Not sure if you've heard of Sun's Eternal Blossom..... this is a chinese song which was broadcasted together with the Szechuan earthquake video clip.....
Recently thanks to Kristy and Gerard, who blessed my sister with Light of the City album, and there was this song "Eternal Blossom" sang by Sun....
Whenever I hear this song, I will feel so touched by the music and lyrics. It gives me a very comforting, noble, slightly melancholic and loving feeling. All kinds of emotions are mired in this little track that stir up every wild imagination and nostalgic memories.
I just felt so loved by God as I listen to this little track. Thank God for music, and the people who put this all together.
Discretion is like the finishing school for your character. It is also the invisible glue that holds all the other elements of godly character together and keeps them permanently set inside your heart.
Someone might be a person of great truth, but if he doesn’t understand discretion, he will become so brash that no one will be able to tolerate him. Someone else might be a person of great integrity. But unless he is also a person of discretion, he will become a person of great arrogance. In this way, discretion becomes the governor of all other character traits that we must develop in our lives.
The dictionary defines “discretion” as being careful about what one says or does or the ability to keep silent.
The dictionary also says that this quality is regulated by one’s own choice. For instance, when the law says that something is “left up to one’s discretion,” that means it is left up to a person’s choice. You cannot decide what another person’s discretion is, for it has to do with his own conclusion to the question, How do I think this situation should be approached?
You are a person of discretion because you choose to be a person of discretion. However, discretion isn’t a character trait that you either possess or you don’t. Rather, it is a quality that lives in degrees inside every person.
Other words that help fill out the meaning of the word “discretion” are calculating; careful; considerate; guarded; safe; precaution; foresight; forethought; restraint; and common sense.
People of discretion are calculated, careful, and considerate. They are safe to be around. They are people of precaution who will test the integrity of a situation before they ever go into it.
A person of discretion possess:
· The wisdom to avoid damaging attitudes, words, and actions
· The ability to give insightful counsel to others
· A God-given perception of the nature and the meaning of things that result in sound judgement and wise decision-making.
· The ability to discern spiritual truth and to apply it to human disposition and to human conduct.
Praise & Worship with Anointed cg guitarist - my Darling meimei
This CNY is one of the best I’ve ever had. Because I had a very good time with my darling sister.
There were some difficult periods that my sister and I had gone thru together. I feel that in year 2009, God has brought us closer. I am very grateful for all that my sister has done for me. Her love for me is unconditional. She can put down everything just for me. She’s very wonderful to me, very loving and sacrificial as a sister to me.
Today, we had a very fruitful time together. I thank God that my sister is such an anointed cg guitarist. I felt the presence of God as we sang. It was so enjoyable and heart lifting. She gave me a long list of songs, and I chose. We sang the following songs:
· I’m on fire · The Greatest thing in all my life · Awesome in this place · As the deer · Come Holy Spirit · Eagles Wings · Fall · First · God is great · In the Presence of Jehovah · Like the woman with the issue of blood · Mengenal-mu (Chinese)
I’m very touched as I sang these songs, especially the last 3 songs.
Lyrics: Like the Woman with the Issue of Blood
Like the woman with the issue of blood We press in, we press in Like the blind man waiting patiently We press in through the crowd Then suddenly A touch from heaven Jesus came and rescue me Then suddenly A touch from heaven Jesus came and set me free Lyrics: In the Presence of Jehovah
In the presence, of Jehovah God Almighty Prince of Peace Troubles Vanish Hearts are mended In the presence of the King
Grant Taylor: "I want God to bless this team so much people will talk about what He did. But it means we gotta give Him our best in every area. And if we win, we praise Him. And if we lose, we praise Him. Either way we honor Him with our actions and our attitudes. So I'm askin' you... What are you living for? I resolve to give God everything I've got, then I'll leave the results up to Him. I want to know if you'll join me."
Last Friday cg was really one of the most blessed cg I've ever had. What a great honor & joy to be able to witness this powerfully made movie that taught us so strongly to resist fear, keep moving on and always giving our best to God. I am very grateful to our cg leader Ziwei for teaching us through this movie and I am so thankful to God for such a powerful msg. This is a powerful common grace. This movie will forever remind me what to do in my encounters with fear.
What I've learnt:
This scene impacted me the most. One scene when Taylor was training his team. There were 2 players he chosen specifically to do the death crawl, where one person will be crawling on the grass with his hand & feet only (knees cannot touch ground) & with another person he has to carry on his back. Then he blindfolded the one who is supposed to crawl. Coach Taylor told him to GIVE HIS BEST. The whistle was blown, and the player started crawling. He feels like giving up after a distance, but Coach Taylor keeps shouting at him to go on and on and on.
