In Part 1 [click] , we shared about the true Sabbath is now to be found in Christ alone. The ultimate rest for our souls is to be found in Him. Yet how can we appropriate this in practice? Firstly, we need to realise that we can find rest in all areas of our lives. 1. FIND REST IN GOD’S PROVISION. Psa 34:9-10(NIV) 9 Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Do not fret, nor be anxious but know that God will provide. Whether it be unemployment, meeting household budgets and other needs. God never backs away from His promises of sustaining us if we continue to trust Him and act righteously. God never backs away from His promises of sustaining us if we continue to trust Him and act righteously. I chose to obey the Lord when He beckoned me to stay back in Melbourne upon completing my university degree. That also meant I would need to also find a job to help support my stay here. Jobs were not easy to come by in those days. Yet I chose to pray and trust the Lord for His provision whilst I actively sought for a job. My savings were dwindling fast despite good economical financial management on my part. God is the Lord of the eleventh hour! He graciously provided me with a job that allowed me time to pursue another practical accounting course and being able to work at flexible hours whilst being paid at a graduate’s rate. How good is that!! 2. FIND REST IN GOD’S GUIDANCE Jer 29:11 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Prov 3:26 (NIV) for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared. Life is always filled with choices, crossroads of decisions. Hence it is important for us to make good decisions. We need not be unduly troubled by tough, difficult choices when we choose to trust in Him. Let God’s Word guide us, let the Holy Spirit lead us. It was recession in Melbourne in 1989. I was now married and was looking for a full-time accounting position. God provided me a job in a small manufacturing company. A week into my work there, I was asked to go for an interview in a medium sized company. That sounded pretty lucrative. Yet as I prayed before God, I sensed Him encouraging me to stay in this small company. There was no peace to go for the job interview with a bigger company. I trusted in God’s guidance. Praise God for His goodness in leading me. About six months down the track, the medium sized company folded up and many people lost their jobs. If I had found employment there, I would have ended up like them. I learnt about the importance of being guided by the Lord and finding rest in Him. 3. FIND REST IN GOD’S COMFORT Some of us may be going through a valley experience. We may be attacked by anxiety or depression when such situations arise. These can be very real. Let us really find our rest in Christ’s comfort through the Holy Spirit. We should lean in into His comfort. Psa 107:14 (NIV) He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. I was looking forward to our first child in 1994. Then on the 36th week of my pregnancy, I discovered that I had contracted the dreaded chicken pox. On top of this, I had developed a secondary infection resulting in extremely high fever and lesions all over my body. I had to be admitted to the hospital and was placed in isolation. Each day was a day filled with nurses (adorned in full protective medical gear as I was highly contagious) coming in to take tubes of my blood for further testing. And consultants coming in to examine me. All day long I felt I was being “shot” at by some “gun” due to the intense irritation of the chicken pox infection. I found out later that they were concerned that I would deliver my baby when there were presenting complications at stake. Yet God’s Presence was so real to me. Instead of feeling deeply troubled whilst being isolated in the hospital, I virtually felt rested and comforted by the Lord. I spent my days praying and reading through an intercessory/spiritual warfare book by Cindy Jacobs. I thank God that I recovered quickly and finally delivered our first child a few days later when I was no longer infectious. Praise God!! Jesus is our Sabbath. He is faithful and true to His Word. Let us rest in Him. PRACTICAL WAYS OF FINDING REST IN GOD: Here are some quick practical tips on how we may appropriate God’s rest for our hearts. Persist in prayer.  We ought to seek God’s face. For prayer builds faith and trust in God. It deepens our assurance that He is our security. Psa 27:14 (NIV) Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. Persist also in worship, as it draws you into God’s Presence just like prayer. His Presence can bring a peace that surpasses all understanding. It helps us gain a revelation that God is sovereign. Trust Him and allow Him to be in charge of your life. We should not be a “control freak”, seeking to always be in control. Part of trusting God is to let go and let God. Part of trusting God is to let go and let God. Persist in acknowledging God’s Word.  God is faithful and He keeps to His Word. Claim the promises in His Word. Recall testimonies of how God got you through previously. John 10:28 (NIV) I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. Persist in keeping godly and supportive company.  Your godly Christian friends can pray with you and encourage you. They can also be a good listening ear and be good sounding board. They faith, their support can help you trust God more deeply. Prov 17:17 (NIV) A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. Persist in resilience.  While you are resting in God, you need to be resilient in casting off doubt, worry, insecurities and the desperate need to be in control of our situation. Don’t let these steal the rest you have in God. Isa 40:31 (NIV) but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. God’s rest is available for us in Christ. Each day, we have to draw that grace of rest from Him. The more we do so, the more we learn to draw upon this grace. God’s rest is available for us in Christ. Each day, we have to draw that grace of rest from Him. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

How do we find peace living in such uncertain times? What rest can our troubled souls find? The COVID pandemic has infected hundreds of millions and millions have died not to mention those who are now suffering from long-term effects. Numerous reports of war and conflict are breaking out in various countries. Severe storms deluged and fires ravaged different places in the world where lives were lost and many properties damaged. It has been a rough season for many. As fellow believers, we are not exempted from rough seasons in life. Yet, God’s Word reminds us in   Psa 91:1 (NIV) He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. God wants to remind us that through Him we can find rest, security and refuge. Even in difficult seasons of our lives. God keeps His promises made to mankind. Even in rough and uncertain times such as these days, God is still with us. This idea is captured in the concept of sabbath. Ex 31:12-18 (NIV) 12 Then the LORD said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. 14 “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.’”18 When the LORD finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. Hence, we will examine the significance of Sabbath and how we are to find our Sabbath in Him. 1. SABBATH AS A SEAL OF COVENANT (v12-13) Exodus 31:12-13 (NIV)  12 Then the LORD said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.   The overall context of this passage of Scripture is God was making His covenant with the Israelites at Mount Horeb. A covenant is an agreement, in this case initiated by God with His people. Our God is a covenant making and a covenant keeping God. Whatever He instituted covenantally with His people, He will keep to it. God does not go back on His Word. The covenant made here is called the Mosaic covenant. It was made strictly with the chosen nation of Israel after their exodus from Egypt. The Mosaic covenant was expressed in the moral, civil and ceremonial laws that governed the life of the Israelite people. Hence, observing the Sabbaths in the Old Testament time was a part of the ceremonial laws commanded by God. The Sabbaths were literal days of rest, namely occurring on the weekly seventh day and the appointed holy days of the Festivals of Passover, Pentecost and the Tabernacles. For example, Lev 23:7-8 (NIV) 7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. 8 For seven days present an offering made to the LORD by fire. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’” Observation of the Sabbaths was a sign and seal of the Mosaic covenant. It was a sign of the Mosaic covenant being put in action as the Israelites followed through in their ceremonial lifestyle. The question is whether New Testament Christians are now obligated to keep the Sabbath days as commanded by God. As the Sabbath is now fulfilled in Christ, New Testament believers are no longer obligated to keep the Mosaic Covenant including its sign and seal. In fact, New Testament believers are now under the New Covenant with different signs (which are water baptism and communion) and sealed with the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13). Hence the literal Sabbath, or observance of the days of rest by the Israelite community are no longer applicable. We explain this further in the next point. 2. SABBATH AS A REST (v15-17) Exodus 31:15-17 (NIV) 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.’” The word “Sabbath” means rest. When God gave the Mosaic covenant to the Israelites it was meant as a foreshadow, pointing the Israelites to Jesus Christ who is to become the Saviour of the world. What God taught the Israelites in those times, is also applicable for us as fellow believers in the 21st century in the following two aspects: God showed us by example how He Himself rested at creation (v17) Gen 2:1-3 (NIV) 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. God also desires His people to find their spiritual rest in Christ. (v15,16) The Mosaic covenant pointed towards the New Covenant that we now have in God through Jesus Christ. The spiritual truth of the literal Sabbath is now fulfilled in Christ. God desires us to cease from our own works and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. All these years, man have tried to be good, to fulfil all the laws and so forth but the Scripture tells us in Isa 64:6(NIV) All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. The spiritual truth of the literal Sabbath is now fulfilled in Christ. God desires us to cease from our own works and rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. We cannot save ourselves because we are inherently sinful. This is where Christ comes in. Jesus became our ransom and paid the price by dying for us at the cross. Jesus fulfilled all of God’s requirements because he Himself is sinless and by His sacrifice at the cross, He set us free from sin and from Satan’s power. Those of us who receive Jesus as our Saviour and Lord and accept Christ as the One who saved us, we will find out true rest in Him. Rest from striving to gain our way back to God by fully trusting in Jesus for our entire salvation. This is a lasting covenant of God’s grace shown towards us. Heb 4:10-16 (NIV) 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience…14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. In other words, the literal Sabbath rest pointed to a greater rest to come. This is found by entering the God’s rest, meaning the rest that God provides. A rest found in Jesus Christ alone. The one who trusts in Christ, rests in what Jesus has already done for us. We are to cease striving to achieve salvation by our own efforts and in our daily walk with God, we are to depend on the Holy Spirit. God desires man to rest as a whole person by relying upon Him. That is what Jesus promised. Matt 11:28-30 (NIV) 28“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” God desires us to rest in Him spiritually. We can come to Jesus and cry out for His help, His strength upon us. That is why Jesus Christ is declared as the Lord of Sabbath, for He is the creator of Sabbath and the ultimate expression of Sabbath. Jesus Christ is declared as the Lord of Sabbath, for He is the creator of Sabbath and the ultimate expression of Sabbath. Mark 2:27-28 (NIV) 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”   So now that the ultimate Sabbath is available for us, do we need the literal Sabbath? The Scriptures is clear that we are under no obligation to observe such literal days. After all, why bother when we have the real thing, in Christ? Colossians 2:16–17 (NIV) 16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. However, on the practical front there is still benefit in physical rest. For man needs physical rest and recuperation, as well as time for spiritual refreshment. That is why the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. This day in the Old Testament was given for the benefit of mankind. In ancient times, there were no weekly days for physical rest. People could be working non-stop every day, particularly for slaves. So God declared a day, which practically enabled man to rest and also focus on worship unto God. In today’s world, many only need to work 5 days in a week, 6 at most. Thus, this can be fulfilled quite easily, as long as we don’t undo it by taking a second job and end up working 7 days a week without any day off. 3. SABBATH TO MAKE US HOLY (VERSES 13,15) Exodus 31: 13-15 (NIV) 13 Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy... 15For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. In the Old Testament Sabbath days were days of holy assemblies. The Israelites gathered at least once a week as a people together, and also at the times of feasts which occurred three times a year. The Israelites are called to gather and worship the Lord in His sanctuary. There is that sense of sacredness to the whole essence of Sabbath. It was also a time of celebration of God’s deliverance and mercy shown to the Israelite people. God has called them out of Egypt to a land of promise and a good future. Today, as fellow believers we are instructed to come together to worship God. To learn together of His Word, to take communion which reminds us once again of Jesus’ wonderful finished work at the cross and to rejoice together that we are worshipping the living God. Such gatherings are times of refreshing and renewal that we may be sanctified as fellow believers come together, through experiencing God. As a community, God’s Word cleanses us and renews us. Such times of regular gathering are sacred in the eyes of God. It helps us recall constantly, consistently and perpetually of the wonderful finished work of Jesus Christ so that we may rest in Him. Our willingness to set time aside for God, assemble together to worship God and to assimilate His Word into our lives is definitely pleasing to God. Heb 10:25 (NIV) Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Yet our gatherings as a church to worship God together is not a replacement for Sabbath day. For we should not confuse God’s use of Sabbath also for holy purposes of worship, in addition to it being a day of holy rest. For Christ is our Sabbath. In Christ, every day can now be our sabbath. Our gatherings as a church to worship God together is not a replacement for Sabbath day To be continued in Part 2 Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Once a little boy asked me to teach him to play chess.  