Is There A Better Word: Hesed!

Hesed - Long Acting Love of God!
I can't think of a better word then Hesed! In a conventional sense, it simply means 'rock solid faithful love that endures to eternity.' It's a relational word. It's a word for lovers!

Bible shows us that God's hesed persists beyond any sin or betrayal to bring wholeness and graciously extend forgiveness.

Lamentations 3:31-32 ~ talks of God's unfailing love! <-- you should read the verses! They are powerful words from the Lord.

Hesed is far beyond emotions! Hesed acts! Hesed acts on behalf of loved one and comes to her rescue. Hesed is active, moving and pulsing. So the translators often translate this word as 'mercy' and 'loving kindness'. It stands up with unbending loyalty even to the most undeserving!

My parents have been married for over 60 years. Love between them is not newlywed passionate kind, but a calm commitment to journey through life's highs and lows together... a sense of love & security within family by weathering together year after year. Their love pulses and interweaves with steady stream of faithfulness and security! They embody God's hesed.

I wish we can reimagine such love in our generation. A generation that is more connected to broken families then a love that never ends, needs to reimagine a long suffering, steady, and unending love... God's love!

Tverberg writes: "Christians talk about romancing God! There's even a song. We reminiscence about the day we accepted Christ, fondly remembering the night we first met. Does that mean that we're only dating and not married? On my crabby, grumpy days, God's hesed is what I hang on to. For better or for worse. He's stuck with me -- no matter what!"

I like that. It's the languages of love, marriage and fidelity! Are you dating Jesus? Or are you married to him... for better or for worse... till death do us part! <-- except for Christians it's in death we get closest to Him! Have a blessed day! May you rest in the hesed of God!!!

Sacred Place

Romans 12:1 |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.

Paul wrote the above passage to an audience that understood the metaphor he was using in connection to worship. No animals went the the sacrificial altar and came back alive! People knew this. People understood the idea behind sacrifice. They witnessed and participated in animal sacrifices all year long at the temple, where the blood of animals flowed through the sheep gate! And they also knew that animals that were placed on the altar for sacrifice in worship were completely dead! So in a sense Paul is saying we ought to live our life as an offering of worship to God as He leads and plans and moves through us. Follow Him. Do what he says to do. Ignore your impulse to protect your reputation... become a fool for Jesus. After all you are  dead! If there is any life, it is a life lived through and in Jesus!

What would happen if Disciple Church decided to engage God in our worship with such intensity and intentionality! What if DC engaged with God in His great love for the world [John 3:16] is one of the ways that we offer ourselves for Him in worship? I mean, it is risky to have worship spill over into our work place, checkbooks, family, relationships; but experiencing God in everyday life is worth it!

What if our local Food Bank [www.shfb.org] was flooded each day with people who love Jesus? What if the Veggielution Community [veggielution.org], which serves the poor by producing organic food, was flooded by our church members each day so they can serve the poor? What if Christians were known for their generosity and sacrificial life rather then hypocrisy and what they don’t like. What if Disciple Church is known for love rather then what we are against? Let me tell you a secret... we already are pursuing this. There are people around us who have heard of us and know that we are about love and generosity. There are folks in our neighborhood who have heard of what we do at Food Bank. But what if everyone got involved! What if this toy drive for children this Christmas was not a mere exercise in love but a way of life? What if Thanksgiving was everyday for us as we love on our neighbors? What is we took loving God and loving others seriously?

Living a sacrificial life, praying, ascribing to the Lord, caring for the poor, walking in the personal purity, honoring family, serving others who don’t believe in Jesus, saying “YES” to God in difficult moments, flowing in the Holy Spirit, studying to be the best at our profession, stewarding our finances, tim, work, all of these experiences gateways in which we respond to God in worship and experience His touch. Praying for healing for others can open up encounters with God that will last a lifetime.

Disciple Church, begin to see all of life as a sacred place where you walk with God, and interact with Him as you look for what He is already doing. THen join Him in His work!

Have you seen your work life, your time, your energy, your talents, and your resources as means through which you can exchange love and affection with God?

What if you plan out your schedule for the day, try asking God this question, “Lord is there anything You want to do today, through me, in someone else’s life?” Plan to obey God, ahead of time. Risk!

Pray the following:
God You are so loving. You love the world so much, you called me and filled me with Your Holy Spirit to make every act of giving, friendship, work and love an act of worship! I choose to see my life through the lens of worship. In your name! Amen.

Express Yourself!

“Life up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.” Psalm 134:2

Have you ever wondered why people lift up their voices and hands, often kneeling and bowing down, or clap while worshipping the Lord?

The Word of God, like a broken record, reminds us that worshippers ought to physically express outwardly as well as internally. Reality is that, worship is so marked by physical actions and postures throughout the Bible, one might think that they are even more important then silent expressions.

Abraham raised his hands. Daniel bowed down. David danced, cried, clapped and played an instrument. Jeremiah cried out! Paul and Silas, raised their voices to worship in the damp dungeons of Philippi.

Now as you know, physical action is not more important then internal expressions, but we should take note as to how important physical actions are in the Bible. In fact, I will say, physical actions often direct and shape how we feel! Here is something you can do today during our worship gathering. Open your hands in front of you. Now, as you lift them up toward heaven, say to God, “I am so grateful for all You’ve done; I offer my life to You again and give You everything -- knowing that You will take care of me as You always have.”

How did you feel when you opened your hands in front of you and lifted them up to pray? Did it help you or hinder your sense of connection with God as you prayed? For many people, they actually say it helped them to sense that God is nearer when they engage a physical demonstration of the state of their heart!

The Psalmist talks about lifting hands in worship [Psalm 134:2], bowing down and kneeling [Psalm 05:6], clapping [Psalm 47:1], singing [Psalm 68:4], and expressing our hearts to God in many different ways. Maybe as you were worshipping with us, you felt that Holy Spirit was tugging you to kneel to pray while others are singing, or to lift up your hands while singing and praying; but you were too self conscious about what others might think. Ignore others, focus on God and as Nike says, “Just Do It!” It’s a matter of obedience! You might think, “I’m going to look like a fool.” Or “I don’t want to show off.” If showing off is your goal of your physical expression, then don’t do it! But your focus is obedience and honoring God, don’t worry about looking foolish or showing off! If your heart’s focus is to worship God, God rejoices over your obedience. And besides, we are going to be a fool for someone, let’s be fools for Jesus!

Our experience of God can be influenced by trying some of these physical expressions in our worship both privately and corporately.

Take a moment to pray. Pray loud enough so you can hear yourself:
“Lord, I know you gave me this body for a reason and that sometimes what I do with it affects the condition of my heart. Show me ways I can begin to express my love for You, with physical posture that will influence my spiritual posture. In Christ’s name. Amen!”

As you worship the Lord you can ask... “What small physical actions would capture what I feel toward God right now?” And then do it! If you continue in this, your worship will radical transform as you encounter God in our worship! 

Experiencing God through Appropriate Response!

One of the my favorite songs we sing on Sunday mornings goes “He is worthy of it all! He is worthy of it all!” It’s a beautiful song that expresses reasons behind our praise and worship!

Have you wondered? Why do we worship God? Why do we come together to sing, to share in communion, to pray, and to listen to God’s word?

We do it because of 1 John 4:19 | “We love because He first loved us.”

God is love! God is loving not sometimes, but all the time. 

The prophet Zephaniah says, "The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will REJOICE over you with singing." 3:17 [emphasis added]

Yes, He rejoices over you! Some translations say, "He will dance with shouts of joy for you" [Jerusalem Bible]

What an amazing picture of our God! He creates opportunities for us to experience His love through the Holy Spirit. Right now, as you read this, He wants you to know that He is near, and is telling you that all your needs are found in Him.

In light of such an all consuming love for you and me, we start to understand that worship is simply the most appropriate response to His nearness to us! God is not interested in religious performances, sitting in a service listening to talks and singing songs out of duty all the while cold and distant from the heart of Jesus. He wants us to respond to His glory, His majesty, His beauty, His sovereignty -- His all consuming love for you and me!

The only appropriate response to such a God is worship! We recognize his love, care, kindness and goodness! We gather and tell Him that with our songs, words, and actions! We exalt God by getting past our own emotions and doing what the Bible says is good and right - giving thanks to the Lord!

Pray right now: “I want to honor You, Jesus. You never change though my feelings often do. Help me to rise above my emotions to praise you! Thank you! I exalt you! In Your name. Amen!”

Friends, when we praise God because of who He is and what He has done, our emotions and thoughts line up with what is true. And as we line up with Him, we begin to sense and become aware of God’s presence and His nearness! We realize that He is indeed enthroned in our worship!

So today, tell your negative emotions to take a backseat while you give God glory! Do what the psalmist did when he was down and his emotions were scattered. He started to talk to his soul and began to command it to “hope in God!” So right now, declare praises to God. Command your soul to come near Him! In doing so, you will actually break the stronghold that a dark mood can have on you, setting you free to see your life as God does! Blessings.

Entering His Presence...

Psalmist sings... “Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth!”

Prophet Isaiah writes, “See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them.”

Another time, the Psalmist sings, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.”

God is calling us to enter the moment! It’s as if God is saying, worship songs can lead us to Him. 

Last week we touched upon the fact that we can approach God with expectation and anticipation to meet with Him. Now that our hearts have said ‘yes’ to Jesus’ nearness to us, we now can take hold of opportunities to nurture and cultivate the attitudes that draw us closer to God’s heart. And eager heart that anticipates His presence, a grateful heart that longs for His touch, we all know, can open us up to experiencing God’s renewing touch! How can we express our thankfulness more fully?

Songs are powerful! Songs can help us to give thanks, offer praise and pray!

Have you ever listen to a song, and been ‘transported’ to a whole new world, an internal atmosphere, a unique vision inside your mind? Songs are powerful! They can create an emotional and spiritual place just by wrapping us up in their beauty and meaning.

Worship songs are designed to be ‘entered’. We sing to God! We are not just singing about God! We commune with God through songs! Next time you are in corporate worship setting, try setting aside the idea that you will just sing and actually choose to make each song your meeting place with God! Ask God to meet you within each song, as you get beyond the music and enter that special place! Songs are a place you can go to me with God often. I want to meet you God, pray that!

“Lord, I thank you for the gifts of music and other tools of worship that can draw me near so close to you. Lord, guide me to the songs that most capture my heart of love for you. Help me yield to your disarming grace! In Jesus Name, amen!

Here are some ‘entering’ questions to help you move forward toward God. Ask, “Am I learning to be yielded to God to let down my guard and to enter a place where I might be healed and restored?”

Find a worship song that deeply moves you and get some get some time alone. Sing with the song loud and long, in your car or home or where ever, until you sense the presence of God. Some times it just takes time to get past ourselves to enter God’s presence. Blessings!

Anticipating His Presence

Expect to meet God. Anticipate Him drawing near to you.

1 Peter 1:8 | Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory...

One of the best places to have a very personal and intimate encounter with Jesus is in the midst of corporate worship. People talk about releasing inner inhibitions, inner self-protection and resistance by yielding to the Holy Spirit, who always ‘shows up’ to worship gathering. Holy Spirit touches their soul in a very intimate way as worshippers stir each other up in worship and surrender to His ever so render voice and unctions.

In some cases, people may feel a sense of inner joy, experience a revelatory thought, vision or weep as God kindly begins to touch an area of pain in their life. When God is near, and we welcome His gracious presence, anything can begin to happen if we’re willing. Are you willing and expectant?

In 1 Peter 1:8, Peter shares that while God is unseen physically, He connects with us intimately with our needy hearts. Sometimes, we are flooded with with an unexpected and unexplainable sense of His love and affection for us, causing us to weep. This is God's presence.

It never fails. God seems to draw near to the heart that longs and thirsts to be near Him. It's as if God is drawn to the soul that has faith and expects to engage with Him. We can choose to 'draw near', and begin to pray, 'Lord, I welcome a greater intimate connection with you no matter how I respond emotionally. I expect You to reveal Yourself to me, and I'll listen to my heart, mind and soul for thoughts and feelings that line up with Your personality as revealed in Your word."

