The Seal of the Spirit of Truth!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” – Ephesians 1:3-14

Don’t we want to know the truth about everything? I often read or heard that many people seek the truth about whatever it is they are looking for. One main reason for this probably is all lies lead to misconceptions. I knew this but I guess I was not a fan of truth. Well, I was but not keen to research everything as researching takes time. Before I learned that researching is vital for becoming a teacher, I used my own theology that I received from the Holy Spirit to write devotionals. The Spirit always has been prompting me to write devotionals so that I have decided to become a Christian writer someday. The reason I write devotionals for others is to encourage them spiritually. If I am an encourager of the word of God, I believe I am a Bible teacher, practically. I noticed that researching is so crucial for the Bible teachers because commentaries, which are like study book for God’s word, are full of gathered thoughts of many theologians and we know two or more persons are better than one. After knowing what commentaries are and a couple of semesters at Carey Baptist College, I started to love commentaries. I literally want to buy all different kinds of commentaries as they are precise for teaching God’s word to people. Right now, I am a premium member of Tecarta Bible which allows people to access many commentaries/study bibles, etc.

The reason that Apostle Paul calls the gospel of Jesus Christ as the message of truth is because of the sealing of the Holy Spirit. When a person put a seal onto something, it illustrates how genuine the person is. In other words, a seal is a guaranteeing mark. Our minds are not strong to comprehend the truth of God so we need the Holy Spirit, who is also known as God’s Spirit, as we read the word of God. A commentator says, “The conviction that believers have in the truth of the Word of God does not come from themselves but from the Spirit, who gives their consciences assurance and takes away all doubt.” God did not pour His Spirit into us so that we can be satisfied with our own desires. He poured His Spirit into us and for us to be able to understand His Word. While ago, I was highly addicted to a game that I thought God was breathing on me through His Spirit. Although there are other reasons that I deleted that game, this had to be one of the crucial reasons that I deleted the game.

However, Paul also calls the gospel of Christ as the gospel of salvation.  The gospel brings salvation to people through God’s power and through the Spirit, they are being made righteous (Romans 1:16-17). It is also the Spirit, who renews their minds to obey Him. (Romans 12:1-2). We don’t have to strive really hard to listen to God and obey Him but just have the willingness to obey Him as God opens our hearts through His Spirit. As we are reconciled to God through the Spirit, the Holy Spirit guarantees our future inheritance, which is eternal life in Him (Romans 8:9-13). Although my mind is limited, I really need to remember God’s Spirit has been put into me to understand His Word and so that my desires could be transformed into God’s. After all, all of us have been created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27).

Meditate on Romans 8:1-17 and the whole passage of John 14 and ask yourself these questions: “Am I truly sealed with the Holy Spirit? If so, how can I prove this?”

Hope on Becoming for the Praise of Jesus' Glory!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,  he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. – Ephesians 1:3-12 NIV

According to Google, the definition of ‘hope’ is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.” In other words, hope is similar to the definition of ‘dream.’ Dream is “a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal.” My examples of hope are that since I manage my money now, I hope I can flat soon with those who love to do life and faith together. I also hope I’m able to save up my money and go to South Korea and New York to visit my family or even to a country like Australia, where my friends are. With hope and dream, most of us strive to make a particular thing a reality and this produces an expectation that one’s life will be fulfiled.

However, there is another meaning of ‘hope.’ According to the theological dictionary, Christian hope is based on “God’s covenant faithfulness and the resurrection of Jesus Christ as known by the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.”  One of God’s promises for them is to spend with Him eternally in His Kingdom. Due to this hope, believers in Christ live for “the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:12). Living for the glory of Jesus provides righteousness of God’s people (Colossians 3:1-4). Therefore, Christian hope is a living hope that allows believers to focus on reality about God’s faithfulness rather than just wishful thinking. 1 Peter 1:3-5 reads,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

As mentioned above, the main part of God’s plan for believers is that they may receive the eternal inheritance through their faith in Christ. According to Romans 6:23, eternal life is God’s free gift to them, regardless of what they have done or will do in the future. Let us hold firm of this eternal inheritance and live for the glory of God so that He may be glorified through us!

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

Meditate on 1 Corinthians 15 and think how you can be for the praise of Jesus’ glory.

The Ultimate Will of God!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,  he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” – Ephesians 1:3-10 NIV

A long time ago, I thought that evangelism is the only way we can participate in the mission of God since I thought the main part of the Great Commission from Jesus Christ is just to make disciples (Matthew 28:19). I think I got a gift of encouraging others spiritually, so I thought I could do both. According to the theological dictionary, ‘evangelism’ is “The sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ through a variety of means.” However, I also learnt that, in order to evangelise, I should not use theological words at all as non-believers cannot understand them. My mentor told me that I have a gift of teaching. After a short while, I realised that she is right and I have more enthusiasm for it. One of my closest friends also taught me that I cannot evangelise and teach at the same time as my writing does not flow if I do both. Nonetheless, the mission of God includes teaching as well (Matthew 28:20; Ephesians 4:11-13). However, I am willing to learn about evangelism as I desire that gift as well. The main reason for this is that my number one wish is that everybody would be reconciled to God and others (2 Corinthians 5:11-21).

As God has been tremendously merciful to all of us, God desperately wants us to be united with Him and others through Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:1-11). More than that, He desires to have the entire universe since He has created everything. In other words, God’s wish is to restore everything in the way it was in the beginning by gathering all things in Christ (Colossians 1:15-20). Since Jesus is complete God and human, He is the head of all creation, whether it is in heaven or on earth. The way how Jesus Christ can be unified with us is by the Holy Spirit. A commentary reads,

He [Christ] unites humanity to Spirit and places the Spirit in humanity. Being Himself made the fountainhead of the Spirit, Christ gives the Spirit to be the head of humanity. Thus, through the Son [Christ] by the Spirit we ourselves now see and hear and speak.

God’s Spirit is the source that establishes Christ as the mediator between God and man. Therefore, He had to send the Spirit down to those who are willing to believe that Jesus is the Lord and Saviour when He is seated at the right hand of God in heavenly realms, in order for us to be unified with God. 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 states that things of God have been revealed to believers by His Spirit.

Meditate on the whole passage of 1 Corinthians 2 and think of the ways the Spirit of God has been revealed to you.

The Grace and Forgiveness of God!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.” – Ephesians 1:3-8 NIV

When someone makes a mistake, it may be forgiven a couple of times. However, when people make the same kind of a mistake continually or take a while to learn a particular thing, sometimes temptation rises and frustration bursts out, and then start to blame that person. Nevertheless, there are some people who are willing to forgive whenever a person makes mistakes. For example, my mentor and I organised a movie day for Windsor Park Baptist Church. I was a technical person for this job but I made a big mistake by putting the disk between the computer’s hard drive and the container of it or something. Therefore, we could not watch “Pamela’s Prayer” on one of the movie days, so I apologised to my mentor and others several times. However, my mentor lovingly explained that it is not big of a deal. IT360 staff also were already planned to come to the church on following Monday so she could ask them to take the disk out. Overall, my mentor was filled with God’s grace.

The Oxford Bible Commentary states that God’s grace is the “fountainhead of all human well-being.” God has loved us so much as His children that He sacrificed His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to break the bondage of sin and death, and to set us free (Hebrews 2:14-15). According to the Old Testament law, the forgiveness of God should be established with animal sacrifices (Hebrews 9:19-22). Hence, Christ came into the world as Passover lamb and offered His body as an atonement of our sins once for all. The Passover lamb was used to be the animal sacrifice that the Israelites used to cleanse their sins away with while they were in Egypt.

Since we automatically become the righteousness of God through faith in Christ, we should live in Him as well (2 Corinthians 5:21). Romans 6:13-14 reads, “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” I am not under the law but kind of am under the false grace. Because of God’s abundant grace, I become lazy, especially during my holidays. I know that my identity belongs to God through faith in Christ and I know that I have much things to do, such as writing devotionals and articles. However, I am not super disciplined in doing them. Because I haven’t finished writing devotionals or articles, I usually don’t have much time to read a book. Therefore, I need to work on disciplining myself to do God’s given task and work bit more on managing my time.

Meditate on Luke 22:14-20 and thank Jesus for His crucifixion and resurrection, and our redemption in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Adoption of God's Family!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” – Ephesians 1:3-6 NIV

Some parents may have extremely high hope in their children to fulfil their dreams. This may be because they are too old that they don’t have enough capacity to fulfil them or want their reputation to go and be represented well in the world. This also might be because parents think they are very successful and want what is best for their children. However, I believe all of these have to be the pride of parents. I am glad that my parents are fine for me to fulfil my own dream, which is Christian writing. In fact, my mother told me that my writing is extremely good and that I should think Christian-writing as my career.

