Did you know that people who laugh live longer? It’s true. Proverbs 14:30 says, “A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life.” (TLB)
Humor is an amazing thing. It’s a tension dissolver. It’s an antidote to anxiety. It’s just like a tranquilizer, but without any troublesome side effects. And it’s free! You don’t even need a prescription.
Laughter is life’s shock absorber. If you want to have less stress in your life, learn to laugh at your circumstances. Somehow, you must find the fun in the frustrating.
Someone once asked President Lincoln how he handled all the stresses of the Civil War. He said, “If it hadn’t been for laughter, I could not have made it.” Many famous comedians grew up in poor neighborhoods with lots of problems. They coped with their troubles by learning to laugh and making others laugh.
So learn to laugh. If you can laugh at it, you can live with it. And besides, if you learn to laugh at your troubles, you’ll never run out of anything to laugh at! Life is full of funny situations. Will Rogers once said, “I don’t know any jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.” Proverbs 17:22 says, “Being cheerful keeps you healthy.” (GNB) We all need to develop a sense of humor.
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Psalm 2:4, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs.” Isn’t that a great verse? God has a sense of humor. God laughs! Have you ever seen the face of an orangutan? God thought that one up! That proves he has a sense of humor. Do you want to be more like God? Learn to laugh. A sense of humor can preserve your sanity.
Sometimes, one irritation follows another, and before you know it, our day is ruined. I read this account in the The Encyclopedia Britannica’s 1982 Yearbook, under the heading “Strange and Unusual Events.” It tells about a man named Brian Heise who had what you might call a “very irritating day”:
Brian Heise had more than his share of luck in July of that year, and most of it was bad. When his apartment in Provo, Utah, became flooded from a broken pipe in the upstairs apartment, the manager told him to go out and rent a water vacuum. That’s when he discovered his car had a flat tire. He changed it, then went inside again to phone a friend for help. The electric shock he got from the phone so startled him that he inadvertently ripped the instrument off the wall. Before he could leave the apartment a second time, a neighbor had to kick down the apartment door because water damage had jammed it tight. While all of this was going on, someone stole Heise’s car, but it was almost out of gas. He found it a few blocks away but had to push it to the gas station, where he filled up the tank. That evening Heise attended a military ceremony at Brigham Young University. He injured himself severely when he somehow sat on his bayonet, which had been tossed onto the front seat of his car. Doctors were able to stitch up the wound, but no one was able to resuscitate four of Heise’s canaries that were crushed to death by falling plaster. After Heise slipped on the wet carpet and badly injured his tailbone, he said he began to wonder if “God wanted me dead, but just kept missing.”
And you think you’ve had bad days! Sometimes, all you can do is laugh.
Take my advice: acquire a sense of humor. Learn to laugh. It’s relaxing and healing and a buffer to all the stress the world throws your way.
"If you want to have less stress in your life, learn to laugh at your circumstances. Somehow, you must find the fun in the frustrating."
Showing posts with label devotion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label devotion. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
devotion30: Pears, Pears, Everywhere.
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.John 15:5
My family had a tree in our backyard that provided two things: shade and countless jars of pear preserves. One day, I asked my mother why she made so many jars every year. Her response was, “If I don’t, they will start falling off the tree and go bad.” With that, I went outside to take a look for myself. There were pears everywhere—so many, in fact, that the tree branches were beginning to sag and snap under the immense weight of their fruit. It looked to me like my mother’s faithful picking was encouraging the tree to produce even more!
Jesus told his disciples that God acts as a gardener in the lives of those who claim him as Lord. He wants his followers to be abundant producers of good fruit, showing the world that they are children of God (see John 15:8). But this is not enough. Instead of simply harvesting the fruit that is produced, the Lord grabs a pair of pruning shears and begins to trim the branches. A little here, a little there, until he is satisfied with the end result.
This process of subtraction is a good thing. For it is in these times that God rids us of attitudes and actions that limit our effectiveness for the kingdom. In their place, he grants new opportunities to exhibit love, patience, kindness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23). As these values are acted upon, what started out as subtraction becomes addition, and more fruit is produced than before the pruning.
If the branches are not pruned they may become weakened or stressed, and they will eventually snap. Once that occurs, the branches will wither and die because they are not attached to the tree, leaving wasted fruit behind. But the result of a life lived wholeheartedly for Christ will be an abundance of fruit—fruit that will last.
My family had a tree in our backyard that provided two things: shade and countless jars of pear preserves. One day, I asked my mother why she made so many jars every year. Her response was, “If I don’t, they will start falling off the tree and go bad.” With that, I went outside to take a look for myself. There were pears everywhere—so many, in fact, that the tree branches were beginning to sag and snap under the immense weight of their fruit. It looked to me like my mother’s faithful picking was encouraging the tree to produce even more!
Jesus told his disciples that God acts as a gardener in the lives of those who claim him as Lord. He wants his followers to be abundant producers of good fruit, showing the world that they are children of God (see John 15:8). But this is not enough. Instead of simply harvesting the fruit that is produced, the Lord grabs a pair of pruning shears and begins to trim the branches. A little here, a little there, until he is satisfied with the end result.
This process of subtraction is a good thing. For it is in these times that God rids us of attitudes and actions that limit our effectiveness for the kingdom. In their place, he grants new opportunities to exhibit love, patience, kindness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23). As these values are acted upon, what started out as subtraction becomes addition, and more fruit is produced than before the pruning.
If the branches are not pruned they may become weakened or stressed, and they will eventually snap. Once that occurs, the branches will wither and die because they are not attached to the tree, leaving wasted fruit behind. But the result of a life lived wholeheartedly for Christ will be an abundance of fruit—fruit that will last.
Monday, April 14, 2008
devotion28: The Oyster Man
That the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. — 2 Corinthians 4:7
In the days of John Wesley, lay preachers with limited education would sometimes conduct the church services. One man used Luke 19:21 as his text: "Lord, I feared Thee, because Thou art an austere man" (KJV). Not knowing the word austere, he thought the text spoke of "an oyster man."
He explained how a diver must grope in dark, freezing water to retrieve oysters. In his attempt, he cuts his hands on the sharp edges of the shells. After he obtains an oyster, he rises to the surface, clutching it "in his torn and bleeding hands." The preacher added, "Christ descended from the glory of heaven into . . . sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with Him to the glory of heaven. His torn and bleeding hands are a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest."
Afterward, 12 men received Christ. Later that night someone came to Wesley to complain about unschooled preachers who were too ignorant even to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on. The Oxford-educated Wesley simply said, "Never mind. The Lord got a dozen oysters tonight."
Our best may not always measure up to the standards of others. But God takes our inadequacies and humble efforts and uses them for His glory. — Cindy Hess Kasper
The Master can use what you have to offer,Though you may consider it small;His work here on earth is done through His children,So give Him your best, give your all. — Hess
Do what you can where you are with what you have.
Hey REVS, hope you guys are doing just fine preparing for your exams! This is a good devotion as we're in the midst of busy-ness. Do not forget about God and put our books first alright? It will be dumb to do so. So do take some time to pray, to spend some time with God and to talk to Him won't you? Jiayou, and we'll be praying for you! Seeyou soon!
In the days of John Wesley, lay preachers with limited education would sometimes conduct the church services. One man used Luke 19:21 as his text: "Lord, I feared Thee, because Thou art an austere man" (KJV). Not knowing the word austere, he thought the text spoke of "an oyster man."
He explained how a diver must grope in dark, freezing water to retrieve oysters. In his attempt, he cuts his hands on the sharp edges of the shells. After he obtains an oyster, he rises to the surface, clutching it "in his torn and bleeding hands." The preacher added, "Christ descended from the glory of heaven into . . . sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with Him to the glory of heaven. His torn and bleeding hands are a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest."
Afterward, 12 men received Christ. Later that night someone came to Wesley to complain about unschooled preachers who were too ignorant even to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on. The Oxford-educated Wesley simply said, "Never mind. The Lord got a dozen oysters tonight."
Our best may not always measure up to the standards of others. But God takes our inadequacies and humble efforts and uses them for His glory. — Cindy Hess Kasper
The Master can use what you have to offer,Though you may consider it small;His work here on earth is done through His children,So give Him your best, give your all. — Hess
Do what you can where you are with what you have.
