Our Lord's exhortation to us in Matthew 5:38-48 is to be generous in our behavior toward everyone. Beware of living according to your natural affections in your spiritual life. Everyone has natural affections— some people we like and others we don't like. Yet we must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another" ( 1 John 1:7 ), even those toward whom we have no affection.

The example our Lord gave us here is not that of a good person, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. ". . . be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." In other words, simply show to the other person what God has shown to you. And God will give you plenty of real life opportunities to prove whether or not you are "perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Being a disciple means deliberately identifying yourself with God's interests in other people. Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" ( John 13:34-35 ).

The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God's life in us expresses itself as God's life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian's life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all.

-My Utmost For His Highest -September 20, 2009-

A bright sunny day becomes gloomy in split seconds. A clear mind becomes clouded, just by one thing/one person. So easily swayed. There goes the confidence again.

Best way to learn swimming is to be thrown into deep sea.
When one seen deep sea, swimming pool becomes nothing.

Others won't see the temptations one has to go through. but they will see the maturity as a result of it.

Living in one's own world is so easy to do. but it is also so meaningless.

Affinity is the word for it - my heart towards Acts. It's unexplainably strong.

They don't know. They too, don't understand. God... only You.

Forget not. Keep at it. Be true to self. Remember the power in purity and simplicity of heart.
Face the world, with Christ's love.

When you feel a gentle breeze
Caress you when you sigh
It's a hug sent from Heaven
From a loved one way up high.

If a soft and tender raindrop
Lands upon your nose
They've added a small kiss
As fragile as a rose.

If a song you hear fills you
With a feeling of sweet love
It's a hug sent from Heaven
From someone special up above.

If you awaken in the morning
To a bluebird's chirping song
It's music sent from Heaven
To cheer you all day long.

If  tiny little snowflakes
Land upon your face
It's a hug sent from Heaven
Trimmed with Angel  lace.

So keep the joy in your heart
If you're lonely my dear friend
 Hugs that are sent from Heaven
A broken heart will mend.

~ Charlotte Anselmo ~

It's a pity I only started to appreciate Yasmin Ahmad's work after her passing away. I admrie her inspiring spirit and perspective on life. Yet another individual who is passionate for life, who champions love and relationships.. but had to pass on when least expected to.

I think her ads and films are thought provoking and... soul awakening. Have we unconsciously put our souls to sleep by the daily routine, tasks, goals etc and missed out some of the core things that make life worth living. Have we ever noticed the beauty in some little imperfections in our lives. I guess it's ok if we have forgotten or got distracted. This is why we need regular dosages of refreshing and reflection.

Tomorrow when you wake up, remember to thank God for the rising sun and a brand new day. Remember to live, love and laugh.

On another note...

Lfe's been great lately. Enjoying Rural Rotation. Medicine is becoming alive for me in this small country town, also known as the land of peanuts. Besides the superb accomodation and various interesting expriences, the interns and doctors are all exceptionally nice and willing to teach! As anti-social as I can be sometimes, I'm liking the weekly dinner at a hotel where the hospital staffs to medical students to senior doctors all seem equal on table. Kingaroy changes my impression on Aussies (there are genuine ones! what a surprise) and I don't dread going to hospital unlike previously.

My adventures over the past week :
observed dilatation and curretage for a miscarriage; scrubbed in to assist in caesarean section; drew blood; did many cannulations and maintaining the success rate; pre-operative preparation of patient; assisted in inguinal hernia repair, umbilical hernia repair, cholecystectomy, basal cell carcinoma excision on nose and taking skin graft from neck; and quite a number of suturing/stitching (no longer on pig trotter but real human).

!

What I must say is that all these shows God's faithfulness. How He answer prayers, walk and see us through the valleys and then pour out His blessings and favor.

Counting my blessings!

I'm doing RURAL posting and I'm staying (for free) in this hospital staff quarter...








Such undeserved blessing.

Thank You God!

       

We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.

Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And battered by the shocks of doom
To shape and use.

God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor's hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.

The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don't lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.

My Utmost For His Highest - July 6, 2009.