Lordship of Jesus Brings Peace and Order

[S] 1 Corinthians 14:33,40 --
33 for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
40 But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner. 

[O] These days I am so overwhelmed with activities after activities, at times I am really confused as to where I need to be when.  Even my responsibilities in ministry, I feel the same.  But Paul's writing here about when God is on the move, there is no confusion, and done in properly and orderly manner.  One indicator to look for whether God is in the center or not is the presence of His peace (no confusion), and things competed in orderly fashion.

[A] Whenever I get lost in the sea or confusion or out of order, then I need to take a break and come to the Lord and ask Him to be in the center.

[P] Dear Father, please continue to work through my life in orderly manner so that everyone would know it is You who are at the command central of my life and all of its involvement.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Disorder vs. Order and Peace

[S] James 3:16-18 --

¹⁶For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

¹⁸And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

[O] The comparisons to note here: jealousy/selfish ambition vs. wisdom from above; disorder vs. peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy; evil vs. righteousness. Also displays the cause and effect here: jealousy/selfish ambition => disorcer/evil; wisdom from above => pure, peace, gentle, reasonable, mercy, fruitful, unwavering, no hypocrisy. The media carries a lot of issues in our world but not many solutions are offered in light of them. We see a lot of editorials and suggestions but rarely we see a clear statement telling us what the root cause is and how we need to correct ourselves because for the most part the focus is on the symptoms rather than the cause. This passage provides a view into why we have disorder in our society (including our homes and churches) -- jealousy and selfishness is the cause. So before we can begin to fix the disorderliness, we must identify the jealousy and selfishness and remove them. Then the natural outcome is mentioned in subsequent verses.

[A] Don't get too stuck in looking at the symptoms of the issues around me but pray and seek for His wisdom on understanding where the root causes may lie.

[P] Dear God, as the God of order in this world, I bow down humbly before You to submit my disorderly mind such thatI may be the recipient of Your wonderful fruits in my life in an orderly fashion according to Your timing. Please be with our church today as I go over the second part of the small group ministry structure so the church would embrace the new ministry with the passion in unity and order. In Jesus' name. Amen.

First Repair the Torn-down Altar

[S] 1 Kings 18:30 --
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD which had been torn down.

[O] After Elijah gave a chance for the Baal prophets to bring down consuming fire from above, it is not his turn to request God's glory to rest upon the altar at Mount Carmel. In this verse, the first thing he does is to repair the torn-down altar of the Lord. My observation here is that God's works come about in an orderly fashion. It is my job to know what steps I need to take first instead of just rushing to requesting God's power to rest on me to do His will. Before every step I take before Him, I must examine what fundamental areas of the ministry needs "repairing" such that it would be used to bring out God's power in the midst of us.

[A] I sense that God is inviting me into repairing the small group ministry at my church as we plan for a restructuring during this summer.

[P] Dear God, Your power is awesome and do not need any of my assistance. But You always invite me to join You at work. Thank You and please accept my meager efforts of "reparing the altar" where You are about to bring out some awesome glory. Please continue to work in the hearts of those committed workers and may I have an opportunity to take part in this great movement. In Jesus' name. Amen.