Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It makes me feel so good to have a whole week at home. I treasure the time at home or in office more than at the lounge in airport. Praise God for giving me this ministry to mobilize churches for global missions in wherever God wants me to go. I am thankful to be at home as much as being on the road for His Kingdom’s sake. This is a gift from above that I can still travel and fall asleep on new bed wherever I go. I appreciate how Eugene Peterson caught so much insight from Psalm 131 in his meditation. I am sure his message is from God at all time, but we are simply too busy to listen when we study our bible.
My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore (Psalm 131).
Our lives are only lived well when they are lived in terms of their creation, with God loving and we being loved, with God making and we being made, with God revealing and we understanding, with God commanding and we responding. Being a Christian means accepting the terms of creation, accepting God as our maker and redeemer, and growing day by day into an increasingly glorious creature in Christ, developing joy, experiencing love, maturing in peace. By the grace of Christ we experience the marvel of being made in the image of God. If we reject this way the only alternative is to attempt the hopelessly fourth-rate, embarrassingly awkward imitation of God made in the image of man.
Many who have traveled this way of faith have described the transition from an infantile faith that grabs at God out of desperation to a mature faith that responds to God out of love … as content as a child that has been weaned.” Often our conscious Christian lives do begin at points of desperation, and God, of course, does not refuse to meet our needs. There are heavenly comforts that break through our despair and persuade us that “all will be well and all manner of things will be well.” The early stages of Christian belief are not infrequently marked with miraculous signs and exhilarations of spirit. But as discipleship continues the sensible comforts gradually disappear. For God does not want us neurotically dependent upon him but willingly trustful in him. And so he weans us. The period of infancy will not be sentimentally extended beyond what is necessary. The time of weaning is very often noisy and marked with misunderstandings: “I no longer feel like I did when I was first a Christian. Does that mean I am no longer a Christian? Has God abandoned me? Have I done something terribly wrong?”
The answer is, “Neither: God hasn’t abandoned you, and you haven’t done anything wrong. You are being weaned; the apron strings have been cut. You are free to come to God or not come to Him. You are, in a sense, on your own with an open invitation to listen and receive and enjoy our Lord.”
The last line of the psalm addresses this quality of newly acquired freedom: “O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.” Choose to be with him; elect his presence; aspire to his ways; respond to his love. This is the expression of a mature child of God. We don’t crave for God’s constant attention. We love and enjoy His presence at all time. We have confidence or security that He is a faithful God who will never forsake us. Whether we “feel” His presence or not, we know He is always here for us. Earthly kingdom may change and economy may collapse but He remains in reign forever. This is the kind of hope we have in Him that can make a difference in our daily encountering with our world and the people around us. It should be our joy to see God’s name be glorified in and through our lives! Amen? Have a blessed weekend.
With love for His glory,
Lawrence
Friday, October 8, 2010
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Devotional 071010
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thanks for your prayer for my final comprehensive exam. My professors were very gracious (each professor graded the part of exam question that he or she gave). I got an “A” from my 5 combined scores!! It means I can move on to begin my dissertation project now. This is like the last leg of my academic program. I need to submit my paper by the end of this year if I want to graduate next year…Pray that the Lord will grant me enough strength and concentration to finish this research project. Again I covet your prayer for me. Please intercede on my behalf….thanks!
It is difficult to recognize pride as a sin when it is held up on every side as a virtue, urged as profitable, and rewarded as an achievement. What is described in Scripture as the basic sin, the sin of taking things into our own hands, being our own god, grabbing what is there while you can get it, is now described as basic wisdom: improve yourself by whatever means you are able; get ahead regardless of the price; take care of me first. For a limited time it works. But at the end the devil has his due. There is damnation. Apostle Paul said, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil 2:3-4).
It is additionally difficult to recognize unruly ambition as a sin because it has a kind of superficial relationship to the virtue of aspiration—an impatience with mediocrity, and a dissatisfaction with all things created until we are at home with the Creator, the hopeful striving for the best God has for us—the kind of thing Paul expressed: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). But if we take the energies that make for aspiration and remove God from the picture, replacing him with our own crudely sketched self-portrait, we end up with ugly arrogance. Ambition is aspiration gone crazy. Aspiration is the channeled, creative energy that moves us to growth in Christ, shaping goals in the Spirit. Ambition takes these same energies for growth and development and uses them to make something flashy and cheap, sweatily knocking together a Babel when we could be vacationing in Eden.
Eugene Peterson helps surface the hidden pride that we may not be aware of in life. It hides behind the “good character” that we want people to see. Only when we take time to carefully examine our souls on a regular basis, we cannot recognize the sins that held us back from our freedom to serve God. That’s why we need to draw close to God in order to allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten us to see our hidden problem. I don’t think any woman will do make up on their face without turning on the light. The more clearly you want to see, the brighter light you need. Let the best make up artist, our Holy Spirit, improves your look each day. But you need to walk into the light of His presence.
With love in His presence,
Lawrence
Good morning. Thanks for your prayer for my final comprehensive exam. My professors were very gracious (each professor graded the part of exam question that he or she gave). I got an “A” from my 5 combined scores!! It means I can move on to begin my dissertation project now. This is like the last leg of my academic program. I need to submit my paper by the end of this year if I want to graduate next year…Pray that the Lord will grant me enough strength and concentration to finish this research project. Again I covet your prayer for me. Please intercede on my behalf….thanks!
It is difficult to recognize pride as a sin when it is held up on every side as a virtue, urged as profitable, and rewarded as an achievement. What is described in Scripture as the basic sin, the sin of taking things into our own hands, being our own god, grabbing what is there while you can get it, is now described as basic wisdom: improve yourself by whatever means you are able; get ahead regardless of the price; take care of me first. For a limited time it works. But at the end the devil has his due. There is damnation. Apostle Paul said, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil 2:3-4).
It is additionally difficult to recognize unruly ambition as a sin because it has a kind of superficial relationship to the virtue of aspiration—an impatience with mediocrity, and a dissatisfaction with all things created until we are at home with the Creator, the hopeful striving for the best God has for us—the kind of thing Paul expressed: “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). But if we take the energies that make for aspiration and remove God from the picture, replacing him with our own crudely sketched self-portrait, we end up with ugly arrogance. Ambition is aspiration gone crazy. Aspiration is the channeled, creative energy that moves us to growth in Christ, shaping goals in the Spirit. Ambition takes these same energies for growth and development and uses them to make something flashy and cheap, sweatily knocking together a Babel when we could be vacationing in Eden.
Eugene Peterson helps surface the hidden pride that we may not be aware of in life. It hides behind the “good character” that we want people to see. Only when we take time to carefully examine our souls on a regular basis, we cannot recognize the sins that held us back from our freedom to serve God. That’s why we need to draw close to God in order to allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten us to see our hidden problem. I don’t think any woman will do make up on their face without turning on the light. The more clearly you want to see, the brighter light you need. Let the best make up artist, our Holy Spirit, improves your look each day. But you need to walk into the light of His presence.
With love in His presence,
Lawrence
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Devotional 061010
Dear brothers and sisters,
Thanks for praying for my comprehensive examination yesterday. I felt so peaceful and enjoyable to spend 10 hours at home to answer 5 big questions. I could tell somebody must be praying for me…10 hours went very smoothly. Yes, I have to budget my time well in answering all 5 questions. No, I wished I had more time to do a better job. Anyway, I have done my part. I leave it to the Lord to do His part, so that I know what to do next in life. I covet your prayer for my last phase of this study – 3 course assignments and one big dissertation to finish before the end of this year….At the meantime, I still need to preach in different places until Thanksgiving: New York, North Carolina, Brazil and Philippines.
My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore (Psalm 131). Psalm 131 is a maintenance psalm. It is functional to the person of faith as pruning is functional to the gardener: it gets rid of that which looks good to those who don’t know any better and reduces the distance between our hearts and their roots in God.
The two things that Psalm 131 prunes away are unruly ambition and infantile dependency, what we might call getting too big for our breeches and refusing to cut the apron strings. Both of these tendencies can easily be supposed to be virtues, especially by those who are not conversant with Christian ways. If we are not careful, we will be encouraging the very things that will ruin us. We are in special and constant need of correction. We need pruning. Jesus said, “Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). More than once our Lord the Spirit has used Psalm 131 to do this important work among his people. As we gain a familiarity with an understanding of the psalm, he will be able to use it that way with us “that we may bear more fruit.’
Jesus said, “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every ranch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken” (John 15:1-2). Since we are part of Christ, we are expected to bear fruits. And the way to bear fruits involves trimming or pruning – take away all the extravagant leaves and branches, so that all the nutrition will go to fruit bearing. This is priority setting and life-purpose checking. Don’t busy yourself in doing a lot of good “stuff,” instead of the most important stuff in life. It is time to trim your calendar and reserve more time to serve God.
With love in Christ,
Lawrence
Thanks for praying for my comprehensive examination yesterday. I felt so peaceful and enjoyable to spend 10 hours at home to answer 5 big questions. I could tell somebody must be praying for me…10 hours went very smoothly. Yes, I have to budget my time well in answering all 5 questions. No, I wished I had more time to do a better job. Anyway, I have done my part. I leave it to the Lord to do His part, so that I know what to do next in life. I covet your prayer for my last phase of this study – 3 course assignments and one big dissertation to finish before the end of this year….At the meantime, I still need to preach in different places until Thanksgiving: New York, North Carolina, Brazil and Philippines.
My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the LORD both now and forevermore (Psalm 131). Psalm 131 is a maintenance psalm. It is functional to the person of faith as pruning is functional to the gardener: it gets rid of that which looks good to those who don’t know any better and reduces the distance between our hearts and their roots in God.
The two things that Psalm 131 prunes away are unruly ambition and infantile dependency, what we might call getting too big for our breeches and refusing to cut the apron strings. Both of these tendencies can easily be supposed to be virtues, especially by those who are not conversant with Christian ways. If we are not careful, we will be encouraging the very things that will ruin us. We are in special and constant need of correction. We need pruning. Jesus said, “Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2). More than once our Lord the Spirit has used Psalm 131 to do this important work among his people. As we gain a familiarity with an understanding of the psalm, he will be able to use it that way with us “that we may bear more fruit.’
Jesus said, “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every ranch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken” (John 15:1-2). Since we are part of Christ, we are expected to bear fruits. And the way to bear fruits involves trimming or pruning – take away all the extravagant leaves and branches, so that all the nutrition will go to fruit bearing. This is priority setting and life-purpose checking. Don’t busy yourself in doing a lot of good “stuff,” instead of the most important stuff in life. It is time to trim your calendar and reserve more time to serve God.
With love in Christ,
Lawrence
Monday, October 4, 2010
Devotional 041010
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Dear brothers and sisters,
Thanks for your prayer for my preaching trip in Vancouver, Canada. It was a blessing to witness God’s work in His church. I thank God for this healthy missional church. God is motivating young people in this church for missions, and many adults are faithful in answering God’s call to serve Him in whatever capacity. Pray that God will bring to completion the good work that He has started in this congregation, so that they can become the channel of His blessings to their community.
The world of religion generates a huge market for meeting all the needs that didn’t get met in the shopping mall. Pastors are conspicuous in this religious marketplace and are expected to come up with the products that give customer satisfaction. Since the needs seem legitimate enough, we easily slip into the routines of merchandising moral advice and religious comfort. Before long we find that we are program directors in flourishing business. We spend our time figuring out ways to attractively display god-products. We become skilled at pleasing the customers. Before we realize what has happened, the mystery and love and majesty of God, to say nothing of the tender and delicate subtleties of souls, are obliterated by the noise and frenzy of the religious marketplace.
