Psalm 139 – Nothing to hide

"There’s no place like home" they say. When you’re at home, you don’t need to act or talk certain way, you can be just who you are and you will still be accepted because it’s your home—your family, where you belong. When I’m at home with my family, I could do certain things that I would not be able to do when I’m with my friends. And that’s because I know that my family knows me very well, I grow up with them, and I AM a PART of them. If our family is that close to us and we can be so real and carefree with them, how do you think we should be when we are with our Creator?

A lot of times, we don’t realize that God is our CREATOR, He designed and created us. He knows us inside out; He knows us better that we know ourselves. And still, we often act like Adam and Eve when they fallen into sin, we like to hide from God, hide behind our rituals, hide behind our worship and not get REAL with Him and let Him DEAL with us. When I read Psalm 139:1-6, I felt foolish when I’m reminded of how I try to cover things in front of God. When I felt ashamed of my sins and try to run away from Him because I felt not worthy and condemned, He still reached out to me and never left me.

Friends, know that once you accepted Him in your heart, He will hold you tight and never leave you. No matter how far you try to hide, no matter how dirty you become to push Him away from you, He will always reach out to you, maybe through a friend, a prayer, a word, a revelation, a memory, God has million ways to call you back but again, it’s always up to us to respond to Him or to keep running away.

Know that when we’re with God, we don’t need to hide anything because he knows what’s in your heart before you said it or even before it is in your heart. He even knows if you’re going to reject Him but still, He loves you the same and He has said it all on the Cross. So, please don’t be foolish by trying to hide from Him J

Putri Dariani

Psalm 138:1-8 – Praising in Times of Trouble

Do you remember when you first got saved? Remember the pure joy and bliss? It was like wearing rose-tinted glasses. You saw the same people and places, but everything was different. Life was good. Everything was celebrated. Then suddenly it came. It was as if somebody smashed your new glasses with a 10 pound hammer. You faced your first adversity. Maybe this was criticism by your parents or teachers. Maybe it was the loss of a job and financial trouble. For me, trouble came in the form of rejection by some of my closest friends. It is as if the happiness and joy flee and are replaced by concern and fear.

David, the psalmist and king, acknowledges troubled times. He dealt with it a good part of his life. From battling Goliath the giant to running away from King Saul’s army, David was well aware that following God can be tough. But he also got to see the hand of God deliver him time and time again. So he learned to give God praise even in the midst of trouble.

We are not immune to trials. In fact, we often have more trouble once we become saved. The reason is that before we were under the dominion of Satan, the ruler of this world. Now we are under the kingdom of God. The devil would like nothing more than to confuse and distract God’s people from fulfilling the purposes in their lives. Although we must be prepared, we don’t have to be worried. God is greater than the enemy, and promises to sustain us. He will stretch out His hand against the anger of our enemies. We can praise him even in the middle of our troubles, knowing that at the other end of our test is a testimony!

Matthew White

Psalm 137:1-9

The psalm spoke about the times the Jews were in captivity in Babylon and the treatment they received there.

As I ponder and reflect of the times then, I began to realize the kind of oppression these people received back then. The last verse talks about infants being taken from their mother, and smashed onto rocks.

It is a cruel world!

However, in times oppression, people return back to God. They lifted up cries and tears, in hope to be comforted by God and God is faithful always.

Yes, God is faithful always… no matter what!

Keith S. Muljadi

Psalm 136:1-26 – His Love Endures Forever

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever" (Psalm 136:1).

Exactly one week from now, it will be Christmas Eve, a time for celebration, family gathering, and gifts and toys. Some people will be hoping to receive a gift they would like. Some may be preparing for the New Year, planning out the year and writing resolutions. And some may look back at 2007 to count their victories and perhaps failures.

In all the planning and holiday activities, let us remember God, draw near, renew our commitment, and lift up our needs and wishes to Him, our loving Father God who provides and gives His blessings generously. And through it all, let us always remember to "Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever" (Psalm 136:26).

Hansel Ong

I am reminded that the Word of God is flawless. Nothing that is written in the Word of God contains any falsehood or error. We serve the God of truth who cannot lie, and thus His Words are full of integrity. Every single teaching is pure, free from the philosophy of men.

Slowly we learn to trust in God. He will become a shield and a place of refuge. During times of oppression, every arrows of the devil will be nullified by the Word, and those restless, will be able to find refuge in Him.

