The Resting in Jesus Christ!

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

Don’t we feel guilty and that we are lazy if we are not busy and do not have much things to do, so we tend to study and work more, or even find something else to do, to fill our empty schedules? The world urges us to be busy. As for me, I like to be busy because if I do nothing all days of my life, then life would be very boring. Because of this, I have been used to ask my friends, whether they would like to fellowship with me when they have free time. Nevertheless, I am a “people-person” and I love to socialise, especially with someone who is devoted to Jesus Christ and talk about God all the time.

Because God rested on the seventh day, that is after God had created all things (Genesis 2:1-3), we are allowed to rest from every kind of work (Exodus 20:8-11). This does not mean that we have to work and labor all day long through Monday to Saturday and rest on Sundays. We allowed to rest on other days other than Sunday as well. Jesus Christ, who is the image of God, even rested when he was tired from his work (Mark 4:35-41; Mark 6:30-31). Therefore, we can rest if we are feeling weary and tired too. As for me, I rest for a while by listening to sermons, podcasts, or watching television after I have eaten a meal before doing something else, in order to get food fully nourished. I do this because I consider my body as the temple of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Therefore, I need to manage my body as well.

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.”

Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:23-28)

Since Jesus Christ have said that He is humble and gentle, He gives us freedom whether we are going to follow Him or not. God pours and gives His Spirit to those who ask Him (Luke 11:13). Another way to say God’s Spirit is the Holy Spirit (John 14:26-27). This is probably because God is Holy and He wants to make us Holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). Not only God’s Spirit is the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit is also the Spirit of the freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17), the Spirit of the righteousness (Romans 8:1-17), the Spirit of the truth (John 16:7-15), etc. Overall, Jesus is simply waiting for us to open our hearts to Him, to come as the Spirit of God, in order to guide us in the walk with God forevermore (Revelation 3:20). I think this is the reason that God gives us a lot of chances to repent before Him (2 Peter 3:8-9), due to His steadfast love (John 3:16-18; 1 John 4:9-10). Acts 3:19-20, in ‘New Living Translation’ version, declares, “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.” I am thankful that God gives me a lot of chances to repent before Him, due to the fact that I accidentally fall into sin from time to time and I want to continue in living out blameless, holy, and righteous child of God by knowing Him and having relationship with Him intimately. If God is not full of the love, the mercy, the grace and He is not humble and gentle in heart, then who wants to receive Him as the Lord and Savior? Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope of God, I am willing to continue to fully open my heart to Him. Are you? (1 Corinthians 15:12-29)

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him:

‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:22-39)

           

Moreover, Matthew 11:28-30 talks about resting in Jesus Christ but these Bible verses probably are telling us more other than the physical rest. If we connect Matthew 11:28 with the verse 29 and 30,  it is telling us about taking yoke of Jesus rather than the world’s. Taking yoke of the world is probably harder than taking Jesus’ one, due to the fact that the world is all about deeds, such as working very hard to get on certain positions and learning certain activities or subjects to become a master at them. However, taking Jesus’ yoke is all about faith in Him but faith includes deeds as well (James 2:14-26). This does not mean that working very hard to get on certain positions and learning certain activities or subjects to become a master at them is wrong, but we have to keep asking the question to ourselves about the reason that we are doing what we are doing; is it for myself or for God? Of course, taking yoke of Jesus is may be difficult for most of people but it probably is easier than taking yoke of the world. Philippians 4:11-13 tell us that if we are being content through faith in Christ Jesus, it allows us to have enough strength to endure and persevere whatever is coming towards us. Strength in Philippians 4:13 is not talking about physical strength. It is talking about spiritual strength. Spiritual strength is the hope of God with humbleness. In other words, spiritual strength is determination and willingness. The main reason for this probably is because of everything that Jesus has done for us (2 Corinthians 5:14) and the empowerment of the Spirit of God (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Peter 4:10-11). My example of this would be about studying theology at a Bible College and becoming a Christian Writer. Because of the empowerment of the Spirit while I am writing devotionals, I sensed that becoming a Christian Writer is the will of God for me. As I meditate on this, I thought that going to a Bible College would be a good choice. I think I have enough theology in my brain but I want to get more theology from actually studying theology at a Bible College. However, because of some reasons and issues, I had to do level four of English for Academic Purposes ans Computer Service course in Unitec. Because I, now, have finished all of these courses and I have enrolled at Carey Baptist College, today is the day I start in studying theology at there through distance. Therefore, I am very excited but I am also nervous. The main reason that I get nervous about studying at school is because of time-management. I am a little bit concerned about speed, how to do things, etc. Therefore, my main Bible verses are Proverbs 3:5-8, which declares, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” In addition to this, Matthew 6:33 states, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Furthermore, because I’m going to study theology through distance-learning, I am probably going to write devotionals on New Zealand Sundays. I have learned that Sabbath is more than physical resting in Christ Jesus. It is able to be about doing something, that I love and feel passionate about, that I cannot do it on other days.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 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 2:1-10)

