Devotional 171209

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Praise God for such a balmy weather. It feels so warm under the sun. Our God is doing amazing thing each day for us. Each day is a new day in Christ. As I meditate on the message of Christmas, I am reminded once again the greatest miracle of mankind is the incarnation of our Creator God through a woman’s womb. It is totally unbelievable. None can fully fathom this impossible gesture of love that God has demonstrated to us. He humbled Himself by making himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death (Phil 2:7-8). This is how He made us the object of His love until today.

"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Gospel of God creates a sense of need of the Gospel. Paul says - "If our gospel be hid, it is hid" - to those who are blackguards? No, "to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not." The majority of people have their morality well within their own grasp; they have no sense of need of the Gospel. It is God Who creates the need of which no human being is conscious until God manifests Himself. Jesus said - "Ask, and it shall be given you," but God cannot give until a man asks. It is not that He withholds, but that is the way He has constituted things on the basis of Redemption. By means of our asking, God gets processes into work whereby He creates the thing that is not in existence until we do ask. The inner reality of Redemption is that it creates all the time. As the Redemption creates the life of God in us, so it creates the things belonging to that life. Nothing can satisfy the need but that which created the need. This is the meaning of Redemption - it creates and it satisfies.

"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." We preach our own experiences and people are interested, but no sense of need is awakened by it. If once Jesus Christ is lifted up, the Spirit of God will create a conscious need of Him. Behind the preaching of the Gospel is the creative Redemption of God at work in the souls of men. It is never personal testimony that saves men. "The words that I speak unto you; they are spirit and life."

There are many moral people but not necessarily spiritual in accordance to God. They want to prove that they can be “perfect” and “good” in accordance to their standard. Just as Jesus said to this moralist, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments” (Matt 19:17). The man said he had obeyed all commandments but he still had no assurance that he was good enough. Jesus continued to say, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (v 21). The man left with discouragement because he was very wealthy.

There are a lot of high A or driven type of person like this man, who think they can accomplish all things by their will power. They want to be in control, and they even want to control God. But at the end, they suffered in great disappointment with themselves. This is our assumption that a successful person is a good person or vice versa. But according to our Lord Jesus, only God is good and perfect. We can approach perfection but surrendering ourselves to the Holy Spirit, who increase His reign within us day by day. After all, this is what it means by filling with the Holy Spirit. Are you filling with the Holy Spirit, or is He taking over the command center of your life each day?

Love you under His reign,
Lawrence

Devotional 101209

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. We are thankful for light rain to wet our land. The dryness of life is sometimes unbearable and very irritating. Our skin is the first member in our body to cry out for moisture. We need physical moisture to reduce our skin irritation. We also need spiritual moisture to calm our itchiness or restlessness within our soul. It is hard to rest when my skin is itchy; it is very uncomfortable. We crave for something to calm our itchy feeling. Jesus comes to offer us this peace or rest to calm our restlessness from within. Praise the Lord!

"Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman." (Galatians 4:22). Paul is not dealing with sin in this chapter of Galatians, but with the relation of the natural to the spiritual. The natural must be turned into the spiritual by sacrifice, otherwise a tremendous divorce will be produced in the actual life. Why should God ordain the natural to be sacrificed? God did not. It is not God's order, but His permissive will. God's order was that the natural should be transformed into the spiritual by obedience; it is sin that made it necessary for the natural to be sacrificed.

Abraham had to offer up Ishmael before he offered up Isaac. Some of us are trying to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God before we have sacrificed the natural. The only way in which we can offer a spiritual sacrifice to God is by presenting our bodies a living sacrifice. Sanctification means more than deliverance from sin, it means the deliberate commitment of my self whom God has saved to God, and that I do not care what it costs.

If we do not sacrifice the natural to the spiritual, the natural life will mock at the life of the Son of God in us and produce a continual tug-a-war. This is always the result of an undisciplined spiritual nature. We go wrong because we stubbornly refuse to discipline ourselves, physically, morally or mentally. "I wasn't disciplined when I was a child." You must discipline yourself now. If you do not, you will ruin the whole of your personal life for God.

God is not with our natural life while we pamper it; but when we put it out in the desert and resolutely keep it under, then God will be with it; and He will open up wells and oases, and fulfill all His promises for the natural.

I like the way Brother Chambers uses two sons of Abraham to describe the struggle of our spiritual formation. It is true that the beginning of spiritual formation must involve giving up of our natural self, even though this is not the ultimate goal. We cannot achieve sanctification by self denial. It is only the entrance and it has to take place before re-creation can take place within us. No creature can re-create itself. It has to be the work of the Creator. We are talking about changing the spiritual DNA of our self. A surgeon cannot cut himself open and operate on his heart. He has to yield himself to the hand of other surgeon to do the job. It involves humility, trust and total surrendering to the hand of another skill doctor. And this is equally true to the process of our spiritual transformation. We have to come to our Creator God, humbly surrender ourselves to Him, and let Him perform His good work of transformation or re-creation from within.

