Successful Leaders

Successful leaders are not artificial clones or plastic imitations of others.

They have discovered who they are.

They know what they want and where they want to go.

They also know what they don't like, what they don't want, and where they don't want to go.

Successful leaders enjoy being who they are.

They enjoy their tastes, their clothes, their friends, and their style.

Whatever they don't like, they work to change.

They are comfortable who who they are.

And if there is something they can't change, they change their attitude towards it,

seeing it in a constructive light and as a positive attitude.

Pastor Phil Pringle

God's timing and provision

Wrote in my prayer book for financing to come for a special need. Yesterday morning, it came in the form of a government grant. Totally unexpected! God knows all our needs and He knows when is the right time to provide for it!

Amen!

Getting Grilled - Bank CEOs on TRAP

My personal feel as I watched the "grilling" session of the the bank CEOs that received the TRAP; quite frustrated at the constant repetition of the questions. While I understand that it is rightly fair that the taxpayers would demand to know the use of their money, the questions to ask could have been more focused.

The valid question would have been the money used to ease up the lending and how that has translated to the common public. Jamie Dimon of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. explained the situation best.

See news reports below.

Pain - A Good Thing?

I have tried and I cannot find, wither in Scripture or history, a strong-willed individual whom God used greatly until He allowed him to be hurt deeply.

Charles R. Swindoll

Champions are made in the valleys of life. In times of comfort, human nature tends to be more complacent and thus, dependence on God can be lesser. It is through times of molding by our Daddy in Heaven that we learn to know Him and depend on Him more. Even though we might rant, complain and even curse the day we were born, our loving God allows us to go through this to sieve out the dross from our character.

I love the nature of God that He does not expect us to be perfect. In Psalms, we see so often David pouring out his heart to God and God is ever so patient and listening to Him. In the end, God made Him King. Not just an ordinary one, one of the greatest in History!

Jeremiah is a prophet used mightily by God and he has to go through much suffering for this cause. Even in the midst of his complaints, Jeremiah admits in Jeremiah 20:9

But if I say,"I will not mention him or speak anymore in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed I cannot.

Jeremiah 20:9

Jeremiah in spite of all the sufferings has allowed God to mold him in a manner that he cannot, but to fulfill his purpose as a prophet.

Read Jeremiah 20 to feel the pulse of the prophet's heart.

Champion

Feel like you're at the end of the road?
God parted the red sea when Moses came to the end of the road.
God did not allow the lions to harm Daniel when he was thrown into the Den.
God sent an angel when the 3 brave friends was thrown into a fiery furnace.

Champions are made in the valleys of life.
The valley of dry bones will rattle again.
Above all, You are made an OVERCOMER.
John 16:33

Trading

Fear and greed are the 2 monsters in a trading career. Professionally trading for less than a year, I spend much time dealing with them : ) Well, you'll be surprised to know that many who have traded for many years still have not got a hold of these 2 emotions. The reason is because the stock market can really bring the best and the worst out of you!

You tell yourself that I am definitely emotionless when I trade and your belief is further enhanced when you paper trade with success. Only when you trade with your own capital will these emotions come in.

However, the good news is that it is possible to trade leaving the emotions at the door.

1. Exercise discipline in excuting trades only when there is a reason to trade
2. Decide on the entry and exit prices and STICK TO THEM!
3. Trade when the indicators tell you so.
4. Trading on news is risky as the "big boys" is already ahead of you.
5. Love the trend, sticking to your own opinon when the markets changes will leave you gasping for air : )

There are many more principles but I love this the most. Taken from the forum of a Singapore Trader that has been very successful, I respect this logo that he has put up.

The Driver's Seat

Spoke to my Mentor today..

He gave an interesting analogy of the Diver's seat. Where is God seated in you life?

Is it a season whereby God is in the back seat, silently, and You are driving on without even having to care of His existence?

Or maybe, you are in a season where you are becoming aware of His presence in your life and you are learning to hand over the seat to Him, but still doing the driving most of the time?

Then again, you might be in a season whereby He is now been in the Driver's seat BUT you are giving all the instructions? Telling Him how it's best to run your life, according to your terms?

Just maybe, you could be in a position whereby things is getting clearer and you are letting Him doing more of the driving, but at times, you still feel the need to state the directions to go.

Finally, you have come to the point of realisation of the sovereignty of His Lordship and you have come to learn to follow and allow Him to be the one driving. Period.

