Tuning Into the Frequency of God

[S] Ezekiel 11:14,19-20 --
14 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
19 "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.

[O] As I am wondering how it would feel for the word of the LORD to come to me I am also reminded that God's word is with me all the time and it's about how I am going to recognize and understand what He says to me is the key.  Ezekiel was able to do this and the message of His grace and love mentioned in verses 19 and 20 is what was conveyed by him to God's people.

[A] God's word is with me literally through the Bible as well as the Holy Spirit.  So there is definitely no lack of His word around me but I need to catch the message He intends for me to hear.  And once heard, I need to convey that to others around me the message of grace and hope.

[P] Dear Father, transform my heart from the cold stone to the warm flesh which will allow me to walk in Your statues to realize that You are my God and I am Your son.  Please take my heart and transform it, Lord!  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

The Spirit Lifted Me Up

[S] Ezekiel 3:12,14 --
12 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard a great rumbling sound behind me, "Blessed be the glory of the LORD in His place." 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away; and I went embittered in the rage of my spirit, and the hand of the LORD was strong on me.

[O] I wonder how it feels to be lifted up by the Spirit.  I am sure it's way above the thrill of being lifted up by the roller coaster's initial up ramp and on top of that it'll be accommodated by His revelation of my surroundings as how I should see it.

[A] Today as I was teaching my high school Sunday School class we had run into some technical problems which disrupted the lesson on the fundamentals of the gospel I wanted them to see and what had worked just fine when I tested the night before frustrated me.  But at the same time I felt God's presence in the room filled with about 40 students and got a glimpse of what Ezekiel must have gone through.  It was a real special moment and I will remember this whenever I'm up against challenges that are outside my control.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for being with me today during what appeared to be a disaster situation.  I felt Your presence strongly today and I give You all the glory for lifting me up.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Urgency Required

[S] Revelations 1:3 --
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

[O] The surest path to blessed life is to hear God's word and heed to it then because the window of opportunity may not be around according to my own schedule -- i.e., when I feel ready to heed.  So when I have the urgency to transfer my knowledge of God into my own godly actions that is when I will be living out a blessed life.  This may not be because I am receiving all sorts of "blessings" but because the life I live in the mode is the blessing itself.

[A] We are in a spiritual warfare right now.  There must be urgency in my heart to seek God's ways to protect and fight back because without it my life will be miserable under the enemy's attacks and infiltration.

[P] Dear Father, I want to pursue happiness and blessings for my and my family members' lives by taking in Your word and to live it out right then and there on daily basis.  May Your promise be fulfilled in our family.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Joy of Parenting

[S] 3 John 1:4 --
4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

[O] John writes here re: spiritual children but I cannot help but to overlay this with my own children.  I will want nothing more than for my children to be continuously walking in the truth as they grow up and into the adulthood.  They will most likely make many mistakes and some of their plans in life may not turn out as expected, but as long as they walk (not mastering) in the truth, drawing closer to Christ, my heart will have great joy as a parent.

[A] No slacking on prayer for my children's hearts to be grasped by God's leadership.

[P] Dear Father, I am so thankful for the children You put me in charge of to raise them to be walking with You at all times such that they will realize their purpose and vision here on earth -- to fulfill the mission You assigned them from the beginning.  I love them much.  Please protect their hearts by surround them with You angels.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

It's Worth Taking Risks for His Sake

[S] Jeremiah 39:11-12 --
11 Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying,12 "Take him and look after him, and do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you."

[O] Jeremiah was rejected by his own people because he told them to surrender to the Babylonians in order to save their lives; they took this as a treason and discouragement to those who are fighting to preserve their city.  He was thrown into jail and then into a cistern for him to die in there by sinking into the mud.  But when King Nebuchadnezzar conquered the city,he gave orders to safeguard Jeremiah.  This wasn't because Jeremiah was his spy or anything but because God was in total control of His people and especially His spokesperson.  He got the backs of those who risk for His sake.

