Women Of Destiny

When you're down to nothing, God is up to something.'

I've been very inspired and touched by this song lately. Today I just want to speak that TRUTH into you!
"Yes it's true and I believe it, I'm living for YOU!"
Non of us is too young, too old, too busy, too stupid, too small to be used by God. The matter of fact is....GOD WANTS TO USE US!!

So the question that really remains is .....
1) ARE WE GOING TO BELIEVE GOD,
2) stop believing the devil and
3)START MOVING IN FAITH!!!! :)

Luv Cynthia

History Maker
Is it true today that when people pray
Cloudless skies will break
Kings and queens will shake
Yes it's true and I believe it I'm living for You
Is it true today that when people pray
We'll see dead men rise
And the blind set free
Yes it's true and I believe it, I'm living for You

I'm gonna be a history maker in this land
I'm gonna be a speaker of truth to all mankind
I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run into Your arms, into Your arms again
Into Your arms, into Your arms again

Well it's true today that when people stand
With the fire of God, and the truth in hand
We'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing
We'll see broken hearts making history
Yes it's true and I believe it
We're living for You

Written by Martin Smith ©1996 Curious? Music UK

Christmas is round the corner & all of us are busy. Even as we're involved in activities/events. I really hope that you will see beyond the task. But let's remember and ask ourselves why we're getting ourselves busy even during this festive season.

My Hope (Adults): 19 Dec, 730pm at Zhimin's place
My Hope (Girrrrlssss): 20 Dec, 5pm sharp Vincent's place (Blk 5, Upper Bukit Timah View, #01-02, Bukit Regency)

Requirements:
1) Come with a heart to be a blessing to others (even as we're so richly blessed by Christ's birth)
2) Gift not more than $5 for gift exchange

It's more blessed to give than to receive :)



Pass It On
It only takes a spark to get a fire going.
And soon all those around, can warm up in its glowing.
That's how it is with God's love,
Once you've experienced it, you spread His love to everyone;
You want to pass it on.

What a wondrous time is spring, when all the trees are budding;
The birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming.
That's how it is with God's love;
Once you've experienced it,
you want to sing"It's fresh like spring";
You want to pass it on.

I wish for you my friend, this happiness that I've found.
You can depend on Him, it matters not where you're bound.
I'll shout it from the mountain top,
I want the world to know;
the Lord of love has come to me,
I want to pass it on.

(Happy Birthday Jesus!)

Luv Cynthia

What a year of Sabbath... This year I see many of the things that can be shaken in my life....SHAKEN... And I'm sure it's the same for some of us.

As we go through tough & difficult seasons of our life....Let us Remember Jesus. Our God is great. His unfailing love, great compassion is for us.

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise

Romans 8:31-39 (New Living Translation) Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Luv Cynthia

Comic taken from http://www.reverendfun.com/

Actually i hesistated when cynthia asked me to blog about this. Mainly, because i really dont want to sound like i'm boasting or what. Because really, I dont have the authority to press either of you girls to come to church or cell.. What i want to say is this, God did not let me "lost out". Ha ha.

So, ok, i think i did kind of well for Prelims this time. BUT, i strongly believe the credit belongs to HIM, God.

Why? I dont think i prepared well this time, thinking that since i've studied so much for mid year, i still sort of retained majority of the things that i should know, complacent you may say, but i thought i was just trying to justify my own laziness. And i didnt practice much, in fact the night before my Chemistry paper 3, i did last minute studying, trying to cramp the whole of 25 chapters of Chemistry into my head. I only managed to catch 3 hours of sleep that night. Needless to say, i was horrified at how tired i was the next morning, even when the paper was in front of me, the only thing i desired was to close my eyes and sleep. Of course, i couldnt focus and think quickly. That paper ended in...a disaster, i felt. I expected to at least score a 32/80 for this paper.

Ok, so that was a warning from me: Rest well before your Exams.

Physics was horrible too, almost couldnt finish paper 2. =(

Next, i was also sharing with my Christian friend in school that i'm still attending cell and church. The conversation continued with him telling me how i should really stop going and study because God and my leader will understand and prelims are really important especially in the event when something happened and our prelims results are to be used instead of the actual A's blah blah. And, you know, by the end of it, i was thinking, YEA, he is right... And i proceeded to send Cynthia a message telling her to excuse me for cell. She replied by saying the usual of how God will never shortchange me an what will He withhold from us and all that.

