Transcript:
Hi everyone, welcome back to another podcast. Today’s topic is about how to remain steadfast in your faith? We all know we live in the most tumultuous time. The world has always been this way. If you studied history, it will tell you that the world has never been peaceful.
So, what are the ways we can do to remain steadfast?
It is to draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. purify your hearts you double-minded in James 4:8 that we have to really know who our master in this world that we have so much division distraction confusion because Satan is the author of confusion God is not the author of confusion so as much as I would like to talk about mastering yourself improvement healing your wounds and be beautifully inside out also I want you to really know the master of your soul and the creator of the universe and the lord of lords and the king of kings kings and that is the lord Jesus Christ who have given his life more than 2,000 years ago. So you have to really know the fact that the foundation of anything on my podcast is none other than the lordship of the lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross more than 2,000 years ago.
1. Pray
So you need to really know that there’s really nothing for you to be steadfast in this world but to pray and to really draw near to him as what Jesus said. Seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and everything shall be added unto you. Now do not misjudge or take this out of context when he says I will give you the desires of your heart but it’s according to his will and his purposes.
Just Note: We can pray all we want and ask something from God, but if it’s not according to his will and according to his purpose, he’s not going to answer that prayer.
2. Faith
Secondly, of course, we want to hold fast our faith. We are told in Hebrews 10:23, we hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. We have to hold fast is to grasp and to really be stationary and be steady in our faith. is to really make sure that what we hope for is to believe that someday when Jesus said believe in me that you will not perish but have eternal life. Eternity is really what matters the most.
Most people spend majority of their time getting caught up in today the here and now but never really considering of what’s to come. It is absurd for you not to prepare of eternity because that’s exactly where you’re going to spend your infinite time here is temporary. Whatever we see, whatever we touch, whatever we do in this world, it is a temporary. We are sojourners. We are nothing but a passing by from this life into the next life. We’re transitioning from this temporary life into eternity. And we have to really make sure that we hold fast in that truth.
Why is this important?: Especially today with so much noise of evangelical prosperity gospels, so much false prophets that are rising when they say, “I have a message from God and I have something to say to you.”
3. Be Discerner
So we have to really know and discerning today that you have to hold fast to that idea that Jesus said that to those who really of Christ and to those who have the light of God in them, they will actually align to the truth of the word of God. You cannot just say one thing that you’re a believer of God and here you are very different from the way that the Bible is preaching. And how to remain steadfast is to be reminded in Revelations 21:4 that says, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain for the former things have passed away.” The former things of this world will pass away. Everything as I said will be deteriorated. It will be gone in a blink of an eye. And we have to really know that our sorrow, what we go through today, our pain, our challenges that we face in this world is nothing compared to the glory that awaits us.
The Reason: And we have to really keep that in mind that we’re striving for a crown of glory. We’re not just striving for any kind of crown that can be snatched from our hands or that can be deteriorated.
Bible Study
If they do not read the Bible, and that’s why many people get confused and they get so sucked into the lies is because they don’t know their Bible because they don’t read their Bible. They just rely upon a man to tell them. That’s why we’re told to test every spirit because even though I can also tell you about the Bible verses, make sure that you also test every spirit of the man.
Jesus said you will know them by their fruit. So you can ask yourself the question, even if I am the most eloquent person or the pastor in your church, does he walk the talk and talk the walk? or if he’s just talking and his lifestyle is contrary to what the Bible is saying. As Jesus said, you know them by their fruit, then you know that these people are actually not of God, but they’re of Satan.
Where your heart is, there is your treasure.
What Jesus said is you have to have your treasures in heaven where there’s no moth. There’s no rust that will destroy or thieves will break in. But you have to lay up your treasures in heaven. Wherever your treasure is, there is your heart. I think he is referring to the crown of glory, the imperishable crown that we’re striving for to run the race well with really knowing that we have fought the good fight of faith.
I’m not saying that you’re not going to have problems the moment you become a born again Christians. You’re still going to have problems. You’re going to have challenges.
However, Jesus said to come to him who is weary and heavy laden and he will give us rest and he is going to carry with us the burdens and the challenges that we’re facing. We are not alone in this journey.
And Jesus understood that in this life there will be tribulation. In this life there will be suffering. In this life you’re going to face challenges and temptations. But he also assured us that be of good cheer for he has overcome the world.
And to be steadfast in our faith also additionally includes thinking positive thoughts. This is one of the thing that even some of the worldly principles agree that our mind is powerful. We can create our future either good or bad and it starts with our mind.
