Blessing Challenge
Topic: Faith
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. (Matthew 6:27-28 KJV)
Before we’d close this Battle Cry for Believers series, I’d like to discuss the last topic on blessing challenge. We like to bless other people who do great things for us, such as family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers. But when we’d face our enemies, we may seem to be hard to give blessing them.
The word “bless” or “blessing” means “he act of declaring, or wishing, favor and goodness upon others. The blessing is not only the good effect of words; it also has the power to bring them to pass. In the Bible, important persons blessed those with less power or influence. The patriarchs pronounced benefits upon their children, often near their own deaths (Gen. 49:1–28). Even if spoken by mistake, once a blessing was given it could not be taken back (Gen. 27:33).” (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary.)
If we look at Stephen’s death (Acts 7), he didn’t defend himself back to those who wanted to stone him to death. Instead, “…he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” (Acts 7:60.) Wow! What a testimony of Stephen’s life. Even Stephen was about to die, he didn’t say anything or defend himself back to the radical Jews—just as what Jesus did when He faced the crucifixion.
Although this seems to be hard for us to grab on, we cannot do this with empty heart. We need to focus our mindsets to the way of Jesus. We cannot pass this challenge unless we’d maintain on God.
Posted by MGJC Web Ministry
at 12:01 AM EDT
Test of Wilderness II
Topic: Faith
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Matthew 4:5-6 KJV)
To understand the method that Satan tried to us to tempt Jesus can be found in 1 John 2:15-16. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
Not only Satan wanted Jesus to serve him as His lord, he also wanted to separate His loving relationship with His Father. To do that, Satan tried to use the three methods on Jesus.
First method that Satan used to tempt Jesus was the lust of flesh. In Matthew 4, we read that Jesus didn’t eat anything for forty days—that’s 940 hours. When we’d go to the desert, we’d probably begin to seek some water as soon as possible. But here, Jesus didn’t eat and drink anything for whole 940 hours and certainly, Satan came to Him to trick His empty belly. However, Satan failed miserably on the first round.
Then Satan visited Jesus again and tried to trick on Him by using the lust of the eyes method. He took Jesus to the holy city and settled Him on the pinnacle of the temple. Satan said to Him that this holy city is his and wanted to give it to Him if He’d decide to worship him. However, Jesus knew that God created the holy city and belong to Him only. As a result, Satan failed miserably again on the second method.
However, there was third method that Satan tried to use to make Jesus to fail on his feet. It was the pride of life method. Satan tried to give everything in the world to Jesus, so He could be the #1 of the world leader and satisfy everything, which He gains, if He’d worship Satan. Again, Jesus knew that this world belongs to God and there was nothing that this devil own from which God created. As a final result, Jesus rebuked Satan and he failed miserably again.
Notice, three times that Satan tried to tempt Jesus to worship him; three times, Jesus used the Mosaic Scriptures to fight against the devil’s words; and three times, Satan failed miserably. He cannot stand against us if we have God’s Words in our hearts and use them at the right time. We must understand that Satan will be defeated at the last battle. In the meantime, we must be trained ourselves with God’s Holy Words.
Posted by MGJC Web Ministry
at 12:01 AM EDT
Test of Abraham’s Faith
Topic: Faith
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11:17-19 KJV)
In Genesis 22, God told Abraham to take Isaac into the land of Moriah and offer his son as a burnt to the Lord. “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” (Genesis 22:1-2.) This portion of Genesis has twofold meanings—Abraham’s obedience to God and meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection. The place of Abraham’s offering to the Lord was the same location of where Jesus Christ offered Himself to God for our sins.
The test of Abraham’s faith was not easy. He had a difficult decision to whether follow God’s direction or his own way. We don’t choose our own battle, but we must be prepared for whatever test that God gave us. God tested Abraham not because He had nothing to do, but because He wanted help his prophet to increase his faith and trust in Him. “And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” (Genesis 22:12.)
