Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. We are blessed with the visit of an out-of-town guest, who came to seek collaboration with our organization in mission fields. Through our sharing, it is amazing to see how God at work in different parts of the world, and how we can work together in expanding His Kingdom. There are many kingdom workers, quietly but diligently serve behind the scene in being light and salt of the world. Not many churches knew about their work, but they made tremendous impact in many people’s lives. Praise the Lord!!!
God-anointed, David entered the world of work. He worked as a shepherd before he was anointed, work that provided background and metaphor for so much of the Gospel. But now David’s work was clearly seen as God-assigned, God-defined. All David’s work now was king-work. I want to use the word king-work to represent all true work. I am using this word in order to call attention to the essential dignity of work as such, that our work is of a kind with God’s work. All real work, genuine work, is subsumed under king-work. I am using the word here to distinguish true work from false work, spurious work, “work” that destroys or deceives. Just because energy is employed for a purpose does not qualify an action as work.
Work derives from and represents the sovereign God who expresses his sovereignty as a worker: king-work. Sovereigns work to bring order out of chaos; guard and fight for the sanctity of things and people; deliver victims from injustice and misfortune and wretchedness; grant pardon to the condemned and damned; heal sickness; by their very presence bring dignity and honor to people and land. God’s sovereignty is not abstract—it is a working sovereignty and is expressed in work. All of our work is intended as an extension of and participation in that sovereignty.
“What do we do then to get in on God’s works?” Jesus said, “Throw your lot in with the One that God has sent. That kind of a commitment gets you in on God’s works” (John 6:28-29).
Why do we always want to know early on in our acquaintance with someone what their work is? “What do you do?” is virtually always among the repertoire of getting-acquainted questions. And the reason is this: occupation, career, job can do two things—usually both at the same time: work can reveal something essential about us- express our values, articulate our morals, act out our convictions of what it means to be a human being, created in the image of God. Or work can conceal our real identity. It can be used as a front to advertise something that we want people to see in us or believe about us, by which in fact we have never bothered to become within ourselves. For most of us, the two vocational things are mixed: revealing/expressing, and concealing/diverting. As we get to know someone we want to know if their job is a role to hide in or behind, or if it is an honest expression of character. The Bible says, “The diligent find freedom in their work; the lazy are oppressed by work” (Proverbs 12:24).
Peterson’s mediation on work provides us a new horizon and deeper meaning about our career or job we do every day. We don’t just find work to occupy our time and put food on the table. We work because our Heavenly Father works. Jesus described His Father as a farmer who constantly work in His vineyard to prune the leaves and branches that do not bear fruits. He wants all His children to bear fruits while we are put on earth for a period of time, so that this world can be a better place and many will be rescued from the evil turmoil and injustice. Only when we realize our work is part of His work, will we find new meaning to work each day.
Enjoy your work in His love,
Lawrence
Monday, December 6, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Devotional 031210
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for another day of opportunity to be in Hi service. Every day is a new challenge in applying God’s words in our lives. Every day is a new lesson of faith. Every day is a new scenario to experience God in an intimate manner. God is a “make-over” artist. He is constantly breaking down our old rugged house and building a new godly dwelling. Allow Him to do the good work that He has started in you until He brings to completion in the days of Christ.
Is highly significant and not sufficiently remarked that this David story, the story that provides more plot and detail, more characters and landscape than any other in scripture to show us how to live entirely before and in response to God, features an ordinary person. David was, in our dismissive and condescending terminology, “just” a lay person. His father omitted to present him to Samuel—it probably didn’t even occur to him. To his brothers he was a nonentity. Worse, as we learn from examining his genealogy family tree, he had bad blood in his family tree, hated and despised Moabite blood.
The choice of David, the runt and the shepherd, to be the anointed, to be a sign and representative of God’s working presence in human life and history, is surely intended to convey a sense of inclusion to all ordinary men and women, the plain folk, the undistinguished in the eyes of their neighbors, those lacking social status and peer recognition. Which is to say, the overwhelming majority of all who have lived on this old planet earth. Election into God’s purposes is not by popular vote. Election into God’s purposes is not based on proven ability or potential promise.. . .
