Matthew 3:17 "and a voice from heaven said, "this is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased"

This verse here really inspired me, in my spiritual growth. As I journey through life day by day, looking to increase my love for God and to walk in His glorious ways, I think this verse is very, very powerful. This verse came after Jesus was baptized by John the baptist at the river of Jordan. "as soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lightning on Him" Matthew 3:16-17 and then followed by the voice from heaven saying "this is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."

Just imagine God speaking saying to you: "this is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased". Amazing isn't it if you really hear that from God himself. To me, it's a massive motivation to be constantly on my toes, make sure I live right and more importantly live for God and his purposes in our lives. And one day if God says exactly what He said to Jesus, only then will I be pleased with my life. For now, I've for a long way to go to reach the level of God telling you how pleased He is with you.

I hope all of you who reads my blog would be motivated and I am to strive for God to tell you He's pleased himself.

I love you God, you're amazing.

Peace and Joy
^"1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." - Romans 5:1-5

God, thank you for moms for encouragements and thank you for that person you've put into my life. Help me to grow in you and to develop perseverance, character and hope. =)

Next up, ergonomic chair. ;) That's if it's cost effective..

This is revolutionary, this is new insights! A few months ago, I've decided to get married to a fine young woman. Ever since I've made that decision, my life has been changed extraordinarily. My hunger and thirst for God has been such a great need in life that God became the bulls-eye centre of my life. During the time though, I've always wondered, what's the true meaning of marriage? What's God's meaning for marriage? Yes of course there's love, there's union between two person and two different families, lots of joy, sadness, laughter, tears. But it definitely doesn't end there, and shouldn't end there, God definitely has more to marriage than that.

I always thought God's purpose for marriage was for the husband and wife to support each other emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually to keep each other on track, to serve God, to live for Him. I wasn't wrong, but still, there was more to that, and I've found it! It's funny, I've read this verses when I was on my 7 day fast, but never really caught it this way. Anyways, read on and I'll share with you more about what I've learnt.

Wives and Husbands

²²Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.²⁸In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰for we are members of his body. ³¹"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." ³²This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Interestingly, in each verse, God compares a marriage with His relationship with the church, vice versa.

- Wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord
- Husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, of which he is the Savior
- Now as the church submits to the Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything
- Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
- In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church for we are members of his body

And for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. - Ephesians 5:31

So yes, even though marriage is also about love, growing together in all aspects of life, starting a family, serving God, it's also an object lesson of God's love for the church and husbands are to love their wives as unto the Lord, which means, our love for the Lord should reflects our love to our wives and our love to our wives should reflect our love for the Lord. Our marriage reflects our relationship with God, and that's the massive difference between an earthly marriage and a marriage that pleases God.

I'm no pro at marriage, and I've realized that marriage is more complicated that I thought it would be. But I'm learning, just like everyone else, and I hope this post helps everyone else too.

16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

1 John 3:16-20 is a concise commentary on love, contrasting man's love with the love of God and encouraging believers to imitate God's love as a demonstration of faith.

God's love for us to follow

His love starts here, at 1 John 3:16 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." It’s a simple enough scenario, but one most probably will never encounter on a literal level. But to John, real love can be identified by a selfless willingness to put the needs of others first the same way Jesus did, all the way up to and including that same willingness to die for them.

Love in Deed and in Truth

John himself says it best in verse 18, "Let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” Simply put, it is easy to express love in words, but perhaps not so easy to demonstrate it by selfless, generous acts. As the old saying goes, "actions speak louder than words."

To love in deed and truth as opposed to merely in word or in tongue means putting love into action. To John, having a religious belief system based on love is of no value unless the believer does something with those beliefs.

He goes on saying, “By this we shall know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” (vs. 19-20)

God is Greater Than Man's Heart

This verse in particular seems most compelling, and possibly most difficult to grasp. Is there a conciliatory tone to this verse, telling believers that if they doubt God or fail to see the wisdom of His statutes, His greatness would overcome anything they lack, that He could see through their doubts and insecurities, picking up on their true faith in ways that even they could not do on their own?

In Scripture, God is pictured as a God of reconciliation, with Christ’s righteousness sufficient for those who have faith and believe in the promises found in His word, and yet one cannot help also noticing a slightly different understanding of this verse.

The condemnation being spoken of here may be related to conscience. If "our heart condemns us" (v. 20), it means believers are convicting themselves, carrying the burden of guilt that comes with keeping unsurrendered sin in their hearts and failing to leave them at the foot of the Cross.

