Color of Ink Written on My Tablet

[S] 2 Corinthians 3:3 --
being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

[O] My life is a letter written by Christ with his flowing Spirit.  The color of this ink of Spirit is beautiful red, His own blood.  My life is simply the white (neutral) sheet of paper where by itself carries no special meaning but with His letter written on it, then I become the carrier of that love letter.

[A] While I do not have an iPad yet, I already possess a tablet of my heart where God can finger His message of love.  I've been so engulfed with overwhelming amount of "stuff" to do, I had been shadowing His wonderful letter written on my heart.  I need to chase away the overshadowing forces and unveil His love to reflect out of my life.  I need to humbly fall before His Name daily to lower myself and exalt His Name.

[P] Dear Jesus, please let the hot red ink of Your blood jump out of my heart as I first come to You daily to soak up Your message of love.  Please let Your light shine, especially during this time of Thanksgiving.  In Your name.  Amen.

Clean the House Before Renewing

[S] Ezekiel 11:18-20 --
18 When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.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] When God restores the Israelites back to their land, the sequence of actions were: 1) cleansing of the land; 2) God gives a new heart & new spirit; 3) people walk His statutes; 4) keep His ordinances and do them.  Then the relation between God and His people will be restored completely.

[A] What areas in my life do I need to cleanse?  Before asking for a new heart, I must take time and effort to  do some housecleaning in and around my life.  Then ask God to renew my heart for Him.

[P] Dear Father, please grant me the wisdom and energy to cleanse my life to clean up all detestable things as the first step of renewing my relationship with You.  Please replace my heart of stone with Your heart of flesh.  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.

Mind and Heart Filled with Beauty

[S] Hebrews 8:10 --
10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
i will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.

[O] I got into an abstract mood after reading this passage:  My mind is like a jar where God puts His laws with; and my heart is like a notepad where God writes His laws on.  This passage does not state this but I imagine how God desires to fill up that empty jar with His love such that a lovely fragrance will permeate out of it and to fill up that notepad with beautiful message of love written in His flowing letters.  All in all, this passage painted a wonderfully beautiful picture in my mind.

[A] When I open my mind, I want God's beauty released to those around me.  And when my heart is shared with others, that His message of love for all people be read by others.

[P] Dear Father, please continue to fill up my mind and my heart with Your beauty.  I praise You for giving me this beautiful picture through this passage.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Tongue is the Pen

[S] Psalm 45:1 --
1 My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my verses to the King;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
[NLT] Beautiful words stir my heart. 
I will recite a lovely poem about the king,
for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet.
[O] What I speak is portrayed as a pen of a skillful poet who can express wonderful and beautiful poems.  The problem is that the same "pen" can also write about ugliest things of this world.  The condition of my heart will dictate how my tongue is used and therefore it is so critical for me to pack into my heart with a good theme (or beautiful words) so beautiful expressions will roll off my tongue.

[A] Think of good things in my life.  Count my blessings, and praise God for planting them into my life.  Don't get sucked into nursing negative or discouraging thoughts.

[P] Dear Father, You are beautiful beyond everything I know and yet my mind still wants to lock You up in a tiny little container as if what I can fit into it all of Your beauty I can retain for myself.  Please forgive my narrow perspective and enlarge my territory so that I would have a God-sized heart to live for You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen

God Hears Every Grumble

[S] Numbers 12:2; Mark 2:8 --
 ²and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" And the LORD heard it. 
 ⁸Immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning about these things in your hearts?

[O] Here are two instances where God hears what we say, grumble, or mumble because He sees our hearts where all these originate from to begin with.  The phrase from verse 2, "And the LORD heard it" was almost amusing to read because when did God close His ears to hear what we say?  Or perhaps it is the statement describing how Aaron and Miriam were thinking what they grumbled was not going to be noticed by God just like how the Pharisees who mumbled thinking Jesus won't hear them.  This goes to show how limited our views are of this world and yet we try to claim that we know everything when we can only fathom just a fraction of what is really out there in the realm of God.

[A] Through the Book of Isaiah God's been teaching me how He is the true author of this universe and the small world we live in without a doubt.  He is the one writing the history down to the specifics of who is going to be in ruling powers of certain nations.  In light of this, how I get so wrapped up in my little world and what seems to be huge problems I'm facing.  I need to break out of this shell and open up my mind, spirit, and perspective to the wider and grandiose plan of God for my life.

[P] Dear Father, I bow down now and praise You for what You have done and will do in this world.  I pray that my life will be in sync with what you're about to do and that my mind will meditate on Your word day and night to soak up Your awesomeness to live out my days with a super zing!  In Your name.  Amen.

