Devotional Time with God

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

– Genesis 1:1

It all started with God. It will always be that way. Essentially, our existence depends on our creator and He’s got a plan for us even before we arrive here on earth. That is the message that Pastor Rick Warren is delivering to everyone within the next 40 days. He started the 40 Days of Purpose series at Saddleback Church and its congregation all over the world. It is also based on his popular The Purpose Driven Life book which outlines a topic in each chapter, that is to be read one day at a time for 40 days. The book has a profound (yet practical) message and has changed a lot of people’s lives, including mine.

Within the next few days, I’m excited to re-study this book and re-learn God’s plan for me.

I was listening to one of my old CD in the car this morning, and I heard a very familiar tune from Maranatha 30 Years of Hope CD called “You’re Worthy of My Praise”. I reminded me of a time, in late 2001, I was in an unfortunate situation where I was out of a job for a few months. The support from my church and family were tremendous, but it was still a test of our faith in God. Pastor Greg in San Diego gave my wife and I, a scripture, Hebrew 11:1 which simply said,

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Having faith in God will give us hope for the future. Sure, we still have our worries, we are only human, but Jesus has never let us down. We kept believing God will give us something good. In May 2002, I received the baffling call from my current employer: they were offering me a position with an increase in salary! We couldn’t be any more excited and the first thing I did was to play the Maranatha song and gave praises to God. That was one of the significant turning point of our lives, the one that we will never forget.

I will give you all my worship.
I will give you all my praise.
You alone, I long to worship.
You alone are worthy of my praise.

– Maranatha Singers, “You’re worthy of my praise”

This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time. Part of growing up in Christ, I was taught to write down a journal or diary, to record what I’ve learned from God and what has Jesus done for me. I’ve seen testimonies from others in the church who shared how much this has helped them in their spiritual growth.

Traditionally, we would write on a journal book, but since this is Web 2.0, I’ve installed a new WordPress site to store my devotional blog! This will make it easier for me to record my thoughts — and search for specific topics/words too. I will start slow, with posts every week or so, and then build up to daily. With God’s inspiration, I will be able to communicate what I learned from my time with God.