Treating Unfairness in Life

Romans 12:11-12

Saturday, April 16, 2016

“Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”

Joyful in hope. Hope is when we have faith in something we cannot see, like hoping for a better day. As Christians, we hope for the day when we will see Jesus. Therefore we are joyful. Whether trials or pestilence, they cannot rob us of this - that in the end we will see Jesus. This is the greatest joy. Don’t let anyone nor anything bring you doubts about this. This is what you should fix your eyes on. The Lord Jesus Christ has done it all. All we have to do is endure this life and let God use us for His plans and purposes whatever it may be. In the end, we will still see Jesus. Don’t think of life as being unfair to you. God is not about fairness, He is just. And everything will happen in the end as it is supposed to. Take unfairness as a common thing. Expect it to come even in the quietest moments when least expected. Treat everyone equally and don’t let another disrupt you following Jesus.

Patience in affliction. Your endurance is being tested every single day. And it grows as it is being tested. Patience will bring you a long way in life. Why does God call us to be patient in affliction? Why does God put affliction on us in the first place? We know that it is for our benefit that we are afflicted, so that we may learn from it and grow. At the same time, we know that not all affliction is from God and we should not choose to stay in affliction but find a way out of it. Going through affliction will also help you to see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in your life. So be patient until God provides you a way out of your affliction. Discern wisely and act on it. But in the process do not say that life is unfair to you. You do not know what others are going through.

Faithful in prayer. Prayer is what connects us to God. Prayer is what helps us tap into the unseen power of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is what keeps us intact. Without prayer, we feel hopeless, impatient and hungry for the world. Prayer brings us back to our senses, brings us back to Jesus. Prayer brings new perspective for us. Prayer helps us fix our eyes on Jesus.

It hit me that all these three – being joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer – are ways of overcoming the world, especially the unfairness of the world. "I have overcome the world," says our Lord Jesus Christ. In the end, we will still see Jesus. Amen.

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!