Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.”
After graduating from polytechnic with a Diploma in Civil & Environmental Engineering. I have always wanted to pursue a degree in either Social Work or Psychology. Thus, I applied for my degree with SIM, which promised to give me an 'answer' by end of May 2006, regarding whether I am accepted for the course or not. I waited and waited for a response from the university and despite numerous calls and clarification, the school was not able to give me a confirmation on the success of my application. Soon later, I decided to go to work. I found myself applying for Singapore Prison Service, as a Prison Officer. Guess what? I saw a parcel from SIM on my dining table, after booking out from training school for the very first time. I received a letter stating my confirmation of my placing with the university. They approved my application but it was too late. I was so agonized! Either I pay the penalty for the bond or I continue my service. Needless to say, I chose the latter.
After serving about 3 years of service with the Prisons Department, I decided to resign, as during this period of time, I also managed to save up a certain amount of money that could help me to pursue my degree in Psychology. However my father was retiring at that point in time and he started to express concerns about the financial needs of the family. After much thoughts and discussion with my family, I decided to shove away this idea until the next opportunity comes. I was utterly disappointed though. After all I was the only child in the family.
After serving my bond with Singapore Prison, I decided to change my career to 'Social Work'. This is where my passion lies. My stint in prison actually helped me to bridge my relationship with the students. The students seem to be very interested in what is happening in prison and I was able to speak into their lives. During my career also gave me the opportunity to know Veronica. She is a Christian and she actually brought me to church later. I turned my life to God the first day I visited His Harvest Church. It was such a wonderful decision that I made.
Soon after, life continued as usual. I did not really think about pursuing my studies anymore as it has passed so many years since the last time I wanted to pursue it until one day, my supervisor offered me a scholarship to get a Degree in Social Work at uniSIM. He even said that I would be fully paid with my salary during this 3 years study period. I was thrilled!!! I could not believe this was happening to me. This offer was so much more attractive as compared to me actually paying for the course myself if I had made it previously. Praise God!
Looking back, God was certainly good to me. Seems like He is charting my life step by step, little by little even before I was a Christian. I believe the experience gained working at Singapore Prisons served to help me in my current job.
Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.”
Perhaps some people might see this as luck but I knew in my heart that this is from God. Anyway the bible says,
James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
There are certain good things that happened to Christians which they know very distinctively came as a result of God’s grace and goodness. Very often only the person involved would know because there will be an inward witness in the spirit that confirms it. There is a sense of “knowing”.
God is never late but He is also never early. He knew exactly the right time to answer the desire of my heart. Thank you Jesus.
LX
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
My sales went from S$980 to S$12, 000 in just 2 days
Malachi 3:10 – 11, ““Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven; And pour out for you such blessing, That there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts;”
I was feeling a little depressed recently. My wife came to visit me from Philippines with my son. Initially, they intended to stay for 3 weeks. However my wife contracted some skin infection and so she decided to return home so that someone could help to look after my son better since I was working. They were only here for 2 weeks as a result. I was sad. I could also feel myself getting lethargic with the things of God due to my low morale. My time spent with God through prayers and bible reading was not as fervent as I had been previously. As a result the anointing from God on my spirit was gradually leaking from all these “holes”. I was spiritually very dry.
In addition, due to my one week holiday in Philippines with my family earlier. I was not able to work more to hit my sales target of S$3,200 for the month. I only closed S$980 of sales. I am a gym instructor and I need to recruit people to take up personal training courses with me. I tried my humanly best for the past few days to recruit as many customers as possible but it was getting now where. My morale was extremely low. The worst part was I was the top sales person in my company throughout the whole of Singapore previously and this added more pressure on me.
It was during one of my Sunday service, I was worshipping God with hands lifted up as usual during the worship. I came to church with a heavy heart. However I decided to surrender myself to God. As the worship continues, Pastor Amos had a word of knowledge and he told the congregation that God is speaking to someone and comforting the person. God wants to tell him that everything is under his control. The moment I heard this, I knew God was speaking to me through Pastor Amos. I could not control myself as tears rolled down continuously my cheeks. I could also feel a very strong warm sensation arising within me. I knew this was the touch of God. There was a deep sense of supernatural peace in my heart. I felt assured in my heart that everything would be alright.
An amazing thing took place. Within 2 days before my company financial month closes, my sales shot up from S$980 to S$12,000!!! My manager was thrilled by this amazing result. This was unbelievable. Everyone was not able to comprehend how this could happen. Everyone was resigned to close the sales poorly for the month.
