Close to 2 years ago, I attempted to start a business selling art pieces. With the passion and drive to make it happen, I put in a lot of effort to realize this business idea. I know God gave me an artistic talent and I wanted to turn it into a business.
During this period, God used events and unique circumstances to guide me as well as people with unique talents to help me. In one particular case, I came to know one of the most talented fashion photographers in Singapore; whom I met during my army reservists. He was one of the most generous people I have come across. I remembered him working late into the night on some occasions but he did not want to charge me. I knew without a shadow of doubt that without God’s connection, my path would have never crossed his in my life time, due to the different kind of life and circle of friends we take. Hence I was able to relate to what John C Maxwell wrote in “Be All You Can Be!”, “Until I am committed, there is hesitancy, a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also, and a whole stream of events erupt. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, persons and material assistance which I could never have dreamed would come my way begin to flow toward me – the moment I make a commitment.”
Eventually I tried to sell my paintings. As you might have heard people say, “To reach the peak of a mountain, there could be many different paths of climb up.” I could say I almost exhaust all the different ways as I could think to market my products In fact I even went to the extent of knocking on people’s door to peddle my paintings. It did not take long to convince myself that this path would not work out. However I managed to clinch a deal with one of the hotels in Singapore. This deal covered all the expenses I invested for this business start up and I made some decent profits from it as well.
Leonie Smith from Planetshakers wrote, “The most simple ideas and strategies conceived by the Holy Spirit in you will be far more effective and anointed than the most dazzling display of human skill and achievement.” I could not agree with her any more. It might seem that my hard work and perseverance brought me the hotel deal. But it was not the case and I knew it was the favor of God. This was confirmed through my brief conversation with the person who was appointed by the hotel to install my paintings. He told me that I was actually competing with an established art gallery organization and this organization has been collaborating with the hotel management for ten over years. In particular he kept making this comment, “I still do not understand why the hotel wants to work with you. In terms of price, they can beat you if they want to. In terms of quality, theirs were better. I really don’t understand.”
What could I say, but it is the favor of God.
Ecclesiastes 9:11, “I returned and saw under the sun that—
The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all.”
Steve
Thursday, December 3, 2009
It was not being positive thinking that brought me through difficult times. It was listening and obeying God
Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Recently I have been receiving comments from friends and colleagues that I am a very positive thinking person. From our casual conversations, they were able to pick this up and feedback to me casually. Perhaps, I seldom complain and perhaps the way I see things could be different from the manner other people see. Nevertheless, as I ponder deeper upon their comments, I found that I was not really thinking positively most of the time. That was when God gave me a revelation on how the above scriptures applied to my experience although I have been reading them many times.
During the early years of my career, I was faced with numerous unfortunate events and persecutions of various degrees. Thoughts of giving up came. Thoughts of producing mediocre work came. Feelings of bitterness came. Feelings of pride came. In most times, I seek God for refuge and guidance through prayer and reading His word; and sought to do things His way. That is when I felt “labored and heavy laden” having to work against my flesh. I was not thinking positively. I was working against negative thoughts most of the time!
However each time I draw near to God for refuge as he said “Come to me ...” I start to hear words of instructions in my heart. Jesus is teaching me through my heart and I begin to “... learn from me Jesus.” Very often, Jesus will speak and teach you to respond to your adversaries or situations in a peaceful manner and with a humble attitude. This goes against my fleshly pride most of the time. Jesus walked humbly and He expects us to do so too. Hence He said “For I am gentle and lowly in heart.” In most cases, Jesus wants me to walk out of my bitterness and continue to submit to my superiors especially during times when I felt I knew better than them. I remembered there was once when I almost wanted to justify myself to my direct boss’s superior over a project that my boss was leading. Earlier in the day, I felt abandoned by my boss in some strategic meetings which made me appeared that I was not doing a good job. That night, I was complaining to my wife and was contemplating if I should talk to my boss’s superior to clear up some misunderstandings. My boss superior just joined the company and I do not want to start the working relationship with a bad impression.
I decided to talk to God about it that night and God changed my heart. What I did next was, I messaged my boss and apologized for not looking into the project more carefully. I explained that although he was leading the project, I should have worked as a team and go beyond his expectations to make sure all grounds were covered.
Immediately when I did that, there was a great sense of release. Prior to this, I was struggling and warring in my mind throughout the night with thoughts and imaginations of how I should complain to my boss’s superior and what to say and how to justify myself. However, this act of submission literally cut off all these non edifying thoughts. This is when Jesus says, “And you will find rest for your souls.” My soul (emotions and mind) found peace and rest. There was joy in me after that too.
