Reflections on Obstacles

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As I was looking at some of the situations I have encountered over recent weeks, sometimes even looking back at things I have went through over the years… I have just learnt something about obstacles that the Lord is teaching me.

Often in lives we face obstacles in many forms… One example I like to give is this, quite often on the same day or week, which I have an important church activity to attend to, I will suddenly find myself drowned with a lot of work that will cause to me be stuck at home and thus preventing me to attend it… This doesn’t happen just once or twice but it happens so many times that I have lost count of the number of events I missed just because I got stuck at home… I realised this is a trick the devil uses a lot on me… Knowing that my weakness is my work and until I have finished my work, I rarely have any peace in my mind and heart  and often I will make a lot of excuses not to go anywhere else because of it… Because you didn’t go, you miss out on the blessing God has intended for you.

Don’t you think it is too much of a coincidence if it happens almost half the time?  Every time, you have something important you want to attend to, related to church, something happens; you suddenly get into a quarrel with someone, something crops up at work, it clashes with an office event, out of the blue you fall sick…. Either for some reason you missed it, (and regret that you did, and wished you were there) or you eventually attended the meeting but with some struggles in your heart.

I remembered once I didn’t feel so good, and I was really tempted to skip church but I still pressed my way and made it to church no matter what, and I thank God that I did, because I was hungry for God, He blessed and honour me for preserving to seek Him. Sometimes, if you just give in to the excuse, you have just fallen for the trick of the enemy and you just missed out on something great that God has in stored for you.

Obstacles can come from two different sources carrying two different types of purposes. The first type of obstacles are God ordained, when God allowed these obstacles to come your way, it is either to train you for something greater or to protect from something is probably going to harm you in some ways or maybe God is just saying no because he has something else better for you. Once I was looking forward to attend a Christian concert, but many things prevented me from being able to buy the tickets and there was also a clash of events, I had classes to attend prior to that. Eventually I didn’t manage to attend it because I realised later (somewhere in the midst of it), that mom was having her birthday dinner that same evening, and God wanted me to be there instead. That’s no wonder why I was having a hard time planning and trying to get my ticket for the concert. On one hand, I didn’t know if I was able to make it after class, on the other hand I had a hard time getting my tickets online…

The other type of obstacles comes from the Devil. (Like what I have shared in my above example in the beginning) If this happens, there can only be one purpose, it is to destroy, distract and derail you away from the plans of God.

While God has a plan for you, remember that the devil also has a plan for you… John 10:10 says, “The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I (Jesus) have come that you may have life, and life more abundantly.”  Whenever God has a plan for you, the devil is also working behind the scene to attempt to bring you down, so that you are not able to fulfil God’s plan.

We need to learn to discern which ones are God ordain and which ones are from the devil (which normal comes as a form of spiritual attack). How do we discern? Sometimes you just know, you can sense it, otherwise, simply go to God in prayer and ask Him to reveal it to you through the Holy Spirit.  If it comes from the Holy Spirit, you will feel peace in the end, and it is normally for a good purpose, otherwise, you would probably be able to guess that it is coming from the other side.   

The devil has a lot of tactics he uses to prevent you from doing God’s work or drawing close to Him. Sometimes, he uses your own weakness against you; sometimes, he uses the people around you. Otherwise, he will cause a situation to arise that will either; destroy, distract, defeat, discourage, delay or detour you. The Bible however  encourages us that in some situation, God has the ability to turn what the devil intend to be harmful, to be good for his purpose in the case of Joseph (Gen 50:20)

And Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose”.

We can be encouraged therefore, that nothing happens to us that is unknown to God, sometimes even if is from the devil, God also has a purpose for allowing it, which we may never understand as in the case of Job.  (Job 1:6-12).

We can however be encouraged that, “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God for justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one, Christ Jesus who died, more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written; “For your sake we face death all day long, we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything things in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: 31-39)

Be encouraged, God is always on our side no matter what happens in our lives. It is up to us, however, to choose which side we want to be on.

God bless you!

