Devotional 120609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I was rushing to work because the alarm clock was not set correctly last night. Then I had meeting after meeting until 10:45 before I could spend time with the Lord in meditation. It does not mean my Lord was not with me before devotion. I was not able to focus on Him during the rush and meetings. I thanked the Lord for watching over me and granted me the wisdom to interact with people on different subject matters. Moreover, He used those experiences to shape me to become the kind of person He intends for me to be, and accomplish some tasks along the way.

"Come," he replied, "and you will see." So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him" (John 1:39). "They spent that day with him." That is about all some of us would do, then we wake up to another day of actualities, self-interest arises and the abiding is gone. But it does not have to be like that. There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.

"You are Simon, you shall be called Cephas." God writes the new name on those places only in our lives where He has erased the pride and self-sufficiency and self-interest. Some of us have the new name in spots only, like spiritual measles on our skins. On the surface or in some sections we look all right. When we have our best spiritual mood on, you would think we were very “devoted or spiritual” saints; but don't look at us when we are not in that mood. The disciple is one who has the new name written all over him; self-interest and pride and self-sufficiency have been completely erased.

Pride is the deification of self, and to some of us today, it is not like the attitude of the Pharisee, but more like the Tax collector at Jesus time. To say, "Oh, I'm no saint," may sound like a humble expression, but it is unconscious blasphemy against God. It literally means that you defy God’s ability to make you a saint, "I am much too weak and hopeless; I am outside the reach of Christ’s Atonement." Humility before men may be unconscious blasphemy before God. Why are you not a saint? It is either that you do not want to be a saint, or that you do not believe God can make you one. It would be all right when you wished that God saved you and took you straight to heaven. That is just what He will do! "We will come to him, and abide with him." Make no conditions, let Jesus be everything, and He will take you home with Him not only for a day, but forever.

It is a great reminding from brother Chambers that we always have the tendency to fall into this temptation of blasphemy against God. We thought it was a humble expression or an honest recognition to say, “we can never be a saint, or never live like Christ.” But the more we make such proclamation, the more we nullify or deny God’s attributes that He is Almighty, All knowing and All loving. If it is hopeless for me to become like Christ, it means God cannot change me, He did not know how difficult it is for a person like me to change, and His love is not patient enough, not strong or tough enough, not forgiving enough and accepting enough for a hopeless case like me. Suddenly, you become much greater than God. Whatever God promises and commits to do in you will fail. You are much stronger than God.

Have mercy on us O Lord. We don’t mean to blasphemy against you, but we actually do when we remain self-centered or prideful in a negative sense. We are a saint because You want us to be a saint. We are Christ like because You desire us to be like Christ. This is Your eternal goal and agenda that we will become Your Masterpiece, “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10). As we admire a great piece of art or painting, we actually admire the creativity, skill and ability of the artist. This is exactly what God’s workmanship in us for. Just as Apostle Paul said in 1 Tim 1:15b-16, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life,” we are God’s means to show both the world of angels and humans how capable and loving He is.

Humble before the Lord and give Him the freedom to do marvelous things in your life. No matter how hopeless you may be toward yourself. Let God do the impossible and incomprehensible thing in and through you. Amen?

Hope you have a blessed weekend, and please make time to attend the revival meetings. It is a rare opportunity to hear from three spiritual giants to share their insights on God’s Words.

Love you because of His presence,
Lawrence

Devotional 110609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. A cramp on my leg woke me up earlier than my alarm clock. It gave me more time to draw close to the Lord before I go to office at 10 am. I will have a long day today because I will lead worship at our annual city-wide revival meeting. Every year, the Lord would use different speaker to remind us of His presence in our lives. This year, the theme is “love in the tsunami of life.” And we have three different speakers instead of one because the original speaker from Hong Kong suffered a heart surgery lately, and his doctor does not advise him to fly. But It would be a triple blessing through three well known Chinese speakers from the Bay Area. I hope you will find time to come if you are in town. The meeting is bilingual (Cantonese and Mandarin).

