First LOVE

The pretty lady

Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together. They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge was damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river.

The big monk offered to carry her across the river on his back. The lady accepted. The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. 'How can big brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?' thought the little monk. But he kept quiet.

The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her.

All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation.

Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. 'How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite The big monk looked surprised and said, 'I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?'

This very old Chinese Zen story reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away. We keep on carrying the baggage of the 'pretty lady' with us. We let them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot of agony. Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the baggage of the 'pretty lady'. We should let go of the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river, that is after the unpleasant event is over. This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over.

Hold my hands

Little girl and her father were crossing a bridge.

The father was kind of scared so he asked his little daughter, 'Sweetheart, please hold my hand so that you don't fall into the river.'

The little girl said, 'No, Dad. You hold my hand.'

'What's the difference?' Asked the puzzled father.

'There's a big difference,' replied the little girl. 'If I hold your hand and something happens to me, chances are that I may let your hand go. But if you hold my hand, I know for sure that no matter what happens, you will never let my hand go.'

~THE END~

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond.
This short story makes me recall how I trusted the Lord when I just met Him years ago. Days that I was misunderstood by, seem like people had forgotten about my existing. However, the Lord never leave me because I chose to let Him hold my hands.

There is a verse that speak deeply in my heart, such assurance from Him

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. Isaiah 49:15-16

妇 人 焉 能 忘 记 他 吃 奶 的 婴 孩 ， 不 怜 恤 他 所 生 的 儿 子 ？ 即 或 有 忘 记 的 ， 我 却 不 忘 记 你。看 哪 ， 我 将 你 铭 刻 在 我 掌 上 ； 你 的 墙 垣 常 在 我 眼 前 。 以 賽 亞 書 49:15-16

If you had been waiting for people to hold your hands or maybe you are
expecting others to hold your hands. At this moment, open your hands for Jesus to hold you. Others may let go their hands or you may let go others hands but the hand of Jesus is like the hand of the father to the little girl, He never let go. As He had promised, He had inscribed my name and your name on the palms of His hand and it is always in front of Him.

The Tales of Three Trees

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up.

The firs little tree looked up at the stars twinkling like diamonds above him.' I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I will be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!'

The second little tress looked out at the small stream trickling by its way to the ocean. ' I want to travel mighty waters and carry powerful kings. I will be the strongest ship in the world!'

The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and busy women worked in a busy town. ' I don't want to leave this mountain top at all', she said. ' I want to grow so tall that when people stop look at me they will raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world!'

Years passed. The rain came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall.

One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain.

The first woodcutters looked at the first tree and said, ' This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me.' With a swoop of his shining axe, the first tree fell.

'Now i shall be made into a beautiful chest,' thought the first tree. ' I shall hold wonderful treasure.'

The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, 'This tree is strong. It is prefect for me.' With a swoop of his shining axe, the second tree fell.

'Now i shall sail mighty waters,' thought the second tree. 'I shall be a strong ship fit for kings!'

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutters looked at her way. she stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven.

But the woodcutter never even looked up. 'Any kind of tree will do for me,' he muttered. With a swoop of his shining axe, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought him to a carpenter's shop, but the busy carpenter was not thinking about treasure chests. Instead his workworn hands fashioned the tree into feed box for animals.

The once-beautiful tree was not covered with gold or filled with treasure. He was covered with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took him to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ships were being made that day. Instead the once-strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat.

Too small and too weak to sail and ocean or even a river, he was taken to a little lake. everyday, he brought in loads of dead, smelly fish.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard.

'What happen?' the once-tall tree wondered. 'All i ever wanted to do was stay on the mountain top and point to God'.

Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams.

But one night golden starlight poured over the first tree as a newborn baby in the fee box.
'I wish i could make a cradle for him,' her husband whispered.

The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. 'This manger is beautiful' she said.

And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveller and his friends crowed into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake.

Soon a thundering storm arose. The little tree shuddered. He knew he did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and rain.

The tired man awakened. he stood up, stretched out his hand, and said 'Peace'. The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun.

And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry, jeering crowed. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her.

She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.

But Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything.

It had made the first tree beautiful.

It had made the second tree strong.

And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

That was better then being the tallest tree in the world.

He Is The God of our valleys too!

Last week I had severe backache, admitted to hospital in the middle of the night. When it come to backache, it make me hopeless because any posture that slightly not 'chun' it really trigger the pain.

I was on strong medication plus injection, i slept almost ALL the time even when nurse came in to check blood pressure i just couldn't open my eyes . I was tough to have a verse to proclaim over and over and believe for healing but i even do not have the time to get up to grab the plate of food that was served in front of me, guess what it is western food-chicken chop with all my favorite side dishes. That time, all that is in me only can function one thing-SLEEP!

Praise God! I was discharged after staying 4 days, finally i am home. Again, i was sleeping round the clock. I couldn't follow proper meal time, simply just couldn't get out of sleep. I passed meal time and i can hear some noises from my stomach and i will start cooking and when i am done with my cooking... Oh my goodness... i can't eat it because i was cooking in dream!

Any position, i got to conscious that any part of my body feel any numbness? If yes, i got to go back to hospital immediately as it is a sign that my main nerve is press. I was in bad time don't you think so? Sometimes, some moment or a season in our life we went through both good and bad time.

I received this article in my mail box that had added strength to my days, here i would like to share it with you. It's from Pastor Joseph Prince, New Creation Church.

In 1 Kings 20, we find the Syrians being defeated by the Israelites. Then, some of the Syrian king’s advisers gave the king what they thought was the reason for their defeat. They said that they had fought on the hills and lost because Israel’s God is the God of the hills. So if they were to fight the Israelites on the plains or in the valleys, they would win.

What stupid advice! They thought that the God of Israel only helped His people up in the hills and mountains, and not down in the valleys.

Now, mountains refer to our good times, and valleys, our bad times. Some people have this idea that God is the God of our good times, but He is not there when we are going through bad times. They think that He leaves us helpless in the valleys, especially when the troubles are of our own making.

My friend, I want you to know that our God is the God of the mountains, but He is also the God of the valleys!

God the Son laid aside His crown of glory, His royal majesty and came down for us, stepping into a human body as a baby. He came down to where we were for the sole purpose of dying on the cross for our sins, so that He could bring us up to what God the Father has for us at His right hand. Jesus came down to crown us with glory and honor, to clothe us with robes of righteousness and make us His bride, sharing everything that He has with us. That is the grace of God. He came down to our valley.

So whatever you are going through right now, know that God is right there in your valley with you. He is holding you in His arms and carrying you through the valley. Victory is already yours. Just as the Israelites were also victorious in the valley (1 Kings 20:28–29), so will you be because the God of the valleys is right there with you!

Hallelujah! I already have the victory because He guards all my bones; Not one of them is broken. AMEN!!!