Perception of the Enemy

[S] Acts 24:5 --
For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

[O] If one man can stir up the whole world, that is actually pretty powerful if you think about it.  There are a few people in the past who's shaken the world -- some good and some bad ways -- but definitely not many are in this category.  Jesus was a God and yet as a full human being He was labeled by the Jewish leaders as the one who stir the whole world.  It is actually an honor to be known as such a person by the enemy because if they feel threatened that means God is on our side.

[A] As I read this comment by the Jewish leaders, I was meditating on how my life is currently viewed by the enemy.  Will they feel threatened by my vision and passion to live for God and to carry out His plans here on earth without being distracted by all sorts of things crowding my life?  Will my family treasure Jesus at the core like a rock that will not shake us apart?  Will my church be the "hurricane" poised to sweep through the local region and further?

[P] Dear Jesus, make me, my family, and my church be known like You in this passage by our enemy.  I ask that Your Spirit seal the focus and strength to carry on Your wonderful plans here and to keep our eyes on You at all time.  In Your name.  Amen.

Live a Life with Full Authority Given

[S] Luke 10:19 --
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.

[O] I am given a powerful authority in this world to tread over the enemy's power and I will have 100% protection from God.  The key is not how much authority God gave me but how much of my life reflects such an authority in my daily living.

[A] Live a confident and powerful life with authority over all the enemy's power.  I need to remind myself how much authority God has given me to live in this world.  So, let's use it!

[P] Dear Father, thank You for empower me with such a great authority over the enemy.  Thank You also for protecting me.  I feel I'm getting beat up these days by the enemy but I will claim this word from You about not getting injured at all.  I am going to stand up for You and to shine Your light in this world.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Competition vs. Companionship

[S] Daniel 3:19 --
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

[O] This passage brought back memories of the movie "Wolfman" where the person morphs from being a normal handsome man into the hairy wolfman.  Nebuchadnezzar must have gone through this significant alteration of his facial expression when he heard Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego upholding their position with their God of Heaven above him.  More so than the anger in him, I believe the ugly image of our enemy is what surfaced in him, and that's probably the case with me, also, when my pride escalates above God.

[A] Stay humble before God and look for what and how God is moving in other people's lives to rejoice with them rather than being jealous or competitive.  This is not a competition but a companionship with God for the rest of my life.

[P] Minimize me, Lord, and maximize Yourself in me so I will always reflect Your beautiful face and not have my facial expression be altered by the ugliness of my enemy.  In Jesus' 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.

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.

Proclamation Against My Enemy

[S] Micah 7:8 --
8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me.

[O] What a bold statement to claim here to the enemy.  The claim is not about not falling but will rise on every fall.  It's not about just being in the light all the time, but about how even though darkness may overcome, God who rests in the heart of the believe is the light despite the circumstances.

[A] Can I make such a bold claim based on my own relationship with Jesus?  I need to use this passage as my daily prayer to claim to my enemy that it isn't going to come easy for him to take me down because my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is what's going to sustain me regardless of how he tries to distract me or to bog me down.  I will claim this as my daily proclamation against all of my enemies.

[P] Dear Father, You are my God and my mighty strong tower.  You are my shepherd who will not let me go.  I claim that I will rise again and again and to keep you as the unquenchable fire in me to light my path.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Decision Making Priorities

[S] 1 Timothy 5:14 --
14  Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach;

[O] Making decision is always a difficult task because there are so many factors to consider to make the most sounds judgment.  However, I could go on and on weighing endless numbers of factors without making a timely decision which can actually be more damaging than making a "bad" decision.  In light of this the decision-making process gets tougher when ethics or legality is involved because it gets very confusing to know what is right from wrong.  In this verse, Paul addresses the situations of widows remarrying and after he lays out some conditions to follow, he concludes with this statement of the highest priority in our decision making -- give the enemy no occasion for reproach.  No matter what decision is made, the result should be to leave no room for the enemy to take advantage.

[A] I can apply this to many areas of my life now but want to focus on my parenting.  I can lay down the "house rules" to the max for my kids to adhere to, but I must teach them the most fundamental aspects of living a righteous life is to not let the enemy wedge himself into their lives slowly but surely by always making decisions not based on analytical knowledge but willingness to please God foremost.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for providing a simple view into my life's decisions.  I don't want to give any room for the enemy to influence my life but Your word.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Back-end Support of Ministry

[S] 2 Samuel 17:27-29 --
27  Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim,28  brought beds, basins, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans, lentils, parched seeds, 29  honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and for the people who were with him, to eat; for they said,  "The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness."

