Hehehe. So cute.

Hard times.

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." So Jesus went with him.

   A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "

But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"

Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.
      After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!" ). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.

Today Ps. Wai Ming reminded us again that, no matter what happens God is still in control.

The woman with the issue of blood had been suffering for twelve years. Year after year. doctor after doctor – and yet there was no cure for her. By this time, she would have probably gone through a number different rituals, some which would have left her scarred; consumed bitter herbs and what was medicine at that time that would have made her insides burn. Still, she would continue to bleed. Shunned by society, alone in her misery – she had no way out. Failure after failure would have traumatised her, slowly killing whatever hope she’d clung to.
She would be, what is today, a cancer victim whom, stricken with stubborn tumors – weakened after years of agonizing bouts of chemotherapy and surgery – is forced to hear doctor after doctor say “I’m sorry, we’ve done everything we could but the tumors are back. Maybe we can try something else.”
Or someone who has fallen so deep into depression, that no matter what he does he cannot get out of the war and turmoil raging on in his mind. The harder he tries, the deeper he slips back in.

The woman with the issue of blood refused to give up. She kept believing, there had to be a way out. Though she could not see it, there had to be hope. And when he came, she knew.

Jairus knew.

Hope is here.

So with whatever dignity she had left, she stepped out into a crowd who considered her filth. Ignoring their angry glares and disgusted expressions, she pushed her way through them. Nothing could stop her. Because she knew – he’s the one – her hope, her healing, her salvation.

The times have changed, but we have not. We still need hope. Jesus is our only hope.

I’ve found myself in You

Did You rise the sun for me?
Or paint a million stars that I might
Know Your majesty?

Is Your voice upon the wind?
Is everything I've known marked
With my Maker's fingerprints?

Breathe on me
Let me see Your face
Ever I will seek You

'Cause all You are is all I want. Always
Draw me close in Your arms
Oh God, I wanna be with You

Can I feel You in the rain?
Abandon all I am to have You
Capture me again
Let the earth resound with praise
Can You hear as all creation lives
To glorify one Name?

Good morning, sunshine :)

Nevermind la.

Today I wore to the exam hall the SAME outfit I wore to CHURCH yesterday – a black tank top WITH SEELVES and loose striped slacks. I pulled on a long pink cardi over these and thought I looked pretty decent. The only skin I allowed exposed was the skin of my neck, face and hands.

Upon entering the hall, I had barely sat down when a short man donning a songkok came up to me and said, in no distinguished manner, “You tak tau ke, regulasi pemakaian peperiksaan? Ini macam pakai pergi disco!” and proceeded to make me fill in a red form warning me to never again enter the exam hall, scantily clad. Apparently he could see my arms through the sleeves of my cardigan.

In these times, I want to yell “WHAT THE HECK?!” and throw a fork or a pen. But instead, I think I should say, “Nevermind la”, and turn the other cheek. Sigh.

Mew

Look who we met at the orchard!

(Stole this pic from Rach. Hope you don’t mind! I couldn’t help it, she’s so cute!)

No ham?

Decided to make myself a healthy-diet-exam-stay-at-home-save-money kit, which basically are ingredients for ham sandwiches and some fruits. Not trusting Kajang Giant to have ham in their stock (I was right), I went to Tesco thinking, you know, Tesco is from the UK. UK people eat ham all the time.

Ham ham ham.

So I walked around Tesco looking out for a nice sales lady behind a cold cuts counter who would timbang some ham for me, like the one in the KJ Giant Mall. I walked round and round until people started looking at me, still I could not find any ham.

I suppose people were looking at me because after awhile I had a frown on my face. I just could not believe there isn't any ham in TESCO! Hmmph.

I refused to give up - so I asked the cashier at the bakery section, "Excuse me, nak tanya sikit...kat sini ada jual ham tak?" (How do you say ham in BM?) He just looked at me and then after awhile pointed to his lady colleague standing nearby, "Tanya dia".

Ok.

I posed the same question, "Kak, kat sini ada ham tak?"

She said, "Ham? Hamburger?"

I gave up. Kat Tesco Kajang memang takde ham.

Hang on.

Some days (like today), I feel like dropping everything and running away.

But something always tells me to keep going.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIE! ♥

It’s weird without you :(

Love you babe, come back soon!

I ♥

Travelling on a bus at night.
Stopping at rest stops in the wee hours of the morning.
Sitting in an airplane as it takes off from the ground and as it lands.
Snuggling up in bed with a mug of hot coffee and a good on a rainy day.
Having dinner al fresco in the evening, just before the sun sets and it’s windy.
Cosy home-cooked dinners with my best friends and jazz music playing in the background.
Swings.
The sea.
Hotels.
The way libraries smell.
All kinds of flowers.
Zoos and aquatic parks.
Sleeping in.
Breakfast.
Taking walks when it’s windy.
CHRISTMAS!
Cold, rainy days.
Cendol on rainy days.
Quiet day-offs.
Camping and river hiking up to the waterfall.
Lakesides.
Picnics when it’s not hot out.
Kittens :)
Cranberry muffins.
Talking to Mr. God while watching the sun rise in the morning.

How to demolish a stronghold.

1. Identify the wrong argument or pretension that establishes itself against God. Identify what is wrong with it.

2. Identify the ways the stronghold has become established – through the flesh, desire, society, or the devil. Read 1 John 4: 1-6 about testing the spirits.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.      (1 John 4: 1-6)

3. Identify the spiritual weapons for the warfare, in contrast to the worldly solutions.

4. Declare war on the thought or pretension that positions itself against the knowledge of Christ by -
a. Using thoughts or arguments from the Word;
b. Claiming the mind of Christ;
c. Using spiritual weapons (see Eph 6:11-17- truth, righteousness,readiness, faith, salvation, the Word of God), followed by asking for the power of the Spirit through prayer.
d. Boldly making the truth of the gospel clear (see Eph 6:19)
e. Claiming the victory by faith.
Remember, “the One who is in you is greater that the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4)
Christ has defeated Satan and has spoiled all of the principalities.

5. Win the victory promised in 1 John 5:2-3, 18-20 by -
a. Loving God.
b. Keeping His commands.
c. Being sure that you are born of God.
d. Believing that Jesus is God’s Son.
e. Believing that because God keeps you safe, the evil one cannot harm you.

(Masterlife: The Disciple’s Victory, Day 5)