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;

Princess Michelle –

Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Tears of Healing

Tears are my prayers when I'm unable to speak
Lord You see my heart, You know that I am weak
Drop by drop they flow continually from my eyes
Like the rain that is falling from the sky
How loud O Lord is the sound of my cry
How long more O Lord will You continue to pass me by
Every ounce of hurt, with each tear I choose to let go
May Your healing touch through each one of them flow
Receive my tears as my worship and prayer unto Thee
Do not ignore my cries when I'm on my knees
I will continue to wait on You
Trusting Your grace to see me through
For my hope comes from You and You alone
My Abba Father, who sits on heaven's throne

Written by Michelle Yee

Hope

Give me faith when my world is crashing
Lift me up when I am falling
Lord, I'm calling out to You
I have no where else to turn to

When darkness covers me
Open my eyes and help me see
You are all that I have
And You are all that I really need

Nothing else matters
No one else will do
Help me to have faith
And truly put my trust in You

You are the light, You are my hope
You are the answer to all I need
Whatever it takes, break me
Bring me to my knees

When all else fail, Your word remains true
Hope draws me back, and I'll wait for You

Written by Michelle Yee

Serving with you in His kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved daughter of the Most High King

Beyond it all

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Behind this smile
Hides the pain you've never knew I was in
Behind the laughter
Are tears you've never seen

Beyond the pain, my heart can bear
A yearning desire for one who will love and care
Beyond the fear, and doubt that lies within
I seek the One, whom my eyes have not seen

Though my eyes seen Him not,
My heart has felt Him near
Though many words others have said to me
His words of love and truth I hold most dear

Beyond all the struggles, I face in life
Beyond all the disappointment, I continue to fight
Beyond all the darkness, failures and human fault
Is a steadfast love I behold that fails me not

Written by Michelle Yee

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Lord, have mercy

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Lord, have mercy

In the midst of the darkness

Where I've lost my sight to see
Everything seems hopeless
There seems to be no way out for me
 
I cry out to You oh Lord
Have mercy on me
Calling out from the pit
I cry, have mercy on me
 
Save me Lord, I plead, deliver me
For only You understand the circumstance I'm in

I'm troubled in my spirit

And broken in my heart
The pain is too much for me to bear
It's breaking me apart

Your mercy Lord I seek

Your healing Lord I need
Yet Your love gives me strength
Whenever I am weak

Though trouble befalls me

You oh Father have overcome the enemy
My life is in Your hands
Your mercy is upon me

Because I know You are Lord

I call to You for help
You will look upon thy servant with mercy
And Thou will rescue me

Written by Michelle Yee

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter o the Most High King

Thy Name is Power

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Fallen by the way side and through the cracks I’ve slipped
Tears have blurred my vision
Entrapped by the devil’s lie,
How foolish am I to be tricked

I have since lost my way
And the sight of who I am
Until His light shone through
My eyes have finally been opened and now I see

Lord I need You to come to rescue me
I know Your word is true
Give me the strength and faith to trust in You

Great is thy power to heal
And to deliver me from my fears
You’re my safe refuge and hiding place

For thy love is greater than my pain
Thy mercy greater than my shame
Thou art forever faithful
Holy and worthy is Your name

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High

Lost and found

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Opposition, my childhood friend
Rejection has held me by the hands
Through all the years growing up in pain
Suffering from sorrows and so much shame

Who would have thought that a person with a such a past

Is able to endure an environment that is so very harsh
I endured the physical and the emotional pain
Yet through it all, God's love and faithfulness remains

I was lost and alone, wondering if any one cared

Than God's love found me, than and there
Now I know who I am and I know who You are
You are my heavenly Father and I'm Your precious child

You mended and healed this broken soul

With Your love, You have made me whole
Out of darkness into Your glorious light
You called me now forever to Your side

Now with You, I'm forever secured

The past has no power over me any more
God's love has broken the chains that held me down
Now hope and joy is all I'm glad to know and have found

Written by Michelle Yee

Reflections: Preaching the Gospel

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As Christians, the topic of preaching the gospel has always been a common one in church, according to the Bible, preaching the gospel is a call for all Bible believing folks. The Great Commission which is in Matthew 28:19-20 - “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age” is a very common verse known to all Christians. This verse alone tells us that preaching the gospel is the duty for all Christians not just for the evangelist or missionaries who have been called by God to these specific offices of service.

There are essentially a few ways that the Gospel can be preached. The first way is through evangelising either through a missionary or simply by sharing ones faith with another, another way is through the pulpit ministry (done by our Pastors on our regular church services), sometimes through media and the finally the last one which most Christians are not aware of – preaching the gospel by the testimony of our lives.