[O] There are times of war and there are times of rest and re-energizing because we cannot go full force at all times.  David and his men were running on empty in more of a survival mode until they arrived here at the place of Mahanaim and Shobi where they were provided with food to rest and recuperate from the weariness.  It must have been like an oasis in the desert for these men.  At times of war we may only focus on the fighting front while the back-end support is as important and critical.  In the spiritual battle we're surrounded by, we can easily fall into the same mindset of busily fighting away the enemy's attacks while somewhat neglecting to suppor those in the battle front.

[A] In our church community, we need to be sensitive to all the servants, despite their titles or roles, taking the beating from the spiritual battle and how much support they need.  The support of encouragement, "food" to replenish their strengths, and a place of rest.  Building up a community of believers isn't always about moving forward & forward, but at times that time of rest in the presence of like-minded caretakers is as critical.

[P] Dear Jesus, please send Your Holy Spirit in the midst of our community to gain the wisdom of providing the right support to each other in order we not grow weary in the fighting our enemy. Let us encourage and re-energize each other to go forward in unity.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

If Look Out fails, then Look Up

[S] Psalm 31:4 --
4 You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.

[O] The enemy works real hard to place the traps (nets) and because they do a wonderful job, I will inevitably fall into it and get caught.  But God will pull me out with His strength and care.  He will never miss me because He is on 24x7 schedule to watch over me.  He never promised me to protect me completely away from being caught but He promised me to pull me out of it whenever I get all caught up.

[A] The enemy is cunning and diligent about setting the traps against me.  This is my reality and so I need to put on my armor daily and make sure my radar system is in operation.  Even then I will still be victim so I also need to claim that He is my rescue hero in all and any situation.

[P] Dear Father, enamor me with Your wisdom so I may work around the enemy's traps in my life and to have the strength through faith in You to pull myself out of times when I am stuck in his net.  Thank You for being there all the time.  in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Breaking Out of Cold War

[S] 1 Samuel 17:3 --
3  The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.

[O] This whole scene of the battle formation on either side of this valley seems to depict the spiritual battle right in the midst of the spiritual community of our church where the enemy sends out their "Goliath" to challenge us to come out and fight him day in and day out.  And to a certain extent the tension's been building up in our battle situation and more heat is being put on with so much stuff happening.  How can we find a breakthrough?  I see the boy David's total reliance on God as the foundation of our breakthrough.  Despite the few number of sheep (verse 28) he was tending, he shepherded them with total reliance on God and what he trained for came out when he heard Goliath mocking the God of Israel and with that confidence in God he defeated Goliath.  What is interesting is that as soon as Goliath fell, the Philistines fled while the Israelites stood up in confidence and pursued the Philistines.  In the original picture painted in verse 3, we see this terrible enemy scaring the Israelites with this giant in front of them; but the scene changes quickly when the little boy with some stones in his pouch breaks through and knocks out their flag ship.

[A] The enemy's tactic has not changed where he just scares us to keep us at bay when there is no substance at all behind his deception.  When the power of God flows through just a few (or one) people, the enemy will be on the run.  This is a very crucial period for our church to break out of the apprehensive holding pattern.  This is the time for the leaders to step forward and face the "fake" giant and slay him with the confidence of our day-to-day God Stories.  I am requesting God to use me in such a way -- 100% God factor, 0% me factor.

[P] Dear God of Heaven, I feel it is time to break out of the cold war as in verse 3 by shifting the focus away from the "giant" to the real Giant faith in the Big God I worship and praise.  May I have the faith like David in result of my daily victorious experiences of You.  May Your power breaks through in the midst of our community.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Reflecting God's Power in Our Ministry

[S] Nehemiah 6:16; Luke 24:52-53 --
 ¹⁶When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God. 
 ⁵²And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
 ⁵³and were continually in the temple praising God.

[O] Nehemiah 6:16 highlights the implicit nature of doing God's ministry which cannot be compromised.  When others, especially including our enemies, recognize that our ministry is accomplished by the help of our God (i.e., God working through us), our fame is reduced and God's glory is raised and praised.  People should really say that it couldn't have been done by man's efforts alone and so it had to be God who worked through those who are involved. Whenever the other people's credit stop with men, we need to be very careful not to push our proud-o-meter into the red zone.  Under the Nehemiah's leadership, what seemed totally impossible got done and yet the credit was given to God.

[A] In a different context, but in Luke 24:52-53 the picture of the people returned with great joy and were continually praising God in the temple looked so refreshing and this happened right after they had experienced the power of God through the ascension of Jesus Christ.  Likewise, as we continue to roll out the small group ministry at our church, we need to keep in mind God's power must be transparently displayed and the people who recognize that are filled with great joy and continuous praising of God.

