Frog in the well

Frog in the well

This Friday, at FGB Jaya One, we were privileged to hear the sharing of brother Goh, a missionary to Hong Kong and China who had a very powerful testimony.

In starting of his sharing, brother Goh pointed our attention to 3 main lessons that was in his heart at the start of this new year of 2011.

The first lesson is in regard to 2011 itself. Looking at the two 1’s next to each other, it is like looking at two perfectly straight lines. God is the first 1, upright, steadfast, perfect in all His ways. We are the second 1, destined to be upright, steadfast and perfect like God, if we walk in His ways. However, quite often, we may think we are straight when we are not. Brother Goh was reminded of his classmate who tried to draw a straight line using her second finger. It may look straight, but then it is not, and one definitely can’t draw a straight line along a finger. Sometimes, we too may be like that, thinking we are straight on our own. However, compared to our perfect and Holy God, we really fall short. If we think too highly of ourselves and our nose is high in the air thinking we are good enough on our own, we are crooked. At the same time, if we think so poorly of ourselves and give up hope because of our imperfections, always looking down, we also cannot be straight. However if we stand up straight and look intently into the face of our Lord Jesus, we become more and more holy and perfect and upright, like Him.

The second lesson is the frog in the well. It is safe in the well, comfortable and secure, and the frog still can see the sky. However, its vision of the sky is small. It can only see as much as the size of the well’s opening. On the other hand, if the frog comes out of the well, it is much more dangerous but wow, it can now see the whole wide beautiful sky. How big is the God that we see? If we stay in our own little world, we can only see a small portion of God, but if we step out, we will see the glory of God. A promising new Asian graduate of a Bible School was quickly offered a post at several churches in America, with guaranteed income, housing, education for his children, and a car and he asked the advise of a matured Pastor. The Pastor advised him “If you stay here, you will be well cared for and comfortable but if you go back to Asia, you will see the glory of God.

The third lesson is that God is interested in yeast, in things that are small. Many of us are not big, but small, like yeast. Our faith may be small, our Bible Knowledge may be weak, but we just need to give what we have to God, and like yeast worked with dough, He can cause to us really grow and multiply incredibly, much more than we could ever hope for or imagine. Jesus also used the metaphor of the corn of wheat. Unless the corn falls to the ground and dies, it is alone, but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. God doesn’t want us to remain small. His desire is for us to increase, to multiply and bear much fruit. The graveyard is said to be the saddest place in all the earth because in it lies so many people who have died without fulfilling their potential in life. However, if we die to our fears, and die to our selfishness, but surrender our lives to the Lord as living sacrifices, there is no telling how much we will grow and see God’s glory in our lives magnified.

Brother Goh then shared his story. Growing up as a farmer boy, he lived as a temple where his parents were mediums and there was a distinct lack of love in the family. A kind teacher shared Jesus’ love with him, and drew his heart. Brother Goh became a Christian to much objection from his parents, but from then on he always had a desire to share Jesus with others, and especially a heart for China. As a young boy he read about how Christians were persecuted in China and how pastors had left Hong Kong and he often prayed for China.

After furthering his studies and working, there was a period of time when brother Goh started to feel the call again to China. A company in Hong Kong offered him a job about that time, further confirming his call towards China. In particular, there was a mission conference that greatly impacted him. The speaker was Hudson Taylor’s great grandson and his main theme was “Yellow skinned people, where are you?” As white men, Hudson Taylor’s family had for generations poured out their lives for China, even dying for them. His call was for Chinese to go back to their forefathers and preach the gospel that would save them. “Your forefathers need you” he said. Chinese are well known for their selfishness but when we receive the Lord, that has to change. Love is about giving rather than getting. Love has to be given out.

Following his calling, brother Goh left for Hong Kong and did not know where to start, but God led him to be an interpreter for an elderly missionary couple. Now, this old missionary’s father had once served in a village where there was a cruel practice of blinding baby girls and abandoning them somewhere so they would never be ever to return home as only boys were wanted. One day, this missionary found a blind baby girl at his doorstep, and he took her in and cared for her. Sure enough, they started finding many blind baby girls at their doorstep, and soon they were running an orphanage. At the place now, brother Goh was amazed to see that these young girls had now become old blind women who were nevertheless filled with joy and thankfulness to the missionary’s family and they could read the Braille Bible and some could sing. Working as an interpreter, brother Goh was touched to really saw how much this elderly White couple loved the Chinese. One seed had indeed touched so many lives. Brother Goh was also amazed at the simple food, and humble living conditions of this old missionary couple. They even ate beetles and snakes.

