Devotional Time with God

This Easter weekend, I’m reminded how busy I’ll be with my daughter’s activities, getting together with friends, going to Church service, grocery shopping, watching The Masters golf game, etc.   I’m constantly trying to fill my days with stuff to do.  Trying to keep busy.

For the past 3 weeks, Pastor Doug Fields just finished the series on “Refuel” where he talked about the importance to stop being busy, and start connecting with God.  His advice is practical.  He’s talking about me taking more time, a little bit at a time every day, to ponder God’s majesty, grace, and kindness.  I have to realize that I’m God’s friend and He wants to talk to me in all of my waking moments.  I have to thank God for all of the things He’s done, from the little things like the weather, to big things including giving His only son to save me.

Lord Jesus, I’m taking this morning to pause my “busy” life, and pray to you.   My devotional will now be with you throughout the day, a few minutes at a time.  I need to give you my breath prayers because I need the constant reminder to calm myself and stay connected to you.  Thank you, my friend, for dying for me.  I’m amazed by your sacrifice.  I’m even more in awe by your resurrection.  You are alive, living inside me and brings hope to humanity.  I can now proceed with my days, knowing that you’re with me.  Amen.

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 is the age of a new medium: the internet.  We are now at the 2nd version.  Hence, it’s called Web 2.0.  It’s about blogging and social media.

I thank the Lord for the constant inspiration, even in this world of constant rebellion and cynicism towards God.  I still find a beauty and cohesiveness that can only be God’s work.

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.

My small group bible study just started the series on “Dangerous Surrender” based on Kay Warren’s new book. The sunday services for the past 3 weeks were done by Kay herself and she delivered the message in a very emotional way. The topics she covered are hard hitting, gut wrenching, and provocative.

For me, to surrender is like in a battle or war, stop fighting, raise my hands to give up, and submit to whom I’m fighting with. Surrendering to God is exactly that. He wants me to give up my sinful life. He wants me to stop fighting Him for control, and submit my life to His will. It’s the time to say “Yes!” to God for what He wants me to do and be.

1. My days become an adventure.
   When God calls me to go and do something, it’s going to be a spiritual adventure, not knowing where God will take me. It will not be easy. It will not be comfortable. But it will surely be rewarding, for God’s purpose for me is always good.
2. My life becomes a miracle.
   God will show, through me, His miracles. By faith, He will also show me His miracles.
3. My heart becomes more peaceful.
   Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Fighting God’s will had always been in my heart since I was born. I was afraid on what God would make me do, or who I’d become. My ignorance will lead me to worry about my life. All I have to do is strive to have God’s character, for the Lord is good and compassionate. I must not let my sinful nature to get in the way. I must not let my insecurities and life pursuits to take control of me. I must set aside everything for Jesus and follow Him.

In this world, evil does exists and it’s very real. I see it every day in the news: people killing each other; people use each other for their own good; slavery is still rampant; sex trade is still happening, even to kids as young as 8 years old! It’s very sickening and despicable! I must face this reality and I must face evil!

If you don’t do what you know is right, you have sinned.

James 4:17

It’s not only in everyone else that I have to watch out for evil, but I have to keep myself in check. I was born a sinner, I will always have sin. But because Jesus also lives in me, I am saved and I don’t have to accept evil. In fact I have to hate evil!

Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 97:10

Here’s some of the ways how I should hate evil:

1. Don’t accept it.
   Don’t laugh with it. The world is trying to make me accept evil by making it a comedy or entertaining. They try to make the wrong words means good. Or evil things being good. It’s not right and I must not accept it.
2. Don’t compromise with it.
   I must not brush it off as something insignificant, or pretend it won’t hurt me. I must not be numbed of evil in this world. I must not want it! I must get rid of it!
3. Don’t participate in it.
   The world will try to make me accept evil by making it convenient and alluring to me. I don’t have to be involved in it. I don’t have to be a part of it. I must get out of it!

Also, I must not fear evil. I must resist it! I must guard my words, raise my voice, and cast my vote when faced with evil.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

Psalm 23:4

I must overcome evil. We, as a church, will wipe out evil! It’s the way God intends to use me and the church to attack evil.

This world is waiting for people who:

1. Live Authentically.
   I must not pretend to live “religiously”. I must not pretend to be high almighty. It is so rare to find someone who authentically live for Jesus, who genuinely understand His teachings and applies it to his/her life. It’s something I have to strive for, constantly.
2. Fight Courageously.
   I’m afraid to fight. I admit it. I don’t know if I have what it takes to be a God’s warrior. I tend to be a worry-ier. I know God is with me, I must not be afraid.
3. Love Sacrificially.
   I must do whatever it takes to show the example of the love of God. He loves me for who I am and genuinely cares for me. I must do the same to others.

Surrendering to God is my first step. Then with His guidance, I must do good in this world.

Because we know that this extraordinary day is just ahead, we pray for you all the time—pray that our God will make you fit for what he’s called you to be, pray that he’ll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so that it all amounts to something. If your life honors the name of Jesus, he will honor you. Grace is behind and through all of this, our God giving himself freely, the Master, Jesus Christ, giving himself freely.

2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

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. 

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.

Last week, Pastor Rick’s sermon was very much appropriate for this blog. It was a topic on devotional. Feeding myself the word of God to ensure my spiritual growth. First and foremost, I must accept the bible’s authority as the source of truths for my life. I have to be in tune with God to get a lot more out of the bible.I must watch out for unreliable source of authorities:

• Culture – truth by personality, truth by popularity. Do not follow the crowd who can turn good to bad, and bad to good, completely muddling the truth. If it was true, it was not new. Truth will always be the same.

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Isaiah 5:20

• Tradition – I’ve always done it that way, so it must be right.
• Reason – my logic doesn’t always dictate.
• Emotions – my feelings can lie.

God’s word is always true. His truth, exposes our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training to live in God’s way. God’s words show me the path, when I get off the path, how I can get on the path, and to stay on the path. I must study and search the scriptures, not just read it.

The difference between bible reading and bible study is taking notes. The shortest pencil is the longest form of memory. The secret of bible study is asking questions, asks the usual who, when, where, what, why, and how. The Devotional Study Form is going to help me study the bible even better.

1. Pray. I must ask God for insight. Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
2. Meditate (seriously thinking). If I know how to worry, I already know how to meditate. Keep thinking about it and going it over, and over again. Like a cow ruminates on grass. I must reflect on what I’ve just read.
3. Apply it using “S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S” I’ll be blessed if I do them. The application must be personal, practical, possible, and provable.
4. Memorize. It is the sword in my life to resist temptation. Every time Jesus was tempted, he used the scripture to resist the devil.