Devotional Time with God

In Mark 10:17-31, Jesus was speaking to a man who wanted to know what else he could do to have eternal life. Jesus plainly told him to follow the commandments and leave his wealth behind. The man was not happy with that answer and sadly couldn’t leave his money behind.

It’s my sin to hoard. It’s a desire to have what everyone else has – and more! I keep them all to myself, too! It’s a sin that I constantly ask God to forgive because living in this world require money. I can’t do anything without everything!

But I hold on to God’s promise, as stated in 1 John 5:3 – God’s commandments are not burdensome! It’s for my protection.  If God asked me to leave my wealth behind, so let it be done. I will not put money as my number 1 priority!  I put God first, family second, and everything else 3rd.  I can’t expect to get respect from this world through money.

God’s love language is by me following His commands.  That is the truth. I will follow Him, give up this comfort of my life, and receive my eternal life.

Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

He is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within me. (Ephesians 3:20)

I’ve always wondered where I get the strength to go on in this cruel world. There were days how I could ever survived school.  There were days how I could ever fix my failed relationships.  There were days when I thought about giving up.

I still think of what will happen to me when I die.

But, thank God almighty for saving my life in this world.  Thank God for the promise of heaven, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life with my beloved fellow Christians.

Jesus is where I draw my strength from.  I can go on with life because God gave me a reason to live!

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

He is able to keep me from falling. (Jude 1:24)

Greater is he that is in me, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

Jesus is my Lord and Savior.  He saved me from sin. When I trip and fall, He catches me and sets me back up again.  I’m striving to be like Jesus, who is blameless, and separate myself from the ways of this world.

All of my life, I see my parents try hard to accumulate wealth.  They became wealthy, but had no time for family.  We were taken care of financially, but we were emotionally empty.  Now that I have my own family, I vowed not to fall into that trap.  I may be financially OK, but at least I can come home every night and weekends with my wife and kid.  We can still go vacation together and feel very close to each other.

The bible tells me that my “life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15). This world is fleeting.  It will come to pass and I’ll be with God after all of my days here.  Accumulation of possessions will be meaningless in heaven.

I need to accumulate love.  Love for my family, others, and that of the Father in heaven.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If you love the world, love for the Father  is not in you.   For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

1 John 2:15-17

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

I have a past.  I have a past that haunts me sometimes.  But it doesn’t have to be that way.  I can let go of my past.  I don’t need my past to remind me how useless, embarrassing, and insecure I was.  I need to move on past my guilt.

First, I can take a personal moral inventory.  I have to write down my good and bad choices and events in my life (in confidence).

Second, I’ll need to take responsibility of my faults.  By being honest, not rationalizing, not blaming others, and not fooling myself.

Third, I have to ask God for forgiveness.  My God is a forgiving God.  He wants to forgive me more than I want to be forgiven.  I won’t bargain.  I won’t bribe.  I do believe that He wants to forgive me of my sins.

Fourth, I need to admit my faults to another person.  This is a tough one for me, for I still have trust issues.  For those I trust, they’re not here to hear me.  I made new friends, but not best friend(s).  This is an area I need God to reveal to me.  I need someone I can trust, understand what I’m going through, and mature enough not to be shocked.

O Lord, thank you for forgiving me.  I’m ready to move on.  Please open the opportunity to share my faults to another person who understands.  I need a person who has your personality, God.  Someone who can help me move on past my guilt.  Thank you, Jesus.  Amen.

Finally, I’ll accept God’s forgiveness.  His forgiveness is free and instant.  His forgiveness is paramount to my salvation.  It’ll be foolish if I don’t accept.

I am moving on!

Parenting is a job made from heaven.    I’m her guardian and it’s my job to raise her to be a Godly person.  God gave me my child so I can raise her  up for God’s eternal purpose.

There are dangerous and unacceptable views of this world.  Those thoughts, attitudes, and works are going against God’s principles and laws.  The world’s view is not what I want my child to see.  If she’s to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, she’ll need to follow God.

The only thing acceptable in this house is what’s acceptable to God.  He is perfect.  I want His standards in this family.

I must raise my child to have eternity in mind.

Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15

How can I help cultivate today the characteristics of real community in my small group and my church?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 151

Developing a fellowship does take a whole lot of time and effort. Two people, or a group, do not know each other if they hardly spend any time together. I certainly can see this clearly as I have all sorts of shallow relationships with my co-workers, extended family, distant friends, and sometimes other church members. I need to be in constant touch with each other to get anywhere close. One of the goal of writing my blogs is to let everyone know how I am doing. But my blog is limited since it is a one-way street. I need to know what others are doing, by either comments or reading their own blogs. That’s not easy to encourage. It’s difficult enough to get them to read their emails, let alone blog!

Online relationship is a tough one to establish. I have to reach out in other ways, and mostly it means by physically meeting them. Face to face conversation is almost a lost skill these days, especially for a shy person like me. With God’s help, I will overcome this. I will focus on God to love my neighbours.

The 9 characteristics that I must follow are outlined in the book by Pastor Rick:

• Authenticity: I will share my true feelings
• Mutuality: I will encourage each other
• Sympathy: I will support each other
• Mercy: I will forgive
• Honesty: I will speak the truth in love
• Humility: I will admit my weakness
• Courtesy: I will respect my differences with others
• Confidentiality: I will not gossip
• Frequency: I will make the group as a priority

Verse to remember 1 John 3:16 (NIV)

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.