Jesus continues to call “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray for God to send forth more laborers” The work of a laborer is not easy, and that’s why there are few. In the harvest field, the most important thing is feeling or compassion for others. We need feelings. The most difficult offering is said to be compassion, to really feel love for the Chinese, for the beggar, for the sick. Jesus saw others with compassion, and we too must learn to see with the eyes of Jesus.

There was a particular lady in brother Goh’s church which was a simply amazing witness. She could not read the Bible, but single-handedly through  prayer brought her whole family to church. In fact, one third of the church is made up of her family. Her husband, a very angry man used to beat her and desiring for him to be saved, she prayed for him to have a toothache that couldn’t be cured. In despair after all doctors and dentists he went to couldn’t help him, he finally agreed to let his wife take him to church to seek help. In church, he was completely healed, became a Christian, and the change in him was an astonishing testimony to his other family members and led to a revival in his family where most came to the Lord and are now going to the church.

In another testimony, brother Goh shared about how an angry young man who could not go to university because of lack of funds, came to see at the door of one of his meetings. A sister was given a vision of a bowl of noodles, and quickly preparing that brother Goh fed him. He had not eaten for 3 days, and nourished, he accepted the Lord. Soon, brother Goh was led to set up a booth for him providing phone call services and internet connection and from that booth, they brought others to Christ and started a church right there.

In conclusion, brother Goh exhorted us to be like him, a frog in the well who came out and saw the glory of God, a little yeast who surrendered himself to God and saw miracles happen.

May the Lord bless the ministry of brother Goh exceedingly with much fruit and purpose, and may we too, though we are small as yeast, allow God to work in our lives and bring us to bear much fruit for His glory. In Jesus name, Amen. 

Look unto the cross

Look unto the cross

Scripture:- Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Isaiah 45:22-23

Observation:- In this gracious passage of Isaiah, we see God calling to all men to the ends of the earth, Look unto me, and be saved. The image that quickly comes to mind is Jesus declaring “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man lifted up that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:14. Wherever we see a cross in a church throughout the land, it is a symbol to all men, look at the cross which is source of salvation for all men. In this world, there are many things that call our attention away – the worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things as Jesus so clearly described in the parable of the seeds. We need to refocus our eyes constantly to come back to Jesus, to come back to the cross, which is the reason for our life, our existence.

God says that his word is gone out from His mouth in righteousness and shall not return. Where there is preaching for the Lord, wherever there is teaching of the Word, wherever there is any sharing led by the Holy Spirit, there is power released through God’s Word. Sometimes, a faithful servant of God may not see results after years of hard work, but we must continue to believe that God is with us, and He will bless our work all in His good time. Our calling is to be faithful. Eventually, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!

Application:- Turn our eyes upon Jesus, look unto God and do not be distracted by the things of the world. The world and its desires will pass away but the man who does God’s will lives forever, as said in James! Teach, preach, share, believing that the Word of God in us goes forth in power.

Prayer:- Lord, we praise You for Your wonderful works. Indeed, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that You are Lord. Let our eyes always be upon you and let us always consider you in all that we do. Strengthen us that we may serve You and let Your Word speak through us to bless others. In Jesus name, Amen.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Jeroboam: Expediency or principles

Jeroboam: Expediency or principles

This Sunday, I was privileged to listen to a message by Pastor Lim on the life of King Jeroboam, the first king of Israel in the Divided Kingdom. Jeroboam is first seen in the days of King Solomon, in a time when God raised up adversaries against him and did not let him reign in peace any longer because he had become idolatrous and unfaithful to the Lord on account of his many wives. In the north and south, there was the threat of Hadad the Edomite, and Rezon of Damascus, and from within there was this threat from Jeroboam, who had rebelled against the king,

Now Jeroboam was found to be a mighty man of valor, and industrious in the service of King Solomon, so the king promoted him to become ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. This made sense because he was from Ephraim, and the people of Joseph would be likely to accept him. However, a prophecy came to Jeroboam from the prophet Ahijah who foretold that God would give 10 tribes of the Kingdom of Israel to him, and promised him that if he would obey God’s statutes and commands and do what was right in his sight, he would have a lasting kingdom, like that of King David. Thus, if Rehoboam son of Solomon was seen to be born with a silver spoon, Jeroboam was seen to have been handed the kingdom on a silver platter.

