GROWING TOGETHER IN CHRIST

  “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘ My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ’” – 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 When things are tough in your life, have you ever prayed to God to stop the storm? Or when caught up in situations that feel like you are thrown into a fiery furnace and the only prayer you could come up with is, ‘Please LORD, put out the fire?’ And then, God doesn’t change your situation at all. We often encounter various kinds of storms in life. There are times when God will calm the storm, and there are times when He doesn’t calm the storm; instead, He calms us. When hit by storms of life and things suddenly become unbearable, we pray to God to change our situation, which He sometimes does not, but instead, He changes us. Apostle Paul prayed repeatedly for God to remove a thorn (trial or affliction) from his life, but God didn’t. He writes in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “Three times I pleaded wi...

 Living Boldly in the Confidence of God’s Calling “I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, ‘You are my servant’; I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”- Isaiah 41:9-10 (NIV)   If you ever feel forgotten, unloved, unwanted, or afraid, Isaiah 41:9-10 serves as a reminder of God’s love, help, support, and care for you within His purpose for your life. In verse 9, He begins by saying, ‘ I took you from the ends of the earth, from the farthest corners I called you.’   In life, we may encounter various trials and storms. And in the midst of that storm, we often get lost in pain, confusion, and depression to the point where we can’t recognise ourselves anymore or our purpose. You may have messed things up pretty badly in your life, and you feel like you are...

  Grounded in Unfailing Love, Growing Through Every Storm. “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant for peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion for you.” - Isaiah 54:10 Isaiah 54:10 is one of the comforting and assuring words of God to us whenever we find ourselves in unfamiliar situations where everything seems shaky. It is a message of hope and restoration in times of trouble and uncertainty. He begins to say, ‘ Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,’ He uses the imagery of mountains and hills to represent the things in our lives that we take as being permanent and stable. Even these things will surely crumble, but His love will remain unshaken. His love for us doesn’t depend on our performance or circumstances but is founded on compassion. He not only draws our attention from them but directs it to His unfailing love. Our focus should be on His unfailing love; t...

Who is your Lazarus? “If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness…” Isaiah 58:10-11 In Luke’s gospel (Lk. 16:19–31), Jesus tells a parable of Lazarus and the rich man. In the parable, the rich man lived a luxurious life while Lazarus lay at the rich man’s gate in poverty, yearning to eat scraps that fell off the rich man’s table. When the two men died, angels came and carried Lazarus to Abraham’s side, while the rich man found himself in torment. When I think about this parable, I often wonder if I were the rich man in the parable, how much more would I have done for Lazarus? I would have probably attended to his needs: given him food, shelter, and clothing, made him feel comfortable, and ensured he got proper medical attention. You probably would have done even better. But, how about now? Who is the Lazarus in your life? When you look around, you will undoubtedly find people who need your h...

  “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus.” – Hebrews 12:1-2. In a race, some people run as pace-setters. Their job is to start the race at a specified speed and assist top competitors in maintaining that speed throughout the race. They do it by setting the tempo by running at the pre-agreed speed and ensuring that the race isn’t started too slowly or too fast. Their main goal is not to win the race, but to assist those running behind them to finish strong. Similarly, we have people who run as pace-setters in our lives. They are like role models. They go ahead of us to set the standards, so that we may follow in their footsteps of excellence, character, steadiness, and perseverance. With spiritual pace-setters, they don’t run to win the race or show off; they understand that their job is to help those behind them finish strong. Hebrews 12:1-2 encourages the spirit of togetherness when running a race marked out for us. It reads, “Let...

  “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. ” – Psalm 13:5 Psalm 13 is one of the shortest psalms of David, and yet a powerful one. In this psalm, three times he asks, ‘ How long? ’ indicating a phase of deep distress and abandonment in his life. He begins this psalm by asking God, “ How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” Just as David did, when we are in distress, abandoned, lonely and forgotten. Or when we are in a season of waiting and things seem to move more slowly, we often find ourselves complaining to God with questions like, ‘Why me, LORD? Why do I have to suffer this? How long will I endure this pain and sickness? How long will you let them continue to torment me? When will you look to me with favour? Often, when we don’t have what we need or are not where we should be, we begin to complain, find fault and lose faith in God’s plan. And yet we forget that God is ever faithful, even in momen...

