The Conquerors of God in Christ Jesus!

‘What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ – Romans 8:31-39 NIV

All of us need to know or remind ourselves that God is with us all times, even though we may not realise it. Realising that God is currently working within us, especially for those of us who love Him (Romans 8:28), is not always easy, especially when we sin or terrible things happen. I figured this out on this morning because I think I sinned this morning. To be more specific, I just slept or took a nap instead of writing devotionals for others. Of course, it is not sin if I feel very tired from the moment I wake up, but I felt no tiredness when I woke up on this morning. Therefore, I drank some water and washed my face before doing devotionals. However, I just took a nap again for a couple of hours after I washed my face and chose my devotional topic for today, due to the fact that washing my face makes me tired. I knew that I had to persevere my tiredness, especially after washing my face, because I think that tiredness is only for temporary but I just slept, thinking that I would have no energy to write devotionals later on. Thus, for this reason, I guess I need to work on perseverance and getting rid of my worries while I am concentrating that God is our Creator (Psalm 46:10). Hebrews 10:36-39 encourages me on this situation, even though the context of perseverance is very different when it is compared to mine.  Furthermore, when I was taking a nap, my mind was filled with devotional thoughts on today’s devotional topic, so I guess the grace of God has been within me, even though I have sinned (Romans 5:20-21). This does not mean that we can purposely sin so that the grace might increase (Romans 6).

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

In fact, Matthew 1:23 states, ‘“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).’ This Scripture means that Jesus Christ is the way to receive the presence of God in our lives. In addition to this, Jesus proclaims, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7) Not only we can feel that God is with us right now when God has provided us things through Jesus (Romans 8:32), we would be certain that God is with us at the end of the age if we have followed Him through faith until the end of the age. This is because we have eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23; John 11:25-26). Furthermore, we know that Jesus Christ is living within us because of the Spirit of God (Romans 8:1-4). God has poured His Spirit into us so that His Spirit would be able to be an advocate, a friend, a counselor, and a guardian as we walk with God through Jesus Christ until the end of the age (John 14:15-27). I know that the Spirit of God is currently working within me, especially when I write devotionals, as the Spirit has been empowering me to write devotionals for the sake of others (Acts 1:8). In other times, I know that the Spirit is with me as I, sometimes, hear the voice of God. Hence, we must fully open the door of our hearts to let Jesus fully come in as the Spirit of God (Revelation 3:20).

For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! (Galatians 2:19-21)

Although persecutions, other trials, and temptations may influence and persuade us to go astray from Jesus Christ, the love of God cannot be separated from us easily if we hold the love of God firmly, of course (Romans 8:37-39). In fact, these troubles may come to us in different stages of life because God wants us to test our faith in Jesus Christ, so James 1:2-4 calls us to count them as joy of our lives. 1 Peter 1:7 states, “These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Hence, we have to make sure that the love of God is firmly secure within us all the time (Psalm 136). I love God and His Word so much that when I am writing devotionals, I often do not want to stop to do other priorities that I have to do except eating food and checking notifications from my iPad. In addition to this, I feel like that I am stopping the work of the Spirit of God within me as I stop writing devotionals.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

God, the Healer!

‘A man with leprosy came and knelt in front of Jesus, begging to be healed. “If you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean,” he said.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed.’ – Mark 1:40-42 NLT

Mark 1:40-42 is talking about the man with leprosy. However, there are few things we need to learn or remind ourselves in these verses if we are looking at these verses in a spiritual perspective.

First, we need to know our God is loving God, who is filled with grace, mercy, and compassion (Psalm 145:8-9). Because of this, God sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ as an image of Himself, into the world to crucify Himself on the cross for our sins. In addition to this, God has exchanged our eternal destinies from the death to the life through Jesus (John 3:16-18; 1 John 4:9-10). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Otherwise, if God is filled with hatred, unmerciful, and arrogant heart, all of us would probably be dead already “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Falling short of the glory of God is probably biggest sin that we ever make because, by falling short of the glory of God, we deny and ignore the fact that we have not been created by God to be His image (Genesis 1:27) and the Spirit of God is not working powerfully within us (John 14:15-27). Nevertheless, we have not only been created to be His image, but we also have been created to be His children (Ephesians 1:4-6). I used to repent before God all the time because I felt that I was always falling short of the glory of God. This is probably because I was stressed about my time-management of making all for the glory of God, such as receiving the knowledge of God from different online sources. This is part of being righteous before God but I should keep reminding myself that believing in Jesus Christ is the main source of being righteous before God (Colossians 1:16-23).

