When Past Crosses The Present

John 2:22


So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.

*
Even at the time of greatest discouragement, the disciples were able to latch
on to the promise Jesus left behind. This connection of the past brought forth
hope and strength to the disciples and their belief in their hearts in the
Scripture increased. This sad situation turned into a moment of revival as they meditated on the Scripture.

God sees the future but we cannot and that limits significantly what I do now.
But as our hind sight is 20/20, when what God had promised comes true my heart
can pound like crazy because God's hope settles into my heart. So the moment
when I realize that God's presence in my past merges with my present life, a
miraculous power takes place and my outlook on the future brightens up
supernaturally and also a sense of comfort & peace settle in. The Spirit also
brings clear conviction into my heart through His Word.

Perfect, Confirm, Strengthen, and Establish

1 Peter 5:2,10


shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness;
After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

*
Not out of obligation but willingly, shepherd the flock God bestowed upon us. This seems like an option but if we want to be established by God, this is one of the
areas we must pursue. Of course, the devil will do all it can to derail us from
this effort and some sufferings on our behalf will take place. But God promises
us that in a little while, the almighty God will perfect, confirm, strengthen and
establish us.

God will establish us after our enduring of some hardships coming from the enemy.
Keep this perspective and outlook in mind as I serve in various ministries. And
when in doubt, keep shepherding the flock God gave me with my full and
sincere efforts.

With My Sins And Iniquities

Isaiah 43:24b


Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,
You have wearied Me with your iniquities.

*
The people of God disobeyed God and even though God cannot be burdened
or wearied, He used such expression to show how our disobedience is affecting
Him because He love us so much.

I want to be an agent of refreshing and rejoicing God's Spirit. I want to be
free from my iniquities so that when God sees me He will have lots of
smiles on His face.

Live In An Understanding Way

1 Peter 3:7


You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

*
God designed husband and wife differently and husbands are stronger of
the two whose role is to understand and guide our wives, as same heirs
of God's grace and as prayer partners. When this harmony is broken, then our
prayer lives will be hindered and there won't be understanding of each other
between husband and wife.

God had placed me and my wife in this family to carry out His grace through prayer
together. In order for this to happen, I must take the lead of
understanding her at all times. Stay in the mode of doing my best to understand
her heart.

For The Sake Of Conscience Toward God

1 Peter 2:19,20


For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

*
Even if our masters are unreasonable and harsh we are to endure it
for the sake of God, because it pleases God and we find His favor. When
we are harshly treated for our sins then we deserve it, but when we have
done no wrong yet receive unjust treatment then we are to endure with patience.

I want to find God's favor and I want to act with regards to "for the sake of conscience toward God" and bear up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
Keep this in my mind.

Imperishable Inheritance

1 Peter 1:4


to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

*
In many ways we are so caught up by attaining "more toys" while living
in this world, that we don't get to think about attaining God's eternal
inheritance which, once attained, will be permanent. Without such a
perspective, we are bound to pursuing temporal values that will fade
away with our lives.

I need to set my mind such that I will pursue to attain God's inheritance
which will last with me forever into my entering into Heave. Need to defocus
on this world's values and keep my eyes on His values.

Levitical Prayer Of Worship

2 Chronicles 30:26,27


So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.
Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came to His holy dwelling place, to heaven.

*
For a long time, the people of God lost JOY in the Lord. They were under the
bondage of the idols and devil. Things became more of a chore than a rejoicing
worship. But once this great joy was restored, God's Spirit began to move in
the midst of the Levitical priests because they arose and began to bless the
people -- pass on God's blessings. And their voices of prayer was heard by
everyone as well as God in heaven. How beautiful it is to see that when JOY is
restored in God's people, their Spiritual order lines up and God's blessings
poured down from Heaven. And the people will pray to God clearly and
loudly which will be heard by everyone including God.

Lord, I want to be used by You to restore the GREAT JOY of ministry in
the midst of my own church congregation resulting in congregational
prayers of unity and the Levitical priests blessing the people.

