Sermon - Faith for Miracles - Rev. Benedict Rajan

Faith is the connector between us and God

3 Essential Statements of Jesus:
1.  Mark 10:27 - With men this is impossible but with God it is possible

2.  Mark 9:23 - to them who believes, everything is possible

3.  If you have faith like a mustard seed and you would say to this mountain move and throw yourself into the sea, and it will come to pass

You have a natural ability to believe
You believe that the chair will not break when you sit on it

If you have faith like a mustard seed, you may not be able to feel it. But you can move mountains

I'm qualified for a miracle

To each of us, a measure of faith is available

Rom 12:3 - I believe and therefore I speak

Life and death is in the power of the tongue 2 Cor 4:13

Rom 10:11 - whoever believes in Jesus will not be ashamed

4 types of miracles:
1.  The miracle of new life
- 2 Cor 2:17
- It becomes new the day you give your life to Jesus
- Matt 11:28
- Jer 29:11
- John 1:12
- 1 John 3:1
- John 3:16
- 1 John 4:19
- Eph 1:7 - Jesus did not send an angel or a priest. He came himself to die for us
- Rom 6:23 - all have sinned
- John 10:10

2.  The miracle of healing
- Isa 53:5
- The fountain of healing is open to you
- Isa 10:27
- Psalm 107:26

3.  The miracle of breakthrough and deliverance
- Rev 12:11
- John 8:32, 36
- 2 Tim 1:7
- Isa 41:10-13
- Psalm 56:3

4.  The providential hidden miracles of God
- Pleasant surprises
- Jer 33:3
- Eph 3:26
- 1 Cor 2:9
- Isa 45:3

How you read your bible...

A friend posted a question to me. I thought it was a very good question so i decided to post it here

Question:

Since God loved everyone the same,
How come He chose Israelites as His chosen people?
And what about the rest such as the Philistines, the Moabites, Babylonians and etc?

Answer:

This question has a very long answer. It covers the big picture and the mission that God is doing in this world. What is God actually up to? This is something I've been trying to figure out since I started out as a Christian. And God has graciously provided me with answers, albeit step by step, to help me understand the mission and the world from His perspective. It has been a wonderful journey of getting to know Him. (Journaling during your quiet time helps for God to reveal to you better)

So back to the question. We believe and without a doubt that God loves everyone the same, right? So when we read anything in the Bible that seems to contradict this, we need to go back and look at it again to find out what actually is God's perspective to this. If we get this right, then we can rest be assured that God is always good, even when bad things happen in the bible and also in real life. 

Now that we got this settled, we will need to see a bit of background to all of this. Sometimes, when we see a verse or chapter by itself, it seems to contradict everything that we believe. God’s mission has always been to save us all from sin and from the beginning of time, He has planned already that He Himself would be the one to come down in the form of Jesus and save us all. We see this throughout the bible from Genesis to Revelations and it has never gotten away from this very revelation. But first, God needed to show you and me that He has done all that He could to bring you back to Him before He sent His son to perform the greatest sacrifice.

Some argue that God could have come down and commanded us to worship Him and we would have done that because what we see is what we believe. I mean like at this moment, if God would have appeared in front of you and said, “Hey friend, I am real!”, then you would definitely believe Him. But for how long will we believe and obey Him? Oh but wait… He already did that at mount Sinai! (Exodus 19-24). God appeared to the Israelites and, of course out of love, gave certain restrictions to them to be holy so that when He came down, they would not die. When God spoke, look at Exo 20:18-21, the people told Moses not to let God speak to them. Yes, He was that scary. In Exo 24:3, the Israelites responded to God after God gave them the commandments, that they will do all that the Lord has said.

Wow, awesome, the story as it should be à God appeared, the people believed, and they lived happily ever after. But no, that was not what happened. You would think that after seeing God appear to them that they would remain loyal to him for at least a generation. But guess what, only after 40 days, Exodus 32 happened. The people turned away from God. I wanted to punch all the Israelites when I read this. If I was God…. Let’s just say there will be no more descendants of Israel there and then, if I was God.