[A] I am praising God for His full control of the world I live in.  This is why it'll be worth it for me to task risks for God in this world as I recognize His voice of leadership in my life no matter how crazy it may seem.

[P] Dear Father, how awesome it is to remind myself again of how great You are and how You are in full control without any mistakes or happenstance.  This is why I can trust in You all the time and I am so grateful for having a God as You in my life.  Please continue to encourage me to follow Your will.  In Jesus' name.  Amen

Nations Rise and Fall by God's Will

[S] Jeremiah 34:22 --
22  ‘Behold, I am going to command,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them back to this city; and they will fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without inhabitant.’"

[O] God casually mentions this but He can move nations of all types back and forth.at will.  This is really an amazing fact especially living in today's culture where we so much think rising and falling of nations is totally up to our own plans and performances.

[A] With the financial markets going up and down, and nations' rating following that same path, I am so easily persuaded to find my own ways to get the bearing in this turbulent world.  But I cannot forget the fact that God is the one who allows nations to rise and fall; stock markets to rise and fall.

[P] Dear Father almighty, all of our belongings and the nations we live in are in the palm of Your hands.  So I submit to Your ownership of this world I live in and I declare that I will always seek Your ways and paths instead of trying to figure out my own relying on my own intelligence.  May I live in the nation that You desire for me to carry out Your purposes.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Be a Translator for God

[S] 1 John 4:6 --
6  We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

[O] It's almost like speaking in different languages.  If I walk into a place where they speak the language I do not understand, no matter how hard they try they just won't communicate with me.  Not matter how hard I try, I will not comprehend what they're saying to me.  If I walk into a place and I know exactly what they are talking about, then I can safely say I belong to that community of people (whether I agree with what they're saying or not).  The same is true with the spiritual world.  Those who understand what God is saying through His Word and Spirit belong together while others do not yet belong there.

[A] I need to keep in mind who I am speaking to and adjust my spiritual language accordingly if I want to communicate with them.  This is not to say that I will assimilate myself to the worldly concepts, but when I talk to those not part of Godly realm yet I need to speak such that they would understand what God is trying to communicate with them.  I am like a translator.

[P] Dear Father, use me as the translator of Your love language to those who do not yet understand.  Give me to discernment to know when I should use which language so I would let more and more people know about Your message of love to them.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Returning to Spiritual Home Base

[S] Jeremiah 29:10-12 --
10 "For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.12 ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

[O] After some bogus prophets spoken lies pretending to be from God, Jeremiah declares the truth of how God will bring his people back after seventy years of exile in Babylon through an amazing plan that only God may bring forth to His people trusting in Him.  Physically they were brought back to their homeland but more importantly as verse 12 states, they were spiritually restored to their proper position of calling upon God with willingness to obey Him.

[A] Many times I put too much emphasis on specific locations and the community of people I belong to as if certain "places" retain God's presence more than others.  But the place God desires for me to return to on daily basis is, regardless of where I am physically, I may recognize and praise the presence God in action.  He is indeed everywhere so wherever I am I should look for what He is up to and praise Him for it.  This is the special plan He has for me.

[P] Dear Father, I want to make daily life full of opportunities of recognizing Your presence in and around my life so that I may lift up my praise to You. Thick or thin I know You're with me, but unless I recognize that my focus will drift away from You.  Thank You for giving me that special plan of hope.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

How To Live Forever

[S] 1 John 2:17 --
17 The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

[O] There are so many products and ways people offer to live longer out there these days, but I have not heard of a single way to live forever.  Well, God provides a way for us to do just that -- do the will of God.  Since we all die physically away from this world, He must refer to another life beyond what we know of here and the way to invest in that path is to do His will while we live here on earth.

[A] In many ways, my mind is locked into finding ways to not die sooner instead of living forever.  It's a passive perspective rather than the proactive view of entering into the eternity with God now here in this world by following God's will for me.  I must think proactively and to move forward into His presence forever.