But then who is there who will say the name of God in such a way that the community can see Him for who He is, our towering Lord and Savior, and not the packaged and priced version that meets our consumer needs? And who is there with the time to stand with men and women, adults and children in the places of confusion and blessing, darkness and light, hurt and healing long enough to discern the glory and salvation being worked out behind the scenes, under the surface. If we all get caught up in running the store or the program of the church, who will serve as the pastor?
This happened to the first church in Acts. The Bible said, “The Twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, “It wouldn’t be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. So, friends, choose seven men from among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy spirit and good sense, and we’ll assign them this task. Meanwhile, we’ll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God’s Word” (Acts 6:2-4). We need pastors in this world of consumerism to remain watchful for the well being of the flock, instead of busying themselves in entertaining the flock. Have mercy on your church O Lord. It is definitely not an easy task. We need to pray for our pastors, who will spend time listening to the Great Shepherd in knowing how to lead their flock with spiritual boldness from above. And we also need to pray for congregation who will encourage their pastors in focusing on prayer and preaching God’s Word.
With love in Him,
Lawrence
Thanks for your prayer for my preaching trip in Vancouver, Canada. It was a blessing to witness God’s work in His church. I thank God for this healthy missional church. God is motivating young people in this church for missions, and many adults are faithful in answering God’s call to serve Him in whatever capacity. Pray that God will bring to completion the good work that He has started in this congregation, so that they can become the channel of His blessings to their community.
The world of religion generates a huge market for meeting all the needs that didn’t get met in the shopping mall. Pastors are conspicuous in this religious marketplace and are expected to come up with the products that give customer satisfaction. Since the needs seem legitimate enough, we easily slip into the routines of merchandising moral advice and religious comfort. Before long we find that we are program directors in flourishing business. We spend our time figuring out ways to attractively display god-products. We become skilled at pleasing the customers. Before we realize what has happened, the mystery and love and majesty of God, to say nothing of the tender and delicate subtleties of souls, are obliterated by the noise and frenzy of the religious marketplace.
But then who is there who will say the name of God in such a way that the community can see Him for who He is, our towering Lord and Savior, and not the packaged and priced version that meets our consumer needs? And who is there with the time to stand with men and women, adults and children in the places of confusion and blessing, darkness and light, hurt and healing long enough to discern the glory and salvation being worked out behind the scenes, under the surface. If we all get caught up in running the store or the program of the church, who will serve as the pastor?
This happened to the first church in Acts. The Bible said, “The Twelve called a meeting of the disciples. They said, “It wouldn’t be right for us to abandon our responsibilities for preaching and teaching the Word of God to help with the care of the poor. So, friends, choose seven men from among you whom everyone trusts, men full of the Holy spirit and good sense, and we’ll assign them this task. Meanwhile, we’ll stick to our assigned tasks of prayer and speaking God’s Word” (Acts 6:2-4). We need pastors in this world of consumerism to remain watchful for the well being of the flock, instead of busying themselves in entertaining the flock. Have mercy on your church O Lord. It is definitely not an easy task. We need to pray for our pastors, who will spend time listening to the Great Shepherd in knowing how to lead their flock with spiritual boldness from above. And we also need to pray for congregation who will encourage their pastors in focusing on prayer and preaching God’s Word.
With love in Him,
Lawrence
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Devotional 300910
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I have been on the road in the last two weeks, and will continue so until end of October. I sincerely covet your prayers for me. Pray that the Lord will use this “loud speaker” to communicate His words to His people despite his inadequacy.
Lately, I learnt a fresh new lesson on divine appointment. I received an email from someone I never met, who responded to my devotional from this blog. He read my devotional that I mentioned about the tragic death of Joyce Lau, and he was the eye-witness of the hit and run incidence. Owing to his attempt to follow the car and reported to police the license plate, it led to the arrest of the suspect. His email said that he was moved by the devotional, and asked me to send his condolences to the Lau’s family. I thanked him for his help on behalf of the family.
Last Friday, I received a long email from this witness’s mother, who told me that his son died not soon after, and told me the story of her son. In her message, this mother told me how she was glad to read her son’s message to me. She said, “While I felt I couldn't mention God (but he read them later with the word God) but shared that life is fragile" and also that I was so proud of him how he showed honor to this woman's life. I told him that you made her matter, you honored her and you didn't even know her. I am so proud of the Man he was, or is. He was a champion of the little guy.” I thank God for using this young man to bless the Lau’s family, before He called him home. God used this young man to make a difference on earth, and touch the life of “strangers.” Indeed, we should treasure the time we have and seek to become a channel of God’s blessing to others.
Eugene Peterson said it well, “In every site, every meeting I attend, every appointment I keep, I have been anticipated. The risen Christ got there ahead of me. The risen Christ is I that room already. What is he doing? What is he say? What is going on?” In the remote mountain region of China, our risen Christ had been there before we went. It was not our initiation or research to go there to reach out to a people group. It was the risen Christ who invited us there. All we need to do is to respond in obedience, and follow His prompting with full anticipation of His active guidance. Peterson continued to say, “We are always coming in on something that is already going on. Sometimes we clarify a word or feeling, sometimes we identify an overlooked relationship, sometimes we help recover an essential piece of memory – but always we are dealing with what the risen Christ has already set in motion, already brought into being.” In a similar manner, it was not a coincidence that this young man was there at the scene to witness Joyce Lau’s accidence. It was some "good" that God brought out mysterioysly even in the midst of a sinful and chaotic world.
I am reminded from the connection of these two deaths. We really don’t know how long we may live on earth. It could end unexpectedly. So, enjoy the time we have today in making a difference in the life of others. Maximize our influence just like what the Apostle Paul said, “Making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:16-21).
You may not hear from me tomorrow because I will be flying to Vancouver. Please remember my comprehensive examination on Tuesday. I will have 10 hours to answer all the questions that my professors give me in one day. I need to pass this examination before I can begin my final research project and dissertation. At the mean time, my priority is to prepare my sermon and teaching materials for a mission conference in Vancouver. Thanks
With love in Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. I have been on the road in the last two weeks, and will continue so until end of October. I sincerely covet your prayers for me. Pray that the Lord will use this “loud speaker” to communicate His words to His people despite his inadequacy.
Lately, I learnt a fresh new lesson on divine appointment. I received an email from someone I never met, who responded to my devotional from this blog. He read my devotional that I mentioned about the tragic death of Joyce Lau, and he was the eye-witness of the hit and run incidence. Owing to his attempt to follow the car and reported to police the license plate, it led to the arrest of the suspect. His email said that he was moved by the devotional, and asked me to send his condolences to the Lau’s family. I thanked him for his help on behalf of the family.
Last Friday, I received a long email from this witness’s mother, who told me that his son died not soon after, and told me the story of her son. In her message, this mother told me how she was glad to read her son’s message to me. She said, “While I felt I couldn't mention God (but he read them later with the word God) but shared that life is fragile" and also that I was so proud of him how he showed honor to this woman's life. I told him that you made her matter, you honored her and you didn't even know her. I am so proud of the Man he was, or is. He was a champion of the little guy.” I thank God for using this young man to bless the Lau’s family, before He called him home. God used this young man to make a difference on earth, and touch the life of “strangers.” Indeed, we should treasure the time we have and seek to become a channel of God’s blessing to others.
Eugene Peterson said it well, “In every site, every meeting I attend, every appointment I keep, I have been anticipated. The risen Christ got there ahead of me. The risen Christ is I that room already. What is he doing? What is he say? What is going on?” In the remote mountain region of China, our risen Christ had been there before we went. It was not our initiation or research to go there to reach out to a people group. It was the risen Christ who invited us there. All we need to do is to respond in obedience, and follow His prompting with full anticipation of His active guidance. Peterson continued to say, “We are always coming in on something that is already going on. Sometimes we clarify a word or feeling, sometimes we identify an overlooked relationship, sometimes we help recover an essential piece of memory – but always we are dealing with what the risen Christ has already set in motion, already brought into being.” In a similar manner, it was not a coincidence that this young man was there at the scene to witness Joyce Lau’s accidence. It was some "good" that God brought out mysterioysly even in the midst of a sinful and chaotic world.
I am reminded from the connection of these two deaths. We really don’t know how long we may live on earth. It could end unexpectedly. So, enjoy the time we have today in making a difference in the life of others. Maximize our influence just like what the Apostle Paul said, “Making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:16-21).
You may not hear from me tomorrow because I will be flying to Vancouver. Please remember my comprehensive examination on Tuesday. I will have 10 hours to answer all the questions that my professors give me in one day. I need to pass this examination before I can begin my final research project and dissertation. At the mean time, my priority is to prepare my sermon and teaching materials for a mission conference in Vancouver. Thanks
With love in Christ,
Lawrence
Friday, September 17, 2010
Devotional 170910
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good afternoon. There were a lot of last minute things to do before I take off to LA this afternoon for a weekend ministry. Please remember me and our team in your prayer. We will have two vision sharing dinners and one whole day of workshop on Bivocational missions. Pray that these events will mobilize more Christians to follow His will.
The main difference between Christians and others is that we take God seriously and they do not. We really do believe that he is the central reality of all existence. We really do pay attention to what he is and to what he does. We really do order our lives in response to that reality and not to some other. Paying attention to God involves a realization that he works…
God works. The work of God is defined and described in the pages of Scripture. We have models of creation, acts of redemption, examples of help and compassion, paradigms of comfort and salvation…
In every letter St. Paul wrote he demonstrated that a Christian’s work is a natural, inevitable and faithful development out of God’s work. Each of his letters concludes with a series of directives which guide us into the kind of work that participates in God’s work. The curse of some people’s lives is not work, as such, but senseless work, vain work, futile work, work that takes place apart from God…Be prepared. You are up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, very weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet (Eph 6:10-11).
We are always the recipients of God’s work. God is always active in His creation and revelation to mankind. We respond to His good work in prayer and service. It is He who began the good work in us and will bring to completion at the end (Phil 1:6). Thus, our attitude should respond with humility and obedient heart. Whatever happened to us is not a coincident. It depends on how you respond to the experience as a way to nurture your life in Christ. If we are too busy to think and meditate, then we will miss the lessons to grow our being. Hope you find time to listen to God this weekend.
Enjoy His loving companion,
Lawrence
Good afternoon. There were a lot of last minute things to do before I take off to LA this afternoon for a weekend ministry. Please remember me and our team in your prayer. We will have two vision sharing dinners and one whole day of workshop on Bivocational missions. Pray that these events will mobilize more Christians to follow His will.
The main difference between Christians and others is that we take God seriously and they do not. We really do believe that he is the central reality of all existence. We really do pay attention to what he is and to what he does. We really do order our lives in response to that reality and not to some other. Paying attention to God involves a realization that he works…
God works. The work of God is defined and described in the pages of Scripture. We have models of creation, acts of redemption, examples of help and compassion, paradigms of comfort and salvation…
In every letter St. Paul wrote he demonstrated that a Christian’s work is a natural, inevitable and faithful development out of God’s work. Each of his letters concludes with a series of directives which guide us into the kind of work that participates in God’s work. The curse of some people’s lives is not work, as such, but senseless work, vain work, futile work, work that takes place apart from God…Be prepared. You are up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, very weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet (Eph 6:10-11).