So I tried.  The whole idea was to checkmate the king.  To kill him.  The boy promptly swiped all the chess pieces off the chess board.  “I win! I killed the king!”  “No, no, no!”, I exclaimed in dismay, “You missed the entire point!”   Have you ever felt like that with someone?  You were trying to explain something, but they absolutely did not get it?  That they totally missed the point?  Apostle Paul certainly felt that way with the church in Corinth. For the church really missed the point in many areas.  Especially in the whole area of wisdom.   If we are to truly build God’s Church, we need God’s wisdom so that we can build God’s Church, God’s way.  Besides, we all need more wisdom!  To live our lives more wisely, more fruitfully. To more wisely deal with challenges in our lives, our ministry.  How do we gain such wisdom?  We can find some answers here in 1 Corinthian 2:1-16.   In those days, in Corinth it was popular to be captivated by travelling Greek philosophers.  They would come by the city and eloquently share the latest philosophical thinking.  Many would gather to listen to their speeches.  Many would be stimulated by the oratory skills of the speakers. How they can stir the hearts of the listeners.  How beautiful the language they use.  How profound the ideas and concepts they articulate.  They were celebrities of their day.  Just imagine a rock concert but with philosophers!  These were the “wise men”.    This perspective was prevalent in the church there.  They too sought for wisdom or “sophia”, but they sought it in the way they knew before they came to Christ.  In this passage Apostle Paul dealt with the church’s misunderstanding of the very nature of wisdom and sought to point them towards the way of wisdom, God’s way.  From this passage we will learn some important keys about wisdom.    BEWARE OF WORLDLY WISDOM   In chapter 1, Paul rebuked them for quarrelling over which apostle they preferred.  For Paul realised that one of the key reasons was due to their misunderstanding about the very nature of wisdom and the wise men.  That was why some preferred Apollos, who was an eloquent speaker (Acts 18:24-26) over Paul.  That was why some questioned the validity or adequacy of the cross – it just does not seem to demonstrate much sophia. At least in their worldly thinking. So, Paul set about correcting their error in chapter 1.       There are several important lessons for us to learn.   Do not be captivated by worldly wisdom   1 Corinthian 2:1 (NIV) “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.”    In essence, Paul was saying that he chose not to come in the way of eloquence and wisdom that they had expected.  This does not mean we do not use eloquence or wisdom, just not the worldly version.  After all, we see the eloquence in the book of Psalms, Jobs, Proverbs, etc.  And in some epistles of Apostle Paul, including this one, persuasive arguments were made, at times quite eloquently. Worldly wisdom is based on human perspectives, human rationale, human logic.  At its best is indifferent to God and at its worst rejects God.    So what is worldly wisdom? Worldly wisdom is based on human perspectives, human rationale, human logic.  At its best is indifferent to God and at its worst rejects God.  Worldly wisdom is often very pragmatic, results-oriented, self-centred, loud.  I hasten to add that not all human wisdom is bad. Some are neutral, some are useful. But wisdom in general must be put through the filter of heaven to see if it is acceptable by God’s principles. Wisdom in general must be put through the filter of heaven to see if it is acceptable by God’s principles.   Many of us are educated, even highly educated.  The danger is we begin to rely too much on worldly wisdom in the decisions we make.  We think we have it figured out.  And we fail to go to God to seek His wisdom.  We just use our logic.  For example, we should not build church with worldly wisdom at the expense of godly principles.   We should not seek to build the church through reliance on carnal marketing techniques. Imagine if we built the church like MacDonald's, seeking to attract the children with toys and meals that attract their sweet tooth.  Or build the church with capitalist concepts where every life group and ministry competes for resources.  May the fittest, most popular life groups and ministries survive! Or attract fans with a reality show called "I am a Pastor - get me out of here!   Yet some approaches are neutral. We can utilise some marketing, such as utilising a website for the church or social media for people to look up.  However, instead only relying upon a worldly wisdom, we should instead…   Rely on God and His power   1 Corinthian 2:2-4 (NIV) “2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.  4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”   When Paul wrote, “I resolved to know nothing”, it did not mean he lacked knowledge.  But rather, he wanted to keep Jesus Christ and Him crucified at the fore, rather than be occupied with peripheral matters.  He came to Corinth in weakness, not relying upon his own strength or wisdom, but upon God.  That was why his message was not with eloquent and persuasive words that the Corinthian people had become accustomed to.  Rather, it relied upon God and His power.    What was the demonstration of the Spirit’s power that Paul referred to?  It was probably referring to a range of things that occurred in Corinth.  The transforming power of God upon the hearers, turning them to Christ.   The evidence of God’s power that came upon the believers such as the evidence of spiritual gifts.  The evidence of sign and wonders that typically accompanied Paul’s preaching of the Gospel.    Romans 15:17 - 19 (NIV) 17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God.  18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—  19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.    To Paul the preaching of the Gospel is always accompanied by God’s power.  Such power is released through humble reliance on God "in weakness and fear, and with much trembling".  So instead of relying on worldly wisdom, we should rely on God and His wisdom.   When we started Hope Church in 1993, it was simply going out, meeting people and sharing our faith. Nothing flashy, gimmicky about what we do. God began to draw different people to us.  Different ones began to turn to Christ.  One time, I had to play the keyboard because no one else was available.  Though I had classical training, I had not seriously played for many years.  And certainly not for worship.  It was so stressful!  I desperately prayed that God would bring students who can play keyboard and guitar.  God brought 2 girls 2 weeks later who could do both!  They even eventually became key leaders in the church.  That is relying on God’s provision.    GOD’S HIDDEN WISDOM IS AVAILABLE   1 Corinthian 2:6-9 (NIV) “6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” Worldly wisdom is often measured by attainment and effective use of knowledge.  It is a wisdom without a soul.   The wisdom of God is not the same as that of this world.  Much of the wisdom of this world is corrupted by sin - our self-centredness, our fears, our human limitations.  Worldly wisdom is often measured by attainment and effective use of knowledge.  It is a wisdom without a soul.   But the wisdom of God is totally different in nature. James 3:17 (NIV) But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace–loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  The wisdom of God is holy, righteous, just and full of love. A creative expression of God Himself.   The wisdom of God is holy, righteous, just and full of love.  Unconstrained by human limitations. It is glorious!  A creative expression of God Himself.  A wisdom tied to a Person.  Perhaps it could be said that the difference between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom is like a Photo shopped picture of yourself. Compared to the real person, a pale shadow.   What Jesus did at the cross of Calvary is pure divine wisdom.  It is so God! Imagine the horrible, shameful, repugnant crucifixion of an innocent man.  The personification of failure and defeat.  That very act was turned by God to become the most merciful, loving, glorious act of self-sacrifice.  The personification of undeserved grace poured out for us all. That God Himself, who is totally innocent, sinless, would Himself suffer for the sins of the world – out of love for His creation.   It demonstrated at its very core the humility of the Almighty God, the mercy of the Judge of all Souls, the love of the Most Holy One.  It is so God!  So absolutely different from the wisdom of this world. Christ crucified - that is the message of wisdom, the Gospel message.  But this wisdom of God is hidden from the people, even rulers of this world.  They failed to understand the wisdom of God. If they had, they would have accepted the Messiah, rather than reject Him.  And it remains hidden because of the stubbornness and pride in their hearts.    In 2007, a man walked into a Northampton second-hand shop and bought a grubby looking, dirt-covered painting for 100 pounds because he liked the frame.  Only years later, he decided to take a closer look.  He realised that the painting looked rather old.  In fact, it had a date 1854.  He brought it to an auctioneer who identified it as possibly a Cezanne and the painting could be worth 48M pounds!  How many people missed it because they looked but did not see it for what it was.   Matthew 13:15 (Msg) Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing.  Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.  The people are blockheads!  They stick their fingers in their ears so they won’t have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won’t have to look, so they won’t have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them.   How many times have the Gospel been preached yet many refuse to humble their hearts to consider it?   Yet it is made available to those who love God.  Those who humble their hearts before God.  That we may have revelation of His wisdom.  We have the privilege of experiencing it, of understanding it. The question is how much do we value the wisdom of God?  How much will we seek after God’s wisdom?    RECEIVE GODLY WISDOM BY THE SPIRIT   1 Corinthian 2:10-12 (NIV) “10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.  It is by the Spirit of God that the wisdom of God is revealed.    Scriptures reveal that it is by the Spirit of God that the wisdom of God is revealed.  The Holy Spirit knows everything from God.  And since He dwells with us, He can reveal it to us.  1 Corinthian 2:13-14 (NIV) 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.  14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.    If we do not have the Spirit of God with us, we are unable to understand. The spiritual realities that the Holy Spirit reveals makes no sense to the unspiritual person.  It may even sound foolish.  For only the spiritually discerning will understand.   I mean how do we understand spiritual truths such as Luke 6:38 (NIV) Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” We can only comprehend spiritual truths through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds.    The more you give, the more you will receive.  The degree of generosity you give will be the degree of generosity you will receive!  It does not make sense!  But such is the spiritual principle Jesus taught.  We can only comprehend spiritual truths through the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds.  Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the giver of wisdom.   How can we gain wisdom from the Spirit?   We can study Proverbs 2 carefully and meditate upon it.   Proverbs 2:1 (NIV) My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,   Study the Scriptures as God’s Word, treating is as the very words of God and the keys to life.  Be diligent to absorb it in your heart, then the Holy Spirit will enlighten you.   Proverbs 2:2 (NIV) turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,   Posture our hearts to learn wisdom and applying it in our lives.  Tune in to God to hear Him and apply it in our lives. For wisdom cannot truly be understood unless you live it out.   Proverbs 2:3 (NIV) and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,   Pray and seek God for wisdom.  For He is the source of wisdom.  Godly wisdom cannot be attained apart from God.   Proverbs 2:4 (NIV) and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,   Be diligent in seeking God’s wisdom as something truly precious.  Squeeze every drop out.  Imagine suffering from thirst in the desert and desperately getting every last drop out of their water bottle.   Proverbs 2:5 - 6 (NIV) 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.   Scriptures affirm that as you apply Proverbs 2:1-4, you will gain revelation about how you should walk with God and come to know Him more.  The more you do so, God will give wisdom, knowledge and understanding. You see, divine wisdom and God are intertwined.  Know God and gain wisdom.   I have applied the above for most of my Christian life.  And I assure you how true it is that you will gain wisdom from God.    CONCLUSIONS Surely, you can find godly wisdom if you value it and seek God.   God is wisdom personified.  He has all wisdom.  He desires His Church to be built His way, with His wisdom.  So let us not seek worldly wisdom, nor attempt to build His Church with worldly wisdom.  But recognise that God’s wisdom is available to those who seek Him for it. Surely, you can find godly wisdom if you value it and seek God. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

