In case you’re wondering & have been waiting for updates, I’ve moved onto Twitter. Easier to manage single liners & blogs are fast becoming a passé. So follow me @jasmineyeo (my twitter ID). Thanks for stopping by.
Jan
02
A fresh new year’s begun. I haven’t blogged very regularly last 2 months. Gotta get started again. Last year was an exciting year as I really saw how the hand of God was moving in our midst through the lives of many others. Indeed, it was a year of preparation. I’m looking forward to this year with anticipation as what the Lord was doing in our midst was indeed to prepare us for what’s ahead.
I’ve been believing God for a revival of sorts in our midst – especially in the area of transforming lives of each & every single individual in our church. As with launching a new year, I’ve sought the Lord to prepare for what’s ahead. I can’t deny that I’m excited, but yet a little scared of what’s up ahead coz it seems to be so huge. I’m asking the Lord to help me cope & contain all the blessings He’s got for me & also for an extra dose of faith to see me through this year. Indeed, last year was trusting God to bring me through & this year is about putting my faith in God for what’s up ahead.
Thus, I’ll start by proclaiming a few things by faith in the coming year – that each of us will experience a personal revival & a greater surge in our love & faith in God this year in the church. I pray that alongside with that, God will continue to propel us to greater heights in our understanding of Him & also to grow in our love for one another around us.
Was just reading a christian joke book given by someone for Christmas – guess I tell quite bad/lame jokes. Anyways, this joke came to mind as I recalled the Lord’s/disciple’s prayer (this is in my own words, so bear with me if I tickle the wrong bone): -
Jane was approaching her illegally parked vehicle after running an errand and saw a traffic warden issuing her a parking ticket. Jane went up to the traffic warden and after appealing to him for a few minutes, noted that he was a christian by the words he used. Therefore, she appealed to him once again to void the summon using the Lord’s prayer “Forgive our trespasses” , in hope that he would relent. The traffic warden looked to Jane and replied “& lead us not into temptation”.
For those who still don’t get it, it’s parts of the Lord’s prayer to “forgive our wrongs” – in this case, Jane’s illegal parking; “lead us not into temptation” is the traffic warden’s reply to Jane not to tempt him into doing something that was not right.
Thus, starts the new year – a joke for you all. It’s been a difficult year personally for me last year but I’m glad that it caused me to stay closer to the Lord. I pray that this year would help me increase in my optimism & faith to claim what’s ahead.
Happy New Year to all!
Dec
20
The end of the year is drawing near & as I reflect upon this year that has passed, many things have happened but one thing remains firm & strongly etched in my mind – it’s the word “trust” in the Lord. Indeed, this has been a year that I faced many things that I’ve never experienced before & I could do nothing but trust the Lord for circumstances, issues and various things to be ironed out in my life. In the midst of it all, I’ve often asked myself – why am I still desiring to grow in the Lord. I believe this has been the most challenging year in many aspects of my life including work, family & ministry.
I praise the Lord for all that I’ve been through as I’ve emerged from it stronger as it strengthened my trust in the Lord. I’ve really struggled this year tremendously as I’m generally one who dislikes commitment – in fact, this was why God had to chase me for half my life to get me to come back to Him in a real manner. But I’m so glad that after I made the commitment, I’ve never turned back again. I’ve always asked the Lord what is to come & if the word for me this year was trust, I felt that the coming year would be one of stretching. I’ve journaled about my struggles & committed them to prayer in the Lord. I pray that I would have the strength to be stretched, although I know it’ll be painful & heart wrenching as I would have to sacrifice certain things in my life – although I can’t figure out what at the moment, I’m praying that the Lord will continue to refine me as gold.
Today I saw a low flying eagle, followed by a crow & a short distance away, a myna (all 3 birds of various sizes). I was wondering why the eagle was flying so low & the other birds weren’t frightened away. I guess the eagle might have been injured for it to fly about 2 stories from street level. I was reminded that those who trust in the Lord will soar like eagles. It’s not easy but i also realise it’s a choice I’ve got to make – I can choose to fly low like an injured eagle or fly according to what God has in mind for me. Knowing that I’m in good hands of the Father, I ask that He might help me to soar to greater heights in my understanding of Him and continue to be refined in my thoughts, words & actions in the coming years ahead!
Dec
07
We live in a world where we can’t live without computers but yet would like to be able to do so. So we’re stuck in “no man’s land” as we require technology to survive & thrive. Recently, I decided to upgrade my OS on my laptop to Windows 7. As a result of that, I’ve been robbed of internet access when I’m at home as there seems to be incompatibility with my hardware. Thus, I’m now without wifi at home, unless I use my mobile or my dad’s desktop, which is equally inconvenient.
