What is Faith?

The passage I read for my morning devotion today - Hebrews 11 & 12:1-3

This was such a beautiful passage I just had to share it here on my blog.  Instead of paraphrasing it in my devotional notebook I will paraphrase it here.

Heberws 11:1  NOW FAITH IS BEING SURE OF WHAT WE HOPE FOR AND CERTAIN OF WHAT WE DO NOT SEE.

We show faith when we understand that God created the universe at his own command. (v.3)

Who else showed faith and was faithful in the Bible?  The following are some examples:

- ABEL brought God a better offering than Cain. (v.4)

- ENOCH never faced death because he was commended as one who pleased God. (v.5)

Hebrews 11:6 AND WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD, BECAUSE ANYONE WHO COMES TO HIM MUST BELIEVE THAT HE EXISTS AND THAT HE REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK HIM.

- NOAH was warned about things that never happened before but he built an ark to save his family. (v.7)

- ABRAHAM did not even know where he was going but when called to go he obeyed and went. He made his home in the promised land and lived like a stranger in a foreign country for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (v.8-10)

- SARAH was able to bear a child even though she was old because she believed God, who made the promise, was faithful. And so from Abraham who was "as good as dead"  from him came descendants as numerous as the stars int he sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. (v. 11-12)

All these people were still living by faith when they died.  Many of them did not receive the things promised such as seeing how big their descendants would grow or seeing the promised land.  They admitted they were only foreigners and strangers on earth.  They didn't think of the country they had left but were longing for a better country - the heavenly one.  (v. 13-16)

- ABRAHAM was willing to sacrifice Isaac when God tested him.  Because he had faith that God could raise the dead back to life. (v.17-19)

- ISAAC blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. (v.20)

- JACOB blessed Joseph's sons when he was dying and worshiped God until his old age.(v.21)

- JOSEPH  spoke about the exodus of the Israelites out of egypt before he died ad gave instructions that his bones must go with them. (v.22)

- MOSES'S PARENTS hid him for 3 months because they saw he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the king's law.(v.23)

- MOSES when he grew up did not want to be knows as the son of the Pharaoh's daughter.  He did not choose the treasures of Egypt.  He left Egypt not fearing the King's anger and persevered because he believed in God.  He kept the Passover so that the firstborn would be saved.(v.24-28)

-  ISRAELITES passed through the red seas and lived while the egyptians were swallowed up in the water.(v.29)

-  The walls of Jericho fell after the army marched around them for 7 days.(v.30)

- THE PROSTITUTE RAHAB was not killed because she welcomed the spies. (v.31)

There were so many more there's not time to talk about (v.32)
-GIDEON
-BARAK
-SAMSON
-JEPTHAH
-DAVID
-SAMUEL & PROPHETS

all of them through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, escaped the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength.  Women received back heir dead, raised to life again. (v.33-35)

Others were tortured, faced jeers and flogging, chains and imprisonment.  Some were put to death by stoning, sawed in two, killed by the sword. They were destitute, persecuted and mistreated. They wandered in deserts , mountains, caves and holes in the ground. (v36-38)

They were all commended for their faith.  Yet none of them actually received what had been promised.  Because God has planned something better and they believed in that. (v.39-40)

They are all our witnesses and our examples.  If they can go through that so can we.  We need to let go anything that hinders us from having that faith in God and go through this life with perseverance fixing our eyes on

-JESUS, the pioneer of perfect faith.  He endured the cross for us. (ch. 12 v.2)