God’s way is certainly easy and light; and always in our best interests. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Not easy but the reward is good.
Overtime, I found that I walked the most intimately with God through these experiences and spiritual maturity and character building follows after obedience. Praise God.
Anonymous
Recently I have been receiving comments from friends and colleagues that I am a very positive thinking person. From our casual conversations, they were able to pick this up and feedback to me casually. Perhaps, I seldom complain and perhaps the way I see things could be different from the manner other people see. Nevertheless, as I ponder deeper upon their comments, I found that I was not really thinking positively most of the time. That was when God gave me a revelation on how the above scriptures applied to my experience although I have been reading them many times.
During the early years of my career, I was faced with numerous unfortunate events and persecutions of various degrees. Thoughts of giving up came. Thoughts of producing mediocre work came. Feelings of bitterness came. Feelings of pride came. In most times, I seek God for refuge and guidance through prayer and reading His word; and sought to do things His way. That is when I felt “labored and heavy laden” having to work against my flesh. I was not thinking positively. I was working against negative thoughts most of the time!
However each time I draw near to God for refuge as he said “Come to me ...” I start to hear words of instructions in my heart. Jesus is teaching me through my heart and I begin to “... learn from me Jesus.” Very often, Jesus will speak and teach you to respond to your adversaries or situations in a peaceful manner and with a humble attitude. This goes against my fleshly pride most of the time. Jesus walked humbly and He expects us to do so too. Hence He said “For I am gentle and lowly in heart.” In most cases, Jesus wants me to walk out of my bitterness and continue to submit to my superiors especially during times when I felt I knew better than them. I remembered there was once when I almost wanted to justify myself to my direct boss’s superior over a project that my boss was leading. Earlier in the day, I felt abandoned by my boss in some strategic meetings which made me appeared that I was not doing a good job. That night, I was complaining to my wife and was contemplating if I should talk to my boss’s superior to clear up some misunderstandings. My boss superior just joined the company and I do not want to start the working relationship with a bad impression.
I decided to talk to God about it that night and God changed my heart. What I did next was, I messaged my boss and apologized for not looking into the project more carefully. I explained that although he was leading the project, I should have worked as a team and go beyond his expectations to make sure all grounds were covered.
Immediately when I did that, there was a great sense of release. Prior to this, I was struggling and warring in my mind throughout the night with thoughts and imaginations of how I should complain to my boss’s superior and what to say and how to justify myself. However, this act of submission literally cut off all these non edifying thoughts. This is when Jesus says, “And you will find rest for your souls.” My soul (emotions and mind) found peace and rest. There was joy in me after that too.
God’s way is certainly easy and light; and always in our best interests. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Not easy but the reward is good.
Overtime, I found that I walked the most intimately with God through these experiences and spiritual maturity and character building follows after obedience. Praise God.
Anonymous
Through God’s supernatural protection, I escaped death
I was riding on my bike and I had a collision with a taxi. I skidded off my bike, my head hit the ground and the helmet broke, and the weight of the bike dragged me on the ground for some distance. It was so painful that this might be the last thing that u want to encounter.
However during that split second, I would feel something pulling my body. At the same time something was surrounding me very tightly and protecting me. I thought I had lost my senses but somehow I knew that I will be ok. There was absolutely no fear building up in me at all. Even after being dragged for a distance, I could stand up and pick up my bike. However my body was sore and I felt very anxious and nervous. I thought I was losing blood but after looking at those wounds, I was relieved. I only suffered some cuts and scratches on my skins. Overall I was fine. There were no major injuries at all!
After the accident, I was thinking to myself and trying to recall the incident. I asked myself, “Could I have survived this serious accident if I was alone?” I concluded that it must be the hand of God protecting me and I believed this will be one of the most miraculous protections that I will ever experience from God.
Andrew
However during that split second, I would feel something pulling my body. At the same time something was surrounding me very tightly and protecting me. I thought I had lost my senses but somehow I knew that I will be ok. There was absolutely no fear building up in me at all. Even after being dragged for a distance, I could stand up and pick up my bike. However my body was sore and I felt very anxious and nervous. I thought I was losing blood but after looking at those wounds, I was relieved. I only suffered some cuts and scratches on my skins. Overall I was fine. There were no major injuries at all!
After the accident, I was thinking to myself and trying to recall the incident. I asked myself, “Could I have survived this serious accident if I was alone?” I concluded that it must be the hand of God protecting me and I believed this will be one of the most miraculous protections that I will ever experience from God.
