Blessed to be a Blessing

Because of God’s great love, His heart beats constantly for people.  He ministers to people through each of us.  Sometimes, He prompts us to contact someone.  We make a phone call; send an email, a card or a letter.  At other times, He puts certain individuals on our hearts and gives us the privilege to pray for these people.  When God sensitizes our hearts, we become a vessel that carries His love to people who are desperately in need of the touch of God upon their lives.  They may be facing a catastrophic disaster, depression, overwhelming circumstances, spiritual attacks or a crisis.  Despite of our inadequacy and limitations, the Lord opens our eyes to see what He can do through our willingness to share, love and care.  We have tasted His goodness, we have seen His glory; we have been blessed to be a blessing. As we cry out to the Lord, we offer everything within us to the master in total abandonment.  We offer our lives back to our life giver.

Come Out of Our Comfort Zone

God calls us out of our comfort zone. He draws us to Himself. He calls us out to shape and mould us. He wants us to hear His heartbeat. He wants us to taste His goodness. And our heart’s cry is “Lord! Make me pliable in Your hands.” The greatest work that God does in our lives is in times of greatest anguish. We are compelled to confront our pain, fears, and anxiety head on. The great concern is not comfort but during these moments, the Lord begins to speak into our lives.

He begins to restore hope in our bleakest moments. We may be out of our comfort zone but the peace and presence of the Lord cushion us from life’s harshest blow. The psalmist found the inner strength to sing and declare the praises of the Lord because of God’s sustaining love and power. Some of us may be yearning for our comfort zone but this is not for us to decide. Yet, many others have willingly stepped out of theirs because of God’s clarion call. This is a call to come back to the embrace of our God and Father. This is a call back to the heart of God. In His presence, He gives us peace, tranquility, hope, strength, wholeness and restoration. Our hearts leap with unspeakable joy because His love is better than life.

Open Door of Ministry

Monte posted this on Facebook last night

"Tomorrow morning I am away 18 – 21 June 2012 on my first mission venture to Vietnam. There I will deliver for some believers in an emerging work there, a series on "Missions in the book of Acts." What the Lord has now given me to share from Luke-Acts is, a trinitarian shaped theology / model of ministry:
1. Ministry in the way of Jesus – Imitatio Dei.
2. Ministry in the Mission of God – Missio Dei.
3. Ministry in the power of the Spirit – Virtutis Dei.

For the healing of all nations—
In all upper rooms; on all tongues—
Breathe fresh winds;
Let fire fall.
In our hearts, send flames of love.
With visions of the Kingdom—
To all creation— may healing flow.
In the name of Jesus— let healing flow."

Monte has arrived in Vietnam. We thank God for the open door to minister. Serving and loving God and His people takes on new significance when we see the smallness of our strength and the greatness of God's power. It is an awesome privilege to be part of what God is doing in the hearts and lives of broken people. The Lord pours forth His spirit on us, His sons and daughters, and He declares His everlasting love for all who call on the name of the Lord.

His Awesome Presence

The presence of the Lord is the safest place in this whole wide world. For it is a place of tranquility, serenity and peace. In today’s fast-paced living of deadlines, targets and quotas, many are suffocating in stressful environments and conditions. It perpetually leaves very little time for us to rest let alone time for family, friends, hobbies and recreation. Many competing demands require our endless attention. Yet in the midst of all that is happening in and around our lives, we hear the Lord beckoning us to enter into His rest.

His presence drowns out all other competing voices and demands. In His awesome presence, He brings us comfort and strength, hope and joy, restoration and wholeness. Our sole desire is to hear the voice of the Lord, the voice that assures, affirms and builds us up to excellence and greatness. His presence strengthens us to persevere in the face of unimaginable trials and tribulations.

The Lord calls us to deeper commitments in loving and serving Him, He pours Himself into us so that what flows out of us reaches the deepest needs of people. In times of our greatest desperation and need, a miracle takes place and we find grace to love and serve without reservation. The love of God compels us to do the impossible. The love of God motivates us to go another mile all for His glory.

Amazing Mickey

He Meets Our Needs

We moved into our existing flat in Sengkang in August 2001.  My friend contacted me to say that her sister had bought a new refrigerator and asked if we would like to take over the existing one.  We were more than happy to do so.  The refrigerator is still in good working condition up to today.  It has not broken down once all these years.  We are grateful for the Lord’s providence.  We are also thankful to my friend and her sister.

As God’s children, we experience the hand of God in everyday living.  He meets our needs.  He protects us from seen and unseen dangers.  He reaches the inner recesses of our hearts and makes us whole and strong.  He nurtures, develops and empowers us.  He gives us undying hope, faith, unspeakable joy and peace that passes understanding.  In Him we live and move and have our being.  We cannot live without the Lord and as we abandon ourselves to His loving embrace, our hearts leap with vibrant joy.  We are thankful to be alive to taste His goodness and His grace.