Praising and Seeking the Lord!

“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 NIV

The context of 1 Chronicles 16 is about ministering before the ark of God so David instructed Asaph and his associates that they should praise the Lord in the manner of what is written in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36. I think the reason that David was thinking about praising the Lord before the ark was that he noticed that God was with him all the time, such as when he and Israel were defeating the Philistines (1 Chronicles 14).

1 Chronicles 16:8-11 illustrates that giving praise to the Lord is important aspect of Christianity and to followers of Jesus Christ. We may think that everyone should praise the Lord when they receive blessings from God. This is true but I think main reason that Christians should praise the Lord is to be Jesus paid sins and death penalties of every human being (Colossians 2:13-15). Because of His crucifixion and resurrection, “… in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This means that as soon as everyone do first of believer’s repentance, every sin would be wiped away (Isaiah 43:25) and they would get their citizenship of the kingdom of God (Philippians 3:18-21). Although I am thankful for blessings I have received from God, such as Christian-writing, I believe most precious gifts that Christian received from God is His love and Jesus Christ. Because of this, I am grateful and proud that I am able to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ through writing.

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

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

Sharing testimonies of how God is working with every one of us is a vital thing. They can influence or encourage people, even though testimonies are different to every human being. The biggest miracle if Christians share testimonies to random people probably is when they are able to see how God is working within them and people get jealous of them, that they want to know and pursue God. I guess sharing testimonies are part of followers of Christ’s work through the Holy Spirit, who has given to us by God as an advocate. The most recent miracle that happened to me was that I sensed the heart of fellowship with God in one church member when I saw the way that she prayed during the prayer meeting. Furthermore, my mentor told me that I need to build a bridge between the Bible world and the culture world so she gave me a book to read. I was thinking about building the bridge as I read the book. After I read the book, I started to build the bridge. Now, I think it is necessary to create a bridge when I am writing devotionals. Although I think my devotionals are mainly for other followers of Christ, I want non-believers to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ through my devotionals as well. Moreover, when I have testimonies to share, I write them down in my speaking application and play it when I find opportunities to share. For example, I shared my recent testimony to the prayer gathering of Windsor Park and at the end of Northcross church service. I believe God is so rich for Christians to keep Him for themselves. They have to share Him with the world (Matthew 5:13-16).  

Now he [Jesus Christ] had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. (John 4:4-30)

If we have joy of God within us, we should seek Him and put that as our priority. In fact, God desires us to know Him as much as possible (John 17:3), even though we cannot completely comprehend Him (Romans 11:33-36). This does not mean that we should always seek God by only reading the Bible despite of necessary tasks we have to do. Reading the Bible to know the Lord makes sense but seeking the Lord in whatever we do is also important. To be more specific, knowing God’s will is a crucial aspect of life if we choose to love and honour Him with all of our might. While I was doing a computer servicing course before studying theology at Carey Baptist College, I was about to give up. At that time, I thought the course was irrelevant to Christian-writing. However, my mentor and one of my friends told me that it is God’s hidden will and I knew that God has not been doing things for nothing. After the course and I received the certificate, I noticed that the hidden will of God was to rely on Him for everything (Matthew 5:3). In addition, I realised that I passed the course because I sought God’s strength and stayed in contentment with Jesus (Philippians 4:11-13). Moreover, since I know God’s will for me is to write devotionals when school or semesters finish, I desire to write one devotional per day. If I have any spare time, I think I should read Christian books over the holidays as well. I love reading the Bible but I think I accidentally fell into trap of seeking devoted Christians, instead of God. I have to wanted to catch up with my mentor, that I was angry at her for not meeting me. I think God told me that I cannot be mad at her for this through a dream and realised that I was selfish. Thus, I think I have to put more practice on thinking of others before myself (Philippians 2:3-4). This does not mean that we should not have any communities if we are seeking the Lord. God wants every one of us to fellowship with each other as encouragements may come from interacting with believers. However, God wants us to put Him as our first priority. Jesus proclaims, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6) and “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Matthew 6:33)

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)

The Role of Peace of Christ in Our Hearts!