Regarding the promise of God to Jeroboam, we need to first realize that it was conditional. If Jeroboam were to walk uprightly before God and follow God’s ways, he would be greatly blessed. A lot of promises in the Bible are conditional. For example, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well”. We will receive all that we need and more but the condition is that we must first seek God’s righteousness. Similarly, Jesus told His disciples “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, whatever you ask for will be given you.” The condition is to remain in Jesus and let His words remain in us. The result is that whatever we ask for in prayer will be answered. If our mind is focused and committed on God’s will, whatever we ask for will be in accordance to God’s will, and God will always answer Yes and Amen for His will to be crystallized.

Some people may misinterpret that God’s blessing is always conditional, and based on our works. The point here is not about earning a right to blessing. The point is about faith and faithfulness. Faith in believing that what God says will come to pass and faithfulness in seeking to follow God and His ways according to our faith. A common finding among new and older Christians is that when a Christian is young, quite often he finds God answering his prayers always easily, almost effortlessly, but when a Christian grows more mature, sometimes the answers come more slowly and that is because God wants us to become more mature and patient as we grow up in Him.

So Jeroboam had indeed a very bright future to look forward to. All he had to do was to be committed and faithful o God. Unfortunately, he did not, and was cursed instead of blessed.

As to the actual event where he became king, it came about as a result of King Rehoboam’s foolishness, who did not appreciate the conscripted labor of the Israelites from the 10 tribes that had so painstakingly fueled King Solomon’s constructions, but actually suggested he would more vicious than his father. Jeroboam as chief of the conscripted labor quite naturally was seen as the natural leader by the disillusioned Israelites. Looking at the history of Israel and Judah, we can see that there was always a growing conflict between the North and the South. It may not have been spoken out loud, but it was there. All this while, the kings, Saul, David and Solomon had always been from the South, and not surprisingly most of the development all happened in the South, near Jerusalem. This is strangely similar to the concept in East Malaysia and Peninsular Malaysia where East Malaysia provides great oil income to Malaysia, but watches most of the development  take place in Peninsular and in particular, the Klang Valley. Hence, it did not really take much for the Israelites to rebel against their brothers.

Now once he obtained power, King Jeroboam quickly took a human political view of things and did what was expedient or convenient rather than what was right. Now in those days, as is now, politics and religion were greatly intermixed, and King Jeroboam quite logically feared that if Jerusalem remained the centre of worship for the people of Israel, they would eventually see him as an imposter and Rehoboam as the true king. Therefore he took matters into his own hands to build his own

Listening to very unwise counsel, King Jeroboam set out to establish a new centre of worship in Israel by building two golden calves. These calves are reminiscent of the abomination built by Aaron and the people during the time of Moses. Perhaps also, Jeroboam was inspired by the Egyptian practices when he fled from King Solomon to Egypt. And so the people abandoned the true worship of God in Jerusalem and settled for detestable objects of worship that were clearly against God’s law. Jeroboam had set before them a far more convenient way to worship and they would no longer have to travel all the way to Jerusalem to worship God.

For us too, the temptation may come to go for expediency or convenience rather than follow God’s principles. Making things more convenient is not wrong, and is part of progress, but we have to be sure that we do not end up like Jeroboam and choose convenience to the point of forsaking God’s principles altogether.

As a result of his actions, King Jeroboam who had been offered the opportunity for a lasting and blessed kingdom instead became a byword and had his entire line cut off because he turned away from God.

May the Lord help us always be faithful to Him, and not forsake Him for convenience or fear or any reason. In Jesus name, Amen.

Lessons from King Rehoboam

Lessons from King Rehoboam

This Sunday, I was privileged to hear a message from Pastor Nicky on Rehoboam “born with a silver spoon but….”

