Complete Obedience

Today's post was powerful for me-- it reminded me that partial obedience is the same as disobedience, because it is not fulfilling all the commands that God has given me, whether it be generally from the Bible or specifically in regards to personal convictions. My cop-out is telling myself that God will honor my effort and the intentions that I have -- which is true, when things do not go as planned and are out of our control, I believe God does honor my heart and is gracious to me -- but this is not an excuse for not carrying to completion what He has started in my life. If I do not run the race, and I do not finish well, it will be as if I had never started.

Obedience and devotion to Christ needs to be carried out intentionally, with effort, because it has to mean something when we submit to Him. It reminds me of the theme of a previous Passion, in which we learned about costly worship -- that David insisted on paying for his place of worship, because otherwise he would not be offering up his time and resources. (2 Samuel 24:24) In a similar way, as we fully and carefully obey Christ, we give up our own desires so that we become more and more like Jesus.

Father, please continue to prepare my heart to be humble and submissive before You. There is no task too small for me to serve in, and there is no task too big for nothing is impossible with You. Help me to listen to your voice and obey in every moment as I am in OTR, so that I may reap the rewards of seeing Your kingdom come to fruition.

Disbelief & Thanksgiving

I really love the message in today's AMI devo.

It's amazing: such an almighty God cares about me.  He is MY God, MY provider, and MY advocate.  Me of all people!  When I let that truth sink in, my heart becomes really full of disbelief and thanksgiving.

'Disbelief' because I know that I am undeserving of such high regard from Him.  Given what He has done for me on the cross, He clearly values me deeply; however, I know how much of a sinner I am.  Also, He is completely blameless while I am far from it still.  Logically, it doesn't make sense at all.  It's a good thing that our God is greater than logic; He was the first example of showing the counter-cultural love that He calls us to show the world.

'Thanksgiving because I know that I need Him.  Without Him, I am nothing (John 15:5).  My identity would / should be my dirtiness from sin, but He allows me to experience a cleansing salvation and redemption.  I can barely imagine a life bereft of His saving grace; it really would not be a life at all (Romans 6:23).  Fortunately, I don't have to.

PTL

Kingdom Vision

I just started my part-time job this week, and was reminded that I now have a way to make money! However, I was thinking about what I would do with a lot of money - buy a big house or nice apartment, but then what? I was thinking about the phrase "money can't buy you happiness" and I realized how true it is.

I wore my AMI 2013 (Kingdom Vision) shirt the other day and was reminded of how important it is for us to have a eternal mindset rather than a short-sighted one. From the AMI Quiet Times, Colossians 3:2 stood out to me:

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
Colossians 3:2

I don't want to fall into a trap of being comfortable with my life or striving for more money just for the sake of status or having more material things. I want to be Kingdom-minded, and that may mean giving up Earthly treasures. I pray that as I focus more on the cross, my desires to have much in this world can fade to wanting more for His eternal Kingdom.


Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere
Psalm 84:10b

Truly Greener

"The grass is always greener on the other side."

This statement is so true because of our human tendency to focus more on what we don't have than on what we do have.  Personally, the comparison games ran rampant in my mind on a daily basis in various uphill battles that I will always lose on my own.  Through fighting in these battles, I have found that the only 'grass' that's truly greener is in God's presence.  Victory in those battles are only realized when I place God at the center.  When God is at the center, I am content.  I am content with my identity in Christ.  I am content because of my identity in Christ.

I like to think that everyone has what I call a 'tattoo verse': a bible verse that totally embodies who they are with respect to their personal character / life experiences (and maybe even the bible verse that your actual tattoo would say).  For many reasons, mine is Psalm 139:14.  This verse has helped me proclaim victory in a multitude of comparison battles.

Psalm 139:14 (NIV)
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

Ephesians 1:11-14 (ESV)

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Let God Pursue Your Heart!

"Make sure that your pursuits won't overshadow God's pursuit of your heart." This is a vague paraphrasing of what Pastor Bruce Deel shared during this year's AMI Rev that has continued to reverberate in my head and my heart.

