Richness Toward God

[S] Luke 12:21 --
 ²¹"So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

[O] Richness is very often measured by how much money (or toys) you have but more accurate approach may be to see how richly filled is your heart with joy and happiness.  Haven't we seen many times where those who has everything they need or want materially are not necessarily rich in their hearts and emotions?  God is teaching us the same principle here by introducing the "richness toward God."  Investing in this type of richness is to store up His principles and truths from the Bible into my heart and then to exercise them in my own life.

[A] Set my mind to store up more richness toward God.  This means sustaining the standards of God's Kingdom over the standards of this world's definition of richness.

[P] Dear God, make me rich with Your thoughts today.  I want to store up more of your richness into my heart by continuously doing my devotions of reading Your word.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Outward vs. Inward Rejoicing

[S] Luke 10:19-20 --
 ¹⁹"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.
 ²⁰"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."

[O] When the 72 disciples returned from a "successful" mission trips reporting back how powerful it was for them to experience the supernatural miracles, Jesus teaches them the secret of victorious living is not about whether miracles take place in my life but whether God has recorded my name in His book of life.  What this means is that my life even after being recorded in this book may still go through challenges and difficulties so if I gauge the happiness of my spiritual life based on the outward result of defeating the enemy, then I would danger myself of worshiping the manifestation of His power instead of the fact of worshiping His grace and mercy for receiving me into His presence to live with Him in eternity.  This is especially true when participating in God's ministry because it is so easy to be caught up by looking at how well my ministry is going measured by how spiritually "strong" I am.  God is not interested in how spiritually I am (even though I may be) because He already knows that He is stronger than all of our enemies; but what He is interested in is how faithfully I cling on to the amazing grace He poured out for me at the Cross regardless of my spiritual strength against my enemies.

[A] Humbleness comes to mind because when the miraculous power of God takes place in my life, it is so easy to get proud as if I had achieved some level of skills when it's all about being under His grace and mercy.  I need not forget to stay in my posture of humbleness at all times.

[P] Dear God, I am so thankful for Your working in my life to reveal the power of Your love, strength, and victory against my enemies.  Please keep my heart humble at all times because I don't want to get distracted about the outcome of Your working in me instead of Your grace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Highways to Zion

[S] Psalm 84:5, 85:13 --
    ⁵How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
         In whose heart are the highways to Zion! 
    ¹³Righteousness will go before Him
         And will make His footsteps into a way. 

[O] The these of a "road" came to mind from these two passages because in Psalm 84:5 highways to Zion in the blessed man's heart and in psalm 85:13 the righteous person's footsteps will make the pathway for him to walk righteously before God.  Many times I am frustrated at myself because I feel like I'm stuck in a rut of busyness and running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  But finding strength in God will pave the clear highway (or perhaps broadband Internet connection may be more appropriate in our times) to Zion which represents the presence of God.  How does a heart containing such highways look like?  Verse 85:13 seems to give me a glimpse into that question because such highways are founded on daily footsteps of going before Him.  There is no easy way but a daily desiring to walk toward His ways will eventually establish a wonderful highways to Zion.

[A] As my mind's seeking to get some strengths these days in the midst of many activities at home, work, and church, I must turn to Psalm 84:5 to find the strength in God foremost.  This is surely going to open up the flood gates for me to rush towards God.

[P] Dear God, I desire the strength in You and my every day footsteps turning into highways leading right up to Your presence.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

All-Nighter Anyone?

[S] Luke 6:12-13 --
 ¹²It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
 ¹³And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:

[O] "This time" in verse 12 is referring to how the Jewish leaders began to take offense at what Jesus was doing and start to conspire against him.  In this time of difficulty and spiritual oppression Jesus spent the quiet and personal time to pray and spent time with God for the whole night.  When's the last time I did an all-nighter?  It was mostly when I have a deadline to meet or test to study for that I am forced to stay up all night trying to frantically finish the task at hand; otherwise doing something I have a passion for such as watching my favorite soccer team play the World Cup games, or to finish off the whole season of a Korean Drama DVDs.  But it sure has been a long time since I stayed up all night praying and talking with God especially when stress knocks at my doors.  Furthermore, such an intense prayer time with God preceded His choosing the twelve disciples who He worked closely for them to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6).  During a hardship and before a major decision making, Jesus spent the whole night conversing with God.

[A] My life seems too busy these days and physically demanding to make me too tired to spend the night (or even an hour) talking with God regarding my urgent needs in my life and ministry.  I need to figure out how to change this so I would have some margin my life to do take such a time away from my routine.

