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City Harvest Church
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Shepherd: Qiaofen
formed on 031206 (:
our vision: To be a group of youths leading victorious lives, walking in word, unity, love and purity yet relevant to the world and an influence in the marketplace with the gifts and talents in our hands.
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Caizi Clarence Edwyn Gabriel Gengting HuiLing Ivan Karen Kangning Lily Miaoru Michelle Qiaoru Shengda Shirlene Siewting YiQin
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5 Nov: Shirlene's Bdae
7-8 Nov: Weekend svc with Pastor Robbfont>
9 Nov:MJ zone overnight prayer meeting
14 Nov: Sub zone Sports Fiesta
22 Nov: Michelle's Bdae
28 Nov: Hui Ling's Bdae
28-29 Nov: Water Baptism
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Monday, April 9, 2007
Do You Have a Crack in Your Foundation?
by Joyce Meyer
Every structure needs to have a solid foundation. Whether it’s a forty-five-story skyscraper or a one-story house, everything must be built on a strong, stable base. The same is true of our Christian life. Without a strong foundation, our walk with the Lord will be weak, wobbly and unstable. Many of us have tried to build our faith in God without the proper foundation. As a result, our lives have been filled with confusion and frustration.
I believe two of the main reasons why we don’t have the solid spiritual foundation we need is because we don’t know who we are in Christ, and we lack a clear understanding of things like repentance and faith. Without this vital knowledge, we end up with a crack in our foundation.
And where there’s a crack, there’s an opening. This means the things we want to keep in are able to seep out, while the things that we want to keep out are able to seep in. The only thing that is going to seal the cracks in our foundation is the truth of God’s Word.
Finding Security in Christ
There are many Christians who are insecure in their relationship with God, others and themselves. They don’t feel good about themselves and this causes problems in almost every area of their lives. Years ago this was a big problem for me. I was so insecure and worried about pleasing God that throughout the day, I would frequently take my “spiritual temperature” to see how I was measuring up. I would ask myself different questions like, “How’s my prayer life?Did I read enough of the Bible today? How’s my behavior been? Is God mad at me, or is everything ok?” I had these questions because I didn’t have a clear understanding of who I was in Christ.
Neither you nor I are supposed to go around all the time feeling badly about ourselves. Part of our blood-bought inheritance is to be secure in the knowledge of who we are in Christ. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21, For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness]. In other words, we are not righteous because of what we do;we are righteous because of what Jesus did.
Just four verses earlier in 2 Corinthians 5:17, it says …if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ…he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come! For me, the Joyce Meyer outside of Christ is a miserable, defeated mess going nowhere. But the “me” in Christ has the righteousness of God working in my spirit—changing me into the image of Jesus from one of glory to another(see 2 Corinthians 3:18). So from year to year, I become more like Christ, and I sin less.
I like to think of it like this: Before I was saved, I used to be a full-time sinner who slipped up once in a while and did something right. Now that I’m in Christ, I do what’s right most of the time and occasionally slip up and do something wrong, but not on purpose. The Bible says, No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s abides in him…(1 John 3:9). If God shows me something in my life that’s wrong, I repent and work with Him wholeheartedly to see it change.
Repentance
When we sin God makes a way for us to regain the clean feeling we had when we first got. It is through the awesome privilege of repentance. To repent means to be truly sorry for the wrong we’ve done, ask God to forgive us, and turn from our behavior. The same way we initially got clean is the same way we stay clean.
Repentance is a powerful tool against the enemy. When applied, it keeps the soil of sin from setting in. It reminds me of our decision to put white carpet in a house we were remodeling. All carpet gets dirty, but on white carpet, stains really stand out. So we found this wonderful spot remover and we kept it handy in two different places in the house. Anytime something spilled on the carpet, we ran for the spot remover. We didn’t leave the spot there for a few days and hope it wouldn’t set in. We addressed the mess quickly. This is the same way we need to deal the sin we commit. The minute we get a stain on our conscience, we need to run for the “Holy Ghost spot remover.” We need to be quick to repent—asking God to forgive us and cleanse us—and apply the blood of Jesus to our sin.
When Jesus died, He died for all our sins—past, present and future. And since God is all knowing, nothing you or I can think, say or do will catch Him by surprise. We must remember that God called us—we didn’t call ourselves. There is nothing we can do to make Him love us anymore or any less than He already does.
Only Believe
Being righteous doesn’t mean that we’re perfect and that we have no weaknesses or flaws. It means that we believe Jesus became sin through His death on the cross; by becoming sin, He made us righteous. And through our faith in His sacrifice, God places us into a state of righteousness. The Scripture says in Romans 4:3,…Abraham believed in (trusted in) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living and right standing with God).
Faith is a foundational thing. Putting our faith in God is the basis on which we live our entire life. Hebrews 11:6 says,…without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must…believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of
those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].
It doesn’t matter how many messages you and I hear or how much of the Bible we’ve read.Until you and I choose to believe it, very little is going to change. If we believe we are sinners,then we are going to keep on sinning. But if you and I believe we have been made right with God, then our automatic response is to do right. We need to stop believing the lies of the devil and start taking God at His Word. It’s amazing how much better we can do if we will only believe.
Remedies for Making Repairs
Don’t let the devil attack you with condemnation. If you have done something wrong, repent and ask God to forgive you. First John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (KJV). And when the devil begins to bombard your mind with thoughts of unworthiness and insecurity, you need to reject them.
Choose to believe what God’s Word says about you and start using it to war against the enemy.I challenge you to speak the Word against Satan just as Jesus did. For the word of God is quick,and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword…(Hebrews 4:12 KJV).
So search the scriptures for yourself and find out who you are in Christ Jesus. Get into agreement with God’s Word. Everything the Bible says about you, you can and should be saying about yourself. Instead of saying negative things about yourself and to yourself, say positive things like, “I’m anointed…God loves me…I’m His special child…I’m the apple of His eye…I am fearfully and wonderfully made…I’ve been made right with God and am accepted by Him…I’ve got a future so bright I need sunglasses to look at it.”
It may take some time for God to lay or repair your foundation of faith, but that’s ok. Becoming a victorious Christian is a learning process that everyone must go through. Don’t get depressed because you’re not where someone else is spiritually. Instead, get excited about the foundation God is building in your life. Let God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, seal the cracks in your foundation with His Truth. As you stay covered with the righteousness of God, you will remain at peace and defeat the devil in every area of your life!