Paul said, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22-24). This is a definite process of sanctification; there is no short-cut or detour to by pass this process. If you want to grow in Christ, you have to put off your natural self or old self, and put on the spiritual self or new self, which is the product of living sacrifice through Christ. And we continue to follow His footstep in offering ourselves to God as living sacrifice in our daily lives. May God’s name be glorified in you and through you! Amen.

Love you by His holiness,
Lawrence

Devotional 220609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for Monday. The weather was gorgeous and the beauty of our Creator God just fills the air. There is no limit for those who eager to serve the Lord. Opportunity to serve Him is everywhere, if we change our inward looking mindset to a more outward looking attitude. Let the passions of Christ fills your heart today so that you will no longer live for yourself but for Christ alone. Amen?

"For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Matthew 7:2). This statement is not a haphazard guess; it is an eternal law of God. Whatever judgment you give, it is measured to you again. There is a difference between retaliation and retribution. Jesus says that the basis of life is retribution - " with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." If you have been shrewd in finding out the defects in others, remember that will be exactly the measure given to you. Life serves back in the coin you pay. This law works from God's throne downwards, just as the Psalmist said, “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd” (Psalm 18:25-26).

Romans 2:1 says, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” Applies the teaching of this whole chapter of Romans to any situation you are in, and says that the one who criticizes another is guilty of the very same thing. God looks not only at the act, He looks at the possibility. We do not believe the statements of the Bible to begin with. For instance, do we believe this statement, that the things we criticize in others we are guilty of ourselves? The reason we see hypocrisy and fraud and unreality in others is because they are all in our own hearts. The great characteristic of a saint is humility - Yes, all those things and other evils would have been manifested in me but for the grace of God, therefore I have no right to judge.

Jesus says - "Do not judge, or you too will be judged " if you do judge, it will be measured to you exactly as you have judged. Who of us would dare to stand before God and say - "My God, judge me as I have judged my fellow men?" We have judged our fellow men as sinners; if God should judge us like that we would be in hell. God judges us through the marvelous Atonement of Jesus Christ.

We fall into this temptation too easily. We always use a magnifying glass to see others; we easily criticize other’s behavior and question other’s motive. But we seldom apply the same standard to ourselves. I totally agree with Brother Chambers that we have full potential to commit the same “sin” as those whom we criticize. When we passionately criticize our pre-Christian friends of their “immoral” acts, we ask God to forgive us because we could have done the same thing if it were not the grace of God in us. In this way, we turn our focus not on other’s problem but on our own. Then, we will also change our attitude to plead for God’s mercy for ourselves as well as for our pre-Christian friends, knowing that they would suffer even more in the hands of Satan, if they do not know that their Only Way to escape judgment is through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ask the Lord for more patience to deal with your own sanctification (becoming holy) process, as well as your attitude toward your pre-Christian friends or coworkers. Redirect your energy from critical or judgmental reactions to short mental prayers for mercy and thanksgiving. Seek the Lord to “strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Eph 3:16-17).

Love you by His mercy,
Lawrence

Devotional 170609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The stubborn fog reminded me of some stubborn bad habits of mine that never go away. My unhealthy eating habit, lack of exercise problem, negative thoughts on others and self-righteous attitude hover over me like Daly City fog, that seems never evaporate. But God’s grace is also stubborn to continue His work in me regardless. Praise the Lord!

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (Matthew 7:1). Jesus says regarding judging - Don't. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Spirit is the only One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into communion with God when you are in a critical temper; it makes you hard and bitter and cruel, and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person. Jesus says, as a disciple cultivate the uncritical temper. It is not done once and for all. Beware of anything that puts you in the superior person's place.

There is no getting away from the penetration of Jesus. If I see the mote in your eye, it means I have a beam in my own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself. Paul warned the Jewish leaders who bragged of their superior identity with God to act godly from inside out, “Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth – you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself ?” (Romans 2:17-21) Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is always one fact more in every man's case about which we know nothing. The first thing God does is to give us a spiritual “spring-cleaning;” there is no possibility of pride left in a man after that. I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

I thought “critical spirit or attitude” is a contemporary problem in Christian community. But according to Brother Chambers this also happened to Christian community hundred some years ago. I guess this is part of sinful nature of man; we tend to see ourselves better than others, we enjoy criticizing others but eager to cover up our sins and weaknesses. Now we came to know the Lord and learned the Truth, The Truth became our new and powerful “ammunition” to launch our “criticism” against others. We failed to recognize that God expects us to apply the Truth to ourselves.

