Practising the Presence

By Max Lucado
From Just Like Jesus

How do I live in God’s presence? How do I detect his unseen hand on my shoulder and his inaudible voice in my ear? A sheep grows familiar with the voice of the shepherd. How can you and I grow familiar with the voice of God? Here are a few ideas:

Give God your waking thoughts. Before you face the day, face the Father. Before you step out of bed, step into his presence. I have a friend who makes it a habit to roll out of his bed onto his knees and begin his day in prayer. Personally, I don’t get that far. With my head still on the pillow and my eyes still closed, I offer God the first seconds of my day. The prayer is not lengthy and far from formal. Depending on how much sleep I got, it may not even be intelligible. Often it’s nothing more than “Thank you for a night’s rest. I belong to you today.”

Give God your waiting thoughts. Spend time with him in silence. The mature married couple has learned the treasure of shared silence; they don’t need to fill the air with constant chatter. Just being together is sufficient. Try being silent with God. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10 niv). Awareness of God is a fruit of stillness before God.

Give God your whispering thoughts. Through the centuries Christians have learned the value of brief sentence prayers, prayers that can be whispered anywhere, in any setting.

Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. By giving God your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon. Simple phrases such as “Thank you, Father,” “Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord,” “You are my resting place, Jesus” can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You needn’t leave your office or kneel in your kitchen. Just pray where you are. Let the kitchen become a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts.

And last, give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind settle on him. Conclude the day as you began it: talking to God. Thank him for the good parts. Question him about the hard parts. Seek his mercy. Seek his strength. And as you close your eyes, take assurance in the promise: “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4 niv). If you fall asleep as you pray, don’t worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.

Field trips

Only my 3rd day in school and i've been signed up for 2 field trips!
I'm going to the Art gallery of WA this friday to see the "Egyptian antiquities from the Louvre" exhibition! haha! =) wanted to go for a while now, but since it's during school hours-- i'm glad!

The 2nd field trip is a whole day to the Jarrah Forest in mid-september!
This is with the geography department =)

Update again soon!

Look to you

Mike Chung has some great shots of ZPH our culture, the worship, the people....
Click on the link here for more!

You are my strength

My Song of the week.

You are my strength
Strength like no other
Strength like no other
Reaches to me

You are my Hope
Hope like no other
Hope like no other
Reaches to me

In the fullness of Your grace
In the power of Your name
You lift me up
You lift me up

Unfailing love
Stronger than mountains
Deeper than oceans
Reaches to me

Your love O lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness reaches to the sky

Hillsongs (Saviour King)

Guilt and Grace

Guilt and Grace
by Max Lucado

Sometime ago I read a story of a youngster who was shooting rocks with a slingshot. He could never hit his target. As he returned to Grandma’s backyard, he spied her pet duck. On impulse he took aim and let fly. The stone hit, and the duck was dead. The boy panicked and hid the bird in the woodpile, only to look up and see his sister watching.

After lunch that day, Grandma told Sally to help with the dishes. Sally responded, “Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen today. Didn’t you Johnny?” And she whispered to him, “Remember the duck!” So, Johnny did the dishes.

What choice did he have? For the next several weeks he was at the sink often. Sometimes for his duty, sometimes for his sin. “Remember the duck,” Sally’d whisper when he objected.

So weary of the chore, he decided that any punishment would be better than washing more dishes, so he confessed to killing the duck. “I know, Johnny,” his grandma said, giving him a hug. “I was standing at the window and saw the whole thing. Because I love you, I forgave you. I wondered how long you would let Sally make a slave out of you.” (Steven Cole, “Forgiveness,” Leadership Magazine, 1983, 86.)

He’d been pardoned, but he thought he was guilty. Why? He had listened to the words of his accuser.

You have been accused as well. You have been accused of dishonesty. You’ve been accused of immorality. You’ve been accused of greed, anger, and arrogance.

Every moment of your life, your accuser is filing charges against you. Even his name, Diabolos, means “slanderer.” Who is he? The devil.

As he speaks, you hang your head. You have no defense. His charges are fair. “I plead guilty, your honor,” you mumble.

“The sentence?” Satan asks.

“The wages of sin is death,” explains the judge, “but in this case the death has already occurred. For this one died with Christ.”

Satan is suddenly silent. And you are suddenly jubilant. You realize that Satan cannot accuse you. No one can accuse you! Fingers may point and voices may demand, but the charges glance off like arrows hitting a shield. No more dirty dishwater. No more penance. No more nagging sisters. You have stood before the judge and heard him declare, “Not guilty.

emotional

"i'm emoting that i'm feeling emotional about the emotions that i emote."

