Issue 30

Reach Community Church

Central:

2/177 Beavers Road

Northcote VIC 3070

Tel: (03) 9481 6889

Senior Pastor: Victor Soo

Email: info@reachcc.org

West:

2/17 Linmax Court

Point Cook VIC 3030

Pastor: Ajibade A. Aibinu

Website: reachcc.org

CHURCH SERVICE

Celebration Service REACH Kids Fellowship Lunch

Sunday l 10:00am - 11:30am

Sunday l 10:30am - 11:30am

Sunday l 11:30am - 12:30pm

PRAYER MEETING

Monthly Ministry & Prayer Intercessory Prayer

1st Friday of the Month l 7.30pm - 9.30pm

Tuesday l 7.30pm - 9.30pm

via Zoom, please contact our office for further information.

BIBLE STUDY

Young Adults

University & Youth Groups Family

Wednesday I 7.30pm - 9.30pm

Friday I 7.30pm - 9.30pm

Monday I 8pm - 10pm

Friday I 7.30pm - 9.30pm

OTHER ACTIVITIES

STEP Classes

Mothers’ Group

Men and Women’s Ministry Events

Praise Dance / Table Tennis

Ukulele for beginners

Sunday 12:45pm - 1:45pm

Every 2nd & 4th Tuesday l 10am - 12pm

Quarterly

Thursday l 10am - 12pm

Thursday l 1pm - 2pm

Sow well to reap well

By Pastor Victor Soo

history.

Man’s memory is short. This article is about how easily we disregard the warnings written in the Bible for our admonition. From cover to cover, the Bible encourages us to love The Lord with ALL our hearts, ALL our souls and with ALL our strength. When we hold fast to our faith with a water-tight commitment, God promises to bless us, our children and even our grandchildren. When we fail to heed, the leaven of popular culture corrupts our conviction, and compromise is the early onset of spiritual cancer.

In today’s context, look at our nation. We jettisoned that which introduced the Judeo-Christian culture that brought us prosperity, peace and progress. We booted God out of school, universities, court rooms, homes, libraries, sports ground and the list is growing. Today, we are seduced by ideologies that are re-hashed and globally, we worship them with a fervour without the religious labels. The wrath of the zeitgeist we currently witness are the escalating social and family challenges.

Judges 6:1-6 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

It is said that we never learn from

Success and wealth can be very dangerous.

We have seen and read how singers and actors who lived lives with modesty before stardom being transformed to become opposite people. Fame and fortune turn ordinary people into humans flaunting their wealth without prudence and shame. There are stars who previously were church choir singers, and testify of their faith in God. Upon winning acclamation at TV Shows or Hollywood, they become instant celebrity. Their meteoric rise in reputation brought about compromises. Light and darkness cannot co-exist. To please fans, and to remain popular, their focus is how to remain on top, and not who is at the top of their lives and success. The God who blessed such ones with talents and successes no longer has a place in their fame. There are also those who publicly reject this God as being archaic, and has no room in an all-inclusive world.

Cult-status can change our worldview very easily. We succumb to the temptations of the world by living dual lives; on one hand we speak a little of God; on the other, we say what the crowd wishes to hear. And an example in the Bible: to placate the volatile crowd, a murderer was released but an innocent man crucified as demanded!

Mark 15:6-15 Now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them, whomever they requested. And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow rebels; they had committed murder in the rebellion. Then the multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do just as he had always done for them. But Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” For he knew that the chief priests had handed Him over because of envy. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he should rather release Barabbas to them. Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified.

The Church

instead as being the salt and light is also falling victim to the same plight. This is how the cycle works. Believers in poverty-stricken countries fast and pray for economic blessings to fall upon the land. They repent of the sins their forebears had committed leading to the calamities they suffer. God in His Mercy hear their cries, and bless these nations and bring about the desired financial boom and mighty revivals! God’s focus is in the latter. Many believers are endowed with great wealth, and I believe this money is to build His Church. With this money, large buildings are built to accommodate the growing congregations.

Sadly, after two to three generations of great growth in economic might and spiritual move of God, the rich now become richer and the poor become poorer. The second-generation Christians become mere cultural believers who go to church because they were raised as believers. Any personal knowledge and intimacy with God is rapidly in decline. As higher living standards in life continue to rise, people become more time-poor. Despite all the mod cons we acquire, lives are lived out as stressed-people pursuing for more time. We become more self-centred as we are surrounded by so many activities and programs between oneself, the couple, parents and even the children. We become social Christians.

