Tag: peace and joy

How To Tell If You Are Walking Closely With God

Perhaps at one point in our life, we want to know about our relationship with God. How close are we to God? How do we know if our relationship with God is a growing and healthy one?

We have to understand that it is not by doing good deeds that makes us close to God. God is not like a human person. Human beings are fond of the people who love us and help us in times of needs but it is different with God. No good deeds we do will make God love us more, because He already loves us. We do good deeds in response to His love and it will please His heart but we don’t do good deeds just to gain His love. He loves us so much that He sent His one and only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for our sins so that whoever believed in Him will be saved, as written in John 3:16. We are loved by God and are saved into His Kingdom because of His grace for us. Grace is given when we do not deserve it. It is God’s grace, and not because of the good deeds we do.

If we know we are loved by God, we are welcomed into a relationship with Him. We can draw near to Him. The Bible has a beautiful promise about drawing near to God. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (ESV).

As Christians, please remember that we are on a journey until we meet Jesus face to face. We continue to grow, we continue to walk with God day by day. Heaven is our final destination. Each of us walk at different paces, some faster and some slower than the others but we are not to judge others. Each of us should focus on our own journey in our relationship with Jesus and enjoy it.

How can you tell if you are walking closely with God?

1.There are changes in you

There are changes in you. You are not who you used to be. You are now bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV).

May be in the past, you had anger issues, or an addiction issue but now that you have a relationship with Jesus, you have been changed for the better. You are now patient and a person of peace and gentleness.

Perhaps in the past, you are a worrier. But now, you learn to trust God and surrender your worries to Him. You are now a joyful person. In short, you can feel there is a change in you as a person. The people around you will notice this change too: that you have peace, are more joyful, more caring and more loving.

2.You show love and mercy to others

Our God is a God who is merciful and compassionate. When you are walking closely with Him, you will know His heartbeat for the lost, the poor, the marginalised, the outcast and the unseen of the society. You are now more willing to show love and mercy and care about what is going on in the society and the world because you have experienced God’s love and mercy towards you.

3.You surrender everything to God

Once you go deeper into a relationship with God, you realise you can trust Him and that He knows what is best for you. Sure, there are struggles in you to want to listen to Him or to yourself but as you take the leap of faith and follow Him, you will know that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). He is able to do so much more than you can ever imagine for His glory (Ephesians 3:20-21).

This is when you begin to surrender everything to God. You surrender your dreams, your desires, your ambitions, your future to Him. You will be much more interested to listen to His guidance and accomplish the agenda He has for you.

4.You love to spend time with God

In the past, when you are a new Christian, you feel that reading the Bible is a boring thing to do. But now, you have fresh eyes to see the gems in God’s Word! You find God’s Word life giving. You desire to know Him more intimately. You desire to be in His presence, read His Word, worship Him with songs and pray. You love spending time with Him that you block aside time and make it a priority just so to make sure you have time alone with God daily.

5.You trust in God’s goodness

You no longer “decide” on God’s love for you by the circumstances in your life. Even when there are some unexpected challenges which cause you to grief, you still trust that God is good, His plan is the best and you can still worship Him for who He is.

This verse will be so real to you “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, NIV).

If you have been hesitating and doubting about life as a Christian, come and see for yourself. Come and experience His love and power. May His peace and love be upon you.

Day of Pentecost. Come, Holy Spirit

Today is the Day of Pentecost. We commemorate the Day of Pentecost on the 50th day after Easter (or the Seventh Sunday after Easter).

On the Day of Pentecost 2,000 years ago (and 10 days after the risen Jesus ascended to Heaven), the apostles and followers of Jesus were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Harvest. In the rush of wind and in tongues of flames, the Holy Spirit came and filled them, just as Jesus had said. It was the most wonderful and powerful gift from God. These apostles and followers of Jesus were afraid of what would happen to them after Jesus had gone to Heaven, but when the Holy Spirit came, He filled them with boldness, authority, power and language to proclaim the Good News. A crowd came to see what was going on, and each of them were amazed to hear the Good News in their own language.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Peter (who only a few weeks ago had denied knowing Jesus three times out of cowardice) stood up with the other apostles and preached the Good News to the crowd so powerfully that 3,000 people became believers that day. The Book of Acts records many of the wonders and miracles the apostles did through the power of the Holy Spirit. With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they “returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Luke 24:52). They finally realized why Jesus had to leave them to return to Heaven—so that the Holy Spirit could come upon them.

Who will have the Holy Spirit? Anyone can receive the Holy Spirit. Today, the Holy Spirit lives in everyone who believes in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit who filled the apostles is with us today. It is the same Holy Spirit who was present when the foundations of the world were laid. It was the same Spirit by whom Jesus Christ was conceived. It was the same Spirit that was with Jesus as He walked on this earth, preaching about the kingdom of God, healing the sick and casting out demons. Jesus said to His disciples, “whoever believes in me will also do the works I have been doing” (John 14:12).

The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, gives us new life, indwells in us and seals us and baptizes us into the Body of Christ. He also gives us spiritual gifts to serve God and to bless others (1 Peter 4:10) and to build up the church (1 Cor. 14:12).The Holy Spirit teaches us to obey all that Jesus has taught us (Acts 5:32; Hebrew 10:20). But, if we intentionally disobey the promptings of the Holy Spirit and continue to sin, the Holy Spirit can be grieved and quenched (Romans 6:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:19). Therefore, we have to be very careful. We do not want to intentionally disobey God and subsequently quench the Holy Spirit.

On this Day of Pentecost, many of our countries are still in lock down due to the virus. We may be feeling fearful. We are uncertain about the future. So did the apostles 2,000 years ago. But then, God sent them the Holy Spirit and their lives were never the same again. The coward and fearful disciples became bold missionaries, bring the Good News to the world. They turned the world upside down for God.We are in a lock down, but we are still people of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).

May you and I be filled with the Holy Spirit continually so that we will live a victorious life over the bondage of sins.

“May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hop by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13