Devotional 260609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I came down with either a bad cold or flu and confined myself at home today. It is God’s grace to give me a break from my busy routine and really rest. Yesterday we lost 2 superstars in Hollywood. It was sad to see how this King of Pop suddenly died. According to the news, he was planning to do his last concert cruise in England. Many of his fans in England were anticipating seeing their “King” at his last performance. But when God said times up, nobody can protest. It made me think of what Apostle James said in his letter, “Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that"” (Jam 4:13-15). Yes. We may plan for our future and we should do so for being a good steward. But we also need to recognize the fact that the result may not happen to the way we anticipate. Learn to submit ourselves to His hands and do whatever God pleases for us to do today. That’s why James added at the end, “Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (v. 17 RSV). Let’s seize this moment to live out the kind of person that God wants us to live. Amen?

"As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain" (2 Corinthians 6:1). The grace you had yesterday will not do for to-day. Grace is the overflowing favor of God; you can always consider it is there to draw upon. "In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses" - that is where the test for patience comes. Are you failing the grace of God there? Are you saying - Oh, well, I won't count this time? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you; it is taking the grace of God now. We make prayer the preparation for work; it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the exercise of drawing on the grace of God. Don't say - I will endure or handle this until I can get away and pray. Pray now; draw on the grace of God in the moment of need. Prayer is the most practical thing to do; it is not the reflex action of devotion. Prayer is the last thing in which we learn to draw on God's grace.

"In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors" - in all these things manifest a drawing upon the grace of God that will make you a marvel to yourself and to others. Draw now, not presently. The one word in the spiritual vocabulary is Now. Let circumstances bring you where they will, keep drawing on the grace of God in every conceivable condition you may be in. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be humiliated without manifesting the slightest trace of anything but His grace.

"Having nothing . . ." Never reserve anything. Pour out the best you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful about the treasure God gives. This is poverty triumphant. Our Lord said in His Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:3). The one who is poor in the spirit learns to rely on the grace of God at all time. They recognize the limitation of mankind and the unlimited power of God. They seek to humble himself before His grace.

This devotional from Oswald Chamber came at a good time. I certainly need the grace of God to heal me and strengthen me. Sickness humbles our pride and ego. It makes us realize that we are not god or immortal after all. We learn to let God be God, and we faithfully do our part in His Kingdom.

Love you by His grace,
Lawrence

devotional 250609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I guess my coughing came to its peak. I have consumed a lot of tissue papers because of my running nose. It so happened that this week is my turn to lead devotional sharing at staff prayer meeting, and we will also have a video conference with our missionary candidates at Thailand in late afternoon. I can’t afford to be sick today…please pray for God’s grace to strengthen me for this day.

"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour"（John 12:27-29）. My attitude as a saint to sorrow and difficulty is not to ask that they may be prevented, but to ask that I may preserve the self God created me to be through every fire of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself in the fire of sorrow, He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to receive ourselves in its fires. If we try and avoid sorrow, refuse to lay our account with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life; it is no use saying sorrow ought not to be. Sin and sorrow and suffering are realities of life, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.

Sorrow burns up a great amount of shallowness, but it does not always make a man better. Suffering either gives me my self or it destroys my self. You cannot receive your self in success, you lose your head; you cannot receive your self in boredom, you complaint. The way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be so is another matter, but that it is so is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You always know the man who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, you are certain you can go to him in trouble and find that he has ample leisure for you. If a man has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous; he has no time for you. If you receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.

When Jesus said, “I have come in order that you might have life - life in all its fullness,” it does not mean you will not experience sorrow. If our Lord, who is the source of abundant life, went through sorrow and agony of the cross, we will not be immune from it. A full or abundant life in Christ is a transformed life that gives us the inner strength to remain peaceful in the face of suffering, joyful in the face of difficulties, and stamina to press on in the face of failures or fear. Abundant life in Christ is not a shallow life that decorated for others to see. It is the inner strength to encounter reality of life in whatever forms (happiness or sorrow, boredom or excitement and so forth) with the presence of God in a truthful manner.

A full life is definitely not to practice a few hours of religious piety in church, or engage in some kind of spiritual dialogue in fellowship. It is a sincere and dedicated life in pursuing holiness by abandoning oneself to the hands of God, and abiding in the mind of Christ. Paul said, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind…Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (Phil 2:1-2, 5 RSV). This full life in Christ is an contagious life. It will influence or impact other life. This is this kind of changed life can really changes other people’s life. Discipleship is not taught but caught. Instead of just putting people through a discipleship training course, you let others observe how you live as a true disciple of Christ from inside out. It does not mean you have to be strong and blameless all the time; you will stumble and fall in life. The key is how you press on through abandoning and abiding in the mercy and grace of God.

