Thursday, February 27, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Do You Really Love Him?
She has done a good work for Me —Mark 14:6
If what we call love doesn't take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.
Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? “She has done a good work for Me.”
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. “. . . but perfect love casts out fear . . .” once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I of any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.
(Source: My Utmost for His Highest_Friday Feb. 21, 2014)
If what we call love doesn't take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.
Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I’m not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? “She has done a good work for Me.”
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. “. . . but perfect love casts out fear . . .” once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, “Am I of any use?” and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.
(Source: My Utmost for His Highest_Friday Feb. 21, 2014)
Monday, September 16, 2013
Listening to God's Voice
Hello Prayer Center,
You know the hard feeling so time things dos not go your
way and you just have to let it go and let God taking care of it? Well,
reflecting back to this weekend I believe that God is teaching me to view
things the way He see it. From man’s prospective it is very alarming as long as
you haling on to”your ways”. Well, a few days before this past weekend I have a
place a new online order on "XXX" online store, and have no idea that
it would be difficult to communicate a
simple request that seems making sense to me. In Isaiah
55: 8-9 the sculpture says:
“For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the
LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts”.
If I would still looking at
things by my view I would still be stressful about this experience that is. Looking back on this past weekend, I find out
that I was holding on to "My way" which would sound more logical on
my end but it did not work out for the "XXX" online store as well as
the carrier for the package. It was always “my”, me and I. It was the lie that
the evil one want you to keep on biting on so that he may setup his operation
in your heart. In the book of Ephesians 5: 15-17 Paul teach us to:
“Look
carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are
evil. Therefore
do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. “
That was the key element that
I was lacking of. Despite all my vain effort God is still showing grace through
it all. I see now that He was crafting my rough edges. This morning I was letting go and making decision
that I should be making. I
believe that God do honor that request. At the end of day I realize that I was
wasting my time and effort to try to fix thing during the weekend. I learn that
we do need to taking care of our responsibility that God has entrusted in us
before God could reveal a greater responsibility in the future. A lot of time
if we cannot see God’s heat, we should always trust His heart. A lot of time we
are minding our own business and not allow God to be part of our life and
because of our narrow view often we miss God’s blessing. My friend, if we need
to make this right we need to backing
off form our view and take the issue through the Word of God and setting up the
priority of focus. I we will making good use of time that God has given us with.
And remember God Loves you: He Always Has- He always Will.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Closure: Our God is Greater
Read the story below:
JOHN 6:2-12 (The Voice)
2 As Jesus walked, a large crowd pursued Him hoping to see new signs and miracles; His healings of the sick and lame were garnering great attention. 3 Jesus went up a mountain and found a place to sit down and teach. His disciples gathered around. 4 The celebration of the Passover, one of the principal Jewish feasts, would take place soon. 5 But when Jesus looked up, He could see an immense crowd coming toward Him. Jesus approached Philip.
Jesus (to Philip):
Where is a place to buy bread so these people may eat?
6 Jesus knew what He was planning to do, but He asked Philip nonetheless. He had something to teach, and it started with a test.
Philip: 7 I could work for more than half of a year[a] and still not have the money to buy enough bread to give each person a very small piece.
8 Andrew, the disciple who was Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.
Andrew: 9 I met a young boy in the crowd carrying five barley loaves and two fish, but that is practically useless in feeding a crowd this large.
Jesus: 10 Tell the people to sit down.
They all sat together on a large grassy area. Those counting the people reported approximately 5,000 men—not including the women and children—sitting in the crowd. 11 Jesus picked up the bread, gave thanks to God, and passed it to everyone. He repeated this ritual with the fish. Men, women, and children all ate until their hearts were content. 12 When the people had all they could eat, He told the disciples to gather the leftovers.
As we come to a close for the school year of 2012-2013, we can say that God has done a marvelous work at the LU Prayer Center. In the Fall Semester, God brought a faithful, God-loving, people-caring pastor into our Prayer Center Team--Pastor Tim Voogd. As Pastor Tim and Dr. Hughes poured their lives into the students serving here at the Prayer Center, God also brought a team of God-loving, people-caring students together, and manifested His blessings to us day by day. From the formation of the mission of the Prayer Center, to the implementation of SharePoint (Thanks Mr. Matthew Coplin!)--God had brought much effectiveness and influence to the ministry of the Prayer Center. With our "two fishes and five loaves of bread," God had granted us a feast to dine in! As of today, we have received over A THOUSAND prayer request from the Liberty Family in this past half-a-year! Praise God for giving us the privilege of ministering and caring for people around us.
Having been serving at the Prayer Center since 2010, I am able to say that God had brought us a long way. In increasing the amount of student volunteers and the magnitude of our influence, God had started a fire within the hearts of the students here. The LU Prayer Center’s mission is "to encourage, comfort, intercede, and uplift people by walking with them into the throne room of almighty God and presenting their requests through prayer." As students gather together to pray for others, we can sense that God is doing something marvelous these days. What is God doing in the coming semesters? I do not know, but I know that we are confident in the promises that God has given to us through His Word!
As we go through our finals week and enter into our summer season, we believe that God will do marvelous things in the lives of those whom we have been praying for--not because our prayers are big, but because the God we pray to, IS BIG! Let's praise Him and trust in His Word as we go forth from here!
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Forgive me, Father!
Hi! My name is Bryan Tang and I am a Student Worker at the LU Prayer Center. Just as God wrote Joey's love story (see previous post), God also brought me a wonderful lady by the name of Becky Wood! In fact, we are preparing ourselves for our wedding in August. How exciting it is! Well, at least for the both of us:) Part of the preparation entails us reading through several books together. As of now, we are reading through "The Five Love Languages of Apology" by Dr. Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas. It's a wonderful book that gave us much practical insights as to how people apologize and such. A good read!
As I was reading through the book, one of the things that convicted me the most was the purpose of apologizing. The book said, "When we apologize simply to avoid facing an issue rather than seeking genuine reconciliation, the apology ceases to be sincere. Remember, the purpose of apologies is to receive forgiveness and reconciliation with the person you have offended."
Many times in the past, I have confessed my sins to God and asked for forgiveness because I know that my sins deserved to be punished and judged. However, whenever I have such a perspective on seeking forgiveness, I have merely scraped the surface of the issue-my rebellious heart towards God. In fact, I have missed out on what God had originally intended for me to experience. Picture this,
"There was a young little boy who got in trouble in his house. A huge trouble - he broke his mom's favorite cookie jar! Afraid of being punished by his mother, he teared up and cried out to his mother for forgiveness. His mother, who loved the boy to death, bent down to the little boy and gave him a kiss on his forehead, and told him, "my son, I love you. I forgive you." and she wrapped her arms around the little boy and held him until he stopped crying"
This story, in some sense, illustrates the forgiveness that believers ought to experience through the cross of Christ. Just like the little boy in the story, we ought to experience his love, and his forgiveness -- and the reconciliation that comes when we humbly come before Him and confess. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Romans 5:10 tells us, "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life."
The next time you come before God, remember that He has reconciled us to God! Not only are we forgiven, we are also reconciled into a relationship with Him and loved by God Himself! Therefore, let us examine our hearts and humbly lay it before Him - ask Him to examine it and reveal to us how we can please Him, the glorious King who deserves all the glory, honor, and praise!
As I was reading through the book, one of the things that convicted me the most was the purpose of apologizing. The book said, "When we apologize simply to avoid facing an issue rather than seeking genuine reconciliation, the apology ceases to be sincere. Remember, the purpose of apologies is to receive forgiveness and reconciliation with the person you have offended."
Many times in the past, I have confessed my sins to God and asked for forgiveness because I know that my sins deserved to be punished and judged. However, whenever I have such a perspective on seeking forgiveness, I have merely scraped the surface of the issue-my rebellious heart towards God. In fact, I have missed out on what God had originally intended for me to experience. Picture this,
"There was a young little boy who got in trouble in his house. A huge trouble - he broke his mom's favorite cookie jar! Afraid of being punished by his mother, he teared up and cried out to his mother for forgiveness. His mother, who loved the boy to death, bent down to the little boy and gave him a kiss on his forehead, and told him, "my son, I love you. I forgive you." and she wrapped her arms around the little boy and held him until he stopped crying"
This story, in some sense, illustrates the forgiveness that believers ought to experience through the cross of Christ. Just like the little boy in the story, we ought to experience his love, and his forgiveness -- and the reconciliation that comes when we humbly come before Him and confess. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Romans 5:10 tells us, "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life."
The next time you come before God, remember that He has reconciled us to God! Not only are we forgiven, we are also reconciled into a relationship with Him and loved by God Himself! Therefore, let us examine our hearts and humbly lay it before Him - ask Him to examine it and reveal to us how we can please Him, the glorious King who deserves all the glory, honor, and praise!
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