And again, i was thinking, YEA, she is right... because, when i think of my previous Exams, i didnt perform too badly either, Common Test, Mid year (On both ocassions, i did well too. See? A dim person will never do well but It's all 'cause of Him!) So okay, i managed to attend all this faithfully, though i do get worried that i cant finish on time. Of course, i do have a bit of disagreement with my parents as they wanted me to stay at home to mug. But since, they are not very firm on that, i get my way la..

And so, now i've gotten back the majority of my papers. I must say, i'm really surprised. Totally out of my expectation, i think it was quite well done. (If you want to know, can ask me personally). I imagined the Almighty to be the one marking my papers, frowning at my careless mistakes and yet giving me good results.. (i know that was kind of childish..)

So, the moral of my entry is : TRUST HIM!
Even in the midst of exams and work, do attend church and cell faithfully, i believe God will still bless us. I know its hard to do, it takes time too, especially when you guys have so many of this extra curriculum activities and you really need those weekends to revise, why not let God bless you by first giving him that time of yours to him??

Come on la, i've come a long way too. When i always skipped church last time to study, Cynthia NEVER fails to ring me up, always trying to grill this into me: He will never shortchange us. Now, i hardly dared to say anything to you girls when you were absence just to study, 'cause like what i said, i dont have the authority or right to.

Ok, that's it.


(I never meant for this post to be long...sorry)


By Anonymous.

I AM DYING.....

It's not too far to say that when you are hopeless, in despair, depressed.... Hopelessness Kills.

Quoting something which a wonderful friend smsed me:
"If we come to think or feel that we have nothing to hope for and can only expect things to get worse in the future, invevitably we grow depressed and to a certain degree, desperate... We may try to hide our condition, but the unfocused rage, fury and hatred of life that we feel, work like acid....dissolving all other feelings into purest bitterness.

Hopelessness is at the root of many of today's psychological disorders.... Our sense of self worth dissolves into self doubt, self-distrust and self-dislike; confidence is swallowed up in despair. (J.I.Packer)"

How scary. Hopelessness kills one softly... if you allow it. But I found a cure for it. H*O*P*E. Hope it perks you up again as it did me :)

When we come to the end of ourselves....perhaps that's truly when God can begin a NEW work in us.

John 12:24-26 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Luv Cynthia

The Hope of the Resurrection (The Master's Coming)
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NLT)
And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.

my friend told me that i've been very guyish lately. really.

she said i was too insensitive to notice all her hints about a certain matter. and no, it's absolutely nothing scandalous. i mean, i have always been considered the most guyish among certain friends. maybe it's my wide shoulders, my tendency not to pay attention in class or my irresponsible and lazy streak that girls always assume guys have. not true man. totally not true.

i mean, there are many guys who are emotionally sensitive, extremely hardworking and responsible and conscienctious. then why can't a girl be exactly the opposite? lay off the sterotyping please. i can understand when the school auntie always used to call me AH BOY, WHAT YOU WANT before correcting herself, but i mean, i like being this way.

i know i'm childish, but i find it tiring to be a perfectionist in everything, even in the things i dislike, or any other femenine virtue like being neat. not a hobby of mine. don't get me wrong- i love being female, and i'm neither crooked nor do i wish to change my sex or anthing absurd like that. does growing up mean that i'll have to be the prim lady in stiff blazers, or the perfect housewife in the future or something?

i suppose peter pan never thought that wendy didn't want to grow up because she would have to turn into a pile of make up and underwear with big fat load of rules to follow. no no, i feel that moral values, principles etc. must be learnt and appiled. but can i break the rules once in a while, lose a little more interest in studies and loosen up? be a kid, just relieve myself of having to smile to all difficult team members and be the peace maker all the time. or for a minute, lie down and enjoy having a blank mind. i've tried to get girly, neat handwriting like yali. i've tried to be high achievers like them-they got gold, i'll get silver. be elegant, posied, careful and feminine. i'm blur, clumsy and my legs always fall open as much as i try to keep them closed(but they are closed in church, i think). it never ends. i know it's not all mature and godly, for we need to do our best for god all the time right?

certain times i just adore being a kid. no worries, no conflicts, believing in silly, innocent dreams, believing that the uncle really just wants nothing else but to bring you upstairs to give you a sweet. beliveing that friendships last forever, that deaths are too far away too think about, and there's always someone to carry the weight of your world along with you.

so i just have one question. can a girl be like a 'sterotyped' guy for once, and not bother about her looks so much, her grades so much, not bother about how many boyfriends others have, wear huge t shirts to not bother about her fat? can a christian find rest from trying to be perfect all the time for pre believers to see? because the more i seem to try,it doesn't get much better.