Experiencing God is a journey, having Him to be fully in control of the drive would be a release of control on your end. It's like a free fall initially only to know that He is a good God and His is with you. Period.

God is transforming all my theologies and revelations into what is more precious, which is experiential knowledge. It's about Experiencing God.

God Bless : )

Daddy's Hands

"I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Joshua 1:5

Being a father of 2 boys, I understand that there are times when it is necessary for them to go through hard times for the longer gain of maturing their thoughts and more importantly, character. During the whole process, the boy might feel a sense of being left to fend for himself, but one thing he will come to realise is that the father's hand is always at near, the father's eyes are always watching and is always ready to come in and help when he know that they are at their limits.

This season, it's feels like free fall with our family taking on a new journey of being counter culture. A season whereby we give precedence to God's work and investing more time into the family and a season whereby we are not in the grain of the 9 to 5 office work. Tough, many mindsets are adjusted and limits being challenged but above all, God is more real than ever before. The Word is more real in our daily lives. Holy Spirit is our constant Helper and we know that God is watching and He delights in His children.

God has a plan for me, a story for me to experience and to tell in future. Above all, I want to follow the script in God book of life to allow Him build the custom house He has intended for me. My future is secure in God's lovely hand.

Living for Eternity

“You will not be judged according to what you did,
but rather according to what you were called to do!”

This was the phase that caught my attention one Saturday afternoon as I was listening to Pastor John Bevere during the weekly service.

A vivid example to illustrate this could be,”Evangelist Anderson, please step forward and give an account of all the souls I called you to lead to Me.” That man may come before Jesus a bit confused and trembling, saying,”Sir, You mean accountant Anderson; right? I am an accountant with my own firm. This was my occupation. I set up many church and non-profit organizations. Those ministries influenced many souls into your Kingdom. Do you have me mistaken for someone else?

The Master may reply,”No, I called you before you were born to win multitudes in Asia to me; give me an account of where they are. If you had obeyed me, you would have been rewarded greatly for all the fruit you harvested for my Kingdom. Now as a result, your works will be burned up, as they were not in obedience to Me.

The above phase and example was a revelation and it caused me to review what I have done thus far.

Pastor John Bevere shared 3 keys on fulfilling your destiny

1. Have you seek God earnestly? – Not a casual seek, but really finding out with prayer and fasting. Proverbs 2 illustrates this very well. It all starts here.
2. Have you planted yourself? – A son would reap the best as compared to a servant. You get the idea. Being planted in a church is important. Psalms 92:13 says,”Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.”
3. Are you entangled? – Leave the past. I find it really helpful that whatever my past, I know that God has given new mercy everyday and thus I can learn to move on with the confidence that God is with me! Weights hold me back from running and completing the race, drop it!

In that 1.5 hours, Pastor John Bevere had us nailed to the chairs with his enthusiasm and the revelation that gripped many. At the end of the sermon, he shared that this was only a chapter “God's Custom House” of the book “Driven by Eternity”.

I bought the book and re-read God's Custom House and I am really blessed by the message that God is indeed building me as His very own custom house, built for a specific purpose for maximum impact to restore God's glory on this earth. Have a read too!

Inspiring Quotes!

"Victory belongs to the most preserving."

~ Napoleon Bonaparte

"The real secret of success is enthusiasm."

~ Walter P. Chrysler

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships."

~ Michael Jordan

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing."

~ Abraham Lincoln

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity."

~ Albert Schweitzer

(Extracted from AIA Calender 2009)

Wisdom

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 2:1-5

I have read a devotion material that gives a very good description to understand the intensity of this verse. It is like making preparation to having own your very first dream car. You search the advertisements and visit the showroom to find that dream car that can meet your budget. You search online forums and post discussions on the feedback and reviews of the car choices. In the midst of all this, you suddenly realised that you are always keeping a lookout for that dream car of yours on the road! And if that is not enough, you sometimes dream of yourself driving that dream car, that is soon to be a reality. Your word revolves around that dream car and it seems like all you would like to talk about is that dream car that is fast becoming a reality : )

Sound familiar?

Well, as mention in the book of Proverb, the pursuit of God is very much similar to that experience of acquiring your dream car. It all over you, it consumes you and in the end you find out so much about it that it just becomes a integral part of your everyday life. Make it a point to pursue God with all that you have and then you will understand the fear of the Lord.