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” – Colossians 3:15-17 NIV

As the context of whole of Colossians 3:1-17 is ‘Living as Those Made Alive in Christ,’ we need to see every human being as those who bears God’s image whether we are believers in Jesus Christ or not. In today’s ‘Our Daily Bread’ devotional the writer, Dave Branon, ended his writing like this: “Everyone we meet bears the image of God.” What do these mean? Does not the Bible tell us that if we are followers of Jesus Christ, we must become Christ’s image bearers and are called to live different lives than non-believers? The Bible states that we ought to become God’s image bearers as we follow Christ but if we look in the beginning of the Bible, Genesis 1:26-28 declares,

God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”

Therefore, if we, as Jesus’ followers, long to see others come into the faith in Jesus Christ, we have to let the peace of God to fill our hearts (Colossians 3:15). Otherwise, we may become judgemental and deny to do the Great Commission that Jesus has called us to do (Matthew 28:18-20). We also have to let the message of Jesus Christ to dwell within us, so we can teach about God and the gospel of Jesus Christ to others or include God in conversations. At the life-group on Wednesday night, one church member told that she and others went to watch sunset or went to somewhere. When she looked at the gorgeous view of the world, she started to praise God. At that moment, others asked whether she know God and they become believers in Jesus Christ I think. I wish that I can influence non-believers like her as I desperate want to share the message of Christ to everyone. However, my mentor told me that I have to evangelise Jesus Christ by my actions rather than words before I properly can teach others about God. When they ask me the reason of doing good deeds, she told me that I can share the hope and joy of Christ I have (1 Peter 3:15). Thus, I have to develop of having God’s perspective on everything as followers of Christ are called to be the salt and light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Nevertheless, I am grateful that God has given a spiritual gift and such an important task of preaching the message of Jesus Christ through writing. Hence, I have 11 social networks to put my devotionals on and I e-mail them through MailChimp. I long to see others to come into the faith of Christ, even if they are strangers, so my biggest aim for this is that every subscribers and followers of my devotionals see my devotionals as a guide on how to become a follower of Jesus Christ and get spiritual encouragements from them. Although writing my daily/weekly devotionals can take a while, I feel that I am prompted to do them.

Thankfulness towards God is not only the aspect of Christianity we should have when we receive blessings from God, but it is the main aspect of the reason that we are doing theology and living as the children and servants of God. I think I realised this when one of my lecturers or one of the Carey students in my class said this to the class. I agree with this. Without thankfulness towards God, the meaning of doing theology and honouring God with our lives are pointless, I believe. In addition, these may become legalistic. Why do we honour God with our lives and we are living for Him through faith in Jesus Christ as these are not easy method to live by (Matthew 7:13-14)? Christians believe the reason that they are living as followers of Christ is not because of the blessings they often receive blessings from God but because of how much God did for them. To be more specific, they focus on the crucifixion (Hebrews 2:14-15) and the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Luke 24:4-8) I think. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

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

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

Living in Jesus Christ!

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” – Colossians 2:6-12 NIV

Apostle Paul was probably talking about strengthening the church when he has declared Colossians 2:6-12 because the context of Colossians 1:24-2:5 is about Paul’s labour for the church. I believe the main reason that He was labouring for the church is that he wants every follower of Jesus Christ to be “… united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3) He was concerned that they might get into false teachings about Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:4). Thus, I think the main point of Colossians 1:24-2:12 is about walking in the truth as followers of Jesus Christ.

If we are believers in Jesus Christ and baptised in His name, we need to walk in the truth by being rooted, built up in Him. We can do this by reading the Bible and praying in His name intimately. Reading the Bible, which is God’s word, helps us to stay in the foundation of Jesus (Luke 6:46-49) as it is the reminder on how to live as a devoted Jesus’ follower (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Praying to God in His name transforms our hearts to be devoted in Him (1 John 5:14-15) as prayers advocates us to stay focused in Jesus (Philippians 4:4-7). However, these are only be able to be done through the Spirit of God, who is within every believer in Christ (John 14:15-27). Without the Spirit, it is difficult for them to understand the big picture of each Bible verses and pray in His name humbly. In fact, they are not be able to focus on Jesus Christ if they do not have the Spirit of God within them, to be honest. I believe this is because of natural desires and passions (Galatians 5:17).

How can we receive the Spirit of God? I think we have to realise the need of Christ and make decisions to believe in Him. However, I think this is just temporal thought if we decide to believe in Jesus Christ on our own. God pours His Spirit into us when timing is right according to God’s (John 6:63-65). Once the Spirit is living within us, I believe that He is the eternal who is never going to leave us. We have to open our hearts all the time (Ephesians 1:13-14). I joined the church, which is now combined with Equippers. I only joined the church to hang out with some of the members. However, I had to go to New York a year later. When I was in New York and tried one of my extended family’s church for a while, my aunt told me that there was good church to go to. Thus, I tried that church and joined one of the Connect Groups. After a while, the Spirit of God suddenly hovered over and prompted me to get to know Jesus better because I was in legalistic side and trying to please people rather than God at that time. This is how I became a true follower of Christ and I cannot think how my life would be if I did not have Him by my side.

