Why Not Use Me?

1 Kings 20:14 NKJV

Lord, before asking who else can do the work I will ask what I can do to join Your works already in motion, not because of my qualifications but because You can work through anyone who is available for You ... including me.

No Turning Back Faith

[S]  1 Kings 19:21 (NIV)  --

So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.


[O] Elisha's heart of commitment is displayed from his actions before following Elijah as his disciple.  Elisha surrendered his own career, stability of his future in order to follow Elijah.  He slaughtered the oxen and by using the plowing equipment to cook the meat to feed the people it was clear that he had committed to follow Elijah and there was no turning back.

[A] Finding God's calling for my life is important but what I do with it is more significant.  When He calls me into a path of His choosing for my life and whispers that into my heart, I can either ride the fence between that calling and what I've built up as my sound stability of my future, or I can surrender what I've built up to edify the people around me and completely follow God's calling.  I will do the latter for sure when I do recognize the calling clearly.

[P] Dear Father, I surrender my career and stability of leading my and my family's lives in order to follow what You desire for my life. Please reveal that to my heart and please allow my heart to clearly understand it.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Restorer and Sustainer from a Noname Moabite

[S] Ruth 4:15 --
15 May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him."
[O] There were words from the women of Naomi's town praising and almost prophesying because of how faithful Ruth had committed to Naomi and her people.  Obed's grandson indeed lived up to this well wishes and further down the lineage, Jesus did restore and sustained everyone's lives let alone Naomi's.  Rush was a good person, but more than her goodness, her faithfulness to God of heaven and her people is what made her the instrument God used to bring forth His Savior.

[A] Who would have known Ruth, a no-name Moabite woman, would take part in God's plan of salvation, physically?  Likewise, who would know a no-name Korean-American family will take part in God's plan for grace for this generation of people?  No one.  But despite the outcome, me and my family will commit to the Lord and His leadership because we want to make ourselves available to be in His plan.

[P] Dear Father, we love you and we desire to be right in the middle of Your wonderful plan of grace for this generation of people.  Let this small request be answered by Your mighty power.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Where You Go, I Will Go

[S] Ruth 1:16 --
16 But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.

[O] This type of commitment is quite astounding to watch and very rare to see these days.  In friendship, partnership, parent-children relationship, marriages, and in all relationship we establish, this type of commitment will naturally nurture and edify the relationships.  It is when "I-my-me" is the focus, the relationships tend to go sour.  Ultimately, such a hearty commitment to God is what will sustain and grow our faith in Him as well.  As long as I am pre-occupied with my own agendas first, my faith will always take the back seat.

[A] Watch where God is going and just follow Him. Try not to pave my own path on my own.

[P] Dear Father, I want to go where you go, and dwell where you dwell.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Dig Around and Fertilize

[S] Luke 13:8-9 --
8 And he answered and said to him, `Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'"

[O] The vineyard owner was fed up with not finding any fruit from this fig tree that's been barren for three years and wanted to cut down the tree.  But the vineyard-keeper persuaded the owner to let it grow for the rest of this year and to wait next year's harvest time and see if it'll bear fruits; if not, then he will cut it down.  The ultimatum still existed but he was willing to use the time he requested to nurture and fertilize through his caring in order for this tree to bear delicious and sweet figs the following year.  Our days are numbered in God's timeline and the judgment day is unavoidable, however God's grace if extended to the last minute for us to bear the spiritual fruits He designed for me to bear.

[A] I don't know what is but the vineyard-keeper's heart touched me as I read "until I dig around it and put in fertilizer" because that is not a simple task.  It may have been his commitment to care so that tree won't perish too soon. I gotta have the same mindset when it comes to participating in His ministry -- beyond and above our own limitations, having the "until I dig around it and put in fertilizer" mentality towards those He had entrusted under my care.

[P] Dear God, I'm just amazed how You chose to work through me who is so inadequate.  May my heart soak up this vineyard-keeper's heart which is the heart of Jesus Christ our Lord toward me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

The Searching Eyes of God

[S] 2 Chronicles 16:9 --
9  "For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars."

[O] Whenever I read this verse, I visualize the eyes of God scanning the earth to look for those whose heart is completely His.  It's almost like a very powerful radar detecting every corner of this world.  It's not only intriguing to envision that but also very sad to think about how God has to comb through to find such people.  These words came to King Asa through the seer Hanani when Asa out of his fear relied on other nation to protect himself rather than committing to God wholeheartedly.  It is safe to say that in times of need, people will call upon the name of their strong friends when God is waiting for us to call on His strength and power.

[A] I am going through a time of feeling like my energy is just being drained left and right with lots of things going on in major parts of my life.  I do feel like Asa and my inclination is to find some ways out of here using my own methods but I want to throw myself at God and be found by Him as one whose heart is completely His.

[P] Dear Father, please mold me to be one whose heart is sold out for You always.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Choosing the Path of Failure

[S] Matthew 17:12 --
12  but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands."

[O] In light of the Passion week followed by the Resurrection Sunday we just celebrated last week, Jesus' remark about how John the Baptist came and suffered and murdered and fully knowing how He still came to us despite the suffering He will face is truly the message as a follower of Christ must hold dear to our hearts.  How many of us will take the path when it's been proven to fail for sure?  Not that many.  However Jesus did just that by taking the path of His coming to us.

[A] Rising above the circumstances to carry out God's will is to say the least challenging.  I must partake in His ministry with such an attitude also:  Instead of having a goal of succeeding in ministry (however that is defined), I need to do it for the sake of turning more people's hearts toward God even at the cost of sacrifice leading to suffering.  This world is not conditioned to welcome Jesus' disciples.

[P] Dear Father, please seal in my heart on how to do Your ministry with the right frame of mind.  This isn't some luxurious task I am doing to succeed but to follow the footsteps of my Lord Jesus' whom, fully knowing, took the path of suffering in order to provide a way out for us from eternal condemnation.  I pray in Your name.  Amen.

Love Is In All Things

[S] 1 Corinthians 13:7 --
 ⁷bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

[O] In this chapter of "love," Paul writes these gem qualities of love of bearing, believing, hoping, enduring all things.  Love is not just the warm and fuzzy emotions but a firm and disciplined actions to bear, believe, hope, and endure ALL things.  Today, the love is so loosely defined as my own preference of "liking" something or someone before I can start to love.  However, Paul seems to be telling me that love starts by first committing to bear, believe, hope, and endure all things with and toward someone, and by sustaining that commitment through all circumstances, the true love will blossom into a full fruition.

[A] This is the model of Jesus' love for me.  He first chose (committed) love me and thus went all the way to bear that fruit of love for me through His complete surrender and sacrifice for me.  I can apply this to many areas of my life, but want to re-examine my heart toward my wife.  After years of marriage, I don't want to assume anything here and make sure my "complete" love for her still is about bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring ALL things with and for her.

[P] Dear Father, praise You for providing me such a wonderful and beautiful life partner.  Please allow my heart to be set to apply the gem of Your true love for her.  Thank You for this principle to keep in my heart.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

It Takes Time To Grow

[S] Matthew 13:14-15 --
   ¹⁴"In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
         'YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND;
         YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;
    ¹⁵FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL,
         WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR,
         AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES,
         OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES,
         HEAR WITH THEIR EARS,
         AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN,
         AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.'

[O] As I meditated on this well-known parable of the sower, Isaiah's prophecy gave me a new insight.  Verse 14 talks about "keep on ... but will not" which implies the on-going efforts going no where based on choice.  In the end, it's by choice these people refused to understand God's heart even though God repeatedly pursued after them.  The first three locations where the seed fell and yet happened relatively quickly.  Before the seeds didn't even had chances to grow whereas the seed falling on good soil had the ample time to grow and lay the root to soak up the nutrients and thus bear lots of fruits.  In this day and age, we're so used to having things done ASAP that we even transplant the same expectation to spiritual maturity to just happen quickly.  However, it requires a lot of time to grow in Christ and in the end I need to make that choice to take that path.  I will need to choose to understand and to see and hear.

[A] There is no such thing as a short cut in learning -- anything really.  I must first make a commitment to learn and then grow and expect this to take a good length of time.  In light of this: 1) I need to keep up with my Life Journaling every day to soak up God's heart; 2) I need to surrender small group ministry's fruitfulness into God's leadership because this isn't going to be a microwave-oven speed but a crock-pot speed.  I may be slow but it will surely be done in the end.

[P] Dear God, lead me so that I won't be impatient with my growing in You as well as the formation of the small group ministry at church.  Instead of focusing too much on the results, may I focus on the consistency of abiding in You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Bigger, Taller, Large, and Fortified to the Max

[S] Deuteronomy 1:22-33 (boldface added by me)--

 ²²"Then all of you approached me and said, 'Let us send men before us, that they may search out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up and the cities which we shall enter.'
 ²³"The thing pleased me and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe.
 ²⁴"They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol and spied it out.
 ²⁵"Then they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought us back a report and said, 'It is a good land which the LORD our God is about to give us.'
 ²⁶"Yet you were not willing to go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God;
 ²⁷and you grumbled in your tents and said, 'Because the LORD hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.
 ²⁸'Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the sons of the Anakim there."'
 ²⁹"Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked, nor fear them.
 ³⁰'The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
 ³¹and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.'
 ³²"But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,
 ³³who goes before you on your way,to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.

