Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. What a wonderful blessing to see sunshine in Daly City again! Though we have no certainty how long this beautiful weather will last, we simply enjoy it when it is available. Life is full of uncertainty. It is not always filled with sunshine, nor is foggy at all time. No matter how our circumstances may change, we learn to rejoice in the Lord always, because He is the ultimate source of our joy and fulfillment in life. In Him there is no darkness. And in Him we find true security and peace. Let's continue to meditate with Brother Chambers on the same passage we read yesterday.
"Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled" (Luke 18:31). The bravery of God in trusting us! You say - "But He has been unwise to choose me, because there is nothing in me; I am not of any value." That is why He chose you. As long as you think there is something in you, He cannot choose you because you have ends of your own to serve; but if you have let Him bring you to the end of your self-sufficiency then He can choose you to go with Him to Jerusalem, and that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which He does not discuss with you.
We tend to believe that because a man has natural ability, therefore he will make a good Christian. It is not a question of our strength but of our poverty, not of what we bring with us, but of what God puts into us; not a question of natural virtues of strength of character, knowledge, and experience - all that is of no advantage in this matter. The only thing that avails is that we are taken up into the big missions of God and became His partner. Apostle Paul reminded us of how we became His chosen partners, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:26-30). The partnership of God is made up out of men who know their poverty. He can do nothing with the man who thinks that he is great asset to God. As Christians we are not out for our own cause at all, we are out for the cause of God, which can never be our cause. We do not know what God is after, but we have to maintain our relationship with Him whatever happens. We must never allow anything to injure our relationship with God; if it does get injured we must take time and get it put right. The main thing about Christianity is not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain and the atmosphere produced by that relationship. That is all God asks us to look after, and it is the one thing that is being continually attacked by Satan.
Being a self-centered being, we have a tendency to think how important we are or how much we deserve other’s attention and recognition. Even for those who have inferiority complex or low self-esteem problem, they basically want to think the same way except they are conditioned to express in a contrary manner. They became too absorbed into their negative “self” image (dwell in their negative nutshell), that they even nullify what God can do with or in their lives. Yes. I totally agree with Brother Chambers that we need to fully recognize our inadequacy or insufficiency, before we can partner with God in His grant plan on earth. But this is very different from people who stubbornly refuse God’s work in their lives, simply because they have made up their mind that they are useless. They don’t think God can change such useless person to become His vessel of Grace. They can’t accept God’s grace through other people who offer to help. They just concluded that they know better than God; they are nothing but lowly dirt.
Romans 9:20-21 says, “But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?” If you are truly humble before God, you have no right to nullify how God want to do with your lives. Why can’t you let Him make you a noble vessel, a beautiful person, a gracious channel of His blessing, or a lovely person like angel? God can make you in whatever way He wants, we just let go of our stubborn mindset or our success-driven mentality that interferes with His work.
Let’s walk close to the Lord and learn to truly live a submissive lifestyle for His glory.
Love you by His strength,
Lawrence
Showing posts with label Meditated with Utmost for the Highest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meditated with Utmost for the Highest. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Devotional 170409
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. This is my last day in office before I depart for Middle East on Sunday. Therefore, you will not hear from me for at least two weeks if not longer. I will return on May 4th if our flight is on time. Please remember our journey as our itinerary of visiting three countries is fully packed. Pray that our team will be safe and healthy throughout the trip. Our missionary in Turkey warned us that there might be a huge demonstration in the country on May 1st that could turn violent. Therefore, he has to cancel our original plan of filming the ministry and people in the region. Regardless, my heart remains peaceful with this trip, knowing that our Lord Jesus will be with us no matter where we go and what we may encounter. It is because He is the Lord of Harvest and the Commander in Chief of our Missions. Amen?
"Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him . . . and did cast himself into the sea" (John 21:7). Have you ever had a crisis in which you deliberately and emphatically and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of will. You may come up to it many times externally, but it does not affect you at all. The real deep crisis of abandonment is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of external things may be an indication of being in total bondage from within.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of will, not of emotion; the emotion is simply the side effect of the transaction. If you allow emotion come first, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make it in regard to the thing you do see, either in the shallow or the profound place.
If you have heard Jesus Christ's voice in the midst of stormy seas in life, don’t be afraid of the winds, but maintain your relationship to Him. Since Jesus is on the boat with us, we don’t need to worry about the turmoil of life. Remember the incidence when the disciples suddenly encountered a forceful storm while they were in the Sea of Galilee. “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don't you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’” (Mark 4:38-40)
This story means a lot to us who are suffering in economic tsunami. For those of us who have the Holy Spirit dwelt within us or on the same boat with us, do we react like the disciples? Will we blame God like the disciples did to Jesus for being careless for us, as though He asleep or slumbers? I believe that Jesus knew what was happening on the boat. Could you imagine how it would be like when you were in the midst of stormy sea? I don’t think anyone can sleep no matter how tired they may be. Stormy waves would have tossed you around and seawater w0uld totally wet your whole body…how could you sleep in such condition? It was really amazing that Jesus could lie there motionless according to Scripture. To me the moral of the story is how Jesus wanted to test the faith of His disciples. As a matter of fact, God does use suffering to test our faith like the way He did to Jobs and others. Apostle James said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3). May God drive you closer to Him when storm attacks your boat. Our Lord Jesus did not promise a life without suffering. But He promised that He would not forsake us even when life seems totally hopeless. Eternal hope and Heaven are our ultimate assurance and strength in life; it is how the saints in the past sailed through their stormy seas and made a tremendous difference in human history. Let’s build on their legacy today…
Love you with this Hope in Him,
Lawrence
Good morning. This is my last day in office before I depart for Middle East on Sunday. Therefore, you will not hear from me for at least two weeks if not longer. I will return on May 4th if our flight is on time. Please remember our journey as our itinerary of visiting three countries is fully packed. Pray that our team will be safe and healthy throughout the trip. Our missionary in Turkey warned us that there might be a huge demonstration in the country on May 1st that could turn violent. Therefore, he has to cancel our original plan of filming the ministry and people in the region. Regardless, my heart remains peaceful with this trip, knowing that our Lord Jesus will be with us no matter where we go and what we may encounter. It is because He is the Lord of Harvest and the Commander in Chief of our Missions. Amen?
"Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him . . . and did cast himself into the sea" (John 21:7). Have you ever had a crisis in which you deliberately and emphatically and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of will. You may come up to it many times externally, but it does not affect you at all. The real deep crisis of abandonment is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of external things may be an indication of being in total bondage from within.
Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of will, not of emotion; the emotion is simply the side effect of the transaction. If you allow emotion come first, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make it in regard to the thing you do see, either in the shallow or the profound place.
