Then the king came to a village, while strolling through it, he came pass a backyard. There he saw a man, forcefully grabbing on to a girl's hand and kicking her. While the girl tried to struggles away from him. It was a robbery. The king and the servant saw that things was not right, and came running towards the scene. As they came nearer, there was not one man but four man. Nevertheless, the king and servant went up and defended the girl and tried to chase away the robbers. The robbers in turn, turn towards the king and his servant and held a fight. Being out numbered, the king and his servant could not hold up the fight. The servant shouted to the king three times,"Tell them you are the king! Tell them you are the king! Tell them you are the king! Sent your troops here and take them!" The robbers laugh and mock at them, "King? You are the King? I guess you are the King of the losers." The servant said, "Don't you know that, by a command of my Lord, you will see a legion of army come and protect us.?" The robbers laugh even harder, and they took what they want and left. The king kept quiet through out.

The servant cried, "My Lord, my heart so wish to bring them to the place where you live. Show them your power, that they may bow down. Show them your wealth that they may see and not lay a single touch on it. Show them your justice that they be put in prison."

Being a Christian, have we ever truely know who we really believing in?
Have we ever regconize who our God really is?

Have you ever be so proud that you are His Servant and His Children?

Did you ever feel and understand how powerful He can be??

some of you might have heard me complaining how December has been relatively barren for me in terms of gyming. first half of the month was taken up by national interests (read: reservist ICT) and the latter part with the flurry of CYYAM events, punctuated by an not-too-undramatic accident along the AYE from which i emerged relatively unscathed to handle the nitty-gritty of insurance claims.

and so when my neck got better, i tried to restart the routine of going to the gym every week, and hopefully running as well. heard a few other guys also talking about how they want to get fitter this year.. all well and good.. but for the past week it seems that God has been trying to remind me, from QT and other events, of the importance of another kind of fitness - the spiritual kind.

as Paul says, "train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (1 Tim 4:7-8)

Another version puts v.7 this way: "Take time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit." (PHILLIPS)

What exactly is spiritual fitness? And are we in a position to do something about it? The answer to the 2nd question must be a resounding YES, or Paul wouldn't have told us to keep ourselves fit. By using the language of fitness and training, Paul is telling us that we need to adopt some spiritual disciplines as part of our lifestyle. The simplest of them are simply to read His Word daily and have a consistent and balanced prayer life.

And everyone knows this. So why am i posting it again? The reason is that everyone knows and everyone keeps failing to keep these simple habits (including myself). But then again, how are we supposed to keep to these habits if we don't truly resolve with a strong will, grit our teeth and set our determination to do them this year?

My hope is that I myself can have the right priorities and focus - keeping spiritually fit is far more important than some physical fitness, academic achievement or career advancement. Why? Because it "holds promise for both the present life and the life to come." Do you really believe this? If you do, what things do you need to resolve and change?

So i thought that at the start of the new year, it would be good for us to ponder on a few questions: Have you ever thought why some people react with faith and trust towards God even in the midst a personal crisis while some others turn away? Why are some people able to keep to their principles while being surrounded by a dog-eat-dog world of cut-throat competition in their work (and maybe even in school)? Why are people able to give testimonies of the comfort and strength from God's Word in the midst of difficulties and sorrow, of how God spoke to them?

I'm sure there are many reasons, some of them more profound than others, but I believe that one very important factor is how well these people have been training themselves spiritually. This is an unseen factor to many in public, and thus much underrated in our evaluation what influences how people react to things.

Whether your muscles of faith can handle the unexpected turn of events depends on whether you have been consuming the right kind of stuff - good protein and the right balance of other nutrients (God's Word, prayer, edifying fellowship with other believers) or just plain fats and fried food (read: banal television programs, endless drama serials, manga addition, wasteful conversations, time-consuming habits)?

That's why we need to "Take time and trouble to keep yourself spiritually fit." It does not happen naturally.

So then, i made a resolution to do QT every morning and to sleep early at night (trust me, it's a big step!). Hopefully, we'll all get spiritually lean and fit this year... :)