His Words

Yesterday, I received a sad news about a dear friend who might lost her way from the path to a good relationship with Christ. It was so surprising to learn that story as we never imagined that it could happen to her. It got me asking myself, how can be a strong and matured Christian swayed away from his/her belief? What made her do that and what are the factors that might have contributed to drift away. My devotion today is about the probable reasons why some Christians are backsliding and how can we help them and avoid such situation.

I am not an expert in defining backsliding but in my understanding, it is a point where there is a spiritual regress and disobedience. It may also mean perpetual state of willful rebellion. In bible we have references for this. Jeremiah 3:22 (Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding. Yes, we will come to you, for you are the Lord our God) and Jeremiah 31:22 (How long will you wander, unfaithful Daughter Israel? The Lord will create a new thing on earth— the woman will return to the man). In these verses, the important words are faithless and unfaithful which have the same meaning.

There are many reasons that we can itemize and think of. I have been to this situation before but I am glad that I have managed to bounce back and enlighten the fire again. In my experience, I realized some of the aspects that might result to backslide could be:

Hebrews 6:4-6 (4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[a] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.)

So how can we help the backsliders? We can pray for them. It actually depends on the situation and the level of disobedience. It is not easy to let them understand and could result to arguments. But if there is a chance, try to be reasonable if there is a possible discussion. As they say, prayer is the most powerful thing that we have. As for the believer, we can avoid to backslide by focusing our eyes to the Lord. Some people can let us down but with Christ, we can always count on Him. We should always examine our faith, 2 Corinthians 13:5 (Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?). Come to Him for forgiveness and seek Him every day. Stay in His words and be surrounded by other believers.

Image take from ladysmithbaptist.co.za

It was a solemn day when I read this verse during my early morning devotion. I was attached to the message and made me realize how He is very patient to us. In Jeremiah 18:1-6 (1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I Went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 "O house of Israle, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the Lord. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my had, O house of Israel.)

Indeed, He is like a potter. He molds us into something that He wants us to be. Like a potter, it takes too much effort for Him to bring out the best in us. The best thing that we should do is to always obey, follow His commands and ensure that we are doing the right thing in our every ways. In real life, when the potter saw the output as unsatisfactory, he destroys it and remold it, rebuild it and reshape it. Like in our lives, sometimes we fail Him by doing sins and not following His path. But He is a forgiving God that He always forgive us so that we can have a fresh start. But this doesn't mean that we shall abuse it as every actions has it's own consequences. To be a righteous person, the road towards to His way will be full of trials and obstacles which will help us to be molded perfectly. It just like how the real potter put his finished product in the realm of fire to finish it perfectly and be the best piece of art. We should always remember that He is the potter and we are the clay.

One fine Thursday morning, again, during my devotion, a certain verse spoke to me. I'm not sure how it spoke to others but these words became a reminder and an inspiration to me. In Luke 17:11-18 (11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at jesus' feet and thanked him - and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?")

On the above verse, 10 men were healed from leprosy but only one came back to give thanks to Him. Sometimes when we have a blessing we forgot to thank Him. We should always remember that everything comes from Him. Also, there is a time that we are looking on the negative thing, why don't we focus on what we have and what is presently being provided to us. A simple thanks to Him will be sufficient. It signifies that we remember Him not only during our sad moments. I sometimes say, "Thanks Lord ah!" or a prayer of gratitude during a quiet moment. "Thank you", simple words but means a lot to Him, we are remided to be grateful to Him.

(January 2, by Bro. Ferdie) - The sermon revolved to below passages:

Jeremiah 1:4-10
4) The word of the Lord came to me, saying 5) "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 6) "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak: I am only a child." 7) But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8) Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the Lord. 9)Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now, Ihave put my words in your mouth. 10) See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."

11) For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".

Commentaries:

1. Discover and run God's plan. On Jeremiah 1:5, we can see from His words that He knows us from the very beginning and He has prepared His plans for us. He created us and that the moment we were formed inside the womb, He has all the gameplan to us. The ultimate purpose in life is to know God and enjoy God. The ultimate satisfaction in life is to discover God's plan for your life and doing it.

2. Trust and obey God's plan in your life. On Jeremiah 1:6-8, it shows there that we have doubts in our abilities and that sometimes we do not trust what our capabilities are. But we should trust and obey Him as He will lead us to the correct path and all the struggles and circumstances that we are facing, just believe that God has a plan for all of this and in time you will realize how good He is and will appreciate the importance of His love. You and God are a majority, you and God are a winning team. Just trust that He is always there to help us and that he is always at our side to guide and provide us the things we need.

3. Live up to God's plan today. In Jeremiah 1:9-10, just face all the challenges and be assured that all will be will with the power of His name, just follow his path. Consistently surrendering to His leadership.