Giving All My Possessions

[S] 1 Corinthians 13:3 --
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

[O] As I am thinking about tomorrow morning's homeless breakfast ministry that I'll be partaking for the second time with my youth children, this verse begged me to re-examine my motivation for going tomorrow other than the fact that I need to give a ride.  I am merely going offer about 3 hours of my time tomorrow morning here but as this verse says, even if I give all of my resources, if I do it with a wrong motive then it will not profit me at all.  To make it clear, I'm not interested in gaining something in return for my giving but I believe  the "profits" in this verse references God's blessings and His honoring of my life.

[A] I will pray that God will put His love in my heart so I can bring that to the homeless ministry tomorrow morning.

[P] Dear God, I ask that You will ceter Your love around all of my ministrial activities I take part.  My the love of Jesus flow through me as I minister to various people in different settings.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Ephphatha!

[S] Numbers 21:2 --
Then Israel made this vow to the LORD : "If you will deliver these people into our hands, we will totally destroy their cities.

Mark 7:34 --
He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!" ).

[O] The vow made by Israelites caught my eyes because it wasn't just a crying out to God for "help us!" but they clearly spelled out what they vow to do -- totally destroy their cities.  I am reflecting on my own attitude toward God's leadership whether it's just a mediocre desire to follow Him without having a clear conviction of actions from my part.  I'm especially focusing on totally destroying the enemy along the way.  It's not just a partial victory but a complete victory over them.  To me, "If you will deliver"means, if you empower me to carry out your plans, I will fully (100%) utilize your power to eliminate the influences of the enemy in and around my life.

[A] When I pray for His power, I am going to commit to exercise it fully to destroy the enemy's works that come my way.  When I ask for His power, I plan to use it to the max.  As Jesus said in the Mark passage, I want to claim "Ephphatha" for His power to openly flow through me to claim victorious life every day.

[P] Dear Heavenly Father, Ephphatha! (Not even sure if this is grammatically correct.)  I request Your unlimiting power to work through me and my family's life such that we will claim every day as victorious over enemy's schemes.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Miriam's Death

[S] Numbers 20:1 --
In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.

[O] Not sure exactly how many years passed since Miriam last criticized Moses (with Aaron) in Numbers 12 but since her consequence of being outcasted for 7 days with her leprous skin, we do not read anything recorded about her ministry until now when she died.

[A] Stay humble and not get sucked into gossiping, jealousness toward others success, and instead honor God's glory and trust that He will honor my servanthood.

[P] Father, please use every year of my life until the last breath for Your ministry to bring out Your honor and glory.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Let Me Hear Your Personal Story?

[S] Mark 5:32-34 --
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.  Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.  He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

[O] Did Jesus had to look for this woman, really?  He could've easily identified her, right?  This scene reminds me of Genesis 3:9 -- But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" -- because in both instances the almighty God of universe is pursuing us not because he lacked power but because He wanted to allow us the chance to make a choice to approach Him as He desires a personal relationship from each one of us (not a group deal).  The woman from this passage actually had not done anything wrong other than how she might've felt like she "stole" Jesus' power to heal herself.  But nevertheless Jesus wanted to affirm her experience in public and so she would begin to build her life on a firm foundation going forward.

Additionally, here was a person who had spent all of her resources and energy without successfully healing her disease and her condition was getting worse.  As a last resort she approaches Jesus and actually receives the miraculous healing.  The woman who appeared to be one of the many in the crowd was not lost in eyes of Jesus.  Today, we have many people who's lost all of what they had and economy is still going downhill.  I hope that these people will give Jesus a try and not only will they be welcomed with a warm personal outreach from Him, they will begin to experience the miraculous healing in their lives.

[A] Whenever God works in my life, I should approach Him to confess my joy, fear, excitement, forgiveness, etc. because He cares about me -- the one out of 6 billion people on this planet.

[P] Dear God, Your personal touch I see in this passage warmed my heart so much, I had to restrain myself from writing too much here.  Thank You for always allowing me a chance to step forward instead of strong-arm'ing me to do/be your ways.  May I soften my neck and heart to be more intimate with You out of my own will.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

The Power Of Peace

[S] Psalm 29:11 -- 
The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Mark 4:38 --
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

[O] In some sense "strength" and "peace" do not go too well because I envision a powerfulness like the Hulk when it comes to strength while peace gives the sense of serenity of a calm lake.  So as I was reading Psalm 29:11 I was thinking: how can God give the strenth as well as the peace to His people at the same time?  Subsequently as I was reading Mark 4, the whole scene of Jesus sleeping in the midst of the fierce storm who moments later had the power to calm it down gave light to the true power from God -- it is founded in the peaceful relationship with God foremost.  The power of sustaining through the storms of life in a total peaceful presence of God is the awesome power God desires me to attain.

[A]  In order to live strong and victorious days, I need to start the days by having recharging sessions with God in His peacefulness -- in a quiet time before others wake up, reading through His Word to touch and fill my heart.

[P]  Dear God, may my yearning for victorious and love-filled days be inspired by the peaceful times I will have with you.  Let me not dash out of the house charging ahead like a knight on a mighty horse but to head out with a confidence of knowing that your peace would flow through me like a mighty ocean wave throughout my day, with many different people I would interact with.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

No Silence Allowed

[S] Numbers 14:34 --
According to the number of days which you spied out the land, forty days, for every day you shall bear your guilt a year, even forty years, and you will know My opposition.

[O] It may seem a bit unfair to Caleb and Joshua who stood by God's promise, but nevertheless God sends the consequence to the whole Israelites based on the number of days they spied out the land.  I am wondering about what type of 40 days the twelve spies spent with each other.  Did Caleb/Joshua and the 10 other spies debated while on mission?  I hope that C/J did have a plenty of time to struggle with them because I hate to think that those two were silent of their positions until the time they returned to report to the people and found out they had different positions.  This is my pure speculcation, but believers have responsibilities on every day basis to influence those who are around us, especially those who are untrustworthy of God.  In the end, I feel that the believers would have to pay for the consequence of the people's unbelief.

[A] In a nutshell: I should not stay silent.  This is a reminder for me to stay active on representing God at my workplace without any vacation.

[P] Dear God, would you continue to shower your wisdom so that I would be effective in reflecting your love and peace to my co-workers?  In this time of uncertainty (of economy), may I be source of peace which comes from you.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Our Days Are Numbered

(Start of 40 days Lent period)

[S] Psalm 90:12 --
So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

[O] Do I know how much money I have in my bank account?  I should because it matters how I would live my life based on that -- how much to spend when and where.  But regardless of my knowledge of that fact, I cannot spend more than what I have by the bank's enforcement.  Likewise, do I know the balance of God's deposit into my life?  Wise living comes from knowing this to live every day according to how much God's blessed my life with.  Living life less than this would be like robbing God; and trying to live more than that would be too ambitious and self-centered.  I really like the translation of "heart of wisdom" because wisdom does not come from my head (knowledge) but from my heart.  Besides, God takes joy when I present that "heart of wisdom" to Him in return for the blessings He's deposted into my life in the first place.

[A] I need to better manage my 24 hours in a day because every precious minute needs to be presented to God as spent with my heart of wisdom.  Getting up in time, spending the deveotional time with Jesus, organizing and allocating quality time with my family members, serving the church community.

[P] Dear God, in many ways than not, my days on earth are numbered until the day You call me home.  Grant me wisdom and discipline to live every moment wisely filled with happy and joy spirit giving You the glority you deserve.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.