Devotional Time with God

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Having a close relationship to God involves in continuous communication with Him. It may sound like one way, or just talking in my head – but I know God is listening. The words that I speak or think must be of thanksgiving to Him. The motive of my prayer is to honor God, not to control Him.

Lord, reveal your will to me as I enter into this close relationship with you. Guide me. Purify me. Protect me. Let my focus be on you – always!

I had a sorry past.  Actually, I had several sorry moments in the past.  Things I regretted doing. Things I regretted saying. Things I regretted not doing.  It wasn’t my proudest moments and I always cringe every time I remember.

Now, with all of those behind me, I can look back and just smile. The past can’t hurt me. I’m smarter and experienced now. I understand what I’ve been through. I’m glad I can use my history to guide my future.

But, I think His story is much better to use to guide my future. Jesus had died to save me from sin. Jesus went through all of those suffering to show how much He loves me. His teachings, recorded in the bible, gave me knowledge and faith.  Knowledge that illuminate my path while walking in this world.  Faith knowing God is truly in control.  I can leave everything to Him. Face the future without fear of rejection or failure.

I can truly thank God in all circumstance (1 Thes 5:18), just because His will always be done.

Each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable.

I Thessalonians 4:4

This is a great verse to memorize, especially for men.  There are just so many temptations in this world to destroy my own body, either by eating junk food, drinking alcohol, or sexual immorality.  I need to learn, with Christ’s power, to control how I treat my body that’s pleasing to God.  The sacred human soul and spirit need to be protected.

I am being transformed into Christ’s likeness with ever increasing glory. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The Word of God is at work in me. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

When I follow Jesus, I love myself less, and love God more. I am changing my life to become more like His: blameless, patient, loving, holy.  I use the scripture to make that transformation happen.  I become like Jesus to glorify His name, for He is good and worthy to be praised.

I often wonder what is it mean to celebrate Thanksgiving day?  A day when family and friends get together for dinner, carve a turkey, and have some laughs. It’s fun and heart warming for everyone.

But I know who I should I thank for. It’s Jesus Christ, who died for me and gave me a second (third, fourth, etc.) chance in life.  I am thankful that God cares for me.  I’m thankful God provided for me.  I’m thankful I have a future in heaven.  I’m thankful I have the safety under His wings.

So for me, it’s not just for a day.  It’s EVERY DAY.  I’m thankful, daily.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

We are all selfish, by nature. It takes a lot discipline, love, and God’s grace to be kind, sharing, and helpful person.  I thank God every day I’m able to teach my daughter how to listen and share with her friends.  I try to teach her to have awareness of others around her, including towards the adults.  She needs to be aware of other people’s troubles and problems.

She’s a very strong willed child and have short attention span, so I struggle with teaching her to listen attentively.  I say my breath prayers all the time to keep me calm and patient.  Sometimes, I lose my temper, and it’s important I show her that I’m humble to ask for forgiveness.

But all in all, it’s worth the trouble.  I love my daughter so much that I’ll sacrifice my time and effort to teach her this virtue.  God wants to help me to build her up, just as He does to me.

Lord, it’s not easy, going against my nature, to think about other people.  We are all selfish, and always think about ourselves.  Help me deal with this daily struggle.  Help me to help others, especially my daughter, to become a builder of relationships, an instrument of kindness, and a foundation based on Jesus’ teachings and laws.  Thank you for the life you’ve given us.  Amen.

Evangelism is not one of my strongest quality of being a Christian.  I struggle with it every day because I know I’m not a convincing person.  I can’t sell anything.  Sure, I can argue and I can present my case.  But at the end of the day, no one buys it.

But God’s salvation is not for sale.  It’s to be given away.  All it takes is faith.  I know God will give me strength to evangelize, if I do His work honestly and with due diligence.  All God wants is for me to deliver the Good News.  It’s up to God to change the other person’s mind.   It’s up to them if they want to be saved.

I need to take that step to evangelize, while focusing on Jesus as the Lord and Savior.   Christ’s love, grace, and good news have to be shared – no matter how cowardly I feel.

I read Demian Farnworth’s post on “Elevator Pitch Evangelism” with two verses that will come in handy the next time someone asked me what Christianity is about:

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-7

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