Sunday, November 9, 2008
Friday, November 7, 2008
Devotional 071108
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Lately, I felt like returning back to my language study mode at seminary days, when I memorized Greek and Hebrew vocabularies everyday. I even spoke Greek in my dreams. I named my children in Greek as well. I immerged myself totally into that language system. Now, I commit myself to improve my Mandarin for the sake of Missions. I listen to Mandarin Bible when I drive. I carry my Mandarin dictionary with me all the time, in order to confirm the pronunciation of some uncertain vocabulary or words. I literally took notes of some uncertain words that a Mandarin speaker said. Language learning becomes my daily routine only second to my devotional time. I became attentive to all the Mandarin conversations that I took for granted (I thought I knew) before. And seek every opportunity to learn and practice. I beleive this should be the same kind of attitude that we use in our walks with Christ. Don’t assume you know all about God. Seek every opportunity to learn from the Holy Spirit whenever He prompts you from within, and practice obedience to His teaching and guidance everyday. By doing so, we allow God to use us to impact the world in wherever and whenever He likes, which is beyond our comprehension.
The circumstances of a saint's life are ordained by God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance or coincidence. The Bible says, "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28a). God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Rom 8:26b). Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say – ‘I am going to take charge by myself here, I must watch this, and guard that.’ All your circumstances are in the hands of God; therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession (praying harder and louder), but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you among by His providence, to bring them before God's throne of Grace and give the Holy Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep and change the whole world with His saints.
We should ask ourselves from time to time, "Am I making the Holy Spirit's work difficult by being vague and indecisive, or by trying our own effort to do His work for Him?" I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with (That means I should not detach or isolate myself from people in order to intercede for others). I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Spirit, then, as I bring the different people before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, but the Holy Spirit makes intercession in our particular lives for a particular purpose, without which intercession for someone will be useless and empty to our lives.
So, open the ears and eyes of your heart to listen and see Him at work around you. It is not a coincidence for you to be in where you are today. If God puts you in a certain situation, He must have a plan in terms of how to use you to intercede for the people in that circumstance. Therefore, your attentiveness to the Holy Spirit will make you a blessing to your world.
Love you because it gives me more joy in Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. Lately, I felt like returning back to my language study mode at seminary days, when I memorized Greek and Hebrew vocabularies everyday. I even spoke Greek in my dreams. I named my children in Greek as well. I immerged myself totally into that language system. Now, I commit myself to improve my Mandarin for the sake of Missions. I listen to Mandarin Bible when I drive. I carry my Mandarin dictionary with me all the time, in order to confirm the pronunciation of some uncertain vocabulary or words. I literally took notes of some uncertain words that a Mandarin speaker said. Language learning becomes my daily routine only second to my devotional time. I became attentive to all the Mandarin conversations that I took for granted (I thought I knew) before. And seek every opportunity to learn and practice. I beleive this should be the same kind of attitude that we use in our walks with Christ. Don’t assume you know all about God. Seek every opportunity to learn from the Holy Spirit whenever He prompts you from within, and practice obedience to His teaching and guidance everyday. By doing so, we allow God to use us to impact the world in wherever and whenever He likes, which is beyond our comprehension.
The circumstances of a saint's life are ordained by God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance or coincidence. The Bible says, "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28a). God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God is bringing you into places and among people and into conditions in order that the intercession of the Spirit in you may take a particular line. "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express" (Rom 8:26b). Never put your hand in front of the circumstances and say – ‘I am going to take charge by myself here, I must watch this, and guard that.’ All your circumstances are in the hands of God; therefore never think it strange concerning the circumstances you are in. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to enter into the agony of intercession (praying harder and louder), but to utilize the common-sense circumstances God puts you in, and the common-sense people He puts you among by His providence, to bring them before God's throne of Grace and give the Holy Spirit in you a chance to intercede for them. In this way God is going to sweep and change the whole world with His saints.
We should ask ourselves from time to time, "Am I making the Holy Spirit's work difficult by being vague and indecisive, or by trying our own effort to do His work for Him?" I must do the human side of intercession, and the human side is the circumstances I am in and the people I am in contact with (That means I should not detach or isolate myself from people in order to intercede for others). I have to keep my conscious life as a shrine of the Holy Spirit, then, as I bring the different people before God, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, but the Holy Spirit makes intercession in our particular lives for a particular purpose, without which intercession for someone will be useless and empty to our lives.
