41 “I don’t collect praise from men, 42 but I do know you people — I know that you have no love for God in you! 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t accept me; if someone else comes in his own name, him you will accept. 44 How can you trust? You’re busy collecting praise from each other, instead of seeking praise from God only.
- John 5:41-44
There is a problem with religion that many are not aware that they have already fallen into the problem when they are involved with religion. This problem is pride. People who serve GOD in church start out because they want to please GOD, they want to honor His name, because they love GOD. But somehow along the way, many of us lose track of why we are serving GOD in the first place. When men start to give praise to us we intertwine it with GOD's praise to us, and then we start lose sight of winning the praise of GOD and start aiming for men's praise. We are deceived into thinking that as long as people are happy, GOD is happy. But if we study carefully the lives of great men who has followed GOD in the Bible, we see Moses was consistently being doubted and spoken against of by his very own people whom he led out of Egypt into GOD's promise land.
- John 5:41-44
There is a problem with religion that many are not aware that they have already fallen into the problem when they are involved with religion. This problem is pride. People who serve GOD in church start out because they want to please GOD, they want to honor His name, because they love GOD. But somehow along the way, many of us lose track of why we are serving GOD in the first place. When men start to give praise to us we intertwine it with GOD's praise to us, and then we start lose sight of winning the praise of GOD and start aiming for men's praise. We are deceived into thinking that as long as people are happy, GOD is happy. But if we study carefully the lives of great men who has followed GOD in the Bible, we see Moses was consistently being doubted and spoken against of by his very own people whom he led out of Egypt into GOD's promise land.
The truth is, it is a difficult thing to please GOD, it is in fact troublesome! Why? because in following GOD, you will be chased and met with troubles most of the time. Every man of the Bible had their share of troubles and most especially Yeshua the Messiah Himself. And like them, when we are following GOD, we are called to endure and persevere the mockery of men and the doubts of our very own families. It is in trusting GOD that we are able to overcome all of our troubles. Trust means the selfless abandon of oneself to GOD's Sovereignity. But how can we trust if we don't even know the ONE who has called us? How can we trust if we don't have the love of GOD in our hearts? Let us search our hearts, what are we truly living for? Whatever is in our hearts will be the driving force of whatever we do in life. If our hearts are truly for GOD we will overcome whatever troubles that may come our way and no matter what people say, we will stand for whatever GOD has promised to do in our lives, even if we seem insane to the world, let it be so for nothing can move us except GOD and GOD alone.