Thus, we ought to take joy, and treasure the Word of God. Always be discerning of the ones that have altered the Word itself.

Let’s go deep and learn straight from His Words!

Keith S. Muljadi

Micah 3:5-12

In the book of Micah, the prophets and leaders were rebuked. What is the reason for that?

"Micah 3:5-7 – This is what the Lord says: As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim ‘peace’, if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him"

Leading people astray is the reason why they received such a rebuke from God. It is their office and their character that have causes people to worship and walk in God the wrong way.

What was to be done? They were to feed the people.

Essentially, reading further, I realized that feeding or proclaiming peace is not to proclaim things that are good to be heard, but it is to feed the people with the truth; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Two things: 1) The choices we make to walk, and the character we have causes others to either be built or fall. 2) The proclamation of peace is really speaking truth to correct and impart something that is of the Word.

It is not a choice whether our lives will impact others. How we will impact people, is the real choice we each have to make. What’s your choice?

Keith S. Muljadi

Jonah 1-2 – In the bottom of the Big Fish’s Belly

Jonah 1:17 -- But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

Picture what it’s really like in there, inside the Big Fish’s belly. The humidity, the total darkness, the terrible heat, the struggle just to breath above the water line, swimming against all the slimiest creatures that the big whale has swallowed, not to mention the rotten smell of dead microorganisms! Eugh! The picture’s quite depressing isn’t it? Even Jonah depicted it as a living hell!!!

Imagine that Jonah has to endure such situation for three days and three nights, all alone, no one to hold on to. He did not know what’s going to happen next, even whether he’s going to come out of the fish alive. In the middle of a deep desperation and struggle, he had no other choice but to cry out to God; the God he has been running away from, the God that at that time- seems so far away.

There are going to be some times in our lives where we hit rock bottom. There are times in our lives, when our world seems so dark, we don’t know what is going to happen next. Our future seems to be nothing but a big blur, the heats of problems keeps pouring down on us, and burying us alive. I often call it, The Bottom of Big Fish’s Belly Experience. This situation’s enough to make us distracted, distressed, restless, worried, and alone (The last one is the most dreadful for us social creatures).

Pay attention to what Jonah did, that catches God’s attention right away! It brings him out of the situation FAST! (Read the whole Jonah 2, Jonah’s prayer was AWESOMELY POWERFUL)!!!

In the end, God heard Jonah’s prayer: "So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto the dry land. A BREAKTHROUGH IS WAITING IN THE END OF THE DARK TUNNEL! Just press on! Don’t give up! J Finally, let you come out of the "Big Fish’s Belly" changed, empowered, and stronger than ever before to do THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD!!!! You might even change a nation, just like Jonah did.

Just never give up. Never.

Joy Holyzia

Proverbs 29:26 – Many seek the ruler's favor; But a man's judgment cometh from the Lord.

Often times, injustice happens in our lives. Many times, we seek to find ‘justice’ with our own understanding and ways.

I remembered the TV show Judge Judy. There is many other TV show Judges that have appeared in our TV screen over the years. The one thing that I always remember is that whenever there are lawsuits between two parties, usually one side wins and the other side is not happy, or the case is dismissed and one party would be happy and the other is not happy or both will be unhappy. However, justice is served – a justice that points one party as right and another as wrong, however, deep inside, one might still be in bondage of hatred and revenge.

As I was reading this, I remembered that the highest of all the judges is God. He is one that is fair and just. Every single one of his decision, makes both side feel at peace, and restored. I remembered when Jesus were with that prostitute that were going to be stoned, and how he handled the situation so well, that those who were condemning and trying to trap Jesus, were rebuked, and the prostitute were given a chance to be restored.

Often times, the justice we seek is impartial and always imperfect. The only perfect judge that would resolve any injustice well is Jesus. Whenever, we are in that state where we felt that injustice were done to us, we need to keep in mind that God will judge equally and justly in due time. All of this, God has done, so that we can do one thing.

So that we can learn and be able to forgive others. The most important for God is to restore us daily, and not let Satan takes away the fullness of life that had been promised to us.

Who do we need to forgive, today?

