on this easter sunday, we celebrate the risen and exalted Christ. it's quite funny.... on friday, everyone is so solemn cos we focused on the death of Christ, but today everyone was so joyful.. so funny indeed.. but now that it's all said and done, we should rejoice always for all the Lord has done for us, and feel the comfort in His presence.

scripture reading today came from Luke 24:13-35. however, this particular section caught my attention.. shall paste it here... (NIV nivvvv...)

27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.


notice this is a very metaphorical event where the progression is concerned. after Jesus shared to them the Scriptures pertaining to His own death and resurrection, explaining the prophecies written to these two indifferent Emmaus (v.28), in v.29 we see that the Emmaus invited Jesus into their home to stay for the night.

this tells us that we should invite Jesus into our lives.

in v.30, Jesus took bread, asked God's blessing on it, broke it, and gave it to them.

the task of breaking bread and distributing it is taken on by the master or host of the house.

this teaches us to let Jesus be the Lord and Master of our lives. it is not enough to just invite Him, we have to let Him take over.

what happens then?

we will see that Christ has risen and is exalted and only then can we recognize Him for who He is (v.31). to me, this has a more profound meaning. it also implies that if we do not trust the Lord wholeheartly, He in turn would not reveal Himself completely to us. to know the Lord is to empty ourselves and submit ourselves to Him. in a way, to know the Lord, we must give up everything we know about ourselves.

submission never was something easy. it's a lifelong process of transformation that is often hindered by pride, doubt, bitterness, temptations and all other things the world bothers us with. it's nearly impossible for someone to give in to the Lord 100% because we are sinners by nature. it's a daily struggle we face.

but fret not. this struggle is an oppurtunity for prayer. we can ask the Lord to help us break free from this bondage and help us give in to Him because we have the desire to. all it takes is a desire as small as a mustard seed, and as the Lord tends to this mustard seed, it will grow into a huge tree that shall bear fruit.

never give up. for the Lord will always be with us.

11:10 PM |blessed.

Am currently reading a book called "When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer" by Jerry Sittser. a gift from my tomodachi leslie. the book addresses the problem of unanswered prayer, even when we so desparately need a sign from God.

when bad things happen, desparation drives us to our knees, but that is also the time when God sometimes remains silent.

one question that popped up in the early part of the book was "What if God had answered all my prayers?"

it hit me then. all along, i realised that i have prayed as though i expect an answer from God. it isn't wrong, for it shows my faith and trust in Him... but have i ever reflected on what i prayed for?

in Bruce Almighty, jim carrey had the chance to be god for a week. in order to manage the millions of prayers ringing in his mind, he set up an e-mail system (called Yahweh!, a spoof of Yahoo!) to manage the prayers. he couldn't answer all one by one, and gave a YES to every prayer without reading them. as a result, on the next lottery strike, people ended up with $17 as their winnings.

whenever we pray, we must not forget that we come before the Lord as a sinner. sin creeps into our prayers when we pray out of pride or pray for victory. what if both sides prayed for a victory? what would God do then? we tend to forget that victory on our side occurs at the expense of someone else. does victory necessarily mean that God has answered you and rejected the other? what if your victory wasn't a blessing from God? what's favourable to us may not be so in the bigger perspective of the Lord.

sometimes spiritual power, which directly comes from the Lord, and we are able to exercise through prayer, can also become corrupt if the Enemy messes with us. have we asked for superficial, selfish and prideful things that would do us more harm than good? could we see answered prayers as a problem and unanswered prayer as a gift instead?

of course sometimes we pray with pure and genuine intentions. we pray for the healing of a cancer-stricken child, for the reconciliation of a broken family, for poverty-stricken nations, for wisdom and guidance to be blessed upon missionaries. however, even if these prayers get no reply from the Lord, we must continue to stand fast in our faith and trust that the Lord knows what is best for us. He made us, and knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our hearts too, and hears our cries. He's always there, and when we think otherwise, the problem lies with us. Even if you are in pain, and God seems to be silent, be assured that no pain of yours have gone to waste, and in time, you will see yourself gaining once again.

bless you! and you! and you! =)

11:19 AM |blessed.

10:59 AM |blessed.

What is God's primary purpose for your life on earth?

Loving fellowship?

No. then God would bring us to heaven, where fellowship is perfect and everlasting.

Study His word?

then God would bring us to heaven, where the understanding of His word is perfect.

Singing praises to Him?

then God would bring us to heaven, where praise is never-ending.


God's primary purpose for our lives on earth is to reach the lost.

1:27 PM |blessed.

normally i don't have the habit nor liking of posting song lyrics on my blog, but this one really struck a chord.

