No Turning Back Faith

[S]  1 Kings 19:21 (NIV)  --

So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.


[O] Elisha's heart of commitment is displayed from his actions before following Elijah as his disciple.  Elisha surrendered his own career, stability of his future in order to follow Elijah.  He slaughtered the oxen and by using the plowing equipment to cook the meat to feed the people it was clear that he had committed to follow Elijah and there was no turning back.

[A] Finding God's calling for my life is important but what I do with it is more significant.  When He calls me into a path of His choosing for my life and whispers that into my heart, I can either ride the fence between that calling and what I've built up as my sound stability of my future, or I can surrender what I've built up to edify the people around me and completely follow God's calling.  I will do the latter for sure when I do recognize the calling clearly.

[P] Dear Father, I surrender my career and stability of leading my and my family's lives in order to follow what You desire for my life. Please reveal that to my heart and please allow my heart to clearly understand it.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Maker or Breaker of My Life

[S] 2 Chronicles 16:8-9 --
8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Lubim an immense army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the LORD, He delivered them into your hand.9 For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars."

[O] God strongly support those whose heart is completely sold out to Him.  In fact, His search party is looking for these people throughout the earth.  With God's strong support, there is nothing that can get in the way and this is the message especially for those up against insurmountably huge obstacles in life (the immense army) when it is so easy to search for my own way out using my own plans.

[A] In many ways our family is facing an immense army right now and passages like these bring tremendous strength as they remind us how BIG our God is and how He is the maker or breaker of what happens in our lives.  I want to be found by His search party looking for those whose heart is completely His.

[P] Dear Father, I realize that I must go upstream against the currents of this world in order to be spotted by Your search party to be on Your team.  It is then and only then that You will deliver me from the obstacles I face not because of my skills or efforts but because I have been found by You to be on Your team.  May Your peace and strength continue to sustain our family as we go through this challenging period.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Know When and How to Use Your Living Skills

[S] Ecclesiates 9:18 --
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

[O] If weapons of war are equivalent to fighting skills and technology of this world, then wisdom equates to knowing how and where to use them.  So, this passage states that more so than the fighting skills how to apply them in a war is more effective.  Additionally, unity of the warriors to fight with one heart and mind is a key ingredient to the victory of war; it just takes a single outcast in this effort to destroy the efforts of the many.

[A] Not that I have this down myself, but I feel that one of my calling is to teach my children and others in subsequent generations the criticality of valuing the wisdom from God and not rely on the technicality of living skills which many can attain by giving their best efforts while the wisdom only comes from God.

[P] Dear Father, first please graciously grant Your wisdom upon this heart humbly bowing before You.  And please let me be a conduit to pass on that wisdom and how to attain such wonderful ingredient for my children and next generation to rely on as they build their community to reflect more of Your beauty.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Principle for Spiritual Fabric

[S] Ecclesiastes 4:9,10,12 --
9 Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.10 For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. 12 And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

[O] This passage is the cornerstone principle for building up a community that thrives on not just one super-star but a fabric of individuals coming together to strengthen each other.  Based on this our enemy tries its best to divide and conquer by creating islands of individuals.

[A] Teach my children about how important it is for them to stay connected just like the cord of three strands mentioned in v.12.  They need to very soon realize that God brought them into this world for a purpose of displaying His glory and baseline for reaching that goal is to stay strong against all sorts of currents slowing them down or trying to break them apart.

[P] Dear Father, please continue to shower Your grace on my children so that they will be "tied" together to reach the purpose You have for them as a community.  Please provide them the life partners who would share such vision and the extended family to be a strong spiritual fabric for Your glory.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Search Is On 24x7

[S] Psalm 33:14,18 (NIV)  --
from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—
But the eyes of the lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

[O] Can God see every one of us living here on earth?  The answer is a resounding yes even though it is a difficult concept to grasp in my limited way of thinking.  Not only he sees every one of us, but He does that with a clear purpose of identifying those who fear Him and have hope in His unfailing love -- that is to say, those who recognize His amazing love and accept it -- because that's what pleases Him.

[A] Not just because God is searching for those who fear Him, but I want to receive His unfailing love for me as is and to walk fearfully with Him every day.  I want to be found by God because I am sincerely in His presence at all time.

[P] Dear Father, may my heart be always aware of how Your eyes sweep through this world looking for those who had sincerely accepted Your wonderful love so that what I do and say will reflect Your character to those around me.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Snare of Fear to Freedom of Fear

[S] Proverbs 29:25 (NIV) --
25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

[O] The contrast between fear from trusting myself versus trusting in God is like walking in a mind field not knowing when to step on a mine versus running (or riding a horse, or just simply walking about enjoying the nature) in a green prairie open wide to the horizon without worrying about anything.  My own fear will swallow up myself but if I free myself from that and turn to trust in God, then His peace will overwhelm my heart.

[A] Right now, I CAN worry about a few things which can easily put a fear in my heart, but I refuse to go there  and let my heart lean on God all the way.

[P] Dear Father, in the midst of so many things going on, I can so easily lose track of how great having my trust in You all the time.  I want to take another step today of learning how not to feed the fear in me, but to invite Your hope and peace to populate my thoughts.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Check the Weather before Dressing

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. (Romans 13:14 NASB)
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. (Romans 13:14 NIV)

[O] Combining the two translations above I'm picturing getting dressed in the morning before leaving home. One of the key condition determining how I would dress is the weather and temperature outside. Checking the weather website or the page in the morning newspaper would provide this very necessary information.

[A] Spiritually speaking I need to follow the same procedure before leaving home every morning. This passage pretty much describes the spiritual "weather" to be flesh hungry so I need to wear Christ because without doing that it would be like walking out into snow storm in a pair of Speedo and a tank top. My flesh will be bombarded with the wrong desires I will be immobilized to do anything else.

[P] Dear Jesus, I want to make sure I put You on before I step out into the storms of flesh-desiring world. I still need to work on getting this down every morning so I ask for Your grace to cover the holes in my walk with Tiu. In Jesus' name. Amen.