Saturday, November 30, 2013

Do you still believe in Jesus when things are going against you?

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, " This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." Then He brought him outside and said, " Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, " So shall your descendants be." And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. - Genesis 15:4-6

The scriptures tell us that Abram believed in the story of the Messiah and God accounted him for righteousness. In present context, when we believe in Jesus and His redemptive work at the cross, we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. It is the work of Jesus at the cross which fully qualified and justified us before God. It is His precious blood that keeps on cleansing us and by His strip, we are healed and made whole.

In the natural, Abram was old and quite advance in age when God told him he would have an heir through Sarai. In spite of the fact he was childless and Sarai was barren, he believed God.

The three friends of Daniel didn't want to bow down to king Nebuchadnezzar and steadfastly believed in the almighty God whom would save them even if they were to be thrown in to the fiery furnace. After the three friends were thrown into the fiery furnace, the fourth Man appeared and rescued them from the fiery furnace. They were completely saved and were subsequently promoted by the very king who wanted to kill them!

The bible tells us that Joseph had two dreams and that in one of two dreams he was promoted above all this brothers. The brothers were jealous and plotted to kill him but eventually sold him as slave to an Egyptian captain. Even when Joseph was thrown into the dungeon because he rejected the advances of Potiphar's wife, he didn't stop believing God and after two years in the dungeon, Joseph was promoted to be the second man in command after Pharaoh.

When the children of Israel followed the lead of Moses to go out of Egypt, they were met with the Red Sea in front of them and the furious charge of the Egyptian army hot on their heels. At that very moment, they thought they would die and cried out to Moses why he had brought them out to die. In spite of their murmuring, God opened the Red Sea for them to cross and drown the very Egyptian army that were pursuing them!

When things seem to be going in the exact direction that we envision them to be, do we still believe in Jesus and His finished work at the cross and boldly declare we are the righteousness of God in Christ? When you are in the middle of fiery trial, do you still believe Jesus has a great plan for you and He will deliver you out this predicament? When your life seems to fall apart, do you still put your trust in God whom so loved us in the first place?

What if the the fiery trial is a dreaded disease? What if the challenge is a mountain of debt? What if the persecution comes from a love one in family? What if the devastating hit is the lost of a child? Do we still dare believe in God? Can we still trust God?

The answer is YES! The bible tells us in the book of Jeremiah that God only has good thoughts toward us and He has a master plan to do us good! So, in spite of all the negative circumstances surrounding us, we can still, by faith, believe in the loving God. We can look forward to a future full of hope and light for Jesus is in control and He will turn all things around for our good.

Don't lose hope in God. Keep believing God and declaring victory in our lives for Jesus has already given us the victory at the cross! Hallelujah!