Devotional Time with God

The famous nursery rhymes goes something like this:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Should I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

It was adapted from Psalm 31:5,

Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.

Jesus shouted this on the cross on his last breath.  This needs to be my words of commitment to God.  He’s the provider and He’s in control.  My spirit is nothing without Him.

I leave my worries and hurts to you, O Lord, the God of truth.  My spirit is in your hands.  Amen.

It’s a question that I’ve heard and asked before.   God’s nature is good, but why does He allow pain and suffering to befall on humans?  We are His creation so wouldn’t we get the best treatment, all the time? Shouldn’t we be protected and safe all the time?  Throughout the bible, God’s people always get the shaft. Adam and Eve learned it the hard way when they ate the forbidden fruit.  Joseph was sold as a slave and thrown in jail because people were jealous and hated his righteousness.  Job was stripped down to nothing and his family was killed.

There are several reasons why God allows pain:

Free Will

For the longest time, I avoided that Jim Carrey movie called “God Almighty”.  I thought the title itself was a bit of a sacrilege and I heard the material was questionable.  Then I checked it out myself recently, and it turned out to be a good movie after all.  The one message that came from it was: God gave us free will, to do whatever we want.

Of course, free will does have consequences.  If misused, it can cause catastrophe, sadness, and pain.  Many times, God has given me the option to either obey or disobey Him.  I’ve chosen to disobey God frequently because I thought I knew better.   Doing the right thing is not always the easy thing.  It takes a lot of faith.  It takes a lot of grace from God.

Get My Attention

I found out that God whispers to me when times are good, and shouts to me when it’s not.   Pain is God’s megaphone.  I’ve been busy with my own life that I forgot about God.  I forgot to set aside daily bible reading.  I forgot about daily prayer.  I forgot about God’s commandments.

Very often I wanted to be selfish.  God then allows pain to happen so that I realize that I need to change for the better.

Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change.

Proverbs 20:30

Teach Me to Depend on God

I can’t do everything myself.  I do my best to take care of my family, doing good deeds, and be a lawful citizen.  But most of all, I need God to strengthen me.  I need God to give me grace when I just can’t do it anymore.  I need His mercy to allow me to move on after my mistakes.

Like King David correctly said:

The suffering you sent was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your principles.

Psalm 119:71

Minister to Others

The principle is simple:

…when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us.

2 Corinthians 1:4

The pain I’ve experience does humble me.  It gives me a new perspective in life.  It makes me more sympathetic.  I must not waste my pain.  I must share how God and I dealt with it.  What I learned is valuable to others.  It’s wiser to learn from the experience of others.  There’s no need for others to experience the same pain as I do.

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.

Mark 14:38

Jesus tells me to be watchful, and pray, on a daily basis, if I don’t want to fall back into my sinful nature.  I can prevent this relapse in poor judgment.  I can prevent this relapse into bad habits.  I have to ensure that I develop good habits.

First, I must always evaluate myself:

1. Physically
2. Emotionally
3. Relationally
4. Spiritually

If any of these don’t feel right, I must pray God reveal His will and steer me back into the right direction.

Then, I must meditate on God’s word on a daily basis.  It doesn’t take much.  Five minutes will work.  As long as I have that quiet time with Him, I’m moving a step closer to His perfection.  To meditate, I must:

1. Reverse worry:  Produce positive thoughts – think it, say it, over and over.
2. Listen: Slow down and hear God’s speaking to my heart.
3. Memorize: Know my bible verses so I can use them to fight sin. (Psalm 119:11)

Finally, I must pray about everything!  Nothing is too big or too small for God.  He’s creator of all things good.  I have to ask, then I shall receive.

Jesus, thank you for the strength you provided me today.  I fight off the temptation to sin.  I fight off my tendencies to do what’s wrong and lazy.  All because you’re in my heart.  I want your peace, God  I want to reach your perfection.  Lift up my spirits, Lord.  Lead the way so I shall not relapse.  Amen.

I hate some aspects of my past.  It was full of hurt and guilt.  I wish I can just forget them, but they surface once in a while to bug me.  I would wake up from a nightmare of failing my college exams.  I would end up thinking my life went nowhere because of previous failed relationships.  My past can sometimes slow me down.

I must not let guilt from the past destroy my confidence.  I need to look in the future with the confidence that I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes.  The lessons learned is a building block for better knowledge.

I must not let guilt ruin my relationships.  I have to know that my past is forgiven, thanks to God’s grace and mercy.

Our God, you bless everyone whose sins you forgive and wipe away.

Psalm 32:1

I must not be stuck in the past.  My past is just that… the past.  The Navy Seal has this saying, “The only easy day was yesterday”.   I must keep saying that.  My past gives me perspective, and it must not dictate my future.  I have to move on.

I’ve asked the question before, “What kind of God do I serve?”  Some folks would paint Him as a mean God, full of fire and brimstone.  Another folks would consider Him as a aloof God, so distant and hard of hearing.

The truth is, I used to compare God with my own parents.  My parents are generous, so naturally I considered God is a generous one.  My Dad is also hot tempered, so I thought God got angry a lot, too.

The real truth of God’s character is in the Bible.

God knows my situation.  He knows about my pain, grief, hurts, and struggles.  He knows what I need before I ask him.

God cares about my situation.  He knows that I’m weak and constantly needs help.  God has compassion for me.  He wants the best to happen to me.  He wants to bless me.  I just have to let Him by surrendering my life, and accept Christ as my personal Lord and savior.

Until I understand God’s true character, I can’t completely trust Him.

It’s easy to do whatever I want.  Everything is permissible.  God gave us free will.

But, is it beneficial?  Is it right?  Is it according to God’s laws and commands?

Raising a child with a sense of personal integrity is a tough thing to do nowadays.  This world has turned sarcastic and cynical.  The world is teaching kids to speak with a double meanings.  The society doesn’t have a clear standard on what’s right and what’s wrong.  The world teaches there’s really no one to trust – not even God!

I must teach my child to speak carefully.  Listen more, speak less.  When she does speak, she must choose her words carefully.  Always to build.  Always in kindness.  Always thinking.

From a wise mind comes wise speech; the words of the wise are persuasive. Kind words are like honey — sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.

Proverbs 16:23-24

God gave us an instruction manual to follow: the Bible.  We can live our lives with God’s integrity, if I just read it constantly and abide by it.  I have to plant His words in my heart so my private life reflects my public life.

I have to run back to God.  The same goes for child.

One of the first thing I do when I get back from work is to kiss my wife and hug my child.  Always.  It’s a tradition that started with Dad because he used to be away, a lot.  I remembered I was so happy to finally see him coming home from business trips, that I would run and hug him.   I didn’t know exactly how it felt until my child does the same for me.

Children needs love.  Lots of it!  My daughter certainly couldn’t get enough of it.  I have to give her everything, from attention, compliments, and love.  She needs to know that I love her.  By hugging and kissing her, it’s the least I can do.

It’s also easier to discipline my child with love.  In every disciplinary action, there’s always a purpose: To protect, out of love.   She will know my expectations.

There are times when she will stumble.  As parents, we’ll be there to pick her back up.  I’ll never give up on her because I love her!

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from Him.

Psalm 127:3

The first sentence in Latin I learned back in grade school was “Mens Sana in Corpore Sano“.  It means, with a healthy body produces a healthy mind.  It’s so true.  Yet, to keep the body healthy is the hardest thing I’ve ever have to do.

My days are full of things to do, like working in front of the computer, sit in meetings, and driving to/from work.  On my off days, I watch TV, baby-sit my daughter, driving to/from places to eat, and sit in front of the computer some more.

There isn’t much room for exercise.  I need to do more of it.  God says I have to take care of my body:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

It’s my duty to honor God.  So I must do my due dilligence, and exercise on a daily basis.  There are little things I can do like extended/speed walking, go the golf driving range, play running games with my daughter, work in the yard.  I’ll need to try (*gasp*) jogging!

Then there’s a matter of a getting enough sleep.  I should not stay up late and wake up early – something I tend to do a lot:

In vain you rise early and stay up late,  toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Psalm 127:2

In addition, I’m sure the bible also has something about eating right.  It’s a whole new topic of devotional for me.

Meanwhile, I must make sure to exercise and sleep well.  I need to be consistent about it.

I have aging parents.  I have thought about what to do or say to them when it’s time for them to meet Jesus.  As a follower of Jesus, and as a believer, I shall not fear death because I’m precious to God.  Dying is not an easy subject to comprehend, but it’s inevitable and I must be able to deal with it.    When people are dying and they’re not a believer, they will go through the five stages of grief:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

I have to be able to help them deal with it.  With God’s help, I can comfort those who are dying.

Confront my own fears.  I have to be strong and have already accepted the fact that death is coming for me, too.  When I’m at peace with it, I’ll be able to help others as well.

Offer my physical presence.  They don’t like to die alone.  My precious gift to them is my time – just be there.

Minister with practical assistance.  While I’m with them, I can help doing small things like bringing a meal, listen to or talk with them.

Fortify them with emotional support.  A practical way is to pray their concerns to God.  If they’re worried about their something, bring it up to God.  Pray for them, always.

Open them up with care.  If they have questions that are tough to answer, mirror their question and rephrase it, such as “What does dying mean to you?”  Give them a choice to continue dealing with their emotions.

Remember the family has needs too.  Their loved ones are still alive and may require assistance.  I have to be there for them too.

Turn them to Jesus.  The most important task a believer must do is spread the Good News, even at their death beds.  It’s the time to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, so they can be saved and be with Him.

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:18

This short interview has been passed around in emails, and I just got it recently from a friend in Toronto.  I know this story very well and Pastor Rick had told it to the congregation several times before.  It’s still an inspirational message and it’s worth forwarding to everyone. 

Love & Blessings to you all. You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having ‘wealth’ from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, ‘Purpose Driven Life ‘ author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body– but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness,’which is my problem, my issues, my pain.’ But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

1. First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.
2. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.
3. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.
4. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do.

That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.