Our Faith Rests on God’s Power (Appetizer - XLM 8/25/11)

1 Corinthians 2

⁴ and my teaching and message were not delivered with skillful words of human wisdom, but with convincing proof of the power of God’s Spirit.

⁵ Your faith, then, does not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power.

Paul clearly said that our faith rests on God’s power so we must also speak of our faith by God’s wisdom given to us by the Spirit.

If our faith relies or depends on our own wisdom and our own might, we’ll stumble; we’ll fall and we won’t be able to finish the race of faith.

Sadly, many Christians today feel burdened in sustaining their faith, that’s why they feel very depressed whenever they feel coldness.  They would even decide to walk away from God.  I’ve read many blogs and write-ups containing these kind of sentiments.  ”I want to walk away from Christ.  I’m sick and tired of living this Christian life”, “I know God would we waiting for me to come back because I have FREE WILL to do so”, “I gave my everything to God, every sacrifice that I can but God seems so far away, I just want to end this.”…These are just some of those.  People who think this way might have not understood the real salvation of God, (only by GRACE!not from human and not of human so that no one may boast Ephesians 2:8-9) which is “by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone”.  These people might have thought that they played ‘some’ part in their salvation so they think that it would just be also that easy to DECIDE to stray away from God’s hands…to fade out from their faith.  

BUT for those who believe in ‘by grace, through faith, in Christ’, the saying of Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:10 “He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be faultless on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ,” is very true.  It’s in God’s hands (our salvation and preservation to the end)..it’s not ours.

With regard to preaching/sharing/evangelism, also many Christians would carry the burden whenever the one whom they have shared the Gospel with did not respond to it.  Statements like “I did everything to convince him”, “I did a good strategy to make him say YES”, “After all my hardship and prayer, he didn’t DECIDE to follow Christ”…It’s sad that many Christians neglect that it’s not by our own wisdom that we can share Christ.  It is not our mouth that speaks.  It is not our mind that works.  It is God’s hands at work in us whenever we share.  You can go back to the XLM 1 Corinthians 1 (especially in verses 23-24) that God purposely enable some to understand the saving power of Christ which is NONSENSE to some other.  There are those whom God has called for which He grants the wisdom through the Spirit. This should be made clear to all Christians (saved by grace through faith).

PRAYER:

Pray to God that everytime we share Christ, we won’t be tempted to rely on our own wisdom.  Pray that God’s Spirit will enable us to share and preach.

Xtremely Loaded Meal (1 Corinthians 2)

Soli Deo Gloria!

APPETIZER(XLM 8/24/11):Prayer of Thanksgiving

Prayer of Thanksgiving (We’ll look into Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving for the many things God has been doing to the church of Corinth)

In verses 4-7, Paul said so much things to be thankful for.  And this prayer, I think also applies to our present day.  I find it very relevant to our youth and church now because God is enabling us to mature spiritually.  Let us look at these things one by one.

• v.4  I always give thanks to my God for you because of the grace he has given you through Christ Jesus.
• v.5  For in union with Christ you have become rich in all things, including all speech and all knowledge.
• v.6  The message about Christ has become so firmly established in you
• v.7  that you have not failed to receive a single blessing, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.

These are the blessings we have in Christ which we should be thankful for.  And it is by grace that we receive all of these.  It is through God’s rich grace that favors have been made available to undeserving people (including me).  Not only these, but we must be thankful for the power of God to keep us firm to the end is promised.

• v.8  He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be faultless on the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
• v.9  God is to be trusted, the God who called you to have fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord

Take time to pray for these things.  Thank God for the countless blessings.

Enjoy the side dish (Be United) too!

Soli Deo GLoria!

We have complete confidence in God!

While I was listening to this statement earlier in our prayer meeting, I just got to think of the times when I wasn’t certain enough to put my full trust and confidence in God.  Often times, when business preoccupies our mind, stress, among others…we tend to neglect that God is the ultimate source of strength, wisdom, everything - our lives.

But thank God for reminding me through Psalm 27, which was discussed to us by Clemen (church youth leader) that the right attitude toward any circumstance in life is to claim the confidence we have in God, not in ourselves, but in God.

In Psalm 27, David (the Psalmist) wrote about how God has always been there for him, how God has become His salvation from his enemies, etc.  We saw how bold and how confident David is in writing this psalm.  But as a man, we are also prone to stray away from this confidence.  We are prone to loosen our grip from God’s hands.  We are easy to lose hope especially when multiple or grievous problem come our way.  We would be in a panic, and soon would be downhearted.  But what did David ask of the Lord? in verses 4-6 David said that the only thing he asks is that he may dwell in the house of the Lord ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE.  Imagine how sincere David is when he was writing this psalm? I think this will also best apply to us.  Our everyday communication and walk with the Lord matter.  I mean, how can we claim the confidence in Him when we do not know whom we are getting this confidence from?  and we can only know Him and His will through the Bible.  In times of prayer, we pray the scriptures, we pray according to what God promised us through the scriptures, we pray according to His will.

I just want to share this with  you, just as Clemen shared it with us.  I don’t know what you’re going through right now, or what circumstance you are into…Things which holds you back to place your full trust and confidence in God - maybe sickness, peer pressure, academics, family problem, financial problem, or whatever it is.  Let us apply the attitude of David, he said in the last 2 verses Psalm 27:13-14 “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord, be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Another verse I’d like to share with you in connection to this is Romans 8:31-32 “what then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will He not also, along with him, GRACIOUSLY give us all things?”