Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. God is good and His mercy endures forever. We have been threatened by the global financial tsunami. Everybody is concerned about the financial well being and livelihood. Faith based organization like churches and para-church organizations are usually on the hard hit list in this crisis. But the Bible teaches us to rejoice in Him even when we are in financial destitution, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Hab 3:17-18). This is the time to experience God and His provision for our lives in a tangible manner. Prophet Habakkuk was in a much worse situation when his whole world seemed to collapse before him. His country was in panic mode while he remained calm. It was because God reminded him, crisis in life was a time to test the faith of His saints, “The righteous will live by his faith” (Hab 2:4b).
"…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt 17:20b). We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, it may be so in the initial stages of our walk with Him; but we do not earn anything by faith, faith brings us into right relationship with God and gives God His opportunity to do whatever He thinks best for us. God frequently takes away your security blanket or even your survival means if you are a saint, in order to drive you toward Him. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of sentimental enjoyment of His blessings. Your earlier life of faith was narrow and intense, settled around a little sunspot of experience that had as much of sense as of faith in it, full of light and sweetness; then God withdrew His conscious blessings on you in order to teach you to walk by faith. You are worth far more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight and thrilling testimony.
Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in its actual working out has to go through many tests of isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life; much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him and His attributes - I will remain true to God's character whatever He may do. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" - this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.
Honestly, our heart melts when we focus on the financial crisis around us. That’s why we need to focus on God than on our circumstances. Remember the incidence when the disciples were in panic mode during a storm? “Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" (Matt 8:24-27) The disciples had experienced the character of Christ during the storm. They realized that Christ was the Lord of history and nature. Please be reminded that the Holy Spirit is on the same boat with us even though we are going through troubled waters today.
Love you in accordance to His will,
Lawrence
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Devotional 301008
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It is wonderful to know that finally we will have rain in our weather forecast. We sometimes take rain for granted until we are in a drought. Some scientists predicted California would become a desert because of the climate change, if we were not going to slow down the green house effect. No matter what tomorrow may bring, we are thankful for the needy rain that will fall on our plain.
Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism, and common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relation. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual; of impulse and inspiration. Nothing Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, it is revelation sense, and it reaches the shores where common sense fails. Faith must be tried before the reality of faith is actual. "We know that all things work together for good," then no matter what happens, the alchemy (the attempt of turning metal into gold) of God's providence can always transform the ideal faith into actual reality. Faith always works on the personal level; God purposefully wants to ensure the 'ideal' faith is made real in His children.
For every detail of the common-sense life, there is a revelation fact of God whereby we can prove in practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle, which always puts Jesus Christ first in our lives – “Lord, you have said so and so (like for instance, seek Ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in Matthew 6:33), it sounds irrational to me, but I am going to venture on your word anyway.” To turn 'head knowledge' or rational faith into a personal possession always involves a struggle, not sometimes. God always brings us into circumstances in order to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make its object real. Until we know Jesus, God is a mere abstraction, we cannot have faith in Him; but immediately we hear Jesus say - "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9), we have something that is real, and faith is boundless. Faith is the whole man rightly related to God by the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. That’s why the Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
I hope you learn to venture on His words each day. Obedience and faith are like two sides of the same coin. Obedience is an act of faith but not common sense. A lot of thing is seen irrational by the world. It doesn’t make sense. But we know it makes a lot of sense in the world of faith. And we know our act of faith – obedience is what Jesus expects from His true followers or a test of our genuine faith. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21). We’d better watch out whether we behave what we claim to be as a child of God.
Love you in obedience to His word,
Lawrence
Good morning. It is wonderful to know that finally we will have rain in our weather forecast. We sometimes take rain for granted until we are in a drought. Some scientists predicted California would become a desert because of the climate change, if we were not going to slow down the green house effect. No matter what tomorrow may bring, we are thankful for the needy rain that will fall on our plain.
Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism, and common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relation. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual; of impulse and inspiration. Nothing Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, it is revelation sense, and it reaches the shores where common sense fails. Faith must be tried before the reality of faith is actual. "We know that all things work together for good," then no matter what happens, the alchemy (the attempt of turning metal into gold) of God's providence can always transform the ideal faith into actual reality. Faith always works on the personal level; God purposefully wants to ensure the 'ideal' faith is made real in His children.
For every detail of the common-sense life, there is a revelation fact of God whereby we can prove in practical experience what we believe God to be. Faith is a tremendously active principle, which always puts Jesus Christ first in our lives – “Lord, you have said so and so (like for instance, seek Ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness in Matthew 6:33), it sounds irrational to me, but I am going to venture on your word anyway.” To turn 'head knowledge' or rational faith into a personal possession always involves a struggle, not sometimes. God always brings us into circumstances in order to educate our faith, because the nature of faith is to make its object real. Until we know Jesus, God is a mere abstraction, we cannot have faith in Him; but immediately we hear Jesus say - "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9), we have something that is real, and faith is boundless. Faith is the whole man rightly related to God by the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. That’s why the Bible says, "Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6).
I hope you learn to venture on His words each day. Obedience and faith are like two sides of the same coin. Obedience is an act of faith but not common sense. A lot of thing is seen irrational by the world. It doesn’t make sense. But we know it makes a lot of sense in the world of faith. And we know our act of faith – obedience is what Jesus expects from His true followers or a test of our genuine faith. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21). We’d better watch out whether we behave what we claim to be as a child of God.
Love you in obedience to His word,
Lawrence
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Devotional 291008
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It was so foggy in Daly City this morning, and therefore the traffic on freeway was very slow. Many cars just exited assuming accident ahead. I took the chance to follow the slow traffic and eventually saw the light once I past the fog line at San Bruno. Praise the Lord! That experience reminded me of our new life in Christ; we were once in darkness and now we enter into the Light because of what Christ did on the cross. “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5b-7).
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy. The New Testament view is that He bore our sin not by sympathy, but by identification. He was made to be sin. Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the explanation of His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy with us. We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things (that we attach on earth), but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world. The revelation of His Father is only to those to whom He has been introduced as Savior. Jesus Christ never spoke of Himself to the world as one who revealed the Father, but as a stumbling block: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father” (John 15:22- 24). Jesus spoke only to His disciples, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father' (John 14:9)?
That Christ died for me, therefore I go without death, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that "He died for all" (not that He died my death), and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness. The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: 1) He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. 2) We might be made the righteousness of God in Him (read 2 Cor 5:.21). Therefore, it is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed within me.
This is indeed Paul’s theology or conviction to daily practice “becoming like Him in his death” (Phil 3:10b), or “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature… since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:5-10). If I were to believe in a cheap gospel that Christ died for my death (consequence of my sins), and therefore, I could indulge myself in sins without worrying about the consequence of death, then the life of Christ could never be really conceived and grow within me. Yes, we could never earn this new life of Christ by our good work or religious disciplines. It is purely a gift of God for us. But in order to nurture the life of Christ within us, we need to identify with the death of Christ daily. This is what the early church believed and practiced. But what about us today?
Let us hold each other accountable to become like Christ in His death each day, so that our lives may become a channel of His blessings to people around us.
Love you because of this New Life in Him,
Lawrence
Good morning. It was so foggy in Daly City this morning, and therefore the traffic on freeway was very slow. Many cars just exited assuming accident ahead. I took the chance to follow the slow traffic and eventually saw the light once I past the fog line at San Bruno. Praise the Lord! That experience reminded me of our new life in Christ; we were once in darkness and now we enter into the Light because of what Christ did on the cross. “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:5b-7).