[P] Dear Father, please continue to guide my life so that I would invest fully into doing Your will to live with You forever beyond my life here in this world.  In Jesus' name.  Amen

Darkness is Absence of Light Reflectors

[S] 1 John 1:5 --
5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

[O] A simplicity of this verse grabbed me.  The light and darkness cannot co-exist so if I am in the light then that is the way to eliminate darkness without trying to find ways to "remove" darkness.  Finding ways to be in and staying in the light is the best way to staying away from the darkness of this world such as sin and falling away from God.  That is to say that walking with Christ is proactively seeking ways to stay in the Light, not seeking ways to not do bad things.  A byproduct of being in the light is that I will reflect the light and thus brightening up the surrounding.

[A] When I read the Bible, ask the question:  How is this passage teaching me how to seek and stay in His Light?

[P] Dear Father, Your name is above all, and I want to learn ways to stay in Your presence which is the Light. I know that by doing this I will thwart the darkness of this world trying to overpower me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Tested Until God's Perfect Timing

[S] Pslam 105:19 --
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of the Lord tested him.

[O] This refers to Joseph in Egypt, how we was unfairly sold as a slave by his brothers, imprisoned by false accusations and yet God provided him the vision which he clung unto through all these testing phases.  Being ignorant of God's word/vision and going on with my life is one thing but to know His vision for my life and to go through all the circumstances far distant from the vision itself is very challenging to say the least.  This passage encourages me because God's word will come to pass every time, and until then I am being refined and equipped to handle the God-sized vision for me.

[A] I need to turn my frustration of waiting for God's vision to come alive in my life into claiming joy for His equipping me to a dream of His size.

[P] Dear Father, I praise You for taking me into Your fold and nurturing me to handle the amazing vision You will manifest in and through my life.  Please continue to refine my life and may my heart be filled with rejoicing as I wait for the moment of Your glory.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Truth Must be Received to Become the Truth

[S] Jeremiah 36:24 --
24  Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their garments.

[O] The same message of God's warning are received differently by different people.  The king and his servants took it very lightly because they believed so much in their own strength and power that they discounted the message of Jeremiah.  This world does not lack the truth, but it does lack those who accept the truth from God.

[A] The condition of my heart needs to be fertile in order to receive God's warnings for my life and to change my course of actions.  Soften my heart whenever I'm facing God's word.

[P] Dear Father, I surely do not want to be like these leaders whose hearts were hard as stone and there was no room for Your message of care and concern.  Please continue to soften my heart so I may readily hear and obey Your words.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Law Without Heart is Dangerous

[S] John 19:7 --
7 The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

[O] The Jews demanded to keep the law as if the law is above it all.  Conceptually the law should be above all, especially God's law, but they're treating this law they made up as if it was from God and that's where it gets dangerous.  When God gave His law through Moses, who understood the heart of God like a close friend, the law was upheld with the God's authority through Moses.  However when these Jews were "throwing the book" at Jesus, they totally missed the heart of God and yet they just held on to the superficial law.  Because they didn't have the heart of God, they clearly missed to recognize the author of the law; in fact they killed Him instead.

[A] My life is surrounded by laws for me to follow and I should do my best to abide by these rules and regulations to maintain order.  However I must always try my best to understand why I need to abide by these laws rather than just blinded following them because in the end these laws are invented by men and thus their problems are embedded into these laws as well.  When following Christ, I also need to make sure I just don't do it just because others are doing it or someone told me to, but I should do it because I understand the heart of God that is behind these laws.

[P] Dear Father, may Your law permeate through my life because I fully understand Your heart as I follow them.  May it not be the other way around where I just follow thinking I will some day understand Your heart.  Please use me to be the one lifting up Your law to others not legalistically but with humility and kindness.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Unnecessary Question

[S] John 18:4 --
4  So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, "Whom do you seek?"

[O] What doesn't our Lord Jesus Christ know?  He knows everything and that's why He came to earth and went through the path He chose to walk.  It's almost like walking into a trap well-knowing it is there -- and it was done because there was a clear purpose He wanted to bring forth.  That's where the power of love and sacrifice lies that I desire to cling on to.  Furthermore, this is where God of the second chances reaches out to me again and again not because He is slow but because He wants to allow opportunity for me to draw closer to Him by accepting His grace.  The question He asked, "Whom do you seek?" was an unnecessary one because He knew all things anyways; in fact, this was a question of invitation into His leadership.

[A] The moment I think Jesus doesn't know all of my thoughts, I'm in trouble.  I need to work every moment to make my life transparent before God and others so that when He invites me into a question of "Whom do you seek?" I would fall on my knees in humility to say, "I seek You to be the guide of my life."

[P] Dear Jesus, please come into my heart and lead me every moment so that I will be fully under Your leadership of my life because You already know all things about me to guide my life for a clear purpose.  In Your name.  Amen.

No Contest for Slapstick Buffoons

[S] Jeremiah 20:11 --
11 But the Lord is with me like a dread champion;
Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.
They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed,
With an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.
(MSG) 11 But God, a most fierce warrior, is at my side. Those who are after me will be sent sprawling-Slapstick buffoons falling all over themselves, a spectacle of humiliation no one will ever forget. 

[O] For me, the word "champion" carries a clear picture of a strong and mighty God who will champion over all others, especially my enemies.  Something about that word just pumps me up with an inner strength and to juxtapose that with God Himself is quite an awesome scene.  Reading this in The Message version (MSG) puts a totally interesting perspective and the slapstick buffoons cracks me up because it so truly paints the true identity of our enemy.

[A] Need to memorize this verse so I can ingrain the image of my God who is the champion before the slapstick buffoons falling all of themselves in order to keep the right perspectives in my daily life where at times, my bearings get lost with so much distractions and discouragements.

[P] Dear Jesus, my champ, I honor You with my whole heart and want to abide in Your spirit of the champion and follow Your footsteps to prevail over my enemy every moment of my day.  In Your precious and powerful name.  Amen.

What's Inside His Sanctuary

[S] Psalm 96:6 --
6 Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

[O] This verse just make me want to worship God because the splendor and majesty which I seek are already before Him and the strength and beauty that I desire to attain are already in His sanctuary.  That is to say that all I have to do is to enter His presence and these are mine already.

[A] The amazing God of Heaven (more than) deserves my praise and worship because He is above all things and any that I could achieve.

[P] Dear Father, I worship You from the bottom of my heart as I read this beautiful verse.  May I enter into Your presence where the awesome splendor and majesty are before You and the strength and beauty reside next to You.  I worship You as I enter into Your sanctuary.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

No Prune, No Fruit. More Prune, More Fruit

[S] John 15:2 --
2  "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit

[O] Fruitfulness of my spiritual life and ministry to others is the measure of how much God is pruning my life.  Just because I am grafted into the vine Himself does not mean I will automatically bear more fruit.  God does not want me just to be hanging in there but be growing further with increasing fruitfulness.

[A] If there is one area I should not be content with would be my spiritual fruitfulness not because I am ungrateful and achievement-oriented but because I can always be more fruitfulness as long as I abide in Him and allow Him to prune my life so more of my life's energy will funnel to bearing more fruits for God.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for pruning my life.  It's no fun or painless but through that process my life will be equipped to bear more fruits.  In my four major areas of my life -- personal life, family life, church ministry, and workplace ministry -- I can see that God's been increasing fruitfulness slowly but surely and this means He has been pruning my life and that explains some of the pressures I feel in my life to make some major adjustments for Him.  God, please continue to prune away that my life will be bombarded with Your fruits.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Hey Idols, Get A Life!

[S] Jeremiah 10:5-6 --
5 "Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot walk!
Do not fear them,
For they can do no harm,
Nor can they do any good."
6 There is none like You, O Lord;
You are great, and great is Your name in might.

[O] This passage is almost funny that God is mocking the idols people have created.  And taking a second look through it's not only funny but quite true.  When is the last time we heard the idols we made did miracles, or let alone walking around to minister to people?  There certainly is no one like God of Heaven and earth and nothing compares to You O God.