Keith S. Muljadi

Revelation 3:7-22 – The Key of David

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

'I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. – Rev 3:7-8

These two verses are very powerful. The reference of the key of David was made in Isaiah 22. Christ was reflected to hold that master key that opens the Heavenly door and the door of opportunities in our lives.

How many of us are frustrated because doors are being closed in your face? Things do not seem to go according to the desires of your heart. As a student, you started with the ambition of being an Accounting major, but the door to the Accounting department was shut. You tried to apply for the Finance major, and again, this door was shut. Do not be discouraged, Jesus, who is holy, who is true, has the master key of our lives. When a door shut, Jesus will open a door of opportunities for you.

As a professional or entrepreneur, sometimes we too are faced with closed doors in our careers or businesses. For years, I’ve always wanted to start my own café, but somehow the Lord always shut my café business door. However, I did not give up, I tried the second time, it was shut, the third time, it was shut. Finally, after the last attempt in 2006, I finally figured that this is not the door of opportunity that the Lord wanted me to go through. It was so powerful for me to understand how strong the Lord is in our lives. When he opens the door of opportunity for you, no one can shut it. Not the economy, not the government, not the circumstances of our lives, not our family background. IT IS HUGE!!!!

All we need to do is to keep His word close in our hearts, and walk in Christ glorifying lifestyle, and He will set before you an open door. AMEN.

Irwan Ngadisastra

Psalm 130:1-8 - hope for the hopeless

Psalm 130 is David's testimony of trusting in the Lord - for one who knows that even though he is a sinner, the Lord hears his cry out of the depths and forgive his sin.

On verse 3, David was asking who can stand if God keeps account and treat us according to our sins. We cannot justify ourselves before God nor plead not guilty. If God deals with us in strict justice, we are undone. It is because of His mercy that we are not consumed by His wrath. If God were not forgiving, people could only flee from him in terror. There is forgiveness with him, for this is what we need. He has promised to forgive the sins for those who do repent. Thank God that He is not imputing our sins.

Psalm 32:2 "Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit."

Romans 4:6-8 ^{" 6David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7"Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."}

On later verse, David was asking Israel to put hope in the Lord for with the Lord is unveiling love and with him is full redemption. He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. The same applies to all of us. We are sinful and hopeless people. We need to put our hope in Him. The greatest of all hopes has been fulfilled in Christ.

Lie Tju

Revelation 2:1-17 – What should we do when we lose our “first love”?

Rev. 2:1-17 – (verse 3-5)

 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

As I read Revelation 2:1-17, I need to admit that once again I am being reminded of the importance of “First Love” with God. In my opinion, the first love that we are talking here is the intimacy and the close relationships that we should have with God. Today I would like to discuss a little bit on what we should do if we have lost our first love. From these passages, there are 3 keys that we need to remember when we lost our first love. 1) Remember, 2) Repent and 3) Do the things you do at first.

1. Remember – Our brain is one of the most powerful body parts that are given by God. Human minds brought up new inventions; new ideas and it even stored wonderful memories. With our minds we can decide whether we want to be a successful person or not. When we lose our first love, first we really need to remember what kind of person we are before we met God. How sinful we are and how He has saved us. By doing this, we are reminded how our first love started in the beginning and how good God has been to us.

2. Repent – Secondly we need to TAKE ACTIONS. We need to ask for His forgiveness by leaving our first love in the beginning. WHY? Because God does not like us to leave our first love (v4) even though we do good deeds, persevere, endured hardships and other good work (v2&3).

3. Do the things you do at first – Last but not least is to do what God wants us to do. It is to have that relationships and intimacy with God that we used to have when we fall in love with Him at the very first time. It is not a Hello and Bye relationship, but it is more towards friend, lovers and father and son relationships. According to Matthew Henry’s commentary, we must “endeavor to recover our first zeal, tenderness, and seriousness, and must pray as earnestly, and watch as diligently, as when we first set out in the ways of God.”

Today we are being reminded to introspect ourselves. Have we lost our first love with God? If yes, don’t be CONDEMNED. But do the 3 things above which were taken from verse 5 of this chapter. If we don’t come back to our first love, verse 5b told us that God will remove our lampstand from us. In my opinion if we don’t repent, God will take away His spirit from us. Without His spirit, our lives become meaningless. But if we do it, verse 7 shows us that we will be given the right to eat “the tree of life” which is in the paradise of God. According to John Wesley’s commentary, this implies the living with God eternally. I believe living with Him eternally in this earthly world values more than anything that the world can offer.

Rachmat Hartojo

Psalm 128:1-6 – Blessings of those who fear the Lord 

I used to join a student organization whose motto “Work hard, Play hard”.  Everyone there worked very hard and played even harder. They could endure sleepless nights for a week!

When the world starts the day by working hard, we should start the day by worshipping the Lord with spirit of fear God (v.1). The fear of the Lord means to walk in His ways, knowing there is God in heaven who is watching us.

When the world tries to fill empty hearts by partying and drinking, the Lord has given us the gift to enjoy the good of all our labor (Ecclesiates 3: 13). The bible says, “You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you” (v.2).

Moreover, God’s blessing is not only for one day or two days. When we walk in His ways, there is no expiration date. He says, “.. may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life… may you see your children’s children”(v. 5-6).

Marini Yi

Psalm 127:1-2 – “ Stop worrying, start believing”

“Without the help of the LORD it is useless to build a home or to guard a city. 2It is useless to get up early and stay up late in order to earn a living. God takes care of his own, even while they sleep”

We work hard to build our houses and homes. We make ourselves busy obtaining the things that will provide some kind of protection for our lives. We get up early to go to work, work hard all day and then go to bed at night only to toss and turn until we finally fall asleep from exhaustion. We sometimes even work so hard it hurts us. We are driven to do this because we worry that if do not, then we will be left needy, but this is not true.

When we live in Christ’s presence, our lives are well taken care of.

“God takes care of his own, even while they sleep” – isn’t this wonderful?

Then why is it we are straining in living our lives? How do our lives become so distracted and blurry? Well, somehow we become drawn into a false philosophy of life. We are deceived into believing that life is about material things. When we start focusing on material possession, we loose focus of what is true, and our life become out of balance.

Let’s focus our lives back on God, and BELIEVE that in He is well qualified to take care of our lives. Make a point in your life to stop worrying, stop straining, and start believing that He has what’s best for us

Thea Kamadjaja

3 John 1-15 – Don’t be Evil

I remember in 1986 when there were a couple major scandals involving prominent Christian leaders. America was shocked!  Nobody could believe that Christian leaders were capable of deceiving millions of people in the name of God for personal gain or for engaging in adulterous behavior.  Christians and especially leaders are expected to hold the highest standards of ethical behavior.  We are supposed to be model citizens, neighbors, businessmen, and coworkers. 

Unfortunately, it seems that we are losing our moral authority in the world.  I often hear Christians loosely referenced as “hypocrites” by unbelieving friends.  This should not be.  We need to take a moral stand.  Christian owned businesses need to have the highest ethical standards.  When I worked at MCI WorldCom, the CEO Bernard Ebbers was known as an outspoken Christian and Sunday school teacher.  He led prayer in the board room, yet was found guilty of the largest corporate fraud in U.S. history ($13 billion).  How can this happen?

The search engine giant, Google, has an informal motto – “Don’t be evil”.  This slogan governs everything they do from management decisions to dealing with customers.  It is a constant reminder that values manage each and every decision.  What would happen if we made that our personal motto?  John reminds us to not imitate what is evil but only what is good.  God wants us to draw a very clear distinction.  Good and evil should never be confused.  Today’s good deed does not give us a free pass to commit an evil deed tomorrow.  If God rewards those for doing good, then we need to prove it to the world.

Matthew White

3 John 1-15

“The apostle that Jesus loved” This is what John the son of Zebedee who is one of Jesus’ disciple called himself in the bible. When I was reading 3 John I was reminded I once heard a sermon about John. John is pretty popular and well known for the guy who leaned on Jesus’ chest to ask who will betray Jesus, he also witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain, saw Jairus’ daughter raised from the dead, was with Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane in his final hours, was with Jesus when Jesus was crucified and outran Peter to the tomb of Jesus when Jesus was resurrected. After Jesus resurrected John continued to minister to the people and was eventually banished to the island of Patmos where he eventually wrote the book of Revelation and several other books we have in the bible today. That is a pretty awesome list of experiences right? I suppose sometimes people think Jesus practice favoritism by calling John the apostle he loves and gave him many special experiences and tasks. But upon further studies and from the sermon, John is the one who called himself the apostle Jesus loved. What is John’s message in his epistles? In most of his epistles and the books he wrote, it is always revolving around love. However, the love we know today is not the love John was writing at that time. One of the definitions of love John gave is:

