Devotional 131109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It is such a cool and gorgeous day! Praise the Lord. Pray that the Lord will empower you in your service to Him today. How blessed we are to be His children and be able to enjoy His daily presence in life! Let’s be faithful to one another because our Father is faithful to us in all His promises.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). We have to battle through our moods into absolute devotion to the Lord Jesus, to get out of the hole-and-corner business of our experience into abandoned devotion to Him. Think Who the New Testament says that Jesus Christ is, and then think of the despicable meanness of the miserable faith we have - I haven't had this and that experience! Think what faith in Jesus Christ claims - that He can present us faultless before the throne of God, unutterably pure, absolutely rectified and profoundly justified. Stand in implicit adoring faith in Him, He is made unto us "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." How can we talk of making a sacrifice for the Son of God! Our salvation is from hell and eternal condemnation, and then we talk about making sacrifices for Christ!?

We have to get out into faith in Jesus Christ continually; not a prayer meeting Jesus Christ, nor a book Jesus Christ, but the New Testament Jesus Christ, Who is God Incarnate, and Who ought to strike us to His feet as dead. Our faith must be in the One from Whom our experience springs. Jesus Christ wants our absolute abandon of devotion to Himself. We never can experience Jesus Christ, nor ever hold Him within the compass of our own hearts, but our faith must be built in strong emphatic confidence in Him.

It is along this line that we see the rugged impatience of the Holy Spirit against unbelief. All our fears are wicked, and we fear because we will not nourish ourselves in our faith. How can any one who is identified with Jesus Christ suffer from doubt or fear! It ought to be an absolute certainty of perfectly irrepressible, triumphant belief.

I don’t know how to respond to Brother Chambers’ powerful message. I was totally humbled by this reminder. How often we have doubt about our faith in Christ, or our walk with Him? How often we calculate our sacrifice or offering to God as though we have already done a lot! Many believers offer to God less than they gave tips to waiter or on dog food per month. They would take God for granted and His servants for granted as well. They would seek help from pastor or church, but they will never consider to pay for their service, as though ministers entitled to serve and they entitled to be served. If this is the attitude believers have toward God’s servants, what kind of attitude they have toward these servants’ Master? I heard of missionary’s story how believers from poor neighborhood would give their prime possessions like chicken, eggs and vegetables to the missionary in appreciation of the gospel he brought to them. Their giving signified their appreciation of the good gift they received from God. As Paul said, “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Phil 4:11), I don’t think any ministers or missionaries are expecting anything in return because they consider their service to God as nothing in comparing to what Christ has accomplished on the cross for them. I am saying this to encourage you not to take God’s gift for granted or takes anyone who is caring for your well being for granted. During this season of Thanksgiving, I hope you will take action to appreciate your pastors or ministers who have been serving you faithfully in church without expecting anything in return. Respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work (1 Thess 5:12). Your gratitude toward His servants expresses your gratitude toward the Lover of your soul. As Jesus said in his parable, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt 25:40), appreciate those who labor for you in church today.

Love you as fellow brother in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 121109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It was great to enjoy a day of Sabbath with Loretta. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated for another great day of service again. Time really flies. Thanksgiving Day is only two weeks away. During this season of thanksgiving, let’s spend time to count the blessings we have in Christ; the blessings of new babies, new couples, new believers, new ministry, new jobs and renewed marriage etc. We rejoice for all the great relationship we have in church, at work, at home and in our community. Treasure what you have and enjoy with the heart full of thanksgiving. Amen?

"If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). What idea have you of the salvation of your soul? The experience of salvation means that in your actual life things are really altered, you no longer look at things as you used to; your desires are new, old things have lost their power. One of the touchstones of experience is - Has God altered the thing that matters? If you still crave after the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above, you are juggling with yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the alteration manifest in your actual life and reasoning, and when the crisis come you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing alteration that is the evidence that you are a saved soul.

What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13, or do I have to shuffle? The salvation that is worked out in me by the Holy Spirit liberates me entirely, and as long as I walk in the light as God is in the light, He sees nothing to censure because His life is working out in every particular, not to my consciousness, but deeper than my consciousness.

The born again experience begins with the mind. This new being in Christ cares for things above, sees things from Christ’s eyes, hears things from the Holy Spirit, and deals with things through the love of God the Father. It takes daily practice of surrendering our will to God, just as Paul said, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5). The more we take captive of our old way of thinking and make it obedient to Christ, the more our new being become truly Christ like, because we no longer desire and think like our old self.

Surrendering our old self is not an easy thing to do. It goes against our nature; our nature will grumble and complain. We question ourselves from time to time whether this is too extreme. We have no certainty whether we are going toward a right direction. But when we press on just as Paul did to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us, then our old being will be liberated and transformed into this new being in Christ. May the Lord empower each one of us to enter into this abundantly new life that Christ has prepared for us to enjoy!

Love you in His mindset,
Lawrence

Devotional 101109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I did not realize I was so exhausted until late evening yesterday. I guessed my adrenal thrust finally slowed down from being on high gear for a couple of days. It was so hard for me to get up this morning. My body just craved for rest…. Praise God for witnessing Him at work in the retreat. I feel that this people group is ready to take on the baton from us, in planting indigenous churches for their kinsmen in China. When I shared about my experience with Iu Mienh people in China, many were willing to go with me to Jin Ping. Praise the Lord! However, it still takes a few years of transition because they don’t speak Mandarin but English. Hopefully, they will commit to go with us for couple of years before they completely take over the mission.

"We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith" (1 Thessalonians 3:2). After sanctification it is difficult to state what your aim in life is, because God has taken you up into His purpose by the Holy Spirit; He is using you now for His purposes throughout the world as He used His Son for the purpose of our salvation. If you seek great things for yourself - God has called me for this and that; you are putting a barrier to God's use of you. As long as you have a personal interest in your own character, or any set ambition, you cannot get through into identification with God's interests. You can only get there by losing for ever any idea of yourself and by letting God take you right out into His purpose for the world, and because your goings are of the Lord, you can never understand your ways.