Extra-curricular activities fill a young child’s daily program; from academic tuition to music, from sports to birthday parties, but no room for tuition in God. Smart devices become the baby-sitting tools, invading also the dining table, restaurants and supposedly family-time in the living room. These are supposed to build relationship, and connect ourselves to a wider net of friends. Instead we notice friends being “un-friended”. There is a great dis-connect, with young babies and children challenging their parents with great tantrums and melt-downs. Our busyness has at times caused us to feel bad due to our long work hours and little time with our children. To bring about some consolation, the child is cluttered with more toys and goods. The exhausted parents and children then reward themselves with more holidays.

But where is God in all these?

Matthew 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

The church shall continue along this trajectory by falling victim to the cries of the majority instead of obeying to the biblical fundamentals. Programs to equip and produce heroes of faith and the saints to be salt become sugar coated, and its light darkened when no programs to reach the lost is prioritised. Sermons are focused to satiate the flesh with health, wealth and happiness-centric tunes. The costs of the building and its size overtake the Kingdom mandate of discipleship, and salvation to the world through Jesus Christ! The church name and its speakers are often repeated more than the Name of the Saviour. The attributes that made congregations strong and vibrant at inception are now trimmed to give room to personal needs. Training programs are discarded, prayers and ministry to tired and exhausted souls are deemed to be irrelevant. Prayer meetings are options for when need is present but not as support to hold others.

light darkened when no programs to reach the lost is prioritised. Sermons are

Judges 2:7-10 So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Escaping the loop

Iam not the first, and I won’t be the last to reference Groundhog Day: a cult classic giving rise to the timeloop plot. For the uninitiated, I will summarise the plot.

The movie centres around Phil, a grumpy weatherman who gets stuck in a time-loop on his worst day, Groundhog Day. After the day ends, he wakes up to start the day again. At first, he is confused and tries to get help. Then he realises there are no consequences to his actions and enters a life of debauchery. He binge-eats, has onenight stands, commits robbery, etc. Eventually, he gets bored. He wants to escape, so he commits suicide...

Only, to wake up again! He tries good deeds. Yet, no matter how hard he tries, one homeless man always dies, “it was his time”.

The movie finally ends with Phil realising enlightenment, selfimprovement and getting the girl he was “meant to be with”. The time-loop plot resonates with us. Some fantasize about what they would do if there were no consequences, if they could have infinite do-overs. But there is another reason it resonates with us, it somehow represents reality.

By Kevin Hua

Every day, we wake up, rush to work, drag our feet, go to sleep only to repeat it all. Some resign to a fate of a “normal life”. Some seek pleasure in food, alcohol, Tinder, and drugs. Some seek that next adrenaline rush, like sky diving. Some chase after wealth and power.

But eventually, we all get bored, which is where we get the term “midlife crisis”. Some escape into books, movies and video games. Others still live for 5 o’clock, the weekend, the next holiday. Others seek purpose in philanthropy, religion and “noble causes”. And then the one equaliser, “death”, it does not discriminate.

And how many people reach true enlightenment before that day?

“Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!” From the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, we get the words of the “Teacher”, king of Israel, son of David. He is credited as being king Solomon, the “wise king”. Someone who has amassed wealth, for himself, for Israel; and peace on all sides. He enjoyed any activity he wanted, food, drink, gardening,

architecture, including the temple and his own palace. He had his pick of any woman he wanted, 700 wives and 300 concubines. His epiphany?

It is all “meaningless”, “there is nothing new under the sun”, it has all been done before, and then, we all die...

What is Solomon’s advice?

God has set a time and a season for all things; a time to live, a time to die; a time to laugh, a time to cry. “He has made everything beautiful in its time” and “Every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor.” This is consistent with Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 6:6: “godliness with contentment is great gain”.

But this provides an alternative ending to “Groundhog Day”. Imagine Phil never escape, learning to be content with winning the girl’s heart over and over again (“50 First Dates”?). That was Solomon’s conclusion, but not ours, because Jesus gives us a better answer, hope.

“Creation was subjected to futility” because of hope (Romans 8). Our daily mundane and frustration is intentional, to point us to Jesus. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, Solomon realises our unfulfilled desire for eternity.

As we reflect on the church theme this year “Knowing the Times and Seasons”, let us learn to recognise each time and season, learn how God has made each season beautiful and glorify God in our deeds. And this we can do, because of the hope God has given us in the name of Jesus.

Jesus

answers this in John 10:10

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Practise Punctuality

Punctuality is not often seen as a character to be cultivated. It is likely a common weakness to be overlooked…by the offender, but nonetheless irritate other people. People who are chronically late like to portray themselves to be busy, having various roles and responsibilities. But deep down, the real issue is poor time management, lack of respect for other people’s time, lack of accountability, and pride. Let’s make the decision to practise punctuality in every appointment and commitment.

