Sundays tend to be special. For some of us, we spend the beginning of the day in church. The combination of Worship, the Word, Fellowship and the Presence of God refreshes one in ways that cannot be summed up in words. We leave church feeling – Inspired. At Peace. Full of Faith. 

Then real life hits. Outside the four walls of church, we are now faced with the test of putting all we have learnt in church into practice. 

In my years as a Christian, I have found that it is so much easier to be energised and motivated by the Word than it is to actually live it out. It is no wonder that James cautions us to not only be hearers of the Word but doers as well – lest we fool ourselves. (James 1:22).

For me, that practically looks like remembering teachings on love and living out the characteristics of love as outlined in 1 Corinthians 13 at all times. This is especially key during moments where I may feel justified in acting otherwise. 

I must live out the fruits of the spirit and not just know them as head knowledge. I must be self-controlled when I want to have the last word. I must be patient when I feel things are not going according to my timelines. I must be joyful when the circumstances of life attempt to leave me depleted. 

The list goes on.  

Living according to God’s standard can seem overwhelming at times. But it is encouraging to know that God works in us and gives us the desire and power to do what pleases Him (Philippians 2:13). We are never in it alone. His grace is always sufficient for us and so we can boast in our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

As children of God redeemed by Christ’s death and resurrection, the Holy Sprit lives in us and empowers us to live according to the Word of God daily. We are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). Standing firm on these truths will help us to overcome during times when our flesh seems to be getting the better side of us. 

What I have learnt as well is that the more we feed on the Word of God during the week, the better equipped we are to follow Sunday teachings. Our consumption of the Word of God should never just be limited to Sundays (Joshua 1:8). In our daily communion with God, He builds us up and conforms us into the image of Christ which strengthens us for our daily tests.

The real test comes after the lesson. How many of us pass the test?

May we never just be Sunday Christians. May our lives always overflow with the fruit of all we learn on Sundays and beyond. 

Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice.” (Luke 11:28 NLT)

An account in the Bible I frequently think about is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Daniel 3). This story has been very popular since my Sunday school days, but as I grow older, I get more and more insight from it. One thing that always stands out to me is the audacious nature of those three Hebrew young men. It can be so easy to focus solely on how the story ended, but the journey to the end matters a lot to me.

These were 3 Godfearing young men who were bold enough to stand up for their faith despite a decree from the King to do otherwise. They knew the potential consequences of disobeying the order of the King to bow down to his man-made god. They knew they faced death but still decided not to foresake their conviction. These men believed in the power of God to save them from the blazing furnace, yet they still declared that “even if He doesn’t”, they will not bow down to the idol.

Recently, I have been thinking so much about how I want to have this same “even if He doesn’t” posture always. May I have the faith to believe that nothing is too hard for my God, and that He is capable of all things. However, may I be able to settle within myself that “even if He doesn’t” do all the things I want Him to do, I will never turn my back on Him. I do believe that arriving at this point does not happen overnight. It is certainly a process but I am confident that once I continue to grow in intimacy with God, I will be able to make and stand by such a declaration – with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Maturing in God continues to change my perspective and makes me realise that even though there are many desirable gifts I can get from Him, He is the Ultimate Gift. When all is lost, I still have GOD.

This is not to say that there are never disappointments when I desire a certain outcome and I do not get it. Being human, it is normal to be discouraged sometimes. These emotions certainly come. However, it is my response that matters. I desire to be able to stand up in faith and still trust in God’s ability even when things don’t go my way. I desire to trust in His wisdom because His thoughts are not my thoughts. I will choose to believe that everything is working for my good, no matter how things look. I will choose to dwell on the fact that He is always faithful.

“Even if He doesn’t”, I will still trust Him.

Genesis 15:1- “…I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward”.

We all have questions. Questions that plague our minds about faith, life and everything in between.

Personally, I have always been someone who seeks answers. I like to know the ‘why’ behind things I stand for. I try to gain as much of an understanding as I possibly can. This gives me true confidence that I truly believe in what I claim to believe – and not just because I have been told to believe. 

From as young as I can remember, I have had a strong conviction about God (mainly influenced by my upbringing). Deep down, He has always been real to me. But being human, I always wondered why certain things are the way they are and have had questions about things in the Bible that I hadn’t fully grasped.

I think of my 16 year old self, who deep down believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ but didn’t have enough of a revelation on it to properly explain why to someone else. I remember a conversation I had with some people I met at an event. In the course of our conversation, faith came up and they shared different beliefs from mine. They were much older and way more informed than I was and started asking me questions and raising some points that I was completely clueless about. It was a respectful chat but I honestly felt quite discouraged after it because I felt l could not even justify what I truly believed in. 

Along my journey with Christ, I can truly say that I have gained a greater understanding of certain issues I have wondered about in the past. I have learnt that God is not put off by my questions, rather He welcomes them. Every day is honestly a learning adventure with God. There are things the Holy Spirit is constantly teaching & revealing to me. I have also accepted that there are some questions I will never get answers to on this side of eternity. Regardless, I am discovering so much each day and the more I get to know God, the more He settles my heart, soul & mind.