The Repentance of God in Christ Jesus!

“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. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.” – 2 Peter 3:8-14 NIV

Don’t we wish to see our lives are being fulfilled by our desires, whether we are followers of Jesus Christ or not? Because of this, we often see that our ways are much better than God’s, due to the fact that we often realise that God is being slow in fulfilling our desires. Furthermore, whether we are Christian or not, we often feel guilty, shamed and condemned when we did something wrong accidentally or purposely. Thus, we are trying to keep fix our actions and think our “good” actions may be overcome every mistakes. If we are part of the religious side, we tend to do these and repent all of our sins at the age of 99 or right before we die, in order to enter  the kingdom of heaven.

I am not a religious person in doing all of our “good” routines and works to get into kingdom of heaven, and hate to be one. However, I do not like to repent before God, to be honest. I think I am kind of more of a fixing person. The main reason for this is when I repent, I want to do the same and exact thing over again that I have repented of so I eventually do it. The one of my main points of repentance is about idols. Since I like to be an “extreme” Christian and a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, my passion has been Him as He is centre of my life. Hence, I tend to be holy in everything that I do but if my mind is full of theology and get a headache for some reason like having naps, I need to watch television, in order to relax my mind. Apart from thinking that television is a tool to get the peace of God, watching television like Korean dramas and entertainments makes me very tired because of my concertration to television. In addition, watching my childhood cartoon, such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh, makes me want to wach them more and more, that I want to download games of them. These are the reasons that television has been kind of my idol. I am able to ban from watching television for the sake of Christ but I do not know what to do if I get a theological burden or a headache. A part of me wants to not ban television unless I become addicted. This is because I think that just watching television is not sin unless it becomes an idol. Idols are programmed by the evil power that disturbs and distracts us from having a relationship with God. Hence, I am going to try to sleep early rather than staying up late. I also am just going to not swear to God by having oaths when I repent, for I think that having oaths between us and God is sin as what Matthew 5:33-37 and James 5:12 say. I am going to temporary or permanently stop watching television whenever I think the passion of Christ is going away from my heart. I truly want to become spotless, blameless, and one of God’s righteous children. One of my favourite Bible verses for this are Colossians 1:15-23, due to the fact that they are speaking to me that everything is through Jesus and for Him. God was so pleased in Jesus to crucify Himself on the cross for our sins and to reconcile everything back to Him. Because of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God sees us blameless, spotless, and righteous-especially if we continue in our faith firmly and really hold the hope of the Gospel of Jesus. In addition to this, Ephesians 2:8-10 declares, “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.” Because of these I am really thankful.