And yet people are imperfect and their human understanding of God’s will is incomplete. Men are simply not great enough to judge themselves in the spiritual sense. But God is "greater than our hearts." He is all-knowing and perfect, both creator and sustainer, and His wisdom pierces through ignorance. If man's conscience pricks him, imperfect as it is, even more so does God condemn the sin he carries.

God's Grace Alone Sufficient

As John says, God is greater than any human heart, and knows all things. Nothing can be hidden from him. Even in man's darkness, even in his self-deception, he cannot fool God. In a converted Christian, a guilty conscience can be a sign of the Holy Spirit’s pleading.

Two basic schools of thought exist as they pertain to 1 John 3:20, and either one is good news:

• One the one hand, believers can have peace and assurance knowing that God is greater than them, and that His grace is sufficient when they fall short.
• On the other hand, they can count it all joy knowing that God is their judge, releasing them of that obligation, that they can be free to serve Him by studying His word and by endeavoring to become more like Jesus.

1 John 3:16-20 is a short passage of Scripture that nevertheless packs a great spiritual punch, getting right to the heart of his thoughts about the love of God and the ways believers can try to live out that love here on earth.

1 Timothy 6:3

Love of Money

"3If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions5and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

Verse 3,4,5
If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4he is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions5and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

What is right to you may not be right to me and what is wrong to you may not be wrong to me? I think this ends it once and for all. ;) I think in this verses here, false doctrines may be pretty clear already, but "does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching" might be something we don't really understand yet. To truly know the "sound instructions and godly teaching", we've gotta be close to God, be lead by the Holy Spirit, and be constantly thirsty for more of God. And see it goes on saying that if you teach false doctrines, dont agree with the sound instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, we are CONCEITED and UNDERSTANDS NOTHING. Conceited means "being proud of oneself; vain" and understands nothing obviously means zero understanding. Other than that, add to that "He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain." I just realized as I type this, it says, "robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain", so yes, it's wrong to think that godliness = financial gain. :)

I'm so happy this verses didn't just stop there, it went on, with verse 6-10 saying "6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

It says here that "godliness WITH contentment is GREAT GAIN". One day, our riches would mean nothing anyway, and so it says here "For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it".

Finally, 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

Rightly it says, that the more with have, the more temptations and traps we will have, and these are just not just simple food temptations or minor temptations, this one traps us into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction! Ruin and Destruction! :(

In the end, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, yes, we've heard that before sooooo many times. But the REAL reason why it's the root of all kinds of evil, is because some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Our faith in God is the root of our lives, it's the reason we breathe, we sing, we live. And if money takes away or shakes that faith, it's therefore the root of all evil as it attempts to destroy our roots.

Michael Schumacher, of Germany and only recently, Mercedes GP is back in the F1. Widely known as a legend of the sport who won seven world drivers’ titles in a career spanning 16 years and 249 races.

"I was tired of F1 by the end of 2006,” Schumacher said, “But in three years of absence I got back all the energy that I am feeling right now. I played around with motorbikes and I feel ready for some serious stuff now.”

“The failed comeback attempt last summer gave me reason to reconsider my situation,” Schumacher said.

He believed he and the Mercedes team would have a chance to win the title in 2010. He said he is returning because he was given an offer he never expected and that it came from two important sources, Ross Brawn, the director of the team, and Mercedes.

Brawn was the technical director and strategist at the Benetton team and guided Schumacher on to win his first two titles, in 1994 and 1995. Both Brawn and Schumacher then moved to Ferrari, winning a further five titles together from 2000 to 2004.

Michael Schumacher retired with his position in the racing world well secured, he went stepped down the stage when he was at the high point when you bring in the consideration of other sportsmen who have prolonged their career until the point where their failures shine as bright as their glories.

WHY IS HE COMING BACK THEN?

Some men just cannot live without competition, without speed, without challenge.
But there's risk! WHAT IF, Michael returns to the track and doesn't find his touch? Where would he go for shelter? It's now harder than ever. When Michael was in his dominant years, his competitors weren't at his level, and Ferrari's engineering superiority wasn't helping him play on the same grass.

But now, we've got Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and all the other upcoming racers. And each and every one of them is very capable of challenging for a win or even the title.

He had no reason to come back.

HOWEVER, what I think he's looking at is to be reach the next level. What is the next level?

Read more in my next post.

Yes, look at this picture, look at it closely. It's Paolo Maldini, ex-captain of Italy and AC Milan. Widely known as the greatest defender of all time, summing all these up - Legend.