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Second of all, we must realize that our God is forgiving God as well, due to the fact that He has already paid our death penalty through Jesus Christ (1 John 1:8-2:2) and because of the love of God. In fact, God wants all of us to reach to the point of repentance because He does not want to anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:8-9). This is probably the reason why He has given us such a long time to live in this world. We often think that repentance is only necessary when we are going to receive salvation through Jesus, and after that moment, we believe that we do not need to repent because of the love of God. Sometimes, I do not like to repent to God as my repentance seems like it is obsolete and useless to me. The main reason for this is what I have repented before God, it seems that they are coming back to me. Thus, I should make a promise to myself that I should fix in not doing again whatever I have repented about. Nevertheless, continuous repentance before God is actually very necessary to our lives as we are becoming perfect in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:14) and as followers of Jesus are in the process of sanctification and holiness (Romans 6:16-23). This does not mean that we have to repent before Him purposely, but it means that we have to rejoice in the repentance and we have to strive to become more godliness (Titus 2:11-14) and holiness (1 Peter 1:13-17).

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:1-7)

The God of Hope!

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 15:13 NIV

Most of us hope something to happen, especially our future dreams. Because of this, we put faith in ourselves and strive after what we want to something to happen or what we want to do in our future. I had two future dreams when I was young. The first future dream that I had is doctor because I probably wanted to cure people if they have diseases or something. After a while, I changed my future dream into pro-gamer of StarCraft, which is Korean famous war game, due to the fact that I liked it so much that it was kind of my addiction. I believe my father even addicted to it because I used to watch him play, and he spent his night to play it sometimes. I still like StarCraft but I believe that future dream of mine is not God’s way. In addition, I cannot ever fulfill that dream in my own strength because I need to use two hands for it. I have known that I need to use two hands of mine to play that game from sometime in the beginning of having pro-gamer as my future dream, but I still hoped.

However, when I became a Christian for a while, I began to have my new future dream—to be a Christian Writer. This does not mean that our future dreams have to be theological one when we become followers of Jesus Christ. I believe any career or job would be fine for all of us as long as we use God’s strength (Philippians 4:13) and we are worshiping God for it until the end of the age (Colossians 1:16-20). Nevertheless, the main reason why I want to be a Christian Writer is to glorify God until the end of the age (Colossians 3:1-4). In fact, the Spirit of God often hovers over me and empowering me to write devotionals for others (Acts 1:8). Because of this, I have quite a few of social-networking and blog websites that I can post my devotionals online. Devotionals are just one of kind of Christian-writings so I have decided that I am going to try and write different kinds of the writings when I have enough knowledge to be a Christian Writer. Because of this, I am willing to attend a Bible College through distance-learning, due to transportation and time-management. Although, I may be unsuccessful Christian Writer, it is more than worth a try. The main reason for this is that I have complete reliance of the Spirit that I once did not have a teachable spirit within me.Without the Spirit of God living within me, I have no idea how to write devotionals. However, I realised that I must have the Spirit of God, continually guiding me, as well as a teachable spirit. This is because I am able to learn how to connect the bridge between the Bible World and the culture-world from others. Thus, I am reading a lot of devotionals, even though I should read a lot of Christian books as well. In addition to this, I have to continue watching online sermons and free online biblical lectures and I have to do free online course that my teacher and mentor gave me to do. Nonetheless, I am doing all these for the glory of God.

Last of all, I am hoping to leave my legacy when I would be taken to the kingdom of heaven, that one true and serious Christian would continue on what I have been doing. However, I hope this labour in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:58) is the right will of God for me (Matthew 7:21). I hope that God will say something like, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have endured and persevered in doing what what I have appointed in you to do. Come and share your master's happiness!” This is because the main part of the hope of God is living hope that we would somehow be resurrected at the end of the age (1 Peter 1:3-9).

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:16-23)

The Perspective of the Eternal Life in Christ Jesus!

‘I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.’ – Revelation 21:3-7 NLT

Most of us fear death so we tend to try to make our lives very satisfied and comfortable as we can, until the end of the age, with no regrets. It is true if we are thinking in a worldly perspective. When I was a teenager, which is before I became a true Christian, I sometimes feared death. However, there is more life and truth than this, and we are able to receive that life and truth if we become followers of Jesus Christ, as Jesus proclaims that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6),  In fact, the life that Jesus is proclaiming in John 14:6 is eternal because God, the Creator and the Almighty One (Revelation 1:8), has changed our eternal destinies from the death to the life through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:14-15), His beloved Son and the perfect image of God (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:15) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) The main reason why He did this is because of His steadfast love. God has loved us so much that He is willing to share His kingdom with us (John 3:16-18; 1 John 4:9-10), due to the fact we actually have been created by God to be His image (Genesis 1:27-31). Therefore, Jesus Christ declares, “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) Thus, I am not afraid of death anymore, for I know that I am a child of God (John 1:12-13) and Jesus Christ is preparing a place for me in the kingdom of heaven (John 14:2-3). This does not mean that I should literally sacrifice my life into death right away as sacrificing life into death purposely would probably mean that we are not willing to live our lives until the end of the age, according to the truth (John 3:19-21).

Nevertheless, we have to put God’s Word into practice until the end of the age, even though some of them is hard. This is because 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” At the moment, I find Matthew 16:24-27 hard, especially after I have eaten a meal. This Scripture declares that we have to deny ourselves and lose our lives for the sake of Christ. As for me, I know that I have to sacrifice myself when I write devotionals, especially after I had my breakfast or brunch. This is because writing devotionals is the will of God for me, but I often take some rest even though I am not tired and have not got headache. Thus, for this reason, I plan to discipline myself into suffering (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). In fact, every kind of suffering is necessary to our lives if they are done for the sake of the glory and the kingdom (Romans 8:18-25).

As physical and drinking water is necessary to our physical bodies, spiritual water of life, which is the Spirit of God (John 7:38-39), is important to our spiritual bodies as well. This is because the Spirit is meant to overflow within those of us who have committed their lives to God through Jesus Christ, and who are determined to follow Jesus Christ until the end of the age, as it is by the Spirit that we are able receive the eternal life (John 4:13-14). Jesus states, “the Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” (John 6:63-65) However, Jesus Christ is currently knocking on the door of unbeliever's hearts to fully come in as the Spirit of God (Revelation 3:20) In fact, Luke 11:13 declares that the Spirit is available to everybody who ask God. These do not mean that all followers of Jesus have to deny physical and drinking water if they want to have eternal life as our bodies are actually the temple of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). the Romans 12:1-2 declares, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” This Scripture means that we have to get rid of our worldly desires and passions, in order to allow the Spirit of God to work within our lives (Galatians 5:24-25). The main reason for this is the desires of the Spirit is contrary to our worldly ones (Galatians 5:17).I know that Spirit is currently working powerfully within me because the Spirit empowers me to write devotionals and I think that I can hear the voice of God within me sometimes.

The Power of the Love of God!

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” - Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV

There are five main points that all of us need to learn or remind ourselves in Ephesians 3:14-21.

First, we have to realise that the working of the Spirit of God (John 14:15-27) is not same as the moments of inspiration. Many of us tend to think they are same because it is quite similar. The moments of inspiration are just empowerment of the Spirit of God or visions of God, which happens rarely. If these moments happen, we feel like that we are able to devote our lives to God and feel like anything is literally possible. However, we should devote our lives to God with such great faith in Jesus Christ, even though moments of inspiration do not come. They are also like the call of God because we surely would know that God wants us to strive particular thing that happens to be the will of God. The first encounter of the Spirit that I had is when I was starting to become a true follower of Jesus Christ and real Christian. I believe this happened because I was very religious for about one year, due to the fact that volunteering just creates joy in my heart and I was volunteering for my first church in New Zealand. At that time, I was only thinking about my friends, which I knew from Long Bay College. Since one of my friend was lifting his hands up during worship time, I followed him, thinking that it was kind of the law during worship time. Because I thought that Christianity is all about the law, I purposely prayed for a couple of hours. Thus, I thank God for speaking into me like I have had to get to know Jesus more through my first moment of inspiration from God. I know this was my first moment of inspiration because I knew nothing about God and my heart was kind of hardened due to the fact that I was only focusing on the world too much. Therefore, I was basically an enemy of God as James 4:4-5 declares, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?” This does not mean we have to wait for moment of inspiration to happen, to become a true Christian; we just have to open our hearts before the Lord to be followers of Jesus Christ (Revelations 3:20). Second, when we become Christians, the Spirit of God works along the way, especially to those of us who love the Lord wholeheartedly (Romans 8:28). Around two years after I have been Christian, the Spirit of God has empowered me to write devotionals, which one of kind of Christian-writings. Because of this, I have found my dream—to be a Christian Writer.

Furthermore, all of us need to grasp how wide, long, high, and deep is the love of God is at all times, even if we are Christians and followers of Jesus Christ. This is because we tend to forget it or think that the love of God is just normal for God. God is love but He literally sent His beloved Son, Jesus Christ as an image of Himself, into the world to crucify Himself on the cross as an atonement of our sins. Because of this, God has been able to change our eternal destinies from death to life through Jesus Christ (1 John 4:9-10; John 3:16-18). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). The main reason for this is that we actually have been created by God (Genesis 1:27). God has desperately wanted us to share His Kingdom with us so He has already presented us holy and blameless in His sight through Jesus Christ, even before when we are born (Ephesians 1:4-6), so we just have to believe in Jesus until the end of the age. In addition to this, God has given His Word to us and future generations to guide us how to live the way that God wants us to (Colossians 1:21-23) as the Philippians 1:27-29 states, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.”

Because Philippians 1:27 states that all of us have to strive as one for the faith of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the word of God is best method to encourage one another between Christians (Hebrews 10:19-25). This is because true Christians already know that Gospel of Jesus Christ is the true living and active Word (Hebrews 4:12). “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Romans 1:17) One of the reasons for this are probably that all of us take part of the temple of the Spirit of God to be the holy temple in the Lord (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; Ephesians 2:19-22). Therefore, we need to love one another—up to the point that all of us can be united with one mind and thought—so that with one mind and with one voice, we can glorify the Lord (Romans 15:5-6; 1 Corinthians 1:10-17).  In fact, the second greatest commandment of God is to love each other (Mark 12:31), for love comes from God (1 John 4:7-8). 1 John 4:20-21 declares, ‘if someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.’ One of the main reasons why I am able to continue to write devotionals is the love of God. not only that Christian-writing is the will of God for me, I love God so much, that I love His Word. Because of this, I want to make people to fully understand what the word of God means and how important the word of God is to our lives, even though the Spirit of God is going to do it in His timing. Furthermore, one of my closest member of my New Zealand church really believes that I can be best or successful Christian Writer in the future, and she even prayed about it when we were having prayer meeting together I think. Thus, for this reason, she is trying her best as she could to help me.

The Glorious Presence of the Lord in Christ Jesus!

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” – Jude 1:24-25 NIV

Without having Jesus Christ as our firm and solid foundation (Luke 6:46-49), we are bound to fall into hopelessness and despair. I heard that many people tend to literally sacrifice their lives into death because of hardship and difficulties about various situations and circumstances, such as being broken. In fact, all of us are broken in a way, even if it is not physical. We are being spiritually broken if we have not committed our lives to God through Jesus Christ. The main reason for this is that we are denying that we have been created by God (Genesis 1:27) and that the power of God is not working within us through the Spirit of God (Ephesians 3:20-21). This is exactly why we need to have Jesus Christ as our firm and solid foundation by believing in Him until the end of the age (Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 3:21-26). “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:14)

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus Christ], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel… (Colossians 1:19-23)

Although temptations and persecutions may come to those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, He surely would not let us fall into despair easily (2 Corinthians 4:8-11). Temptations used to come to me, especially when I was watching television. This is because the Spirit of God used to prompt me to read and listen to the word of God or to spend my time for the glory of God, instead of watching television, but I did not obey the Spirit. Sometimes, I feel that I have to crucify my desires of watching television until I can manage my time correctly. The another example of mine for this happened a couple of days ago. I suddenly felt I was extremely bored that I did not know what to do myself and wanted to move out to experience what Christian homes are really like. After a short while, the presence of the Lord hovered over me that I felt that this is the way of God disciplining me through His Spirit (Hebrews 12:4-11) , to become a prayer warrior (Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Hence, I thank the Lord for realising what that moment has been. Nevertheless, the presence of the Lord hovers over us into different ways, but we have to trust that the Lord would not let us fall into hopelessness and into despair (Proverbs 3:5-8). In fact, the Bible repeatedly reminds us that the Lord is never going to leave or forsake us.

