Context 15:4-7

4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

I had an interesting revelation about the parable of the lost sheep this morning. This is one of the most famous parables in the bible yet God spoke powerfully to me regarding this verse which i have not known.
The parable of the lost sheep as most of us know speaks of the fact that God loves the sinners so much that He will go all out just to save one sinner. And heaven rejoices over the repentance of 1 lost sinner than many who do not repent.

In this parable - sinners are liken to the lost sheep Shepherd - liken to Jesus Christ/ the Church
Above are insight common to believers who knows about this parable.

But interestingly, God spoke to me quite a few steps with regards to this.

First when someone is lost, he/she is always away from the crowd. The sheep was lost because it was away from the 99.

Psalm 11:14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Hence those that are backsliding are usually are those that start to break off from the crowd.

Secondly, God showed me how we can effectively reach out to such people.
1) Personal touch
The shepherd went out all the way to look for the sheep. This means stepping into people life, knowing what they are doing and appealing to their interest. Every single individual is important to God. So if we
understand that and always move through love, then we will be able to get them saved and back in church.

2) Integration
Interestingly many of the revelations that came to me recently are a result of thinking about the verses
over and over again. Many of us dont realise that the parable of the lost sheep does not end when the sheep is found by the shepherd. Besides the rejoicing, the next thing a shepherd would do is put it back into the crowd of sheep in which the sheep went astray. This speaks of us over the fact that when we successfully get a person back/ saved, we are to make effort to integrate them into the crowd of sheep.

3) Building their own altar before God
When Jesus use this parable, its interesting. Because for normal people like you and me we are unable
to tell 1 sheep from the other. Only the shepherd has that kind of knowledge which is able to differentiate one from another. Meaning the shepherd has personal knowledge about each and every sheep. And just as the shepherd has knowledge about its sheep, each and every single sheep also has a personal relationship with the shepherd.

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

So the final step is for the" lost sheep" to learn to build their own altar before God. This is important for a believer to realize that as a mature believer, the believer must learn to have a personal walk with God. There are times when we feel that we are just "one of the many" in the crowd. We may even sometimes feel disconnected with the cell group we are in. But we need to realize that even though we maybe "one of the many" God has personal knowledge about every single one of us. So by always building our own altar before God, we can weather through the storms of life even sometimes we feel we are alone.

And another thing to realize is that although individual sheep are moving along the path with their own challenges and difficulties, but when each sheep look up and look forward, the sheep will realize that it is not alone, because the whole group of them are moving towards 1 general direction.
This really speaks about us over the fact that although individually we may have our own struggles, but when we look up and focus on God, we realize that we are not alone in this walk with God. There are many who are around you, who faces their own challenges and battles but yet each of us is persevering on to see the glory of God manifested.

In Angel's arms(:
Yijie revealed at 3:33 PM

Context ( Matt 14:25-31)

25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous,[b] he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

I was reminded of this familar passage few days ago. Wehn Jesus asked Peter to walk on the water with Him, initially Peter was not afraid to step out and start walking on water.
In many of our life circumstances, we are often like Peter. When we first hear the voice of God, we take steps of faith and begin stepping out with our heart full of faith, ready to do amazing things for God. We confess the word of God promises and begin visualizing and incubating our dreams.

But often God will take us through a second stage. Its when the wind was boisterous (verse 30) and the storm starts to grow bigger and bigger. And like Peter, many of us begin to SEE the wind, it wasnt that he didnt believe in the promises but he has began to focus on the wind and the storm, his eyes were no longer focused on Jesus, thats when he begins to sink. And like Peter, many of us tend to "sink" when circumstances no longer favor us, thats when our faith is tested.

Interestingly God gave us the solution here when we are faced with such circumstances. Just like how Peter cried out to the Lord, we must cry out once again to the Lord. And just like Jesus stretched out and caught Peter hand (verse 31), Jesus will stretched out His hand and help us through. Many a times, when we read this story, we stopped here.

However there is a final stage. Jesus and Peter walked back into the boat. So through this verses, God revealed the final stage of our dream fufillment. When we work together in partnership together with Him, we see our dreams and visions come to pass, we no longer see ourselves struggling through life.

