O Jesus I Have Promised

Lyrics: John E. Bode
Music: Arthur H. Mann

O Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
Be Thou forever near me, my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle if Thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway if Thou wilt be my Guide.

O let me feel Thee near me! The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me, around me and within;
But Jesus, draw Thou nearer, and shield my soul from sin.

O Jesus, Thou hast promised to all who follow Thee
That where Thou art in glory there shall Thy servant be.
And Jesus, I have promised to serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow, my Master and my Friend.

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

	Family Radio - Beneath The Cross Of Jesus .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand

The shadow of a mighty Rock Within a weary land;

A home within the wilderness, A rest upon the way,

From the burning of the noontide heat, And the burden of the day.

Upon that cross of Jesus Mine eye at times can see

The very dying form of One Who suffered there for me;

And from my smitten heart with tears Two wonders I confess

The wonders of redeeming love And my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow For my abiding place;

I ask no other sunshine than The sunshine of His face;

Content to let the world go by, To know no gain nor loss,

My sinful self my only shame, My glory all the cross.

Welcome on Board, Son

Oct 1, 2010 is another milestone in my life.

God gives me to you.

You were born a little smaller compare to your brother, a mere 2.60kg.

Deciding your name has been a long process.

I wrote few options on my white board, and very undecisive about it, particularly so for your name in English.

One morning, I read the book of Genesis for my devotion and came across the story of Cain and Abel.

When I ponder on the contrast between these two brothers, like lightning strike, I know what your name would be: Abel Lim.

I wish your heart would be like Abel, giving his best to God out of his true faith and genuine worship to his creator, even to the extend of paying his own life for it.

After sharing it with your mom, we decided to use the Indonesian version of Abel, which is Habel (pronounce as 'hah-bell' in Indonesia, and 'Hey-ble' in English.

Therefore, you name is Habel Lim Shi Xin, 林实信.

Welcome on board, son.

Together, we build a family that serve God and minister to people!

You are a brother now, Fidel

Son, today onwards, you (and this blog) will no longer be the same.
Because, you will be called Brother now on!
God gives me 2nd son, and he gives you a brother.

Let me tell you this, it is a great honor and priviledge to be a brother.

Now on, you have an individual, a person, who no one else is dearer for you than him.

You have obligation to love, to protect, to enrich him together with me.

This is a tremendous priviledge from God.

I am going to share this blog with your brother.

What I have written and what I am going to write, is what I want to share with both of you.

Together, we are one family.

Happy Birthday to You

It's a wondeful kind of feeling, just to observe you, my son.
Observing you has been my greatest entertainment lately.At this age of 2, you jump, you climb, you dance, you hang on the edge of a table, and you are able to tease people with your funny and creative expressions.

Sometimes, I hope you remain as 2 years old forever!

Today, we celebrated your 2 years old birthday.

Time flies, and you sure growing up and learning fast.

We do not throw a big party for you this time.

Just three of us, with a small cake, and two friends who happen to visit us at the time.

You are equally thrilled and joyful with the celebration.

Thank you for bringing so much joy to our home.

Happy birthday, son.

Your Dad not too bad also

Whenever we heard people say you are cute, or handsome, of course, as parents, we felt happy.

But, let us be reminded of two things, son.

1. Physical appearance is temporary. You will not be cute forever!

2. Inner self, the real person, is more important. Make sure it is cute and handsome always.

Lest you do not believe me that physical appearance is temporary and will change with time,

let me show you a picture of me at about 3-4 years old, I guess.

How about that!

Your mom actually said I was cuter.

Never mind if you do not agree.

I was stricken with chronic asthma shortly after this picture was taken.

And I remain weak, skinny, underweight to this day.

Son, the most scary sound to me is the sound of you coughing.

I can only pray that you will not 'inherit' my asthma.

If you do, please forgive me, and I trust God will lead you through it.

'In all things God works for the good of those who love Him' (Romans 8:28).

He makes no mistake. Trust Him.

Give God the Best

One day, your dad went to buy fruits at market.When I told the fruit seller, 'give me 4 apples', he replied by asking 'for eating or for prayers?'.I can't help but to think to myself, 'is there any different in quality of the apples if I say its for offering?'.
If yes, it's better quality or worse?
I did not ask him.

Son, in our home, we don't offering foods or animals to God in our prayers and worship.It is because we believe our Creator and Provider does not need these.We cannot appease God with our offering; and we do not have to do so.
Because Jesus himself is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
What He requires of us is our whole being, which is far more difficult to offer.
'Love your God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your mind, with all your soul'. Jesus told the questioner who wanted to know what is the greatest commandment.
So, in Christian living, we offer our very being to God, to enjoy the fellowship with Him in worship.

God does not need apples and chickens.

He looks into our hearts, and say to us, 'let me be your King and Shepherd, to rule, to guide and to protect you from sins and evil.'

(this is how you pray every night with me)

I am learning each day, to offer my very best, to God.
God's love and grace is always available to help us.
And His mercy is there to forgive and sustain when we fail.Join me, my son. It is a wonderful experience, though not an easy one,
to learn to live our life glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

(sleeping or praying?)