As I have sought to grow in my faith, I have realised that beyond the genuine experience I have had with Jesus through my understanding of the gospel, there is actually compelling historical evidence that backs faith. Evidence of the life, death & resurrection of Jesus Christ that can be offered in defence of the faith. But above all that, I believe God Himself does the final work of consolidating all the evidential stuff by revealing Himself to one through His inspired Word – the Bible

With God, once you humble yourself & open up your heart, there is a lot to discover. 

Thinking back to that conversation I had when I was 16, I would have had a lot more to say if I had it today which makes me thankful to God for my growth. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have” which signals the fact that true understanding of the faith is key.

All this doesn’t mean that I have it all together. I am still growing in my faith daily. But since I know my ‘why’ and what my foundation is built on (the person of Christ), nothing can sway me. I believe that in seeking truth, I must seek Jesus because He is The Truth. (John 14:6). 

Jeremiah 29:13- “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”.

These are a few recommendations of resources I have used that have helped me to understand my faith better (besides the Bible)

Book:

• The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

YouTube:

• Apologetics with Preston Perry

Alpha Course by Nicky Gumbel 

In a world where there are different ‘levels’ of sin, it is very easy to get puffed up and self-righteous without even realising it. Somehow, that little lie is alright because after all, it is just a ‘white lie’. Overeating is fine and laughed about but is that not gluttony? The list could go on and on. 

Following the standards of this world easily leave one deceived. Yet sometimes, even Christians get it wrong because it is easy to overlook certain sins while pointing the finger at others. Yes, sins have different consequences but at the end of the day, sin is sin and we have all been guilty of it in one way or the other. The Greek verb for sin used in the New Testament (hamartano) is directly translated as ‘to miss the mark’. We have all missed the mark.

No matter how great one may seem, we have all fallen short. We are all like sheep that have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). Nobody is good but God (Luke 18:19). Realising this has helped me to truly appreciate the gospel of Jesus Christ. I needed a saviour and I am so thankful each day that Jesus died for me to pay the price for my sins. As a result of Jesus’ death & resurrection alone, I have been forgiven and reconciled to the Father. Nothing beats this kind of love. Reminding myself of this daily prevents me from living a fear based Christianity (1 John 4:18). 

My desire to act right flows out of the fact that I have been justified and saved by God. My love for God compels me to keep His commandments (John 14:15). But no amount of ‘good works/behaviour’ could have ever saved me because I am imperfect and can never obey God’s entire law. Jesus was the only spotless lamb.

In no way am I overlooking sin but I am just encouraging heart checks. None of us are perfect so we should always extend grace to other people. I am always surprised by the ‘cancel culture’ wave I see on social media these days. Yes, correction is necessary but in my opinion, the measure used can be unbalanced a lot of the time. A verse I like says ‘If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall’ (1 Corinthians 10:12). I really love the bible because it keeps me in check always.

 “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23 NLT)

 

‘I will put my trust in you alone and I will not be shaken’. This is part of the bridge of a worship song I really love (Build My life by Housefires). I always sing this part of the song with so much passion. However, while it is easy to sing and talk about trusting God, trusting Him in reality is a different ball game altogether.

It took a couple of rough situations to show me that although I say I trust God always and in all things, my actions prove otherwise when the going gets tough sometimes.

What I realised is that my trust is largely centred in myself and my abilities – I am my unreliable trust source. I rely on myself more times than I do on God. When I feel like I have the strength to push through stuff, then I’m great and very motivated but when my strength fails me due to my own human limitations, I don’t always trust that God’s strength is what I need to sustain me and keep me going. This results in me living in cycles of fear and overthinking my life.

‘My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever’ – Psalm 73:26. This is a verse I know and love but somehow, I don’t always apply it when I need it the most.

It is not enough to trust God in some things, I must trust Him wholeheartedly and in all things. I need to put my trust in the solid rock that is Christ. Everything else is sinking sand (Matthew 7:24-27). Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Though my life circumstances may change, His word remains the same and stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). His word is not subject to how I may be feeling at a particular moment. His word is always true – not only when my mind says so. So I must choose to believe it and agree with what God says about me.

‘When I try, I fail. When I trust, He succeeds’.

– Corrie ten Boom

Trusting in God means I will spend less time doubting myself because its only His voice that matters. Trusting in Him means that I will still hold onto His word even when life doesn’t seem to make sense. ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding’ (Proverbs 3:5).

 ‘It’s not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts’.

  – Corrie ten Boom

Psalm 20:7 – ‘Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of our Lord’.

(Written 2 years ago)

My faith journey has been an interesting one – filled with ups & downs and lows & highs. As I write this, I am at a point where I can confidently and genuinely say I love Jesus and that I am totally devoted to following Him. It was definitely not a very smooth journey getting to this point but with full conviction, I will say it is the most fulfilling thing one can ever do with his/her life. Giving my life to Jesus has honestly been the best decision of my life and this may seem like a cliché because it is a statement that a lot of Believers tend to say, but it’s something you’ll never understand until you actually experience it.

