3 important lessons

I've learned a very important lesson in my care-group discussion tonight. Ivy was leading the discussion. Rachel, Yoko, Aiji, Shireen and Choon Wei were in my group. To sum things up, we learned that:

(1) I'm Special!

(2) God has a plan for me

(3) I'm here to accomplish what He has planned for me

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(1) I'm Special!

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Everyone is special in God's sight. To our Heavenly Father, each of us is His dearly beloved child. He loves us, just like any other parents love their children. He knows us, just like how our parents know us inside out. He understands me, even when I do not tell Him what is hidden in my heart. We are special. None of us is identical for God. He has spent time deciding how am I going to look like and He has determined what kind of role I am going to play. He has foreseen my future even before I was born and He sees beyond my weaknesses and limitations. I may not be as smart as others when it comes to talking on the stage. I may not play musical instrument very well. I may find difficulties in playing tennis or badminton. I may not prevent myself from getting drowned in a swimming pool. I may not know how to communicate with kids effectively. I may lose my way in a small town and can't find my way home. I may be stupid to others and dumb to myself, but God treasures me just as much as He treasures the most popular girl in my school. I'm a precious child to Him.

Too often, I tend to compare myself with others. I am not as pretty and I am not as clever as others. I am too shy to speak out and I have no the courage to lead. I am just who I am. But I am special! Nobody is comparable to me in God's kingdom. I'm Yu Wan!!!

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(2) God has a plan for me

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Ivy pictured God's plan for us in a very attractive way. She imagined a library in the heaven and there are billions of books there on the shelves. Each book is given a name. And the name belongs to one person on the Earth. The books have different thicknesses. There's one book entitled 'Yu Wan' and there's another labeled 'Yoko'. Each book has its own story that is distinctive from any other book. It tells of the plans God has for me. All books may begin with the same scene: baby wrapped in clothes, yet as the story unfolds, each book has its own plot and conflict. That's how special we are to God. He cares for me so much that He becomes the author of my life. What is God's plan for me?

As we flip through Bible, we can find familiar verses that tell us how God wants us to live our lives and also what He commands us to do. Those are His plans. He wants us to be holy and to live up to our callings. He wants us to trust in Him and not to worry about tomorrow. He wants us to love one another and honour our parents. To each individual, God has a specific plan for us. His plan is unknown to us at the moment. But we can be sure that as we follow closely in His steps, His plan for our future is prosperous.

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(3) I'm here to accomplish His Plan

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We are here to fulfill God's Plan for us. The Great Commission is among few commandments being given by our Lord. We are called to go out and make disciples of all nations. We are called to witness for Him and to be different. We are called to shine for the Lord and serve Him with the talents He has given to us. We are here to maximise our potential in order to exalt the name of Jesus to the highes.

Ivy shared a dream with us. One night, a man went up to heaven. He saw many people walking around there and they were dressed in robes. Some of them wore plain white robes while some others wore beautiful robes with light shining forth. He asked the angel what made the difference between their dressings. The angel replied him, telling him that those plain white robes were for those who have received salvation freely while those beautiful robes were only for those who have lived their lives as faithful and good servants.

Our God has blessed us with so many gifts that we do not deserve. What have I done in response to His love? Maybe it's time for me to think of what I can tell Him when I stand before Him in the last day, when I am being asked: What have you done for me, my dear?

I hope I'll be able to answer the question by then.

Living up to God's Standard

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 Peter 2:10

I have a special identity. I belong to the chosen people of God. I am His child. I belong to a royal prieshood, a holy nation, I belong to God. I am the child of light. I am a Christian. What is being expected of a christian? Some people define christians as saints that carry Bible around, some people see christians as a bunch of people who go to church every Sunday, some people think Christians are those who strictly abide by the Ten Commandments, some people presume Christians are those who do not break rules and they are nice.

Christians are a special group of people. In fact, they are called by God out of darkness into His wonderful light. They are the chosen ones. However, too often we do not live up to the expectations of others, neither do we live up to God's standard. We are under great pressure to live out the image a holy nation ought to bear. In the end of the day, some of us fail to do so and become backsliding, some of us who are more superior look down on those who are less, some of us do not find love in this kingdom.

Christians are merely sinners who have received the forgiveness of Christ. They have nothing in common except they are saved by the blood of Jesus. They do not share the same colours of skin and they do not speak the same language. They think and act differently in their own cultural settings and they have different family backgrounds. They have different gifts and they face different problems. Christians are just distinctly different from each other. In fact, it's only in Jesus Christ, they are united to become One. We do carry the image of Jesus in this world, we do bear the responsible of spreading His love, we do call ourselves Church. But who we are?

We are just people who have freely received the grace of God, and who are freely passing on His grace to our friends and family. We are not worthy of His grace, we have done nothing proud of to deserve His grace, we are just people chosen by God. He looked at me from high above the heaven, and He saw me in my weakest point. He then picked me up from the dust and He called me into His presence.

It is not the theology that counts. It is the grace of Heavenly Father that is being revealed in Jesus that counts. It is the love of the Father that is the gist of Christianity. It is the blood that Jesus shed on the Christ that set the foundation of our faith. Our God's calling for us is to offer up our bodies as living sacrificies, and allow Him to refine and mould us to fit Him perfectly. We are yet to be perfect, but we can declare ourselves as the Children of Light.

We do make mistakes from time to time. But we are not shameful of our wrongdoings. We repent and we change. We correct our mistakes and we become strengthened again to move on after a fall. We are people who have received mercy and we are to show others what mercy really is. In forgiving others, people see the merciful hands of Jesus; in embracing others, people see the welcoming hands of Jesus; in tapping the shoulder of a friend, people see the encouraging hands of Jesus; in contributing what you have, people see the helping hands of Jesus; in doing good deeds, people see the loving hands of Jesus.

We are just a group of people who play the role of Jesus' hands in this world.

We are nothing, yet we are special.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.

Psalm 40:2

Do you dare to pray such a prayer?

"Do anything, Lord, that will fit me to serve thee and to help my beloveds."

This is the prayer of Amy Carmichael, a missionary in India. And God answered her prayer by allowing her to become bedridden on that very day. For the following 20 years, she wrote prose and poetry that made known her ministry in India to the the world.

Do you dare to pray such a prayer?

A question that is posed to me in my daily devotion.

Do I dare to pray such a prayer? What if God takes away my life in exchange for a friend's soul? What if He allows tragedies to happen just to fit me into His Army? How would I know what is in His mind when I make such prayer? To trust God is to remove all the fears of What ifs and surrender all that I am into His hand. To trust God is to subject to His sovereignty and His will even though I could not comprehend His ways. To trust God is to place my faith in Him by following His plan for me even when I have no idea where He is heading. To trust God is to know that He is there always. To trust God is to talk to Him every day and let Him be my Guide and my Shepherd.

To trust God is to tell Him right at this moment:

Father, do anything that will fit me to serve You and to help my friends and family, and those who need Your love out there in the world.

Do you trust Him?

I do.