Nevertheless, I’m thankful that at least I can stay connected through emails from my mobile & still thank God for the technology. Got a new wireless mouse & keyboard as a birthday present & was setting up today only to have the mouse rendered un-usable with the driver – thus am waiting for the company to revert on what I should be doing next.
I was mightily blessed last week by many around me. Also from some of those who are from overseas, I’d like to say thanks for remembering my birthday & also for your well-wishes. Thanks for being a blessing in my life & thanks for allowing me to be a part of your life.
I was amazed at my little nephew who was so excited it was my birthday & he was so sweet as he sang the birthday song to me alone both in English & in Mandarin! He’s all but 27 months old but he sure knows how to make someone feel special – must have been the “Happy birthday, Thomas” book I got him from the library & he’s been making us read it for 3 weeks while we had it. We had a great western dinner @ Shashlik – which serves very good beef. Would recommend this as the place to go for beef steaks, although the steak itself would cost about S$25++ each & above – but really tender & succulent. Not very expensive for the quality, I’d say but the presentation & service weren’t very good.
I’m encouraged this year as I reflect upon the year as to how I’ve grown in the Lord & also those around me. As we had ice cream on Sunday afternoon, I felt really encouraged by the open sharing of how those around me viewed me & I pray that God will continue to mould me to do a greater work for His kingdom in time to come. As I was praying for Ps Jeff in the morning, I was so moved in the spirit by his heart & spirit & the amount of challenges he’s got that I couldn’t help but start tearing away. I wasn’t praying with my mind but felt the burden of his spirit & encourage all to pray for him together with me.
Indeed, this year is ending on a positive note as compared to last year. I’ve been so blessed to be engaged as a greater part of the community & so blessed by all the friendships around me & also, seeing how God is transforming each of you around me. Thank you for allowing God to move in your life & also, moulding me in the process.
Nov
28
This was meant to be a short work week as I had essentially 3 days to work, 1 day out for division outing & a public holiday, on top of the weekend. Thus, it was 3 days packed back-to-back with meetings this week at work. In between, I had to squeeze in time to clear some other work that was piling up.
Anyways, the work week went better than expected. However, the division outing was one of great suspense as we didn’t know what was my VP up to as he didn’t want to share where we were going. We were told to meet at Starbucks @ Vivo City at 9:30am & told to dress casual. I was wondering if this was an American style of organising something that was full of surprises. The first destination after a drink @ Starbucks was to watch a movie @ GV Gold Class. I was excited coz it would have been my first time in Gold Class but was wondering what movie it’ll be & was hoping it wouldn’t be the movie I purchased tickets to watch on Mon. Alas, it was the exact movie – except that it was in 2D, while I purchased tickets for the movie in 3D in the normal cinema – so I shared with my colleagues that at least there’ll be a slightly different experience & I’ll share with them about it. Service for the movie was good as we ordered nachos & drinks. Not sure if the cost of $36 for each ticket included the snacks, though. The seats were recline-able but I had a backache after that as the back wasn’t properly supported.
We then walked through Giant Supermarket & were made to wonder if we had to purchase some groceries. We were eventually led to an Indonesian restaurant for a quick lunch. At that point in time, my throat was so bad that the lozenges & the medication I took didn’t help. Thus, I had to make a trip to the pharmacy to get something more potent. It was indeed a good investment, although an expensive one. One piece of the lozenges & my throat started behaving itself. I couldn’t afford to lose my voice as I was co-leading prayer that night for our district prayer meeting. I was quick tempted to take medical leave to go back home to rest as it was definitely an uncomfortable feeling & I’ve been having a sore throat for a few weeks already. However, the anticipation of what was next was also bringing the curious nature out in me.
Next we went to the bus stop to wait for our bus – where we were told to prepare our bus card. It was weird coz there were about 35 of us & we couldn’t imagine going on the same public bus. Anyhow, it was a joke and we were waiting for a chartered bus. The bus came with the sign that it was going to Ngee Ann Polytechnic. We figured it was mistakenly put as we heard that my VP was looking for some outdoor activity as he wanted to see the weather & thus kept us in suspense. We were expecting the parks nearby such as Hort park, Labrador park, Gillman village etc. However, the bus drove on & entered the expressway. Indeed, we ended up at Ngee Ann Polytechnic at this place called “Dialogue in the Dark”.