Hey REVS, hope you guys are doing just fine preparing for your exams! This is a good devotion as we're in the midst of busy-ness. Do not forget about God and put our books first alright? It will be dumb to do so. So do take some time to pray, to spend some time with God and to talk to Him won't you? Jiayou, and we'll be praying for you! Seeyou soon!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
devotion25 - World At War
"Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring - those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. " Rev 12:17
"Enemy occupied territory that is what this world is." - C.S. Lewis
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist." - The Usual Suspects.
Western Christianity is, to some extent, a religion with a bit of an identity crisis. There are aspects of Jesus' teaching which have universal appeal and make for an easy sell. Who doesn't want more peace and love in their life? At the same time, there are elements of Christianity which are less pleasant and so we may have a tendency to hide them in the closet and focus on areas where we are more comfortable. We don't want to even think about spiritual warfare, much less do anything about it. Maybe if we pretend it is isn't real, it won't affect us.
That strategy rarely works. Few combatants in war ever wanted to fight but they could not shake off the conflict once it consumed them. Once the shooting starts, all you can do is choose sides. As Aragorn tells King Théoden in The Two Towers, "Whether you would risk it or not, open war is upon you."
There is a war raging all around you at this very moment. Those who oppose God are locked in fierce combat with those who remain ever loyal. We know that God and the forces of good triumph in the end, but that day has not yet come. In the meantime, no one is invulnerable to the effects of this war. We are all casualties and have all been tormented by the evil one's forces.
It would be a mistake to attribute every bad decision or selfish act to the influence of the forces of evil, but worse still would be a steadfast refusal to acknowledge their existence. As you grow in intimacy with God and succeed in doing His work on earth, the more Satan and his forces will rally against you. If you are oblivious to this opposition or its source, you will be ill-equipped to handle it.
The most common tactic the devil will use to torment us is to tell us lies and deceive us. Frequently, we will get the message that we are worthless or that our efforts to serve God are in vain. At its worst, it can sometimes leave you wondering if God even exists at all.
"You're not good enough to pull this off."
"You're nothing but a filthy sinner."
"You're wasting your time."
When you hear that denigrating voice, you must make no agreements with it! You must never allow that voice to lead you down the path of hopelessness and despair. Don't give your tormentor a foothold by thinking, "...maybe I am wasting my time." Recognize it for what it is and demand it to flee.
There is more to spiritual warfare than ignoring Satan's lies. There is an active role for you to play and your contributions are desperately needed. Paul gives us our marching orders in his letter to the Ephesians. He writes,
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Eph 6:11-17
Paul is not being metaphorical or figurative. Your best defense in this war is truth, righteousness and faith. Your best weapon is the Holy Word of God. How we live, according the principles Jesus taught, provides the best possible protection against the devil's schemes. How we witness and teach the Gospel - how we proclaim the good news of the Word - is a sword which pierces the enemy's heart.
"Enemy occupied territory that is what this world is." - C.S. Lewis
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist." - The Usual Suspects.
Western Christianity is, to some extent, a religion with a bit of an identity crisis. There are aspects of Jesus' teaching which have universal appeal and make for an easy sell. Who doesn't want more peace and love in their life? At the same time, there are elements of Christianity which are less pleasant and so we may have a tendency to hide them in the closet and focus on areas where we are more comfortable. We don't want to even think about spiritual warfare, much less do anything about it. Maybe if we pretend it is isn't real, it won't affect us.
That strategy rarely works. Few combatants in war ever wanted to fight but they could not shake off the conflict once it consumed them. Once the shooting starts, all you can do is choose sides. As Aragorn tells King Théoden in The Two Towers, "Whether you would risk it or not, open war is upon you."
There is a war raging all around you at this very moment. Those who oppose God are locked in fierce combat with those who remain ever loyal. We know that God and the forces of good triumph in the end, but that day has not yet come. In the meantime, no one is invulnerable to the effects of this war. We are all casualties and have all been tormented by the evil one's forces.
It would be a mistake to attribute every bad decision or selfish act to the influence of the forces of evil, but worse still would be a steadfast refusal to acknowledge their existence. As you grow in intimacy with God and succeed in doing His work on earth, the more Satan and his forces will rally against you. If you are oblivious to this opposition or its source, you will be ill-equipped to handle it.
The most common tactic the devil will use to torment us is to tell us lies and deceive us. Frequently, we will get the message that we are worthless or that our efforts to serve God are in vain. At its worst, it can sometimes leave you wondering if God even exists at all.
"You're not good enough to pull this off."
"You're nothing but a filthy sinner."
"You're wasting your time."
When you hear that denigrating voice, you must make no agreements with it! You must never allow that voice to lead you down the path of hopelessness and despair. Don't give your tormentor a foothold by thinking, "...maybe I am wasting my time." Recognize it for what it is and demand it to flee.
There is more to spiritual warfare than ignoring Satan's lies. There is an active role for you to play and your contributions are desperately needed. Paul gives us our marching orders in his letter to the Ephesians. He writes,
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Eph 6:11-17
Paul is not being metaphorical or figurative. Your best defense in this war is truth, righteousness and faith. Your best weapon is the Holy Word of God. How we live, according the principles Jesus taught, provides the best possible protection against the devil's schemes. How we witness and teach the Gospel - how we proclaim the good news of the Word - is a sword which pierces the enemy's heart.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
devotion25 - 寶貴十架
Happy Easter Sunday Revs! xD
Today's devotion is simple. Take some time to listen to this song and ponder on the lyrics. Let's go back to the foot of the cross and thank God for all the goodness He has bless us with. Take some moment to thank God for sending His son to die on the cross for us and give us life.
Today's devotion is simple. Take some time to listen to this song and ponder on the lyrics. Let's go back to the foot of the cross and thank God for all the goodness He has bless us with. Take some moment to thank God for sending His son to die on the cross for us and give us life.
主耶穌 我感謝祢 祢的身體為我而捨
帶我出黑暗 進入光明國度 使我再次能看見
主耶穌 我感謝祢 祢的寶血為我而流
寶貴十架上 醫治恩典湧流 使我完全得自由
寶貴十架的大能賜我生命 主耶穌我俯伏敬拜祢
寶貴十架的救恩是祢所立的約 祢的愛永遠不改變
goodnight,kev! xD
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
devotion24: You Never Thoroughly Intended It
I read quite a lot, both for pleasure and for my theological studies. Every so often, I read something that stops me dead in my tracks and affects me so deeply that I have to put the book down and consider what I've just read. No author has done that as powerfully and frequently as C.S. Lewis. Today, I want to share one of those moments with you and explore how we can apply it to our relationship with Jesus. (In fairness, these are not his own words - Lewis was quoting William Law). He wrote:
If you will stop here and ask yourselves why you are not as pious as the primitive Christians were, your own heart will tell you, that it is neither through ignorance nor inability, but purely because you never thoroughly intended it.
If we consider Christianity to be a life-long journey, then surely the destination is a perfect and complete union with Christ. We begin the journey by not knowing Christ at all and it is complete when we have surrendered to Christ so fully and completely that nothing of ourselves remains.
If we stop to take a look at the things which prevent us from reaching that goal, it will appear that there are hundreds of little things on the journey which block our way. Work, friends, community and family responsibilities all present obstacles. We're so busy!
The truth that Lewis brings to our attention is that there are not many reasons, but rather one simple reason which underlies it all. If you don't have the kind of passion and intimacy in your relationship with Christ that you should then you don't fully intend to. You see, the quality of your relationship with Christ is all in your hands and no one else's. This is not like a marriage where both husband and wife must work to achieve closeness. Christ is and has always been completely accessible and available. He waits patiently for us to take each next step toward Him. You either take the steps or you don't.
Every reason you can imagine for why you have not taken the next step on the journey can be distilled down to one simple fact - you don't want to. There is no secret or magic formula here. It's simple. We come closer to Christ by spending time with Him, reading His word, serving Him and praying. None of us are being physically prevented or restrained from doing these things and so the choice to do them or not to do them is ours alone.
Yet, we do other things instead. We watch TV, put in a little overtime at work, visit with friends or any other myriad of things that are more important to us at that given moment. It's a given that there are things we must do to survive such as eating and working in order to make money to pay for our food and shelter. Jesus understands this. Yet, there is so much that we do not need to do. All that time we could be working on our relationship with Jesus. But we don't.
I'm busy! I have work to do! I'm tired! Wrap the excuse any way you wish and surround it by any reason you like but when you unwrap it, what you will find inside every time is the same basic truth. You don't intend to have a better relationship with Jesus.
