Turning Aside To Look

[S] Exodus 3:3-4 --

 ³So Moses said, "I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up."
 ⁴When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."


[O] Moses' decision to go see this marvelous sight triggered God's response to him.  Had he just bypassed that scene, then there was no reason for God to have called him "Moses, Moses!"  I am thinking: 1) do I make enough opportunities for me to run across marvelous sights that God is working in?  2) When I see one of those sights do I adjust my current course of actions to explore further or just too busy going on with my life and schedules?  I desire to hear God's voice but if I don't set up my circumstances of doing that, it'll just be my own wishful thinking far from actually happening.  Moses did not ignore the hint God provided in his usual daily path and according to verse 4, "When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look," God called him.  That's when God involved Moses into His plan of salvation.

[A] Continue to adjust my schedule so I will start each day with a devotion of God's word in order to "run into" His marvelous sight and have the margin of time to turn aside to seek further what God has in store for me.

[P] Dear God, I desire to adjust my schedules to have the "burning bush" experiences.  Please allow me to adjust my daily schedules to capture these moments of running into Your signs.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Lasting Names in Return for Right Decisions

[S] Exodus 1:15,17,20,21 --
 ¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah;

 ¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.


 ²⁰So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.
 ²¹Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.


[O] God must have allowed the names of these two midwives to be recorded here in Exodus because of their fear and trust in God over the Egyptian authorities who was set to kill lives.  Thye stood up for the godly values of saving lives even at the risk of losing their own lives.  They were wise enough to explain the situation so they won't be in trouble with the authorities either.  However, we can also see that our own "wisdom" has limitations which eventually led to the Pharaoh murdering more lives anyways.  Getting back to the main point, in verses 20 and 21, God showed favor to these midwives and that's the point that grabbed me from this passage.  Many times, we are up against tough situations where I really need to distinguish between what's comfortable vs. what's right (which is usually risky under the circumstances).  God is watching to see what path I would choose and if I select "His ways," then He will honor that and show His favor in my life.  The probability of choosing His ways increases as I spend each morning asking God to "speak" through my own devotions so I may know His heart.

[A] This may seem redundant and old, but be consistent with my morning devotions by getting up earlier to allow time for that quiet time before the heat of the day rises.

[P] Dear God, thank You for honoring my own meager obedience given some challenging situation I'm put under.  I know You don't need my "right" decisions because You are the God of the universe and yet You care enough when I do make those decisions to reflect Your glory.  May my heart be tuned with Yours more and more, each day.  Mold me, Lord.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Give Me Success Today

[S] Genesis 24:12, 63 --
 ¹² Then he prayed, "O LORD, God of my master Abraham, give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham. 
⁶³ He went out to the field one evening to meditate, and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching.

[O] The two people in this passage requested or relied on God for their needs.  Abraham's servant asked for success and Isaac spent time with God just before he met his beloved wife.  Letting God go ahead when faced with struggles or challenges in life is so crucial not because He is some sort of a genie making my wishes come true but because my total reliance on Him makes His glory to shine in my own success.  Both of these men's desires were fulfilled when they fully committed to God's leadership.  Finding a life partner is one of the most significant decisions one can make in life, and what's more beautiful than to let God take the lead in this matchmaking?

[A] Deep inside of me, I know I am pursuing success in all the things I do.  I must be cautious that I'm not leaving out God's leadership in those efforts.  I need to pray the "give me success today" prayers before every effort I put in, small or big.

[P] Dear God, I desire to live a successful life but defining success is not a simple matter.  So, I'm turning to You to provide me Your success to come true in my and my family members lives.  I pray that our family will meditate on Your word consistently and look up to see how You will lead us down this path of successes.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Surely There Is No Fear Of God

[S] Genesis 20:11 --
 ¹¹Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.

[O] Contrary to Abraham's presumption, there was a clear fear of God in that place.  He lack of trust caused him to deceive other people whom he should've actually be influencing toward God by setting a good example.  His mindset of, "There's no way God can work in such place like this," was where the flaw began.  How many times do I have the same flawed thinking when I see things with my own eyes and come to my own conclusions?  Is anything too difficult for God (from yesterday's devo)?  No.  But why do I act like it too many times?  God is at work in all places despite the condition.  All types of people matter to God; so I shouldn't label anyone to be "impossible."  I have to remember He hung that cross and died for all types of people here on earth.

[A] In a quiet place identify any areas in my brain where I've wrote off to be impossible place for God to work.  And surrender them to God so He could (and He will) show His mighty power there as well.

[P] Dear God, may there be no areas in my mind to presume You're powerless because nothing is too difficult (let alone impossible) for You.  May I trust in You to be working in any and all places You send me to go.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Too Great A Compassion, Nothing Too Difficult

[S] Genesis 18:14; 19:16 --
 ¹⁴"Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."
 ¹⁶But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city. 

[O] What a comfort of knowing that nothing is too difficult for our God and to see how He "brought" Lot's family out from Sodom while he was hesitating!  His compassion for me is so great that He won't let me down.  I can still veer away from Him through my own rebellion but I am still comforted knowing that God's compassion can be far greater than my stupidity.  Lord, how I want to develop my hearing of Your voice correctly.  I want to listen to You with the ready stance at all times, so please speak to me and I sure hope I won't ignore it like Lot.

[A] Continue to develop my hearing of Your voice every morning this year 2010!

[P] Dear God, I come before You today acknowledging that there is nothing too difficult for You in my life to handle and that I need to hear Your voice properly in order for me to follow Your guidance.  Please make me a servant always ready to hear You and follow You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

The Very Same Day

[S] Genesis 17:23-26 --

 ²³Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him.
 ²⁴Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
 ²⁵And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
 ²⁶In the very same day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son.