Andrew
What is the meaning of life?
Recently I got to know a new colleague better. He was sharing with me why he would take a lower pay rather than a higher pay with greater responsibility and position. He was sharing with me there is no point working so hard till you burn out and what kind of life he wants to lead. One of his bosses literally died as a result of overwork. The management had placed so much pressure and stress upon him that 2 days after he delivered his project, he died of some unexplained reasons. The people in the management were so guilty that most of them gave generously during his funeral wake to redeem themselves. So my colleague has got all the reason to say what is the point of working so hard. However our conversation led me to ponder again what is the meaning of life.
In my own opinion, experiencing a fulfilling and rich life would mean experiencing God’s grace and favor in my life and sharing these blessings and testimonies of the goodness of God with people that I meet. God blesses us to bless others and that can be very joyful especially if it blesses the person spiritually. I remembered Pastor Amos once shared how a young Christian laid hands on a blind person and seeing the black iris forming literally. I thought living with such experiences and you will never say life is boring again.
JY
In my own opinion, experiencing a fulfilling and rich life would mean experiencing God’s grace and favor in my life and sharing these blessings and testimonies of the goodness of God with people that I meet. God blesses us to bless others and that can be very joyful especially if it blesses the person spiritually. I remembered Pastor Amos once shared how a young Christian laid hands on a blind person and seeing the black iris forming literally. I thought living with such experiences and you will never say life is boring again.
JY
I felt spiritually dry and asked God for help
Jeremiah 29:12-13, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
In the span of my Christian walk with God, despite circumstances when I experience confusion and frustration, I could always feel a spiritual connection with God. However, last week, I was very down. Deep in my heart everything seemed to go wrong. I was not in the mood of reading my bible and saying my prayer. Everything seemed to be in complete chaos. Although I ignored the terrible situation as well as the lack of willingness to fellowship with God, I persisted to pray and read the bible but there was no compulsion to continue.
Yesterday, I began to pray to God asking Him what was wrong with me. I did not seem to be my own self. Everything seems to be going wrong and deep in my heart there was emptiness. I continued to pray and tears rolled down my cheeks. I told God that peace and joy did not seem to be with me, I called out to Him to help me because my spiritual walk with Him was very dry, as if it was running out of fuel, like a lamp without oil or a car without petrol.
Then one evening, someone passed me a Victory magazine from Kenneth Copland ministry. Inside there was an article written with this header “Running on Empty”. This really gave me a great revelation and it answered my prayer with regards to the situation I was facing. After reading this article, my confusion and frustration were all gone. With a pure and seeking heart, God uses different methods to speak to us and address our needs.
I would like to share with you whenever your spirit is running dry and you need to stir your spirit up, you can speak up because the bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speak. We can stir up our spirit by saying loudly "In the Name of Jesus I stir up the gift that's within me by faith, I am stirring up the love of God that's in me, I'm stirring up the power and I'm stirring myself up in the spirit of the living GOD! I'm stirred up. If we continue to confess that we are stirred up, it will eventually happen. Without knowing it, you would have already stirred your spirit!
Thank you Jesus. Glory to You!
Eileen
In the span of my Christian walk with God, despite circumstances when I experience confusion and frustration, I could always feel a spiritual connection with God. However, last week, I was very down. Deep in my heart everything seemed to go wrong. I was not in the mood of reading my bible and saying my prayer. Everything seemed to be in complete chaos. Although I ignored the terrible situation as well as the lack of willingness to fellowship with God, I persisted to pray and read the bible but there was no compulsion to continue.
Yesterday, I began to pray to God asking Him what was wrong with me. I did not seem to be my own self. Everything seems to be going wrong and deep in my heart there was emptiness. I continued to pray and tears rolled down my cheeks. I told God that peace and joy did not seem to be with me, I called out to Him to help me because my spiritual walk with Him was very dry, as if it was running out of fuel, like a lamp without oil or a car without petrol.
Then one evening, someone passed me a Victory magazine from Kenneth Copland ministry. Inside there was an article written with this header “Running on Empty”. This really gave me a great revelation and it answered my prayer with regards to the situation I was facing. After reading this article, my confusion and frustration were all gone. With a pure and seeking heart, God uses different methods to speak to us and address our needs.
I would like to share with you whenever your spirit is running dry and you need to stir your spirit up, you can speak up because the bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speak. We can stir up our spirit by saying loudly "In the Name of Jesus I stir up the gift that's within me by faith, I am stirring up the love of God that's in me, I'm stirring up the power and I'm stirring myself up in the spirit of the living GOD! I'm stirred up. If we continue to confess that we are stirred up, it will eventually happen. Without knowing it, you would have already stirred your spirit!