[A] I never heard of money, one of the top idols in our society, saving people or comforting people.  I am not talking about how the money is used by Godly people for His purposes but I am talking about the money itself being self-initiating a good cause (or a bad cause as a matter of fact).  However, I treat it as though it is capable of doing that and I need to recalibrate my mind to know that money is just something we agreed to put values and that means we can also decide to devalue it appropriately.

[P] Dear Jesus, running through this life's course I can very easily lose focus of what is from and of You vs. what is from man-made sources.  Let Your Spirit live and guide me each moment so I would keep my eyes on You and to live out a life that is valuable to You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen

Just Give Me One Just Person

[S] Jeremiah 5:1 --
1 "Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
And look now and take note.
And seek in her open squares,
If you can find a man,
If there is one who does justice, who seeks truth,
Then I will pardon her.

[O] On one hand, it's pathetic for Jerusalem to not find a single person who is just and truthful.  On the other hand, God only needs one just person to pardon (i.e., save) the whole nation.  He is also searching for such a person thoroughly which really means that such a person will be very easily identified because s/he will be near God at all times anyways according to John 12:26 -- "If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."

[A] Not to be a hero or anything, but I really want to be walking closer to Jesus every day, and to be recognized by God as the just and truthful one to follow after His heart.

[P] Dear Father, I praise for the second chance You provide for us at all times as long as our hearts are set towards You.  In this world where right seems wrong and wrong seems right, please set my heart for You so my life would be a pleasing site to You. In Jesus' name.  Amen.

My Calling Before I Was Called

[S] Jeremiah 1:5 --
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."

[O] What a powerful statement that only God can make to us.  God who dwells in the higher dimension surpasses the timeline of this world to bring us into this world with a delicately planned purpose for each one of us.  Generally speaking, this purpose is to speak and convey His heart to this world.  When Jeremiah was called by God, he immediately claims that God must've made a mistake (but He never makes mistakes).

[A] I must acknowledge the fact that God created me for a specific purpose in this world during my lifespan because if I don't, then I can easily fall into the mode of finding my own way through this world; and worse yet, when God calls me to carry out my specific purpose created for, I will try to avoid it because it does not fit my own plans.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for creating me the way I am and in the direction my life is going now with Your guidance.  Please continue to mold me and use me and call me into the path You designed for me to follow.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Even After a Quality Time with God

[S] John 8:1-3 --
1  But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.2  Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.3  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court,

[O] The "But" refers to John 7:53 where everyone else went to his own home.  Jesus, on the other hand, went to His retreat spot and most likely spent the whole night in prayer until He returned to the temple early in the morning to teach the people again.  I'm thinking that if I were Him, I'd be well prepared to do another session against a tough crowd and would've felt good about myself being in tuned with God (and this would've been true to a certain extent).  Just as He sat down to began teaching them He was interrupted with a crowd of scribes and the Pharisees bringing a woman caught in adultery.

[A] There is no time to let down my guard against the enemy's tactics, even after a well-prepared retreat with God I need not be complacent spiritually and be in humble prayerful attitude at all times.  While I must do my best to align myself with God at all times, I also need to realize it's not what I do that matters but how much I love the people because the enemy uses others to derail me from my efforts of walking with God.  Loving them will be a deterrent to seeing these people as stumbling blocks or distractions; instead to discern spiritually the situation and to take action accordingly.

[P] Dear Father, seeing that even Jesus was attacked right after spending the quality time with You, I must not let my guards down as I strive to draw closer to You.  Thank You for reminding me that there is no action that will prevent me from the enemy's attacks so grant me Your wisdom to have right discernments in various situations.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Be The First (and The Last)

[S] 2 Kings 23:25 --
25  Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.

[O] King Josiah's restore the Passover and many lost rituals but all those led to restoration of people's hearts toward God.  With so many kings ahead of him he was the first one to turn to God; and none to follow after him.  There is much to be said about swimming upstream against the downward current of the previous kings to stand up for what he believed.  And this pleased God very much.

[A] While I shouldn't try to show off by doing the toughest things for God, I should be aware of the downward current of the society I live in and as God reveals His will for my life I should not be afraid to swim upstream even if I may be the first (and the last) one to do it.  I also hope such a mindset will be what I can pass down to my children.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for blessing me through the life of my Divine Mentor, Josiah.  His life brings quite a refreshing perspective for me to live my own.  I desire to adhere to Your will even if it may be an unpopular path of this world.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

As-Is Response to God's Word

[S] 2 Kings 22:10-11 --
10  Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 11  When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

[O] After this book of the law was found it was read to King Josiah, he was totally shaken up by what he heard and lamented by tearing his clothes and took immediate actions to correct all the wrongs his forefathers did against God.  To me, king's reactions displayed how God was so real in his life -- he took every word of the Lord to be 100% accurate and true.  God honored his actions and took favor upon him.

[A] In those days, God's message to man could've easily gotten lost especially with so many kings who rebelled against God through many generations.  However, today at least in America, God's word -- the Bible -- is readily available and yet our reactions to reading it is indifferent.  I want to be like Josiah when facing God's word to be fearful of His message to be 100% accurate and real and requires my immediate actions based on His convictions.

[P] Dear Father, please grant me a simple mind to read Your word "as is" and to respond purely from what You speak to me.  I want to move Your heart not by doing "great" things but by simply fearing Your word enough to make adjustments in my life to align with Your laws.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Go To the Source

[S] John 6:39-40 --
39  "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40  and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

[O] At first read, I'm asking what was wrong with reading the Scripture, but re-examining the passage it says "search" not "read" or "study" the Scripture, for eternal life.  The Scripture itself is nothing more than black ink on white paper and the words themselves do not have the life but what those words point to -- Jesus -- gives eternal life.

[A] Discernment of the author from what the author wrote, miracle from the miracle worker, the message from what the message is pointing to is very critical in living out Christ-following life because it is so easy to get all wrapped up about busily searching for the truth from the wrong places because I miss purpose or the original intention of God.  I have to constantly reaffirm myself of God's heart in my life and all that I do so that I won't get lost in my busy-ness not realizing what God desires from me.

[P] Dear Jesus, I come to You for eternal life, guidance, and forgiving grace for my life.  I surrender all I have such that my life will live out Your purpose that You designed for me from the beginning.  In Your name.  Amen.

Paying Attention to His Voice

[S] 2 Chronicles 33:10 --
10  The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

[O] It seems to me, God speaks to us all the time but we just don't pay attention to listen to what He says to us.  Many times I think that God isn't speaking to me (and I'm sure there may be times when He is silent) but for the most part I miss by not pay attention to His voice because it is drowned out in the midst of all other "voices" that I am so busy trying to listen to.

[A] My life's real busy lately with so much going on.  I cannot let this be an excuse not to pay attention to what God is saying to me.  Throughout the day I must keenly pay attention by having a heart of prayer and also meditation of His word whenever there is a break in the midst of my tasks.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for speaking to me all the time.  May my heart be attentive to Your loving voice throughout the day.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Sealed with His Testimony

[S] John 3:33 --
33  "He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.

[O] God's truthfulness is something no one can change as much as no one can change the gravity that keeps us intact on this globe.  However, how it is received and treasured in my heart will determine whether to make an impact in my life or not.  The picture of the seal put on an envelop comes to mind where that seal is the symbol of officially closing up the precious content which is inside.  God's testimony of His plan is the precious content, and His Spirit is the seal that will implant deeply into my heart His testimony of love for me.

[A] Once sealed, it should only be opened by the designated recipient.  My heart sealed by His Spirit must preserve what I'm treasuring only for Jesus Himself; and for me, this is through my daily appointment with Him through God's word.  My heart must be sealed only for Him.

[P] Dear Jesus, while I profess with my mouth the above application, I so often fail to live up to spending that time with God who is true and faithful (even when I'm not).  Forgive my hole-ly life and please continue to patch each hole up with Your grace.  In Your precious name.  Amen.