Humbled New Year

 

Wishing everyone a blessed New Year

One more year got past and the last 2 years, will be remembered by this generation in a negative way. Corona virus did much destruction to the world in these years. It affected people, economy and all paths of life. Entire world is trying to stop the virus, but not able to do so.

At this point of time it is necessary to remember the Creator of this world. The Almighty, who created the heavens and earth from nothing, is still there in His majesty. In Psalm 8, the Psalmist details about Him further – “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, what is man that you should be mindful of him? The son of man that you should seek him out?”

God created man to be His friend. But man came down under the trick of evil. Satan made man to sin and because of this sin, his relationship with God was affected. When a person does something against us, it will be difficult for us to forget and forgive. But The Lord, who is Holy, gave man an opportunity to come out of his sins.

For everything to work perfectly there need a law or a set of instructions. If you are an IT programmer, there is a pattern for coding which should be kept to write a clean code. Same way a soccer player should play according to the rules to have a great match. If you are a citizen of a country, you should live and abide the constitution of that country. If you are not obeying the law, you are be punished.

Same way when man sin, God’s punishment for man was death. Since God loved man, He told man to give sacrifice of blood offering to temporarily clean the sin. At the same time He gave a hope for mankind that one day a sacrifice will be offered to permanently redeem man from sin.

For that reason God came to the world as a human and lived a holy life. Jesus went through all the temptations and trials everyone is facing, but he kept himself holy in the sight of God’s law. Finally He was put to death and thus became a once-for-all perfect sacrifice for sin. His blood cleanses all the sins of the world.

The Almighty God came to this evil world, lived a humble life and died for the sins which He did not do (Hebrews 10). Even his birth was so humble that he was born in a manger in Bethlehem. He studied the word, fasted according to the law and mingled with others. He was friend to sinners. He showed himself to the sinners so that they can see his life and change, a pure example of personal evangelism.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, His disciples were anointed with the Spirit of God to take His word to the world. They preached about Jesus and as today, they were persecuted. They never fought back. They humbled themselves ran away and went to other places and still preached about Jesus. Now the world knows Jesus, but it doesn’t know who this Jesus is?

While the world runs after many gods for salvation and peace, it doesn’t know the true God came to this world in search of man to give him salvation and peace. While the world fights among them to keep their gods safe, it doesn’t know the true God came to the world as Jesus Christ and died for mankind to save man from sin. While the world does lots of physical activities to please their god, it don’t know only way to please God is to accept the salvation Jesus gave. While the world persecutes the followers of Jesus, it doesn’t know the followers of Christ are preaching for the world to get saved.

Our sacrifice Jesus Christ humbled Himself to die for our sins (Philippians 2: 6-8), so that we can have our relationship with Almighty God in holiness. As a believer of Jesus God expects us to live in love and walk humbly with God (Micah 6: 8). God wants our mind to be like that of Jesus (Philippians 2: 5).

To be humbled, you need to become a child of God. To be into God’s family, your sins need to be washed away. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can wash your sins away. For that you need to repent your sins before God and accept the salvation Christ gives you (1 John 1: 9). There is nowhere you need to go for doing this. Just be wherever you are, and do it with your mind and heart. You are saved.

Once you are in Jesus, it is your duty to be like Jesus. You have repented your sins, so flee from sins now onwards. You are here to love and have peace. Be humble as Jesus.

Will you face problems after you are into God’s family? Of course yes. Sometimes it will be doubled. But the way you react to the problems will be different from how you used to. You will have to face persecution also. Just remember this; never ever lose faith and hope. Everything that will be happening to your life will be according to God’s plan (Proverbs 19: 21).

What good can come from trouble? First Christians were preaching Jesus in Jerusalem. There they were persecuted. Stephen became the first martyr for Christ. After that a great persecution occurred there. Believers of Jesus got scattered around. Because they got scattered around the world, Jesus was preached wherever they went. So when ever persecution happens to church, it sets on the course to take
gospel to every man and woman in the world. Good came from trouble (Acts 6, 7).

In this New Year we might have to face lots of challenges. Corona virus is not eliminated and world economy is down. But the greatest gift a person can have this year will be salvation. “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” – Psalm 32: 1.  You can use this year to be a blessed year in your life by accepting Jesus and living with God. In your struggles, you will see peace in your heart and you will know God is beside you and He is taking you to something blessed.

May you have a humble heart that of Jesus and let the Spirit of God guides you to be strong this year as you read and meditate His word. Have a Blessed Year.

New Year Blessings

 

Solving Problems

 

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world” – John 16: 33

In this world we face lots of problems; some are a result of our own mistakes, while others are from other sources. In the Old Testament, we see a lady called Hannah in sorrow. She was not having a child and she had to go through embarrassment and shame. But she got an answer to her problem when she submitted it in the hands of God. Same way, when problems come against us we need to take it to the Lord.

