Give Your All For God

There are times in our life when we feel under extreme pressures. Do you ever feel so? Sometimes there are stressors, tasks, and responsibilities in life that we feel we can't get rid of, we are overburdened with them, and there is less or no time left to prepare for service to God.

One pastor, after a hectic week full of sermons and invitations, did not have sufficient time even to prepare notes for his sermons itself. On the next Sunday morning as he walked to his pulpit, he didn’t have enough notes in his hand. He felt guilty. He felt like the Lord asking him, “Is this the best you have done for me?” He replied honestly, “Yes Lord, this is what is my best”. He told a friend later that Jesus took that ill-prepared piece of work in His hands “it became a trumpet” to his congregation.

Same was St. Paul’s motivation to the Thessalonians: “give your all for God”-- 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22. They were to exhort, warn, comfort, rejoice, pray, and express their gratitude to God—among other things.

We too should always do our best in our life and service. But when pressure times come and we really don’t have the time we feel we need, we should do the best we can and then prayerfully trust God’s faithfulness. 1 Thessalonians 5: 24. We feel guilty, but God knows what exactly is in our heart.

Give of your best to the master;

Naught else is worthy His love;

He gave Himself for your ransom,

Gave up His glory above:

Laid down His life without murmur.

Faith - What Bible Says

Faith

To understand better for my previous post, the following is a thorough understanding of 'faith'.

Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Phillipians 1:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust. It admits of many degrees up to full assurance of faith, in accordance with the evidence on which it rests.

Faith is the result of teaching (Romans 10:14-17). Knowledge is an essential element in all faith, and is sometimes spoken of as an equivalent to faith (John 10:38; 1 John 2:3). Yet the two are distinguished in this respect, that faith includes in it assent, which is an act of the will, in addition to the act of the understanding. Assent to the truth is of the essence of faith, and the ultimate ground on which our assent to any revealed truth rests is the veracity of God.

Historical faith is the apprehension of, and assent to, certain statements which are regarded as mere facts of history.

Temporary faith is that state of mind which is awakened in men (e.g., Felix) by the exhibition of the truth and by the influence of religious sympathy, or by what is sometimes styled the common operation of the Holy Spirit.

Saving faith is so called because it has eternal life inseparably connected with it. It cannot be better defined than in the words of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism:

“Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.”

The object of saving faith is the whole revealed Word of God. Faith accepts and believes it as the very truth most sure. But the special act of faith which unites to Christ has as its object the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 7:38; Acts 16:31). This is the specific act of faith by which a sinner is justified before God (Rom. 3:22, 25; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9; John 3:16-36; Acts 10:43; 16:31). In this act of faith the believer appropriates and rests on Christ alone as mediator in all his offices.

Faith is necessary to our salvation (Mark 16:16), not because there is any merit in it, but simply because it is the sinner's taking the place assigned him by God, his falling in with what God is doing.

Further Reading:

John 14:19; Romans 6:4-10; Ephesians 4:15-16.

“peace with God” Romans 5:1

Sanctification Acts 26:18; Galatians. 5:6; Acts 15:9.

All who thus believe in Christ will certainly be saved John 6:37, 40; 10:27, 28; Rom. 8:1.

The faith=the gospel Acts 6:7; Romans 1:5; Galatians 1:23; 1 Timothy 3:9; Jude 1:3.

Extracted from http://christiananswers.net/dictionary/faith.html?zoom_highlight=faith

The Fruit of Faith

Perhaps, the next few sentences may change your concept of faith, so read with trust.

“Mountains of faith rise from the valley of failures”.

Why faith is so hard for people of these days? Why was it so emphasized in Matthew 17:20 going up to this extent: “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you”.

The Bible says keeping faith is not that simple.  People living ordinary life can do big or small things if they make their minds to do and even get success, but do we just think of these examples listed in Hebrews 11?  That was not possible without faith (remember, faith can move mountains..?)

By faith, Noah built a giant ship for the salvation of his family and as God had commanded him.

By faith, Moses conquered a huge empire and liberated his people of Israel.  It has been observed that the word faith is more elaborated in the Bible.  The reading of the scripture in Hebrew 11 gives its significance in the true sense that outweighs our understanding of faith.