In Angel's arms(:
Yijie revealed at 3:29 PM

I am back updating my blog again. I realized having a blog is a very useful thing sometimes. Sometimes when emotions seems to overwhelmed you and you just need a place to write down your feelings, a blog seems a good place.
I was just looking at my previous entry which was dated 23 dec. I am amazingly updating my blog within a month of my last entry. Thats a breakthrough haha. It only spells two things, either i am becoming more concentious or that i am just having more mixed feelings. Sad to say the latter is true for me. It seems like there is endless streams of problems, endless things to consider and worries. Yes worries and problems are becoming a commonplace these days is my life.
Finally others may comment, i am cracking. I never thought i would ever come to a place where my problems and worries would overwhelmed me to a extend that it would wipe out the laughter and happy-go-lucky image i portray on the outside. Yes some who dont know me well, would comment Yijie is just a youth who leads a happy-go-lucky life who seems to just take things lightly in life. Others who know me better would understand i am just a simple person who in chinese proverbs say "ku zhong zuo le" - meaning making merry in bad times.
I was thinking of whether to state my problems in this blog, but on 2nd thoughts i shouldnt. Everyone these days are going through tough times, there is no point adding stress to everyone.
If you are close to me, after reading this, you can just drop me a message, and i might tell you haha..
Anyway on the light side of things my new year goals for this year is to be sharper looking (which explains why i changed my hairstyle, and specs to follow soon), and to be more neater and organised, and more financial planning. But in the midst of all my worries, some positives came out of it, i was tasked to be the ic for organizing committee of my zone thanksgiving, after days of endless stress, and a 1 or 2 nights of sleeping well, it went on well enough
Suprisingly it was one of the first thanksgiving, i was too stressed to eat or fellowship much around. And to add on to the positives, i somehow manage to win 3rd best growth for my zone. This is the first award i have won since i joined children church. But this awards really grows to my most encouraging cluster IC Joanna who always pushes me to do greater things for God and my helper Joanna Cai who is always there to help.

God is really faithful in the midst of so much problems.

" I have never walked on water, felt the waves beneath my feet...
But at your word Lord, i receive to walk on oceans deep"

In Angel's arms(:
Yijie revealed at 10:00 PM

Its a wonder why i suddenly want to write a blog after such a long time has passed. Haha i realised i only update my blog once every 2-3 months.
Suddenly within me are mixed emotions and feelings. Throughout the last few months many questions have popped out in my mind with no definite answers to it. Probably i am in the valley of my life, going through a wilderness period where everything seems so still so quiet, yet so troubling and confusing. Experiencing the real world out there, where broken families are prevalent, where backstabing is common place, where human pride is first, where hope is lost, where everyone seems to just want to get away from everything for a few minutes can be real tiring.
I wonder whether i have lost my focus. Or just that i have slower my footsteps in life to see the real pain and suffering out there. I wonder how many of us really stop and see that mom with daugther selling tissue paper out there at tampines mrt, how many of us really see that rebellious kid quarreling with their parents, see a youth with no vision wasting their life away. Have we become efficient in doing things but lost the heartware of doing things. I wonder.
Is the pursuit of excellence blinding us to the fact that when we started out doing things, we did it out of love, and we just wanted to do our best because we want to just make a difference. In our midst of busyness in excelling in whatever we do, have we lost the time to stretch out that hand to a needy person?
Many questions keep popping in my mind but no answers. Silence is deafening. Seems like i have a hit a rockwall in many sides of my life. Finances, relationship, ministry, career.... I want to get away suddenly from everything and everywhere to be dug and hidden somewhere(maybe burried for a year). haha
I wonder how many of my friends can tell that below that simling face of mine is someone who always sees and reflects upon his life. Someone who always thinks deeply, ponder about life, and just wishes to simplify his life. Cause in simplicity there is innocence, and in innocence there is an untold happiness. I like what it says in the Bible.
"Love never fails...." 1 Cor 13:8 Whenever i am not sure what i am supposed to do, i would think if you love that person what would you do?
Maybe some of my questions i have wlll never be resolved till Jesus comes back. But one thing i can trust "In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comfort delights my soul"

"Heal my heart and make it clean, Open up my eyes to the things unseen..Show me how to love like you have loved me... Break my heart for what breaks you...Everything I have for Your kingdom's cause... as I walked from earth into eternity.......

