False Evidence Appearing Real: The Professionals Bible

"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD". Psalm 112 ver 7

We are no strangers to bad news. Not one of us. And we are no strangers to fear as well. Fear is the one thing that can undermine our belief and faith in our God. It is well written that fear is the sharpest tool of Satan and which he uses well. When we fear, it is because we see no hope for the future. We depend on man and human power to bail us out. 

If we treat the word FEAR as an acronym, the full form will be "False Evidence Appearing Real". Fear is mostly based on an untruth. The best of sales people use a technique called FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, wherein they sow the seeds of fear and doubt to "help" you make up your mind about buying their product. 

But as a follower of Christ and God, and with the presence of the Holy Spirit in us, we do not need fear. We need to Trust in God and wait patiently for Him. Our wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if we give way to fear when we hear of bad news, we will be unable to meet  trouble with that calm composure which nerves us for duty, and sustains us under adversity. How can we glorify God if we play the coward?

This courage is not impossible and needs to be built up through experiences. When we are in fear, we need to look back on our life and remember all those times that God has pulled out of the deepest mire and set us up on a rock. We need to demonstrate to God that we believe in Him, have faith in Him and that we do not have short memories. We need to depend on Him and not our friends and relatives. 

We need to remember our covenant with God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

Rejection: The Professionals Bible

                                

Predestination” as it is used in the Bible means something different than most of us probably think it means.

For starters, it does not mean that God has already decided what our life is to be, every instance or step, and that we really have no choice in the matter and if we don’t, we have rejected God.

“Predestination” as used in the Bible refers to the individual talents and skills which God gave us as well as his purpose for us in life. In other words, God has a unique mission for everyone in life and he equips us with all of the necessary talents and skills to accomplish that goal.

However, we still have a choice in the matter. Many people choose to be slothful rather than pursuing God's path for them. Many people don’t recognize His will.

Therefore, even though God “predestines” us for a certain mission, it does not interfere with one’s free will to accept or reject that mission.

This is in fact what the parable of the talents is about. Although the word “talents” in the parable is referring to bags of money, ironically it alludes to just what the word sounds like. It is referring to the individual talents and skills which God gave to us, so that we could use them for His purpose.

God may have made us competent to do something for Him, yet we may choose to do something else. He may have given us an opportunity to become someone for Him, yet we may have run away.

Now, what about rejecting God? Well there are multiple instances in the Bible – Moses, Elijah, Jonah, Peter – all in some way showed great reluctance and or fear to do what God was asking them to do. It is human tendency to disregard God’s will. The sad truth is everyone has been been guilty of rejecting God's will. The Lord gave us the ability to think for ourselves, to make our own choices, and to set our own goals in life. Sadly, we often use these blessings to reject God rather than to chose him.

We have chased after other Gods – yes, you and I. We have often given precedence to the God called pleasure, the God called money, the God called sloth and many more. We may have refused to use our qualification or talent god gave us, to do something easier.

We would do well to remember this verse – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

Today let us put our money where our mouth is when we recite “thy will be done”. Let us not be stubborn to force our will over Gods and experience How He will shut all doors till we follow His purpose. Dont wait for Him to reject you. 

Remember Jonah.

Patience: Pastor Rajiv's Message

 

Psalm 14 - Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

It can be tough to wait on the Lord. It is much easier and tempting to find our own solutions for what we need, and then ask God to bless those efforts. Do you think He will? Not a chance! 

Waiting on the Lord means we are waiting on His will and His time. Two components, each as important. God knows, in His infinite wisdom, the right time, place and event which we need to address our problems or needs. Then why should we play God in our lives? 

We may justify to ourselves that if some action is not taken, a mountain of problems will fall on us. You think God doesn't know? He does, and while we wait on Him, he will give us the strength, grace and interim solutions to get through. We need to have that faith and dependence on ONLY God, not on ourselves, or others. 

The Bible is full of countless examples of people who didn't wait on God and took things in their own hands, much to their own loss. Saul, Abraham and Sarah, King David and so on.

So what happens if we don't wait on the Lord? Here I will draw on Chris Rees who says there are three consequences (and this is serious)  : 

Consequence #1: You’re out of God’s will.

Consequence #2: Your blessings are delayed, or even denied.

Consequence #3: We bring pain upon ourselves and others.

My friends, lets not be hasty. As Chris Rees says, God will not honor our impatience. At the same time let us not be slothful, lying back and wait for it to happen. God does direct our interim actions, and we need to follow those directions. Much like when we bake bread, we need to wait for the yeast to take effect, but in the interim we prepare other ingredients in the belief that the yeast will make the dough rise. We prepare the oven, the temperature etc. 

However, we live in a society that wears impatience as a badge of honor. We call it fear of failure. May famous people have called it being " paranoid about success"...But when we apply that paranoia or  impatience to God it can have grave consequences.

Believe this when Chris Rees says , God will not honor our impatience.  

Don’t miss or even delay your blessing because you refuse to wait on God. 

So, Let us end this day on this blessing - 

Ephesians Chapter 3 : verses 20-21. 

20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, a world without end. Amen.  

If you want to  read more on this from Chris Rees, here is the Link