Hey Everyone!

Another semester has come to an end, and most of you whom are reading this right now, are reading it from a room which has collect quite an amount of dust since you were last back. Things left the way it was when you last saw it? Or were there nasty surprises awaiting you when you got back? Perhaps a certain sibling has invaded your once fortress of solitude? lol I hope not :)

I want to thank you for faithfully reading our blog, I hope it has been a joy reading as it has been for the writers writing. I want to express that even though there are social mediums like FB & MSN for us to keep in touch, I always felt a blog has a very special touch to it. I guess it must be nostalgia. lol

And with that, I just want to say that the blog will be kept updated during the course of the holidays! So if you find yourself bored at night with nothing to do, come pay this site a visit to see what’s new. And if you do find something that’s exciting and fun to read, please pass the word along so others may be blessed as well!

For all of you out there. Hold on to Proverbs 4:23-27.


A little something we learnt at summer cell this week. When you are home, guard your hearts, don’t fall away, keep the fire of your faith burning.

Evil likes to hunt when one is away from the pack. Don’t give it the pleasure!

God bless & happy reading!
~Max~

Have a question or suggestion? Email us at uwalive@gmail.com!

He placed his palm on my forehead and squeezed it gently. I looked up at him, perplexed and even more anxious than before. He seemed to be in some sort of meditative state, eyes closed and concentrating at the same time, as if waiting for a vision to burst out from within. Then, he took a deep breath and announced, “I give you… POWER!!! Now go and conquer!” With a hearty laugh and a final hug my dad bade me goodbye and gave me his best wishes for that day’s examinations.

The first time he did that was during my kindergarten final exams (please forgive me for being nervous about kinddy exams. Its very competitive in Singapore, mind you!) And for every subsequent examination, right up to my ‘A’ Levels in Junior College, he did the same thing. It became some sort of a ritual between us and it gave me comfort and confidence.

Now, I’m sure all of us have experienced the butterflies in our stomach, sweaty palms and jello-knees, anxiously standing outside the exam hall clutching our notes while waiting for the exam to begin. Or even way before that, while we were preparing for our papers, the thought that there is not enough time to cover everything causes us to start stressing over the lack of time or brainpower.

Yup… I see those little nods of agreement.

Such acts or objects gave us some sort of assurance. Of course, praying for peace and wisdom always helps. But there is one thing that can give us complete peace and comfort. And that is the power of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:11 says that
“And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.”

Paul is teaching us the significance of being a Christian. When we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, we become children of God and the Holy Spirit lives in us. And thus, the same power that conquered the grave lives in us. When the Holy Spirit lives in us, we are able to accomplish things that we wouldn’t normally be able to do.

Note that it is not because of our own goodness, not who we are, nor what we have done, but simply because we allow God to work in our lives. When we made the decision to follow Christ, our ‘old self’ and everything of our past is erased and we can find our ‘new self’ in Christ Jesus. And when we truly understand that, as children of God, we are the heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, we inherit His power. As His children, and because of Christ that died for us and stood between the gap, we can come freely before God. And when we surrender all aspects of our lives to God, we will realise that it is the Holy Spirit who works through us to perform miracles.

So, if the same spirit that is powerful enough to raise Jesus from the dead is living in you, do you not think that that same Holy Spirit can conquer our nerves and ultimately our grades?

Let’s not let our inhibitions stand in the way of how God’s glory can be shone through our grades. God is not concerned about what we can or cannot do. He alone can conquer all and perform the impossible. All He wants us to do is place our trust in Him and surrender everything to Him.

I encourage all of us to remember and be reminded of God’s power and Jesus who lives in us whenever we weigh our own capabilities and limitations.

Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”

Do your best and God will do the rest!

Written by blog writer,
Debs

Have a question or suggestion? Email us at uwalive@gmail.com!

Hey Guys, I hope each of you are doing well in the run up to exams. I know this can be a trying time for many, and many in the past would make the mistake of forgoing Quiet Time or Daily Devotion to add those few extra minutes to studying, making breakfast or worst ... sleep!

There are many benefits of having a daily devotion. I’m sure all of you have heard most of them before so I’m NOT going to do a lecture on it. However, daily devotion is a great way to increase your knowledge, not just about the bible, but life skills! Here’s an example from my devotion today.

Enjoy!

Enthusiasm And Experience

Many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders remembered the first Temple, and they wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. - Ezra 3:12

Young people look forward; old folks look back. Youth embraces the future, where most of its life lies; old age reveres the past, where most of its life has gone. Youth has little in the past to which to refer; old age has not much in the future for which to plan. So when youth and old age stand together in the same place, they look in opposite directions and see different scenarios. Old folks see the good old days; the young see only bright horizons.

Little wonder they often disagree and not infrequently clash!

On the day when the new foundations of the ruined temple were laid in Jerusalem after seventy years in exile, the reactions of the generations were markedly different. The young people were so excited about what was new and fresh that they sang and shouted and danced for joy. Their faces were wreathed in smiles. But the shouts were mingled with sobs because, while the young were delighted, the old were dismayed. Their cheeks wore no smiles, but were bathed in tears (3:12). They remembered and mourned the old temple, the old days, the way things were. And they looked with dismay at what was destined to take its place. In their minds the new was far inferior to the old.

Both had a point. The old had experience, which gave insight to what had been; the young had enthusiasm, which promised momentum for what was to come.
Enthusiasm without the cautions of experience can lead to projects crashing in flames.

Experience without the fire of enthusiasm can lead to projects never leaving the ground. Old people harping on the way things were can kill the hope of the future, while young people worshiping the way things will be can be wounded if the lessons of history go unheeded.


God made youth and old age for a reason—they need each other! So let’s thank him for youth and praise him for old age, and let us pray that enthusiasm and experience will kiss each other, and that they will live happily together.

Written by Blog Writer,
~Max~ 


Have a question or suggestion? Email us at uwalive@gmail.com!