Remember Jesus who endured so much for us sinners so that we will not grow weary and lose heart.(v.3)

~~~~~~~~~

- LERIE by faith......... ;)

Weird & Random

Im so weird and random...

I hardly post on my blogs and when I do I post like 10 posts in one time blehhh..haha

Well, bayu and I moving out of our current house.  Our lease is over as well as this block we're in is going to be demolished (if not we'd just stay put forever).

I can't wait to move because the block and the blocks surrounding us beside and behind are all N Blocks which means they are going to be demolished.  Currently the whole building behind and beside us is all unoccupied except I can see one or 2 lights on here and there.

On my floor there is only Us and one more neighbor although I can see they are boxing their things and gonna move out real soon.  Which means that Bayu and I will be the only one on this floor and not to mention the rest of the whole building is like a ghost town.

What freaks me out is that there have already been 3 fires around our block the closest one IN our block at the bottom floor and we could smell the smoke and only when it got super smoky we went down to see the police and firefighters.  And there was no one to warn us there was a fire! Because all the neighbors are gone!

Plus, I have been watching too much crime and Investigation that I"m getting paranoid our house will be robbed or some murder will come to our house and no one can here our screams for help because we have no neighbours!!!!!!!!!! So we triple lock our door every time we're in or out of the house for extra safety.

I'm excited to move but also absolutely DREADING the whole packing and unpacking part....aaaarrrggghhhhh......

That is Singapore's fire truck called  the "Hippo" and the blue part in the middle is all the smoke at the bottom of our block.

Prayer Journal

Previously I wrote about spending time with God through studying the Bible.  Now I would like to share about spending time with Him through prayer!

Now I haven't been doing this my whole life and it's a new way for me that I feel really help my relationship with him.  I've been praying and seeking many many years for ways that with help me know God better on a deeper personal level and I feel that I have a way (not that there is only one way!) that has helped me and therefore want to share it with you for perhaps you are also seeking Him like I am :)

This also comes from the FAST program I mentioned to you in the other post.

It starts as a prayer journal.

I started writing it in the same notebook as the one where I do my bible study but I'm slowly moving it to a personal blog because there's more writing and updating to do as I will let you know.

The basic steps are:
-Write the date of request


-Request as specifically as you can get (for e.g. instead of "please help Bayu to get well". Say "please help Bayu's fever to come down and help him to fall asleep so he can go to work tomorrow")

-Scriptures: if you can or remember/know a verse match a bible promise to the request (for e.g. your prayer is "Please help me to know whether I should take Psychology or Nursing" your Bible verse could be Psalms 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

-Answers: leave space in your journal (and this is why I'm starting to use a personal blog) to record the action God takes.  This part is the most exciting part for me.  God doesn't not answer our prayers completely or right away. So instead of waiting for it to be completely answered look for the actions God is taking to answer that prayer and jot it down! You will see how God is at work. Just an example in a real life situation of mine:

This is what my prayer journal looks like:
````````````````````````````
25 September 2011
Please help Bayu and I find a safe new house within our budget ($......) in a location suitable for my work and Church. Help us to find a nice and honest agent and landlord.
Psalms 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
*(Answers) Pr Johny recommended us to as SAUM if there is a vacancy at Thomson 800 (there was none)
*We called a few agents from our church in Singapore and they are looking for places for us.
*Our current landlord allows us to stay a little longer to give us time for moving
*We found a place to buy boxes for moving

``````````````````````````````
So we havn't found our new place yet but I can see God is leading us and opening up ways and hope for us in finding our new place.

Also, if you feel you need to or want to memorize Bible verses this is the chance to memorize it because it is related to your prayer too.

I have been blessed and just wanted to share this blessing with you.

<3

Uppy Datie

Hi! Update here!  Just wanted to share a little of something I discovered and find very inspiring and helpful.

I have started "trying my best" to get up first thing in the morning to do my morning devotion and spend time with God.

I feel like if I can put in hours, time and sweat to run I can put in time to be with God too.  Sure I talk to him all day in all activities but there's nothing like really sitting down just you and Him for a while together.

For me I need to be out of they house by 6.30-6.45 so to do morning devotion I get up around 5.30 am.  For the past few weeks I've been doing this (with some days of failing to wakeup because the biggest obstacle for me is waking up!).

It hasn't been easy but I want to share a few ways you can read/study the Bible where you don't feel it's so repetitive or boring or and you're actually learning something.

