Giving Instructions

This morning, my son had been giving me instructions.

"Papa, sit here."

"Papa, stand."

"Papa, carry."

"Papa, put your mouth here."

"Papa, press."

"Papa, come."

I was wondering if I'm his father or he is my father. Haha.

Yet I responded to his request by doing what he asked.

My son was not looking to give me instructions. He was looking for a relationship with me. Furthermore, he knew that he could speak what he wanted to his father, having a child-like faith that I would do what he said.

More often than not, we approach God the Father in a reserved way, thinking that we should not give Him any 'instruction' because He is God.

Yet the Father desires that we come to Him boldly and speaks what we want. The deeper we understand Him through a personal relationship, the bolder we will ask from Him.

He is our FATHER.

Jeshua's First Healing

Was having slight sore throat due to some exposure to the haze.

I asked Jeshua to pray for me. He laid his hand and said, "In Jesus' name, no more sore throat. Amen."

Guess what? The sore left immediately!

This is his first healing at two years old. Wow!

Amazed!

Accidentally closed the door on my fingers and I went "Ouch!"

Jeshua ran to me and asked, "What happened?" Then he laid his hand on me and prayed, "In Jesus' name, no more pain. Amen!"

I'm surprised and amazed! Thank You Jesus!

Restoring The Heart Of The Father

There is a consistent theme in my personal devotions, the season of my life and what has been spoken / is happening around the world.

This is the season where God is restoring the heart of the Father to the children, that they may simply do nothing but rest and soak in His love. The Father is not looking for performance. He is looking to pour out His unconditional love on His children who are trying to work for affirmation and approval.

"This is My beloved son, in whom I am WELL PLEASED."

Honoured

As I carried my son before we went out today, he suddenly said, "Thank you, Papa."

I was surprised. At the same time, something stirred in my heart. He might not fully understand what he just spoke. But it meant a lot to me. I felt as though he was saying, "Thank you, Papa, for coming out of church ministry so that you have more time with me."

I feel honoured by him. This made everything I do worth!

Heaven Is Still Opened

If we are still praying for heaven to be opened, we don't fully understand what Jesus had done and our identity as a child of God.

Isaiah 64:1 - "Oh, that You would rend the heavens!
That You would come down!"

This was a prophetic prayer made by OT prophet Isaiah which was fulfilled by Jesus (more than 2000 years ago).

Mark 1:9-11 - It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The word "parting" is the word "rend" in Greek. It is like splitting/tearing something violently into pieces.

More than 2000 years ago, God fulfilled Isaiah's prayer. He rent the heaven and came down in the Person of Jesus.

When Jesus died on the Cross, the same thing happened.

Mark 15:38 - "Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."

The word "torn" is the same word "rend."

When Jesus died on the Cross, the veil between heaven and us is permanently rent and left opened. We no longer need to pray for heaven to be opened. To make that prayer is to say that the finished works of Jesus is not enough.

The first rending of heaven was the revelation of God in the Person of Jesus. The second and last rending of heaven was the revelation that we can be like Jesus - having that perfect communion with the Father.

The first rending of heaven was for the Holy Spirit to descend upon Jesus. The second and last rending of heaven was for the Holy Spirit to descend upon us.

Jesus came to show us how to live under open heaven. The Holy Spirit descended upon Him and rested on Him. The Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

My son loves to copy what my wife and I say/do. Just now, he said, "I am well pleased with you." My wife and I laughed.

Today, we have the same Holy Spirit as Jesus. We are God's beloved children. He is well pleased with us. The heaven above us is already opened. It's not about praying for the heaven to open. Now it is about seeing what the Father is doing/saying and we just copy like a little child.

Loved By The Father - Anointed

Jesus took me to my Garden. He was holding a beautiful vase of flowers with His hand. The flowers looked beautiful on the outside. But when I looked into the vase, I realised that the flowers were dying. They had the form of beauty but without any substance. They did not grow in My Garden. They were not placed in the right environment. 

I looked at all the other flowers in my Garden. They were growing well and strong.

Jesus said, "It's not about portraying ourselves to be "beautiful" on the outside. Neither is it about trying to look good on the outside. It's about abiding in the right environment - the Garden of My love. That produces true beauty and growth."

Song of Solomon 1:3 (The Passion Translation) - "Your presence releases a fragrance so pleasing - over and over poured out."

God's presence releases anointing. It is that anointing that gives the fragrance. There is unlimited supply of anointing oil being poured out in His presence. 

Psalm 23:5 says "You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows."