I have to learn that the aim in life is God's, not mine. God is using me from His great personal standpoint, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him, and never say - Lord, this gives me such heart-ache. To talk in that way makes me a block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can catch me up for what He wants without any hindrance. He can crumple me up or exalt me; He can do anything He chooses. He simply asks me to have implicit faith in Himself and in His goodness. Self pity is of the devil, if I go off on that line I cannot be used by God for His purpose in the world. I have "a world within the world" in which I live, and God will never be able to get me outside it because I am afraid of being frost-bitten.

Yielding, submitting or surrendering to God is the goal of our Christian living. We learn to give God full freedom to do whatever He wants in and through our lives. Yes. We may have our own agenda. We may want to accomplish some great and enjoyable things in life…only to find out later that they are insignificant and empty. There is nothing as meaningful and satisfactory than to do His will or to become instrument in His hands. It is a distinct privilege to become His channel of blessings. I was humbled to see how the Lord had used me in the Mienh’s retreat. When leaders shared how much they were blessed by the messages, I was astonished to hear that God had used me in such a way for His own glory. I lean to let Him freely do His work in and through me. As a result, I experience the fruit of my salvation in Him. I am sure you can taste the same blessing when you seek to give Him the freedom to do His will.

Love you in His will,
Lawrence

Devotional 061109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The weather makes me sleepy. Physically, I am very tired trying to meet the demands of both work and study. But I am excited to be fully engaged in learning. Pray that God will give me new strength each day in serving Him and grow in Him.

"Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:26) Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ, she believed that if He had been present He could have healed her brother; she also believed that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and that whatever He asked of God, God would do; but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha's program of belief had its fulfillment in the future; Jesus led her on until her belief became a personal possession, and then slowly emerged into a particular inheritance - "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ. . . "

Is there something like that in the Lord's dealings with you? Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself? Let Him press home His question to you - "Do you believe this?" What is your ordeal of doubt? Have you come, like Martha, to some overwhelming passage in your circumstances where your program of belief is about to emerge into a personal belief? This can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem.

To believe is to commit. In the program of mental belief I commit myself, and abandon all that is not related to that commitment. In personal belief I commit myself morally to this way of confidence and refuse to compromise with any other; and in particular belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ, and determine in that thing to be dominated by the Lord alone.

When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me - "Do you believe this?" I find that faith is as natural as breathing, and I am staggered that I was so stupid as not to trust Him before.

Indeed, our faith in Christ usually remains on a cognitive level. Until one day when our faith is put on testing by some circumstances, we will not commit ourselves totally to His hands. When everything is so smooth and complacent, our faith in God is just to believe in His presence. We believe He exists. We believe Jesus is God. We believe God will help those who help themselves. We believe that following Christ will earn blessings from above. It is good to believe in Christ because He was a good man. If our faith is like what I have just described, we are at a primitive stage of faith. This faith has not be shaken or tested by real life challenges. We need to draw closer to God in order to withstand different challenges or temptations in life. Your intimacy with God is the only way to shelter you from all kinds of hidden attacks from Satan. That’s why Paul said, “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….take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph 6:13, 16). The way to put on a full armor of God is to equip yourself with the Word of God on a daily basis. Satan will not wait until you are fully equipped before he attacks. Satan will not notify you ahead of time when he will launch his attack. It will be totally unexpected just like the gun man who suddenly stood up in a crowded medical facility at Fort Hood, Texas, and opened fire toward the unarmed soldiers. Walk intimately with Christ because you never know when your life will come to an end, or when Satan will launch his attack against you.

Please pray for my weekend ministry at a Yao Meinh’s Couple retreat. Yao Mienh is a people group from Southeast Asia. Many of them came to America as refugees after the Vietnam War. Some of them came to know Christ and had planted a church at East Bay. Pray that they will understand my message and workshop, which will all be conducted in English (I wished I could speak Mienh). Thanks. Will send you my devotional on Tuesday if not sooner. Do check out my block for latest pictures that I will take from the retreat. Wish you have a blessed weekend too!

Love you in Christ,
Lawrence.

Devotional 051109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. May our Lord grant you new strength to face the challenge of this new day! It is exciting to see how life unfolds each day, regardless of how boring or stressful it may be. If you walk with Christ, you know each day is a new lesson about His grace.

"Rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings" (1 Peter 4:13). If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across. Oh, I can't deal with that person. Why not? God gave you ample opportunity to soak before Him on that line, and you argued off because it seemed stupid to spend time in that way.

The sufferings of Christ are not those of ordinary men. He suffered "according to the will of God," not from the point of view we suffer from as individuals. It is only when we are related to Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us. It is part of Christian culture to know what God's aim is. In the history of the Christian Church the tendency has been to evade being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ; men have sought to acquire the carrying out of God's order by a short cut of their own. God's way is always the way of suffering, the way of the "long, long trail."

Are we partakers of Christ's sufferings? Are we prepared for God to stamp our personal ambitions right out? Are we prepared for God to destroy by transfiguration our individual determinations? It will not mean that we know exactly why God is taking us that way that would make us spiritual brags. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through; we go through suffering more or less misunderstandingly; then we come to a realization stage, and say - ' 'Why, God has equipped me, though I did not know it!"

I believe that bearing our cross to follow Christ was God’s way to prepare us to face different challenges of life. Our Lord’s teaching for us is to intentionally train our souls to encounter suffering without fear. It may appear to be ridiculous when our Lord said, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also…If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles” (Matt 5:39-42). To Christ, the first strike or draft was involuntary but the second one was voluntary; it requires exercising your free will to accept pain or suffering for a divine purpose: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:44-45). In the same token, Jesus challenged his followers, “Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). Being the follower of Christ is to imitate Christ. And to imitate Christ is to identify with his death and suffering for mankind. As we do, we can truly echo Paul’s claim, “I can do everything (or encounter every situation) through him who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13).

