Quiet Time today--john11:17-57

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John 11:17-57
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus

 ¹⁷ On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was less than two miles^[a] from Jerusalem, ¹⁹ and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

 ²¹ “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

 ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

A Good tree bears Good fruit

Matt28:19-20 "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have taught you. And surely I will be with you always, even to the very end of the age."

Dear Father,
What an exciting week. You really make things in your own time. Just yesterday I came out late afternoon to meet Claire for witnessing. She hadn't brought her H/P so thank God we still managed to meet. If she came alone too, she would have gone home instead. Anw, we met Ming Ming from SIM at the Auditorium. It was the first time she heard the gospel and it went quite smoothly... so smoothly that when I shared with her, she really believed everything, from her sins to heaven to Jesus. She had a preconceived notion that there was one God out there. Her receipt of Christ as personal Saviour was innocent enough for us to believe she was indeed born again. We had to ask her a few times if she was sure about her decision.

Quiet Time today--John11:1-16

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John 11
The Death of Lazarus

 ¹ Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²³ So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.)

 ⁴ When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, ⁷ and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

Quiet Time today--John10:22-42

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John 10:22-42
Further Conflict Over Jesus’ Claims

 ²² Then came the Festival of Dedication^[a] at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. ²⁴ The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Quiet Time today--John10:1-21

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John 10The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

 ¹ “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” ⁶ Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

No Dreamer But Thy Dream

Prayer

Master, they say that when I seem
    To be in speech with you,
Since you make no replies, it's all a dream
    --One talker aping two.

They are half right, but not as they
    Imagine; rather, I
Seek in myself the things I meant to say
    And lo! the wells are dry.

Then, seeing me empty, you forsake
    The Listener's role, and through

My dead lips breathe and into utterance wake
    The thoughts I never knew.

And thus you neither need reply
    Nor can;thus, while we seem
Two talking, thou art One forever, and I
    No dreamer, but thy dream

~Taken from James Gordon's "Living Wittily" blog.

Said to be written by CS Lewis, and another  source says he quoted it from an old notebook of an unknown author. But either way, the style is very much like his own. It is mentioned in "A Sacrifice of Praise" by James H Trott and in "CS Lewis: An Examined Life" by Bruce L Edwards.

At times our prayers seem to go unanswered and it brings no glory or honour to anyone. But Lewis' prayer is a reminder that the prayer is powerful though we see no major change. God would eventually, "through my dead lips breathe and into utterance wake / the thoughts I never knew." He would provide a new perspective. I have had the privilege of hearing someone else' POV on sth I felt important and realised I was looking at things the wrong way. Thank God she said what I needed to hear or I would be brooding in bitterness.

Quiet Time today--John9:13-4

 

There are QT passages for the month in the side bar. Feel free to print or download.

John 9:13-41
The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

 ¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴ Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵ Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

 ¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

   But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

Quiet Time today--John9:1-12

John 9
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

 ¹ As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”    ³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Quiet Time today--John6:16-40

There are QT passages for the month in the side bar, feel free to download/print. I've been having my QT, but a lil' lazy to post up. =P

John 6:16-40
Jesus Walks on the Water

 ¹⁶ When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, ¹⁷ where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. ¹⁸ A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. ¹⁹ When they had rowed about three or four miles,^[a] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. ²⁰ But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” ²¹ Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

Dawson Trotman's The Need of the Hour

Recently at the Nav camp in Malaysia, we went through a short booklet called The Need of the Hour by Dawson Trotman. It was based on one of his addressing speeches to the Navigators men to inspire them towards world vision. I've been looking for an online version but the Nav digital copyright policy doesn't allow me to share the material on the interwebz, so here's a link to the booklet you have to purchase =P

The Need of the Hour: http://www.navpress.com/store/search.aspx?q=the+need+of+the+hour 
(ooh, wait a minute, for personal use, feel free to Google it)

I listened to the audio version at the camp, and they edited out a lot of mentions from the booklet... I guess 'cos the original one had a lot more deviations from the main message, the need of the hour/moment.

Here's a snippet anyway: "Then it dawned on me in a way I had never considered before. When Jesus Christ sent the 11 out, He let a situation exist which was so bad that there could never be a worse one. No printing presses, no automobiles, no radios, no television, no telephone, no buildings, not one single church, no uniforms, nothing for the vestry. He didn't leave them a little emblem.

He left them only a job to do, but with it He said, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.Go ye therefore...' (Matt 28:18-19)."

He wrote loads more interesting booklets.

 

The entire message Daws gave was simply that the disciples went out on a leap of faith. Not knowing what the future would bring, not knowing where they would go and whether there would be money or food or shelter, they only had faith. I guess God wants all his people to only be equipped with that when we do his work. Don't need the materials, or the literature, but just have faith and a mouth to proclaim Christ.

I dare not say I have a strong faith, but I have it nonetheless and I'm not afraid to use it! =P lol, I just need to learn when. In this camp, I thought I would start by giving myself and everything in daily prayer to God, and let him take control of everything. Let him use me and what I have. When Christ really is in the centre, I have to let him take the steering wheel of my life.

There's this job opening that has called me in for an interview. It's the same company I interned in, but maybe different boss. I want a full-time job but I didn't want the PR job. But I guess if God wants me there, I have to learn to submit. He didn't quite bless my previous time there, but I hope he would be with me here. So hopefully ultimately I can learn to be trained there in office while continuing the Great Commission. =))