Devotional Time with God

At Saddleback Church, we’re starting a new series called 40 Days of Love.  It’s a study of how we, as Christians, must learn to love, in any situation, at any time.  Key verse is:

Let everything you do, be done in love.

1 Corinthians 16:14

The bible says, EVERYTHING.  In any event.  With anyone.  Even when I don’t feel like it.   In fact, when I’m not feeling particularly loving is when I’m suppose to ask God for guidance and correction.  God loves me for who I am.  He loves everybody, even the ones who have gone astray.  God is love and He makes me as His image, so it’s only natural that I’m also loving.  The practice of love is to prepare for heaven.

So why is it sometimes difficult for me to love others?  My ego and pride have a lot to do with it.  People have a tendency to be un-loving.  That’s the problem.  What must I do to overcome this?  First I have to know what love is.

1. Love is a choice and commitment.
2. Love is action, not just emotion.
3. Love is a skill I can learn.

Knowing this, then I must become good with love and improve my relationship with others.  It can be done.

1. I must commit to growing spiritually.  Maturity is key.
2. I can learn from how Jesus loves.  He’s the perfect role model for love.
3. I must practice the skill.   It’s not easy, but I can try, daily.
4. I have to develop the habit.   In this 40 days study, I can learn to be good in love.
5. I must trust God to help.  God’s love is abundant and everlasting, and I must let His love flow through me.

I’m ready, God, to love this world and all of its shortcomings.   Please help me!

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ, for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Phillipians 1:9-11

This week is a special week.  It is Easter and it’s the time to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.  He has conquered death and took away our sins, so we can all have the promises of heaven.  This is the time to believe in Jesus.  For me, this is the time to reinforce my faith by doing these:

• Follow His example
• Accept His grace
• Invest my life for Him
• Trust His wisdom and strength
• Hold on to His promises

When I follow Jesus, I’m given the clarity for my future and He’ll provide the stability when storms happen in my life.  I must also cry out to God whenever I need help, and without fail, He’ll provide His grace because it’s what I need.  I don’t deserve God’s grace but He gives it no matter what.  With His grace I must then give my life to serve God and others.  It’s an investment with high returns.  Believing in God means trusting Him with everything.  Not just try to believe… I must wholeheartedly trust Him.  When I trust Him, I’ll have no worries.  I love that God has given me a promise of eternal life, and it gives me hope and purpose to live in this broken world.

Dear Jesus, I want to have a real faith in you, not a fake faith.  Thank you for dying for my sins and showing me the way to live.  Today I want to become a true believer in you.  I want to follow your example.  I want to accept your gift of grace.  I need your forgiveness and mercy.  You made me for a purpose and I want to invest my life in serving you.  I want to trust your wisdom and strength.  And I want to hold on to your promises when times are tough.   Amen. 

In the lowest times of my life, I had felt very isolated and lonely. I had been through fights with my wife, siblings, and friends. The feeling was just awful. I felt no one understands me; no one cared how I feel. This is the time when I feel very distant from God, as if He doesn’t care about me. As God has pointed out to me, the reason I get into these conflicts is because I feel I don’t have my needs (and wants) taken care of. I’m always thinking about me. I’m prideful and sinful. So what if I can’t get that expensive gadget I’ve been wanting? So what if I’m feeling ill, my wife is not able to attend to my every need? So what if my co-workers do not cut me any slack? The world doesn’t revolve around me. I must not grumble! In fact, I must seek God and cry out to him, “What do you want me to do, Lord? What are your plans for me? What are you trying to teach me?”

As long as I rest my troubles with God, I’m comforted by the fact that He will take care of them for me.

How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
…
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.

Psalm 13:1-6

This weekend’s sermon by Pastor Rick and Tom Holladay is a very important one to me. It deals with money. It’s always been a problem in our family when it comes to dealing with the issues relating to money. It’s a cause for division, cause for arguments, cause for insecurities, cause of pain. In the message, the lack of money, or being in debt, is the focus of his sermon. God has a lot to say about managing my money. First and foremost, I must look to God when I have issues with money. I must trust God to provide for my needs. He gave me everything, in the first place, to glorify His name, as written in Romans 11:36

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever!

Then Paul wrote in Philippians 4:19

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

God will meet all of my needs! Not wants, not desires, not indulgence. Needs! He never lets me astray. He never lets me down. If He does take things away from me, it’s because He’s testing my character.

I have to ask myself: who should I look for to get more money? Everything on this earth belongs to God. It’s not by my own talent or luck that I get more money. It all comes from God because it’s His to give in the first place. He is trusting His riches on earth to me so I may use it to help others. Money is a tool to do good.  As long as I use money to do God’s work, He will always provide for me.

Everyday I go to work, I ask myself what can I do to help others? But I have a confession to make. I also tell myself that I will get a reward for it, such as my salary, or recognition from my peers and manager. What I seem to quite often take for granted is that I am doing this for God. It’s not enough that I give my time and resources to help others, but I also have to give myself. I have to be available, and I have to have a willing heart. The bible says in Philippians 2:14-16,

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

I don’t sacrifice myself for others, for nothing. I do it for God. I don’t stop on a work day either, it has to be every day. Even during my rest day, as Jesus did when He healed during sabbath.

Lord Jesus, I thank you for giving yourself up on the cross for me. I thank you for the saving my life, so I may save others. Please give me the strength and discernment to serve others without complaining or expecting earthly rewards. I am weak and you are strong. Please accept my sacrifice. Amen.

It’s a new year. It sure doesn’t feel like a new year. It’s helpful to look back and learn from my mistakes, but it is more important for me to look forward. When I set my sights on eternity, the new years and birthdays are just not as scary anymore. The bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

My old self is gone indeed! I have to look forward to what I can accomplish, what I can learn, and what I can do for others. From last Sunday, we learned to do these to look forward to the new year:

1. Let go of my worries.
   I look forward to get rid of my logical self who always try to get in the way of God’s will. I must pray about everything, I tell God what I need, and I must thank Him at all times. (See Philippians 4:6-7) I must let go of my past, enjoy the present, and look forward to the future.
2. Adjust my expectations.
   I must expect the best. I must realize God works even in the worse situations. I must focus on the greatest things that God has given me, such as His goodness, His faithfulness, and His son, Jesus Christ.
3. Take a step of faith.
   James 2:17 says,

   In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

   I must go through all of the doors. If God wanted me to go through it, He will open it for me. If it is God’s will, then nothing will be impossible for me.

4. Hold on to God’s love.
   I must not let work, busy-ness, world issues, or people’s opinions stop me from holding on to God’s promises and love. He’s always there for me and will always be. Paul said in Romans 8:38-39,

   For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is going to be my first monday devotionals.  A collection of inspirational verses that put focus on what I have to do to start off the week.

John 11: 1-6 – Lazarus, Jesus’ best friend, was sick. However, Jesus stayed in Bethany for another 2 days. God works at His own time.  I must wait for God’s time.

Ephesians 5:15-20 – Be very careful on how I proceed with my daily routine.  Evil lurks in every corner of my life.  I get to stumble easily.  I need to focus on God’s will and always give glory to Him.

Philippians 3:12-21 –  Look out and Look Up!  Focus on heaven, a place where God wants me to belong.  I should not look at the earthly riches.  I must expect heavenly reward for it is more satisfying than worldly reward.

2 Corinthians 5:21 – Jesus saved me.  I am right with God if my life is with Jesus.

What now?  I must include God in my daily walk, keep looking for heavenly goals, and be careful doing my due diligence – not rushing God.

Am I usually more concerned about being served or finding ways to serve others?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 271

Amazingly, at this point in my life, I’m more concerned about finding ways to serve others. Being a husband and a father, I truly want to serve my wife and daughter, because I love them so much. I love other Christians too and I want to serve them as much as I can. As I previously blogged, I struggle with making myself available for serving. I’m glad to say that at least my thinking is in the right place. I’m just having a tough time deploying my attitude of servitude. I must continue to focus on Jesus so I won’t lose this attitude, as written in Philippians 2:5 (NIV)

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

In a current event, my servant heart is being tested. At work I was basically told I was not doing my job properly. I was accused of being sloppy. I sought advice from my colleagues and they confirmed my thinking that my manager was a little harsh on me. My manager’s evidences were arguably sketchy. My manager could be reacting from assumptions and doubt. My natural instincts were to defend myself, by explaining what happened and pointing to the lack of evidence. But after reading this chapter, I realize that I must be a steward, not an owner. I must serve, not pretend I own the project and do whatever I please. I must put the priority of others before mine. I must put other’s expectations before mine. Looking at it from a servant attitude, with humility and truth, I can see clearly what needs to be said and done. In this case, I must remember to put other’s needs ahead of me and set parameters to be successful.

Where in my daily routine can I become more aware of God’s glory?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 59

For the longest time, I’ve been struggling to set aside a time, usually early morning, to read the bible and learn what God has to say to me. There was always a distraction. Either I woke up late, or I had something urgent at work that needed my attention. When I do have a chance to read it, I gain an awareness that God is watching and blessing me. My mood change for the better, my goals seem clear, and I tend to be nicer to people. I think that’s exactly what God wants – be a shining light for Him. That is glorifying God.

It seems like a cliché nowadays, I really think every day I have to ask myself, “What would Jesus do?” Jesus’ character is a model for all of God’s glory. It’s all about Jesus. It’s all for God.

May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

Philippians 1:11 (NLT)

Since I was made to last forever, what is the one thing I should stop doing and the one thing I should start doing today?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 40

There two things certain on this earth: taxes and death. There is nothing I can do to avoid them. But there is something I can do with the life that I have now. God put me here to lead others to Christ, to love one another, and to continually worship Him. I don’t have to stress over petty things, such as caring too much about my retirement money, or whether I’ll ever visit Australia. The eternal life in heaven has to be the focus of my life, as I prepare for it on earth. In Philippians 3:7 (NLT), Paul said:

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.

Jesus has shown the way to live on this earth, so I may copy His wonderful life. Jesus has died for me, so I may live forever in heaven. I just have to follow Jesus! That’s what I’ll do.