It's About Time for His Glory to Shine

[S] John 11:4 --
But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it."

[O] There is something more significant and important than life itself which is the glory of God.  I mean, we all try to live our lives as long as we can in order to fully enjoy it and we would feel robbed when it seems to end too early.  In light of today's scene of Lazarus it was a matter of life or death situation and Jesus took extra days before visiting where Lazarus was; and by the time He arrived, Lazarus already passed away a few days.  What was the purpose of the delay, or why didn't He command Lazarus to be healed "remotely"?  The answer is because revealing God's glory was more significant than healing Lazarus.

[A] Jesus' words of "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God" stuck to me because as some of us are praying for a girl for the miraculous healing from a terminal disease where doctors have nothing more to do for her, I am going to cry out to God to anoint her with this same message -- that His glory would be revealed by saving her.

[P] Dear Father, as Your words speak, please do not let her illness end in death but Your glory shine through so brightly that no one can deny Your presence in this society where we has lost sight of You for too long.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Availability As a Conduit of Miracle

[S] Gideon 6:13-15 --
13  Then Gideon said to him, "O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."14  The Lord looked at him and said, "Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?"15  He said to Him, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house."

[O] When God called Gideon, we can see that he was aware of what God has done before through His miracles and wondering why He isn't doing anything about their stark situation. Gideon's hope had diminished at this point to nothing ("Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian").  Then God calls him to be the one to deliver His people; that is to say, that "I am here to do just that, however, this time it's going to be through your own life."  To this Gideon's response wasn't jumping up and down rejoicing but to say to God, "You sure you got the right person?  It just cannot be me."  There was a disconnect between his knowledge of knowing God's miraculous power and how that same power can work in his own life.

[A] God is all powerful.  Nothing is impossible for Him.  If I believe this, then I should also make myself available for Him to use my life to do anything He desires to accomplish His purposes in this world.  Without this understanding in my own life, I will not be ready to be used by God.

[P] Dear almighty God, let Your power reign in my own life and may my meager life take part in the amazing plan of Yours for the people on this earth.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Picking Up My Left-over Joy

[S] Mark 8:8 --
And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces.

[O] The key operand here was "satisfied."  Not only the impossibility of feeding 4,000 men with just seven loaves of bread and a few fish, they were fed to their satisfaction; and then some left overs on top of that.  The principle I see here is God will not only feed me but feed to my satisfaction despite what the circumstance or the amount of resources may be.  The question is am I satisfied with His feeding or am I always hungrier for something more or something else besides what God provides for me?  Satisfaction is subjective with respect to my own desires and so no matter what God provides for me, if my desire is somewhere else, then I will never be satisfied.  One of the indicator of unsatisfied life is there is no surplus, or left over, of joy.

[A] Is my walk with God a satisfying one such that the joy in my life will overflow out?  Lately it's been more on the dry side and this passage has turned around my perspective so I will live out my life picking up the left over crumbs of joy.

[P] Dear Father, fill me with Your joy so much that it will just overflow out of my life.  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.

Do You Know What You're Missing?

[S] Luke 18:43 --
 ⁴³Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.

[O] This ex-blind man used to see before because he adamantly requested to "regain" his sight.  He knew what it was like to see and desired to restore his sight.  Once Jesus restored his vision, he immediately followed Jesus, glorifying God.  What a beautiful scene for this man to have restored what he was missing in his life and he gives total credit to God for making that happen.  And when God is revealed in such a miracle, others around it will see God also in praise; otherwise, they will see the person (not God) which usually brings forth division or envy more so than praising God.

[A] This ex-blind man impressed me with his dire desire to regain his sight because he knew what he was missing and wanted to badly. I wonder how my own gauge of detecting my spiritual blindedness because I used to see it but no longer see?  Am I too distracted with life's concerns that I am not even worried about my impaired spiritual vision?

