More quotes

From memory to diary.

Went to Ipin's place last night to meet with Wan. Shared the fried rice and pasta, and had some cheesecake. Also some 36 kg-bench presses. Crashed there for the night, and had almost 8 hours of slumber.

Had a full day in the lab today, doing ammonium sulphate fractionation, repeated 9 times from 0% to 80%. Couldn't help out PlanetUni booth at Union House. How on earth did I have time to pass the food to Cheryl?

Quotes from Day 36-42.

36. Handle. offence. correctly.
37. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.
38. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works.
39. "You spoke so clearly to me."
40. Are you trying to please people, or God?
41. You never know what will happen during that routine, regular thing that you do.
42. The righteousness of grace exceeds the righteousness of the law.

Faith & Favour

Quotes from Day 29-35.

29. But the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
30. It's "the blessed life", not "the blessed chequebook".
31. Nothing is too hard for [him]. I know my God is able, I know his love never fails.
32. God can't accept an offering that's not firstborn or firstfruits.
33. What's the root of all evil: money or the love of it?
34. Don't apologise for God's favour upon your life.
35. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing.

Also, can I just share something about God's blessings in life? You see, I was giving my whole tithe (maybe bringing my tithe is a more accurate word) until April last year. I decided to sponsor a child long-term, but took money out of my tithe to do that. One of my relatives told me that that was Scripturally a wrong act. Even The Blessed Life teaches that if we don't bring back to God what's His in the first place, all our finances are cursed. So I made a decision by faith to give my full tithe, and maintain my other offerings for as long as possible. I guess you're waiting to hear God's blessings now? Well, without trying to be materialistic but still giving a balanced picture of what I've been receiving over the past 2 weeks, here it is:

3.25 a friend treated me McFlurry
3.30 a different person treated me mocha
3.50 another friend treated me 3-layer tea
9.00 yet another friend treated me a meal (pork :)
60.00 a friend gave me his (free) ticket to a 3-course meal

I just realised that it's in increasing order, haha! And I believe that it's not over yet. God is willing to rain down His favour upon us, as long as we're willing to pass it on to the next person who really needs it much more than us. And can I say that it's much more about the heart than anything else? We don't give to get. We give to give.

As written in Psalm 145, verse 15 - The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season.

Thank You, King.

Picture credit: *maxwindy (Deviant Art)

Gifts=they're given by someone

On spiritual gifts

Lately I've been pondering a lot about the spiritual gifts that I have. I've thought about serving and giving. Maybe teaching too. These things turn me on, like drinking Redbull but without needing to buy and drink anything. But I tend to ask: what counts as a spiritual gift, really?

It depends on what you're talking about. In Romans 12, seven gifts are mentioned. These are often called the 7 motivational gifts because it identifies what most motivates the one with the gift. They are:

• Prophecy (perceiving)
  
• Ministry (serving)
• Teaching
• Exhortation (encouraging)
  
• Giving
• Leading (administration/ruling)
• Mercy

For example, let's say I'm currently committing $40 a month to a child in Uganda. I might do it out of mercy because that child couldn't otherwise afford food, shelter, clothing & education. Or I might do it to lead people of industrialised countries to act out in social justice. Or I could commit mainly to give. Or as an encouragement to that child that a future full of hope is coming. Or to teach on scriptural truths, e.g. helping the poor. Or to serve real human needs in a practical way. Or to prophesy God's desire for every child to be empowered.

Can you see it? It answers the question, why are you doing this? What's your motive? There could be a few answers, but usually only one touches most deeply among them all. Yours could be different from mine. For myself, I love to serve and give. And teach. Actually, even when I'm teaching, I teach to serve. I don't teach to get paid, gain respect, show my knowledge, etc (although it comes as a by-product). I don't really teach to prophesy, to encourage, to lead, or to show mercy. This might sound ridiculous, but maybe I don't even teach to teach. I've discovered that my main motive is to serve and to give.

The fact that I'd bother writing all this down, studying what counts as spiritual gifts and laying them out systematically, shows the part of me that functions in the motivational gift of teaching. But on my motivations list, it's still a bit lower down compared to serving and giving.

I've still got more layers to peel as I study myself, identifying the unique attributes God has fashioned in me, in order to put myself appropriately in the Body of Christ, carrying out my specific life assignment.

Like Andy Stanley said, the goal is this: Only do what only you can do.


Reference: Morris, R. The Blessed Life, 2002, p. 132.

More reflections

Copy & paste + a bit more

First, thanks a lot to Adoe for her encouragement!

Quotes from Day 22-28.

22. If you 'make it' in your own natural strength, then this is definitely not 'it' yet. He's got more, but you'll need Him.
23. I live only on how much I need, the rest is seed.
24. Do you believe what you read, or read what you believe?
25. He knows your needs, but doesn't respond to them; He responds to your faith.
26. When you fall into various trials, count it all joy.
27. You give them something to eat. [There was to be no lack, even as there is no lack in heaven.]
28. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.

Picture credit: Guzer.com

Diligence is the way

Don't stop doing what is right

The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

Proverbs 13:4

Last night, before sleeping, I planned to try out my Early Bird Epping journey today.

Let me tell you how this morning went (after 3.75 hours of sleep):

5.50am - woken up my 5th alarm snooze (first was 5.30am)
5.54am - snooze again
5.58am - yet another snooze
6.02am - I couldn't explain why, but I really felt like jumping out of bed - and I did!

6.18am - reached Melb Central station, platform 2 (got both my Early Bird and 2hr zone 1+2 tickets)
6.21am - on board train to Epping; surprised to meet Melvin the Intern
7.00am - reached Epping station (yay, free ride!)

Met other interns too: Jess, Vincent, Jason, etc. Followed them for the surgical ward round. One patient's temperature was reportedly 39°C. Another asked for an Arabic interpreter.

Then went to theatre where a colon resection was (halfway) being done. Scrubbed in for the next one which was a total thyroidectomy. Can't express my thanks enough to Dr Chek and Mr Gya.

That battle against my lazy side which only idles around is won. And I cherish it.

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

James 4:17

If I already know that God wants me to serve as a doctor, then why am I not preparing myself as best as I could? If I were to stay in my present house and commute 1 hour (one-way) everyday, then why not try it out now? See whether it's realistically possible. And not just empty talk. My other objective which is to revise all lectures from Semester 1-5 shall be executed. To the full.

Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men.

Proverbs 22:29

Yes. You and I are standing not just before 'kings' (as labelled by society), but before The King of Kings! How awesome is that?!

Earlier this year, this King spoke to me, saying: The balance is 50-50. But what was my question? I was asking where I should draw the line, e.g. when does serving become too much serving, studying becomes too much studying, enjoying becomes too much enjoying, etc.

My balance now is, sadly, 50-0. 50% resting, and the rest is gone. And I know that by increasing my diligence by working a bit harder, I will attain better balance in life, and therefore produce more fruit that lasts.