Your Biggest Weakness is your Greatest Strength

I got this in my daily email that inspires me a lot ...

What Is That in Your Hand?

"Moses answered [God],
'What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, "The LORD did not appear to you?"'

Then the LORD said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he replied. The LORD said, 'Throw it on the ground.' Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it."1

I have read how "there was a 10-year-old boy, who's left arm was damaged and subsequently amputated. He decided to learn judo. His Sensai (teacher) was an old Japanese judo expert.

"The boy learned quickly. After a short time, he had mastered one important move. He asked his teacher to teach him more moves. The sensei told him that this was all he would need.
"Soon after, the boy entered a tournament where his opponent was bigger and more experienced. The boy seemed outmatched. After a long match, the opponent seemed to lose concentration. Quickly, the boy took advantage and pinned what seemed to be his superior opponent.

"On the ride home, the boy asked his sensei, 'How could I win with this one move?' The sensei replied, 'You have mastered one of the difficult moves in judo. And a good defense against that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm.'"

Sometimes we don't think we have much to offer in service to God. But we all have at least "one thing in our hand." If we offer that willingly to God, he will use it for his glory.

And as the writer of the above story said,

"Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your greatest strength."

I totally agree.

Sometimes in our hours of pitch darkness, we find unbelieveable strength and hope.

If everything is smooth and according "to our plan", there's no need for hope and strength, right? We dont need to get out of our comfort zone and find solution as to how to climb the wall in front of us.

But the wall is placed there for a reason....

It asks us how badly we want to climb over it or remain blocked by the wall.

And we Christians have an unfair advantage. - GOD is always there with HIS invisible Hand to lift us over the wall that hinders our journey...

It is purposely placed there by GOD not to test our physical strengths but to let us check how badly we want to overcome the wall...

Happy Climbing:)

Rest In Peace

It's been 15 days since Joyce's mom had passed on and it had not really sunk in yet that she had left us temporarily...

Joyce had taken it reasonably well and I am surprised at her strength. Somehow, I know she misses her mom a lot but does not show it out to us....

Today, I was reading my emails and I came across the following verse in a Christian newsletter I subscribed to:

Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
John 5:28,29 NASB

I fear not for Joyce's mom as she was a wonderful person and she had accepted Christ in 2009. Thus she is in "good hands" and will be in heaven. This, I am sure, will comfort Joyce a lot knowing for a fact that someday they will meet again eternally...

Hopefully I will join them in heaven and not be brought before the JUDGE.

I know the JUDGE is fair here unlike our judiciary in the physical land we live in (cannot mention name lah). So I cannot bribe the JUDGE lor....correct, correct, correct!

Sori about the lame joke but just couldnt help it ....I am sure GOD wont mind :)

Rest in peace, mother.....

I am only one but still I am one

Throughout the entire Bible whenever God had a job to do he called a person—usually just one person. When he wanted to form a nation, the nation of Israel to be his own people, he chose and called Abraham. When he wanted to deliver the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, he chose and called Moses. When he wanted a leader to take the children of Israel into the Promised Land, he chose and called Joshua. When he needed an earthly mother for the Christ child, he chose and called Mary.
From Genesis to Revelation, God's methods are people—calling one at a time. You, too, can be one that God uses. As the unknown poet wrote:
One song can spark a moment, One flower can wake the dream. One tree can start a forest, One bird can herald spring. One smile begins a friendship, One handclasp lifts a soul. One star can guide a ship at sea, One word can frame the goal. One vote can change a nation, One sunbeam lights a room. One candle wipes out darkness, One laugh will conquer gloom. One step must start each journey, One word must start each prayer. One hope will raise our spirits, One touch can show you care. One voice can speak with wisdom, One heart can know what's true. One life can make the difference, You see it's up to YOU!
As Edward Everett Hale said, "I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do."

The story of Jean Henri Fabre

A French naturalist, and his processional caterpillars.