[P] Dear Father, I want to spend that quantity of quality time with You and yet my life is so packed up I cannot.  Would you show me a way to make some room in my life to get back to having that prayer time with You?  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

What My Workplace Sees in Me Should be God

[S] Daniel 6:28 --
 ²⁸So this Daniel enjoyed success in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.  (NIV)
 ²⁸ So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.  (NLT)

[O] To me, this passage summarized Daniel's faithfulness and God's recognition of that superbly.  He was recognized by the queen to be the one with an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight, interpretation of dreams, explanation of enigmas and solving of difficult problem (Daniel 5:12).  Then the King Belshazzar restates that when he meets Daniel (Daniel 5:16).  When the king offers a prize for interpreting the writings on the wall, Daniel was not interested (Daniel 5:17 -- Keep your gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else).  The king appoints him anyways as the third ruler in the kingdom and God continued to shower wonderful spirit in and through Daniel's life (Daniel 6:3).  When those who were jealous of Daniel's recognition by the king they conspired against him by cunningly convincing the king to essentially set a trap for Daniel, he knew all about it but he went ahead and continue to pay his respect and worshiped God as "he had been doing previously." (Daniel 6:10)  He wasn't about to change his relationship with God by the schemes of his enemies.  What a faithfulness!  After God has protected Daniel from the lions, even the king now fully recognized the power of our Father (Daniel 6:16) and even went on to make a decree for everyone to fear and tremble our Father in Heaven (Daniel 6:26).  And now ends with this verse 28 where Daniel prospered right in the center of the world's most powerful nation under the two kings.  The path leading up to this point was not about hitting home runs in a start up, or getting the highest degrees of education, but his faithfulness to God without compromise.  Today's reading re-energized me to maintain my workplace ministry vision and how we could all be like Daniel to establish our positions as the people of God.

[A] While I knew one of the most difficult place to live out the life as a minister is at our workplaces in my mind I was losing a bit of momentum.  But having read this wonderful reminder through my divine mentor, Daniel's life I'm once again encouraged to take my workplace as my full-time ministry.

[P] Dear Heavenly Father, You have called me into my workplace as the unique minister for those who I work with.  There are many who really need You in their lives and while I pray for them at times I am very cautious about how to approach them.  May I not take too much time and miss opportunities so pleas allow boldness and discernment to know when I could represent You just like how Daniel's life did just that.  I humbly ask all this in Your name.  Amen.

Spiritual Exaltation and Rejoicing

[S] Luke 1:47 --
 ⁴⁶And Mary said: "My soul exalts the Lord, ⁴⁷And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

[O] This is a pretty simple verse but contains a heavy weight concept of rejoicing in God.  This is Mary's first response after hearing Elizabeth's blessing of becoming a fulfillment of what was spoken by the Lord.  Her spirit foremost exalted and rejoiced her God her Savior.  I'm actually jealous about how naturally and immediately her rejoicing took place when it could've easily been a time of confusion, or fear.  Instead she humbly submitted to the calling of God and rejoiced.

[A] When's the last time my heart exalted God and my spirit rejoiced in God my Savior?  Most likely during the praise and worship time but it's been a while since I rejoiced about an event that I sensed God allowed in my life to take place.  This is either because God has not placed special events in my life or I am insensitive to what God is doing in my life so I need to open my spiritual eyes more to observe these opportunities for my spirit to exalt and rejoice God.

[P] Dear God, You are constantly at work in and around my life but even knowing this I find myself so focused in my own thoughts and busyness of life, I miss the opportunity to recognize Your workings in my life to give You the glory and credit.  As I discover more of these opportunities may my spirit exalt You and rejoice in You.  In Your name.  Amen.

Jealous for His Name

[S] Ezekiel 39:25,29 --
 ²⁵Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. 
 ²⁹"I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel," declares the Lord GOD. 

[O] God is jealous for His holy name and for the sake of His name, He is going to restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on them as well.  He will also pour out His Spirit on the house of Israel.  The promise of God to the house of Israel was kept once again and God is quite serious about guarding His holy reputation.  This is not about His marketing plans but how His character itself does not allow anything less than that.

[A] How serious am I about guarding my own reputation as an ambassador of God?  I face a lot of different situations at workplace and there's a constant struggle between trying to make myself look good to others there vs. trying to make God look good.  What is the best way to do this when someone at work makes a negative comment about how some Christians are so dogmatic and condemns the "lost" people with pity?  It's not about getting into a discussion or argument but making God look good, right?  Need to keep seeking His wisdom.

[P] Dear God, may Your name continuously be holy and may my life continue to lift Your name up high so others will see how holy You are and that becoming a Christian is solely based on their own encounter with You and it's not about what others say or do (or don't do).  Please shine Your love through my life at my workplace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Old, Dry Bones Is Not The End

[S] Ezekiel 37:11 --
 ¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.

[O] This explanation of the dry bones being put together to an exceedingly great army describes how God desires to be our hope especially when we're up against detrimental situations of shattered dreams.  After the Israelites rebelled far away from God's ways and ended up in the exact condition God warned them -- nation like old, dry bones without any hope -- God still provides hope through Ezekiel about how God wants to put His Spirit and bring life back to His people so that they would declare His as their God.  This well-known "dry bones" passage is nothing other than God's pursuing us to give us the life that we don't deserve in order that His name would be raised up by His people.

[A] My heart is very much humbled before God's unending love to pursue even when I would totally mess up.  This is the type of a God I'm serving.  Whatever I do, especially in the name of doing His ministry, I need to stay totally humble because I don't deserve any of credit (which my heart desires to gain).  Additionally, as a father to my children, I need to learn more about what it means to exercise such an unending love toward them not based on their achievements but so that they would one day truly recognize the love of God that passes to them through me.

[P] Dear God, may I continue focus my eyes on You and especially as a father teach me to shepherd their hearts  patiently waiting for them reach the point of recognizing the amazing love of God reaching to them through their parents regardless of what courses of life they may go through.  In the end may it be You who shine through their lives; and may I be the one who would influence them to reach that place sooner than later.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Don't Miss the Spirit of Shepherding

[S] Ezekiel 34:4 --
 ⁴"Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.

[O] The Shepherds of Israel really didn't do their job -- or should I say their heart was not in the right place to serve as the Shepherds of God's people.  The sheep by nature are weak, can get sick easily, helpless, gets lost easily (and can't find their way back) and the key role of a shepherd is to complement these and be there for them to take care of them.  However, not only the Shepherds of Israel neglected to do these, they ruled over them harshly and abused them.  This seems so cruel and unfair.

[A] This description from such a long time ago is very much related to our current times because many of today's shepherds God has charged are not too far from it not because they are necessarily seeking evil but because they didn't catch the heart of the Good Shepherd.  Without first understanding what a Good Shepherd desires the duty of shepherding can easily become just a job.  I need to focus and re-focus on God's shepherding heart for His people such that when I am participating in ministry I would not lose the ultimate purpose as a good shepherd.

[P] Dear God, please continue to pour into my heart the right focus to serve Your people in Your ministry whether it's at my home, church, or workplace because it matters to You greatly.  Thank You for setting the wonderful example through Jesus Christ for me to follow.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Seeking for a Promotion Lately?

[S] Daniel 2:46-48 --
 ⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense.
 ⁴⁷The king answered Daniel and said, "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery."
 ⁴⁸Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

[O] A scene worth witnessing I'm sure.  The King of the mighty nation bowing down before Daniel is an awesome situation here probably all around him were awestruck.  How did this come about?  The word "Then" starting this verse was the reason.  In verses 1:17, 28 explains how God had granted ability to understand dreams and visions and he was bold enough to exercise that gift when he was called for.  As he did this he gave all credit to God and after "then" the King Nebuchadnezzar recognized the greatness of God and promoted Daniel to rule over the whole province of Babylon.  Truly a wonderful example of how God will promote us even in our workplaces rather than relying on our own efforts of trying to look good.

[A] While I believe in this principle of God promoting me into positions that He will use me even in the "secular" world situations, at times my mind wonders if He had forgotten about me.  I need to realize He does not forget and makes mistakes and stay on this path of relying this principle.

[P] Dear God, may I trust in You without wavering in any circumstance even when things don't look that bright for me.  May Your name be lifted up even through those situations in my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

New Every Morning

[S] Lamentations 3:4,22-24--
    ⁴He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
         He has broken my bones. 
     ²²The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
         For His compassions never fail.
    ²³They are new every morning;
         Great is Your faithfulness.
    ²⁴"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
         "Therefore I have hope in Him."

[O] The consequence of rejecting God's ways is quite severe as in verse 4.  In fact, that is the type of a world we live in now because we had fallen from spending the eternity with Him by disobeying His commands.  This is why at times I do fee like my flesh and my skin wasting away and all my bones seem broken.  However, the story does not end there but God's lovingkindness come through again not because we deserve to but because God's compassions never fail.  They are new ever morning, not dwelling on the past forever.  As the night cannot last forever before the morning comes to start a fresh new day, God's lovingkindness is renewed every day and that is true hope for my soul.

[A] As I face some of the challenges in life making me feel like my flesh wasting away, I need to not let go of His amazing hope that is renewed every morning of my life.  I can have a renewed life in Him all the time.

