In search of God

Numbers 13:31,32, ‘But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size.’ Pessimism is defined as having an attitude of anticipating undesirable outcomes or believes that the hardships in life outweigh the good. The world that we live in is pessimistic. We in turn have become pessimistic in our nature anticipating that the undesirable or negative outcome is more likely to happen and that the evil in the world triumph over good. This is just the way the natural world is. This is the attitude that the ten men chosen from the twelve tribes of Israel had. And because of this pessimism, they spread a negative report among the camp of Israel about the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob by God on oath, a land flowing with milk...

Romans 8:28, ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.’ Do not despair if things look bad, do not lose hope thinking that you have messed everything up and you have no chance at reaping any good for in all things God plans good things for those who love Him. Just look at how in Adam man was lost in rebellion and disobedience, cursed to face eternal death because of the sinful life we led, yet in His divine wisdom and mercy and love, God came and lived as man in Jesus, showing us the example by which we should live and then redeeming us unto Himself by His death at the cross thus satisfying the requirement of the law that demanded death for sin and disobedience while giving us the gift of life eternal and clothing us with righteousness in Jesus Christ that we do not deserve. God knows that you are broken, you are a cracked pot and there is no other way that He would want you because only in your broke...

Proverbs 21:31, ‘The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.’ We need to place all our trust and hope in the Lord for nothing is possible apart from Him but everything is possible through Him. Trusting in ourselves is futile because we cannot control anything and everything happens by the will of God. Trusting in ourselves is a form of pride and rebellion where we exalt our own way, thinking, plans above those of the Lord. God is faithful and will honor His promises if we come to Him in faith.

John 14:6, 7, ‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.’ If anyone wants to have eternal life then the only way to attain it is through and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God in His divine wisdom crafted a plan to redeem man from the bondage and slavery of sin through His Son, Jesus the Christ. In Christ, God punished all the sins of mankind to satisfy the justice of His divine law that dictates that the wages or just payment for sin is death and total separation from Him. Through Christ, we exchange our sinfulness for His righteousness, we exchange our weakness for His power and authority over the world and sin, we exchange our condemnation and guilt for His innocence, we become conquerors through Christ who strengthens us, we are victors in Him, claiming victory over sin in a battle that He fought for us, and we g...

John 14:1, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me.’ As Jesus was preparing to face the cross, He left His disciples a word of encouragement because He knew they were going to face uncertain and disappointing times before His resurrection. Uncertainty and disappointment, because of lack of control over the circumstances facing us, cause us to panic, despair and be fearful. We have troubled hearts but Jesus asked His disciples then and us now that we need to trust in God, the Father and the Son. When we are faced with a situation that is difficult and that seems to have no way out for us, we need to remember that God is all knowing; He loves us and has good plans for us. With this knowledge we can let all our cares and concerns rest in Him and place our complete trust and faith in Him and His ability to get us out of the situation stronger, better and more mature than we could ever do it for and by ourselves. Trust and faith is the only way to defeat fea...

1 Peter 5:8,9, ‘Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.’ The Devil is always looking for an opportunity to destroy us, the beloved of God. We are called to be always alert and have self control, because He will use anyone and any situation to try and attack you and drive a wedge between you and your God. Each one of us faces temptations from the Devil that are directed towards our unique individual weaknesses, therefore they may not be the same in kind but are the same in purpose which is to destroy you and make you feel condemned and unloved by God. You should never let go of your faith in God’s faithfulness, love and power because as it is, the Devil stands condemned because He was defeated by Jesus Christ, at the cross, and now like a dangerous wounded lion, He looks...

Titus 3:4-8, ‘But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.’ Salvation comes to us as a gift of God by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ. No one can claim to have earned his salvation because none of us is worthy; we are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. Through Jesus the Christ, we are credited with righteousness before God and we therefore have the confidence to stand before Him in prayer. At baptism...

Mathew 14:29-31, ‘“Come,” he (Jesus) said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.’ Many of us when we receive an inspiring word from God, we are full of faith and we believe in Jesus. We take hold of the promise God has put in us and move in power in it accomplishing amazing and supernatural feats, walking on water so to speak. At that moment our eyes are firmly fixed on Jesus who is our Lord. But the moment we start to experience some turbulence, opposition, trouble, we start to doubt, we panic and start to focus on them rather than on who gave us the promise and power and our faith in the promise of God start to weaken and then we begin to sink. At that moment our Lord who is faithful and full of love for us reaches out and catches us from sinking in the dark bottomless pit. For our faith to gr...