love, brenda
and this is NOT an emo post (:

this year is a sabbath year (:
today was a sunday ( yea, past midnight ), in the morning, i wanted to study for my maths. yes, im mugging hard D: but i suddenly thought of something. "ehhhh, today is a sunday. i thought it's suppose to be a rest day?" and i was not thinking about slacking ! (: but i remembered during our cell retreat, and in the morning, for quite time, she asked us to read..exodus 20:1-20. the Ten commandments (: and one of them was,

8 "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

SEE :D yea.. (: so, we're suppose to rest on the sunday and attend service (: heh.

so no matter how busy and how little time left u have to complete it, on a sunday, u just have to stop everything and that day is only for God (: so leave it special ! :D

♥ Ellyn

Okay, I know I have never posted here despite the long long time that this blog has been up. But I've been regularly reading the cell blog So, I guess it was after reading all your posts for so long that has finally got me round to be a more active participator here, :}

Anyway, this past few weeks has been extremely hectic and stressful for me, with the performances spanned over consecutive days over the next few weeks, Dance trainings is in full force and had started as early as the holidays, 9-5 everyday for two weeks, on top of that there was deadlines to meet homework to finish and school was starting, as much as I hoped that I would for once have a more peaceful holiday, that time never came around.

And among all this hustle of life, yet there are times where emptiness seem to have just washed over me. Some of you may have felt this way ? But, its during those moments that it feels like nothing is really worth it anymore, even God doesnt seem to be there. And then, just yesterday a certain incident got me thinking, what's with all the things that we busy ourselves with ? What's with all the excuses that we give to God for not making enough time for him ?

Yesterday, I was feeling particularly tired and unmotivated. The first week of school was hardly even over, and dance practices plus desperately trying to start the first week of school off right was starting to take its toll on me, and I could already feel myself wearing out. Whatever it was, I went for dance trainings later that day. Feeling exceptionally moody already, Training was no help at all. Our Choreo was not completed and our shows were on next week already, that aside, Right from the start the juniors had really bad attitudes, no sense of urgency, and they had hardly even know their steps. Still, they refused to put in any effort to practice, and any free time they get they sit down and chat. Even our trainer was starting to feel very annoyed, yet the unsensitive juniors were totally oblivious to this. What made it worse, was that seniors + trainers + Teachers have sat them down and talk to them nicely about this matter, how it concerns the reputation of our group etc. Three times already, and still the second last practice and they were still having the same bad attitude and laziness.
Seniors then felt very pressurised and stressed, because whatever that they were lacking in, we had to compensate for it in the way we dance. In other words, we had to put in thrice the efforts.

I told myself, that whatever it was, it didnt matter if they didnt give a two cents worth about anything, it didnt matter if they refused to put in effort, it didnt matter at all, because those who were willing to work hard would make up for it. Every practice, I told myself that over and over, everytime I felt frustrated I told myself that. But yesterday, as much as I tried to beleive in that, It seemed almost absurd. As I danced through that same dance countless times, as I tried so hard to get everything right, As I tried so hard to tell myself that everything would be okay, I felt horrible, because Something kept telling me that it wont. That day, I dance to a point where I dissolved into tears, That day, I danced on emotion and rhythm and not on the restrictions on proper techniques. Because, I felt that everything had come to a point where I just felt as if it was all out of control, emotions piled high, I never realised that there was a limit to how much one could actually feel.

As friends crowded around me, taken aback by the sudden breakdown, questions were strewn at me. But their words flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup, they slither while they pass, I took notice of none. A sinking feeling in my heart, that I really could not fanthom. I didnt know what to say, or even how to translate the emotions that I was feeling all at once. It was after that, as I talked about things with a friend of mine, that she said something that struck me. " Dont worry, God will take care of this. "

And then I went home, I thought about it. God will take care of this ? I have hardly ever made time for God, I have gave God countless excuses why I forget to talk to him, I have used God at times only when I feel that I really need him. And, Umpteen times I have placed God not as my number one priority, and here I am to beleive that God will take care of all this. it was then, that I remembered what I had once heard, God is always there, its your choice on whether you would like to come to him or not. It suddenly dawn upon me that, all the excuses that I gave, that I was busy with school, dance and whatnot, they were all just nothing but mere untrue things that I tell God, in order to make me feel less guilty. Because, If I was busy then I would have no time to talk to him and spend time with him. It plagues me somewhere in my heart, never ending and it never ceases.Something would always question me over and over, like a broken old tape recorder, " why am I unable to trust in him as readily that I would like to? "