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 31:8)

Moreover, we have to believe the fact that we have eternal life through Jesus Christ by believing in Him until the end of the age (John 3:16-18; John 11:25-26). Not only we sometimes can literally feel the presence of the Lord, we would feel His presence all the time if we stay in a relationship with Jesus Christ intimately until the end of the age, as we would meet Him by face to face. Thus, for this reason, I thank the Lord so much to the point that my heart explodes. Romans 8:1-4 always encourages me because this Scripture tells me that I do not have to face condemnation and the wrath of God (John 3:36) if I firmly hold the hope of God (1 Peter 1:3-9), that Jesus Christ is going to take me to the kingdom of heaven at the end of the age (John 14:1-7). Therefore, we have to stay in the relationship with Him intimately as much as we could (1 John 1:6-7)—through the prayer (Philippians 4:4-7) and through the Word (Philippians 1:27-29).

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:1-10)

Lord, the Eternal Strength and the Eternal Peace!

“The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.” – Psalm 29:11 NIV

We would like to have rest peacefully when we are fatigue and weary. We often think of having a vacation, such as going somewhere and have some time off at beaches. Otherwise, we might go to deck or outside of our house to get some fresh air. This is because we do not have enough strength to carry on whatever we are doing. Having rest is necessary to our lives as rest provides us enough energy and strength to endure our next tasks. In fact, God rested on the seventh day after He had done everything and created everything in proper place, and God made seventh day to be holy (Genesis 2:2-3) In addition, Jesus Christ rested after doing His work (Matthew 8:24) and He even told His apostles to have some rest (Mark 6:31-32). Whether we are Christian or not, having some rest is okay; we are not supposed to work all day. Furthermore, I think Korean parents need to learn that having a rest for a while is good for our health, even though all of us study and work dilligently. The main reason for this is that Korean culture usually is very strict on students and kids, and might be even adults, due to the fact that Korean culture pushes them to study and work all day, in order for them to go to good school, university, and workplace. Many Korean students go to their academy right after school has finished, or even if they do not have enough time to rest, to continue on their studies until night time. These does not mean that every Korean student and kid needs to rest for a quite long time, but Korean culture should control and work on time-managements.

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8)

In Noah, the one of the Christian movies, Noah reminds His kids that the strength comes from the Creator when he and his kids were discussing the reason why people eat animals. It is often true that physical strength comes from eating food, even though they are not parts of an animal. I often cannot concertrate at anything when I am hungry. As physical strength comes from eating physical food, spiritual strength comes from the Creator (Philippians 4:13) and His Word (Romans 15:4-6). Nevertheless, when I look and meditate on the word ‘strength’ through the Bible, the word ‘humbleness’ comes out of my head. If we are humble enough before the Lord, we might have hope in Him. The Hope of God creates some kind of strength that we are willing to endure everything for the sake of the kingdom of heaven (Romans 15:13). Isaiah 40:29-31 states, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” I experienced this when I was doing 5K run/walk/crawl in New York. This is because I was doing this as a volunteer in helping out financially for building the wall of the school in Nicaragua that my New York church support. When I was tired and weary from running during 5K run/walk/crawl, I reminded myself that I was doing this only for the wall of the school in Nicaragua. This was the way to expand the kingdom of God as my church was doing for the children.

