Seeking God

Met up with Zikai and had another long but productive discussion on myriad issues. Here are a few things that struck me:

Firstly, my healing has a higher chance of coming if I'm constantly seeking and pursuing God and being in His will. A no-brainer, but surely one of the most difficult things to discipline myself to do. It is all the more important if I'm to be responsible to those under me and if I expect them to seek God likewise.

Secondly, doing things for God is not the same as allowing God to do things through you. I find myself very busy nowadays and anticipate that I'll only get busier. I need to ensure that my busyness, however important for the church, does not get in the way of the things that God has in store for me.

Next, a little cud to chew on.
1. If we are baptised in the Holy Spirit, where are the signs and wonders God promised?
2. Why are we not experiencing God's powerful presence daily, when He is unchanging?
3. Why are there so many people leaving the presence of God untouched and unchanged?
4. Where sinners used to chase after Jesus, why are sinners finding church Pharisical and shying away from it?

Finally, two books I'd like to find the time to read:
Kim Clemens' Call Me Crazy but I'm Hearing God
Tommy Tenney's God Chasers

Jesus heals

Experienced God's miraculous healing power personally on Sunday in a powerful way.

I was practising for service on the bass when I realised that I was beginning to get a terrible headache. Strangely enough, it seemed to affect only the right side of my head and I could feel my skull bones aching. There seemed to be a pressure not dissimilar to that of sinusitis. It was more acute when I ran my tongue along my teeth. The moment my tongue crossed the front incisors from the left to the right, I could no longer sense my tongue touching my teeth.

Eventually I had to go lie down. The team came to pray for me and after that I went to lie down again. As I was lying there, my parents told me that it wasn't really nice to be lying there but I couldn't appreciate that thought at the moment. Then Zikai came and said it was OK if I couldn't play, and that I had to decide in three minutes. I mumbled something in reply and just lay there.

Not a minute later, I just felt the ache and numbness just melt away from the right side of my face. It felt as if someone had just pulled it off. I got up right away and felt as right as rain.

I went on to play for the service and gave a testimony later. I'd never experience God's healing so vividly and immediately before. I believe that if God can heal me of this, then eczema is within his job scope as well. But only if I seek him, which brings me to my second post.

My grandfather

I finally cried. It happened at the Leaders' Retreat when I was watching The Ultimate Gift that included a part where a grandfather had recorded his message for his grandson. Then I remembered Enkong. Better late than never. Bless his soul.
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I realised I was probably about the only one who didn't shed a tear. Is it that I'm able to keep my emotions in check or that I'm pretty emotionless? Then when some kid's hands got shut on by the piano cover, I callously said that he deserved it for playing where he shouldn't be playing. I think I'll make an excellent father.
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Have reached KL and glad to see that everyone is positve about the whole thing. When someone dies and has gone to meet Jesus, it becomes more of a celebration. =] Funeral's on Thu and scattering of ashes on the sea is on Fri. Should be back by Sat or Sun.
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My grandpa has passed away on X'mas Day. I'm just glad he's no longer suffering and is with Jesus now. Rushing back to KL now.
Merry Christmas, y'all.
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My grandpa's back home at my uncle's place in KL having been discharged. He's feeling a bit better now and I believe the environment will do him good. My mum's managed to take a week off to visit him there. Pray for a complete recovery.
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Finally back in S'pore and it'd been a relaxing yet stressful time there. Stayed in the most luxurious of houses (thank you, Linda and Tan) but yet had my grandfather's health on my mind, despite plenty of window shopping and sightseeing.
Briefly recceed the Avillion resort at Port Dickson. This one is really a class above everything else. I mean, lawn tennis?! Only stickler is the potential high cost. Let's see what the agent can offer us.
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Change of plan: Jasmine, Sharon, my mum, Yewhock & I are only going on Wed morning and staying till goodness knows when. My cousin's dream and my granddad's cryptic indication of 'five days' on 1 Dec makes 6 Dec very important. He could die or get better. Whatever happens, we know he is saved and that's what matters. Looks like I have to give Thu's prayer meeting and Sun service a miss, as we'll probably link up with the recce team in KL, and henceforth to Fraser's Hill and Port Dickson. Who knew I'd be so busy this holiday?
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I should be going with Jasmine next week from Mon-Wed. Pretty apprehensive about going by ourselves.
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Please pray for my grandfather as he's really ill. Went to the doctor for a checkup and found that the haemoglobin (iron) in his blood is half the normal level. Also, my cousin dreamt that he would pass away on 6 Dec. If this is true, then it's a message to my family and I that we can't delay visiting him in Malaysia any longer, leave and schedules notwithstanding. Pray for God's healing and for his faith in God to strengthen.