We are always the recipients of God’s work. God is always active in His creation and revelation to mankind. We respond to His good work in prayer and service. It is He who began the good work in us and will bring to completion at the end (Phil 1:6). Thus, our attitude should respond with humility and obedient heart. Whatever happened to us is not a coincident. It depends on how you respond to the experience as a way to nurture your life in Christ. If we are too busy to think and meditate, then we will miss the lessons to grow our being. Hope you find time to listen to God this weekend.
Enjoy His loving companion,
Lawrence
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Devotional 160910
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. My day started with waiting in line at DMV, reading and meditating at the same time. Time flies by when your mind is engaged with the word of God and Lover of your soul. You don’t feel restless even though the line does not seem to move at all. I was captivated by Peterson’s opening statement in his devotion. His discussion on prayer is something we seldom consider but important to be reminded from time to time.
The plain fact is that we cannot be trusted in prayer. Left to ourselves we become selfish—preoccupied with our pious feelings, our religious progress, our spiritual standing. We need guides and masters to refocus our attention on God, to keep us ever mindful off the priority of God’s word to us.
In the process of re-attending to God, all the intervening doubts and cynicisms and seductions in which we have become entangled by our self-attentiveness have to be attended to. We require an alert theologian at our right hand. A good theologian brings the requisite skill, single-mindedness, and patience that can help us re-establish the primacy of God in our prayers.
Peter Taylor Forsyth is just such a theologian. A British Congregationalist, he was dead (in 1921) before I was born, but I have kept him at my side for thirty-five years as a friend and ally in my own life of prayer and the lives of my friends. I find him utterly trustworthy and immensely energizing.
May be the thing that I like best about Forsyth is that he is a theologian who stays a theologian. He cannot be distracted, will not be diverted. Here is a no-nonsense theologian who goes for the jugular. In Forsyth’s company we are aware of both the glory and the gravity of what we are doing when we go to our knees in prayer. Just as Paul said, “…every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory – to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally" (Eph 1:16-17)
I believe we all need a spiritual mentor (theologian in Peterson’s term), who helps to direct the attention of our soul toward God. We can easily be distracted in our prayer. We tend to pray for things that we desire and consider beneficial to us. It takes a “theologian or a spiritual mentor” who will redirect us to the mind of Christ in prayer.
Enjoy our oneness in His love,
Lawrence
Good morning. My day started with waiting in line at DMV, reading and meditating at the same time. Time flies by when your mind is engaged with the word of God and Lover of your soul. You don’t feel restless even though the line does not seem to move at all. I was captivated by Peterson’s opening statement in his devotion. His discussion on prayer is something we seldom consider but important to be reminded from time to time.
The plain fact is that we cannot be trusted in prayer. Left to ourselves we become selfish—preoccupied with our pious feelings, our religious progress, our spiritual standing. We need guides and masters to refocus our attention on God, to keep us ever mindful off the priority of God’s word to us.
In the process of re-attending to God, all the intervening doubts and cynicisms and seductions in which we have become entangled by our self-attentiveness have to be attended to. We require an alert theologian at our right hand. A good theologian brings the requisite skill, single-mindedness, and patience that can help us re-establish the primacy of God in our prayers.
Peter Taylor Forsyth is just such a theologian. A British Congregationalist, he was dead (in 1921) before I was born, but I have kept him at my side for thirty-five years as a friend and ally in my own life of prayer and the lives of my friends. I find him utterly trustworthy and immensely energizing.
May be the thing that I like best about Forsyth is that he is a theologian who stays a theologian. He cannot be distracted, will not be diverted. Here is a no-nonsense theologian who goes for the jugular. In Forsyth’s company we are aware of both the glory and the gravity of what we are doing when we go to our knees in prayer. Just as Paul said, “…every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory – to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally" (Eph 1:16-17)
I believe we all need a spiritual mentor (theologian in Peterson’s term), who helps to direct the attention of our soul toward God. We can easily be distracted in our prayer. We tend to pray for things that we desire and consider beneficial to us. It takes a “theologian or a spiritual mentor” who will redirect us to the mind of Christ in prayer.
Enjoy our oneness in His love,
Lawrence
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