To me, this was the supernatural outpouring of God’s blessing. I have been obedient in tithing and God honors His word! He protects and prospers me. Looking back, I should not limit what God could do based on my limited thinking. Praise God. Thank you Jesus! This is indeed one supernatural intervention of God in my work experience.
Eric
I was feeling a little depressed recently. My wife came to visit me from Philippines with my son. Initially, they intended to stay for 3 weeks. However my wife contracted some skin infection and so she decided to return home so that someone could help to look after my son better since I was working. They were only here for 2 weeks as a result. I was sad. I could also feel myself getting lethargic with the things of God due to my low morale. My time spent with God through prayers and bible reading was not as fervent as I had been previously. As a result the anointing from God on my spirit was gradually leaking from all these “holes”. I was spiritually very dry.
In addition, due to my one week holiday in Philippines with my family earlier. I was not able to work more to hit my sales target of S$3,200 for the month. I only closed S$980 of sales. I am a gym instructor and I need to recruit people to take up personal training courses with me. I tried my humanly best for the past few days to recruit as many customers as possible but it was getting now where. My morale was extremely low. The worst part was I was the top sales person in my company throughout the whole of Singapore previously and this added more pressure on me.
It was during one of my Sunday service, I was worshipping God with hands lifted up as usual during the worship. I came to church with a heavy heart. However I decided to surrender myself to God. As the worship continues, Pastor Amos had a word of knowledge and he told the congregation that God is speaking to someone and comforting the person. God wants to tell him that everything is under his control. The moment I heard this, I knew God was speaking to me through Pastor Amos. I could not control myself as tears rolled down continuously my cheeks. I could also feel a very strong warm sensation arising within me. I knew this was the touch of God. There was a deep sense of supernatural peace in my heart. I felt assured in my heart that everything would be alright.
An amazing thing took place. Within 2 days before my company financial month closes, my sales shot up from S$980 to S$12,000!!! My manager was thrilled by this amazing result. This was unbelievable. Everyone was not able to comprehend how this could happen. Everyone was resigned to close the sales poorly for the month.
To me, this was the supernatural outpouring of God’s blessing. I have been obedient in tithing and God honors His word! He protects and prospers me. Looking back, I should not limit what God could do based on my limited thinking. Praise God. Thank you Jesus! This is indeed one supernatural intervention of God in my work experience.
Eric
I was chosen to endure harsh treatment from my boss to glorify God in the process
Matthew 5:16, “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
I was working as a photographer with Company A in Singapore for a couple of years before my company was bought over by Company B. With this acquisition, my team came under the management of the new company photography section. This marks a new beginning for me and it seems that opportunities have increased, but it was not long I realized I am not getting along well with my new boss. The boss does not esteem his subordinates well with respect and consideration. It was tough working for him.
Working with a group of crew like stylists, designers, editors and models were part of our job environment. There is always a team of us with different roles and support. A photographer, after knowing the concept of the shoot will be the one to lead the team on how the shoot would take place. I remembered there have been several occasions when my boss would step into the studio out of the blue, complained about the setting I had arranged and how stupid the idea was. He would then take the initiative to rearrange the set and in-front of the whole team gave me a lecture on how the set should have been better arranged. I felt humiliated each time he does that. It causes the whole crew to doubt if I could really direct a good shoot. Eventually, the rest of the other crew esteem us ,photographers, as just the “clicker boy”. You become demoralized and creativity is stunned in such an environment. I felt like quitting.
Just during this demoralizing period, my ex-company contacted me and offered a super attractive package. It was a 50% increase in salary and they agreed to give me the position I wanted, practically every request that I made they were able to match. It was so tempting but before I took it up, I brought it to the Lord in prayer. I very much would like to take it up but there was no peace in my heart to do so. It seems like God wanted me to stay and He would not want me to leave with my head down. No matter how I disliked going to work, I let go of that opportunity and constantly reminded myself that the bible says,
1 Peter 5:6-7, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
I continued to do my best in my work.
In fact I was not the only person to be subjected to such treatment from my boss. All 8 of us were treated with disdain throughout our career with the new management. As a result coffee breaks and lunches were often times of complaining and criticizing our boss. The temptation was very strong but I refused to be sucked into the non edifying talks; I knew it would not be good for me spiritually. The bible says,
Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
It was not long before my entire team of 8 photographers gradually reduced to 2 of us. All have resigned because of my boss. Throughout these 4 years, God has been encouraging me through His Word in His presence and though with much difficulty, I had hang on with His given grace.
Gradually, things started to turn around. My works started to be commended by the higher management level although was criticized by my direct boss. Suddenly one day, my boss came up to me and said, “I have been observing you for a while. You are a miracle. The way you carry yourself is really different from the other people that I have come across. I can see your God’s power working in your life.”
