The Spiritual Hope

“For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.” Psalms 66:10

Clay in itself has very little value. But if we mould it into different shapes and sizes of bowls, plates and tableware, the value of it increases. Likewise, before being purified, the silver that we mined with the residual still attached to it is not going to fetch us much money. But if we get rid of the residual by putting it through fire, such purification process will increase the value of it. Furthermore, when we use it as ornament, the value will increase even more.

Before God chooses us to proclaim His majesty and sovereignty and uses us as His honorable vessels in His appointed time, we must go through a period of training and testing to make sure everything is perfect. When things turn out to be good, all of us will indeed feel proud for what we have achieved.

By meditating upon the word of God, His word is like a fire which will rid us of our worldly nature. It is never easy to go through unpleasant moment but if that does not happen, we shall never change. Without change, we cannot improve. For those who love God, even though they are going through a bad patch in life and things are not going their way, they see it as part of God’s training. Everything that happens today is good for tomorrow.

For those who feel that you are in the midst of fire, if this is from God, the fire will not be “too hot” beyond what you can bear. The training and testing from God will just be about right for us. For us to be His honorable vessels, we shape ourselves just like Him, a vessel of love, kindness, faithfulness, true worshipper, who always listens and obey. That’s what God wants us to be, to honor Him in everything we do.

“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself. And God gave Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the chief of the eunuchs.” Daniel 1:8-9

When Israel fell to Babylon, the Israelites were taken hostage and those who were learned were singled out to serve in the king’s palace. These people were taught the Babylonian customs, culture and language, and most importantly, they had to change names. Daniel was one of the knowledgeable ones and he was selected to serve in the palace during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.

Although Daniel had his name changed and had to work in a changed environment, one thing he would not change is his faith in the Lord and his belief in the one and only God. Apart from his steadfast faith in the Lord, he was determined that he should not defile himself. It is very unusual for a young man like Daniel to have such kind of determination.

Indeed, we wish to see today’s teenagers having such determination not to indulge and engross in worldly desires, make sure that they are not at the wrong side of the law and involved in drugs but to keep themselves pure and holy. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” (Psalms 119:9)

Because Daniel was firm and resolute, God made a way for Daniel to be successful in what he intended to do and blessed him tremendously while serving the Lord in a foreign land. We have a lot to learn from Daniel about righteous living. In conducting our daily living or embarking on any task, we therefore have to do it right. Without being morally right, we may not have a happy ending. Let us therefore take the example of Daniel in “not defiling himself” and be firm in our faith. Continue to trust Him and let Him lead the way.

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Psalms 103:11-12

David was a shepherd before he became a king. During his days as a shepherd, he had to lead his flock searching for green pasture. Some places that he led them to were really far from where they lived, so he had to stay overnight there. While in the open space during night time, he probably laid down on the grass, and when he looked up into the sky would have seen all the little stars twinkling; during day break he could see the sun rising and setting during the evening.

David was amazed how beautiful the physical world is, but his imagination went deeper than that. He realized the world is God’s creation, which reflected His glory. The world is a reflection of God’s attribute and our lifetime experience can be enriched by what’s happening in this world. David likened the extent of God’s love to the height between heaven and earth, and the distance between sunrise and sunset.

The nearest planet to earth is moon, which is no less than 450,000 km away while the star nearest to the sun is 40 trillion km. Indeed, it is a distance that we cannot fathom! In perspective, the sunrise-sunset phenomena is caused by the earth rotating round the sun rather than the actual movement of the sun itself. It is hard to imagine if one can measure the distance from one edge of the sky to another edge!

It is important to remind ourselves of the extent of God’s love; He forgives our sin, He provides us with a refuge and is our fortress, and bless us with many gifts even though we are not worthy of them. He loves us while we are still sinners and gives us a chance to be reconciled to Him. The magnitude of His love can never be physically measured. While David used the height between heaven and earth, and the distance from east to west to illustrate the breadth and depth of His love.

As Christians, we experience the full extent of His love at the cross. At the cross, where Jesus was crucified; He willingly took upon Himself our sin so that we can be redeemed from eternal death. We can only understand God’s love for us through His revelation and not by our own human understanding. By faith, we have received the love of God. As we walk closely with Him, let us continue to abide and experience His endless love.

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Those ordinary people like us who study the life and works of Paul will be amazed by how patient he was when comes to handling physical and emotional hardship. His determination to persevere through hard times, and at times through life-threatening situations was due to his unwavering dedication to do God’s work. Some of Paul’s team members who could not withstand the severity of the hardship eventually left him but Paul fought on; although he felt disheartened but he did not surrender and called it quits!

We know about three groups of people; the first are trouble-makers, the second are those who run away from problems and the third are fighters who confront troubles head-on. The third is a rare breed but those with such an attribute will be very successful in life. What makes Paul so special and different from other people? Is he really boasting when he said he “could do all things”? In fact when he was making such a remark, he was really in deep trouble. Paul said, “I can do all things through (Jesus) who strengthens me.”

God’s grace and mercy are sufficient for each and everyone who trusts Him. He will not lead us into a situation which is too tough for us to handle nor is he leaving us to fight a battle all by ourselves. He leads us into difficult situations so that we can come to appreciate His mightiness; it is when we become powerless we realize God’s limitless power and wisdom. Let us therefore remind ourselves that we serve a God who is omnipresent and omnipotent; nothing is impossible for Him.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

We leave behind our old lives and are entering to our new lives. All of us will be embarking on another journey and to some, such journey will be a new experience and a journey into the unknown. This sort of encounter is liken to one attempting to drive in a foreign territory and find himself in unfamiliar surrounding. Indeed, we do not know what lies ahead; the road can be treacherous, either steep or happens to have a sharp curve round the corner, or bumpy with a lot of potholes and is accident-prone.

But Christians with God’s leading will not be daunted and anxious because we can claim His promise, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Even though we still do not know the way and what will happen next, we know for sure the person who leads us and will be helping us if we stumble. He is God, our provider!

What must we do then in order to live a fruitful and purposeful life? First and foremost, we need to know what we are aiming for and set our priority right; embarking on a journey without knowing the final destination is like a rudderless ship in the middle of the ocean, drifting aimlessly and is at the mercy of the wave and tide. In perspective, one who is without any principle in life will be easily influenced by the pattern of the world, values of which are contrary to God’s way.

Secondly, once we have set our goals, we ought to know how to reach there. However, a lot of people will do the opposite; they do not know what is their final destination and whatever they plan for will go to waste because of a lack of pre-set objective in life. Thirdly, one who is morally excellent will invariably have a lot of success in life. As a result, it is important to be virtuous by having such attributes as trustworthiness, faithfulness and humility.

Fourthly, seek God’s leading. Just like the Israelites who had the pillars of cloud and fire as well as the ark of covenant to lead them, we Christians have the word of God as the lamp to light our path. The more we spend time with God in prayer and personal devotion, the clearer we see the path leading towards spiritual maturity. Fifthly, be patient and persevere, never stop trying but press on towards the finishing line. Let’s forget about the past and look towards the future. Whatever we think and say, it should be with the future in mind.

Pray ye therefore for God’s blessing to be upon each and everyone. Indeed, the best is yet to come and this new year will be the year God makes us fulfill our fullest potential.