If you have heard Jesus Christ's voice in the midst of stormy seas in life, don’t be afraid of the winds, but maintain your relationship to Him. Since Jesus is on the boat with us, we don’t need to worry about the turmoil of life. Remember the incidence when the disciples suddenly encountered a forceful storm while they were in the Sea of Galilee. “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don't you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’” (Mark 4:38-40)
This story means a lot to us who are suffering in economic tsunami. For those of us who have the Holy Spirit dwelt within us or on the same boat with us, do we react like the disciples? Will we blame God like the disciples did to Jesus for being careless for us, as though He asleep or slumbers? I believe that Jesus knew what was happening on the boat. Could you imagine how it would be like when you were in the midst of stormy sea? I don’t think anyone can sleep no matter how tired they may be. Stormy waves would have tossed you around and seawater w0uld totally wet your whole body…how could you sleep in such condition? It was really amazing that Jesus could lie there motionless according to Scripture. To me the moral of the story is how Jesus wanted to test the faith of His disciples. As a matter of fact, God does use suffering to test our faith like the way He did to Jobs and others. Apostle James said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3). May God drive you closer to Him when storm attacks your boat. Our Lord Jesus did not promise a life without suffering. But He promised that He would not forsake us even when life seems totally hopeless. Eternal hope and Heaven are our ultimate assurance and strength in life; it is how the saints in the past sailed through their stormy seas and made a tremendous difference in human history. Let’s build on their legacy today…
Love you with this Hope in Him,
Lawrence
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Devotional 010409
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for another beautiful day. As I watched the Nature, it reminded me that the work of the Holy Spirit might not be visible by human eyesight just as I couldn’t really see how the wind blew. I saw waving trees and flying flags, which showed me the direction and strength of wind. Our Lord Jesus used similar illustration to explain to Nicodemus concerning the work of the Spirit, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). We don’t exactly know how the Spirit works in our world today. But when we see many people who have dedicated their lives to serve God in global missions, we know the Spirit is moving Chinese churches toward the direction of cross-cultural missions. It is about time for Chinese Christians worldwide to answer this mission call. It is time for Christian professionals to seriously consider how they can become bi-vocational missionaries to serve God overseas. Let’s begin with intercession for one another toward this direction.
"He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will...Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us" (Romans 8:27, 34). Do we need any more argument than this to become intercessors - that Christ "is also interceding for us;" that the Holy Spirit " intercedes for the saints "? Are we living in such a vital relationship to our fellow men that we do the work of intercession as the Spirit-taught children of God? Begin with the circumstances we are in - our homes, our workplace, our country, and the present crisis as it touches us and others - are these things crushing us? Are they pushing us out of the presence of God and leaving us no time for worship? Then let us call a halt, and get into such living relationship with God that our relationship to others may be maintained on the line of intercession whereby God works His marvels.
Beware of outstripping God by your very longing to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, consequently we get so burdened with persons and with difficulties that we do not worship God, we do not intercede. If once the burden and the pressure come upon us and we are not in the worshipping attitude, it will produce not only hardness toward God but despair in our own souls. God continually introduces us to people for whom we have no similarity, and unless we are worshipping God, the most natural thing to do is to treat them heartlessly, to give them a text like the poke of a spear, or leave them with a rapped-out counsel of God and go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to Our Lord.
Are we in the direct line of the intercession of our Lord and of the Holy Spirit? Chamber’s message is a challenge for myself. I need to dedicate more time to intercede for those people that God has put in my heart; I need to spend more time to pray for those missionary applicants. Many of them are in the process of discerning God’s guidance; applying visa, or doing fundraising. They are at the crossroad of not knowing when and where they should proceed. They may be anxious, frustrated, confused and worry. They certainly need our prayers for them. Will you draw close to the Lord in worship and listen attentively of His prayer for these brothers and sisters, and pray accordingly for them?
Love you in the family of God,
Lawrence
Good morning. Thank God for another beautiful day. As I watched the Nature, it reminded me that the work of the Holy Spirit might not be visible by human eyesight just as I couldn’t really see how the wind blew. I saw waving trees and flying flags, which showed me the direction and strength of wind. Our Lord Jesus used similar illustration to explain to Nicodemus concerning the work of the Spirit, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). We don’t exactly know how the Spirit works in our world today. But when we see many people who have dedicated their lives to serve God in global missions, we know the Spirit is moving Chinese churches toward the direction of cross-cultural missions. It is about time for Chinese Christians worldwide to answer this mission call. It is time for Christian professionals to seriously consider how they can become bi-vocational missionaries to serve God overseas. Let’s begin with intercession for one another toward this direction.
"He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will...Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us" (Romans 8:27, 34). Do we need any more argument than this to become intercessors - that Christ "is also interceding for us;" that the Holy Spirit " intercedes for the saints "? Are we living in such a vital relationship to our fellow men that we do the work of intercession as the Spirit-taught children of God? Begin with the circumstances we are in - our homes, our workplace, our country, and the present crisis as it touches us and others - are these things crushing us? Are they pushing us out of the presence of God and leaving us no time for worship? Then let us call a halt, and get into such living relationship with God that our relationship to others may be maintained on the line of intercession whereby God works His marvels.