To teach the Truth is good, but to criticize others in the name of the Truth is another issue. Christian community, who is so judgmental and critical, but yet silence on their own hypocrisy and weaknesses, turned off many pre-Christian friends. This kind of judgmental spirit also becomes a self-destructive force within the Body of Christ. When this negative spirit permeated into the very fabrics of the church, it caused all kinds of tensions and fight since the beginning of church history. It is very sad to see many vibrant churches split in the name of the Truth. When we do not take heel on this issue, we give foothold to Satan to detour or even destroy the very missions of the Church. After saying all these, I am the first one to be blamed because I am a critical individual by nature, and I have a tendency to turn the Body of Christ into a judgmental community. Have mercy on me O Lord. Cleanse me of my self-righteousness and stop me from spreading the spirit of criticism at whatever community that you put me in.

Love you by His mercy,
Lawrence

Devotional 090609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Pray that God will grant you alertness and strength to face the challenge He has put before you today. The Bible tells us that the way to find strength is by focusing on God: “Those who wait for (or focus on) the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:31). Indeed, nothing can give us more inner strength than to focus on the source of ALL power – our Creator God. Once our inner being is strengthened, our whole being will be energized to handle whatever comes our way.

"For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened" (Luke 11:10). There is nothing more difficult than to ask. We will long and desire and crave and suffer, but not until we are at the extreme limit will we ask. A sense of unreality makes us ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of moral poverty? “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). But be sure that you do lack wisdom; that means you cannot bring yourself up against the Reality in accordance to what you like. The next best thing to do if you are NOT spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit according to the word of Jesus Christ, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the One Who makes real in you all that Jesus did for you.

"For everyone who asks receives." This does not mean you will not get if you do not ask because God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt. 5:45), but until you get to the point of asking you won't receive from God. To receive means you have come into the relationship of a child of God, and now you perceive with intelligent and moral appreciation and spiritual understanding that these things come from God.

"If any of you lack wisdom . . ." If you realize you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality; do not put your reasonable blinkers on again. People say - Preach us the simple gospel: don't tell us we have to be holy, because that produces a sense of hopeless poverty, and it is not nice to feel hopelessly poor. "Ask" means beg. Some people are poor enough to simply dwell in their poverty, and some of us are like that spiritually. We will never receive if we ask with a certain desire in mind; if we ask not out of our poverty but out of our lust, we will not receive. A beggar does not ask from any other reason than the hopeless condition of his poverty, he is not ashamed to beg. - Blessed are the poor (beggar) in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:3).

Brother Chambers gave me some new insight on the attitude of spiritual pursuit. A hopeless “beggar” will not ask for a piece of steak or a banquet at 5 stars hotel; he is happy to receive some kind of food to satisfy his hunger. Unless we go to God with this kind of spiritual desperation, we will not experience the sovereignty of God and His special provision to meet our deepest needs. A lot of time our motive is mixed with different kinds of desires; we want all the best and beautiful things in life for our enjoyment. We want to become center of attention. We want the whole world (including God) to serve us. This kind of self-centeredness or narcissistic mentality is part of our sinful nature – something God wants to uproot from our lives in order to make us holy. Therefore, God will allow or arrange difficult situations to come upon us, in order to shape us to be more holy or Christ-like. Ask God to give you that genuine desire to be real and desperate for His wisdom and fulfillment. He is always waiting to answer our prayers to make us whole or holy again. Don't stop asking, and don't stop listening to your God.

Love you in His holiness,

Lawrence

Devotional 260509

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Praise God for a wonderful retreat that we had at Nevada City with brothers and sisters from CIBC Oakland. The weather and environment were so beautiful. I had a relaxing and enjoyable time to have fellowship with one another in Christ. Our last session at the retreat was to talk about 4 spiritual disciplines that are essential for abundant living. To Apostle Paul, these spiritual disciplines are fundamental exercises that we need to practice daily, “Always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray unceasingly; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's Will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:15b-18). The Lord has spoken through Paul. And it is our choice to put them into practice both individually and as a Body, so that we find assurance to live in the Will of God each day. Amen? It so happened that Oswald Chambers also shared on one of these verses today. Let’s hear what our Lord had spoken to him…

"Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We think rightly or wrongly about prayer according to the conception we have in our minds of prayer. If we think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts, we think rightly. The blood flows ceaselessly, and breathing continues ceaselessly; we are not conscious of it, but it is always going on. We are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect joint with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life. Beware of anything that stops reflective prayer. "Pray without ceasing," keep the childlike habit of reflective or contemplative prayer in your heart to God all the time.

Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer; He had the boundless certainty that prayer is always answered. Have we by the Spirit the unspeakable certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when God does not seem to have answered prayer? "Every one that asks receives." We say - "But . . . , but . . ." God answers prayer in the best way, not sometimes, but every time, although the immediate manifestation of the answer in the domain in which we want it may not always follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?

