Salted With Grace

Colossians 4:6 NKJV

Lord, just like how salt brings out the taste in food, may what I say to others bring out Your grace.

Best to Avoid God's Freedom

[S] Jeremiah 34:17 (NIV) --
17 "Therefore this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you, declares the Lord—'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.

[O] Freedom is something we all desire.  No one likes to be constrained under some boundaries all the time.  However, freedom either has to be available equally to everyone or it will not work.  For example if only one of the two people exercise his freedom then it's really not freedom but an abuse such as the incident that took place this morning in Empire State Building in NYC where a gunman took the lives of many.  He exercised his "freedom" while others helplessly became his victims.  If we proclaim our own freedom, then let God exercise His own freedom to let us fall by our enemies (or be subject to our own sin).  The picture is pretty clear that we are the losers.  So, that's not a good option to take.

[A] The other "good" option is to be subjected to His covenant which is His law wrapped around His love and grace so that I will be protected from His "freedom" to zap me for who I am.  I am sensing that this is a message for someone I know but I no name comes to mind now so I need to pray for His guidance to deliver this message.  Additionally, I must daily approach His throne to be wrapped around this grace as I live each day.

[P] Dear Father, Your grace overwhelms me again today and may my heart be large enough to take it all in so that my life will blossom with Your amazing grace.  Please reveal in me whom I should share this message of hope and future.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Grace at the Core

[S] 2 Thessalonians 2:16 --
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

[O] At the core of this statement is God's grace because without it there is nothing that can bring comfort and hope.  Out of that grace came His love for us foremost not just temporarily but for eternity. Having this eternal perspective both before and after my present time gives my heart a lot of strength verse 17 mentions about.  That is to say that His eternal love spans from all the way from eternal past to my present time and then goes into the eternal future -- the same grace and love of God for me.

[A] Lately, many things have been weighing down my heart but in light of this passage's power, they have lightened up.  My perspective and focus determines how I feel for the most part so I need to do all I can to keep my eyes on His grace and hope.

[P] Dear Father, please allow my eyes to be locked in to Your word where I can draw the hope and strengths based on Your grace.  I want my heart to be filled with Your promises lifting my spirit up high.  In Jesus' name. Amen.

Fight Bravely for Our People

[S] 2 Samuel 10:12 --
12 Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight."

[O] When David's right-hand and left-hand generals of his army is up against the strong fortified Ammonites (with Arnameans), the statement they made here displays their total commitment to each other and their people based on the complete trust in God's impartial judgment for faithful people.  Notice that their statement was not about "winning" the battle but giving all they got bravely for their people and leave the outcome to God.

[A] As I face challenges in life that are much greater than what I can handle, don't focus on the challenge itself completely but focus on giving my best for the people I have committed to care with faith in God and let Him do what is good in His sight.

[P] Dear Father, it is all about You and less about me and I ask that You show Your grace upon my family as we are fighting against a huge challenge.  Please do what is good in Your eyes as we give our best to bring out Your glory.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Under God's Orchestration of Harmony

[S] Ezra 6:19 --
22 And they observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had caused them to rejoice, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to encourage them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.

[O] This passage opens up my scope of God's influence of people is far greater than just the believers.  He indeed has full control over the world we live in, with the lives of all people.  The LORD caused them to rejoice and turned heart of the king of Assyria (Gentiles) to encourage His people.  God actually brought harmony for believers and non-believers to collaborate to carry out God mission on earth.

[A] Even when I am faced with a challenging relationship issues with others, I must trust that God is in full control and He will turn the hearts of me and others to encourage each other because this is God's ways.

