God is patient, ever so gracious and merciful, always faithful, encouraging and abounding in love.  How privileged and honoured we are, to have our eternal and glorious God of truth; holy, righteous, just, all powerful, all knowing, supreme and majestic, the sovereign Lord of all!  Hallelujah!

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Son of God, has paid a heavy price for our sins on a cross, which none of us can repay.  He subjected Himself to separation from His Father, was tempted and suffered trials, agony and humility on earth.  Yet, and above all, He was obedient to His Father who sent Him.  Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice; suffered a painful death and rose again to Heaven on the 3^rd day, glorifying God, while fulfilling His Father’s will to redeem us and establish His Kingdom on earth till He comes again!  Glory to the Lord who was, and is and is to come!  Amen!

The Lord spoke to me in Hebrews 5:7-10 that: “For Jesus, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared, though being a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  And being perfected, He became the Author of eternal salvation to all those who obey Him, being called by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek”.

Lord Jesus set Himself as a role model for us, calling us to remain obedient and imitators of Him, even in our times of sufferings; for He will sustain us, while offering us encouragement and hope in Him.  Just as Jesus did and modelled for us in His earthly life, we need to pray fervent prayers which God will hear and will answer at His appointed time; promising deliverance, healing and restoration of those who are obedient to Him, and who live by faith and in righteousness.  First Peter 3:12 says: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayers. But the Lord’s face is against those who do evil”.

Dearest family of God, may we stand on the promises of God, for it written in First John 3:21-22 that “we have confidence before God and receive from Him anything we ask, because we obey His commands and do what pleases Him.” In the same way, our God who is always in control, always just and righteous; allows us to go through our sufferings and trials for the purposes recorded in Romans 5:2-5 as “through Him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice on the hope of the glory of God.  And not only this, but we see glory in afflictions also, knowing that afflictions work out patience, and patience works out experience, and experience works out hope.  And hope does not make us ashamed, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us”. Amen!

Having said all of the above, the Lord spoke very loudly to me to share this, specifically, to guard ourselves from apostasy, from falling away. The apostle has warned us in Hebrew 6:4-6 “for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come, and who have fallen away; it is impossible, I say, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify the Son of God afresh to themselves and put Him to an open shame”.

Hebrew 10:32 pointed out to us: “But call to memory the former days, in which (after you were enlightened) you endured a great fight of afflictions”.  Here, believers are encouraged to persevere in their Christian faith and character when faced with persecution and oppression.  Although we do not welcome suffering, it can build our character, our patience and our endurance.  Indeed, in times of great stress, we may be more sensitive to God’s presence and seek help from Christians whom we never thought would even care about us.  Knowing that our Lord is with us in our suffering, and that He will return one day to put an end to all pain, certainly helps us grow in our faith and our relationship with Him.

Beloved brothers and sisters-in-Christ, let us be encouraged by God’s promise that perseverance yields the crown of life, for as James 1:12 says: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him”.  Amen!

Are we obedient, yielding to the call from God?