Our Lord purposefully wants to equip His disciples to become special task forces like Navy Seals to accomplish His salvation plan on earth. Navy Seals are the Special Operations Forces of the United States Navy, employed in direct action and special reconnaissance operations. SEALs are also capable of undertaking unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, and other missions. They had to endure a lot of suffering and went through very difficult training in order to earn their title. We don’t need to earn our title as the children of God. We received it through the suffering of Christ. But God wants those who received this free gift imitate the life of His Son. Continue to train us, O Lord, to be more Christ like each day.

Love you as Christ loves me,
Lawrence

Devotional 041109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Hope you rise and shine for the Lord today. Being alive means being the witness of God’s abundant grace and mercy upon us each day. I look forward to many challenges that may come my way each day. There are endless readings and preparation for either my work or study. Deadlines after deadlines just put my life on the edge from time to time. I rejoice for all these challenges that I can utilize my time and potential to handle and grow. It makes me feel vibrant and young all the time.

"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8). It is essential to give people a chance of acting on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual, you cannot act for him, it must be his own deliberate act, but the evangelical message ought always to lead a man to act. The paralysis of refusing to act leaves a man exactly where he was before; when once he acts, he is never the same. It is the foolishness of it that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Immediately I hurried myself over into an act, that second I live; all the rest is existence. The moments when I truly live are the moments when I act with my whole will.

Never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it, not necessarily physically, but in will. Record it, with ink or with blood. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts; all the almighty power of God is on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, we confess we are wrong, but go back again; then we come up to it again, and go back; until we learn that we have no business to go back. We have to go clean over on some word of our redeeming Lord and transact business with Him. His word "come" means "transact." "Come unto Me." The last thing we do is to come; but everyone who does come knows that that second the supernatural rush of the life of God invades him instantly. The dominating power of the world, the flesh and the devil is paralyzed, not by your act, but because your act has linked you on to God and His redemptive power.

Procrastination is a common problem for many Christians who live in a complacent environment like America. There are too many options or alternatives that we have to consider before we act. We would always wait to see or consider if there are more options for us to choose from; sometimes there are just too many choices before us that we don’t know what to choose. A lot of time, Christians wait until the last minute before they choose to attend a certain function in church. Not that they are too busy. They just don’t want to commit too soon that tie them down by their commitment. So they would rather wait and see until the last minute.

In a post-modern culture that we are in today, we will not submit to “absolute authority” of God easily. When there is no absolute, there is no “highest” priority in life. There may be three to five equally “important” priorities in a Christian’s life; God, spouse, family, work, entertainments, friends and so forth. When all these priorities are equally important in a Christian, he or she will surely have problem to choose. If there is no clear sense of priority in life, a person will have difficulty to say no to many options that knock on his or her door fromt time to time. Unless you can passionately say YES to God as the “highest priority” in life, you cannot say NO to all the good things that will detour you from the main purpose of life.

We have been reading this devotional classic: My utmost for His highest, which signify the author’s commitment in putting God as the highest priority in life. I hope that the sharing of this devotional will help you refocus your priority in life, so that your life will be more energetic, passionate and fulfilled. Indeed, when you put God first in life, you enter into His glory and abundance, just as Christ promises to offer. Have a very blessed day to enjoy your service in Him.

Love you for His glory and abundance,
Lawrence

Devotional 031109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It is so beautiful today that I should take a day off to enjoy this special warm weather in autumn. Thank God that I have a great view of the city of San Francisco from my office. It is so refreshing to just watch the Nature for a few minutes, and to meditate on the greatness of God and His beautiful work around us. Praise the Lord!

"I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2:20). These words mean the breaking of my independence with my own hand and surrendering to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can do this for me, I must do it myself. God may bring me up to the point three hundred and sixty-five times a year, but He cannot put me through it. It means breaking the husk of my individual independence of God, and the emancipating of my personality into oneness with Himself, not for my own ideas, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus. There is no possibility of dispute when once I am there. Very few of us know anything about loyalty to Christ - "For My sake." It is that which makes the iron saint.

Has that break come? All the rest is pious fraud. The one point to decide is - Will I give up, will I surrender to Jesus Christ, and make no conditions whatever as to how the break comes? I must be broken from my self-realization, and immediately that point is reached, the reality of the supernatural identification takes place at once, and the witness of the Spirit of God is unmistakable - "I have been crucified with Christ."

The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I do not begin to be a saint.

One student a year who hears God's call would be sufficient for God to have called a Chrsitian College into existence. A College as an organization is not worth anything, it is not academic; it is for nothing else but for God to help Himself to lives. Is He going to help Himself to us, or are we taken up with our conception of what we are going to be?

It is not easy to surrender totally to Christ. We got too used to be our own boss. We do what we desire. We choose our own way at our own speed. We are conditioned to win and to be competitive. We want to go ahead of others rather than to yield to others. The more we try to show off the more we remove ourselves from the cross of Christ. If I want to earn the adoration of man, my life is not yet broken. Have mercy on me. O Lord!

I came across this passage at our staff prayer meeting. It is Paul’s testimony to the Thessalonians, “You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed--God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else” (1 Thess 2:5-6). The reason why Paul said this word to the church at Thessalonica was because some Jewish believers did not stand up for Christ within their own community. They were afraid of rejection within their Jewish community, which could mean losing support, business connections and financial crisis. This is their test of faithfulness. Most of us will pass the test of faith – believing in Christ Jesus as personal Lore and Savior. But many of us may not pass the test of faithfulness – to remain steadfast in Christ despite persecution or rejection from our own peers. I recognize that this is beyond man’s will power to do so. It has to be the work of the Holy Spirit within us to make it happen, provided that we walk close with Him each day. May God grant you the strength to shine for Him at wherever you are!