[P] Dear Father, as my life intertwines with many people in various walks of life, I am vulnerable to relational issues to deal with and they are not very fun or easy.  I am so grateful for Your message here about how, in the end, You are the one brining to harmony of all the people here and I must surrender my struggles to You.  Please let me be in You grace and experience the wonderful power of that saving grace work through my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

God Wrote on My Wall

[S] Daniel 5:3 --
3 Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them

[O] This story reminds me of Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10 -- who were consumed by fire when they offered strange incense in their firepans which God had not commanded because here Belshazzar used the utensils set aside to be used in God's holy temple to have his own enjoyment totally disrespecting God.  And He wasn't too happy about that and let him know by sending an email scribed on the wall.

[A] The key point here is when the my pride elevates myself above God, anything I do will be out of dishonor and that's the part God will dishonor Himself.  I need to take every act seriously when I am before God -- which by the way, is at all times.

[P] Dear Father, I praise You for being the God of holiness who require nothing but holiness in Your presence and my praise goes to You abundantly because even though I am far from fulfilling Your requirement to approach You, You accept me as I am because of Your Son's sacrifice in place of me.  Now, as long as I keep that in mine and align myself to such a humble attitude before You, I will be enjoying the presence of Your amazing grace and love.  In gratitude I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Knowing the Truth Before Desolation Strikes

[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] The fact that God is the Lord of this world is a constant that will not alter.  However, that unchanging fact will not make any impact in my life unless I accept it as truth.  And the moment I accept this will either be early enough to be under His grace or it will be too late and I will have to face the consequences of my unbelief.  In either case, in the end, I will know that He is the LORD.

[A] What the Bible states is going to stay true now and forever.  I need to believe it and claim it as my own truth now so that I will acknowledge Him as my Lord when His judgment is upon us.  I sure don't want to be like Egypt who rebelled God until He smote them before they acknowledged who God really was.

[P] Dear Father, awesome in power and how You give us multiple chances to get to know You as who You really are.  I accept You as my Lord daily because that is the truth which will not change.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Nevertheless Grace

[S] Ezekiel 16:60 --
60 "Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

[O] God mentions all the disobedient and rebellious acts by His people and says this statement of "nevertheless, ...."  To me this word has a ton of meaning because God nevertheless loves me and shows His grace to me even though I totally do not deserve all that from Him. Even though I do my best to comply with His ways I am so far from being perfect; in fact I fail on so many things it's not even funny.  Nevertheless God says He will remember His covenant of accepting me into His Kingdom and will be with me always.

[A] My faith must be founded in His "nevertheless" grace because without it I am only going to rely on my own works and that leads to death.

[P] Dear Father, Your amazing grace overwhelms me as I meditate on this passage.  Please continue to pour that grace into my heart such that I would serve others and You with the overflowing grace out of my heart. 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.

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.

Unprincipled Men's Society

[S] 2 Peter 3:17-18 --
17  You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,18  but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

[O] Some of the key operands from this passage are: knowing, guard, carried away, and grow.  These actions, while they can describe any healthy growth, should take place daily in my walk with God where my knowledge of His word should teach me how to guard my heart because there are constant pull from the unprincipled men of this world to derail me from the "narrow" path.  In this whirlwind of society, Peter teaches us to fix our focus on the unmoving and constant grace which comes from Christ.  Failing to do so will lead me to be sucked right into the downward spiral.

[A] Today, the aspect of "guarding" hit home because just having the knowledge alone about the wonderful grace of God alone is not enough to protect my and my family members' hearts from the influences of this world as much as a good sports team not having any defense is doomed.

[P] Dear Father, may I throughout my life keep my focus on Your grace to guard my heart against all the influences from the unprincipled men and instead I ask that Your grace will overflow out of me into their hearts.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

It's Harder to Sin, Actually

[S] Hosea 13:2 --
2 And now they sin more and more,
And make for themselves molten images,
Idols skillfully made from their silver,
All of them the work of craftsmen.
They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves!"

