When we read the Bible, we could easily presume that men and women of the Bible seems to be so confident. Unwavering faith despite their impossible situations. Perhaps all these are easily presumed as we are seeing their miracles in hindsight.

Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were thrown to a fiery furnace for not bowing down and worshipping Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image.

In this, we could see that their faith isn’t the absence of fear; faith overcomes fear. Their faith didn’t seem to be based on any assumption that their bodies would miraculously be fire-proof. They said, “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

They didn’t know what would happen, but their faith was in the fact that no matter what, they knew God had a plan and they weren’t setting conditions according to what seemed best to them.

You may feel afraid of what you’re facing. Situations may seem impossible and when faith enters, you are assured that God will not leave you despite not knowing what the outcome may be. What faith knows is that Jesus will not leave us comfortless; He’ll be there walking with us through the fire, as He was with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
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​Daniel 3: 17
If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty's hand.

- John W.

Hebrews 3:12-15 (NKJV)
Beware brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion...”
 
Have you allowed your heart to harden…?
 
Recently, I was watching a livestream of Ps Steven Furtick’s sermon on “Choosing your chains.” During the sermon, he uses a C.H.A.I.N. acronym – Choice, Habit, Automatic, Identity and Nature. It was the progression of our deeply rooted attitudes and behaviours through our choices and decisions. After this sermon, I reflected upon all the times I have allowed disappointment, anger, hurt, doubt and unbelief to reign in my heart.
 
In Hebrews, the author writes to an audience to be aware about how our unbelief separates us from being in relationship with God. In this passage, it identifies our unbelief as our unwillingness to trust God. Unbelief is deeply rooted in deceit and presents as hardness on the surface. It is not the weakness of faith, but rather an opposition towards faith.
 
Hardening our hearts is often the response of what has happened to us rather than from others or our circumstances. Some examples are hardening our hearts through unbelief, asking for more signs, presuming upon the mercies of God and relapsing into old indifferences (David Guzik). So how can we soften our hearts and be responsive in our relationship with God?
 
1. The time is NOW!
The Holy Spirit identifies that there is no time like the present. While you may have heard of the saying ‘time heals all wounds’, the Holy Spirit invites us to act upon addressing this today as so far as providing an example of those previously lost in their unbelief (the hearts of the rebellion – Numbers 13 & 14).
 
2. Stay in FELLOWSHIP
While we are in fellowship, we hold one another accountable and keeps us from being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The word exhort is to call to one’s aid or side. Without the support of the fellowship, our belief in our God can shift into a belief in lies without us even knowing, thus distancing our relationship with God. Many Christians who have tried being separate from the church and other Christians often find their relationship with God also distant and some may even turn from God.
 
So consider the condition of your heart. Do you have the support around you? If not, what are you planning to do about it today?

- Melanie Riley

​Nature has always been a source of tranquil peace and quietness. When life drags you down, you find yourself refreshed after a walk in the park, the sight of a waterfall, hearing the sound of the ocean waves, seeing the starry night skies or you name it, it is usually in the nature, free for all to see and feel.  

It dawned to me then, that God has always been the author of peace, He fashioned the nature to carry His peace and calmness amidst the busy strenuous lifestyle we so often find ourselves in. When we find ourselves enveloped in the solitude of nature, that is also when we could hear God with clarity and receive His comforting peace. God spoke to Moses from the burning bush at Horeb- the mountain of God (Exodus 3), God brought Abraham out to see the stars to count his descendants to be (Genesis 15: 5)and Jesus went to the mountainside to pray and spent the night praying to God (Luke 6:12-13).

Are you in need of peace to refresh your soul? God has provided it ever so abundantly outside of our door steps and are you struggling to hear from Him? Learn from Jesus and withdrew from the crowd. For us, it could simply mean to withdraw from the crowd our modern life, modern technologies and embrace the peacefulness of nature that He has provided. Quiet your soul then and that very still small voice, you will eventually hear. Don’t let the clutters of life’s demands silence the voice of God within you and robs you of your inner peace.
 