Thank you Jesus. Glory to You!
Eileen
Restoration of God in my work place
Habakkuk 2:3, “… Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”
These few months, I have been receiving very good reports and comments on my work from my direct superior, colleagues as well as from an overseas colleague whom I have never met before. I did a couple of marketing campaigns and have set a benchmark upon which future similar projects will have to meet or exceed. Some of these reports actually went all the way up to senior management level at headquarters.
Proverbs 22:29, “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men”
However there was this half page good report that one of my indirect superior wrote which felt special to me. Not because of the content of the report, not because it was from a senior management person but rather it was the person who wrote the report that glorifies God. Cut the story short, 2 years ago, this same person said to me, “I looked at your resume and I do not think you are fit to be in this role.” At that time, I was not as experienced but those words sting. Nevertheless God impressed in my heart to stay on in my job and eventually He opened up opportunities in my company to allow me to establish my worth in the company again.
It was the humiliation followed by the obedience followed by the justification that glorifies God.
Habakkuk 2:3, “… Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”
Anonymous
These few months, I have been receiving very good reports and comments on my work from my direct superior, colleagues as well as from an overseas colleague whom I have never met before. I did a couple of marketing campaigns and have set a benchmark upon which future similar projects will have to meet or exceed. Some of these reports actually went all the way up to senior management level at headquarters.
Proverbs 22:29, “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men”
However there was this half page good report that one of my indirect superior wrote which felt special to me. Not because of the content of the report, not because it was from a senior management person but rather it was the person who wrote the report that glorifies God. Cut the story short, 2 years ago, this same person said to me, “I looked at your resume and I do not think you are fit to be in this role.” At that time, I was not as experienced but those words sting. Nevertheless God impressed in my heart to stay on in my job and eventually He opened up opportunities in my company to allow me to establish my worth in the company again.
It was the humiliation followed by the obedience followed by the justification that glorifies God.
Habakkuk 2:3, “… Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”
Anonymous
The Wednesday mid week service was so joyful that it refreshes my heavy spirit
I was mentally and emotionally drained after a hard and long day at work. Much of the stress was attributed from the pressure of completing a project in the next 2 days. Moreover, I was upset with how things were progressing with my colleagues.
Nonetheless, it was Wednesday and I was determined to attend the mid week church service that evening.
From my experience, I knew that with a heart seeking to hear from God during a service or gathering, God will definitely speak to me in one way or another. And I was glad I did! It was one of the best worship services I have attended. We sang in words and in tongues and as I deliberately lay down thoughts of my work and focus on singing and praising God, I could feel His presence refreshing my spirit. Not only that. After the worship, Pastor Oon was sharing some of his comical experiences he had during his work as a pastor. The congregation laughed till we teared. Pastor Oon laughed till he teared. It was so funny and it was like we could all relate to his experience humorously as a family of God. The joy of the Lord was certainly in that service! Praise God.
I walked into the service feeling a little unhappy but with a determination to refresh myself in the Lord; and I walked out of the service feeling joyful and refreshed indeed! In addition, during the worship service, God led me to change my heart and attitude towards certain matters and individuals at work and I felt so much liberated after the service too.
Acts 13:2, “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said …”
Like what Pastor Amos always says, “The bigger God is in your heart, the smaller your challenges will seem.”
Nehemiah 8:10, “…Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Steve
Nonetheless, it was Wednesday and I was determined to attend the mid week church service that evening.
From my experience, I knew that with a heart seeking to hear from God during a service or gathering, God will definitely speak to me in one way or another. And I was glad I did! It was one of the best worship services I have attended. We sang in words and in tongues and as I deliberately lay down thoughts of my work and focus on singing and praising God, I could feel His presence refreshing my spirit. Not only that. After the worship, Pastor Oon was sharing some of his comical experiences he had during his work as a pastor. The congregation laughed till we teared. Pastor Oon laughed till he teared. It was so funny and it was like we could all relate to his experience humorously as a family of God. The joy of the Lord was certainly in that service! Praise God.
I walked into the service feeling a little unhappy but with a determination to refresh myself in the Lord; and I walked out of the service feeling joyful and refreshed indeed! In addition, during the worship service, God led me to change my heart and attitude towards certain matters and individuals at work and I felt so much liberated after the service too.
Acts 13:2, “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said …”
Like what Pastor Amos always says, “The bigger God is in your heart, the smaller your challenges will seem.”
Nehemiah 8:10, “…Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Steve
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