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Sunday, October 19, 2008

hey guys! thought i will share a little something that i guess its gonna help everyone. i modified it a little into my version. so yups. for those who are having Os and As, joshua, dawny, becky, and jean (>.-), hang on!! its gonna be over soon! and for everyone else, hang on in whatever situations you are faced with and dont let go of the cross and jesus!!! jia yous everyone!

hang on- elijah waters

"That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared." The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. " - Genesis 32:22-31

its human nature to be competitive, whether you show it or not. for the more expressive ones, you really show how determined you are to beat people at whatever and wherever you think its a competition, a rat race. the most evident on i guess is in studies. you have people pitting yourselves and comparing yourselves with others. after you get your results, you will wanna go around asking how others did. c'mon, be honest to yourselves. sometimes you dont really feel like going around to ask peoples results and compare them, but deep down, really deep inside, you wanna know where you stand. face it people. and in sports, you will work your butt off and train non stop despite of injuries (some familiar huh?) so that you will get a chance to play, or even win the cup. face it, its our nature to be competitive, and its not our fault.

im not saying being competitive isnt good. being competitive is in fact good. why? cos we dont wanna lose to people, and thus, we hang onto whatever we are competing in. we dont wanna give up, we dont wanna give in. we do not want to lose. get a life! who likes losing?! if we dont do well in our studies, we will work really hard and make sure we get something decent, or best still, own everyone. admit it people. we dont wanna lose. so we hang on and do not let go of that whatever that we are competing in. thats the hard truth, whether you wanna accept it or not.

hanging onto something is a struggle. its never easy. we gotta work really hard for it. we gotta sacrifice our sleep, our eating time, our play time, etc just to sit there and study. and it isnt like studyings really a fun thing to do. theres so many more enjoyable things to do rather than sitting down, rotting and staring at small little words and numbers and cracking your brain. you could have just went out cycling or at the beach playing with your friends. but no, you chose to be in this struggle, to hang on, so that you will emerge victorious at the end of this race. but sometimes, we get distracted, we get tempted. we will move off course and out of our study plans. lets just say we intend to take a SHORT break cos my eyes are really getting tired. so i switch on the tv, and tell myself, probably, 15minutes. or for some of you even, i'll go online for awhile, 30minutes. but seriously, how many of you actually stick to that 15 or 30minutes that you gave yourselves? i wont be surprise if you're out there for a few hours, or facebooking or msning for hours. ouch, did i strike? im speaking to humans, am i not haha!

so the scenarios this: all of us are drowning in water. and jesus came to pick us all up. but sometimes, we take our focus away, and we start sinking again. but if we hang onto him, hes gonna bring us up and through this storm. in other words, in whatever we are facing, hang on, dont give up, and we WILL prevail. WE WILL PREVAIL. learn to hang on and not let go people!

and for jesus' disciplers, dont think life is gonna be smooth just because youre gods children. who says we'll have special treatments? in fact, we're gonna be treated worse off than other people. the bible says that being a disciple aint gonna be easy. its gonna cost us severely. the worlds gonna hate us, the devils gonna hate us, hes gonna do everything he can to flip our boats upside down. the truth is, we wrestle a lot with the stuff thats going on with life. but what did god say? hang on no matter what UNTIL the light breaks through the darkness!! Jacob fought through the night, UNTIL the light appeared when the fight finally stopped. until we see something changed, something turning into our favour, dont give up, dont stop hanging on! in v26, jacob had the upper hand, he demands to be blessed before hes gonna let go of his grip on the man (which was actually god). we gotta stand firm in the solid rock!! darkness is only for a season, it has a lifespan. when light comes, its a dawn of a NEW DAY=))

hang on until we're faced with our own weakness. we'll keep studying and studying and studying. and then, *ting (light bulb appears)! we know where we gona wrong, whats our weak areas. and then what do we do? we get down to getting rid of these weaknesses! likewise, thats what happened to jacob. he has lost his identity. he didnt know who he was anymore. his life was screwed. but then, god made him realise his weakness. he asks for jacobs name. c'mon! its not like god doesnt know the answer! the god who created heaven and earth and everything doesnt know jacobs name? are you kidding me? so what was his purpose? god made jacob realise where his faults lies. he made him confess it. and when we recognise our weaknesses, things begin to change. we start doing better and make sure we dont commit the same mistakes in our exams. the question is, are we willing to face ourselves, the imperfect us, our sinful nature, our hidden lives, and confess it?

hang on until something shifts which cause us to walk differently, to cause us to lead a different lifestyle FOREVER. ever tried studying real hard when people said you couldnt make it? and in the end, you really came up with good results and probably say enter JC instead of like poly or ite or something? look, your lifes different. what if you just gave up studying and rotted and died? you'll probably end up being some toilet cleaner or road sweeper (like what shaun always loves to say). but look, youre now like going onto university, and who knows if youre gonna become the worlds greatest teacher, lawyer, doctor, or whatever? in v25 and 31, jacob was changed and god made that mark of change evident- he made him a limp. from then on, jacob walked differently. and god didnt bother healing him. why you ask? it was a reminder of his dependancy to god. it didnt just serve as a reminder for him, but it was evidence to others too. when people saw him limping, they will ask, what happened to you? and tada! hes presented with an opportunity to tell of what god has done for and in him. we dont want just a touch from god, we want a shift, a change from god. difference? touch is momentarily. a change has an eternal impact on us. thats the difference. we will then become dependent on god and he becomes our direction.

"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" -Galatians 3:3

and to end off, continue hanging on even after that shift has taken place=)

jean-

+ yixian was here 11:32 PM