Prioritise our time and commitment appropriately.

Therefore see that you walk carefully [living life with honour, purpose, and courage; shunning those who tolerate and enable evil], not as the unwise, but as wise [sensible, intelligent, discerning people], making the very most of your time [on earth, recognising and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16, AMP)

Use our time wisely.

“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest [and daydream],” then your poverty will come as a robber, and your want like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:33-34, AMP)

Not to procrastinate.

Commit to respect other people’s time.

Turn in early at night for morning appointment

Understand our place and commitment.

Allow realistic travelling time for appointment.

Learn self-discipline.

Increase productivity and fruitfulness.

Take action, not just good intention.

Yield the fruit of the spirit.

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. (Ecclesiastes 11:4, NLT)

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. (Philippians 2:3)

As the door turns on its hinges, so does the lazy person on his bed [never getting out of it]. (Proverbs 26:14, AMP)

He made the moon for the season; the sun knows the [exact] place of its setting. (Psalms 104:19, AMP)

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5, NLT)

Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8)

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:8, NLT)

Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

To practise punctuality, we need to learn to use our time wisely. Although it is true that each of us has different life span, we all have 24 hours per day, no more, no less. Psalms 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. How do we use our time wisely for the days and hours that God has given us?

Time spent to refresh our body

God does not only care about our spirit and soul, but also our body.

3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

Activities that we choose to refresh our body are important: sleep, exercise, rest or leisure activities, and healthy eating. We spend one third of our lifetime in sleep. A good sleep recharges us for the tasks in a new day. People who are in sleep debt keep withdrawing from their sleep bank without depositing it back, the result is chronic sleep deprivation, and inefficiency in everything they do.

What we choose for our leisure activities is important. Are they in conflict with God’s moral standard? Do they lead us into temptation and addiction? Are we spending too much time on those activities?

Time spent to renew our mind

Eph 4:17-18 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.

affect our mind differently, depending on the nature of our employment or study. How well do we perform our duties? What is our attitude towards our colleagues or classmates?

We need to renew and enrich our mind, to keep learning and improving; and be wise and discerning in what we allow to influence our mind.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV) We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

Time spent to revive our spirit

Titus 3:5-6 (ESV) He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

To revive our spirit, we need the work of the Holy Spirit, and to get to know God and Jesus Christ, through reading the Word of God, praying, fasting, quiet time, and participating in church activities that serve these purposes.

Time invested in relationship and service for others

We need to invest time in building relationship with others: family members, friends, fellow Christians, colleagues, classmates, neighbours, etc. It is also our duty to invest time in community service.

Our employment (whether an employer, employee, or home duties) and study

Quoting from Ps. David Pawson: “Life is much too short to do everything you want to do, and you always have to choose, but life is long enough to do everything God wants you to do.” Will you make the decision today to choose wisely how you use your time?

My Life in His Hand

By Bek Craig

When I was 17, I developed chronic fatigue syndrome - a condition that does not have a clear cause or specific treatment. This means that I live in a constant state of exhaustion. No matter how much I sleep, what supplements I take, or how healthy a lifestyle I lead, I never wake up feeling rested. Just imagine living with COVID-fatigue for 16 years and counting.

Over the years, I have experienced periods of immense frustration at this condition. I used to envy the people around me who had the same level of ambition and responsibilities as me, minus the chronic illness. This sense of injustice at my lot in life would come and go, but for the most part, I had accepted it because I was still able to achieve “success” in all my endeavours.

However, the fatigue took a turn for the worse in 2019. I had not long started a new job in consulting, when I found that I was struggling to wake up for work or even stay awake once I got to work. And whenever I managed to keep my eyes open, the brain fog was so intense, I might as well have been sleeping. At first, I thought it was the usual flare up I get every other month that lasted a week or so before returning to “normal” levels of fatigue. But after two months of suffering, I started to panic. I was working from home a lot, but all I was doing for 90% of my day was sleeping, and the simplest tasks like sending an email required an hour nap to recover.

The breaking point came when I decided to walk five minutes up the road to get coffee one morning, and needed to sleep for three hours to recover. I remember dragging myself for a walk around the block to pray that evening. Vision blurred from fighting back tears. Panicking. Mad at God. I kept saying, “God, you give me all these ideas, ambition, and opportunities, and You even call us to do all things with excellence… But then You allow me to have this chronic illness and You do nothing about it! This is so unfair. How am I going to hold a job? Who is going to look after me? Where is Your plan to prosper and not to harm me? How am I supposed to achieve Your will for my life when all I can manage to do is sleep? And everyone at work knows that I’m the only Christian there, what kind of testimony is this?” When I was done ranting, God gently but firmly chastised me. “Do you think that I need your energy to fulfil My purpose? As long as you walk with Me,

My grace is sufficient for you

Those exact words came as thoughts in my mind, but I knew they were not my own. Immediately, I felt humbled and at peace.

