Sunday, July 22, 2012
Confidence
Surely, we sometimes feel that we are losing hope, faith and confidence. My devotion for today seems to be perfect for the current state of my mind and heart. The verse spoke to me in a way that I shouldn't lose confidence in myself, instead I have to face every challenges. That I should be proud of what I have and what I am doing and that no one will take that away from me. That I should be thankful to Him for all the accomplishments that I have. In Hebrews 10:35-36, it says there "35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."
These past few days, I am losing my confidence at work. Literally, I am not doing anything after the hectic schedule of training. There was even a time that I am all alone in the office, all of them went overseas for a project. I have no one to talk to and I felt so useless. I don't feel any fulfillment in my work and I feel so lost. I have been praying for days now to refresh my emotion and reveal to me the things that I should do. I was then reminded that life isn't always about fun, it has full of tests that we need to pass and we should be confident enough that each struggle will be victorious. I then asked myself, in those times that I was busy, I was complaining and now that I have a lot of free time, I am still complaining. Yes, I am struggling in my work now but I believe that God will help me to overcome this. I can't memorize and fully understand the entire banking system in just few months, it will be an ongoing learning. Once we have confidence in Him, it will flow back to us and the confidence that we will have will be everlasting. I think what I should do is just do the best that I can and make the most out of my free time. To keep steady and wait for His perfect timing on what I should do and the reward will be upon me. I will continue to trust God that He will give me the desires of my heart beyond my imagination. Learning takes time and do the blessings of God. Thank you Lord for your words, I have regained my confidence and will worry no more. I put my trust and faith only to You.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Am I Drifting Away?
For the past few weeks, I wasn't able to attend services since I was busy in training at work and other things that are not that important. Also, I haven't opened my bible for months now and I only rely my devotion thru the internet (though I'm not saying it isn't good, it is still an effective resource to enrich and feed the soul). I'm doing my devotion everyday but I felt that something is missing and that my week isn't complete. I told myself that, I still read His words, share it to others and prays everyday but I knew there is something missing and my eyes and heart was opened thru this verse: Hebrews 2:1-3 (1 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For since the message spoken through angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.)
It is not easy to admit to myself that something is wrong and that something must be changed. The services and regular gathering with brothers and sisters in Christ provides an anchor of support and accountability. In my opinion, not attending church just to attain other interests could be one of many signs that a believer is drifting away from God. Eventhough we are fed by His words via available resources online or other tools such as apps or mobile shortcuts, I do believe that there is a huge difference in experiencing His presence in a church where other believers are worshipping, proclaiming His greatness, singing and dancing for Him. But still, we must remember that attending services means nothing unless we hear, receive and apply God's words into our lives. So we must also pay attention to every words and live with it. These past few days, I was so down for no apparent reason, I feel that I lack something and today it was revealed to me .
Aside from attending services, it is also advisable to read the bible to nourish the soul and get some encouragement. I also lack this part for few months now, I know that I have to relive that burning passion that I used to felt when I was in Singapore. From the bible, I can get all the answers, all the resolutions and the formula to live a life according to His will. The internet has been useful but there is a big impact if you worship Him in the church and rejoice with other believers. It is also a good thing spending time alone with Him with a bible rather than being connected with the new technology and what the world has to offer. In today's verse, the words "drift away" gave a question on my part and it was like a wake up call for me. I was also amazed by His power that despite those things that I lack, He still blessed me and protected me. I believe and I declare that more blessings will be upon to me if I'll just continue the faithfulness, trust and my unending worship to Him.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
His Viewpoint on Adversity
Adversity generally means hardship, misfortune, disaster, distress, difficulties - terms that we don't want to encounter in our lives. But who in this world did not experience such things? During these times, we mostly felt discouraged and in despair especially if the amount of these "tests" is superb in quantity. Though we see them as setbacks, for Him it is a great time for advancement. His purpose is not to destroy us but to provide us moment in stimulating our spiritual growth. I know sometimes we can't explain why those things are happening to us and can't totally understand it, we can't see the purpose, we can't identify the reason why He is giving us such hard times. we might ask ourselves, "Why me? Did I do something wrong? Why is this happening to me? Why do you hate me so much?". Well, as they say, we shouldn't lean on our own understanding. In Isaiah 55:8-9, it says there: "8 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 9 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Every difficulties that are entering in our lives have full permission from God and it is according to His will. But this doesn't mean that these things are His perfect will, instead, He is preparing us into something special and He wants to use these moments to accomplish greater things for our lives and most importantly, to lead us into spiritual maturity and apply the true meaning of confidence, trust and faith in Him. Also, let us be reminded and admit to ourselves that we have limited perspective and understanding on what He is doing especially when the time comes that these adversities are senseless and can't figure out what's going on. He sees every aspect of our lives and ensures us that He is in control and our view is restricted to what is right before us. We can't see everything, we can't define everything and we can't explain everything but He is the ultimate one who can accomplish it.
So if we come to a point when we really don't understand His ways, let's focus on His perfect knowledge, wisdom and power rather than the magnitude of our sorrow. Always put in our minds that He sees the entire picture and that He loves us more than we can imagine. This is a time to walk by faith as perfect understanding comes only in heaven.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Breaking the Faith Barrier
Sometimes, when we are tapped to do or accomplish a task that is new to us, the initial reaction is doubting ourselves. We might say that we can't do it and we are quite afraid to fail and that we might not qualified for such responsibility. If you read Exodus 4:1-13, Moses encountered the same feeling and anxiety. He was appointed by God to save the Israelites but he doubted himself despite the power that He showed upon to him. In our lives, we come to such stage, that we choose to ignore what He is asking and saying to us. It only shows that we don't trust ourselves and we don't have faith in Him. In order for us to break the barriers in faith, let us reject the following attitudes:
1. Doubt - Moses doubted that the Israelites will believe him that he was chosen by God to lead them. He insisted on this manner even if God showed him several proofs and provided assurance. If we have doubt in our minds, just continue to study the scriptures and it will reveal to us the biblical truth. By not trusting Him, it will only lead to disobedience and the blessings will not be completely poured into us.
2. Feeling of Inadequacy - Moses felt that he lack of skills in order to accomplish the commandment from God. He was afraid to speak and might lead for him to stumble. But what God said? That He will speak for him and leave up the rest to Him. Primarily, God is looking into our hearts for the qualifications and not the human factors as He is so powerful that He will give us everything we need.
3. Fear of Failure - Moses even asked God to replace him for such assignment. He was so afraid that he will fail and will not be victorious in this task. But isn't it obvious that fear of failure hinders us into saying 'yes' to God? Instead of giving Him our full trust, we chose to look into other paths as we are so afraid of losing. But be reminded that He is fighting on our behalf for every battle and the outcome is not His basis of looking into us, it is how we followed Him and how we put our faith on Him.
Let's leave the success or failure into Him, He is the one who will decide it and it shouldn't be our concern. We should have a heart that trusts Him and the attitude of being obedient. As we break down the faith barrier, we will be able to see the evidence of God's presence and power and experience the joy of obedience. In everything we do, we should only put our faith to Him that everything has a purpose and He will always there for us giving us protection and guidance.
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