Nevertheless, I also believe that repenting before God is important. The main reason for this is that the true repentance of God influences us to be more blameless and more holy. The angels of God rejoice over this (Luke 15:1-10). I wish that we are allowed to go to the kingdom of heaven whenever we feel that we are completely spotless and perfect in Jesus. On the contrary of enering to the eternal home right away, it makes life more interesting as we are developing ourselves into more of the image of God (2 Corinthians 3:16-18), for God has created us in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). Not only that, but He also has created us to be His children forevermore (Ephesians 1:4-6). Furthermore, when we are fulfilling our lives according to our natural passions, desires, pleasures, and will and come to the age of 99 or to the end of the physical death, we would repent very intimately and humbly before God. However, if we do this routine, He probably would put us into hell rather than the kingdom of heaven unless in the end of our physical lives, we really get the sense that we are sinners and we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the Saviour and the Lord. This is because God is the Ultimate Judge (James 4:12) and He is going to judge us according to how we lived on the Earth. In addition to this, Hebrews 4:13 states that nothing can hide from God, which means everything is visible to Him. Because of these, we should be filled with the Spirit of God with completely openess to Him (Ephesians 5:15-18).

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)

God, the Provider of Good!

“… 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 NIV

Don’t we wish that everything falls into place like how we wanted? I certainly do. I wish God would be a magical genie, to be honest. If God is a magical genie, I would wish that I get my permanent residency quickly as possible and that I have stable paying-jobs in Christian-writing and doing some of the church work. Thus, I can go to South Korea and New York to visit my families, including the extended families and my home church family. I would like to also visit different churches to meet everyone that I know of and to worship God. On the other hand of God being a magical genie, Christian life would not be interesting. If our lives go everywhere that we wanted and go as we planned and expected, then what is the point of knowing Jesus Christ and the role of the Holy Spirit?

Firstly, we have to know the reason that God is good to those who love Him. If we connect Romans 8:28 with Romans 8:29, we probably know the reason is. It is because God wants us to be image of Him to let the world know who Jesus Christ is, and this is why God has created us. Genesis 1:27, in ‘New Living Translation’ version, states, “… God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” This means that He is trying to make us to be the image of Him in every situation and circumstance. However, this lies to us-whether we let Him or not. In other words, it all depends on us, whether we accept Him and are willing to open hearts to Him, to let Him work among us through the Spirit (Revelation 3:20; Ephesians 3:20). In addition, God is the Provider as well so He can provide us for everything we need to glorify Him (Philippians 4:19; Matthew 7:9-11). As for me, I guess that I opened my heart to Jesus Christ when I was 20 years old in New York, due to the fact the Spirit of God empowered me to. The Spirit told me to know Jesus better because I was in religious side or even worse. I used to go to church, in order to hang out with my friends, and I followed all of the ritual and religious routine before I went to New York. I was so focused on my friends, that I did not have any room for God in my heart. After a couple of years after I became a Christian, the Spirit of God has empowered to write devotionals for others to encourage and influence them spiritually. Before the Spirit’s empowerment, I was reading online devotionals intensively to know more about Jesus. After a while, I guess that I wanted to try in writing one and then I sent it to one of my close friends. She said that it was okay so I kept writing one, and eventually I became a devotional writer. Because of the Spirit’s empowerment to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I decided that I want to become a Christian Writer.  

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13)

Therefore, if we truly want good things from God, we ought to get rid of our natural desires and passions as the world is full of sin, accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour, and be open our hearts to the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:24-25). The world is full of sin and evil because we are trying to prove that we are smart and clever without God, that we do not need to rely on Him at all. If we are absolutely smart enough to live our lives without God, then why He has created us? He simply invites us to come to Him but He freely let us to decide whether we are going to follow Him or not (Matthew 11:28-30). I knew that I came to Him through faith in Jesus but I was unsure that I was spiritually saved. This is because I did not repent before Him, that I was a sinner and I need Him to my life (Acts 2:38-39). Acts 3:19-20 declares, “Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.” I think I, even, was baptised and became a devotional writer before the first repentance. However, I am, now, certain that I am spiritually saved because my heart belongs to God (Romans 10:9-10).

