Devotional Time with God

To fulfill my purpose, I must avoid two traps:

1. Being envious of other people
2. Trying to please everyone

I know I’ve been guilty of both. I look at someone, my family or friend, and thought, why can’t I have what they have?  Why can’t I have more children? Why can’t I have a more discipline parent? Why can’t I be as outgoing as him?

Also, as an introvert, I always thought what I do is never enough, and I always end up keeping things to myself.  When I speak up, I tend to offend someone – or at least got the vibe I have offended them. So I clam up when someone said something incorrect. I did what everyone else is doing because it would make it look acceptable.

The good news is that these traps are avoidable.  I have God to guide me. He’s the one I have to concentrate on. He’s the one I have to please. I only have to compare myself with precious Jesus, because He is the king of my life.  Jesus shows me how to love. Jesus is the symbol of sacrifice.  He wasn’t out to please everyone, as it clearly shown when people mocked and killed Him on the cross.

So I must focus on Jesus. God will ask me, what have I done with His Son? I will please only God.  I will only keep Him as my #1!

If the Son gives you freedom, you are free!

John 8:36

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Mark 12:30

I do often feel close to God when I sing worship songs. The words are like prayer and the melody is like a soothing calm to my mind.  Yet, God wants me to do more than that. Singing hymns is not enough. I must give God my all – my attention, my time, my shouts, my sweat, my talents, my money – as an act of trust.  I worship God because I want to give Him everything that I can give Him. God wants me to be sincere about it, too!

God simply wants me to bring me.

Surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.

Romans 6: 13

Surrender does give me the negative connotation that I have to give up and stop trying. But it’s only negative because it depends WHO I’m giving up to.  To God, giving up means stop trying to control my own life and trust that He’s in control.  I have to stop trying to be the boss of my life.  I have to stop trying to control the people around me. I can only influence, but tell them what to do.

In the book “What On Earth Am I Here For?”, in chapter 10, Pastor Rick Warren mentioned:

Sometimes it takes years, but eventually you discover that the greatest hindrance to God’s blessing in your life is not others, it is yourself — your self-will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition.¹

I’m always in the way. I’m always the stubborn one and eventually becomes a stumbling block to my own spiritual growth.  I need to remove that block and let God be the one in control.

I’ll surrender to God because He will make it worthwhile and sweet.

1. Warren, Rick (2012-10-23). The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 107). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. [↩]

For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.

Psalms 149:4

I was made of His image. I experience feelings what God feels. God does take pleasure on His creation, just as I have with the stuff I created. I can only imagine what it would be like if I can make something living – and the closest that I can experience was the birth of my daughter. That was pure joy, and it’s still a pleasure watching her grow. That pride, seeing my child succeed is exactly what God will feel when I, His creation, also succeed.

I give all the credit to God, for my love and success are all for His glory!

Things that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That’s why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen.

2 Corinthians 4:18

My kid asked, if this world is not perfect, then why does God put us here?  Why not make us and put us directly in heaven?  My answer is our purpose. It’s related to our own free will. Since I, a human being, tend to want whatever’s best for me, I won’t be living out my purpose, which is to worship God. I have to do it willingly – because I want to!  That’s why life in this world is tough, because it goes against my programming. It goes against the purpose that God has planned for me. I’m to learn how to live out my purpose in life, according to God’s will. I’m to treat life on earth as a temporary assignment, to learn to find God’s values, not mine.

I remember that song from Carrie Underwood, “Temporary Home”, that sings about that we’re just passing through and we don’t belong here.  We’re longing for that special place and I know it’s called heaven.

Which is more pleasing to God right now – my public worship or my private worship? What will I do about this?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 106

It is hard for me, as a busy IT professional and a family life, to have free time. Like I previously blogged, I get most of my “worship” time in the car during commute. Now I realize that God is not looking for a routine, or even quantity time. He’s looking for quality time, even if it’s only a few minutes. However, I must know where my heart is when I worship God. When my attitude is correct, God is pleased. My private worship is to sing, pray, and talk to God constantly.

My public worship was, so far, going to church, to sing and listen for God’s words. I will also witness God’s message to others, but that doesn’t happen as often as I wanted to. This blog is another form of my public worship. God had planted this idea in me for over a year, but I was too stubborn to follow through. Now that it’s already rolling, I am glad God gives me this avenue to share His word with others.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Mark 12:30 (NIV)
Also a praise and worship song from Lincoln Brewster‘s “Love the Lord”.

Additionally, one my favourite song that describes the right attitude of worship is from Matt Redman‘s “Heart of Worship”:

When the music fades and all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring something that’s of worth
That will bless Your heart

I’ll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about You
All about You, Jesus
I’m sorry, Lord, for the things I’ve made it
When it’s all about You
All about You, Jesus

King of endless worth, no one could express
How much You deserve
Though I’m weak and poor, all I have is Yours
Every single breath

Since God knows what is best, in what areas of my life do I need to trust him most?

The Purpose Driven Life, p. 76

As a new parent, I’m always thinking how my daughter, Kaitlyn, is going to grow up. Is she going to go private or public school? Will she grow up to be a kind and strong person? Will she honour us at all times? Will she marry the right man? There are so many questions, they become worrisome.

I know God sees me as His child. He is happy that I’m His creation. He takes pleasure when I listen, talk, and worship Him. He wants me to be who I am. What I have to do is simply love God and He will love me back. This is what I expect from my daughter: we unconditionally love her and we desire her love in return. God knows what’s best for us. This is what I trust God will work on our lives.

I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

Hosea 6:6 (NLT)

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”