PASTORAL Care
H.E.L.P Kit
A Message from Victory Taft
It is our prayer that God will meet you in your time of need with strength and grace so that He may be glorified in your life during these challenging and difficult times. Be encouraged in knowing that we, your church, are standing by your side in claiming this promise.
Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
In God, we have a safe refuge and a strength that can hold its ground. He enables us to defend ourselves against the schemes of the evil one. He gives us confidence that He is greater than any challenge or opposition and assures us that He is Sovereign over all. Furthermore, God Himself is our very present help in times of trouble. In other translations, He is described as an “ever-present help” and “always ready to help” in our troubles.
We prepared a H.E.L.P. Kit to guide you as you weather these troubling times. May you find this helpful in bringing you closer to God and experience the life of victory.
May you abound in receiving the HELP you need at this time. But also grow in HOPE, ENCOURAGEMENT, LOVE and PRAYERS from this day forward.
In His Service,
Pastor Ritchie Llanto
Senior Pastor
HOPE
Hope or the feeling of expectation that something better is about to happen is one of those things that helps us get through the darkest time. But when our hopes are based on things that don’t deliver and our expectations are not met, it makes us not just lose faith but makes us hesitant to hope again.
The psalmist reminded himself and the Word of God reminds us to put our hopes in God.
Psalms 42:5-6 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation. and My God.”
God’s promises are sure and trustworthy. He is bigger than our expectations. He is able to do immeasurably more than what we can ask or imagine. And while God may meet our needs differently from our expectations, we can be assured that He is a good God who cares for us and a great God who can do even the impossible.
To keep our hopes in God, we need to refrain from magnifying our problems without denying the facts. Moreover, we are to magnify the Lord through praise and worship. Keeping our eyes on our Good and Great God helps us to see Him as One who is bigger and greater than all our challenges combined.
Suggested Activity:
Spend some 30mins a day (or more) praising and worshiping God reflecting on His goodness and greatness. If it’s difficult to sing, listening to praise and worship can be an alternative. The bible says that God is enthroned in the praises of His people (Ps.42:3). Expect to experience God’s presence and believe His kingship and rulership over your situation as you worship Him.
What are the songs that remind you of God’s goodness and greatness? What praise and worship songs (current or in the past) have ministered to you especially during difficult times?
Choose to worship God more during this season. Because He is always faithful and true to His promises, we always have a reason to praise and worship Him.
May this playlist serve as a reminder of His goodness and an encouragement to worship Him today.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
ENCOURAGEMENT
The road to healing and victory takes time. Even when we already have our hopes in God and received a promise from God, the point of receiving the promise and actually experiencing the healing or victory takes time. During this period of waiting, it is crucial that we find encouragement so that we can keep on hoping and not lose faith.
Regarding the promises of God, the writer of Hebrews says this…
Hebrews 6:17-20 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
The Word of God gives us a strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. God wants us to be convinced of His promises by showing that the character of His purposes is unchangeable and that it is impossible for Him to lie.
To encourage us with the sureness and steadfastness of our hope, Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us in fulfillment of many prophecies. Furthermore, He prophesied His own death and resurrection and fulfilled it to prove to us that His Words are indeed faithful, true and trustworthy.
As you strengthen your body through eating, resting and taking medicines, strengthen yourself spiritually as well through the Word of God. As Matthew 4:4 says,… “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Suggested Activity:
Jesus, the Living Word, is revealed to us through the written Word, the Bible. Spend time reading, studying, meditating, memorizing and reflecting on the Word of God. Know the character of God and the promises of God more. Listening to the Word of God being preached encourages us and builds our faith. Meditating on bible verses on healings and miracles helps us fix our eyes on Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith.
What bible verses have you memorized to help you overcome the lies of the enemy? What is your bible devotional plan to know God and His promises more?
Here are some suggested tools to help you get started in the Word of God.
LOVE
God, who is love, demonstrated it by becoming like one of us. He also suffered like one of us though He did not sin just like all of us. He died for all of us and lived again so that those of us who may experience death shall also live with Him. Remember that God is with you even in your trials and difficulties. He knows your needs and His love never fails.
Suggested Activity:
Since we are designed to love and be loved, commit to loving God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength and loving your neighbor as yourself. Connect with your family and loved ones and express your love to them. Connect also with the church community so that you are always reminded of the love of God. Celebrate communion together as a family or as a church community.
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.One of the greatest lies of the enemy and one of the greatest doubts we entertain during tough times concerns the love of God. However, one of the greatest assurances we have in the Scripture as we go through difficulties concerns the certainty and the power of God’s love as well.
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
The answer obviously is NOTHING and NO ONE. To make sure that we don’t misunderstand this rhetorical question, the apostle Paul answered it in the following verses…
Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The love of God displayed through Christ makes us more than conquerors. His great love displayed in His sacrifice while we were still sinners made the apostle Paul sure (and so should we) that we are secure and inseparable from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
PRAYER
All throughout Scripture, prayer played a crucial role in the lives of characters in the Bible. A vibrant and active prayer lifestyle is one common trait among those used mighty by God in biblical history. Often, a strong prayer life is developed and cultivated during times of difficulties. Every difficulty then is an opportune time to draw nearer to God and an opportune time for God to display His power and His glory.
James 5:13-16 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
James was reminding the church to be prayerful. If you’re suffering, pray. If you are sick, let others pray for you as well. The prayer of faith is powerful. Confessing our sins to God and to others can bring healing as well. Believers praying for one another is a loving thing we can do to help carry each other’s burden.
Jesus is our ultimate Intercessor and He has sent the Holy Spirit to intercede for us as well. As you pray for yourself and for others, know that God is also interceding for you and helping you as you pray. Be in faith and be expectant as you A.S.K. (ask, seek and knock). God will lovingly and powerfully respond to our prayers as He promised in…
Matthew 7:7,8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Suggested Activity:
Develop and cultivate a lifestyle of prayer by praying specifically for your needs and for the needs of others. Take note of those prayer requests and celebrate answered prayers as well. Join a Victory Group and ask for others to pray for you on your way to healing and victory and pray for them as well. Like breathing, ask God to show you what to pray (breathe in). Then pray them in faith declaring His kingdom come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (breathe out).
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
You can learn more about prayer by joining the prayer meeting: Thursdays, 6:30pm online. If you wish to get connected to a Victory Group so that others can pray and believe God with you, you may sign up here and we’ll have leaders reach out to you.