God adopts us into His family through faith in Jesus Christ. However, He is not selfish,  even though He commands us what to do through the Spirit of God (John 16:7-15). We know this by Ephesians 1:6 in New Living Translation version as it says, “So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.” God is the God of Love, so He seeks to draw people to Himself (see Deuteronomy 7:7-9). Since God is the God of the covenant of love, as explained in Deuteronomy 7:9, and the God of Grace, He bestows His blessings on us. One of His blessings is that we get to be children of God (John 1:12-13).

One definition of holiness is to become entirely devoted to God through faith in Jesus Christ so that we can express how loving God He really is. Although He doesn’t need any praises from us, he desires us to praise Him as this leads to His goodness to every one of us. This does not mean that He gets all the glory for Himself. Since God knows everything, even before they happen, Apostle Paul also stated,

We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. (Romans 8:28-30)

Meditate on Matthew 19:14 and ask yourself whether you have a child-like faith before God. 

Holy & Blameless!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” – Ephesians 1:3-4 NIV

If we are chosen to do a particular task(s) for someone or something, we want to do it well so we could represent them well. I was in the chess team in my high school. One time, Long Bay College chess team was playing against Kingsway College chess team. I won the chess match against one member of the Kingsway team, so I represented Long Bay College well. Nonetheless, representing on behalf of anything or anyone can be a quite difficult task as well. For example, I became a chess team leader at Long Bay College when it was an annual competition event with another school. When I was playing chess against one member of another school in a practice round, I was quite happy as we were evenly matched and heard the team of another school was considered as under top 10 chess team or something. However, when it was competition time, I lost the chess game. My friends in Long Bay College were like “Why did you lose as you are a chess team leader?” or something.

Although the earth has became cursed due to the first human’s disobedience to God (Romans 5:12-14), God has chosen those, who would persevere in faith, to be holy. The meaning behind holiness is the idea of being different from how the world operates, in order to represent Him well. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God shared His holiness with every one of us. Therefore, we ought to be distinct people from unbelievers as holiness means the completeness of God and godliness in all aspects. One example of me being holy is not to play video and computer games as these disorientate my worldview. Before I quit playing games, I repeated downloading and deleting a particular game as I thought I could manage my time with daily tasks and playing the game. The Holy Spirit was prompting me to think whether my true identity is in Christ or in worldly things several times. 1 John 2:15-17 states that loving and pleasing God, instead of loving temporary things on the earth, is the will of Him. Other than playing games, I am currently learning to reduce watching television as much as possible. The reason that people are on the earth is to know Christ more. Apostle Paul knew this very well as he stated that knowing Jesus Christ is most important than everything else and counted everything as rubbish unless it is related to knowing Him (Philippians 3:7-8). Hence, Paul can be my biblical role model.

Meditate on Colossians 1:21-23 and consider holiness in you in God’s sight. Think how you could improve it, even though it naturally comes to believers of Christ and they are being made perfect through Christ’s sacrifice (Hebrews 10:14).

Blessing!

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” – Ephesians 1:3 NIV

Who doesn’t want blessings from our close people? Every one of us desires to have them. It is natural for humans to feel loved, love one another, and cherish each other. This is how God has created us from the beginning.

For example, I cherish my family, mentor and my friends. Although there have not been all good times between me and my family, I could not be where I am right now if it wasn’t for them. My parents have been feeding me when I am hungry, such as making meals for me. They also have paid school fees for me. Other than my family, one of my biggest physical gifts from God is my mentor. She has taught me many things but one of the most impactful things I have got from her is how to have an extrovert heart with the Lord all the time. She is considered as my role-model because I keep learning lots of things from her by observing how she lives. My friends are there to support me every time. They drop me home every time after the evening church service. One friend of mine is one of my proof-markers for my school assignments, so she is willing to mark them and critique me what went wrong on the basis of English grammar. 

Not only we are blessed through the physical realms, such as gifts, people and material things, but we are blessed in the heavenly realms as well through Jesus Christ. For the next several days, I am going to explain what our spiritual blessings are through Him. However, meditate on Ephesians 1:3 and consider what spiritual blessings you may have through and in Him.

The Kingdom Message!

