Abram’s Faith

Here’s a short article from biblegateway.com…
just a nice reminder:D…

The Bible makes Abram’s faith the model for us all.
(See, for example, Ro 4; Gal 3; Heb 11; Jas 2.)
The surprising thing is that Abram never saw a Bible, had no church,
possessed no creed, took no sacrament, heard not even one of the Ten Commandments
and perhaps knew little about life after death.

Yet Abram’s faith shows us what really matters.
He heard the voice of God and dared to simply believe he could trust him when he spoke.
He risked his life, his security, his reputation, his future and even his son on the word that came from the God
whom he could not see but in whom he believed.
Can there be anything better to demonstrate that it is by faith, and faith alone, that we are saved?

We now have the Bible, the church, the creeds, the sacraments and the Ten Commandments.
But God still looks for the basics-God still looks for hearts that will risk all to trust in him.

 

“it is easier to be enthusiastic about humanity with a capital “H” than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, … exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”

-C.S. Lewis-

Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.
-Proverbs 19:20-21

Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.

1 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT)

It is very common for us to be too quick to answer once a question about our faith is thrown at us.
We feel a need to defend it for it is something we believe to be true.
Hence, it is common that we always end up close-minded to arguments and appear very self-defensive.
I know it turns a lot of people off when we react like that.
I really understand though,how that feels when I really do not believe statements thrown at me or assumptions made about my faith.
In fact, I get internally frustrated that I know what I believe is truth but yet I can’t verbalize it in a way for people to understand.
Sometimes, my arguments end up confusing a lot of people:P…
well…I’m not really good at debates or arguments…hehe

We should just relax. It really makes things different.
Just as we should prepare and learn and equip ourself to defend our faith.
We should not worry of losing debates…our assurance and faith shouldn’t be put down because of it.
If you really know its true…how can you deny it in your heart even if no one believes/ agrees with you?
If you can’t explain it through your words, show them through your life:) the power of God’s transformation, the joy of the Lord,
the satisfaction in His presence, the love and awe you’ve grown for Him, the hunger for His Word, the passion for His people,
the counter-cultural perspective of life, its successes and its purposes – illogical to the the unbeliever but so real and deep in us.

 

[www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFU9QJ9Rb3Y&feature=related]

Help me overcome my unbelief!

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy

 ¹⁴ When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and some teachers of religious law were arguing with them. ¹⁵ When the crowd saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with awe, and they ran to greet him.

 ¹⁶ “What is all this arguing about?” Jesus asked.

 ¹⁷ One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. ¹⁸ And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid.^[d] So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.”

 ¹⁹ Jesus said to them,^[e] “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

 ²⁰ So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth.

 ²¹ “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father.

   He replied, “Since he was a little boy. ²² The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.”

 ²³ “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

 ²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

 ²⁵ When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil^[f] spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!”

 ²⁶ Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.

 ²⁸ Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”

 ²⁹ Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer.^[g]”

[Mark 9:14-29]

This is one of the many prayers I commonly pray to the Lord. To help me overcome my unbelief.
To appeal to the Lord as the only source of strengthening my faith.
I know i’m one with little faith. VERY little.
I know it so clearly and I’m very honest about my lack.
Its a very mixed mentality of knowing that God can do the impossible but yet not sure whether God would do it in my situation.
Its a mixed mentality of finding it hard to imagine God intervening in situations, but yet believing that God can.
In fact, I sometimes get surprised when God answers my prayers…!

Recently, I went through another period of struggle – my lack of faith was the struggle.
I recall praying long and hard expressing my lack of faith in God.
Expressing my frustration of being impatient with God.
Why can’t things happen now?
Why are things taking so long?
Is God really doing something?
Does God not want to do something?
Is it really possible that God can do anything? How?!

My heart was troubled, uneasy, impatient, anxious and really just pure frustrated with my situation.
I understand my helplessness…but I acknowledge God’s sovereignty.
I understand my inadequacies…but I acknowledge God’s power.
I understand my lack of faith… but I want I to believe.
“Lord, help me to believe! I want to believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!”

Just as frustrating this struggle was, bit by bit I decided to commit my cries to the Lord…
I recall and I think about God. About His nature. About what I know about Him from His Word.
About what He has done both in the Bible. About what He has done in me. About what He has done in the people around me.
I choose to place my confidence in God. The more I recall and think about God and His goodness and His Word, I allow myself to be encouraged.
God can be trusted. My God is alive. My God hears my prayers. My God can do the impossible. My God understands. My God loves.

I fell asleep that day, with an encouraged heart. A heart determined to trust in God though I can’t see anything happening now.
I admit though that my heart can be easily shaken. I have a very weak heart…
Thank God that God knows that.
Amazingly, it was only through reflecting back the past 4 days after the incident, that I realize God has really been encouraging me.
Ever since that night (which was a Friday), for a consecutive 4 days (i.e. from sat-tues), God sent me people who I just happened to meet
(either for work-related businesses or a spontaneous dinner). It was amazing how strangely (or you can say “coincidentally” if you like)
all 4 separate individuals through our conversations shared about their faith. Not per say how they came to know the Lord, but basically the idea
of how they trusted in God and God did the impossible. They in turn, encouraged me to take faith. I never noticed the “hint” till Wednesday upon just
randomly recalling my previous days’ activities. Wow. That realization blew my mind. God actually sent people to assure me. To tell me to continue to
keep trusting in Him and have faith. To CHILL and not be anxious. To find peace and confidence in His perfect will.

My faith has definitely increased the past few days.
Things have not come to past yet to talk much about it now, but I will blog about it when they do one day:)… i take joy in God’s perfect timing.
I believe in God and His great love, His goodness and His power.
Definitely though…I know I’m still weak.
I still pray “God, if you can…” prayers…
But Lord, I believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!

Strangely, I just realized Chris Tomlin’s “I lift my hands” is playing like NOW on my brother’s laptop.
(really loudly too…and *whispers* my bro’s singing along…haha:P)

However coincidental that is…these are the lyrics that are running into my ears and my head as I end off this post…

Let faith arise, let faith arise
Open my eyes, open my eyes
Let faith arise, let faith arise
Open my eyes, open my eyes

I lift my hands to believe again
You are my refuge, You are my strength
As I pour out my heart
These things, I remember
You are faithful, God, forever

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Ephesians 1:4-5(NLT)

Wow. I’m just reminded and once again blown away at how incomprehensible but yet beautiful God’s love for us is.

Hebrews 10:30-31

For we know the one who said,

“I will take revenge.
I will pay them back.”

He also said,

“The Lord will judge his own people.”

It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Positivity. Mine or God’s?

I came across a short article on fb regarding this topic.
And it was really insightful for I’ve never really seen life with such a perspective before!

We constantly talk about having Joy, having Love. Being Positive, Cheerful, Giving, Warm and Encouraging.
For a Sanguine like me…how difficult, really, is it to give these?
It does sound a little prideful to make such a comment, but it is important that we ask ourselves this.
For example, if I’m naturally generous in nature…how much am I giving with God’s help actually?
Just as its second nature to me and many people may feel I’ve blessed them…how hard is it to give any way?

Is my positivity an extension of my joy in the Lord or an extension of my personality?
I’m not suggesting a rejection of my own personality and stopping myself from naturally being happy to be
around people…
But I guess its just an interesting question to ponder about.
This especially dawned on me as I recall times listening to people sharing their troubles to me, and me trying to motivate and lift
their spirits up. Sometimes, it helps them, but sometimes it just makes things worse for people can’t just “bounce” back
to life when they’re down. I’ve been seeing things in many times through the eyes of a positive Sanguine, and not a victorious God.
Just as it might be easier for me to smile and be cheery many times, may I rest upon the joy of the Lord and not my own strength.
I thank God for my personality, but just as I say that, I thank God that with Him, I am capable of going beyond who I am and my nature.
I thank God for the strength He has given me, and I want to rely on Him even more!

So if i’m positive and I think nothing can get me down…may it not be because I think  I am invincible,
but because i trust in my invincible (invisible) God. Ha! pun:X

“Emerging from the cocoon – Lee Strobel”

As a young Christian, I was forced to share Christ with a group of Hindus in India. Scared me to death! And it changed my life – just as the adventure of talking with others about Jesus can change yours.

The sun was scorching. I found a patch of shade under an expansive tree and sat cross-legged on the brown and brittle grass. I was visiting the predominantly Hindu province of Andhra Pradesh in Southeast India as a volunteer writer for an Indian ministry. My task was to produce articles about the thousands of people who were crowding into exciting nighttime rallies to hear the message of Jesus.

But today was something new: an American pastor was going to stop by and speak at a modest event in a sparsely populated farming community at noon, when it was hot and people were generally busy in the fields. Frankly, I was skeptical that anybody would show up.

Half a dozen Indian musicians began playing music to attract a crowd. I picked up a tambourine and tried to keep the beat of the syncopated tunes. (Thankfully, nobody captured this on video, and YouTube didn’t exist yet!) Soon some onlookers began to gather. Fifteen minutes later there were twenty-five people who were sitting on the grass, apparently curious why anyone would come to this remote and seemingly forgotten locale.

The musicians played song after song, nervously looking around for the pastor. He was late and there was no sign of him. The people were getting antsy; the music could only keep them from going back to their fields a little while longer. Finally one of the musicians bent down and whispered to me: “One more song, then you give the sermon.”

I glared at him. “Me?” I nearly shouted in a panic. I was a journalist, not a preacher. I had never given a sermon, especially half way around the world. In fact, I had never spoken about my faith to any group of people. The last time I had given a speech was in high school. I had no notes, no message, no training, and no experience. What I did have—in abundance—was paralyzing stage fright. What could I say? How could I speak to these Hindus who were so culturally different from me?

The music stopped. There was absolute silence. Twenty-five pairs of quizzical eyes bored in on me. My palms began to sweat, my knees shake, my heart palpitate. Fighting back waves of nausea, I slowly rose to my feet, my mind churning wildly to come up with something to say as the interpreter took his position, ready to translate my words into Telugu.

“So…” I began, offering a weak smile. “Hindus, are you?”

The interpreter shot me a perplexed glance as if to say, Is that really how you want to start? I was tempted to tell him, “Just deal with it. I didn’t ask to be up here!” But when I didn’t say anything, he dutifully translated my words. There was no discernible reaction from the small gathering.

I really can’t recall the details of what I said next. I think I talked about Jesus. I’m pretty sure I told them why I loved him and how he had forgiven all of my wrongdoing—past, present, and future. Chances are I told the story of how I came to faith.

When it came time to share the gospel, my mind was a jumble. I tried to remember some Bible verses and give some coherent explanation for Jesus’ death on the cross. I attempted to explain why these lower caste Hindu laborers should abandon the only religion they had ever known and risk the rejection of their family, friends, and community by embracing Christ. Instead I simply rambled in disjointed sentences.

I felt like an utter failure. I had an overwhelming and oppressive sense that I had made a complete mess of things. At the end I said something like this: “I know it would be a great sacrifice for you to receive Jesus. I know this can be dangerous around here, so don’t even consider it if you’re not ready. Believe me, I’ll understand. But we’re going to play one more song while I pray. Then after you’ve had a chance to think about it, if you want to put your trust in Christ, I’ll help you do that.”

I folded my hands, shut my eyes, bowed my head, and in dejection and despair offered a silent prayer—of repentance.

Oh, Father, I’m so sorry! I know I’m not Billy Graham. I know I’m not qualified to give a sermon. I don’t deserve to be doing something this important. I’m sure I botched it. Please forgive me for thinking that a sinner, a nobody, a former atheist like me, could represent you to these precious people. They deserve so much better. If you just let me get out of here safely, I promise you I’ll never do this again! Please, please forgive me.

With that, I opened my eyes, looked up—and gasped! Twelve men and women had stood to their feet and stepped forward to receive Christ, tears flowing down their cheeks. It was like an electric shock jolted my body. And I knew at that moment that I would never be the same.

If that musician had given me a choice, I never would have opened my mouth that day. Had there been a graceful way to escape it, I certainly would have. No question I was unqualified and unprepared.

Yet on that sizzling afternoon in the middle of the grassy countryside on the far side of the planet, God evicted me from my cocoon and sent me soaring on a completely undeserved adventure. I never could have anticipated that within five years of that incident I would be a teaching pastor at one of the largest churches in America, speaking there and around the country to thousands of spiritually curious people.

But God knew.

Who knows what he has in store for you? You may never go to India or give a sermon. But if you ask God to let you experience the electrifying joy of sharing your faith with others, then the day is coming when he’s going to gently and lovingly nudge you out of your cocoon. He might ask you to become friends with a spiritually confused neighbor, or share the grace of God with your wayward brother, or tell your book discussion group the story of your conversion, or get into an Internet dialogue with a skeptical blogger.

I wish I could tell you that when that moment comes you’ll feel qualified and prepared, but the chances are you won’t. I wish I could tell you it won’t be scary, but it probably will be.

However, I can tell you this: you will never be the same. And you will never want to shrink back into the stale safety of your former cocoon.

http://www.biblegateway.com/LeeStrobel/2011/09/emerging-from-the-cocoon/

 

[An encouragement to me that God can use me even when I don't believe so. God's power surpasses our own faith and ability.- meiyin]