Ask yourself, what kind of theological concept do you have within you? Do you feel that since God has promised, we can just sit back and wait for His promise to be fulfilled in us? No! God has given you the promise, and you must pay the price of prayerful warfare to realize it, because the devil will definitely hinder you. The more resilient you are, the more of God's promises you can fulfill. God's will is for us to grow in hindrances and battles!

Questions for Reflection:

• Why did Jesus say: You cannot love anything in the world more than you love Jesus?

• How do we realize God's promises?

• Have you had the experience of God's promises being fulfilled in your life after winning a battle?

How Much of God's Promise You Fulfill Depends on How Resilient You Are

Why did God give the Promised Land to the Israelites but still require them to take up swords and spears, go to that place, drive those people out, and then be able to possess the land? Wasn't it already promised? Why was it still necessary to fight for it? It turns out that the entire Bible reveals one thing: God has given you the promise, but you must realize this promise! Today, some Christians have a very strange and erroneous belief: God has already promised, and then I will receive it. Is that so? The answer is no! God promised Jeremiah that after seventy years, He would bring them back, rebuild the temple, and revive them. Was it that easy? No! We can see a clear spiritual principle revealed in the Bible: Even if God has already promised, in the process of realization, you must pay the price of warfare, and this price of warfare actually compares a person's faith, the degree of resilience within a person. How much of God's promise you fulfill depends on how resilient you are. If you are just a weak Christian, you will not accomplish anything! Because the devil will definitely come to hinder you!

We Must Be Resilient and Act Like Men

Why does God allow such things to happen? This is my own theological belief, this concept is that God wants to find good people in this world. And these good people are people of faith, people of faith are resilient people, and God gathers the resilient people into His kingdom. No matter what we do, we need a resilient heart! The Bible says: You and your whole family will be saved, is this not a promise? Many people retort: No salvation! That is because you are not resilient enough. You must resiliently stand up and fight for your family!

A Family Can Be Transformed and Turn to God Because of One Person's Resilience

Remember some time ago, when one of our sisters' mothers was studying the Bible with us, I mentioned an example. Although I didn't say the name, she was confused and thought I was talking about her daughter, and then went to find her daughter, LN, to confront her about this matter. At that time, in order to clarify herself, Sister LN found another sister to help her testify, saying that this matter was not hers, but someone else's. When I saw this sister's weakness, I scolded her. Although she cried a lot, she later learned a lesson from it. A few days later, she shared with me: Pastor, my family is about to be transformed! In the past, my father was particularly rigid and always prevented my mother from attending meetings and group Bible studies. If she attended meetings, he would beat and scold her, but now he doesn't dare, because I called and said: If you stop my mother from attending meetings again, I will no longer recognize you as my father!

As long as one person becomes resilient, the whole family will be transformed and turn to God because of one person's resilience! Don't think that doing this will stumble people, those people cannot be stumbled. Do not be weak, weakness is not the way at all. God is looking for a vessel, and in any era, the vessel He is looking for must be tested to see how resilient it is. If you are not resilient enough, nothing will be accomplished. In the past days, I am very grateful. This year, my wife and I have walked step by step, and I have personally seen her become more and more resilient, and her status in the family is also constantly improving. She didn't dare to speak before, but now she has started to speak, because this is a basic quality that God wants. God will not let you escape, people should not escape reality.

Another sister among us is also facing huge challenges. Her husband began to persecute her because of her faith. Later, this sister's daughter shared with me that her father is someone who doesn't respond to force but responds to reason. I said let God do the work Himself, I don't believe he can be harder than the authority of Jesus Christ God. What's the problem? Our preconceived notions, we think in advance that he doesn't respond to force but responds to reason, so we must use reason with him. I can confidently tell you that it is ineffective! Why? Because behind it is the dark power that controls this family. For the dark power, if you are gentle, then nothing can be solved.

If I taught the above two sisters to start learning to take a gentle approach in the face of such persecution, then the whole family would definitely fall into sin, and God's promise of one person believes, the whole family is saved would not be fulfilled. Jesus said: I have come to bring not peace but a sword (Matthew 10:34). The sword here refers to fighting with the dark power that controls your family. Since it is fighting with the dark power that controls your family, then there can be no compromise! You must tell your family: I will definitely stand resiliently, the one who retreats must be you! Because what I trust in is the eternal God, in my life, I am not trying to harm you, I am trying to bring you into blessing, you have no right to be rigid with me here! Rigidity is useless! Brothers and sisters, I am not trying to harm your family members, I want your family members to be saved because of you! If you are the first believer in your family, you must know that your resilience and courage can save your family!