The danger with us is that we want to water down the things that Jesus says and make them mean something in accordance with common sense; if it were only common sense, it was not worth while for Him to say it. The things Jesus says about prayer are supernatural revelations.

To our Lord Jesus, prayer is a life line of communication between Him and God the Father. Unless He constantly focused on the work of His Father, Jesus would not be able to say, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these” (John 5:19-20). There are so many things try to distract our attention from God’s work in our lives. The challenge for us is to stay focus on Him through unceasing prayer or unceasing communication with God.

It may sound like a myth or too ideal to make it a reality, but it is doable to many saints throughout church history. It takes commitment and desire to build a habit of prayer with our ears and eyes, besides our mouth. Prayer is not to seek God’s help when we are in desperation only. Prayer is not to seek God’s guidance or provision when we are in needs. I totally agree that prayer is like breathe. We need to train the nature of our soul to desire communication with God through prayer just as the nature of our lung desires breathing fresh air. The ultimate goal is to let our Holy Spirit to be the CEO of our whole being, and train different departments of our body to submit under His command. You will be amazed how God may turn your life around when you stay focus on Him whenever and wherever you go. Let’s pray for one another on this spiritual discipline.

Love you in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 080509

Dear brother and sister,
Good afternoon. My morning was packed with meetings. But I love to find time to meditate on the word of God whenever I could find time to do so. It is indeed for the well being of my inner being and for getting strength to face my daily lessons in life. Our whole being depends on God. Our Lord Jesus reminded Satan as He faced his temptation in the desert, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4). Yes, we cannot live without the nurturing of our God.

"Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth" (Revelation 3:10). Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and then the saint says - "I cannot stand any more." God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He let us fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. "Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him!"

Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but healthy and vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs when we fail to maintain that mental self-assurance which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life; you cast yourself in total confidence on God.

God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. "This is life eternal, that they might know You." The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvelous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

Knowing the attributes of God should generate the kind of faith and commitment in Him, which will empower our confidence in facing all kinds of challenges in life. And we will never be satisfied regarding our knowledge of God. We can never understand the depth of His love nor His wisdom. We are going to spend eternity to understand how awesome and wonderful is our God. And let’s begin to explore a little bit of His greatness each day while we are living on earth. Those knowledge of His greatness will certainly nurture our inner power to handle life under all kinds of circumstances.

I remember asking our missionary in Dubai about the kind of message that may apply to his congregation there; many of them are construction workers who labored out in the desert under extreme hot weather (It was 40°C while we were there) for 12 hours a day. They were totally exhausted when we visited them at night. What kind of message would empower their daily walk with Christ at work? It was the love and healing power of God according to our missionary. It was the love of God who transforms their perspective in life and gives them patience to endure their daily suffering at work. That’s why they love to come to Bible study in the desert regardless of the opposition from their superior.

Hope you will spend your day to know Him more…

Love you in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 030409

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Good morning. It is exuberance to engage the world with Christ. We know that God has a plan for each individual in this planet earth. And His plan is to have each one of us enjoy our lives with Him to the fullest. And the best way to do it is by ‘show and tell.’ Show the world how it is like to have an intimate relationship with Christ; to show how a life may be different from the one without Christ? Every religion on earth demonstrates the kind of ‘god’ that they believe. Every believer is a show case of their Bible, no matter whether they actually live according to the teaching of the Bible or not. Therefore, we are called to bear fruits for God. And the way to do it is to abide in Him each day. Our Lord Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing… You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last” (John 15:5, 16a). We are engaging a world that is overwhelmed by information. People can be lost to find God in the midst of different theology or messages about God that they can easily access on Internet. But they will definitely observe the lives of their neighbors or coworkers, who appear to have a different perspective on life and of ‘god,’ especially during this economic down time. They want to find out how their lives could be so peaceful and joyful when there is absolutely nothing in the world to call for them. You may spark off their interest, and God may use this curiosity to bring them closer to His love. Amen? Let’s look at our devotional reading of today…

"If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace--but now it is hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:42). Jesus had entered into Jerusalem in triumph, the city was stirred to its foundations; but a strange god was there, the pride of Pharisee; it was religious and upright, but a ‘white grave’ or ‘glorified hypocrisy.’

What is it that blinds me in this "my day"? Have I blinded by a strange god - not a disgusting monster, but a self-centered nature that rules me? More than once God has brought me face to face with the strange god that I thought I should have to yield, but I did not do it. I got through the crisis by the skin of my teeth and I find myself in the possession of the strange god still; I am blind to the things, which belong to my peace. It is an appalling thing that we can be in the place where the Spirit of God should be getting at us unhinderedly, but on the other hand, increases our condemnation in God's sight.