Love you because He is love,
Lawrence

Devotional 240609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I thanked God for giving me strength to work, even though I was under the weather. I might have caught a cold because of the rapid change of weather. It was so warm last Sunday that I sweated a lot after each preaching. I did not take off my jacket all morning long. I guessed that might be the cause of my sickness. Anyway, God’s grace is always sufficient for His children. Praise the Lord!

"Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour--when darkness reigns” (Luke 22:53). It is not being reconciled to the fact of sin that produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the nobility of human nature, but there is something in human nature, which will laugh in the face of every ideal you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is vice and self-seeking, something downright malicious and wrong in human beings, instead of reconciling yourself to it, when it strikes your life, you will compromise with it and say it is of no use to battle against it. Have you made allowance for this hour and the power of darkness, or do you take a recognition of yourself that misses out sin? In your bodily relationships and friendships do you reconcile yourself to the fact of sin? If not, you will be caught round the next corner and you will compromise with it. If you reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger at once - Yes, I see what that would mean. The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship; it establishes a mutual regard for the fact that the basis of life is tragic. Always beware of an attitude of life, which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.

Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical, never suspicious, because He trusted absolutely in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman, not the innocent, is the safeguarded man or woman. You are never safe with an innocent man or woman. Men and women have no business to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child; it is a blameworthy thing for a man or woman not to be reconciled to the fact of sin.

This is always a constant battle within us against our sinful nature. We can never root out the sinful potentiality of our human nature. We can only put a leash on it lest our human nature goes against the will of God. The potentiality of a wild horse could be very destructive if it is not tamed probably. If it is tamed or under control, then it could become a great blessing to it’s master and others. Jesus used this concept to describe the blessing of “meek.” He said in the sermon of the Mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Matt 5:5). Paul described “self-control” as one of the 9 expressions of a Spiritual Fruit in Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” If you look at this verse carefully, you will understand that Paul was talking about 9 expressions or characteristics of a Spirit filled or Godly person. We don’t know for sure about a person’s relationship with God. But by seeing the result or fruit (that’s why he said “fruit” a single noun but not “fruits”) in this person’s life, we can tell whether he or she is really filled with the Holy Spirit. These 9 qualities of a Godly person are all inter-connected. If we compare this verse with Paul’s love poem in 1 Corinthians 13, you can easily tell that true love involves patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and so forth. In another word, we can’t pick and choose the kind of qualities you want for your life but not the others. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, they should all gradually surface in your life. In the same token, gentleness and self-control are like two sides of the same coin that one cannot go without the other. Therefore, when you put a leash on your human nature according to His Word, you are deliberately submitting yourself under the control of the Holy Spirit; people will eventually see the transformation in you that you don’t even aware.

After saying all of the above, we have to recognize another fact that we are not always be able to exercise self-control. We need the inner strength from our Holy Spirit and the prayer support of our fellow brothers and sisters. We will have our “dark hours” in life that we may even betray our Lord Jesus. We need the Body of Christ to hold us accountable and never forsake us just like what God would do.

Love you by His steadfastness,

Lawrence

Devotional 230609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for another wonderful day. Such balmy weather makes you feel like working out door. I need to stop thinking about it. Otherwise. I will not be able to concentrate in my meditation and work. I just praise God for giving me the sensitivity to appreciate His creation, which is a gift from our loving Heavenly Father.

"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not" (Isaiah 53:3). We are not acquainted with grief in the way in which Our Lord was acquainted with it; we endure it, we get through it, but we do not become intimate with it. At the beginning of life we do not reconcile ourselves to the fact of sin. We take a rational view of life and say that a man by controlling his instincts, and by educating himself, can produce a life, which will slowly evolve into the life of God. But as we go on, we find the presence of something, which we have not taken into consideration, and that is the problem of sin, which upsets all our calculations. Sin has made the basis of things wild and not rational. We have to recognize that sin is a fact, not a defect; sin is red-handed rebellion against God. Either God or sin must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue. If sin rules in me, God's life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. There is no other possible outcome than that. The climax of sin is that it crucified Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will be true in your history and in mine. In our mental outlook, we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact of sin as the only explanation as to why Jesus Christ came, and as the explanation of the grief and sorrow in life.