What is the secret sauce to be Olympic champions? What do they have to do? What do they have to become? How much more the Christian who runs in a far greater event of eternal consequence! What are some keys to be champions of God? In Part 1, we unpacked some key principles based on 1 Peter 1:13. 1 Peter 1:13 (NIV84)  Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. We shared about the importance of our preparation to be a champion of God. In Part 2, we unpack more truths from the passage to be the champions God intended us to be. BE SELF-CONTROLLED TO FINISH WELL (v13b) “… be self-controlled…”   The need for self-control. To be prepared is good, but preparation alone is not enough. We also need self-control or discipline. Imagine the tennis match again. I may have made all my preparations but during the match, I must maintain my composure. I must maintain self-control. Otherwise, all my preparations are for nothing, if I panic, or get distracted. Athletes exercise self-control by undergoing the rigours of training, strict diet, etc. All for temporal prizes. Yet they pursue it so seriously, with so much dedication and sacrifice. We are running a race of eternal consequences. We should be even more eager to discipline ourselves that we may finish well. Paul reminded Timothy. 1 Tim 4:7 (TLB)  Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit. Self-control helps us complete our race well. Self-control also helps us overcome many spiritual battles that we are confronted with. 2 Cor 10:5 (NIV)  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Paul used military terms to describe the war waged for our minds and in our minds. To overcome, we must demolish the false arguments and pretensions. It requires discipline of our minds. We should realize that self-control is not so much for suppressing, but for harnessing. Self-control can help us harness our thoughts, our energies for excellent things. Just like a laser multiplies its energy because it focusses the entire energy output into a single fine point. Self-control can help us harness our thoughts, our energies for excellent things. God wants us to rise above mediocrity. To be people of excellence. Someone once said, "The world belongs to the disciplined." Those who are disciplined and squeeze more out of what they have. They are able to control themselves to go higher and farther. Developing self-control. This we cannot achieve by our own efforts alone. We need the Holy Spirit to enable us. Gal 5:23 tells us that one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Only God can fully bring about this fruit in our lives. We must work together with God. A young man once asked George Muller, a great man of prayer, to pray for him that God would help him get out of bed every morning to pray. Muller replied, “I will pray if you promise to get your feet out of bed every morning”. Muller understood that God will not do everything for us. We have to do our part. Start with little things then progress to bigger things. Start with regular devotions. Start with reducing unnecessary spending! Simple discipline to finish tasks for the day. St. Augustine, one of the Early Fathers of the Church wrote:   O that I might have Towards my God, a heart of flame Towards my fellow men, a heart of love Towards myself, a heart of steel. Let us truly determine today to discipline ourselves so that we can be used of God! BE FOCUSSED ON THE HEAVENLY TROPHY (v13c) “… set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.”   Do champion athletes compete in a race with every expectation to lose? Does a businessperson start a business to fail? No! They expect to succeed! And those that succeed, usually succeed because they were properly focussed. What we need to understand is this: A heavenly trophy awaits. What is the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed? In v10, the "grace that was to come to you" refers to our salvation. The reason our salvation is referred to as God's grace is because we could not work for it. It is a free gift from God. We have experienced God's grace through salvation in the past when we accepted Christ. We are experiencing God's grace in the form of His salvation working in our lives now. And we will experience God's grace in the completion of our salvation in all its fullness. When Jesus comes again. This is our heavenly trophy that awaits us when we reach the finish line. Champions hope fully. God's grace has already been freely made available to us. The key is our response. We need to place our hope in it. To "hope fully on the grace to be given you." When we are drowning in the sea and a life jacket is thrown to us, we need to place our hope on it. The difference with champions is that they fully hope in God's grace. Those that fail to fully hope will not live as champions. Imagine in the women's gymnastics with the uneven bars. If the gymnast is not fully confident with those bars, will she throw herself around with maximum force? The champions have absolute confidence in the equipment and so can perform to the fullest. In the same way, unless we hope fully upon God’s provision, we will not be able to run the race of faith vigorously and excellently. The race we run will be handicapped by our lack of hope in God's grace. Similarly with our Christian walk. Paul speaks specifically about this. Unless we hope fully upon God’s provision, we will not be able to run the race of faith vigorously and excellently 1 Cor 9:24-27 (NIV)  24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. In our Christian walk we have been assured victory if we run according to God’s way. Our assurance is firm because our hope is based on certainty. Sometimes when the going gets tough, when the chips all seem to be down. Refocus on the trophy that awaits us. CONCLUSION We are called to be champions of God. Let us live like champions. Let us prepare ourselves to run the race of faith like champions. Let us be self-controlled that we might finish the race well. Let us be focussed fully on the grace of God, that we might receive our heavenly trophy! Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

The Olympics is the pinnacle event for champions to rise up and demonstrate what they are made of. Behind every triumph and every loss lies a story of a champion who rose up against the odds to reach the pinnacle of their sport. How much more the Christian? Do you desire to be a winner rather than a loser? To be at the top rather than at the bottom? Do you want to succeed in God! The Scriptures clearly tells us that God intends for us to be champions. Champions who succeed, who overcome, who are victorious. We find some of these keys in 1 Peter 1:13. 1 Peter 1:13 (NIV84) Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. From this passage we discover some keys to living as champions. As Christians we have every reason to live as champions. God has chosen us to be part of a family of champions. God has made every provision for us to succeed in this journey of faith. He is with us every step of the way and has provided us the power to be champions! God has chosen us to be part of a family of champions. He has made every provision for us to succeed in this journey of faith Yet to be as champions, we need to live as champions. So how do we live as champions? BE PREPARED LIKE A CHAMPION (v13a) "…prepare your minds for action..." What does it mean to be prepared? In 1 Pet 1:13 (KJV) "…gird up the loins of your mind…". It provides a graphic description based on the Old Testament times. An Israelite male wore a long, sleeveless shirt that reached to the knees or ankle. When at work or war, it was tucked into the belt at the waist to leave the legs free. That is what it meant to gird up. Gird up the loins of your mind means to make ourselves ready for action mentally. To be alert or watchful. To be prepared. It is well known that for athletes and sports people to perform well, they need to be prepared mentally. Have you ever watched some of the weightlifters in the Olympics before they go out to lift huge weights? They are mentally psyching themselves up to step unto the stage. Why do they need to do that? Isn’t it all about their brawn? You might be surprised to learn that the mental game is just as important as the physical side. In the same way the Bible is telling us that our minds must be mentally prepared for action. If you are to live as champions, you need to prepare your minds like a champion. This applies also to our Christian faith, our work or any area of our lives. If you are to live as champions, you need to prepare your minds like a champion. Why should we be prepared? There are a number of reasons why we should be prepared mentally for action. Firstly, because we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Ephesians 6:12 (NIV84) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Unless we are alert spiritually, we become a casualty of the Enemy. A soldier that is not alert gets wounded or killed easily in the battlefield. The problem is Christians often do not realise they are in a battlefield. We need to open our spiritual eyes to recognize that there are spiritual terrorists around us. Waiting to blow us up if we are complacent. In Australia, the terrorists have not been able to do anything significant because our security forces are so alert. Are we alert? Or are we getting blown up? Secondly, we are called to advance God's Kingdom. How can we advance God's Kingdom unless we have been prepared to do what it takes? No army can advance into enemy territory unless it has been well trained. How can you pioneer care groups, develop new ministries, plant churches? When Lai Ling and I went to start the church in Brisbane, we were not unprepared. We were equipped because we prepared ourselves as best as we could in God. If you want to be used of God significantly, you need to get prepared! God has destined you to be a champion. Now prepare like a champion! How do we be prepared? Just 2 key pointers: 1. Renew our minds. Rom 12:2 (NIV) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. As we renew our minds, we will become more aware of God's purposes. We will change our thinking about ourselves. Instead of seeing ourselves as losers, we begin to see ourselves as champions as God intended. We view the world differently. As God sees it. Losers see problems. Champions see opportunities! We view the world differently. As God sees it. Losers see problems. Champions see opportunities! Zig Ziglar, a famous motivational speaker and Christian once said, "Your attitude determines your altitude"! The key is your perspective of yourself. Go to God's Word, go to God in prayer. Let God renew your thinking! 2. Train for a winning response. Sports people train themselves for a winning response. Imagine if in a tennis match, we have to try and work out what force and spin our opponent is hitting and then work out exactly what we need to do to counteract it each time, it will be too late! Instead, good tennis players acquire all the top skills to be used when needed, during their practice times. In a match, they pull out the skills that they need to return or make any shots. If we are to live as champion, we must train for winning responses, not just mediocre responses. In a tennis game, there is a huge difference between simply trying to get the tennis ball back and aiming to beat the opponent with a winning shot. If we are to live as champion, we must train for winning responses, not just mediocre responses. How do we train for a winning response in our lives as Christians? Are we seeking to understand key winning principles from God's Word and applying it in our lives regularly? Not to make do, but to excel! Heb 5:14 (NIV) But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Have we trained our hearts to forgive quickly? Have we trained to give a soft reply to harsh criticisms? When we know and apply God's Word constantly in our lives, we will become more proficient in spiritual matters and see great success in our lives and ministry. It is the same in other areas of your life. Train for winning response, whether at work, at school, in doing life! To be continued in Part 2 [Click] Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

A little girl who went with family to visit her aunt for a month several hundred miles away.  The family drove to the aunt and left the dog with neighbours. But almost immediately the dog ran away, to find her.  Amazingly, the dog managed to track her and followed her all the way! Until the aunt’s place.  What a great follower!   We live in a society that does not know how to follow well.  But we cannot have an army full of generals.  If there were no followers, there would be chaos.  If there were only poor followers, the group would go around in circles in the desert – like the group with Moses.  But when there are great followers – they cross the Jordan River to take the land!  Great followers + great leaders = great successes    Society tells us to do it our own way.  Bible tells us to do it God’s way.  God’s way involves becoming a great follower.  We hear a lot about becoming great leaders.  We also need to understand about becoming great followers.  Great followers + great leaders = great successes.  Joshua + nation of Israel = take Promised Land. That is why God wants us to be great followers.   Did you know that Jesus was a great follower?   John 4:34 (NIV)   ""My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."  Do you want to be a great follower?  Let’s consider 3 main qualities of great followers.   FOLLOW GODLY LEADERS THAT FOLLOW GOD (v10-15)   We should not simply follow any leader.  We have seen the disaster of Germany where many followed Hitler into WWII.  Rather, we should follow leaders because we follow God.  In other words, we should seek leaders who follow God, as His representatives. Hence, great followers look for godly leaders to follow.  What are some qualities of these leaders who follow God?   Great followers look for godly leaders to follow. Leaders who trust in God   Joshua 1:10–11 (NIV) So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’ ”   Joshua’s actions demonstrated his total trust in God’s instructions to him.  In v2-9, God instructed Joshua to cross the Jordan River and take the land that God has given to them.  Despite the fact there were large fortified cities, well-armed armies, foreign unfamiliar terrains and other great obstacles yet Joshua trusted God!   At that point, the Jordan River was in full flood.  Clearly an impossible obstacle to cross for over a million people yet Joshua trusted God.  He did not even bother to build a bridge or boats for he trusted that God would accomplish a miracle! He told the entire nation in v5 “…tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”  Joshua knew His God.  