played 2 violin pieces by Elgar and Beethoven for 6C today. they were mesmerised though some cheeky boys were being tickled by the crescendo. why i don’t know. i told them that the enjoyment of classical music is an acquired taste. i will be playing for them a Minuet 3 by Bach next week on my violin and reminded them to bring their earplugs. the point of dying to self is to show them just how difficult it is to do just what Linda Brava has done to Salut d’amour. Hopefully this will increase the appreciation for classical music.

it was a crystal-clear moment. like the moon has risen and shining over the lake and you can see even clearer its depth and what kind of fishes there are swimming in it. not just merely knowing that it’s 2 ft deep with fishes in it.

Recently something miraculous happened! I don’t want to put too much weight on signs. But those things have occurred on the tenth of those months! Three times! No doubt, God has a perfect timing! And a great sense of humour! *hum "10 10 10 10"!*

The Concept of Divine Control

. . . how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! —Matthew 7:11

By Oswald Chambers

Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct in this passage for those people who have His Spirit. He urges us to keep our minds filled with the concept of God’s control over everything, which means that a disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek. Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, "My heavenly Father knows all about this!" This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise.

Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle: God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry? Jesus said there are times when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but you should trust Him. At times God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; He will appear like an unnatural father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not.

Keep the thought that the mind of God is behind all things strong and growing. Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. "Ask, and it will be given to you . . ." (Matthew 7:7 ).

Watching Owen subdue the Siberian Husky who was taking advantage of the rest of the family members was awesome. For one, this dog really knew who to take advantage of. His eyes were affixed on Owen, moving when Owen moved, undistracted by the nearby sweet little female cocker spaniel.

I got some tips from the class and came home and started working away on Feisty Freckles and Obedient Orli. I must say, if I didn’t want to lose my voice, I should save for an e-collar for Freckles! What a pricey collar it would be! Orli was a dream to train though! So in sync with me. After our walk-jog-heel routine, we went for a run around the playground tonight! I am sure if he could laugh like I do, we would both be running and laughing on the top of our lungs. Took him on the slide before we headed home. He was off-leash and heeling on our way home! I am a proud dog-mum!

I could live in a nicer place if not for the dogs. But I love my dogs and wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world!

Leave him to Me

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: A Lamp For My Feet
Scripture: 1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Leave him to Me

When there is deep misunderstanding which has led to the erection of barriers between two who once were close, every day brings the strengthening of those barriers if they are not, by God’s grace, breached. One prays and finds no way at all to break through. Love seems to “backfire” every time. Explanations become impossible. New accusations arise, it seems, from nowhere (though it is well to recall who is named the Accuser of the brethren). The situation becomes ever more complex and insoluble, and the mind goes round and round, seeking the place where things went wrong, brooding over the words which were like daggers, regretting the failures and mistakes, wondering (most painfully) how it could have been different. Much spiritual and emotional energy is drained in this way–but the Lord wants to teach us to commit, trust, and rest.

“Leave him to me this afternoon,” is what his word is. “There is nothing else that I am asking of you this afternoon but that: leave him to Me. You cannot fathom all that is taking place. You don’t need to. I am at work–in you, in him. Leave him to Me. Some day it will come clear–trust Me.”

“Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, and he will lift you up in due time. Cast all your cares on Him, for you [and the other] are his charge” (l Pt 5:7).

An excerpt from The Power of Being a Woman by Michelle Mckinney Hammond,

“Whenever I ask you to do something and you so sweetly go along with what i say, it does something to my heart. It makes me want to just shower you with everything you want! You are such a woman. I really like that.”

In essence this is the strength of vulnerability that comes from submission. Submitting to a man (of God) gives him room to grow as a man (of God), never judging him or condemning him for the choices he’s made but giving him room to make mistakes and learn from them. So that he can submit to the knowledge of who he is in God’s sight.

Submission is not weakness. It takes strength to submit. It is a co-operation and partnership. When women submit to their husbands’ leadership, they walk under God’s covering as a covenant. Dare I say, it’s a joyful thing to do, submitting, for in submitting, I’ve learnt to love.

This is becoming more evident for me in a relationship.

But by no means bullying is allowed. That is simply an abuse of power! Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church. By laying your lives down for your wives, putting her first in everything.

And all the women say, “AMEN!!!!”

Learning about His grace from J.P. ministry is like discovering my God for the first time. It’s like being born-again for the first time. Awesome!

Do You Want an Answer?

This is the question we need to ask ourselves when we are seeking “solutions” to our problems. Often we want only an audience. We want the chance to air grievances, to present our excuses, to make an explanation for our behavior, rather than a cure. More often than not the clearest and most direct answer can be found in the Word, but it must be sought honestly.

“The way of the Lord gives refuge to the honest man, but dismays those who do evil” (Prv. 10:29 NEB).
We can approach God’s word with a will to obey whatever it says to us about our present situation, or we can avoid it and say to anyone who would try to point us to it, “Don’t throw the Book at me.” The latter is an evasion, which supports our suspicion that our problems are, in fact, insoluble. The honest (i.e., humble) heart will indeed find the Lord’s way to be a refuge.

