SCHOOL LIFE

School has just started. Homework are rolling in. Tests are just lurching around the corner and waiting to pounce on you. Before you know it, PSLE will be knocking at your doorstep and by the end of the year, you will be receiving your PSLE results and embarking on a new journey - a journey to your secondary school education.

For some people, they love schooling. For others, schooling is very "sian" - a pain and a hassle because of all the homeworks and tests, as well as the pressure to do well for PSLE so you can get into a good secondary school.

God has placed you in school for a reason or reasons. For now, I can think of two possible reasons:

1. One is to equip and teach you with all the knowledge so that when you grow up later, He can use you according to your abilities to serve Him, for His purpose. It doesn't mean you will go full-time serving Him, but in the area and expertise which you will specialise in after you've grown up (for example, teacher, doctor or engineer), He can use you in those areas to proclaim His good news to the lost and magnify His glory. I know of a church brother who studied mass communications degree in NUS and God has used him in the field of journalism to tell the world about Jesus and the good news, even he's working in MediaCorps as a journalist. How will He do it in your life? Well, only He has the answers and when you yield your future to Him, He will guide you along and show you the way.

2. The other reason is to train you to be a missionary. You don't need to go overseas to be a missionary. You can be a missionary in school too. Be God's salt and light in school. Live your life that is Christ-like - give a helping hand when your schoolmate is in need of help to understand the schoolwork, help them to get up when they fall down, encourage them when they are depressed. And when they ask why you are so different than the other schoolmates, that is when you can share with them on what Jesus has done for you. Do not be afriad if some people were to despise you after sharing Jesus - when they do that, they are despising Jesus too - but continue to be patient with them and love them as Christ would (read 1 Cor 13 on love).

Colossians 3:23 says - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Your task is to study hard in school. Just do your best and give Him all the glory He deserves. Whatever results you get eventually, give thanks to Him (remember 1 Thes 5:16-18 ?). And don't forget to be a salt and light for Him in school too.


HEALING AND UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Below is a short article I found in the Internet just to encourage further on the topic of healing and unconditional love - something which you can learn to put into action. If you find it difficult to comprehend, you can reflect the article slowly or ask any of the kor-kor, jie-jie or pastors in church to explain.

We must learn to accept love by not judging. Not judging means being open and understanding, not wanting to judge others, not wanting to put others in their place, not putting others down, and not wanting to think poorly of them. Instead of judging others, we must strive to put others only in God's arms. We must learn to accept others without letting our approving or disapproving of what they do or who they are interfere with our ability to love them. Giving acceptance means loving without expecting anything in return. When we give acceptance, we release tremendous energy for healing. When we give acceptance, love becomes more than emotion. In acceptance, love becomes a physiological reality and may cure illness. In acceptance, healing is a releasing of our fears causing us to love without conditions. When we can love in acceptance without any conditions, we know peace. When we can love in acceptance without conditions, we can live without fear, anger, pain, or guilt. When we can love without conditions, we can love totally independent from any physical condition. When we can love without any conditions, we are winning. Loving without any conditions may require we give up many beliefs and attitudes. One of our goals in life should be to know the peace and serenity of God's unconditional love. Healing is a side benefit of unconditional love.


signing off,
alex