I tell you all this story to say this, that God did try really hard to bridge the connection with us. And because of this, the whole of the old testament had to happen before Jesus could come. God had to show you and I that the great sacrifice of Jesus had to be the last resort when all else had failed.

Now that we know why the old testament had to be so, let’s now look at the brighter picture. God actually found a few who understood Him and feared Him not because they saw Him but simply a choice they made to believe and commune with Him. One of them was Abraham.

In Gen 12:1-4, Abraham (Abram during that time) got his calling from God. God did not tell Abram his life story from beginning to end and asked Abram if he would join Him to make this come true. God simply told Abram that if he obeyed, God can use him to make a difference to all the peoples of the earth. Abram trusted God and obeyed. This marked the start of the journey. We fast forward now to Gen 15 where God made a covenant with Abram and Abram believed and God credited that to him as righteousness. Fast forward to Gen 17, and God makes Abram a covenant and a covenant with his descendants. In Gen 22, Abraham is tested (God told Abraham to kill his son, Isaac) and God swore by Himself (because there is no one higher than Himself) that He will surely bless Abraham and his offspring. We understand from here that God had sworn to make Abraham’s offspring a chosen people, because of Abraham’s obedience. Deut 7:9 is clear when it says that God is faithful and will keep his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

And that my friend, is how the Israelites came to be a chosen people. J

Now for the second part of Grace’s question. What about the other nations? The Philistines, Moabites, Babylonians, etc.

Yes, believe it or not, God loves them too. But because our bible story is focused on the Israelites as the chosen people, it fails to capture the daily lives of the other nations. One instance in the bible that managed to capture some of this is in the story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24. Very often we assume that God only speaks to the Israelites, God’s “chosen” people. But here in Numbers 22, it clearly tells about a prophet of the Lord… in Moab. This prophet had no connections whatsoever with the Israelites. Balaam was his name and the King of Moab summoned him to put a curse on the Israelites because whatever Balaam prophesied, it came true. Balaam spoke to God and God spoke back to him just like a friend would speak to you (Num 22:9-12). Here we have proof that God was with the other nations as well.

 We do not know all that happened in the other nations but as told from the bible, a majority of the people there are idolaters, people who worship other gods. Did they have a chance to hear of the Lord? Moab seemed to have someone there who knew the Lord well enough. So I always assume that there are people of God in the other nations as well.

Jonah was another instance in the bible, albeit a short story, where this prophet was sent to preach to the Ninevites. Nineveh was an Assyrian empire (a nation filled with idolatry). Nineveh was a rebellious city and God sent Jonah to reach out to it. And when Jonah preached to them, they turned from their evil ways. Jonah 4:2 tells us a bit more about the God we worship (although Jonah was upset when he said this). Jonah said, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”

How great is our God that we serve. How great is His love for us. Yes, He loves everyone the same, and as we saw here, even the nations not chosen by God were loved by God.

I really hope that what I have written here is God-inspired, because only He can make you understand and reveal to you what is in God’s heart for you and for the world. If there were any errors, feel free to point it out. I understand that I’m not perfect and what I said may not fit your bill perfectly. We may discuss openly.

Lots of love,

Kenny Lim

Feeling Condemned?

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Feeling condemned?

Romans 8:34

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of God, interceding for us, we are no longer condemned. Condemnation is no longer a word for us to live in fear of. For because of Christ, the enemy cannot make us rejected by God. Now God accepts everyone who believes in His Son Jesus Christ and it does not matter if you slip into sin.

In Christ there is no longer condemnation. This of course does not mean that we are licensed to sin. In fact Christ did not die for us so that we can sin. He died to save us from the consequences of our sins. And when He did, He gave us the power to overcome sin. Those who believe in Christ and His resurrection power no longer have to be overwhelmed by sin. In fact in Titus 2:12, grace teaches us to deny ungodliness.

