Devotional Time with God

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Matthew 7:24

Through the storms of my life, it’s always good to know that I have God standing beside me. God wants me to go through, safe and sound, by listening – and most importantly, do His commands, because that’s how I can grow. His word is my foundation. His laws are the basis of my life.

How do I go through this storm? By perseverance. By the confidence that only Jesus can give:

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6

Jesus began the good work in me and He will see it completed. I have the utmost the confidence in God’s molding of my life – for His purpose.

It is Christ who begins the good work in us; it is Christ who carries it on in us. (Philippians 1:6)

When I become a believer of Jesus, He started to work in all aspects of my life. Everything about me is changing – to be more like Him.  He will continue to transform me.  Jesus will finish the job that he started.

I can do all things through Christ who gvies me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

God is faithful. He will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear. (1 Corinthians 10:13)

These are my reassurances. I hold on to the promise that Jesus will give me the strength to handle all of my problems.  Also, He promised I can handle the temptations that he allowed me to endure, and He’ll be there to help me.  The same principle of parenting I’m teaching my child, God is working through the same molding process with me.

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 have this bad habit of losing my focus.  My thoughts constantly wander around from one idea to another.  I suppose it’s a product of my wild imagination, but it’s also a lack of discipline and meditation.

Luckily, the bible has some encouragement for me:

Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable.

Philippians 4:8

Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

Proverbs 4:23

Fix your thoughts on Jesus.

Hebrews 3:1

It’s so easy to stray from the Lord.  This world facilitates the way to hell.  People tend to sin, and most of the time, they want to take me with them!

In dark times like this is when I really need to guard my heart.  Only Jesus can give me that peace of mind (Philippians 4:7).  Only God can protect me from the dangers that my dark heart desires.  I need the Lord to cleanse my heart and let Him be the ruler of my life (1 Peter 3:15).

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

Lord, I give thanks to you.   I lift my praise to you.  In my time of trouble, in my time of darkness, in my time of sin – I want  you to get me out of there!  Help me, God.  I can’t do this on my own.  Cleanse me.  Fill me with your spirit.  Make me be right again in your eyes.  Give me the strength to go on.  Amen.

I’ve seen (and felt) what my bad habits can do to my spiritual, mental, and physical health.  I got too much stress, too much resentment, too much doubts that led me to be distant from family, friends, and God.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  There are better ways to get better.

Focus on changing my character defect, one at a time.

There are many areas I have to tackle, but I can’t change them all at the same time.  I have to pick one, perhaps the easiest one, like eating too much junk food.  Then I’ll get into the tougher ones, like looking at questionable material on the internet.  Eventually I’ll overcome the big one: my hot temper.

Focus on success, one day at a time.

I can’t forsee the future.  I don’t know what’s going to happen.  That’s up to God’s will.  But what I can control is my actions today.  The Lord’s prayer says, “Give us our daily bread.”  One day, today, I can make it happen for the better.

Focus on God’s power.

He’s the source of my strength.  God’s character is my goal and model.  My strength is insufficient.  I need God’s power to add to my willpower.  If I need change, I need God to steer me to the right direction.

Focus on the good things.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Phillipians 4:8

The good things are the only thing worthwhile doing.  I only have so much time and energy.  Staying positive will only bring joy and happiness.

Focus on doing good.

What good have I done for you lately?  That’s the question I should be asking everyone.  Today I have to continue to build relationships, continue to be a peace maker, and continue to be helpful.  My tendency is to make myself feel good.  I must stop being selfish.  I must continue to do the right thing.

Focus on people who help.

People can hinder my progress.  They can be critical, judgmental, and down right unhelpful.  These are the ones I want to be associated with.  They’ll just slow me down, and will one day take me down completely!  I have to surround myself with kind, compassionate, and Godly people, for they’ll help me change and grow for the better.

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

1 Corinthians 15:33

Focus on progress.

I’m not a perfectionist.  Sometimes I say “Good enough is good enough.”  I’m taking this step to keep myself sane and not stress over the little things.  I can imagine the amounts of energy and time required to be “perfect” in everything.  I know God loves me for who I am.  I don’t have to be perfect in His eyes.  I just have to be believe and be willing to change.  When God is shaping me, that’s progress for me.

Being a parent is full of life’s trials.  I just don’t know what to expect from my child. As a toddler, she’s adventurous, curious, and brave.  She’ll try to explore everything and do anything, on her own!  When she discovered she could run, she ran – a lot!  As a 40-year old, it’s tough for me to keep up!  One thing I observed she likes to do is to let go of my hand when crossing the street, or walking on the parking lot.  Both my wife and I have this huge fear of her being struck by a car.  It was a common occurrence, we heard so many stories about accidents with children and cars.  I’m so worried, I’ll raise my voice, and sometimes spank my child, so that she’ll listen and hold on to my hand while crossing the street.

Then I realized, God is doing the same to me!  He would tell me with a “loud voice” and “spanking” to get my attention that danger is ahead.  He’ll tell me through grief and pain.  They’re the loudest signal God can ever send to me.  He wants to hold on to my hands while I cross that busy street, or unpredictable parking lot.  He knows what’s ahead because He’s bigger, and I’m not.

Once He gets a hold of me, I don’t have to worry any more!  I have to let God hold me.

He’s in control.  Always will be!

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 1:4-6

I’ve recently started to ride my bicycle, every other day, to stay fit and build up my endurance.  I realize my body’s endurance is not going to be strengthen in a matter of days, or even weeks.  It’s going to take months of constant trying!

I feel the same way about my spiritual endurance.  There are days when I’ve felt the growth in my walk with God.  But what I really should be doing is to step it up, and run with God!  Increase the intensity, once in a while.

Growth comes in spurts.

Nevertheless, it’s still a long run.  God promised me the prize of eternal salvation, and perfection in heaven.  To get there, I must persist.  I must not be discouraged, nor be put off.

God’s marathon is worth living!

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Philippians 3:12-14

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

Also known as self-discipline, it’s an aspect of life that I’ve always struggled with.  By nature, I’m selfish, emotional, and reckless.  Those bad traits have driven me to look for things that offered instant gratification, such as buy useless gadgets, watch pornography, eat junk food, etc.  I used to think it was a struggle that no one could understand.  The bible proves that it’s a very common problem:

But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).

James 1:14

This world is inherently evil.  Sin lurks in every corner.  Satan has dominion over this earth and it shows by the kinds of temptations available everywhere.

But God is good.  He gives me the strength to bear these temptations.  He gives me the wisdom to know when to say NO to evil.  He gives me grace to forgive me when I fall flat on my face after tripping from sin.  God knows how weak I am.  I’m holding on to His promise of hope that I can handle this:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

If I had to look back in my teenage and college years, I could use a lot of self-control and discipline.  I wouldn’t have wasted a lot of my life on stupid decisions.  However, God calls me and constant me reminds me to keep my eye on Jesus.  He is my prize, my end-game, my eternal salvation.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14