The story of King Rehoboam was an interesting one. Having the great King David as his grandfather, and the powerful and wise King Solomon as his father, Rehoboam was heir to an amazing legacy and destined for greatness in the annals of the history of Israel. However, right at the start of his reign, King Rehoboam blundered and became instead remembered as the king whose foolish decision caused the division of Israel and Judah into two separate kingdoms. How ironic given he was the son of the wisest king the world had ever seen.

But where was Rehoboam’s mistake? At Shechem all Israel had come to make him king, and they requested of him to lighten their load, for King Solomon had greatly burdened the people by his taxes, and conscription of men to build the temple and the king’s palace. At this point, Rehoboam sent the Israelites away and to return in 3 days to give him time to ponder a correct decision.

And so Rehoboam firstly asked the opinion of the wise men who had advised his father Solomon. They advised him to speak kindly to the people and they would always be his servants. However, this did not appeal to the young king who was seeking to make a name for himself. Instead, he took the poor advice of the young men who grew up with him and offended the people to the point of outright rebellion. Cocky Rehoboam boasted that his little finger was larger than his father’s waist, and that where his father used whips, he would use scorpions, implying he would be far crueler in his rule. Greatly angered, the people of Israel utterly forsook Rehoboam as king, with only Judah left under his rule.

It is important to note that in all this, there is no mention of God at all in all Rehoboam’s conduct. This shows that his heart did not seek God, and he was mainly concerned about his own honor, with no regard for what was right in God’s eyes. He did not have the wisdom to understand that pride goes before one’s downfall, and the importance of humility and discretion in his father’s proverbs. If only Rehoboam and his companions had even read and paid heed to some of King Solomon’s writings, this trouble would not have come upon the young king.

Hence the major lesson for us here is that in all important decisions, it is imperative to consider God, and also to seek godly counsel. As Rehoboam’s father himself wrote “Consider the Lord in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight”.  

Following that, Rehoboam, who still did not fully comprehend what he had done, sent Adoram who was in charge of the forced labor to negotiate with the Israelites, and they stoned him to death. In fear, the weak young king fled to Jerusalem where he raised an army of 180,000 to fight against the Israelites. At this point, God stepped in, sending his prophet Shemaiah to warn them not to fight, saying that the Lord was behind these happenings. To Rehoboam’s credit this time, he obeyed the Word of the Lord, and stopped his attack that was doomed to fail. Sometimes, when we have made a mistake, we may be tempted to overcompensate and be too desperate to recover what we have lost. In our haste and impatience, we may actually lose far, far more. Sometimes, we must realize that it is better to cut losses, consolidate, and do the best with what we have left.

Thus Rehoboam acted wisely in strengthening the cities of Judah, fortified the strongholds, and ensured sufficient supplies and weapons were in place. His rival King Jeroboam of Israel established a new system of worship for fear of the people turning back to Rehoboam, so all the true priests and worshippers of God came to Rehoboam and for three years, Judah became very strong because Rehoboam followed the ways of David and Solomon in following God. Here Rehoboam also wisely dispersed his children throughout the land and made sure they had abundance, to ensure no fighting within his large family when he had gone. Hence we see that strength and wisdom comes when God is glorified.

However, after he became strong, Rehoboam forgot the Lord, and as a result, Egypt came against Judah and subjugated it. Even at this time when Rehoboam and the princes humbled themselves before God, He spared them, and Jerusalem was not destroyed, and there was some good in Judah. Again, we see the mercy of God who accepts those who repent and turn back to Him.

All in all, looking at Rehoboam’s overall life, we see a man who started out with great promise, who through pride made a terrible mistake and lost most of his kingdom. However, when he turned back to God, God always blessed Him and His land, and in the end, his life was not a total failure in the annals of the kings. For us, the lessons are firstly, to beware of pride, but to keep ourselves humble, secondly, to beware of complacency, and wandering when we think we are strong, and finally, to always be ready to repent and turn back to God when we have turned away, confident in the grace and mercy of a faithful God! May the Lord bless us with wisdom, humility, discernment and courage in all things. In Jesus name, Amen.