The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy. The New Testament view is that He bore our sin not by sympathy, but by identification. He was made to be sin. Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the explanation of His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy with us. We are acceptable with God not because we have obeyed, or because we have promised to give up things (that we attach on earth), but because of the death of Christ, and in no other way. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the Fatherhood of God, the loving-kindness of God; the New Testament says He came to bear away the sin of the world. The revelation of His Father is only to those to whom He has been introduced as Savior. Jesus Christ never spoke of Himself to the world as one who revealed the Father, but as a stumbling block: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father” (John 15:22- 24). Jesus spoke only to His disciples, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father' (John 14:9)?
That Christ died for me, therefore I go without death, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that "He died for all" (not that He died my death), and that by identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have imparted to me His very righteousness. The substitution taught in the New Testament is twofold: 1) He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. 2) We might be made the righteousness of God in Him (read 2 Cor 5:.21). Therefore, it is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed within me.
This is indeed Paul’s theology or conviction to daily practice “becoming like Him in his death” (Phil 3:10b), or “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature… since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:5-10). If I were to believe in a cheap gospel that Christ died for my death (consequence of my sins), and therefore, I could indulge myself in sins without worrying about the consequence of death, then the life of Christ could never be really conceived and grow within me. Yes, we could never earn this new life of Christ by our good work or religious disciplines. It is purely a gift of God for us. But in order to nurture the life of Christ within us, we need to identify with the death of Christ daily. This is what the early church believed and practiced. But what about us today?
Let us hold each other accountable to become like Christ in His death each day, so that our lives may become a channel of His blessings to people around us.
Love you because of this New Life in Him,
Lawrence
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Devotional 281008
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The weather felt like winter this morning. People begin to bundle up for cold weather. This is a normal pattern of life, because if we don’t, we recognize from experience that we will suffer from a consequence – we will get sick. I hope we will be cautious of a “spiritual weather” that can cause us sick if we don’t bundle up with the right clothing. That’s why Paul said in Ephesians 4:24, “put on the new self (new clothing in Christ), created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness,” when he described Christian living. Later on in the same letter, Paul reminded us to bundle up again by saying, “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” (6:11-13). God does not create human being with a thick fur to resist cold weather like Polar Bear. God designs our lives to be dependence on the provision of God for cover or protection. When Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, God made “garments of (animal) skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” (Gen 3:21). Cold weather reminds us of our dependence on His provision to survive not only physically but spiritually as well.
I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me from the consequence of my sins; repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. We may think that it is my obedience that puts me right with God – the effect of my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and accept by faith what He reveals I can accept, instantly the amazing Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God; and by the supernatural miracle of God's grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God suddenly lights up my mind and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.
The salvation of God does not stand on human logic; it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvelous work of God in Christ Jesus, which is prior to all experience or spiritual respond-ability. Our indestructible security of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have no ability to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. The supernatural (Life of Christ) becomes natural (life in Christ) by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done for us on the cross - "It is finished."
Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:8-10). Our new life in Christ is the effect of God’s work in our lives. The way we realize this new life in Him is to recognize by faith what Christ has done; but such ability of realization is a gift from God. That’s why Paul prayed for the church of Ephesus, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (1:17-19).
We don’t only need God to help us realize what Christ has done for us on the cross. We need Him daily to reveal to us how glorious our new life in Christ will become. So stay focus on Him because He loves to perfect His workmanship – which is you and I.
Love you because we are ONE in Him,
Lawrence
Good morning. The weather felt like winter this morning. People begin to bundle up for cold weather. This is a normal pattern of life, because if we don’t, we recognize from experience that we will suffer from a consequence – we will get sick. I hope we will be cautious of a “spiritual weather” that can cause us sick if we don’t bundle up with the right clothing. That’s why Paul said in Ephesians 4:24, “put on the new self (new clothing in Christ), created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness,” when he described Christian living. Later on in the same letter, Paul reminded us to bundle up again by saying, “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” (6:11-13). God does not create human being with a thick fur to resist cold weather like Polar Bear. God designs our lives to be dependence on the provision of God for cover or protection. When Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, God made “garments of (animal) skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them” (Gen 3:21). Cold weather reminds us of our dependence on His provision to survive not only physically but spiritually as well.
I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me from the consequence of my sins; repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. We may think that it is my obedience that puts me right with God – the effect of my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died. When I turn to God and accept by faith what He reveals I can accept, instantly the amazing Atonement of Jesus Christ rushes me into a right relationship with God; and by the supernatural miracle of God's grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, not because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God suddenly lights up my mind and I know, though I do not know how, that I am saved.
The salvation of God does not stand on human logic; it stands on the sacrificial Death of Jesus. We can be born again because of the Atonement of Our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creatures, not by their repentance or their belief, but by the marvelous work of God in Christ Jesus, which is prior to all experience or spiritual respond-ability. Our indestructible security of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have no ability to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. The supernatural (Life of Christ) becomes natural (life in Christ) by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done for us on the cross - "It is finished."
Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:8-10). Our new life in Christ is the effect of God’s work in our lives. The way we realize this new life in Him is to recognize by faith what Christ has done; but such ability of realization is a gift from God. That’s why Paul prayed for the church of Ephesus, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (1:17-19).
We don’t only need God to help us realize what Christ has done for us on the cross. We need Him daily to reveal to us how glorious our new life in Christ will become. So stay focus on Him because He loves to perfect His workmanship – which is you and I.
Love you because we are ONE in Him,
Lawrence
Monday, October 27, 2008
Devotional 271008
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good afternoon. It was good to be able to rest for a day after preaching at a retreat. The blessing of preaching in a retreat was to give myself a chance to reflect on a designated subject matter. The theme for the weekend retreat was on self-denial. It is a basic lesson for Christian living. Yet, it is almost impossible to accomplish such goal by our own strength. There is only one problem that gets on our way to such perfection – self-centeredness or pride. Our whole world will definitely be better only if we are able to deny ourselves and obey Christ. If we put off our old self and put on Christ, we will enter into a renewed relationship with others.
I always believe that I am the one who will benefit the most from my own sermons. I am sure this principle applies to all Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders. I don’t know about my audiences, but I thanked God for giving me a chance to renew my faith in Him through the retreat. As a matter of fact, the more we meditate or reflect on God’s words, the more we can discern God’s teaching from religious traditions that we may have inherited from the past. Let’s attempt to carefully study the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 again, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
In this passage, Jesus Christ did not say - Go and save souls (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but - "Go and teach," i.e., make disciple of "all nations," and you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples came back from their first mission they were filled with joy because the devils were subject to them, and Jesus replied, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:19-20).The great essential of the missionary is that he remains true to the call of God, and realizes that his one purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. There is a passion for souls that does not spring from God, but from the desire to make converts according to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come on the line that people are difficult to get saved, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, that there is a wedge of callous indifference; but along the line of his own personal relationship to Jesus Christ. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" (Matt 9:28b) Our Lord Jesus did not only put this question before the two blind men that he was about to heal, but before all of us today; this question faces us in every individual case or circumstances we encounter in life. The one great challenge is - Do I know my Risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God's sight, and foolish enough according to the world, to bank on what Jesus Christ has said, or am I abandoning the great supernatural position we have in Christ, which is the only call for a missionary, and that is boundless confidence in Christ Jesus? If I take up any other method I depart altogether from the methods laid down by Our Lord Jesus Christ in His great commandment for us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:18-20).
The more we abide in Christ and have full confidence in His authority in both heaven and earth, the more we have assurance in obeying His command and to teach ALL nations about Christ. We are not called to save souls, but to be witnesses of His transformation power for our lives. When we faithfully obey His words and teach others to do the same, God will convert people and add to His church the number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47b). Hope you find time to meditate on your way home…
Love you because it is my joy in Christ,
Lawrence
Good afternoon. It was good to be able to rest for a day after preaching at a retreat. The blessing of preaching in a retreat was to give myself a chance to reflect on a designated subject matter. The theme for the weekend retreat was on self-denial. It is a basic lesson for Christian living. Yet, it is almost impossible to accomplish such goal by our own strength. There is only one problem that gets on our way to such perfection – self-centeredness or pride. Our whole world will definitely be better only if we are able to deny ourselves and obey Christ. If we put off our old self and put on Christ, we will enter into a renewed relationship with others.
I always believe that I am the one who will benefit the most from my own sermons. I am sure this principle applies to all Sunday school teachers and Bible study leaders. I don’t know about my audiences, but I thanked God for giving me a chance to renew my faith in Him through the retreat. As a matter of fact, the more we meditate or reflect on God’s words, the more we can discern God’s teaching from religious traditions that we may have inherited from the past. Let’s attempt to carefully study the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 again, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”
In this passage, Jesus Christ did not say - Go and save souls (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but - "Go and teach," i.e., make disciple of "all nations," and you cannot make disciples unless you are a disciple yourself. When the disciples came back from their first mission they were filled with joy because the devils were subject to them, and Jesus replied, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:19-20).The great essential of the missionary is that he remains true to the call of God, and realizes that his one purpose is to disciple men and women to Jesus. There is a passion for souls that does not spring from God, but from the desire to make converts according to our point of view.
The challenge to the missionary does not come on the line that people are difficult to get saved, that backsliders are difficult to reclaim, that there is a wedge of callous indifference; but along the line of his own personal relationship to Jesus Christ. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" (Matt 9:28b) Our Lord Jesus did not only put this question before the two blind men that he was about to heal, but before all of us today; this question faces us in every individual case or circumstances we encounter in life. The one great challenge is - Do I know my Risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit? Am I wise enough in God's sight, and foolish enough according to the world, to bank on what Jesus Christ has said, or am I abandoning the great supernatural position we have in Christ, which is the only call for a missionary, and that is boundless confidence in Christ Jesus? If I take up any other method I depart altogether from the methods laid down by Our Lord Jesus Christ in His great commandment for us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:18-20).
The more we abide in Christ and have full confidence in His authority in both heaven and earth, the more we have assurance in obeying His command and to teach ALL nations about Christ. We are not called to save souls, but to be witnesses of His transformation power for our lives. When we faithfully obey His words and teach others to do the same, God will convert people and add to His church the number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47b). Hope you find time to meditate on your way home…
Love you because it is my joy in Christ,
Lawrence
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Retreat at Bodega Bay
It was fun to speak at the retreat of the young adult fellowship of Peninsula Chinese Alliance Church. We deeply appreciated their hospitality. Weather was wonderful at Bodega Bay. Fellowship was warm, food was exceptionally delicious, brothers and sisters were so sweet and fun. I praise God for this community of genuine seekers for the Lord.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Devotional 241008
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It was sad to hear on Radio that a group of Asian ministers in San Francisco publicly denounced the Proposition 8. They did not discuss the Biblical perspective on marriage but to argue on the basis of human rights. It is dangerous when we put our rights over the principles of God. Our Creator God knows better what our rights should be. Therefore His principles for us are the ways to abundant life. If we believe our basic human right is the right to do whatever we want, then we will face the consequence of self-destruction. Liberty outside the boundary of Truth is indulgence of our flesh and lust. And when everybody insists on his or her rights to indulge of their own lust, a community or nation will become chaos. When men “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things (like their own selves) rather than the Creator…God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion” (Rom 1:25-27). O Lord, Have mercy on us sinners who have tendency to ignore your words and justify our own lusts as the truth. As we exchange the truth of God for a lie (justify our own sins), our consequence will be eternal wrath and judgment; which is something You do not want to do, and the very reason that You send Your beloved Son to die on our behalf. Help us not to water down your righteousness to our desired level, but to always uphold your truth as our ABSOLUTE standard for our human rights and fair judgment for our community.
