Saturday, May 29, 2010

Faith and Power

I've been learning more about overcoming lately. Do we need to learn how to overcome as Christians? Most definitely. I'm not only talking about these besetting, habitual sins that are even prevalent amongst believers, and that we usually don't even dare to admit. What about undesirable traits of character, laziness, lack of diligence, being quick tempered, given to appetite, just to name a few?

Well, I found a program that works for all of them. I'm sure most of us have experienced that if we try to overcome anything by our own strength, we most certainly fail. It's only by the power of God that we can have victory. And this power comes through faith only. In Matthew 9:29, it clearly says: "According to your faith be it unto you". And according to Romans 10:17 faith comes through the hearing or reading of the word of God.

So abiding in the the Lord through His Word seems to be the key, because this is the only way for us to sustain our faith. But we also need to ask God for the victory and know that it is ours through faith in the promises found all over in the Bible.

I decided to commit the following verses to memory:



Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:2-4)

Note that we can be actually partakers of the divine nature! And 1 John 3 clearly states that "whosoever abideth in him SINNETH NOT"!

Then it is essential, after asking, to thank God for giving us the victory and claim it in the name of Jesus. Our deliverance from whatever besets us is not in the future, it's available NOW! But as soldiers, we have to prepare for the battle by gathering faith through the Word on a daily basis. In Ephesians 6:16, in the context of the armour of God, it says: "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."

See how important our faith is? Without it, it is impossible to please God (Romans 11:6), and through faith, our forefathers "subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,..." (Hebrews 11:33). Yes, all promises that we find in God's Word are also available to us today, including the ones pertaining to victory over sin. May this be your experience today and in the future!

This is a short summary of the concept. If you are interested, you may look it up in detail under www.faithpowerministries.com.


Monday, May 24, 2010

Sowing more seeds

Life is back to normal here in Brussels. I'm enjoying a long weekend (because of whit sun Monday) and the weather is giving it's very best - sunshine, sunshine, sunshine!

I'm thankful for some little opportunities to share literature that opened up recently. I have one colleague who is currently working with us as a trainee. She is from the French part of Switzerland, and we happened to talk about my experience in Hungary. Obviously, she was interested in health matters, so I gave her a flyer about the 8 laws of health as well as a French Signs of the Times that especially deals with this topic. Furthermore, I recently found out about a book/DVD swap that is taking place in our Directorate-General for Agriculture. As they informed me that they would be happy for donations, I decided to give them some of the Spirit of Prophecy books that I have in different EU languages. Although this is not a very personal way to share this kind of literature, at least it guarantees that they will be read by people who are really interested in them.

Another exciting development is the possibility of having an evangelistic series with Brother Lowell Hargreaves from Amazing Facts in Brussels. So far, there hasn't been any rejection by the church responsibles I've talked to. My pastor, who is also the Conference president, is in favor, as well as the elders both from the English- and the French speaking church. The only challenge might be the finances, as the first few weeks of the campaign would have to take place in a secular setting (since not even some Christians would ever take a step into an SDA church), and this is very costly in the city of Brussels. We would also have to start up with a health seminar to make people come in the first place. So many things to consider, and so many hands needed! But I'm praying for God's leading. If it's His will, I'll be ready to invest my time and strength into this endeavor.

We had a baptism at our church yesterday. The candidates were seven young people, mainly youth from the church. Of course I'm happy that they decided to follow the Lord and not to go out into the world, but it would be nice to baptize more first generation Adventists. If the evangelistic series will take place next spring, this could be an opportunity to help achieving this goal. May the Lord lead in His wisdom and power to reach the unreached in the city of Brussels.

The baptismal candidates

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Last Sabbath in Germany

Below are some more pictures I have taken this Sabbath day. It was good spending time with family and church members while at home. But everything comes to an end, and so I'll be headed back to Brussels this coming Monday.

My home church in Karlsruhe
Sabbath school
The church has about 200 members
With my baptismal brother Andrej
Going home by tram
A cat in the neighborhood
My parent's home - the right upper chamber used to be my abode
I never get tired looking at the forget-me-nots!


Sunday, May 9, 2010

Springtime in Germany

I safely made it to Germany, and I'm glad to be able to spend another week here before I have to go back to work. The weather conditions are not so typical for May though, but nature doesn't care! I will try to upload a few more pictures before I leave.

Mother's day bouquet

Everything is so green!
Daisies
Lilacs
The little ducklings in the pond
With my cousin Antje


Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Thou will keep him in perfect peace

Originally, I was going to write on a different topic, but I changed my mind today. Although I'm not a preacher, I can relate to those servants of the Lord who have a tendency to mainly speak about things that personally concern them most at the moment.

I think nobody can claim that they have never been discouraged in life. After all, life is not always a bed of roses, and things may not always work out the way we would like them to. But how do we deal with those feelings?

Yes, I've found myself discouraged lately, and the main reasons were some situations at work that unsettled me. I thought "O Lord, why – why do I have to go through this? Why did I end up in this particular unit?" I don't want to go into details, but I believe I do have good reasons to be frustrated. However, should this take away my peace in any way?

Isaiah 26:3 says:

"Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."

So should we focus our minds on the circumstances? No, definitely not. We need to be anchored in the Lord, and staying my mind on Him means dwelling in His Word and believing His promises. This is the only way we can build real faith in Him.

In one of the talks of Dr. Nedley, he would sing a little song about feelings. Googling it up, I got the complete quote and I found out that it's actually by Martin Luther:

"Feelings come and feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God--
Naught else is worth believing.

Though all my heart should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.

I'll trust in God's unchanging Word
Till soul and body sever,
For, though all things shall pass away,
HIS WORD SHALL STAND FOREVER!"

How encouraging! I'm so thankful for God's unchanging Word, and that He is actually the one who is in control of our circumstances as well as our feelings. Whenever you feel dismayed, keep looking up, for the Lord is the One in charge!

This Friday, I'll be headed to Germany for a ten days vacation. Of course I look forward to this break and to spending time with family and friends. Maybe I can take some nice pictures there, provided the spring will be coming back by then!