Love you in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 021109

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I have learned a lesson on my way to work this morning. The traffic was really bad on highway 280 from my home. I thought I could find a short cut by taking Skyline Blvd. The traffic appeared to be very smooth on Highway 1 until I reached Skyline; the traffic jam was even worse because the traffic light was out of order. I was on the far right merging lane. The traffic was so slow that people did not yield. So instead of fighting myself into the left lane, I took off to Pacifica on Hicky Blvd, assuming to by pass the traffic light by going through the side street. Then I ran into another traffic jam because of road repair. At the end, it took me much longer time than following slow traffic on 280. I was reminded that this experience could apply to our choices in life. Our Lord said, “Enter through narrow gate (slow traffic for sure)…for the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life” (Matthew 7:13-14). The more I try to find an easy way out for life, the more frustration I may invite into my own life, which may even end with self-destruction. It is better to stick with the narrow gate or Biblical principle, even though it may feel like taking forever to reach our destiny!

"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Our Lord never insists upon obedience; He tells us very emphatically what we ought to do, but He never takes means to make us do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit. That is why whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an IF - you do not need to unless you like. "If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself," let him give up his right to himself to Me. Our Lord is not talking of eternal positions or salvation, but of being of value to Himself in this order of things, that is why He sounds so severe. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26). Never interpret these words apart from the One Who uttered them.

The Lord does not give me rules, He makes His standard very clear, and if my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without any hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love some one else in competition with Him, and that is myself. Jesus Christ will not help me to obey Him, I must obey Him; and when I do obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small petty incidents, altogether unnoticeable and mean; but if I obey Jesus Christ in the disorganized circumstances, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God, and when I stand face to face with God I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. Once God's Redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always generates creativity in ministry. If I obey Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me to other lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God.

I find this insight from Brother Chambers to be very precious. The deed of obedience is the reality of God – it is the work and presence of God that generates the deed of obedience. When we see a person’s willingness to obey God, it represents his or her encountering of the reality of God. No one can force a person to leave his high pay profession and his comfort zone, to serve God in a remote country of the world out of obedience to His call, in making disciples of all nations. This obedience does not derive from fear of punishment or religious duty. It is motivated by a heart of thanksgiving, joy and desire to touch God’s heart.

We are saved by faith not good deeds or deeds of obedience. It is all because of what Christ has done on the cross and what He continues to do in our heart. It takes a life time to learn the lesson of self-denial. If our salvation depends on our self-denial, we have no assurance of salvation at all. But praise God that we are saved by faith – identify with the death of Christ in my life. And out of such assurance, I seek to imitate Christ and put Him first over everything else including my own life. Just as Brother Paul said, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ” (Phil 3:8). The passion of Paul’s pursuit of Christ was not out of fear of losing his salvation or desire to secure his salvation. On a contrary, Paul would desire Christ more than even his own salvation in accordance to his own word, “I consider EVERYTHING a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing (affective knowing) Christ.” Father God, help me treasure Christ more than anything on earth. Amen.

Love you because of Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 301009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It is a blessing to work in a very beautiful environment along the water front of the Bay. I enjoy the beauty of His creation and the indwelling of His presence. Nothing can compare the precious grace of God, who give us this new life in Christ. I can’t imagine how my life may become without this relationship with God. His presence is my wisdom and my strength, which gives me this inner joy and peace that surpasses all understanding. Praise the Lord!

"Without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Hebrews 11:6). 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 of God's providence transfigures the ideal faith into actual reality. Faith always works on the personal line, the whole purpose of God being to see that 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 – “Lord, you have said that seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33), it looks mad, but I am going to venture on your word.” To turn head faith into a personal possession is a fight always, not sometimes. God 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 can not have faith in Him; but immediately we hear Jesus say - "He that has seen Me has seen the Father," 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.

Some people said that faith is like our muscle. The more you use it the stronger it becomes. You cannot take a pill or eat special diet to grow muscle. You just have to exercise your muscle daily in order to grow it. In the same token, God in His design wants us to grow faith accordingly. Our experience with God grows when we exercise our faith to obey His words each day, no matter how irrational or illogical it may seem.

When I look back in my life, Loretta and I followed Matthew 6:33 as the anchor verse for our marriage and life. And indeed God provides us more than we can imagine as we seek Him first in our lives. God gave us abundant provisions to meet all our daily needs. He gave us two children and they grew up without lacking anything. We grow in Him each day as we continue to put Him first in our lives in whatever we do. I sincerely believe that God honors those who honor Him. I am not perfect, and I can’t say I honor Him in every aspect of my life. But I seek to grow toward this goal and press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me (Phil 3:12b). I encourage you to put Him first in your life and expereicne Him today...

Love you by faith in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 291009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The wind subsides. The sun is warm and the bay is so beautiful! While I was listening to Scripture reading (Mandarin) along with my coffer, I didn’t feel the traffic jam at all. Yes, there were a lot of cars on South bound 101 to San Mateo Bridge. But when my focus was not on the traffic but on the Word of God, everything seemed so smooth and fast. It feels like having someone whom you love to talk to while you drive. And I believe this is the experience of walking with Christ.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:.21). 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, 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 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. Jesus said, “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” (see John 15:22- 24). Jesus proclamation, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9b) was only spoken to His disciples.

That Christ died for me, “therefore I go debt free” is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that "He died for all" (not - 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: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." It is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me.

In another word, the redemption of the cross is not effective on me if I do not identify with His death as the only way to be free from sin. The word identification is therefore the central idea of new creation in Christ. A new life is born from within me as I identify with the death of Christ for all sinners. In this way, as the life of Christ matures within me, the death of Christ becomes my daily reminder that "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” Galatians 2:20). This may sound too profound to us today. But it is how the earlier church and believers conducted their lives daily. We can never explain why the early church braved severe persecutions, and the threat of losing everything they treasured in life (including their family and loved ones), just to bear witness for Christ in their lives. To them, it was not them who died for Christ but Christ in them who died for all. The Body of Christ on earth will continue to brave persecutions for the sake of proclaiming the Good News to mankind. The Church does not sacrifice for the needs of mankind. The church sacrifices because of her obedience to Christ who lives in them and continues to offer Himself as living sacrifice for the salvation of all people.

Something for you to meditate and respond to your Master today…

Love you through Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 281009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Even though the traffic is bad and weather is windy, I feel secure by hiding in the loving arms of God the Father. He is our hiding place. We can always find perfect peace in Him. Praise the Lord! It is our Lord’s desire to give us this peace just as He promised us, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). Remain in the Lord wherever you are, and enjoy this wonderful gift that He gives.