So it is of considerable moment to realize that the centerfold account in scripture of a human being living by faith comes in the shape of a lay person. David was not ordained to the priesthood. He was not called, as we say, “to the ministry.” He was “just” a lay person, haqqaton. But there is not a hint in the narrative that his status is evidence of inadequacy. This is humanity burgeoning and vital. Bold and extravagant, skillful and inventive in love and prayer and work.
Work is our Spirit-anointed participation in God’s work. When Jesus stood up in the Nazareth synagogue to announce that he was going to work and how he was going to go about it, he said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me…” (Luke 4:18).
In our biblical texts anointing means being given a job by God. It means employment. We are, in effect, told that there is a job to be done and that we are assigned to do it, and that we can do it. Anointing connects our work with God’s work. Anointing is the sacramental connection linking God’s work with our work. God is a worker, a maker. God does things. He is, of course; but he also acts. And it is in His acts that we know who He is. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
Our Father in heaven is a working god. He never slumber and laid around doing nothing. Our God is always at work in His universe and in our midst. But He is not a workaholic – find his identity and self-worth from his work. He rests in His own Sabbath. He continues to guide His children and work in His church. We may not be aware of His work among us when we are too pre-occupied by our own busyness. He works and He wants to work alongside with us. The Holy Spirit came when Jesus went to the Father. He dwells within and among us, so that we can even do greater things through His Spirit. Dear Holy Spirit, use us to achieve your plan today!
In His loving presence,
Lawrence
Good morning. Thank God for another day of opportunity to be in Hi service. Every day is a new challenge in applying God’s words in our lives. Every day is a new lesson of faith. Every day is a new scenario to experience God in an intimate manner. God is a “make-over” artist. He is constantly breaking down our old rugged house and building a new godly dwelling. Allow Him to do the good work that He has started in you until He brings to completion in the days of Christ.
Is highly significant and not sufficiently remarked that this David story, the story that provides more plot and detail, more characters and landscape than any other in scripture to show us how to live entirely before and in response to God, features an ordinary person. David was, in our dismissive and condescending terminology, “just” a lay person. His father omitted to present him to Samuel—it probably didn’t even occur to him. To his brothers he was a nonentity. Worse, as we learn from examining his genealogy family tree, he had bad blood in his family tree, hated and despised Moabite blood.
The choice of David, the runt and the shepherd, to be the anointed, to be a sign and representative of God’s working presence in human life and history, is surely intended to convey a sense of inclusion to all ordinary men and women, the plain folk, the undistinguished in the eyes of their neighbors, those lacking social status and peer recognition. Which is to say, the overwhelming majority of all who have lived on this old planet earth. Election into God’s purposes is not by popular vote. Election into God’s purposes is not based on proven ability or potential promise.. . .
So it is of considerable moment to realize that the centerfold account in scripture of a human being living by faith comes in the shape of a lay person. David was not ordained to the priesthood. He was not called, as we say, “to the ministry.” He was “just” a lay person, haqqaton. But there is not a hint in the narrative that his status is evidence of inadequacy. This is humanity burgeoning and vital. Bold and extravagant, skillful and inventive in love and prayer and work.
Work is our Spirit-anointed participation in God’s work. When Jesus stood up in the Nazareth synagogue to announce that he was going to work and how he was going to go about it, he said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me…” (Luke 4:18).
In our biblical texts anointing means being given a job by God. It means employment. We are, in effect, told that there is a job to be done and that we are assigned to do it, and that we can do it. Anointing connects our work with God’s work. Anointing is the sacramental connection linking God’s work with our work. God is a worker, a maker. God does things. He is, of course; but he also acts. And it is in His acts that we know who He is. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
Our Father in heaven is a working god. He never slumber and laid around doing nothing. Our God is always at work in His universe and in our midst. But He is not a workaholic – find his identity and self-worth from his work. He rests in His own Sabbath. He continues to guide His children and work in His church. We may not be aware of His work among us when we are too pre-occupied by our own busyness. He works and He wants to work alongside with us. The Holy Spirit came when Jesus went to the Father. He dwells within and among us, so that we can even do greater things through His Spirit. Dear Holy Spirit, use us to achieve your plan today!