We were made to grope in the dark for an hour – to give us an appreciation of what the visually impaired go through. It got to a point that I closed my eyes in the dark as it was really pitch black while we went through a series of activities such as going past the Sir Stamford Raffles statue in the dark, feeling the characters, crossing Chinatown, going for a boat ride, passing the Merlion & feeling the splash of water on our faces in the dark. I’ve always treasured my sight & said that amongst my 5 senses, the one that would be most precious to me would be the area of sight. This was because I recognise the fact that I would have to learn a new set of life skills should I lose my sight. Indeed, I’m really grateful it was just an activity & with a bunch of colleagues who were fun loving & spontaneous. There was a point where we were just waiting for our visually impaired guide to lead us to the next place when we decided to humour ourselves by singing a christmas carol in the dark. It was a very fun experience & the people definitely added to the excitement as there were 8 of us in the group, a mixture of guys & gals.
I was tired at the end of it but had to prepare my heart for the evening prayer meeting. I got a call from E to meet up for dinner & decided to have dinner after all as I had to take my medication. We had a great time of catching up & praying together. Was refreshed during the prayer meeting but could feel that my personal battery was spent thereafter.
Friday was spent in bed most of the time for me & it was the first time this year that I’ve slept past noon. After lunch, I went back to sleep for most of the day & was able to sleep at night as well. I was definitely nursing an upcoming flu & thank God for the time to be able to sleep in. I was meant to meet up with my CG for black pepper crab dinner but we cancelled eventually due to insufficient numbers. Friday night & the entire Saturday ended up to be running all over the east as we had to settle some family matters. Thankfully everything went smoothly & I could come back for an afternoon nap as I was having a headache still.
I’m thankful for the long weekend as I really needed the rest before my body started breaking down as I’ve been down with a throat infection for about 3 weeks now & it seemed to be getting worse every time I had to prepare to lead prayer in some setting or other – thus I had to be extra careful with my food intake most of the time. Thankfully, my throat is feeling very much better, although I’m still on medication for my flu overall. Now I’ve got to pray for my family that is falling ill due to the many things that have happened. Praying that we’ll experience a breakthrough in our personal lives & in the lives of those around us.
Nov
15
Things are starting to happen! PTL! I never thought it’ll be this fast but we’ve got our first convert today in the unit! PTL! For those who wonder who it is, drop me a message. I believe this is the first of many lives we’ll come to see joining us in the months to come.
This morning, I was surprised by the Holy Spirit as I was leading the unit in prayer & the atmosphere for prayer changed & was increased when people started writing attributes about God & be reminded of His character. This was something that the Lord had laid in my heart years ago but I never got to do it till today – indeed, I can sometimes be so laid back. But God is good & His timing is NEVER too late or too early. :)
It was good to start the day off with God in our midst in a powerful manner. In fact, I reckon that today’s P&W on the unit level was one of the best, if not the best I’ve ever experienced. Indeed when God’s at work, wonderful things happen. Well, that was the start to many things that are to come. The Lord impressed upon my heart that we need to grow much more in the area of faith & trusting in God – to see Him work signs, miracles & healings in & through our life. During service today, the Lord prompted me to gather the people to pray for unexpected bonuses, increments & promotions so that we can give unto the Lord for church building fund. I challenged the people to give out of faith & wait to see how God would bless us that we can’t imagine. I pray that it’ll come to past as I believe this is something from the Lord.
Then in the evening, I heard about a sister crossing the line of faith & I was so excited coz it was something many of us in the unit have been praying specifically to happen. God’s moving in our midst & I’m believing God for 60 people for our unit Christmas party. I need to be faithful in the things of the Lord, more so now than ever, although I also recognise the need to touch lives & do so many other things. May God continue to strengthen me & give me grace so that I can do all things through Him alone.
Last week, I attended a training on “Influencer” & I’ve been so blessed by it. Really recommend it to those whose companies have budgets to send their staff for training. I’ve since been thinking “How can people enjoy doing what they’re doing” so that they’re motivated to do it on their own. That’s a question that’s been on my mind since I’ve attended that course. I haven’t got an answer as yet – but that’s something I’ll be laying before the Lord, asking Him to show me how I can be an influence to glorify Him. Do join me in prayer & fasting to see breakthroughs in our midst & our personal lives!
Nov
10
I’m finally making progress, praying that I’ll continue to pick up speed. However, I’ve also realised everytime I want to start on something, something else crops up to distract me from what I need to do – the same thing happens at my workplace as well. Thus I’ve started writing down the things I need to do daily so that I remain focused.
