thanks to my sister, i've been on the mailing list for the daily devotionals from New Creation Church in Suntec City, Spore since a while ago. i found it to be really encouraging in terms of building faith in God, and would like to share it with you all. so if you find it good, do subscribe to it.
this saturday besides celebrating the birthday of the october babies, we will be taking a group photo for our blog!! Aun has agreed to bring his awesome camera along and utilize his skills to take an impressive group photo of us! so come in whatever you wear, look fresh and handsome/pretty, so that your face can be on the face of our blog! going to get things up and running guys :)
i'm hoping that a picture of us on the blog would make everyone feel that they belong here, and take ownership of this space to share life. all of us are co-owners of this site, so i really want to encourage you to post up your SOAPs, or even your thoughts on certain issues that interest you, e.g. what you took away from the relationship seminar, maybe?
anyways, here's the reading for today from the NCC devotional :) and if it strikes a chord with you, then cool bananas!
Steadfast In The Faith
1 Peter 5:8–9
8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9Resist him, steadfast in the faith…
When I was a teenager, I was taught that if I wanted to resist the devil, I must rebuke him. So whenever an evil thought came to my mind or I was tempted, I found myself saying, “I resist you, devil, in Jesus’ name! I bind you, devil! Go away from me, devil! I rebuke you in Jesus’ name!”
This went on until God showed me one day that though I had “resisted” the devil, I had spent more time talking to him than to God! I was more conscious of the devil than of God throughout the day.
I checked the Word of God and realised that we resist the devil not by focusing on resisting him, but by being established in the faith that we are made right with God through Jesus’ blood, and that we are the righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21) Yes, the devil will continue to remind you of your mistakes, failures and sins. And he will tell you that because of these things, you cannot receive your healing, that something will happen to your family and that you will have to pay for your mistakes. He will accuse you, condemn you and try to persuade your heart to believe that he can do bad things to you.
But the truth is that the devil cannot enforce anything in your life if he cannot persuade your heart. And your heart cannot be persuaded if it is “steadfast in the faith” — established in righteousness. God says that once you are established in righteousness, “you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you”. (Isaiah 54:14)
So now that my heart is established in righteousness, I can tell the devil, “Yes, I have all these problems in my life but I’m not guilty in God’s eyes. I’m justified in God’s eyes by faith because of what Christ has done. I’m righteous by Jesus’ blood!” My friend, that’s how you resist the devil and become undevourable! |
