Just BELIEVE!

There are many things in life that we can't control...But there is one thing that we can, which is to believe the One He sent...To trust Him who has our best interest at heart and the best plan of our life in His hands...

"The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent." John 6:29...

God has been teaching me a lot in the last 3 weeks...Opened my eyes to see so much more and opened my heart to experience His love and grace more. Sometimes, it takes those desert seasons when we are stretched beyond what we can bare and placed in a situation where we direly hold on to God, that we realise, we can't live without Him...He is all that matters.

Pastor's sermon this Sunday really spoke to me..."Our confidence in the future, as Christians, should be based on the nature of God, that He will fulfil His promises in our lives..." Then Pastor went on to talk about Moses and the Israelites...haha! Bible history of the month for me! Seem to keep facing this bunch the last couple of weeks. God, let me learn all that you want to teach me...

The Power of Hope

11 Dec 2005 - Pas Ian Foley

The definition of Hope is "the expectation of something good".

The basis of our hope is found in what Jesus has done for us and what God has in store for us.

But a lot of our expectations are based, instead, on what we think will happen in the future.

As Christians, our confidence in the future should be based on the nature of God, that He will fulfil His promises in our lives.

We can see this in the way our lives have been transformed by God ever since we came to know Him.

3,000 years ago, God promised to deliver the Israelites from slavery to a land flowing with milk and honey. God first miraculously brought them out of Egypt and defeated the Egyptian armies...something that was impossible humanly.

After 2 years, they approached the Promised Land. And Moses sent out 12 spies into the land. And they brought back a big bunch of juicy grapes - so big that they had to hold it with a pole. Indeed the land was flowing with milk and honey - everything God promised. But of the 12 spies, 10 of them also reported that there were strong men and giants in the land who were impossible to defeat - a picture that left God out of the picture.

Own note: Here was God who had brought them out of Egypt so miraculously and had given them food out of nowhere, shade by day in the form of clouds that followed them everywhere, warmth and light by night in the form of pillars of fire that surrounded them, so much quail that they got sick of it after 30 days...and to top it all, they had seen the cloud of God's presence over the tent everytime Moses met with God. And here they were, doubting God...Sigh! Sounds so much like us...all the time!

Of the 12 only, 2, Joshua and Caleb had faith and conviction that God would deliver the land into their hands. But that was not enough. The faith of the people fell, and the people rebelled against God.

In spite of all that God has done, the people did not trust in God. God forgave them but the generation that did not believe would die in the desert and never step foot into the Promised Land before the people would move into the Promised Land. The Israelites lacked faith to believe that final step! Are we like that as well sometimes? We're at the final step of entering into God's victory. But it is this final step when it is most difficult. Will you turn around and rebel against God or will you move forward, trusting God, even though you don't know what to do or how to do it...

Faith and Hope is very closely linked.
Our hope in God will only come to pass if we trust in God.
If we trust Him, only then can you overcome the hurdle.

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into His grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

This has been a key verse to me in the last 3 weeks as I learn to surrender my life to God and to allow Him to teach me what He wants to teach me in a very difficult season...

1) Justification brings Hope of the glory of God

The point that God justifies us is when we are saved.

Verse 1 - "justification through faith"

Previously, Paul said in Romans 3 that "all have sinned and fallen short..." Sin damages character, relationships. But as we move on to verse 2, we see that as God saves us, a change comes about and our relationship is restored.

Glory of man before God will be restored.

The key to this is "JUSTIFICATION", meaning "declared righteous".

"Justification by faith" means to Accept Christ.

Because of sin, we are condemned but when we accept Christ, put faith in Jesus, the Judge now no longer sees our sin. Our relationship is restored, brought back so that our life can truly reflect the glory of God.

2) Trial Produces Hope

Paul encourages us to rejoice in our suffering.
Doesn't make sense when you think about it. How can you rejoice when you are feeling pain, hurt, confused?

We can, when the basis of our rejoicing is what those trials will do to our lives.

It is easy to throw in the towel then to persevere and to stand the test of trial.

Even in our tough times, God is faithful and true.

When we know that God is faithful, our hope arises.

In the greater difficulty in the future, we will reaffirm that God is with us.

As we persevere, we are being developed in our character.

We only have one life to live, how we live it is what matters.

If we feel that we have made mistakes, it's not too late to turn around and turn to God.

Love Strenghtens Hope

God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
It is God's love that holds us to our hope to expect the "good plan" that God has for everyone of us.

This is SO true! We can believe and trust that God has a "good plan" for us because we know that He loves us. How can a God who loves gives us something bad or a life that we may dread? Yes, it doesn't mean that it will be a bed of roses. But it means that even when thorns are surrounding us, we will still have a reason to rejoice, because our focus of joy is not this life or 'difficult' moment, but Christ who loves us and what He has done for us...And the eternal life that awaits each and every one of us.

So, the knowledge of God's presence in our life and His love strenghtens us.
Often, we focus on the giants. But God can deal with them and turn things around!
Or we want it now! But be patient so that God can deal with us/grow us through the trial. Face the circumstance and REJOICE!! Look to God!

It is so true. Many times, when situations get difficult, we are tempted to run away instead of facing up to the difficulty and overcoming it. God has been teaching me to wait...WAITING is hard when you are uncertain. But that's why we need to JUST TRUST AND BELIEVE. There are no explanations. We can't rationalise how to trust or believe. It has to come from the heart...That deep in our heart, we know who God is and what He has ALREADY done for us. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. If God can deliver the Israelites from the mighty Egyptian kingdom and army, God can deliver us from any difficulties or situations where the outcome seems impossible. When we wait, we do not wait as one who has no hope, but we wait as one who HOPES IN THE LORD! Daddy knows best...

When life doesn't seem perfect, we just trust in the One Who is.