We have problem to admit sin or recognize ourselves as sinners. Many pre-Christian friends are stumbled by our emphasis on facing he reality of sin, and refused to embrace this relationship with God through Christ. To them, sins refer to those behaviors that violate the law of society, or those actions that hurt others like killing and stealing. They may not realize the fact that sinful behavior begins from within. Apostle James said, “After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death” (James 1:15). Deep down inside us we have this rebellious instinct against God. Out of this instinct of rebellion, we tend to challenge any “absolute authority” over us. We fail to do what God intended for us to do. We fail to live up to God’s expectation for us to live. And these are all part of our sin. Some of you may immediately respond with this question, “why do I want to live up to God’s expectation? Why is He so authoritative and make us surrender to Him?” This is human nature to react with such attitude or question – and we call this nature: freedom.

It is this nature of men that put men into a lot of trouble and despairs. If we abuse this nature of freedom that God endow in us, we run into all kinds of problem for ourselves and conflict with other people. This is exactly what Paul said in the book of Romans, “Although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another” (Romans 1:21-24). God still honors His endowment for us even though we abuse it. He just wants us to exercise this freedom to enjoy and fulfill His wonderful plan on earth for us. But the bottom line is whether we are willing to kill our sinful desires with this freedom on a daily basis. This is something I also need your prayers. After all, I need someone to hold me accountable too!

Love you as a recovering sinner in Christ,

Lawrence

Devotional 220609

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love you by His mercy,
Lawrence

Fruitful Father Day weekend

This was my first time preaching at this church even though I had known their pastor for twenty some years. It was a lot of fun to preach to both their English and Chinese congregations. They really know how to celebrate Father's Day! Loretta and I enjoyed the hospitality of the church. Pray that God will use this church to be a light house not only in the community but within their denomination as well.

I enjoyed leading a workshop at the adult fellowship of San Bruno Chinese church on saturday night. It was great to meet some new and old friends at that church. Praise the Lord!

The weekend ministry began at Andy's home to do film editting work on our Middle East project. It took us 6 hours just to select the footage for Cyprus. We will have a long way ahead of us.

Devotional 190609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I drove Loretta to the Personnel Office to officially check in to her new position at the Human Services Department of the City of San Francisco. She will start work on Monday. This is indeed a special provision from God, and again thank you for your prayer support. Moreover, my son-in-law had been laid off for two weeks but was re-hired again yesterday. God gave us double blessings this week. When I looked back, I thank God for giving Loretta a month off to rest and served as my volunteer; she helped me re-organize my library and file cabinet (it is a big job). Through the thick and thin of life, we experienced the love and friendship of God. He is like a cheer leader of dragon boat race, who motivates us each day to paddle forward until we reach the finish line. Praise the Lord!

"Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep" (John 21:16). Jesus did not say - Make converts to your way of thinking, but look after My sheep, see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Me. We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on adherence to a belief or a creed. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:26). There is no argument and no compulsion, but simply - If you would be His disciple, you must be devoted to Him. A man touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says - "Now I see who Jesus is," and that is the source of devotion.

Today we have substituted doctrinal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many are devoted to causes or missions, and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the ministry He started. Jesus Christ is a source of deep offence to the educated mind of today that does not want Him in any other way than as a companion. Our Lord's first obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of men; the saving of men was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will fade; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a doormat. The secret of a disciple's life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of the life is its unobtrusiveness or humility. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). Moreover, this seed will spring up and alter the whole landscape of the field.

Discipleship is not just transferring knowledge of the Bible or providing information on our theology. It is helping a person to become a devoted follower of Christ. In order to do so, the discipler has to be a devoted friend of Christ first. We are talking about introducing your good friend to another friend. It is a devoted relationship that gives birth to another relationship. Therefore, we need to watch out the friendship factor in discipleship. Being a true friend, you will not manipulate a relationship. You want to be as genuine and transparent in your relationship as possible. This is how our Lord expects our friendship with Him too. “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15b). A devoted follower of Christ commits to walk with Him in a truthful and passionate manner. You don’t give excuses for not doing what your Lover expects. If you do, your relationship will eventually come to a dead-end street. Even though the love of God is unconditional, you will miss the fulfillment of that relationship with God if you are not true and sincere to Him. Deep down inside, you will feel a void or emptiness in your relationship with Christ. If you do share such feeling now, it is God’s call for you to make a U turn back to Him.

Once you enjoy this relationship with Christ, you will not feel ashamed to tell others about this best friend of yours. You wish your other friends would become His friend too. To me this is the way evangelism should be. We don’t go around proselytize or convert people to believe in our religion. We introduce Jesus to our friends. Tell them how much Jesus means to you. And show them how they can also develop a friendship with Him too. I am sure our Lord will do His part to draw close to these pre-Christian friends of ours, so that they will have a taste of this divine friendship in Christ.

Love you because of His love,
Lawrence