Footsteps to Zion

Did you know that our God loves gardens?  In fact, the Bible says that He planted the Garden of Eden Himself (Gen. 2:8-9). He didn’t just create them in an instant as a fully-grown garden. Instead, He planted the trees there and made them grow out of the ground. But more importantly, do you know what is the most precious garden to the Lord out of all the gardens in the world? It is not a physical garden but a spiritual one – it is the garden in our hearts. In a sense, when we become Christians, God plants a garden in our own hearts. It is this garden in our hearts that He carefully tends, protects, and inspects. And as any good gardener, God looks at the garden of our hearts looking for certain characteristics that are well-pleasing in His sight. What then are these characteristics that we should cultivate in the garden of our hearts? 1. It should be enclosed. Song of Songs 4:12 A garden enclosed Is my sister, my spouse, A spring shut up, A fountain sealed. Satan ...

All of us are waiting for something. It can be as simple as waiting for our turn in the grocery line or waiting for our train to arrive. But it can also be as significant as waiting for the results of a dream school application, waiting for a long overdue promotion, or waiting for a loved one’s physical healing. But as Christians, we wait for so much more .  We wait for God to deliver us from long-withstanding sins. We wait for God to redeem us from our troubles. We wait for God to fulfill His promises in our lives. And we even wait for the day that we will finally see Him face to face. If we pause and honestly ask ourselves, do we know what we are really waiting for in life? And second, how is our attitude in waiting? There was a man in the Bible called Simeon who was tested in this area of waiting. He was an old faithful man who waited for a very long time to see the Savior of Israel and of the whole world, our Lord Jesus Christ, on earth. Luke 2:25-32 And behold...

In the Bible, there is a beautiful passage sung by Mary, the mother of Jesus, which we now call as the “ Magnificat .” The word Magnificat literally means “an utterance of praise” (Merriam-Webster). Mary sang this after the Angel Gabriel revealed to her that she will conceive and give birth to the Christ Jesus. As we read the Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55 , we can easily sense Mary’s joyful spirit as she sang this. However, what we often fail to realize is the challenging situation in which she was praising God. At that time, she was just a humble teenager engaged to marry but also about to bear a child. People could have easily thought of her child as one born out of wedlock. That could have even been considered adultery which was punishable by stoning in Jewish law. Mary could have feared for her own honour and dear life. Yet in spite of all these, she chose to magnify the Lord. And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, a nd my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour."...

Image source: www.LumoProject.com An “opportunity” is defined as a “time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something” (Oxford). The thing with opportunities is that they have a time limit to it. They won’t always be there forever. That’s why, when the right opportunities come, we want to get hold of them and never let go. Opportunities exist in many forms. For a lot of companies, they are looking for new business opportunities. For the working class, many are looking for better career opportunities. But for the true believer in Christ, he or she is looking for an opportunity to have an encounter with God. One such believer was blind Bartimeaus. He was looking for an opportunity to meet Jesus and get healed of his blindness. Such opportunity came on Jesus’ very last visit to Jericho (where Bartimeaus was) before He went to die on the cross and ascend to Heaven. OUR NEED FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE HEALED While we may not be physically blind like Bartimeaus...

One of the strongest men who ever lived was Samson. He was so strong that he was known to have killed a lion with his bare hands, caught three hundred foxes, and killed a thousand men with a jawbone of a donkey. However, while he was physically strong, sadly, he was morally weak because he was ruled by lust. Samson’s strength, therefore, was not true strength for true strength is not merely outward, but inward. True strength is the kind of inner strength that enables us to control our own emotions and appetites. Does your strength today come from your inner man or outer man ? The inner man is the person’s mind, conscience, and will. The outer man involves our physical bodies. The Bible mentions this in 2 Corinthians 4:16 which says: “ Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day… ” As Christians, there is a great need for us to be strengthened in the inner man. Otherwise, Paul would not have pray...

We love to hear stories of how God is a God of love, merciful, gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth. While all of these are true, we must also realize that God is also described as a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). There is an aspect of God’s nature that is strong and powerful as fire , putting holy fear in our hearts. However, the fire of God may be one of the most misunderstood aspects of His nature. Man’s tendency is to stay away from fire as we think it will hurt us. But as we search the Scriptures about what the fire of God really is, we will come to understand that His fire is meant for perfecting us. First, the fire of God’s jealousy. “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. ” (Deuteronomy 4:23-24) Here, the Lord’s jealousy was...