[P] Dear  Jesus, Your requesting this man's desire to regain his sight is a good reminder for me to always check my spiritual vision and detect any areas that are fuzzy or straight out black.  Please speak to my heart through Holy Spirit to convict me of these blind spots so I won't just go on with my own life normally.  I want to yell out like this man for You to restore my blind spots as You reveal them to me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Seek Repentance, not Miracles

[S] Matthew 11:23 --
 ²³"And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day.

[O] Capernaum was one of the city that did not repent (v.20) faced the consequence of descending to Hades.  Jesus also mentions that enough miracles took place in Capernaum and yet people's overwhelmingly unrepentant hearts could not save from the city ending up in Hades.  At times, I wish God's miraculous power be revealed in this world falling away from God every day as if that's going to turn the ship around, but this passage set me straight by explaining that it's not the presence or God's miracles that's going to save people (city, nation, or the world) but the repentant hearts of the very people Jesus died for on the Cross that is going to save us.

[A] As I face the challenges of daily life, and the struggles I must face, I wish for some sort of God's miracles to take place in my life to lift me out of these circumstances.  Instead of that mentality I must examine my own heart to make sure it is aligned with His through repentance, commitment, and devotion to His wonderful grace and love because my own pure heart for Him is what's going to bring forth His beauty and in turn lift me out of my own struggles.

[P] Dear Father, I want to increase my commitment for You out of gratitude for Your wondrous grace.  May I not seek an easy way out by way of some lightning bolt from Heaven to set my life straight because it is my dedicated and pure heart You're after.  I humbly offer up my heart to You in surrender.  In Your precious name.  Amen.

Fallen Even After Experiencing Resurrection

[S] 1 Corinthians 15:6 --
 ⁶After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

[O] Jesus appeared to more than 500 people after His resurrection and most of them have remained abiding in Jesus' promise but some have fallen away from following Christ even though they have experienced Jesus' resurrection in person.  At times I wished I experienced some tangible miracles of Jesus in my life like starting tomorrow morning I will miraculously wake up early every morning to start the day with my devotion because I am thinking such an experience will just totally transform my life.  This may be the case, but then just like some of these fallen asleep people after seeing the resurrected Jesus, it may not last for long before I lose the impact in my life.  So, I shouldn't wish for such an experience to sustain my spiritual life but to be faithfully purify my heart on daily basis.

[A] Don't get too hung up on the time of my waking up time but focus on when I go to bed and with what type of a heart after a hard-working and tiresome day.

[P] Dear Father, may I not seek for miraculous powers but a faithful heart purified to hear your voice every day.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

What Are My Signs?

[S] Mark 16:17-18 --
 ¹⁷"These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;
 ¹⁸they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

[O] These are awesome signs of miracles.  Why is it that my mind is so faithless when it comes to God's miraculous signs working through my life?  As I'm reading this passage I'm thinking that this is for someone else but me.  I seem to lack the faith of a mustard seed (small), in this department and I sense God desiring to expand my faith here such that my mind won't restrict what God can do through my life only if I totally surrender to His glory and power.  In fact, my life could use some miracle these days because it seems like I am being bombarded with tasks without having much margin in my life to enjoy some of the things God placed in my life.

[A] Praise God for His wonderful power.  Praise Him for who He is and what He can  do.  Praise Him that He's already integrated my life into His plans.

[P] Dear Father, I know You love me and want to include me in Your plans.  I want to totally throw my life at You and have You take care of it.  I want to have the message of the Cross written all over my life.  Please continue to uphold my faith and my children's faith such that through the life's journey we would grasp on to Your promises and hope, not of this world's.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

What is My Question for Jesus?

[S] Mark 9:22-23 --
 ²²"It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!"
 ²³And Jesus said to him, " 'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes."