So, open the ears and eyes of your heart to listen and see Him at work around you. It is not a coincidence for you to be in where you are today. If God puts you in a certain situation, He must have a plan in terms of how to use you to intercede for the people in that circumstance. Therefore, your attentiveness to the Holy Spirit will make you a blessing to your world.
Love you because it gives me more joy in Christ,
Lawrence
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Devotional 061108
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It was heart warming to see birds dancing on the tree outside my office window. The words of Jesus immediately emerged to my mind, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt 6:25-27) The minute my heart was filled with this promise form God, indescribable joy just flood into my soul. Praise the Lord! How blessed we are to be His beloved children. Amen?
When the whole world believed that Lazarus was “hopelessly” dead (he had been dead for 3 days), Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26) 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 (Lazarus); 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 (power of resurrection) had its fulfillment only in the future; Jesus led her on until her faith became a personal conviction (not just a theological lesson), and then slowly came to an intimate proclamation - "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world " (John 11:27).
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 conviction? This can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem that you encounter in life.
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, why do I doubt that my Lord Jesus is truly the Lord of Resurrection? Do I really believe Him to be a God of impossibility? If He can raise people from the dead, it means He is fully capable to give life to dead, hope to hopelessness, light to darkness and joy to catastrophe. Do you believe this? This season is a real test of faith as we are undergoing this global financial tsunami. Pray that this unpredictable experience will revive and deepen our personal faith in Christ Jesus as the Lord of Resurrection (God of impossibility).
Love you because of His relentless love for us,
Lawrence
Good morning. It was heart warming to see birds dancing on the tree outside my office window. The words of Jesus immediately emerged to my mind, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matt 6:25-27) The minute my heart was filled with this promise form God, indescribable joy just flood into my soul. Praise the Lord! How blessed we are to be His beloved children. Amen?
When the whole world believed that Lazarus was “hopelessly” dead (he had been dead for 3 days), Jesus said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26) 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 (Lazarus); 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 (power of resurrection) had its fulfillment only in the future; Jesus led her on until her faith became a personal conviction (not just a theological lesson), and then slowly came to an intimate proclamation - "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world " (John 11:27).
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 conviction? This can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem that you encounter in life.
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, why do I doubt that my Lord Jesus is truly the Lord of Resurrection? Do I really believe Him to be a God of impossibility? If He can raise people from the dead, it means He is fully capable to give life to dead, hope to hopelessness, light to darkness and joy to catastrophe. Do you believe this? This season is a real test of faith as we are undergoing this global financial tsunami. Pray that this unpredictable experience will revive and deepen our personal faith in Christ Jesus as the Lord of Resurrection (God of impossibility).
Love you because of His relentless love for us,
Lawrence
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Devotional 051108
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. The world wakes up into a new chapter of American history; USA has elected the first African American President. The world had also witnessed how graciously a political opponent had accepted the loss of his election; he pledged to support the new president for the sake of his country. I pray that the government of both China and Taiwan especially, will learn from this kind of attitude in treating political disappointment. I joined my fellow Americans to salute Senator John McCain for many years of faithful service to his country, and his integrity in this campaign. Indeed, there is no better way to test a person’s integrity than the way he or she handles disappointment or suffering in life. Jesus pointed out clearly that disappointment is part of life, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). No matter how life may turn out to be (whether things turn out the way we want or not), we remain at peace in Christ with full assurance that He is the sovereign Lord of human history, in both the physical universe and in the spiritual realm. Let’s continue to watch and pray for this country where God has put us for a reason. He will use us to be light and salt in our world today.
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not directly 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 may come across in life. You may say, “Oh, I can't deal with that person.” Why not? God gave you ample opportunity to learn this lesson before Him, and you deliberately avoid it, because it seemed stupid to waste time for such person or lesson.
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 discern what God's purpose is about. In the history of the Christian Church the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ; men have sought to carry out God's commandments by a short cut of their own. God's way is always the way of suffering, the way of the "long, long trail."
The Bible says, "Rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings" (1 Peter 4:13). Are we partakers of Christ's sufferings? Are we prepared for God to remove our personal ambitions in life? Are we prepared for God to destroy by transfiguration of our individual determinations? It will not mean that we will know exactly why God is taking us on that way, lest it will lure us into spiritual pride. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through; we go through it more or less mysteriously; then we come to a glorious discovery, and say - ' 'Why, God has equipped me, though I did not know it!"