The relationship you have with Jesus is exactly the one you want to have. When you want to have a closer, deeper relationship with Him, you will. Nothing in this world can prevent it.
Goodnight Revs,
kev!(:
If you will stop here and ask yourselves why you are not as pious as the primitive Christians were, your own heart will tell you, that it is neither through ignorance nor inability, but purely because you never thoroughly intended it.
If we consider Christianity to be a life-long journey, then surely the destination is a perfect and complete union with Christ. We begin the journey by not knowing Christ at all and it is complete when we have surrendered to Christ so fully and completely that nothing of ourselves remains.
If we stop to take a look at the things which prevent us from reaching that goal, it will appear that there are hundreds of little things on the journey which block our way. Work, friends, community and family responsibilities all present obstacles. We're so busy!
The truth that Lewis brings to our attention is that there are not many reasons, but rather one simple reason which underlies it all. If you don't have the kind of passion and intimacy in your relationship with Christ that you should then you don't fully intend to. You see, the quality of your relationship with Christ is all in your hands and no one else's. This is not like a marriage where both husband and wife must work to achieve closeness. Christ is and has always been completely accessible and available. He waits patiently for us to take each next step toward Him. You either take the steps or you don't.
Every reason you can imagine for why you have not taken the next step on the journey can be distilled down to one simple fact - you don't want to. There is no secret or magic formula here. It's simple. We come closer to Christ by spending time with Him, reading His word, serving Him and praying. None of us are being physically prevented or restrained from doing these things and so the choice to do them or not to do them is ours alone.
Yet, we do other things instead. We watch TV, put in a little overtime at work, visit with friends or any other myriad of things that are more important to us at that given moment. It's a given that there are things we must do to survive such as eating and working in order to make money to pay for our food and shelter. Jesus understands this. Yet, there is so much that we do not need to do. All that time we could be working on our relationship with Jesus. But we don't.
I'm busy! I have work to do! I'm tired! Wrap the excuse any way you wish and surround it by any reason you like but when you unwrap it, what you will find inside every time is the same basic truth. You don't intend to have a better relationship with Jesus.
The relationship you have with Jesus is exactly the one you want to have. When you want to have a closer, deeper relationship with Him, you will. Nothing in this world can prevent it.
Goodnight Revs,
kev!(:
Monday, March 17, 2008
devotion22 - What Are You Afraid Of?
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son (Genesis 22:9-10)
Late last year, my father and I sat in a hotel room following a men's conference in Toronto. Though he had given his life to Christ months earlier, he was still struggling with what it means to put Jesus first in his life and to surrender himself completely to Christ. "Let me ask you this," I said. "Would you trust Jesus enough to let him take Mom from you, if that was required of you in order to follow him?" He pondered their thirty-eight years of marriage and all that she means to him, then finally replied, "I don't know."
I empathize with my father as surely as I empathize with Abraham, whose test of faith has become the example for us all. The question for most of us, including my father, is academic since few people ever have to make such a dramatic choice. However, it's a useful test of the depth of our trust in Christ to ask, "What would I give up to follow Him?"
If we will be honest, there is something which each of us fears losing so much that it strains the limits of our faith to contemplate trusting it to God. Our life is perhaps the least of these, for surely there are worse fates than dying. Perhaps it is losing our wife, husband or child. Perhaps it is losing our freedom, our health or our mind.
As I began to take this inventory for myself in my twenties, I came across one thing which I could never permit God to take from me and which I could not offer in sacrifice. It was my mind. I justified this by saying that if I lost my sanity or my ability to perceive the world around me, how could I serve Christ? How would I even know who He was? If that were the case, would I be lost forever? Does my salvation rest upon my ability to understand it? I concluded that I could stand any manner of pain and torture so long as I had clarity of mind, but I told God in no uncertain terms that my conscious mind was off limits.
Years later, I came to the conclusion which must have preceded Abraham's reluctant decision to sacrifice His son, and which every Christian must reach before they can sacrifice the last remaining sacred treasure they have been withholding. I thought, "God, if you take this from me, it's part of your amazing plan and I can trust you." It was part of the realization that if God is going to take something from me, He will remain faithful to me and see me through it. He will give me whatever strength, faith and endurance I require to make it through the loss. This is the promise Jesus gives to all who place their faith in Him.
I don't know how God would sustain me if I had brain injury and lost my ability to reason. I don't know how my father would make it through the pain if he lost his wife. The point is that we don't have to worry about any of that once we surrender to God. We simply trust in the Lord with everything we have and He will see us through. God never said it would be easy, but He did say He would sustain us through the hard times and welcome us with open arms into His kingdom when our time comes.
Search deep within yourself now and contemplate the one thing that you have not been able to surrender to God. Find that one thing about which you have silently, subconsciously said, "God, take anything you require but please don't take this." I know that it feels like you would be destroyed if God took that from you, but you have to trust him. If God takes this from you, He will sustain you. Whatever He takes from you will be given back to you tenfold in Heaven. Most importantly, if God takes it from you, it is part of His amazing plan. Trust God with it now and let your surrender to Jesus Christ be complete.
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:15-18)
Late last year, my father and I sat in a hotel room following a men's conference in Toronto. Though he had given his life to Christ months earlier, he was still struggling with what it means to put Jesus first in his life and to surrender himself completely to Christ. "Let me ask you this," I said. "Would you trust Jesus enough to let him take Mom from you, if that was required of you in order to follow him?" He pondered their thirty-eight years of marriage and all that she means to him, then finally replied, "I don't know."
I empathize with my father as surely as I empathize with Abraham, whose test of faith has become the example for us all. The question for most of us, including my father, is academic since few people ever have to make such a dramatic choice. However, it's a useful test of the depth of our trust in Christ to ask, "What would I give up to follow Him?"
If we will be honest, there is something which each of us fears losing so much that it strains the limits of our faith to contemplate trusting it to God. Our life is perhaps the least of these, for surely there are worse fates than dying. Perhaps it is losing our wife, husband or child. Perhaps it is losing our freedom, our health or our mind.
As I began to take this inventory for myself in my twenties, I came across one thing which I could never permit God to take from me and which I could not offer in sacrifice. It was my mind. I justified this by saying that if I lost my sanity or my ability to perceive the world around me, how could I serve Christ? How would I even know who He was? If that were the case, would I be lost forever? Does my salvation rest upon my ability to understand it? I concluded that I could stand any manner of pain and torture so long as I had clarity of mind, but I told God in no uncertain terms that my conscious mind was off limits.
Years later, I came to the conclusion which must have preceded Abraham's reluctant decision to sacrifice His son, and which every Christian must reach before they can sacrifice the last remaining sacred treasure they have been withholding. I thought, "God, if you take this from me, it's part of your amazing plan and I can trust you." It was part of the realization that if God is going to take something from me, He will remain faithful to me and see me through it. He will give me whatever strength, faith and endurance I require to make it through the loss. This is the promise Jesus gives to all who place their faith in Him.
I don't know how God would sustain me if I had brain injury and lost my ability to reason. I don't know how my father would make it through the pain if he lost his wife. The point is that we don't have to worry about any of that once we surrender to God. We simply trust in the Lord with everything we have and He will see us through. God never said it would be easy, but He did say He would sustain us through the hard times and welcome us with open arms into His kingdom when our time comes.
Search deep within yourself now and contemplate the one thing that you have not been able to surrender to God. Find that one thing about which you have silently, subconsciously said, "God, take anything you require but please don't take this." I know that it feels like you would be destroyed if God took that from you, but you have to trust him. If God takes this from you, He will sustain you. Whatever He takes from you will be given back to you tenfold in Heaven. Most importantly, if God takes it from you, it is part of His amazing plan. Trust God with it now and let your surrender to Jesus Christ be complete.
The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:15-18)
Friday, March 14, 2008
devotion21 - Listening To Each Other
For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." But if instead of showing love among yourselves you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another." Gal 5:13-14
I overheard a conversation yesterday at lunch which began when a young woman noticed one of her co-workers looking downcast. She sat beside him at the lunch table and asked him if he wanted to discuss what was bothering him. He began to talk about the recent trouble he was having relating to his daughter, and it was obvious from his tone and his expression that this was a serious matter which was weighing heavily on him. He had barely begun to explain the essence of the problem when the young woman interrupted, exclaiming, "I know exactly what you mean! My daughter..." And just like that, the conversation shifted as she went on for several minutes describing her own situation. When she finally paused to take a bite of her meal, the man got up and walked away dejectedly. Without missing a beat, she turned to the next person at the table and continued talking about her daughter. I had a pretty strong reaction at the time. I remember thinking, "you don't care about his situation! You just wanted an excuse to start talking!"
It's easy to be critical of this young woman, but realistically, this kind of thing goes on all the time. I have done it to my wife and she has done it to me. I have seen pastors do it on many occasions. Few of us are immune. We are rarely listening; usually, we are just waiting impatiently for our turn to talk. We nod and agree in all the right places, but really we are pondering the next thing we are about to say.
It's a shame that so many of us are guilty of this offense, and it speaks volumes about how most people really feel about themselves and those around them. If you struggle with this as much as I do, then it ought to be very humbling when you realize just how difficult and rare it is to have a conversation with someone during which you are far more interested in what they are saying than what you are about to say. It's hard to clear our mind, offer our undivided attention and just listen.
If we dig deeper, we will discover that our egocentric conversations are just a symptom of a deeper problem, the most obvious and common of a whole litany of ways in which we fail to really love our neighbor. I could just as easily point to any of a long list of ways we fail to keep this commandment. I chose this one because it is so subtle and pervasive that for the most part, we've simply stopped noticing that we've stopped listening. I'm sure if you were to ask the young woman at the lunch table, she wouldn't have any idea that she had done anything wrong.
The next time you're speaking to someone, especially if they are hurting, make an effort to erase any thoughts of yourself. Instead, give them one hundred percent of your attention. Make a commitment to ensuring that they are able to get their point across, and don't worry about yours. It seems like such a small thing, but it will make a huge difference in not only how people perceive you, but how you perceive them.
You see, loving your neighbor is not like loving your spouse. It's not something you feel; it's something you do. It's the act of sacrificing your own needs and desires for the sake of someone else.
You can demonstrate that love in such a meaningful way by just listening.
I overheard a conversation yesterday at lunch which began when a young woman noticed one of her co-workers looking downcast. She sat beside him at the lunch table and asked him if he wanted to discuss what was bothering him. He began to talk about the recent trouble he was having relating to his daughter, and it was obvious from his tone and his expression that this was a serious matter which was weighing heavily on him. He had barely begun to explain the essence of the problem when the young woman interrupted, exclaiming, "I know exactly what you mean! My daughter..." And just like that, the conversation shifted as she went on for several minutes describing her own situation. When she finally paused to take a bite of her meal, the man got up and walked away dejectedly. Without missing a beat, she turned to the next person at the table and continued talking about her daughter. I had a pretty strong reaction at the time. I remember thinking, "you don't care about his situation! You just wanted an excuse to start talking!"
It's easy to be critical of this young woman, but realistically, this kind of thing goes on all the time. I have done it to my wife and she has done it to me. I have seen pastors do it on many occasions. Few of us are immune. We are rarely listening; usually, we are just waiting impatiently for our turn to talk. We nod and agree in all the right places, but really we are pondering the next thing we are about to say.
It's a shame that so many of us are guilty of this offense, and it speaks volumes about how most people really feel about themselves and those around them. If you struggle with this as much as I do, then it ought to be very humbling when you realize just how difficult and rare it is to have a conversation with someone during which you are far more interested in what they are saying than what you are about to say. It's hard to clear our mind, offer our undivided attention and just listen.
If we dig deeper, we will discover that our egocentric conversations are just a symptom of a deeper problem, the most obvious and common of a whole litany of ways in which we fail to really love our neighbor. I could just as easily point to any of a long list of ways we fail to keep this commandment. I chose this one because it is so subtle and pervasive that for the most part, we've simply stopped noticing that we've stopped listening. I'm sure if you were to ask the young woman at the lunch table, she wouldn't have any idea that she had done anything wrong.
The next time you're speaking to someone, especially if they are hurting, make an effort to erase any thoughts of yourself. Instead, give them one hundred percent of your attention. Make a commitment to ensuring that they are able to get their point across, and don't worry about yours. It seems like such a small thing, but it will make a huge difference in not only how people perceive you, but how you perceive them.
You see, loving your neighbor is not like loving your spouse. It's not something you feel; it's something you do. It's the act of sacrificing your own needs and desires for the sake of someone else.
You can demonstrate that love in such a meaningful way by just listening.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
devotionEIGHTEEN - Light Of The World
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else" - C.S Lewis
It would be a mistake to think that Christianity does nothing more than tell us what happens when we die. It does even more than simply tell us how to live. The Word of God is the lens through which every thing else comes into focus. We need to learn to adopt Christianity as both a philosophy and a world view. Just as we are called to become like Christ in our personal lives, we are called to shape the world into the Kingdom of God, but we cannot hope to do that unless we understand it.
While most Christian thinkers defend Christianity by presenting either some sort of evidence or by offering some logical proof, the late Cornelius Van Til proposed a subtler type of approach. He used to encourage people to investigate Christianity by first getting them to assume it was all false, and then challenging them to explain the universe without it. Why are we here? Where did we come from? What are good and evil? In doing so, Van Til helped people to see for themselves that without a foundation in Christ, nothing makes sense. Christianity doesn't just have the answers to salvation, it has the answers to everything.
For example, Christianity helps us to see why Communism was such a wicked and dismal failure. In the days following the resurrection, Christ's disciples practiced a kind of communism and it was successful because every member placed the will of God first. However, modern-day communism denies God and so there is nothing to keep the power and authority in check. The Bible teaches us that without God, man is inherently sinful and communism has been the ultimate and unfortunate demonstration of that fact. Democracy, though far from perfect, works because it understands that power has the tendency to corrupt and so there are check and balances in place to protect us.
The Bible does not provide solutions for every problem we face in the world. It cannot specifically tell us what to do about gun violence, broken marriages, sexual immortality or rampant famine. What it can do is provide principles and a framework by which we can arrive at the correct solution. Things will get better in our lives and community when we start to see every problem from a Biblical perspective and then apply these principles consistently in our lives, our families, our work, our home and our governments.
If you want to know more about the "Christian worldview", one of the finest books I've found is How Now Shall We Live? It's a long, challenging read, but well worth the effort.
kev
It would be a mistake to think that Christianity does nothing more than tell us what happens when we die. It does even more than simply tell us how to live. The Word of God is the lens through which every thing else comes into focus. We need to learn to adopt Christianity as both a philosophy and a world view. Just as we are called to become like Christ in our personal lives, we are called to shape the world into the Kingdom of God, but we cannot hope to do that unless we understand it.
While most Christian thinkers defend Christianity by presenting either some sort of evidence or by offering some logical proof, the late Cornelius Van Til proposed a subtler type of approach. He used to encourage people to investigate Christianity by first getting them to assume it was all false, and then challenging them to explain the universe without it. Why are we here? Where did we come from? What are good and evil? In doing so, Van Til helped people to see for themselves that without a foundation in Christ, nothing makes sense. Christianity doesn't just have the answers to salvation, it has the answers to everything.
For example, Christianity helps us to see why Communism was such a wicked and dismal failure. In the days following the resurrection, Christ's disciples practiced a kind of communism and it was successful because every member placed the will of God first. However, modern-day communism denies God and so there is nothing to keep the power and authority in check. The Bible teaches us that without God, man is inherently sinful and communism has been the ultimate and unfortunate demonstration of that fact. Democracy, though far from perfect, works because it understands that power has the tendency to corrupt and so there are check and balances in place to protect us.
The Bible does not provide solutions for every problem we face in the world. It cannot specifically tell us what to do about gun violence, broken marriages, sexual immortality or rampant famine. What it can do is provide principles and a framework by which we can arrive at the correct solution. Things will get better in our lives and community when we start to see every problem from a Biblical perspective and then apply these principles consistently in our lives, our families, our work, our home and our governments.
If you want to know more about the "Christian worldview", one of the finest books I've found is How Now Shall We Live? It's a long, challenging read, but well worth the effort.
kev
Monday, March 10, 2008
Daily Bread
For "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it." (1 Peter 3:10-11, ESV)
Sunday, March 9, 2008
devotionSEVENTEEN - Almighty God
As Christians, we love and worship God, but do we fear Him? Do we remember that He is all-powerful and sovereign? In this devotional, we look at Isaiah chapter 6, where Isaiah's encounter with God reminds us how mighty He is.