But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you. (John 16:7-15)

Because of Romans 10:9-10, we know that we are justified before Jesus Christ and stand before Him in the grace and the peace of God. Moreover, Romans 5:1-5 states, “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.” The justification of God comes from the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus, as an image of Himself, into the world (John 1:14) to crucify Himself on the cross for our sins (Colossians 2:13-15). In addition, God has given us His Spirit, so that we might believe in Him. Not only He has given us His Spirit, but He has also given us eternal life through faith in Jesus (Hebrews 2:14-15). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Jesus has said, “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) Furthermore, because of the incredible hope of God is working through us by the Spirit, I desire to know and to pursue Him more by reading devotionals, the Bible and Christian books. Reading devotionals in the morning is my habit. Other than that I need to read the Bible and Christian books whenever I can to get the knowledge of God. Thus, my plan is writing devotionals in New Zealand Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In addition to this, since writing devotionals takes me quite a while, I have decided to edit and send my devotionals and put them on several of the social networks in mornings of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. If I do that in the mornings, then I can read devotionals, Christian books or the Bible. However, since I start a Bible College through distance-learning on 25^th of July, I am hoping that I am able to write weekly devotionals, instead of daily ones. Studying Theology is probably going to be quite hard but I have to try (Proverbs 3:5-8).

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.

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:21-31)

Overall, God is probably going to be most glorified in us as we are glorifying Him and most satisfied in Him. Jesus Christ has said, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” (John 14:15-21) Therefore, we have to forget the world and concentrated on the kingdom of God, in order to serve Him effectively. Apostle James has declared, “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?” (James 4:4-5) This does not mean that we must hate every non-believers and how the world operates. It simply means that if we want to serve God effectively, we have to serve Him through serving and helping others spiritually as well as physically (Matthew 5:13-16). This is probably the reason that Jesus has said, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12) However, I guess loving others intimately through Jesus would be the most effective service because 1 John 4:11-12 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” Moreover, Romans 13:8-10 declares that the love of God is the fulfillment of the law, due to the fact that every commandment of God is added to that. I love others more than myself. This is part of the reason that I love writing my devotionals, due to the fact that I get to encourage and influence others into Jesus Christ. I often want others to understand the Gospel of Jesus deeply as they can. This is also the reason that I dedicate a couple of hours to write devotionals and write long as I can as the Spirit empowers me to. Furthermore, I also love to serve the church in different ministries as they help me to connect with others. Hence, my plan for next year on Sundays is going to the morning service twice a month and then going to the evening service twice a month. This is because I want to connect with older generations as well as within my generations. If there are five weeks in a month, I can just choose which ones that I would like to go to.   

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)

The Greatest Commandments and the Love of God!

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:30-31 NIV

Don’t we wish to live in the peace of God in Jesus Christ with everyone else all day long and forever with no doubts, arguments and quarrels? I certainly do as I am a “people-person” and living as a child of God is so natural to me. If I am God, I certainly would put the kingdom of God in the world so everyone is able to marvel at God and fear Him all the time. However, I guess that this would mean that people do not have to be His workmanship and His light to the world. In other words, they do not have to be evangelise Jesus Christ and be ambassadors of Him around the world. Often, evangelising Him and tell about Him to people around us, especially to non-believers, sounds quite easy to me, but it is quite hard thing for me to do except in writing. Because of this, I thank the Lord for giving me a spiritual gift that can evangelise about Him in writing and for a theological mind-set.

Whether we have found our spiritual gift or not, it is necessary to put God as our first priority. The main reasons for this probably are that He is our heavenly Father (Ephesians 4:4-6) as well as the Creator (Genesis 1:1; Psalm 24:1). God is the Creator because He has created us in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and the rest of the world. Why, then, there is such evil around the world? I think this is probably because of our selfishness. Since the first man of God and a man whom God has created sinned by eating the fruit in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:15-3:19), the sin has naturally came into the world as we become more independent and do not rely on God for everything. This does not mean that we should rely on Him for everything and do no works. Because of the sin that causes us selfishness, God had to send His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, as an image of Himself into the world (John 1:14) to crucify Himself for our sins (Colossians 2:13-15). Moreover, since sin is totally destroyed by His crucifixion, God has given us victory by giving us eternal life through faith in Him (Hebrews 2:14-15). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) In addition to this, Jesus has declared, “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) Furthermore, as James 2:14-26 talks about faith and deeds in Christ Jesus, we should these and, even, combine these as one. Therefore, we should become one of the children that Jesus talks about in Matthew 19:13-15, due to the fact that children generally obey their parents in everything and listen to them, in order to learn new things. Nevertheless, if we do not put God as our first priority, then it would probably become religious and we probably consider that we have to put our spiritual garment and clothes on for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. We may, even, become more selfish and think ‘if I have spear time, I am going to serve God.’ Secondly, God is our heavenly Father. Not only He has created in the image of God, but He also predestined us to be His adopted children from the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4-6). Thus, whoever accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior, they automatically become children of God (John 1:12-13). As for me, because of my intimate relationship with God as my heavenly Father, my mind has been literally going blank and empty when a distorted view of God comes along. Colossians 1:15-23 has helped and encouraged me to believe that God is our Creator and devote my life to Jesus Christ and to worship Him all the time. I also love Romans 8:1-17 because these Bible verses talk about eternal life and that we are created to be His children of God because of Christ’s crucifixion and the resurrection.

Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. (1 Corinthians 8:6)

Next, it is necessary to love ourselves before loving others through Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we become disoriented and lose joy of living life through Him. Because of this, it is far better for us to love God first, love ourselves as the children of God second, and then loving others third, through Him. The main reason for this is that we cannot spread the love of God effectively if we do not love Him intimately, for the love of God comes through Him. In addition, without loving ourselves as the children of God (Psalm 139:13-14) before others, it is quite challenging to love others intimately in Christ because it brings us no real meaning and sense into us and we become distracted of finding the reason that God has created us in the first place. Although some of the Bible verses says that we ought to think others more highly than others, such as Philippians 2:3-4 and Romans 12:3, it is essential to love ourselves before others. loving ourselves allows us to love others more effectively and more intimately through Christ, for the love of God just flow through as we are enjoying Him and have satisfaction in Him (1 John 4:7-21). I pray Ephesians 3:14-21 over whoever reads this devotional of mine.

The Joy, the Prayer and the Gratitude of God!

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

Don’t we wish to live our lives joyfully and thankfully with those who are around us? For example, we have a job and career that we always have wanted, we can do everything that we want, people who are around us are nice and kind to us and there are no fights or quarreling around. I want to live my life like these. As I am a “people-person,” I would always invite my friends to my house and discuss and ask them about how our lives went, like what a real family would always do, buy and can do everything that we want. I also want to have power of teleportation so I can visit places or other countries, such as South Korea and New York. I would go holidays with my close friends, even.

Rather than always enjoying ourselves as much as we can in the world, we should rejoice in the Lord, Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:4-5), if we have become Christians and one of His followers. Otherwise, we probably would want to give up on Christian life because we think following Jesus Christ is very boring. The main reason for this probably is that we think that we must become Christ-centred and spiritual person all the time, and we cannot enjoy our lives for ourselves until the end of the age. It is true that we should become Christ-centred people as we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). However, maturity in Jesus Christ comes with timing (1 Corinthians 2:6-12). Why God is waiting for us to come to Him in repentance, then (2 Peter 3:8-9)? In addition, I think it is okay to enjoy ourselves as well, due to the fact that the word of God states that God have created all things for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). I was a gospel+religious person to glorify God in everything I do but I was not in religious side at all. I guess that I was only living my life as a child of God as much as I could, because my passion and desire has been in Jesus Christ. My passion is still in Him but I watch television as well, due to the fact that I, sometimes, get theological burden, that it gives me a headache. I watch television to relax my mind and also watch it for fun. Nevertheless, I am quite afraid that watching television becomes one of my idols. Because of this, I kept doing religious repentance after I watched television, because of the spiritual sin and I guess I was only thinking of God as the Judge who would condemn us. Nonetheless, I should be doing gospel repentance to Him often to become more righteous and holy in His sight, even though followers of Jesus Christ is already righteous and holy in His sight (Colossians 1:21-22). Repentance is quite hard for me to do as I feel more comfortable in fixing every mistakes that I have made before asking God for His forgiveness. However, 1 Corinthians 13:3 declares, “If I… give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 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 1:15-23)