In Revelation 14:12, the Bible talks about a specific kind of patience – particularly, the “patience of the saints.” Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This tells us that there is a kind of patience that is not of this world. There is a patience that is found in mature, real Christians that could only have been imparted from the very nature of God. So what is this true patience? And how can it be developed in us? TRUE PATIENCE IN TRIALS AND DELAYS All of us must be pretty familiar with the word “ patience .” As children, we’ve probably heard from our parents and teachers that we need to be patient when waiting for our food or when waiting in line. We’ve basically been trained to define the word “patience” as simply, the ability to wait. But true patience is much more than that. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. (...

In Psalm 27:4, King David declared “ One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. ” Do we have the same heart as King David, desiring to dwell with the Lord not just in eternity but also here on Earth? In order for us to dwell with Him, our lives first have to become suitable dwelling places for His presence. While God wants to dwell with us, there may still be things in our lives today that hinder this. So how do have the same heart as King David, a heart that will be a home for God? Our lives have to be in order. A house has to be in order and organized for it to be maximized . It cannot serve its purpose well if furniture and appliances are not in their right places. It can also be stressful to live in a house that is filled with clutter. That is why we always ensure that our living spaces are in order and free of clutter so that it is...

In the Bible, we are told of stories of many kings – some good, some evil. We are told of their strengths and also their weaknesses. And though we may not recall all their names and where they came from, what we will probably remember are the lessons we learn from their battles – particularly, why some kings won and why some lost. One story worthy to note is the story of the king who was meant to win a battle and came so close to winning it, but in the end, because of a seemingly small mistake, still lost it. This king is King Joash of Israel. During his reign, a time came when he was about to be attacked by the Syrian army. He was so desperate that he came weeping before a prophet of God, Elisha. “…Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, ‘O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!’” (2 Kings 13:14) King Joash seemed to know the Prophet Elisha well, even calling him “father.” However, despite having close rela...

One of the names of the Lord is “ Jehovah Jireh ” which means " God sees our need and He will provide ." Truly, all of us have needs whether it be in a natural or spiritual sense. But in all of our needs, God is surely able to provide. Matthew 6:33 states that if we put first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all our needs will be met. And God supplies not just according to what we desire, but according to the riches of His glory (Philippians 4:19)! Elijah was a mighty prophet of God who came to know God very well as his faithful “ Jehovah Jireh .” As we take a closer look at the life of the prophet Elijah, we can witness God’s power to provide for His people: Provision through the ravens: God provides when we obey. “ Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. ” (1 Kings 17:3-4) God spoke this pro...

A “promise” is an assurance that one will do or give something. Have you ever experienced waiting for something promised to you to be fulfilled? What if it will take 45 years for that promise to come to pass? Will you be willing to wait that long? Caleb was a man of God who was able to do exactly that. God promised to give him Mount Hebron as an inheritance but he had to wait 45 years before it finally became his. Mount Hebron was a mountain in Canaan, the land that God promised to the Israelites. But before they could possess Canaan, they needed to face enemies who were dwelling in that land. To conquer Mount Hebron itself, they needed to defeat the descendants of Anak - strong giants whom the people feared. Caleb first saw Mount Hebron when he was sent by Moses to spy out Canaan with 11 others. After spying the land, 10 of them got so afraid of the enemies they discouraged the Israelites from conquering Canaan. But Caleb was not one of the 10. He had a very different respon...

The Scripture says for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and this means that no one is excused from sin. We all struggle with sin which may be rooted in failures, weaknesses, or even bondages. But the Scriptures have also given us keys on how to overcome sin in our lives. In Revelation 12:11, we are told of how Christians overcame the enemy in the last days: “ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death .” The first key is the blood of Jesus .  The precious blood of Jesus is powerful to cleanse us from all of our sins and iniquities. Hebrews 9:22 says “ …without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. ” It is by the blood of Jesus that people are saved. Nothing is of any effect unless the blood of Jesus is applied on us. We face struggles every day, so it is important to always pray for the blood of Jesus to cover us from the attacks of...

Based on the Message of Sis. Cora Langi Sometimes, it is not natural for us to be thankful. It is easier to see the negative things in circumstances and people than to thank God. We forget to thank God for what we have and we complain about what we do not have. However, God wants us to be a thankful people. The truth is there are so many things we can thank God for in a day! The following are three reasons why we should thank the Lord. It is not an exhaustive list for we will never run out of reasons to thank God. We can never thank Him enough and when we start, it is endless. Thankfulness Keeps us in God's Presence Psalm 100:4 says, "Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name." In the Tabernacle of Moses, the people had to pass through the gate to enter the Outer Court. It is the same entrance as well for the priest who can come to the Holy Place and the high priest who can enter the Holy o...