Believers Believe

Believers Believe

Hebrews 11:8

      As I am meditating this verse, I was awestruck with how the Lord moved into the heart of the man named Abraham. Obeying the Lord for you to go to a place even though you do not know where you are heading requires a lot of faith. A faith that believes though it does not sees. Humanly speaking, we do not want that. We hate ambiguities because we often place our security on the things that we can see or we can grip.

    We, Christians are addressed as “believers” because of a simple fact; we believe. As Abraham was called to step out in faith, take risks, trust God and lean not on his own limited understanding, so are we. We are called to believe. When we pray, God is pleased when we cry out our needs to him and when we thoroughly express our emotions that we are moved to tears but God is more pleased when we pray not just with tears in our eyes but with faith in our hearts. Faith is our primary advantage in prayer because without faith it is impossible to please God.

     There’s an inclination in us humans that when we know something too well, it loses impact. We sometimes say that, “ok I know what faith is, to live by faith and not by sight and I have faith.” We sometimes become boastful of what we know that sometimes we failed to apply it. I believe and all the believers believe that faith is not something to be taken for granted. We are saved by grace but it is by faith that we know that we really are because Christ already died for our sins. The greatest heroes of faith in the bible are not those who are naturally brave, who are naturally strong and who are naturally wise in human standards.

  The greatest heroes of faith are those who may be weak but chose to trust their God instead of themselves amidst uncertainties, loss, trials and tribulation. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God. Wow! such a touching statement from the bible. We touch the heart of God when we believe in Him when everything in our lives seems to be failing and falling apart.

     We do not base our faith on outward circumstances for if we do, it is not  faith at all because faith is believing that our situation may be negative but God allows something positive out of it and that is what my favorite verse says in Romans 8:28. It is easy for us to say that whatever happens, we will keep our faith in God. Nevertheless, it’s easier to preach than to practice. In real life when we have to apply what we know, that’s when the battle begins. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1Cor4:20). It has been said in the bible that faith without deeds is dead. The more we obey, the more we express our faith in Him that all of our labor is not in vain. We do our part in our ministry because we believe that God will not fail to do His. 

     I therefore say this with confidence, I am a believer not a doubter. In the midst of tribulation, I know that I will still be a victor and it is not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of God. I know I am weak but my God is strong. 

       

      Are you downcast today because of the overwhelming trials you have? Are you disappointed because things that you expected did not happen? Do you have a bruised heart because of the persecutions? Do you feel like a loser? Do you think that you are a failure?

I may not fully understand what you are going through today but I want you to be reminded of this fact, OUR GOD IS A FAITHFUL GOD who did not gave up on the cross because He was thinking of you and me, our salvation. You may have heard it a lot of times but still this fact never changes. He never left your side, in fact, He never will. He just wants to see how well we reflect His light. Remember, the light shines brightly when it is dark enough.

The God who promised is the same God who will make His promises come to pass. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!

Earlier, my catholic classmate asked me, “Do you use cross as a symbol in your church?” I simply said, “Yes off course but Jesus isn’t there.” He is alive forever and victorious over death. We use cross not as an object of worship but simply as a symbol.  It is a symbolism of love that has been poured out graciously for our sins.

Nevertheless, the cross symbolizes more than that. It involves LIVING and DYING. The bible taught us how to live and how to die. You may think that the last statement seems hilarious but let us evaluate it  in the light of the scriptures.

For us who are being saved, cross symbolizes the power of God(1Cor1:18).Living with the cross factor or living in a crucified life means dying to our old corrupted nature and living to please God. That is what apostle Paul said ,”I die daily.” We are changed glory by glory because God’s compassions are new every morning. Living for God involves dying to self. We cannot live for God if our lives are not truly surrendered to Him. That is why Jesus said that if anyone wants to follow Him, he must deny himself, and take up his cross. Because we are still living in a fallen world, we still battle against our flesh. When faced with temptations, we should do what apostle Paul did, He crucified the desires of his flesh.

With our own strength, it is extremely hard. We may try it once but failed, twice and thrice but still failed. I have a friend who testifies that she once attended a seminar about being good and doing good, she changed for three days and returned to her old bad habits after that. We may also made our new year’s resolution that majority is failure. Sadly, there are Christians who are like that. Striving to be good with own might but then falls into the same sin again and again and then eventually gave up, became frustrated and backslid. I, myself have experienced that. Because I am self-righteous, I believe that no temptation can draw me away from God. I believe so much in myself that I failed to tap the unlimited resources of God that is available for me and because of that, I fell. I became frustrated and eventually begun to get tired of myself. That time, I want to call it off. I just want to quit and return to the old me and just forget everything about spiritual stuff. But this is my favorite part, God intervene and managed to pick me up . That day, I told myself that I will just quit being a Christian and would accept to be called a rebellious child. Upon going to school, I’m really not in the mood but we have to attend a particular play in one of our English subject. I was shocked because the play is about the prodigal son who rebelled against his father and wander off from his family. You know the story, the son came back and the Father came to him running. Wow! Such an epic scene partnered with the song, when God ran. A line that almost made me cry (but I’m  trying hard not to) is this, “Son, do you know I still love you?” Whoah! That time, I feel like God is actually running to get me back and He is actually telling me that, “Daughter, I know what you did, I know your sins, I know your plans to give me up but in spite of it all, I STILL LOVE YOU.” That love really moved my heart and made me realized that God never gave up on me when I’m about to give up on myself.

That love changed my heart. I remember a favorite song of mine which says:

When your love become unmoving?

When your love become unconsuming?

Forgetting what the world has taught me

Father of love You can have me.

That love empowered me to go on until now. That love sustained me to continue the battle. What am I trying to say? “We cannot be a Christian without the power of Christ”. The cross symbolizes the power of God and the cross symbolizes the unconditional love of God. Probably, before we have a mindset that we cannot change, it’s impossible and we’re hopeless. But we know the story, our lives have been changed. Murderers became pastors, homosexuals changed and became men of God, Drug addicts became addicted to God and millionaires became servant of the Lord. These people, including us who have been changed have one thing in common. We experienced the unconditional love of God. We can change.  It is because we are naturally good? Is it because we are strong enough to defeat temptations? No. It is because of the power of Christ in us, His undying love.

We love God because He first loved us. We do good things because we love God. We are called to be doers of good works. It is not because it’s a requirement of being a Christian or that we are oblige or that we became under compulsion. It is because it is the fruit of being a Christian. The fruit of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling in us. That is what Galatians 5:22-23says:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Meaning to say, these fruits appear naturally. It must be our character.  It is the by-product of God’s love that has been poured out and has been experienced by each one of us.

Truly, self-confidence is futile if God-confidence is absent. We must depend on God and promised to give him all the glory that belongs to Him. He deserves all the glory because if it’s not for His grace, we cannot continue to fight the good fight of faith because He is our strength. He is our strength when faced with temptations, our strength when faced with persecutions and our strength to do what is right when it is utterly hard to do so.

Is your heart out of tune with God today? Do you have a plan of rebelling against God? Are you getting tired of professing to be a Christian but then again act like you’re not? Are you tired of giving in again and again to temptation? I understand what you are feeling. I have been there before.  You don’t have to do it on your own dear. God is more than willing to help you because our sufficiency actually comes from God. What you have to do is to come to God if you are weary and heavily burdened and He will give you rest(Matt11:28). Come to God and Look at the cross once more. GO BACK TO THE CROSS.

These are some of the lines in my favorite songs:

There’s no such thing as perfect people

There’s no such thing as a perfect life

So, come as you are

Broken and scared

Lift up your heart

Be amazed and be changed by a perfect God.

-Perfect people by Natalie Grant

If not for your goodness, if not for your love

I most likely would have given up

If not for your kindness,

I never could say

I’m still standing

But by the grace of God

-Still standing by Hillsong

So I will pray to you right now to take away my sin

Come heal away my brokenness and change this heart again

Without you I am nothing

But a weak and dying man

So I will pray to you right now

To change this heart again

-Change this heart by sidewalk prophets