Pass on the Purified Love

[S] 1Peter 1:22 (NIV) --
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.

[O] Before obedience I need to purify my heart because only then will I be able to sincerely love others.  Loving with God's love is not just doing good works for others but genuinely care for them from the bottom of my heart.  In order to do this, I must first receive God's supply of pure (purified) love for me daily.  Genuinely loving others is becoming a conduit of God's love, not fabricating my own "love" for them.

[A] Before I want to care for my family members a father, I must first plug myself into the source of love and purify the channel through which I receive His love from.  This is not easy especially when there are so much noise (pollution) around me.  I need to seek His wisdom in purifying my surroundings so God's love is channeled directly into my heart.

[P] Dear Father, please pump Your pure love into my heart so I may pass that on to others.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

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.

Love Based on Conviction, not Condition

[S] John 2:24-25 --
24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men,25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

[O] How Jesus knows our hearts so well and that's why He did not entrust Himself to men until He has accomplished God's will on earth by going to the Cross and be crucified.  He had to live out His purpose fully here without being dragged down by men's weakness.  What 's amazing is that even though He knew us so well (untrustworthy) He still went all the way to die for us.

[A] Love is a choice I make not dependent on circumstances or conditions just like how Jesus decided to come to this world to live a perfect life just to die for us fully knowing who we really are -- imperfect wretched beings.  My love for others should also be based on this same model of conviction rather than condition.

[P] Dear Jesus, may my heart be soaking up the principle of love from You.  I want to love others not based on condition but out of my conviction coming from Your role model.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Two Way Street Love

[S] 1 Corinthians 13:13 --
13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

[O] Faith, Hope, and Love are three ingredients necessary for anyone to follow after Christ; yet, Paul distinguishes love to be the greatest of these.  I can see that the same love of God is what sacrificed Jesus on the cross for us, and on the receiving end, it's that same love that transforms our hearts in order to believe in the Way Jesus paved for us.  Faith and hope naturally follows once the love has been registered in one's life.

[A] In trying to cope with the family crisis at hand, I've tried to hold on to hope of God through my faith.  I should continue to do that without giving up, however, God wants me to love Him more and to reflect on His love more especially meditating on the suffering, death, and resurrection in this season of Easter.  I must exercise the greatest attribute Paul wrote about here.

[P] Dear Father, I love You with all my heart.  May my love for You outweigh all of other attitudes especially during this time of Lent.  I give You my heart.  Take it, Lord, and mold it and use it for Your kingdom's glory.  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.

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.

The Motivation of Love

[S] 1 Corinthians 13:2 --
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

[O] If God allows, I can do miracles mentioned in this verse.  In fact, God can do all of them at His will but when He does, He does them with a clear purpose other than just to show off His powers.  And that's where His love comes into play.  He created this world out of love for us.  He constantly did miracles so we may understand His love for us.  He even had to sacrifice His own self separated from His power, again, driven by His love for us.  If He did all this for love, then I certainly should do all I do out of love also.  Without such a motivation, what good is showing off all the powers?

[A] We had named large groups, called zones, within our small group ministry after names of mountains in the Bible such as Mt. Carmel, Mt. Sinai, and Mt. Zion because we felt God wants us to move some mountains.  It sounded all good, however, based on today's passage, we have to make sure love is the current that runs through us as we move these "mountains" because without it our ministry is nothing.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for the love that joins everything You had done for us.  May that heart of love permeate through me and my family's hearts so we would follow after doing all we do in our ministry out of love.  We love You and may that same love shine right through our lives.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Love-founded Waiting

[S] Genesis 29:20 --
 ²⁰So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.

[O] I just love reading this story because it paints a beautiful picture of the power of love.  The not-so-short seven years can seem like just a few days when Jacob was waiting to marry Rachel whom he dearly loved.  Switching gears a bit when my love for Jesus becomes the foundation for my participating in His ministry, instead of feeling burdened and drawn out, all should seem like a blip because I do it out of my deepest love for Him.  In many ways, my perspective changes when my heart is in love with Jesus.  Otherwise, all will seem like chore and no chore is delightful to take on by default.

[A] The small group ministry under way is challenging and at times I feel like it's not going anywhere.  I realized based on this passage that such a perspective is due to my lack of love for Jesus.  I need to be careful about falling into the ritualistic aspects of ministry rather than centered around the motivation of why I am in His ministry to begin with.  Whenever I feel like it's going so slow, I should re-examine my love for Jesus.

[P] Dear Father, Jacob's love for Rachel is a such a great example for me to follow when I serve You because Your ministry is not just a simple walk in the park.  It will demand some serious challenges at times and I need to keep my position, and doing that will require me to based it on my love for You.  Let my love never run dry.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Price of the Very First Leather Suit

[S] Genesis 3:21 --
 ²¹The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 

[O] Why did God make this leather clothing for them?  After all they are the ones who felt ashamed before God and they already sewn themselves a covering made out of fig tree leaves.  In order to make this leather clothing, God had to sacrifice the animal the skin belonged to and perhaps this was the first sacrifice of His creation in order to cover up the sin of man.  When He created the world at the end of each day He said they were good to Him so there was none that He created reluctantly set apart to be disposed so the animal used to make this leather covering for Adan and Eve had to give up their lives sacrificially.  That same theme continued through Jesus coming to earth to live out a life that did not have to end in a murderous death all for covering our sins.  But He did just that for me.