There have been varies of reaction to the preaching of the gospel, these different reactions comes from not only the pre-believers but also from within the church among God’s family. There have been cases where pre-believers are being offended by the preaching of the gospel, and there are Christians, who are not willing to preach the gospel because of fear. There are hard core evangelists who push the gospel message with a lot of fire and passion and some pre-believers get offended as a result of it. Sometimes people are offended by the message and a lot of times it is because of the way we do it, although the gospel itself could be offensive.

Different people use different technics and styles to get the gospel across to the pre-believers, some do it gently, some are more forceful and less tactful (and get people offended) but no matter how you do it, the message is the same – “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world would be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” - John 3:16-18.

The Gospel has always known to be offensive and defensive, but offensive as it may sound, (“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18), it still has to be preached as it is the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some Christian are afraid of sharing the gospel for the fear being “rejected”, some lose their friends as a result of preaching the gospel, or sometimes they are just afraid of being laughed at.

However, what we do not realise is this, when people reject the gospel, they are rejecting the God of the gospel and not rejecting the messenger. Jesus has this promise for us however, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the words I said to you, “A slave is not greater than his master, if they persecute me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.“ – John 15:18-20.

We have been promised persecution as Christians whether a not we chose to share the gospel, therefore sharing the gospel should not be an excuse at all, because sharing the gospel has got no co-relation with persecution.  Persecution is part and parcel of the Christian living because we chose to follow the ways of Christ which is ultimately very different from the world and we are bound to face a lot of conflicts, and therefore as a result of that, meet with persecution for our faith and our conviction.  

In fact, a Christian who is not being persecuted is questionable about whether he/she is a true disciple of the Lord. Some are afraid of sharing the gospel because they don’t know how to do it, in fact sharing the gospel is actually just talking to your friend about Jesus and it could be as simple as sharing your testimony how you got to know Him and how knowing Him has helped transformed you.

We forget that when we share the gospel, we are planting seeds of God’s word into their lives, and we learn in the bible that there are different soils (read the parable of the seed in Mark 4: 3 -25) representing the different condition of the person’s heart. Therefore, we must be not be discouraged if our audiences reject the message, the seed planted in their hearts takes time to take root, but we must be faithful to water it with prayer and constant sharing.

Most of us also forget that for many who do not have access to the bible, they will be “reading” our lives to see the testimony that we carry on Christ's behalf. Remember we are to be ambassador of Christ and we are to represent Christ to the world. It is therefore, important to reflect on our actions to see if we have been good testimonies to the unbelieving world.  We would be to them the “living and walking Bible”, and if we are not careful in the way we conduct ourselves, we may be actually turning them away from Christ instead of drawing and leading them towards Him and are doing a disservice to Christ. Therefore, at the end of the day, the way we conduct ourselves among our pre-believing friends and family members is a form of sharing the gospel as well.

To conclude, sharing the gospel is not just for the evangelist or for the missionaries, but for all Christians, and whether a not we are aware, our lives itself is a living testimony to the world and by our conduct we are “preaching” Christ to the un-believing world. It is therefore important to make sure that we portray the right image in order that we bring honour instead of being a disgrace to Him.

God bless you!

Serving with you in His kingdom with love;

Princess Michelle –
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Reflection: Jesus as our example

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Reflection: Jesus as our example

We often use Jesus as our example to pave the way for our thoughts and actions. We look to Him as our High Priest for grace and mercy in times of needs. (Hebrews 4:15-16) But how often do we find ourselves saying this, "But Jesus is God, Almighty. He has all the power available to Him." And therefore, we think it is difficult to use Jesus as a benchmark for everything that we measure ourselves against, as He is God and also a perfect man. At least, for myself, I often say that.

However, there is one fact, that we tend to forget. Although Jesus was God, Jesus Christ was also man. The title "Son of God" points and directs us to Jesus' deity yet there is another title "Son of Man" which points and remind us of Jesus' human status.

The Bible tells us this, "Have this attitude in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus. who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found the appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross." (Philippians 2:5-8)

Just as Jesus was fully man, having basic needs such hunger and rest (Jesus was hungry after fasting 40 days in wilderness), He drew His strength from God the Father. Therefore, it is possible tor us to follow the footsteps of Jesus, as we remember His human suffering while He was on earth! Jesus came to earth to show us God but lived as man as we are (but without sin). As Jesus drew His strength from the Father, so we draw our strength from Jesus who is the one who redeems us from sin and the one who draws us back to reconciliation to the Father! Because Jesus overcame, we can overcome!

