YOU ARE PERFECT.....but not yet

There is one thing common in the stories of the Bible. God loves working with people who are considered "weak" or imperfect. Abraham was old, Moses was a murderer, Zacchaeus was small, Jacob was a liar, Thomas doubted, the long list goes on & on.

The men in the list may be considered weak but they delivered. They delivered not by their own strength but by the power of Him who sent them.

God loves working with people who are "weak". All of us are weak. Not on the same particular area. Each of us have our own strengths and weaknesses. The good news is that we have a God who wants to perfect us.

2 Corinthians 12:9 says "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness". I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.

We are perfected not by our standards but by God's standards. There are three points on how God perfects us. 

1. God perfects us through our hurts
2. God perfects us through our fears
3. God perfects us through His love

First, God perfects us through our hurts.

• Jesus was not spared from being hurt. In fact, it was thru His passion that He was able to bring forth our salvation. The same is thru with us. We may experienced pain and trials yet we still come out victorious. It may not end up as we wanted it but later on it turns out to be a blessing.
• When my friend Rene started to have a personal relationship with Jesus their family experience a difficult trial. His mother was diagnosed with cancer! It was ironic that it happened at this phase in his life. Their home became gloomy, his faith challenge. But that moment of grief became a moment for joy as close friends started to pray with him, his leader would visit their house to pray for his mother. Eventually his mom was healed.
• God perfects us through our hurts.

Secondly, God perfects us through our fears.

• Moses is an example of a fearful man. When God asked Him to talk to the Pharaoh his reply to God was full of questions – "what should I say? who should I say sent me? How can I speak I am not a gifted speaker?"
• Moses had a lot of fears but He followed God anyway. God was working in his life and he was able to lead God’s people to the promise land. He was fearful but he was obedient to God.
• Rene's wife Merlyn shared to me her fears when she felt the worsening pain in her knee. She had to undergo a series of tests to determine the cause of the pain. She was fearful but she followed all the instructions of her doctors. She moved from one doctor to another and would often hear them say the phrases - "tumor", "cannot be fixed", "sorry I can't do anything". This made her nights stressful. But after enough consultations she got the final word that no surgery is needed. Truly, God was working with her every step of the way. 
• God perfects us through our fears   

Lastly, God perfects us through His love.

• This is the last point but is the most important fact. Our imperfection allows us the opportunity to love one another. When we realized the weakness of one person we should go out of our way to help that person in the area where he is weak. A sick person needs caring, a sad person needs to share laughter with another person, a desperate person needs someone who can spend time with him or her. A person who does not believe in God needs to hear God’s word. 
• When we express love to one another it is also an expression of God's love passing through us. All of this is possible because of His perfect love. It is the same love that drives Rene to be the best father to his family. The same love that moves Merlyn to serve her family every day. It is the same love that drove Jesus to the cross and die for us. God loves us and His love perfects us.
• We are weak & imperfect, yet God perfects us through His love.

God wants us to be perfect because He wants us to be His children. A perfect God & Father results to perfect children. We are perfected not by our might and skills but by His love for all of us. 

May you all have a blessed week!

alvinfabella@yahoo.com

WHERE IS GOD IN THE MIDST OF PAIN?

Jesus was both God and man. 

He experienced pain being a man like all of us. Good Friday was one of His painful moments. It was the darkest and most painful day of His life. His death showed a bleak future for God’s chosen people. Maybe most of His followers already gave up. Maybe they thought - “its over”.  The man they believed to be Messiah failed in His mission.

Jesus foretold his disciples the pain and difficulty that He will have to undergo. In Luke 18:33 we read - “and after they have scourged him they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise.”

Let us recall what happened in the first Good Friday and relate it to our own moments of pain. What should a Christian's attitude be towards pain?

There are 3 points that we can consider.

1. Accept the fact that there are no exemptions
2. Always look forward to the resurrection
3. Use your experience to understand others

Point number one - "Accept the fact that there are no exemptions"

You may already be a follower of Christ. But that does not make you exempted from trials. The apostles of Jesus left everything for Him. They left everything and followed Jesus. Yet, they were persecuted, stoned, tortured, some crucified and killed. 

Mary said yes to follow God's will. She was sinless. She obeyed God all the time. But she experienced extreme pain as she personally witnessed how her Son was tortured. She was there at the moment of Jesus' last breath. She was not spared from pain.

Even Jesus, the son of God, had to undergo pain. God does not promise a pain-free life here on earth.

This leads us to point number two - "Always look forward to Easter".

Jesus' enemies were able to put Him in the grave on Friday. They must have celebrated big time that day. They did not expect the coming miracle on Sunday. Easter proved that the grave could not hold Jesus. Death was not the end for Him. On the third day, Jesus came out of the grave victorious!

Maybe you heard the quote that says - "what does not kill you makes you stronger". This is what pain brings to our life. Trials makes us stronger and closer to God. Resurrection teaches us that God will always finish what he started. No matter how dark it looks, no matter how hopeless it appears, no matter how long it has been, no matter how many people are letting you down, simply have faith. God will take you through Good Friday to Sunday. You will reach Easter because God always brings it to completion.

You might have the same recollection from your past issues too. When you were in the midst of pain you thought it was already the end for you. But now, you look back and smile. 

The last point is this - " Use your experience to love others".

Christians are not called to dwell on their pain forever. God allows us to undergo pain so that we may feel the pain of others. We should be a source of comfort most specially to those who are experiencing a similar trial to what we had in the past. Cancer patients relate more to Cancer survivors. Broken relationships heals faster when you a comforted by someone from a broken family.

Pain calls us to love and God is love.

This simply means that God is present in our pain because He exudes perfect love. The next time you ask yourself "where is God in the midst of my pain?", look at the cross. The cross reminds us that God is there in the very midst of our pain.

If you are going through a dark time now, always look forward to the day of resurrection. Be firm and believe that God will soon cause you to "rise up".

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your resurrection. We want to focus on you. Our situation may look bad, with no sign of hope but our faith in you will bring us out into the light. We pray for your Holy Spirit to be our source of encouragement. Amen!

FOCUS ON WHAT'S RIGHT

She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more." - John 8:11

I wish I had posted a “Do Not Disturb” sign on my forehead that day. I was cramming for a major presentation the next day. My imaginary “D-N-D” sign seemed to work until my 10-year-old son, Jason, started this conversation.

Jason: Papa, can we play Wii? I need a good partner to beat the opponent in the new game. 

Me : OK, but can I go back to my laptop from time to time? 

Jason: Hmm... how much time do you need to finish that? 

Me : Forty-five minutes. But I can play with you now and work on it during the breaks in the game.

Jason: Nope, better finish that first. I need you to focus. I need your focus on the game so we can win. 

That conversation reminded me that whatever we focus on grows. If we focus on the sin, there is a high chance that we will fall into it or feel more unworthy before God. In today’s Gospel, Jesus encourages the woman not to focus on the sin. Instead, He wants her to focus on God’s love. That is the right attitude if we want to follow God. - alvinfabella@yahoo.com

originally posted on: http://kerygmafamily.com/modules/dailyreadings/read.php?date=2014-04-07