Yes, God always does thing in a mysterious manner. Though our eyes have never seen, and our ears have never heard, it does not mean God is not at work in our life right now. He is always at work in our lives simply because He loves us all. We may not appreciate the experiences that we are going through in life. But we know one thing for sure: His love for us will never change. And He will always watch over His children no matter how their lives may change.
Love you because He first loves me,
Lawrence
Good morning. The world wakes up into a new chapter of American history; USA has elected the first African American President. The world had also witnessed how graciously a political opponent had accepted the loss of his election; he pledged to support the new president for the sake of his country. I pray that the government of both China and Taiwan especially, will learn from this kind of attitude in treating political disappointment. I joined my fellow Americans to salute Senator John McCain for many years of faithful service to his country, and his integrity in this campaign. Indeed, there is no better way to test a person’s integrity than the way he or she handles disappointment or suffering in life. Jesus pointed out clearly that disappointment is part of life, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). No matter how life may turn out to be (whether things turn out the way we want or not), we remain at peace in Christ with full assurance that He is the sovereign Lord of human history, in both the physical universe and in the spiritual realm. Let’s continue to watch and pray for this country where God has put us for a reason. He will use us to be light and salt in our world today.
If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not directly 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 may come across in life. You may say, “Oh, I can't deal with that person.” Why not? God gave you ample opportunity to learn this lesson before Him, and you deliberately avoid it, because it seemed stupid to waste time for such person or lesson.
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 discern what God's purpose is about. In the history of the Christian Church the tendency has been to avoid being identified with the sufferings of Jesus Christ; men have sought to carry out God's commandments by a short cut of their own. God's way is always the way of suffering, the way of the "long, long trail."
The Bible says, "Rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings" (1 Peter 4:13). Are we partakers of Christ's sufferings? Are we prepared for God to remove our personal ambitions in life? Are we prepared for God to destroy by transfiguration of our individual determinations? It will not mean that we will know exactly why God is taking us on that way, lest it will lure us into spiritual pride. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through; we go through it more or less mysteriously; then we come to a glorious discovery, and say - ' 'Why, God has equipped me, though I did not know it!"
Yes, God always does thing in a mysterious manner. Though our eyes have never seen, and our ears have never heard, it does not mean God is not at work in our life right now. He is always at work in our lives simply because He loves us all. We may not appreciate the experiences that we are going through in life. But we know one thing for sure: His love for us will never change. And He will always watch over His children no matter how their lives may change.
Love you because He first loves me,
Lawrence
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Devotional 041108
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I thank God for beautiful sunshine after first rain of the season. And I thank God for giving me the determination to finally begin my physical exercise, even though it has no comparison with some of your exercise program. My whole body protests against my exercise plan. But I felt the difference once I started to exercise; I feel energized!
Our devotional reading on Utmost for the Highest for today also addressed the similar issue.
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 when I rush myself over into action toward His prompting, 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 toward the Will of God.
The Bible said, “Come near to God and He will come near to you” (James 4:8a). So never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it, not necessarily physically, but in your will. Record it, with ink or with blood. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated on 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 business." "Come unto Me." The last thing we do is to come; but everyone who does come knows that the second we take action, 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 the common problem of most Christians. We know what is the right thing to do or God’s calling for us to act, but take no action. We sat there all day wishing we could be a better Christian or a doer of faith, yet we failed to act. Satan likes to nurture this kind of procrastination in us, and we always wonder why we are not growing individually and as a church. Once we are finally sick and tired of our inaction and start acting on our faith, then we realize the supreme power of God is so available to help us grow and impact the world.
This is my prayer that you will stop giving excuse to yourself and act on your obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit now. I am sure you will experience God in a fresh new way that you have never had before when you act out your faith.
Love you because of the love of the Triune God,
Lawrence
Good morning. I thank God for beautiful sunshine after first rain of the season. And I thank God for giving me the determination to finally begin my physical exercise, even though it has no comparison with some of your exercise program. My whole body protests against my exercise plan. But I felt the difference once I started to exercise; I feel energized!
Our devotional reading on Utmost for the Highest for today also addressed the similar issue.
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 when I rush myself over into action toward His prompting, 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 toward the Will of God.
The Bible said, “Come near to God and He will come near to you” (James 4:8a). So never allow a truth of God that is brought home to your soul to pass without acting on it, not necessarily physically, but in your will. Record it, with ink or with blood. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated on 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 business." "Come unto Me." The last thing we do is to come; but everyone who does come knows that the second we take action, 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 the common problem of most Christians. We know what is the right thing to do or God’s calling for us to act, but take no action. We sat there all day wishing we could be a better Christian or a doer of faith, yet we failed to act. Satan likes to nurture this kind of procrastination in us, and we always wonder why we are not growing individually and as a church. Once we are finally sick and tired of our inaction and start acting on our faith, then we realize the supreme power of God is so available to help us grow and impact the world.
This is my prayer that you will stop giving excuse to yourself and act on your obedience to the prompting of the Holy Spirit now. I am sure you will experience God in a fresh new way that you have never had before when you act out your faith.
Love you because of the love of the Triune God,
Lawrence
Monday, November 3, 2008
Devotional 031108
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for the moist, fresh and cool autumn weather that we have this morning. Rain is truly a gift from above; without rain we can’t survive too long. A lot of time, we care more about our convenience in doing thing (dry road condition for smooth traffic) than our need for some important element for life. Earning money for financial convenience is not wrong. But if we let it dictate our relationship with God and with our loved ones, we will eventually suffer from losing the most important element of life. We may have financial freedom but we loss our quality of life; this is not the kind of life that God intended for us to live. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt 16:24-26) As we start a new week of service in wherever you are, we will start with the right perspective and priority about life and let the life of Christ shines through us.
“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). 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 religious deception. 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 Christian College or Bible school into existence. This school as an organization is not worth anything, it is not for academic accomplishment; it is for nothing else but for God to have His freedom to use lives. Is He going to have freedom to use us, or are we pre-occupied with our conception of what we are going to be?
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-realization or self-actualization is one of the highest form of needs to human life. Once our physical, security, love and belonging, and self-esteem needs are fulfilled, the highest need is self-actualization. This kind of observation of needs is not wrong. But when we want to become a genuine follower of Christ, we are challenged to abandon this kind of pursuit for needs in order to accomplish the abundant life that God intended for us to have. The hierarchy of needs validates a self-centered living (we have to meet those needs). A God-centered living, on a contrary, is not to focus the pursuit for my needs but for Christ; it is to abandon the effort to save myself or meet those needs. By crucifying ourselves to the cross (self denial), our lives become transformed and transcend from the obsessions or bondage of those needs; we can become truly free and fulfilled in Christ. So have a blessed day to abide in Him!
Love you hopefully not just out of my need for love :)
Lawrence
Good morning. Thank God for the moist, fresh and cool autumn weather that we have this morning. Rain is truly a gift from above; without rain we can’t survive too long. A lot of time, we care more about our convenience in doing thing (dry road condition for smooth traffic) than our need for some important element for life. Earning money for financial convenience is not wrong. But if we let it dictate our relationship with God and with our loved ones, we will eventually suffer from losing the most important element of life. We may have financial freedom but we loss our quality of life; this is not the kind of life that God intended for us to live. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt 16:24-26) As we start a new week of service in wherever you are, we will start with the right perspective and priority about life and let the life of Christ shines through us.
“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). 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 religious deception. 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 Christian College or Bible school into existence. This school as an organization is not worth anything, it is not for academic accomplishment; it is for nothing else but for God to have His freedom to use lives. Is He going to have freedom to use us, or are we pre-occupied with our conception of what we are going to be?
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-realization or self-actualization is one of the highest form of needs to human life. Once our physical, security, love and belonging, and self-esteem needs are fulfilled, the highest need is self-actualization. This kind of observation of needs is not wrong. But when we want to become a genuine follower of Christ, we are challenged to abandon this kind of pursuit for needs in order to accomplish the abundant life that God intended for us to have. The hierarchy of needs validates a self-centered living (we have to meet those needs). A God-centered living, on a contrary, is not to focus the pursuit for my needs but for Christ; it is to abandon the effort to save myself or meet those needs. By crucifying ourselves to the cross (self denial), our lives become transformed and transcend from the obsessions or bondage of those needs; we can become truly free and fulfilled in Christ. So have a blessed day to abide in Him!
Love you hopefully not just out of my need for love :)
Lawrence
Preach at BACBC
Thank God for the opportunity to share His Word at 2 Cantonese Services of Bay Area Chinese Bible Church. We appreciated the hospitality of the pastoral team, and the work of God among the two congregations. Praise the Lord!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