Second of all, as communications are important to us, we should put ‘prayer’ in the communication list as well. Apart from the Bible, prayer is the only way to have communications between us and God. In fact, it is better than the Bible in speaking of communication because the Bible only allows God to speak to us through the Spirit. We cannot talk back to God by reading the Bible, and the word of God warns us not to edit, add, or take words out from the Bible (Revelation 22:18-19; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; Proverbs 30:5-6). Nonetheless, prayers allow us to talk to God as well as hearing from God through the Spirit. In addition, as well as we love hearing from others to continue our conversation, God loves to hear from us if our will match with Him (1 John 5:14-15). I need to have more intimate relationship with God by praying to Him often, as I love gaining the knowledge of God more than praying to Him humbly. 1 Corinthians 13:2 says that if I gain all mysteries and all knowledge without loving Him, then I gain nothing. Furthermore, God also loves us when we repent to Him and when we decide to be more holy, righteous, blameless in His sight (Luke 15:1-10). 1 John 1:8-2:2 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”

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.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:6-8)

Lastly, as we love to give thanks to everyone who are nice and kind towards us, we should honor God by giving thanks to Him as God works in all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Since 1 Thessalonians 5:18 states, “give thanks in all circumstances,” we should also give thanks to Him even when trials, troubles, and temptations happen to us. The main reason for this is that they probably are helping us with our faith in Jesus Christ (James 1:2-4). I had one bad habit until a couple of weeks ago. My habit was twisting my neck around as far as I could. I kept thinking that if I twist my neck around, it would be more comfortable to turn my neck around, even though I knew it was bad habit and not going to fix anything. Thus, finally, I have made up my mind that my neck is the part of the body to worship God because of the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) as I, sometimes, look upward during the church worship service. I still do this and especially when my neck become sore and tired of staying still, but it is better than having the bad habit of this. Another example of temptation is that I kept logging into my Facebook, just to check notifications, and log out after. I, even, did this without me noticing, which means opening my Facebook accidentally. Therefore, I had to leave my Facebook for a couple of days by deleting the Facebook application from my iPad, because I was trying to have my study-time for my Unitec test and assignment. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” Moreover, the main point that we should give thanks to Him probably should be about God’s steadfast love. Because of this kind of love, salvation in Jesus Christ is secured (Acts 4:12) and we are able to eternal life in Him (John 11:25-26). We should make 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 as a prayer point, to each of us who have been saved spiritually. “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. (John 3:16-18) Also, 1 John 4:9-10 states, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever.

to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. who made the great lights—His love endures forever. the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. the moon and stars to govern the night; His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-9)

The Living Hope of God Through Christ Jesus!

“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. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 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. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:3-9 NIV

Is there anyone who does not have hope at all? Yes, there are some people who do not have hope. Because of this, some of them think there is no point in life and they decide to suicide themselves. Nonetheless, I believe that there are more people who have hope in their lives, or renewing their hope to live in the world more effectively. As for me, I have to renew my hope a couple of times. First hope and dream that I want to be in the future was to be a doctor because I want to help people from their injuries and save them, to let them to continue in living their lives. This was very good hope that I had but I had to change it, due to the fact that I used to hate studying. Second dream that I had probably was to be a pro-gamer because I used to like video and computer games, especially StarCraft. Starcraft is probably the one of the most popular Korean games and I used to play it all the time when I was a teenager. My father, even, had spent a couple of hours to play it and sometimes, he played it overnight. It is highly addictive Korean war game. My father finally relised this, that he began to hate the game, so he was forcing me not to play it anymore. Therefore, I eventually gave up on StarCraft and when I finally relised what it is doing in my life, I began to hate in playing it as well, even though I liked and still like the war game very much. However, as soon as I became Christian and found my spiritual gift, I have been wanting to become a Christian Writer. This does not mean when we become Christian, we ought to become pastors, evangelists, or missionaries.

