He makes all things new

Today's sermon:

Many of us are unhappy. We are weighed down. We attribute this unhappiness to physical things, such as the lack of sufficient money and other material things, the people around us etc. As a result, we try to acquire more material things, we spend our time trying to get a more aesthetic body shape, we seek revenge and so on, thinking that these things will make us happy.

But the reason we are unhappy is not because we are unhappy about our jobs, about money, or about others. We are unhappy with ourselves. We are dissatisfied with ourselves. All of us sin. Sin is one reason that makes us unhappy. We do terrible things, bad things, we have hurt others, we have done things that are shameful and disgusting. We are ashamed of ourselves and we try to hide our sins. We push them away and pretend that we did not do these things because we can't face them. We can't face ourselves. We hate ourselves. We can't forgive ourselves, much less forget our sins. Why can't we forgive ourselves? Because we do not believe that God can forgive us! We do not really believe in God's forgiveness and healing, that He can make all things new. We believe that God can do many physical things such as let us win 4D, but we do not truly believe that God can forgive us completely, because we can't forgive ourselves. But God is faithful to us, He keeps His promises.

The sacrament of reconciliation is so important. Yet we are often not sincere in our confessions, sometimes we can't even remember our list of sins. We need to be sincere in reconciling ourselves with God, and realize that God is forgiving and loving and He will forgive us completely when we are sincere. Otherwise, we are not ready for reconciliation. We are unhappy because we cannot let go of our past, we cling on to our past. It is only when we have allowed God to forgive us that we are liberated, set free and no longer will we look at others with hatred, but with compassion and sympathy.

The other reason why we are unhappy is because of the people, especially our loved ones- our spouses, our parents, our friends, who have hurt us and abandoned us. A husband who has left us, friends that have abandoned us, parents who have hurt us. Our loved ones have hurt us so deeply, and no one knows how painful it is. The hurt and pain are so immense and all-consuming that we cannot go forward. We just can't move on. We can't forgive. We try our best to forget, not to think about these painful events, but we are so broken. We need God's emotional and spiritual healing. Ask God sincerely to heal your soul and He definitely will heal you this evening and you will be set free.

We need to forgive ourselves and to forgive others. Make peace with God, make peace with yourself and most importantly, make peace with the people whom you have hurt and who have hurt you. God will heal your soul and He will make all things new.


***


It is unfortunate that some meaning has been lost and impact changed with my inadequate phrasing but this is the gist of it- one of the most powerful encounters with God in my life. Today, He spoke directly to my heart and showed me that there is no greater love. Truly, I am happy.

Train of thought

Different people have different writing styles and expression. It reflects the tone of their thoughts and to an extent their personality as well.

Spent the day at the anat hall, thought that my chicken's ligaments and ?veins were a bit obvious, as a result did not have a very good dinner. Oh and today C and I were models for Prof Raj haha we posed in the anat museum trying to look intellectual (He was doing a presentation for foreigners)

I'm yearning to go to ECP and cycle to Changi Beach, have a picnic there, and cycle back. Went on Sat with Huis but cuz of insufficient time and other reasons (H, you know what they are eh) we made it to 8km from Changi :| Ah, the wind in my hair and the sun on my shoulders. Awesome

I have a small ball of cells inside my ear lobe. Please be benign. Haha should be la

Hi Salonshine

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Have no fear, my little one

Went to the Neonatal unit ytd, and to sum it up in a word- incredible.

The smallest sweet little baby was <5kg. We saw twins (25 weeks), a baby with necrotic bowel (NEC) that could not be resected and pitting oedema everywhere with shiny and some abdominal gangrene, another preemie and another wrinkly preemie and a few other preemies. They are tiny- the ribs can be counted. They struggle to breathe with their accessory muscles and are on oxygen. Some thrash about and wave their little 1mm wide fingers. One cried. Their diapers are about 6 sizes too big. There is a constant though variable beeping coming from the preemies' machines. Every detail from ventilation to breathing to blood gases, temperature, pH is looked after.

Except I was sick and had to wear a mask and it irritated my eyes. But still ((:

The next time we're going to ED and Paeds Onco (my suggestion) (: