Devotional Time with God

I always thought my salvation must show how much I really appreciate it. How much do I value my eternal rewards? Do I look forward to spend time with God – all the time?

My spiritual maturity is like my own mindful maturity. How well I treat others, deal with problems, or doing the right thing even when no one’s looking – tell a lot about my growth.

I always ask myself, have I really grown? If not, I’ll yell GROW UP and push myself to gain that. So help me, God!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13: 13

These are the 3 things I take to heaven: my faith, hope, and love. They’re kept inside me. They are how my character is formed. I won’t need my house or money. I will take the love that I have in family, friends, and God with me to eternity.  I won’t need anything else.

I will make sure I love God and other people in this world.  It won’t be easy – for there will be temptations from the devil that will divert my focus and priority.  But with God’s strength and grace, I will succeed in my highest achievement: Love.

I remembered the first time I accepted Christ. I was excited. I was ready to learn, contribute, and do something for God.

Then, the church decided to give me medial jobs – to pack up the chairs, help haul away the musical instruments.  Nothing significant. Nothing people would notice. I was a teenager.  I needed something more so people would notice me.  I wanted to make an impression.  I wanted something more significant.

Little did I know I have to keep working on it.  I have to be able to overcome many things, including my pride and vanity.  I need to experience the triumphs of being a Christian, such as leading people to Christ, pray for others, serve others, and turning away from sins and temptations of sins.  I failed all of that. I turned away from Christ and rejoined the world again: selfish, prideful, care free, blasphemous, and unteachable.

Over ten years later, I realized what a fool I’ve been. I saw the consequences of being away from God for so long. My life went no where. My priorities were wrong. I could’ve been somebody – but instead I was just drifting, not setting roots, felt so lonely and lost.  That’s when I met my wife and I returned to the path that God had originally set for me.  I set my life straight with Jesus, again. I’ve accomplished a lot since then and felt useful again.

I experienced victory. Long after my early years of accepting Christ.  I want to keep this fire alive. Not be shaken by this world or the devil’s temptations. My Jesus is stronger and I will stay faithful, as He’s faithful to me (Hebrews 13:5). God is my strength. I will always have His victory!

But I won’t do all this in the first year, because the land would become poor, and wild animals would be everywhere. Instead, I will force out your enemies little by little and give your nation time to grow strong enough to take over the land.

Exodus 23:29-30

God is bigger than the universe. God is stronger than a black hole. God is more powerful than I can imagine. So why does God give things bit by bit?  Why does He not give me everything right off the bat?

To build my faith, that’s what He’s doing.  If I get everything I need without any work, I’ll be just using Him. I will not love Him for who He is – instead I love Him for what He can provide for me.  That’s not true love.  That’s not true faith.  Although there are times where I have to rely on Him completely, but for the most part, I have to do my part.

So to build my faith, God’s given me the ability to do things myself. To make my own decisions. To make my own mistakes. At this age, after all the experiences that I have, I come to appreciate how this works.  He makes me strong both mentally and physically. At the same time, He lifts my spirit and elevates my faith.

My transformation takes years – and I’m still being transformed. Still being renewed. I’m possessing “the land”, one year at a time.

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

James 2:17–18

Simply put, faith without work is no faith at all!  I have to show my faith by doing what God told me to do!

In Mark 5:21-43, Jesus was being sought after as someone who could heal the sick. People everywhere were flocking to see Him. A woman even got healed by touching His clothes!  Jesus then perform the miracle that only God can do – raise the dead!

Picturing myself in that crowd, I’ll follow Him wherever He goes. Not just for the spectacle of it, but for the sheer awe and amazement on what He can do.  He’s fully aware of His power, yet, He’s humble about it and insists no one talks about it.

If I were Jesus, I would just go around and heal people everywhere, not worrying about the crowd, and not worrying about my status as a “miracle worker”.

But Jesus had a bigger plan. He was not in this world to become a rock star. He was here to show us that having faith in God is the miracle in itself.

Ultimately, He was here to save us all, through faith in Him.

In Mark 4:35-41, Jesus’ disciples went through a storm on a boat.  They were scared and wondered why Jesus was calm.  Then, Jesus calmly commanded the wind to die down and asked that difficult question, “Where is your faith?”

I picture myself as one of the disciples, panicking over the turbulence of my life. I see difficulty, and I will get that panic attack.  I will get that unsettling feeling that something needs to be done.

I will try to fix it myself.

But, as a believer of Christ, I don’t try to fix it by myself. I don’t question God’s will.  I must have faith that God will do something. I must know the storms in my life are temporary. I know God is there to help me.

My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.

Psalm 68:3

Often I depend on my own strength and smarts to get by in this world. The truth is I’m scared to make a mistake and falls flat on my face.

Bit, I’m comforted to be God’s friend for He always catches me when I fall. He will be there to hold me.

I thank you, Lord, for your protection and hands in my life! Amen.

My light and momentary troubles are achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

This world is a temporary assignment.  Therefore, all of my troubles in this world is temporary.  I look forward to heaven when I’ll be with Jesus, for that is my true reward and troubles will be no more.

Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4)

He is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within me. (Ephesians 3:20)

I’ve always wondered where I get the strength to go on in this cruel world. There were days how I could ever survived school.  There were days how I could ever fix my failed relationships.  There were days when I thought about giving up.

I still think of what will happen to me when I die.

But, thank God almighty for saving my life in this world.  Thank God for the promise of heaven, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life with my beloved fellow Christians.

Jesus is where I draw my strength from.  I can go on with life because God gave me a reason to live!