Pastor Prince preached a very good sermon last Sunday which I felt I had to share. He said there are two types of believers. Both are righteous by faith but one type of believer lives a victorious and blessed Christian life while the other lives a defeated Christian life. What makes the difference between the two?
Quoting the example of Abraham and Lot, whom God considered both as righteous, Pastor Prince went on to explain why Abraham is more blessed than Lot. Going by what his natural eyes could see, Lot chose the lustrous region of the Jordan plains (next to Sodom) to settle down while Abraham chose the barren plains in the land of Canaan.
Lot was a righteous man but he was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Peter 2:8). Abraham, on the other hand, dwelt in the mountains having constant fellowship and communion with the Lord. God blessed Abraham richly by giving him the land as far as he could see.
The practical application is that even though a believer is considered righteous by God, his state of blessedness is dependent on how he choose to live his life. As parents, we have to watch what comes into our homes; what our children are exposed to. We have to watch our 'eye' gates and 'ear' gates.
If we are constantly exposed to violence, lawlessness, pornography and bad news, our righteous souls would be vexed by such things. Hence the environment we live in is very important. Similarly, if we spend too much time with complainers, naysayers and negative people, the potential to fulfill our God-given destiny could be hampered.
In order to enjoy the type of blessedness Abraham has with God, we need to stay in the high places, in constant fellowship with God. We are eagle Christians and we are made to dwell in the high places. An eagle is clumsy like any other birds on the ground but he doesn't spend too much time on the ground. The majority of his time is spent in the air, in the sky where he soars. That is where he truly belongs. He is the king of the air. Likewise, as children of the Most High God, we are made to soar above our circumstances and not to vex our righteous souls in the low places. That, my friend, is true blessedness.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Bragging about God's Goodness
Today I am bragging about how good God is. I just had an exit interview with my CEO yesterday. It was really full and complete restoration of my honour in this re-organisation.
I never knew how my CEO thought of me and I never bothered to ask. Yesterday, for the first time, I heard him say he actually valued me a lot and he also relied on me to charge forward with the capability development work in the early days of the re-org. I have heard what high standards my CEO had for his staff and how he was usually not very generous with his compliments.
Hence I really thank God that I have his respect and recognition! He even told me it was a pity that I chose to leave this place but in any case, he respected my decision and hoped I would find my peace in doing so. I told me I certainly have peace in leaving because I am leaving this place in joy and peace.
God is so good - it is actually enough for me to know that I am greatly valued by my Dy CEO and my supervisor but He went a step further to let me hear this directly from my CEO. What a great contrast to my experience 7 years ago when I left my previous organisation as I felt so condemned by my CEO. God had really turned around this situation and I can leave this place with my head lifted high! God did it all for me! All glory to God!
I never knew how my CEO thought of me and I never bothered to ask. Yesterday, for the first time, I heard him say he actually valued me a lot and he also relied on me to charge forward with the capability development work in the early days of the re-org. I have heard what high standards my CEO had for his staff and how he was usually not very generous with his compliments.
Hence I really thank God that I have his respect and recognition! He even told me it was a pity that I chose to leave this place but in any case, he respected my decision and hoped I would find my peace in doing so. I told me I certainly have peace in leaving because I am leaving this place in joy and peace.
God is so good - it is actually enough for me to know that I am greatly valued by my Dy CEO and my supervisor but He went a step further to let me hear this directly from my CEO. What a great contrast to my experience 7 years ago when I left my previous organisation as I felt so condemned by my CEO. God had really turned around this situation and I can leave this place with my head lifted high! God did it all for me! All glory to God!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Our office moved!
Within a span of three weeks, I experienced two major moves in my life: my home and my office. You can imagine the amount of packing required...but anyway, thank God it is finally over and here I am at the new office site. It is not in the city and has quite rustic surroundings. I am not sure if I prefer this place but anyway it doesn't matter because I have only 8 days here.
But what I felt was interesting was the shift in the seasons - both in my own life and the life of this organisation. It was God's will for me that my next season is not here in this organisation and I am really happy to leave this place. Thank God that I have finished the race and completed this chapter of my working life well.
I remembered I wanted to leave so badly in end 2008 and early 2010. But I knew it was not the right timing to leave yet. So I asked God for strength to continue to sustain me while I pressed on in this place. Then suddenly in Sept 2010, the tide changed. Things happened very fast and here I am now, at the border of Kadesh Barnea (my promised land) in the next season.
Though there were persuasive attempts by my boss and my HR to work part-time and make me stay at least till Apr 2010 (for the bonus), I prayed about it and confirmed that God wanted me to move on now. I cannot explain why but in future, it will be made clear to me. Hence I continue to trust that God will restore to me the lost performance bonus and the maternity benefits.