Got work work work extra hard during the weekend!
I really have fun being with the people i serve with in drama... =)
Despite all the other things we have to subscribe/adhere to....

i love you guys.
You people rock.

Hiatus

Sorry for the blog hiatus!
Exam was over this morning! Thank God the deed is done.
Met my new mentor today as well =) different school, different sort of students....
Really looking forward to starting this prac, next week.

Unfortunately, i doubt i'm able to run City to Surf this year... it coincides with 40 Hour Famine on the same weekend... so unless i am able to "run and not grow weary, walk and not be faint" without food... haha, i will not attempt to over work my already beaten body.

On the topic of the 40 hour Famine (which runs from 24th-26th Aug):

I'll be going without food for 40 hours to raise money to help feed hungry kids.

Just $40 will help feed and care for 8 children in Laos and Southern Africa for a whole month. To find out more about how the funds raised are going to be used click on http://www.worldvision.com.au/40HourFamine/about_funds.asp.

Could you please support me by giving a donation?

If you can, simply visit the World Vision 40 Hour Famine website (http://www.40hourfamine.com.au) and click on Donate Here. Donations are tax deductible and the minimum amount is $2. You will receive a receipt as soon as you've made the donation.

When it asks you for the Famine Number, please enter 27216745-3. This makes sure that the donation is recorded against me and that I'm sent a record of your donation.

cute!

oh my.... so cute!! Maltese puppy!

Hot Cuppa

.... is all i need.

Played a bit of half court netball in the drizzle today.... =p
Got soaking wet... socks, shoes everything...
Twas fun! the game is officially on monday... we have an awesome team!
Now need to hit the books... 40% assignment due on monday.... and 50% exam on wednesday!
Wait, i think i have a 10 min microteaching session on monday as well...

There's been some mix up with my enrolment... sigh, cleared that up today.
The administration never seems to end.
i just want to teach!! =)

Mucking around

Was @ Kiew's house trying to get some drama video editing done... but to no avail... we (esp marcus) were/was so distracted... cldn't get anything done in the time that we wanted to... starting playing Wii (which is really addictive)-- Rayman versus the Raving rabbits. hahah. And our famous trivia questions.... which ranged from the strangest things to the most interesting...
Well, we truly learnt new things today... more than i can ever gain from Dolores Umbridge's class...

Did you know that Puerto Rico is the only colony left in the world? (Still under USA)
Did you know that the Marianas Trench is the deepest place on earth? (near Philippines)
Did you know that the biggest bird is the Californian Condor?

MC: so... MW, what is the most poisonous jellyfish on earth?
MW: the... man of the earth? ... no no war!!

Bouts of laughter...

MC: you sure?
MW: yah, i dunno from belgium???

Bouts of laughter

She knew the answer, it just came out wrong.
(Ans: Portuguese Man of War)

MC: so ML, what does ohm stand for?
ML: i dunno, but i know how to draw the sign (does weird hand gesture to signal knowledge)

Bouts of laughter....

I really didn't know the answer....
(Ans: The ohm (symbol: Ω) is the SI unit of electrical impedance or, in the direct current case, electrical resistance, named after Georg Ohm)

HAHA.. you should hear my bible jokes.

Cold, wet, working day

For the non-perthians who do not know what the weather has become here in Western Australia... it's been cold, wet and miserable. Downright dreadful. Like one of my replacement lecturers. (another story for another time)

On another note, we're going climbing later in the evening =) been a long while since we've hit the rock gym... Just need a morale booster, despite the weather... =p

Handed in an assignment today =) Procrastinated actually doing it over the whole weekend, and finished it on sunday! woo hoo.

That's my workspace in my room-- taken yesterday (one of the few days it wasn't rainy). Lots of green, good for my eyes... and i become very distracted looking at birds chirping outside the window. haha.

Non-web surfin' days

7 overdue things

It's been a while, but i remember i was tagged... sometime last, last month?

7 things about mishi

1. I work better under pressure.
Tis' true, unfortunately, that i have to feel that sense of urgency- before i start producing something.

2. I also require alot of sleep when i'm stressed.
I slept a whole lot during my honours year, and very early at night when i'm on prac as well.

3. I enjoy the great outdoors

4. I love dogs. (esp Jean)

5. I appreciate heart-to-heart conversations.

6. I like to read-- fiction and non-fiction.

7. I eat almost anything. (i think.)

Work is due...

Snowy Jean

She reminds me of Tintin's Snowy....