The transfiguration
"Then he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus." (2-4)

Hmmm, how about first rewinding back a little into my childhood days? Many of you may not know this- I went to a kindergarden church as a child. So in some sense, I was introduced to God when I was 4years old. My teachers would tell us some of the bible stories, like Noah's Ark, David and Goliath, Daniel and the Lion... and i would always find them interesting and amazing. But you know, as a cute little kid, all you would say would be: WOW. (with those big round eyes) haha. I still remember that we had to say grace before our meals, those bible lessons in chinese that bored me to death, blah blah blah. But I didn't go to church but still sort of considered myself as a christian. haha. So I think it was from then on, that I knew of God's existence, and believed in him. And thankyou Dinah, for bringing me to church, into the presence of God again. :)if it wasn't for you, i would not have gone to church and would not be able to dwell in His's presence. Thank you! :)

haha, let's continue with Mark 9 now..
Like the previous chapter, I went onto the internet to do some reading up, so that i could understand this chapter better.
Jesus had taken three of His closest friends with Him to a high mountain. There, he began to glow with breathtaking brilliance. Just then, Elijah and Moses appeared, talking with Jesus. The disciples were awestruck. Moses was the great Lawgiver, the one who had led Israel out of Egyptian bondage and through the wilderness. Elijah was a great prophet, one of two men in the Old Testament who went directly to heaven without dying. And there they were talking to Jesus. Peter was profoundly moved by the occasion and suggested that they build three tabernacles: one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. No doubt he felt that it would honor Jesus to receive a tabernacle alongside Moses and Elijah. But God's voice boomed from heaven: This is My beloved Son, listen to Him. Moses and Elijah vanished. Only Jesus remained. As they descended, Jesus told the disciples not to tell anyone about what had happened until after He was raised from the dead.
Moses: He was the great Lawgiver, the one who had led Israel out of Egyptian bondage and through the wilderness.
Elijah: He was a great prophet, one of two men in the Old Testament who went directly to heaven without dying.
This part of the chapter talks about the greatness of Jesus: God's rebuff of Peter's suggestion to construct three tabernacles teaches volumes. The problem with Peter's plan was that it put Jesus on the same level as Moses and Elijah. He isn't. Jesus is above everyone--in this case, above the greatest figures of the Old Testament era. Our problem is like Peter's. We often tend to build multiple tabernacles. One for Jesus and one for our parents. Or one for Jesus and another for our pastor, for our church, or for a favorite activity. This won't do. Jesus must have the only tabernacle; He must be the supreme authority in our life. Nothing else can be on a par with Him.

Ask yourself these questions- do you do quiet time everyday, do you read the bible everyday? Well, I'm guilty of these too. During school term, homework, friends, studying, just seem to take up most of my time. I did not seem to have anytime to read the bible. But i guess time isn't the excuse for not making time for God. I did not make any effort to read the bible, to do quiet time. I didn't. And i feel bad about it. Jesus should come before anything else. But luckily, having promised myself to complete and fulfil the 15 day challenge, I made effort to read each chapter every day. (I will try my best to blog on every chapter. but lessons end late, so I may not have the time to blog) And yeah, I'm quite proud of myself. And I will make it a point to read atleast a chapter of the bible everyday, this is the least I could do.


The Healing of a Boy With an Evil Spirit
Jesus said this, "Everything is possible for him who believes."

As Jesus descended the mountain, He noticed great commotion in the valley. The crowd ran to meet Him. While Jesus had been with three of the apostles on the mountain, the others had been unable to cast a demon out of a boy. Since the apostles had normally been able to cast out demons (notice Mark 6:13), this failure puzzled them and surprised the bystanders. Jesus' enemies were taking advantage of this lapse to discredit Him. The father of the tormented lad asked Jesus to do something, if He could. The Lord turned his statement back on him: "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes." The father said that he believed, but recognizing the possibility that his faith was not as strong as it needed to be, he begged Jesus to help his unbelief. With that, Christ commanded the unclean spirit to leave the boy. The demon cried out and threw the boy into convulsions, but left. Later, the disciples asked why they had been unable to cast out the demon. Jesus explained that they were not relying on God enough, but on their own power: "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer." Perhaps their prior success in expelling demons had caused them to be self-reliant, and they had neglected to pray in faith to God so that He would cast out the demon.
Time and again the disciples demonstrated a lack of clear spiritual understanding. They saw Jesus multiply loaves and fishes, but failed to see that He could handle another food emergency. Peter affirmed that Jesus was the Christ, but thought it best to give Him some needed "advice." He believed Jesus was great, but on the same level with Moses and Elijah. The nine disciples in the valley boldly attempted to expel a demon, but without relying on the Lord. They were like those formerly blind who even now saw men like trees walking.

Have you encountered a situation whereby you had to rely on God's strength in order to do certain things? Well, I had. and I would say, God is indeed almighty and He never fails us.
There was this time when I was desperately finding my phone charger. I remembered that I last left it in the band room, and near the electric plug. But when I went back to find it, it was nowhere to be found. I started to panic, cause I really needed to charge my phone. The composition recordings were all saved inside my phone, and i had to show them to my tcher that day. So yeah, I was SUPER DESPERATE. super. I decided to ask for God's help, to tell me where my charger is. I needed to rely on him. I couldn't do this alone. God answered my prayers. Hallelujah. Guess how God showed me where my charger was! He showed it through my friend, KangLin (she's not a christian btw)! She said that suddenly the image of the charger in the percussion box flashed through her mind. It's so amazing! I was going to give up hope finding that charger then. And I'm glad I didn't.
Some things in life can be completed in our own hands.
But there are some things that can only be completed when we rely upon God's powers.
Praise the Lord, everybody!


Jesus, you are the only one I could live for.