At the same time, we need to analyse how this problem came. Problems come to us through different sources.

Result of a Sin

In the book of Genesis we see problems because of the sin of Adam and Eve. God gave them the power to choose to obey and serve Him. Satan influenced them and they sinned against God. This was the beginning of pain, suffering, hardships, disasters and hard work. Curse came upon the earth as a result of sin – Genesis 3

We are given the power to choose to obey God or not to obey Him. When we sin, it is a matter of personal choice and we are personally responsible for our sin (Romans 6: 23).

The way we respond to problems can sometimes create additional problems. A bad attitude or complaining spirit responses to our circumstances. David did adultery and then to cover up that he did murder.

Jesus Christ is the only answer to this problem. You have to come to Him and receive forgiveness through confession and belief. You also need to maintain your relationship to Him as your Lord and Saviour through obedience.

Confession is willing to admit that we are sinners, being sorry for our sins and agreeing that we will stop sinning. It is also an acknowledgement that we want Christ to be the Lord and Master of our lives. While confession, you need to believe that Christ became the covering for our sin (1 Corinthians 15: 17, 21-22). We must show our love to Him by living a life of obedience to Him and His word.

Sometimes we may fall into problems because of our own bad choices

Since we do not have perfect wisdom, we are bound to make mistakes from time to time. Careless or unwise choices can result in problems. We do learn from our mistakes to pay more attentions, to exercise greater care in the choices we make. This is part of our maturing process. 

Another way to solve problem is to keep Bible as your guide and look solutions for the problem. Solutions contrary to scripture must be rejected. As Bible is God’s operation manual for us, we should obey and listen to the work. A wonderful way to check is through Ten Commandments (Exodus 20: 1-7) and the Sermon on the Mount (Mathew 5-7)

You need to check all the commandments, study and meditate upon it to get answers to the problems.

As an example, Mr X’s friend stole a test and gave a copy to Mr X so he would know the answers before he took the test in his class. Now, the result of this action will be the sin will be discovered and everyone will know what they have done, they might even get expelled from the school. When you see the commandments, they have not obeyed the 8^th one – You shall not steal.

Second example is Mr C has been attracted to a married woman he works with, and has been unfaithful to his wife. The problem here is guilt feelings, unhappiness of his wife, unsatisfied family life etc. When you check the commandments, he did not obey 7^th and 10^th one – You shall not commit adultery, and You shall not convent your neighbour’s house, wife, man servant, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

God gave commandments to us because He knew that obeying them would help us to avoid many problems and have happy, fulfilled lives. 

Problems may come as a result of outside influences. These problems we don’t have any control. They are natural disasters. Root cause of these is also because of the result of the sin of Adam and Eve

Another way to problem is the action of other people. There are small and large problems which come our way as a result of decisions or actions of others which are entirely outside of our control.

Sometimes we make choices which we know are good, even though we know they cause problems. In Daniel 3, we see 3 young men who refused to bow down and worship the golden image. In Acts 14: 19 we see Apostle Paul preaching even though he knew it will bring persecution

Dealing with these problems, the only way is Prayer and the guidance of Holy Spirit. Establish a habit of communication often with God. He will either show you the solution so that you understand what you must do, or He will work in circumstances so that the problem is solved in other ways.

Always count on the Holy Spirit to direct your daily path (John 16: 13). He will direct you according to biblical principles. Answered prayers and obedience go hand in hand.

Another way to solve problems is usage of common sense and reason. For most of the ordinary situations of life, common sense and our ability to reason are important problem solving tools. Examples are: studying carefully for exams, resting after working hard, asking forgiveness when we have offended someone, staying away from people who have a bad influence on us, etc.

Always keep your conscience sensitive by paying attention to inner warning voice. Thoughts are the root of spoken words and outward acts. Your thoughts are in your direct control. You can refuse to dwell on thoughts that will lead to trouble (Mathew 5: 21-30) 

Finally we have to understand that Problems can purify us and prove our faith in God. Try to face the trials with joy. It will develop perseverance, which leads to spiritual maturity. (James 1: 2-4, 12-27)

Always keep in mind that God will not allow us to be tested beyond our power to remain firm (1 Corinthians 10: 13). He will give us strength to endure and will provide a way to escape. So if we approach the problems with the right attitude, God will use them for our good, to develop in us the characteristics of Christ.

The presence of evil in the world is the root of our problems. So we can turn our problems into victories by allowing God to work good for us through them, perfecting us into the image of Christ and making us more useful servants of God.