Do Not Love Anything More Than You Love Jesus

One day, Sister LL suddenly felt excruciating pain, so I asked other sisters to take her to the room to pray. During worship, I also prayed with her. Although she didn't tell me what happened to her, I already knew that in the past few days, she was in an extremely chaotic state, entangled every day with returning to her country and surviving. Calling and communicating with her parents only resulted in more and more confusion. Because the spiritual principle behind it is that she is talking to the devil who controls the dark power behind her family. So her pain was a reaction of the dark power that corrupted her family in her body. After I prayed for her and she was healed, I asked her, and it was indeed so, then I want to teach her to understand that what corrupts you and me is the dark power that controls our family.

Jesus said, you cannot love your father and mother more than you love Jesus, you also cannot love anything more than you love Jesus, especially your family, your wife, your siblings, your children. Why? Because once you love them more than you love Jesus, you are immediately subjected to bondage. Praise God, God makes us resilient and courageous, even if these hindrances are placed before us, we do not choose to retreat, but still choose to be resilient and courageous. God just wants to test how resilient Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest are. After you become resilient, only after experiencing this training is it real training! When encountering obstacles, do not be discouraged, this is what God wants! Because God does not think things are important, God thinks people are very important. He does not care how magnificent the temple is, He cares how resilient the people who build the temple are in their hearts, even in the face of such persecution, even the persecution that God has prepared for you, do not retreat!

God Strengthens the Hearts of Men

A family is subjected to the dominion of dark forces specific to its locality. Each province and municipality has its own unique dark influence, compounded by the dark forces within the family itself. This dual influence determines the family's state under demonic control. Recognizing this spiritual principle, we see that Zerubbabel and Joshua the High Priest faced the dark forces controlling the Persian Empire and the entire Trans-Euphrates region, employing various schemes through people, leading to the work's halt. This marks a round of spiritual warfare where we witness the cessation of the Temple's construction. However, remember, God strengthens the hearts of men, and this work never truly stopped! For a halt in construction leads people to think, It's all stopped, what can we do? Yet, though construction ceased, God's work continued, focusing on building up the hearts of men. Today, our endeavors may face various obstacles, but our hearts cannot be hindered, meaning that when things are obstructed, the heart grows stronger! The seeds God leaves are the strongest!

God's Temple Descends from Heaven, His Glory to Fill It

Today, living in Singapore without persecution or fear, in complete freedom, can we cultivate inner strength by building God's glorious church? Can we strengthen ourselves by transforming our families? Recently, Sister PL wrote an excellent article documenting her journey of leading and pastoring her family, adopting the approach of being strong and courageous. Praise God, over the past year or two, Sister PL not only found liberation but also used her experience with depression to lead her parents to faith. This exemplifies the scripture, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Though Sister PL's parents may still falter at times, she perseveres in cultivation, pastoring and leading, remaining steadfast!

We must learn to be strong and unyielding! Within this strength, there are many lessons to learn. Regardless of the outcome, the forging of inner fortitude and unwavering faith in God must never cease! God is less concerned with the physical Temple itself, and more with you and me, for God's ultimate Temple is not built of stone and wood but of you and I, shaped into gemstones, united to form the New Jerusalem, God's Temple descending from Heaven, His Glory to fill it.

All Things Work Together for Good to Those Who Love God

Today, reading the Book of Ezra, we clearly see the devil's schemes. He seeks to infiltrate the church and build alongside you. There have been instances where individuals, feigning love for the Lord and piety, join us in studying the Bible, only to secretly undermine new seekers, exchanging numbers and arranging private meals, leading to their corruption. They infiltrate the church to cause ruin. Therefore, be very cautious and aware of the devil's tactics. If he cannot infiltrate, he begins external pressure through governmental oppression, using legal channels to persecute you.

Even today, we remain vigilant, knowing how to counter these dark demonic forces. Within your family, the devil may use your relatives to say, I also believe, but do not fully trust them immediately; observe if they are there to cause trouble. Start being strong and demanding; when they realize they cannot succeed, they will resort to other methods. You will find that they do not read the Bible or understand anything, but they are very clear about Christians tithing. They know nothing of Christians being blessed, their eyes fixed solely on the tithe. Do not assume that just because they are your family, they will not corrupt your life, for that is how the dark forces of the devil operate. When facing the enemy devil, continue to build strength in our hearts, and though works may be forced to stop, the strength in our hearts never ceases. Amen!