[O] The father of this demon-possessed boy asked the question "If you can do anything ..." and to that Jesus responds by saying "If you can?  All things are possible to him who believes."  At first, I felt like this man asked a "dumb" question, but as I reflected more on this passage, his question led him to experiencing Jesus' miracle right in his and his son's lives.  What question am I asking Jesus now with the issues in my life?  Am I too calculative in forming my question to impress Jesus or others?  I need to be like this father who simply wanted his son to be healed and sincerely asked Jesus to reach that goal.

[A] The questions I ask Jesus reveal my utmost interest in life now.  Make a list of my questions for Jesus to examine my own heart's motives.

[P] Heavenly Father, I want to align my mind with my heart so that my mind is fully occupied with what is most important to follow and worship You.  I want to ask the right questions like this father regardless of worrying about how well it sounds.  Please let Your response take place in my life because I want to experience Your miracle -- only what You can do -- in my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

What You See is What You Tell

[S] Acts 22:15 --
 ¹⁵'For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

[O] God's call to Paul was to be His witness -- tell others about he's seen and heard.  This is about being the conduit of what Jesus is doing.  This is not about doing things on Paul's own efforts.  It's much like the power cord that you plug in an electrical device to the wall plug.  The power cord itself does not have any power because it's just a conduit of the A/C power drawn from the wall plug.  Paul's job was to be that conduit carrying the power of Jesus in the form of witnessing what he's experienced.  If he had no experience then he'd have nothing to witness about.  Likewise, if I have not seen or heard anything from our Lord Jesus, then there is nothing for me to testify or pass on the power.  It'll be like plugging in the power cord into a dead wall outlet.

[A] As much as I like to be a witness for Jesus, if I don't see or hear anything from Him, then there would nothing to pass on.  So, I have to seek to experience His works or miracles (what only God can do) in my every day life in order for me to be the witness for Him; otherwise, I will have nothing to witness about despite my sincere desire.  Ask Jesus to show me His power in action right in my ordinary life.

[P] Dear Jesus, please let Your power be present around me and give me the ears to hear and eyes to see what You're working on.  I want to be the witness like Paul who can pass on Your wonderful power.  I desire for Your wonderful power to hang around my life every day.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Outward vs. Inward Rejoicing

[S] Luke 10:19-20 --
 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.
 ²⁰"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."

[O] When the 72 disciples returned from a "successful" mission trips reporting back how powerful it was for them to experience the supernatural miracles, Jesus teaches them the secret of victorious living is not about whether miracles take place in my life but whether God has recorded my name in His book of life.  What this means is that my life even after being recorded in this book may still go through challenges and difficulties so if I gauge the happiness of my spiritual life based on the outward result of defeating the enemy, then I would danger myself of worshiping the manifestation of His power instead of the fact of worshiping His grace and mercy for receiving me into His presence to live with Him in eternity.  This is especially true when participating in God's ministry because it is so easy to be caught up by looking at how well my ministry is going measured by how spiritually "strong" I am.  God is not interested in how spiritually I am (even though I may be) because He already knows that He is stronger than all of our enemies; but what He is interested in is how faithfully I cling on to the amazing grace He poured out for me at the Cross regardless of my spiritual strength against my enemies.

[A] Humbleness comes to mind because when the miraculous power of God takes place in my life, it is so easy to get proud as if I had achieved some level of skills when it's all about being under His grace and mercy.  I need not forget to stay in my posture of humbleness at all times.

[P] Dear God, I am so thankful for Your working in my life to reveal the power of Your love, strength, and victory against my enemies.  Please keep my heart humble at all times because I don't want to get distracted about the outcome of Your working in me instead of Your grace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Is This Enough, Lord?

[S] John 6:9,12 --
 ⁹"There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?" 
 ¹²When they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost." 