[O] "The very same day" repeats twice in this passage and that grabbed my attention because Abraham's immediate application from what he heard from God impressed me this time again.  Well, this is mainly due to my lack of this speedy response when I hear from God.  How many years have I been trying to establish my "early" morning devotional altar?  One too many ....  The second "the very same day" confirms the completion of his immediate response.  I may start the very same day but won't complete it until many days/months later.

[A] I need to work on this type of a speedy response to God's calling.  Listen to what He's telling me so I may respond accordingly.  1 Sam 3:10b -- "Speak, for Your servant is listening."

[P] Dear God, as we have heard the message of "Speak, for Your servant is listening." last Sunday, I want to submit to You in listening mode -- or as one of my professor said in "sponge" mode.  Speak to me, Lord.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Home-grown and Trained Men

[S] Genesis 14:14-16 --

 ¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.
 ¹⁵He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.
 ¹⁶He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.

[O] This passage seems to describe our current small group ministry initiative.  We've just begun with some "trained" leaders.  We have a clear purpose to divide and conquer the crowd God sent to our church into small groups so each group will mature to be spiritually vibrant groups in order not to lose any to the enemy.  I see that we must continue to train our home-grown leaders and hopefully more will come -- it's not just about having lots of leaders but despite the numbers, we must have committed leaders who are not afraid to stand their posts and together with our unity and God's anointing, we can move forward with an awesome power.

[A] Devote my efforts to train the small group leaders as God instructs me to.  Stay deep rooted in God's word at all times.

[P] Dear God, just like how Abram went on this challenging task only with 318 trained men, may our small group ministry also advance with those leaders whom You have sent.  Thank You for encouraging message from this section of the Bible and we will bring back those who are lost away from You into Your Kingdom.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Water Used in Two Different Ways

[S] Genesis 9:13-15 --

 ¹³I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
 ¹⁴"It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
 ¹⁵and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.

[O] I was bad at chemistry in high school but this morning, I got into the mood of chemistry as I was reading this passage because God referred to H₂O for the flood as well as the rainbow.  The flood part is easy because it was the water that flooded the earth, but if you think about the rainbow it's the water molecules in the cloud that is reflecting the light.  In both instances the H₂O covered the earth but in the former case, the water contained the "sin" of this world as it was washing it away.  It did not reflect any part of God other than His wrath.  In the latter case, when the cloud covered the earth (v. 14) God's light reflected into beautiful rainbow colors and thus it signified His covenant with us.  When only our images are reflected, it leads to destruction.  When God's image is reflected, it leads to a beautiful covenant with Him.

[A] Be one of the water molecules that reflect God's beautiful spectrum of light.

[P] Dear God, use me as one of the water molecules to reflect the rainbow to the people around me.  Make Your covenant known to those around my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Start the Days of 2010 by Listening

[S] Genesis 6:8,22; 7:5--
 ⁸But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
 ²²Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did. 
 ⁵Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.

[O] During the time of corrupted living by men, Noah found God's favor.  That alone is quite amazing because he was the only one who's heart was set for God.  Talk about going against the grain, Noah definitely was doing this during the period when everyone else was immersed in evil thoughts (Genesis 6:5).  Quite challenging.  Also, God describes how Noah was faithfully obedient to God's commands.  At least in this context, full & faithful obedience equals finding God's favor.

[A] Listening to what God says and obeying Him 100% leads to finding His favor.  As we heard in today's sermon, start everyday of 2010 with: "Speak, for Your servant is listening." (1 Samuel 2:10)  He will speak, and I will then listen to His guidance for my life.

[P] Dear God, I want to start off each day in 2010 by listening to You.  I will prepare my mind to listen to You before I do anything else.  Speak to me this year with You loving guiding words for my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Question of Second Chances

[S] Genesis 4:9-10 --
 ⁹Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
 ¹⁰He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground. 

[O] In Genesis 3:11, God asked Adam and Eve the question which He already knew the answer to; and here He does the same thing to Abel.  I see the love and grace of God in these two questions because He gives a second chance cross generation.  He gives a chance for us to answer Him honestly but in both counts the man failed; and yet His love for us continues on even though we had to pay for the consequences.  God does know everything about us and yet we conveniently forget about that thinking we can get away from Him through our own cunning ways.  How foolish we are and how weak we are.

[A] Next opportunity when God asks me a question which demands my honest reply, be honest!

[P] Thank You, God, for being the God of second chances!  I'm growing in You because of Your second chances in my life.  I would also like to be gracious to others as You have taught me and I can only do this through Your total leadership in my life.  Please continue to embed Your wonderful grace in my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Places God Doesn't Avoid

[S] Genesis 1:2 --
²The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

[O] Given a choice of visiting a river flowing with crystal-clear water through the mountain valleys or a smelly sewage drain, I would certainly pick the river, wouldn't you? However, God chose the place of formless, void, and darkness in order to let His Spirit move there and because of His such desire, He allowed this world to have life which we're all enjoying today. If I think about that some more, it's really an awesome thing because the formless place could've stayed that way until now. God's power overcomes such condition to create this quite a livable place. I am reflecting on two thoughts here: 1) God does not leave us alone in the void; 2) God wants me to go to the dark places as conduit of His Spirit to move in those places.

[A] Whenever I feel like staying away from formless/void/dark-filled places, think back to this verse where God didn't ignore such a place but provided His life to dwell there and find a way to channel such a power there.

[P] Dear God, please use me as your conduit of channeling Your wonderful and powerful Spirit to the "formless" place around me. As I start the year of 2010, I pray that You would use me this year to touch the lives still trapped in the darkness. Thank You for using a person like me who without You are truly unworthy of doing anything worthwhile. In Jesus' name. Amen.