Don't allow anyone to make you think less of yourself!

God's words for you:

"Do not allow anyone to make you think less of yourself! Never allow others, not even yourself, to pull down your self-image and self-esteem. Don't allow bad experiences to bog you down. Haven't you realized who you are in My heart and in My eyes? You must understand that you are precious to Me." 

Ever since I started serving God in spiritual ministry, I've met and ministered to many people from different age groups and backgrounds. Many times, I realized that some of these people had actually faced unnecessary challenges in their lives due to their own perception of who they are. 

You see, whether you agree or not, your self-image will affect your self-esteem; and your self-esteem will affect how you carry yourself and live your life. So, it's very important to have the right self-image, which will also ensure that you have the right values, principles, and actions. 

I'm going to tell you some real stories of some of the people I've met, and how these people have been changed by the Lord through His words. 

I remember, once, a mother brought her daughter to see me. Her daughter was a young executive in the corporate world. Her problem was that she had been changing jobs frequently because of workplace bullying, and she had never been entrusted with important tasks in the company she worked in. When I spoke to her, she replied very softly, with her head down, avoiding eye contact. 

Right there and then, I asked the Lord how to help her. The Lord told me her issue was her low self-image. So, I gave her some Bible verses for her to memorize and to meditate upon every day. Also, since then, each time I saw her, I spoke encouraging words to her and praised her for every small positive transformation I saw in her. 

And you know what? The last time she came to see me, she was ready to take a flight overseas. The way she spoke and smiled had changed. She gave me a hug and told me that she had been promoted to a higher position, and her company had even entrusted her with a few projects overseas. Praise the Lord! 

Here, I'm giving you some of the personalized Bible verses I let her meditate upon. If you are facing situation almost like the young lady, I hope these personalized Bible verses will help you gain your self-confidence in the Lord. 

Gain your 'self-confidence' in the Lord

I am blessed because I trust in the Lord and my confidence is in Him. (See Jeremiah 17:7)

God has not given me a spirit of fear, but He has given me a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind. (See 2 Timothy 1:7)

So I say with confidence: "The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (See Hebrews 13:6)

Now, memorize all these personalized Bible verses and speak them to yourself again and again, until your mind agrees with them, and until they become your personal thoughts. Amen! 

Another real story. One day, a woman came to me crying. I had seen her a few times before she came talking to me personally. She always carried a sad countenance. She told me she didn't know how to relate to God as a Heavenly Father, because she had an irresponsible and abusive biological father. She always doubted why she's even born, because she didn't think that she is wanted by anyone in any way. This mentality had affected her relationship with others too. 

Of course, the first thing I did was to ask the Lord how to help her. First, the Lord led me to pray for her. Then, I gave her a big hug and encouraged her to pray a prayer of forgiveness towards her biological father. After that, for sure, I gave her some personalized Bible verses to memorize and to meditate upon. And praise God, the last time I saw her, she gave me a big grin, happily chatting with a group of new friends she had made. 

Here are some of the personalized Bible verses that you can memorize and meditate upon, if you need assurance of who you are in the Lord. 

Knowing that you are precious and treasured 

See what great love the Father has lavished on me, that I should be called a child of God! And that is what I am! (See 1 John 3:1-2)

God saved me, not because of righteous things that I had done, but because of His mercy. He saved me through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. (See Titus 3:5)

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord. (See Romans 8:38)

There are many more Bible verses that you can search up about being a child of God and His love for you. May you be rooted in the marvelous love of our Heavenly Father. Amen! 

One time, I was talking to a brother-in-Christ who had left his previous profession because of some personal reasons. He told me he's feeling very down with a very low self-esteem. Before this, he was a public figure who had never lacked praises and acknowledgement from his fans. But after he had left the limelight, he no longer received the applauses and affirmation he used to take pride in. He couldn't accept losing the fame and the attention that shaped his identity in the past. He told me he didn't know how to go on with the rest of his life. 

I prayed for him and encouraged him. I told him that there are different phases in a person's life. The faster he learned to depend on the Lord and seek affirmation from the Lord instead of fellow humans who could easily forget him, the faster he's able to embrace the new phase of his life. 

Recently, when we met and talked again, he told me he is a happier person now, living a simple lifestyle, and enjoying the freedom and precious time with loved ones that he couldn't have in the past. Praise the Lord! 

Now, you may not be a celebrity moving away from the limelight, but if you are retiring from a lucrative job or if you are moving into another phase of your life, not knowing what to expect and what to be in the future, do know that you have the Lord with you. He knows your past, and He holds your future. You can always count on Him and allow Him to lead you in every phase of your life. Amen! 

Here are some of the personalized Bible verses you can memorize and meditate upon. 