Matthew 5:16, “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
I was shocked by his comments and I was so thrilled that I ran out of my studio and gave my heartfelt gratitude to God telling Him, “All glory goes to you Father! Thank you for preserving me and assuring me all these while just for this purpose” This was the MOMENT when I felt that all the persecutions that I have suffered for the past 4 years were all worthwhile. It was God’s will for me to be a worthy ambassador of God that displays exemplary characteristics in times of trouble. Not only did God use me in this situation to show His glory and goodness, I was also edified and encouraged by God in serving Him. Doing God’s work is not easy but you emerge a winner if you preserve to the end. Praise God! It was also at this time, I felt impressed in my heart that now is the time to move out. God wanted me to go into full time bible study.
Subsequently after I sent in my resignation letter to pursue my bible studies. My boss was very surprised. He had repeatedly made offers to increase my salary and even to the extent of offering me a 3 months paid leave to let me ‘explore my own interest’. However I declined because I knew that God wanted me to focus on my studies first.
Amazingly on the day I declined the company’s counter offer, I got home and I received an encouragement from God. He encouraged me on this decision of putting Him first by blessing me with a cheque sent by an anonymous sender from our ex-church. The sum turned out to be the amount I needed to pay for my first month school fees.
Anonymous
I was working as a photographer with Company A in Singapore for a couple of years before my company was bought over by Company B. With this acquisition, my team came under the management of the new company photography section. This marks a new beginning for me and it seems that opportunities have increased, but it was not long I realized I am not getting along well with my new boss. The boss does not esteem his subordinates well with respect and consideration. It was tough working for him.
Working with a group of crew like stylists, designers, editors and models were part of our job environment. There is always a team of us with different roles and support. A photographer, after knowing the concept of the shoot will be the one to lead the team on how the shoot would take place. I remembered there have been several occasions when my boss would step into the studio out of the blue, complained about the setting I had arranged and how stupid the idea was. He would then take the initiative to rearrange the set and in-front of the whole team gave me a lecture on how the set should have been better arranged. I felt humiliated each time he does that. It causes the whole crew to doubt if I could really direct a good shoot. Eventually, the rest of the other crew esteem us ,photographers, as just the “clicker boy”. You become demoralized and creativity is stunned in such an environment. I felt like quitting.
Just during this demoralizing period, my ex-company contacted me and offered a super attractive package. It was a 50% increase in salary and they agreed to give me the position I wanted, practically every request that I made they were able to match. It was so tempting but before I took it up, I brought it to the Lord in prayer. I very much would like to take it up but there was no peace in my heart to do so. It seems like God wanted me to stay and He would not want me to leave with my head down. No matter how I disliked going to work, I let go of that opportunity and constantly reminded myself that the bible says,
1 Peter 5:6-7, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
I continued to do my best in my work.
In fact I was not the only person to be subjected to such treatment from my boss. All 8 of us were treated with disdain throughout our career with the new management. As a result coffee breaks and lunches were often times of complaining and criticizing our boss. The temptation was very strong but I refused to be sucked into the non edifying talks; I knew it would not be good for me spiritually. The bible says,
Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
It was not long before my entire team of 8 photographers gradually reduced to 2 of us. All have resigned because of my boss. Throughout these 4 years, God has been encouraging me through His Word in His presence and though with much difficulty, I had hang on with His given grace.
Gradually, things started to turn around. My works started to be commended by the higher management level although was criticized by my direct boss. Suddenly one day, my boss came up to me and said, “I have been observing you for a while. You are a miracle. The way you carry yourself is really different from the other people that I have come across. I can see your God’s power working in your life.”
Matthew 5:16, “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
I was shocked by his comments and I was so thrilled that I ran out of my studio and gave my heartfelt gratitude to God telling Him, “All glory goes to you Father! Thank you for preserving me and assuring me all these while just for this purpose” This was the MOMENT when I felt that all the persecutions that I have suffered for the past 4 years were all worthwhile. It was God’s will for me to be a worthy ambassador of God that displays exemplary characteristics in times of trouble. Not only did God use me in this situation to show His glory and goodness, I was also edified and encouraged by God in serving Him. Doing God’s work is not easy but you emerge a winner if you preserve to the end. Praise God! It was also at this time, I felt impressed in my heart that now is the time to move out. God wanted me to go into full time bible study.
Subsequently after I sent in my resignation letter to pursue my bible studies. My boss was very surprised. He had repeatedly made offers to increase my salary and even to the extent of offering me a 3 months paid leave to let me ‘explore my own interest’. However I declined because I knew that God wanted me to focus on my studies first.