Psalm 29: 11 NLT
The LORD gives his people strength. The LORD blesses them with peace.

- Irene Soon

I am reintroduced recently to the old hymn “What a firm foundation” and a contemporary song “Who You say I am” and I am reminded again who and how God sees us. We are indeed sinners, but also saints because of what Christ has done on the cross. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).
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In our trouble and distress, He is our refuge (Ps. 46:1). When we are in deep waters, God is with us (Is. 43:2). In our weakness, we find His strength and His grace is sufficient for us (2 Cor. 12:9). When we are weak and there is no more strength in us, He is always sustaining us (Is. 46:4). Even when we are shaken and we feel weak and we doubt our faith as we are overwhelmed with trials and tribulation, He promises to be faithful because He will never leave nor forsake us (Deut. 31:6). Christ has become curse for us ‘just’ to buy us and to pay the full price of our sin (Gal. 3:13-15).
 
I can go on and on, but what I have learned from the songs is more than enough to remind me of who God is, who He is for us and who we are in Him. Most likely we will never be Billy Graham or Mother Teresa or even those people we greatly admire with their long list of achievements or those who have touched many lives and showed God’s love for others, but we are all ‘who I am’ in God.
 
When I feel small and insignificant, or when I feel God is silent and I’m focused on all the negativities around me, I want to encourage everyone (including myself) to take heart and live according to who God is and who we are in Him, not according to who we think we are or what the world thinks of us. May we live as ‘who I am in God through Christ’.
 
Isaiah 46:4
I will be your God throughout your lifetime--until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.

- Jenni Wang

Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall flow. He is a sun ever-shining; He is manna always falling round the camp; He is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from His smitten side; the rain of His grace is always dropping; the river of His bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of His love is constantly overflowing.

​As the King can never be defeated, so His grace can never fail. Daily, we pluck His fruit, and daily, His branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy. Who has ever returned from God’s house unblessed. Who has ever risen from His table unsatisfied?  His mercies are new every morning and fresh every evening. Who can know the number of His benefits, or recount the list of His bounties. The wings of our hours are covered with the silver of his kindness, and with the yellow gold of His affection.
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How shall my soul extol him who daily loadeth us with benefits, and who crowneth us with loving-kindness. O that my praise could be as ceaseless as His bounty!

​1 Timothy 6:17
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

- Writing of Charles Spurgeon

The Lord Jesus Christ is our Saviour
No death could hold Him down
Because of Him, we received freedom
Because of the Cross, we are made victors!

Bless this Holy Easter Sunday.
The Lord has risen!
He has risen and no death could hold Him down.

Hopeful Heart

Lay it all at His feet
Every desire, trembling fear
Every crushing care, every grief, every joy
The Lord will prove Himself true

For when we were still sinners
Heaven's greatest gift laid His life for us
When we do not deserve His kindness
He still lavished His love for us

Lay all burden at His feet
The Lord will always prove Himself true
Far more, dear.

- Hopeful Heart

Can you find a reason to celebrate life? I tried to recall several of the things happened in 2017: election of Trump, the communist party congress in China, North Korea missile test, the Rohingya crisis, the terror by ISIS, etc.

The world is much bigger than what I can read in the news but God is much greater than all the chaos in the world. There is always one valid reason to celebrate life: because it is from God Himself. The first life we got because God breathes His breath into our physical body. But we are dead in our trespasses as we have sinned against Him then He made us alive in a new life through the death and resurrection of Christ.

Sin brings tragedy into human life. But love of God through Christ brings us life and hope. Don't you agree?
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Galatians 2:20 
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
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- Jenni Wang

Happy New Year 2018, dear blessed friends and families.

We pray this promise unto your lives and that this year will be a year of favour and blessings in areas of your lack. May you continue to seek the wisdom of the Lord and learn His Words fervently. May you be fully assured of His love for you, His child. The Lord is for us and He will lead us in the way everlasting.

​Thank you for blessings and open doors that are coming our way. We praise Your faithfulness and goodness upon our lives.

Amen.