today...
Saturday 29 May 2010
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♥ weiwei
today...
@1:07 am
Why didn't Jesus just come down?
Golgothia is the site of the crucifixion. It is situated at a major intersection outside the city. Those who passed by stared at Jesus, the condemned King of the Jews, hanging on the cross.
Slowly He began to sag down more and more. The downward pull of His weight, held up only by nails pierced through His wrists. caused excruciating pain to shoot up his arms. In an attempt to relieve the pain, Jesus pushed up on the two wounds in his feet, resulting in even more agony. Hour after hour, He endured wrenching pain in His arms and legs. After awhile, the pain made it impossible to move at all.
Dr Truman Davis analysed the gospel account and came to the following medical conclusion. By now, cramps would have swept over the muscles, knotting them deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps came the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles were paralyzed and unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, causing partial asphixiation. There would now be a deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericadium slowly begins to fill with fluid and compresses the heart. All this would lead to a certain, inescapable and excruciating death.
The critics and cynics around were hurling insults at Jesus, shaking their heads and saying, "If You are truly the Son of God, save yourself! Come down from the cross!" Why didn't Jesus, the Son of the Living God, the Creator of the Universe do that?
Jesus could have come down. But He stayed on that cross because:
1. He loved us so unconditionally
2. He wanted to free us from the bondage of sin
3. He wanted to take our infirmities and bear out sicknesses
4. He wanted to set us free from every curse of poverty and defeat
5. He wanted to reconcile us back to Father God and give us a home in heaven.
Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hew 12:2
On repeat: Brooke Fraser: Soon (Hillsong United, 2009)
♥ weiwei
today...
@12:52 am
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Arms Open Wide
This song on repeat. I ♥ Hillsong United - Arms Open Wide.
Take my life I lay it down
At the cross where I am found
All I have I give to You oh God
Take my hands and make them clean
Keep my heart in purity
That I may walk in all You have for me
Oh here I stand
Arms open wide
Oh I am Yours
And You are mine
Take my moments and my days
Let each breath that I take
Be ever only for You oh God
Oh here I stand
Arms open wide
Oh I am Yours
And You are mine
My whole life is Yours
I give it all
Surrendered to Your Name
And forever I will pray
Have Your way
Have Your way
Oh here I stand
Arms open wide
Oh I am Yours
And You are mine
♥ weiwei
today...
@10:18 am
Sunday 16 May 2010
i got water up my nose but i'm happy :)
Your love is never ending
To Your Hands we surrender
Where all our sins are washed away
Your grace beyond reason
Has paid for our freedom
We're made alive in You
Ziech and Jack doing the honours of dunking me!
So I finally have taken the plunge to get baptised (for real). I was actually really looking forward to get baptised after speaking to Jack about it earlier on in the year. It has been a decision I knew that I would make and God had been prompting me for over a year to get baptised, properly and for the right reasons with full understanding. During the past year, I had been deliberating whether or not to get baptised, speaking to several leaders. I knew I was not at peace with God about this matter, because every time I thought about it, I had this unrest in my heart. I knew that I wouldn't be complete not having done baptism the "right" way.
So I'm the last person to get baptised out of 16 people! :D Erwin and I were the only Curtin people! We fly the Curtin flag HIGH!!! ... haha not really... :) But yeah, we try.
*Grabbing my neck* grrr.
I felt honoured that Jack, my ex-cell leader and someone I respect, trust and look up to so much was the one that dunked me in the water! It was supposed to be Pastor as well who would dunk me in, which would have been double special, but Ziech is just as good! I got in the spa and fell all over the place (pai seh) -- cannot see a thing because there was some weird groove when I stepped into the spa. Then some more, both Jack AND Ziech went to grab my neck! Oh no super sensitive and ge-li cannot take it! *squeal* It's not that I hesitated to get baptised, my neck was too ticklish! So when I got dunked, ahh... I got water in my nose immediately!!! Heheheee... and I knew it so when I was in the water, my nose hurt a bit, and when I came out of the water, my nose still hurt. (Garry reckons I sinned with my nose, so it needed to be cleansed. Eejit.) Funny thing, the first thing I thought of when I got out of the water is, "I think my make-up is sliding..." hmmm...
