Fresh Encounter to starts a new year

FRESH ENCOUNTER

Are you ready to draw near to God?  He is ready to bring you near.  Are you ready for a fresh encounter with the God of the Universe?  Jeremiah 31 shows us that His heart yearns for his people. 

January is a time of new beginnings.  As a church family we will come together to seek a fresh encounter with our Lord.  We long for return to the nearness we sense when we practice obedience.  We desire to be close to God, to know him deeply, and to sense his presence.  Our God is very real and very near.

How can you prepare?  First, check out Psalm 46:10 and take a few moments to pause and reflect on who He is.  Second, allow yourself some time with the Lord to prepare your heart for revival.  Finally, take a moment to lead another down the road to a fresh encounter.  This time will be both personal and corporate.  That basically means we will come to God personally and we will call on God together.  Take some time to sit over a cup of coffee with a friend or coworker. They need a fresh encounter too.

New Year Eve Dinner Fellowship

Another holiday tradition my family followed was to gather at close friends’ houses to fellowship over meals.

These memories formed the foundation of my understanding of the way fellowship should exist in the local church.

These times build relationships and make our union stronger.  It doesn’t have to be an eight-course meal. The food helps pull everyone together, but in the end, it’s really not about the quality of the food.  It’s about fellowship!

When I think of it, I am reminded of the Early Church and how they were committed to fellowshipping with each other. Acts 2:46 says, “And they [the believers]… breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.”

REST

Exodus 23:12 - You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working.  This gives your ox and your donkey a chance to rest.  It also allows your slaves and the foreigners living among you to be refreshed. [NLT]

The Lord instituted a time for rest and renewal for His people because He wanted them to thrive.  As we see in the book of Exodus, He tells His people to sow their fields for six years and rest on the seventh.  So too with working six days and resting on the seventh.

Rest is often overlooked in today’s culture and sometime deemed as counter cultural.  God’s way of rest set apart the Israelites from other nations, for not only they but also the foreigners and slaves in their households were allowed to follow this pattern of rest. 

Praise God  for providing us with peace and rest.  He is also our Source of Strength during our weak, feeble moments.  We need to remember that we are designed to rest!  God divinely created and ordained a Sabbath day of rest for us to draw near to Him and rest in His holy presence!  Jesus beautifully exemplified taking time to rest during His ministry here on earth.

In Psalms 46:10, He says "Be still, and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.”

We can approach our day of rest with expectancy and creativity, welcoming the chance to worship and do something that feeds our souls, which varies according to our preferences.  Some will like to play games; some to do gardening; some to share a meal with friends and family; some to take a nap. 

Let us rediscover the beauty and richness of setting apart a day to rest. 

Lunch at FULL XIANG SPICY HOTPOT @ QUEENSBAY MALL

After Sunday Church service, we went to FULL XIANG SPICY HOTPOT for our lunch.

Full Xiang Spicy Hotpot is one of the latest additions to the spicy hotpot scene. For those that love the feeling of spicy (辣) a numb (麻), this is the place that you should visit. The master of Full Xiang hailed from Taiwan who went all the way to Sichuan, China, to learn the skills of preparing spicy hotpot. A few years later, he improvised and came out with his own recipe and making it into one of the most successful hotpot chains in Taiwan.

X'MAS DINNER @ KIM's RESTAURANT Jelutong

Family Christmas Dinner at KIM's Restaurant, Jelutong, Penang

We ordered Kimchi Jjigae, [a thick soup made from kimchi simmered with pork meat and tofu served with steam rice] Jap-chae, [stir-fried glass noodle with pork and vegetables.]

Beef Bulgogi, [thinly sliced beef cooked with onions, springy korean glass noodles and spring onions in a sweet & savoury soy sauce.] Tteok-Bokki, [stir fried rice cake with assorted vegetables and fishcakes with gochujang based sauce] and Kimchi Jeongol [kimchi infused meat broth studded with Korean dumplings, Korean fishcakes, fresh shitake mushroom, tofu, enoki mushroom, ramen, onion, green onion]

Kimchi Jjigae

Tteok-Bokki

Kimchi Jeongol

R O'range @ Armenian Street, Penang

Invited to a new shop R ORANGE Cafe @ Armenian Street, Penang.

Black Pepper Udon

Cannon Chicken Udon

Big Hamborg

Radish Cake

Sweet Potato Balls

Taiwan Catch Sandwich

Cheesy Pancake

Letting go is the hardest things to do ...

Letting go is the hardest things to do ... It's so easy to try to hold on to things, but we must trust that our Lord has something better ...

Letting go of a relationship, hurt, fear, past mistakes, sin, guilt, slander, anger, failures, regrets, worry, etc. is easier when we realize that God is in control.

Realize that God has allowed and used these things and these people in your life to build you up.  Now you must move on towards Him ...

Isaiah 26:3 "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!" (NLT)

Colossians 3:2 ... "Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth." (NLT)

Supper Fellowship at TONG SUI PO

Month of December supper fellowship @ TONG SUI PO.

Anger

A saint was asked, "What is Anger?"
He gave a beautiful answer, "It is a punishment we give to ourself, for somebody else's mistakes!"

When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.  You can put a knife in a man and draw it out, it won’t matter how many times you say ‘I’m sorry,’ the wound is still there.”

What are the results of long term anger?  Every area of our lives is damaged by it.  Body, soul, and spirit are affected adversely.  Our health and relationships are damaged.

Any kind of anger, no matter what it is rooted in, causes stress, and stress causes illness. Anger is not God's will, and our bodies don't function well with it.

Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.(Ecclesiastes 7:9)(NLT)

We cannot control what the world does, but we can determine not to follow its ways.




Proverbs 14:30  A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones  (Amplified Bible)

In times of suffering, do not turn inward to self pity or outward to revenge, but turn upward to God.

Dinner at Eastern Wishes Nanyang & Thai Cuisine

Family dinner at Eastern Wishes Nanyang & Thai Cuisine at Bayan Baru.  After dinner drop TJ at airport for his flight to Singapore.