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Do I want to get there? I can now. The questions that matters in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by the words - "Come to Me." Not - Do this, or don't do that; but - "Come to Me." If I will come to Jesus my actual life will be brought into accordance with my real desires; I will actually cease from sin, and actually find the song of the Lord begins.

Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart, you will do anything rather than the one simple childlike thing - "Come to Me." If you want the actual experience of ceasing from sin, you must come to Jesus.

Jesus Christ makes Himself the touchstone. Watch how He used the word "Come." At the most unexpected moments there is the whisper of the Lord - "Come to Me," and you are drawn immediately. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. Be stupid enough to come and commit yourself to what He says. The attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits all to Him.

". . . and I will give you rest," i.e., I will stay by you. Not - I will put you to bed and hold your hand and sing you to sleep; but - I will get you out of bed, out of the laziness and exhaustion, out of the state of being half dead while you are alive; I will fill you with the spirit of life, and you will be stayed by the perfection of vital activity. We get pathetic and talk about "suffering the will of the Lord!" Where is the majestic vitality and might of the Son of God about that?

We have hard time to let go of our own weary or burden and commit it to the Lord. We got used to taking care of our own problems and saving our own lives. Deep down inside we echo with the “theology” of our pre-Christian friends who said, “I don’t believe in anything. I only believe in myself.” Though we believe in Christ as our Lord and Savior, we still can’t trust Him with our own burdens. Many Christians conclude that Jesus is only good for their “spiritual or emotional” problems. The rest has to rest on them to handle. Therefore, at the end of the day they puzzle what abundant life in Christ really means? They can’t tell the difference between life with Christ and without Christ. When they are too weary and stressful to discern their problems, they become indifference with God or even distance from God. They may say, “Since I have to deal with life by my own strength, why bother to call on Him to help? Yes it is good to “buy” some eternal security from God, by “attending church or doing some religious rituals” whenever I have time. But after church, I still need to resume “the control of my own destiny” in full gear.”

I don’t know whether it is your “theology and philosophy of life” or not. You will still hear our Lord saying the same simple phrase in His gentle voice, “Come to Me.” Yes, we still need to do our part in making our living. Just as Paul gave this rule to the church, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat” (2 Thess 3:10b), we do not glorify laziness or passivity by casting everything burden to God and do nothing. We do our responsibility by constantly abiding to Christ. Work and abiding in Christ are not contradictive or exclusive. We can do both at the same time. As a matter of fact, when we do abide in Him while we work, we experience His presence in a concrete way. He is there by our side offering timely help and guidance. You will hear Him telling you. “My beloved child, you don’t need to be so frustrated and mad. I am right here with you. I can carry this burden with you. You just need to come close to me…”

Draw close to your Divine Lover now.

Love you by His presence,
Lawrence

Devotional 100609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It was a very unique feeling to have Loretta came to office with me. She volunteered to help me organize my bookshelves and sermon files. I had no time to organize my “stuff” (books, files and junks) since I moved them out from my church office last year. Thank God for giving Loretta a temporary break from her career, so that she can help me organize. Praise the Lord!

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Luke 11:9). "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives" (James 4:3). If you ask for things from life instead of from God, you ask with wrong motives, i.e., you ask from a desire for self-realization. The more you realize yourself the less will you seek God. "Seek and you will find. " Get to work, narrow your interests to this one. Have you ever sought God with your whole heart, or have you only given an unenergetic cry to Him after some pain for moral setback? Seek, concentrate, and you will find.

"Behold, every one that thirsts, come to the waters." Are you thirsty, or complacently indifferent - so satisfied with your experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a gateway, not an end. Beware of building your faith on experience; the ringing note will come in at once, the disapproving note. You can never give another person that which you have found, but you can make him admire for what you have.

"Knock and the door will be opened to you. " "Draw close to God." Knock - the door is closed, and you will feel tremble as you knock. "Cleanse your hands" - knock a bit louder, you begin to discover you are dirty. "Purify your heart" - this is more personal still, you are desperately in earnest now - you will do anything. "Be afflicted" - have you ever been afflicted before God at the state of your inner life? There is no thread of self-pity left, but a heartbreaking affliction of amazement to find you are the kind of person that you are. "Humble yourself" - it is a humbling business to knock at God's door - you have to knock with the crucified thief. "To him that knocks, it shall be opened."