Amazingly on the day I declined the company’s counter offer, I got home and I received an encouragement from God. He encouraged me on this decision of putting Him first by blessing me with a cheque sent by an anonymous sender from our ex-church. The sum turned out to be the amount I needed to pay for my first month school fees.
Anonymous
God protected me and prevented my knee cap from further injuries even though I had a terrible fall
Psalm 91:11-13, “For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
An unfortunate accident happened to me during one of my IPPT test after I ORD. I broke my knee cap when I attempted to make a 180 degrees turn while doing my shuttle run. This injury was so bad that I was admitted immediately to hospital and the next thing I knew was I could not work and had to be on crutches for the next 6 months. I was very upset with this condition as I could not live my life properly.
However after I became a Christian, my pastors and His Harvest Church members have prayed for me for a rapid recovery. I put my faith and believe in God that my knee cap would heal rapidly. I know that I am in the safe hands of God.
One operation passed by one operation. It was by the third operation that the doctor told me that I could start walking without my crutches. I was so glad upon hearing this news. So glad that I can start working and move about freely!
However only a few days after my last operation, I had another bad fall. Blinded to a patch of water on the ground in front of me, I slipped and landed in a very awkward position. I realized the side of my left knee cap (the one which was injured previously) hit the ground so hard that it swelled and the pain was so great.
I got so discouraged and worried. My condition just got better and this has to happen. I immediately took a taxi to NUH to get an X ray to assess my condition. On the way there, I remembered Pastor Oon’s sharing on how he used to pray each time he sprained his leg during basketball games. I started to do likewise and pray to God while I force myself to think positively about my situation.
At the same time, I called my friend, who is working in the A&E department to check the human traffic there. She told me it will be very crowded at this point of time.
Amazingly, when I arrived at the A&E department, there was no crowd in sight; just with a few people waiting for their turn to be called. Thank God! The entire process of getting my injury assessed by the doctor was so smooth and fast.
And again amazingly, despite the swelling, nothing happened to the original injury. IT'S A MIRACLE! I remembered the last time after my second last operation, I did not fall but the fractured knee cap were not healing and that was why I was required to go for the third operation. NOW I had this bad fall but everything was still intact!
I really cannot explain why but I believe it was God’s hand protecting me. I am so happy that I'm okay.
Praise the Lord! Thank you Father!
Kee Lin
An unfortunate accident happened to me during one of my IPPT test after I ORD. I broke my knee cap when I attempted to make a 180 degrees turn while doing my shuttle run. This injury was so bad that I was admitted immediately to hospital and the next thing I knew was I could not work and had to be on crutches for the next 6 months. I was very upset with this condition as I could not live my life properly.
However after I became a Christian, my pastors and His Harvest Church members have prayed for me for a rapid recovery. I put my faith and believe in God that my knee cap would heal rapidly. I know that I am in the safe hands of God.
One operation passed by one operation. It was by the third operation that the doctor told me that I could start walking without my crutches. I was so glad upon hearing this news. So glad that I can start working and move about freely!
However only a few days after my last operation, I had another bad fall. Blinded to a patch of water on the ground in front of me, I slipped and landed in a very awkward position. I realized the side of my left knee cap (the one which was injured previously) hit the ground so hard that it swelled and the pain was so great.
I got so discouraged and worried. My condition just got better and this has to happen. I immediately took a taxi to NUH to get an X ray to assess my condition. On the way there, I remembered Pastor Oon’s sharing on how he used to pray each time he sprained his leg during basketball games. I started to do likewise and pray to God while I force myself to think positively about my situation.
At the same time, I called my friend, who is working in the A&E department to check the human traffic there. She told me it will be very crowded at this point of time.
Amazingly, when I arrived at the A&E department, there was no crowd in sight; just with a few people waiting for their turn to be called. Thank God! The entire process of getting my injury assessed by the doctor was so smooth and fast.
And again amazingly, despite the swelling, nothing happened to the original injury. IT'S A MIRACLE! I remembered the last time after my second last operation, I did not fall but the fractured knee cap were not healing and that was why I was required to go for the third operation. NOW I had this bad fall but everything was still intact!
I really cannot explain why but I believe it was God’s hand protecting me. I am so happy that I'm okay.
Praise the Lord! Thank you Father!
Kee Lin
The process of character building is difficult and painful
Hebrews 5:8, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”
Right after I gave my life to God, He started to work on my character almost immediately. Previously, I was often disrespectful to my parents. Many times, I would raise my voice or lose my patience over issues which I am in disagreement with them.