1Jn 4:8 The one who does not love has not known God. For God is love.
1Jn 4:9 In this the love of God was revealed in us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him.
1Jn 4:10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atonement) concerning our sins.
1Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

If you notice on 1 john 4:11, John is encouraging us to believe we are Jesus’ beloved. John called himself beloved because he believed he is loved by God. Sometimes we fear God because we think God is an angry God who is always waiting behind our back and jump on us to punish us of our sins when we sin. The truth is far than that (John 3:17). Today if you are living in fear because you think God is against you, I urge you to think again. In the bible it said “perfect love cast out fear” 1Jn 4:18, believe that God indeed has come to bring you life (John 3:17) not condemnation! Believe you are indeed the beloved of Jesus!

Robbi Tjeng

Psalm 124:1-8 – Where does our help come from?

“Our help is in the name of the Lord, 
                the Maker of heaven and earth”

Psalm 124 is a psalm of Thanksgiving on God’s Deliverance. As the people of Israel journeyed to Jerusalem, they sang of how God helped them in their troubles, and how God came through for them in the past. They declared that if it weren’t for the Lord’s involvement, they would have been destroyed. At the end of the psalm, they declared that their help is from the Lord alone, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves on how God intervened in the past. What a mess we would be in if He had not intervened! Personally, I have knowing and following God for along time now. I’ve seen and experienced on how God came through for me in the past. Today, I can conclude that my help is only from the Lord.

I remember one incident when I was small. As I heard the school bell rang, I ran out immediately from my class to outside of the school to meet my daddy. Since I was still new in that environment, I ran out without even knowing which direction to take. I ended up in the middle of the road next to the flee market. Within minutes peoples and cars started to surround me until I couldn’t move anywhere. I began to panic and screamed as loud as I can be calling for my daddy. Immediately I saw a pair of hands reaching for me. He pulled me up from the crowd and held me in his arm.

It’s a similar scenario when we cried out to God. His arms will reach us immediately and deliver us from our troubles.

Friends, I might not know what you’ve been through and what troubles you are facing today, but one thing that I know is you can count on our God for help. There are no problems that He can’t overcome it with you and for you. If God came through for Israel… and God came through for me… then God will come through for you....

Jenny Lim

1 John 4:1-21 – Loving one another

This is a very powerful Word!

It is a reminder that God is love. However, more than that, as we are born of Him, we are born to love God and to know Him. One of the very things that spoke to me is the fact that the one thing that is apparent in any person, whether he/she loves God or not, is whether he/she is able to love his brother/sister too.

v.19-21 We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Loving one another is hard, because we are born selfish. However, it is possible, because He first loved us. It means, that the love of God dwells in us, and that is the reason why we often is compelled to love others and embrace them, no matter how different they are with us.

What about you? Do you say you love God but when you look at your actions, they tell you a different story?

It is time that we introspect and search deep within us, who are we actually?

Keith S. Muljadi

1 John 3:7-24 - What do you do with the seed?

v.10 Here's how you tell the difference between God's children and the Devil's children: The one who won't practice righteous ways isn't from God, nor is the one who won't love brother or sister. A simple test.
v.14 The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead.

I was struck when I read this message. When we received Jesus as our personal Savior, He put a seed of God in us, enabling us to practice righteousness instead of sin and to love our brother/sister. Mind you once again, God has put the seed within us. The seed is as good as dead if we don't cultivate and nurture it. The fruit of the spirit in Galatians 6:22-23 won't be produced if the seed is not carefully grown. 

Let's take a look at the story of Jacqueline Annette Williams below...

"A woman was convicted of killing two children and their pregnant mother and cutting the woman's full-term baby from her womb. The woman, Jacqueline Annette Williams, 31, could get the death penalty. Ms. Williams was convicted in the November 1995 deaths of 28-year-old Debra Evans; her daughter Samantha, 10, and her son Joshua, 7. Ms. Evans was shot in the head in her apartment and her fetus was ripped from her womb. Samantha was stabbed to death. Joshua was abducted, and his body was found in an alley 10 miles away. Ms. Evans's son, Jordan, then 1 1/2 years old, was left unharmed. The boy ripped from the womb survived and is now 2. Prosecutors said Ms. Williams held a baby shower for herself and even had a fake birth certificate made for Ms. Evans's baby.""

