The battle is not ours to fight.
No matter how many bible verses we read, or scripture songs we sing would be of no consequence if in the end we do not become active partners with our Lord God. That was the theme of the sermon today.
Isaiah 55: 1-2
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Isn't it amazing of what we can do if only we believe that this is true? The preacher told his testimony back in 1992, he was finishing up his dissertation to complete his studies in America. He wanted to continue to study, but due to lack of finance, he decided he may not be able to. Yet, his wife, encouraged him to continue, as he was already almost reaching the end.
So he committed it to prayer, and then God told him that He would provide for all his needs. With this in mind, the preacher set about to doing his work without telling anyone of his own needs. He did not even have enough money to pay for his flight tickets.
Yet one day, after being invited to preach at a friend's church, the leader there decided to ask people to contribute for a love offering for this preacher. He had enough money to pay for his flight tickets without having to beg, borrow, or steal!!
To cut the story short, when the preacher reached America, somehow, all the churches started sending him invitations to preach at their churches. By the end of his studies, and on his return flight to Malaysia, the preacher calculated the amount he had received, and he realised that he had enough money to finance the entire trip to America including the food, accomodations and the cost of the entire course!
One day, when he was having a meal with a very rich friend of his, he told the friend what happened. The rich friend immediately proclaimed that the preacher should have asked him for help.
But then the preacher gave a reply saying 'if I asked you for help, I would not have been able to experience the Lord blessing my life". :-)
Recently, I had a discussion with some sisters after reading up some sociology books on personality temperaments. Of course, written from a shrink's point of view, many use the excuse of the nature vs nurture theory, or both to sum up that because a child is brought up in their environments, it is totally impossible to change what they are capable of.
Yet, these sisters reminded me that with our God, all things are possible!
A very good example to illustrate this point, is one of the 12 disciples of Christ. One who had a timid personality is Simon Peter. Simon Peter, the man who had denied Jesus three times before His death and run away because he was afraid that he would be mocked,or stoned, became a totally transformed person altogether. He became became known for his courageous preaching after he received the Spirit.
Abram, another person who was fearful, that he asked his wife to pretend to be his sister, and the Lord touched him so that he become known as Abraham, and had such faith that he was even willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, when tested.
All these people had a difficult time choosing to do what was right in God's eyes. Yet when they chose have faith and trust in God, He slowly changed them to be a different person altogether.
Who said it was easy? How many times I know that I have I struggled to obey+trust God when I knew that what I did was an action out of fear, of not trusting that God would provide.
1 John 4:18. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
I believe that the Lord is giving, and has been giving me encouragement these past few weeks. But yet, it is with our experience, no matter what background we come from, the Lord is still able to use us for His Kingdom and become strong men + women in His Kingdom.
I believe that the fight that I have now, is not mine to fight, but is His, for He is asking me to cast my problem into Him, and my heart to Him, because I believe that He will fight for me. Because I trust He will not let any harm upon me having chosen to trust him.
Indeed, He who dwells in us, is greater than that which is found in the world. Perfect love drives out all fear. For God is love, and fear is not of God. Yes, I can believe that!!
Isaiah 55: 1-2
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Isn't it amazing of what we can do if only we believe that this is true? The preacher told his testimony back in 1992, he was finishing up his dissertation to complete his studies in America. He wanted to continue to study, but due to lack of finance, he decided he may not be able to. Yet, his wife, encouraged him to continue, as he was already almost reaching the end.
So he committed it to prayer, and then God told him that He would provide for all his needs. With this in mind, the preacher set about to doing his work without telling anyone of his own needs. He did not even have enough money to pay for his flight tickets.
Yet one day, after being invited to preach at a friend's church, the leader there decided to ask people to contribute for a love offering for this preacher. He had enough money to pay for his flight tickets without having to beg, borrow, or steal!!
To cut the story short, when the preacher reached America, somehow, all the churches started sending him invitations to preach at their churches. By the end of his studies, and on his return flight to Malaysia, the preacher calculated the amount he had received, and he realised that he had enough money to finance the entire trip to America including the food, accomodations and the cost of the entire course!
One day, when he was having a meal with a very rich friend of his, he told the friend what happened. The rich friend immediately proclaimed that the preacher should have asked him for help.
But then the preacher gave a reply saying 'if I asked you for help, I would not have been able to experience the Lord blessing my life". :-)
Recently, I had a discussion with some sisters after reading up some sociology books on personality temperaments. Of course, written from a shrink's point of view, many use the excuse of the nature vs nurture theory, or both to sum up that because a child is brought up in their environments, it is totally impossible to change what they are capable of.
Yet, these sisters reminded me that with our God, all things are possible!
A very good example to illustrate this point, is one of the 12 disciples of Christ. One who had a timid personality is Simon Peter. Simon Peter, the man who had denied Jesus three times before His death and run away because he was afraid that he would be mocked,or stoned, became a totally transformed person altogether. He became became known for his courageous preaching after he received the Spirit.
Abram, another person who was fearful, that he asked his wife to pretend to be his sister, and the Lord touched him so that he become known as Abraham, and had such faith that he was even willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, when tested.
All these people had a difficult time choosing to do what was right in God's eyes. Yet when they chose have faith and trust in God, He slowly changed them to be a different person altogether.
Who said it was easy? How many times I know that I have I struggled to obey+trust God when I knew that what I did was an action out of fear, of not trusting that God would provide.
1 John 4:18. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
I believe that the Lord is giving, and has been giving me encouragement these past few weeks. But yet, it is with our experience, no matter what background we come from, the Lord is still able to use us for His Kingdom and become strong men + women in His Kingdom.
I believe that the fight that I have now, is not mine to fight, but is His, for He is asking me to cast my problem into Him, and my heart to Him, because I believe that He will fight for me. Because I trust He will not let any harm upon me having chosen to trust him.
Indeed, He who dwells in us, is greater than that which is found in the world. Perfect love drives out all fear. For God is love, and fear is not of God. Yes, I can believe that!!
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