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” – Matthew 13:19-23 NIV

Since God loves all people and sent Jesus Christ into the world to be crucified on the cross for their sins, it is so easy to believe the kingdom of heaven is already on the earth. Although I am a Christian, I get confused sometimes. Often I feel overflowing peace of God that I eventually think it is okay to watch television for a while. I used to play games to bring my mind into a restful state and get rid of the boredom. However, I also believe that seeking God should be our top priority. Of course, playing games and watching television is okay as long as these do not become obstacles and replacement of seeking Him. Through a couple of the convictions from the Spirit of God, I finally decided not to play games and as I experienced that I could not control my satisfactory state. As for watching television, I guess I need to remember what I am living for and how my core identity is founded.

There are two possible meanings of eternal life. Of course, there is a place where believers in Christ are able to live eternally after death. Nonetheless, they also already have it within themselves as Jesus Christ is probably the source of eternal life due to His crucifixion and resurrection (Romans 6). He has proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26) On answering the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He has also declared, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21)

Since “the word” is stated in Jesus’ interpretation of the Parable of the Sower five times, “the message about the kingdom” in the verse 19 must refer to “the word” as it is in the same parable. According to Tom Wright, Jesus’ parables are considered as mazes of God’s kingdom. They are to challenge His listeners to truly understand how the kingdom life should be lived in the world. Therefore, as Matthew 13:23 says, comprehending and acting on God’s word is the only way how the kingdom life should be lived successfully (cf. James 1:22-25). According to Andrew Clark-Howard, the youth pastoral intern of Windsor Park Baptist Church, God has provided His word to be our stories as it is filled with His goodness and faithfulness. Of course, theological sources may help us, but God’s word should be kept as our first source to understand how to live the kingdom life. “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Meditate on Psalm 1:1-3 and ask yourself these questions: “What hinders me from reading God’s word?” and “How can I abide His Word and live the kingdom life successfully?”

The Wise Builders in Jesus Christ!

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” – Luke 6:46-49 NIV

When we have conversations with close friends, mentors, teachers, or family members, their words may affect us.  They could be either of giving encouragements or giving wise teachings and both of them are important to people’s lives. When we are feeling down or depressed, we may need encouragements. For example, one of my friends supported me to continue my studies when I was almost about to give up. Of course, there are other times for encouragements, to build someone up, for instance. The most encouragement my mentor gave me was that I am a 120% functioning person, even though I have got two disabilities. When we are living in the wrong ways or don’t know how to live a life properly, we may need wise teachings. Through ‘Te Ao Māori – The Māori World and Customs’ course, I have learned that families are important to our lives as I was studying genealogies. What my father taught me was that I need to become an independent person, so he taught me how to do things properly until I came to New Zealand. Therefore, conversations are like a foundation in getting more aware of ourselves.

Likewise, the Bible is there to teach us how to live properly as believers in Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul proclaims in Romans 1:16-17 that the Good News about Him is salvation and it is an evidence of God’s power working within those who believe in Him. Keeping faith is how to live righteously in God’s sight.  Paul also talks about this and the supremacy of Christ in Colossians 1:15-23.  Nevertheless, we may think the Bible is too burdensome as there are limitations that people can do. According to one commentary on Luke, Heinrich Bullinger states that the word of God is not just about knowledge to share it among communities. Of course, we have to share the word among them. However, the word of God requires actions to be involved as well.  Therefore, getting the word of God into our brains is not enough. If there are no actions involved, we won’t be living as believers in Christ effectively.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. (James 1:22-25)

Since the followers of Christ belong to the kingdom of heaven and are called to set apart from the world according to 1 Peter 1:13-17, we probably have to consider the world as a testing place for children of God in spite of there is forgiveness of God. In my point of view, many people are watching believers how they live differently and people are pondering why Christianity is important. To put these simply, believers are called to be witnesses of Jesus Christ in the world (Matthew 5:14-16; 1 Peter 2:9-10).

How to Comprehend the Gospel of Jesus Christ - Part 2!

“For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 15:4-6

On Monday, we have discussed that reading the entire Bible help us to comprehend how God loves us and how could we love Him. In part two of ‘How to Comprehend the Gospel of Jesus Christ’ series, we are going to look at the value of faith communities in today’s context. Although we know that seeking God through faith in Jesus Christ alone in our own devotion times is crucial, why seeking Him with others is theologically significant?

