Up the hill ...
Down the hill ...
Onto the beach.
At the elephant sanctuary.
Elephants are sacred to the people in Thailand. This is a baby elephant. He's one adorable baby. It gave me a kiss on the cheek ... it was ewww! but still awesome! haha ... I was also offered a massage courtesy of the baby ellie, but uhuh ... I gave that a pass.
We paid 700baht each for an elephant ride.
The elephants eat 200kg of food a day: bananas, pineapples ... That's a lot of food. There aren't many elephants left nowadays, the numbers has dwindled to the thousands.
Into an old rubber plantation with the elephants pooping as they go along.
From my vantage point.
At the cashew nut factory.
The streets in Patong.
View from a tuk-tuk.
Where we would love to spend the whole day in. But a 2-hour stay is just as good.
The view from my hotel room. The sky was downcast. Weather in Phuket? Extremely hot and humid.
Another view. The hotel is 2 streets away from the beach.
Nightlife in Patong, in Bangla Road. I went shopping but got nothing. Shopping is much, much better in Bangkok.
*************************************************
"A Delayed Telecast"
I missed the sermon for today and one week later, I got the recorded copy of it, hence here is a "delayed telecast". The sermon was by Rev Christopher Rao entitled Who We Are?
Do we know who we are? Important to know because who we are determine what we do and say. It is a question of identify.
Why is it so important to know our identity? Because it will influence how we behave, how we respond to others, what we say, how we look at ourselves. Therefore as Christians, it is important to know what we are.
As Christians we do not have to look at any other than our Lord as our model. What does the Word of God tells us who we are?
2 Chro 7:14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Deut 14:2 For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth
1 Pet 2:9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
1 Cor 6:20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Exo 33:15-16 Then he said to Him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16"For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?"
Who are we? We are God's people. We are His people, called by His name. We bear the name of God in our lives.
4 Things that we have
as the People of God
1. Election
We are called and elected by God to be his children. We did not choose him but He chose us. Not because we are talented or gifted. God chooses the more insignificant, the irrelevant, the nothings. He has brought us to be part and parcel of this community.
2. Revelation
No matter how hard we try to know, we still fall short of how God requires of us. But God reveal himself to us. So that the more we see God and gaze at His face and enjoy His presence, the more our lives will be transformed to be like Him. People can see His glory resides in us. Even in our trials and difficulties, we constant look to Him,
3. Identification
We are people who are set apart. We are called to be different from all people. He calls us to be holy and set apart for Him. Anyone who claims to know God must walk in the light. When we identify ourselves with God, we must walk in what He requires of us. We do not just follow or do what other people are doing, we are different, we are aliens, we are foreigners.
4. Empowerment
The presence of God in our lives distinct us from others. Even our gathering in the church is different because of the presence of God. The Holy Spirit resides in us and we become His witnesses.
Why does God do all these to us?
Because He loves us.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love 5He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Our identity does not come from what we do but who we are, the adopted children of God, a people belonging to God. It is in crisis that we reveal who we are. One of the failures of the Israelites was that they failed to realise who they were. In 1 Sam 8:6, there was a leadership crisis in Israel. Up to Samuel, Israel did not have a king. They receive directions from God through judges. Samuel was getting old. At this point of crisis, the Israelites wanted a king. God said to Samuel, "they have rejected Me as their king". They failed to realise who they were, they wanted to be like the other nations.
Who are we?
We are the people of God.
pearlie
Yes, I hate to miss church on Sunday b/c you don't feel quite right. Glad you got rest though. I thought it was for work?
ReplyDeleteI never heard of a downcast sky. Is that like an overcast one?
It was a company-sponsored vacation :)
ReplyDeleteHmm ... now that you mentioned it, I am now not so sure about the sky being downcast but the phrase has been used before. Yes, it means overcast. This is what we would call English Delight! lol