Jacklyn, me, mum and brother
So happy also my mum, brother, Aletheia, Jacklyn and Roy could come as well to witness my baptism. ALSO, my colleague and her family came to witness my baptism and they stayed for the whole thing! They must've been starving (pai seh) but, I'm glad they were able to witness it. My prayer is that her family will come to know the Lord as their saviour one day :) I sms'ed her after baptism, and thanked her for coming and she said, "Pleasures. We are happy to witness this auspicious moment! Praise the Lord." Wow... she said PTL! PRAISE THE LORD INDEED!!! She also recorded it on video... HEHE... I look stupid squealing and falling all over the place like a child! Perhaps all the delays were for a reason. If I had done it any earlier, Aletheia and Jacklyn may not have been here to witness it... and neither would have Michelle. So in hindsight, this was the perfect time. :)
My wonderful cellies, ex-cellies and bffs and a couple of randoms who were there to support :)
So how do I feel after the baptism? Well... I definitely have peace with God about this now :) and even though I got water up my nose, I'm really happy. Things just look and feel brighter (maybe the water got to my brain)!... I feel an even greater and stronger sense of hope, I feel clean... even though I know I have already sinned since! hah.... but my old self has died and the new me is here! :) I just feel so undeniably where I should be and where God has longed for me to be and I wake up with His praises on my lips every morning.
I give thanks to God for all the good things he has done in my life, all the wonderful people and leaders he has put in my life to guide me and to be my friend, and to my family for their support :) God is GOOD, ALL the time!!!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17
I grew up going to church. I learnt about Jesus and read stories in the bible; however, I realized after all these years growing up in the church, that I didn’t really know who Jesus is. I never had a personal relationship with Christ. Going to church was a Sunday routine and when it was time for Word, that was the time I started to day dream. When we prayed, I often wanted to fall asleep. I rarely served in church and rarely stayed back after church to fellowship with the people or attend cell group and church outings, so to me, church life was just another obligation I had every week.
It was in the summer of 2007 after doing Curtin Orientation that I came to meet some wonderful Zion Praise Harvesters who invited me to their church! I still remember the first day I stepped into the service. It was strange to see all these people singing, dancing, praising and jumping for Jesus – it was something I had never seen before. It was exciting and I could feel the passion and zeal these people had for Jesus – and I wanted a piece of it. It was as if, a blindfold had been taken from my eyes and I was able to see that our God really is alive. Since then, I made a commitment to attend and serve in ZPH and God has been so faithful to me. I’m amazed at how much I have grown in the past 3 years compared to the last 10 years of my life and how God has been able to use me for His purposes.
I was baptized in a Methodist church and as far as I was concerned up until that point, I had been baptized (although, not with very much water!) When I was baptized, I don’t believe I truly understood the true significance of baptism. It seemed like another ritual that a Christian had to do. However, in recent months, there became an unrest in my heart that grew daily about baptism. I went to on to read in the bible more about baptism and how Jesus was baptized in the river. God has been prompting me for some time now, and eventually I was convicted to take the plunge and get baptized (for real). I want to do this in obedience to God and also to follow in Jesus footsteps.
This will be the second time I get baptized and this time my baptism will hold so much more significance because I now understand what full repentance means, consciously turning away from my old ways and looking ahead to really living a life that is pleasing to God. Baptism is just the beginning of honoring and giving my life to God, and vowing that my future will be lived out for Him and His glory.
Today and everyday is still a day to learn and grow and to invest in that personal relationship with Christ and it will be a life long journey. I’m excited for what God has in store for me because he says in Jeremiah 29:11, For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future, and I believe when God promises to prosper us, and to give us a hope and a future – it’s sure going to look very bright on the other side.
@10:43 pm
Wednesday 5 May 2010
my kiddo :)
I got a letter from my kiddo, Jaime, the other day.
He's so sweet. :)
It translates, "Hello Sue-Anne, How are you? I greet you with a lot of love and affection hoping that you have a lot of health. I'm very grateful with you for the money that you sent me $22.50. I tell you that I bought a pair of pants. I bought milk to eat with cereal. I bought many candies too, to share with my sisters. Thank you, I'm very happy and grateful with God because to Him you sent me that gift."
It bought a smile to my face and made me realise living in the world we live in, we take so many things for granted. Things like eating cereal with milk, things like eating candy. I'm glad my money could buy him temporary happiness even if for a day and yet above all those, he gives thanks to God because of me. *My heart warms*
We ought to give thanks to God for everything He has given us!
Thank you Lord!
today...
@7:19 pm
This song on repeat. I ♥ Hillsong United - Arms Open Wide.
*Grabbing my neck* grrr.
Jacklyn, me, mum and brother
My wonderful cellies, ex-cellies and bffs and a couple of randoms who were there to support :)