Reading the Bible and praying in Christ’s name are the main methods on strengthening believer’s faith to continue living in His name but there are other ways to do this as well. Two of the ways are by listening to Christian or church’s podcasts and by reading online devotionals or Christian articles because believers are able to learn belief and faith through Christian speakers and writers. The another way of strengthening faith is having Christian friends or mentors. This is probably the main reason that church buildings are in this world. To be more specific, churches are believers of Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:13-19) as every one of them take a part of Jesus’ body (1 Corinthians 12:27). “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:4-5) Thus, for this reason, when we gather together in Christ’s name, we become the body of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12) and a temple in Him (Ephesians 2:19-22). 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 states, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” If we want to have intimate studies about belief and faith about God, we could study theology through Bible Colleges. I have wanted to have studies about God other than other methods, I have decided to study theology through Carey Baptist College. My dreams are to become a Christian Writer and work in the church.

Living Sacrifice to God in Christ Jesus!

“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.” – Romans 12:1-2 NIV

I believe the context of Romans 12:1-2 is connected to the context of Romans 11 because Romans 12 starts off with “Therefore…” The main context of Romans 11 probably is the grace of God (Romans 11:1-6). Grace of God is often known as “what we get which we do not deserve.” We do not deserve God’s love because every human being is a sinner because of human wisdom, I believe. The world prompts us to deny God and create independence on ourselves. I think this is related to the story of the first couple had eaten the fruit in the knowledge of good and evil. Romans 5:12-14 explains that the sin was carried into every human being from the time of Adam, the first man that God created. This is probably the main reason that God sent Jesus Christ, as an image of Himself, into the world to crucify Himself on the cross (Colossians 2:13-15). God did this to prove everyone that there is a better way that leads to the life (John 10:10). Jesus Christ have declared, “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)

Mercy of God is often known as what “we don’t get what we truly do deserve.” The Grace and mercy of God have almost identical definition. I think the specific meaning for God’s grace is about God’s love and for God’s mercy is about God’s forgiveness. Therefore, my term of God’s grace would be like ‘the God of grace is getting God’s unconditional love which we do not deserve’ and God’s mercy would be like ‘the God of mercy is getting God’s forgiveness which we do not truly deserve.’

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)

Romans 12:1-2 do not intended to mean that we are to live as a living sacrifice that is toward God religiously or out of legalism. God does not want to see only our actions to please and satisfy Him and let Him know that He is doing good works within every one of us. He only wants us to connect our hearts to His heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He is not trying to get satisfied with Himself and His good works. He desires us to be one with Him like God and Jesus. This is the main reason that God has poured His Spirit into us when Jesus was crucified and resurrected, I believe (John 16:7-15). Hence, we have to deny our own desires and passions and transform those into God’s through His Spirit (Romans 12:2; Galatians 5:24-25).

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)

What happens if we cannot decide whether our thoughts come from ourselves or from the Spirit? Bible, God’s written word, is the main method of determining them. If our thoughts do not match with His word, then they come from our flesh. If our thoughts match with the Bible, then they come from the Spirit of God or they are okay to have those thoughts, I guess. Apostle Paul urges to have “thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable” and “excellent and worthy of praise.” If we continue to have these positive thoughts, then the Bible says that the peace of God will be with us (Philippians 4:8-9). I used to be overthink whatever I feel I am not confident about and have negative thoughts about God. Thus, I told my mentor about these and she said, “Just go with the flow with the Spirit” or something like this. I think I am overthinking about God again. I think my thoughts are God is so judgemental. Nevertheless, He is not, even though He is the Judge (James 4:12) but with compassionate, gracious, and lovely heart (Psalm 103:8). Thus, I think I have to continue on practice going with the flow of the Spirit but with the truth according to God’s word.

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. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The Chosen People of God!

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” – Colossians 3:12-15 NIV

The topic of Colossians 3:1-17 is ‘Living as Those Made Alive in Christ.’ In other words, Colossians 3:1-17 illustrates how to live as Jesus Christ’s followers effectively. Setting our appearances before Christ and others are good but setting our hearts before Him and others are much better. Colossians 3:1 states, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” God sees our hearts rather than appearances (1 Samuel 16:7), for everything is bare to Him (Hebrews 4:13).