Joshua heard from God.  Joshua trusted His God! That was enough. Leaders who trust in themselves or others more than God – will fail God.   Leaders who trust in themselves or others more than God – will fail God. Isaiah 31:1 (NIV)  "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD."  God is never pleased with such misplaced trust. Leaders who trust in God – will succeed.   Leaders who trust in God – will succeed.  Psalms 115:11 (NIV)  "You who fear him, trust in the LORD-- he is their help and shield."  For they discovered the secret of tapping into the power of God.  Leaders who trust in God – you can sense it!  Because God is with them.  God will back them up!   Loren Cunningham of YWAM was preparing a major outreach for the Munich Olympics in 1972. He wanted a warehouse to house a printing press to print pamphlets for the Olympics.  When his assistant found a castle an hour away from Munich, they sense the inner confirmation from the Holy Spirit.  They had no money, but they trusted God.  Within a few months, God provided for them to pay off leasing the entire castle.    How much will you dare to trust God in the midst of huge challenges?   Leaders that do not compromise God’s Word   Joshua 1:12-15 (NIV)   12  But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13  “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you after he said, ‘The Lord your God will give you rest by giving you this land.’ 14  Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them 15  until the Lord gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the Lord your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”   Joshua did not neglect God’s Word to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.  Num 32:20-22 (NIV)   " 20  Then Moses said to them, "If you will do this--if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle, 21  and if all of you will go armed over the Jordan before the LORD until he has driven his enemies out before him-- 22  then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free from your obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the LORD."  It was not only a command from Moses, but from God – it was their obligation before God.   This required the 2 tribes and half-tribe to join their brothers in battle, leaving behind their families.  It was a tough instruction to expect of these tribes.  These men might have rejected Joshua’s command.  But Joshua did not flinch from the task.  He did not compromise.  He followed through.   Here are some quick reasons why we should follow such leaders: They can be trusted to do it God’s way.  Leaders with integrity will not compromise God’s principles. Even if it means their life, they will not compromise God’s Word. That is why spiritual leaders must know and love God’s word deeply.  We can trust them, for God’s heartbeat resonates in them.  They will be wise in God.  Leaders who love God’s Word and apply it consistently will grow in godly wisdom.  They will not make silly mistakes! They will succeed in God.  Because they carry out for God’s will, God’s way!  God will back them up. They will be greatly used of God.  Just like Joshua!   Consider this. Could it be that if we fail to follow such godly leaders, we fail to follow God?    For all leaders, you must make sure you follow God rightly. For all followers, you must make sure you follow whole-heartedly such leaders.  Do you want to be a great follower?  Follow godly leaders that follow God, those who trust in God and do not compromise His Word.   FOLLOW LEADERS BY OBEYING FULLY   What does it mean to obey fully?   Obey just as we obey God   Joshua 1:16-17a (NIV)   16  Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17  Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.   The 2.5 tribes not only agreed to Joshua’s commands but lifted it to a higher level!  The committed themselves to full obedience, as if they were obeying God!  For they understood that obeying our leaders is obeying God.  That is how God commands us to obey our leaders. Heb 13:17 (NIV)  "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you."   Conversely, rebelling against our leaders is rebelling against God because they are delegated authority from God.  What happened when Miriam rebelled against Moses? In Numbers 12:1-2, 8-10 was recorded God judged Miriam with the disease of leprosy. The disease of murmuring, the disease of resistance is essentially a disobedience towards God. The principle of divine authority is where the delegated authority is God’s representative.    It is crucial to understand the principle of divine authority is where the delegated authority is God’s representative.  So, when we obey the representative, in effect we obey God.  When we rebel, we also rebel against God.  That is why in my ministry, I a man under divine authority.  For over 30 years as part of the HIM family, I worked under leadership and faithfully served them as I served God.  Partial obedience, selective obedience, deferred obedience is in reality disobedience.    We ought to obey God fully, not partially.  Deuteronomy 28:1 (NIV)  "If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth."  Consider this.  Partial obedience, selective obedience, deferred obedience is in reality disobedience. For we are obeying only when it suits us.   King Saul was a classic case of such partial obedience.  In 1 Samuel 15, God told King Saul to destroy the Amalekites, to kill and destroy everything.  Yet in 1 Samuel 15:9 (NIV) "But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs--everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed."  Saul tried to rationalize his partial obedience, but God saw through his heart!  It was disobedience. 1 Sam 15:23 (NIV)   "For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.""   At times, obeying God and his leaders incurs a cost.  But a worthwhile cost because it brings greater good for the group and for God’s purposes.  “We learn more by five minutes' obedience than by ten years' study”. Oswald Chambers.   There is tremendous blessing in full obedience. Watchman Nee’s story told about woman, named Charity he was interested in since his teenage years.  However, she was not a believer and was worldly in many ways.  He struggled with this matter for a season.  Then one day, God challenged him.  “Would she be a suitable to be a preacher’s wife?” Finally, Watchman Nee relented and gave up his interest in her.  He continued pursuing God’s mission for him over the next few years and saw God’s provision and blessings.  Some 10 years later he met her again and she had become a fervent Christian. They married and served God together.  God brought blessing to Watchman Nee because he was obedient.   On the other hand, godly leaders do not abuse their authority in God.  Wise leaders rarely command; they request.  They discern when they speak on God’s behalf, and when they may not.   Obey as leaders continue in God   Joshua 1:17b (NIV) “Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses.”   The 2.5 tribe’s prayer was that God would continue to be with Joshua.  In effect, God would continue to be with Joshua as Joshua continued to be with God.  Thus, leaders must continue walking rightly before God.  It is crucial to realise that if leaders go against God’s Word, we cannot follow.  For we obey the higher authority of God’s Word.  If leaders disobey God, we cannot follow them in the disobedience.  For we obey God first.  If leaders disobey God, we cannot follow them in the disobedience.  For we obey God first. So we are not to follow blindly.  Obey leaders as they continue in God.    Do we want to be great followers?  Our attitude should be to follow fully.  As if we were obeying God, even though it costs us and as long as the leaders continue in God.   FOLLOW GODLY LEADERS WITH TOTAL COMMITMENT (v18)   Joshua 1:18 (NIV)  Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”   The 2.5 tribes were so committed to Joshua’s leadership they will enforce it on others!  Now, I am not sure I agree with their harsh implementation although their heart was in the correct place.    Our support to our leaders helps: Enhance their leadership.  In Exodus 17:8-12, Aaron and Hur enhanced Moses’ leadership by supporting him to hold up the staff while Joshua fought against the Amalekites. We can provide administrative help, be a personal assistant and so forth to assist our leaders.  Enable greater success for the group through our support. Bring greater satisfaction and longevity to the leader. Hebrews 13:17 (NIV)  “…Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”  When our leaders are joyful, they become more effective, make better decisions, love us more, etc.   Can we commit to support our leaders?   Leaders are human as well; they need encouragement at times.  We should therefore let them know when they are doing a good job.  When they muck up, let them know that we still stand with them.  When they lack confidence, let them know they can do it in God.   Here are some quick practical suggestions to support and encourage them. Pray for them, make ourselves available for them, give our suggestions and offer help where they lack.    CONCLUSION   God desires all of us to be great followers.  Because great followers cross the Jordan River towards victory.  To do so, it is crucial to follow godly leaders who represent God well by following God faithfully. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Do you desire to succeed in life?  To experience blessings and prosperity?  To know that there are possibilities ahead of us that leads to success?  What assurances do we have that God will help us gain success?   For Christians, God has already given promises of success.  What we must discover is how to live with those promises of success!  For while it is tremendous to have success promised us, we need to understand more about the promises and how to walk into it and with it.  For it is possible to have such promises but fail to grasp it for our personal situations.   This article will examine Joshua 1:1-9 and identify 3 major keys to living with promises of success.  This context of this passage is the immediate period after the death of Moses where the Israelites were challenged to move on by God who offers promises of success.   MOVE FORWARD AND LEAVE YOUR PAST BEHIND   How can we do so?   Reckon the past as dead   Joshua 1:1–2 (NIV) 1 After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead.   Moses was the mighty servant of the Lord. Unparalleled in His encounter with God, in the divine revelations given him and scale of miracles done through him.  Moses was the greatest prophet of God that ever was!  Joshua was only Moses’s aide, still unproven.   Everyone, including Joshua, had looked to Moses to lead them in God’s ways.  But now Moses is no more.  In such times, there is often a crisis.  Do we continue looking back to Moses or do we look forward with Joshua?  There could be a crisis of leadership.  “We knew Moses but not Joshua!  We dare not move on now!”  As long as we continue to look to past leadership and compare new leaders poorly with past leaders, we will be stuck! Or there could be a crisis due to past relationships.  Perhaps some might think, “I was totally secure in my friendship with Mary and John.  But in this new care group – I feel lost!”  Many struggle to move forward when they continue to hark back to the past, whether good or bad.   God was very direct with Joshua and the Israelites.  Moses His servant is dead.  The time of mourning has passed.  It is time to move on.   What can we learn from God’s actions?  We must not let our past hold us back.  Our experiences: whether it be our past failures, past hurts, past fears, past mindsets, even past glories.  Do not live in the past!  Do not be chained to the past.  Apostle Paul understood this.  Philip 3:13-14 (NIV) 13 "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." We attain success not by clinging to what was, but by embracing what could be.    Do not let the past dictate our promised future.  God has promised us success.  We attain success not by clinging to what was, but by embracing what could be.  Our past should inform us.  We can learn from the past mistakes and successes.  But never let our past constrain us from God’s promises!    Reckon the future is ours to take   Joshua 1:2b (NIV) …Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.   The death of Moses marks a new era and a new leader. God has given Joshua a three-fold vision: lead the people into the land, defeat the enemies of the land and claim the inheritance of the land.  It was the same God and same vision as was given to Moses.  We must understand that God will at times raise up new leaders to take over from past leaders.  For it took a Moses to get to the Jordan River.  And will take a Joshua to cross the Jordan River.  If we were chosen like Joshua, we need to rise up to take the mantle that God gives to us.   If we have new leaders over us, accept them as we had accepted past leadership. The future is ours to take.  But we need to both let go of the past and choose to move on.    The principle is this.  The future is ours to take.  But we need to both let go of the past and choose to move on.  Imagine driving a car.  To let go without choosing to take the future, is like releasing the handbrake without turning the engine on.  We will be dependent on the slope of the road. We will not have the drive, the momentum to go anywhere meaningful.  On the other hand, if we choose the future without letting go of the past, is like leaving the handbrakes on while we turn on the engine.  The car will struggle to move forward.  What we ought to do is turn on the engine and release the handbrake, then we drive forward easily.   Determine today to let go of the past and move on in God.     EMBRACE GOD’S PROMISES   We are a special people, chosen of God.  A people who has been given many wonderful promises from a covenant-keeping God. Ephesians 1:3 (NIV) "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."  These are incredible promises.  Yet what good are these promises if we are ignorant of them? If we fail to accept them?  Or fail to claim them?  So what do we need to do?     Embrace God’s will for our lives   Joshua 1:2-4 (NIV) 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.   God had His purposes for Joshua and the Israelites, and they had to accept it.  Similarly, God has promised us “territories” to inherit. We are no longer to be grasshoppers. People who are trampled by others, or by Devil.  Some Christians have a poor self-image, thinking, “I will amount to nothing.”  