I was reading the book of Ephesians this morning & this verse struck me very deeply in Eph 2:19-20 – 19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
What would a cornerstone be & why the significance of it? A cornerstone is defined as a stone at the corner of a building, uniting two intersecting walls. Such a stone, often inscribed, laid at a ceremony marking the origin of a building.
Indeed, Jesus is the chief cornerstone & we’re all like building blocks or bricks. We can choose to be part of the building or part of the rubble surrounding the building. We could be the rubble that chooses to destroy the building (which in this sense represents the church if each of us represent a building block as a church is not a physical building, but rather, consists of people). As I was spending some time with God today, I was reminded & asked “What kind of building am I a part of?”. I was reminded of how in the early days, buildings like the pyramids were built slowly, block by block & in times of the lack of machinery, it’s easy to lay the base blocks but difficult to hoist & build the blocks above it to ensure that it meets at some point & is able to close up the pyramids tightly.
Indeed, I was awed by this revelation from the Lord once again & pray that I’ll be a building block that plays the part to build & more importantly than that, I play a part to build others as well & not to tear others down. I pray that God would continue to use me despite my weaknesses to play a major role in building His church & His people. It’s tough work but it starts with one brick & diligently, stacking up the bricks, despite set backs & difficulties.
I visualised what I was building. What if I’m bad at building such that I ‘miscalculated’ and built a house with not enough space to fit in a building block to cover a hole? It might mean I’ve got to start from the scratch again. I was telling God – that’s really tough – isn’t there an easier way? But I guess, it’s part of learning & growing in God & His word & His ways. I pray that I may continue to be transformed by God all the days of my life!
Nov
07
In the past week, I’ve started having a burden upon my heart – something that’s egging me on to do something. Perhaps I’ve been too laid back in the aspect of using my time fruitfully to pray. In fact, I’m a person who has a greater tendency to hear from God while I’m doing something in the midst of prayer, rather than standing still to pray for things upon my heart. I feel that I’m able to stay awake. However, I’ve got to stay focused in doing so & also journal intentionally (using my mobile).
Of course, there would also be times where I would just sit back & strum the guitar & allow God to speak to me through songs as well. I’ve started praying & fasting to grow in my desire to see a greater movement of the hand of God in our midst. I believe we’re on the brink of revival & something’s happening in my spirit to spur me into such a time. Therefore, I’ve also set in my mind that I need to pick up & complete reading some materials related to Inner Healing. Although there’s quite a bit of materials to plough through, I hope I can complete at least one set of them by this month. I just realised today that a quarter of the month has passed & I haven’t quite picked that up yet. However, I’ll be starting really soon.
Today we had the leader’s summit & I was reminded of the importance of fellowship & spending time beyond ministry matters. It’s something that I’ve been trying to do in the past month or so, to improve in this area & catch up with various ones over meals, the phone, email etc. I’ve started praying for individuals as well & asked God specifically for a verse to encourage them with. These are a couple of things I’ve been trying to get going as I continue to press on.
Whenever possible, I’ll also try to bring my nephew to children’s church. I’ve already brought him once & am intending to bring him again tomorrow. Hopefully he’ll have heaps of fun. My parents, together with my brother & sister-in-law would likely join as well. However, I pray that they would be able to wake up in time for service tomorrow.
It does seem like quite a busy list & a lot of things to do. But I’m determined to take it one-step-at-a-time & not allow things to overwhelm me. Praying that God will continue to anoint & empower me. It was indeed good as I spent the first day praying & fasting – was reassured of what God had in mind for me & that I’m not alone in doing what is ahead. The task seems huge but my Lord is larger!
Nov
01
Today was a powerful sunday service. I realised the difference the moment I stepped into the auditorium for pre-service prayer. I was regretfully late today as I try to arrive in time for the district prayer but I couldn’t make it, partly due to road diversions as well. Nevertheless, the moment I stepped into the auditorium & settled into pray, I felt a difference in atmosphere.
Even during the pre-service prayer, it was different as the Lord spoke to me about promises that the unit will grow during the harvest period – a growth we will not be expecting – but it’s a reminder that it is indeed God who brings people into our paths as we remain faithful. Shortly after, a sister went up to give a word of prophecy that was subsequently confirmed by another person. It was in line with the harvest, how God will tool (equip) us as we avail ourselves. Interestingly, the sermon thereafter also shared about the various classes we could attend to ‘tool’ ourselves in the Word.