1.) I got this from our Adventist Church FAST programme.
-Short prayer as you start your bible study
-have a journal
-read a passage or chapter in the Bible
-Write a summary of what you read
-Write down the principles of a few things you've learnt from your reading
-Write down some specific things you could do to apply what you have learnt in your everyday life.

2.) If doing #1 becomes to monotonous and you feel that it's become more of a routine than quality time with God.  You can:
-Read devotional books
-Books that let you read a passage of the Bible and they have questions for you to ponder about and answer. (e.g. Emotionally Healthy Spirituality workbook by Peter and Geri Scazzero)

I am on my journey to finding God and knowing him more through having a deeper relationship with him.  I'm happy He has led me to how to know His word and just wanted to share this with you.  You're in my prayers I pray that God will guide you as He has guided me :)

Psalms 143:8
Cause me to hear your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do i trust; Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, For I lift up my soul to you.

Next is about prayer time/talking with God....(next blog post)

Thanks :)

Guys, thanks for the support on my running 5K in the last blog post. Makes me happy to hear from you. Megan, this program doesn't come with any diet but since running is a healthy thing might as well eat healthier too right?? HAHA...

Since, I finished the program to trainfrom C25K two weeks ago I have started the program that was created for those who have graduated from the C25K to train to run until 10K! The program is called B210K which stands for Bridge to 10K. Basically it just adds on to what I have been doing and by the end of the 6th week I'll be able to run 10K.

I am on my 2nd week already. The longest I have run now is 7.3K. Each time I run now I try not to run less than 5K so now running 5K is the norm...haha who would have thought!...Hope I don't sound like I'm showing off but yeah I just wanna share this with you and it's like an accountability for me too. If I tell more people this then I need to really do it and keep it up!

I have mad a facebook album entitled "Local Loop" where I'll try to put pictures of the areas I ran. HAHA...

So my goal is that by the end of this year I'll be able to run 10K. Then I'll start signing up for 5K and 10K marathons for 2012. And by the end of 2012 I'll train myself to run a half marathon which is 21K. It's just so much fun to plan for the future LOL! And I can't believe I'm setting such goals for myself but it's worth a try!

This is the iphone app I used to train for 5K

This is the app I'm using now to train for 10K

The creators of this app have a blog which if you're interested can read more about it here. The same people also have an app to train for a half marathon and full marathon which when the time comes in the future I plan to use :)

As you can tell...running has become such a fun part of my life:)

My first attempt at running on July 10, 2011

My furthest run so far on October 29,2011

Once again thanks for the comments you left of support and encouragement it means alot :D

Personal Achivement

For the past 9 weeks I have been Following a training program that will help me to stop being a potato couch and be able to run...until 5K.

The name of this training program is called Couch to 5K (C25K). Basically it is a workout 3 times a week up to 9 weeks from 20 to 40 minutes long.

It us more of building up stamina.  So for a person like me who hates walking up steps and it totally breathless exerting any energy at all I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could really make it to 5K.

I highly doubted it....but....on September 15, 2011 I finally ran 5K! It was the last week of the training.  I have run another 5K and tonight I plan to run another 5K.  Man! I can't believe I'm talking 5K!

It hasn't been easy but consistency and perseverance seriously pay.  And I have also seen a huge difference it bring on my energy during the day at work.  I don't feel so exhausted as I used to.  I'm super patient with my students now...it does help it does.

Oh and it's fun.  The runner's high is addictive!

The rout I ran on my very first 5K!

Actually to be exact it was 5.45K! 

I was/am really really happy...

-<3 <3 <3

Our Pattay Trip Agenda

As you probably know from my facebook album I got back last week from Pattaya.  The Singapore SDA Conference (AKA the pastors and their families) went on a retreat to Pattaya.  At first I was kinda sceptical about a retreat to Pattaya.  But the resort was really nice and we all had a good time!  Quality time with Bayu and bonding time with the other Pastor families.  You can see the rest of the pictures here.

I just wanted to record my wonderful moments and memories of last week onto this blog :)  The pictures portray a portion of our agenda while we were there.

So happy to be leaving!

We were able to meet dad at the airport.

We stopped by at lotus and had MK.
Then bought durian which we ate while in the warm jacuzzi.

Went for morning runs.

Swam at the beach.

Ate local food.

Massage!

Special dinner :D

Swim Swim Swim

Bonding time.

Enjoying the scenery of the resort.

Posing for pictures.

cha-yen and we bought 3 packets of som-tum to eat back in SG

Got to reunite with my family at the airport on the way back. <3