The naturalist encountered some of these interesting creatures one day while walking in the woods. They were marching in a long unbroken line front to back, front to back. What fun it would be, Fabre thought, to make a complete ring with these worms and let them march in a circle.
"So, Fabre captured enough caterpillars to encircle the rim of a flowerpot. He linked them nose to posterior and started them walking in the closed circle. For days they turned like a perpetual merry-go-round. Although food was near at hand and accessible, the caterpillars starved to death on an endless march to nowhere."

There are lots of people like this. They worry themselves sick over unfounded fears which all but paralyze them, not realizing that 95 percent of things they fear never happen, and the other five percent probably won't happen either.

Many men, when they arrive at middle age, experience a mid-life crisis with a sense of despair, feeling that they haven't accomplished anything worthwhile with their life to date, and feel that they have nothing better to look forward to in the future.

Other people wander aimlessly through life without a purpose and without any meaningful and worthwhile goals. Even more tragic are the millions who go through life without ever having made plans and preparation for life after death.

Similar to the processional caterpillars, these people not only spend their life going in circles, but go in ever decreasing circles until their life diminishes into nothing. A terrible way to live. A tragic way to die.

But for those who discover their God-given life-purpose and plan and live accordingly as well as living in harmony with the will of God, when they come to the end of life's journey, they have the assurance of meeting God face to face and hearing his welcoming words at the entrance of heaven. "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord." A joyous way to live.

A triumphant way to die!

Our Comfort & Refuge

The LORD is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble,
And He knows those who take refuge in Him.




The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of trouble.
And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee:
for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
Psalm 9:9,10


If the LORD delights in a man's way,
he makes his steps firm;
though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 37:23,24 NIV

It's not only Toyotas that are recalled

Even some of the best-running cars have jerks in them.

The pioneers who blazed the trails now have descendants who burn up the roads.

Always drive as if the police were following you.

Drive carefully-it's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.

Quite frequently, he who goes too fast gets there not only too late-but not at all...know what I mean??

The Lost Sheep

So He told them this parable, saying,
"What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
"When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
"And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'
"I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Luke 15:3-7 NASB

In every crisis is an opportunity

The Chinese have two characters
for the word 'crisis'. One means
danger; the other, opportunity.

The Chinese have two characters for the word "crisis". One means danger; the other, opportunity. How right they are! In every crisis there is a danger of being defeated or the opportunity for growth.

The question is: How can we turn crises and suffering into opportunities?

We need to realize that we have a choice. Our difficulties can make us bitter or better. They can become a stumbling block or a stepping stone. They can make us resentful or we can see in them an opportunity to be creative.

The choice, however, is ours.

In ancient times people used an instrument called a tribulum. It was used to beat grain in order to divide the chaff from the wheat. It's the word from which we get our word "tribulation." In the development of human character it's tribulation that divides "the chaff from the wheat."

In the Bible it says,

"We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope."
Romans 5:3-4

To turn our crises into opportunities, we need to ask the question,

"What might God be trying to say to me through my adverse circumstances?"

No matter what happens to us, God wants to use our suffering to strengthen us, to mature us, and to make us better persons.

If you are going through a time of sickness, sorrow, depression, financial setback, a broken relationship, or feel you have failed in some way, can you accept that God wants to use your suffering to help you grow and become closer to him? Can you ask him to help you see what you might be contributing to your situation, for the courage to do your part in resolving it, and through it help you to grow?

After a long winter, spring eventually comes and with it new leaves appear on the trees in all their refreshing beauty. In the summer they thrive. In the fall they die. But in dying their beauty is greater than in the spring. But the tree doesn't die. The falling leaves just make further growth possible. And that's the cycle of life-struggle, pain, beauty, growth.

Apparently, in his later years, Renoir, the famous French painter, suffered badly from arthritis. On one occasion his close friend, Matisse, questioned him,

"My friend, why do you keep on painting when you are in so much pain?"