God bless you!

Serving with you in His kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Reflection: Love is a choice!

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Love is a choice!

Reflecting upon an incident that took place several years ago... And as I thought about it, there's one thing that is clear. Since God created the world, He knows the past, the present and the future. He sometimes preamps His children about what it is to come and it is up to them to choose to decide their attitude.

Some how it always amazes me when I reflect on the incident on Judah's betrayal of Jesus. Jesus knew everything from the start and yet He still... chose to love Judah and did not harbour any negative thoughts about him... Throughout, Jesus's heart towards Judah is one of kindness, forgiveness and mercy. This brought me to an incident which has personally took place in my life.

God asked me this question once (many years ago) regarding a friend whom I love dearly. He asked" "Would you still love him and regard him as friend, if one day he did something that would hurt you?" It was a honest and hard question, I eventually replied "Yes" not fully understanding what it meant.

The "hurt" that my friend caused me, eventually happened many years after the Lord has asked me that question. When I was dealing with the hurt, God reminded me about the question He asked me years ago..... I honestly struggled with it. I realised and learnt from Jesus that, love is a choice. Knowing that you are going to be hurt and still choose to love and forgive him is a deliberate choice.

Dealing with the pain, God asked. "Are you willing to give up that pain to Me and still love your friend?"

I had to make a choice - to be angry with my friend whom I love, or trust God to graciously help me deal with the hurt and than forgive and love him the way Jesus has dealt with Judah!

It is a hard choice, but since I treasure the friendship so much, I had to put aside the hurt if I really wanted to keep him.. Honestly, it still hurts every now and than when I think of my friend, but I have chosen to think of the positive things that has happened. The longer I harbour and think of all the negative things that has happened, the further I will cause the friendship to drift.

Love and hate is a choice. Choose wisely!

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Reflections: Renovation of our hearts

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I cannot help thinking about an old joke that was resulted in a blunder I made...

Once I was with 2 other friends and we were discussing about the Bible Sermon Series that each of our church is currently going through. I told my friends that we were doing the book of "Renovation' when I actually meant to say "Revelation'... My friend teased me saying, "What renovation? Renovation of your heart?"

Although it was a joke, it was worth considering that we all do need once in a while to do a heart check to see where we are in our walk with Christ. As we begin to see signs pointing to the soon 2nd coming of Jesus, we must constantly be preparing ourselves for that day, as judgement is soon on its way. If things are not right in our hearts, may we find the courage and confidence to confess and repent before the Lord and allow Him to do a "renovation of our hearts".

Hebrews 4:15-16 "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may recieve mercy and may find grace to help in time of need."

Are there areas in our lives which needs to be "renovated"? Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Prayer:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts and see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way". (Ps 139:23-24)

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Reflections "Let Go and Let God"

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Reflection on the words "Let Go and Let God"

I have this mental picture when I think of the above words. It is something that the Lord has reminded me through my friend. And as I was pondering upon it, this is what I (re)learnt...

To let go and let go, literally means to open up your hands and release whatever you have in faith, to God to let Him do what needs to be done.

Why the term "let go"?... Simple... We let go because we have been holding on to something that we are not supposed to be holding on to. When we hold on to something, our hands are tightly grasped together like a fist. When you hold something in your fist, you have no more available space to receive any thing more.

Therefore to "let go" we need to be deliberate to open up or hands if we refused to, God sometimes will have no choice but to find way to pry it open. The excuse I give is "my muscle is cramp therefore I can't". Simply and bluntly put it, if we are truly honest, what we really meant to say is.... I want to but I cannot because though my spirit is willing my flesh is weak.' The process of the prying open is going to be (more) painful if we choose to be stubborn and go head-on with God. But God has promised that He will give us strength to heal the "cramp", if only we allow Him to. But God is a gentle God and He knows how much you are able to handle at once, so He will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to go through (1 Cor 10:13)

And after we "let go", we "let God', simply put it... We surrender our rights to God and we relinquish the need to have control over it. And that takes a step of faith on our part. Most of the times we fail to see that we have a God bigger than our problems. And we forgot what Jesus taught us that as long as we have a faith of a mustard seed, we can tell the mountains to be moved from here to there and it will done, and nothing will be impossible for us. (Matt 17:20).