  “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”- Psalm 141:3 Psalm 141 is a prayer of David, and in his prayer, he asks God to, “Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” David recognises that words have the power to change the course of things. The words of our mouth can heal, hurt, build, destroy, bless or curse. For David to live righteously, he prays to God to be the gatekeeper of his mouth. Sometimes in life, we let our tongue loose and say things that we shouldn’t say. When we get caught up in moments of emotions like excitement, anger and pain, we say things that hurt other people, destroy relationships, and burn bridges that we would at one time need. Once our words go out of our mouths, they can never go back. Psalm 141:3 is a reminder to us to be conscious of what we speak. When we pray, we should always ask God to help us set guard over our mouths. Not just our mouth, but to set guard over our heart; for what ...

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you.” – Psalm 143:8 Each morning, when we wake up, it’s a reminder of God’s unfailing love for each one of us. It’s a good way to start your day to know that the Most High God loves you and cares for you. Even before you opened your eyes, God was already thinking good about you. When you know that you have an overflow of God’s love in your life, you will carry on your day with confidence by putting your trust in Him. As David writes, “ Show me the way I should go ” reflects surrendering our lives over to Him. God knows what’s best for each one of us better than we do, and when we surrender the control or the reins over to Him, He will be able to direct our lives to the best place He wants us to be. Proverbs 3:5-6, “ Trust the LORD with all your heart…and He will make your paths straight.” Each day carries its own challenges and problems. Rather than being worrisome and depressed, we can choose to hi...

  “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.” – Psalm 105:4 When faced with uncertainties, not sure what to do, who do you turn to and where do you go? When faced with challenging situations, it is easy to focus our minds on the present circumstances and choose to rely on our own strength. However, Psalm 105:4 invites us to always look to the LORD. David begins by writing, “ Look to the LORD,” which encourages us to focus our attention on the LORD, to rest our hope and trust in Him. God is the source of every good thing that we may need. Sometimes we are uncertain of what to do, which way to go and how to do it. But when we look to God for directions and guidance, He always provides the right path to follow when we feel lost. In 2 Chronicles 20:2, Jehoshaphat faced enemies and didn’t know what to do; he looked to the Lord and prayed, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” And surely, the LORD came through for him. Hebrews 12:2 also encourages us...

  Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly, he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken .” – Psalm 62:1-2 David begins Psalm 62 by declaring that only in God will his soul find rest and only God is his defence, strength and salvation. Twice, he mentions only, signifying the exclusive help of God. In life, we may experience things that may shake our world, just as David did. You may feel surrounded by troubles, enemies coming after you, and your life may feel shaken to the core. However, we can learn from Psalm 62:5 as David declared, ‘ Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.’ Even though our lives may come under attack, there’s hope in God. He’s the only one who can give rest to our souls and set us upon a rock that cannot be shaken. God is our fortress, a place we can run into and be safe. Not only does David know and believe that God is his salvation, but he also declares it. In verse 6, it reads,...

“ See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.” Exodus 23:20 If you are wondering how you will get through today, next week, or next month based on your present circumstances, or if you are uncertain about the path God has set for you, then Exodus 23:20 is for you. In Exodus 23:20, God sends an angel ahead of His people to guard and guide them to their Promised Land. The angel represents God’s presence and His authority. What He did to the Israelites then, He is still doing it today. Even now, He goes ahead of us, guarding and guiding us to the place He has prepared. Sometimes, life takes us by surprise. We find ourselves in places and situations where we thought we would never be. So, we worry about our next provision, or how to move on after the loss, or what to do about certain things that seem unfamiliar to us. It may all come as a surprise, but not to God. He knows what’s ahead of us, the things we will ne...