I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Isa 6:1-5
God is wonderfully complex and can never be fully defined by any single thought or idea. He has many natures and many sides which are all very different and all equally valid. For example, one of the most cherished images we have of Jesus is that of an accessible and compassionate friend and companion. Without a doubt, Jesus fulfills that role for his faithful. Yet at the same time, consider the image of Christ we get from the Book of Revelation.
"His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were bright like flames of fire. His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance." Rev 1:14-16.
The contrast is startling. Jesus is kind and loving, but He is also a fierce warrior. The Father is likewise loving and merciful, yet this very same God declares, "I will pour out my vengeance on all the nations that refuse to obey me." Micah 5:15.
We can be certain that any descriptive term we use for God, in isolation, will fall well short of elucidating all that He is. The best we can do is to continually appreciate and accept all his many qualities, without neglecting those we may not understand.
In this devotional, we want to take you to the other side of the spectrum and look at another aspect of God's nature which may be equally overlooked. If we are guilty of overlooking the fact that Jesus became a man, then perhaps we are sometimes guilty of failing to remember His awesome power, His supremacy and His authority.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with our cherished image of the peaceful and kind Jesus who calls children to Him and always turns the other cheek. It's a completely accurate albeit incomplete description of our Lord. As an extension of that image, we may have the idea that if we were to meet Jesus face to face, we would shake His hand, perhaps give Him a hug and then go grab a coffee.
This passage from Isaiah is a startling reminder of what would happen if we were to actually meet our God face to face, revealed to us in all His true glory. Like Isaiah, in the presence of the almighty God, seated on His throne, we would fall on our knees and proclaim "Woe is me - my eyes have seen the King!"
Let us never forget that God is to be feared. God is to be respected. He is the creator of everything seen and unseen, and deserves our worship and adoration. His power is limitless and without equal. His glory and holiness are beyond our measure.
Our purpose in this devotional is not to in any way diminish his human qualities or his love, mercy or compassion. Without those qualities, we would all be lost! Rather, our hope is that when you ponder Jesus Christ and all that He is, you might never forget His power and glory which completely fill the heavens and the earth. As you love and surrender to Christ, may you not forget to fear Him as well.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
devotionSIXTEEN - WHAT CAN YOU HEAR?
THINK ABOUT IT
When she asked whose cell phone it was, the students were surprised and asked her how could she hear it when it should be inaudible to adults. But apparently her ears had not yet lost the sensitivity.
TAKE A LOOK
kev
A ringtone which prying elders can't hear -- if you think it is just a teen fantasy, step aside. Cellphones, which youngsters can hear but most adults can't, are now in vogue in American schools.The technology is based on the fact that most adults gradually lose the ability to hear high pitched sounds and was developed in Britain.But recently, it has spread to the US where schools are banning students from bringing cell phones to class rooms.The use of peculiar ring tones came to light recently in a school in New York where the cell phones must be turned off in class rooms, New York Times reported.
The Times said last week, a high pitched ring tone went off that set teeth on edge including their 28-year old teacher.
When she asked whose cell phone it was, the students were surprised and asked her how could she hear it when it should be inaudible to adults. But apparently her ears had not yet lost the sensitivity.
TAKE A LOOK
1 Corinthians 2:9-16 - (NLT)
9That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 10But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets. 11No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. 12And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. 14But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means. 15We who have the Spirit understand these things, but others can't understand us at all. 16How could they? For, "Who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who can give him counsel?"But we can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
9That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 10But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets. 11No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. 12And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. 14But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means. 15We who have the Spirit understand these things, but others can't understand us at all. 16How could they? For, "Who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who can give him counsel?"But we can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
ACCORDING TO TODAY'S SCRIPTURE, WHO CAN HEAR WHAT GOD IS SAYING?
Here's some insight notes:
2:14-15 Non-Christians cannot understand spiritual truths, and they cannot grasp the concept that God's Spirit lives in believers. Don't expect most people to approve of or understand your decision to follow Christ. It all seems so silly to them. Just as a tone-deaf person cannot appreciate fine music, the person who rejects Christ cannot understand truths from God's Spirit. With the lines of communication broken, he or she won't be able to hear what God is saying to him or her.
If you know Christ as your Savior, you have ears to hear God. If you are not living in obedience to Christ every day, your spiritual ears will lose sensitivity to God's Spirit and you will not understand God's communication to you.
Listening to Jesus and obeying His commands will keep you hearing the ringtone of God's Spirit.
TALK ABOUT IT
Thank God for the presence, power and work of His Holy Spirit in you. Confess any way in which wanting your own way has dulled your spiritual hearing. Thank Jesus for always listening to you. Ask Him to help you listen to Him and obey His commands consistently. Praise Jesus for revealing His mind and truth to you as you respond to Him in love.
TRY IT
Here's some insight notes:
2:14-15 Non-Christians cannot understand spiritual truths, and they cannot grasp the concept that God's Spirit lives in believers. Don't expect most people to approve of or understand your decision to follow Christ. It all seems so silly to them. Just as a tone-deaf person cannot appreciate fine music, the person who rejects Christ cannot understand truths from God's Spirit. With the lines of communication broken, he or she won't be able to hear what God is saying to him or her.
If you know Christ as your Savior, you have ears to hear God. If you are not living in obedience to Christ every day, your spiritual ears will lose sensitivity to God's Spirit and you will not understand God's communication to you.
Listening to Jesus and obeying His commands will keep you hearing the ringtone of God's Spirit.
TALK ABOUT IT
Thank God for the presence, power and work of His Holy Spirit in you. Confess any way in which wanting your own way has dulled your spiritual hearing. Thank Jesus for always listening to you. Ask Him to help you listen to Him and obey His commands consistently. Praise Jesus for revealing His mind and truth to you as you respond to Him in love.
TRY IT
- Read today's passage again and "listen" to God's Spirit.
- Be consistent in a daily time with Jesus. Remember that intimacy with Jesus through time in God's Word and through prayer and worship. This will make your spiritual ears very sensitive to hearing God.
- Whenever you hear your cell phone ring in the next few days, let God remind you that you can hear from Him through His Holy Spirit.
kev
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
devotionFIFTEEN - Prayer: Our Bodies
“[Jesus] walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed” (Luke 22:41).
In The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, an elder demon schooling a younger in deception says, “[humans] can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls” (Screwtape, Letter IV).
Read it again: whatever our bodies do affects our souls.
While many of us pride ourselves in the fact that we may spontaneously pray to God whenever, wherever, and however we please, such freedom should not—must not—keep us from formally and intentionally praying before God. We must enter our closets. We must get on our knees. Or our faces.
Some of us do a bang-up job of disconnecting our bodies from our souls—but they are not separable. The body reflects the spirit. We are material as well as immaterial. We are not simply spirits and neither should we believe ourselves to be. God created us body and spirit. Our bodies are part of us, just as Christ’s body is part of Christ. Therefore we stand in reverence or kneel; we lift up our hands; we dance; we cover our faces and beat our chests. We adore God in spirit and in truth, with our bodies and our spirits. Love the Lord your God with . . . all that you are. And we are bodied.
When I love my wife in the future, I do more than simply speak my love (and even speaking to her is, in itself, a physical act). I hold her hand; I fold the laundry; I kiss her lips. I show my love and affection for her, body and soul.
We are wrong to believe that our relationship with God ought to be devoid of our bodies. That is the error of the Gnostics. The body is not evil; God made it. God himself now possesses a body, and has ever since Jesus was born some two thousand years ago. So when we are commanded to love our God with all our being, it includes loving him with our bodies.
The Scriptures speak of standing, raising our hands, beating our chests, falling on our faces, and kneeling in prayer (e.g., Acts 9:40; 20:36; 21:5; Eph. 3:14), but they do not speak of sitting or reclining in prayer. The biblical narrative is full of the stories of God’s people engaging their bodies in prayer.
We stand to honor a person—the President, or a woman who excuses herself from the table. We kneel to show reverence and fealty to royalty. And yet as we approach the throne of God—we sit? Our standing signifies something. Our kneeling signifies something. Our sitting signifies nothing. Or at least, our sitting signifies what we ought not to signify in the presence of the Almighty.