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. (1 Chronicles 16:8-11)

Furthermore, Jesus Christ told His disciples, before His crucifixion, to pray that they would not fall into temptation when their eyers were very heavy, and Jesus added, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41) To be honest, many people say that I am a prayer warrior but I am actually not. Although I would like to pray intimately before God about others, I feel it is not right to pray for others when I am falling short in the glory of God because of Matthew 7:3-5. Therefore, I have to make sure that I am not falling short of the glory of God before I really can pray for others. Not only Matthew 7:3-5 hinders me to pray for them, but time also hinders me as well as I really can pray intimately for them before I sleep, which usually is late or past midnight. If I pray for them intimately past midnight, then I probably could not wake up early to write devotionals for others. Writing devotionals for others is the will of God for me because of the empowerment of the Spirit of God. Thus, I am bit selfish in a way and since Philippians 2:3-4 tells me not to, I am willing to pray whenever I can (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Ephesians 6:18) and always have to believe that I am becoming perfect through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:14; Colossians 1:21-23).

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

Although we often believe that worldly things create peace within us, such as watching television, especially when we have headaches. I even thought that I have to watch television to create peace in my mind when I have headaches other than going for a walk. It often works. However, this peace is for temporary, and there is eternal peace that all of us are able to have but this is only through Jesus Christ (John 14:27). We have to remember that the reason why God has reconciled to us through Jesus is to make eternal peace through Him (Colossians 1:19-20). Therefore, I changed my plan of getting rid of headaches—instead of watching television, I turn Spotify on and listen to some of the worship and gospel music that I have stored in it. Surprisingly, it works. In addition, Psalm 119:165 declares, “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble,” so I have to abide in the word of God intimately (2 Timothy 3:16-17). ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”’ (Romans 1:17)

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)

Lord, the Fortified Tower!

“The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” – Proverbs 18:10 NIV

The name of the Lord is like a fortified tower. This is because He is the Creator of everything (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1) but He is also Almighty God, who is powerful enough to control everything—including us—through His Spirit, even though we have tendency to think that we are able to control ourselves and do anything that we want. Proverbs 16:9 states, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” It is hard to believe but it is true, even though if our will contradicts against God’s will that the Lord wants us to do. Of course, we can deny the will of God forever, if we have only evil and wicked mind-set against God. However, if we have the knowledge of good and evil, it is nearly impossible to keep denying God’s will because we are eventually going to feel that denying God’s will is very wrong and we would rather correct our mistakes. According to gotquestions.org, which helps us to answer our theological questions, God’s sovereign will does not mean that God always controls us. ‘Rather, it acknowledges that, because He is sovereign, He must at least permit or allow whatever happens to happen. This aspect of God’s will acknowledges that, even when God passively permits things to happen, He must choose to permit them, because He always has the power and right to intervene. God can always decide to either permit or stop the actions and events of this world. Therefore, as He allows things to happen, He has “willed” them in this sense of the word.’ The reason why God intervenes within us is that He wants us to have no mistakes in our lives, since they hold eternal destinies. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8)

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, knew that God is Sovereign God clearly, for He came from the Father (John 1:14). Because of this, while He was praying to the Father before His crucifixion, He declared, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) Jesus had many chances to deny the Father’s will and destroy the enemies who were going to crucify Him on the cross by His supernatural power, but He did not do these. This is because He already knew what His purpose of His earthly life was—to be crucified on the cross for our sins. Thus, we are able to have eternal life through Jesus Christ by believing in Him until the end of the age. In other words, God purposely sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ as an image of Himself (Colossians 1:15), into the world to be crucified, in order to change our eternal destiny from the death to the life. The main reason for this is that God has loved us so much (John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:9-10) since we have actually been created by Him to be His image (Genesis 1:27).

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11)

Therefore, since God has firm and secure place in the kingdom of heaven, we must run to God through Jesus Christ. This means that we have to believe in  Jesus Christ until the end of the age, regardless of any circumstances, as He proclaims that He is the way of the truthful life to God (John 14:1-7) In fact, the main reason why we are on this world is to worship and glorify Jesus Christ until the end of the age (Colossians 1:16-23). Therefore, Romans 12:1-2 instructs us to live our lives as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God and transform our mind-set to Spirit-filled one, so we are able to discern what the will of God is for our lives. To be honest, I am not very confident to provide myself financially in the future through Christian-writing and to be a successful Christian Writer. Maybe, I can work in Windsor Park Baptist Church or in a church somewhere, but my main goal is to be a Christian Writer. This is because I think Christian-writing is the will of God for me as the Spirit of God is continually leading me into it. Therefore, I trust God to continually guide me into His perfect will, regardless of my circumstances and situations (Proverbs 3:5-8; Romans 8:28) Furthermore, I do not really care about money if I already have enough supplies to live. Not only money leads us to have evil desires (1 Timothy 6:10), but I strongly believe that the worldly materials are useless except they are part of the will of God, of course (1 John 2:15-17).

