Joie de Vivre A Wretched Man’s Quest To Follow Jesus Christ

Have you ever wondered what rewards we shall all receive if we are the faithful who overcome the evils and the trials and tribulations of the Last Days?

I was reading Revelation (again!) just last night, and it’s funny that this thought has never come into my meditations on Revelation before.

Before we continue, I must first state that this came to me at this moment when I am facing a little crisis where I am struggling a little in my walk with God, so I have absolutely no doubt that this is God speaking to me and telling me about His promises to me and all of us when we overcome.

And I must also share with you this little bit of information before I move on to the rest of the post — that during the past few days whenever I flip open the Bible it will, without fail, open to a passage about sin and faith whether it’s in the Old or New Testament.

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I just took this personality test (props to Robert at Mulled Vine for sharing), and it seems that I’m an INFJ, or an “INtroverted Feeling Judging” person.

Some might not trust this kind of personality tests, but I personally feel it’s about 90% accurate about me.

Plus, looking at the names of the people who are also INFJs, it is no wonder that I’ve always thought I should adopt the name “Nathan” as my middle name (it’s true, as my wife will testify!).

Here’s what the test says about people like me who are “diagnosed” as INFJs (taken from the analysis page, which has a longer analysis as well if you wish to read more):
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I was having an MSN chat over lunch with a Christian acquaintance and we were just asking each other how life was.

It seems that both of us are doing alright.

Then he asked me this — how do you keep God continually in your life when things are going all fine and dandy? Because it seems that we usually only call upon the Lord when things aren’t going well.

I didn’t have a straight answer for him, because to be honest, I am often guilty of the same sin that Israel of old was.

Forgetting God when things are going fine.

It also reminded me of a lesson I learned a long time ago, when I first backslided and asked my Bible Study leader why I was facing so much trouble, that sometimes the trials and tribulations we face are there not just to test us and make us stronger, but also to bring us back to Him.

Our God is faithful indeed, even when we are unfaithful!

While we are beaten by the trials, we will be strong in our prayers, in our thanksgiving and in our faith, and God will straighten things out when He thinks we have had enough.

Then, wham!, prayers and thanksgiving almost cease or come to a screeching halt once things are back on track. Sin rears its ugly head again because the devil knows its the perfect time to start the temptations again.

In my experience, I can sink so low and usually don’t crawl out of the quicksand until God starts putting me through enough trials to make me prostrate myself and cry out for His forgiveness and help.

Do you go through the same phases as these? And if so, how do you prevent yourself from slipping when things are going great?

I am determined that I shan’t let myself slip again!

Shalom Aleichem.

Picture of Sunflower by Chunyang.

Presenting the CD set you have always wanted to own on the prosperity gospel.

Order today and receive a pair of gold plated prison chains! Hurry, limited time offer!

I got tagged by Casey to reveal seven things about me that you do not already know, so here goes:

1. It used to be my ambition to be a radio disc jockey because I loved music so much. I actually had the Top 10 charts in the 80s clipped from magazines like Smash Hits and others.
2. I learned Japanese so that I could understand what the Japanese singers were warbling about when I was caught up in the Japanese music invasion in the mid-80s. Because of a lack of practice, I have lost most of my Japanese skills, but I can still write and read though understanding the words can take some time.
3. I prefer dogs to cats.
4. I spend more time in front of my PC than the television. About the only television programs I watch are House, CSI and CSI:NY, CNN, BBC News, and documentaries.
5. When I was a child, my parents got very exasperated with me taking apart every mechanical toy that my maternal grandmother gave me. I was trying to find out how they work, but could never find a way to put them back.
6. Though I no longer do any programming work, I am still a geek at heart and do like to fiddle around with code and templates once in a while as a hobby. I’ll die if you ask me to code full-time again.
7. I have a squint in my left eye due to an accident in college that I am quite conscious of, and therefore avoid taking pictures as much as possible.

There, now you know more about me. :-)

Here’s a tag coming your way, my dear brothers:

• Michael at Living Water for Those Who Thirst
• Daniel at Messy Pastor
• Dan King at Management by God

I’d love to tag everyone on my blogroll, but rules are rules, sigh!

Shabbat Shalom.

Except that we be cleansed and go to God our Father in perfect cleanliness, washed white as wool by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, God our Father will not accept our offerings nor hear of our prayers.

Isaiah 1:11 (KJV) To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

Isaiah 1:12 (KJV) When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

Isaiah 1:13 (KJV) Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

Isaiah 1:14 (KJV) Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

Isaiah 1:15 (KJV) And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

Isaiah 1:16 (KJV) Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

Isaiah 1:17 (KJV) Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

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The International press seems to have picked up the fact that hundreds of Singaporeans have signed a petition to ask the Government to decriminalize homosexual sex ahead of Parliamentary debates on Oct 22.

Though anal and oral sex between consenting heterosexual adults has been decriminalized recently, the same law, popularly known as Section 377A, continues to criminalize the same sex acts between homosexual men.

Homosexual men caught in the act can expect to be charged and serve a maximum of 2 years imprisonment.

I recently spoke to a few local Christians on what their stand is on the decriminalizing homosexual sex acts, and I actually didn’t get a unified response to the subject.

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