We know that listening to Christian podcasts, sermons are a good routine to seek God daily. However, there are many reasons that people are gathering together other than attending church services, such as to discuss and learn things with each other or to spend quality time with each other. Being with one another is important as this fosters their relationships. I agree with Robert Moss when he says that congregations are called to be in relationships with each other. This teaches their missional identity. Within the Trinity, God has so perfect relationship with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit to the point that they become One being.  This perfect relationship lays out a fundamental role model for believers.  Jesus prays that all believers would become one, just as Christ and God are one, before His crucifixion.

I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them (John 17:20-26)

In order to seek God through faith in Christ daily, we have to know God as much as possible, even though knowledge of God is so beyond human knowledge (Romans 11:33-36). Jesus proclaims, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) As the gospel of Christ is about the love of God, we should discuss it with giving praises to Him with other fellow believers (Ephesians 3:16-21). My mentor and I are devout Christians so that we give praises to Him through our prayers and discussions. The Bible is not about getting us to think theologically, but it’s about all aspects of life. I needed to learn more about time management. Hence, my mentor taught me Genesis 1:3-5 and 14-19 as these are about days and nights. She also helped me to get an idea of what schedule is like. Because of this, I made my daily schedule on the next morning. I was concerned that I might not able to follow it if I make one, but I am not going to concern about it anymore. Instead, I’m going to try an follow my schedule and give all aspects of my life to God. There is no point in concerning about it, due to worrying creates an obstacle of moving our lives forward. Jesus says, “Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”  Therefore, I agree with Jo Cheyne, the pastor of Creative Ministries at Windsor Park Baptist Church, as she has declared that we get opportunities every day so there should be no pressures of living a perfect life (Lamentations 3:22-23).

How to Comprehend the Gospel of Jesus Christ - Part 1!

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:8-9

What is the Old Testament of the Bible? Is it just the illustration of God’s judgement for those who do not believe in Him? How does the Old Testament relate to the New Testament of the Bible? Do we simply ignore the Old Testament since it is boring, and just focus on the New Testament as it is interesting and it has much application to our lives? Many are likely to face these questions at some stage of their lives, especially with believers who want to know what gospel message of Jesus Christ is all about.

The Old Testament is part of God’s word as it is in the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states the importance of the Bible to our lives. 2 Timothy 3:16 in New International Version begins a sentence with “All Scripture is God-breathed…” One of the theological dictionaries refers ‘Scripture, authority of’ as “In the Christian view, the conviction that the writings of the OT and NT have a unique status in being and/or conveying God’s self-revelation. They are thus to be recognised as such and obeyed as reliable guides for Christian living.” 

I agree with Hawthorne when He declares that the Bible is a love story and needs to be read the entire message of the Bible. To put this simply, the Bible is about completely understanding how God loves people and how they could love him. With this perspective in mind, we should consider God’s judgement in the Old Testament as how He hates evil, due to our reconciliation with God under Jesus Christ. God’s kindness was clearly shown to us by sending Christ to sacrifice His life for people’s wrongdoings and this leads to repentance.

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

Due to everyone has different approaches of reading the Bible, I don’t really have the answer on how the Bible should be read. Nonetheless, I suggest you divide the Bible reading times between one of the Gospel books and Old Testament books. The reason for this is that people might find readings confusing if different stories are to be read at once. I find it confusing. The Gospel of Luke is the best gospel to start off with as this gospel gives people certainty about Christianity. Although the Bible is not chronologically-based, you could read the Old Testament books in order as this is one of the simplest ways to comprehend what Christianity is all about. You also may find them amazing as they illustrate what God is like and how they connect with New Testament and in the context of today. However, if you need more help in understanding the Bible, try to read one of the online devotionals. My top three devotionals are ‘Strength for the Journey’ (https://getmorestrength.org), ‘Our Daily Bread’ (https://odb.org) and ‘Our Daily Journey’ (https://www.ourdailyjourney.org). 

Christian Living!