Or think, “That is all I am good for.”  In Christ, we should no longer live in defeat nor in mediocrity.  We are the children of light; we are called to shine forth and there must be an element of excellence. After all, God has called us to be overcomers and conquerors. Romans 8:37 (NIV) "… in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."    We must agree with God. Amos 3:3 (NIV) "Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?"  We must accept God’s will for our lives in order to walk in it.  Imagine if Joshua had said, “All I want to be is a blacksmith”?   Smith Wigglesworth was a plumber by trade.  At one stage his business was so good his love for God grew cold.  But in the end, he decided to accept God’s will for his life and became a preacher.  God used him greatly to heal multitudes and lead thousands to Christ.   Are you willing to embrace God’s will for your life?    Embrace God’s promise of power and presence Joshua 1:5 (NIV) “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”   God did not tell Joshua to take the land with his own strength.  But with God’s.  Isaiah 41:10, 13 (NIV) "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. … For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."   God will give the necessary power to accomplish what He calls us to.  For we will face challenges, even opposition as we carry out God’s will. But whatever He calls us to – He has promised to empower us for it. Empower for success! With the power of God – we will succeed.  Romans 8:31 (NIV) "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?"   Without God we will fail. We need God’s approving, supportive presence. We are not speaking here of the Holy Spirit residing in us.  But about God being there to back us up!   That is why God’s promise of presence is so assuring.  Matthew 28:20 (NIV) "… And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""   As we embrace God’s power and presence with us – we have the ingredients to succeed like Joshua did.   Receive God’s promise of prosperity and success   Joshua 1:8 (NIV)  …then you will be prosperous and successful.   God wants us to prosper and succeed.  That is why we should not have a poverty-mentality.  Failure, mediocrity, poverty is not God’s intention for our lives.  I believe for prosperity amongst the members of our church.  Success in marriages, in family, in work, in ministry, in personal development, etc.  In our personal situation, when our second son was coming, we knew that we had to get a house rather than remain in our little 2-bedroom apartment because our eldest son was already over-growing it.  We knew we needed some decent garden space for energetic boys.  As we searched, we discovered how expensive it was and would really stretch our budget.  Yet God miraculously provided a land so cheap that even after building a brand-new house it would be cheaper than 10-year old houses around there. But we must realize that prosperity and success should not be measured by temporal means alone, such as in finance, status, career.   But we must realize that prosperity and success should not be measured by temporal means alone, such as in finance, status, career.  These are the typical the prosperity doctrine of health and wealth measure.  In fact, the eternal measures are more important such as character, right-standing before God, fulfilling God’s purposes. Of course, it is great to have all these aspects!   By the health and wealth measure we have Abraham, Job, Joseph, David, etc.  On the other hand, we have Paul, Peter, Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Elijah who did very poorly on the wealth measure.  Yet they were all great man of God!  It is worth noting that God’s servants with primarily spiritual ministry calling usually do not do so well in the wealth department.  In contrast, those with governance or business calling tend to do well.  Yet those who made much sacrifices on earth will receive greater heavenly rewards.      Even then, must of them realize that prosperity and success is not for personal gain. But rather for the Kingdom. Personal success and prosperity should be a by-product, not the main aim.  For example, God’s blessing is directed towards the whole nation, not just talking about Joshua (v2).   Lai Ling and I have been blessed.  Not because we chased for temporal blessings, but it was a by-product of putting God first!    MEET GOD’S CONDITIONS TO APPROPRIATE HIS PROMISES   God’s promises can be categorized into 2 kinds: Unconditional and conditional.  Unconditional promises will occur regardless of our response.  For example, God will not flood the world again, Jesus will return again and the judgements of God.  Conditional promises are dependent on our responses and the context.   The promise of success is often conditional.  Such promises are like a coin – one is blessing and the other is responsibility.  We have to fulfil certain criteria because He wants us to take responsibility and to mature as well.  Even as He gives us the grace as well.    Here are some key conditions we observe from the passage:   Master God’s Word (v8a) “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night…”   To meditate means to ponder and consider over.  Day and night means couple of times daily, to the extent that it is on the tip of our tongue!  If we do not understand God’s Word adequately, how can we understand the principles that God operates by and to abide by it?  Hence it is crucial to memorise God’s Word, consider it carefully until we are familiar with it.   Often Christians lack success because they lack understanding of God’s ways. It is like expecting to win the tennis competitions without attempting to master the finer skills and techniques of tennis.   Obey the whole counsel of God’s Word (v7) “…Be careful to obey all the law…”.   It is important not to understand intellectually but to live it out.  And to obey all of it, not selectively.  Selective obedience reveals that we only obey the parts we agree with.  God’s challenge is to be diligent in obeying all of God’s commands.   Such diligent obedience brings blessings from God.  Yet many Christians are complacent about the little things in life where they compromise.  These compromises often undo us.  Song 2:15 (NIV) "Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom."   Let’s be a people who obey God all the way.    Be strong and courageous in God (v6-7,9) “Be strong and very courageous…”   The roadblocks that exist between you and your Promised Land may appear insurmountable.  Do not be discouraged but be strong in God. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV) "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power..."   Sometimes, it takes courage to press on to see God’s promises come to pass.  Joshua had to courageously overcome many obstacles.  We can become courageous when we chose to trust God.  When we rely on God to strengthen us.   Apply ourselves fully to the task of promise (v2-3, 5) “every place where you set your foot…”   Joshua and the Israelites were not to just claim God’s promises till they were blue in the face.  They had to go forth and apply themselves fully to the task.  They had be responsible to take the land.  As they applied themselves, the promise of God began to come to pass.  God has given His promises of success.  Now let’s get a hold of it!   CONCLUSION   God has promised us success.  On our part we need to leave the past behind and move on in His promises.  We must understand and receive His promises.  We should appropriate God’s promises by meeting key conditions required by God.  As we do so, we will begin to see the success promised by God. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Everyone needs hope.  Hope provides an inner motivation to keep us moving on.  Yet what type of hope do we have?  Many see hope as some wishful desire, a dream, an illusion - it is not real.  When such hope fades, many give up.  Australia has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world.  Because these kids lost hope.   What are we Christians placing our hope on?  Is there reality in our hope?  How can we be sure?  Ours is not some desperate clinging on to a faded dream, a dead hope.  But it is a living hope, founded on reality.  The epistle of 1 Peter was written in a time of much persecution by Apostle Peter to remind the Christians of the greater and better hope that they have in God.    1 Peter 1:3–5 (NIV)   3  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5  who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.   A hope that will help them live their lives with purpose and with dignity.  In the same way, if you truly understand the hope you have in Christ, you too will begin to live your lives with purpose and dignity.   In this article, I hope to help us better understand the foundation for our living hope.  We will consider 5 aspects.    GOD: MERCIFUL GIVER OF LIVING HOPE   1 Peter 1:3a (NIV)  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us…   What can we understand from these words? God is the only source of living hope. "…he has given us…"   You are only able to give what you have.  God gives living hope, so He must have living hope available.  The Bible is very clear that God is the only source of living hope.  Salvation is to be found only in God.   Acts 4:12 (NIV)  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”   Some other faiths may claim there are different ways to salvation.  But the Bible is very distinct in claiming there is no other way.  There is only one key to open the door to salvation and that is through Jesus alone. John 14:6 (NIV)  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.    We must realize that God is the source.  If we want eternal hope, we must go to the source.   God is the merciful giver. "In His great mercy…"   We have heard before that God is a giver.  God loves to give.  Yet He does not give indiscriminately. He does not give out of a whim or fancy. God is not like us who may give out of a whim because we just felt like it.  It reminds me of an old TV advertisement for women's perfume called Impulse!  A beautiful young woman wears this perfume and walks pass a dashing young man.  He smells a waft of the Impulse perfume and moved to impulsively buy the unknown woman a bunch of flowers! God does not give wastefully.  For God's giving is principled, it is considered.    God does not give wastefully.  For God's giving is principled, it is considered.  So when God gives to us who are undeserving, it wasn't because He just happened to feel like it at some moment of generosity in eternity.  Rather it was principled, it was considered.  God exercised mercy and provided an opportunity for hope for each one of us.   Now God knew how desperately depraved we were.  God knew how utterly stuck we were in our sins.  God knew we were all absolutely deserving of judgment.  Yet God exercised mercy and provided an opportunity for hope for each one of us.   In the days of the Revolutionary War there lived at Ephrata, Pennsylvania, a Baptist pastor by the name of Peter Miller who enjoyed the friendship of General Washington. There also dwelt in that town one Michael Wittman, an evil-minded man who did all in his power to abuse and oppose this pastor. One day Michael Wittman was involved in treason and was arrested and sentenced to death. The old preacher started out on foot and walked the whole seventy miles to Philadelphia to plead for this man's life. He was admitted into Washington's presence and at once begged for the life of the traitor. Washington said, "No, Peter, I cannot grant you the life of your friend." The preacher exclaimed, "He is not my friend--he is the bitterest enemy I have." Washington cried, "What? You've walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon." And he did. And Peter Miller took Michael Wittman from the very shadow of death back to his own home in Ephrata--no longer as an enemy, but as a friend.  --James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988), p. 345. No matter how undeserving we are, God's mercy is greater.    Rev Peter Miller exercised mercy like God!  No matter how undeserving we are, God's mercy is greater.  No matter how deep the hole we are in, God's merciful arm is long enough to pull us out!  God's mercy is great!  I have experienced many times how merciful God is to me.  Let us be thankful to God who is the merciful giver of living hope!    NEW BIRTH: THE ENTRANCE TO LIVING HOPE   1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)  …In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope…   As mentioned previously, God mercifully offered us salvation.  Yet in return we need to respond to accept this gift of salvation.  How do we respond?  Acts 20:21(NIV)  I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.   What is repentance?  The Greek word for repentance is metanoia.  It means to have a change of mind or heart.  Really it means to change from following ourselves to following God.  When we repent and place our trust in Jesus, something happens.  There is a new birth in our lives!  Repentance and trust in Jesus brings a new birth. Jesus spoke about this.  John 3:3-5 (NIV)  … “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” 4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.    Jesus was talking about the work of the Holy Spirit who brings about a transformation that occurs in our hearts.  It is like we started afresh.  It is a new birth! One moment we were dead in our sins.  But when we repent and place our trust upon Jesus, God comes in and brings about the new birth.  If you truly got saved, you begin to discover your perspectives change!  Unless we are truly born again, we have no hope!   By being born again, we now are born into God's family and into His Kingdom.  Regardless of our past, we now have a new start.  A new life with God!  We now have true hope! This new birth is the entrance into the living hope.  This is the key.  Unless we are truly born again, we have no hope!   When we have truly experienced God's hope, we understand why we should share that with others!  Let’s bring this hope to our families, friends, and colleagues.  So they too may experience a living hope.   RESURRECTION: REASON FOR LIVING HOPE   1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)  …In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…   The resurrection of Christ gives us true hope on 2 major counts.   Evidence of living hope   One of main elements of the living hope we have is that Jesus Himself is alive!  That is why there is no grave of Jesus, no dead body to be found.  