The source of strength that the smallest must enjoy
Acts 11:19~30 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. (21~24) Hymn for scheduled worship: Korean/English Hymnal #205 Tell Me the Old, Old Story (#236 in previous version) As people live their lives, they make judgments regarding the future based on the framework of their thinking or their value system. However, there are times when our personal thoughts or lifestyle patterns provide no help whatsoever, and instead, exert bad influence. Instead of falling into despair and getting discouraged because of our weaknesses, we must change our framework and value system to fit that of a child of God. How, then, can we do this?
1. We must correctly change our fundamentals, basics, and foundation
Though we may be unaware of it, if our basics are skewed, inevitably, difficulties will come in our social life and our interpersonal relationships. In order to live our walk of faith and our social life correctly, we must first have the faith that connects with God, the basic posture to sustain our social life or interpersonal relationships, and be able to detect any weaknesses in our work or study skills. As we confirm these things, we must change them one by one.
2. We must renew every day and change our nature into one of evangelism
The 7 Remnants and the Early Church members in the Bible saw the things of themselves that were not correct and began to fix them. The reason why we cannot succeed in our work or study well is either because we do not know that the problems rests with us, or because we do not change ourselves even though we know that we are in the wrong. Abraham, Moses, and Elijah experienced many hardships as a result of their ideology, but when they changed their nature after choosing faith, they were led by God.
3. We must only hold onto Jesus Christ
The Early Church members didn’t possess great wealth or worldly background; on top of that, they were not highly learned. However, they acknowledged their weaknesses and realized that looking to only Jesus Christ was the greatest blessing. When we acknowledge our weaknesses before God and entrust the start and end of our lives to God, we will begin to receive unimaginable answers.
- Look carefully at the nature of your problem. Find the hidden problems, and change your posture to reflect that of an evangelist, just as God desires. Core Training Message / 2012.4.28