Prayer - Oh Lord, please grant us the strength to be able to let go of what needs to be let go, Help our unbelief and heal our hearts and brokenness. Restore us and the things/situation, the way it was meant. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Written by Michelle Yee

Ree

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;

Princess Michelle -

Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Blessing in Disguise

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Blessing in Disguise

It is a blessing in disguise
When I finally realise
And see that when things don't work out for me
It could sometimes be God protecting me against things in the future I can't see
God is sovereign, He knows us best
Nothing good will He withhold from us, so why should we settle for anything less
When God takes away some things, He might have better things in store
Though God closes one window, He will open another door
God has always our best interest in His heart
Though in tough times, we confess that trusting Him may be hard
But God always keeps His promise and He never lie
God's plan is perfect and His faithfulness cannot be denied
So in future, when things doesn't seem to go according to our plan
Know that our future and destiny is safe and secured in His mighty hands
And when we learn to understand these all,
We will give God the glory forever more
And we can say with confidence aloud that I have finally realised
That the pain we sometimes go through is surely a blessing in disguise

Written by Michelle Yee

Tears in Thy Bottle

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Tears in thy bottle

 

Put my tears in thy bottle, are they not all known to You
Oh sovereign Lord, my heart will rest in Your love and in Your truth
Every tear I cried, You have seen and heard, and I l know one day You'll wipe them dry
For the many pains I go through and often wondered why
Yet Your love is greater than my pains, though Your plans I cannot comprehend
I know my sufferings are only temporary, and will one day come to end
In suffering, we often see the reverse side of the tapestry
Seeing colours that don't seem to blend and patterns that don't make much sense
But at the end of life, we will finally realise and see God's ultimate purpose and plans
What is unclear to us now will  be revealed to us in the final days
We will declare God's sovereignty and thank Him for His goodness for always
For Thou has known and planned my days from the start of eternity
You have been faithful from the start and You will always be
Lord You know us best and Your love cannot fail
Therefore to You I surrender to Your will
For all my tears are known to You
My heart can rest in Your love and truth

 

Written by Michelle Yee

Your will, Your way

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Not holding back the tears
Gonna lay down my fears
Lord whatever’s keeping me from You, remove them I pray,
Do what You need to do, so that I can draw closer to You

Laying my burdens before You

And everything I have
Including the good that I hang on to
In exchange for the best that comes from only You

I won’t let You go no matter what 

I’m staying close and hanging on to You
Where can I run and who can I go to
You have all the answers that I need

Through the pain, You gave me grace

Through tough time, You taught me faith
It is Your will, let it be done in Your way
I will not resist, Lord do what You have to do in me

Written by Michelle Yee

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Surrender

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When tears are all I have, to replace the words I can't express
Would You Lord, take them all from me
When all that is left, is this broken heart of mine
Then, that is what I will give
Take this broken soul, take this wounded heart
Heal me and help me have a brand new start
When I've said all that I can say, and have done all that I can do
There's nothing much that I can do but to surrender them all to You

Written by Michelle Yee

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

A Reflection of Life

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All that glitters is not gold
There's always a story behind the lives of many which is never told
Judge not a book by its cover, things are never the way it seems
The book must be opened and read to discover the meaning of what its title really means

The heart of man, who can fathom? Ever so deceiving and cruel
The desire of man is always to have the power to reign and to rule

Honesty is the best policy and being meek doesn't mean you're weak
But the sad reality is often the honest getting punished and the unruly runs away scoot free

Is there still justice or has evil overtaken us
Who is there to fight our case
To speak up for the weak
The world is not fair, I rest my case
Lord, You'll be judge of all of these

Written by: Michelle Yee

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;

Princess Michelle -

Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Treasures in the darkness

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My mind is cluttered with questions

My heart is gripped with fear
My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow
My eyes are filled with tears

Darkness overwhelms me

And lies are all I hear
I cried to out my redeemer
Oh my Lord please draw near

Shine thy light on my path O Lord
And enable me to see
There is still a glimpse hope
In the midst of all of these

You taught me through my pain

You walked me through the rain
You helped me see the light
That you’ll give me victory in my fight

For every battle fought there is a lesson learn

God’s grace is there to meet me at every turn
Through the darkness of life, God’s love shines
Bringing back hope to this broken heart of mine

Your word brings sweet comfort to this broken heart
To my wounded soul, it is a healing hug
To restore me to the way I was meant to be
May God’s grace and mercy be upon me

Treasures in the darkness I will find

God’s word sheds the light to this darkened soul of mine

Coping with life's problem

http://www.reflectionsbymichelleyee.wordpress.com

Coping with life's problem

Have you ever found yourself in situations, you find it all hopeless? Do you find life miserable, everything seems to going wrong and nothing is going right? You want to give up, you want to run away, you just want to escape and have nothing to do with it?