  “I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.” – Psalm 59:16 You’ve probably heard people say, ‘How you start your day determines how your day will be.’ Well, that is true. How you begin your day often sets the course of how your day will turn out. For some people, when they wake up, the very first thing they think about is what didn’t work out yesterday, the problems that are still unresolved. When you start your day like this, you are attracting anxiety and stress into your day. Morning carries a lot of meaning. Morning represents new hope, new beginnings, renewal and God’s faithfulness. Thus, Psalm 59:16 encourages us to start our day by focusing our minds on God and on things above. Before the world begins to demand our attention, it is good practice to give the very best of our attention to God through worship and praise in the morning. When the enemy decides how your day will begin, be...

  “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” – Psalm 37:7 The book of Ruth opens up with a prospect of hope for a better future as Naomi and her husband, Elimelek, and their two sons moved to the distant country of Moab because there was famine in the land of Bethlehem in Judah. While in Moab, Naomi’s husband died. Her two sons married Moabite women, one of them named Orpah and the other Ruth. After some time, both of her sons died. The scripture reads, ‘Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.’ – Ruth 1:5. When Naomi moved to Moab, she hoped that life would be better. But instead, life seemed to have turned against her. She lost her husband and her two sons. It seemed like her world was crumbling down, with nothing to live for; she had lost all hope of living. In verse 12, she says, ‘ Even if I thought there was still hope for me.’ Like Naomi, life may have dealt you severely, and all the hopes and the things that you hold dear to you come tumbling down. ...

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7 There is a common phrase that goes, ‘ Seeing is believing.’ That is how the world has framed our thinking and beliefs. That, unless we see, we won’t believe. However, Jesus teaches us that, ‘Believing is seeing.’ That is, you only need to believe even when you don’t see anything happening. In the Gospel of John, chapter four, we are introduced to a royal official whose son was critically ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was in Galilee, he made the journey to find Jesus to come and heal his son. When he found Jesus, he begged him to heal his son, and Jesus replied, saying, ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.’ But when he asked again, Jesus replied, ‘Go, your son will live.’ The scriptures say that, ‘ The man took Jesus at his word and departed .’ If you and I were in the man’s shoes and we chose to act according to the principle of ‘ seeing is believing,’ we would miss the miracle. ...

Psalm 139:23, ‘ Search me, God, and know my heart ,’  The best place to begin in guarding our hearts is through reading God’s Word. Proverbs 4 not only encourages us to guard our hearts but also to become rich in God’s word. Proverb 4:21, “ Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body .” When you are deeply rooted in God’s word, the enemy will find it very difficult to deal with you. Remember what Jesus said about the eyes being the lamp of the body? In Matthew 6:22, Jesus states, ‘ The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.’  In other words, we need to choose what to let in. With the rise of social media, there’s a lot that’s out there. So, it is upon us to decide what content is good for us to consume and which ones are not, especially if the content doesn’t shine more light into our lives. As David prayed in Psalm 139:23, ‘ Se...

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” – Proverbs 4:23 What is the one thing that you treasure the most in your life? And how do you keep it protected and secured? Proverbs 4:23 shows us that the most important thing that we need to protect at all times is our heart. It begins by stating, ‘ Above all else,’ meaning, before anything else, make it your top priority to guard your heart. But why should you guard your heart? Your heart is not just a physical organ; it is more than that. Your heart is your inner being. The core of who we really are. Your heart is your true self, it is a place where your thoughts, desires and connection with God dwell. Think of it as spring water that emerges from the underground and flows freely to its surroundings. Our heart - inner being - is like the spring water that flows to our thoughts, our desires and into the things that we do. If that spring water is contaminated, everything else that it touches gets contam...

  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28 The story of Gideon in the book of Judges is one of the many ways God uses our weaknesses as a platform to display His power as He brings out the good in situations that seem bad and desperate. Chapter six of the book of Judges introduces us to Gideon at a time when the Midianites occasionally invaded the land of the Israelites and ravaged it.   An angel of the LORD came and found Gideon hiding from the Midianites as he was threshing wheat in a winepress. The Angel of the LORD said to him, ‘ The LORD is with you, mighty warrior’ – Judges 6:12. It is interesting that at such a time when Gideon felt weak, afraid and oppressed by the Midianites, the angel of the LORD referred to him as, ‘ mighty warrior.’ Sometimes, when we are experiencing difficult moments in life, it is easy to listen to the voice of the enemy. The enemy will take...