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9)

There is a famous quote about Christianity. I can’t remember it, exactly, but it is something like ‘If you believe in Jesus or if you surrender your heart to Jesus, life will be easy-peasy!’ If we hear this quote and know that God takes care of us, we probably want to surrender our hearts to Jesus. However, if something bad or unfortunate circumstances happen, we slip back into our old lives as being non-believer. Therefore, we put Christianity on the test as it depends on feelings. Yes, Christianity is doing life with God, which means that He takes very great care of us (Deuteronomy 31:8). But that doesn’t mean that life would be piece of cake (Matthew 7:13-14). Why then surrender hearts to Jesus? It is because our lives are going to be simpler than ever before. We may not notice this right away but as time goes by, we begin to realise that it is true, especially if we have started to consider Jesus as our friend (John 15:9-17) and the Spirit of God as our comforter (John 16:7-15). We are able to talk to Him anytime and He talks to us through the Bible as it contains His Word. Douglas Harink states, “We live in the fullness of time of God’s gracious patience—a time given to us in which to repent.”

Although having burden in life basically means living a hard life, satisfaction can be burden as well because we have to keep find things that can completely satisfy us. We may get headaches from finding a satisfaction. I know this as I experienced this any times. However, if we find one in Jesus, it becomes a true and eternal one. This is probably because Jesus Christ is the Eternally Spiritual Being (John 7:37-39) and we are created to be in relationship with God through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 1:3-14). Harink says that everybody needs to be woken up to true living in Jesus Christ. I think I have been in need in waking myself up, especially finding satisfaction in Jesus. My struggle is that I have selfishness, deeply rooted within me. I believe I’m not addicted to television but when I become so bored, I eventually watch T.V. Watching television is not bad but if I am bored, I can’t go to Jesus, which is the source of eternal satisfaction. This is what I have to work with.

Meditate on 1 John 1:5-2:2 and ask yourself two questions: ‘Is there anything I need to be repenting about before God?’ ‘What am I lacking as a devout Christian?’

The Day of the Lord!

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9)

Most people can be rushed into things, especially if there is not a lot of time left. We may forget things and make mistakes. Therefore, rushing into things is not good. However, not hurrying into things is not good either. I think I’m pretty organised person as I do not want to forget and make mistakes. Although this is good, I often got told by my parents that I need to speed up things, especially if we are late in going to appointments. Another example is that I always got an extension time for school tests. Since there are no extension times or has not got enough extension times for me to complete tests, I could not get in any high schools other than Long Bay College as they doesn’t have school entrance exams.

Since Carey Baptist College does not have any tests and exams, I am so grateful as I get to study theology without any strict time limits within a day. Although there are no exams in the college, I have to be a very disciplined student because of assignments. Because there are only three papers for me to do in getting a first theological qualification, I have decided that I am just going to do two papers in first semester and one paper on second. I know I am going to be very busy but I am also hoping to do mission track this year. Although I am concerned how I am going to manage my time, it is what the Spirit of God prompts me to do. Hence, all I have to do is to trust God (Proverbs 3:5-8). 

Jesus Christ, the Truth!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:16-21)

When we get stressed out from something or find things not working out right, we often like to reveal everything to someone, to reduce the level of stress. There is a saying like ‘When you keep stressful things to yourself, your head is going to explode.’ Hence, I could tell everything to my mentor. Although it may be necessary to discuss issues with family first, I believe talking to a mentor or a close friend is okay too as long as they keep everything confidential if it is necessary. They are there to listen to us and for us to discuss things with them. I strongly think this is part of God’s creation (1 Corinthians 12).

Nevertheless, there is a better friend, a better mentor, and a better counsellor. His name is Jesus Christ (John 15:13-16; John 14:15-27; John 16:7-15).  Not only did He saved us from our sins by crucifying Himself on the cross, He is now interceding for us through the Spirit of God (Romans 8:31-34). Paul states, “… the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27) Also, God already knows what we are going to say (Matthew 6:5-8).

Although God could use people to guide who needs godly advices (Proverbs 27:9), let’s be vulnerable to Him through faith in Jesus like a little child as Jesus has stated, “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” (Matthew 5:3). However, at the same time, let’s be really confident in living our our Christian lives, so others could see what we are doing through faith in Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:13-16), but more towards God. This is like human relationships. If we are keep running away from family members, we can’t foster our relationship with them. In fact, God is our heavenly Father. Hence, He longs us to be in relationship with Him through faith in Jesus (1 Corinthians 8:6).

Meditate on Ephesians 1:3-14 and consider about surrendering your life to God through faith in Jesus (Galatians 2:20-21). If we surrender to Him, who never leaves nor forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:8), we have got nothing to lose (Romans 8:31-39).

