Rebuidling the Structure

 

2026_03_09

I saw an image, a structure made of red bricks and black bricks. When we build the structure, although we want to use red bricks, sometimes we unknowingly use the black ones and keep building and building.

In this image, the red bricks represent all that God has furnished us with—His Word, our times of prayer, the giftings He has placed within us, and every grace He pours out as we walk with Him. But the black bricks stand for the impurities we pick up along the way: the subtle influences of this world, the pull of our sinful nature, the habits and thoughts that creep in unnoticed, and everything else that taints what was meant to be pure.

This is how I realize that God wants to periodically break us—so that He can rebuild us into cleaner, purer versions of Himself. When He chooses to break us, it is never because He is angry with us. Rather, it is because He loves us so deeply that He desires us to become a better version of ourselves each time—more conformed to His image.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NKJV) The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!”

Despite how close we are with Him or how closely we are walking with Him, we cannot deny the influence of the world we receive from everywhere, exposure, all of it. These impurities may not by choice; we just accumulate them because of the influence around us. And subtly, without us knowing, we actually got influenced by it.

The purpose of this is not to say that it is okay to have impurities, nor are we saying that having them means we should hide ourselves or hide away in a cave. However, this is part and parcel of our life, whether we like it or not. As long as we are in this world, we will have all these impurities influencing us. For example, hurt even by our loved ones, hurt even through our quarrels, hurt through misunderstanding. It is normal—but we are not trying to say that it is okay. We are just assuring that it is normal. Ultimately, we surrender to Him and adopt the humility to allow Him to break us—rather than thinking it is a waste that we have built a structure so well, and why would He want to break it.

Romans 8:28 (NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

 

Psalm 51:17 (NKJV) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

Some people may say, "I want to hear the voice of God," "I want to walk closer with God," "I want to walk in the power and the authority of God." And God will speak. But sometimes He speaks about things that are very pleasant—maybe today He affirms you of who you are in your identity in Christ. But there are many times also where He will say things that will tug  your heart, probe you, make you uncomfortable—not because He is trying to offend you, but because He wants to correct you, and it is done out of love.

Sometimes, in our human nature, we may resist and say, “God, I have put in so much effort to build this structure; I am not prepared to break it down.” In the end, instead of allowing Him to break it, we tend to run away. God is a gentleman; He respects our decisions. However, the problem is that by doing so, we actually deprive ourselves of His rebuilding process. Yet the beauty of His love is this: He will keep waiting for us—patiently, quietly—until we are ready for Him to break and rebuild. Not because He takes any thrill in it, but because He loves us deeply.

Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV) Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NKJV) Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Hosea 11:8-9 (NKJV) How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? ...My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred. I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror.

One thing we need to understand is this: when He breaks us, it may look like a waste to us, but we cannot view it merely as upfront loss. Why? Because He is an economical God. He will not let any of our past experiences go to waste.

Let us return to the analogy and the image of the structure. When He has broken down this structure, He does not simply leave it in ruins and declare everything lost. When we are rebuilding, He reconsolidates all the red bricks and rebuilds them again—piece by piece, with love, constructing it once more with affection because He is our mighty Father. As He continues rebuilding, this time He ensures that the black bricks are thrown away. In this way, He does not allow the structure to go to waste; rather, He reuses the positive experiences we have had with Him—the lessons, the graces, the encounters—to form this new structure.

 

However, in our feeble minds, we sometimes think it is a waste because we see only the immediate loss. But no—we can be sure that God is far greater than us. His perspective is higher, and His ways are higher!

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV) “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Joel 2:25 (NKJV) "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you."

 

So from this, when we move beyond our human understanding—when we surrender totally, trust Him completely, and allow Him to break us—that is when He can truly do the work in us. When He does break us, and rebuild us, this is where we begin to see a new glory rise within us. We inherit a new structure, better than before.

Haggai 2:9 (NKJV) The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

 

In conclusion, let us continue to allow Him—the Author and Finisher of our faith—to work in us and trust Him beyond our human understanding. Let us allow Him to do His will in us, despite how painful or humbling it may be, because He has a greater plan for us: plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. However, the only part of the equation that is missing is: ARE WE WILLING!

Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV) For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Written by Justin Sng, with the help of Lau Guan Jim

 

Flavor-Soaked Potato- Be Thoroughly Soaked in His Presence

01/03/2026 

This morning I was talking to somebody and happened to talk about how I love to eat potato in steamboat. And when I eat potato in steamboat, I soak it in the steamboat for a long time so it inherits the taste of the soup that it is boiled in. And when that happens, the potato tastes of the soup it is soaked in!

That was when I suddenly realised this is also the same in our spiritual walk with God. Whenever we pray, praise, worship, or any acts that are associated with what we call ‘Time with God’, we enter His presence, and when we enter His presence, we are soaked in His presence. Over time, we inherit His presence, just like the potato tasting like the soup it was soaked in.