[O] There is a saying that no one needs to be taught how to sin (as in little child capable of lying on his own) but in order to keep sinning it requires more energy than worshiping and obeying God because I believe it's the enemy's trick to divert our energy in vain things away from following God by feeding our desires to working harder and harder to achieve higher and higher goals and yet without any grace.  As seen in this passage, the people made idols skillfully by professional craftsmen.  This was no amateur-ish job but products requiring a lot of time and effort, just so they can give sacrifice and kiss these very-well-made objects more for their self satisfaction.

[A] I need to slip into the presence of God's grace more and more -- not to get lazy in His grace -- in gratitude and thanksgiving, praising His saving grace for me.  The first portion (tithing) of my energy needs to be directed at doing this rather than trying to "skillfully" make my worship "craftier" because in the end that will direct my focus at what I "did" rather than what He's "done" for me.

[P] Dear Jesus, I come to the foot of the Cross You bore as the symbol for me to enter into the presence of Your grace.  May my heart throughout today be lifted up by being contained in such a presence radiating Your peace and wonderful grace.  In Your name.  Amen.

Hold On To the Progress

[S] Philippians 3:15 --
15  Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;16  however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.
(NLT) 15 Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. 16 But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

[O] Even when believers gather to carry out God's ministry, we still face the challenges of different point of views and at times they lead to critical points of disagreements enough to disengage people away from the goal set in the beginning.  This passage acknowledges that and provides a very precious advice about how we should set aside our differences and lean on God to reveal understanding; however, my job is to keep living by the same standard for which Jesus died on the cross.  It is when I keep my basic posture to be in line with His grace, that God will reveal the secrets He desires for me to know.

[A] When working and dealing with many people at church for the sake of carrying out His ministry, I must remember to hold on to the progress He is making even in the midst of some disagreements and must hold on to it because God's grace is at the core of such a progress, not man's ways or plans.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for Your grace that permeates through my life as well as my ministry.  Your amazing progress in the midst of my shortcomings is what I must recognize and hold on to and let go over all the disagreements or distractions caused by many relationships with others.  May Your name be lifted up.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Now is the Day of Salvation

[S] 2 Corinthians 6:2-10 --
2  for He says, "At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you."
Behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation"-- 3  giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, 4  but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God, in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, 5  in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, 6  in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, 7  in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, 8  by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; 9  as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, 10  as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.


[O] Because of Jesus' resurrection providing us the salvation, every day and moment should be taken as a time of rejoicing in the salvation.  Give no opportunity for any offense even if it means hardships and distresses.  For me, the "sleeplessness" stood out because it's been a physically demanding period for last few weeks and my mind was wandering toward grumbling why I am where I am.  But as Paul writes, now is the day of salvation and in it I can accept it all.

[A] I need to rejoice more in God's salvation and in light of that other "noise" should subside so I can focus on that awesomeness of His saving grace and through that my life will shine forth His light.

[P] Dear Father, please protect my mind from wandering around all the nitty gritty details of life but to fixed on Your amazing grace of salvation.  And may it drive what I think and do every moment of my life.  In Your name.  Amen.

Rebelled from Start to Finish

[S] Deuteronomy 9:7 --
7  "Remember, do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

[O] What surprised me here was that the Israelites were rebellious from the beginning (day that they left Egypt) to the end (when they entered Canaan).  I thought they were mostly ok except for grumbling and complaining phases they went through.  This is actually pathetic come to think of it but also comforting because that's the reality of us people; and also the reality of how God's grace embraces such a pathetic people.  Not only am I grateful for God's grand grace, I am also grateful for reminding me that when I am in a leading position of other believers, I should lower my expectations on the people's efforts because they are prone to be rebellious from the start to finish.

[A] In light of this insight, I need to keep my eyes on the Cross and lead others not based on their performance or achievements but on God's grace for me.

[P] Dear Father, Your amazing grace shined through once again through this message of the 40 years of wandering -- how Your people just rebelled from the beginning and yet You brought them into the promised land.  Thank You for doing what You promised and not what I deserve (which is nothing).  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Point of Grace

[S] Genesis 42:21 --
 ²¹Then they said to one another, "Truly we are guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the distress of his soul when he pleaded with us, yet we would not listen; therefore this distress has come upon us."