Jesus Christ, the Seeker!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:16-21)

Don’t we love to play hide and seek? One person is a seeker and other people are trying to hide anywhere they can from that seeker. I think I used to play it when I was a child and teenager as I loved that game. My family have used to play it with Kong, our dog, by throwing one of her dolls and quickly trying to hide from her. I loved seeing her always coming into my room and trying to find one of my family members, even if they weren’t in the room.

Although hiding can be fun if we play hide and seek or something like that, hiding could be bad if we are trying to cover our inappropriate deeds up. I played StarCraft, the Korean famous war game, even if I was not allowed to, when I was a teenager. However, there were two things I really ashamed of. Not only did I watch inappropriate things before I became a Christian, but I continued to do the same thing, even though I was Christian and knew I was a child of God, for a while. This evil deed of mine ashamed me because every Christian friend of mine believes I was inspiration to others but I was not being a true child of God, so I basically kept only my outside clean by volunteering and helping out others. To put this simply, I had an unwilling heart to expose my dark side to them.  Another thing was that I pretended to be a follower of Jesus before I became a true one. I only did this as I wanted to hang out with my friends.

Meditate on Hebrews 4:13 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-31. Ask yourself this question today: ‘What am I hiding from Jesus Christ and others?’

Jesus Christ, the True Light of the World!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:16-21)

On my last devotional, I have mentioned that we cannot go to the kingdom of heaven if going to the heaven is our priority. Our priority should be Jesus Christ, and then kingdom of heaven should be the second matter (John 3:16-18). Yes, I understand this but what about non-believers? Could they go kingdom of heaven, also, since God is the perfect illustration of love and wants to bring everyone into His Kingdom? No and Yes. It is true that God wants everyone to have eternal life, but if He is the Ultimate Creator (Genesis 1-2), He has to be the Ultimate Judge as well. Imagine if God brings everyone into His kingdom, including evildoers, but they may destroy what He has intended it to be. If this happens, it loses His reputation, and this adds no meaning to our earthly Christian lives.

According to the commentary on the book of John, John 3:19 connect to John 3:18 as the verse 19 explains the reason of the condemnation. God demolished ‘the darkness of ignorance’ by sending His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, as the light of the world (John 8:12), so people may know the truth. This is like a relationship of teacher and student. I have been taught of managing my time rightly as I always have been sleeping past midnight. However, I guess I did not listen to my teacher and continue to sleep late as I got used to live according how I want to live, like finishing everything what I need to do regardless of time. Although my desire has been to fix my routine in sleeping early, I did not discipline myself in putting actions to them, even though fixing my routine may take a while. Therefore, my heart has been deeply rooted in darkness of ignorance. Now, I realised that doing everything I want to do within a day is impossible for me, so I have to put specific hours in my routine, such as eating dinner earlier than 8:00-9:00pm and reducing my computer time after dark. I think fixing my routine will be a lot harder while I am studying, so I think it is good to practice in managing my time during holidays.

Meditate on John 8:12 and ask yourself this question: ‘Do I have any determination to follow Jesus Christ, the true light of the world?’

Jesus Christ, the Judge!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:16-21)

The biggest blessing we could have by believing in Jesus Christ probably is the eternal life. Therefore, it is necessary to believe in Him until the end of the age. But what if we only start to believe in Him when we are nearly at the end of our physical lives for the sake of the eternal life? Do you think we could go to kingdom of God at the end of our lives? No and Jesus Christ probably would quote what Matthew 7:21-23 says to us but in the context of belief. It is like we only are trusting that outcome will be good, instead of process of believing. Imagine I want my family to be in Windsor Park community but what happens if I don’t hope and believe in my family that they would become part of Windsor Park family? I become unworthy to become part of the family.

What happens if process of believing and trusting in a good outcome comes together? We become worthy to someone or something. My mentor wants me to get a first theological qualification, so she believes in me so much that I could complete level five of theological studies. I have been worried that I could not finish assignments in time, to be honest. Due to her continuous encouragement and my belief that I could complete my studies, I believe I could get a theological qualification(s). Therefore, it is like faith and deed coming together (James 2:14-26), which we discussed about last time.

Meditate on John 14:1-4 and imagine the beauty of process in believing and knowing Jesus in parts and then fully experience Him in a face to a face in the kingdom of heaven (1 Corinthians 13:8-12)!