Mar 6, 2011

By My Faith And I Shall Walk


With All I Am sung by Hillsong Choir(Gospel)

I think if you have been following my blog since Day 1, you will know I talk about my faith in God(Christianity) all the time. Almost in every post, every line of text. God is mentioned and I find every chance to do it in my line of work too.

When email got popular, I added a line of text called a Signature at the end of all my emails that I replied to others or send out. And that line of text is extracted from the Good News Bible(International Version) and it reads:

"The Lord is my Shepherd. I HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED. Psalms 23:1"

I did this on purpose to put that last sentence in Caps all the way. That verse serves to be a reminder for me every time an email leaves my inbox. And when its replied, I get to read that verse again.

Once a business associate replied to me and said:

"Not everyone I know has the amount of faith you have in your religion. To put that down in every email. But I would to ask, what does those words mean "I have everything I need". Do you have everything you need? I thought everyone is always in need of something"

And I replied :

"It means to me that I am not in want of more. I put that verse in my emails to remind me all the time.

Any more, He is blessing me with Abundance.
Any less, He is teaching me to be contented with all I have.

So in reality, I HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED."

When I started Kitchen Capers forum in July 2004, I just wanted to share information about cooking, baking. I hope the forum help everyone and also myself to learn from each other. And it carried the faith I have with me into the forum too. At the KC Forum, the title reads:

"People Learn from one another, just as Iron Sharpens Iron. Proverbs 27:17"


In everything I do, I put it in prayers. When KC was started, Pastor Kim San, Buay and myself prayed over it. We ask the Lord for a Bible verse to be use for this. Although the site was run and managed by a Christian*yours truly, I never preach the Gospel in the forum. Because the forum was open to everyone, every religion and every faith out there. The purpose was to share, to learn.

I wouldn't allow anyone to mock or spoke ill of any religion. But in fact, we talk about the food we eat that evolved around the various religions we believed in.

When we first open our store in Kallang Bahru, I was literally treading in uncharted waters. My knowledge was slightly above zero point. I knew enough..but not more. I knew what to say to customers asking for things that I don't sell or how to use a certain ingredient I have.

Every day, Benny and I prayed over our store. In our faith, we learn to lean on God for everything. To bring customers to us, to teach us what to say, what to sell and how to sell.

By my faith and I shall walk. While Willie(my brother in law) who works in the store with me is not a Christian, he would often say we needed luck to keep the business going. I often had to remind him that I do not need luck. But I need God instead. Its Him to kept us till today.

I wonder how many Christian-run companies prayed everyday for their business? I know I did. Benny and I did. We prayed everyday. When we check our sales by 7pm, we both Thank God in one voice. Every day, without fail. Even if our sales are bad and we don't even break even. We put our faith in Him alone. We know deep in us, He will provide.

Some days we have no one in our shop. And I will sms Benny and say "Today is very quiet. Let's Pray" and he replied "Yes, God will send angels"

And soon after, people would just appear out of nowhere..and within an hour, our sales hit the jackpot(so to speak). We hit our sales target for the whole day in just 1 hour flat! Just because we believe, just because we have faith in Him.

So many times, this has happened. And we can no longer say its just pure coincident. Whenever we shared about our work with others, we often talk about how God bless us. In our work(the shop), with our children, with my parents, family and relatives. And most of all, with Benny and myself.

In so many ways, He never failed to show me that I indeed HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED. No more, no less.

Have you pray recently?

For yourself? For the work you do with others? For your superior? For your friends or your family members? For that someone who hurt your feelings? Or even for your pets?

Take charge of your life as a Christian. Its been a prayerful life for me. Things will happen when you put your faith in Him. Maybe not as dramatic as the Red sea parted in Moses time or Noah and the great flood that lasted for 40 days and night. But enough to shake your faith in Him alone.

I see my life is full of events, both good and bad. If God has not been in it with me all this while, I know I am not here today. And I know I wouldn't have met Benny.

With each failure, He taught me new skills, how to cope, what to do. How to pick up the pieces and how to mend. And each failure I had to go through in life, He taught me how to share, never to hold back. And in turn, teach others to cope.

Without Christ, my life is a standstill.

With Christ, my cup of joy over runs. Its never enough that I seek more and more of Him each day.

When Benny accepted Christ in 1987, he loved this Christian hymn " Because He Lives, I can face tomorrow" And sometimes in his bad days, he would hummed to the tune of this hymn. And without fail, God will calm him and renew his faith.



And the person who taught him to sing this hymn was Brother Tony Lim, who was also the person who is the MC of our wedding. Brother Tony Lim was a retired Registrar at the Registrar of Marriages in Singapore. When we got married, Bro Tony blessed us with God's words that our lives ahead will be filled with God's blessing for years to come.

Songwriters: Gaither, Gloria; Gaither, William
God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Chorus
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

Chorus
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

And then one day, I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to vict'ry,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives!


****

May God Bless each and everyone of you. As you go about life's struggle each day. In good or bad days. He is constantly on watch over you. 24/7, 365 days a year and 366 days in a leap year. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing. Know for now and for sure, He is just a prayer away.

AMEN!

4 comments:

E. said...

Thanks for sharing this. I always feel so motivated after reading your posts. I still have to work on my relationship with God. I find that I barely pray to Him because I think I can rely on myself. So is it really ok to pray to God about anything, no matter how little it is? Also, I've always wondered about praying to God and Him listening to our prayers. My mom always says that "I prayed and He listened and ____this___ happened." Sometimes I feel a bit skeptical, is it really Him? Well, thanks for giving me something to think about. Take care. :)

Gina Choong said...

Esther, nothing is small to Him. My dad once told me, like a child who comes to his mother and tells her things he has done, no matter how small or big it is, God wants us to be like that with Him too. I don't pray just asking of things. I see prayer as a form of communication with God and also a way to tell Him of things I have inside me. No matter how silly it sounds, or how great I am I was. I know He hears me loud and clear. In the things I do each day, in more ways than none, He shows me always...He heard me loud and clear. When the weather gets too hot, sometimes I just tell God, its too hot, I am so lazy to get out of the house. And then moments later, the clouds appear...cool breeze follows.. :) AMEN!

Gina Choong said...

Esther, its super hot now in Singapore. After replying to you on the weather, the cool breeze just came and the clouds appeared too. As I have to work today at the shop..I am getting ready to leave the house. And He reads my blog too! :) I don't have to bake in the hot sun, while waiting for a taxi. AMEN!

Kweesong said...

Thank you Gina for tagging me on this blog. Yes there is nothing too small or too big for God. Most people pray to God when they need something or require some help. Yes, before even we ask He already knew but what He wants is the relationship. Communication/talking to God is one sure way of building an intimate relationship with Him, and He will be well pleased. As Serene and I took the challenge to come to Mongolia, we had learnt to be more and more dependent on Him. We will come to Him for everything and seek His wisdom and directions. In all things we will pray and also pray for all our friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. Through praying for others we also receive the blessings that we prayed for others. Do you know God always rewards and gives bonuses. I read your this blog like a sermon for today. I am truly refreshed, encouraged and motivated by what you wrote. Thank you Gina. The Lord blesses you and Benny always.