I Can Only Imagine - by Mercy Me

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk by Your side
I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When Your face is before me
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever, forever worship You
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus, or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in Your presence, or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine


this song speaks of how unthinkable heaven is to a single human being. the writer speculates about the day he will come face to face with the Lord, but nobody is able to truly ever grasp the scale of heaven. it's just like how an ant will never know how big the cyberworld is.

there are times when i, too, am overwhelmed by the prospects of being in heaven. thinking about eternity, where all i will do is praise the Lord and be merry to no end. think about it: there will be no end! what are we gonna do up there, immortalised, happy, pure and surrounded by true paradise? will we get bored? will we wish to bring an end to our own eternal fate and just disappear?

of course we won't think that way when we're up there. but while we're here on earth, we can only imagine. =p

11:43 PM |blessed.

:: Thankful, thankful, thankful.. ::

So the whole world knows i had good results for my A levels. but few may see that i'm really not taking any credit for myself. partly because i know other friends have studied harder than me.. but mostly, i thank the Lord for His grace upon me. i never deserved this blessing, but somehow He saw it fitting to give it to me. all i can do now is to be ever-so thankful, and continue to work hard for His glory.

it's difficult. you go up to someone who did badly, and the person tells you "aiyah, you get 3As, so clever." in a rather bitter way. i don't blame them for being upset.. sometimes i wish they wouldn't take it out on me, but my results don't put me in a very good position to comfort others because they feel i cannot relate to their feelings.

i once did badly.. i scored 14 for my O's, which is a below-average score in my above-average school. i still thanked the Lord for that. it could have been worse.. but i worked hard. i did my tutorials everyday, i was vocal in class and paid attention. i made sure that whatever i was taught today, i learnt it today. i didn't wait till tomorrow when my "don't knows" piled up towards the sky. i thanked the Lord for keeping me consistent and diligent in my work. and it paid off.

i hope my friends may learn to trust in the Lord that He will direct you in the path He knows is best for you. He is the only One who can make everything seem ok. knowing that He is in control has been one of the facts i've lived by. people wonder why i'm so optimistic all the time...

i'm not.

i know that bad things do happen.

i'm just faithful.

11:41 PM |blessed.

:: The Humility of Christ's Birth ::

every christmas, sentiments of good cheer, love, warmth and happiness ring in the air, but the gospel accounts of the first christmas depict such a different tone.

we learn from Luke that when the angel appeared to Mary, she had been "greatly troubled" and "afraid". a young, unmarried woman carrying a child of questionable paternity in Jewish times would have been regarded as an adultress, subject to death by stoning. Today as i read the accounts of Jesus' birth i tremble to think of the fate of the world resting on the responses of two rural teenagers. how many times did Mary review the angel's words as she felt the Son of God kicking against the walls of her uterus? imagine the shame Joseph had felt living among villagers who could plainly see the changing shape of his fiancee.

and yet this was how Jesus came into the world. amidst terror, strife, and countless uncertainties regarding His fate. nine months of awkward explanations, the lingering scent of scandal - it seems that God arranged the most humiliating circumstances possible for His entrance. His life thereafter reflected similar sentiments as Jesus spent His infancy hidden away in egypt.

what did i learn about God on that first christmas?

His humility:

Before Jesus, almost no pagan author has used "humble" as a compliment. yet the events of christmas point to what seems like an oxymoron: a humble God. the God who came to earth came not in a raging whirlwind nor in a devouring fire. unimaginably, the Maker of all things shrank down, down, down, so small as to become an ovum. He literally "made Himself nothing", as paul had put it in Philippians 2. God is great, but God had once been little. once and for all, in Jesus, God found a way of relating to human beings that did not involve fear, unlike what most other religions are based on. the true and living God is an approachable God who shares our joy and our pain.


Source: "The Jesus I Never Knew" - Philip Yancey

1:08 PM |blessed.

hi all, Eager 4 Heaven is a secondary blog i set up to write down the chronicles of my spiritual journey. it's mostly for my own reference but i'd be more than happy if the thoughts here inspire you. i've decided to set up a separate blog regarding this aspect of my life because:

1. it may be quite boring to read for some people
2. some thoughts may be very lengthy if i get carried away
3. spiritual growth should be a daily affair that occurs in conjunction with our earthly lives, not within it, and therefore renders an exclusive blog to itself

ironically, as much as i am Eager 4 Heaven, it is better if i stayed on earth to reach the lost. (just as Paul states this as his dilemma in Philippians 1) therefore, i hope that my writings here, which will be often heavily quoting inspirational readings, can also motivate you in your own journey with the Lord. an online fellowship and exchange of spiritual support is able to take place here when you leave me comments too. =) enjoy!

In His grace,
Jean

10:04 AM |blessed.