In His Time.......... with P.Ramachandran

Today we celebrated my wife’s 66th birthday.  Jonathan took us to a quiet and cosy restaurant in Orchard Road to celebrate. Food was good too. How time flies.   As I pause to reflect, my heart is full in a way words can hardly capture. Forty years of marriage is not just a number—it is a lifetime woven together with love, sacrifice, faith, and quiet endurance. Through every season, she has stood beside me, not just as a partner, but as a steadfast companion and a living testimony of grace. We have been blessed with three wonderful children, each a reminder of the life we built together. Yet behind every joy, every milestone, and even every hardship, there has been her unwavering presence—faithful, patient, and strong. Life has not been without trials. There were moments that tested us, seasons that stretched us, and challenges that could have shaken us. But through it all, she remained constant—anchored in faith and committed to our journey. Even now, as we grow olde...

He said it himself, years later, in a tribute to the man he'd disagreed with. "𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝟭𝟵𝟴𝟳 𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀." "𝗟𝗲𝗲 𝗞𝘂𝗮𝗻 𝗬𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄, 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄." "𝗪𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄." That's S. Dhanabalan. Former Minister for Foreign Affairs. Former Minister for National Development. One of four men Lee Kuan Yew identified as a potential Prime Minister. He walked away from Cabinet in 1992 over the detention without trial of 22 people accused of a Marxist conspiracy. He never made a scene. He never went ...

1 Samuel 23:16–18   This is indeed a beautiful and powerful moment in Scripture. The friendship between   Jonathan   and   David   stands as one of the purest examples of covenant love and spiritual maturity.   In a time of danger and uncertainty, when   David   was fleeing for his life from   Saul, an unexpected and deeply moving moment took place.   Jonathan, Saul’s son, went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. Jonathan’s actions reveal a heart that was aligned with God in a remarkable way. Though he was the rightful heir to the throne, he clearly recognised that God had chosen   David   to be king. Instead of resisting this reality, he embraced it with humility, telling David, “You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you.” This shows that Jonathan valued God’s will above his own ambition. He was willing to surrender position and privilege for the sake of God’s greater purpose. In this, he re...

Every morning, half a million schoolchildren in Singapore stand with their right fists over their hearts and recite 38 words. "We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation." Those words were written by a man who was born in Ceylon, raised in Malaya, spent 12 years in London, married a Hungarian woman, and didn't call Singapore home until he was in his thirties. He wasn't born Singaporean. T here was no Singapore to be born into. He had to help build the country first... and then write the words that would teach its children who they were. His name was S. Rajaratnam. He was born on February 25, 1915, in Jaffna, Ceylon.  But only because his father wanted him born there for auspicious reasons... his elder brother had died prematurely, and the family believed a birth in the ance...

Why God spoke to Samuel – Part 2 Text: 1 Samuel 2–3   It always amazes me that God would choose a 12-year-old boy to reveal deep “state secrets” rather than speaking to the clergy. These were not small matters—these were issues at the very heart of the temple, concerning the highest levels of spiritual leadership.   You would expect God to speak to the experienced. You would expect Him to speak to the trained. You would expect Him to speak to those in position and authority.   But He didn’t.   Instead, God bypassed the priesthood…He passed over the established leadership… And He spoke to a child.   Why?   What was it about Samuel that caught the attention of God? What kind of heart causes heaven to speak? And what does this reveal about the kind of people God chooses to entrust with His voice?   In the earlier devotion we considered the following   ·        He positioned himself in God’s presence ·    ...