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"The key to faith is knowing the person you want to trust. Faith only makes sense with a good God. Faith only works when you realize that God is good all the time. Christianity is not a process of blessing. It is a relationship with Christ. You cannot have a relationship with someone you do not trust. You cannot trust someone you do not know."
These words from Bishop Juray Mora struck me last night. Why do we falter in relationships? It is because we do not trust, and we do not trust because we don't know the person enough.
Trusting involves time, choosing to be with a person when you could be with someone else or somewhere else. When we want to form friendships or relationships with people, we take time with them. We try our hardest to be consistent, so that they would know that we value them and respect their time.
Sadly, we sometimes fail in this department. We take people for granted, we move on from one relationship to the next, we are not sincere in our yes and in our no, we are not transparent with our intentions...and sometimes, when we are the ones who are hurt, we fail to forgive.
I guess this is the essence of why Jesus told us to turn the other cheek. To give those who hurt us the chance to start anew, to emphasize how valuable relationships and people are, to teach us how to love so deeply that we are prepared to lay down our life for another.
Out there, many hearts need healing because trust has been broken. There is one Person who offers this healing. He is Someone you and I can trust. He will never fail.
Before He formed me, He knew me.
Before I was born, He had already set me apart.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;..."
He knows every strand of hair on my head and values me more than anything in the world.
"Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows..."
Even before I knew Him, He chose to love me.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;..."
Even before I could say sorry for hurting Him, He already forgave me, because He wants me to be with Him forever.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us..."
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."
I pray that I would know Him more and more this year. I pray that I will spend time with Him. I pray that I will be filled with the assurance that whatever my situation is, my God is a good God.
"I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance." Ephesians 1:16-22
These words from Bishop Juray Mora struck me last night. Why do we falter in relationships? It is because we do not trust, and we do not trust because we don't know the person enough.
Trusting involves time, choosing to be with a person when you could be with someone else or somewhere else. When we want to form friendships or relationships with people, we take time with them. We try our hardest to be consistent, so that they would know that we value them and respect their time.
Sadly, we sometimes fail in this department. We take people for granted, we move on from one relationship to the next, we are not sincere in our yes and in our no, we are not transparent with our intentions...and sometimes, when we are the ones who are hurt, we fail to forgive.
I guess this is the essence of why Jesus told us to turn the other cheek. To give those who hurt us the chance to start anew, to emphasize how valuable relationships and people are, to teach us how to love so deeply that we are prepared to lay down our life for another.
Out there, many hearts need healing because trust has been broken. There is one Person who offers this healing. He is Someone you and I can trust. He will never fail.
Before He formed me, He knew me.
Before I was born, He had already set me apart.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;..."
He knows every strand of hair on my head and values me more than anything in the world.
"Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows..."
Even before I knew Him, He chose to love me.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;..."
Even before I could say sorry for hurting Him, He already forgave me, because He wants me to be with Him forever.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us..."
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."
I pray that I would know Him more and more this year. I pray that I will spend time with Him. I pray that I will be filled with the assurance that whatever my situation is, my God is a good God.
"I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance." Ephesians 1:16-22