I believe Brother Chambers spelled out this process of “drawing close to God,” out of his personal experience. Many genuine seekers of God went through similar experiences in church history. It requires a sincere and desperate heart to embark the journey to draw close to God. Nevertheless, it does not mean God is too far beyond our reach. On a contrary, God is so near that we have easily ignored His existence within us. Once you realize your God dwells inside the inner compartment of your soul waiting for your visit, then you can identify that trembling feeling. You don’t know what to expect. You don’t know whether God will open the door for you after so many years of ignoring Him…

This process of drawing close to God may sound like a long one. But it could be twinkling of a moment – within a short period of time, your soul goes through this spiral of emotions or gymnastic reflects (A well traned gymnast can accomplish many highly difficult tumbling acts within a few seconds on floor exercise) of your mind. I wish I would have this kind of trembling experience everyday when I draw close to God. If I still do, it shows that I am still a God-fearing person. Otherwise, I become indifference toward God or any spiritual pursuit of Him in life.

Brothers and sisters, Please don’t take God for granted just as many people (including Christians) do in our culture and community. We could easily pick up the secular attitude and simply knock God in our “spiritual or religious” compartment, and worship Him only from outside the door. We just don’t want to converse with Him or see Him. We merely want to know He is still inside our secret hiding place, in case we need Him to help.

Remember. He is our hiding place, but not supposed to be left in our hiding place.

Love you because you are the apple of God’s eyes,

Lawrence

Devotional 090609

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

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

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

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

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

Love you in His holiness,

Lawrence

Devotional 080609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Praise God for a new week of service to Him. I woke up early this morning in preparing for a long day of meeting. Several missions organizations and seminaries will come together to talk about strategy of promoting missions education. Since I am a new kid on the block, my involvement is to listen and learn. I thank the Lord for giving me opportunity to learn from so many experts in this field. Pray that God will help me put into practice of what I learn. Otherwise, it will be futile to study if I do not apply what I learn to either my life or the ministry that God appoints me to do.

"Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them" (John 13:17). If you do not cut the moorings, God will have to break them by a storm and send you out. Launch all on God, go out on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and you will get your eyes open. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the smooth waters just inside the harbor bar, full of delight, but always tied up; you have to get out through the harbor bar into the great deeps of God and begin to know for yourself, begin to have spiritual discernment.

When you know you should do a thing, and do it, immediately you know more. Revise where you have become indigestible spiritually, and you will find it goes back to a point where there was something you knew you should do, but you did not do it because there seemed no immediate call to, and now you have no awareness, no discernment; at a time of crisis you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-possessed. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to go on knowing.

The counterfeit of obedience is a state of mind in which you work up occasions to sacrifice yourself; enthusiasm is mistaken for discernment. It is easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, which is stated in Romans 12:1-2, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.” It is a great deal better to fulfill the purpose of God in your life by discerning His will than to perform great acts of self-sacrifice. "To obey is better than sacrifice." Beware of harking back to what you were once when God wants you to be something you have never been. "If any man will do . . . he shall know."

Experience God involves Obedience. Without obeying what we know about God’s guidance and expectations, we will not know who He really is. God wants to reveal Himself to us at all times. It is God’s nature to communicate because ‘logos’ is His name. Everything we see and hear in Nature is God’s way to communicate to us. God wants to have intimate relationship with us. That’s why He created us to be relational. Any meaningful relationship involves two ways communication. When one party chooses to ignore or appear indifference to what the other party tries to say, there is communication break down. It will hurt the relationship as a result. If we choose not to obey or respond to God’s word, we will have communication break down with God. We fail to know God affectively. We distance from God to a point that we doubt His existence at the end.

God wants to re-establish His relationship with mankind, even though we chose to distance from Him. “The Word became flesh” means God wanted to communicate with mankind again by getting involved. The word communication does not mean broadcasting (one way street), it means “communion” or “community.” God wants to have communion or community with us. That’s why He entered into human history as a man. This gesture that God expects a response from us is obedience. We don’t have to guess what God wants from us. The Bible makes it very clear to us what God wants. The problem is whether we want to obey. When we obey, it means that we are saying 'Yes' to God. Then, you will know Him even more each day. Let’s encourage each other to put off our self-centeredness and put on the Christ-centered lifestyle.

Love you out of obedience,
Lawrence

Shared in two churches

Thank God for using me to serve in two churches today. I preached at the English service of Christ Church of Bay Area in the morning, and shared the vision of Middle East at Mountain View Chinese Christian Church in the afternoon. It gave me great pleasure to share what God has put in my heart. Pray that God will continue to challenge His people to answer the call for missions.

Devotional 050609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. There is no hope greater than the one Christ offered through His empty tomb. The power of His resurrection shined on the face of martyrs throughout centuries. These Christians braved the persecutions by trusting in the promise of their resurrected Lord, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…” (John 11:25). Today in America, we don’t need to exercise such faith to face deadly persecution. We need to exercise faith to face our personal issues such as work, marriage, parenting and financial difficulties etc. At times they may be as challenging or hopeless as facing life and death decision. We need to exercise our faith to trust in the promise of the One who had went through hell, but won the victory of life on our behalf.

"…God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"" (Hebrews 13:5-6) My say-so is to be built on God's say-so. God says - "I will never leave you," then I can say with good courage - "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid" - I will not be haunted by hesitation. This does not mean that I will not be tempted to fear, but I will remember God's say-so. I will be full of courage, like a child "bucking himself up" to reach the standard his father wants. Faith in many a one falters when the apprehensions come, they forget the meaning of God's say-so, forget to take a deep breath spiritually. The only way to get the anxiety taken out of us is to listen to God's say-so.

What are your anxieties? You are not a coward about it, you are going to face it, but there is a feeling of fear. When there is nothing and no one to help you, say - "But the Lord is my Helper, this second, in my present outlook." Are you learning to say things after listening to God, or are you saying things and trying to make God's word fit in? Get hold of the Father's say-so, and then say with good courage - "I will not be afraid." It does not matter what evil or wrong may be in the way, He has said - "Never will I leave you."

Frailty is another thing that gets in between God's say-so and ours. When we realize how weak we are in facing difficulties, the difficulties become like giants, we become like grasshoppers, and God becomes an insignificant person. Remember God's say-so - "I will never forsake you." Have we learned to sing after hearing God's melody? Are we always possessed with the courage to say - "The Lord is my helper," or are we surrendering to our fear whenever difficulty comes our way?

The whole world is facing the threat of economic tsunami. You may be one of the victims in this global problem. No matter how deep you may feel like under water as if you would never be able to bounce back again, remember what your parent or coach had said to you before at your first swimming lesson, “Don’t be afraid. Relax and your body will float on water. My hands are always ready to hold you when you are drowned. You don’t need to be afraid.” Yes, the Lord has promised to be our helper at all times. But can we really trust His Word? Or do we choose to imprison ourselves in our own fear or anxiety instead? Paul and Silas chose to pray and praised God in their prison, with absolutely no certainty of what their future might hold. Then a miracle happened, “Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose” (Acts 16:26).

I like the way the Bible described this incidence in Acts. It gives me insight on two things: 1) the foundation of their prison were shaken – when God delivers us from our prison or problem, He will deal with the ‘root or foundation’ of our problem as well. 2) Everybody’s chains came loose – when God comes to our rescue, He does not deliver us alone; even our neighbors (no matter whether they deserve to be in prison or not) will get the blessings as well. We don’t know how long our crisis or problem may last. Let’s look up to God in prayer and praises. He may cause ‘an earthquake’ to uproot our problem and deliver our whole community from this helpless situation.

Have a blessed weekend to rest and serve the Lord!

Love you in His presence,

Lawrence