In His loving presence,
Lawrence
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Devotional 021210
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Hope you enjoy a refreshing cool morning. I was packed with meetings and a lot of implementation to catch up, when my boss returned from vacation yesterday. But I was glad that many over-due issues were being taken care of. Thank God for another day of enjoying His presence at work and in my study – writing my dissertation. While I was driving to work this morning, I cracked up in laughter over the “stress” I gave myself. Nobody forced me to study and finish my dissertation before this year. It was all the “pressure” I gave myself. I laughed at my own “foolishness” and gladly surrender this writing project back to God…knowing that He holds me accountable to be a faithful steward of the time and resource He bestowed upon me. But He also expects me to enjoy this journey of stewardship.
I appreciated Eugene Peterson’s reminder about our wrong attitude toward God’s Word. To him, exegesis is the farthest thing from pedantry; exegesis is an act of love. It is loving the one enough who speaks the words to want to get the words right. It is respecting the words enough to use every means we have to get the words right. Exegesis is loving God enough to stop and listen carefully to what he says. God has pro- vided us with these scriptures that present us with his Word. Loving God means loving both what God speaks to us and the way God speaks to us. It follows that we bring the leisure and attentiveness of lovers to this text—cherishing every comma and semicolon, relishing the oddness of this preposition, delighting in the surprising placement of this noun. Lovers don’t take a quick look, get a “message” or a “meaning” and then run off and gossip with their friends about how they feel. Lovers savor the words, relishing every nuance of what is said and written.
Face it, reality as God reveals it to us by his Word in J Jesus, is strange and unexpected and disappointing. This is not the kind of world we would have created if we had been given the assignment; this is not the kind of salvation we would have arranged if we had been on the committee; this is not the system of rewards and punishments we would have legislated if we had had the vote. I love the audacious quip of Teresa of Avila when she was energetically engaged in reforming the Carmelite monasteries, traveling all over? Spain by oxcart on bad roads, and one day was thrown from the oxcart into a muddy stream. She shook her fist at God, “God, if this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you don’t have many.’
No, the Reality that God reveals to us in his Word is very different, quite other—Other!—than anything we could ever have dreamed or thought up. And thank goodness. For if we keep at this long enough, prayer by prayer, we find ourselves living in a reality that is far, far larger, far lovelier, far better. But it takes considerable getting used to. Prayer is the process of getting used to it—going from the small to the large, from control to mystery, from self to soul—to God. And God doesn’t only reveal it to us by his Word so that we can know about it; he wants us engaged in it, participating in It.
So let the reader beware. Don’t just understand it; don’t just admire it; don’t just think it’s a wonderful thing; pray what you read, work yourself into active participation in what God reveals in the Word. God invites, yes, commands us to bring our words to this Word. He doesn’t expect us to take this new reality lying down. We better not take it lying down, for this word of God intends to get us on our feet, walking, running, singing...just as the psalmist said, “I hold fast to your statutes (Word), O LORD; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” (Psalm 119:31-32).
Indeed, how often I read the Bible for just leisure or inspiration. I forgot the Bible is the Word from the Lover of my soul. The God who cares so much about me more than I care for my own. Every word counts because it was spoken from a Lover. Yes, we may have difficulty to understand the meaning of it at time. That’s why Jesus prepared a special tutor for us – the Holy Spirit. He is not an agent from God like an angel but God Himself. He is the one who revealed His own will to us through the Bible. He knows what the Bible means because He is the author of the Word. A lot of time, we failed to wait, ask and listen to what the Holy Spirit had to say to us. We were too haste in reading and assuming we understood. Moreover, the Word is meant for us to live with but not to play with. We spent time arguing over which exegesis is more correct than obeying the Word in our lives – it may be our way to justify our failure in applying God’s Word, because we are not sure which interpretation is correct! Have mercy on us O Lord. Help us to treasure your word, spend time to study your word, seek your intervention to teach us your word, and most important of all, obey your word – the Bible is truly the precious gift from our heavenly Lover.