God did not promise to heal me or send someone to look after me so I could be Malaysian Sleeping Beauty for the rest of my life. But He promised to sustain me if I walked with Him. Even though I did not understand why it had to be this way, what He offered felt like sweet relief because it reminded me that I did not have to do this in my own strength.

The following week, I received a pay rise at work. I felt really uncomfortable with this because I had not told them about my ongoing struggle. I called a meeting with my boss and told her everything. She thanked me for my honesty and said she would have to discuss with the CEO, but to expect some kind of performance management; because while we have a flexible work policy, we were not that flexible.

A couple of days later, my boss rang me with an update. The CEO appreciated my integrity and decided not only to follow through on the pay rise, but also to adjust my KPIs so I would not be overwhelmed, AND ordered me to take a full week of paid leave (without drawing my annual leave). I was shocked. I honestly expected to be fired. Or at least disciplined. But I experienced neither. My boss, who had been with the company for many years, told me that she was also surprised by the CEO’s response. I took the week off and went to Whitsundays with my friend, and that intense season of fatigue left.

Thankfully, I have not experienced fatigue at that level since. Looking back, I can see the impact that situation has had on my faith and reliance on God’s goodness, and it deepened my understanding of God’s sustaining grace. It also changed my understanding of the often quoted scripture in Jeremiah 29:11 God’s ideas of prospering me are often different from my own.

As the only Christian in my company, I thought God was going to help me stand out by producing great results like Joseph in Egypt; instead, He helped establish me as a person of integrity in a field where integrity is often in short supply. While I still live with chronic fatigue and occasionally envy the “normal” people who actually get to wake up with energy, I am reminded constantly that my life is not my own. I am not here to fulfil my own ideas of success, or pursue my own ambitions, and sometimes it might even appear that I fall short of God’s standard of excellence. But in all these things, my life is a living testimony of God’s goodness and He writes the story best.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Household Tips

We asked the ladies in Reach Community Church to provide us with some useful and ultimate household tips, and what we discovered surprised even us.

Household tip #1

Ultimate cleaning solutions: put vinegar into a spray bottle, sprinkle sodium bicarbonate on the surface you want to clean, spray vinegar on the surface with sodium bicarbonate till bubbles, leave for few minutes and clean as usual. This can be used to clean bathroom, sink, carpets etc. – Emily Ooi

How does this work? The chemical formula of sodium bicarbonate is NaHCO3. The scientific name of vinegar is acetic acid and its chemical formula is CH3COOH. When NaHCO3 is combined with CH3COOH, a chemical reaction occurs: NaHCO₃ + CH3COOH → CH3COONa (sodium acetate) + H2O (water) + CO2 (carbon dioxide)

The reaction occurs by this combination is what breaks up the stains, and the bubbles are from the CO2 produced. The reaction needs to occur on the surface of the stain for this to work. If you combine the sodium bicarbonate and vinegar in the spray bottle and spray onto the stain, it will no longer work as the reaction has already occurred in the bottle before reaching the stain.

Chemical reaction is balanced, i.e. no new element is added or taken away when a reaction occurs. Look at the equation above, the number of each element is the same on the left and right side of the equation. There is one Na on the left and one on the right of the equation; there are 5 H on the left and on the right of the equation, etc.

Chemical reaction does not refute the existence of God. On the contrary, the constancy of chemical compound and chemical reaction tells us that we live in an orderly world, which was created in an orderly way, rather than formed out of randomness. The Biblical God, who created the world, is described as a God of order.

1 Corinthians 14:33,40 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints… Let all things be done decently and in order.

Household tip #2

To clean and freshen microwave oven: place one cut lemon in a microwavable bowl with one cup of water, microwave for 10 minutes on high; leave to rest for another 5 minutes; allow steam to soften residue; wipe clean with damp cloth. – Sharon Oen

Microwave oven is one of many appliances that the cleanliness of its inside is just as important, if not more important, than its outside. In the Bible, there are many references to the importance of inward cleanliness.

Matthew 23:26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

How do we become clean inwardly? The Bible has given us an important formula:

2 Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (emphasis added).

What are these promises that enable us to be clean inwardly? They are given to us in 2 Corinthians 6 and the Old Testament:

2 Corinthians 6:16,18 For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”… “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the LORD Almighty.”