When we dwell in His presence to receive His love, we are anointed. We are not anointed because the Holy Spirit comes upon us. We are not anointed because we can preach well or perform miracles, signs and wonders.

"You anoint my head with oil." This paints a picture of a host honouring and loving his guest who steps into his house.

We are anointed because we are abundantly loved and honoured by the Father. 

As Christians, we are already anointed. Everyone of us has equal measure of anointing. We don't seek for more anointing from another man of God or special prayer.

The more we receive the love of the Father, the more we will walk in that anointing. His anointing doesn't come by a certain measure. It comes by His fullness.

When we soak in His love, our cup of blessings overflows.

While we dwell in His loving presence on the inside, something changes on the outside. Blessings naturally overtake us. 3 John 2 says "I wish that you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."

Our soul prospers when we dwell in His presence to receive His love. He anoints us with His love as we soak in His presence.

The only response we can have towards His love is adoration.

SingKids @ Vivocity

Brought Jeshua to SingKids indoor playground at Vivocity. He enjoyed himself very much.

I noticed one thing. For every difficult obstacle he tried to do, he would look at me. He wasn't looking at me to gain approval. He was looking at me to make sure that I was looking at him. That, somehow, gave him confidence to carry on.

When we fix our eyes on the Father, we receive confidence to face whatever circumstance that comes our way. If we can't see the Father in the midst of a storm, we lose that assurance and confidence, we start to tremble, fear and even sink (i.e. Peter walking on water).

Father, turn my eyes upon You, for every step that I take. Because You are with me, I can walk through every circumstance.

A Father Always Provides

"You make me lie down in green pastures." - Psalm 23:2

Green pastures are where the sheep feed on. Because the supply is abundant, the sheep can simply lie down and enjoy.

We can rest in God's abundant providence for our lives. The Psalmist said, "The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want."

We don't work for His blessings and providence. We REST and TRUST in Him to provide. Adam did not work for God's providence. In Genesis 1 and 2, when God created man, He ALREADY provided for him. The only work that God commanded Adam to do is to tend the Garden and take dominion over the earth.

"Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it." - Gen 1:28

This is the order:
1) Blessed and provided for
2) Then go and work

Alot of times, we get the order wrong. Myself included. This is what the enemy wants us to believe in - go and work, then you can be blessed and provided for. When stress comes, we get the order upside down. But when rest comes, we get the right order. When we believe rightly, we will receive rightly.

"And God said, “See, I have given you..." - Gen 1:29

God had given Adam providence BEFORE Adam worked. The kingdom of God is received, not achieved. It's about trusting, not trying. It's about resting, not stressing.

We work not because we want to have providence. Providence comes from the Lord. We work because we want to represent Christ - taking dominion and influencing people.

"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." - Gen 2:15

To tend is to work. To keep is to steward. We are called to steward what God has already given and work with what we have, not work for what we do not have.

If we work FOR the providence, we are looking for the providence. But if we work with what is provided, we are looking at the Provider.

This is a season where I want to grow deeper in this area. Many people (even Christians) have spoken to me about finances. They meant well but it is not according to kingdom perspective. It is a thin line between human wisdom and the kingdom's ways.

Father, teach me to trust in You as my Provider. You have provided. I can rest in Your providence. My work is to focus on representing Christ and taking dominion. I don't work for Your providence. I work because You have provided everything in Christ.

Why I Left Church...

A number of people had come up to me in recent weeks. They asked, "Wilson, is everything okay? How are you doing?"

They received news that I would be leaving Toa Payoh Methodist Church. Some thought that it was too sudden. Actually, I had given six month's notice to the church.

In 2004, I was invited to a Christmas service by my financial planner (insurance). Back then, I didn't even know what a Christmas service was. I had never entered into a church for 20 over years since I was born. My parents forbade me to do so. But that one visit changed my life. Totally.

After visiting the church (together with other churches) regularly for about one and a half years, I received Jesus in April 2006. From that moment onwards, my life changed. By His grace, I have been pursuing Him wholeheartedly (He was the One who pursued me) ever since then. I was hungry for His word and His presence.

Two and a half years later, I left my job with Air Defence, ready to step into a seminary. I knew that the Lord had called me into full-time church ministry a few months after I became a Christian. He spoke to me deeply through Matthew 28:19-20 when I spent time with Him one day.