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. (Ephesians 5:15-18)

The Godliness and the Passions of the Spirit!

‘For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.’ – Titus 2:11-14 NIV

We believe that the world is so connected to the Kingdom life. Because of this, we think that God has created and put into this world to live our lives comfortably and peacefully with a lot of satisfaction, according to our own nature. We might even believe that all of us are going to the kingdom of heaven at the end of the age, according to our deeds. Hence, we try to please God by doing some specific deeds. Once we receive the free entrance ticket to the kingdom of heaven, we try to enjoy our lives according to our own nature as much as we can and make our earthly lives memorable.

Nevertheless, the truth is that there is no such thing as the free entrance ticket to the kingdom of heaven. This is because eternal life is already free through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). This means that the only requirement to the Kingdom life is through faith in Jesus Christ until the end of the age (John 3:16-18; John 11:25-26), even though Jesus Christ is going to come and judge all of us according to our deeds (Matthew 16:27). “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:8-10) These verses define we are thankful that we are saved by the grace of God, that we tend to do good works in Jesus Christ.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. (Titus 3:3-8)

Furthermore, God wants us to put our satisfaction in Him, instead of our own nature. This is because the main reason why we are on this world is to worship Him through Jesus Christ until the end of the age (Colossians 1:16-23). Jesus Christ states, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24) Therefore, it is better for us to get rid of our own desires, that will easily make us addicted, and live our lives according to the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:24-25) with repentance (Acts 2:38-39). The main reason why we have to get rid of them is the desires of the Spirit is contrary to our own worldly desires (Galatians 5:17). We have to ask and pray before our heavenly Father to give us the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13) so that we are able to walk with Him through the Spirit until the end of the age (John 14:15-27). Not only the Spirit of God is the Spirit of the holiness (John 14:26-27), but the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of the life (John 6:63-65), the Spirit of the truth (John 16:7-15), the Spirit of the righteousness (Romans 8:1-17), and the Spirit of the freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). In fact, Romans 12:1-2 urges us to live our lives as a living sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God, and transform our minds into the Spirit-filled mind so we are able to test and approve what the will of God is. In addition to this, 1 John 2:15-17 tells us to look at things that please God—the will of God—instead of the worldly nature in New Living Translation Version and New International Version.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)

Bible, the Law of God!

“Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—they do no wrong but follow his ways.” – Psalm 119:1-3 NIV

Most of us believe that all of us are able to walk blamelessly without the word of God before the Lord because He is all about love mercy, and grace. We think that we do not need to read the Bible—front-to-back—in order to become perfect Christian. This is because we know that the Lord looks at the heart, instead of outward appearance. If something goes wrong in the walk with our God, we just have to repent real earnestly, and He forgives them. Furthermore, we also think that we do not need to seek God, in order to live perfect Christian life, especially if we have already memorized all of significant verses of the Bible. We might even believe that there is no way to seek God because we think that the Bible is just a book.

However, the truth is that the Bible is more than a book. It is the written word and the letter of God that has been handed down to us and future generations. The Bible is only book that advocates us to become righteousness of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”’ (Romans 1:17) This is probably the reason why Apostle Paul states that the Gospel is the power of God that brings salvation in Romans 1:16, even though it does not actually provide salvation (Acts 4:12). The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the story of His life but the word of God is the whole book of the Bible—from beginning to the end—including the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which can really found in the Gospel of Matthew, Mark, John, and Luke. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is verry similar to the word of God as they both tell us how to live the Kingdom life righteously through Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:27-29). Thus, seeking God actually means to find how to live the Kingdom life correctly and righteously before Him through Jesus. Therefore, Jesus declares,

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)

Because the word of God is the best way to remind ourselves how to become the righteousness of God, we have to read, listen, and meditate on it again and again (Psalm 1:1-3), even though our God is forgiving God (1 John 1:8-2:2). This is because being the righteousness of God is same as to make Jesus Christ more alive within us, “for the word of God is alive and active…” (Hebrews 4:12) Without applications of the word of God into real life, we are basically crucifying Jesus Christ over again, who is living within us (Hebrews 6:1-6). In other words, faith without deeds is dead (James 2:14-26). For example, I have faith in driving a car but if I am not trying to drive it ever, then that faith is obsolete and useless. It is like with faith in Jesus Christ through the word of God. Therefore, Jesus Christ states,

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 13:18-23)

Lord, we know that we have not abide in Your Word often,

that we should have been,

 because abiding in Your Word actually means to abide in You, O, Lord.