Beware of outstripping God by your very longing to do His will. We run ahead of Him in a thousand and one activities, consequently we get so burdened with persons and with difficulties that we do not worship God, we do not intercede. If once the burden and the pressure come upon us and we are not in the worshipping attitude, it will produce not only hardness toward God but despair in our own souls. God continually introduces us to people for whom we have no similarity, and unless we are worshipping God, the most natural thing to do is to treat them heartlessly, to give them a text like the poke of a spear, or leave them with a rapped-out counsel of God and go. A heartless Christian must be a terrible grief to Our Lord.
Are we in the direct line of the intercession of our Lord and of the Holy Spirit? Chamber’s message is a challenge for myself. I need to dedicate more time to intercede for those people that God has put in my heart; I need to spend more time to pray for those missionary applicants. Many of them are in the process of discerning God’s guidance; applying visa, or doing fundraising. They are at the crossroad of not knowing when and where they should proceed. They may be anxious, frustrated, confused and worry. They certainly need our prayers for them. Will you draw close to the Lord in worship and listen attentively of His prayer for these brothers and sisters, and pray accordingly for them?
Love you in the family of God,
Lawrence
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Devotional 170309
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank you for praying for my trip to El Paso. If you have seen my pictures that I had posted on my blog yesterday, you will find that I had opportunity to minister unto two different groups: a Mexican Cumberland Presbyterian Church and a Chinese church at El Paso. Our Presbytery held our meeting in the Mexican church there, at which I had opportunity to report to the mission committee of our Presbytery regarding my work at GOI. And on Sunday I was invited to preach at the only Chinese Church in town. This is a very unique experience to preach a bilingual sermon on Sunday. I did a lot of such sermon at wedding or funeral, but not on Sunday. I thanked God for giving me strength and health to serve as His channel of blessings. Please continue to pray for this church as they continue to grow and reach out to Chinese and non-Chinese for Christ. On Saturday, my host brought me to White Sand National Park in New Mexico. It was like miles of white sands coming from no where that cover the valley. It was truly an incredible site.
"So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it" (2 Corinthians 5:9). It is a difficult work to keep this main ambition in front of us. It means holding one's self to the high ideal year in and year out, not being ambitious to win souls or to establish churches or to have revivals, but being ambitious only to "please Him." It is not lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but lack of laboring to keep the ideal goal right. Once a week at least take stock before God and see whether you are keeping your life up to the standard He wishes. Paul is like a musician who does not pay attention to the approval of the audience, only if he can catch the look of approval from his Master.
Any ambition which is in the tiniest degree away from this central one of being "pleasing unto God" may end in our being castaways. Learn to discern where the ambition leads, and you will see why it is so necessary to live facing the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, "I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Cor. 9:27).
I have to learn to relate everything to the master ambition, and to maintain it without end. My worth to God in public is what I am in private. Is my main ambition to please Him and be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how noble? This is a question that we need to constantly ask ourselves. We may be chasing success after success, like a dog chasing after its own tail. It is an endless and meaningless activity. We need to put a stop on this kind of pursue in life by focusing on the most fundamental question, “am I doing this to please God or for my own pride?” By setting a high goal in mind, our work will become a service to please our Maker and Savior.
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Ps. Please continue to pray for me as I am still recovering from my illness.