Abide with you in His love,
Lawrence
Good morning. Hope you enjoy a refreshing cool morning. I was packed with meetings and a lot of implementation to catch up, when my boss returned from vacation yesterday. But I was glad that many over-due issues were being taken care of. Thank God for another day of enjoying His presence at work and in my study – writing my dissertation. While I was driving to work this morning, I cracked up in laughter over the “stress” I gave myself. Nobody forced me to study and finish my dissertation before this year. It was all the “pressure” I gave myself. I laughed at my own “foolishness” and gladly surrender this writing project back to God…knowing that He holds me accountable to be a faithful steward of the time and resource He bestowed upon me. But He also expects me to enjoy this journey of stewardship.
I appreciated Eugene Peterson’s reminder about our wrong attitude toward God’s Word. To him, exegesis is the farthest thing from pedantry; exegesis is an act of love. It is loving the one enough who speaks the words to want to get the words right. It is respecting the words enough to use every means we have to get the words right. Exegesis is loving God enough to stop and listen carefully to what he says. God has pro- vided us with these scriptures that present us with his Word. Loving God means loving both what God speaks to us and the way God speaks to us. It follows that we bring the leisure and attentiveness of lovers to this text—cherishing every comma and semicolon, relishing the oddness of this preposition, delighting in the surprising placement of this noun. Lovers don’t take a quick look, get a “message” or a “meaning” and then run off and gossip with their friends about how they feel. Lovers savor the words, relishing every nuance of what is said and written.
Face it, reality as God reveals it to us by his Word in J Jesus, is strange and unexpected and disappointing. This is not the kind of world we would have created if we had been given the assignment; this is not the kind of salvation we would have arranged if we had been on the committee; this is not the system of rewards and punishments we would have legislated if we had had the vote. I love the audacious quip of Teresa of Avila when she was energetically engaged in reforming the Carmelite monasteries, traveling all over? Spain by oxcart on bad roads, and one day was thrown from the oxcart into a muddy stream. She shook her fist at God, “God, if this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you don’t have many.’
No, the Reality that God reveals to us in his Word is very different, quite other—Other!—than anything we could ever have dreamed or thought up. And thank goodness. For if we keep at this long enough, prayer by prayer, we find ourselves living in a reality that is far, far larger, far lovelier, far better. But it takes considerable getting used to. Prayer is the process of getting used to it—going from the small to the large, from control to mystery, from self to soul—to God. And God doesn’t only reveal it to us by his Word so that we can know about it; he wants us engaged in it, participating in It.
So let the reader beware. Don’t just understand it; don’t just admire it; don’t just think it’s a wonderful thing; pray what you read, work yourself into active participation in what God reveals in the Word. God invites, yes, commands us to bring our words to this Word. He doesn’t expect us to take this new reality lying down. We better not take it lying down, for this word of God intends to get us on our feet, walking, running, singing...just as the psalmist said, “I hold fast to your statutes (Word), O LORD; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” (Psalm 119:31-32).
Indeed, how often I read the Bible for just leisure or inspiration. I forgot the Bible is the Word from the Lover of my soul. The God who cares so much about me more than I care for my own. Every word counts because it was spoken from a Lover. Yes, we may have difficulty to understand the meaning of it at time. That’s why Jesus prepared a special tutor for us – the Holy Spirit. He is not an agent from God like an angel but God Himself. He is the one who revealed His own will to us through the Bible. He knows what the Bible means because He is the author of the Word. A lot of time, we failed to wait, ask and listen to what the Holy Spirit had to say to us. We were too haste in reading and assuming we understood. Moreover, the Word is meant for us to live with but not to play with. We spent time arguing over which exegesis is more correct than obeying the Word in our lives – it may be our way to justify our failure in applying God’s Word, because we are not sure which interpretation is correct! Have mercy on us O Lord. Help us to treasure your word, spend time to study your word, seek your intervention to teach us your word, and most important of all, obey your word – the Bible is truly the precious gift from our heavenly Lover.
Abide with you in His love,
Lawrence
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Devotional 301110
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thanks for your prayer. I slowly recover from my jetlag. As I was waking up this morning, few words kept flying over my head. I therefore tried to write them down on my iphone. But somehow I could not save them in my memo app. As soon as I pressed “done” it automatically deleted what I wrote down. I repeated several times with same effect (I never had this problem before). Finally I had them written down in an email and sent it back to myself. They were not some new insights, but something came up as the phrase “八十后” (born in the 80’s) surfaced. The reason I had this thought was because I had watched a Chinese you-tube presentation called”八十后” before I went to bed last night. I guessed those words were my hope for this young career generation:
八十后…
無所求No wants
無遺憾No regrets
無徹退No retreats
無愧羞No ashamed
無保留No reserved
This generation of young careers is well educated and affluent. They are the future leaders of our global village. They can make a much bigger impact in this “flat world” than their previous generations. The challenge is whether they have the passions for God or not. If they are willing to abandon themselves to the hands of Christ, they will truly shine bright like a light house not only at the coast but on top of the hill.