We have been following King Solomon's ascent to power, wealth, and wisdom and his dedication to the Lord with the building of the temple. Yet, despite all of his wisdom and passion for the Lord, his heart was not immune to the temptations of this word: women, material comfort, wealth, etc. Even he was pulled astray. As I think about King Solomon and his gradual walk away from God, I'm TERRIFIED that the same will happen to me or to those closest to me. I mean, if somebody whom God had been pleased with and had been granted wisdom greater than any other man is able to turn away from the Lord, what's to keep me from doing the same?? I guess I can answer that question on my own. It is only by the Lord's grace. How closely must I cling onto His love and trust that His grace is the only thing that will keep me from falling away? 

And so, I have two concluding thoughts: 

1) Even in the midst of my mistakes or stubborn heart, God is merciful. Despite how far King Solomon had strayed, God still kept one tribe for him, "for the sake of David... and for the sake of Jerusalem." I think it's in these moments that God's love for us is so clear: He is a just God, so consequences must be served, but at the same time, He grants us opportunities to come back to Him.

2) I must first allow God to pursue and to work in my heart. I must trust in His promises and that "every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17), which means that He will provide. But first, I must surrender my need to control how I may secure my wealth/comfort/needs. Additionally, salvation wasn't earned by anything that I did, what's there for me to boast about? I have to constantly align my heart with the mindset that there is nothing for me to claim as my own. 

I'm praying this morning, and for every day, that we all will learn how to trust in the Lord to work in our hearts, to fill up our hearts with His love. Only in this way will we be able to go out into our mission field to love on others!

I was supposed to post for Saturday, but forgot to do so in the midst of AMI! :x

What truly makes us happy?  And how do we strive to bring happiness to others?
I am the most happiest ever when I am sitting by the ocean, surrounded by my blue towel, my blue water bottle, a colorful umbrella, a black journal, and ten different shades of blue pens. I love this scene because it's just me and Jesus - I can completely be myself and worship Him openly through my joys and my fears. Even if I wasn't by the ocean, I know that I can have this moment whereever, whenever. In this moment, it truly is all about Jesus.
But when I convey this scene to my non Christian friends and coworkers, it's not about that intimacy with Jesus - it turns into happiness about the physical environment that I'm at, instead of joy of being with the Lord. When I "minister" to my non Christian coworkers, I spend time listening to them, bringing them thoughtful gifts, but I shy away from pointing them to Jesus, and so they just think that I am a "good person"

Jesus, help me to be honest about the priorities in my life. Help me to remember that what You think is more important than what others think of me. And help me to truly understand how much they need to taste the joy of the Lord.

Matthew 10:32
Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.

Empowering Faith

[Some background info before I start: I went to school from 3rd grade to 8th grade at a Christian school in New Jersey.  Even today, I still remember some of the memory verses and lessons that my teachers instilled in me during my time there that help me know that God is real.]

In 3rd grade, my teacher would lead us in a time of prayer every morning before she taught.  She would encourage us to share prayer requests with the class and then write them on a thin strip of paper.  For every answered prayer, we would take that 'prayer request paper', close it into a circle, and join it with other 'circles' to form a chain of answered prayer.  Even as a little 3rd grader, I was pretty skeptical of how long this chain would end up.  By the end of the year, this chain was able to line the walls of our classroom twice.  This chain represented prayers for success in the classroom, healing from illnesses, and even freedom from addictions.  

I'm reminded of that time when I'm going through today's AMI devo because I remember feeling so empowered by knowing how much God loves people.  And I think that's why God blesses us: to empower us for His purposes.  Here, 'empower' means to increase faith in God, remove doubt, or both.  

When we count our blessings and celebrate them, we feel good.  We are thankful for what we have.  With that said, I like to think that God designed us purposefully to have that capacity to celebrate and feel such emotions.  When I take those emotions and pair it with my relationship with Jesus, the result is empowering faith in my God and His future blessings since all good things come from Him.  

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.