However, most of us tend to enter His presence in a sweeping manner and leave in a very swift manner because of our other seemingly important things in life, or just that we do it as a routine. However, this is not what God desires of us! He wants us to be thoroughly soaked in His presence so that we can be refreshed, restored, and empowered for the day. He does not want us to struggle. He does not want us to use our own feeble strength to walk the day without His help. He wants to partner with us, He wants to yoke with us. He wants to walk with us such that whenever we encounter potholes in our life, He subtly covers the potholes as we walk. He wants to walk with us such that whenever we face difficulties, the strength comes from Him to deal with it, wisdom comes from Him, so naturally that it is like our second nature.

However, this can only happen when we are thoroughly soaked in His presence.

We know that He promised He will never leave us nor forsake us. His presence is already with us the moment we acknowledged Christ’s redemptive work on the cross—our relationship with God is bridged. Our body is even mentioned as the temple of the Holy Spirit. So, does that mean because of that, we do not need to spend time with Him? And simply ignore His presence? Or is there something more to it? So, where is the missing part of this equation?

“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV)

“Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NKJV)

We must remember that we are restored to the relationship with Him—not that it is automatic having a relationship with Him. As such, if we do not spend time with Him, or rather be soaked in His presence, we may be saved, but not necessarily having the relationship with Him. And without any living relationship with Him, it is highly likely we still remain as before we were saved—nothing much has changed. You will see that we will have huge struggles with our old ways and our sins. And for that, we may get discouraged at times. We may get very disappointed with ourselves.

I am not trying to imply that after we have the presence of God or have the relationship with God, we will not fall into sin, but I am trying to say that now with the presence of God, our probability of falling into our old ways or falling into sin is greatly reduced.

And even if we did fall, because of the relationship with God, we understand His love and heartbeat for us—that when we fail, His grace increases all the more. And with the conviction and understanding, we will be more confident and more ready to repent and run back to Him to restore us once again. This is because we would have the first-hand understanding of His love!

“Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” Romans 5:20 (NKJV)

God desires our attention! I remembered a few weeks ago, I was quite preoccupied with matters of the world that I somehow ‘neglected’ Him. I heard what apparently was the voice of God telling me, “Won’t you just give me some attention? I just only need some of your attention.” Then I realised, this is exactly the heartbeat of our Father. He is not asking for much! He just wants us to be aware of Him. He is not the distant or angry God!

And here is the tricky part! When we have given Him the attention—I mean quality attention—it is as if we are connected to Him once again. And when the presence of God overwhelms us! It is not a chore or drag, it is joy in His presence. Or what Singaporeans call: Shiok! Trust me, that is when we want to linger in His presence! Because it is a joy being in His presence!

“You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”- Psalm 16:11 (NKJV)

 

This creates a self-catalyzing reaction: enjoying His presence, leading to remaining in His presence, leading to being soaked in His presence, continuing with enjoying His presence, remaining in His presence, and soaking in His presence… It is a natural upward spiral. We just need to be conscious to ride on to it.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”- John 15:4-5 (NKJV)

 

It is actually true that there are cases whereby sometimes after entering and enjoying His presence, we stop going back to his presence. I called this like applying brake to the cycle. That is the reason why I actually mention that it is a conscious effort and that is probably the major part we need to be aware of to catch on to this equation. In fact, being human, we tend to be quite susceptible to applying brake. And when that happen, it is not a reason to condemn. But rather, it is more of being aware of it and be conscious to get back into this relationship building cycle.

And as we eventually get seasoned to spending more QUALITY time with Him, over time, like the potato being soaked in the essence of the soup. We will inherit His nature naturally- the fruit of the Spirit, His ability, His wisdom and all good things that is from Him!!!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)

 

 

 

 

MAN’s STRUGGLE

Our struggle with our sinful desires can be very real. More so for man and our sexuality. It is definitely not true that when we receive Christ or the Holy Spirit, we will no longer sin. In fact, we may still sin.

I am sure there had been times, the temptation to commit sin can be very strong, even sometimes after we thought we prayed to God, we are still having the struggle. We may even at times reasoned with God that: God, you must have allowed us to commit this sin right? Verse such as 'when sin increase, grace increase may be the backdrop of our argument with God.

Worst, sometimes, we will attempt to resist the any temptation to sin, even citing resist the devil (temptation) and it will flee from you. And the more we try to resist, the worst the temptation may become. It sometimes behaves like a spell that keep drawing us to sin.

But somehow, we may end up succumbing to our weakness. Feeling guilty or at times shameful.

And if ever we succumb to our weakness a few more times, we may even be so numb to the shame as guilt as well.

And with that, we may end up attending church like nothing has happened. We may have even devised a camouflage image doing all the 'Christian behaviour' in church.