Be assured of God's presence and guidance

The Lord knows the plans He has for me, the plans to prosper me and not to harm me, the plans to give me a hope and a future. (See Jeremiah 29:11)

I trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding; In all my ways I submit to Him, and He will make my paths straight. (See Proverbs 3:5-6)

I am sure of this, that He who begins a good work in me will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (See Philippians 1:6)

Again, there are many more Bible verses that you can search up to help you meditate and put your mindset aligned with God's thoughts for you. That is how you can agree with Him and think the way that He wants you to think about yourself. 

Let us pray:

"O Lord God, we thank You for Your love towards us. Teach us to learn Your kind thoughts for us as we memorize and meditate upon Your words. Hone our minds so that no one can make us think less of ourselves. We want to have the right identity and self-image that is based on Your love for us. In the name of Jesus. Amen." 

Click here to watch the video in TiC YouTube Channel

It's time to strengthen yourself!

Words of prophecy:

'This is the time to strengthen yourself! This is the time to strengthen your faith, your hope, and your love in the Lord! Strengthen yourself! Never allow anything, anyone or any occurrence in the world to rob away your strength in the Lord! Look to God and not to man. Always remember the Lord your God who has saved you, covered you, protected you, prospered you, and loved you. Never forget all His goodness in your life! Strengthen yourself in the Lord!'

Probably almost every believer knows that the Bible talks about faith, hope and love (in 1 Corinthians 13:13). It is very simple, right? But, you see, faith, hope and love in the Lord combined together makes up as a solid foundation that we as believers must continue to build on throughout our walk with the Lord. It determines how solid our relationship with the Lord is, especially when we meet with challenges in life.

 
So, how to build and strengthen our faith, hope and love in the Lord? Let's start with the strengthening of faith in the Lord first.

Strengthen your faith in the Lord

Hebrews 11:35-36 (NLT)
So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Throughout my life as a believer and a minister of God, I have seen how some believers blamed God, doubted Him, and drifted apart from Him whenever things didn't go well according to their expectations. But, ironically, those bad occurrences were mostly due to human's own sins or mistakes. 

On one side, it might be their own mistakes. People tend to blame God for not stopping them from committing a sin or making a wrong decision. Well, maybe the Holy Spirit had been prompting and nudging them countless times. But they were probably too enticed by temptation or too desperate for achievements, than seeking the Lord for guidance instead. You see, I always believe that if God tells you to do or not to do certain things, He would show you the ways to go about it too. I wouldn't say there won't be any challenges, but I believe He will provide you the solution for every situation.

However, if a mistake has been made, just humble before God and let Him help you to rectify it. Don't try to hide from Him. There is nowhere in this world that He cannot find you.

On another side, it could be the mistakes made by their own heroes or the people they looked up to. This happened so frequently because human tend to unknowingly look for heroes to (quote unquote) 'worship' in their lives. It's so upsetting to see immature believers easily lost their faith in God whenever the Christian leader or minister, or the group of people, or the organization, or the political party, or the nation they used to look up to disappointed them. Now, our faith will not be easily shaken if we learn to look to God directly instead of having to find a hero to look up to all the time. Any hero is zero before God! Only God is infallible!

Now, let's look at some of the experiences Elijah went through as he walked closely with the Lord. 

1 Kings 17:15-16 (NLT)
So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many days. There was always enough flour and olive oil left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
Remember the widow and her son in the village of Zarephath? God told Elijah to stay with them and provided them with food throughout the famine. 

Everything went well until…

1 Kings 17:17-18 (NLT)       
Some time later the woman’s son became sick. He grew worse and worse, and finally he died. Then she said to Elijah, "O man of God, what have you done to me? Have you come here to point out my sins and kill my son?"

Without any clue, the child died of sickness and the widow accused Elijah for the death of her son. Elijah must be so shocked and dumbfounded! But thank God Elijah had faith in His God event though God didn't tell him this situation would happen beforehand. 

1 Kings 17:19-22 (NLT)
But Elijah replied, "Give me your son." And he took the child’s body from her arms, carried him up the stairs to the room where he was staying, and laid the body on his bed. Then Elijah cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, why have you brought tragedy to this widow who has opened her home to me, causing her son to die?" And he stretched himself out over the child three times and cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him." The Lord heard Elijah's prayer, and the life of the child returned, and he revived!

You see, if Elijah didn't have faith in the Lord, he would have been devastated by the situation. He would end up blaming God, probably leaving the widow's house, living miserably and not fulfilling God's calling for his life. But he had faith in his God. He was convinced that God called him there, so there must be a solution for any challenges that came his way. And true enough, the child was revived!