And then, as I try to answer my own questions, I realise something. It is not that we are busy, we say that we are busy in order to have something so that we'll feel less guilty, Its not that God takes note of every wrong thing we do and slowly distant himself away from us becuase with every sin that he takes note of, he finds out the more sinful we all are. It is more of the fact that, we think we are unworthy, and we think that we have done so much wrong, that even we are disgusted at ourselves, so how can God actually be able to love sinners like us ? But we often forget that, he is always here for us no matter how horrible we are feeling, when we hurt, he's feeling even more hurt. If not, why would he even have died for us in the first place ? [: I dont know about any of you, But I have found myself asking myself this many times, And I would always remember one incident where a friend told me that no matter what we do, even if we turn away from him, God will always be there ready for us to go back to him. So, whoever's feeling discouraged / sad / unmotivated etc. wouldn't it be nice to take comfort in the fact that God would always be there ? 8)

Love,
Cherish

P/s: Sorry, I know my thoughts and everything are very messy, I scored badly in writing !

I must say, that I do my best work in the toilet (my toilet, that is!) As I was sipping Vitagen and shitting, I was just thinking back to when I was young. Remember how when you were young, you always had a bolster, soft toy or pillow to hug and bring around? I, at least, had one. I had this special bolster which I named "Bobo".

Priscilla here, is sick. Thus, I have the time to blog :D Janelle and I just finished camp yesterday. Camp was funfunfun :D I got another tan line. OMG FAINTTTTTT. WHY! I hate having tan lines everywhere! I've food poisoning! SO I POOP A LOT NOW D:
Thinking back to about, 2 weeks ago, I believe that now we have formed friendships (note how I didn't use relationships) with guys. This is a grudging comment, but I must say, that guys are not as bad as I thought. I always thought guys were some sick creatures, thinking about farting all the time and such, but well, I was proved wrong. Which is good (: Haha, but guys are seriously competitive. Unlike girls, who just scream and have a good time! (:
Basically, I just came to the blog to talk about how everything seems rather hectic now, I guess. With so many commitments, band practice, homework waiting to be done, violin waiting to be practised, piano waiting to be practised, and even saxophone waiting to be practised, there's hardly even room to breathe, much less go to God and sit down for a really good talk, telling him about everything that has happened in the day.
When I was at camp, before I went to sleep every night, or rather, when I was tossing and turning, swatting buzzing mosquitoes, I was just using that time to talk to God, and tell him about what happened. No idea why, but suddenly I just got the feeling that I didn't want to sit down and talk to God because I was forced to, but because I wanted to. (OMG SEE I'VE BEEN DOING MY APPLICATION)
A sudden jolt, and awakening. (Wanted to add the word 'amazing', but decided it may be a little cliche, heh.) With all the recent problems, activites, stress and whatsoever from school, church, or home, I believe God is the solution to all the problems, and even if nothing happens, it's nice to let go on someone else and just let Him carry your "weight of the world" on His shoulders for a short nice while (:
YAYYYYYYY :D
Now I've come to the end of my long naggy post, and I need to go shit. Blame the food poisoning D:<
I am going to tell God how it feels to shit so much, and have my stomach hurting like crazy. Anyone up to hearing the shit review? (:

Till Sunday,
Pris

Man this has been delayed & delayed for the..... VERY LAST TIME! :) yea!
3 key areas that I would like to thank God for! He is indeed the ONE who gave & is able to give victories indeed!
*Lead 3 to Christ in 2007
First is in the area of personal growth. I'm always inspired by how pastor Serene evangelize to everyone around her & I wish to cultivate the same habit of testifying & sharing Christ too. Though I didn't mangaged to lead 3 people to Christ but through obeying our church's corporate call I bless over 20 people (lost count of exact number) during the 100K Blessing. Amongst these are my relatives, my good friends, strangers, neighbours, my mom & my grandma!
*Family Salvation in 2007
Hmmm, didn't hit this as well. But I'm totally awed how I got to bless family & relatives through the 100K Blessing. I'm not really close to my relatives as we only see each other once or twice a year. But things have improved since & I'm asking God for greater breakthoughs beyond 2007. Oh ya, God answered my mom's prayer as well so ya la she definitely know God can answer prayers! hehehe. (It's sorta kill two birds with one stone cuz it's linked to my final area) And God also provided my whole family to visit Australia together last year. My family hasn't gone for a trip together like more than fifteen years ago so it's definitely a precious time together. It's less stressful than I imagined & we really had fun & good family time!