[O] Andrew's question in verse 9 (highlighted) is very convicting to me because it seems that is the proper posture of a servant of God engaged in His ministry -- what can I add to the vast ministry that God is already working in?  The answer is nothing, really, in fleshly sense but once gripped by Him, it can multiply to meet the capacity of the ministry at hand.  Contrarily, I must be careful not to have an attitude of saying, "Isn't this good enough God?  Look how much I brought to the table to do Your ministry?"  This type of an attitude is not only dangerous of pride, but also deplete the Power of God to manifest itself in the ministry I'm involved with.  In verse 12, Jesus also ensures me about how none of what little I bring forth into His ministry will be wasted.  The leftover fragments may refer to "failures" of ministry on first round which Jesus will gather up to apply in furthering the ministry or to turn them into food for the servants themselves (i.e., me).

[A] Always stay humble when bringing my share of efforts to His ministry by having the posture of Andrew: But what are these for so much need?  Humbly submit my efforts into His hands so it may multiply according to His plans.  And while it is inevitable to have dips and slumps in ministry, I must not write them off as failures but to gathering them up as my own food for thought and to gain strength from it to further my involvement in the ministry.  Make sure no efforts will be lost.

[P] Dear Jesus, what is my life and involvement for so much need in people around me especially at my church?  It really is a drop in a bucket but that's why I rely on You 100% so my meager efforts will multiply into meet the needs according to Your desires.  I want to experience just that and add the layers of my spiritual growth because I feed myself from Your wonders happening right in my own life.  Please continue to gather up my failures to feed me for regaining strength to carry on.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Stealing the Power

[S] Mark 5:28-30 --

 ²⁸For she thought, "If I just touch His garments, I will get well."
 ²⁹Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
 ³⁰Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments?"

[O] I never thought we could be stealing anything from Jesus, but this woman did just that!  She secretly approached Jesus and stole His power to heal herself from the long-fought disease.  The woman truly believed that she could only touch the garment she will get well.  It was not an "if" or a "perhaps" but she believed it to be true and then followed through with her actions.  She was prepared to receive the miraculous healing from Jesus and she did just that.  On the surface it looked like she did this without Jesus' knowledge but if you think about it how can the loving God of the universe not know one of His caring children's need and her faith to receive His wonderful power into her life?  Things like this do not happen by chance but by His design and plan.  How beautiful it is to know that God's awesome power is ready to be deployed into any one of our life if we are ready to receive it by faith!  The story of $1.11 Miracle comes to mind where the little girl's faith of miracle indeed came true in saving his brother -- this is a very touching true story.

[A] It's really refreshing to realize that I can tap into His great power any time, even when it seems like I'm stealing away from Him without His knowledge.  In fact, I don't think Jesus would mind my doing that often.  I need to prepare my heart and life to receive such a wonderful power and that is only possible by abiding in His word on  daily basis.

[P] Dear God, please allow me to "steal" Your power more often.  I want to be dwelling in Your miracles by preparing my heart to receive them in every day of my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Power of Testimony

[S] John 12:9b, 20-21 --
 ^9band they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead.
 ²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;
 ²¹these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

[O] Sure people were curious about who Jesus was but in this case, the people were more curious about seeing Lazarus who was raised from the dead by Jesus.  It seems to me all Lazarus had to do was the walk out of the tomb (cave) but apparently, his testimony of doing that spread wide and people were flocking around to see him.  My testimony should not be based on the level of miraculous power or how much of an effort I put into it, but should be based on the fact that only God could've done it and I am merely the outcome from it.  However, the fact that God included me into His glory is what makes my testimony powerful.  Lazarus' testimony was powerfully influencing people and gathering them around.  Even the Greeks were curious and wanted to meet Jesus as we can see.

[A] Am I refining my attitude every morning such that God would work His miracles through my life that day and my testimony would not be focused on me but on the miracle worker Himself?

[P] Dear God, Your willingness to include me into your works of glory is simply amazing.  Thank You.  I also want to be like Lazarus where people are drawn to Jesus because of what You are doing in my life -- bringing death into a vibrant life!  In Jesus' name.  Amen.