All other founders of great faiths have a grave, but not Jesus! The Bible records how it happened.  Jesus body was guarded by a troop of elite Roman soldiers, placed in a sealed tomb with a large rock closing the entrance.  Yet the body disappeared!   That is why our hope is a living hope.  It is not a dead hope!  Imagine if someone told you that a cure has being discovered for all kinds of cancer by a scientist.  And you are so excited you want to meet this scientist.  And your friend tells you that he died last month from cancer! What sort of hope is that? Jesus alive is prove of our hope!    That is why the resurrection is so fundamental to the Christian faith.  Jesus alive is prove of our hope!  It proves our hope is founded on reality!  That is why we should not be deceived by the fictional works of Dan Brown who invented the Da Vinci Code story.  It has sought to masquerade as truth when it is little more than a colourful tale designed to confuse the facts with fiction.   Instead, we should look at books such as Josh McDowell "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" which looks at the facts.  Josh McDowell was a high-flying student, a student president in his university.  He thought Christianity was garbage.  That Christians were walking idiots.  He imagined that if Christians had a brain cell, it would die of loneliness.  You can imagine he was rather proud and arrogant.  So when some Christian challenged him to prove the resurrection was not true.  He went ahead to prove them wrong.  But the more facts he dug up, the stronger became the case for the resurrection. In the end he accepted Christ and wrote this book!       Now, not only is the resurrection evidence of our living hope.  It is also the basis.   Basis for living hope   In v3 it says, "through the resurrection…" we now have a living hope.  It provides us the basis for hope.  Why?  Because the resurrection of Jesus blazed for us the route to heaven.  Because those of us who have committed ourselves to Him will share in this new life.  We will participate fully in the glorious new nature in the future. Rom 6:5 (NIV)  If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection - as mentioned earlier. if Jesus has overcome death, then it will not overcome us as well.    You see, if Jesus has overcome death, then it will not overcome us as well.  Death has lost its sting. Now the resurrection of Jesus from the dead refers to the fact that He has risen from the dead and was given a glorious new body!  The difference between what Jesus experienced and that of others who were brought back to life through prayer is that Jesus has a glorified body!    A body that has been transformed so that it is eternal, it cannot die.  A glorious body, not the deteriorating body we have now.   1 Cor 15:42-43 (TLB)  …our earthly bodies which die and decay are different from the bodies we shall have when we come back to life again, for they will never die.  43 The bodies we have now embarrass us, for they become sick and die; but they will be full of glory when we come back to life again.    In resurrecting Jesus, God has demonstrated that death is not the end for us too!  For we too will join with Jesus and be given a resurrected body!  That is why I am not afraid to die! On my tombstone epitaph could be written, "Wilson is not here. Look for him in heaven."   Instead of fear, we approach death with certainty.  Certainty of entering a glorious new phase instead.  For us, death in merely the beginning of something better!   INHERITANCE: PRIZE OF LIVING HOPE   1 Peter 1:4a (NIV)  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.   We have an incredible inheritance awaiting us in heaven. A part of that inheritance is the glorious new body we will receive.  We will also receive crowns of glory which will reflect our faithfulness in God's service. In fact, the Bible declares that we are joint heirs with Christ!  Rom 8:17 (NIV)  Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co–heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.   We will share in Christ's glory and His inheritance! This is an incredible promise.  Imagine if we were joint heirs with King Charles III.  Our heavenly inheritance is immeasurably more.  This inheritance will never perish - it is permanent, assured, guaranteed for us.  It will not spoil or be corrupted - in other words it will remain morally pure.  It will not fade or wither up.  Matt 6:19-21 (NIV)   19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."   Our inheritance is kept in the trust bank of heaven.  No one can steal it from us.  But we could give it away like Esau. Heb 12:16 (NIV)  See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.    Hence, don't short-change yourself.  Don’t forfeit your inheritance.  Don't give it away to gratify yourself with some pleasures and short-term gain. Live your life with a dignity befitting a child of God! Live your life with purpose because there will be great rewards in heaven awaiting you. I have determined to live my life for God and resolved never to throw into jeopardy the inheritance that awaits me!   GOD'S POWER: KEEPING OUR LIVING HOPE   1 Pet 1:4-5 (NIV)   4  …This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5  who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.   How can keep our hopes alive in our hearts?  We need to realize firstly, that we are:   Protected by God's power We are assured that our inheritance is personally kept by God's awesome power.  No one can steal it, spoil it and delay it.  No force on earth or heaven can touch it!  God's power is also available to keep the hope in our hearts! Heb 10:23 (NIV)  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.   How is this hope kept alive in our hearts?  It is through faith!   Accessed by our faith   Do you just have wishful thinking, or do you know that God is able to sustain you through any difficulty, any temptation, any trial, any success, any failure.  When we have full expectation or assurance or saving faith, we literally tap into the actual power that keeps our faith. God is able to sustain you through any difficulty, any temptation, any trial, any success, any failure.    Imagine like drowning in the ocean and having a life buoy thrown to us.  We can suppose it can save us, rationalise it can save us, believe it can save us, but unless we stop struggling we can’t embrace the buoy. And its only when we have embraced the buoy that we can be dragged to safety!  So too with salvation.  It is when we actually embrace God’s promise and totally rely on Him that we start to truly step into the grace that really sets us free. Many of Satan’s schemes are to turn our trust away from God and either onto ourselves or onto something or somebody else.   Many of Satan’s schemes are to turn our trust away from God and either onto ourselves or onto something or somebody else. This is exactly what we have to be careful of. It is when we “let go” of our total dependence on God, that we open our self for trouble. We must take responsibility to exercise faith and trust in God! Then we can remain in God's protection.  Psa 94:22(NIV)  But the LORD has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.   The fortress of God is available for us, but Christians walk out without realising they had walked out! Should you ever feel like losing your grip?  Turn to God and trust Him!   CONCLUSION   We have a sure and living hope.  Its source is found in God Himself.  While He shows us mercy, we must respond in repentance and faith to enter this living hope. The reason why we have such an assurance of the living hope is because Jesus has demonstrated it by being resurrected from the dead.  His resurrection shows we too will overcome death as well, by the power of God.  God has guaranteed us have an incredible inheritance - do not give it away! Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Have you ever been discontented with some things?  Probably lots of things! Yet at times discontent can be troubling, like a burden weighing upon our soul.  Draining joy from our hearts.  Especially when we cannot seem to find contentment in our lives.  It is like an itch that you cannot scratch away. Yet when we walk with God, Psalms 23:1 holds out the promise that we will find contentment.    Psalm 23:1 (NIV) The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.   In this article I will explore how we can experience true contentment by looking at this famous psalm written by King David.  A number of insights in the psalms relate to discontent.   True contentment is found when we discover…   GOD OUR GREAT SHEPHERD   Psalm 23:1a (NIV) "The LORD is my shepherd…"   In many movies and TVs today, an idea is promoted again and again. That we will find true contentment if only we find our true soul-mate.  That somehow there is this hole in our heart that simply needs a soul-mate to fill.  Then we can ride off into the sunset happily ever after.   Yet at the same time how untrue this is.  Just look at how many movie stars, celebrities fail to find this contentment even after marrying their apparent soul-mate.  The reality is that no human being can meet this hole in our heart.  Because it was formed when we walked away from God.   What David did in this psalm was to recognise that contentment is found in a person.  And…   God is the key (v1a) “The LORD is my shepherd…”   Jehovah Lord is the key.  Because of who He is and what He is.    Consider this. In life, we are faced with all kinds of challenges.  The stress of navigating life and dealing with the all the unknowns waiting to pounce at us.  Whether it be our health situation.  Whether it be the security of our career or income.  Whether we find the right partner.  Our future.  Daily life itself throws up many challenges.  How to deal with difficulties in relationships.  How to deal with our own emotions.  How to make decisions in major areas. The pressures at work. Let alone when crisis pops up of nowhere. We were never meant to navigate all of life’s challenges by ourselves. This is why we need God our Creator.    We were never meant to navigate all of life’s challenges by ourselves. This is why we need God our Creator.  God who is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful.  He can help us through what we really struggle to work through.   The big question is, will He? Well, the great assurance to us is that God’s heart of that of a shepherd. John 10:11 (NIV) "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.   In the Old Testament times, good shepherds are known to be those who truly care for their sheep.  Who care for and nurture their sheep with love.  Amazingly, God is a sacrificial shepherd who is willing to give even His life for the sake of the sheep.  Jesus demonstrated that at the cross.   God is the shepherd above all other shepherds, because of His love for His sheep.  That is why God is declared as the Great Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd. 1 Peter 5:4 (NIV) And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. God is the key because He is the only one capable of caring for and leading us in the right journey.  And God is not only capable, but His heart is to do so.   David recognised that God is the key because He is the only one capable of caring for and leading us in the right journey.  And God is not only capable, but His heart is to do so.   No one else can do what God does.  No one else has the same capability, the capacity, the concern to do so.  So the starting point for true contentment is to go to God.  The only Shepherd capable for providing true contentment.   AN AUTHENTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR SHEPHERD   Psalm 23:1b (NIV) "… my shepherd…"   Notice that the psalm did not say “The Lord the shepherd”.  Instead, it is "my shepherd".  A much more personal connection.  True contentment flows out of an authentic relationship with God our shepherd.  However, such relationship starts with…   Recognising we need the Shepherd   Today when we hear this phrase “The Lord is my Shepherd” it sounds almost romantic.  How sweet! Psalms 23 clearly implies that David sees himself as a sheep needing the care of God the Shepherd. Yet in David’s day, that is not necessarily a flattering declaration.  Rather, a humbling admission.   To fully appreciate this psalm, we must understand the nature of sheep.  Following is a list to describe what sheep are like: dumb stubborn defenceless without a sense of direction prone to wander slow to recognize danger nervous and uneasy easily excitable and frightened   Basically, a sheep is all the things that we would not want to be!    Can you imagine what it might be like when the Israelites started hearing David’s psalms?  “Did you hear that new song David composed?  He is seeing himself like a sheep!  Sheep!  Those dumb, hopeless, vulnerable animals!  Why would he associate himself with such animals?”   Ah, but David had insight!  He understood the true nature of man, which was totally dumb, vulnerable, hopeless in our sins.  Just like sheep.  One thing is certain about sheep: they will perish if left to themselves. Jesus saw this in Matthew 9:36 (NIV) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.   The people were wandering helplessly without protection or care, because of a lack of a shepherd.  Unless we recognise our own helplessness and desperate need for the Shepherd, we will not choose to enter through the Sheep Gate of Jesus Christ.  Do we recognise our need for the Good Shepherd today? Such relationships can develop further when we …   Recognising the benefits of our relationship with the Shepherd   What benefits does a sheep receive from a shepherd? A shepherd is able to protect and care for the sheep.  The shepherd feeds them, clean them and keeps them from harm.  The shepherd keeps them from wandering away, from danger.  Sheep that listen to the shepherd gets the benefits of the relationship.  Sheep that ignore the shepherd, fails to taste the benefits.   Sheep that listen to the shepherd gets the benefits of the relationship.  Sheep that ignore the shepherd, fails to taste the benefits. For how can the shepherd help the sheep if the sheep keeps ignoring or running away from the shepherd?   Imagine when we see the car of our dreams at a bargain price.  “Look at that car!  It is the perfect one!  I will buy it!”  The Holy Spirit whispers, “Don’t buy it!” “Shut up!  Don’t tell me what to do.  This is a great car at a fantastic price.”  Then a month later the engine blows up.  And we blame God for not protecting the car engine.   Many want the blessings, but not the Blesser. Many want the benefits but not the relationship.  