Good morning. Thank you for praying for my trip to El Paso. If you have seen my pictures that I had posted on my blog yesterday, you will find that I had opportunity to minister unto two different groups: a Mexican Cumberland Presbyterian Church and a Chinese church at El Paso. Our Presbytery held our meeting in the Mexican church there, at which I had opportunity to report to the mission committee of our Presbytery regarding my work at GOI. And on Sunday I was invited to preach at the only Chinese Church in town. This is a very unique experience to preach a bilingual sermon on Sunday. I did a lot of such sermon at wedding or funeral, but not on Sunday. I thanked God for giving me strength and health to serve as His channel of blessings. Please continue to pray for this church as they continue to grow and reach out to Chinese and non-Chinese for Christ. On Saturday, my host brought me to White Sand National Park in New Mexico. It was like miles of white sands coming from no where that cover the valley. It was truly an incredible site.
"So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it" (2 Corinthians 5:9). It is a difficult work to keep this main ambition in front of us. It means holding one's self to the high ideal year in and year out, not being ambitious to win souls or to establish churches or to have revivals, but being ambitious only to "please Him." It is not lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but lack of laboring to keep the ideal goal right. Once a week at least take stock before God and see whether you are keeping your life up to the standard He wishes. Paul is like a musician who does not pay attention to the approval of the audience, only if he can catch the look of approval from his Master.
Any ambition which is in the tiniest degree away from this central one of being "pleasing unto God" may end in our being castaways. Learn to discern where the ambition leads, and you will see why it is so necessary to live facing the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, "I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (1 Cor. 9:27).
I have to learn to relate everything to the master ambition, and to maintain it without end. My worth to God in public is what I am in private. Is my main ambition to please Him and be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how noble? This is a question that we need to constantly ask ourselves. We may be chasing success after success, like a dog chasing after its own tail. It is an endless and meaningless activity. We need to put a stop on this kind of pursue in life by focusing on the most fundamental question, “am I doing this to please God or for my own pride?” By setting a high goal in mind, our work will become a service to please our Maker and Savior.
Love you in Christ,
Lawrence
Ps. Please continue to pray for me as I am still recovering from my illness.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Devotional on Christmas Day
"Behold, a virgin shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Isaiah 7:14)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We are indeed thankful for His Birth in History: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35.) Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from the world. He did not evolve out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being ever born; He is a Being, Who cannot be accounted for by the human race at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate, God coming into human flesh, coming into human history from outside. His life is the Highest and the Holiest entering in at the Lowliest door. Our Lord's birth was an advent.
I am profoundly grateful for His Birth in Me: "…for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you," (Gal. 4:19.) Just as Our Lord came into human history from outside, so He must come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a "Bethlehem" for the Son of God? I cannot enter into the realm of the Kingdom of God unless I am born from above by a birth totally unlike natural birth. "You must be born again" (John 3:7b). This is not a command, it is a foundation fact. The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ is formed in me. Immediately Christ is formed in me, His nature begins to work through me.
God manifest in the flesh - that is what is made profoundly possible for you and me by the Redemption to become children of God.
Merry Christmas to you and your kin: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14).
Love you because of this Son of Love,
Lawrence
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We are indeed thankful for His Birth in History: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35.) Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from the world. He did not evolve out of history; He came into history from the outside. Jesus Christ is not the best human being ever born; He is a Being, Who cannot be accounted for by the human race at all. He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate, God coming into human flesh, coming into human history from outside. His life is the Highest and the Holiest entering in at the Lowliest door. Our Lord's birth was an advent.
I am profoundly grateful for His Birth in Me: "…for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you," (Gal. 4:19.) Just as Our Lord came into human history from outside, so He must come into me from outside. Have I allowed my personal human life to become a "Bethlehem" for the Son of God? I cannot enter into the realm of the Kingdom of God unless I am born from above by a birth totally unlike natural birth. "You must be born again" (John 3:7b). This is not a command, it is a foundation fact. The characteristic of the new birth is that I yield myself so completely to God that Christ is formed in me. Immediately Christ is formed in me, His nature begins to work through me.
God manifest in the flesh - that is what is made profoundly possible for you and me by the Redemption to become children of God.
Merry Christmas to you and your kin: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests" (Luke 2:14).
Love you because of this Son of Love,
Lawrence
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
