If you have a choice, would you choose pain over itchiness or the other way round? (un)Fortunately, for me there is no choice, I have both. In fact, I have all three at the same time - A: (neither painful nor itchy), B: (painful), C: (itchy). A and C I have seen, but B is completely new to me and bothers me the most.
On Day 14, I went to see a doctor during the day. That evening, the pain from B actually aggravated -- to an extent that I wasn't able to sit down and focus on my work at all. I then started to appreciate the faith of Job, carrying a constant pain with you all day is no fun at all! Thankfully, I was still able to kneel on my bed and pray.
Day 15, I read Matthew 6-15 with my Bible-reading partner, Geoffrey. The following two passages gave me a lot of encouragement: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Matthew 8: Jesus Calms the Storm 23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
27The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" --------------------------
------------ Does Jesus not know about my situation? No, there is nothing that can escape his knowledge. Then why hasn't my deliverance come yet? I don't know, but He is the Lord who can calm the storm, I am sure He will not let me drown.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Matthew 10: 28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny[d]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. -------------------------------------- Who/What do I fear? Whom should I fear? I should fear only the LORD, since the worst others (even the Evil One) can do to me is to kill the body. Even that, it is not up to them, since not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father
Then on the way to Friday Night Fellowship (YPF), a little miracle happened which really brightened me up =) (Thanks Xianshi and Qiufeng!) During Fellowship, Ling Yan shared the song Amazing Grace: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Through many dangers, toils and snares... we have already come. T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far... and Grace will lead us home.
The Lord has promised good to me... His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be... as long as life endures. -------------------------------------- I realized that God can use our experience of "dangers, toils and snares" to draw up closer to Him and allow us to experience His grace to a greater extent. It is only after we walk through those "dangers, toils and snares" with the company of God when we truly see that "T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far..."
I felt really beloved that God was speaking so much to me in a single day. My prayer is that I will be able to continue to focus on Him and always be aware of His presence for the rest of this 40-day period and till the end of my journey in this world.
today I was preparing for the Guys' Exploring Faith Small Group tomorrow, with topic "Fellowship". Then Xianshi asked me the following:
Fellowship?
What's that about?
Hm.... interesting. I thought I know it all along, but somehow I wasn't able to articulate it. I looked up the term using Biblegateway.com, and discovered that in OT the term was used solely as the name of a sacrifice "fellowship sacrifice" (平安祭).
So, what does fellowship mean to us? What is the meaning and purpose of fellowship? -----------------------------------------------------------
it is scary to recognize that how little we really know about our own body. God, please make it go away.........
It is much easier to abstain from things than to focus on one particular thing. For me, it has not been so hard to abstain from N and H*, however, I find it much harder to resist the temptations from other things.
Yesterday was a horrible day, spent most of my day in slumber. Slept for 12 hours in total, only managed to do some chores, cooked dinner and compressed part of my hard disk.
But fear not, God's faithfulness is new every morning. Satan is unable to accuse me because of my stumble yesterday. I am thankful that today has been going well so far. Had a nice discussion with Geoffrey this morning, and productivity has been high since I went to school.
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:18, rejoice in God in spite of situation) 17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17, God taking delight in Jerusalem in spite of its rebellion)
