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

World's standard vs God's view

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By the world’s standard, I will be most probably labelled as a “failure” - I’m a female and 35, yet I’m still not attached, I don’t own a house, I don’t have a driver’s licence, I’m not academically talented, I’m not a high flyer, I don’t have a high earning job. I’m the eldest amongst my mom's 3 children and yet I’m the least accomplished in most of the aspects – relationship, academic and career.

Let’s talk one thing at a time

Relationship wise

I’m 35, I still have no one.
My younger sister is 33, she has been married for 2 years
My younger brother is 25, he is currently dating someone.

Academic wise

I’m considered average among the 3

Career wise

My sister has found a good job with stable income.
My brother is doing well in his company and is earning quite a sum.
I might be living out my childhood ambition, but over the last few years, it has become a nightmare, and I’m now just fighting every day to keep the flame that is almost gone and it’s also not paying very well too.

But by God’s standard, I’m probably the only one who is pursuing the right thing….

While both my siblings are establishing good things that by world's standard say it is a must to attain, I on the other hand, sought after the Lord Jesus. I’m constantly seeking Him, His direction for so many things, I enjoy being in church to worship Him, to sit and listen to His word.

I have got some talent in music, poetry and art and I have used it to serve the people. I serve as a keyboardist, backup singer in church and am currently training to become a worship leader. I have ministered in prophetic worship and many have told me how greatly blessed and ministered by my “anointed playing”, I am also ministering in prophetic art where I will draw for them.  I have written so many poems and have posted in my blogs, and have received lots of feedback how they have been encouraged, blessed, touched, and inspired by them. 

I’m using every one of my God – given talent to serve Him and His people.  Whatever talent I found I have inside me, I give back and use it for God’s purpose.

Maybe to many people I am not successful, be it in career, relationship or even in academic, but is that really important? Does this really matter at the end of your life? Does all these even define your value or your worth in life? What define us really? Our identity in Christ, knowing who we are in Jesus, and that, is what defines us.

At the end of your journey, God is not going to ask you how much money you earned, or what your highest qualification was or what position you held in church etc…  He is most probably going to ask you what you did with the talents He gave you, or if you did what He told you to do… Read the parable of the talent in Matthew 25:15-29.

I still have things which I know, I haven’t really done well before Him and I still have many things to account for which for most part, I’m still learning and making mistakes.

I still have a lot way to go before I actually get to the end of my life… I have a long life, so I have lots more to do for Jesus.

I won’t have to worry about worldly success actually because God promised us in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” In order to know what all these things are we have to look into the preceding verses.

25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Than it goes on to say in verse 33 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. “ And verse 34 says, “ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

The bible doesn’t promise us success like the world does, but He does promise to provide our every needs. “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

We also all know verse from Jeremiah 29:11, “ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” With this promise in mind, we don’t really have to worry about our future, because God already declared that in His word and He is a God who cannot lie, what He says, He must do, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

"God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?"
(Numbers 23:19)

After all at the end of the day, “What profits a man if he gains the whole world; yet forfeit his soul” (Mark 8:36)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. It is God's promise.

God bless!

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

Best Friends - Short Reflections

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I have a couple of "best friends" I cannot do without...

When I have a tummy ache, my "Ru Yi oil" is my "best friend".
When I have a sore muscles, my "Eagle brand muscle rub" is my "best friend".
Whenever I'm stressed and need to relax, my piano is my "best friend" where I go to, to release pent up frustrations.

When I'm down, and need some cheering up, I either call up a friend to chat, text them my problem or pick up some of my favourite Christian artiste/band to listen to, otherwise my bible is always available for me to open up and read....

All these physical things, no matter how helpful they can be, we as Christians we must always remember (as human we do tend to take for granted and sometimes neglect it), there is one Ultimate Best Friend whom we can always depend on, no matter the circumstances or where we might be physically.

The Bible is perhaps the only exception to the list of the other physical items that is considered an essential for us to turn to when we do need help. The lack of other items, may not be that crucial should we be in need of them.

We also have the Holy Spirit as our 24/7, Best Friend.... He is our refuge and strength, our ever present help in times of trouble. (Ps 46:1), He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:4).  On our part though, we ought to be disciplined enough to spend time to build our relationship with this Best Friend, we as humans some times have a bad habit of taking things for granted and we just don't prioritize time for doing this very important thing that has eternal implications.

As I'm writing this short blog, I'm reminded that I need to conscientiously put in time, effort and prayer to have this precious relationship grow and florish to a deeper level of intimacy. Every Child of God is given this Best Friend, the Holy Spirit is also called our Comforter/Helper and He is also known as the Spirit of truth (who guides us into all truth and also convicts us of our sins etc) read John 16:7-13.

We thank you Jesus for giving us the Holy Spirt, and we repent for the times we might have grieve You or neglected You, please help us to grow more in love with You. In Jesus' name, Amen!

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

The Power of Names (my testimony)

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The Power of Names (My testimony)

Names are very powerful it can effect the course of your life and your destiny…  Jabez's name meant "Pain", it was given to him by his mother because she bore him in pain, thus as a result of it, his life was bitter throughout, that's why we have the famous prayer of Jabez we read in 1 Chronicles 4:10 - Jabez cried out to God of Israel, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain" And God granted his request.

I too have a name given by my parents and grandparents, I never knew it's meaning or it's impact it would have on my life until today… This is my testimony…

My name is Yee Wei Ling Michelle or in Chinese it is written as 茹瑋鈴 or 茹玮玲 in simplified Chinese…  I wanted to find out what is the meaning behind my name…. So I went on a search and according to the Chinese dictionary's definition, 瑋 means rare/precious/magnificent and 鈴 means little bell... So the meaning of my Chinese name 瑋鈴 or 玮铃 (given by my late paternal grandma) in simplified Chinese, could be literally translated as a rare, precious and magnificent little bell!!!

And according to Goggle, the purpose of a bell is to make sounds... Mmm, what's that supposed to mean/symbolise of me??? Haha Does that mean I'm a rare, precious and magnificent little sound making gal??? So with the combination of the definition of my English name, given by my mother - Michelle (gift from God or in some other version it means "Who is like the Lord?")... What does that make me??

I was pondering about it for a long time, so in the end I decided to ask of my pastors who gave me a prophetic revelation which was a confirmation to my calling…   According to him, I was called  to be a worshipper and have the worship leader anointing. God sees me as a music making precious little bell… 

When I thought about it, I realised it was true of my calling and my desire I had as a child…  I've always loved music when I was young, and I was always making a lot of noise singing… Later I began to develop a love for the piano and I've discovered the gift of song writing….  Growing up, I always wanted to be in the church choir and subsequently in a church worship band, along the way I met some one who has greatly influenced me and caused a stirring in my heart to be a worship leader… One I had a vision of being a worship leader singing my own song… I have kept this my heart for a very long time…

I saw this vision and dream being broken and dashed a few times over and I was beginning to feel very discouraged. I even told God, "If this vision isn't from You, please take it away from me!" but it seem like this desire never did fade over the years…  Years passed, I finally got the opportunity to serve in the worship band of a small church, I also had the opportunity to sing as a backup singer… Suddenly, all these desires of mine came to pass…  I did receive a couple of confirmation along the way too and when I begin to look at everything now, I suddenly saw the connection and see how all these make sense… My name really did have a direct impact on my destiny… 

I guess God must have set me apart for His service since young, because I always felt different from the rest… It was like I have been chosen by God since I first responded to Him when I was a tender age of 10…  According to my mom, she said that since young I never "belonged" to their religion….  (my grandparents and parents are pre-believers)… They still are, my grandparents have since passed on but my parents are still doing well in their early 60s. Since a young and new believer, I have been opposed and persecuted of my life from the beginning of my journey.. Well, I think the devil must really hate me to the core as if I'm like a thread to his kingdom, he has been trying to kill, steal and destroy my destiny and my walk with God from day one and he is still at it.  God however has been very faithful,  He has preserved me and strengthened me all these while, even though there were times I did fall. 

Now that I realise the weight, that my name carries, I'm kindda grateful that I was given that name… It seemed like a prophecy and everything is coming to pass before my very eyes..  I believe, however all these were predestined by God, not by coincidence… This is my life story and it's just the beginning of something exciting!

God bless you

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

Reflections on Gifts (Spiritual/Natural)

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The Bible has taught us that our spiritual gifts such as prophecy, teaching, encouragement and leading are all gifts of grace. (Read Eph 12:6) If these gifts were given to us as an act of grace it is therefore a privilege and not an entitlement. God gave us these gifts as a result of his goodness and has nothing to do with us. So we must not be boastful if we have them, or complain and grumble against if we do not have them.

Gifts comes in different form, there are two types of gifts - spiritual and natural. Spiritual gifts are given to us when we were born again into His kingdom, it is only given to those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, example of such gifts are prophecy, speaking in tongues and teaching (the word of God). There is also another type of gift such as natural gifts that is put in a person at birth. Such gifts are given to every one at large even to non Christians. These gifts could be gifts of creativity such as writing poem/songs, playing the piano, singing and dancing -what is also commonly know as natural talents.

But whatever these gifts may be, one thing I do believe is that God never gave us these gifts and intended for us to use them for our own selfish desires/purposes.  I believe these gifts are for us to use in His Kingdom to give Him glory and it is also to the benefit of the body of Christ at large. While the bible says that God's gifts and his call are irrevocable (Romans 11:29), I do believe that our gifts must be used actively, otherwise they might become dormant and as a result we might lose our effectiveness in them. If the Lord has given us any gifts, we should take care that we use them humbly and in the right manner.

Gifts such as prophecy and teaching, if not used in the correct manner, it can cause a leader to go astray allowing him to start his own false doctrine such as The Prosperity Gospel or Hyper-grace message, drawing crowds of people after themselves. Instead of preaching Biblical truth, they twist the scriptures to please "the people who will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

People who have the gift of teaching and prophecy should teach and prophesy in the fear of the Lord, they should be drawing men to God and not to themselves. We should encourage our sisters and brothers to use their spiritual gifts to edify the body of Christ and not hide them under the rug and collect cob webs. Practicing the gifts of the Holy Spirit is best exercised in a weekly small group meeting, when the members are encourage to give a word of encouragement or a word of knowledge for ministry.

Sometimes "situational gift" can happen, if a demonized person turns up in a meeting, but the "deliverer" is not available, does that mean that a deliverance ministry cannot take place because of that? Of course not! God will put the anointing to cast out a demon on another person temporarily for the sake of His glory, so that ministry can take place. This particular person may or may not be "anointed" in this form of ministry, but if this person continues to involve himself/herself in this ministry, in time to come she/he might just develop the anointing eventually to cast out a demon.  Spiritual gifts operates in the same fashion as natural talent, the more we use it, the better and sharper we become in these gifts.

Everyone has been given a gift from God, some are left undiscovered and unexplored until we venture out and try it because I personally don't believe that there is such thing as an un-gifted child of God.  We therefore, must always be willing and opened to try new things, you never know what you are good at until you try it. 

What natural/spiritual gift has God given you today? How are you using it to glorify God? Go try new things and perhaps you might in the process, discover a hidden talent you never know you possess!

God bless you!

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