So help us to manage our tiime to read, listen, and meditate on Your Word daily,

So that we are able to become the righteousness of God

in the way you have designed us to be.

In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen!

The Creations of God!

“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel…”  - Colossians 1:16-23 NIV

Most of us believe that God has created and put us on the Earth to have satisfying and comfortable life. Therefore, we live our lives according to our desires, passions, pleasures, and will. Once we get the life that we desire, we praise and thank God for the abundance lives that all of us could have. If we have some spare time left, then we start being holy and perfect for the sake of God—full of wisdom, full of love, full of mercy, full of grace, full of forgiveness, full of peace, full of justice, full of truth, etc.. However, if these are not working out as they are supposed to be, we would simply give them up, thinking the ‘way of the holiness and absolute perfection is too much for me and this way of living is not the will of God.’ We might even believe that all of us are going to the kingdom of heaven at the end of the age because we think the world is fully connected with the kingdom of heaven. Thus, for this reason, we consider that the main focus of living in this world is all about us.

Although everything belongs to God and has created for Him (Colossians 1:16-17), due to the fact that He is the Creator (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1), our own nature is not fully connected to the nature of God. This is because the way of the righteous living is different, compared to the world’s. We do not have to get rich and be perfect at everything to please God and to become holy in His sight. We just have to continue believing in Jesus Christ and His Word (Hebrews 11:6). ‘For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”’ (Romans 1:17) This is because God has already chosen us to be holy and blameless in His Sight through Jesus Christ, even before we are born, due to the fact that we have been created to be His children (Ephesians 1:4-6) To continue on being holy and blameless that God wants us to, meditating on the word of God through the Spirit of God is the best way, as Psalm 1:1-3 declares that whoever meditates on the word of God is like a tree that is planted by streams of water and whatever they do, they prosper. “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) The Spirit of God is known as the Holy Spirit (John 14:26-27) but the Spirit is also the Spirit of the life (John 6:63) and the righteousness (Romans 8:1-17).

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. (Philippians 1:27-29)

Since everything belongs to God and for Him, we have to crucify our natural desires and and let the Spirit of God to dwell in our minds (Galatians 5:24-25), so that we could live our lives that are pleasing to God by doing the will of God until the end of the age (Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15-17). This is because not only does the natural desires tempts us to fall short in the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:4), but they also contradict the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:17). Falling short in the glory of God (Romans 3:23) is probably biggest sin that we could ever make, even though it is not physical (John 6:8-11), due to the fact that it actually means that we are stopping Jesus Christ from working powerfully within us as the Spirit of God (Romans 8:28). “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 8:29-30) Furthermore, if we completely have fallen short in His glory, we might come up to the point where we deny the fact that we have been created by God (Genesis 1:27) and the work of the Spirit of God (Ephesians 3:20-21). To be honest, I felt that I was lacking the glory of God yesterday, that I could not even write a devotional of this topic, because of the various reasons. I even came to the point where I wanted to give up my Christian life. As soon as I was thinking deeply about the glory of God, I tried to get back into the shape of what true Christian life is supposed to be by listening and reading the word of God. Surprisingly, my method of reading the word of God and meditating on them restored my spiritual status and I truly believe “the word of God is alive and active.” Apostle Paul urges us to fix our mind-set into the Spirit-filled mind-set so the peace of God may flow within us (Philippians 4:8-9).

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-11)

Lord, we know that we have been using everything for our own glory—not yours,

So help us to acknowledge that everything has been made

through You and for You through Your Spirit.

And let us grow in Your Spirit by abiding in Your Word,

So that we are able to be holy and blameless in Your sight

Until the end of the age.

Therefore, we completely surrender to You,

So that You can work powerfully through us that, You have designed us to be.

 In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen!