Jesus Christ, the Judge!

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

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

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

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

Jesus Christ, our Saviour!

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

All of us need to have a high and good standard in something, to get a position or area we are interested in. For example, if we want to go to universities to do further educations, we have to get at least National Certificate of Educational Achievement (N.C.E.A.) level two in literacy and numeracy. Although I didn’t study very and used to hate studying, I got N.C.E.A. level two in English and maths. Therefore, I was qualified to do English for Academic Purposes Level four and Certificate of Computer Servicing in Unitec, to get into a Bible College. While I was studying in Carey Baptist College, I became an intern of Windsor Park as an E-Prayer Lead.  I got this internship because of my biblical knowledge and my praying heart.

However, honouring God through Jesus Christ is different. We don’t need to prove God that we are good by doing deeds. Yes, good deeds are important but what comes first is faith in Jesus. By believing in Him, we can honour God by doing good deeds. To put this simply, good deeds are evidences of becoming a mature believer in Jesus. It’s like to have faith in ourselves. If we believe in ourselves that we are able to do a particular thing, then we could honour ourselves by trying our best. Although my mind does slow processes in getting information, I graduated from the primary to high school and I am studying in Carey Baptist College now to become a Christian Writer. The main reason for this is that I believed in myself and that nothing was impossible. More good illustration for honouring God through faith in Jesus is human relationship-building. Relationships require trust and deeds. If we want to be trusted and good person to another, we have to illustrate those to them by our actions. I am trying to be good and faithful son to my mother, so I am trying to help her in any way I can in spite of my cerebral palsy functions. Therefore, since God illustrated His love to us by making Jesus Christ, to be crucified on the cross for our death penalties (1 John 4:9-10), then let us acknowledge the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus and start to believe in Him.

Jesus Christ, the Gift!

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

Don’t we love to receive gifts, especially from family members or people we are close to? Many of us do. I am not a gift hoarder or any material hoarder, but I love to receive whatever is necessary and may contribute to my passion and learning. For example, when my mother bought an iPad Air Two and a sim card for me, I was very thankful. It is not because I got the latest edition of an iPad, but it is like my portable contacting device as I can text and do internet through it. I love to receive Christian books from my mentor because they develop my knowledge of Jesus Christ. However, what we desire the most probably is the compassion of the giver. They want best for me and to nurture me to become a better man, and I love about them.

God is the Creator of the Universe, but He is also our Heavenly Father (Ephesians 4:6). As He has been the Creator and although every people come from mother’s womb, He has actually made us (Genesis 1:26-27). How big His love would be if He has made us? Imagine that we are creating a treehouse to play in with our friends. We play in it so often, that we eventually love it and want nothing happen to it. But how more magnificent God’s love would be if He put father’s characteristic on? My father loves me so much, that he always apologised to me in the nights if I had been told off by him. Apparently, all of us have been fallen from the belief in God and His Kingdom through the first man of God (Genesis 3). Romans 5:12-14 states that what he did brought death. In order to bring us back, He sacrificially had to send Jesus Christ into the earth to die for our penalties. When Jesus was crucified, “… the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom…” (Matthew 27:51). This means that the gate of the heaven has been opened (Matthew 27:51-53). Craig Keener declares that God has opened where His presence dwells for everyone, instead of just priests. Therefore, since God has His steadfast love for us consistently and God has allowed all of us to be in His presence, let’s consider Jesus Christ as the greatest gift ever (James 1:16-18)!

Meditate on Psalm 136 and be grateful of what Jesus has done for you today, because of His great love!

Jesus Christ, the Light of the World (Part 2)!

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Don’t we love to follow someone, who has the greatest minds on the planet, and be mentored by them? The main reason for this probably is that we would like to become the greatest problem solvers in the world. For example, I would like to be mentored by Troy McKnight or Grant Harris as they are not only pastors, but my preaching style is similar to theirs. I also would like to be mentored by Myk Habets and Rick Pierce. Myk Habets is one of the lecturers of Carey Baptist College but he has a very high level theological mind and he is considered as a theologian by others. Rick Pierce is the spiritual formation pastor of Windsor Park, so I thought me becoming a student of Him would be good as my aim of devotional-writing is to form people’s minds into the word of God with guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Nevertheless, I believe those have been my favouritism issues, but I already have a mentor. Because of her extrovert heart for Jesus Christ and our ultimate goal is to glorify God in everything, I have been learning so much through her. However, we have learned that God has infinite wisdom and knowledge about everything (Romans 11:33-36). He also sent Jesus Christ into the earth to show us the way of the truthful life (John 14:6). Other than this, He was crucified on the cross on behalf of our death penalties. Why we had death penalties before He came into the earth? God has intended for every human to believe in Him but sin has spread into all of us, to make us not (Romans 5:12-14). The first sin happened in Genesis 3. Jesus was resurrected after the three days of His crucifixion to show us that we can have life after the end of physical lives. He has stated, “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)

Moreover, God has poured His Spirit into people who want to believe in Jesus. The main reason for this is that the life can be difficult (Matthew 7:13-14). This does not mean our lives could become easier if we become followers of Jesus. God wants to guide us how to live truthfully in Jesus through His Spirit (John 16:7-15). However, we have to be open our spirits to receive God’s Spirit (Revelation 3:20). If we never open our spirits, we are never going to learn. Therefore, let us surrender our lives and be vulnerable to Jesus (Luke 11:11-13). Why shouldn’t we surrender ourselves to Him and become alive in Him since He was crucified on the cross and resurrected for us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)? Although life can be hard, let’s make it simpler by receiving the Spirit of God (Matthew 11:25-30).

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

Jesus Christ, the Light of the World (Part 1)!

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

What is a light? According to Google, it is ‘the natural agent that stimulates sight and make things visible.’ It gives our eyes brightness, so we can see things clearly when it is night. This is the main reason that there are street lights and lighthouses in the world. It can also be one of the home appliances. Other than putting light bulbs on the ceilings of rooms, there are lamps and nightlights we can use for the guidance of where things are when it is a night time.

As an automobile needs its lights to know the right way to go when it is dark, we need them for directions when it is dark. Of course, we can have torches to go to dark places, but our spirit needs some lights too, in order to determine which choices are right for us. Role models are people who give inspiration to others and the ones who teaches what they want to learn. For example, I consider my mentor as my role model. She has a such extrovert heart for Jesus and I want to learn how to have that kind of heart by watching her live.  However, every people make mistakes and do not know everything. Therefore, Jesus became our light. Although Jesus is a perfect representation of God (Colossians 1:15-17), He was sent by God, His Father, into the world (John 1:14), to show us the way to live (John 14:6-7). Romans 11:33-36 illustrates how much wisdom and knowledge God has.

Tomorrow, I am going to continue part two of John 8:12 but meditate on your determination in following Jesus.