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Romans 5:10). I am not saved by believing; I only realize that I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me; 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. It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died for me. When I turn to God and by faith accept what God reveals to me the gift that I can accept, instantly the astonishing 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 brings it with a breaking, shinning light, 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. The impregnable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We have not to work out these things ourselves; they have been worked out by the Atonement. The supernatural becomes natural by the miracle of God; there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done - "It is finished."

We have nothing to boast. Our new life in Christ is a free gift; something we don’t deserve and nothing we can do to earn it. This is also the stumbling block for many who believe they can achieve salvation by good work, whether the Jews or Chinese. All human religions are human attempts to reach God or even to become God. We thought we can attain spiritual perfection or salvation by our good deeds and spiritual disciplines like keeping the Ten Commandments. The cross of Christ nullifies all these attempts. There is none we can use to accomplish what Christ has done on the Cross on our behalf. Not that we don’t need to do anything because of what Christ did. We simply accept this free gift by faith, and yield to this new life to grow within us to the point of losing the identity of our old selves. Just as Paul said, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:2-3), therefore, stop trying to save yourself by any good works, but abiding yourself in Christ each day. Tell the Holy Spirit how much you desire to walk with Him, and wait for Him to tell you how much He desire to walk with you.

Love you because of the Cross,
Lawrence

Devotional 271009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Praise God for a bright sunny day! Life is full of challenges and excitement simply because our Lord is working in our lives each day. His plan is to shape and mold us to be the kind of disciples that will impact the world. His plan is to use us to become His means to offer abundant lives to all people. This abundant life is a mission driven life; a life that is filled with joy and excitements. It is a life that sees no end in fulfillment and growth. It is a life that walks with Creator God each day until forever.

"Therefore go, and teach (make disciple of) all nations" (Matthew 28:19). Jesus Christ did not say - Go and save souls (the salvation of souls is the supernatural work of God), but - "Go and teach" that is to “disciple 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 said - Don't rejoice in successful service; the great secret of joy is that you are rightly related to Me. 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 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 people are indifference to the gospel; but along the line of his own personal relationship to Jesus Christ. "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" Our Lord puts that question steadily; it faces us in every individual case we meet. 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, which is the only call for his disciples, who have boundless confidence in Christ Jesus? If I take up any other method I depart altogether from the methods laid down by Our Lord - "All power is given unto Me . . , therefore go and make disciples of all nations."

Our mission is to teach the world about Christ, and our means is to imitate the life of Christ. The world wants to see how we walk our faith instead of just to talk about our faith. There are different philosophies and religions for people to build their faith upon. People are not interested to build their faith upon a “theory” or a “claim.” People want to build relationship with a God who is genuinely caring and omnipresence; a God of “Emmanuel.” I discovered lately that churches in China like to put the word “Emmanuel” at the center of their sanctuary. They want to remind themselves that the God upon whom they trust is a god of Emmanuel – omnipresence. After going through (or while they are still going through) many trials, hardship, persecutions and sufferings, they came to realize one thing – their God is truly Emmanuel; Our Lord Jesus did not remove His church from hardship or persecutions throughout centuries. Nevertheless, He, the Holy Spirit, did not forsake them but live and work among them. That little “Emmanuel” banner is their testimony and life message. God empowered the church in China to grow left and right throughout the last 60 years under Communist regime. They practiced their faith and obey the Lord’s command to make disciples among their own kinsmen. Now, the church of China will obey the Lord’s command to make disciples of ALL nations.

As I said in my sermon at the Bi-vocational conference, China is considered to be an awakening Giant or Super-power in this 21st Century. And Chinese Church (both in China and Diaspora) will also play a significant role in global mission; Missiologists believe that Chinese Church will produce 50,000 missionaries in the next twenty years (currently, we only have about 1000 Chinese missionaries globally). But before this projection becomes a reality, a great revival must first take place. Let’s pray that this revival will begin in you and me.

Love you for His glory,
Lawrence

Devotional 261009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Praise God for an exciting weekend to witness God’s work in many people’s lives. God’s message had been preached and calling was issued. We will see how the Lord continues to work in His children’s lives to make a difference in the world. Our Lord is relentless until the gospel is preached to all peoples and all nations. A revival is happening in many Christian lives and in many churches across the land. We will see how the Lord may lead each one of us.

"As My Father has sent Me, even so send I you" (John 20:21) A missionary is one sent by Jesus Christ as He was sent by God. The great dominant note is not the needs of men, but the command of Jesus. The source of our inspiration in work for God is behind, not before. The tendency to-day is to put the inspiration ahead, to sweep everything in front of us and bring it all out to our conception of success. In the New Testament the inspiration is put behind us, the Lord Jesus. The ideal is to be true to Him, to carry out His enterprises.

Personal attachment to the Lord Jesus and His point of view is the one thing that must not be overlooked. In missionary enterprise the great danger is that God's call is replaced by the needs of the people until human sympathy absolutely overwhelms the meaning of being sent by Jesus. The needs are so enormous, the conditions so perplexing, that every power of mind fades and fails. We forget that the one great reason underneath all missionary enterprise is not first the elevation of the people, nor the education of the people, nor their needs; but first and foremost the command of Jesus Christ - "Go you therefore, and teach all nations."

When looking back on the lives of men and women of God the tendency is to say - What wonderfully perceptive wisdom they had! How perfectly they understood all God wanted! The perceptive mind behind is the Mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the Divine guidance of God through childlike people who were foolish enough to trust God's wisdom and the supernatural equipment of God.

Indeed we need to take note from this reminder. We don’t preach the gospel because people need the Lord. People don’t know they need the Lord. As a matter of fact, people rebel against God. They attack the message and the messengers. It is us who impose the needs to them. It is not their felt needs. Good news for most people today is that they can find a job that pays well, or opportunity to make a lot of money. If we preach the gospel out of people’s need, we may never need to do so. We do it out of our obedience to Christ. We preach the gospel because our Creator God knows what man really need.