Well, life does attempts to tear us apart in different directions especially, in the face of an adverse situation. There are often different kinds of reaction we can have towards these situations in life. We can either choose to run away and forever not learn how to cope with them, or we can trust in God's grace and His supernatural strength to enable us to walk through it.

Whenever we come face to face with such situation that is too difficult, too fearful or maybe even too troublesome to cope with, our natural reaction is usually to run away from them. More often than not, running away from the problem doesn't solve anything at all; in fact it often carries heavy implications in the future. The unsolved or unresolved problems in the past will snowball into the future posting an even larger one than before. And most people often will have to deal with the present issues, plus and on top of those that have been steadily accumulated over the past years, while at the same time, learn to tackle the problems that will come inevitably in the future.

As far as life is concerned, problems are inevitable part of us. It doesn't matter how old, how young, how strong, or how weak you are. It doesn't matter how rich, how poor, how smart or how lowly educated you are, problems will come to you someday, someway and somehow. No matter how hard we try to avoid them, we just can't, it's simply impossible. Coming back to the topic, how then shall we learn to cope with our problems? If we are consistently running away from them, then there will be no end in hiding, because it will eventually come back to us. However, if we should choose to face our problems with faith, confidence and determination, we can be a better person. When we learn to put our perspective right, our views change, our attitudes change even though the problem may still persist.

One of the things we can do as Christians is to pray. Prayer does have a major impact on our problem, though it doesn't make our problem disappear, it does however, gives us the peace that God is with us and He will give us the wisdom, His grace and His strength to help us through. Many times, when we are facing problems whether at home, at work or at church, we have the tendency to pray, "God, please help me get out of this situation." While God is more than able to do that, He often has other plans for us. All of us would love to have God coming to our rescue to save us out of our situation, but God prefers to help us through them. We often do not see how it works, but learning to cope with our problems, and walking and working through them, actually helps our character to grow. We learn through perseverance and patience. Romans 5: 3 – 5, tells us this, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Learning to lean upon God's help and strength, and waiting upon Him to fulfil His promises towards us in His time, requires both perseverance and patience. There are also two other very important aliments, which we often tend to neglect and they are the aliments of faith and obedient.

Both our faith and our obedience to God play a very essential role in terms of our spiritual walk with our Heavenly Father. While in the process of waiting on God and upon His answers to come, we often have problems worrying about what the future may bring us, or whether or not God will do what He says He will do. We have far too many concerns in our lives that we are unable to trust God or wait patiently and obediently for Him. Yet, that is what is mostly required of us, and the bible says it very clearly, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards them who earnestly seek Him (Hebrew 11:6). And faith as explained to us in God's word is, - "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1).

The aliment of faith is made up of two parts - being sure of what we hope for and part 2 – being certain of what we do not see. The first part of faith deals with hope, having great expectation that whatever we are being hopeful to receive, we are sure to get it. The second part of faith, deals with being certain, or being confident. Being confident and believing positively about what we cannot see of the future. Put the two parts together, and faith is made up of – being hopeful and being confident. Our confidence is place in Jesus, the author and the perfecter of our faith (Hebrew 12:2). We can totally trust in Jesus in any circumstance, because Jesus is known to be faithful in all His ways and He is known to be steadfast and unchanging because "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever." (Hebrew 13:8)

We tend not to have the faith when things go wrong, and then we tend to be disobedient to God when we don't feel like doing what God's wants from us. Especially, when we do know that it requires a lot of changes in our lifestyles. It's natural that people don't like changes, but change is inevitable and is permanent. We can only be obedient towards God and have faith in Him, if we understand God and we truly trust Him. That trust and that faith comes from spending time in His word and worshipping Him and it starts with a relationship and as with every relationships, effort is required to maintain it. It requires discipline, which most people (including myself) lack greatly. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17).