Unfortunately, it does not work like that.  The benefits and blessings come as a result of the relationship.  It cannot be provided separate from the relationship.  It is like a man saying to a woman, “I am marrying you just to get all the benefits of a wife.  But I have no desire to have a real relationship with you.”  How will that ever work? The foundation for true contentment is found in a right relationship with God.   Where is your relationship with God today?  Are you His sheep today?  Do you hear His voice?  Like Jesus explained in John 10:27 (NIV) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. The foundation for true contentment is found in a right relationship with God.   A TRANSFORMATION OF OUR HEARTS   Psalm 23:1 (NIV) “… I shall not be in want.”   True contentment does not occur just because we are relating with the right person, but because the interaction changes something deep in us.    It brings contentment rather than carnality.   Carnality is a shown by worldly desire for more.  It is about “I want!” It is a desire impossible to satisfy.  The more we have the more we want.  More shoes, better smartphones, better laptops, more expensive cars and houses!   Russell Conwell told of an ancient Persian, Ali Hafed, who owned a very large farm that had orchards, grain fields, and gardens. Ali was a wealthy and content man. One day Ali entertained a guest who told him all about diamonds and how wealthy he would be if he owned a diamond mine. Ali Hafed went to bed that night a poor man—poor because he was discontented. Craving a mine of diamonds, he sold his farm to search for the rare stones. He traveled the world over, finally becoming so poor, broken, and defeated that he committed suicide. True contentment is about a state of heart where there is a satisfaction, a peace with what we have.   On the other hand, true contentment is not so much about whether we have all we want.  True contentment is about a state of heart where there is a satisfaction, a peace with what we have.  It is no longer, “I shall not want because He provides all”.  Rather it is “I shall not want because my desires have been transformed.”   “Truly, the secret of contentment is not having much but wanting little.” Matthew Henry.   When I was young, I thought to myself that I would like to become a famous engineer.  To build structures that people can admire!  Embossed by plaques “Built by chief engineer Wilson Lim”.  But as I walked with God, something changed inside my heart.  It no longer held the same attraction.  I rather build God’s church and I care little if my name is attached to it.  After all, it is for God’s glory.   1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NIV) 6  But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9  People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.   Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Godliness with contentment is great gain!  Such contentment flows out of godliness!  And godliness develops as we allow God to transform our hearts.   How is true contentment cultivated?   How does our relationship with God help cultivate true contentment in us?  Let me suggest some thoughts on this.   Firstly, it helps us realise that God is a good, caring Father.  Jeremiah Burroughs explained, "Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God's wise and fatherly disposal in every condition." The fact that God is with us, is sufficient. We can be contented.    What does that mean? When we can reach that point in our faith journey where we can be thankful for what we have and remain patient in the midst of challenges. Even though we don’t fully understand, but we still trust in God’s hand.  Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)  … be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  The fact that God is with us, is sufficient. We can be contented.    "Real satisfaction comes not in understanding God's motives, but in understanding His character, in trusting in His promises, and in leaning on Him and resting in Him as the Sovereign who knows what He is doing and does all things well." - Joni Eareckson Tada   So developing our trust in God to that point fosters contentment.  Once, a father bought a nice gift for his little daughter’s birthday. When she unwrapped, it she looked so happy.  The Father asked, “Do you like it?  Are you happy?” The little girl looked deep into her father’s eyes. ‘Daddy, I am very happy with this toy!  But I am happiest with you!”   Secondly, it enables the grace of God to fill us with contentment.  Did you realise that contentment is also a gift from God?  We can ask God to help us be content.  Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) 11  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.   There is an inner strength which God can provide even in the midst of tremendous challenges, that helps us to remain contented.  In July 1967, a 17 year old girl dived in a pool for a swim and hit some rocks.  Paralysed from shoulders down.  She cried out to God, went through phases of self-pity but through it all she learnt to trust God.  Through the years she learnt to rely on Him for strength.  She is still paralysed today.  But she has been used by God to share the Gospel to many thousands, she acted in a movie about her life, wrote many books, produced several music albums, started an organisation to help the handicapped.  Her name is Joni Earekson.  She has passed the test.  She has learnt to be content in God. The challenges of this world become more like inconveniences.  For we have invested our contentment in the next life.   Thirdly, it helps us renew our focus on the blessed hope.  The more deeply we walk with God, we realize that our journey leads heavenward.  As this realisation deepens, we become less concerned about our life on this world.  The pressures of this world that creates discontent will have less pull upon our hearts.  The challenges of this world become more like inconveniences.  Because we are more excited about heaven and being with our Shepherd.  For we have invested our contentment in the next life.     Conclusion   True contentment is found in a Person, rather than in things or achievements.  The process towards true contentment starts with us recognising that God is that Person.  For only God has the capability, and the concern to do so.   Beyond that, it is crucial that we develop an authentic and right relationship with God.  For that provides the foundation to developing true contentment.  And it is out of the continual interaction with God, that our hearts begin to be transformed.  Where we begin to be satisfied, at peace with what we have. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

When COVID-19 spread across the globe, suddenly everyone faced huge uncertainties.  Many were confronted with a level of unprecedented crisis. So many had to deal with upheavals to our lifestyles, our jobs, our finances, our health and even our faith!  Even though that phase has passed, yet there continues to be different forms of crisis that we may be confronted with.   In this blog we deal with the issue of crisis! Since many uncertainties are caused by crisis or the uncertainties are itself causing crisis to many.     How can we survive crisis?  How can we thrive in times of crisis?  In this blog, we look at Mark 4:35-41 where the disciples faced a crisis and they discovered that Christ-Is the solution to their crisis.    Mark 4:35-41 (NIV) 35  That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36  Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37  A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" 39  He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40  He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" 41  They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"   I will make 3 crucial observations that help us turn from crisis to Christ-Is.   Recognition that Christ-Is with us   Mark 4:37-38 (NIV)  “37  A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"   Imagine the small boat caught in a huge storm and huge waves.  The boat nearly capsizes as big waves crash over it.  Even the experienced fishermen amongst the disciples were beginning to panic. They were doing everything to keep the boat from being capsized but they are losing the battle against the storm.  Peter was yelling out orders, “Lower the sails quick before we are blown over. Andrew hold the rudder steady, face the front towards the waves.  Men row harder! Someone bail out the water!  We need more hands!  Where is Jesus?”   Up to that point, nobody thought about Jesus.  They were too caught up with the whole crisis situation.  Finally, someone realised Jesus Christ is with us!  Recognising that Jesus was with them was the starting point to get out of the crisis! We must recognise that Christ-Is present with us.  For Christ-Is already with Christians, through the Holy Spirit in our lives.   Where is Jesus Christ? As far as we are concerned?  The real issue is not so much where He is, but do we realise or recognise where He is!?  We must recognise that Christ-Is present with us.  For Christ-Is already with Christians, through the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Jesus is in our hearts through the Holy Spirit.   Galatians 4:6 (NIV) Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba , Father."   But often we fail to recognise that.  We function as if Christ is not with us.  At times, we are running around like chooks with our heads cut off. “Help! God!”  And He is like “Uh Guys?  I am right here!”   It reminds me of one time in my university days.  I was at a friend’s place so engrossed with TV show that I failed to notice a church friend had joined me in the room.  I wasn’t paying attention other than what I was focussed on.  It must have been about 5 minutes later that I turned and saw her standing there.  We do that a lot to Jesus! If we fail to recognise that Jesus is with us, then we fail to gain from Him being with us.   If we fail to recognise that Jesus is with us, then we fail to gain from Him being with us.  We fail to take comfort.  We fail to gain strength.  We fail because we simply do nothing even though He is present with us.   In late 2015 BBC hosted a number of Adele impersonators. They impersonated Adele because they adored her.  Each one of them got on stage to impersonate Adele singing.  One by one they did their best.  Then the last impersonator Jenny got up looking rather nervously to sing.  When she started singing, one by one the impersonators gasped when they realised that it was actually Adele!  Adele had disguised herself and even spoke with a different accent.  None of the impersonators realised it was her even after hanging out with her for a few hours.  None of them had paid that much attention to her.  After Adele revealed herself, they all had fun singing together and learning from her.  But only after they recognised she was there with them.   Why do we often fail to recognise Christ-Is with us?  Because many fail to become familiar with His presence.  Many fail to become attuned to His Presence.  To know in our head is not the same as knowing in our heart.  Crisis have an uncanny ability to expose what is actually in our heart.  Because in emotional times, we often act out of what is in our hearts, rather than in our minds. Under pressure, we often act out of what we feel, more than what we know.   How do we get out of this failure?  Learn to recognise His Presence in our lives.  Recognise His manifest presence with us.  Recognise His hand upon our lives.  When I am ministering, I gain deep comfort when I sense God’s tangible presence with me.  The ability to discern this makes a big difference in my ministry.  Remember that after all, Jesus has promised to be with us.   Matthew 28:20 (NIV) … surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Start by turning our eyes away from crisis to recognising Christ-Is with us.    How can we deal with crisis?  Start by turning our eyes away from crisis to recognising Christ-Is with us.    Significance of Christ-Is with us   Mark 4:39 (NIV) “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”   Right there and then, Jesus demonstrated that He had authority over the wind and waves. Up to that point, even though the disciples had seen miraculous healing, they still did not understand the significance of Jesus as the Son of God.  They did not understand the significance of Jesus Christ being with them! If they knew, they would not have panicked.  They would have woken Jesus, “Can you please tell the storm to stop?” There is great significance to have "Christ-Is with us."    There is great significance to have "Christ-Is with us."  What does it mean to you to have Jesus Christ with you?  Imagine if Bill Gates came and sat beside you.  What would you say to him?  You ask, “But what is he famous for?” “He founded Microsoft that produces the most popular PC operating system in the world. You might say, “Gosh, I know very little about computer software – I don’t know what to say to him.” But what if you knew he is also the world’s 3rd richest man?  And one of the world’s biggest philanthropist? Having given away more than 55 billion USD? Suddenly you realise you could ask him to help fund your favourite projects.   If Jesus is only a man, even a wise man - it would make no difference to any of us.  What can He do to help us in our crisis? Because Jesus is God, it makes all the difference!  God who is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful.  He can truly help us through whatever we are struggling with. Then there is great significance when Christ-Is with us! What hinders us from grasping the full significance of Christ-is with us?   The question is do we grasp the significance? What hinders us from grasping the full significance of Christ-is with us?  The key is this.  Knowing in our head, but not knowing in our hearts.  The information in our head has to become conviction in our hearts.  It has to get through to our hearts that Christ-Is far bigger than our crisis.  No crisis is too big for Christ. Mark 4:40-41 (NIV) 40  He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" 41  They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" Christ-Is far bigger than our crisis. It took Jesus’s disciples time to grasp the significance of Jesus with them.  It usually takes time for us to grasp it too.  It is as we walk with Him and experience His work in our lives that we begin to truly grasp the significance of Christ-Is with us.  What is our conviction today?  About God? That He is bigger than any crisis?   