However my conscience was made so tender by God after my conversion that I almost always immediately feel an uncomfortable nagging tug in my heart each time I raised my voice against my parents or my sister. The Holy Spirit living in me kept telling me to apologize to them regardless whether I am right or wrong in the particular situation. God just wanted me to do the right thing and I found it so difficult to humble myself and obey Him. My flesh was literally screaming at me saying, “NO!” However I still followed His instructions almost every time. As a result, during the first few months of my new believer life, I found myself apologizing to my dad so many times to the extent that I remembered once he shooed me off saying, “Please lah, stop shouting at me and then saying sorry the next moment. It does not mean anything.” I was hurt to hear that because I took the effort to humble myself. Nevertheless I pressed on and I realized each time I obeyed, there was a sense of release in my heart and I could also feel a sense of triumphant.
There were also times when I tried to bridge my relationship with him by deliberately taking the initiative to make simple conversations with him. It is weird when I kept infuriating him and at the same time trying to make small chats with him constantly. Under normal circumstances, I reckoned it would be better for people to just keep quiet and not to talk to each other at all, lest more quarrels erupt. However I felt that it would not be right to do so. So I continued to press on. I remembered clearly there was once when I tried to get my mum over the phone to pass the phone to dad so that I could talk to him on certain matters. However I overheard his frustrated voice in the background telling my mum, “Tell him I am busy, no time to talk with him lah.” I was really hurt by his words. To a certain extent, I believed part of his displeasure came from me becoming a Christian too. I remembered he made a comment during one of the Good Friday when my mum asked him whether the family was going out for lunch, saying, “Jesus suffers today so we go out to celebrate today.” I thought that was really unnecessary. Apart from my dad’s negative opinions on Christians, he was a very loving husband and a good, responsible father to me and my sister. His attitude towards me was probably due to my poor attitude towards him too.
However as time passes by, my relationship with my dad gradually became better and better. It was supernatural. Today our relationship has improved tremendously and I enjoyed my time with my dad together with my family over every weekends.
The process of character molding is certainly hard on the flesh but God knows that it is for the benefit of us. In retrospective, I was persecuted for doing the right thing. However God honors his children when they obey and continue to pursue the things of God. The lessons on perseverance from these experiences continues to serve as an important foundation of obedience and doing the right thing each time God calls. As the bible says in …
Hebrews 5:8, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”
God wants to use us but we need to be worthy vessels. I like what John C. Maxwell wrote in his book “Be All You Can Be!”: “… productive people are continually being pruned, going through this process that God uses to make us more fruitful. And God knows what to prune from our lives….God doesn’t mess around with the peripherals. He goes right in with His dynamite and blows up only areas in our lives that aren’t productive”
Amen.
Steve
Right after I gave my life to God, He started to work on my character almost immediately. Previously, I was often disrespectful to my parents. Many times, I would raise my voice or lose my patience over issues which I am in disagreement with them.
However my conscience was made so tender by God after my conversion that I almost always immediately feel an uncomfortable nagging tug in my heart each time I raised my voice against my parents or my sister. The Holy Spirit living in me kept telling me to apologize to them regardless whether I am right or wrong in the particular situation. God just wanted me to do the right thing and I found it so difficult to humble myself and obey Him. My flesh was literally screaming at me saying, “NO!” However I still followed His instructions almost every time. As a result, during the first few months of my new believer life, I found myself apologizing to my dad so many times to the extent that I remembered once he shooed me off saying, “Please lah, stop shouting at me and then saying sorry the next moment. It does not mean anything.” I was hurt to hear that because I took the effort to humble myself. Nevertheless I pressed on and I realized each time I obeyed, there was a sense of release in my heart and I could also feel a sense of triumphant.
There were also times when I tried to bridge my relationship with him by deliberately taking the initiative to make simple conversations with him. It is weird when I kept infuriating him and at the same time trying to make small chats with him constantly. Under normal circumstances, I reckoned it would be better for people to just keep quiet and not to talk to each other at all, lest more quarrels erupt. However I felt that it would not be right to do so. So I continued to press on. I remembered clearly there was once when I tried to get my mum over the phone to pass the phone to dad so that I could talk to him on certain matters. However I overheard his frustrated voice in the background telling my mum, “Tell him I am busy, no time to talk with him lah.” I was really hurt by his words. To a certain extent, I believed part of his displeasure came from me becoming a Christian too. I remembered he made a comment during one of the Good Friday when my mum asked him whether the family was going out for lunch, saying, “Jesus suffers today so we go out to celebrate today.” I thought that was really unnecessary. Apart from my dad’s negative opinions on Christians, he was a very loving husband and a good, responsible father to me and my sister. His attitude towards me was probably due to my poor attitude towards him too.