Nevertheless, the first and main hope of God that we should have is to praise the Lord until the end of the age. The main reason for this is that God has given us new living hope through Jesus Christ, because of the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, if we have decided to believe in Him. God sent His only beloved Son, as an image of Himself (Colossians 1:15), to be crucified because He desperately wanted to save and free us spiritually from our sins (Colossians 2:13-15; Hebrews 2:14-15), that He decided to take all sins upon Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was resurrected into life in three days (Luke 24:4-8). This is probably because He has wanted to give us hope and eternal life that is through Jesus Christ. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Therefore, if we want eternal life in Him, then we have to believe in Him (1 Peter 1:3-5) because He has said, “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) Not only we ought to believe in Him until the end of the age, but we also have to know Him intimately (John 17:3). How can we believe in Jesus Christ and maintain the relationship with Him, if we do not know Him at all?

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:1-5)

Next, the importance of having faith through Jesus is always rejoicing in Him, even though it can be hard to (Philippians 4:4-5). How can God be pleased with us if we do not rejoice in Jesus Christ and believe in Him legally? I hate to see my friend who has faith in me but do not believe in me from heart-to-heart. One friend of mine has betrayed me once, saying that she and I cannot be friends anymore. She did not say why but this is probably because I followed her everywhere when school finishes, even to the toilet and waited outside for her and my friends, even though I was not a girl stalker and I did not have a crush on her. In addition to this, another friend of mine, who I knew for a long time, has stopped talking to me, due to the fact that I probably bothered her while we are going through tough and hard times. I regret all of these things that I have done in the past and wish to change the past. Furthermore, every true and devoted follower of Jesus Christ has to make decision of endurance and perseverance all kinds of trials if they want to go to the kingdom of heaven at the end of the age, due to the fact that Romans 8:28 states that God is working all things for our good. If we deny Romans 8:28 and stop persevering trials, then we basically stop believing in Jesus (James 1:2-4). 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 says that the eternal glory that would be revealed through Christ is much better than our earthly troubles and trials. Because of this, we are determined set our eyes to the above and the kingdom of heaven (Colossians 3:1-4). I believe that doing such thing would make life easier to endure problems. Although I have not experienced trials and troubles like what Apostle Paul and Timothy had experienced, I endured my schooling for over four months. I am not into Computer Servicing very much, that it sometimes gave me stress and I wanted to give up on my Christian life and schooling. The main reason for this was I knew that being a Christian Writer has been the will of God from ages ago. However, because of one issue, I endured. At that moment, doing Computer Servicing at Unitec felt like this was the will of God for me as Pastor Amanda Pilbrow had said that it is about people. In addition to this, my closest member of the church had said that being at Unitec and going to Unitec is part of theology as I can be Christ’s ambassador to the students.

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:18-21)

Because the importance of having faith through Jesus is always rejoicing in Him, loving the Lord should be our first motivation to have and that we need to practice in our lives. The word of God, even, says it (Matthew 22:37-38). Otherwise, we could easily become self-centred as Colossians 1:15-20 says that everything comes through and for Him. I have to say that Colossians 1:15-23 is one of my favourite bible verses. Not only these verses tell me that everything comes through and for Jesus Christ, but the also tell me the reason why we are on the Earth—to continue in our faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think the reason that we are on this world rather than at the kingdom of heaven straight away gives us more meaning and make life more interesting, due to the fact that we get to know more about Him, to maintain the right relationship with Him. I do not know if this is just for me, but I love gaining the knowledge of God.Because of this, I often read eight devotionals a day, including Windsor Park Baptist Church’s daily readings, and I get three weekly devotionals in my e-mail. Since I have finished Unitec, I should get back on reading Christian books as well. I believe Christian books may give me concepts on how to write more effectively as well as they give me more knowledge of God. I am hoping that I can manage my times between reading Christian books and studying theology in the future.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:7-14)