Trust in Christ-Is with us   Mark 4:40 (NIV)  “He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"   Basically, Jesus is saying, “Don’t you have faith in me?  Don’t you trust I can handle this?  After all, you knew I am present with you.  I am the Son of God!”  In the same way, I want to talk in terms of who Christ-Is to us.  Is He someone we trust? It is one thing to know that He is with us.  It is one thing to know He is God.  But do we actually trust Him? To help us through our crisis?   On June 30 1959, a huge crowd were watching the world-famous tightrope walker, Charles Blondin, in his attempt to cross the Niagara Falls.  A fall from such a height would kill anyone.  Blondin crossed the rope numerous times - a 335m trip, 50m above the raging water to great applause.  The story is told that he spoke to the crowd, asking if they believed he could take one of them across on a wheelbarrow.  Of course, they all enthusiastically shouted their agreement.  Then he asked one of them to volunteer.  But no one did.  They gave their mental assent but when it came to the crunch - they did not trust Blondin enough.   Do we trust God enough to get into God’s wheelbarrow?  Bible tells us that God is absolutely trustworthy and faithful.  He keeps His promises to those who follow Him.  Deuteronomy 7:9 (NIV) Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. Many years ago, as a young believer, I knew what the Bible said about God trustworthiness and faithfulness.  But I also knew that I would struggle to get unto God’s wheelbarrow.  I knew that I did not trust God deeply.  What was the solution?  I had to get on the wheelbarrow.  That was the only way to experience God’s faithfulness and to learn to trust Him more.  That has been my journey with God the past 30 years.  I am still in the wheelbarrow with God.  God has proven Himself faithful and a keeper of promises.  God has provided for us and seen us through the highs and lows.  Through financial challenges, through my PhD, through my career as a research scientist.  Through major ailments, through various crisis.  Through all these, God has proven himself faithful.  Indeed, He has blessed us abundantly! Remember that God is the Good Shepherd who cares for us.   Remember that God is the Good Shepherd who cares for us.  Psalm 23:1-4 (NIV) 1  The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3  he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4  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.   God is our Good Shepherd.  He cares for us and lovingly leads us to green pastures.  Even though there be valleys of death – God will guide us through it.  Are we willing to trust Him enough to bring us through our crisis? To get into God’s wheelbarrow? God has the power to help.  God also has the heart to help.   God has the power to help.  God also has the heart to help.  This is shown by the most sacrificial act in the universe.  Bible reveals that we are all sinners.  Sin is rotting and destroying our lives and those around us.  We all experience the evidence of such sin.  The unforgiveness, the bitterness, the jealousy, the hatred, the selfishness.  Like a raging storm of darkness in our hearts. God who is absolutely holy has to judge this sin and expel it.  The judgment is eternal punishment, eternal condemnation in hell away from everybody else. So every person has been condemned because of this sin in our own hearts.   But God loves us so much that He could not leave us in such a state.  So God himself came and paid the penalty of our sins by dying on the cross for us.  He took the burden of sin upon himself.  But we have to make a choice, a commitment to accept what Jesus did on the cross.  We have to choose to place our trust in Jesus to save us from our sins. Only God can help us overcome the power of sin. God did all of this because He wants to help us.  That is why God can be trusted.  Will you choose today to get into God’s wheelbarrow?  Will you trust in Him?     Conclusion   So in any crisis we may face, we can turn from crisis to Christ-Is.  How?  Recognising that Christ-Is with us – He is here for us now.   Understanding the significance of Christ-Is with us – that He is bigger than all our crisis.  Trusting in Christ who is here for us – He is the one who can deliver us, when we get into God’s wheelbarrow. Copyright©️2025 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

Have you found that life is getting faster? And faster? And faster? Like a runaway out of control train? Welcome to the 21st century. We live in a fast-paced and highly pressuring world. In a 2012 Australian survey of wellbeing and stress, it was found that people are generally more stressed than a year ago. 22% reported facing moderate to severe distress. 34% experience depression symptoms. Young adults were the most stressed, particularly students and the unemployed. We know we are under stress when your lecturer hands out a new assignment and you feel like crying. When the boss asks to see you and you feel your stomach tightening. When you have to take deep breaths before you step into your home. We know when we are under stress, when in your dreams instead of counting sheep, you count unpaid bills. When you finish a box of chocolates in one go, without realising it. When you look at your iPhone and you wish Steven Jobs is still around. How are Australians managing stress? The survey tells us 40% drink alcohol to manage stress. 69% eat. 57% shop! 85% watch TV. We need to understand how to deal with pressure of many different kinds in our lives. In Acts 7, we can find some keys how some men of God dealt with pressures in their life . PURSUE HIGHER PROMISES (v2-5) Have you ever being in situations or know of people who were in situations where things seem very challenging? And the key thing that helped them pull through was the hope that things will get better? Stephen recounted the story of Abraham.   Acts 7:2-5 (NIV)  “2 …The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ 4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.” A man who faced major challenges to his faith yet pulled through. Abraham was a man who received incredible promises from God. Gen 12:1 - 2 (NIV)  1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. Many people think that when they receive promises from God, it is like a Christmas gift. Just something to receive and enjoy. No doubt, some promises are like that. But some other promises serve a different purpose. Some promises are intended to pull us through the challenging times that we will face. Abraham faced a number of major challenges, one of which was his childlessness.   Gen 15:2-3 (NIV)  2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”   Imagine the pain, the inner turmoil of a husband and his wife reaching old age and unable to produce any child of their own. And particularly in the culture of those days. It was seen as a major personal inadequacy. What pressures it must bring to them? In those days, women are divorced when they are unable to produce an offspring. Sadly, it still happens to some extent today. At least today we know that the fault can be just as much the men who may be firing blanks. Yet despite the difficulty of the situation, Abraham pulled through because he had God’s promises to give him hope. Abraham pursued after the higher promises rather than resign to the hopelessness of his physical situation. It is like even when we are surrounded by total darkness, a light lies ahead and we know that is a way out. God has given us many general promises through the Scriptures. And God may have given some of us specific promises. Promises God laid upon your heart or came through prophetic words. God’s promises that keep hope burning should be clung to. Don’t let them go during tough times but cherish them. Pursue the higher promises! Nick Vujicic has no limbs but refuses to let his challenges stop him. Today he has travelled around the world as a motivational speaker and sharing his testimony about God’s grace. He pursued the higher promises! In tough times, pursue after the higher promises, the promises of God! Keep positive, have hope by focusing on the higher promises. Often we get dragged down by the many challenges around us. But look up and remember God’s promises. Cling on to God’s promises! Pursue the higher promises! To be continued in Part 2   Copyright©️2021 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.

In Part 1 we noted the increasingly higher-pressure cooker we seem to live in today. It seems like our world is determined to grill us alive. We began to examine how select men of God handled such pressure in their lives. The first key was to pursue the higher promises of God for our lives. We continue the topic here. SOAR ABOVE OUR SITUATIONS (v9-11) Stephen recounted Joseph’s story. Acts 7:9-10 (NIV) “9“Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.” Here we find a teenager who was so despised by his own brothers that they kidnapped him and sold him as a slave into a foreign land. Most would have acquired a rejection syndrome. Imagine the trauma of a favoured son who suddenly was forced into slavery in a foreign land, utterly alone. Then as a foreign slave, his master’s wife tried to seduce him and because he tried to avoid adultery, was wrongly accused and thrown into prison. Imagine the stress of being accused of a crime you never committed and thrown into prison, a rotting hell-hole. As a foreign slave turned criminal, he would have been literally treated as a non-person. How would you have responded to devastating situations like that? Yet in each and every case, Joseph soared above his situation. As a foreign slave, he became the best and most trusted chief slave in his master’s house. Even as prisoner, he became the most trusted prisoner – given opportunity to manage the insides of the entire prison. Eventually, he was vindicated and appointed by pharaoh to be the Prime Minister. The foreign slave and prisoner rose to be Prime Minister! He made it a habit to turn life’s lemons into lemonade. He soared above his situations. God did not abandon Joseph even when his family did. God saw that Joseph had the qualities that enabled him to soar high. For Joseph was a man who responded out of who he was in God instead of giving in to the pressure of the situation. Gen 39:9 (NIV) No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” He did not allow situations to become his excuses. Don’t allow your challenges to become excuses. This reflected Stephen’s attitude as well. He did not bow to the pressure but focussed on who he was in God. All of us face personal challenges. But will we choose to be like Joseph and turn life’s lemons into lemonades? People can say unkind or critical things about you or about your group or even about church. Do we let that unsettle us? Or do we challenge ourselves to improve instead? As a church leader, I had to face criticisms of various kinds, some very unfair. Some rather personally directed at me. But instead of getting hurt and wounded or giving up, I chose each time to improve, to learn from it. I stand upon who I am in God and press on. Your lecturer may inform you that you failed your assignment or test. Your boss may inform you that your project failed. Do you sink through the floor and quietly die, give up? Or do you resolve to soar above the situation, looking to God for His grace? God promises to be there for us. Isa 43:2 (NLT) 2 When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. Psa 34:9 - 10 (NLT) 9 Let the LORD’S people show him reverence, for those who honor him will have all they need. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the LORD will never lack any good thing. So look to God for strength and determine to soar! RESPOND RATHER THAN REACT (v23-29) Stephen then recounted about Moses. Acts 7:23-29 (NIV) “23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’ 27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’ 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian…” How on the spur of the moment Moses killed a slave master out of anger. How he reacted instead of responding to the situation. What is the difference between responding and reacting? To respond is to rationally reflect through a situation before taking action. This reflection can take 5 seconds, an hour. A day or longer. It is not the timeframe but the fact that there was a weighing up of the situation to find the best possible solution. Responding is guided more by objectivity than by emotion. To react is a spontaneous action usually based upon emotion rather than intellect. Usually, we react when we are unprepared or overwhelmed in feelings such as anger, frustration, lust, etc. Moses had a bit of history of reacting in anger. Ex 32:19 - 20 (NIV) 19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. Num 20:10 - 12 (NLT) 10 Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So all the people and their livestock drank their fill. 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!” Moses sometimes made the mistake of reacting rather than responding. Reacting under pressure often makes matters worse. I heard there was once an argument that developed between a husband and wife. The husband came home after a tough day at work. As a result, he was less than attentive to his wife. Upset, the wife accused him, “You never give me the same attention anymore!” Frustrated, the husband reacted, “Well, you are not the same girl I married.” You can imagine more fireworks after such a statement. Often, we react the most to those closest to us. This often hurts the relationship and cause even more stress to the people closest to us. A few simple tips to move from reacting to responding: Know when to shut your mouth. Better to say nothing than to regret it. Better to have a bit of thought about how to have something constructive to say. Know when to walk away and come back when you have cooled down and have had some time to think things over. Know when not to make decisions. When your blood is boiling. When your frustration level is too high. When your emotions are running hot. Those are not good times for decision-making. CONCLUSION We all face pressure of different kinds. Let’s learn to deal with pressures by God’s grace. Learn to pursue higher promises from God in the face of our challenges. To soar above your situations by choosing to turn life’s lemons into lemonade. To respond rather than to react during times of pressure. Copyright©️2021 by Wilson Lim & Lai Ling Lim. All rights reserved. Materials are free to be distributed in whole or part as long as proper acknowledgement is given to the author and not sold for profit.