*Attached in 2007
Yes yes, my mom's prayer request during the 100K Blessing is that we can find our boyfriends & girlfriends. Since then my brother & I have officially started seeing someone! I know many people including all you precious little gals have been worried & praying hard for me. Thank you dearies & thank GOD!!! hahaha! I've got an extra special from God in the form of Mr EJ through your persevering prayers! :) He's a great guy & I really experience double the joy & halved the sorrows (can share with EJ mah so halved the sorrows). So gals pray hard, declare & wait for God's perfect timing. He gives us the BEST!!!







Sometimes we may be all caught up & discouraged by sad/depressing situations around us. But hey, Let me give you two tips.
1) CHOOSE TO GIVE THANKS! Remember that God is good & He loves you! As we give thanks we are reminded of God's goodness and we negate the negative thoughts which Satan is trying to plant into our mind to discourage us.
2) WITH THE END IN MIND! Remember 2007 theme verse.. God will eventually give you the victory! May you take heart in the time of moulding & refining through the adversities of life. Knowing that you'll emerged stronger & better!
2 Corinthians 2:14But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

Luv Cynthia

What a wonderful sermon by Ps Tommy Tenny. He was funny, humorous & straight to the point!

Esther was a slave gal who had everything against her. But what caused her destiny to change? She found favor with the right Person!! She didn't go around pleasing every other person, she made up her mind to please the King!
And when the King likes you, it doesn't matter who dislikes you! The King can change your destiny. God can change your destiny!

*With inputs from EJ; It absolutley summarises up the key points!*
"Don't flirt with lower lovers! You can lose your destiny! Don't prostitute your anointing from God for something lesser than God's blessing! You are shortchanging yourselves!"

How true these words are. So often because under the peer pressure influence of our friends, or because we do not have "spiritual guts" to stand firm for God, we cave in and follow the world and its cheap values. Things that we know in our minds is not right, but somehow we keep giving excuses that 'I'm not sure' or 'I can't help it', and soon we go with the flow.

Some examples - Illegal downloading, possession of pirated softwares, vulguarities, joining in to gossip about others...etc

We join the world into doing all these things because we want to feel accepted by the general crowd. We don't dare to make a stand, fearing that our friends will ostracize us. We rather go with the flow - If we can't be the popular and charismatic gal, at least people don't hate us. It is definitely and always easier to go with the flow.

But the truth of the matter is people whom go with the flow will NEVER find favor with the King.

Esther determined in her heart that she would not go with the flow and made choices not for herself or to feel good, but rather she made the choice that the King would like. She didn't bother what the rest would say, she was single-minded in just wanting the King's approval.

Hey dears!!!! Arise & stand firm for the Lord! Be a true blue God-Pleaser!!! Why wait? Why delay? If not now then when???!!!!!

You're destined to be a QUEEN, dun be a SLAVE!

















Luv Cynthia

*2hrs cell + 2hrs Post Encounter/SOL + 3hrs church = 7hrs
*Total hours a week = 24 * 7 =168hrs
* Total hours a week (excluding sleeping time. Say we sleep 8hrs a day= (24-8)*7 = 112hrs remaining hours of all other business)

7/112 x 100% = 6.25%

You might be wondering what is this calculation about?
I have no idea too.

Joking la. During this week's sermon, Pastor Mervlyn Mak posted all of us a disturbing question. "Is it ok to give God anything less than our best?"

Well, why do i call it a disturbing question?

Because, even i do shortchange God many many times.
Ok, cut the chase.

This week's application: Reflect and think whether the 7 hours is a lot compared to the remaing 112hrs we have and whether we are putting in enough effort in attending cell meetings and church.
Is 7hrs (out of 112hrs) a mere 6.25% of our time for God business so difficult to give compare to the remaining 93.75% that we have for all other business? Think about it.... I'm sure you have the answer.

Signing off,
Jo & Cynthia

Dear gals!!! It's the 2nd day of the week. Tuesday! Have you gone past your Monday blues. It's a challenging week for most. Joanne has basketball match & twisted her other ankle yesterday...*OUCH* (pray for speedy recovery) Lishan aka Cherissa is going to Australia today! Prissy has two tests this week, Bren Bren needs to PASS her 2.4km run & TaiTai has an important presentation on Friday (Let's pray for one another ya!) I try to set my night for praying.... But I really really struggling to maintain this spiritual discipline. Jia You in Jesus Name!!!!

Today's sermon is very straightforward and easy to understand, which is why i like it so much!