However as time passes by, my relationship with my dad gradually became better and better. It was supernatural. Today our relationship has improved tremendously and I enjoyed my time with my dad together with my family over every weekends.
The process of character molding is certainly hard on the flesh but God knows that it is for the benefit of us. In retrospective, I was persecuted for doing the right thing. However God honors his children when they obey and continue to pursue the things of God. The lessons on perseverance from these experiences continues to serve as an important foundation of obedience and doing the right thing each time God calls. As the bible says in …
Hebrews 5:8, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”
God wants to use us but we need to be worthy vessels. I like what John C. Maxwell wrote in his book “Be All You Can Be!”: “… productive people are continually being pruned, going through this process that God uses to make us more fruitful. And God knows what to prune from our lives….God doesn’t mess around with the peripherals. He goes right in with His dynamite and blows up only areas in our lives that aren’t productive”
Amen.
Steve
God sent people to give us money to tide over our financial difficulties
Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
We were considering changing our daughter to another childcare as the one she was attending wasn’t very hygienic and already had severally hand foot mouth (HFMD) cases. Furthermore, our son is of age to be enrolled into nursery and we would want the both of them to be in a respectable Christian childcare with a good environment and spirit filled teachers. We decided to put them in one that we were familiar with, though the fees were on the high side, we thought that it would be the best for them.
Unknowingly, this seems to be the start of our struggles. Not only in the area of our finances but also the strain on our kids. Because the school is far from our home, we started out by taking cab daily to and fro so that the travelling will not be too taxing on our kids. But as it goes on, our finances seemed to be leaking. It was quite tough to change our travelling mode to public transport as most of the time, my wife have to bring both kids to childcare alone and by the end of the day, the kids will be too tired to travel by MRT. My daughter had responded well to that childcare but the strain on my son was obvious. He will often fall asleep in the middle of his dinner. Even in school, he’ll fall asleep before he can finish his lunch and he got sick quite often.
We surrendered our situation to God. We continued to believe Him for finances to come in as well as for wisdom in handling the whole situation. We have been exposed to prosperity messages in our ex-church and have also read books that testified about God’s faithfulness in provisions. So we know that it is God’s will for us to prosper and be in health, just as our souls prosper.
True to His words, there have been a couple of occasions when people who do not know the financial situation we are going through, came up to us and hand us sums of money. These supernatural encounters really boost our faith in God our Father as we are seeing such manifestation intimately. Such testimonies are not only stories that we read from the States but they are blessings that we are experiencing it in our life in Singapore!
I remembered there was once when my wife and I were left with $50 and payday was quite a while away. It was a precious experience because though it seems in the natural we should be fretting and worrying about tomorrow, but we felt the peace of God within us holding us together so strongly. We gave thanks to God for an enjoyable simple dinner that night.
The next morning, God revealed to me that my sister would bless me with a sum of money. I didn’t give it much thought until I saw her. She handed me a crushed envelope, and said, “It wasn’t meant for you initially but somehow, I just felt like passing it to you.” I looked into the envelope and it was exactly the amount God had impressed upon my heart.
There was also another time when God impressed upon me that one of my church mate would bless me with a certain amount of money. In fact this church mate of mine really did came up to me and told me, “Hey, I do not know why but I felt impressed in my heart to give you this amount of money.” And he went away to draw the funds and passed it to me. However in his absence, the amount he mentioned me was not what God had revealed to me. So I told God that I’ll not be taking it if it’s not from Him.
However when my church mate came back, he said “I can’t pass my own conscience, I had to obey the leading from God to bless you with a higher amount. Please take it.” Amazingly, when I checked the amount he gave was exactly the sum God had revealed to me. God is so real to us! We have not mentioned about our financial needs to anyone and let alone any specific sum of money that we need. But God just keep sending people to us to help us tide over our period of financial difficulty.
Furthermore, God led us to make certain adjustments in our situation like changing school. Eventually, He also touched my parents heart to help take care of our kids so that they don’t have to go full day childcare. The many little adjustments brought about great benefits to my whole family.
In the midst of our adjustments, God truely provided faithfully for our family and delivered us out of lack into sufficiency.
Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
My family can certainly testify to this scripture and God’s love for us. Praise God!