1 Kings 17:23-24 (NLT)
Then Elijah brought him down from the upper room and gave him to his mother. "Look!" he said. "Your son is alive!" Then the woman told Elijah, "Now I know for sure that you are a man of God, and that the Lord truly speaks through you."

Praise the Lord! Elijah must be really relieved to see the child alive again. He knew if the Lord has never said it's time for the child to die, then the Lord would revive the child no matter what. 

Now, please don't go around and trying to revive any dead body by prayer unless the Lord specifically tells you so.

1 Corinthians 16:13 (NIV)

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

You unknowingly allow the enemy to attack and deplete your faith for Him, whenever you agree with the thoughts and ways of the people in the world that go against His words. You see, you were saved by grace through faith (that's in Ephesians 2:8). It's because you have faith in His existence and His love for you that you confessed Jesus as your Savior, and started a relationship with Him. Therefore, when you guard your faith, you are also protecting the precious relationship that you have with your Abba Father!

Let's look at the strengthening of hope in the Lord next.

Strengthen your hope in the Lord

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?


The Lord is the everlasting God,


the Creator of the ends of the earth.


He will not grow tired or weary,


and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary


and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,


and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.


They will soar on wings like eagles;


they will run and not grow weary,


they will walk and not be faint.

Hope here is 'qavah' in Hebrew. It also means wait, look for.
Therefore, those who hope, who wait, who look for the Lord will renew their strength in the Lord!

Let's look at Elijah when he waited on the Lord for the rain to come after more than three years of famine.

1 Kings 18:41(NLT)
Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!"

God told Elijah to approach Ahab and announce to him that a rainstorm is coming soon. Elijah must have a very strong relationship with God to declare it boldly especially after more than three years of famine. 

Have you been in despair for too long that you dare not even wish for a breakthrough in your life? May the Lord give you a miracle as you hope on Him. Amen!

1 Kings 18:42-43 (NLT)
So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees. Then he said to his servant, "Go and look out toward the sea." The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, "I didn't see anything." Seven times Elijah told him to go and look.

So, Elijah waited on the Lord and prayed for the rain to come. He definitely put all his hope in the Lord's promise that the rain would come. He didn't give up even after his servant came back six times saying that he didn't see any cloud. Elijah knew he could put his hope on the God of promise! He never gave up on hoping and waiting on the Lord! Elijah knew if the Lord had said it, He will fulfill it! 

1 Kings 18:44 (NLT)
Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, "I saw a little cloud about the size of a man's hand rising from the sea." Then Elijah shouted, "Hurry to Ahab and tell him, 'Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don't hurry, the rain will stop you!'"

1 Kings 18:45-46 (NLT)
And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel. Then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab's chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.

Here, Elijah did not just have his faith and hope strengthened in the Lord, he received special strength physically from the Lord to even run ahead of Ahab's chariot. This proved that what is written in Isaiah 40:31 really works! So, wait and hope in the Lord, and you will have your physical strength renewed as well. Hallelujah!

Romans 15:13 (NLT)
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And this is my prayer for you too, that you will be filled with confident hope as you wait for your breakthrough in the presence of God.

Finally, let's looks into the love for God.

Strengthen your love for the Lord

John 14:21 (NLT)
Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.

Yes, I totally agree with this Bible verse, i.e. to love means to obey. Not obeying out of obligation, but out of love and trust! As a mother, I want my child to listen to my advice because she knows that I love and care for her, and that I want the best for her. And with her willingness to listen and act on the advice I gave to her, I felt my love for her being reciprocated. I believe it is the same for our Abba Father in Heaven. He wants us to obey Him because He loves us and He knows what and which and who and where are the best for us. Of course, that is provided we are willing to seek Him for His specific instructions and commands for us, and act on them. 

1 Kings 19:3-4 (NLT)
Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died."

Personally, I am very impressed by Elijah. Even when he thought he was the only believer or prophet of God left on earth, overwhelmed by the feeling of being like a failure and knowing his life was in danger, he ran away in fear and weariness, yes, but he didn’t run away from God!

You know, it takes a strong bond in a relationship to have such trust, knowing you are still loved and cared for, no matter how you fail or mess up in your life. Whether it is the relationship with God, your spouse, children, siblings or friends, it takes the bonding that can only be nurtured and grown by love and trust over time.

And do you realize that, just like Elijah, those who love and obey the Lord, their needs are always provided for? Whether it was at the Brook Cherith, being fed by ravens, at the widow's house at Zarephath, or even under the broom tree at the wilderness, God always fed Elijah well!

My family can testify this. Every time we obeyed God's instruction for us, whether it is for our spiritual ministry or for our family, we always saw God's providence in our lives. It is so true!