A prayer of Hezekiah

A prayer of Hezekiah

Scripture:- And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only. Isaiah 37:15-20

Observation & Application:- The Scripture today is focused on the prayer of Hezekiah, one of the few godly kings of Judah, who in a time of great distress when surrounded by the great armies of Assyria cried out the Lord for help and was miraculously delivered. Studying Hezekiah’s prayer also gives us a pattern of prayer that we too can use to pray to our great Lord.

1. PRAISE

“O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth”

Hezekiah’s prayer starts with praise, It is always good to begin every prayer with praise, acknowledging God for the great and wonderful God He is. We need not pray lengthy and flamboyantly worded prayers, but it is the attitude of our heart that is important at the beginning, with a desire to praise God. “Praise you, Father, for You are so good to Me.” Or “Praise you, Lord, for the wonderful things You have made”. Just pray whatever praise you feel for God in your heart.

2. CAST YOUR CARES ON GOD – TALK TO GOD ABOUT THE SITUATION

“Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries, And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.”

Hezekiah continues, “Oh Lord, please listen to me, look at the problem I have here…..” Peter exhorts all believers “Cast your cares upon the Lord for He cares for you”. Some of us may think, “What is the point of telling God about my problem? He already knows everything” However, there is a release when we talk to God and He is pleased when we pour out our emotions to Him. That is how we cast our cares on Him, by telling God and letting it out. If we just keep everything bottled inside, it will only eat us on the inside. We may pray “Lord, look how my boss is treating me.” “Lord, I’m so frustrated with the children”. Prayer is about honesty, about releasing our feelings, our emotions, our thoughts to God. Sometimes, just by talking about a problem, we can suddenly receive a solution. We need to learn to talk to God more, to thrash out our thoughts and feelings with God. For some of us, writing our feelings down is a very effective way of release while for some, speaking it out finds more relief. The main principle is coming to God and just talking to Him about what is bothering us.

3. ASK GOD FOR HELP

“Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand…..”

After praising, after talking to God about the problem, Hezekiah asks God for help. As the Psalmist says “God is my refuge and my strength, an ever present help in times of trouble!” God is always there to help when we call out to Him. Sometimes He may not remove us from a problem, but He will give us strength and enable us to overcome all difficulties and come out stronger. God did not spare Joseph from being sold as a slave or thrown into prison, but was with Him all the time and gave him strength. Likewise, David too endured many difficult years but always found strength in the Lord. Indeed, God will save us, all in His good timing for He is mighty to save! Our part is to ask – ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you! Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking, the Lord will surely answer and save in His good time but we must never lose our hope in Him!

4 SEEK GOD’S GLORY

“that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only”

As we close our prayer, it is always good to seek God’s glory. In the Lord’s prayer, we end with “For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, Amen”. All things at the end of the day discover its true meaning in glorifying God so we too, as we walk with Him, should always remember that our purpose is to glorify Him and to pray that He be glorified always in our lives.

Prayer: Lord, praised be Your name forever and ever. We praise You for Your wonderful works, the beauty of Your creation, Your new mercies every morning! Lord, we thank You for watching over us, for understanding our troubles, for being compassionate on our difficulties. Help us O God and deliver us as we walk with You. In all things, May Your name be glorified in us we pray. In Jesus name, Amen.

He came to serve

He came to serve

Recently, I was privileged to hear a message by Pastor Lim on Jesus washing His disciple’s feet. Based on the text of John 13, we see an amazing scene where Jesus Christ, Lord and King, humbled Himself, got down and washed his disciples feet.

In those days, men walked around everywhere in sandals and the feet exposed to the dusty elements became very sandy and dirty. Before a meal, hence, it was common for the lowest servant to come and wash the feet of the guests. However, in this instance, no one had done so, and none of the disciples would have even contemplated doing such a menial and degrading task for the others. Hence, it was a great shock to them when their Master and Lord began doing this for them.

In the eyes of the world, power is seen as being able to lord over others and having the greatest number of people serving you. However, power in the eyes of God has a very different perspective. For us to understand, it is perhaps useful to look at the parent-child perspective. Comparing the parent to the child, the parent has all the power. The parent has more money, more physical strength, more intelligence than their children. They indeed have all the power, but how do they use this power? They use it to serve their children, to give them food to eat and clothes to wear, to provide for them education and entertainment and bring them joy.

It is important to look at the mind of the Lord before He did this act as an example for His disciples. It is first written in vs.1 “when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” Thus one of the reasons Jesus chose to serve His disciples in this way, was to show His great love to them while He still had the opportunity to do so in person. Secondly, it is written in vs.3 “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God” When a person in a high position of leadership is insecure, he tends to view subordinates as threats, and quite often, finds ways to put them down so that he himself continues to look good. However, when the leader is secure in his own mind, knowing his own capability and position, he does not fear serving others. In this case, Jesus knew fully well His position and place in God’s eyes, and therefore it was no shame for Him to stoop down and serve like the lowliest servant. For us, too, if we place our confident and trust in God, and are secure in Him, we will not be afraid to stoop down and serve when we are required to.

Later, Jesus explained to His disciples that they should also likewise wash one another’s feet, just as He washed their feet. The symbolic act was to crystallize in the disciples’ minds that their main roles were as servants, serving each other, and not for self-glorification and gain.

John Maxwell, the great author of leadership gave an illustration of a leader pushing others down compared to a leader lifting others up. The one pushing down would automatically drop lower and lower, while the one lifting up would go higher and higher.

In conclusion, Jesus washing His disciple’s feet has basically a two-fold purpose. The first purpose is to show the extent of His love to them and to us. In dying on the cross for us, He degraded Himself to the maximum extent, so that we might have eternal life in Him. The second purpose was to set an example for us, to serve others, with no service deemed as too lowly for us.

Thank You, Lord, that You loved us and gave yourself for us that we might have life. You endured our shame that we might share in your glory. You were rejected that we might be accepted. O bless You Lord. Teach me to love and serve others as you have loved me and sacrificed yourself for me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Grace, waiting and salvation

Grace, waiting and salvation

Scripture:- O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. Isaiah 33:2

Observation:- In this verse in Isaiah, we see a cry to the Lord from His people. The first thing they ask for is grace. They know they do not deserve the blessing or help of the Lord, because of their sin. We too do not deserve anything from the Lord. As the Psalmist says, there is no one who does good, not even one, all have turned away and have become altogether worthless.

Yet grace is precisely what God gave us. In Amazing Grace, God sacrificed His own perfect, unblemished son that a rebellious people might be redeemed, saved from death to be His own. Many times, we may be tempted to find some security in our works, thinking that we are earning some favor with God. However, God’s grace goes beyond all that, it is poured out on us lavishly, the undeserving. Nothing we could ever do could ever cause us to be worthy of the grace that God has given us. It is His totally unmerited, undeserved favor that He gives us because He is merciful.

Just as we are called to show love because God first loved us, we too are called to show grace because God has been gracious to us. We show grace by forgiving, by being gentle, even with people who do not deserve it from us.

Secondly, the people waited for God. We too sometimes need to wait for God. The waiting is not idle or unproductive. It is a reverent, humble waiting, to seek God’s face, to really seek His favor and His presence. Often the waiting is accompanied by fasting. It is an expectant yet patient waiting, being still and knowing that the Lord is God.

Thirdly, referring to Israel, Isaiah called God to be “their arm every morning”. The arm is the symbol of strength. All parts of the body are important but the arm is most associated with might and power, the main part used to wield the weapon to fight against the enemy. And God is completely faithful every day, every morning. As the Psalmist says “His mercies are new every morning”. As we imagine the sun rising each morning, we must realize it is a symbol of God’s love, God’s mercy on us whom we created. He is indeed our strength and our Helper every morning for all who come humbly to Him and seek His face.

As Isaiah says, He is our salvation in times of trouble. Whenever we face problems, God is the first one that we turn to for help. God is our refuge and our strength, and ever present help in times of trouble.

Application:- Accept thankfully and humbly the amazing grace of God, wait patiently for Him and always depend on Him for our salvation from trouble.

Prayer: Lord, we thank You for Your grace so lavishly poured forth on us who are undeserving. We wait patiently for You. Our eyes are ever upon You to deliver us and save us from trouble. Always be with us, we will depend on You forever. In Jesus name, Amen.