So why do we need to know that in Christ there is no condemnation? It is because directly or indirectly, we are naturally prone to live in condemnation. Take for example, if you fail an exam, are you still rested or do you feel condemned? If you fail to keep the ten commandments, do you feel condemned? If you fail to make a close one proud, do you feel like you have not done enough? All these are, to me, are examples of being condemned by your failures and mistakes. But fear not, everyone makes mistakes, everyone fails in life. To get to your success is to fail multiple times and learn from it.

What I am getting at is that our Lord Jesus Christ has already paid for you so that you no longer have to feel condemned. Because no sin on earth, nor failures you have made could separate you from the love of God. And as long as we know that, we can remain rested and stressed free because our God does not condemn us. In fact, He just wants to draw us closer to Him.

The One Time Sacrifice

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

The One Time Sacrifice

Hebrews 10:12

But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God

Jesus did for us what no one could ever do. What Jesus did for us meant a one-time deal. Your sin, whether past, present or future, has been forgiven. There is no other name by which we must be saved except through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That is the power of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sin has been put to death and life is victorious because of this one sacrifice. No longer to we have to strive to gain access to God.

In most movies, when you kill evil foe/enemy, the enemy will rise again in the next episode to be stronger. However, in the case of the cross, the devil has been beaten once and for all and we no longer have to tremble at under the devil. Jesus has given us authority to trample over him. By the name of Jesus, every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. In this "movie", it is really happily ever after.

Even though Jesus has done it all, most Christians still live in fear day to day thinking that they need to put in more effort to be sure that they are saved or to be sure that God is not against them. Christians think that the circumstances they go through have something to do with God being angry with them. Christians see numbers, happenings and the supernatural and trust in those things rather than in the God who saved them. Christians debate over who is right in doctrine when we are called to see the finished work at the cross and share it with others. The church is called as one body yet we operate as if there are many bodies, each with their own methods hoping that theirs is the “right” way. Although Jesus has given us the victory, many still live defeated by fear of demons, fear of security, fear of not having enough and fear of survival.

Let us make it clear here. Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior came down one time, set everything that needed to be set straight, paid the full price of our salvation, commanded us to share about Him, and sent us the Holy Spirit to give us the grace for victory over every area of our lives, and then went back to heaven and sat at the right hand of God the Father. IT IS FINISHED!

Jesus Crucified

Monday, March 25, 2013

Jesus Crucified

Luke 23:26-49

The Crucifixion of Jesus

²⁶ As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. ²⁸ Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then

“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
    and to the hills, “Cover us!”’^[b]

³¹ For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

³² Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. ³³ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. ³⁴ Jesus said,“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”^[c] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

³⁵ The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

³⁶ The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar ³⁷ and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

³⁸ There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.

³⁹ One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

⁴⁰ But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? ⁴¹ We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.^[d]”

⁴³ Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

⁴⁴ It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵ for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”^[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last.

⁴⁷ The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised Godand said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” ⁴⁸ When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.⁴⁹ But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance,watching these things.

A very weird thing happened that I have never stopped to notice before. In Verse 28-31, Jesus mentioned these things to the women who were following him as he was led to be crucified. “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us”, for if people do these things when the tree is green what will happen when it is dry?”

The last part was said also by Hosea when he was prophesying over the sins of Israel. At times like these modern times, we see and hear so many crimes, injustice and sufferings that people go through, not just in poor areas, but also even in our neighborhood. We hear about prostitution, forced slavery, snatch thieves, murders, burglars, rapes, etc. and the list goes on and on. Some would say that they are lucky they do not have to go through any of it. But our security is still uncertain. Maybe that was what Jesus was talking about - when the human race would do anything for their selfish gain. Jesus was also murdered because the people during that time were full of self. And the innocent ones could not do anything about it. They could only stand and watch. Even His disciples fled.

The human race is full of sin, even though we might think we are doing good. Everyone does what he/she thinks is right in his/her own eyes. Some say cheating is the right way to live in this hostile world. Others would rather take the consequences of telling the truth and being honest even though they would hurt themselves and others. What is right is greyed and uncertain. Therefore, no one is good except one – Jesus Christ.

He willingly gave his life up for us on the cross. He was dragged, after being scorched by whips, to Golgotha where they mocked him until his death. He faced all that so that we know we have a Savior who can sympathize with every failure and every embarrassment we might go through, that He might save us from our sin.