While I was looking at ATCEM seminary's curriculum, God nudged my heart. He said, "Wait." One week later, a YWAM friend invited me to sit through one week's course at YWAM Discipleship Training School (DTS). I sat all the way at the back because the front was reserved for the students. A prophet from Malaysia was teaching. During ministry time, he walked all the way to the back, skipping the students and came to me. He started prophesying stuff that I would never have imagined before. I still keep an audio record of it because it means alot to me. I knew it was God, because my spirit bore witness at that time. This prophet said many things. One of the key things he mentioned is that I am a man of the Spirit and of reformation. He prophesied that he saw me standing with my bible opened and declaring the Word of God and God would teach me how to use this Spirit. Immediately, I knew that I would be standing at the pulpit and preaching someday. Of course, I wondered how it would be possible because I had fear when it comes to public speaking.

After that week, God spoke to me to go into YWAM. I resisted at first. I argued that there would not be any accreditation. But God is God indeed. He changed my heart desire. I became convicted that I should go into YWAM - my desire revealed what He wanted. So often, we are waiting for God to give us direction. But more often than not, He leads us from within - our heart desire. Our heart is not deceitful because we have a new heart when we receive Jesus. A brand new heart - one where He writes the Law in; one where He puts His desire in.

I went to YWAM DTS and part-time night SBS (Night School of Biblical Studies). By then, God has transformed my heart. I used to be a person who had strong logical mind. The journey in YWAM shortened the learning distance between my head and my heart. My heart became very sensitive to the Lord. I would break down so easily in His loving presence. I grew much in the Spirit. I am very thankful that I didn't enroll into a seminary first. Many who went into seminary without building a foundation in their heart knowledge of God came out of seminary putting Him into a box. God has no box.

I came out of YWAM DTS in 2009. Not knowing what to do, I prayed, "God, I know that I'm called to enter into full-time church ministry. This is my heart desire and I know You are the one who gave it to me. Open a door for me." Meanwhile I went to apply many jobs and I prayed, "God, You hold the key to every door. Shut every door if it is not from You. Only open the door that is from You." True to His nature, He responded to my prayer. I sent out so many resume applications with only two responses. I went for both interviews and I was not selected. I almost went into MOE. They rejected my application despite that I have a good second class (upper) honours degree. My ex-girlfriend, who is now my wife, Carol, told me that it could only be God.

Before I checked into a local hotel for three days and two nights for a personal retreat, God spoke to me on 16 Feb 2009. He gave me a vision - I saw a pair of spectacles. God said, "You are wearing this pair of spectacles. You are seeing things from your limited perspective. See from My perspective. It's time to get married first."

I wasn't ready to get married. I had spent much of my savings on my part-time degree course, YWAM course, conferences, seminars and daily expenses. I was almost left with nothing in my bank account. How could I possibly think about marriage? It is unusual for a normal person to think of getting married without some savings and a stable income. I said, "God, You have to give me a confirmation."

On the following day after God had spoken to me about marriage, my YWAM school leader, Samuel Koh, met me for a final debrief. This is the normal practice after someone has completed Discipleship Training School (DTS). Throughout the conversation, he was constantly persuading me to join YWAM as a full-time staff. He also suggested that I should consider attending School of Biblical Studies (SBS). I declined the offer. All of a sudden, he changed his opinion. I knew that this must be the work of the Holy Spirit. He abruptly said, "Have you considered Carol? Are you wearing a pair of glasses with your limited perspective? Have you considered getting married first before other things?"

Instantly, I knew that God was confirming what He spoke to me through Samuel. By faith, I decided to prepare for marriage. There were other amazing testimonies on how God provided for this marriage to be possible. Praise Jesus!

I was still waiting for His direction, apart from knowing that I should get married.

It was a journey of waiting and trusting. One day, Samuel (by now, he is no longer with YWAM) called me and told me of an opening in an Anglican Church. I went for the application. It was a position for a one-year internship to assist the Youth Pastor of the church. Out of the three applicants, I was the least qualified. I was only three and a half years old as a Christian. I didn't have much ministry experiences. But I had a heart full of passion for Jesus. I was ready to do whatever He tells me to do.

God doesn't choose the qualified. He qualifies the chosen. By His grace and favour, the Senior Pastor called me on the following day. He said that they had decided to choose me. Not only that, what caught me by surprise is what he said afterwards. "Wilson, we would also like you to be our Youth Pastor. Because our current one has just resigned."

I was in total shock. "God, how can this be possible?" Carol was right beside me. She said, "Dear, this can only be God." What blew my mind away is not just the fact that I was chosen as the youth pastor, but that God had orchestrated everything over three and a half years; He had aligned the timing and situation just FOR ME - from the time I left Air Defence to the time I almost enrolled into a seminary; from the time He said "Wait" to the time I entered into YWAM; from the time I was in YWAM to the time I left YWAM; from the time of waiting to the time of application for the position in the church. God, in His sovereignty, had purposed every single detail. He aligned everything --- He knew that the current youth pastor would leave and I would respond to His call and replace the youth pastor. Looking back, I couldn't help but be thankful and grateful towards God. I'm holding back my tears even as I'm writing this. This is too good to be true. God is way too GOOD!

A Father's heart that's for me
A never-ending story
Of love that's always chasing me

I will sing of all You've done
I'll remember how far You've carried me
From beginning until the end
You are faithful
Faithful to the end

There wasn't a day that You weren't by my side
There wasn't a day that You let me fall
All of my life, Your love has been true
All of my life, I will worship You

Bethel Music - "Faithful To The End"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V22xT07uv4

A young Christian assumed the role of a youth pastor... I knew nothing about pastoring. I knew nothing about youths. I knew nothing about preaching and discipleship. It didn't help with the fact that I was young in age and I looked like a teenager. I remember the youth leaders and the youths were doubting my ability to pastor and lead them.

I prayed hard throughout my time there as a youth pastor. I really needed to depend on God. It was in those days that I started a lifestyle of fasting regularly. This is still a lifestyle that I persist on (I still don't like fasting), because I know how much I need to depend on Him.

By His grace, He equipped me. No one taught me how to preach. I didn't attend any homiletics course on preaching. My first preaching was a flop. But I didn't give up. Within a short period of time, God empowered me to grow rapidly in the art of preaching. The youths were ministered. 

God's calling comes with His gift and grace. The gift of preaching is given to me because of His call. At the same time, the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.

By His grace, the youth culture was changed. When I first went in, the youths liked to pray quietly in their hearts. Before I left, they were praying boldly in tongues. I loved them and I enjoyed serving the youths. Over the course of two and a half years, I learnt so many things about pastoring, preaching and discipleship. By the grace of God (and my ignorance), I pioneered the youth service in that church. If I were to turn back the time, I would not have started the youth service.

God then called me out of that church for various reasons. I was looking for another church to work with the youths. I told God, "God, I came from an independent church. Please don't send me into another traditional church (the Anglican one was one)." I had three choices - a charismatic AG church, a small independent church and a Methodist Church. The Senior Pastor of the AG church invited me to preach at his youth service. I totally enjoyed myself there. The atmosphere was what I loved. I thought it would suit me well. But there was no peace in my heart as I prayed.

God often leads with unrest. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit in us. It is normal to have peace within us. If there is no peace within, it is likely not from Him.

I went into the Methodist Church (traditional again) because I felt an unusual peace as I prayed about it. This is where I served in youth and prayer ministries. I totally enjoyed my time here. The office culture is healthy and strong. There is hardly any politics. I have learnt alot from my Senior Pastor Reuben Ng. I thank God for placing him in my life. He is one of the best church leaders/pastors I ever met.

In recent years, God has put His passion in me in the area of healing and evangelism. In fact, evangelism has always been on my heart since I became a Christian. But I am convinced that power evangelism is the key to bring people to Christ. Like what Bill Johnson said, "I owe the world an encounter with God." I may be the only "Jesus" that some people ever see. I have to represent Him accurately - both in character and power.

At Kingdom Invasion 2014, God revealed His call for my life. I know that I am called to focus on healing and evangelism. He has put a few things in my heart. One of them is to see the sick healed and the wounded set free in Jesus' name.

I'm passionate about this. I try my best to live that out in the streets, restaurants, food courts, shopping malls, coffee shops, departmental stores, airplane, etc. and everywhere that I go to. I believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is primarily FOR the lost to encounter Jesus. The Gospel is not just meant to be preached in the church. The Gospel has to be preached outside the four walls of the church. We are called to BE the Gospel.

By God's grace and love, I have seen many healings taking place. I keep a record of them as testimonies so that I can remember what God has done, thank Him for His goodness and trust Him for more. I also want to leave a "legacy" for my son to carry on what I have done. I want him to know the nature and goodness of God and not allow different kinds of teachings to toss him around in the understanding of the will of God concerning healing. My ceiling shall be his floor. He shall step on my shoulders and go way further. 

I desire to see greater breakthroughs in this area. I want to see cancer and terminal diseases leaving the human body; I want to see stroke patients healed completely; I want to see every single person whom I pray for coming out of wheelchair. If Jesus has done it, I am to do it. I am called to do the same works and even greater works (John 14:12).