Colossians 3:5 starts off with “Put to death, therefore…” We cannot put anything to death if our hearts are not right with those specific thing. If we look back in the Old Testament, the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, ordered His Hebrew midwives to kill baby boys when they come out from the women’s womb. However, the Hebrew midwives did not listen to the king of the Egypt and let the boys live because they feared God. After this, Pharaoh commanded all of his people that every baby must be thrown into Nile river unless they are girls.

Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.

Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?”

“Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:1-10)

When we think about our attitudes and behaviours, we may realise that all of them come from our hearts. Once our hearts are right toward others and God, we are able to freely express our feelings. For instance, before I became a Christian, I used to lie to my parents when I have done things I would get trouble of. When my parents were asking the specific thing I was going to lie about, my face was going red. I think this is because my heart was not right with those things I had done and towards my parents. Now, since I became a Christian, I hate lying to my parents, anyone, and to God because all of Jesus’ followers have to live in the image of God (Romans 8:29-30). If I am lying to anyone, not only I am lying to them, I am lying to God (Acts 5:4). I hate to see anyone lie because they would be lying to God. John 3:21 proclaims, “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

I guess that being in the image of God as God’s beloved children is the main reason that we have to continue transforming our attitudes into compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. This means that we have to work on the fruit of the Spirit as it is combination of “… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23). Nevertheless, I believe forgiveness is the important part of the characteristic attributes, in order to carry the fruit of the Spirit in our hearts all the time. If we cannot forgive one another, we cannot carry the fruit of the Spirit to them and we also cannot reconcile them to God.

God wants every human being to reconcile with each other “so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 15:6) When believers gather together, they begin to form the body of Jesus Christ as each one of us are parts of the body, I believe (1 Corinthians 12:27). “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Romans 12:4-5) I think this means followers of Jesus Christ are like jigsaw puzzles of Him. This is probably focal point of having church services on Sundays and having Christian groups during the weekdays. I am grateful to have my church family in New Zealand as well as in New York. To form unity, I strongly believe that love is the core characteristic attribute. When we love with one another, other attributes automatically flow along (Romans 13:8-10). I guess this is the reason that the second greatest commandment of God is to love each other (Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31)

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)

The Victory Through Jesus Christ!

‘“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.’ – 1 Corinthians 15:55-58 NIV

The whole context of 1 Corinthians 15 is about the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 is divided into three parts-the resurrection of Christ, the resurrection of the dead and the resurrection body. Apostle Paul have proclaimed that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. After that, he simply states, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19) I believe the main reason that if Christ has not been raised, all of His followers are lost and pitted is following Jesus Christ until the end of the age can be hard road to most of us (Matthew 7:13-14). We have to deny ourselves to follow Jesus (Mark 8:34-38) because the ways of the world and the ways of the heavenly Kingdom do not match. James 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? (James 4:4-5)

If we go back to the beginning to God’s creation, the Bible says that sin has been created because the first couple ate the fruit in the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1-19). I think this is related to the ways of the world. The world prompts us to deny God and create independence to ourselves since we have our own wisdom. However, God has wanted us to depend on Him because He is the Creator of everything (Genesis 1:1) and He has created us in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). David wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1) This is probably the main reason that God sent His beloved Son, as the image of Himself (Colossians 1:15), into the world to crucify Himself on the cross for our sins (Colossians 2:13-15). Thus, God is able to bring us back to Himself (Hebrews 2:14-15).

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)

Therefore, we ought to believe in Jesus Christ until the end of our physical lives, even though we are sinners. We are already won the evil, Satan who wishes to control and destroy us, if we belong to Christ. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Apostle Paul proclaims, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57) When Jesus was crucified and resurrected, God has poured His Spirit into us to accompany us to the ways and purposes of God (John 16:7-15). Revelation 3:20 explains that God’s Spirit is Jesus. The Holy Trinity-God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit-is one Person who is God because all of them are exactly alike. These mean that we are never alone, despite of Christ is at the heavenly kingdom and sitting at the right hand of God. To put these simply, we have to follow the Holy Spirit if we want to follow Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul states, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” (Galatians 5:24-25)

“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.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:15-27)

What happens if we disobeyed the Spirit of God but realised that disobeying the Spirit was a biggest mistake of our lives later on? God is “… compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8) and therefore, God would forgive us if we realised that disobedient to the Holy Spirit was a worst mistake and if we repent to Him wholeheartedly (Acts 2:22-41; Acts 3:17-20). This does not mean that we could play God around with, such as doing our selfish desires and passions and repenting it afterwards. God knows our hearts and He can determine whether we belong to Him or not (Hebrews 4:13;1 Samuel 16:7).

