Seek Mercy before Running Hard

[S] Romans 9:16 --
16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

[O] In the end, God has the last saying.  This is a universal truth which is not always accepted by man, including myself.  I can try to do it all but without God's mercy they will only lead to vanity.

[A] In everything I do, I need to seek His mercy first and put my actions into the right perspective before His throne.  That's what I have to remember in my workplace, the current crisis our family is facing, and how I want to live the rest of my life.

[P] Dear God, before I make the plans to run toward my goals may my heart reach for Your wonderful mercy and first soak it up fully so that all that I do will be under Your mercy -- my attitude, my energy, and my purpose.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Prepare Plans, then Make War

[S] Proverbs 20:18 -- ¹⁸Prepare plans by consultation,
         And make war by wise guidance.

[O] As a soccer coach I would never show up to a game unprepared as I would work on the lineup, figure out who's injured or won't be at the game, and study about the opposing team to better strategize for a strong and successful game.  This verse explains how critical it is to prepare for war beforehand making plans by consulting experts of war, sources of intelligence against the enemy, and with the military commanders.  What areas in my life am I not making proper plans by consulting with the right people for wise guidance?  I can so easily be in this place I must constantly ask this question.

[A] I can feel the sense of urgency as we come to our first year mark of the small group ministry at our church because in many ways we are settling into moving further on however along with that momentum, our enemy is hard at work alongside us, too.  I'm realizing this is more than just running a program but an act of war against the enemy's schemes.  I will need wise guidance and that's going to come from the Word as well as others who's expert at doing this.

[P] Dear God, please show me the consultants to receive wise guidance as I engage in this war in the battlefield of small groups at our church.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Shipwrecked Lately?

[S] Acts 29: 8-11 --

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery; and Paul went in to see him and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹After this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured.

¹⁰They also honored us with many marks of respect; and when we were setting sail, they supplied us with all we needed.

¹¹At the end of three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.

[O] God's working through Paul's life touched many people in this overall scene of the shipwreck to landing on this island and then to be ministering to the whole community. The result was that due to his edification of the people, they reciprocated the blessings back to him and the crew in order that they may continue on with their journey. Through his obedience and ministry, God's promise of none of the people on the ship getting hurt was fulfilled also. In the end it's about releasing God's promises through my services to others just like what Paul did even when his circumstance was quite bleak at first running into trouble at sea. What troubles am I going through now which may blind me from seeing what God's promise is in the midst of that which needs to be fulfilled through my services?

[A] Look around those near my family and see how God's promise is waiting to be fulfilled by my services to/in their lives. I'm thinking particularly about a family in need right now. God's placed them close to our family and even though we're not too familiar with them we want to obey to His calling for our services to them.

[P] Dear God, may we not lose sight of Your wonderful plans to be fulfilled in this family's life right now. May we continue to be faithful to Your calling. We are expecting wonderful fulfillment of Your joy in this family. Thank You for giving us the opportunity to take part in Your great plan. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God's Ways Are Outside The Box

[S] John 5:6-8 --

⁶When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?"

⁷The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me."

⁸Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk."

[O] I'm a firm believer that one of the key reasons God cannot work in and through our lives is because of our own fixed perspectives on what the solution should be. Instead of opening up the solution to God, we cling on to what our society or circumstances tell us as the ultimate solution and pursue them with all of our lives (at least it seems so). As we see in this passage, this paralytic had it all figured out -- only if he could be the first to enter the pool upon water stirring, he would be healed. However he also knew that was impossible to do with so many others who are more able than he was to jump in the pool first. So, in his mind, the solution is for him to find a way to get in there before others and thus when Jesus asked whether he wanted to get well, he quickly gave out his solution to Him almost asking Him to make that happen.

How many times have I done the same doing ministry or even making an important decision in my life? I think, plan, and design my own implementation strategy and when God asks me how He could help me to walk along my journey I'm so quick to rattle off how He could make plans come true by doing this and that. God's plans are obviously bigger than my limited mind (Isaiah 55:9) and I need to learn to submit to it by surrendering my own plans and thoughts first. Only when I let go God's wonderful plan will manifest in my life.

[A] It's good to have my own dreams in life, but whenever I face God, I must surrender them to Him because His ways/thoughts are much higher than my ways/thoughts. Only when I release my own limited plans, then I can attain the plans of God in my life.

[P] Dear God, I want to learn more about leaning and surrendering to Your solutions for my life. I lay down my intellects and knowledge before You in order to attain Your ways which are far greater than mine. 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

Validating God's Hope in Our Lives

[S] Proverbs 13:12 --
¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

[O] Promises not kept discourages people and eventually overdrawn discouragement makes the heart sick. I recently watched a video clip called "Validation" and it highlights the power of validating how God has gifted each one of us. To me this is validating God's hope in each of us -- and this makes people's hearts to be happy and brings smiles on their faces. At the same time, that will become contagious to those around like a tree that bears tasty fruits. In light of leadership, a leader that makes promises that cannot be delivered will eventually discourage the followers. At least in a for-profit corporations, the motivation is based on making revenue (otherwise goes out of business) so people can be driven to move forward, but in a non-profit organizations like churches, it can be easier to make plans but not deliver just to make another plan, repeating this pattern. This leads to the members losing confidence in the leadership and their hearts disengage away from the works of God through that church. On the other hand, walking with God in every plan to fulfill each of them will lead to the "tree of life."

[A] As I am planning the small group initiatives for my church, stay strong in His Word and prayer such that I will be in accord with His plans and deliveries.

[P] Lord, Your plans for our church is to grow and multiply. You have been blessing us with many members and now we're at a point to draw up some specific plans to adminster and minister to the growing members. Give us the wisdom to see into Your heart and draw from it the life that can be distributed to the members throughout the church. Thank You for allowing me to gain the insights in previous years and may that be used in this time for Your glory. In Jesus' name. Amen.