today...
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
*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 :)