God ever spoke to me through a dream that I am to go to dark places where people are not willing to go. That is where light will shine its best. I started visiting Hindu temples and ministering to the people.

The desire grows stronger each day...

However, during an extended fast in mid-Feb this year, even though I wasn't praying about ministry direction, God spoke to me clearly - "Your highest call is to be a father." He told me to give my time to focus on my son during his foundation years. Actually I had plans to do more in ministry. I wanted to do more street outreaches. I wanted to go for more missions trips. I had plenty of desires in these areas. I still have...

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. - Proverbs 19:21

God spoke so deep in my spirit through a vision that I couldn't help but broke down in tears. He told me to lay down my desires for a while to pick them up again in the next season. For this season, I am to focus on my son. Church ministry has taken my time away from my son. I'm not spending as much time with him as an average working father does.

To be honest, entering into full-time church ministry is never a personal decision. It involves the family. It didn't just involve me alone. It involved my wife. As I served in the church ministry, she too, indirectly served in the same ministry. Why do I say so? Without her support, I would never be able to do what I was doing. When I was busy in the church, she took care of everything in the house. She took care of our son. While she did find it difficult to manage at times, she understood the call of God in my life. 

I always joked with my wife that we are called to step into uncharted waters from time to time. Our age difference is already unusual. I appreciate her for standing with me each time I took the step of faith to respond to God by walking on the road less traveled. I don't easily conform to the opinions and traditions of men if God says otherwise. Even if I make a sincere mistake, I trust my sovereign God to direct my path because He is greater than my sincere mistakes. This is the goodness and the beauty of God in which I can boldly take risk for Him.

To say that we had no disagreement throughout my six years in church ministry is an obvious lie. I believe it is the same for the family of every full-time church minister and pastor. The family is always fighting for extra time. Whenever one spouse decides to enter full-time church ministry, the other spouse will also enter full-time - supporting his ministry indirectly. It requires a sacrifice from the spouse. Many of my wife's female friends don't understand or rather, are unable to comprehend her struggles. They either have domestic helpers, parents, parents-in-law or husbands who have time for them and who can help out often with their children. My wife took care of all these alone, though I tried my best to help whenever I could.

Church ministry is one where you don't stop working after office hours. Church ministry involves people. I had to respond to various messages, especially concerning the youths. There were so many whatsapp groups in my phone that I had to mute the notifications for some groups which I know were not urgent. People often think that full-time church ministry work is pretty good as you only work on the weekends. Ask any of my colleague. I can't represent all churches, but I can say that all my colleagues work very hard.

Throughout these six years, I hardly had much time with my parents. I know it's not easy for them to understand. But when you already don't have alot of time with your own family, you will want to spend your time with your family first, followed by your parents.

For those who want to enter full-time church ministry, first, it has to be the call of God. Second, you have to count the cost.

For me, I know it's the call of God and I have counted the cost. I totally enjoyed working in the church. Else I wouldn't have done it for the past six years. I will not trade these six years for any other thing. I would not have left, if God didn't ask me to lay down my ministry desires for this season. My wife knows that I won't leave unless God said so.

I want to thank my wife, Carol, for releasing me to answer the call of God for the past six years. This call has not changed. I believe that the call of God in my life is still there and it is irrevocable. But the season has temporarily changed.

It's good to have passion for ministry. But it is more important to have passion for what God says. I trust Him. Therefore, I must obey Him. God is calling me out of church ministry in this season for an important role that I must play - fathering. This is why I left Church.... full-time ministry.

There were many encouraging words that I received from various people. One of the youths sent me a long WA message that was very uplifting. It reminded me to be faithful to the call of God in my life - preaching the Gospel and loving people.

One youth cellgroup designed a huge encouragement card for me. At the back of the card, it says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you where you go." - Joshua 1:9

When people were against Carol and I coming together, God spoke to us with Joshua 1:9.
When I stepped out of the Anglican Church (where I worked), God spoke to me with Joshua 1:9
Now that I have stepped out of full-time church ministry, God assured me again with Joshua 1:9. He is so faithful!

I didn't think of stopping ministry work. Yet I have to come out of it for a season - at least, for my son's foundation years. 

After God spoke, I realised something. If my highest call is to be a father, then my son IS my ministry. There is no greater call than to be a father. Because God is first and foremost our Father. 

I understood.

