Poof, almost a year has gone by. I have moved on to the NS cell (I still miss my old cell a lot though), but what has plagued humanity for God-knows-how-many-donkey-years continue to be an issue today. Temptation, something we (all) have to face as long as we reside on this alien planet; something we have to run away from as long as we keep a conscientious mind; something we have to be convinced that our Almighty Heavenly Father has complete power over; something we have to constantly put on the Armour of God to defend against. With regards to that, I am pleased with how Philip Yancey had conveyed such message in his book, Reaching for the Invisible God- there is no point putting up a front in the public acting all righteous and Holy, but rather adopt humility and proclaim His goodness by giving Him thanks and praises for the Grace He has shown. Once again, it is by His grace, not our merits.

From a lackluster agreement, we proceeded on with the "plan". The turnout was surprising I must say, but what lied ahead held an even greater surprise. The pub/lounge/bar that we went to turned out to be an enclosed dark place. Filipino ladies who were there to make a living got all touchy and physical. Apparently, there were some, whom by God's grace, preserved their sensitivity towards the wrongs in the world and became all uncomfortable, and even angry. I, on the other hand, was a lot more neutral. Neutral in the sense that I didn't mind (probably would not have reacted if I had come with my non-Christian friends, which is why I'm million-tons-grateful that I dedicated my first and hopefully only experience in such a place.). Temptation plays with our human nature- that immediate sense of satisfaction (through compliments, through physicality, through pride). I thank God for that session with my cell- praying to be covered with the blood of Christ and for God's presence to go with us, and then thanking God for the protection He has provided. (Sidetracking a little, Jason said dozing off is my Standard Operation Procedure to do well in tests, but I seriously think such practice should be the SOP to pleasing God-basically getting Him involved in every aspect in our lives.)

The 3 lessons learnt today was 1. to be disciplined in obedience, 2. to put on the Armor of God all the time, 3. temptation. The first-hand experience was genuine and literally set me thinking about many many issues- an aftermath.

About how I should be spending wisely for Godly purposes; about how seeing things from His perspective really feels. For a moment, I felt sorry for the ladies, leading me to realise the grave need to pray for the unsaved ones.

(If those girls were your closed ones, if they were your loved ones, if they were your mother, sisters or even daughters, how would you feel? That was probably 1/1000000000000000 times of how our Father might have felt.)

"Biggest encouragement:

"that's why I don't hang out much. When I was your age, my friends were literally either my colleagues or my church friends.

If that is what it means to be different for a Godly purpose, I would gladly adopt that.