Ezekiel 36:25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

To be clean inwardly, we must have the works of the triune God in us – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

To obey God who is holy and calls us to be holy:

1 Peter 1:15-16 But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

To believe in Jesus Christ who sacrificed His body to make us holy:

Hebrews 10:10 (NLT) For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

To receive the Holy Spirit who sanctify us:

2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NLT) As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation – a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.

When we open our eyes, we can see that the order of the world is in keeping with the principle of God the Creator; when we deny Him and His principle, the world will only spiral down to a destructive cycle.

Romans 1:19-20 Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

The Lord is my Keeper

Reach Reflection

By Lee Chyi Lam

When I reflect on the year 2022, one significant event happened to me on the last Thursday of the year. I thought I was going to become blind, and thank God that I did not, because He is my keeper.

I was doing a wooden craft on the day, and was trying to unscrew the lid of a tube of superglue. I had difficulty doing it, and was looking very closely at the superglue, with my glasses off. I then accidentally squirted the superglue into my right eye. I felt a sting in my eye. I screamed, and rushed to the bathroom. I turned on the cold water tap, lowered my head, and forced my eyelid open with my fingers, to allow the running water to wash through my right eye.

During the time, I was very scared, and had the worst thought in my mind. I prayed fervently, asking God not to allow me to turn blind,

Instinctively, I bargained with God, I told God that He could take away other things in my life, but not my eyesight.

After what seemed like a very long time, I turned the tap off, and opened my eye. I looked through my right eye, then my left eye, they were equally blurred, which was a good sign, as I did not have my glasses on. When I put on my glasses, I could see clearly. Praise the Lord!

I then rang the local optometry to check if the optometrist would be able to check my eye to ensure that no residual superglue was on my eye. I was told to go in without an appointment. The optometrist looked into my right eye with a lit lamp, and told me that there was no glue on my eye itself, but some on my eyelashes and eyelid. He told me that I should be able to wash them off in the shower in the next few days.

“God, please don’t take away my eyesight, there’re so many things I want to do, and I need to do them with good eyesight.”

Reach Reflection

For the next few days, I had mild eye infection and woke up with sticky right eye, but by New Year Day 2023, it was completely healed.

When I reflect on this incident, it is thought-provoking to me that at that moment of “crisis”, I was ready to trade something I thought was important to me for my eyesight. I was willing for God to take away something I had held on for so long in my life, for my eyesight, which I had taken for granted all my life. Oftentimes we hold on to something that we thought is important, but with a different perspective, it is not that important after all.

On the other hand, something that is truly important, that we do not want to live without, we take it for granted, and receive it as a matter of fact, without gratitude. How shortsighted our human eyes are, and how limited our vision can be.

God is not done with me after that revelation.

The following week after the incident, I listened to Pastor David Pawson’s sermon, he shared the healing of the eye of his wife, from aggressive melanoma, and he quoted Psalm 121:

I lift up my eyes to the hills - from whence comes my help?

My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to be moved;

He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper;

The LORD is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;

He shall preserve your soul.

The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore.

What is significant to me is that Ps. David Pawson taught that the word “keeper” in Hebrews in this psalm is the same word for “eyelid”. When the superglue was squirted into my eye, none of it was in my eye, because my eyelid had protected my eye. Similarly, God is my keeper, and He promised to protect me from all evil (or harm), to preserve my soul (to keep me from sinning), and to watch over everything I do. What promises these are! May we all lift up our eyes to the hills, and fix our eyes on Jesus.

Vietnamese Yellow Curry

Ingredients:

2kg chicken

2-3 carrots – cut into chunky pieces

3 potatoes – cut into chunky pieces

1 onion – cut into pieces

1 can coconut milk or cream

300g taro (optional but will enhance flavour)

– cut into pieces and fried

Marinade for the chicken:

1 tbsp minced lemongrass

1 tbsp minced shallot

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp yellow curry powder

Method:

By Ly Ly Quach

Serves 8-10 people

1 tbsp oil

5 stalks of lemongrass – cut into 10cm pieces and smashed

6-7 keffir lime leaves

1 tsp minced shallot

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp curry powder

1 L coconut water

1-1.5 L water

1. Marinate the chicken, for 2 hours or overnight.

2. Add 1 tbsp of oil in a frying pan, then add lemongrass, keffir lime leaves, minced shallot, minced garlic and curry powder, with the chicken, and fry until chicken is slightly browned.

3. Add coconut water and water to cover the chicken, cook until boiled. Once boiled, simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Add carrot, potatoes, and coconut milk. Simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add onion and taro (if used).

6. Cook for another 5 minutes or until tender.

7. Serve with noodles (Bun) or bread (Banh Mi).