Tom and Belle
We were considering changing our daughter to another childcare as the one she was attending wasn’t very hygienic and already had severally hand foot mouth (HFMD) cases. Furthermore, our son is of age to be enrolled into nursery and we would want the both of them to be in a respectable Christian childcare with a good environment and spirit filled teachers. We decided to put them in one that we were familiar with, though the fees were on the high side, we thought that it would be the best for them.
Unknowingly, this seems to be the start of our struggles. Not only in the area of our finances but also the strain on our kids. Because the school is far from our home, we started out by taking cab daily to and fro so that the travelling will not be too taxing on our kids. But as it goes on, our finances seemed to be leaking. It was quite tough to change our travelling mode to public transport as most of the time, my wife have to bring both kids to childcare alone and by the end of the day, the kids will be too tired to travel by MRT. My daughter had responded well to that childcare but the strain on my son was obvious. He will often fall asleep in the middle of his dinner. Even in school, he’ll fall asleep before he can finish his lunch and he got sick quite often.
We surrendered our situation to God. We continued to believe Him for finances to come in as well as for wisdom in handling the whole situation. We have been exposed to prosperity messages in our ex-church and have also read books that testified about God’s faithfulness in provisions. So we know that it is God’s will for us to prosper and be in health, just as our souls prosper.
True to His words, there have been a couple of occasions when people who do not know the financial situation we are going through, came up to us and hand us sums of money. These supernatural encounters really boost our faith in God our Father as we are seeing such manifestation intimately. Such testimonies are not only stories that we read from the States but they are blessings that we are experiencing it in our life in Singapore!
I remembered there was once when my wife and I were left with $50 and payday was quite a while away. It was a precious experience because though it seems in the natural we should be fretting and worrying about tomorrow, but we felt the peace of God within us holding us together so strongly. We gave thanks to God for an enjoyable simple dinner that night.
The next morning, God revealed to me that my sister would bless me with a sum of money. I didn’t give it much thought until I saw her. She handed me a crushed envelope, and said, “It wasn’t meant for you initially but somehow, I just felt like passing it to you.” I looked into the envelope and it was exactly the amount God had impressed upon my heart.
There was also another time when God impressed upon me that one of my church mate would bless me with a certain amount of money. In fact this church mate of mine really did came up to me and told me, “Hey, I do not know why but I felt impressed in my heart to give you this amount of money.” And he went away to draw the funds and passed it to me. However in his absence, the amount he mentioned me was not what God had revealed to me. So I told God that I’ll not be taking it if it’s not from Him.
However when my church mate came back, he said “I can’t pass my own conscience, I had to obey the leading from God to bless you with a higher amount. Please take it.” Amazingly, when I checked the amount he gave was exactly the sum God had revealed to me. God is so real to us! We have not mentioned about our financial needs to anyone and let alone any specific sum of money that we need. But God just keep sending people to us to help us tide over our period of financial difficulty.
Furthermore, God led us to make certain adjustments in our situation like changing school. Eventually, He also touched my parents heart to help take care of our kids so that they don’t have to go full day childcare. The many little adjustments brought about great benefits to my whole family.
In the midst of our adjustments, God truely provided faithfully for our family and delivered us out of lack into sufficiency.
Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”
My family can certainly testify to this scripture and God’s love for us. Praise God!
Tom and Belle
We received a supernatural call from God for our bank loan approval
It was 4 years ago (2005) when we incurred a huge loss from selling our HDB flat. We were devastated. Eventually we tried to get a loan to purchase another flat. One Friday, when the world seemed to be against us, a surprise call came to my wife. It was 'Doris' calling from Hong Leong Finance with regard to our HDB loan. 'Doris' told my wife to meet up that afternoon at 2pm.
We saw 'Doris' but she claimed that she did not call nor she knew my wife. Moreover, she was temporary sit in bank manager and she does not approve loan. The actual bank manager was in China at that point in time. We were puzzled and at the same time very disappointed. We thought we heard it wrongly and made a wasted trip.
Then at that moment, ‘Doris’ said, "No problem, your loan will be approved." At this moment, we felt in our hearts that these words came from our Lord. It was then I told my wife to call 'Doris' immediately. The hand phone number that we dialed rang but the hand phone of 'Doris', in front of us, did not ring at all. We realized that this 'Doris' was our Lord Jesus; We received a heavenly call from Him. The following Monday, we collected our cheque and got the keys to our house.
I told my wife to call back to 'Doris' again. The phone over the other side rang over the weekend but still no one answered! It confirmed that 'Doris' was actually Lord Jesus, our God.
We rejoiced that not only did we get the loan from the bank through supernatural encouner, we also got a brand new flat with a 100 years lease. How great is our Lord! GOD CALLS.