The viewpoint of a worker for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Make sure we maintain tirelessly God's point of view in our lives, it has to be done every day, bit by bit; don't settle with anything less. No outside power (not even judges of our supreme court) can touch and change the viewpoint or standard of God.
The viewpoint to uphold is that we are here for one purpose only, and that is to be captives in the train of Christ's triumphs. “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (2 Cor 2:14). We are not just display in God's showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing - the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are comparing to this - I am standing alone battling for Jesus; I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him. Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians basically means - I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph. Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul's secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and had made him a captive, and now that was all he was here for. Paul's joy was to be a captive of the Lord; he had no other interest in heaven or in earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting a personal victory. The Victor ought to have got hold of us so completely that it is His victory all the time, and we are more than conquerors through Him (when we submit ourselves totally to His command). "For we are to God the aroma of Christ" (2 Cor 2:15a). We are bearers of the odor of Jesus, and wherever we go we are wonderful refreshment to God the Father.
Just as President Lincoln was once asked as to what side would he think that God stand in the civil war of America, his reply was (my paraphrase), “I don’t know which side would God stand (that means which side would win the war). But the most important thing to me is whether I will stand on His side.” We are called to stand firm on the Truth, and the Truth will eventually set us free. I pray that God will empower you to discern the Truth from the confusion of secularism and Christianity in America.
Love you in according to His word,
Lawrence
Good morning. It was sad to hear on Radio that a group of Asian ministers in San Francisco publicly denounced the Proposition 8. They did not discuss the Biblical perspective on marriage but to argue on the basis of human rights. It is dangerous when we put our rights over the principles of God. Our Creator God knows better what our rights should be. Therefore His principles for us are the ways to abundant life. If we believe our basic human right is the right to do whatever we want, then we will face the consequence of self-destruction. Liberty outside the boundary of Truth is indulgence of our flesh and lust. And when everybody insists on his or her rights to indulge of their own lust, a community or nation will become chaos. When men “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things (like their own selves) rather than the Creator…God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion” (Rom 1:25-27). O Lord, Have mercy on us sinners who have tendency to ignore your words and justify our own lusts as the truth. As we exchange the truth of God for a lie (justify our own sins), our consequence will be eternal wrath and judgment; which is something You do not want to do, and the very reason that You send Your beloved Son to die on our behalf. Help us not to water down your righteousness to our desired level, but to always uphold your truth as our ABSOLUTE standard for our human rights and fair judgment for our community.
The viewpoint of a worker for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Make sure we maintain tirelessly God's point of view in our lives, it has to be done every day, bit by bit; don't settle with anything less. No outside power (not even judges of our supreme court) can touch and change the viewpoint or standard of God.
The viewpoint to uphold is that we are here for one purpose only, and that is to be captives in the train of Christ's triumphs. “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him” (2 Cor 2:14). We are not just display in God's showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing - the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are comparing to this - I am standing alone battling for Jesus; I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him. Paul’s word in 2 Corinthians basically means - I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph. Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul's secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and had made him a captive, and now that was all he was here for. Paul's joy was to be a captive of the Lord; he had no other interest in heaven or in earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting a personal victory. The Victor ought to have got hold of us so completely that it is His victory all the time, and we are more than conquerors through Him (when we submit ourselves totally to His command). "For we are to God the aroma of Christ" (2 Cor 2:15a). We are bearers of the odor of Jesus, and wherever we go we are wonderful refreshment to God the Father.
Just as President Lincoln was once asked as to what side would he think that God stand in the civil war of America, his reply was (my paraphrase), “I don’t know which side would God stand (that means which side would win the war). But the most important thing to me is whether I will stand on His side.” We are called to stand firm on the Truth, and the Truth will eventually set us free. I pray that God will empower you to discern the Truth from the confusion of secularism and Christianity in America.
Love you in according to His word,
Lawrence
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