When Jesus went to the garden and prayed to His Father before His death, He didn’t try to escape from God’s direction. Instead, He fully obeyed His command. Jesus had faith to overcome His death penalty, just as Abraham had to overcome his dangerous mission to offer his son to God. At the end God provided the both of them with victory. For Abraham, God provided a ram for him to give a sacrifice offering to Him (Genesis 22:13); and God raised His Son from the dead (Romans 10:9).
Even though Satan believes that he has the victory to defeat us, it’s just beginning of his loosing the battle. He cannot win the battle as long as we are on God’s side. The only way that Satan can defeat us is if we decide to turn our hearts away from God. On May 9th ABC Nightline Face-Off, one of Atheists said that they don’t need God because there’s no God existed. This is what Satan can do to us if we decide to turn against God.
Are you saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ? If not and realize that you are in risk of loosing in your spiritual battle, I would like to invite to know Jesus Christ today. He is the only One who can give you the victory of your life crises. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” If you like to have the victory in your life, please consider to surrender your life to Jesus Christ by confess that you are sinner and ask Him to come to your life as your personal Savior
Posted by MGJC Web Ministry
at 12:01 AM EDT
There’s Joy in Trial of Your Faith
Topic: Faith
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:2-4 KJV)
When you have some problem your life, would you able to rejoice? Being a Christian does not mean that we are free from all the hardships and can be rejoiced everyday in our lives. Whether we are Christians or not we all have to face difficulties to achieve our goals.
In Battle Cry for Believers series, we will look some biblical heroes to see how they overcame difficulties to continue to live for God. For example, God putted Abraham into test to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering to Him. Even though it was hard for him to do the test from God, Abraham decided to obey Him rather than his feeling. Some of the challenges that the biblical heroes faced may seem to be harder than what we’d face everyday, but we have to sacrifice ourselves to God daily to live for Him.
When we have to face the crises in our lives, it’s hard for us to have joy. Joy doesn’t come out from nothing. We have to accomplish something before we can celebrate our joyful life. For example, we cannot be rejoiced until we can accomplish our college master degrees. Even tough college education is higher level of schooling and we’d have some struggles to learn the benefit of it, we can be happy when we’d be graduated because with college degrees, we can do any job that would lead to our professional career goals.
One thing that God cannot do for us is that He cannot help us to escape from our problems, but He can show us the way to escape it. We all have to learn the way to celebrate our lives with God. And, we can increase our faiths by our actions.
Posted by MGJC Web Ministry
at 12:01 AM EDT
Test of Faith
Topic: Faith
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:1-5 KJV)
How many of us would have to face our daily tribulation every day? How many of us may decide to give ourselves up when our tribulations are too rough? It’s not easy to go through our day without the situations. If we think we can go though our situations without faiths, we’d let ourselves down.
The definition of faith can be found in Hebrews 11:1-3: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” We can face our daily trials if we have faith in God—which it produces to patience, patience to experience, and experience to hope. This hope will bring joy in our lives. We cannot experience God-given joy until we experience to go through tribulations.
I understand many hardships that you would need to go through to get the joy of the Lord. Being a disabled man, it doesn’t mean that I cannot have the joy in my life. Some people would think being a disabled person means that he/she has curse from God or has demonic possession. That’s 100 percent false. Of course, some demonic activities may turn the person as not normal person, but into scary person. However, God can use a disabled man in powerful way that we cannot imagine. He would only need to do is to believe in God and trust in Him.
Jesus faced the devil when He was in the wilderness for forty days (Matthew 4; Luke 4), because He had faith and put trust in His Father. Was Jesus rejoiced after spending in the desert without the food and drink for forty days? I believe so that Jesus was relief and rejoiced over the angel’s protection with His Heavenly Father.
Whether we have disabilities either by physically, spiritually, emotionally, or mentally, we can have joy in our lives with God through Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus died on the cross and resurrected on the third day. We can receive joy through the blood of Jesus Christ.
God wants to test us, so we can face the giants to overcome into the joy of the Lord.
Posted by MGJC Web Ministry
at 12:01 AM EST