According to Philippians 4:8, whatever things are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and are good report, if there's any virtue, and if there's anything praiseworthy and meditate on these things.
So, we got to be able to think thoughts that are positive because we usually are negative people. That is our default by nature. We always see things that are half glass, half empty, not a full that is very optimistic. Especially when you have been traumatized and you have seen a lot of bad people in your life and encountered demonic people. We do not hate people. We love them. We hate what they do. Jesus said, “I love sinners.” The only thing that Jesus couldn’t stand are the sinful ways that people are doing. So we do love people. We must pray for people. We must understand that people are influenced by the media, influenced by the world, influenced by Satan.
In the world of confusion, the way we choose what we entertain is essential.
And also, we have to make sure that it’s not the people that we should hate, but the demons that are influenced and that are residing inside of them. And we have to really know that our thoughts can really change the way we view ourselves and our things and the things that we see in the world is because of our own perception. Sometimes our perception can be tainted. It can be falsified by the falsehood narrative. We have to be careful of what we listen, what we watch, the deception that is happening today, especially with the rise of AI. We have to be discerning because it doesn’t mean that majority of people are going to tell you something if it’s not the truth and there’s no evidence. That’s still a lie.
Sometimes our perception can be tainted. It can be falsified by the falsehood narrative. We have to be careful of what we listen, what we watch, the deception that is happening today, especially with the rise of AI.
Glennavelle Manarang
4. Be Steadfast
And of course, we are told to be steadfast in our faith is to guard our hearts with all diligence. We also have to make sure to have our heart intact. The issues of our life starts from our heart. The things that you think about, the things that you ponder, what have you been thinking about is correlated to what you’ve been thinking. Is your heart pure? Do you have bitterness? Do you have resentment, unforgiveness in the spirit? Because if you really have a heart that is full of bitterness, resentment, that is going to manifest one way or another through anger, through jealousy, and through sorts of vindictiveness. When you have a heart that has not been healed, you are most likely going to retaliate and do things that are not godly. And we are told that the heart is deceitful. According to Jeremiah, above all else, who can know the heart? It is the Lord who tests our hearts and our minds.
We cannot fool God. I mean, we can put on a facade. We can pretend like everything is well with us, but God sees our heart. God is not impressed with your outside appearance. He’s not impressed with how you look on the outside. Because God weighs the heart. When he talks about the heart, it talks about the inner condition of your soul. That’s why David used to pray, “Examine my heart, oh God, and see if there’s any wickedness in me. Try me if there’s anything that is not godly in my heart.” Because our heart sometimes we think that we’re not doing anything wrong. But actually when we ask God to reveal something in our hearts, he can tell us that maybe you have a pride issue, maybe you have a jealousy issue, maybe you have an anger issue, impatience, envy, maybe you have some kind of un settled or things that you have not yet really confess with your mouth.
And we have to be careful that we can we can always say I’m not doing anything wrong. I justify your bad behavior. But we cannot really ignore the fact that we all are sinners. We have been fallen short for the glory of God. And we have to make sure that we also exercise self-control. To remain steadfast is to control yourself. This is the fruit of the spirit. In Proverbs 10:19, it says, “In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”
And it talks about self-control with your tongue also. And sometimes there’s a time to speak. There’s a time to be silent. Sometimes we also have to be able to understand that not every battle is worth fighting for. I’ve talked so much about on my podcast about how to remain calm or be silent in front of a fool. Especially when you’re arguing incessantly with people who have no sense. They don’t like to understand you or they don’t listen to you. Sometimes this is where we have to restrain our lips from saying things. You’re wasting your breath and your energy and it goes nowhere. And it says in Proverbs 13:3, “He who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens his wide lips wide his lips shall have destruction.”
5. Self-Control
Majority of our fight and our disagreement are coming from our own words. what we say to people and the kinds that the words that we use. Sometimes we slander, we judge people, we highly criticize people, we also assume things. We have no valid evidence yet and we already jump into conclusions. So we have to have self-control with our mouth. Also self-control with all the things that we do in our lives with when it comes to money. Money is also one of the things I think that the devil or the enemy of the world is using us.
Do you usually impulsively buy things that you don’t need? I mean, it takes me a long time to realize when I was younger, I was very dumb when it comes to finances. I was not educated enough that money doesn’t grow in trees. And you’re young, you have not you don’t have a lot of acumen of how money works. But when you become an adult, hopefully you are now knowledgeable and will take the time to understand that you must be able to have control with your impulses with your buying. You cannot just keep on buying things because you are sad or you’re too happy or you’re too depressed.