[P] Dear God, Your amazing and wonderful compassion for me never fails.  And that is true hope that will sustain my life to live for You in this fallen world.  Please continue to pour in Your hope into my heart that it will overflow Your love to those around me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Arrogance Hardens Hearts for God's Instructions

[S] Jeremiah 43:2 --
 ²Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are telling a lie! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, 'You are not to enter Egypt to reside there';

[O] These people responded absurdly against what they promised to do -- to follow whatever God speaks to them through Jeremiah -- after actually listening to what Jeremiah told them.  The link between the "arrogant men" and "not listening to God's commands" was what caught my eyes today as I was reading through this story of how foolish these people are.  The foolishness seems to come from the arrogance; in fact these arrogant men asked to hear what God had to tell them but unless their hearts were humbled, they were unable to submit to God's commands.  We studied about how Zedekiah was unable to follow what God told him because he lacked the faith, but here these arrogant men never seemed to have had the faith to begin with but just curious minds trying to outwit everyone including God.

[A] Ask for a humble heart before I do my Life Journaling so I would not just hear the words from God but will also have the submissive heart to follow what He tells me.

[P] Dear God, Your description of what arrogant men will face as a consequence needs to be my life's lesson as long as I live here on earth because the pride in me is almost like a wild lion wanted to jump out at any opportunity possible.  I must tame this lion with my humility and I can only do this in Your power as I surrender my heart and mind to You in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Not Why but How

[S] Ezekiel 32:15 --
    ¹⁵"When I make the land of Egypt a desolation,
         And the land is destitute of that which filled it,
         When I smite all those who live in it,
         Then they shall know that I am the LORD.

[O] These chapters of Ezekiel is pretty depressing to read because of the wrath of God coming upon the Israelites.  Talk about bad things happening in life, this is pretty bad and I'd think they were wondering why all this was happening to them.  This verse seems to spell out the reason for it:  They shall know that He is the Lord.  God does list the reasons for why they deserve such consequences but more importantly God is actually not too interested in His people to analyze the "why's" but how they will respond to such conditions they are facing.  He wants them to turn from their old ways and return to Him by acknowledging He is their Lord and God.

[A] Similarly, when bad things take place in my own life, instead of pondering on what if I did this or that to avoid them (which I should do in order to learn from my mistakes but not dwell on it too much), I should focus more on how I need to adjust my life in order to draw closer to Him through such conditional reminders from God and acknowledge Him as my Lord and God even more and make a firmer commitment to follow closer to Him going forward.

[P] Father, You said you do not enjoy being the "bad cop" but You simply desire for me to return to You every time I fall short.  Thank You so much for such an abundant grace and care for my life to help me to walk upright in You even through my failures to follow You closely.  May my life mature to make You look good as I go through these steps of refining.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Pleasure in Death or Returning?

[S] Ezekiel 18:23 --
 ²³"Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked," declares the Lord GOD, "rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

[O] This statement from God right in the middle of His list of consequences for His people's rebellion away from Him stands out like a spotlight in a pitch dark night because it highlights God's true heart toward us which is His desire for us to return to Him despite all the wrongs we did against Him.  2 Peter 3:9 reveals the similar message about God's heart:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. God really wants to save us from His wrath and yet we still seem to not want to opt out of the current path of doom into His presence of love and grace.

[A] Continue to turn the corners of my life that I've not surrendered to Him specifically in the areas I've failed before.  Submit to His wonderful grace and love.

[P] Dear God, I fully submit to Your grace for my life which is full of holes where I've missed the mark again and again.  May I fall into the joy of knowing Your true heart rather than be under the bondage of thinking about how I failed You so much in order that such a joy will steer me into being more submissive to Your will.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

His Nevertheless Mercy

[S] Ezekiel 16:60-63 --
 ⁶⁰"Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
 ⁶¹"Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
 ⁶²"Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD,
 ⁶³so that you may remember and be ashamed and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done," the Lord GOD declares.

[O] This last section of Ezekiel 16 starts with that powerful "Nevertheless" because up to this point, God's been explaining how His people totally messed up and there was no reason for Him to shed any light of hope for the people.  However, nevertheless, He is going to stick to His promises made to His people and out of His grace and mercy He will provide hope to His people such that they would know that He is their Lord God.  Why does He do this when He could've just wiped them off the face of the earth?  Well, if He did that, then I wouldn't be here writing this either, huh?!

[A] Don't abuse His grace and mercy, but as says in verse 63, I should humbly obey and follow His ways, not boasting in any way because I truly do not deserve this "second chance."  Especially when doing His ministry stay humble and pray foremost whenever faced with challenges.

[P] Dear God, Your "nevertheless" grace and mercy just blow me away.  May I not test Your mercy by totally surrendering my life and walk with You through obedience.  I love You, Lord!  In Jesus' name.  Amen.