To which Renoir thoughtfully replied, "The pain passes, but the beauty remains!"

For all who trust their life to God and ask him to use their struggles to help them grow, their pain, too, will pass, but their beauty will remain—forever.

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."

Psalm 55:22

Be sure to invest your pain. Don't waste it. Invest it wisely in your own growth and in the growth of others.

Where's the Scent?

"The Lord disciplines those he loves … for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."
Hebrews 12:6, 10, 11

Earl Nightingale told how on one National Secretaries Day he gave his secretary flowers and she remarked how beautiful they were. She also said that she couldn't understand why they didn't have any scent.

He informed her that the flowers came from a hothouse and explained that because flowers raised in this type of environment have everything done for them, they don't have to attract insects to pollinate them. As a result, they lose their scent. In the same way fruit raised in a hothouse, because it doesn't need to attract insects to scatter its seeds, doesn't taste as good as fruit grown in its natural environment.

It's similar to the child who wanted to help a butterfly out of its cocoon by putting a slit in it and, in so doing caused it to die. He didn't realize that the struggle to get out of the cocoon is needed to strengthen the butterfly's wings, which enables it to fly.

When people do too much for us or overprotect us, especially in our early developmental years, they can do serious harm to us. And even in adulthood it's the problems and difficulties we have that strengthen us, build out character, and teach us wisdom, understanding, and compassion—if we let them—and enable us to "fly."

This is why God disciplines those whom he loves by allowing us to go through difficult times.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT/SIS CHRIS!

Hello Sis/Aunty Chris,

Today shud be your 5? something birthday if we did not guiess wrong!

So a very happy and blessed Birthday wish to you from all of us lor

Chong Family

Climb Till Your Dreams Come True

Often your tasks will be many,
and more than you think you can do-
often the road will be rugged
and the hills insurmountable too-
but always remember, the hills
ahead are never as steep as they seem,
and with faith in your heart start upward
and climb 'till you reach you dream.
For nothing in life that is worthy
is ever too hard to achieve
if you have the faith to believe-
for faith is a force that is greater
than knowledge or power or skill
and many defeats turn to triumph
if you trust in God's wisdom and will-
for faith is a mover of mountains,
there's nothing that God cannot do.
So start out today with faith in your heart
and "climb 'till your dream comes true"!
Helen Steiner Rice

A Bend in the Road

When we feel we have nothing left to give
and we are sure that the song has ended,
When our day seems over and the shadows fall
and the darkness of night has descended,
Where can we go to find the strength
to valiantly keep on trying?
Where can we find the hand that will dry
the tears that the heart is crying?
There’s but one place to go and that is to God,
and dropping all pretense and pride,
We can pour out our problems without restraint
and gain strength with Him at our side.
And together we stand at life’s crossroads
and view what we think is the end,
But God has a much bigger vision,
and He tells us it’s only a bend,
For the road goes on and is smoother,
and the pause in the song is a rest,
And the part that’s unsung and unfinished
is the sweetest and richest and best.
So rest and relax and grow stronger –
let go and let God share your load.
Your work is not finished or ended –
you’ve just come to a bend in the road

The Mask Man

These people honor me with their lips But their hearts are far from me They worship me in vain Their teachings are but rules taught by man
Matthew 15:7-9

And we, who with unveiled faces, all reflect the Lord's Glory are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord, who is the spirit
2 Corinthians 3:18



The Mask Man Video (zipped)

Come On In

Hi Guys...I have just created a blog for the Chong Family to write whatever we want to share with the rest of the Chong, Choo, Leong, Ngo family and the friends... keep this blog going so that we have a "home" in cyberspace where we can return to share, see, feel, experience and be inspired by the Words of GOD....

Regardless of whether you are in US, New Zealand, Australia, Bandar Sunway, Puchong, Cheras, Old Kland Road, Seremban...if you can read this....



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