Devotional Time with God

How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.

Psalm 119:9

This world is full of temptation. This world is full of deception. This world is full of false hope and temporary riches.

It’s easy for me to be drawn to what this world has to offer. Sinful ways are always attractive and pleasurable. But they are not from God. Thus, I’m getting away from God’s provision.

Getting back to God’s way is easy: just follow His word!  Open the Bible and read the instruction manual. I need to talk to God to provide for my daily provision, according to heavenly riches, as promised in Philippians 4:19.  I need to stay pure, in God’s glory, according to His words.

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.

1 Corinthians 10:11

It’s indeed wise to learn from the experience of others. The Bible is filled with advice and stories, that are not only true, it’s also enriching and enable me not to stumble.  It’s a guide that leads me to righteousness.  It’s a source of hope.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

Romans 15:4

I can’t go through this life without God’s help and promises.  He gives me hope and a reason to live.  God always catch me when I fall.   God always fulfill His promises.  God wants to help and He’s very generous!

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Hebrews 4:16

Help me, O God, in this time of despair and uncertainty.  The future seems bleak but you give me hope.  I hold on to your promises.  It’s my desire to honor you, so help me be the salt and light that you intended me to be.  Amen.

Being a parent is not easy for me.  I constantly have to keep up with my daughter in physical, mind, and spiritual development.  The physical part is easy, as I love to run around, dance, and give her hugs and kisses.  She’s now approaching kindergarten so I have to prepare for my mind to teach her the “intellectual” requirements to cope in this world.

Then I have to be her spiritual guidance.  And this is important, as it’s also to help me grow in the Lord.

For a long time, I’ve been spiritually young.  I always wanted to go beyond where I’m at right now.  I want to be close to God.  I want to know what he has to say to me.

This is where I draw my connection.  I want my Father in heaven to guide me, just as I’m guiding my child.

My expectations now are simple:  What God expects from me is almost exactly what I expect from my child.

God gave an example of love and sacrifice in Jesus Christ.  I have to do the same.

God gave me a purpose in life to promote reconciliation, disciple others, lead others to Him, and help others.  I have to do the same.

God loves me and gives me hope.  I have to do the same.

As I see my daughter constantly look up to me for guidance.  All I have to do is look up to God.   It’s the basic thing to do, as a parent.

One of the most difficult question that I’ve asked before is, why does evil exist?  If God is so powerful, why can’t he just get rid of evil?  Why are evil happening to good people?

Many have tried to answer that.  I recognized the common message:  God let evil happen in my life because He wants me to grow spiritually strong.

It’s a question of faith.  It’s easy to trust God when things go right.  But when it goes wrong, it’s very difficult to continue praising and relying on God.  I would always go back to that selfish mode where I was in charge of my life – where I thought I could solve my own problems. I’ll fail when I don’t put my faith in God.

God also let evil happen because it will show me where is God’s fairness:

But I say, love your enemies![s] Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.

Matthew 5:44-45

Everyone will experience evil.  The difference is, who will buckle in the stress?  When I follow Christ, I learn to draw strength from God’s grace and promise.  I have to remember God is fair and just.  He will provide what I need, and will never test me beyond my abilities.

In the chaos of this world, I know there’s hope in heaven.  I’m keeping God’s promise and grace, that one day I’ll be with Him and evil doesn’t exist anymore in my life.

Also known as self-discipline, it’s an aspect of life that I’ve always struggled with.  By nature, I’m selfish, emotional, and reckless.  Those bad traits have driven me to look for things that offered instant gratification, such as buy useless gadgets, watch pornography, eat junk food, etc.  I used to think it was a struggle that no one could understand.  The bible proves that it’s a very common problem:

But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions).

James 1:14

This world is inherently evil.  Sin lurks in every corner.  Satan has dominion over this earth and it shows by the kinds of temptations available everywhere.

But God is good.  He gives me the strength to bear these temptations.  He gives me the wisdom to know when to say NO to evil.  He gives me grace to forgive me when I fall flat on my face after tripping from sin.  God knows how weak I am.  I’m holding on to His promise of hope that I can handle this:

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

If I had to look back in my teenage and college years, I could use a lot of self-control and discipline.  I wouldn’t have wasted a lot of my life on stupid decisions.  However, God calls me and constant me reminds me to keep my eye on Jesus.  He is my prize, my end-game, my eternal salvation.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13-14

I was listening to one of my old CD in the car this morning, and I heard a very familiar tune from Maranatha 30 Years of Hope CD called “You’re Worthy of My Praise”. I reminded me of a time, in late 2001, I was in an unfortunate situation where I was out of a job for a few months. The support from my church and family were tremendous, but it was still a test of our faith in God. Pastor Greg in San Diego gave my wife and I, a scripture, Hebrew 11:1 which simply said,

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Having faith in God will give us hope for the future. Sure, we still have our worries, we are only human, but Jesus has never let us down. We kept believing God will give us something good. In May 2002, I received the baffling call from my current employer: they were offering me a position with an increase in salary! We couldn’t be any more excited and the first thing I did was to play the Maranatha song and gave praises to God. That was one of the significant turning point of our lives, the one that we will never forget.

I will give you all my worship.
I will give you all my praise.
You alone, I long to worship.
You alone are worthy of my praise.

- Maranatha Singers, “You’re worthy of my praise”