John & Joyce
We saw 'Doris' but she claimed that she did not call nor she knew my wife. Moreover, she was temporary sit in bank manager and she does not approve loan. The actual bank manager was in China at that point in time. We were puzzled and at the same time very disappointed. We thought we heard it wrongly and made a wasted trip.
Then at that moment, ‘Doris’ said, "No problem, your loan will be approved." At this moment, we felt in our hearts that these words came from our Lord. It was then I told my wife to call 'Doris' immediately. The hand phone number that we dialed rang but the hand phone of 'Doris', in front of us, did not ring at all. We realized that this 'Doris' was our Lord Jesus; We received a heavenly call from Him. The following Monday, we collected our cheque and got the keys to our house.
I told my wife to call back to 'Doris' again. The phone over the other side rang over the weekend but still no one answered! It confirmed that 'Doris' was actually Lord Jesus, our God.
We rejoiced that not only did we get the loan from the bank through supernatural encouner, we also got a brand new flat with a 100 years lease. How great is our Lord! GOD CALLS.
John & Joyce
God gives me the ability to balance my time between work, family and Him
Recently I have been flying more and more frequently due to the nature of my business and my job scope. In the month of September alone, I have been travelling on alternate weeks, spanning no less than 4 days each trip. In fact, I have to travel between countries and provinces during a week trip. To give you an idea: I can fly from Singapore to Taiwan on Monday, fly from Taiwan to Osaka on Tuesday, Take a Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka to Tokyo on Wednesday and take Shinkansen from Tokyo to Yokohama on Thursday. The travelling times are often long and I will be physically and mentally drained by the time I reach the hotel. Apart from the travelling, there were major projects and presentations to make during this period of time. This was coupled with other responsibilities and work that I have in church.
As a result, presentations and preparations have to be planned and organized carefully. Things have to be accomplished within very tight period of time and often during travelling times.
I want to do my best in all my responsibilities. However I refuse to fall back to the workaholic attitude and approach that I had adopted during the initial year of my work. There were times when I am tempted to stay longer at work or even work at night but I am learning not to give in. Sometimes I would tell my wife I have not completed something very important for the following day meeting but I would continue to lie on my bed to read my book. She would then start to nudge me to do my work instead but I would reply her I should be able to complete it the next day before the meeting and that this time is personal time. Actually there were times when I do feel a little jittery about my unfinished work but I just cast it aside.
It is not about being negligent about my work but being disciplined in balancing my life for work, family and God.
I have learnt my lesson not to be burnt out and more importantly to rely on God rather than my own strength. I am determined in my heart to spend my weekday nights and weekends with my family and I do my very best to complete what I need to accomplish during working hours.
Deuteronomy 8:18, “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth …”
Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.”
So God has been good to me. I would always pray to God for wisdom and creativity and I tell Him I want to accomplish this and that by a certain time. Most of the time there will be a certain calmness and steadiness in my heart each time I focus entirely on my work assignment and good ideas just come while the pressure of time presses on. The bible says,
James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
So far so good. However one thing I realized: I often find myself running to board my plane and almost always the last person to do so. The reason is: I was always clearing as much emails as possible at the airport lounge before that.
Steve
As a result, presentations and preparations have to be planned and organized carefully. Things have to be accomplished within very tight period of time and often during travelling times.
I want to do my best in all my responsibilities. However I refuse to fall back to the workaholic attitude and approach that I had adopted during the initial year of my work. There were times when I am tempted to stay longer at work or even work at night but I am learning not to give in. Sometimes I would tell my wife I have not completed something very important for the following day meeting but I would continue to lie on my bed to read my book. She would then start to nudge me to do my work instead but I would reply her I should be able to complete it the next day before the meeting and that this time is personal time. Actually there were times when I do feel a little jittery about my unfinished work but I just cast it aside.
It is not about being negligent about my work but being disciplined in balancing my life for work, family and God.
I have learnt my lesson not to be burnt out and more importantly to rely on God rather than my own strength. I am determined in my heart to spend my weekday nights and weekends with my family and I do my very best to complete what I need to accomplish during working hours.
Deuteronomy 8:18, “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth …”
Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.”
So God has been good to me. I would always pray to God for wisdom and creativity and I tell Him I want to accomplish this and that by a certain time. Most of the time there will be a certain calmness and steadiness in my heart each time I focus entirely on my work assignment and good ideas just come while the pressure of time presses on. The bible says,
James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
So far so good. However one thing I realized: I often find myself running to board my plane and almost always the last person to do so. The reason is: I was always clearing as much emails as possible at the airport lounge before that.
Steve
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