When I was young, I played football for a club, the Royal Selangor Club. I think we did quite well locally, having participating the in local football league, adidas league, FAM league and things like that. And I always wanted to be a footballer. At 14, I was on the verge of going to London to go to a football school, but some how they all never come together. 

One fine day, as I was in Dubai on a 14 hour stopover to Nairobi, Kenya to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro, I walked round and round the airport aimlessly trying to burn out the longest 14 hours of my life, I suddenly saw a bunch of Indians with their phones trying to pose with a big, tall, lean man. He was built like a horse. I went back into my brain memory looking through the directory of faces thinking if I know the guy. He just looked so familliar. Then I stopped, stared and say to myself. Wait, he, he is, paolo maldini! A legend in world class football! Played for AC Milan till he was 40 and found out after researching on his stay in Dubai that he played his last game for AC Milan a few days before I met him at the airport in Dubai with the likes of Ronaldinho, David beckham and gang. Next to him was another guy who looked familiar, he looked like Alessandro Nesta. But I wasn't sure if it was him. As the Indians passed me, I decided to quickly catch up with Maldini to take a picture with him. Soon, some airport staff were chasing him shouting, Maldini, Maldini! And yes, he did stop for a picture for them. I was right next to them, grabbed out my camera and asked if one of the airport staff if he could snap a picture for me. He said yes, but after he took he's, so I knew it would not happen. I then went up to Maldini. Saying, Maldini would you let me take 1 picture with you? He replied saying: who's taking the picture?? I told him I'll take myself. And then he looked at me in confusion? Or frustration? I don't know. But as soon as the airport staff were done, I quickly stood next to Maldini pulling my camera facing the both of us and fired away on my 10 frame per second camera. I got 4 pictures in which I had only 1 picture sharp. God, i'm thankful for having a Canon 1dmrk3, such a wonder. So soon left to catch a plane like he said he would, but I was quite sure he wanted to get away from the public attention rather than having a plane to catch. So, yes he left me with much food for thought. Hundreds of thoughts start evolving in my mind like being behind a glass having paintballs shot at you. Thoughs like, how did he get to such a stage in life where he's seen the best and been the best in the whole race of mankind? He's won more than 5 champion leagues, 10 la liga titles and more. What else can you ask for? How did he get to the peak of life? What makes him, PAOLO MALDINI?? I'm in awe really. Literally jealous and zealous to make it as far as he did. He's a real example to follow. You can't get anymore better than him. As the thoughts ran across my mind like a bunch of cyclist going round and round the stadium, I changed my money and ordered the biggest mushroom Swiss burger in my life! 3 layers of meat filled with tons of overflowing mushroom and melted cheese. It was the only key to keeping me distracted from the whole "Maldini experience". By just that picture, he gave me the motivation to do the big things in life. To chase the best in life. I want to be like him, to be able to motivate people with my achievements by just one picture or just having a 'one line conversation' like what we had. That "one line conversation" was enough to inspire me, by just saying "who is taking the picture?".

I think I should write to maldini, send him the picture and tell him how much he's motivated me and then Possibly meet him, and get him to help out me fund for the Malaysia's 7 summit climber - Me. Just baby steps to the "Maldini Level"

Firstly,

Manchester United have signed a five-year sponsorship deal with communications group Telekom Malaysia.
The deal will make Telekom Malaysia the "Integrated Telecommunications Partner" of the Old Trafford club in Malaysia." - BBC News

Then said Mr.David Gill:

"Anyone who went on our tour of the Far East last summer knows the strength of feeling that Malaysians have for the club," Gill added. "Over 40,000 attended our training session and another 40,000 came to the second match in Kuala Lumpur, despite only having 48 hours' notice of the fixture."

Wait there's more!

Remember in Feb 2009 when AirAsia was linked with Manchester United sponsorship? Yea, Dato' Tony was ecstatic!

He said: "Manchester United have just approached me on whether AirAsia would be interested in becoming their shirt sponsor. Yes, you read that right. The world's most famous football club wants to proudly wear shirts bearing the name and logo of a Malaysian-born global brand. Doing this would be a first for a Malaysian company and would truly solidify us as a global brand. This pure acknowledgement of us, AirAsia as a global brand to be reckoned with is simply a moment where you just step back and say, “Wow! We’re actually there right now!”.

Check these out:

Wonder where all that money for our much needed streamyx upgrade/improvement? (Manchester United)
I also wonder how Malaysia's so involved into football advertising and Manchester United. It's so weird to see our national telecommunications provider sponsoring Manchester United! They could've spent the money somewhere else couldn't they?

Such is the enthusiasm of a United fan.