1 John 4:19 (NKJV)
We love Him because He first loved us.

None of us could be saved if God didn't send Jesus to die for us on the cross and rose to life again. None of us could come to the real knowledge of God and accepted Christ unless God's Spirit first witnessing in our hearts. Our salvation in Christ alone proves that God has first loved us. We just need to reciprocate His love for us. 

Prayer
"Father God, teach us to grow and strengthen our faith, hope and love in You and for You. Help us to stand firm especially in this end-time when love gets colder while people are being tossed to and fro by different bad news in the world. We want to be full of Your understanding and wisdom in every time and season of our lives, obeying Your instructions and commands for us. And we know that as long as we love You and obey You, our needs will be provided for all the days of our lives. We love You, Lord because we know that You first loved us. In the precious name of Jesus. Amen."

Click here to watch the video in TiC YouTube Channel

Abound in hope

God is a God of hope. He gives hope to His loved ones (see 2 Thessalonians 2:16), and He wants you to abound in hope.

Romans 15:13 says, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The word ‘hope’ mentioned above is ‘elpis’ in Greek. It is from the primary word ‘elpō’, which means ‘to anticipate (usually with pleasure); expectation or confidence.’

You see, the ‘hope’ you have in God is not a casual, vague, or blank hope. It is a confident hope. When you hope in God, you anticipate and expect it (i.e. what you hope for) to come to pass with divine assurance from Him.

How to have that confident hope in God? In believing! (see Romans 15:13) It is written in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Your faith, belief, and trust in God are the substance for the things you hope for!

Remember Moses in Exodus 2 when he was still a zealous young man? He saw the sufferings of his own people and he took things into his own hands by killing an Egyptian who had beaten a fellow Hebrew. As a consequence, he had to flee for his life into the wilderness. Many Christians try to help God to make things happen in their lives. They take things into their own hands but end up ‘stranded’ by their own wisdom and man-made plans. Taking things into your own hands is never moved by faith but by ‘fleshly gut’.

So, how do you know if your ‘faith’ is from God and not merely the manifestation of your ‘fleshly gut’? You see, God always reciprocate to your faith in Him by filling you with His joy and peace (see Romans 15:13). The joy and the peace of the Lord are different from the temporary happiness and quietness the world can give. The inexpressible joy of the Lord gives you strength (see 1 Peter 1:8; Nehemiah 8:10). The unshakable peace of the Lord removes every trouble and fear in your heart (see John 14:27). When you choose to believe in God and agree with His words (and that’s having faith in Him!), He pours down His joy and peace upon you so that you won’t stumble or be shaken by any challenging circumstances around you. The presence of His joy and peace in your heart is the evidence of you having faith and putting hope in Him.

By the time in Exodus 33, Moses had learnt that he needed God’s presence with Him in everything he did. He knew that only when he do things with God’s presence and in His way would he find rest (‘rest’ here is 'nûach' in Hebrew, which means ‘settled’) and see results. That was also the time he asked God to show him His glory. Interestingly, God equated ‘His glory’ to ‘His goodness’. God placed him in the cleft of the rock when His glory (goodness) passed before Moses. Today, this cleft or the broken rock is Christ Jesus who allowed His body to be broken for you on the cross. Hence in Christ, you can always have God’s goodness and the hope of glory in your life (see Colossians 1:27).     

As you put your faith in God, He fills you with His joy and peace, so that you can abound in hope by the power of His Holy Spirit! (see Romans 15:13 again) Why do you need to abound in hope? God wants you to abound in hope because hope involves some time of waiting. Just as King David said in Psalm 130:5, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.” Waiting involves your soul which includes your mind, will, and emotion. Your soul needs to wait without coming out with emotional or own creative ideas which are not from your Creator and Redeemer. Why didn’t God call Moses when he was young, strong, and zealous to lead His people out of Egypt? Instead, He called him only when he was old and had lost all his self-esteem. Well, God knows best when is the ‘ripe-time’ His called ones are humble and mellow enough to listen and move according to His instructions. He always chooses the foolish to shame the wise, the weak to shame the mighty (see 1 Corinthians 1:26-31). If you think you have lost your prime time, put your faith and hope on the Lord who is the Redeemer of time. God is never constraint by your time, your strength, or your ability.

Therefore, in the time of waiting, continue to put your hope on His spoken words to you, whether it’s through the scriptures, visions and dreams, or words of prophecy received. Also, fill yourself with the Holy Spirit in worship often (see Ephesians 5:18-19).

Finally, know that your hope in God will not disappoint you because He loves you (see Romans 5:5). As you put your faith in Him, He’ll give you the joy and the peace, assurance and rest by His Spirit who resides in you, so that you’ll abound in hope. Your hope will then come to pass in His time. Amen.