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 25th 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)
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