Day #2

"Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, ... will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Matt 6:30)

Second day of fasting, and it feels worse than the first day. The food is so close, yet so far away.

Went on a trip to a tulip farm with Uncle Nee, Aunty Linda, and Calvin - which triggered the above verse in my mind. Although not all the tulips were in bloom (the colder weather has affected them somewhat), they still made for pretty pictures. Beautiful, are they not? And if God cares for them, how much more does He care for us, who call him Abba Father?

"For by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH, and that not of yourselves..." (Eph 2:8)

My understanding of that particular verse, which stood out to me amongst the rest, is this :

We are saved BY grace, but THROUGH faith. 

Faith without works is dead indeed, but those works, however righteous we think they may be, are worthless (our righteousness is compared to filthy rags, ~Isa 64:6), and are NOT the reason we are saved. Despite despising all uncleanliness and unholiness, God is the only reason we are saved - it is His grace, poured out in abundance for us through the sending of His own son, which allows us this privilege to be part of His family.

BUT faith in itself, is not dead either. Far from it.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb 11:1)

In fact, Faith cannot exist except through works. It can only manifest itself through our works, when we take a step in faith, speak up in faith, perform an act of faith, then and only then, does faith shine. Our works depends on our faith, yet our faith determines our works. However, I admit it is not easy at all, to maintain the same childlike faith as we used to have years ago. Given the system we live in, where circumstances and problems often cause unnecessary fear and blindness, we are constantly overwhelmed by the unceasing tidal wave of drama and headache. As such I find it very hard, at times, to focus on God the problem solver, drawn instead to focus (wrongly) on the problem itself, trying to solve it with our own means.

And I am reminded of a song which has has held a very special place in my heart since I first heard it.

"You are my strength when I am weak; 

You are the treasure that I seek;

You are my all in all~

Seeking You as a precious jewel;

Lord to give up I'd be a fool;

You are my all in all~ "

Prayer : Father God, thank for for Your grace and mercy, for sending Your son to die for our transgressions. Help us learn to cast all our cares upon You, for indeed You care about us. We acknowledge we can do nothing without you; teach us to confide in You more, our saviour and friend. And once again help our unbelief, teach us to have faith, the faith of a mustard seed, a childlike faith, with brings pleasure to you o God. And as we continue to seek Your face each day, reveal Yourself to us - that is what we pray. Amen.