Devotional Time with God

To summarize, to reconcile with others, I must first surrender to God and rely on Him for wisdom and patience. Now, it’s my turn to step out of my comfort zone and extend a peace offering. I must now invite the person I’m having a conflict with, to a meeting. A face to face meeting is preferable. I must not fear this. Fear gets me defensive and demanding. Better to humble myself and intentionally want to resolve the issue. My humility also starts by confessing my part of the conflict. I must know and admit that I’ve done something wrong (even if it’s a small one) before trying to resolve any conflict. I have to apologize for thinking only about myself.

Once I get over myself, I must then listen for other’s hurt. I have to treat people with respect and dignity. I must be able to look at him/her in the eyes. I must also be helpful and understanding.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

James 1:19

Pastor Rick’s latest message is about reconciliation. This is not a new topic, but it is a very difficult topic for everyone (me included) because it’s hard for us to get along with each other. The roots of all conflicts are selfishness and sinfulness. I have needs. If my needs are not met, I will get cranky, jealous, and eventually angry. I get angry at the person I love. I get angry at God.

I must learn how to reconcile with others. But first, I must take 7 steps to get there:

1. Make peace with God.
2. Ask God for help.
3. Convene a peace conference.
4. Confess my part of the conflict.
5. Listen for others’ hurt.
6. Be willing to absorb the pain.
7. Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.

First and foremost, I must surrender myself to God. God is the provider of all things. Going against the flesh, I need an extra strong influence that God can provide. He gives me guidelines to live by through His words. He wants me to live pure and faultless, which is what I have to strife for. To believe in God, I must change my lifestyle. I can’t be a person from this world, where selfish desires are considered acceptable and mostly encouraged! I have rules to live by. If I’ve been hurt by others, I know God will be able to heal me.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

I must always ask God for help. To get my thoughts going on reconciliation, I have to ask two things:

• How much of it is my fault?
• What does God want me to do about this?

During a conflict, it’s very difficult for me to self-examine myself. That is why I rely on God to give me the wisdom to know what I’ve done, and help me correct my faults.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

Thank you, Jesus, for surrendering on the cross for my sins. You have shown me how to love God and to love one another. You’ve shown me the wisdom to love by paying attention to other people’s needs, not my own. I thank you for being there for me when I need you. My needs are satisfied every time I ask you and for that I’m forever grateful! Amen.

Last week, Pastor Rick’s sermon was very much appropriate for this blog. It was a topic on devotional. Feeding myself the word of God to ensure my spiritual growth. First and foremost, I must accept the bible’s authority as the source of truths for my life. I have to be in tune with God to get a lot more out of the bible.I must watch out for unreliable source of authorities:

• Culture – truth by personality, truth by popularity. Do not follow the crowd who can turn good to bad, and bad to good, completely muddling the truth. If it was true, it was not new. Truth will always be the same.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Isaiah 5:20

• Tradition – I’ve always done it that way, so it must be right.
• Reason – my logic doesn’t always dictate.
• Emotions – my feelings can lie.

God’s word is always true. His truth, exposes our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training to live in God’s way. God’s words show me the path, when I get off the path, how I can get on the path, and to stay on the path. I must study and search the scriptures, not just read it.

The difference between bible reading and bible study is taking notes. The shortest pencil is the longest form of memory. The secret of bible study is asking questions, asks the usual who, when, where, what, why, and how. The Devotional Study Form is going to help me study the bible even better.

1. Pray. I must ask God for insight. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
2. Meditate (seriously thinking). If I know how to worry, I already know how to meditate. Keep thinking about it and going it over, and over again. Like a cow ruminates on grass. I must reflect on what I’ve just read.
3. Apply it using “S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S” I’ll be blessed if I do them. The application must be personal, practical, possible, and provable.
4. Memorize. It is the sword in my life to resist temptation. Every time Jesus was tempted, he used the scripture to resist the devil.

We are lucky that we have a small group that we can belong to. I really want us to get along and provide each other support. It’s so important in our spiritual growth to be able to fellowship with other believers. We’ve been to so many of them in the past. It was a merry-go-round trying to find the right fit (I was going to say perfect, but no one is perfect). It was either the group weren’t learning anything, or the topics discussed weren’t focused enough. With Saddleback Church, I’m glad they have awesome small group discussion materials to keep us going in the right direction. We’re on the series by Chuck Colson called “World View Point” – examining how we can cope in today’s ever diverse opinions and points of view.

From the sermon two weeks ago, I’ve learned that we have to do the following in our small group:

1. Decide to appreciate the difference.
2. Decide to do something new.
3. Decide to take a risk.
4. Decide to forgive.
5. Decide to encourage other’s growth.

We, as a small group, must be able to do the above. It starts with me. I must grow and encourage my small group to grow as well. The bible tells me so:

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:11