[P] Dear God, as we develop our small group ministry at church, please protect our hearts so we won't cloak Your glory in the midst of us.  May we reflect Your mighty power and let that reflection touch many lives and in the end bring us to the point of great rejoicing and praising in You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Guess Who's Working Real Hard?

[S] John 10:1 --
 ¹"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

[O] This familiar passage about distinguishing the good from the false "hired" shepherd shed a new light for me today.  It is obvious for the good shepherd to work hard to keep his sheep protected and cared for, but wouldn't you know it that the false shepherd or the thieves work very hard also?  In order to climb up into the sheep pen, they not only have to physically do the climbing but also have to make sure they don't get caught.  This reminded me that our spiritual enemy works very hard also to lure us away from following God closely and so I should be complacent about following God because there is a force working real hard to distract me from doing just that.

[A] Don't take following God lightly.  It requires discipline and discernment to know the thieves working hard to steal my heart away from God.  So, take spiritual inventory frequently to make sure I'm not derailed from being God's pathway.

[P] Dear God, please allow me to see the enemy's schemes well in advance and not fall for its traps.  I want to not lose sight of my Good Shepherd's voice so I may stay close to Him.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Know Thy Enemy's Schemes

[S] 2 Corinthians 2:10-11 --
¹⁰But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
¹¹so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

[O] True forgiveness requires a truly great effort to carry it out because by definition, for me to be in the position to forgive someone else already means that I have been offended in some significant way. Otherwise we don't even have to go there in the first place. Through these broken relationships our enemy works its way into breaking down the community of believers to the point of distrust and in many cases hatred. Once our emotions are dis-unified from one another, we've bitten the bate and are trapped into the enemy's schemes. This is why Paul mentions we should be fully aware of Satan's schemes such that we would avoid its traps that are spread along the path I walk together with other believers.

[A] Whenever I find myself in the position of giving forgiveness, just do it because then I'll for sure avoid Satan's traps and instead be lifted up by the wonderful and compassionate grace of God.

[P] Dear God, I seek to freely give forgiveness whenever I need to whenever I've been hurt by others. Please grant it with Your beautiful love overflowing out of my heart; and in addition, grant me the focus of my life to recognize the traps my enemy's throwing at me so I may avoid them wisely. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Many People in the City

[S] Acts 18:9-10 --⁹And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;
 ¹⁰for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city."

[O] I'm reminded of how God sends many of His people to collaborate in speaking the truth to the society we live in.  At times even though it feels like I'm all alone, I need to trust that God had bestowed many of His people around to carry out His purposes.  Spiritual enemy's always lurking around and through others around me to drag me down and to put fear in me.  God told Paul not to be afraid any longer but go on speaking.  God is speaking to me also to not be afraid of some of the situations I'm facing in ministry He placed me but go on speaking.  There will be some attacks but none will be strong enough to harm me.  God's placed many people around me to work together to strengthen up and encourage one another.

[A] Need to rise above some of the discouragements and challenges ahead with the small group ministry by trusting God's promise for my life and the ministry He placed me.  He's going to send co-laborers to work together in this effort.

[P] Dear God, I'm surrendering before You to lay my meager efforts into Your hands such that I will be relying 100% on Your power and workings through my life than trying to achieve things on my own.  Let me not seek my own crown.  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.

Bad Things Happeninig Lately?

[S] Psalm 144:1-2 --
  ¹Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
         Who trains my hands for war,
         And my fingers for battle;
  ²My lovingkindness and my fortress,
         My stronghold and my deliverer,
         My shield and He in whom I take refuge,
         Who subdues my people under me.

[O] Recently I've heard from a few people of God who's been hit with what appears an un-ending distractions in their lives (both personally and family) which drains their energy and in some cases discouraging them to lose sight of living out Christ-centered lives.  Why do these happen to those who are really committed to following God's pathways?  First, my own answer is that because they must really be doing just that effectively despite what they may be feeling at the moment because God's enemy will not leave alone those who are effectively influencing our world the way God intended.  Flipping that around, the enemy will leave alone those who are not of a great threat to his agenda.  I also found God's answer to this question from this passage:  There is no way for me to comprehend the depth of His reasons/purposes of why these things happen, but He promises to those who trust in Him to be their trainer, fortress, deliverer, shield, and subduer of enemies.  So, the half-time score may not look good but the game score is already decided to be God 1: Enemy 0.

[A] Trust in Him even though I cannot see the reasons for troubles happening around me.

[P] Dear God, You are awesome indeed.  This passage just pumps up the new blood in me to take steps further in the direction You convicted me to go.  You are my fortress, deliverer, shield, and You will win over the enemies altogether!  I trust in You to be just that type of a God in my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.