You can certainly pray spontaneously as you go—while walking, cooking, driving, working, diapering, or gardening. But when you are intentional in vocal prayer—voicing your heart in words, spoken or unspoken—show your intentions with your body. As you come before him in prayer today, kneel or stand in reverence. Open your hands to receive him. Raise your hands in adoration of your Creator, your Savior. Beat your chest, cover your face, and pray for mercy.
“To human animals on their knees [God] pours out self-knowledge in a quite shameless fashion” (Screwtape, Letter IV).
kev
In The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, an elder demon schooling a younger in deception says, “[humans] can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls” (Screwtape, Letter IV).
Read it again: whatever our bodies do affects our souls.
While many of us pride ourselves in the fact that we may spontaneously pray to God whenever, wherever, and however we please, such freedom should not—must not—keep us from formally and intentionally praying before God. We must enter our closets. We must get on our knees. Or our faces.
Some of us do a bang-up job of disconnecting our bodies from our souls—but they are not separable. The body reflects the spirit. We are material as well as immaterial. We are not simply spirits and neither should we believe ourselves to be. God created us body and spirit. Our bodies are part of us, just as Christ’s body is part of Christ. Therefore we stand in reverence or kneel; we lift up our hands; we dance; we cover our faces and beat our chests. We adore God in spirit and in truth, with our bodies and our spirits. Love the Lord your God with . . . all that you are. And we are bodied.
When I love my wife in the future, I do more than simply speak my love (and even speaking to her is, in itself, a physical act). I hold her hand; I fold the laundry; I kiss her lips. I show my love and affection for her, body and soul.
We are wrong to believe that our relationship with God ought to be devoid of our bodies. That is the error of the Gnostics. The body is not evil; God made it. God himself now possesses a body, and has ever since Jesus was born some two thousand years ago. So when we are commanded to love our God with all our being, it includes loving him with our bodies.
The Scriptures speak of standing, raising our hands, beating our chests, falling on our faces, and kneeling in prayer (e.g., Acts 9:40; 20:36; 21:5; Eph. 3:14), but they do not speak of sitting or reclining in prayer. The biblical narrative is full of the stories of God’s people engaging their bodies in prayer.
We stand to honor a person—the President, or a woman who excuses herself from the table. We kneel to show reverence and fealty to royalty. And yet as we approach the throne of God—we sit? Our standing signifies something. Our kneeling signifies something. Our sitting signifies nothing. Or at least, our sitting signifies what we ought not to signify in the presence of the Almighty.
You can certainly pray spontaneously as you go—while walking, cooking, driving, working, diapering, or gardening. But when you are intentional in vocal prayer—voicing your heart in words, spoken or unspoken—show your intentions with your body. As you come before him in prayer today, kneel or stand in reverence. Open your hands to receive him. Raise your hands in adoration of your Creator, your Savior. Beat your chest, cover your face, and pray for mercy.
“To human animals on their knees [God] pours out self-knowledge in a quite shameless fashion” (Screwtape, Letter IV).
kev
Monday, March 3, 2008
devotionFOURTHTEEN - Prayer: A Beginning
I am a beginner in the discipline of prayer. Perhaps I always will be. It is a discipline rich enough to fill our whole lives, because it is relationship with God. I grew up in a faith tradition that, while it thinks highly of prayer and sincerely affirms it, never taught me how to pray. And there is no question that prayer is difficult and mysterious. Many books on prayer that I find on bookstore shelves and in library stacks begin with the author’s concession about how much he does not know about prayer. There is always something of prayer that remains shrouded in mystery, because we’re communing with God, who is profoundly other, spectacularly higher than we are.
But at the same time, much of what is knowable about prayer remains a mystery to so many of us simply because we keep it at arm’s length. Some of us fear the intimacy, we fear the silence—we are utterly discomfited by the quietness. Some of us are faithless and no longer really believe in the efficacy of prayer—we have come to believe that prayer does nothing. Some of us are disappointed by prayer: We have asked God to act or move in a certain way and have been met only with silence, and our lives remain in a state of pain and turmoil.
I have been frightened by the silence of prayer—by communion with the Holy One, the Almighty. I have allowed sin to keep me from my Father. Maybe some of you are walking away from the very One who yearns to run to you and embrace you.
I have walked through periods of serious theological confusion about prayer. The reasoning was, “If God is sovereign and will do what he will do, is my prayer efficacious or even reasonable? In other words, if God is a theological juggernaut, then prayers of intercession and supplication are worthless, and I should only concern myself with prayers of thanksgiving and praise.” Maybe some of you are embracing that confusion.
I have been disappointed in prayer—prayed for healing and received none, prayed for relief and found none. I have misunderstood the purposes and person of God. Maybe some of you are losing hope just as I have.
There are many questions people have concerning prayer: What is it? What do I pray about? How do I pray? What is permissible, and impermissible, in prayer? Is there anything impermissible in prayer? Are there other kinds of prayer of which I should be aware, or is the spontaneous vocalization of my heart the extent of Christian prayer? Does prayer accomplish anything? When and how often should I pray? Where should I pray?
I want to struggle through some of these questions and begin to answer them for myself. I am not so foolish as to believe that I will be able to plumb the depths of prayer in these small articles or in my short lifetime. But come along with me anyway. Together we can extend our hands into the dark and slowly feel our way forward, using the lights that others have left for us in their exploration of this multifaceted and treasure-filled cavern. And we must pray—for that is the only way we will ever truly come to know how to pray.
We can begin. Try to commit to a discipline of prayer in your life. Maybe it will only be a moment or two before bed or as you rise, or five minutes during your lunch break. That is your decision, of course, but it is a decision that must be made.
Prayer is one of the most important things we fail to do. And it is not something we can set aside—it is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian.
kev
But at the same time, much of what is knowable about prayer remains a mystery to so many of us simply because we keep it at arm’s length. Some of us fear the intimacy, we fear the silence—we are utterly discomfited by the quietness. Some of us are faithless and no longer really believe in the efficacy of prayer—we have come to believe that prayer does nothing. Some of us are disappointed by prayer: We have asked God to act or move in a certain way and have been met only with silence, and our lives remain in a state of pain and turmoil.
I have been frightened by the silence of prayer—by communion with the Holy One, the Almighty. I have allowed sin to keep me from my Father. Maybe some of you are walking away from the very One who yearns to run to you and embrace you.
I have walked through periods of serious theological confusion about prayer. The reasoning was, “If God is sovereign and will do what he will do, is my prayer efficacious or even reasonable? In other words, if God is a theological juggernaut, then prayers of intercession and supplication are worthless, and I should only concern myself with prayers of thanksgiving and praise.” Maybe some of you are embracing that confusion.
I have been disappointed in prayer—prayed for healing and received none, prayed for relief and found none. I have misunderstood the purposes and person of God. Maybe some of you are losing hope just as I have.
There are many questions people have concerning prayer: What is it? What do I pray about? How do I pray? What is permissible, and impermissible, in prayer? Is there anything impermissible in prayer? Are there other kinds of prayer of which I should be aware, or is the spontaneous vocalization of my heart the extent of Christian prayer? Does prayer accomplish anything? When and how often should I pray? Where should I pray?
I want to struggle through some of these questions and begin to answer them for myself. I am not so foolish as to believe that I will be able to plumb the depths of prayer in these small articles or in my short lifetime. But come along with me anyway. Together we can extend our hands into the dark and slowly feel our way forward, using the lights that others have left for us in their exploration of this multifaceted and treasure-filled cavern. And we must pray—for that is the only way we will ever truly come to know how to pray.
We can begin. Try to commit to a discipline of prayer in your life. Maybe it will only be a moment or two before bed or as you rise, or five minutes during your lunch break. That is your decision, of course, but it is a decision that must be made.
Prayer is one of the most important things we fail to do. And it is not something we can set aside—it is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian.
kev
Friday, February 29, 2008
devotionTHIRTEEN - I'm Forever Yours
A worship song by Planet Shakers. In Isaiah 6:8, the prophet Isaiah says in his vision, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'" Isaiah stood up and answered God's call. He was willing to go forth to bring God's message to the Jewish nation, even if it was one of judgment in Isaiah 6. However, the message doesn't end there because of their sin. The rest of Isaiah continues with the Good News of the promised Messiah who is to come (7:10-16), who will suffer for the sins of man, but in the process atone for our sins (53:10-12).
In essence, that is the Good News that we are to proclaim. But can we like Isaiah, say "Here am I. Send me!"? Lord, we are forever yours, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9). Help us to obey your commandments.
And,today's 29th Feb. Once in every 4 years,this date will appear in the calendar! Historical moments man! Maybe today's devotion will mark something in our life, marks a start of great things that is to come. Happy 29th feb!
kev
In essence, that is the Good News that we are to proclaim. But can we like Isaiah, say "Here am I. Send me!"? Lord, we are forever yours, a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9). Help us to obey your commandments.
And,today's 29th Feb. Once in every 4 years,this date will appear in the calendar! Historical moments man! Maybe today's devotion will mark something in our life, marks a start of great things that is to come. Happy 29th feb!
kev
Monday, February 25, 2008
devotionELEVEN - 1 day left.
Hello people! How have you been? Coping well with all the deadlines and exams jumping around?
Today's devotion is simple. You just have to ponder on the question that I'm going to ask you in the following line. "How are you going to spend your time if you're left with ONE day to live?" or What are the last few things you'll do when you have ONE day to live?"
Do take sometime and ponder on this question ok? Haha! Write it down if you have to... it can be anything, there's no right or wrong answer over here. It's your life, you've got all the rights but you're limitation is ONE day and you're going to die. (:
Seeyou guys soon!
kev
Today's devotion is simple. You just have to ponder on the question that I'm going to ask you in the following line. "How are you going to spend your time if you're left with ONE day to live?" or What are the last few things you'll do when you have ONE day to live?"
Do take sometime and ponder on this question ok? Haha! Write it down if you have to... it can be anything, there's no right or wrong answer over here. It's your life, you've got all the rights but you're limitation is ONE day and you're going to die. (:
Seeyou guys soon!
kev
devotionTEN - Simple, but not easy!
Sometimes I get hung up in my Christian walk, either because I complicate matters, or else I’m tempted to look for easy answers. Neither of those really have any place in the gospel or in my life as a disciple of Jesus. You see, the gospel is profound in its simplicity, and yet resists every effort to make it easy. This isn’t a contradiction in terms, even though it definitely seems that way at first glance.
But at second glance, it makes sense. It reminds me of a time in my life when the simple and the easy abruptly became polar opposites. I was about four years old, and my two-year-old brother had done something to annoy me, so I expressed my displeasure by chomping rather forcefully on his arm. He naturally started screaming his poor little head off, and my dad came in to see what was wrong.
Thinking quickly, I tried for the easy way out of certain punishment: “He bit himself.” My dad, wanting to believe me (I think this was my first lie!), tried to see if the teeth marks on my brother’s arm would match up to his mouth.
Unfortunately, I had grabbed the part of his arm that was easiest for me to reach—the outside of his upper arm—and there was physically no way that he could have bit himself. As young as I was, I remember thinking with a sinking feeling that I should have bit the other side (I was so wonderfully remorseful!).
The lie was the easiest thing to do, and in fact, if I had bitten him in a more plausible place, my dad might have believed me. But it wasn’t the simple thing to do. The lie could easily have become complicated had I bitten him somewhere that he could possibly have bitten himself. Then I would have had to come up with a whole believable narrative that would end in my younger brother choosing to inflict pain on himself.
The requirements of the gospel are remarkable simple, but not easy to do. We find this illustrated in an exchange between Jesus and a Jewish leader:
One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”(Matthew 22:35-40).
But at second glance, it makes sense. It reminds me of a time in my life when the simple and the easy abruptly became polar opposites. I was about four years old, and my two-year-old brother had done something to annoy me, so I expressed my displeasure by chomping rather forcefully on his arm. He naturally started screaming his poor little head off, and my dad came in to see what was wrong.
Thinking quickly, I tried for the easy way out of certain punishment: “He bit himself.” My dad, wanting to believe me (I think this was my first lie!), tried to see if the teeth marks on my brother’s arm would match up to his mouth.
Unfortunately, I had grabbed the part of his arm that was easiest for me to reach—the outside of his upper arm—and there was physically no way that he could have bit himself. As young as I was, I remember thinking with a sinking feeling that I should have bit the other side (I was so wonderfully remorseful!).
The lie was the easiest thing to do, and in fact, if I had bitten him in a more plausible place, my dad might have believed me. But it wasn’t the simple thing to do. The lie could easily have become complicated had I bitten him somewhere that he could possibly have bitten himself. Then I would have had to come up with a whole believable narrative that would end in my younger brother choosing to inflict pain on himself.
The requirements of the gospel are remarkable simple, but not easy to do. We find this illustrated in an exchange between Jesus and a Jewish leader:
One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments”(Matthew 22:35-40).
How many of us love our neighbor anywhere near as much as ourselves? The leader was looking for something complex, perhaps an exposition on the finer points of the law of Moses, but Jesus cut straight to the heart of it. Later, he turned to an entire crowd of people who had been following him and laid out exactly what it means to follow him, saying:
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
How often do we set down our cross and pick up our life simply because this is the easiest thing to do? Trying to follow Jesus and take up our cross sometimes seems hard. In fact, it is hard, it’s just not complicated.
Friday, February 22, 2008
devotionNINE - The Will of A Loving Father
I don't what my life will be
I don't know all the ways of my God
I don't know what my eyes will see
I cannot know it all...
I feel such promises within my soul
that there's a world you might not understand
how can I know you if I can walk
all the ways with Him...
Give me faith when I cannot see the world
Peace when I cannot feel your heart
Give me faith to believe every step's been ordained
In the will of a loving father is good
Can you believe all the joy I feel
Knowing my life is taking it's shape
Who would believe that I believe
Facing the future now
Give me faith to when I cannot see the world
Peace when I cannot feel Your heart
Give me faith to believe every step's been ordained
In the will of a loving father is good
I don't know all the ways of my God
I don't know what my eyes will see
I cannot know it all...
I feel such promises within my soul
that there's a world you might not understand
how can I know you if I can walk
all the ways with Him...
Give me faith when I cannot see the world
Peace when I cannot feel your heart
Give me faith to believe every step's been ordained
In the will of a loving father is good
Can you believe all the joy I feel
Knowing my life is taking it's shape
Who would believe that I believe
Facing the future now
Give me faith to when I cannot see the world
Peace when I cannot feel Your heart
Give me faith to believe every step's been ordained
In the will of a loving father is good
devotionEIGHT - Hearing God's Whisper.
I was having coffee with a friend recently and he was sharing about how he had developed the practice of being ready to learn from any and every situation and person that he encounters. This willingness to learn from everyone requires opening oneself to what God would teach you at any given time. My friend’s thoughts struck me because if we are ready to see what God will teach us in any situation, then we may begin to realize just how active God is in our world every day.
Perhaps our eyes would become opened and we would see more and more of what he is doing all around us, all the time.
Perhaps . . .
I think a lot of times we want God to do something big—a neon sign in the sky would be helpful at times—and tell us exactly what his will is and where to go, what to do, and what it all means.
But God doesn’t work like that.
When God called Abraham out to start a new people, he simple asked him to “go to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Um, thanks, God, that’s really specific instructions, can I get some more detail here? Go. Go where? To the land that I will show you. Where is this land? Start walking and I’ll show you . . .
God was with Abraham every step of the way—even through mistakes that Abraham made—in order to bring him safely to a new land where he would start a new nation. Was there a big golden road map dropped out of the sky? No. But Abraham ended up there safely nonetheless.
In 1 Kings 19, we find Elijah on a mountain asking a question of God, and God tells him to stand on the mountain and he will pass by. Elijah waits, and the wind picks up and becomes so violent that it shatters rocks. Now that’s impressive, lots of wind, rocks shattering. But God was not in the wind. Next comes an earthquake. Okay, I mean, earthquakes do happen, but they do get people’s attention . . . that might be a good way to announce yourself, God. But God wasn’t in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. Well, fire’s a good metaphor, God, a big fire would really get people’s attention. But God wasn’t in the fire. “And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). It’s at the whisper that Elijah covers his head and goes to the mouth of the cave to hear God.
God was in the whisper.
In the quiet . . .
In the space . . .
See, God will not shout to get our attention; rather, he waits for us to become attuned to his whispers. To do that, we need space. We need stillness. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Be still . . .
Goodnight Revelation,
kev
Perhaps our eyes would become opened and we would see more and more of what he is doing all around us, all the time.
Perhaps . . .
I think a lot of times we want God to do something big—a neon sign in the sky would be helpful at times—and tell us exactly what his will is and where to go, what to do, and what it all means.