I’ve always been someone who introspects and does a lot of self-evaluation. A week before my 18^th birthday, I sat down one evening and decided to examine my life. What pushed me to do this was the fact that I knew I was becoming an ‘adult’ and starting university in a few months, hence I wanted to be sure I was making the right decisions and if I wasn’t, I wanted to make changes. There were little issues here and there but the one thing that stood out to me was my Christian walk. After deeply thinking about it, I realised that I did not truly understand what it meant to have a relationship with Christ. I did read my bible, pray sometimes and tried to ‘act right’ but I did all of these as religious duties most of the time. It was more of ‘I have to read my bible’ as opposed to ‘I have to read my bible and I should read it to spend time with God’. Yes, I did pray, but I rarely ever poured my heart out to God. It was more of repetitive prayers most of the time. My prayer life was only great during very difficult seasons of my life where I needed the hand of God to move, and after God came through, my fickle self would go back to my old prayer habits. With these examples amongst others, I knew I wanted to make a change and re-dedicated my life to Christ.

From then till parts of my 2^nd year in university, my relationship with God was quite shaky and not how I wanted it to be. I would go to church, listen to gospel music, watch sermons etc but spending time with God alone (praying and in the Word) was something I struggled to do wholeheartedly. On some days I would go like, ‘God I honestly do not know what to talk about today’ (after thanking Him for everything and asking for protection etc.) or I would just skim through my bible to get it out of the way and go about my business. I was going through some hard times and was concentrating more on fixing the issues myself instead of relying on God completely. I got really frustrated at certain points because I felt like my relationship with God was going nowhere despite my ‘efforts’ to make it ‘better’. Some days, I would promise God that I will spend more time with Him and then I would end up going back on my word. This would leave me so angry at myself and one day, I remember saying to God, ‘I cannot do this anymore, I’m just going to keep disappointing you’. I still went to church, watched sermons, read my bible and the likes but deep down I wasn’t fulfilled. I felt so directionless and lost but I didn’t know how to make things right because each time I tried, I failed in one way or the other.

‘The Christian message is for those who have done their best and failed’.

This quote speaks volumes for me because I resonate with it so much. This was honestly me until I saw the light.

My turning point was when I reached a point where I felt defeated in life. I was tired of the inconsistencies; my soul was yearning for God and I was just so sad within me. I cried out to God to ask for forgiveness and another chance to ‘make things right’. And this is when the Holy Spirit convicted me, I felt Him say to me in my heart – ‘The issue with you is, you think you can do it all on your own. You can’t make things right with me, it’s my grace that paves the way. You try to do everything in your own strength and ability and then when you get tired/ drained, you don’t understand. Without my strength, you cannot do this walk. You need to stop trusting so much in yourself and trust in me’. I thank God for this conviction and it was honestly a wakeup call. I decided to take a new approach and surrendered my whole heart to God. I honestly admitted that I cannot do this in my own strength and called upon the Holy Spirit to strengthen me. This caused a major shift in my relationship with God. On days where I feel especially drained and like my flesh is getting the better side of me, I cry out to God in faith and ask Him to fill me up and for His power to be made perfect in my weakness.

From merely being a duty, reading my bible and spending time with God has become a desire. It is also a necessity which means that I don’t just rely on my feelings to determine whether or not I spend time with Him – discipline is needed too (still working on this daily). I still put in the effort I need to put in but rely on His strength to keep me going.

God is my Father and best friend and number 1 in life. I have learnt that He is enough to complete me and fill any voids I have in my life. I have grown so much in faith from spending time in the Word and speaking to God daily and throughout my day.

Clinging onto God has shown me how imperfect I am as a person and how much I need Him. He is consistently convicting me on areas in my life that need to improve and in return, I surrender those areas to Him and trust that He will transform them once I stay in tune with His word. God has changed my outlook on life and fills me with so much joy and peace. Difficult seasons will not discourage me about who my God is because I know He is always with me – even when I may not feel it.

Yes, I make mistakes and there are days where I do not die to my flesh like I should but He is always faithful and just to forgive me when I cry out to Him. It’s difficult for me to forgive myself sometimes when I fail God but as C.S Lewis once said, ‘If God forgives us, we must forgive ourselves otherwise it’s like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than Him’ and this is so true. Something God is still eradicating from my life is the view that I can be perfect. I will make mistakes sometimes and I need to be humble enough to let go of the guilt. ‘For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death’. This verse from 2 Corinthians 7:10 is one I meditate on anytime I am being too hard on myself, and the fact that, ‘There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1).

God is amazing and so merciful and I have honestly never been filled with so much joy in life. Once you fully let Him into your heart, its unthinkable the things He will do. He is transforming my life every day and shaping me to be more like Him. Yes, you will still face doubts sometimes, you will still have some sinful urges but it’s a daily choice you have to die to your flesh and let the Holy Spirit fill you up and strengthen you. Trying to do this journey on your own is impossible. If it wasn’t, Christ wouldn’t have had to die. My sole aim at this point is to fall more and more in love with Jesus each day and live a life of purpose that glorifies His name.

Philippians 2:13 – ‘For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose’.