I had certain things in mind when I planned for JG for this month. However, I felt impressed by the Lord that we needed to continue with CG matters & it was indeed a good time of talking about various challenges we faced & bouncing ideas off one another. Thanks to those who have also given feedback on how we should have times to share about application points & work towards them. The next feedback I’ll need to work on is how to bring this to a practical state. Indeed ideas are flying around my head now as to how to refresh it & make it even more effective. I’ve been saddened though by the turnout as I equate it to whether people see the value in JG. Perhaps some more than others see the value in it. But I need to keep focused on why we gather together so that we don’t lose the momentum.
During today’s sermon, Michael shared about the need to apply the Word into our practical lives. Indeed, that is important and sometimes, I just feel so overwhelmed by all the things I need to do, I tell myself to take it easy so that I wouldn’t get burnout by it all. The Lord spoke to me in the area of making a greater effort to grow in my understanding in the new ministry area He’s laid in my heart. Surprisingly, I can be very laid-back about getting things done as well if I feel that there’s so many things to do as I can get quite divided in my attention. So now I’ll need to focus on it & give myself a timeline to get certain things going.
I came across a prophecy that was prayed over me in Mar 2009. It spoke about doing things in a new manner & how the Lord would drain away my weariness. I was indeed very tired then – late last year, there were a few things in ministry that started to shake my world & made me clarify my motives for serving. This carried on till the 1st quarter of the year. Subsequently, in the 2nd quarter of the year, I was having a few issues at home with the family that made me even more discouraged. I took quite a bit of time to recover from these set backs & had to repeatedly pray & rely upon the Lord to bring me out of those situations. Indeed, it was a time that I had no choice but to wait upon the Lord & trust that He would help me see the light at the end of the tunnel. I thank & praise God for those incidents that happened in the 1st half of the year as it’s really forced me to rely upon the Lord & seek Him for what to do next. This has led to the formation of our JG group. I strongly believe this is something that the Lord wants me to do in the midst of His people & to equip those amongst us for greater things ahead. As to what my next steps are, I was reminded once again to rely & pray into being the promises that the Lord has for each & everyone of us in the unit & in the church. Indeed, He is the builder & the cornerstone & we have been given the priesthood & we all need to be faithful in the little things He has given to us.
I’m very sure the Lord will add unto us quality & quantity in time to come. Meanwhile, pray with me that He will do a mighty work in our midst & ask Him to use us, Amen?
Oct
31
I was listening to a song entitled “Brand New Day” and it reminded me of the times I’ve taken for granted simple things in life such as the ability to wake up & be healthy. To think clearly after a good rest. Indeed, I need to thank God daily for each new day as He gives it unto me strength & courage to face each day. Not that each day is a battle (although sometimes it is) but rather, that each day is a blessing from God.
It’s Halloween today & many go out to celebrate it with drinks & such. I’m not so much a Halloween fan as I don’t enjoy horror stuff. But well, since in Singapore, we all want to celebrate something or other, here’s a Happy Halloween to all!
I finally got to shower my nephew (rather than him sitting in the bathtub, he stood up under the shower) for the second time. Amazingly, the toilet was more wet than myself as I let him play with the shower head as I soaped him up. After sometime, he decided to be adventurous & shower not just the bathroom wall but the toilet wall as well. So that’s my first time that I remained pretty much dry after showering him. The next morning as I was preparing for work however, my oldest dog Nicole went out for a walk & came back smelling like she’s been rolling in compost. So I had to give her a quick shower before going to work.
As I was reflecting about my job & what I’m doing. I daresay that I’ve been rather blessed that I enjoy what I’m doing despite having been in the same company for 8.5 years. That is an amazing thing that I still can’t phantom – how could I stay so long & still not feel bored – perhaps it’s coz I’ve been transferring departments every few years to get fresh insights & expand my job scope along the way. I’ve realised that in many cases, I was the one who was seeking for something fresh/new/exciting, else I’d never get moving. Perhaps this is something that God has put within me to learn new insights to old things.
Currently reading a very enlightening book about “Biblical Approach to Feng Shui & Divination”. It’s a very good book & I recommend reading some of these controversial topics with a biblical perspective. Ultimately, as Christians, we don’t dabble with Feng Shui but to understand the context, origin of it is very interesting. I never knew the traditional tomb stones that our ancestors were buried in were done in a feng shui fashion with the turtle, dragon, tiger in place. However, the book also stated that some of these feng shui items were common sense (such as putting a well in the middle of the house so that it’s easy to fetch water or not building a house at the top or bottom of a hill so that it wouldn’t be subject to natural elements as badly). Interestingly, there were also some biblical references in a very chinese/feng shui manner such as indication that the world was created & heaven & earth were separated by the sky. In case you’re wondering, I borrowed the book from the library – yes, indeed there’s such books available at the local library.