I saw my job as John the Baptist, preparing the way for this up coming generation. We build platforms and gospel posts so that this coming generation could use them for the advance of God’s Kingdom in the last frontier of global missions. The missions for us, Baby Boomers, is to equip these future leaders and give them the trust to finish the missions that we were called to start. It is a grand plan but not an easy task. We need to sincerely pray for revival in this generation, so that many will become great Christian leaders and mission workers in the new world. Amen.
With love in Him,
Lawrence
Good morning. Thanks for your prayer. I slowly recover from my jetlag. As I was waking up this morning, few words kept flying over my head. I therefore tried to write them down on my iphone. But somehow I could not save them in my memo app. As soon as I pressed “done” it automatically deleted what I wrote down. I repeated several times with same effect (I never had this problem before). Finally I had them written down in an email and sent it back to myself. They were not some new insights, but something came up as the phrase “八十后” (born in the 80’s) surfaced. The reason I had this thought was because I had watched a Chinese you-tube presentation called”八十后” before I went to bed last night. I guessed those words were my hope for this young career generation:
八十后…
無所求No wants
無遺憾No regrets
無徹退No retreats
無愧羞No ashamed
無保留No reserved
This generation of young careers is well educated and affluent. They are the future leaders of our global village. They can make a much bigger impact in this “flat world” than their previous generations. The challenge is whether they have the passions for God or not. If they are willing to abandon themselves to the hands of Christ, they will truly shine bright like a light house not only at the coast but on top of the hill.
I saw my job as John the Baptist, preparing the way for this up coming generation. We build platforms and gospel posts so that this coming generation could use them for the advance of God’s Kingdom in the last frontier of global missions. The missions for us, Baby Boomers, is to equip these future leaders and give them the trust to finish the missions that we were called to start. It is a grand plan but not an easy task. We need to sincerely pray for revival in this generation, so that many will become great Christian leaders and mission workers in the new world. Amen.
With love in Him,
Lawrence
Monday, November 29, 2010
Devotional 291110
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Hope you “recover” from a long weekend of eating and having fun. Some claimed to have gained several pounds over this weekend – it usually takes several months of diet plan and exercise to recover your waist size and weight. There is always a price to pay for having so much fun with food. We need to be reminded once again that man shallnot live by bread alone but by every word of God. It is time to turn our eyes to spiritual food which is always edifying.
Just having print on page and knowing how to distinguish nouns from verbs is not enough. Reading the Bible can get you into a lot of trouble if you do not do it rightly. You might own your own Bible but you don’t own the Word of God to do with what you want—God is sovereign. Your Morocco leather Bible might be thing that you paid fifty dollars for, but the Word of God is personal, living and active—God is love. If in our Bible reading we do not submit to the sovereignty and respond to the love, we become arrogant in our knowing and impersonal in our behavior.
The wisdom, counsel, and skills that have developed around this concern through the centuries coalesce under the Latin heading, Lectio Divina, often translated as “spiritual reading,” by which we are taught to read the Bible with humility and intimacy.
The word “spiritual” in the phrase doesn’t refer to reading about spiritual things, but to the way in which a book is read. Primarily it has to do with the way we read Holy Scripture, listening to the Spirit, alert to intimations of God, but the skill can be extended to nearly anything written, including letters, poems, novels, even cookbooks.
The concern of Lectio Divina is quite simple, really—at least simple to grasp. It means reading personally, not impersonally, reading for a message that affects who we are and are becoming, the way we live our lives, and not merely for information that we can use to raise our standard of living.
[Jesus said,] “. . . if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.” (Matthew 7:16-17). Unfortunately, a lot of Christians read the word but did not apply to their lives. As a result, their lives are like building sand castles at the beach (not even building a house on the sand beach), which could not stand a gentle wave of life. I was approached by one lady in church who sought counsel for her husband. She claimed he was a devoted Christian and aware of all the teachings in the bible but could not apply them in life. What could she do for her husband? It was a very personal question for this brother in Christ. He knew but he did not apply the truth in his life. As a result, he struggled in his life by his own strength with no satisfaction at all (other than making money). Allow the Word of God take hold of our lives is a life long experience. But once we make it a habit to obey God’s word in whatever “baby step” at a time, we will grow in Him each day. Amen!
With Love in Christ,
Lawrence
Good morning. Hope you “recover” from a long weekend of eating and having fun. Some claimed to have gained several pounds over this weekend – it usually takes several months of diet plan and exercise to recover your waist size and weight. There is always a price to pay for having so much fun with food. We need to be reminded once again that man shallnot live by bread alone but by every word of God. It is time to turn our eyes to spiritual food which is always edifying.
Just having print on page and knowing how to distinguish nouns from verbs is not enough. Reading the Bible can get you into a lot of trouble if you do not do it rightly. You might own your own Bible but you don’t own the Word of God to do with what you want—God is sovereign. Your Morocco leather Bible might be thing that you paid fifty dollars for, but the Word of God is personal, living and active—God is love. If in our Bible reading we do not submit to the sovereignty and respond to the love, we become arrogant in our knowing and impersonal in our behavior.
The wisdom, counsel, and skills that have developed around this concern through the centuries coalesce under the Latin heading, Lectio Divina, often translated as “spiritual reading,” by which we are taught to read the Bible with humility and intimacy.
The word “spiritual” in the phrase doesn’t refer to reading about spiritual things, but to the way in which a book is read. Primarily it has to do with the way we read Holy Scripture, listening to the Spirit, alert to intimations of God, but the skill can be extended to nearly anything written, including letters, poems, novels, even cookbooks.
The concern of Lectio Divina is quite simple, really—at least simple to grasp. It means reading personally, not impersonally, reading for a message that affects who we are and are becoming, the way we live our lives, and not merely for information that we can use to raise our standard of living.
[Jesus said,] “. . . if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.” (Matthew 7:16-17). Unfortunately, a lot of Christians read the word but did not apply to their lives. As a result, their lives are like building sand castles at the beach (not even building a house on the sand beach), which could not stand a gentle wave of life. I was approached by one lady in church who sought counsel for her husband. She claimed he was a devoted Christian and aware of all the teachings in the bible but could not apply them in life. What could she do for her husband? It was a very personal question for this brother in Christ. He knew but he did not apply the truth in his life. As a result, he struggled in his life by his own strength with no satisfaction at all (other than making money). Allow the Word of God take hold of our lives is a life long experience. But once we make it a habit to obey God’s word in whatever “baby step” at a time, we will grow in Him each day. Amen!
With Love in Christ,
Lawrence
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Devotional 241110
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. It is good to be home again. Thanks for your prayer for my ministry in Philippines. The Word of God was preached and some responded positively to His prompting. Many felt that the sermons directed to the issues they encountered in church. This church is the most missional one among all Chinese churches. The Mission budget is 75% of their general fund. They supported missionaries all over the world. 38 missionaries came back to attend the 45th Mission Conference of their mother church. God is doing great things through this congregation both locally and globally. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to see how He uses this church for His glory. I was humbled by how the Holy Spirit used me to challenge this congregation to grow even more. My experience ties in well with what Eugene Peterson shared about in his devotion.
We are mistaken when we look at the Bible as a spiritual toolbox. We can’t take things out of the Bible and make them work for us. The whole process of the spiritual life is to come before the God who is alive, who becomes present to us in his Word, and who by means of that Word creates and redeems. We don’t use Scripture; God uses Scripture to work his will in us.
Jesus said, “You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you II find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want” (John 5:39-40).
It is a great blessing to have God’s Word written so that we can read it at any time, but that the Word is written also involves us in difficulties not attended to often enough. These difficulties are at the very center of the spiritual life. The difficulties radiate out of a position of ownership—supposing that we own the Word, rather than letting the Word possess us. The simple act of buying a Bible has subtle side effects we need to counter. It is easy to suppose that since we bought it, we own it, and therefore can use it the way we wish.
This danger was not as acute when most Christians were illiterate, for they never read Scripture; they heard it. The words of the Bible were first spoken and listened to. Most of it was in oral form before it was written down. Even the Epistles, which originated as writings, were read aloud and listened to in the churches to which they were written.
Hearing a word is different from reading a word. When we hear, we are poised for response; something is happening. A listener doesn’t take a word or a phrase, then walk off and analyze it—that would be to miss the message. A speaking person presents a whole message to us, and we respond as whole persons. But the moment the message is written down, we can stop listening if we are so minded.
Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken! (Mark 12:26b-27)
I agreed with Peterson that our attitude toward Bible tends to be like reading a regular book that we possess. So we take it out to enjoy it if our mood is right. But if it does not give us what we want, we simply put it away back to our bookshelf and ignore it. We dictate and choose what we want from the Bible. Not unless we submit ourselves to the Bible just as we submit under God, we will not give Holy Spirit the freedom to speak to us through the Bible in whatever way He wants. The written word of God invites different analysis and interpretation, which creates division in church. The word of God is meant to call for our obedience to His Word instead of critical analysis of it. Have mercy on us O Lord. Help us to discern our attitude as we submit ourselves to your Word.
With Love through His Word,
Lawrence
Good morning. It is good to be home again. Thanks for your prayer for my ministry in Philippines. The Word of God was preached and some responded positively to His prompting. Many felt that the sermons directed to the issues they encountered in church. This church is the most missional one among all Chinese churches. The Mission budget is 75% of their general fund. They supported missionaries all over the world. 38 missionaries came back to attend the 45th Mission Conference of their mother church. God is doing great things through this congregation both locally and globally. I thank God for giving me the opportunity to see how He uses this church for His glory. I was humbled by how the Holy Spirit used me to challenge this congregation to grow even more. My experience ties in well with what Eugene Peterson shared about in his devotion.
We are mistaken when we look at the Bible as a spiritual toolbox. We can’t take things out of the Bible and make them work for us. The whole process of the spiritual life is to come before the God who is alive, who becomes present to us in his Word, and who by means of that Word creates and redeems. We don’t use Scripture; God uses Scripture to work his will in us.
Jesus said, “You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you II find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want” (John 5:39-40).
It is a great blessing to have God’s Word written so that we can read it at any time, but that the Word is written also involves us in difficulties not attended to often enough. These difficulties are at the very center of the spiritual life. The difficulties radiate out of a position of ownership—supposing that we own the Word, rather than letting the Word possess us. The simple act of buying a Bible has subtle side effects we need to counter. It is easy to suppose that since we bought it, we own it, and therefore can use it the way we wish.
This danger was not as acute when most Christians were illiterate, for they never read Scripture; they heard it. The words of the Bible were first spoken and listened to. Most of it was in oral form before it was written down. Even the Epistles, which originated as writings, were read aloud and listened to in the churches to which they were written.
Hearing a word is different from reading a word. When we hear, we are poised for response; something is happening. A listener doesn’t take a word or a phrase, then walk off and analyze it—that would be to miss the message. A speaking person presents a whole message to us, and we respond as whole persons. But the moment the message is written down, we can stop listening if we are so minded.
Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the account of the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken! (Mark 12:26b-27)
I agreed with Peterson that our attitude toward Bible tends to be like reading a regular book that we possess. So we take it out to enjoy it if our mood is right. But if it does not give us what we want, we simply put it away back to our bookshelf and ignore it. We dictate and choose what we want from the Bible. Not unless we submit ourselves to the Bible just as we submit under God, we will not give Holy Spirit the freedom to speak to us through the Bible in whatever way He wants. The written word of God invites different analysis and interpretation, which creates division in church. The word of God is meant to call for our obedience to His Word instead of critical analysis of it. Have mercy on us O Lord. Help us to discern our attitude as we submit ourselves to your Word.
With Love through His Word,
Lawrence
Monday, November 8, 2010
Devotional 081110
Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. Thank God for rains and beautiful sunshine. The sky is so clear after a day of rain. Thank God for a great celebration event last night. Close to five hundred people came to share our joy in seeing His guidance for Gospel Operation International. May God continue to do His great work through this mission agency! God is shaping His people through His work throughout the globe. Sometimes He humbled us by His divine intervention. Sometimes He molded us by using difficult circumstances or afflictions. Whatever means God may use the goal remains the same – make us godly and Christ like.