Yesterday when my hubby shared his promotion and the total bonus he would be getting, I was totally surprised. The bonus quantum was slightly more than the amount that my HR calculated to me that I would be giving up! It is so amazing! God proved to me that He has a thousand ways to repay what I have given up and I will in no way be shortchanged! Amen! Now I am really looking forward to the first day of my stay-home mum season!
But what I felt was interesting was the shift in the seasons - both in my own life and the life of this organisation. It was God's will for me that my next season is not here in this organisation and I am really happy to leave this place. Thank God that I have finished the race and completed this chapter of my working life well.
I remembered I wanted to leave so badly in end 2008 and early 2010. But I knew it was not the right timing to leave yet. So I asked God for strength to continue to sustain me while I pressed on in this place. Then suddenly in Sept 2010, the tide changed. Things happened very fast and here I am now, at the border of Kadesh Barnea (my promised land) in the next season.
Though there were persuasive attempts by my boss and my HR to work part-time and make me stay at least till Apr 2010 (for the bonus), I prayed about it and confirmed that God wanted me to move on now. I cannot explain why but in future, it will be made clear to me. Hence I continue to trust that God will restore to me the lost performance bonus and the maternity benefits.
Yesterday when my hubby shared his promotion and the total bonus he would be getting, I was totally surprised. The bonus quantum was slightly more than the amount that my HR calculated to me that I would be giving up! It is so amazing! God proved to me that He has a thousand ways to repay what I have given up and I will in no way be shortchanged! Amen! Now I am really looking forward to the first day of my stay-home mum season!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Finally Tendered My Resignation!
I finally tendered my letter of resignation on 30 Dec and my last day is 31 Jan 2011. What a sigh of relief when I finally submitted the letter to my boss! It seemed to take so long before I get to pass this letter to her. Afterall, I made the decision to leave in Oct 2010. So it has been 3 months since I waited to tender.
Actually, to be factually correct, I had waited for 2 years for this day to come. But when the day finally came, I had mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand, I am very happy and relieved to leave. On the other hand, I was quite sentimental...I thought of all those years I stayed in this organisation. As I passed by the reception counter, I could still remember coming here for my interview and observing the culture here which I really liked. It has since changed...everything felt so different now in my workplace.
But God told me there is nothing to feel emotional about. All it just means is that my season here has come to an end and I have finished the race well. Hence I need to move on. In fact, God is the one who started a good work of restoration in me and He brought it to completion.
In 2004, when I left my previous organisation, I had just gone through a re-organisation as well. I didn't do well in that re-org but God was gracious to me. He quickly opened a way out for me to leave my organisation then. But the manner in which I left was not the best - I felt I left in shame and I couldn't lift my head high because my dept was condemned by my CEO then.
Little did I know that by bringing me here, God had set into motion a great plan of restoration in this workplace. And true enough, about 5 years later, He brought about another re-org here. But this time, my dept gained favour and was brought to the forefront. Besides, God planted wonderful, smart and capable bosses to guide me. As a result, I did much better in this re-org than the previous one, all glory to God!
And now as I leave this place, I can leave with my head lifted high, at the highest point of my career here. I can leave with joy and peace, with no regrets. God's work of restoration is now complete and I have to move on to greater heights. I am excited about what God is going to bring me to in my next season as I close this chapter of my life, knowing that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Actually, to be factually correct, I had waited for 2 years for this day to come. But when the day finally came, I had mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand, I am very happy and relieved to leave. On the other hand, I was quite sentimental...I thought of all those years I stayed in this organisation. As I passed by the reception counter, I could still remember coming here for my interview and observing the culture here which I really liked. It has since changed...everything felt so different now in my workplace.
But God told me there is nothing to feel emotional about. All it just means is that my season here has come to an end and I have finished the race well. Hence I need to move on. In fact, God is the one who started a good work of restoration in me and He brought it to completion.
In 2004, when I left my previous organisation, I had just gone through a re-organisation as well. I didn't do well in that re-org but God was gracious to me. He quickly opened a way out for me to leave my organisation then. But the manner in which I left was not the best - I felt I left in shame and I couldn't lift my head high because my dept was condemned by my CEO then.
Little did I know that by bringing me here, God had set into motion a great plan of restoration in this workplace. And true enough, about 5 years later, He brought about another re-org here. But this time, my dept gained favour and was brought to the forefront. Besides, God planted wonderful, smart and capable bosses to guide me. As a result, I did much better in this re-org than the previous one, all glory to God!
And now as I leave this place, I can leave with my head lifted high, at the highest point of my career here. I can leave with joy and peace, with no regrets. God's work of restoration is now complete and I have to move on to greater heights. I am excited about what God is going to bring me to in my next season as I close this chapter of my life, knowing that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)