Jo4 Getaway 2012 - Deeper Passion

I had an awesome time at my life group's Getaway this weekend.
Once again we returned to the beach house at Castaway Cove, exactly the same one as the one we went last year.

God's been really good to Joseph 4. Brings back lots of memories! And of course, we wrote more memories after this trip there.

Here's a funny picture I stole off from Eddie's facebook.

Our theme for this year's getaway was "Deeper Passion".

It's actually pretty cool how everyone have grown since our last trip. We have more people this year, and more people stepping up into faith filled roles. I love this group.

As the organiser of the trip for a second time, I've learn to be a better leader. I've learnt to trust my team and let them run wild with their imaginations and ideas. But I'm not perfect yet, at times stepping on the toes of my team members, and stressing them out a little bit.
I'm still learning... so I'm sorry guys if I got a bit cranky whilst at it. (Although I'm pretty sure they probably won't see this.)

Character building... security in God, and a heart to love and serve God wholeheartedly.
Faith stretching tasks...
Love building relationships...
Refining through iron sharpening iron.

We will grow as a group.

Thank you Lord, for all You've done in the lives of every individual in Joseph 4 over the weekend. May God continue to grow and nurture the seeds planted this weekend, and cause us to bear fruit as individuals and as a life group.

Now, I'm empowered spiritually, drained physically. About to hit off and get some beauty refreshing sleep.
I can't wait for work tomorrow. Honest!:)

Leaving the surface... and drawing more strength from His Holy Spirit.

Jealous

He is jealous for me

Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy...

For a moment, these song lyrics resounds in my mind.

Let's suffice to say that it began with a couple of non-spiritual beginnings, which ended up in a deeper realisation of how it feels to know that someone would be jealous for you. The stirring tinge of happiness that follows this realisation hits back home, re-illustrating how one may feel to know his or her special position in the heart of another.

Whao. The jealously of a mere man could evoke such security, comfort or joy in the heart of another?

Shedding some light in this, I came to the understanding of how much God can be jealous for us. And the question I began to ask myself was - how pleased or excited are we at the thought of God being jealous for us?

I'm saying right now, Jesus is jealous for you. Jesus is jealous for me! Does that stir some thing in your heart? Or my heart?

A mirror shines, reflecting the condition of our hearts for Jesus. I'm praying for myself, and for you who are reading this.

May our hearts beat and jump for joy, knowing that Jesus is jealous for us.

"You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

- Exodus 20:4-6 (NIV)

Investment

I shun Mathematics, and numbers... gives me a headache, but here I am today, talking about Investment?! Um... finance? Must be for a good reason.
Especially when you understand that 'investment' is not always about $$$.

Three months have found its way fleeting past my life. Year 2012, was it?
For some reason, I still find it really hard to write the date in '2012' when I sign documents or write dates for experiments, unconsciously still filling out the blanks with the '11' instead.

Recently I'm caught up in a whirlpool of thoughts. Right, with a recent discussion with my good o'housemate and another friend in my cosy but messy housemate infested living room, we drew the conclusion that melancholics pretty much drown in thoughts throughout their lifetime. So, that kept me from writing for awhile... no, I'm just kidding.

Apart from the Jeremy Lin hoo-haa that happened close to a month back, what else was happening in my life? Well, the Knicks hasn't been fairing very well lately, I wonder why? But that doesn't change the fact that God has brought Jeremy to such a place of prominence in his life and social circle, or maybe the media, and I  still believe that Jesus will continue to make Himself known in the courts of NBA, and other social circles.

Putting that aside, I've been bogged down by the fiery start to the year. Meetings.

Meetings to spearhead what this year would entail. Very essential - without vision people perish! 

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he." - Prov 29:18 (KJV)

So, apart from meetings, I've been drowning in work and experiments lately, training up a new PhD student and getting many more experiments to work on. I've never been this busy at work before in my entire three years of working, but for some reason, I'm enjoying every moment of this, and feeling really blessed about it. It's like I'm finally doing something! Haha... Well, in my life after the office, I've been putting some effort at the gym, and also keeping in touch, growing deeper in relationships around me, also giving my body some rest it deserves... letting inspiration flow and getting more filming and post productions completed. A fulfilling but pretty exhausting season for now! A lot more that I'm packed with, but I shan't go further with this list... it'll bore you.

So, investment is my entry title. Let's talk, finance. In life I compare myself against two classes of people and I find myself in between. I'm not extremely rich, I'm not extremely poor. I'm average. And truth is, you find many average people around me who are in the same life stages as I am. Many times we sit at dinner tables or coffee circles and the talk about 'investment' comes up. Looking around me, almost all my friends have a car, or a house... or are thinking of buying one (either, or, both). It's hard not to feel the pressures of the world hard on every side, when you know that around the dinner table, 'MONEY' is not what all they talk about. You might or might not know what I'm driving at.

But this day, I once again returned to the voice of the Holy Spirit within me. I do have this little, yet God, why do I feel compelled to give more? Tugged at my heart, I hear the Holy Spirit's gentle still voice. He didn't need to say anything - I knew His heart.

I looked at my possessions, and my heart desires. I looked at my clock, my calendar, my time. Which of these are not a blessing from God? Yet this season, His tug at me happens again to invest... to invest. My carnal nature longs to compare myself with others... but God brings me the word "promise".

So... once again I present my God inspired revelation here, keeping it as a gentle reminder to myself and anyone it may speak to.

Inspiration 12 March 2012:
Keys to true wealth in life that I've discovered, experienced, believed and still constantly working towards:
1. To love God, with all of one's heart, soul and mind.
2. To give up the pleasures in life, to invest in a legacy to be passed on... to put faith into actions, walking the talk.
And in doing this, trust that He will pour back all that you have invested, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, and poured into your lap. 
... a faith fueled journey indeed.