Lord’s Day, Vol. 7 No. 3
(1) BHBPC’s 5thAnniversary Thanksgiving Service
Blessed Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church (BHBPC) will have her 5thAnniversary Thanksgiving Service on 27th January 2019 at 3 pm.
We invite friends and loved ones to come and rejoice with us as we recount the Lord’s goodness.
Indeed, our LORD is worthy of our praise and worship as the psalmist extols in Psalm 100:4-5 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
(2) In Thee Do I Put My Trust
Trusting God is the believer’s greatest assurance for strength in life. With it comes counsel out of His written Word that establishes the heart in the blessed ways of God, giving gladness in the heart, enables the child of God to rest in hope. This is the testimony of the psalmist in Psalm 16:1, 7-9:
1Michtam of David. Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust…7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. 8 I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
It is true that the heart that is wholly given to the LORD is freed from many a bout of anxiety, doubt, despair, bitterness and even depression as the psalmist testifies. Affliction does come to us in our daily life but the child of God who is stayed upon his God is able to overcome every trial that comes.
Can the afflicted choose to forsake God and wander off on their own? Yes!
The psalmist truthfully acknowledges that all other gods are false and those who run to them will not find true help.
Psalm 16:4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
The encouragement is that we will say as godly men of old, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou has the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68). Our devotion to God must be unconditional, or else we will be like the people who came to Jesus for bread. The people did not come to worship Jesus for Who He is but they hoped to get something out of Him without surrendering themselves to Him wholeheartedly. Secretly, they still cherish their own idols! God forbid! Our LORD is the only living and true God there is no other beside Him. God cannot bless a divided heart. We cannot, but realize that He is sovereign and be willing to come to Him unconditionally, to let Him lead in the path of peace even amidst suffering.
Jacob instructed his family to put away their idols and be cleansed as he led them back to Canaan as God commanded.
Genesis 35:1-3 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
3 And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
We may testify as the psalmist in Psalm 16:5-6.
5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. 6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.
Under God’s guidance, we are properly cared for. We submit ourselves to His commandments. We have a heavenly inheritance reserved for us that is incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away (1 Peter 1:4).
Although we may face trials and temptations, our God provides for us the strength to endure and the means of escape that we may be able to bear them (1 Corinthians 10:13) till we reach our eternal home. Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee