Devotional Time with God

I’ve struggled with this thought for a while: Why doesn’t God explain to me His plan?

Whenever I see hardship, unfairness, and cruelty in this world, I asked why does God let this happen?  Whenever I do something good, why does it sometime seem God doesn’t reward me?  Whenever I hear God’s calling, why does it seem it’s not always a clear message?

The answer lies in both faith and obedience.  I can’t possibly know all of God’s plan because He’s all knowing.  He reveals little by little to me.  He lets me handle what I can.  He’s a fair and just God.  I know that because of my faith in Him.

But when he does call, I have to do what He says.  I must be obedient.  It’s not my place to expect God to answer all of my questions.  I have to answer His calling.   God always have a purpose for me, in every moment of my life.  Whether He wants me to learn, endure pain, grow in character, or just sit and listen – there’ll always be a reason.

God doesn’t owe me an explanation.  I owe him my life for Jesus Christ, His Son, who died on the cross to save my otherwise meaningless existence.

Pastor Greg Laurie has a really good devotional that explained How to know God’s will.  In a nutshell, I must be a living sacrifice, be separated from this world, and live by His words (in that order).  It’s encapsulated in this scripture:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1–2

I have to first let God help me. Then I have to understand and help others. Finally the last couple of things I need to do are the difficult one: be willing to absorb the pain. I must not let the cycle of hate, spite, and revenge to go on. It ends with me, even if it’s not my fault. Jesus is the best example of this:

Christ died for us at a time when we were helpless and sinful.

Romans 5:6

He sacrificed himself when I don’t deserve it. I make the mistakes and He takes the blame. So I must be more like Jesus and absorb the pain, for the sake of reconciliation. I must emphasize reconciliation more than anything else, even over resolution. I must re-establish the relationship with others – it is the utmost important. I must not be self-centered.

Oh let us be a generation of reconciliation and peace
And let us be a holy nation
Where pride and predjudice shall cease
Let us speak the truth in love
To the lost and least of these
And let serve the Lord in unity so others will believe L let us be a generation of reconciliation and peace

Oh let us be a generation of reconciliation and peace
And let us build on one foundation
Till He comes and the wars of men shall cease
Let us share the Love of Jesus without hypocrisy
Let mercy and forgiveness begin with you and me
Let us be a generation of reconciliation and peace

Have we not one Father?
Have we not one faith?
Have we not one calling to become one Holy race??
Let us be a generation of reconciliation and peace

And let us pray for restoration
And seek the Lord together on our knees
Let us keep our hearts from evil
And cling to that is good
Let us honor one another and love the brotherhood
Let us be a generation of reconciliation and peace

MORRIS CHAPMAN
RECONCILIATION SONG

To summarize, to reconcile with others, I must first surrender to God and rely on Him for wisdom and patience. Now, it’s my turn to step out of my comfort zone and extend a peace offering. I must now invite the person I’m having a conflict with, to a meeting. A face to face meeting is preferable. I must not fear this. Fear gets me defensive and demanding. Better to humble myself and intentionally want to resolve the issue. My humility also starts by confessing my part of the conflict. I must know and admit that I’ve done something wrong (even if it’s a small one) before trying to resolve any conflict. I have to apologize for thinking only about myself.

Once I get over myself, I must then listen for other’s hurt. I have to treat people with respect and dignity. I must be able to look at him/her in the eyes. I must also be helpful and understanding.

Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

James 1:19

Pastor Rick’s latest message is about reconciliation. This is not a new topic, but it is a very difficult topic for everyone (me included) because it’s hard for us to get along with each other. The roots of all conflicts are selfishness and sinfulness. I have needs. If my needs are not met, I will get cranky, jealous, and eventually angry. I get angry at the person I love. I get angry at God.

I must learn how to reconcile with others. But first, I must take 7 steps to get there:

1. Make peace with God.
2. Ask God for help.
3. Convene a peace conference.
4. Confess my part of the conflict.
5. Listen for others’ hurt.
6. Be willing to absorb the pain.
7. Emphasize reconciliation, not resolution.

First and foremost, I must surrender myself to God. God is the provider of all things. Going against the flesh, I need an extra strong influence that God can provide. He gives me guidelines to live by through His words. He wants me to live pure and faultless, which is what I have to strife for. To believe in God, I must change my lifestyle. I can’t be a person from this world, where selfish desires are considered acceptable and mostly encouraged! I have rules to live by. If I’ve been hurt by others, I know God will be able to heal me.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

I must always ask God for help. To get my thoughts going on reconciliation, I have to ask two things:

• How much of it is my fault?
• What does God want me to do about this?

During a conflict, it’s very difficult for me to self-examine myself. That is why I rely on God to give me the wisdom to know what I’ve done, and help me correct my faults.

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

Thank you, Jesus, for surrendering on the cross for my sins. You have shown me how to love God and to love one another. You’ve shown me the wisdom to love by paying attention to other people’s needs, not my own. I thank you for being there for me when I need you. My needs are satisfied every time I ask you and for that I’m forever grateful! Amen.

Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other.

Romans 13:8

To owe money is not fun. I constantly think how much time I have before I can repay it. Can I repay it? Being in debt is a lonely feeling because the burden is on me to pay that money back. I am glad that God wants to help. If I just trust my finances to Him, He’ll enable me to repay my debts.

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.

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.

I have to ask myself, what matters most? Is it my job? My family? My posessions? My health? They may seem important, but they ought not to be. The bible says in Romans 6:13,

Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.

I am to be used for God’s purposes! I’m not here to look good, feel good, and have the goods. I need more than that! I need the purposes that God has for me. Jesus came to earth to give Himself as a sacrifice, and to give us a new life. He is giving us God’s amazing grace for every race.

I thank you, Lord, for saving me. Your birth signifies the new birth in all of us. I don’t deserve to be saved, but you’re a God of love, and you want to save me. Thank you, Jesus for everything you have done. Let your will be done, in this day and the days ahead. Amen.

What is holding me back from accepting God’s call to serve him?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 233

Lately I’ve been short with my time and confused on how I can fit into the church’s many ministries. I have a full time job, tasks at home to help raise my daughter, and help my wife. Plus I have not found a ministry at church that would take my abilities. I am good at handling systems, troubleshooting computers, and maintaining web services. Currently, Saddleback hires professional help to maintain all of their web needs. It is a matter of time before I can find a place for me, and for my family too.

Meanwhile, I will be scheduling a Class 301 to determine my S.H.A.P.E. This is necessary for me to determine where I fit in the church. But first I must do my Class 201.

The PDL book mentions that God will be angered and remove my eternal rewards if I do not serve, as mentioned in Romans 2:8. However in reading the entire verse, I believe Pastor Rick might be simplifying this a little because it says:

But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.

I read the entire passage, God says He will be angered if I refuse to heed God’s word, refuse to serve, and live a wicked life. The whole chapter is a warning for the Jews to obey the law and not do evil (ie. break the 10 commandments). In conclusion, even though I must serve, I do not believe God will be angered by this. God will be disappointed. I’m sure He will find a way for me to realize this and serve Him and His people.

What problem in my life has caused the greatest growth in me?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 200

Searching through my memories, I can only come up with the unemployment experience as the defining moment of my life. But one incident is not enough to keep me growing. I know God has let many of life problems happen to me so that he may test my patience. I know this because the bible said in Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)

Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

I recalled what happened in Feb 2005 when we tried to move to Orange County from San Diego. We had difficulties with the title companies, not responding quick enough to close escrow. Yantie was pregnant and very irritable. My real estate agent had his hands tied. We were at the mercy of the people who process the escrow paperwork. I remembered going to one of the title company in Aliso Viejo and my car’s MP3 player it was playing Jars of Clay‘s song “I’m in the Way“:

you sit and stare out at the sky
and think of ways to fake a smile
but life is never what it seems
sometimes it only takes a while

i’m in the way of fallin’ down
i won’t let you go that far now
i’m in the way of fallin’ down
i won’t let you go that far now

i won’t let you go

you think that hope was left behind
i picked it up a mile ago
i am running close behind
so don’t give up and don’t let go

God always catches me when I’m falling down. He’s always there when I’m trouble. The song lifted my spirits and reminded me that God would never let me down.

I managed to close escrow on both houses at the same time. My realtor said this was a very rare occasion that I could sell and buy at the same time. It was a timing that could only be achieved by God’s grace.

Now I look forward to my next problem, as it will serve a purpose. God’s will be done on me.