Verse 46 “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”. Nothing that Jesus did was out of His own will. He did everything out of the will of the Father. As He is one with His Father, His desire is the same as the Father. And that desire is to die for you a painful death. I remember a song titled “With all I am”. Its lyrics begin with “Into your hands, I commit again”. How many of us are willing to commit our lives and our will to the Father? He is good and He knows all things. He knows what you need and He has a plan for you. Are you willing to die to yourself and your own ambitions to live your life for Him and Him alone?

The ultimate model is Jesus and the ultimate goal is you. Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone and take on all that God has for you?

Love Conquers All

1 Cor 13:1-8
Friday, January 14, 2011

The Lord reminds me again that it is not about service nor is it about gifts and talents but the motive behind it that matters the most. Love must come first. If we do not love, then we should not do, because what is not born out of love will fail and with the failure comes discouragement and with it comes depression.

Love conquers all. You are at your best when you love. Gifts may fail but love never fails. When you do something out of love, it is the best. But when you do something out of service, you tend to give in to second best.

Love is righteousness, so hang on to it. When we do something out of obligation, it does not satisfy us. But when we do it out of love, somehow we feel that we have accomplished so much more. So learn to love as Christ loved the church. God demonstrated to us so well the art of sacrificial love. In all that He did, love came first. Whether rebuke, correction, good deeds or praising, Jesus did them out of love.

So the next time you do something, before you act, think of your motives for doing it. If it is not out of love, don’t do it if you can help it. Without love, you’ll only come out of it sore, throw a pity party and expect others to comfort you. But with love comes encouragement, strength, a strong will, and a satisfied heart.

Precioussss...

Romans 5:6-8
Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Life is the most precious thing on earth for everyone of us. A life happens to each person only once, and we have that one to live it the way we desire. And this life is given to us by God. For a person to lay down his life for another, that is saying that the other is more precious than the most precious thing that he has.

How precious are Your thoughts of me O God. They are innumerable, I can’t even count them. They outnumber the grains of sand. My everyday is recorded in Your book. You have formed me in my mother’s womb. You saw me before I was even born. Every moment was laid out before a single day has passed. And when I wake up in the morning, You’re still with me.

To God, we are more precious than His own life. He chose to run in front of the train for us. He chose to rescue us even though He knew it would cost Him His Son’s life. Life as we know it has never been the same since that day. We now have a connection with God that the people of old did not have. We are now redeemed.

Who are we, that He is mindful of us? We are His creation. He treasures us and even keeps His promises to us. Even when we were still dirty and ugly and hard to be with, He gave His most precious to us. We can be rest assured that in His eyes, we are beautiful no matter where we are at, because He made us beautiful, everyone of us.

Thank you God for this reminder everyday.

The Living Dead

Romans 6:1-14
Thursday, November 11, 2010

We have died to sin and are now living to God. Like the living dead, haha.

“Sin shall have no dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

So grace is not license to sin because if you are under grace, then you have died to sin and sin should no longer be a problem for you to overcome. I remember the day I accepted Christ. Something changed in me that made me alive unto God and all the sins like speaking vulgar or causing trouble were all gone. That was when I was a kid.

I am sure you’ve heard stories of drug users coming to know the Lord and overnight, their habits just disappear. Smokers and alcoholics, when they received the Lord Jesus Christ, turned over a new leaf and stopped altogether their addictions.
Before this, sin had a grasp on us. But after we have been resurrected with Christ spiritually, our habits turn to dust. Now that we live for God, we are no longer in bondage and cannot get out - because God has given us the grace to come out of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over us.

So therefore, sin has no more dominion over us. The only problem we have is if we decide to go back to it. Christians who get disappointed with other Christians tend to turn back to habits to “satisfy themselves”. However, now that they are in God, they should know that the only thing that could satisfy them again would be to come into the presence of God.

