Perseverance

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he says, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
James 1:2-7 (NIV 1984)

Most-Faithful Friend

/ Henry Jiang / Leave a comment

Are you struggling with something? Do you ever feel discouraged by the events that happen in your life? Do you feel like you need someone to talk to about your struggles? Well, look no more! As a continuation of the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, let’s dig deep into the second verse of this wonderful hymn.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

As written in the Bible, trials and temptations are used to develop our perseverance so that perseverance can complete its job to make us mature, complete and not lacking anything (James 1:2-4). But sometimes during our trials and temptations, we feel like it is too hard for us to continue on with the challenges ahead of us, and we are stressed out. From a Homeostatic/Medical approach, Walter Cannon was the to describe that stress is an “emergency response” as an animal’s response to a threat. Our body will naturally transform from a neutral posture to an offensive posture when stress is induced (ORGB Canadian Edition, Nelson Quick Armstrong Condie, 2012). Once our body takes this offensive posture, we naturally deceive our foresight of the Kingdom to come.

The best way to deal with any trouble is through prayer. We should never be discouraged or stressed out as God will not tempt us beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Some may argue against using this Bible verse as it is taken out of context but if we consider how faithful our Lord God Jesus is, He will not forsake us and we can overcome anything in our earthly lives, just as Jesus has overcome the cross. The only thing is that we must do so through prayer. We should fear God but also treat God as a friend as he knows us the most (Psalm 139:1) and he is always faithful (Deuteronomy 7:9). That is the perfect quality as a friend so my brothers and sisters, have you been consulting your most-faithful friend during times of trouble and temptation? Have you ever been discouraged about earthly struggles? Maybe it is time to share it with your most-faithful friend by taking it to the Lord in prayer!

God Bless you all!

Lost

/ Henry Jiang / Leave a comment

When things turn for the worse, we often find ourselves lost physically and spiritually. Our self-dependent vision of the world deceives our foresight and forces us to take it upon ourselves. When we find ourselves in situations like this, we need to remember that we need to be committed to the Lord, as it is written:

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.  2 Chronicles 16:9

In times of destitute, many of us reach a point where it feels like we don’t time for anything. We want alone time for ourselves. Even knowing James 1:2-4, we often try to solve the problem by ourselves, and as a result, it may turn into so-called stress-relieving methods such as eating, drinking, gaming, taking drugs. Doing anything that is not sinful to a proper extent is alright but overdoing things such as over-eating, drinking alcohol until you are completely insane, gaming like crazy is a form of idolatry as you are allowing it to take over your life. After doing things that are not giving glory to God’s name, you would feel a sense of emptiness. Why? This is because the sole purpose of the creation of human beings is to bring Glory to God (Isaiah 43:7). Moreover, the Bible commands us to do everything for God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). Failing to live for your purpose of life will thus bring you the feeling of emptiness when doing things that are useless.

Reading the Book of Ecclesiastes can be very depressing as it talks about how worthless our temporary life on the earth is, but we are reminded constantly in the New Testament of the everlasting eternal life we are to spend with God in heaven. Christ has commanded us to carry the cross with him (Luke 14:27, Matthew 16:24-26). Imagine what Jesus went through, how He was wrongly crucified though He lived a sinless life, the pain and suffering He went through to carry the cross. In addition, think of Jesus’ disciples and other Christians that were tortured and martyred for their faith. Now look back at yourselves. I challenge you, my lovely brothers and sisters, to compare the largest challenges you are currently experiencing with the experiences listed above.

Things that are neither Bright nor Beautiful

/ Henry Jiang / Leave a comment

Reflecting from yesterday’s hymn “All Things Bright and Beautiful”, it reminds me of the time I have stumbled upon the thought: What about things that I feel are not bright and beautiful? Are these not creations of God? Is this hymn just blaspheming about things that are Bright and Beautiful and completely ignoring the things that are not?

When we think of this, we have to keep in mind that God is good and fair. Scriptures such as  Matthew 7:11, Matthew 19:17, Romans 5:8, John 3:16 and John 15:12 describe the goodness of God and how He loves us. But why do we have people ranting on about how miserable their lives are? Why does God put these people in those situations.

Last Sunday, I was having lunch at Village by the Grange. There was this elderly black lady sitting in front of me, constantly talking. For a moment, I thought that she was calling someone on her phone but later, I realized she was ranting about living on community housing and how the world is messed up. I was eating my beef Pho when I felt a type of spiritual unrest for her. I felt like she needed God and peace, and I felt the urge to give her one of those ESV Economy Bibles I carry around. I finished my bowl of noodles and confronted her with the Bible, she thanked me and told me she already has one and asked me to give it to someone else on her behalf. Then I asked her if I could pray for her and she agreed.

These days, I often invite the Holy Spirit to lead me in prayer so that I pray for things that the Holy Spirit wants and not what I want in my life. During the prayer, I prayed for this lady to receive more foresight by looking into God to strengthen her soul. I thanked God for giving her these challenges as we understand that we should rejoice at times of trial as the testing of your faith produces perseverance and that perseverance must finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4). God wants the best of us and providing us with these challenges or things that are not bright and beautiful, He is setting us up to receive His everlasting fruits He will bless us after this short-termed life in this world (And it was actually from the prayer where I came up with the name of this site). After the prayer, the lady stopped ranting and was smiling until she left the area. Praise the Lord!

Now my lovely brothers and sisters, ask yourselves, “What is your attitude when you are faced with trials and temptations? Are you allowing God to make you perfect by developing your perseverance? Is your foresight perhaps blinded by the current situations that arise and in your mind act as a barrier between God and you?”