And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
The sermon by Dr. Brian Stiller today had given me a refreshed understanding on this verse. I’ve always had this concept: in order to please God, we should always do this and do that, and it always involves seeking God’s will and taking actions. I almost missed the point that God will also be pleased with us by having faith in Him. However, I found it hard to understand in the first place, but Dr. Stiller had illustrated this point clearly with an example – when Dr. Stiller was having fun with his grandson by throwing him up in the air and catching him when he fell down, he had such a great joy in his heart by seeing that his grandson had faith in him that he would catch him safely! The little baby trusted him totally, without any worries, and was having lots of fun! In the same way, it reminds me that God would be pleased with us if we put our trust and faith in Him, because He cares so much about us and wants us to be able to count on Him, and have “fun” (or joy) in our lives instead of putting all the burden and worries on our own shoulders.
However, how can I have faith in God? It is something easier to say than put into practice. Well, here is another evidence of God’s great timing – it just happened that our fellowship had group devotion on Psalms 42 last Friday, and I had deep thoughts on verses 5 and 11. Repeatedly, it says:
~Hebrew 11:6~
The sermon by Dr. Brian Stiller today had given me a refreshed understanding on this verse. I’ve always had this concept: in order to please God, we should always do this and do that, and it always involves seeking God’s will and taking actions. I almost missed the point that God will also be pleased with us by having faith in Him. However, I found it hard to understand in the first place, but Dr. Stiller had illustrated this point clearly with an example – when Dr. Stiller was having fun with his grandson by throwing him up in the air and catching him when he fell down, he had such a great joy in his heart by seeing that his grandson had faith in him that he would catch him safely! The little baby trusted him totally, without any worries, and was having lots of fun! In the same way, it reminds me that God would be pleased with us if we put our trust and faith in Him, because He cares so much about us and wants us to be able to count on Him, and have “fun” (or joy) in our lives instead of putting all the burden and worries on our own shoulders.
However, how can I have faith in God? It is something easier to say than put into practice. Well, here is another evidence of God’s great timing – it just happened that our fellowship had group devotion on Psalms 42 last Friday, and I had deep thoughts on verses 5 and 11. Repeatedly, it says:
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
~Psalms 42: 5 &11~
I think... if I can still find strength to praise God during hardships, my worries will no longer occupy my heart, as it will be filled with peace! By focusing more on the greatness of our Lord and less on my own problems, I would still be able to praise God even in downfalls, and I would have less of worries, because in some ways, I believe that God’s grace is sufficient to carry me through. I think today’s sermon has given me a very good reminder and conclusion to my thoughts on Psalms 42. To please God (one of our life goals as a Christian), I should first learn to put my trust in Him more, and the end results would be:
1. more joy and less worries within my heart, and
2. God becomes more pleased!
May this reminder continues to keep me from relying on my own strength and learn to rely more on God!
May this reminder continues to keep me from relying on my own strength and learn to rely more on God!
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