I am not writing this merely from observation, but also personal experience in my own Christian walk.

Have I fallen before? Countless times! Will I dare to say, now that I have the Spirit of God, that I will not fall anymore? Certainly not!

I am also a human! Paul wrote in his epistle to the Romans:

“For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will do, I do not do; but the evil I will not do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” - Romans 7:15-20

Even apostle Paul struggled with sin amid his active ministry days.

So does that mean that I am writing this as a passport for me to sin? Certainly not! Paul also in his writings did not give us this clearance. He continued into a lengthy explanation of paradigm living in the Spirit, which may confuse many new believers.

However, this writing is not a theology discussion of living in the Spirit or being resurrected in the Spirit etc. But a down to earth sharing on what happens if we even really committed any sin.

To clarify, I am not suggesting that we can wilfully sin, the consequence is not worth it!

“Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”- 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

So please don't ever defile our temple wilfully!

Sharing one time while I was worshipping at the altar. Right in front of me, I saw a flaming fire. Immediately, I recognised it as the fire of God. The fire was like asking me to draw near to be burnt. My first instinct was fear! Somehow, I felt that I am such a wretched person, confirm will get burnt by it! But at that moment, I heard a gentle and clear voice: This is My Holy fire, it is meant to burn away your impurity, it will not hurt you. I love you and want to sanctify you....

This really gave me a real revelation! I can still approach Him despite my sinful nature! And through the blood of Christ, I can approach Him boldly, so that He can sanctify me! Somehow, the equation seems quite complete.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

So how is that relevant to us falling to sin? We that I had a new understanding: That the rule number 1 when the moment we realised we have sin or fallen into sin, is to TURN AND RUN BACK TO GOD! SO THAT HE CAN SANTIFY AND RESTORE US.

“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.” - Joshua 20:2-3

During the Old Testament, God has already instituted His commandment where the Jews were running distance from any place in the country when they committed a major crime. This concept of city of refuge was designed so that the murderer could run there and find protection, likewise, when we sinned, God wants us to run to Him

The mistake most of us may made is avoid God! On the contrary, God is always calling us with His love to come back to His embrace, the blood of Jesus is that for a reason, so that the separation of hostility is removed! Do not be tricked, His grace is never too little to forgive us!

And now the benefit of running back to Him is this: to be RECONNECTED BACK to His Spirit- “the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses” -Rom 8:26

Now, with this equation, the bible did not guarantee that we will not fall to sin, but if we constantly run back to our Abba Father, and like David asked: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”- Psalm 51:10-12

Each time, we will gradually align and “live accordingly to the Spirit and inherit the spiritual mindset.” - Romans 8:4, eventually bearing the fruit of the Spirit as we walk in the Spirit and we can eventually relate us finally conqueror over sin. Not by our human strength, but by His Spirit that is at work in us!

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” - Gal 5:16

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” - Rom 8:39

 

In the news today, I read that a prominent Christian politician resigned from politics after being found to be having an affair. He was featured in a number of Christian articles, including salt and light etc. There is no doubt that this will impact a lot of us as believers. As such, I am inspired to share my thought as a fellow believer of Christ

Written by Bro Justin Sng on the 17th of July 2023 at 11:15pm. Editied by BDR.. 

What matters is eternal

This evening, while I was struggling though the second half of my 8.6km run, this phrase suddenly dawned on me:

Whatever that may happen in this liefetime is temporal, because we have an assured eternity. With that, why not give thanks to God whatever circumstances we may be in because it is no longer significant compared to our eternal future.

Leading on, my mind was flooded with thoughts of his goodness, wonders and grace, despite the fact that I am a mere being in the whole universe (Psalm 8). Overwhelmed my his wonders, I instinctively batantly lifted up my hands to praise Him. Surprising, amid the fatigue of the run, I found myself running faster as if there was a fresh burst of energy. All the tiring feelings seems to dissappeared. The remaining of the run was completed with ease.

Yes, it is indeed a praiseworthy incident, thanking Him for the strength and inspiration.

However, what inspired me further was awestrucked. I suddenly saw the parallel to the incident which apostle Paul literated in this second letter to the Corithians when he was tormented by the thorn in flesh. In response to his 3 plead to the Lord for removal of the thorns, Paul was 'merely' told that God's grace is sufficient for him. Apparently, the pain was not removed. With that, Paul's focus was directed to a more important perspective, of seeing God's wonders. With that, the pain was no longer significant to him, giving him the ability to move forward.

The above is not a passage for us to endure pain or sufferings, instead it is a passage for the shift of paradigm; for us to direct our focus on what seems more significant than what we have to go through this lifetime.

Instead of simply just thanking God for the strength to complete the run, afterall it is good to thank him, I would like to thank Him for the realigning of focus. As a rational person, the muscles would have been definitely tired from the run. Hence, I believe that it was the re-alignment of focus which infused a fresh wave of motivation filled with joy, thus randering all fatigues insignificant. God really does work and answer prayers in inexpected ways.

Before the start of the run, I 'foolishly' prayed for God's protection and strength that I could finish the run well and safely. Convinently, I added the following: let this also be an opportunity for a realignment of focus to Him. Intially, my intention of the 2nd part was meant as a 'retorical prayer' because 'turning my eyes to Jesus' is more of an action to execute than a prayer. Thus, it was really an unexpected prayer answered.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8
Recently, someone I know was lamenting about the apparent poverty he has to endure because his parents 'sacrificed financially' for the cause of Christ, resulting in the children having to suffer monetarily. What was relavent was the remark which he made: When things goes well, they thanked God, and when situation was unfavourable, they still thanked God believing that situation will get better. It seems like a conspiracy theology for Christians to feel better in bad situations while still blindly trust in God. Instead, if he happens to read this, how about seeing it this way:

Whatever that may happen in this liefetime is temporal, because we have an assured eternity. With that, why not give thanks to God whatever circumstances we may be in because it is no longer significant compared to our eternal future.

Pain & Suffering

Some say it is ILLUSION
Some say it is FATE
Instead, we can face it with the GRACE AND POWER OF GOD!!!

Peter, do you AGAPE me??

John 21:15-23 speaks of Jesus asking Simon Peter THRICE: 'Do you love me?' with Peter answering back 'I love you'. Each time Jesus asked the same question, Peter got more hurt, or maybe guilty, especially when he had just denied Jesus THRICE a while ago.

Many people crossed referenced this passage to that of Peter's denial of Jesus in John 18 and that the above event is a symbolic restoration of Peter. The NIV bible even titled this passage 'Jesus Reinstates Peter'. However, if we read into the original Greek version of this passage, the idea is more than this simple restoration Jesus did on Peter. 

Before proceeding further, it is important to note that the Gospel of John was originally written in Greek. And in the Greek language, there are 4 different words for love, which are:

Agape: Unconditional love (often referred to the highest order of love)

Eros: Romantic love

Philia: Friendship/brotherly love (lesser form of love in comparison of Agape)

Storge: Natural blood-ties affection

During translation of the bible to English, all these Greek words for love were either substitute with words of similar ideas or just with the word LOVE. As a result, the original essence may be lost lost through translation. As such, we shall re-examine John 21:15-23 with the with the Greek's word for love:

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, " Simon Peter do you AGAPE me?"

"Yes LORD," he said you know that I PHILIA you"......

Again Jesus said, " Simon son of John, do you AGAPE me?

He answered, "Yes, LORD, you know that I PHILIA you"......

The third time he said to him," Simon son of John, do you PHILIA me?....

(Peter finally answered,) "LORD, you know all things; you know that I PHILIA you."

From the above passage, Jesus was in fact asking if Peter love him with the highest and purest form of love, just as he had loved the world. However, Peter knew of his inadequacy of love, coupled to the fact that he had just denied Christ 3 times. He could only love God just like a loyal friend or brother. Hence, he did not even answer to the question.

The following chart illustrates the imbalance of love between God and man(Peter).  

Imagine in today's context of the passage, if Jesus is to appear and ask:

'My child, do you AGAPE me?'.

We will most probably answer:

'LORD I hope to AGAPE you.' (not answering to question)

And again if he ask the second time, we may subconsciously be reactive and react like Peter and answer:

' LORD, you know my heart, you know that I desire to love you!!' (not answering to question again......)

If there is a love test towards God, I believe that none of us can profess that we AGAPE God the way he has loved us. This truly reflects our inadequacy to God's standard of LOVE! We seriously has a balancing issue with God, the love balancing beam is well tilted to the extreme.

However, in the passage, the third time Jesus questioned Peter, he finally brought down his standard, asking PHILA instead. This is significant because it strongly indicated that Jesus was accepting Peter's PHILIA, knowing he could not AGAPE.

Finally, Peter managed answered to the question. 

God does not expect us to come to him with this highest form of love. He knows that we cannot achieve it. Instead, the loving God is willing to accept the love at our level. Recently, a Christian told me this: " I want to be a Christian, but I am not sure if I am up to it." Of cause, all of us are not of the 'STANDARDS' to be Christian!
All God is asking is for us to come to Him, despite of how unworthy we may be. Because he will come down to our level....

To be continued.....
So how did Peter turn out in the end?...

Rivers of Babylon

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion.. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion.. When the wicked carried us away in captivity, Required from us a song.... Now how can we sing the LORD's song in a strange land...... Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be acceptable in thy sight here tonight.. LORD, my ROCK and my Redeemer.... (From the lyrics of Rivers of Babylon) Psalm 137 & Psalm 19:14