[A] God's love come alive when I lay my life down sacrificially because the DNA of that love from the beginning of man's sin was based on sacrifice of shedding blood.  That was all done because God loved man (me).  If my heart had captured such a love then willingness to sacrifice must arise from my heart in order to ignite His love coming alive in and through my life.

[P] Dear Father, please kindle the flame of Your love in me as I sacrificially serve Your community starting with my family.  May Your message of sacrifice be embedded into my heart deep inside such that I would follow the footsteps of Jesus's sacrificial love for me.  In Jesus' 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.

Two-way Love Story

[S] 1 Corinthians 8:2-3 --
² Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. ³ But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

[O] While knowledge is important, just having the knowledge is not everything because that only establishes just one side of the equation.  It's like having a one-sided love while the other person doesn't even know me.  Even if there is a way to completely understand the heart of God by our own human comprehension (without the intervention of the Holy Spirit), unless God recognizes me also my own understanding means nothing in the eyes of God.  Am I recognized by God as the one who love Him?

[A] Talk to Him in a quiet and private place within next week to share my love with Him to ask Him if He recognizes me and to guide me based on Psalm 32:8.

[P] Dear God, I want to love You and be recognized by You.  Please whisper into my ears that You know me and love me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Knowledge Alone Is Arrogance

[S] 1 Corinthians 8:1-2 --
 ¹Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge.  Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.

[O] Any one of us can retain knowledge because it is freely available to us to grab with respect to our own capacity.  We cannot live without having any knowledge so as verse 1 says, we all have knowledge.  The question is what do we do with the knowledge we retain?  Some things come to mine are: work towards success; solve problems; learn new skills; earn more money; and in some cases to hurt others.  And isn't it true that knowledge alone only provides a subjective view depending on how it is interpreted or used?  For example, knowledge of someone's weakness can cause one to take advantage of it, or to assist that person to overcome it.  However, knowledge in addition to love almost always will result in edification.  So in my previous example, it will lead to assisting in overcoming the weakness and to build up that person.

Many times we see this discrepancy between Jesus and the Pharisees.  They both have the knowledge of the same situation, but Jesus responds with warmth and loving embracing of the situation while the Pharisees take advantage of that to meet their goals and needs in the name of worshiping God.

[A] Especially doing ministry at church, I need to be careful of the TMI (too much information) because it may make me arrogant and manipulative of others.  I need to always mix the love of Jesus which covers all people in all situations.  Before processing any of the knowledge I gained, I need to make sure it is countered by God's love which overflows out of my heart based on my daily dose of meditating on His word.

[P] Dear God, I need Your love in my heart which can balance the knowledge in my mind/brain so that I would be edifying those around me at all times.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

With Perfect Faithfulness

[S] Isaiah 25:1; Hebrews 13:1-2 --
¹O LORD, You are my God;
I will exalt You, I will give thanks to Your name;
For You have worked wonders,
Plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.

¹Let love of the brethren continue.

²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

[O] "Perfect faithfulness" is what God has for me. In fact, His plans for me from long ago can only come true because of His perfect faithfulness. Without that, my shortcomings would have aborted the wonderful plan for sure. So, along with Isaiah, I also exalt God and thank Him now. Out of that my mind connected the passage from Hebrews because out of this gratitude I must continue to love people around me. The word Love is the operand here. As I've been spending more time thinking and planning for the small group ministry lately, I need to check my heart for not bypassing my desire to love others.

[A] Do small group ministry planning with Love.

[P] P

Not By Numbers, but By Covenant

[S] Deuteronomy 7:7-9 --
⁷ The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸ But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

[O] I always look for bargain deals on almost everything and that's why Costco is one of my favorite shopping places (so it used to be more of a warehouse, bulk-rate place than it is today) as much as finding a charter flight rates for traveling.  But am I glad God does not operate with the same mindset because I would never make His list on my own.  This passage states that it's the love of God, nothing of what I do or which group I belong to draws me close to Him.  He keeps His covenant of love to me.  This is a great comfort!

[A] I need to stop applying the rules of this world -- how volume, power, strength, money, etc. makes a big difference.  In God's domain, His love for us is the only thing that makes a difference.

[P] Thank You, for your Love for me by keeping Your promises not depending on my performance.  I want to grow deeper in You to understand that deep Love and I want to pass that on to others.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Giving All My Possessions

[S] 1 Corinthians 13:3 --
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

[O] As I am thinking about tomorrow morning's homeless breakfast ministry that I'll be partaking for the second time with my youth children, this verse begged me to re-examine my motivation for going tomorrow other than the fact that I need to give a ride.  I am merely going offer about 3 hours of my time tomorrow morning here but as this verse says, even if I give all of my resources, if I do it with a wrong motive then it will not profit me at all.  To make it clear, I'm not interested in gaining something in return for my giving but I believe  the "profits" in this verse references God's blessings and His honoring of my life.

[A] I will pray that God will put His love in my heart so I can bring that to the homeless ministry tomorrow morning.

[P] Dear God, I ask that You will ceter Your love around all of my ministrial activities I take part.  My the love of Jesus flow through me as I minister to various people in different settings.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.