God has given us the grace to overcome sin. It is like a gift given to us. If it remains unwrapped, then it remains unused. And we all know that an unused gift is like a gift not given at all. So use your gift, the gift of grace, to help you walk the life God has called you to live – that is the higher calling!

Glorify God

Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Acts 4:13-22

V21, “So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people,” this is the good part, wait for it, “since they all glorified God for what had been done.”

The elders of the church could not find a way of punishing them simply because they glorified God in their acts. Let me say it again, “They glorified God.” When we go through life as a Christian, we tend to praise ourselves and our efforts when success comes our way. I tend to do that too. But whenever I look back and think about it, the best successes I had were when I prayed before or when I committed the task to God or when I cried out to Him. Think back and see that it is all true. None of my successes would be there if not for God. And sometimes I wonder why I shortchange God in His blessings. Why there are no testimonies in my life? It is because I don’t give enough credit to the one who prospered me.

God cares about every little detail of our lives. We need to acknowledge that in everything we do, God is with us and if we do not give unto the Lord the glory due to His name, He tends to draw back His hand from us simply because we have gotten proud of our own self efforts. Remember that God resists the proud. It is not us but the Lord who shows up.

From now on, I’m going to remember that in every accomplishment, when people praise me, I’m going to make a stand to say, “If it wasn’t for God/Jesus Christ showing up, I would never had done it the way I did it.”

Here comes the finale, v22 “For the man was over forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.” No matter how old you are, you can still be a testimony. Do not let the devil blind you from that. Glorify God because in everything you do, He is the one who gives you power to prosper.

Hold onto the Lord

Thursday, April 08, 2010
Acts 4:23-31

There comes a point in time where we have to choose between going against man or going against God. Persecutions come and we have to be ready when it does. If you’re being persecuted right now, hold strong, because even the disciples of the first movement were persecuted. If you’re free from persecution now, pray for those facing persecution, and be ready for it when it comes.

The elders of the church were respected and feared. Even then, the disciples of Jesus Christ did what was right in the sight of God. They had to choose between fearing man or fearing God. When we get the perspective that we are only temporarily here on earth, then it is only wise if we choose to fear God even if it means going against men. Whether it be elders of the church, family, friends, relatives, we need to make a stand that God will come first. Everything else will fade away but the Lord will still remain.

Hold onto the right thing and the rest will be easy.

Daddy Jesus

Sunday, December 20, 2009
John 1:10-13

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.”

We have that privilege. To become children of God and have the right to all that God has for us. And the most valuable thing God can give us is Himself. He is our heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us so much that He wants us to draw close to Him, as close as a child to a Dad. Nobody could love us more.

What are the benefits of being a child of God?

• We get to ask of Him anything.
o Of course whether He wants to answer us or not, we would have to ask of His will. However, I would believe that every single item that we ask for, He would hear. Like a child asking Dad for a toy, Dad might think about it, simply because it pleases his child. The bible says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything let your requests be made known to God.
o Then you ask the question, “What are the right things to ask God for?” Even a kid would know what to ask Dad for and what not to ask Dad for. Dad’s will is to please you, so he would give you the things that are pleasing to you. However, Dad’s will is also to keep you from harm and danger, so the thing’s that are going to put you in harms way, he would not give you. It’s simple logic.

• We get to go straight to the throne of grace and talk to Him directly.
o Christians sometimes think prayer is a duty or a must if you are a Christian. What they don’t get is that praying is actually a privilege that we now have that the Old Testament Christians would die for. A child does not have to talk to Dad if he/she doesn’t want to. But if you love Dad, you would definitely want to spend time with him, right?
o Sometimes we don’t get prayer at all. If we just realize that God is desperate for us to talk to Him, just like a Dad would be desperate for a child to talk to him, wouldn’t it be so much easier for us to pray.
o So when can we pray? Of course, the obvious answer is anywhere, anytime. While doing stuff, while watching the TV, at the table, we talk to Dad about everything and anything, except maybe when we are with our friends, then Dad gets shifted aside. We can say that, “Oh, I don’t need to allocate a specific time to talk to Him, He is omnipotent (everywhere) so I can talk to Him anytime. “
o Just like any relationship, it can only grow when quality time is spent with each other. Getting to know God is more than simple walking through life hoping that God is with us and praying only when we need stuff. Sometimes we treat our Dads that way, but what we don’t realize is that we are getting farther and farther away in the relationship. Spend time with God, in prayer and in Word, and you will notice a significant difference throughout the day.

