Luke 12:22 (take out your Bible and find out the verse!), it tells us not to Worry.

In conclusion, try to take note of your daily life. Sometimes, you might have over-planned for "A" but sort of in a Blur way,… things turn out to be "B" instead but this "B" turns out good and pleasing. It does happen to me personally. Hence, why bother to worry so much? If things turn out differently, pray and ask whether it is God's will.

In my Quiet Time, this sentence came across, "Have you been asking God what He is going to do?" HE IS THE ONE WHO DECIDES WHETHER HE WILL TELL YOU OR NOT. God does not need to tell you what He is going to do--- more often than not, He reveals to you who He is.”

Bless,
J.M