When God first spoke to me, I struggled. But it's interesting that when I began to see what the Father sees, my desire suddenly changed. Once again (just like the time before I went YWAM), He has put His desire in me. I no longer struggle with the fact that I had to leave church ministry for this season. I'm excited about what's going to happen. I know that God is always faithful. He will provide for our family. He will also see to it that His call for my life is fulfilled.

Stepping out of the comfort zone is what I have learnt when I entered YWAM. Stepping out of church ministry is stepping out of my comfort zone. I know that this is not going to be easy. It's time for me to step into uncharted waters. You can get comfortable working in a familiar environment, though there are, of course, challenges to deal with.

To be honest, it is easier for me to stay than to leave. I can stay in my comfort zone. Why should I leave and take extra effort to learn brand new things which I have no clue and no experience about?

Yet I realised that I learnt the most when I'm out of my comfort zone. We are never called to be comfortable. We are meant to be pushed into uncomfortable zones so that we can depend on our Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

Before I confirmed my resignation, I asked God for a confirmation. Being a gracious Father, He gave me four confirmations.

There were attractive and good offers presented to me, but I know that God's call is first and foremost, trust and obedience. What is the one thing that God is calling me to do? Focus is very important.

I shared with my wife and she shared her perspective. It dawned on me that good options can come as a test to see if I'm certain of what God is calling me to do. They either change my focus or strengthen my focus.

I know that building Jeshua in his foundation years has to be my focus. I have to say "No" to anything that will distract me from this very purpose. Even if it is at the cost of my ministry desires, for this is only for a season.

What should I be doing when I'm out of church ministry? It is very timely that Samuel (my ex-DTS school leader) is in Real Estate and he spoke to me after I decided to leave church work. He came at the right time. I prayed through and I had peace to enter into this industry (despite what the news and others are saying) because it gives me the flexibility to spend time with my son. I have a number of friends in this industry where they have more time to spend with their family too. Of course, if you desire to earn big bucks, then you won't have the time. Once again, focus is very important.

This industry is not easy, because I had no background on Real Estate. I have to learn everything from the scrap. Everything. At times, this sharp learning curve makes me feel helpless. But it also allows me to depend on God even more. If I step into uncharted waters, it should require me to place my faith in Jesus. This is rightly so. I realise that I'm leaning towards Him more than before, which is the key in building relationship deeper with Him.

Alot of people have pre-conceived notion about real estate agents. They think that they are out there to cheat. But when I was attending Real Estate Salesperson Course, there was a Christian trainer who intentionally brought in biblical values in his lessons. I thought that was very encouraging. There were also cases where the real estate salesperson acted as a mediator to reconcile marriages. Isn't that awesome?!

I am new in this industry. But I know that if God is for me, who can be against me? If God's favour and face shine on me, I will shine as His light in the midst of darkness. I look forward to serving people through this industry.

Recently, I read an article about life lessons for those in the 30s. It was compiled by more than 600 people who have crossed into 40s and above. Three things struck a chord with me: Focus, Taking Risk (Faith) and Family.

1) Focus

I know that it's time for me to streamline everything - my gift, passion, heart inclination, etc. I cannot be a jack of all trades and master of none. It's time to focus on what God has called me to do.

Steve Jobs was fired by Apple at the age of 30. In his 30s, he remained focus and steadfast. Although he was not a believer, I love what he said at the commencement address in Stanford University.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."

I'm not sure if the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew was a believer. I hope he was. Somehow, I believe that when he meditated on Jesus in the last few years of his life, the Holy Spirit had touched him. He was a man of great vision and focus. He became Singapore's first prime minister at the age of 35. Once again, it's in the thirties that one should really be focused.

This is the new season of my life. I felt that I need to start to be focused.

2) Taking Risk (Faith)

It's easy to stay in a comfort zone. Six years in Air Defence had built much comfort level in me, so when I left, I stepped into uncharted waters. Six years in church ministry did the same thing to me. Now I'm back into uncharted waters. I remember that when I was in DTS YWAM, it was so comfortable. Everyone was like-minded. It felt like one big family. But I knew that it wasn't a reality. In my personal opinion, we were staying in a bubble. The world is bigger than the bubble. The environment in the bubble was too good to be true. We are called to be salt and light. We are meant to live life outside of the bubble where we show the world how to live abundantly in Christ.

I must always be ready to take risk for Jesus.

3) Family

This is what God is calling me to do in this season. Fathering. Family.

I look forward to spending time with my son! He is highly favoured, exceedingly blessed and abundantly loved by God the Father.