Smile

Develop a habit of smiling on purpose. We have to learn how to smile by faith. If we’ll smile by faith, soon the joy will follow.

Smiling sends a message to our whole body that everything is going to be okay. When we smile, chemicals are released throughout our physical system that make us feel better. Beyond that, when we smile we’ll have more of God’s favor.

Smiling will help us in dealing with people. Numerous studies show that people who smile are friendly, people who have a pleasant demeanor, get more breaks than other people who are solemn and unfriendly.

God is concerned about our countenance. Fifty-three times in the Scripture, He mentions it. when we smile, its not only good for yourself, but it’s a good witness to others. They will want the sort of happiness that we have. Its one thing to talk about our faith, but it’s a far better thing to live it out. One of the best witness we could ever have is simple to be happy, to have to smile, to be friendly and pleasant to be around.

Some people always seem to look as though they’ve lost their last friend. Even when they go to Church, they look as though they were attending God’s funeral! No, we’re not supposed to be merely holding on or dragging through life. Get your song back and quit allowing the burdens of life to weigh you down. Don’t allow your problems and circumstances to steal our joy.

And don’t allow someone else to rob you of God’s best. Too many people people are being dragged down because somebody in their life is negative. Somebody else won’t do right. Maybe we work around people who always complain. Or we live with somebody who seems perpetually discouraged and wants to wallow in self-pity. Don’t get into the pit with them. Keep your song.

No.1 – Get in a habit of smiling on purpose.
No.2 – Check our posture.

Our body language is communicating constantly, so make sure we are saying what we want to say..

Adapted from
Joel Osteen’s – Become a Better you.
(Chapter 29 - Keep Singing Your Song)

Agape

~a lesson I must learn. Truly..

Inspiration

Agape~

Gift from above

Inspired by Mun's anime DVD collection (casing).

agape

Yesterday

It was just another typical day in the camp while I march the company to the cookhouse for lunch. Queued up, wait for my turn and the aunty dished all the food on the plate before putting on my tray.

Looking at the food, I thanked God and find a seat while I was drooling. I was hungry. Took myself a drink and sat down. Gave thanks and before I plunged my spoon into the rice, I notice someone looking at me. I looked back and found that it was my company storeman – Yogen staring at me.

I felt uncomfortable obviously. “What are you looking at?” I said in a joking manner.

He replied in a polite tone, “Sergeant, you look like a killing machine..”

I stared at him for a while showing him a ‘question mark’ expression. But actually inside of me, I felt an ‘exclamation mark’. Although people have once said that I looked fierce and unfriendly, but I guess this time is the worst.

‘Killing machine’.. Oh man… I have got nothing to say. Perhaps I really look like one even when I am just not smiling. Do you people really think I look like a ‘killing machine’?

Lol. I kept thinking throughout the day and I came to a conclusion – perhaps I look like a ‘killing machine’… …only when I am in my uniform.

Have I not smile enough?
Have my smile not obvious enough?

Although it is a simple expression by just stretching your cheeks, it takes the heart to do it. Sometimes, it’s a challenge for me to do so but nevertheless, I prefer smiling from the bottom of my heart rather than just some plain smiles.

So next time when I smile, it’ll from the heart. =D

It was just a comment from someone and it somehow triggered me to think deeper, spiritually.

Life Victories

In life, there are victories and defeats. Victories are always forgotten very quickly while most like to dwell in defeats.

When we are faced with defeats in life, it can be academically like failing a subject or module, losing in a competition, someone may be walking out of your life, when you feel offended or got hurt emotionally etc, all the bad things you can think of happening to you at certain stages of your life. When such things happen, human’s normal reaction will usually feel sad, having self-pity on themselves and started to have more negative thoughts coming through the mind and eventually, be pessimistic about their life thinking that they are such a failures and such – dwelling in defeats.

Note that this is a matter of choice; you can choose to be happy or sad, to dwell on the negatives or positives, to stay in defeat or victory.

Whereas for victories, whenever we experiences victories like some event or situation happen in accordance to our favor etc, we’ll feel joyful. We forgot to thank God who is working behind the scene causing all the victories to happen. We seldom realize. Take note that things, situation and circumstances don’t happen coincidently or luckily. Anything and everything that happens – be it good or bad is from God. If we come to realize this constantly, we would thank God constantly even when things don’t happen in our favor because all things works together for Good for those to love God (Romans 8:28).

I want to challenge all of you who are reading this entry, take out a small or pocket notebook, write down all the victories that you have gone through – knowing and acknowledging that the victories you experienced come from God’s grace and love for you. Accumulate all the victories in your life from now onwards.

When facing any defeats, take out the notebook and read all the victories that you have gone through. You’ll feel happy. Because your faith will tell you that if God can change the impossible to possible and/or deliver you out from this situation, He will definitely do it again for you.

Why?

Because He loves you!

Agape
eugene

Spiritual Accounts

Everyone has a Spiritual account – A spiritual account for others to deposit and withdraw from it.
The account contains not money but Love, Faith and Hope. You and I can both withdraw and deposit into one’s spiritual account.
When you encourage someone who needs encouragement, you are depositing into his or her spiritual account. In other words, when you do something good to someone – be it in general or in specifics, you are depositing.
It’s the same for the opposite – When you blame, scold or do something that you shouldn’t be doing against someone else, you are withdrawing from their spiritual accounts. In the long term, that particular person will generate hatred and distrust towards you. If this happens, you have failed one of the general commandments and that is to love your neighbors.

Note that we all make mistakes in life and not all people love you. There’s bound to have someone in your life that doesn’t like you and sometimes, vice versa. Therefore you might somehow offend someone in your life that you didn’t mean to. This leads to the withdrawal from his or her spiritual account towards you. Maybe his or her impression and opinion of you is not as good as before.

To prevent one’s spiritual account from reaching zero or even a negative value, we should always deposit into everyone’s account. It doesn’t need money. All it needs is only some effort and time spends towards somebody – whether he or she is a stranger or not. It can be a smile, an encouragement, a praise etc.

So lets starts depositing into one anothers’ spiritual account now!


Agape
eugene