This story was documented in a TV show called "I'd kill for a baby". A couple of other stories with women as the main criminals showed a similarity in the crime motives: to gain back love from the spouse and to maintain a relationship. How badly the need for love is!

This is just an example of how the love in this world has drained. Only God's love can touch and fill the need of love, and we are His vessel. Jesus has taken a further measure of love. It's beyond not hating; it's beyond minding our own business and let others do what they'd like to do. It's a real action and in truth (v.19). Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Let the seed grow! Love in actions and in truth!

Lilyana Margaretha

Psalm 121:3-8 - God’s Umbrella Protection

Ps 121:3-8

3-4 He won't let you stumble,
      your Guardian God won't fall asleep.
   Not on your life! Israel's
      Guardian will never doze or sleep.
 5-6 God's your Guardian,
      right at your side to protect you—
   Shielding you from sunstroke,
      sheltering you from moonstroke.
 7-8 God guards you from every evil,
      he guards your very life.
   He guards you when you leave and when you return,
      he guards you now, he guards you always.

As I pondered on these verses, I was given a flashback of many parts in my lives where something bad could happen if God did not protect me. I almost got into an accident with a humongous truck, which decided to change lane without looking if there was a car next to it. I almost hit the side of the road when my car passed through a black ice but thank God, it stopped just a few inches from it. I really thanked God for His saving protection during all of these times.

But, there were times when bad things seemed to happen in my life. Was God sleeping at that time? In verse 3 and 4, it was said clearly that Our God “will never doze or sleep”. As I remembered again, some of these times were the times when God allowed tough things to happen so that He could shape my characters and my relationship with Him. On the other hand, some were times when I decided to leave Him; when I decided not to want Him in my life. It was during these times that I have left His umbrella of protection. When I repented, His peace and protection had returned.

It is clear that in v.5-8, God has His best interest and abilities to protect us all the times. The question is whether we want to be in His umbrella of protection. If we do, let us remind ourselves of the things that He has done to protect us. It is definitely not hard to remember the things that He has done for us. As we remember these things, let us give thanks to Him – the living God and our Guardian.

Heru Setiawan

Proverbs 28:25-26 - Trust in the Lord

Often we trust ourselves more than the Lord. This is especially true when things go so smoothly in our life. We feel that all the good things that we have, our good grades in school and our jobs are all because of our hard work and competence. We then no longer honor the Lord and give Him back the glory.

But today's scripture from Proverb really reminds me that we should put our trust in God instead of ourselves. In KJV, verse 26 goes like this:

Proverbs 28:26  He¹⁹³¹ that trusteth⁹⁸² in his own heart³⁸²⁰ is a fool:³⁶⁸⁴ but whoso walketh¹⁹⁸⁰ wisely,²⁴⁵¹ he¹⁹³¹ shall be delivered.⁴⁴²²

So it's clearly said that he who trust in his own heart is a fool. Why can't we trust our own hearts? This is because human hearts are inherently evil (Jer 17:9).

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart³⁸²⁰ is deceitful⁶¹²¹ above all^{4480, 3605} things, and desperately wicked:⁶⁰⁵ who⁴³¹⁰ can know³⁰⁴⁵ it?

Thus, from 17:9, we know that hearts are the most deceitful part of human's bodies. No wonder v.26 says that whoever trusts in his own heart is a fool. Thus, we should not consult ourselves whenever we make decisions, because we can be very misled by our own hearts. So onto whom shall we put our trust? The answer is simply God.

Proverbs 28:25  He that is of a proud⁷³⁴² heart⁵³¹⁵ stirreth up¹⁶²⁴ strife:⁴⁰⁶⁶ but he that putteth his trust⁹⁸² in⁵⁹²¹ the LORD³⁰⁶⁸ shall be made fat.¹⁸⁷⁸

In NIV,  the 2^nd part of v.25 goes like this: "but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper. This means that when we put our trust in God, He would fulfill our needs and we would lack nothing. When we prosper, it means, that God would give us more than what we need. In addition, He would give us the wisdom to walk wisely so that we would be kept safe (v.26).

So I just want to encourage all of us today to always put our trust in the Lord, so that  we would prosper in everything that we do.

Agustinus Foe