Majority of women, we tend to overindulge, over-shop when we are going through some kind of hardships in our lives. We pick on our hair. We buy makeup. We buy too much clothes that we don’t need. So, we have to really cultivate the spirit of self-control, which is the fruit of the spirit that talks in Galatians 5:22. The fruit of the spirit is love, peace, joy, and longsuffering. And one of them is the last one is self-control. It is controlling your impulses. It is being able to subdue your flesh and say, “I’m not going to buy this because I don’t need it.” You have to determine the wants versus the need. Do you really need it that badly? How many pair of shoes do you really need? How many makeup or cosmetics do you really need to have in your counter? I mean, I don’t know.
For me, I can only use at least one bottle of foundation or three bottles of foundation. It doesn’t even consume for another 4 months or so. This is where you must be able to discern whether or not you’re only doing things because you are sad or upset or maybe you are lonely. Sometimes when we’re too lonely, we have nothing to do with our time. We used to browse and purchase things that we actually are not aware that we’re overly consuming things are not valuable. And additionally, and I will leave you with this, to remain steadfast is you also have to be able to be content of the things of this world. Being silenced in your own thoughts, you have to be content with the moment that you have today.
You can achieve something in your life, but be content at the same time of what you have. Maybe God said it’s not time for you to pursue this thing yet. Maybe God said it’s not time for you to get married yet. Maybe time it’s not time for you to move to another location yet. It’s contentment is to remain steadfast. Just watch the trees. The tree is steadfast. It doesn’t keep on changing from one location to another. We can look at the tree that in every season it just bends. When it’s windy, it bends. The branches sometimes will snap and sometimes it doesn’t. And in in the same way with our faith, we have to be able to be steadfast in our life. Be be contented of what you have.
Perhaps you want to have a better life someday. You can live life being content with what you have and simultaneously work towards the goal that you have. Like for instance, for me, I’m a mother. I’m also a wife, but I’m also simultaneously working on my podcast, on my YouTube channel, building my business, blogging. I am not going to just be stagnant. There is a way to be steadfast and moving gradually towards a goal that you’re trying to aim because a man without a vision, you will perish. You need to have some aim or a goal to look forward to so that you’re not stagnant because majority of people are lethargic or they’re sluggish or they feel as though their life is meaningless because they’re not working towards a goal.
Maybe you are a painter. Maybe you like to work with your hands. Maybe you like to garden or maybe you like to I don’t know carpenter a carpenter or whatever it is that you really like to do with your spare time. I mean these things that you can truly gravitate towards the things that you are passionate about or the things that you love to do the purpose and the calling that God has given you in this lifetime. you you can work towards that and at the same time you can be a mom or a wife on on top of that you can also pursue the things that you love into this world and this is truly to remain steadfast in the faith is perhaps you have to really do not look to the right nor to the left you must fix your eyes on the cross and gaze upon the cross that when Jesus said it is finished it is done he has torn the veil The victory has been won.
He has defeated the enemy. And therefore, we have to really stick to that promises. And we have to know that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” it is finished. He has already done the work. And it is our time to grasp and to keep the promises and to claim the promises that he said, “I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus didn’t die in vain. I think he died so that we can have life truly live our life to the fullest in this world. Not just materially, not just with money, but also spiritually, physically, emotionally. He wants us to thrive in every aspects of our life and not just be sad and waiting to be happy when we go to heaven.
When you’re waiting to be happy to go to heaven, it’ll be too late then. Why can’t you just be a happy Christian today and not a miserable one? because the world is already full of unhappy people and maybe you’re the one who can light up the room and strike a conversation and just make the world a better place to live. And that is all that I would like for you to think about today. This podcast is kind of late. It’s better late than never. And so I will see you on my next talk show.
On my note, if you are ready to plunge into a deeper master class of how I was able to go through traumatic experiences, I have launched a master class. I’m not sure if you call it master class. It is a course that is launched through Udemy. The link is down below on the description note on this YouTube description. So you check it out and if you want to reach out to me, all the details are down below. You can click and email me if you have any prayer requests, questions, and other things that you would like to know anything about me. Feel free to contact me. And have a wonderful day ahead of you. As I always like to leave you with, be bold, be brave, be courageous, and keep your faith.
Here are three takeaways:
- Seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and everything shall be added unto you.
- Whatever we see, whatever we touch, whatever we do in this world, it is a temporary. We are sojourners.
- And we have to really keep that in mind that we’re striving for a crown of glory. We’re not just striving for any kind of crown that can be snatched from our hands or that can be deteriorated.
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