The very fact we lack faith is the fact we lack discipline to read and to pray and spend quality time with Him. Having suffered from depression before, I felt that that is one of the most valuable lessons that God is teaching me. The fact that I do not pray and spend time reading His word as I should, I have given space and allowance to the devil to play with my mind, together with it, comes the lies and all sorts of negative and destructive thoughts. What the Lord has been teaching me is that worship is important. The more we don't feel like praying and worshipping, the more we SHOULD pray and worship. It takes a very deliberate effort and we must die to our flesh, and to our unwillingness to do the uncomfortable. The word of God teaches us, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty things raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Another important weapon is – Praise & Worship. Worship changes our focus from ourselves and our problems to God. The worse we can do is to run away from the very place we ought to be in - in the place of worship of the saints and in God's presence. Our prayer has power; it is our communication towards God. Our worship has power; it is an expression and confession of our love, our faith and the acknowledgment of our Lord and Savior. Satan is allergic to our praise and our worship to God, and in the place where praise is offered to God, the devil has to flee. You still think you can't pray and you don't want to sing because you think it's hard and no one understands you? Well think again…"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, than we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in times of needs" (Hebrews 4:15-16). And we are also taught that, "No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man; and God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you able, but with every temptation, will provide a way of escape also that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Let's just face the fact. The problems will not go away, and the only thing we can do about it is to be positive. Know, for a fact that God is in control and He is guiding us through it and helping us to overcome them and in the process, we grow to be more Christ-like. It is tough, but if we ever want to get better and grow, stay on and trust God! Our only source hope is truly found in Christ. Psalms 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, our ever present help in times of need".  So, run to Jesus and not away from him.

Winners never quit and quitters never win. You want to be a winner? Stay in the race, do not give up or lose hope! And finally, "For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purposes." (Romans 8:28) Still thinking of quitting? Think again! If I decided to quit, this book might not have able to be completed and published.  One lesson that failure has taught me is this - I am not a failure just because I have failed once, but I keep trying and trying and I never give up on myself. The only time when I become a failure is when I decide not to try again and just remain at my fallen state.  As long as you have not stopped trying and believing and trusting God, you still can and have hope that things will eventually turn around and become better. Remember that life is not a bed of roses, if life was that easy, we wouldn’t be in need of God and we will take everything for granted. At the point of my writing, I’m still dealing with health issues and other personal matters. God is still teaching me how to learn to have faith and be strong in Him. Proverbs 3: 5-6 teaches us this truth, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path”. At the end of the day, it is still about trusting God and He will lead you to the path of victory and success. It will happen, in His time, not ours. No matter how hard life is, life still has to go on.


Written by Michelle Yee

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter the Most High King

God is our refuge

http://www.reflectionsbymichelleyee.wordpress.com http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/michelleyee The Lord just gave me the words and I wrote it as it came to me... This is for everyone who is looking for strength, faith and healing in the Lord. May God bless you! Trickling down my cheeks, my teardrops fall Just like the rain pouring outside my door All these pains, torments and fears, all these regrets throughout the years Who could understand them and who could hear Who has answered my cries and saw my tears Questions aplenty yet answers I have not Who else could I turn to except You my Lord When faith runs dry and hopes seems gone When my heart has failed me and I’ve lost my song I look to You my hiding place, for You keep me strong I turn to my Father in heaven, for that is where my help comes from When trouble comes upon me, to You I will run to hide You will keep me safe from my enemies and give me strength to fight Every battle that I face, Lord You are there with me Giving me the strength to endure and leading me to victory Trickling down my cheeks, my teardrops fall Just like the rain pouring outside my door All these pains, torments and fears, all these regrets throughout the years Only You Lord understands them and only You can hear Only You Lord have answered my cries and saw all my tears Questions aplenty yet answers I have not But there is no one I can turn to except You my Lord When faith runs dry and hopes seems gone When my heart has failed me and I’ve lost my song I look to You my hiding place, for You have kept me strong I turn to my Father in heaven, for that is where my help comes from When trouble comes upon me, to You I will run to hide You have kept me safe from my enemies and gave me strength to fight Every battle that I have faced, Lord You were there with me Giving me the strength to endure and leading me to victory Written By Michelle Yee

Serving with you in His kingdom with love; Princess Michelle- Beloved Daughter of the Most High King