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

Although I am a devoted follower of Jesus Christ, falling into sin would be easy because of desires to watch television. It is not that watching television is sin but I am afraid that I might get addicted to television, especially of cartoons. Thus, I am trying not to watch television as much as possible. Addictions would hover me if I stay in focused on anything, I believe. I want my satisfaction to be on God through faith in Jesus Christ. I think I have to resist my temptations not to watch whatever I feel like but I also do not want this to be legalism. Nonetheless, I am thankful that God has His steadfast love to everyone. If He does not have His steadfast love toward us, I would have been dead a long time ago. Other than my temptations to watch television, I have learned to depend on God through a computer course. I felt that doing a computer course was a biggest mistake I made but I persevered until the end. My mentor and one of my friends told me that it was God’s hidden will and I have been believing that God has not been doing things for nothing. I believe I passed a computer course because of the contentment in Jesus (Philippians 4:11-13). In addition to this, I think I learnt to depend on God for my theological studies as well. I used to ask my mentor to guide me on everything until I could understand what I have to do completely. However, my mentor did not reply every messages. Hence, I tried my best and realised that I did not have to depend on her for every assessment.

The Importance of God's Word!

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV

The context of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is about the salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Apostle Paul started a final charge to Timothy with his experience of a godly life in Jesus Christ, to show the importance of salvation through faith in Christ and reading the Holy Scriptures which is the Bible. However, Paul said, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13)

How many of us are abiding in Jesus Christ through the entire Bible? Old Testament demonstrates warnings of God and New Testament shows God who is “… compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8) through Jesus Christ. In my opinion, I think most of us often overlook Old Testament as an angry, nasty, and judgemental God, who destroys those who have not been living to a godly life. Hence, we think Old Testament is obsolete. We tend to focus only on New Testament to remind ourselves who God is.

Nevertheless, we have to read Old Testament in the same way we read New Testament. I think the warnings of God in Old Testament illustrates that God wants us to live a godly life and a life that is devoted to Him.  He warns us ahead of time if we are living unrighteous ways of God. In other words, He does not want us to live according to our ways but wants us to live according to God’s purposes and to do everything for the glory of God. Isaiah 55:8-9 states, ‘“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ Apostle Paul declares, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) While I was doing ‘Kairos’ course a long time ago, I learnt that we cannot love God and are not able to be filled with God’s wisdom if we have not read the entire story of God. Steven C. Hawthorne proclaims, “God is not just loving people. He is transforming them to become people who can fully love Him.” During my theological studies this year, I learnt that Old Testament just prompts us to turn away from our sins but New Testament illustrates that we are able to turn towards God through faith in Jesus Christ.  

However, we have to be careful to not to be mistaken that the Bible is not the way of righteous living. The main reason for this is that Jesus Christ is our righteousness because He has already paid our death penalty by crucifying Himself on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21) and God has given us His Spirit to make us perfect through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:14). In addition, Jesus Christ says, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40) When He was crucified, “… the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…”  (Matthew 27:51) This demonstrates that the separation between us and God is ended. To be more specific, eternal life belongs to those who have believed in Jesus Christ until the end of the age. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “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 11:17-26)

Therefore, we have to consider the Bible as the best method to hear from God. 2 Timothy 3:16 begins with “All Scripture is God-breathed…” and ends with “… training in righteousness.” Furthermore, 2 Timothy 3:17 continues with the verse 16: “so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

“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)

In ‘The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms’ the definition of the gospel is ‘“good story”; the central message of the Christian church in the world, centered on God’s provision of salvation for the world in Jesus Christ.’ Thus, I think the core message in the Bible is known as the gospel. Apostle Paul declares, ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 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 1:16-17) Furthermore, he proclaims:

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)

I strongly believe reading the Bible helps us to stay connected with God. The Bible is a constant reminder of showing how to live as a devoted follower of Jesus.        While I was studying theology, I had no time to read the Bible so I began to read New Testament in my meal time. I read Old Testament as well, if I have a spare time during the evening or night. I think I have to develop a habit in reading Old Testament every day of my life. I agree with the Psalmist when he said:

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)