In Angel's arms(:
Yijie revealed at 12:12 AM

I was deciding what i should share here in my blog following the few weeks of experience in NIE that i mentioned in the previous post. I decided to start with the most important thing i felt just on thur night.
As i was reading my friend's kejin blog and talking to my friend Sharryl over the phone. Suddenly a revelation hit me. It was really all of a sudden. I still vividly remember there was a sudden gush of blood, a sudden surge in the spirit within me, it was a strange sensation. Anyway what i felt was that i was supposed to take the gospel of love to the world. Hmm.. to tell the world the simple stuff that God loves them and wants to have a friendship with them to give them comfort, rest, true friendship, true concern and love.
Even as i was sharing with jianye over msn that what i felt was my calling, i felt a surge of God's presence in the room within that split second. And within another few minutes another of God's confirmation came, i suddenly received a call that i have two newcomers. So i know and i know and i know that it must be a God thing.
It suddenly make all what i am experiecing in the past weeks make sense. The wonderful friendship i have with kejin, ainin, xueyu and gang, the close friendship i have with bingyan, weixian, zhuoxiong and my group members lying, kejin, sharryl and mejiao. I was asking God non stop for answers the past few weeks. I ask God the one thing that i desire to know so desperately, why is there such innocent and true friendship outside church that sometimes i feel is lacking. Maybe i dont feel it...maybe i am numb i really dont know
God did replied me....
John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
Then it then dawned on me why Jesus said that. Cause that's what the world is crying out for... that true love of God, that acceptance by God, that companionship of God, that caring fatherly figure of God. I begin to understand.. sometimes out of our busyness is the ministry and serving..we have forgotten the most fundamental and most basic thing in life...to bring that love of God...whether its within the four walls or outside the four walls, thats what make people want to go church,
No wonder God said in Matthew 6:34 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? What good do we profit, if we multiply our groups, hit our monthly attendance but we have lost our own soul. Losing the ability to sympathize. not caring for others anymore just because we are busy, no longer tolerating and loving others that are different from us. God does not need another robot to bring in the souls. What God needs is someone who has a real heart for the lost, who genuinely seeks the lost souls, who cares for their needs.
When i began to ponder over all this a bus trip, tears flowed down my eyes, i understood why i was called, i understood why i been through the rough patches of life.. i cannot sympathise and share and saved if i havent been through all this...Truely like what pastor always say the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart...I realise as a chrisitan, i have matured this one year... no longer that willful and judgmental Christian who leads an unbalanced life but progressing to be a chrisitan who demonstrates love and concern whevener i am...The journey ahead of me is still long...but at least i am progressing in the right direction...

"Praises will not be enough to show how my love for You has grown...Nothing matters when You are here with me..In the end just to hear You say "well done" bowing before your throne"

In Angel's arms(:
Yijie revealed at 11:45 PM

My blog has been literally dead for months. I was thinking i might as well shut it down.. But just now as i was on the bus pondering over some thoughts... i just wanted to blog it down.. Haha so here i am.. to blog down some random thoughts of mine...
Actually the past 2 weeks has really set me thinking about a lot of things. I know i am supposed to be busy over my nie assignments, children day celebration(big day), the many different kids and stuff. But somehow my mind has wander off. I felt this 2 weeks my life although moving fast as usual, theres a certain slowness to it. I know i am contradicting myself but its a strange feeling i dont know how to explain. There is a sudden awakening of my soul and my feelings that i havent been in touch for a long time.
I have been busy busy and more busy, but suddenly despite all of my life moving forward at a furious path, i seem to be outside, looking observing. Its a strange position to be in. But somehow God's presence and touch is in my life. Its really hard to put down in words what i am feeling now. Its just that i am somehow at a strange crossroad of my life. God is revealing to me some stuff as i move forward..
Its strange as all of this stuff that i am experiencing is stuff i am feeling outside church. Thats what complicates matters i feel. Learning to experience God and feeling God's direction in the marketplace is a whole new dimension and requires a new dimension of faith. I feel lost at times actually not knowing how to maintain a delicate balance between church maketplace and ministry
But sometimes i do feel God's presence in the midst of all the things. And somehow its a leading, a confirmation, that i am somehow on a right path..I must admit that sometimes i feel i am not that one that should be doing all this... i feel why did God call me in a way that seems different, that seems wayward, that i am not even sure of. I would prefer to be on the bandwagon, where that simple me just do my best to make a difference. That has always been me.. and will always be me.
Anyway i will share my of what i felt God speak to me in the next few post. I cant imagine i actually wrote so much without basically saying much

"My heart and my strength many times they fail...But there is one truth that always will prevail.. God is the strength of my heart..."

In Angel's arms(:
Yijie revealed at 11:18 PM

Woah Woah all i can say God is amazing... When you step out in faith, trust God and be willing, God does all the miracles. Praise God for OPEN DOORS that God is opening. I just rememebered not long ago in emerge i told God i wanted to have 3 connect groups/prayer groups/study groups to reach out to children, youth and my fellow nie classmates. And behold God moves once i have the desire and my attitude is right.
First news i received came last week, when Faith told me that someone in NIE wants to starts a connect group and ask me if i am interested in it. I was excited and told God no problem. There was the easy part.
But soon enough, on last weekend, one of the other members who also wants to see revival in east spring, told me they are going to start an evangelisitc group on sat morning 9am. I was like so amazed at how God moves. I told her that i will definitely be interested in.
That leaves me with the final and most difficult group to start, the Junyuan Primary outreach. I have msg some students to ask if they want cheap tution, It proves difficult, as none of them responded very positively. But low and behold, Sueyi just sms me that her tution kid is interested to come church. And when i called her, i realised that it is yingyi and guess where she is from. JUNYUAN PRIMARY!!!.. My 3rd and final door is opening...I can smell it.. Amen and all praise to the Lord.
The only concern that i have is my capacity. Dear God stretch my capacity....Let me be who you always want me to be...

"Awaken my soul to who i am in you (x2), I can do all things through Christ, I can do all things through Christ who strengths me"

In Angel's arms(:
Yijie revealed at 5:13 PM