We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Romans 5:3-5). It is essential to distinguish between hoping and wishing. They are not the same thing.
Wishing is something all of us do. It projects what we want or think we need into the future. Just because we wish for something good or holy we think it qualifies as hope, it does not. Wishing extends our egos into the future; hope desires what God is going to do—and we don’t yet know what that is.
Wishing grows out of our egos; hope grows out of our faith. Hope is oriented toward what God is doing; wishing is oriented toward what we are doing. Wishing has to do with what I want in things or people or God; hope has to do with what God wants in me and the world of things and people beyond me.
Wishing is our will projected into the future, and hope is God’s will coming out of the future. Picture it in your mind: wishing is a line that comes out of me, with an arrow pointing into the future. Hoping is a line that comes out of God from the future, with an arrow pointing toward me.
Hope means being surprised, because we don’t know what is best for us or how our lives are going to be completed. To cultivate hope is to suppress wishing—to refuse to fantasize about what we want, but live in anticipation of what God is going to do next.
I appreciated the insight that Eugene Peterson shared with us. A lot of time, we are confused with these two words – hoping and wishing. We thought they are interchangeable, but his explanation helps clarify the two. We tend to hope for what we wish. When we do not get what we wish for we give up hope. This distinction is very helpful. The author of Hebrews said, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). If hope desires what God is going to do in our lives, we remains hopeful in the One who knows what is better for our lives, and are in full control of what will come before us. We struggle with the calling of God for our lives when we focus on what we wish than what we hope in Him.
Please remember our international staff retreat in the coming three days. Afterward, I will be flying to Philippines to speak in mission conference and missionary retreat. Pray that God will make me a channel of His blessings to the brothers and sisters in Philippines.
With Love in Him,
Lawrence
Good morning. Thank God for rains and beautiful sunshine. The sky is so clear after a day of rain. Thank God for a great celebration event last night. Close to five hundred people came to share our joy in seeing His guidance for Gospel Operation International. May God continue to do His great work through this mission agency! God is shaping His people through His work throughout the globe. Sometimes He humbled us by His divine intervention. Sometimes He molded us by using difficult circumstances or afflictions. Whatever means God may use the goal remains the same – make us godly and Christ like.
We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us (Romans 5:3-5). It is essential to distinguish between hoping and wishing. They are not the same thing.
Wishing is something all of us do. It projects what we want or think we need into the future. Just because we wish for something good or holy we think it qualifies as hope, it does not. Wishing extends our egos into the future; hope desires what God is going to do—and we don’t yet know what that is.
Wishing grows out of our egos; hope grows out of our faith. Hope is oriented toward what God is doing; wishing is oriented toward what we are doing. Wishing has to do with what I want in things or people or God; hope has to do with what God wants in me and the world of things and people beyond me.
Wishing is our will projected into the future, and hope is God’s will coming out of the future. Picture it in your mind: wishing is a line that comes out of me, with an arrow pointing into the future. Hoping is a line that comes out of God from the future, with an arrow pointing toward me.
Hope means being surprised, because we don’t know what is best for us or how our lives are going to be completed. To cultivate hope is to suppress wishing—to refuse to fantasize about what we want, but live in anticipation of what God is going to do next.
I appreciated the insight that Eugene Peterson shared with us. A lot of time, we are confused with these two words – hoping and wishing. We thought they are interchangeable, but his explanation helps clarify the two. We tend to hope for what we wish. When we do not get what we wish for we give up hope. This distinction is very helpful. The author of Hebrews said, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). If hope desires what God is going to do in our lives, we remains hopeful in the One who knows what is better for our lives, and are in full control of what will come before us. We struggle with the calling of God for our lives when we focus on what we wish than what we hope in Him.
Please remember our international staff retreat in the coming three days. Afterward, I will be flying to Philippines to speak in mission conference and missionary retreat. Pray that God will make me a channel of His blessings to the brothers and sisters in Philippines.
With Love in Him,
Lawrence
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