God, are you there?

Do you believe that God speaks?

Have you ever heard Him speak?

I believe He does. He speaks all the time. Do you realize it? Are you aware of it?

For me, the verse where it says that All creation shouts the praise of God caught my attention. really took the time to challenge myself everyday. How? By the simple activites that I do everday. I learn Biblical principals, concepts, am being revealed to the character of God by things around me and by the things i do.

Just to share a few at the request of my dear dorothy seng. I pray and hope that this will encourage all of you and as a testimony to all that God is truly a living God.

some of the ways that God have been speaking to me, apart from sermons, my quiet time, for the past one month are through:

1) Playing Jenga

The concept of the game Jenga is to filter out the loose blocks and stack them till they fall right? When you first start the game, the "structure" seems stable until you start tapping to source out which block is ripe to remove from the structure and to stack at the top. The game only ends when the structure comes crashing down.

Well, for me, i learnt that the solid "structure" when we start the game represents us as a child of God. We may look like that block of solid "structure" in Christ. But are we really that strong?

THe little blocks that make up the structure represents the word of God. What builds us up? the word of God. In the game, there are some blocks which are loose and some which are firmly secure in their position. Some blocks are easier to take out than others.

With Us, tapping on each block, reminds me of the challenges/devil/obstacles that really come knocking at the doors of our hearts in our lives. It is like testing how grounded you are in the word of God. Are you secure in the word of God?

With every truth that you know, you are like the secure blocks that provide a firm foundation for the growth of the structure, Your own structure. With every uncertainty of the word, you are like the loose blocks that can be easily taken out.

If we do not have a firm foundation, we may end up crumbling down. Therefore, through playing this game, i learnt the importance of knowing the truths, what the Lord has to say. THe bible is a very powerful tool and it can guide your paths only if you allow it to.

2) Arcade Games

To be honest, i don't really like stepping into arcades. But i had to as it was part of one of my leadership programmes. Instead of sulking, just make the best of it and have fun :) when you do, you learn tons of amazing things from and with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

THere were three stations that we played for that day. The first was air hockey, followed by street basketball and the last one para para.

Air Hockey

While playing, the puck caught my attention. I kinda pitied the puck as it kept getting whacked around from one end to the other. At that time, i thought to myself, man, it seriously sucks to be a puck. Getting hit all the time. If ever given a choice to be anything in this world, i would never choose to be a puck.

Yet, ironically, many of us (myself included) unknowingly, unconsciously choose to be a puck. The Puck of Life is what i call it.

How does one become the puck of life?

To me, i learnt that when you don't know your identity. You do not know who you are in Christ, the things that you can do, the power that is in you. You allow others to dictate, to shape, and mould you instead of allowing God to do so.

You become what others think you are. THe people/person who has the most influence in your life is able to do that. It then boils down to one question: Who is the most influential person in your life?

For me, it used to be my parents. THey are the most influential people in my life because they are my parents, they gave life to me and i respect and love them a lot. They do have very good insights and perspectives which are based on their own personal experience.

But i realized, it is a very fine line between loving them and them influencing me. I'm not saying that they cannot influence me. They can, but to a certain extent. Ultimately, it is God who has the final say in my life. What's yours? :)

Another thing that one can become a puck of life is when you wish to please people. When we seek to please people instead of God, we lose focus on what we are supposed to do or what God has called us to do. Eventually, one will be so lost, tired out, frustrated and will not be able to function properly.

Gal 1:10
" For do i now persuade men or God? Or do i seek to please men? For if i still pleased men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Prov 16:7
" When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him"

wow! isn't Prov 16:7 awesome? When you please the Lord, even your enemies are at peace with You. The Lord MAKES them at peace with you. how cool is that? very cool!

Second game - Street Basketball

This game reminds me of Philippians 3:13 - 14

" Brethren, i do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing i do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

As i played the game, never once did i turn back to look who is watching me play, to see who is cheering me on. No, none of that. i concentrated on the goal. To shoot as many basketballs into the hoop as possible. Similarly, in our walk/relationship/ministry, it challenges me in the sense that am i looking ahead and to reach out for the greater things that God has in store for me?

Para Para

IT's a dancing game!!! haha i love it. miss playing it in secondary sch at my friend's house after sch. :) Dancing in public? anyone game? it is definitely uncomfortable yah? THoughts like aiyo, so paisei, later people laugh at me, say dunno how to dance stil want to dance. haha right?

but who cares? If is fun, and very enjoyable. you just got to get your body movin'. Dancin' para para reminds me of worship. Many times we do not dare to step out of our comfort zones to worship God. Whatever your comfort zone may be. It can be as simple as standing up from the comfortable chair, to raising your hands up in surrender, to jumping around, to kneeling, to prostrating on the floor. Whatever it is, each one is an expression of worship to God.

What is your comfort zone now? Do you dare step out of it? :)

These are some of the things that i learnt from the activities that i did. They are very real to me. It just shows me that GOd speaks in ways that i cannot understand and is different from what i think it should be.

Open your eyes, open the eyes of your heart, open your ears. You will find Him. He is not as far as you think but very near. Nearer than you think it is. :) Have fun with God, I'm sure He is looking to a splendid time with you.

God bless.