"If you had only known" - God goes directly to the heart, with the tears of Jesus behind. These words imply we deserve the blame; God holds us responsible for what we do not see. "Now it is hidden from your eyes " – it is because our attitude and nature have never been yielded to God. The unfathomable sadness and regret of the "might have been!" God never opens doors that have been closed. But He opens other doors for us, and He reminds us that there are doors, which we have shut because of our ignorance, doors that never should have been shut; and imaginations that never should have been too slow to discern His work. Therefore, never be afraid when God brings back the past. Let memory serves as a minister of God that brings us rebuke, discipline and sorrow. God will turn the regret of "might have been" into a wonderful lesson for the future.

This is a difficult reading from Chambers; not only the way he tried to express his insight from the passage, but the message itself is hard to comprehend. It reminds me of my old nature, blind spot or ‘strange god like the way Chamber described,” that could blind me from seeing the work of God around me. Sometimes we refused God’s open doors because we lacked of courage and faith. Sometimes we relentlessly sought the doors that God had closed because of our desires or ignorance. God allows us to make mistake provided that we learned from our mistake. Otherwise, we will be continuously blinded or fooled by our own nature or old self. Reflection is a way to deliver us from the bondage of this strange god hidden in our old self. We need to uncover them by looking back to our past and ask God to reveal to us how we had misinterpreted His will. Unfortunately, many Christians are too busy to engage in self-reflection or meditation. In another word, they seldom spend time with God but allow their “strange gods” to dictate their perspective or interpretation of God’s will for their lives. Our Holy Spirit determines to show us God’s open doors and closed doors. He will continuously help us understand God’s will because this is His Nature. What we need to do is to stop justifying our self-centeredness, and submit to the Word of God. By nurturing our desire and passion for God by abiding in Him each day, I believe we will be able to discern the leadership of God more effectively.

Hope you have a nice weekend to enjoy the presence and love of God.

Your brother in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 300309

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I thank God for another beautiful day to be in His service. ‘Arise my soul, let’s come to worship our Creator God, who wants to mold us to be like His Son this day. Let’s enjoy this day that He wants us to walk and talk with Him.’ This is the Day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Our Lord desires His children to fully enjoy their relationship with Him and with one another each day. He expects us to love and care for one another, even though we may feel weird to draw close to other Christians; it is true that Christians are weird ‘recovering sinners.’ We are not totally transformed yet. We will have sinful relapses from time to time, and our motives about relationship may not be totally Godly or sanctified. That’s why God expects us to pray for one another and spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

"The Lord saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene (intercede or pray); so His own arm worked salvation for him, and His own righteousness sustained him" (Isaiah 59:16). The reason many of us leave off praying and become stubborn towards God is because we have only a sentimental interest in prayer. It sounds right to say that we pray; we read books on prayer, which tell us that prayer is beneficial, that our minds are quieted and our souls uplifted when we pray; but Isaiah implies that God is amazed at such thoughts of prayer among His people.

Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray. Too often instead of worshipping God, we construct statements as to how prayer works. Are we worshipping or are we in dispute with God - "I don't see how you are going to do it." This is a sure sign that we are not worshipping. When we lose sight of God we become stubborn and rigid. We toss our own petitions at God's throne and dictate to Him as to what we wish Him to do for us. We do not worship God, nor do we seek to form the mind of Christ within us. If we are stubborn towards God, we will become stubborn towards other people.

Are we so worshipping God that we stir ourselves up to seek Him so that we may be brought into contact with His mind about the ones for whom we pray, instead of just saying a few words of prayer for the person according to what we want? Are we living in a holy relationship to God, or are we stubborn and rigid?

"But there is no one interceding properly" - then be that one yourself, be the one who worships God and who lives in holy relationship to Him. Get into the real work of intercession, and remember it is a work, a work that requires every power to accomplish. Preaching the gospel may have a snare; intercessory prayer has none.

I find this teaching on prayer is so true from my own experience. We have a tendency to pray for others without first listening to God in a worshipful attitude. We don’t know how to pray for others as Paul said in Romans 8:26-27, “but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” Therefore, we want to echo His prayer or pray according to His will instead of ours. This requires silence of our inner desires and casual thoughts on how and what to pray. We need to wait, watch and wrestle in prayer. Wait for God’s word to come upon us as we intend to pray. Watch God’s guidance and circumstances that He reveals to us about that prayer. Wrestle with our soul to stay focus and obedience to His will in our prayers. For instance, you usually will not pray for suffering to come upon a person whom you intercede. But the Holy Spirit may want you to pray accordingly, so that God will use the suffering to shape this person’s character. It is hard to intercede in such a way when this person is your beloved friend or family member.

I am sure Peter meant good when he stopped his Master from preparing for the cross. But this human thinking or reaction was not according to the Will of God for Christ. Therefore, Jesus rebuked Peter by using a very strong word, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” (Matt 16:23). Do you pray for others according to God or to the mind of men?

Love you according to the mind of Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 250309

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The Spring like weather finally arrived. How beautiful the Nature has become; green trees, blue sky and colorful wide flowers are outside of my window. I finally set my foot on the hiking trail outside of my office yesterday. I surprised my coworker for initiating the walk after lunch. It was only 20 minutes walk from the park nearby along the Bay. The weather was fine and the scenic trail was gorgeous. I hope to use it more often for my meditation and prayer walk. This exercise is definitely good for both my physical and spiritual health. Please pray for me that I will be a good steward of God’s resources for my life.

“The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete” (John 3:29). Goodness and purity ought never to attract other’s attention to themselves, they ought simply to be magnets to draw to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing towards Him, it is not holiness of the right order, but an influence that will awaken inappropriate affection that lead souls away from the Truth of God. A beautiful saint may be a hindrance if he does not present Jesus Christ but only what Christ has done for him. He will leave the impression - "What a fine character that man is!" That is not being a true friend of the Bridegroom; I am increasing all the time, but He is not.

In order to maintain this friendship and loyalty to the Bridegroom, we have to be more careful of our moral and vital relationship to Him than of any other thing, even of obedience. Sometimes there is nothing to obey; the only thing to do is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, to see that nothing interferes with that intimate relationship with Him. Only occasionally do we have to obey. When a crisis arises we have to find out what God's will is, but the greater part of the life is not conscious obedience but the maintenance of this relationship - being the friend of the Bridegroom. Christian work may be a means of detouring the soul's concentration on Jesus Christ. Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, we may try to play God, and may work against Him while we use His weapons.

I appreciate Chamber’s insight on the priority of our relationship with the Bridegroom. It reminded me of the story of The Prodigal Son in Luke 15. We usually paid attention to how the father loved his prodigal son even though he wasted all his money. But the story ends with the older son who was furious of what his father did to his brother. This older brother was obedient and faithful to his father. But he lacked compassion for his brother. I believe this big brother symbolizes the religious leaders and Pharisees of Jesus’ time. They were obedient to the Law in every single detail. Yet they forgot the fact that their Law Giver was a God of relationship and compassion. Since God is a God of relationship, He will treasure our relationship with Him each day. God wants our obedience derives from our intimate relationship with Him. We don’t use our obedience to show off; to make people appreciate how godly and devoted we are. If this is the case, then we are increasing but He is not. Have mercy on us O Lord. Help us to stay focus on our Bridegroom; listen to Him and rejoice with Him each day.

Love you because the Bridegroom loves you,
Lawrence

Devotional 200309

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The whole world seems to be wrapped with moisture. This is like a green house filled with mist. Thank God for nurturing us with His daily provision. It is serene to rest in the bosom of God. He is not only my trusted mother and father; God wants to be my trusted friend. It is His friendship with Abraham that God made this comment, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?" (Genesis 18:17)

It is Delightful. This chapter brings out the delight of real friendship with God as compared with occasional feelings of His presence in prayer. To be so much in contact with God that you never need to ask Him to show you His will, is to be nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When you are rightly related to God, it is a life of freedom and liberty and delight, you are God's will, and all your common-sense decisions are His will for you unless He checks. You decide things in perfect delightful friendship with God, knowing that if your decisions are wrong He will always check; when He checks, stop at once.

It is Difficult. Why did Abraham stop praying when he did? He was not intimate enough yet to go boldly on until God granted his desire, there was something yet to be desired in his relationship to God. Whenever we stop short in prayer and say - "Well, I don't know; perhaps it is not God's will," there is still another stage to go. We are not so intimately acquainted with God as Jesus was, and as He wants us to be - "That they may be one even as we are one." Think of the last thing you prayed about - were you devoted to your desire or to God? Determined to get some gift of the Spirit or to get at God? "Your Heavenly Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him." The point of asking is that you may get to know God better. "Delight yourself also in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart." Keep praying in order to get a perfect understanding of God Himself.

How beautiful this picture the Bible has painted before us; God treasures His friendship with Abraham. God wants to be ‘transparent’ to His good friend to tell Him everything regarding Abraham. God watched out for Abraham for his well-being. With God as our committed friend, we really don’t need to worry about anything. As a matter of fact, Jesus said the similar thing to His disciples, “You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:14-15). Jesus is eager to tell His trusted and loyal friends everything that He knows, just as God did not withhold anything from Abraham. And the way to build this friendship with God is obedience – do what He commands us to do. This is a simple yet difficult law of spiritual formation. Jesus said, “Now that you know these things (to serve with agape love), you will be blessed if you do them” (John 13:17). Let’s put His love to practice in where God puts you to serve today.

Love you as a servant of God,
Lawrence

Devotional 240209

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good afternoon. My morning went by so fast with two meetings. I could hardly have time to read ‘My utmost for His Highest’ for my meditation. There was so much to catch up after I took a day off yesterday. All and all, it was a meaningful morning and two fruitful meetings as well, though I wished I could start my day to listen to God through some quiet time. Praise the Lord!
"I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well" (2 Corinthians 12:15). When the Spirit of God has shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, we begin deliberately to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ's interests in other people, and Jesus Christ is interested in every kind of man there is. We have no right in Christian work to be guided by our kinship; this is one of the biggest tests of our relationship to Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, not fling it away, but deliberately lay my life out for Him and His interests in other people, not for a cause. Paul spent himself for one purpose only - that he might win men to Jesus Christ. Paul attracted to Jesus all the time, never to himself. "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings" (1 Cor. 9:22-23).
When a man says he must develop a holy life alone with God, he is of no more use to his fellow men: he puts himself on a platform, away from the common run of men. Paul became a sacramental personality; wherever he went, Jesus Christ helped Himself to his life. Many of us are after our own ends, and Jesus Christ cannot help Himself to our lives. If we are abandoned to Jesus, we have no ends of our own to serve. Paul said he knew how to be a "door-mat" without resenting it, because the mainspring of his life was devotion to Jesus. We are apt to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things that liberate us spiritually. That was not Paul's motive. "I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race" (Rom 9:3) - wild, extravagant - is it? When a man is in love it is not an exaggeration to talk in that way, and Paul is in love with Jesus Christ.
The kind of love is the goal of our spiritual journey with God. We learn to give ourselves totally to Christ, so that He has total freedom to do anything with our lives. Have mercy on me O Lord. Give me the burning desire from within to love you with my whole being. Purify my passion and motive, so that I totally belong to you.
Love you with His passion,
Lawrence

Devotional 230209

Dear brothers and sisters,

Good morning. I thank God for giving me shelter in rainstorm. It is truly His grace that we have a place call home. I don’t feel like going anywhere in this kind of unsettled weather. It is nice to have a break to stay home after a weekend of preaching marathon to spend time with the Lord in meditation. There is nothing better than to abide in the presence of Christ. No matter where you are, you may enjoy the stillness of His presence by turning to Christ too. Our sweet Holy Spirit may direct your attention to some attributes of God, or remind you of the Words of God that are relevant to your life situation. He may remind you of the sermon that you heard yesterday. Or He may point you back to your favorite scriptures that mean so much to you. Whatever He may do, let the Holy Spirit work in and through you today. Indeed, our God desires to walk and talk with you. When we have the assurance of His presence in our lives, we will have inner strength to become the kind of servant that God desires us to become.

"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). Paul's idea of service is the same as Our Lord's: "I am among you as He that serves;" "ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." We have the idea that a man called to the ministry is called to be a different kind of being from other men. According to Jesus Christ, he is called to be the "door-mat" of other men; their spiritual leader, but never their superior. "I know how to be abased," says Paul. This is Paul's idea of service - "I will spend myself to the last flow away for you; you may give me praise or give me blame, it will make no difference." So long as there is a human being who does not know Jesus Christ, I am his debtor to serve him until he does. The mainspring of Paul's service is not love for men, but love for Jesus Christ. If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.
Paul's realization of how Jesus Christ had dealt with him is the secret of his determination to serve others. "I was before a perjurer, a blasphemer, an injurious person" - no matter how men may treat me, they will never treat me with the spite and hatred with which I treated Jesus Christ. When we realize that Jesus Christ has served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness, and sin, nothing that we meet with from others can exhaust our determination to serve men for His sake.

There is so much I need to learn from this kind of servant attitude. None wants to be despised or rejected by those you serve and care for. You expect some kind of ‘appreciation’ or ‘acknowledgement’ but not hateful response. However, this is not what our Lord prepared us to do. He leaves us a higher standard of a servant leader, which is to serve and love even your enemy. This world will take Christian’s love for granted, just like we take God’s love for granted. Moreover, we even refuse to obey His Words from time to time, though we acknowledge the price He had paid on the cross for our abundant life in Christ. Our Lord continues to serve and love us regardless. Have mercy on me O Lord. Help me to become the kind of servant you want me to be. And continue to mold my attitude for your glory. Amen.

Your servant in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 200209

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The weather forecast said that another rainstorm would come on Sunday. But today is another gorgeous day. Let’s fully enjoy this day that the Lord has made for us. It is a great joy to be able to utilize what He has given us at work; whether it is in the market place, at home or in a mission office. God is our ultimate boss. We are called to serve Him in wherever we are. It is not by coincidence that we are in where we are today. God has a wonderful plan that He wants to accomplish through us. The first challenge is whether we aware of His plan for us today or not. The other challenge is whether we have the courage to follow His plan. The latter requires 'trust and will' to do so. But ‘trust and will’ begin with a loving relationship. Love and trust are two sides of the same coin. And whenever there is love there is a will – determination to do good for your lover. Is your Lord Jesus really the lover of your soul today?

