I was very amazed by the story of a Japanese hero, Hiroo Onoda, who refused to surrender and kept fighting his war for his country for additional twenty nine years in Lubang Island of Philippines. I admire his faithness and resilience just for the sake of protection of his country and to honour his assignment. It is almost impossible to find someone similar to his integrity and loyalty. But a drawback was that he refused to listen to the fact that the war was over much sooner than he expected. Do we also make the same mistake by refusing to listen to the truth? Paul proclaims the stunning truth that “all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). We don’t believe that our sins die with the baptism and we live with Christ. We often live as though evil still holds the power and yield to temptation, succumbing to sin’s seduction. Failing to trust Jesus, we don’t have to live in a false narrative. By God’s grace we can embrace the true story of Christ’s victory. While we’ll still struggle with sin, deliverance comes as we recognize that Jesus has already won the battle. May we live out that truth in His power.
February 28, 2021 New Every Morning – Lamentations 3：19-26
In certain stages of our lives, we experienced some severe forms of affliction and tormenting. It was beyond our control with one’s finances and human abilities. We could not imagine how bleak in the future and the situation was hopeless. At that moment, we cried out...