Devotional Time with God

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:10

I’ve been put on this earth to first know God, worship God, and to love and serve others. The measure of my rewards in heaven is dependent on how much love and service I’ve given to others.  For this, I must take care of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and also my “enemies”.  I must use my skills and talents to be helpful.

I’m made for service.

I’m not perfect. I realize that’s from the beginning. I also don’t have a good record of keeping peace in my friends at work or church. It’s my abrasive personality. Something that I have to work hard to change and continue to refine.

I need to change, because God commanded me to get along with other believers:

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Ephesians 4:3

I must seek peace. I must not get involved in gossip. I must find solutions to conflict. I must take the higher ground because that’s what Jesus would do.

I must keep harmony and unity in the church. Gods loves to bless a peaceful church.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

Ephesians 1:4-6

How rich am I?  If I measure my wealth from the material things I own, I’m not doing so bad.  But that’s never enough. Worse, my money doesn’t last and I can’t take it with me when I’m dead!  So what fills me up? What fulfills my deepest longing needs?

It’s relationship. Relationship with my daughter, my wife, my family, my friends… and especially my godly friends, who believes in Jesus as their personal lord and savior!  I am made to belong in God’s family, for he has predestined me to be with Him and His family in heaven.

I look forward to take my love to heaven and meet my brothers and sisters, in Christ!

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.

Ephesians 5:25-26

In these verses, I can picture Jesus washing the feet of His disciples, removing all dirt and grime. The dirt symbolizes my sins and mistakes, both present and future. I can see it washed away, leaving just a clean pair of feet. I can also picture Jesus doing this over, and over – for He is the ultimate forgiver, the savior of my life.  My sins are washed away, many times over.

I don’t know how many times I needed God’s forgiveness. But, thank God, He cleansed me all the time! His grace is unlimited. His grace is wonderful!

Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.  Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4:14-16

From Crosswalk.com website, I came across this acronym RISE that pretty much described what I need to do to grow up in Christ:

1. Reduce: There are just some stuff I don’t need in abundance, such as chocolates, sugar, beef steaks, baked goods, television, etc.
2. Increase: I need to exercise more. I got to move my muscles, get in shape. I need to wake up early enough to read my bible and talk to God more often.
3. Substitute: Instead of spending too much time in front of the computer or TV, I can go visit a friend, or volunteer at church.  Instead of going out to eat all the time, I cook at home most of the time.
4. Eliminate: Going to the movie theaters just sucked a lot of money and time. Need to stop going there and just enjoy a nice DVD at home with the family – and pause/stop the movie whenever I want.

The point is to get my into my devotional with God, more often.  I need to be less concern of this world’s issues and politics.  God has everything under control.  He’s got what I need.  I will grow when I depend on His power and focus on Him.

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!

I did wonder, why on earth am I here for?  Why does God create me and let me suffer through the pain in this world?  Why do I have to deal with all of the rude, back-stabbing, inconsiderate, unfriendly, or downright nasty people?

The answer is simple: God wants me to win them for Him!  By leading a Jesus-centric life and modeling His love, I’m to be of service to my fellow man/woman.  No matter who they are!

I need to fulfill my purpose in life by serving others. (Ephesians 4:4 -14; Romans 1:6-7; Romans 8:28-30; 1 Corinthians 1:2, 1 Corinthians 1:9;  1 Corinthians 1:26; 1 Corinthians 7:17; Philippians 3:14; 1 Peter 2:9; 2 Peter 1:3)

The fruit of salvation is serving God, by serving others!

I’m not sure how often I should ask myself where I’m at with my spiritual life. I have a feeling I have to check every day – even every waking minute!  It’s important I’m always in step with God’s purpose for me.  It’s important that my walk is with Jesus (Ephesians 1:11-12).

It’s important that I show it!

In the morning, I wake up to a challenge with my family, constantly testing my patience.   I drive to work and constantly testing my ability to be kind and calm.  I get to work and constantly testing me holding together my Christ-like behavior.

And the recycle repeats every day.

It’s hard to compartmentalized my spiritual life.  I can’t just put it aside.  It IS my life.  I need to spend more time praying.  I need to spend most of my waking hour talking to God.

I can’t let go of Jesus because He’s the reason I have a spiritual life.

Being a parent is not easy for me.  I constantly have to keep up with my daughter in physical, mind, and spiritual development.  The physical part is easy, as I love to run around, dance, and give her hugs and kisses.  She’s now approaching kindergarten so I have to prepare for my mind to teach her the “intellectual” requirements to cope in this world.

Then I have to be her spiritual guidance.  And this is important, as it’s also to help me grow in the Lord.

For a long time, I’ve been spiritually young.  I always wanted to go beyond where I’m at right now.  I want to be close to God.  I want to know what he has to say to me.

This is where I draw my connection.  I want my Father in heaven to guide me, just as I’m guiding my child.

My expectations now are simple:  What God expects from me is almost exactly what I expect from my child.

God gave an example of love and sacrifice in Jesus Christ.  I have to do the same.

God gave me a purpose in life to promote reconciliation, disciple others, lead others to Him, and help others.  I have to do the same.

God loves me and gives me hope.  I have to do the same.

As I see my daughter constantly look up to me for guidance.  All I have to do is look up to God.   It’s the basic thing to do, as a parent.

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