[O] In this passage I've noted the process of how the Israelites responded to God's promise and command of entering into Canaan and conquer that land.  Initially they requested Moses to send a survey team to scope out that land which sounded good to Moses and 12 representatives were sent into the land for 40 days to survey and report back.  They returned to acknowledge that the land indeed is good as God said (v.25) but 10 of the 12 spies reported that the risks of getting beaten by these "giants" are too high and they should not enter the land.  This report discouraged the people to a point of melting their hearts (v.28).  The obstacle they were facing grew bigger and bigger and their hearts sank deeper and deeper.  Moses' reminder that God promised to fight for the people ahead of them didn't help much.  They already forgot about the miraculous exodus from Egypt as well as how God had led them through the Red Sea and then through the desert while providing food to eat from heaven.  Moses says in verse 32: "But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, ..."  Many of us believers often say, "trust and obey" but how many times do we really trust and obey when we're up against the obstacles that are far bigger than what I can ever imagine?  That's when I need to surrender my fear and move forward if, in the first place, I trusted God's promise for me.  Why is it that we quickly forget about the commitment and begin to justify using our own logic to veer away from the original bearing?  In my observation, the main cause for this is because, 1) we lack the experience of God "defeating the giant obstacles" so we don't have any reference point in our lives to latch on to God's powerful promise; 2) we don't give our spiritual leaders enough credit & trust to follow their path.

The Israelites refused to trust what Moses (plus Joshua and Caleb) told them that this land is already given to be theirs regardless of who lives in there now.  They were probably thinking who is this guy telling us some crazy thing to do.  Can't he see who lives in there?  Instead had they overcome such a fear with "but" Moses is a man of God and he is in tuned with God and so I give my trust to him as our leader to take us into the place God desires for us to be -- in Canaan -- to bless us.  This is not easy with all the circumstantial influences but God is looking for such a follower to do His works here on earth.

[A] I need to examine my heart about how closely I am following my spiritual leader and whether I'm giving them my trust because God's proven to me they are His people.  Based on this, I must collaborate in spirit to work through some of the challenges in the ministries I'm involved with by claiming the original promise God placed in my heart about how He desires to use me there -- rain or shine.

[P] Dear God, "rain or shine" I desire to stick close to You by committing my services to the spiritual leaders You placed over me.  I do not want to veer away like the Israelites here just because my own outlook seems too gray or even fearful that I will be swallowed up by the forces against me.  I trust You oh Lord Jesus.  In Your name.  Amen.

First: Walk and Carry His Commandments

[S] Leviticus 26:3-4,8-9  --

 ³'If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out,
 ⁴then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.

 ⁸five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.
 ⁹'So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you


[O] Quite an encouraging passage outlining how my obedience to keep His commandments will result in the abundance of His blessings and provision for all of my needs as well as the strength to push forward against all odds.  As I think about the actual ROI of this statement, it's simply mind boggling because not only this goes against the what the society strives for but it also seems too easy to do -- I don't have to work hard at all but just keep God's statues and commandments.  (BTW, past Sunday's sermon was on this concept based on Psalm 37:4 -- Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.) As I ponder on this thought, my mind's peaking into the heart of God -- what He desires from me in priority order.  I admit that God can do anything so the part about His provisioning to all of my needs shouldn't surprise me.  In fact He wants to do that for me as long as my heart is aligned with His.  As long as I'm in pursuit of His purposes for my life.  He wants my heart.  Then He will guarantee the rest.  Is it that simple and easy?  On paper it seems so but speaking from experience it ain't that easy.  In fact, in subsequent verses (Leviticus 26:14-46) God lists the consequences of disobedience with multiple "If you fail to follow me ..." statements but I won't go there now because I want to end on a high note this morning enjoying the concept of receiving the abundant provision from Him.  I want to end with the encouraging thought of following His commands today and knowing that He will delight in my obedience.  I want to be driven by this encouraging thought today.

[A] Identify an area of my life that I'm striving very hard to achieve greater results and surrender to Him the outcome of that effort while committing to first follow His commands of learning, meditating, and applying His word into my life.

[P] Dear God, what a wonderful thought to start the day after a long weekend holiday.  Allow me to live out this week to taste Your sweet blessings in my and my family members' lives because we desire to follow Your commands foremost.  Please guide and guard my children's hearts this week and let them be focused on Your leadership.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.d

I Went Away and Washed

[S] John 9:11, 25 --
 ¹¹He answered, "The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash'; so I went away and washed, and I received sight."
 ²⁵He then answered, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." 

[O] The phrase "I went" in verse 11 jumped out because that was the outcome of his obedience.  It was a specific action committed by him when Jesus gave him the command.  The significance is increased here because of his obedience based on faith.  Jesus had not provided much other than to do wash at Siloam.  I am searching my heat now to see how many times Jesus had given me a clear direction to act upon but I didn't because it didn't make sense to me.  How I should've acted like this blind person.  I don't know how many blessings I've foregone because of my unfaithful actions.  Then I wonder why I am not bold for God.  As I see in verse 25, this blind person's boldness came because of his experiencing of God through his obedient faith.  God does not need answers from me (He knows them all).  He just needs my obedience because I trust that He cares for me 100%.

[A] Be cautious about God's prompting next time and make that action of commitment.

[P] Dear God, help me to trust You more so I would act with obedience based on my faith in You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.