Faith is unnatural to the mind.

I feel like I am soaring. My steps are light. No longer striving to work out the questions of my life.

Christ in me, the hope of glory.

Author: Warren Wiersbe
Source: Prayer, Praise and Promises
Scripture Reference Psalm 78:21-33 

Futility and Fear

Read Psalm 78:21-33
The history of Israel in the Old Testament is really the history of all Christians. Like Israel, we have been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. And like the people of Israel, we are heading for the Promised Land.
What is the one thing you need most on the journey from earth to heaven? Love? Yes, that’s important. Hope? That’s important, too. But I think faith is needed most. The one thing you must do is trust God. That’s what the psalmist talks about in this passage. The people would not believe in God and continued to sin. We see the consequence in verse 33: “Therefore their days He consumed in futility, and their years in fear.” When the Israelites got to the edge of the Promised Land, they refused to go in. They were at Kadesh-Barnea and would not trust God to lead them. So they had to wander around for some 40 years in vanity and emptiness, struggling with problem after problem.
Unfortunately, many of God’s people are betweeners–they are living between Egypt and Canaan. They have been delivered from bondage by the blood of the Lamb, but they have never entered into their inheritance. They are living between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. They believe that Jesus died on the cross, but they are not living in the power of His Resurrection.
Don’t be a betweener today. Consider how God blessed the people of Israel. He sent them manna and fowl to feed them. He provided them with water. But also consider how God disciplined them because of their unbelief. In His patience, however, He finally brought them through. We are like the people of Israel. Our greatest need is to believe God. We don’t live by explanations; we live by promises. Today, while you hear His voice, don’t harden your heart.

* * *
Unbelief leads to futility and fear. Perhaps you are a “betweener” today–refusing to trust God’s leading. When Israel believed the promises of God, He blessed them. Trust Him, obey Him and believe Him, and His blessing will come!

How far an extent a life of rest can we enjoy. Even the consequences of my own actions? Is this a cop-out? Is our greater responsibility to let God handle it or to help God help us? Do we do things out of strife or out of a sense of rest? Some thoughts as I reflect on Ps Prince’s teaching on “Living the Let-Go life”.

Ps Prince’s example,

Not to earn healing but to Affirm the healing despite the symptoms

“It is finished.” Jesus said. Find rest in His deliverance.

It’ll be easier to have a big picture of the entire passage first before knowing which answers fit the blanks.

We don’t have to do 1-2-3 to get from A to B. We are already at B. That’s living under grace, God’s unmerited favour, according to Ps Prince. Am still learning more about the extent of His grace. I believe that when I think I have finally understood, I will come to realise there is so much more I don’t know. God is beyond our understanding, but within our enjoyment, His grace, mercy, peace and joy, victory and triumph.

Author: Elisabeth Elliot
Source: A Lamp For My Feet

Someone who is suffering as a result of his own foolishness or failure may read these words. These griefs are hard indeed to bear, for we feel we might easily have avoided them. We have no one to blame but ourselves, and there isn’t much consolation there. Sometimes we imagine that we must bear this kind of trouble alone, but that is a mistake. The Lamb of God, slain for us, has borne all of our griefs and carried all of our sorrows, no matter what their origin. All grief and sorrow is the result of sin somewhere along the line, but Christ received them willingly. It is nothing but pride that keeps me from asking Him to help me to bear the troubles which are my own fault.

Ruby is the name of my Eastman violin. She’s a hefty $798! Thing is, I played on a $2000 handmade violin few weeks ago. It definitely sounded better when the owner played on it! hahaha! I had requested he play Canon in D. It was awesome! He gave me a copy of the score and I am practising it on my own without Mrs White.

I’ve learnt violin for years though no where near being competent yet. However I noticed that learning a skill requires incubation. At least for me, I learn better if I have a period of incubation. Learning by rote will only frustrate me. A period of rest is paramount to me as I sit on it and reflect the strokes, the fingering, the bowing.

My former violin teacher used to say I don’t feel the soul of the music and it shows up in my playing. I can feel the soul of the music if I am not the one playing it mah! If I wasn’t trying so hard to think of the technical aspect of it mah. Lately I am beginning to feel the music and not think of it in terms of notes and rests, and how much my right arm and jaw are aching. I stopped thinking about the colour of the tone, stopped counting so religiously, stopped checking my bow till I am cross-eyed. I just surrender myself to the music.

I suppose sometimes we look too closely at life and miss out on the big picture. What is the big picture in each aspect of your life? Have you lost sight of it?

I thought the bible study last night was probably Ps Prince’s most powerful message. A book as dry as Jeremiah (at least to me) contains such a powerful and meaningful message which bears an interpretation in Revelation. Awesome!

It was a special message for me that night. Among the gems Ps Prince spoke of, through the revelation God revealed to him, I discovered for myself why I am named “Sarah”. It has to do with Abraham and Sarah’s reaction when God told them they would be with child, and the meaning of Isaac. That shed a lot of light on how God designed me.

He is my Father. Of course He knows me.