But God doesn’t work like that.
When God called Abraham out to start a new people, he simple asked him to “go to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Um, thanks, God, that’s really specific instructions, can I get some more detail here? Go. Go where? To the land that I will show you. Where is this land? Start walking and I’ll show you . . .
God was with Abraham every step of the way—even through mistakes that Abraham made—in order to bring him safely to a new land where he would start a new nation. Was there a big golden road map dropped out of the sky? No. But Abraham ended up there safely nonetheless.
In 1 Kings 19, we find Elijah on a mountain asking a question of God, and God tells him to stand on the mountain and he will pass by. Elijah waits, and the wind picks up and becomes so violent that it shatters rocks. Now that’s impressive, lots of wind, rocks shattering. But God was not in the wind. Next comes an earthquake. Okay, I mean, earthquakes do happen, but they do get people’s attention . . . that might be a good way to announce yourself, God. But God wasn’t in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. Well, fire’s a good metaphor, God, a big fire would really get people’s attention. But God wasn’t in the fire. “And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). It’s at the whisper that Elijah covers his head and goes to the mouth of the cave to hear God.
God was in the whisper.
In the quiet . . .
In the space . . .
See, God will not shout to get our attention; rather, he waits for us to become attuned to his whispers. To do that, we need space. We need stillness. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). Be still . . .
Goodnight Revelation,
kev
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
devotionSIX - Psalm 37
Morning, it is another brand new day filled with many excitement that is to come! Haha... UOL peeps, have you been studying or slacking? Time to put on your seat-belt and speed through your notes, else we need to have prayer meeting soon to intercede for prelims. (:
Today, we're going to look at Psalm 37. Recently, it has become my favourite psalm as there are many promises, encouragement from God. Read it and claim all that's in it in Jesus' name yeah? I pray that psalm37 will set into your hearts to walk you through the many days ahead. I particularly love 'The Message' version. Lets' take a good look at the psalm and be inspired to be good for God. We can do it together!
Psalm 37 (The Message)
1-2 Don't bother your head with braggarts or wish you could succeed like the wicked. In no time they'll shrivel like grass clippings and wilt like cut flowers in the sun.
3-4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed, settle down and stick to your last. Keep company with God, get in on the best.
5-6 Open up before God, keep nothing back; he'll do whatever needs to be done: He'll validate your life in the clear light of day and stamp you with approval at high noon.
7 Quiet down before God, be prayerful before him. Don't bother with those who climb the ladder, who elbow their way to the top.
8-9 Bridle your anger, trash your wrath, cool your pipes—it only makes things worse. Before long the crooks will be bankrupt;God-investors will soon own the store.
10-11 Before you know it, the wicked will have had it;you'll stare at his once famous place and—nothing! Down-to-earth people will move in and take over, relishing a huge bonanza.
12-13 Bad guys have it in for the good guys, obsessed with doing them in. But God isn't losing any sleep; to him they're a joke with no punch line.
14-15 Bullies brandish their swords, pull back on their bows with a flourish. They're out to beat up on the harmless, or mug that nice man out walking his dog. A banana peel lands them flat on their faces—slapstick figures in a moral circus.
16-17 Less is more and more is less. One righteous will outclass fifty wicked, For the wicked are moral weaklings but the righteous are God-strong.
18-19 God keeps track of the decent folk;what they do won't soon be forgotten. In hard times, they'll hold their heads high;when the shelves are bare, they'll be full.
20 God-despisers have had it;God's enemies are finished—Stripped bare like vineyards at harvest time, vanished like smoke in thin air.
21-22 Wicked borrows and never returns;Righteous gives and gives. Generous gets it all in the end;Stingy is cut off at the pass.
23-24 Stalwart walks in step with God;his path blazed by God, he's happy. If he stumbles, he's not down for long;God has a grip on his hand.
25-26 I once was young, now I'm a graybeard—not once have I seen an abandoned believer, or his kids out roaming the streets. Every day he's out giving and lending, his children making him proud.
27-28 Turn your back on evil, work for the good and don't quit. God loves this kind of thing, never turns away from his friends.
28-29 Live this way and you've got it made, but bad eggs will be tossed out. The good get planted on good land and put down healthy roots.
30-31 Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone, rolls virtue around on his tongue. His heart pumps God's Word like blood through his veins;his feet are as sure as a cat's.
32-33 Wicked sets a watch for Righteous,he's out for the kill. God, alert, is also on watch—Wicked won't hurt a hair of his head.
34 Wait passionately for God,don't leave the path. He'll give you your place in the sun while you watch the wicked lose it.
35-36 I saw Wicked bloated like a toad, croaking pretentious nonsense. The next time I looked there was nothing—a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.
37-38 Keep your eye on the healthy soul, scrutinize the straight life;There's a future in strenuous wholeness. But the willful will soon be discarded;insolent souls are on a dead-end street.
39-40 The spacious, free life is from God, it's also protected and safe. God-strengthened, we're delivered from evil—when we run to him, he saves us.
Today, we're going to look at Psalm 37. Recently, it has become my favourite psalm as there are many promises, encouragement from God. Read it and claim all that's in it in Jesus' name yeah? I pray that psalm37 will set into your hearts to walk you through the many days ahead. I particularly love 'The Message' version. Lets' take a good look at the psalm and be inspired to be good for God. We can do it together!
Psalm 37 (The Message)
1-2 Don't bother your head with braggarts or wish you could succeed like the wicked. In no time they'll shrivel like grass clippings and wilt like cut flowers in the sun.
3-4 Get insurance with God and do a good deed, settle down and stick to your last. Keep company with God, get in on the best.
5-6 Open up before God, keep nothing back; he'll do whatever needs to be done: He'll validate your life in the clear light of day and stamp you with approval at high noon.
7 Quiet down before God, be prayerful before him. Don't bother with those who climb the ladder, who elbow their way to the top.
8-9 Bridle your anger, trash your wrath, cool your pipes—it only makes things worse. Before long the crooks will be bankrupt;God-investors will soon own the store.
10-11 Before you know it, the wicked will have had it;you'll stare at his once famous place and—nothing! Down-to-earth people will move in and take over, relishing a huge bonanza.
12-13 Bad guys have it in for the good guys, obsessed with doing them in. But God isn't losing any sleep; to him they're a joke with no punch line.
14-15 Bullies brandish their swords, pull back on their bows with a flourish. They're out to beat up on the harmless, or mug that nice man out walking his dog. A banana peel lands them flat on their faces—slapstick figures in a moral circus.
16-17 Less is more and more is less. One righteous will outclass fifty wicked, For the wicked are moral weaklings but the righteous are God-strong.
18-19 God keeps track of the decent folk;what they do won't soon be forgotten. In hard times, they'll hold their heads high;when the shelves are bare, they'll be full.
20 God-despisers have had it;God's enemies are finished—Stripped bare like vineyards at harvest time, vanished like smoke in thin air.
21-22 Wicked borrows and never returns;Righteous gives and gives. Generous gets it all in the end;Stingy is cut off at the pass.
23-24 Stalwart walks in step with God;his path blazed by God, he's happy. If he stumbles, he's not down for long;God has a grip on his hand.
25-26 I once was young, now I'm a graybeard—not once have I seen an abandoned believer, or his kids out roaming the streets. Every day he's out giving and lending, his children making him proud.
27-28 Turn your back on evil, work for the good and don't quit. God loves this kind of thing, never turns away from his friends.
28-29 Live this way and you've got it made, but bad eggs will be tossed out. The good get planted on good land and put down healthy roots.
30-31 Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone, rolls virtue around on his tongue. His heart pumps God's Word like blood through his veins;his feet are as sure as a cat's.
32-33 Wicked sets a watch for Righteous,he's out for the kill. God, alert, is also on watch—Wicked won't hurt a hair of his head.
34 Wait passionately for God,don't leave the path. He'll give you your place in the sun while you watch the wicked lose it.
35-36 I saw Wicked bloated like a toad, croaking pretentious nonsense. The next time I looked there was nothing—a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.
37-38 Keep your eye on the healthy soul, scrutinize the straight life;There's a future in strenuous wholeness. But the willful will soon be discarded;insolent souls are on a dead-end street.
39-40 The spacious, free life is from God, it's also protected and safe. God-strengthened, we're delivered from evil—when we run to him, he saves us.
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