Heart to Heart Communication

[S] Jeremiah 24:7 --
 ⁷'I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

[O] Receiving the heart God gives me means I would know His heart because only a heart from God can understand God's own heart.  God did not promise to give more knowledge or more resources to read up on to find out more about God's heart.  He wants to implant the receiver that would directly connect to His own heart. I'm so glad He does this for me because all other methods will not guarantee understanding His heart and that means I would miss the goal of following Him wholeheartedly.

[A] I need to think with my (new) heart more than my mind because only through that I may know His heart and purposes for my life to carry out my tasks for God.  I need to not go ahead of Him by using my mind too much.

[P] Dear God, thank You for the new heart so I may know You properly.  I am so grateful for this perfect communication channel You implanted in my life.  May I be more and more sensitive to lean on this wonderful tool You gave me to follow and abide in You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Spirit vs. Letter

[S] Romans 3:29 --
 ²⁹But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

[O] Any society desiring to live in order will need some type of a law to help establish that.  However, the ultimate purpose of having such a law is for the benefit of the people sharing that society.  So, the law is the result of people agreeing to follow for the sake of living in harmony with one another.  As time passes on, though, the people lose the focus of the initial purpose and get all wrapped up around following the law itself more than the reason behind it.  Paul seems to be addressing this issue with the Jewish people where they were so ingrained in following the Law itself they lost the purpose of serving God with their hearts.  To make things worse, as we are constantly trained to impress others by our external features we are pressured to look good on the outside even in our spiritual walk with God when God is interested in our dedicated hearts toward Him.  This is why living a life pleasing to God is so difficult in the midst of our society pressuring us to attain external status.

[A] As the circumcision originally intended to display the commitment to follow God's Laws, I would like to pursue and live a life that starts with the right intentions displaying the acts of commitments for surrendering my life to Jesus and His ministries.  I need to spend more time in prayer to prepare my hearts to just do this.

[P] Dear God, I want to tune my heart such that Your Spirit is the primary guiding factor instead of being too stuck on the rituals of serving You.  I desire to seek Your praise and that alone as I live out my life in various avenues.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Receive the Heart to Know Him

[S] Isaiah 24:7 --
 ⁷'I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

[O] Even knowing God has to be initiated by God as He says that He will give us the heart to know Him.  He didn't say knowledge or facts to know Him.  It takes the heart from God to know Him.  This is sort of a recursive thinking and may be confusing but bottom line is that I get to know God by my heart which is transformed by God.  Almost like how planets from our solar system revolves the sun, once God gives us the heart to know Him, my desire to return to Him will increase and therefore I will be closer to Him.

[A] Desire to have the heart God gives which gives desire to return to Him with my whole heart.  I need to continue to work on my heart because that's where everything begins.

[P] Dear God, even though this may be a simple concept (of knowing You and returning to You), I desire it fully.  I want to be near You and I want to do that with my whole and sincere heart.  May You continue to allow my heart to be in sync with Yours.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Heart Steer

[S] Ecclesiastes 10:2 --
²A wise man's heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man's heart directs him toward the left.

[O] There is a contrast and a commonality in this verse. Right and left contrast each other while the heart is the common factor which directs the path in both types of men. The picture comes to mind is the steering wheel which sets the direction of the entire car. Unless due to a mechanical failure, I have not seen a case where the car goes to the right when the wheel is turned to the left. Or have seen a driver wondering why the car is veering to the left while turning the wheel to the left. Likewise, my heart's desire is where my whole body (as a person) will head toward. If I'm headed down a wrong path, then instead of wondering why it's happening, go to the source -- my heart -- and set the bearing straight.

[A] Keep jamming in God's ingredients into my heart so that it will be saturated with the right attributes in directing my life in His ways.

[P] Dear God, this verse hits home once again about how critical it is for me and my family to keep our hearts in the right direction by abiding in You at all times. I ask You to shower down Your wisdom for me to carry this out for myself as well as to influence my children to hold on to this foundation for the rest of their lives. Please bless my two children who will be attending the CYIA camp next week such that their hearts will be set in the "right" direction. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Source for Springs of Life

[S] Proverbs 4:23; Romans 8:27 --
²³Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.

²⁷and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

[O] As much as the physical heart is an essential part of our lives, the spiritual heart determines the path for our lives. Although we cannot control our physical heart easily, our spiritual heart can be controlled by our will power. We can decide how our spiritual heart will behave because God gave us the power to make choices. In Proverbs 4:23 it talks about how we need to watch over our hearts with diligence. And Romans 8:27 describes how our hearts can search for God's heart. So, our hearts are capable of taking a course of actions which will steer the way I live inside out, and also to overflow the springs of life to others around us.

[A] Sustain the devotion during the summer break from BSF such that my heart will be trained to take the right courses of action every day.

[P] Dear God, thank You for providing me the choice to decide where my heart will go. I am honored to make the right choices and also to teach my children how to make right choices with their hearts. Please grant Your wisdom in our family so we may be the sources of sprints of life to those around us. In Jesus' name. Amen.