Overcoming Fear

Hmmm, I haven't been sincerely doing my Quiet Time
been slacking quite abit here and there
prob b/c I have been dwelling in my problems which should not even exist if I gave it all to God
=.=

but guess what,
this totally relates to the sermon ytd!
We had a guest speaker as our Pastor is in Korea
and I really enjoyed his message

At the start, I found it really hard to comprehend what he said
as I could not really follow on his accent
but anw, as his msg got more interesting
I pray to God/Holy Spirit that I will be able to understand his words
and I'm not joking
It seems like God either open up my ears or gave him better pronounciation
I understood everything the pastor said
and the message really touch my heart deep down

He talked about "Overcoming Fears"

1. Miracle and Faith

There's no doubt that we experience problems and sufferings in our lives
Sometimes, we question God
"Is it because I've done something wrong?"
"Is it because God don't love me anymore?"
but all these are the wrong concept;
In fact, it's the other way around
God wants to use every opportunity to strengthen us and help us grow in faith
It's the fact that He loves us and wants us to grow closer to Him
When we face trial, faith is the one that bear miracles
and Miracles only happen when you have faith to God to face your problem
I really need to trust my problem to Him
but there's one thing I know for sure
that God will not allow problems that are too big for me
and He will surely lead me out of them

2. Development of Character

Every trials or temptation we overcome, It builds our character
There's no doubt that the beginning is always the hardest though
Sometimes, I am left there thinking that I should just give up
but it actually depends on myself
whether I want to continue to persevere or stay at the same spot
Again, the amount of time we spend dwelling on our problem depends on us
With faith and obedience to God, our problem would not seem to be a problem at all
I always think of His creation and His plan
then, I realise that I'm soooooo tiny
soooo small compared to the universe, the planets, the galaxy
yet He loves us the most
Our problems then becomes so miniture

Quoted from pastor:
The problems are not your problems. It is how you overcome your problem, that's Your real problem

We can choose to dwell in our past
We can choose to continue to fear for the present
or our reputation

But we can choose to deal with it...

Be a person who care more about your character rather than reputation

There was a period of time that I continued to dwell in my problem
It was hard for me
I cried for almost everyday, exagerating a lil xD
but anw, as much as I pray to God to take away that problem
It kept haunting me
It kept destroying me

Then, I rmb that my church friend once said that:
God is like your mother/father on Earth
When you do something wrong, hitting ur younger brother
He hits you to remind you that it's wrong
and if you do it again, He will continue to punish you
until you STOP

I'm not saying that God hit me or anything
but I felt that during that period of time, God wanted to be Fully overcome my problem
entirely;
not just avoiding it, or solving it by my own strength
He wanted my obedience and trust in Him
He wanted me to rely on Him and not on my own strength
and now, when I looked back on it

I feel sooo glad
that God allowed it to happen
because I wouldn't have learn so much today
but throughout that journey, I always knew God was there for me
no matter how much heartache I suffered, He comforts me

3. The cure for fear is courage

Faith is believing what we cannot see; the price of faith is saying what we believe

I believe in God; that's no doubt
but I really need to work on proclaiming my faith
and not hide it or feel embarass about it

But anw, problems are opportunity for us to move our faith to a higher level
as every assurance that comes to us is a result of the problem

Christians do face alot of problems too
but what's different is that we are able to change tragedy to victory
for God's glory

the above are sermon notes from ytd
by Pastor Agus from Richmond (if I'm not wrong)