Sunday, 9th August 2015
Rev. Daniel Poon
We all have dreams and purposes of life, but we need to take actions in order to achieve them. After these actions are taken towards our goals, we will be transformed in some ways. In the dictionary, “transformation” defines as the act, process or instance of changing in character or condition. And it’s all about our decision and our faith to have our live purposes fulfilled. Why do we come to church? Because we want to seek God and be transformed according to His purpose for us.
As we all know, transformation takes time, and it’s a gradual process. That’s where faith comes in, to see it happen before it actually does. In 2 Chronicles 7:11-15, we see that God has given King Solomon all the wonderful promises after he has built the Temple of God. However some of us might remember that it’s actually King David, who dreams of building the Temple. God didn’t grant David’s request and let his son do the work, as a result, David blessed his children, grandchildren and decedents by his action of obedience. Furthermore, Solomon also obeyed God by carry out this unfinished dream of his father. In return, God offered His presence to be in His Temple and the decedents of David.
Why do we need to be transformed? Because we want to live a life full of the presence of God, to be heard, forgiven, and healed by God. “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Rev. Daniel shared with us 4 important keys of transformation.
1. To Humble Ourselves
Many times in the Bible, God urges us to be humble, in order for Him to come to our lives and save us. Furthermore, when we humble ourselves before Him, He will take away our burdens and set us free.
2. To Pray
If we don’t call 111, the police will never come. As Christians, we know that when we have problems in our lives, we pray. God is still the Almighty God even if we don’t pray, He still knows everything that is going on in our lives. But when we pray, we give our authority to Him, and instead of sorting our the problems by our own might, we leave it to God. Praying may not take away the problem straight away, but we know from Romans 10:17 that we need faith to pray, and faith comes from the Word of God. Therefore it’s so important to read the Word of God and keep our faith.
3. To Seek God’s Face
God’s Face is different to anyone else’s face – God’s Face has Power. When we seek God’s Face, we choose to stay in God’s plan, and God’s light will shine on our path. Moreover, we don’t only see God once but constantly. Rev. Daniel shared that if we want to ensure we never leave God’s presence then we need to attend Sunday services, cell groups and fellowship with other Christians. So we can encourage each other to stand firm and always seek God.
4. To Turn From Wicked Ways
Even when we have done the above three points, if we keep on letting sins come in our way, then we might never be truly transformed. What we need to do is to let God help us to turn from our wrongdoings. Also, sinning does not only mean “doing something we shouldn’t do” but also mean “not doing something we should do”.
Again Rev. Daniel reminded us to keep these keys of transformation in mind, because as the Year of Jubilee is coming, we need to prepare ourselves for whatever God has in store for us!