Reviewing 2012

Over the course of the last two weeks, I spent my time up at the beautiful mountains created by my God of the Bible, snowboarding and relaxing my mind. Took two weeks of vacation from work and at the same time, it was vacation time from school after a grueling fall semester. It’s the time of the year again where I normally sit down to review this past year and what I have done in my life.

First and foremost, I would like to say that I am thankful to God for watching over me and keeping me safe both spiritually and physically. Life in the US can be very different from where I am raised in Singapore. At times, it can be hazardous too with many incidents of random shooting massacre occurring this year; I am only so thankful to Jesus for keeping me safe and sound. In addition, I also thank God for ensuring that I stayed on track this year to finish reading the entire Bible through. This is a great news for me personally because I finally done the New Year resolution which I have resolved to do back in 2010. Two years late in completing it but it is fulfilling to know that at least I managed to read through the Bible once this year.

2012 had been a year where I continued to be busy with both work and school. I am still in the process of finishing up my MBA degree with University of Utah. Hopefully by the Grace of God, I would be able to complete it by the end of summer of 2013. Throughout this journey, it has been God’s Amazing Grace which has saw me through the program so far. I deeply know that He will continue to see me through the program and I just need to continue to trust in Him for every moment of my life. As for work, it has been pretty monotonous although there have been moments of testing in terms of my submission to authority at the workplace. Through it all, I know that Jesus is teaching me great lessons on how to submit to workplace authority and believing that He is the one who instituted them in the first place.

With my second attempt at reading through the entire Bible completed, I realized that mere reading of the Bible counts very little in growing me as a Christian if I do not practice what is said in it (James 1:22). I cannot just be a hearer of God’s Word but I need to be a doer as well. This is much more important if I truly want to grow in maturity in Christ. As my faith comes from hearing of God’s Word (Romans 10:17), I need to develop my faith more by practicing righteousness (1 John 3:10) in loving first my own brethren in Christ and then second by loving the people around me so as to share the Gospel with them. This is crucial if we as Christians want to fulfill Christ’s commission to us (Matthew 28:19-20) and be involved with God in His Ministry of Reconciliation with His Lost Sheeps (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

This year at Salt Lake City, UT was also exciting because of the setting up of a new church body (Gospel Grace Church) to reach out to the Latter Day Saints in Utah. I am glad that I can connect with the three pastors of this new church and get to know them in person. Brothers and Sisters in Christ, let’s be praying for them and their ministry that God would continue to watch over them and their work in His Ministry of Reconciliation. Ultimately, what really counts is lost souls getting to know their One and Only Savior, Jesus Christ. All other things can be considered as rubbish just as what Paul had said (Philippians 3:8). There is only one common enemy who is the accuser of the Brethren – Satan. Our enemies are not Islam, Mormonism or Joseph Smith, Buddhism, Taoism or all other new age spirituality or religions out there in the world which we do not love (1 John 2:16). As Christians, there is a strong need to know this fact. Therefore, when we reach out to others and share the Gospel with them, we need to learn how to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

2012 was a year where many lost souls in the world wearied themselves with silly announcements of the end of the world either on Oct 31 or Dec 21. The Truth can only be found in the Bible where Jesus Christ had said Himself that only the Father knows the time or the hour (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32). I feel sad every time when lost souls in the world rather believe in heresies than the Only Truth found in the Bible where Jesus came to testify to It Himself (John 18:37). Let’s not be exchanging the Truth for lies (Romans 1:25).

A New Year dawns as 2012 came and gone. It’s time for me to continue to be serious with God’s Word and to live my life according to His Word (Psalms 119:9). 2013 will be a year where I will attempt to memorize one key verse from each book of the Bible. If you want to know or test me, stay tuned for my 2013 review blog post at the end of this upcoming New Year!

Have a blessed New Year, folks and I truly hope that you can join me in following Jesus Christ this year.