Sometimes, we are moved by the needs of mankind to give and to serve just like our Lord Jesus. When our Lord Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matt 9:36-38). But most of the time, we don’t necessarily moved by other people’s need; we do it out of obedience because it is a command from our loving Heavenly Father.

Have mercy on us O Lord! Help us draw close to you and feel your heartbeat for the lost. The time will come when opportunity to preach the gospel is over. Our Lord returns to judge the living and the dead. Seize the moment and do what you are commanded to do.

Love you in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 231009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Praise God for another gorgeous day that our Lord has made. This is the day that we have because tomorrow is not within our reach. Seize this moment to grow and to serve Him. I was wondering how to mobilize Chinese churches and Christians for the great commission. Nowadays, Christians are busy with all kinds of activities inside and outside of churches. We are too tired to do the most important thing for God – the great commission. How can we answer God when we face His judgment seat today? Have mercy on us, O Lord. We need your help to refocus the church on our priorities.

"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our Lord never nurses our prejudices; He mortifies them, runs clean remove them. We imagine that God has a special interest in our particular prejudices; we are quite sure that God will never deal with us as He has to deal with other people. "God must deal with other people in a very stern way, but of course He knows that my prejudices are all right." We have to learn - "Not a bit of it!" Instead of God being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately wiping them out. It is part of our moral education to have our prejudices run straight across by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.

When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is not a bit of the old order left, the old seriousness goes, the old attitude to things goes, and "all things are of God." How are we going to get the life that has no lust, no self-interest, no sensitiveness to pokes, the love that is not provoked, that thinks no evil, that is always kind? The only way is by allowing not a bit of the old life to be left; but only simple perfect trust in God, such trust that we no longer want God's blessings, but only want Himself. Have we come to the place where God can withdraw His blessings and it does not affect our trust in Him? When once we see God at work, we will never bother our heads about things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in Heaven Whom the world cannot see.

This is a goal in our Christian life: we want God Himself more than His blessings. But in reality, we know how difficult it is. We always want blessings from above. We want the best from God but not necessarily God Himself. There are so much on earth that we like to take ownership but not fully owned by God. Our Heavenly Father knows our weaknesses even though He desires for us to be perfect. He will not be disappointed even though we do not love Him more than anything else on earth. God continues to nurture our new identity or new creature in Christ. “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:6).

I am asking myself from time to time why I react to stress like my pre-Christian friends. Or why I desire worldly possessions like the rest of the world would? How does my life in Christ different from those who are not? I am sure God is at work within me like He does in you, simply because He loves you and me. Our Heavenly Father knows where we need to grow and change. He will put us in situations or circumstances that will shape us. We still face the same kind of stress like everyone else. God is not prejudice. He will not give us better treatment than the rest in this world. Jesus said, “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:44-48). God will continue to nurture our faith in Him. The Holy Spirit will continue to empower us to live out our faith. Our Lord Jesus will continue to whisper in our soul how much He loves us. At the end of the day, we grow as the son of God.

Please pray for our Bi-vocational conference that starts tonight. Pray for all the speakers including me that God will reveal His plan to all of us... Encourage you to come even though you did not register ahead of time. If money is a concern, let me know. I will take care of it for you.

Love you like Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 221009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. There is no other God but our Lord Jesus. There is no other who deserves our praise and worship but Him who has started the good work in us for His purpose. God is working tirelessly in our lives to transform us into the likeness of His Son. We recognize His work as we humbly surrender ourselves to His hands, just like a piece of canvas surrenders to the hands of a Master Painter, and turns into a piece of beautiful artwork.

"The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children" (Romans 8:16). We are in danger of getting the bargaining spirit when we come to God; we want the witness before we have done what God tells us to do. "Why does not God reveal Himself to me?" He cannot, it is not that He will not, but He cannot, because you are in the road as long as you won't abandon absolutely to Him. Immediately you do, God witnesses to Himself, He cannot witness to you, but He witnesses instantly to His own nature in you. If you had the witness before the reality, it would end in sentimental emotion. Immediately you surrender to His Redemption, and stop the arrogance of debate, God gives on the witness. As soon as you abandon reasoning and argument, God witnesses to what He has done, and we are amazed at our rebellion in having kept Him waiting. If you are in debate as to whether God can deliver you from sin, either let Him do it, or tell Him He cannot. Do not quote this and that person, try Matthew 11:28 - "Come unto Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Come, if you are weary and heavy laden; ask, if you know you are evil. Our Lord said, “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 Spirit of God witnesses to the Redemption of Our Lord, He does not witness to anything else; He cannot witness to our reason. The simplicity that comes from our natural common-sense decisions is apt to be mistaken for the witness of the Spirit, but the Spirit witnesses only to His own nature, and to the work of Redemption, never to our reason. If we try to make Him witness to our reason, it is no wonder we are in darkness and perplexity. Fling it all overboard, trust in Him, and He will give the witness.

God gifts us the power to reason. But we don’t apply our reasoning to God’s witness as though we have higher wisdom than Him. Our Holy Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. You don’t need to proof to others about your new identity in Christ. Not what you did to God that testifies your new identity in Christ. It is when you surrender or abandon to Christ by faith each day that echoes with the testimony of God within you. God whispers to your souls each day that you are His beloved child with whom He is well pleased (Mark 1:11). Listen more to His words than to your own reasoning or arguments. The more you recognize your inadequacy and your limitations, the more you yield to Him and to His Words, and the more you will be assured that you are indeed His children. Enjoy your fellowship with the Lord today. He is waiting to interact with you...

Love you according to His testimony,
Lawrence

Devotional 211009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The color of Nature reminds us that the autumn has arrived, even though you don’t feel it. It feels like summer weather, which is balmy and warm. Thank God for His wonderful provision that we can be in His service either at home or in the market place. As I prepare my sermon for the Bi-vocational conference, I am reminded once again that God has a plan to use each one of us to impact the people around us. Whether you are aware of it or not, God will make you a channel of His blessings to others. If you yield to His use intentionally, you will share the great joy and glory in the process.

"Dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit" (Jude 20). There was nothing either of the nature of impulse or of cold-bloodedness about Our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the line of our temperament, not along the line of God. Impulse is a trait in natural life, but Our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God checks impulse, His checks bring a rush of self-conscious foolishness which makes us instantly want to justify ourselves. Impulse is all right in a child, but it is disastrous in a man or woman; an impulsive man is always a spoiled man. Impulse has to be trained into perception by discipline.

Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on the water is easy to impulsive courage, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is a different thing. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he followed Him afar off on the land. We do not need the grace of God to stand crises, human nature and pride are sufficient, we can face the pressure magnificently; but it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours in every day as a saint, to go through hard work as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is inherited in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, and this is not learned in five minutes.

There is no other way to grow than to take one step and one day at a time. The test of discipleship is on how we obey the Holy Spirit in facing our daily chores. If we operate with the notion that discipleship happen within the four walls of the church, then true discipleship will not happen. Discipleship is not on just how many books we need to read, how many Scripture verses we must memorize, and how many sessions of training we must attend. True discipleship is on how we apply what we learn in the regular days of our lives. When no one is watching, how do you walk with Christ? When you are facing the challenge of your work in your office, how do you live out your faith? These are the tests of discipleship. You are not alone because our Lord has sent in your best companion, the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him, but you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). As Brother Chambers has said, discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. It is not by our will and might to become a “super saint.” It is the Spirit of God who nurtures the live of Christ within us. That’s why Paul said, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you” (Gal 4:19). God expects you to become Christ like or press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you (Phil 3:12b). Let people see Christ in you today. Have a blessed day to grow in Him.

Love you according to Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 201009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for another beautiful day after the storm. The refreshed Nature under the Sun reflects the glory of God. No wonder the psalmist said, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (Psalm 19:1). Take a deep breath of the fresh air that God has created for your enjoyment. Take a coffee break to enjoy the blue sky and give thanks to your Heavenly Father who gives you a new life in Christ. It is Him who put you in where you are, for the purpose to demonstrate His goodness and love in and through you. Amen?

"It is God's will that you should be sanctified" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). It is not a question of whether God is willing to sanctify me; is it my will? Am I willing to let God do in me all that has been made possible by the Atonement? Am I willing to let Jesus be made sanctification to me, and to let the life of Jesus be manifested in my mortal flesh? Beware of saying - Oh, I am longing to be sanctified. You are not, stop longing and make it a matter of transaction - "Nothing in my hands I bring." Receive Jesus Christ to be made sanctification to you in implicit faith, and the great marvel of the Atonement of Jesus will be made real in you. All that Jesus made possible is made mine by the free loving gift of God on the ground of what He performed, my attitude as a saved and sanctified soul is that of profound humble holiness (there is no such thing as proud holiness), a holiness based on agonizing repentance and a sense of unspeakable shame and humiliation; and also on the amazing realization that the love of God commended itself to me in that while I cared nothing about Him, He completed everything for my salvation and sanctification just as Paul said in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” No wonder Paul says nothing is "able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8:35).

Sanctification makes me one with Jesus Christ, and in Him one with God; and it is done only through the superb Atonement of Christ. Never put the effect as the cause. The effect in me is obedience and service and prayer, and is the out come of speechless thanks and adoration for the marvelous sanctification produced out in me because of the Atonement.

Sanctification is the work of Christ who lives in me. As I live out my salvation through obedience to His life, I will harvest the fruit and joy of sanctification. It is not the work of the farmer who gives life to a seed. It is the work of the farmer who discovers the potential in the life of a seed. Yes. Obedience is hard work. That’s why Paul said, “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13). Working out your salvation could be translated as living out your salvation with fear and trembling. And the way to live out our salvation, according to the context of Paul’s letter, is obedience. God has planted the seed of obedience in us, and He will give us the will and commitment to obey out of joy. When we sincerely obey His Word, the Holy Spirit will work out our sanctification within us. Our God is always proactive in growing our faith in Him and relationship with Him. All we need to do is to respond by obedience…Will you?

Love you in obedience to His will,
Lawrence

Devotional 191009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I didn’t know how much I missed the brothers and sisters in Chinatown campus until I was invited to preach in the Mission month yesterday. It was great to meet many good old friends at church. Loretta and I were blessed to be embraced by their love and concerns in both the Cantonese and Mandarin congregations. Praise the Lord!

"My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). The great enemy to the Lord Jesus Christ in the present day is the conception of practical work that has not come from the New Testament, but from the Systems of the world in which endless energy and activities are insisted upon, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God comes not with observation, for lo the kingdom of God is within you," a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives in the shop window. It is the innermost of the innermost that reveals the power of the life.

We have to get rid of the program-oriented spirit of the religious age in which we live. In Our Lord's life there was none of the press and rush of tremendous activity that we regard so highly in church, and the disciple is to be like His Master. The central thing about the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship to God, not public usefulness to men.

It is not the practical activities that should be the strength of discipleship training, its whole strength should lie in the fact that you are trained to abide in God. You have no idea of where God is going to engineer your circumstances, no knowledge of what pressure is going to be put on you either at home or at work, and if you waste your time in over-active energies instead of sinking into the great fundamental truths of God's Redemption, you will break when the pressure comes; but if the time of abiding in God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in God on the unpractical line, you will remain true to Him what ever happens.

I guess we are conditioned by the world to focus on urgency than importance. If we don’t have a clear sense of life mission or purpose, we lost focus on what is the most important things in life. We know the rule of “first thing comes first.” But if you have no clue of what is the “first thing” in life, then you don’t know which one should come first. As a result, urgent thing will become the first thing, even though it may not be the important thing to you. A lot of time, urgent thing is someone’s “first” thing but not yours. And being a “nice” guy, you will assume other’s first thing to become your first thing. Therefore, you will busy yourself in putting out fire – it could be very exhausting and draining. It is usually the “urgent and not important things” that burn out your emotion.