• We get to possess anything that He has promised us.
o Healing, prophesy, the Holy Spirit, faith, inheritance, success, prospering; and about anything that has been said in the bible. The bible even teaches us how to activate the kingdom of God here on earth. So basically, God has given us His secrets to a successful life with Him.
o Just like a child to a Dad, we seldom listen to Dad’s advice on the unseen things like how to treat your friends, or how to plan your time well, or that you should not date till you’re ready to commit. Well, God’s word gives us so much more than that and it is our choice as children of God whether we want to activate His blessings by following His commands.

These are only a few benefits of being child of God. As I always say, I like to view God as my heavenly Dad. Seeing things from this perspective, I began to learn that I want to spend time with Him and that whatever He brings to me, I know that that is the best for me. I also know that no harm would befall me because as a child trusts in Dad, so we, as children of God, can trust in Him. Knowing this, my worries are down by half. No one cares more than God. So spend time with Him not because we have to but because we have the privilege to.

Disappointed with Life?

Monday, November 30, 2009
Luke 22:54-71

Today, I am angry, because of all the disappointments that I find myself getting into. You’d think that people are the only ones that can disappoint. No, I’ve experienced God disappointing me over and over again. Why Lord?

If you think doing good would score you plenty of rewards in return, prepare to be disappointed. David did the best good he could. Still Saul chased him out of the kingdom and sought to kill him. How disappointed do you think David was? How much disappointment did David have to go through? Still he kept close to God, writing the psalms and reassuring himself that God was still on his side.

Jonah was disappointed as well. After he had spoken the Word of the Lord to the Ninevites, they turned to God and God relented from doing destruction. Jonah got disappointed with God for that. Sometimes, you may think Jonah wasn’t thinking clearly, but how often than not do we get disappointed because God decided to bless our non-believing friends and not us. I mean, we did so much good, and still our friends are prospering so much more than us!

What do you think Jesus felt when He was arrested and led to be crucified? Peter denied Him three times! How disappointed do you think Jesus was? Still He knew that it was God’s will. Then we get the people treating Him badly, after all the good things He has done, why don’t any of them look at that?

It is as if they had blinded their own eyes to only see fault in Jesus. Sometimes, that is what people around us do. And we get disappointed. Because of all the good we have done, they remember none.

Jesus told them that He is the Son of God. No one there believed.

Imagine you telling people that you can lead people, and no one believed. Imagine you telling people that you can help them, and no one believed. Imagine people looking down on you and calling you a liar because you told them the truth.

I believe you can surely relate with me now. But by showing you all these disappointments, I don’t intend to belittle anyone of anything. On the contrary, to know that most heroes of the bible including Jesus had to go through massive disappointment shows that it is part and parcel of this life we’re living.

Is it fair that the early Christians were persecuted for sharing the truth? No it is not.

But I tell you something true and encouraging that I heard not so long ago. “Life may not be fair, but it is always just”. God doesn’t pass fairness, He passes judgment. In the end, we all get what we deserve. If it is God’s will that we get disappointed, who are we to question Him? His ways are above ours, His thoughts are higher, His mercies are new and His love is never failing. He is faithful and just to those who cry out to Him.

Jesus took on all that disappointment so that He could save us! In the end, His name is now lifted higher than any other name, and seated at the right hand of the Father, He stands interceding for us. What difference can we make in light of all the disappointments life has to throw at us? Are we going to sit and sulk or are we going to take all the disappointments, bring it to the Lord, and churn a passion to see righteousness prevail even further, to make a difference even if it means that we lose our lives in the process!

Trusting in God does not mean we get to skip life’s toughest days. In fact, we get more of those. Trusting in God means we get to overcome life’s toughest days with God by our side! If God is with us, who then can be against us.