Faith is the subject of Hebrew 11.  Well, what is faith? You may not get the answer through this post, but be sure that you may touch the tip of it if you really try to understand it.  The answer to this question is in the examples of the true lives, the lives that were lived, the lives that had faith, Abraham, Abel, Noah… We can not put the answer in such simple words, but we can get the answer once we live in faith and doing the impossible.

The dictionary says “strong belief esp. with logical proof”.  How would the rational word ‘keep faith’ (with logical proof) to the words of our Lord? That is why the Bible says it is not that simple.  Faith is the result of teaching Romans 10 : 14-17.

Well, you will say these things are not possible today. What I tell you, we can learn to trust. Learn to trust not to oneself fully but to the creator, and see what big things happen in our life. It is possible (remember the bible says), to move the mountains even today.

How do we learn to trust? Follow the simple steps:

1. Grasp the smallest opportunities where God asks you to have a little faith that may or may not be against our own nature to do. Read the Scripture: Philippians 2 : 12-13.

2. Do one small thing in a day that urges you to believe the Lord.  What? How? – Tell at least one person what you learnt today about keeping faith to the Lord. Tomorrow, ask the Lord in Prayer for what He wants you to do and see what happens. This is not pretty easy for a nonbeliever, but just for the sake of doing, do and see the results.

3. In times of disappointment and despair, learn to make a very small prayer and a very small faith, “Lord, relieve me from this stressor. Do this, Lord, because I trust You.” See the results.

Trust and Testify.

Fishes and Flowers

Once Upon A Time, there lived a lady gardener by the sea. She enjoyed her horticulture work and lived by selling the flowers. She had a nice small farmyard. Her small house was surrounded by beautiful fragrant flowers. Variety of flowers: pink, red, and white roses, lilies, jasmines, fresh sunflowers, and marigolds. What a fresh and delicate aroma!. This was really a heaven.

Once there was heavy rain. Some fisherwomen passed through this perfumed domain. It was late evening and the three fisherwomen thought they wouldn’t make it possible to reach their dwellings. They sought rest at this lady gardener’s place. The lady agreed.

During the night, the fisherwomen were changing sides in their provided beds. Nothing helped them go to a good level of sleepiness. Flowers were all around them. What was the reason? They whispered, “What a foul odor is this?” The fragrance they could not bear and was not letting them to sleep. They took the top covers of their fishing baskets, kept on her heads and slept perfectly till the morning.

We are so involved and engaged in our worldly life that we are not able to permit even the fragrance of heavenly life. Do I get addicted to accommodate myself more in the worldly fashion? I want you to think over it again. Look at the passages below:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. – 1 John 2: 15-17

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:2

The above example is an extract from Rev. Jayanad I. Chauhan's Gujarati book: "Life Beyond Death"

Yoke of Slavery

Once upon a time, there was a king.  On his birthday, he decided that he would release all his prisoners from the jail.  He asked his governor’s presence and conveyed him his wish.  The governor seemed to be cautious about this.  Instead, he gave a suggestion to ask the prisoners about their wish.  The king agreed and was willing to give them whatever they would demand.

A royal chariot was called for.  The king and his men headed towards the prison.  Arrangement was made that all the prisoners, one by one, would see the king.

The first prisoner’s turn.  The king asked him his wish.  “I want to renovate my room in the jail. The room should be cleaned, walls should be painted, the floors should be washed, and the room should be well furnished”, the gloomy-looking prisoner expressed.  “As you wish”, said the king, and he ordered his men to get that done.

The next prisoner. “I can’t enjoy bathing everyday here.  I want a new perfumed soap and hot water everyday.” The king said, “Your wish too is granted.”  The next one demanded nicely-cooked, royal food and fruits in his dinner and lunch everyday. The same is granted again.  One of them wished he would spend one day with his wife and children every month.  “No issues, your wish too is granted”.  The other one asked that his son be given a good job in his court.  Without hesitation, the king accepted that again.  So on, everyone had different desires and they all were promised.

The last among them gave a joyful smile and asked, “Release me from prison”. And the king was so willing to do so.

At the end, the king expressed his real desire for all the prisoners, and the prisoners were shocked to hear that.

How does this apply to our life?  The king is our Lord.  He wants to give us better than what we expect, but we do not realize this and keep on expecting small worldly things from Him.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."  --  Galatians 5 : 1

We need to ponder over this.  Why did those prisoners ask trivial happiness? Why couldn’t they comprehend the King’s wish? Are we doing the same?

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  --  Matthew 6 : 31-34

A Springing Youth of Fragrance

Jessica was hospitalized for a week.  The doctor said she had jaundice.  Her mom and dad and Ann, her sister were there to care for her.  At this blooming age of 13, she felt a little nervous when she heard she had to stay in the hospital.

On hearing about her illness, her Sunday School teacher came to see her holding a nice bouquet in her hand on the very first day. She talked to her and her family and said a prayer.  Jessica felt gracious talking to her teacher. She was so happy to see those flowers the teacher brought.  The teacher asked to leave.  She didn’t give the bouquet to Jessica and left.  Jessica thought she might have forgotten to give it to her or maybe those were not for her.

 
The next day, the Sunday School teacher visited her again with the same bouquet in her hand.  Today, those flowers were not as blooming as yesterday, but still were looking beautiful.  She said a prayer.  Again today, she didn’t give those flowers and went away.



The third day.  The same chronicle. The teacher was bringing the bouquet and not giving her.  The fourth day, again the same.  Jessica was to be discharged on the fifth day.  The teacher was there again.  Today, there was no life in the flowers the teacher had brought; mostly there were only stems left and no fragrance at all.

The teacher left the bouquet on the hospital bed table beside her.  She said “This bouquet’s for you.”  She couldn’t help herself asking, “Why teacher, when it was full of life, you didn’t give it to me!” and asked her offensively, “take it away, I don’t want it.”

“Do you remember Jessie,” said the teacher, “This was what I wanted to make you understand in our class when you argued about serving the Lord at an early age. You said these things are to be done in our additional life. Tell me would God like your life when it has withered?  If you don’t want these flowers, then God too wouldn’t want your dried-up life.”

The Patience Of God

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Peter 3 : 9

God waits with patience. God has been looking down to me when I have been through all the stressors, discouragements and sorrows of life. I feel like I seem to be benefiting and getting pleasure out of all such circumstances by successfully defeating the tempting situations. At the point when I go through the difficulties, I go to God and cry out, “Why God, Why?” Sometimes I wear out and does not rely on God and miss the opportunity to praise Him more. Why the Lord keep patience? Does he not get bored of my intermittent unfaithful conduct?

But this never happens, because, he is the Lord. He is the maker of the whole universe, and I am a weak and imperfect being. He keeps on waiting with patience because He loves me. The Lord gives me opportunity that I get aware of His divine love. He gives me patience so that I accomplish my worldly life in faith and get the heritage of heavenly life.

I did never know what was the meaning of suffering or difficulties when I was young, but after going through all the trials of life when I recall my past, I understand why it was so.

Philippians: 4: 11 “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

Job said, “Should we accept only happiness from the Lord?" I like the saying in the book, “The Purpose-Driven Life”, by Rick Warren : “Don’t waste your sorrows”.

Have a wonderful purpose-driven day.

Unfathomable Love

And the second (commandment) is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." – Matthew 22 : 39

Patrick was in jail for the last 8 years. He has an 8-year-old daughter who writes letters to him to motivate him. She is too young and so, her letters too are small. "Daddy, I love you, and I will wait for you until you return.." Her letters are always too affectionate and straightforward.

Patrick has not been able to do anything for the daughter, but now he has decided that for her next birthday, he will save money to gift her something special.

Some days back, he came to know that a daughter of one friend is severely sick and the friend need some money for her treatment. Patrick knew that the amount that he had saved could be used for this treatment. He couldn’t sleep that night. “Why?” His heart was rebelling for something. He prayed that the Lord may heal the friend’s daughter, but why was he hesitant to pay for the money? At this moment, he remembered the verses which he had many times in life – “Love your neighbor as yourself." “How would you have expected from others if this diseased daughter was yours?” He followed the Lord’s way.

After a few days, he got parole and visited his daughter with a small gift. He explained his daughter all that he wished but couldn’t. The daughter’s eyes watered and seemed to have more affectionate than ever before.

How would the lord want to use me to take care of the World?