Behind The Shield

"You are my refuge and my shield; Your Word is my source of hope." - Psalm 119 : 114

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A shield is a defensive equipment used to protect our body from any attack. Yet, even the best shield might not be able to take on every attack.

But today, I have a good news, this Shield that I'm talking about, it protects our spiritual body. And believe me, none of the attacks would have ever work.

A lot of times in life, we are being attacked by what is in the world; hatred, anger, disloyalty, betrayal, and many more. Don't we just wished that someone would stand in front of us and blocked all those attacks. That person would be our God. At times like these, I know there is only One I could count on.

But then again, keep on hiding behind the shield would not do any good. King David knew it, and so he said that God's Word is his source of hope. This Words that had been with King David are with us now. We can always fight back knowing that God is there for us. God is good to us. God would never lift the shield in front of us, for He will keep us safe.

For truly with God, nothing is impossible!

Into The Lions' Den

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The story of Daniel being thrown into the lions' den is of no stranger to many Christian. In Daniel 4, we could clearly see that how the administrators and officers are jealous of Daniel's promotion and how they devise to harm him. Finally resulting in him being thrown into the lions' den.

A group of lion are very dangerous. They could even take on any animal much larger than their size. Yet, they didn't even put a scratch on Daniel. All those because of God's grace, and of course Daniel is said to be a man of integrity and faith.

In our lives, aren't we always faced with adversities, problems, dangers. But be grateful that it wasn't because somebody else plot against us. Be grateful that we have friends who will and could help us. Unlike Daniel, put in a situation that not even his friends, the king or anybody else could save. But he chose to believe.

Moreover us, could we stay believed in the midst of danger?

Life is full of danger, and that's what worth living for!

Fruitful

"I am the true grapevine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have give you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me. "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. - John 15 : 1 - 5

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What exactly is the fruit being spoken here? Growing as a Christian, I sure heard a lot about being fruitful, go and bear fruit. It's everywhere in the New Testament, and in sermons once a while. But somehow, there seems to be a lot of explanation to it.

Fruit in a Christian's life should be the changes in his / her characters. Changed in his / her life, living a Christ-centered life. The passage above says that "you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me." Yes, God wants our obedience.

When we are living a Christ-centered life, surely our character  won't be the same. We will produce fruits as a result. The fruits of the Spirit is what we called it. What are those? Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5 : 22 -23).

We as Christians, we need to show others that we are changed through Christ. Our lives, our actions need to have the essence of love, and all those characters of Christ.

If we are not fruitful, we will be cut off. What good is an unfruitful branch? Therefore, let us live a life that will be a blessing for others through our characters.

Faith Over Doubt

Faith and Doubt will always exist together. Believing is choosing faith over doubt! - Dr. Yonggi Cho

Faith or Doubt? They will always exist together. How much of trust are we putting in God? How willing are we to stretch our faith?

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Even though we can stretch our faith, it is nothing like a rubber band. Once you stretch a rubber band, it will get back to its original state. And once you over-stretched it, snap! It breaks.

But faith, once stretch it will not go back to its original state, and there will be no limits of how much you can stretch it.

But doubt is like a faith crusher. The more faith you got, the more doubt the devil will try to put in you. That's why they exist together. Can you stand firm and continue to believe?

There will be a time when your faith are being tested, putting doubt in front of you as a choice, as a mean of escape. Let me urge everyone reading this, stand firm! Don't ever let any of us choose to doubt, over the faith that we have. Instead, let us always choose faith over doubt.

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