Mai yak klub ban hehehhe

-<3 <3 <3

Fajita Salad

I've kind of been up to a few things lately which I will go into detail in  on later posts.  But one of the latest is that I've been trying to live a healthy lifestyle.  One way is to eat healthier!  I've cut down ALOT (*sob haha) on unhealthy stuff and food I really love....to the point where I had severe sugar withdrawal.  But I'm doing well compared to before...as in there is some improvement on my food impulses...LOL.

I try to eat more healthy stuff like whole wheat, and grain (still find it hard to swallow brown rice though).  And wherever I go to eat or buy groceries I look for the healthier choice symbol that Singapore uses:

I've also tried to find interesting recipes that are tasty and healthy.  Below is the link where I got my Fajita Salad Recipe as well as the pictures of my finished product of the salad:

Where I got my recipe










I doubled the recipe so that the salad will last a few days.  I put a bit too much onions so I have total onion breath LOL but it tasted good!  Try it sometime people.

Oh yeah I'm also just learning the terms and names of healthy/unhealthy stuff which bayu is teaching me haha...it's alot easier to go on a healthy journey with a partner and I'm glad Bayu is helping me.  All the best to us!! =)

Laterz!

Test

Test


-<3 <3 <3

Yue Mak Mak (Alot Alot Alot)

Hi my lovely people of the world!!

I have a few minutes inbetween my students classes and I would like to say hi!

I've missed you and I've missed blogging!

As usual after no blogging for weeks and weeks I have alot to update on.  Can't wait to update.  I really need to just find the time to sit and blog!

[to be continued...with all the updates...LOL]

Again!..

Here I go again not blogging in forever!! Tsk tsk tsk bad bad me.

I have like a thousand pictures in my phone literally I could at least put up on post a day.

Anyway, my inspiration for this post is my parents visit! They just arrived this afternoon bringing tidings of good food....

Khao neaow ( sticky rice )
Pik pla too ( chili paste made by P Bang and the sticky rice from her too! )
Creamy durian!
Thai style fried chicken with the green chili sauce.
MK duck noodles.
Kwe teaow.

Wow that's alot of food. We were totally feasting. :)

Oh and not to mention my clothes,shoes, and makeup from my mom and sisterrrr!!!




-<3 <3 <3

The "Filipino" Snack

I made a dessert for Sabbath lunch. I wanted to make something special because it was my " Special" day.

Below will be the steps I took to make it and the simple ingredients.

Im not not sure what it's called but it is a Filipino dessert. Some call it Mango Float but I have no mangoes in my ingredients (unfortunately). You could call it Graham Pie or fruit Salad cake ... Whatever hehe.

The ingredient that makes this special are these crackers that come from the Philippines - Graham Crackers:




You can get it at:




You'll know the rest of the ingredients and utensils needed as we go along.

First get a helper/ assistant or two. I had Bayu and Sonya haha.




You will need canned fruits for 40 ppl or two trays. ( u can see it in my Sabbath post). I bought

2 big cans of peaches
1 can rambutan
1 can lychee
1 big can of fruit cocktail
1 can Palm seed
( basically its up to you but it tastes divine with peaches and good mango)

I got Bayu to open the cans and Sonya to slice the fruit into smaller pieces.








Dump all the fruits in big bowl. You're going to mix it in a while.

Oh yeah throw away all the juice except the peach juice pour a bit of the juice in with the fruits. But don't make it too watery.




Dump in 4 cans of this nestle cream. And mix it up with the fruits until it looks like fruit salad.

Get 2 trays ( just estimate I'm making this with 40 people in mind).

Line both trays with the crackers. This is the bottom layer.



Scoop up the mix and make one layer to cover up the crackers about half an inch.




Cover it with a second layer of crackers.

Go over the crackers a second time with the fruit mix.

Layer the top with crackers again but try to make it neater since it is the final layer. I used a knife to cut up the crackers to fill the gaps.

Basically, there are 3 layers of crackers and 2 layers of fruits.




Put it in the freezer for a day. Or until it freezes up. Make sure it's a bit defrosted ( not rock solid) before serving.




To make these two trays I used 3 packs of the crackers.

You can decorate the cake however you like it. Be creative. When I first made it for Bayu in 2005 I got chocolate pocky sticks and broke it up and placed it on the top to make it say " I U" since it was for valentines day. (ok getting off topic here).




Enjoy!




Feel free to enquire on this recipe. Heeheheeheh muah!

-<3 <3 <3

Bday 2 Me!

It's my 3rd day a a 25 year old and everything's the same I might as well still be 21!

This has been the first birthday where I didn't look forward to put into my mental calendar. I was expecting it to be just another ordinary day. But I was forced to celebrate it... In a good way of course.

Sonya came for a visit the day before and Rochael slept over because Sonya was here... Or ao I thought.

At midnight I was awakened to an urgent knock at my bedroom door and I was so freaked out!

I opened the door to a beautiful cake! With candles! And balloons! And a card! And Sonya and Rochael singing happy birthday to me.

I was surprised!!! And touched!!! And a happy twenty-five year old





















-<3 <3 <3