Eczema update

Despite a humid and active day at Ker Toh Loh, managed not to scratch a lot. Am relying on Cetirizine, an oral anti-histamine, in the absence of Prednisalone. Must rest, eat and hydrate well in the meantime.
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There seems to be a trend. The steroids work for the first week, then the effect starts to tail off. Tomorrow's the last day of steroids and hence it's off to Dr Hia again. I can just feel the eczema being suppressed, though it's still there. I can feel it. But I pray it stays away even though I get off steroids. I can't continue like this.
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Steroids have never worked so well. I haven't enjoyed such quality of life for a long while. I pray this will be the first step to getting some semblance of a life back. But going out today with no flannel, cream or even a bag was liberating. One more week of this and I'm off it, so I wanna make the most of it. Then have to monitor my progress.
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I am ultra-susceptible to heatiness and its causes nowadays. A late night, too much or too little sleep, the wrong food, stress, or no reason whatsoever: anything could trigger an outbreak. Outbreaks usually mean inflamed skin and extreme itchiness, followed by extreme exfoliation and widespread exfoliation or peeling. The amount of dead skin I sweep up each day is literally by the handful.

My upper lip area and ears refuse to heal or even dry and remain distinctly uncomfortable, itchy and unpleasant to look at. I probably don't mind the eczema on the limbs, but the face is really a bummer.

I am unable to take part in any activities that cause me to sweat or increase my heart rate, which obviously includes football and any active sport. My eyes water and tire easily because of rhinitis and my nose constantly runs because of sinitis; both conditions are linked to the eczema. Any shock I get, like a loud noise, brings a rush of blood to my head, which makes it itchy all over again.

All these symptoms are being treated by a concoction of Chinese herbs and medicine that constitutes a systematic and long-term approach to healing. It costs about $250 each month, so I'm glad my parents are helping out with $200. I also use wet towels with ice to alleviate the itch, though I can only do so for 20 minutes at a time before I need to moisturise, as the skin gets extremely dry.

I constantly receive well-meaning comments about how bad I look and recommended cures, which I can't ignore because they are borne of good intention.

I hate this eczema from the bottom of my heart and the depth of my soul. I urge you to pray with me whenever you think of me:

"Lord, I claim Your healing for Aaron in Jesus' name for You are Jehovah Rapha - God our Healer (Exo 15:26). I trust in Your promise of healing which You have given Aaron when you said that he will 'laugh' at his condition in days to come (Job 8:21-22). I rebuke the eczema and declare that it has no place in the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1Co 6:19). I also declare that all food is God-made and is not impure (Act 11:9), and that Aaron will not suffer any side effect even when eating foods he is supposedly allergic to. I pray You will give him peaceful sleep (Psa 127:2), improve his condition and complexion, and remove the itchiness. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!"

Rev James Singh's sermon on Simeon

Here's my two cents' worth on Simeon.

I can identify with the broken hands. God has given me a promise with regards to my healing, but it gets harder and harder to hold on to with each passing day that sees no progress. I have to keep asking God for His strength to pull through and keep believing in His healing. God help me to have a breakthrough. Help me hold on.

I will laugh!

Went to Maggie's place so we could pray together for my healing. Jasmine was there too, of course.

What followed was an amazing time of fellowship, sharing and learning, full of the richness of God's word and truths. Not to mention a great dinner!

I realise now that there are so many things about God that we don't understand and that we've only scratched the surface. Through my daily devotion and prayer, I hope to know God in a deeper way and for Him to reveal His word for me through his Word.

I also shared quite a bit about my life for the first time, my frustrations and setbacks, my victories and God's deliverance. It felt really good to open up.

Towards the end, after we had finished praying, Maggie said she had a word from God about me. She said simply that I would laugh. I had to check myself. "I will what?" I asked, not believing what I had heard.

"In days to come, you will laugh. Laugh at your enemy, at your eczema," among other things, she explained. Unfortunately, "in days to come" is an indefinite adverbial of time. It doesn't literally mean days; instead it means "at some time in the future". And so I don't know when my healing will come, but I know it will come sooner or later. Pastor Koo had corroborated this yesterday. Maggie did warn that God gives us a word sometimes to prepare for spiritual attack. But God's grace is sufficient for me.

As I've shared recently, I am now at peace, because I am comfortable in my own skin. Pardon the pun. But what I mean is that I know that whatever happens, God is in control. Good or bad, He's in control. And I know He will come through for me, as He has promised.

As God (not luck) would have it, Joshua and Benjamin called me up and said they wanted to meet. So they cycled over and though we did not spend long and I spent most of the time scratching from sweat and mosquitoes, I stayed long enough to encourage them both and give my testimony. I'm sure it spoke to them, else God would not have arranged it as such.

As I type this, I am preparing to go to my practicum school (Rosyth School). And I feel a little less nervous knowing my God is going with me. I believe He will let me excel there, eczema notwithstanding.

I wait eagerly to laugh loudest, longest, and last. Muhahaha! =]

PS: Manfred has his own drum set!

Anointing with Oil

5:13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praises. 5:14 Is anyone among you ill? He should summon the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint 15 him with oil in the name of the Lord. 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up – and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 5:16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.
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My mum gave me these verses to read in the morning. Our church sometimes practises this old ritual, and I figure, why not? As Selwyn Hughes said in the latest issue of Every Day with Jesus, "even after anointing with oil healing does not always come." But he concludes even that is "no reason to disobey a divine command."

I'll try it out soon.