Mathew 8:24, ‘Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.’ John 14:27, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’ What kind of peace did Jesus posses that even in the midst of a fierce storm that had experienced sailors like Peter and John worried of capsizing, He slept soundly. That must be awesome fear-conquering peace and the good thing is that He bequeathed that peace, His peace, to His believers. This is the kind of peace that gives you calm assurance in spite of the circumstance that you are facing. A peace that allows you to rejoice in your suffering, to have a happiness that is not controlled by your moods, circumstances or situation. The world is full of troubles but we as believers have an awesome power at our disposal but sadly for most of us we are not aware and therefore do not take possession of...

Hebrews 11:17-19, ‘By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice His one and only Son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.’ Abraham is the father of all those that have unshakeable faith in God, those that believe in God in spite of the current situation because they believe in the faithfulness and love of their God. In our journey to spiritual maturity, we are tested and tried in all manner of ways so that we may grow and become strong, so that when the tempter comes to us, we will be able to resist. God will not test us beyond what we can handle within our current skin, our current ability. Abraham was tested to see if he valued His blessing of a son more than he did His God and Savior. So are we in our lives, God tests us to expose our...

Hebrews 11:7-16, ´By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.´ By faith Abraham, even though he was past age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered Him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he was as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people were still living by fai...

Hebrews 11:3-6, ´By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God´s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what is visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.´ The only way we can please God is by Having faith in Him. By believing in His Son, whom He sent because of the love He felt for us, by faith believing that your sins are forgiven and you have been clothed with eternal life by His resurrection, by faith believing that He will answer all your pray...

1 Peter 1:8,9, ‘Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’ All who believe in God do so in faith. We believe in faith that the bible is the word of God, a revelation of Christ to man, we believe in Jesus to be the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who is fully divine and came to earth to be the son of man. We believe that His crucifixion was by divine design to unite us to God. We believe that He was raised on the third day by God, and ascended to be seated at the right hand of the Father. In faith we believe that our sins are forgiven when we confess our sins to Christ, in faith we believe that we die in Christ at the cross to our sinful life and nature, and are resurrected in Him as new beings full of power and eternal life, in faith we believe we are seated in Him at heavenly places at th...

1 Peter 1:7, ‘These (all kinds of trials) have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.’ This world is full of trials and tribulations and many of us when faced we go around sad and feeling persecuted. But look at it this way, our Lord controls everything of this world, because control was given to Him, and if you are facing a trial, He has allowed you to face it for a reason, and the reason is for you to be shaped, molded and matured spiritually. Just like a pearl is shaped due to an irritation, a believer’s faith in the one who called us to Himself is built up. So when you face these trials, do not despair but rejoice because He that is in you is still doing His work in you to make you whole and without blemish, a pure bride for His second coming.

Being a believer is synonymous with faith, so what is this faith. Paul tells us what faith is in Hebrews 11:1, ´Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.´ There are two things that essential for you to have faith. The first is that you need to have an intimate knowledge of God and with this knowledge you will know that He loves you so much and He is good with plans meant to prosper you. The second thing that arises from the first is that you must place your trust and hope in Him by submitting yourself to His will and being obedient and doing what He requires of you. His faithfulness to us really builds our faith upon Him because the more you let go and cede control to Him by placing greater faith in the Lord, the more you will see His faithfulness in your life and the more you will be confident and trust in Him and have more faith in Him. We need to trust and obey to be happy in Jesus, we need to believe and have faith in Him.

Hebrews 6:7-8, ´Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessings of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.´ The word of God that we receive is like the rain on a parched land that nourishes it back to life. When we receive this word, we are brought back from the brink of death to an everlasting life. Now to us that have received the word, there are two expectations placed upon us. First we must not remain spiritual infants who are weak and continuously falling into the temptations of Satan and Secondly, we should share the good news and bring others to Christ Jesus. We have a responsibility of facilitating our spiritual growth improving our relationship in and with Christ by reading the scriptures to strengthen our faith and banish our ignorance of the truth, regularly going to God in prayer, continuo...

Hebrews 4:1-2, ´Therefore since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.´ The good news that is the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is preached to everyone through God´s grace so that no one may say I never received it and we may all benefit from it and gain eternal life in Him but for some of us who hear it, our lives are not touched, enriched and ultimately saved from eternal damnation because we do not believe in the good news and in Christ Himself. Salvation of man by the grace of God comes only by faith in Him, through and to whom all things flow, so that no one may boast. There is no other way other than to trust and obey our Lord Jesus Christ, to allow Him to be master over our lives, to do His will, to allow oursel...