Confess, Healed, And Accomplish Much

James 5:16


Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

*
Power of a strong and healthy community is an open and tight relationships
which will allow deep sharing of lives even to the point of confessing ones
own sins because they believe in healing that comes from God through such
confession. On top of this, when we become righteous by being healed
from our sins, then our prayers can accomplish much more than what we can
accomplish on our own.

Set a clear objective of our small group and Sunday School Teachers so that
we will aim for establishing a community where we believe in power of each
others prayers after we first confess our sins to each other. We want to
accomplish much that God intended for us.

Peacemaker Brings Righteousness

James 3:18


And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

*
Peacemakers are the ones sowing fruits of righteousness. Sowing is done in
peace because these people are committed on making peace which means
they will thwart conflicts, chaos, hatred, etc. for the sake of sowing
the seed of righteousness. As with many seeds, once they are sown,
they require time to grow and then bear fruits. So, the peacemakers must
envision the future fruits of righteousness.

What is the significance of making peace? For whose benefit? It appears
that making peace alone is not enough because it will not stay that way
forever; in fact, it may just be appeasing temporarily which can actually
bring worse outcome. So, the peacemakers must be willing to make peace
now for the sake of bearing fruits of righteousness in the future
because through these fruits God will be pleased.

Joyful Shouting To Zion

Isaiah 33:16; 35:10

He will dwell on the heights,
His refuge will be the impregnable rock;
His bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.

And the ransomed of the LORD will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
With everlasting joy upon their heads
They will find gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

*
A picture of the one pursuing God's leadership is really awesome to see. He
stands upon the impregnable rock and living water gushes out of his life. And
God will gather these people of His and will return to the dried up land
shouting joyfully. Sorrows and sighing will flee away. There is no room
for such darkness.

I need to keep my head up and encourage others to do likewise; gather them
and begin to build up the momentum of JOYFUL FELLOWSHIP among the
like-minded friends.

Path To Being Perfect And Complete

James 1:2-4


Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

*
Even though we are trained to avoid trials, they end up knocking at our doors anyways
and therefore we might as well understand why we have trials in our lives. God's
intention was for us to be perfect and complete. Not having a correct perspective
regarding my trials will make me incomplete because I would never understand how
to accept the situation in God's terms. So, only through trials I will fully
understand, lacking nothing what God intended for me in the first place.

Shouldn't I be joyful to know that God sends special training for me to lack in
nothing? Thank you for allowing me to see the hidden meanings in trials I passed
through during last 2.5 years. May I grow to not lack in anything; and be perfect
and complete as I walk through these trials.

Sacrifices That Please God

Hebrews 13:16


And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

*
We should never cease doing good to others and sharing what we have because
that pleases God. What more is there for us to do than to please God? Our
focus of such sacrifices shouldn't be our own recognition of position or performance
but whether God is please by our actions or not.

All the "good works" and "sharing" of my time and strength were not focused
on pleasing God directly but indirectly. The immediate impact was really for my
own benefit and satisfaction to know that I am on track to build God's ministry.
But God's ways are different -- He wants me to please Him first, and then He will
build up His own ministry through my obedience and sacrifice.

Peaceful Fruit of Righteousness

Hebrews 12:11


All discipline (A)for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

*
Disciplines are no fun but they bring forth a lasting effect of
aligning ourselves to correct bearing in life. And once our lives are trained
by discipline, we will begin to bear peaceful fruit of righteousness. Not just
any fruit but "PEACEFUL" fruit. After the rigorous discipline, the fruits we
bear are peaceful. God brings order and peace in the midst of what seems to us
a chaos.

I must receive God's discipline for me gladly even though they may be painful,
and sorrowful because I need to come to a point of having my life trained by it.
Then God will bring forth the wonderful fruit out of my life to bring peace
to others.