[O] This statement of confession made by Joseph's brothers of their crime from about 29 years ago displays God's righteousness and how His righteousness reaches with His grace.  All those years, Joseph's brothers must have struggled with the guilt and probably regretted their actions especially as they pictured Joseph's pleading in their minds.  Just putting myself in their shoes (sandals) for a second this is really a moment of encountering God's grace revealing my own sins, convicting me to repent -- which is the right response.  The brothers responded to this point of grace by repenting of their sins.

[A] When God reveals my sins to repent whether committed yesterday or years ago, I need to resist temptation to justify myself and slip into His point of grace to repent and rejoice for His setting me free.  And if appropriate I need to reconcile with parties involved.

[P] Dear Father, Your point of grace poured out to Joseph's brothers who committed a terrible crime touched my heart today.  It's really simply awesome and powerful and yet with the beauty of Your loving care.  I want to praise You for being such a God in my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

[Additional Comments]
Timeline for Joseph's life transitions (source):

• He was 17 when he was sold into Egypt
• He was 30 when he was made overseer
• He was 39 when his brothers first came to Egypt (second year of the famine, or nine years after being made overseer)
• He was probably 41 or so when the brothers came a second time and Jacob comes to Egypt
• He was 110 when he died

Deprived Truth Leads to Depraved Minds

[S] 1 Timothy 6:5 --
 ⁵and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.

[O] Paul describes root motivation of those who "advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness" (v. 4) which stems from not having the truth in them in the first place while thinking they do.  To me this is like hydrating our body -- if we don't drink any water, then the body will eventually dry up and go into dehydration leading to death in the end.  No matter much one believes his/her body is well hydrated while not taking in any water is only fooling him/herself.  Likewise it is so critical for us to intake the truth from God in order to thrive no matter how we may "feel" on our own.  Without the truth, we have only one outcome -- depraved mind and the lifestyle following it.

[A] I saw God's grace in a new angle through this passage.  Without having His grace as the foundation of my life, I will only be trying to fill it up with my own achievements and no matter how honorable and decent they may be, it is not enough to save me from a depraved mind.  Just like how a shark will sink to the bottom of the sea if it stops moving its back fin, I must intake His good word and truth daily.  The pulling force of this society is so strong that by not doing this, I'm defaulting to giving into the depraved minds.

[P] Dear Father, although the surroundings are so dark, I'm so grateful for Your providing a way out of that and to insulate myself from that through the truth You provided for me in the Bible.  I will hold on to it daily, and pray in the spirit of truth daily.  Please show Yourself in my life not because I achieve this goal, but because my heart will be saturated by Your grace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Get in the Right Pipeline

[S] Romans 5:18 --
 ¹⁸So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

[O] Before contemplating on how a single person -- Jesus who also was fully God -- can save the world, we must first understand that through another single person's act of disobedience, the whole world got on the crash course just waiting for the doom's day to take place.  Of course this is according to God's message in the Bible and if I deny that fact, then I will live as if everything is fine and won't feel a need to get saved PERIOD, let alone through Jesus Christ.  Grasping this overall cycle from start to finish is key in understanding how apart from our choice or control, we're already in this pipeline of passing through the first entry point of heading to one of the final points -- 1) face the consequence of the condemnation introduced by the first transgression; or 2) justification of life by the righteous act by another person, Jesus Christ. The choice is mine.

[A] Re-organize my thoughts on how I may clearly present this concept of the saving act of Jesus Christ who, likewise how Adam's disobedience caused all of us to face the consequence of spiritual death, alone provides a way out for us to avoid the deadly consequence of Adam's act.

[P] Dear Father, as much as the Book of Romans covers the core of Your saving grace, may my mind clearly understand and prepare such that I may present this clearly to those who need to hear it.  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.