Jesus said, "Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here” (John 14:29-31). Dreaming about a thing in order to do it properly is right; but dreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. After Our Lord had said those wonderful things to His disciples, we might have expected that He would tell them to go away and meditate over them all; but Our Lord never allowed, "day dreaming." When we are getting into contact with God in order to find out what He wants, dreaming is right; but when we are inclined to spend our time in dreaming over what we have been told to do, it is a bad thing and God's blessing is never on it. God's initiative is always in the nature of a stab against this kind of dreaming, the stab that bids us "neither sit nor stand but go."

If we are quietly waiting before God and He has said - "Come set yourself apart," then that is meditation before God in order to get at the line He wants; but always beware of giving over to mere dreaming when once God has spoken. Let Him be the source of all your dreams and joys and delights, and go out and obey what He has said. If you are in love, you do not sit down and dream about the one you love all the time, you go and do something for him or her; and that is what Jesus Christ expects us to do. Dreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him.

Don’t misunderstand that our Lord is a driven, type A person. When our Lord appointed his 12 apostles, his expectation for them was, “that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark 3:14-15). It is a balance between abiding in Christ and preaching the gospel, or relationship and task. If the order of assignment signifies priority, then relationship is before task. As we talk about taking action to obey and do God’s will, we need to spend time to listen to what our Lord really wants from us. If a Christian only serves without spending time with God in silence, his or her service will soon wither. That’s why Jesus reminded Martha, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her – that is spending time with Christ” (Luke 10:41-42). Jesus is not a slave driver. We are our own slave drivers. Take time to smell the roses or appreciate the Nature. He wants to whisper His love for you.

Love you because He loves us first,
Lawrence

Devotional 190209

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for another beautiful day. After half a year of exploring my role in GO international, my life right now is packed with unfinished projects and potential missions that I wish to accomplish. It could be very stressful at time, though it is exciting. But whenever I slow down my ‘brain waves’ in meditation and journaling, I am reminded to appreciate the greatness of God and His wonderful creation in life. If we are on fast track all the time, we could easily become inhuman by trying to be superhuman; attempt to play God and try to be in control of everything we do. When we turn our eyes to the work of God through Nature, we are reminded that we are His new creation in Christ. And our existence is to accomplish His purpose on earth. A tree outside my window is a beautiful work of God. Its existence is to declare the glory of its Creator, allow birds to rest in its arms, for people to hide under its shade in summer and more. It does not accomplish ‘great things’ for God but simply be the tree God wants it to be. Amen? I like Oswald Chamber’s reminder in his devotional, to attend to the ‘little things’ in life that God will use to shape our lives for His glory.

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you" (Isaiah 60:1). We have to take the first step as though God was not there for us. It is no use to wait for God to help us to do what He inspires us to do, He will not; but immediately when we arise we find He is there. Whenever God inspires, the initiative is always a moral one. We must do the thing and not lie like a log. If we will arise and shine, chore becomes divinely transfigured.

Chore is one of the finest touchstones of character there is. Chore is work that is very far removed from anything to do with the ideal - the utterly mean soiled things; and when we come in contact with them we know instantly whether or not we are spiritually real. Read John 13. We see there the Incarnate God doing the most desperate piece of chore, washing fishermen's feet, and He says - "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (John 13:14-17). It requires the inspiration of God to go through chores with the light of God upon it. Some people do a certain thing and the way in which they do it consecrates that thing forever afterwards. It may be the most commonplace thing, but after we have seen them do it, it becomes different. When the Lord does a thing through us, He always transfigures it. Our Lord took on Him our human flesh and transfigured it, and it has become for every saint the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Procrastination is a common problem for many Christians. The Bible has made it clear to them the initiative of God, and the Holy Spirit has affirmed in their hearts, yet they still wait for God to help them do what they were supposed to, especially when it comes to something that they don’t want to do like chores. Our Lord wants us to wash one another’s feet or to be servant for one another. But we will prefer to wait for others to do it. We want to do great things for God. But if we are not willing to do chore like a humble servant, no matter how great a mission you have accomplished for God, it may not be something God has in mind for you. No wondered Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23, “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. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” In another word, if a great preacher or missionary refuse to do the lowly chore that God has initiated for him to do, he is not doing the will of God. Have mercy on me O Lord. Remind me from time to time that chore is part of your shaping process for me. You use it to transform my character, which is more important than my comfort and accomplishment. Let’s hold each other accountable to be the servant of God.

Love you in Christ,
Lawrence