What is your “first” thing in life? Jesus said, “Seek Him first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt 6:33a). Is seeking God and right relationship with Him your first priority in life? We usually will give excuse for not doing the most important things; your relationship with God and family for example. You will use your “urgent things” to excuse yourself from the important things. You are always too busy to pray and spend time with family members. You always have time for the “unimportant things” or “urgent things” in life. No wondered you are always so exhausted and burn out. It is time to refocus yourself on the “first thing” in life, so that the first thing helps energize you to take care of the urgent and less important things.

Love you in Christ,
Lawrence

Devotional 161009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The founding pastor of Gospel Operation International, Rev. Mark Cheng, had passed away. He was 91 years old. He was considered to be the champion if not the father of missionary sending movement in Chinese church. The Chinese church that he established in Philippines while he was a missionary there, had once sent our or support 60 missionaries throughout the world. The commitment of this local church sparked off a sending movement that changed the history of Chinese Church. May God continue to use his example to encourage many churches to fulfill the Great commission from our Lord!

"Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest" (Matthew 9:38). The key to the missionary problem is in the hand of God, and that key is prayer not work, that is, not work as the word is popularly understood today because that may mean the avoidance of concentration on God. The key to the missionary problem is not the key of common sense, nor the medical key, nor the key of civilization or education or even evangelization. The key is prayer. "Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest." Naturally, prayer is not practical, it is absurd; we have to realize that prayer is stupid from the ordinary common-sense point of view.

There are no nations in Jesus Christ's outlook, but the world. How many of us pray with out respect of persons, and with respect to only one Person, Jesus Christ? He owns the harvest that is produced by distress and conviction of sin, and this is the harvest we have to pray that laborers may be thrust out to reap. We are taken up with active work while people all round are ripe to harvest, and we do not reap one of them, but waste our Lord's time in over-energized activities. Suppose the crisis comes in your father's life, in your brother's life, are you there as a laborer to reap the harvest for Jesus Christ? "Oh, but I have a special work to do!" No Christian has a special work to do. A Christian is called to be Jesus Christ's own, one who is not above his Master, one who does not dictate to Jesus Christ what he intends to do. Our Lord calls to no special work: He calls to Himself. "Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest" and He will engineer circumstances and thrust you out.

I confess how little time I commit to pray for the harvest. I pray for the laborers and the people around me. I interact with God through contemplative prayers. But I seldom intercede for different people groups in prayer. I may busy myself with many ideas and plans in terms of how to reach all people for Christ, but not necessarily pray to God for these unreached people groups. There are at least 9000 people groups which represent 2 billions people in the world that have never heard of the gospel for whatever reasons. God wants us to pray for them and reach out to them. Are we willing to be His servants to do whatever He commands us to do?

But before we jump to action or put on the thinking cap to consider our strategy, let’s be reminded to do the most important and basic thing: to abide in Christ. Only when we abide in Christ before we have strength and know what we suppose to do. Otherwise, we become busy bees, wasting our time in trying to do something. Once we rest in Christ and listen to Him, we will find out what He has in mind for us to involve in His salvation plan. So, walk close to God today and make yourself available to Him in whatever capacity.

Love you in His presence,
Lawrence

Devotional 141009

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for the passing of storm; the whole nature has been refreshed. In the same token, a stormy experience in life could also be a refreshing moment for us. God sometimes used a storm to reveal our weaknesses or surface our accumulated dirt or sins, so that we can rebuild and restore. I am sure the kind of “storm” that Jesus used in His parable of “The Wise and Foolish Builders”(Matthew 7:24-27) is to serve the same purpose. So if your life is in the midst of storm, steadfast in Christ. If the storm is over, reexamine your life to see how you need to rebuild yourself on the foundation of Christ.

"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" (Matthew 28:18-20). The basis of missionary appeals is the authority of Jesus Christ, not the needs of the heathen. We could look upon Our Lord as One Who assists us in our endeavor for God. Our Lord puts Himself as the absolute sovereign supreme Lord over His disciples. He does not say the heathen will be lost if we do not go; He simply says - " Therefore go and make disciples of all nations " Go on the revelation of My sovereignty; teach and preach out of a living experience of Me.

"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go" (v. 16). If I want to know the universal sovereignty of Christ, I must know Him for myself, and how to get alone with Him; I must take time to worship the Being Whose Name I bear. "Come unto Me" - that is the place to meet Jesus. Are you weary and heavy laden? How many Christians are! We banish those marvelous words of the universal Sovereign of the world to the threshold of an after-meeting; they are the words of Jesus to His disciples.

"Go therefore. . . ." Go simply means live. Acts 1:8 is the description of how to go. Jesus did not say - Go into Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, but, "You shall be my witnesses" in all these places. He undertakes to establish the goings.

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you. . . "; that is the way to keep going in our personal lives. Where we are placed is a matter of indifference; God engineers the goings. "None of these things move me, neither I count my life dear unto myself . . ." That is how to keep going till we're gone.

Christian living is a testimony or witnessing. The key question is how do we conduct our living as followers of Christ? If we live according to what Christ has prescribed, we will make impact in the world like light and salt of the world. People will notice us just like a city being built on a hill that cannot be hidden. We are called to make impact in the world for the glory of God. If God has promised Abraham to bless him and his descendants, He will fulfill His promise to bless us according to His faithfulness. But God also wants us to become blessings for all nations too. In another word, His blessings for us are always for the sake of greater good. God expects us to make a difference in the world through His blessings for His children.

Being a blessed child, how do I conduct my life in according to His plan? The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12) spells out His prescription for an abundant life. But the eight “blessed living” attitudes are hard to be put to practice. Thus, we need the Holy Spirit to become our helper and enabler. You don’t go about to show how capable you are to discipline yourself in acquiring the blessed living. You are called to abide in Him just as the branches abide in the Vine, in order to bear fruits. Again, the bottom line is still your daily walk with Christ. Therefore, brothers and sisters, spend time to really meditate on the Word of God today.

Love you in His blessing,
Lawrence