God, the Strength and the Portion!

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” – Psalm 73:25-26 NIV

Most of us may believe that strength comes from the physical aspects of our lives. In order to increase our health and flesh, we eat healthy food which includes a lot of vegetables and we workout most of the time. To increase our heart, we often think it is based on emotions and feelings. Hence, we try to create happiness or get pumped up by doing different things. Some of us consider following Jesus Christ until the end of the age is too hard as it is rare to have moments of inspiration. Thus, for this reason, we do not even dare to try to become followers of Jesus, or give it up when we do not get pumped up and when we are very weak at feelings or emotions. I strongly believe that I was creating peace within my heart by watching television. One of the reasons why I watched television is that it makes my mind relaxed. I noticed this when I had headaches.

However, the truth is that Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God (Colossians 1:15), is actually the strength and our portion forever. This is because we have actually been created by Him to be His image (Genesis 1:27). “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30) In addition, the word of God states, “Christ is the one who gives me the strength I need to do whatever I must do.” (Philippians 4:13) Yesterday, I realized that listening worship music is one of the ways that actually can create external and inner peace of God within our hearts. This is because I think it is one of the ways that can make my mind relaxed and it creates inner peace, due to the fact that it is centered on Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:4-7).

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:15-18)

Secondly, the moments of inspiration are actually the empowerment of the Spirit of God (Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Ephesians 3:20-21), whom God has poured into us as an advocate to do the will of God (John 14:15-27). Usually, we feel that Jesus is the real source of the strength, especially when we have moments of inspiration. Thus, for this reason, moments of inspiration are good to have sometimes but we are not supposed to rely on them as they are rare. Instead of relying on them, we should keep in mind that we are supposed to glorify God in whatever we can and we  should rather keep the hope of God (1 Peter 1:3-9) within us (Isaiah 40:29-31; Philippians 1:20-21).

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

 Last of all, Jesus Christ is our ultimate satisfaction as pursuing Him never ends. In addition, when we think about satisfaction of worldly things, it is only for temporary. I had experienced this many times, especially by watching television. When I focus on watching television for a couple of hours, I get tiredness and I do not want to watch it anymore, as the satisfaction stops when I watch television for long time. One of the  reasons why pursuing Jesus Christ never ends is because “ … his understanding is beyond measure.” (Psalm 147:5) In addition to this, Isaiah 40:28 declares, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” The Interesting part of this is that God has His steadfast love towards us (Psalm 145:8-9), which means that He is willing to forgive any sins that we have committed if we confess them to Him (1 John 1:8-2:2). This is because God has already paid our death penalty by crucifying Jesus Christ on the cross (Colossians 2:13-15) Furthermore, He has given us eternal life instead through Jesus. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Therefore, we should abide in Jesus Christ with the Spirit of God by reading and listen to the word of God daily (Hebrews 4:12) ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”’ (Romans 1:17) In addition to this, John 17:3 states, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)