Amazingly when the player finally collapsed out of exhaustion, he had covered so much distance. Taylor told him, “You can do it without even seeing it”. This is really a great example about faith --> we do the Will of God without even seeing the results in the natural realm, but we keep trusting in what God is always telling us and keep going on, keep moving, keep persevering, keep crawling, keep running this race.
Kicking Philosophy -- Super funny!
Matt 7:13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Taylor’s wife when realizing that the pregnancy test is negative says to God, “I’d still love you”
One last chance to win this game within a very short period of time! Coach Taylor instructed David to kick the ball for a distance so long that he has never done it before! David was so fearful and not confident of himself. Coach Taylor says, “Do you think God can help you make this kick, do you believe it David?” “But you got to give your best to Him….”
When Coach Taylor was addressing the students, he says “Its not about us, not about how we can win the game, how we can get the ball, how we can get the glory. Its about loving God. The greatest thing is to love God. God cares about our faith and our heart. Football is just one of the tools we use to honor God. Its about your relationships with people, your respect for authority, your behaviour in classroom, and what you do when you’re at home alone surfing the internet. Whether we win or loss, we praise God and honor Him with our actions....."
David: “I’m too small” His father: “You cannot be afraid of failures”
David’s father saying, “Through you, people will see how great God is”
Respecting Authority is so important!!
Pastor walked into Coach Taylor’s office and shared rev 3, stating that until God has clearly spoken to Coach Taylor, he is to bloom where he is planted! Rev 3:7-8 --> “These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
Pastor said an example, “There are 2 farmers who desperately needed rain, but only one prepared his field so that his field will be ready to receive the rain when it finally comes --> which farmer do you think trusted God to send the rain?” God will send the rain when He’s ready. You need to prepare your field to receive it.
It is such a quality of life, to clean up and beautify the whole house in preparation for Chinese new year, and after all these, to be able to take a seat by the wooden bench in a little balcony, under the sunny light, with a little crystal glass of warm white tea, and a bowl of delicious snack biscuits, taking my own sweet time, to read a book about God…… all in a day.
I’ve always felt, that life can be as beautiful as you want it to be. At different seasons of our lives, we experience different issues that may cause us to “distorted” in our perspectives, attitudes and emotions. At certain period, we may be extremely happy, but as we step into another period, we may feel very moody or upset by certain issues as well.
When we are very intense and trapped in our circumstances, we do not have the capacity to step out, slow down and reflect. Life became concentrated in a negative way, and we forgot all about the people around us. We lose the ability to appreciate the little pleasures of life, nature and the people around us. Our capacity to love and bless are deteriorating and we started finding shortcuts for everything. Everything becomes an obstacle and a hassle to what we’re seeking or desire.
Recently I’ve read a book written by Robb Thompson and I felt that it is so good.
Really, character is so important. Character is the foundation of everything. We spend our lives with people all around us. The decisions that people make affect us. Thus, we will definitely experience the positive and the negative consequences of the decisions and things people around us make or do.
What is character?
Character is virtue in the life of an individual.
Character is moral strength.
Character is a reputation of integrity built by the hard choices of self-sacrifice and self-discipline.
Character affects our decisions, our words, our attitudes, our goals, our relationships, and our actions.
In marriage, character is gentleness.
In the home, it is respect.
In business, it is integrity.
In society, it is courtesy.
In the workplace, it is excellence.
In sports, it is fairness.
In relationship, it is kindness.
To the victor, it is congratulations.
To the victim, it is protection.
To falsehood, it is resistance.
To yourself, it is absolute truth.
Indeed a true friend is one who would rather risk rejection than not telling you the truth.
And a person of true character will not reject what you tell him or her immediately, but instead, reflects and ask questions first to understand more before even putting on a strong defense about his or her stand.
Sadly, some people will immediately respond with “I dun live my life according to the expectation of others…. As long as it clears my conscience…...”
Life is not all about ourselves. What we think is correct may NOT be correct. Our moral values may NOT reflect the RIGHT moral values. Else we would not need the bible as character benchmark.
Our conscience may be seared. Thus, even when we feel that we’re doing nothing against our conscience, it doesn’t mean u’re right!
One part Robb Thompson shared really impacted me,
“It is impossible for your life to produce anything beyond the strength of your moral fiber”.
I am beginning to look forward to year 2009. God has been good to me, for year 2008 has been a year of chastening and growth of wisdom & strength. How wonderful it is, when the joy of God fall unto us, when the abundance of God unravels spiritually, that we indeed, have no room to contain it. I am really looking forward.......
Eucalyptus .................................
On the mountain of blue.....
Nature depicts its pride...........
When green becomes blue
Beautiful matters descend
Healing will come........................
Hearts will be happy...................
Lives will go on.
-- Wei (Mar 2003)