Chain Reaction

Hebrews 11:39-40


And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

*
Our ancestors allowed us to be where we are in our Spiritual journey -- people
like Moses, Paul, Peter, Henry Blackaby, etc. However, their works and
commitments alone are insufficient for our "perfect" prize. Our own
commitments and good works are required to bring completion. So what I
do here now really matters in eternity. Further, our own commitments alone
are not sufficient because we will need our children to complete what we have
started. This is all a big chain reaction.

In God's eternal perspective, all human race are knit together to complete the
overall perfect plan of God. Not done by just one or a few super heroes but done
by just mere children of God whose hearts are conformed to God's image and
plan -- every single one of them together. So, what I do now really matters.

Disposable Confidence

Hebrews 10:35,36

Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.


* Discouragements may come about but I must not lose my confidence in God.
Enduring through these times alone will bring for the great reward. Through
these enduring moments I must do the will of God at all times because then
I may receive God's promises for me.


Once again, God has no problems of keeping His promises but the bottleneck
is me -- will I be able to keep my confidence in God and endure the rough roads
ahead? If I can, then I may be receiving what He's promised me personally or
corporately. In the midst of all this I must complete God's will for me
especially as I am in the middle of a transition in my life. God's will is
for me to humble myself and just hang on to Him alone.

Power of His Blood Keeps On Cleansing

Hebrews 9:14


how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

*
If blood of animals had some significance to cleansing our sins, then
Jesus' own blood will definitely have SOME REAL significance in God's
Kingdom to cleanse us deeply. The purpose of such cleansing is to serve
the living God of Heaven. Such a service can only be possible if my life
gets the deep cleaning through the blood of Christ.

Clean Slate for His Laws

Hebrews 8:10

"FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS,
AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS.
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

*
God's promise with His people is to put His laws in our hearts and minds
in order that His people would recognize and confess that He is our God
and we are His children. God desires us to call Him our God and pursue
a loving relationship with Him.

Are God's Laws engraved into my mind and heart? I think it's more like
His Laws are crammed in there somewhere but many other things are taking
higher precedence because of unresolved (unforgiven) conflicts and
my own perspective of my career path.

Perfection Forever

Hebrews 7:28


For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

*
Even God's Law was limited by our weaknesses, so our own law is
definitely going suffer from many limitations. That's why God
provided His own perfection to us through His promise delivered in
the form of His own Son. And because He exists in eternity, we
have an access into eternal perfection as long as we dwell in God and Jesus.

No Sluggish Imitator

Hebrews 6:11,12


And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,
so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

*
We must have the diligence in our walk with God to retain an
eternal perspective of hope. Out of this we must be prompt without
any delays in becoming imitators of our spiritual "Fathers" who inherit
the promises of God through their consistent faith and patience.

I need to be more diligent in pursuing to be an imitator of my
spiritual mentors. I've been asking God to send me a mentor in my locale so
I may follow this path more diligently.

Learning Obedience

Hebrews 5:8


Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.

*
Even Jesus had to learn obedience through His suffering. Two things are
notable: (1) Jesus had to learn; (2) Jesus had to suffer to learn.

Main point: Obedience to God comes only through my desire to learn it
and more than not this process takes place through my own suffering. So,
whenever I suffer, I must ask the question of whether I am going through
another lesson of obedience for me or not.

Desiring Nothing On Earth

Psalm 73:25,26

Whom have I in heaven but You?
And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

*
Recognizing my citizenship of Heaven at all times is quite critical
because I must desire nothing on earth permanently as all those
will eventually fail. When God of Heaven becomes my soul strength then
I will be filled with His presence all of my life and at that point my
life will be totally aligned with His desires.

Can I truly desire nothing of this world? What would that look like?
One thing I do know is what it looks like for my flesh and my heart to
fail. So I should at least start by avoiding to trust my own heart, but
to transform it more like Jesus' heart.

By The Grace of God

Hebrews 2:9b


so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone

*
By His grace we may be tasting the "death" for the benefit for everyone. The
power of grace is greater than the death so when we are in His grace, we can taste
death without being consumed by it. God's plan for the
tasting of death has a greater
purpose for the man kind because without it, Jesus could not have fully saved
us from the eternal death we were headed. So, when God's grace anoints my own life
it should pass on that grace in a greater way to others.

Torn To Healing

Hosea 6:1


"Come, let us return to the LORD
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.

*
God is in control of our lives -- good or bad. Our trust in Him will be to
know that if He allowed bad to happen, He can also reverse that and restore
wholeness into our lives.

As I reflect on how I had felt that my life had been torn up, I was overwhelmed
by confusion as to why these things happened. But God did bring me to a point
of recognizing that even if I were torn up, He can restore me when I genuinely
return to Him. Adam and Eve did not repent and return to God after they
committed sin, thus the broken relationship had not been healed then. However,
God's desire is still the same -- to heal us into complete restoration.

Your Years Will Not Come To An End

Hebrews 1:11,12

THEY WILL PERISH, BUT YOU REMAIN;
AND THEY ALL WILL BECOME OLD LIKE A GARMENT,
AND LIKE A MANTLE YOU WILL ROLL THEM UP;
LIKE A GARMENT THEY WILL ALSO BE CHANGED
BUT YOU ARE THE SAME,
AND YOUR YEARS WILL NOT COME TO AN END."

*
All things will eventually perish but God is the only constant figure.
In fact, many things will phase out of fashion or demand and we are
driven to pursue new and exciting things which may easily get us
into the rat race of seeking and pursuing one new thing to another in life.
But these changes are actually initiated by God so we must lock on to
God as our anchor in order not to be swept away with the changes.

Many things are changing around me even before I realize it. God will also
put away the old things and wants to give us new things only if I abide in His
firm foundation.

Until Cities Are Devastated

Isaiah 6:11

Then I said, "Lord, how long?" And He answered,
"Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people
And the land is utterly desolate,

*
It seems that when we keep straying far away from God, He will let us go until
we are devastated in order for the remnants to return to God and re-establish
His house. This process is a very difficult and painful one to go through but
the hope is that God will indeed rebuild His throne, and as long as I abide in
Him, I will be in His house and be a part of His presence and will enjoy
His dwelling with us.

Key takeaway: Keep my eyes on God who is the constant, especially when
God is letting His people come to a point of devastation. Keep raising
my standard of excellence for God in order to be used as His remnant.

His Delightful Plant

Isaiah 5:7

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel
And the men of Judah His delightful plant
Thus He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

*
Following Isaiah's description about how the vineyard preciously
established did not bear much fruit, God is saying that the vineyard
identified the house of Israel and the people are the delightful
fruits/plants. So the house of Israel did not bring forth delightful
men. In fact, the righteous are full of distress while crying out to God.

I am wondering whether this passage applies to the churches in US where God
had sent His own Son to die for its establishment in order that these
churches would "produce" the delightful plants but rather they are busy
with something else and the few righteous men are crying out to God out of
distress.

Your Silver Has Become Dross

Isaiah 1:22,23

Your silver has become dross,
Your drink diluted with water.
Your rulers are rebels
And companions of thieves;
Everyone loves a bribe
And chases after rewards
They do not defend the orphan,
Nor does the widow's plea come before them.

*
This description of what used to be a God's dwelling place looks pretty
pathetic. It has lost all of its beauty and potency. And the state of
the rulers are tightly related to the status of the nation and its people.
The rulers are so busy looking out for their own gains, the people are
suffering, especially the weaker ones.

As I read this passage a sadness swept through my heart for the Israelites;
and then I also felt so sad for many of today's churches because we have
become covered with dross, and our drinks are diluted and lost its sting.
What a shame it is for silver to not shine but become dross and the drink
to be diluted with water. I must pray for the leaders of our churches so
that they will lead the people back to God and also care for the weaker
members within the church because that is the picture of a healthy church.