There is an old song I am reminded of as I write this article. Chorus goes...
I want to know you

I want to hear your voice

I want to know you more

I want to touch you

I want to see your face

I want to know you more

Is this your expectation when you come to worship? If what this song communicates is your hearts desire, I believe he will come near you as you worship!

Experiencing God is like tuning your heart’s frequency to pick up on the frequency of God. He is always speaking, but it takes being attentive to hear him.

If what you’re hearing in your heart [impression, thought, images, scriptures, vision] lines up with the love of God, expressed in Jesus in the Gospels, you’re probably hearing God. Worship can open us to God’s presence and responding with love.

We have a part to play in experiencing God - raising our expectation. If we don’t anticipate God’s meeting with us, we can miss Him completely even though He is present. If we raise our expectation, we will find Him [Jeremiah 29:13] -- that’s His promise.

Pray: Holy Spirit, I want to respond to your touch. I want to respond to your initiation when it comes to touching your heart with my own. Teach me how to respond to your approach. In Jesus Name! Amen!

Preparing for God Encounter

There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus. 

~ Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal verbalized what everyone already knew in their soul; that every heart has a longing. This longing finds its expression as our inner being thirst to meet the Divine, hear His voice and encounter His presence. And it is in worship we can say ‘yes’, to his deepest of desires, and find that God has been anticipating the moments as much as we have.

Psalmist says - “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” Psalm 42:2

Following Jesus is not a religious duty with rules you must keep to gain his love, but rather it’s about developing a relationship with him. Therefore, experiencing the presence of God, in many ways, is like experiencing the presence of a person. According to the Scriptures, there is no ‘force’, no mathematical equation, no nebulous non-personal something sitting at the center of the universe. At the center of everything is a Person - a Person that can be known and a Person who desires to know you!

How do we get to know a person? First, we need to do things that connect us to that person’s heart, motivations, and desires. We study and learn who that person is, and arrange to meet him face to face. When we meet with a person, everything we studied begins to make sense as they share their life in us.

I believe experiencing God happens in a similar way. We get to learn and know Him through His Word, the Holy Bible. Then, we begin to get beyond the reading, looking for God’s personality, perspectives, motives, and attitudes to shine through each page and verse. We are getting to know who God is. With that fresh awareness in our head and heart, we then look for an opportunity to encounter God. We turn our attention to noticing God’s invisible, loving presence!

Psalm 42:2 suggests that our heart is thirsty for this -- has always been thirsty for this. The Holy Spirit makes this possible.

One place we can encounter God is in our corporate worship. As we gather together as Disciple Church we expect and look forward to God encounter as a body of Christ. As you enter into your next time of worship, ask God to meet you there, and listen with your heart for Him to personally reveal who He is to your inner thoughts and feelings. God’s presence, his ever present presence, will satisfy your longing.

Here are some questions to ponder and I pray they will launch a longing desire to meet God. Ask, “Am I ready for the next moment God has designed for us to meet? When I enter a time of personal and corporate worship, am I going through the ‘christian motions’, or am I really longing and prepared for an encounter with God?”

Prepare your heart, soul and mind as a worship gathering starts, by quieting yourself and specifically focusing in on God’s approach toward you. Expect an encounter!

Let’s move away from head knowledge Christianity, which often is more legalistic then a relationship. So many people know Christian theological grid and doctrinal standing yet their hearts are stone cold towards Jesus. Let us move away from cold aloof relationship Jesus to an intimate, love relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus! DC, let us move towards intimacy with Jesus - the greatest Love in the universe.

Pray: Jesus, to think that You would desire to meet, face to face with me, is beyond my wildest imagination. I surrender myself to you. I yield myself to the encounters with you that you have planned for this day. Holy Spirit come upon me to experience the tangible presence of God. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!

Experiencing God

Experiencing God in the midst of personal and corporate worship is essential at Disciple Church! After all, at the core of who we are as a community of God, we find our greatest strength, joy and identity in the presence of God!

The collection of songs we choose to sing each week, the way our worship is led and designed, offering prayers, corporate prayers, messages proclaimed from the pulpit - these are all born out of real encounters with Jesus in our personal and corporate life.

Yet, if you have worshipped God in any meaningful and deep way, and have connected with God in the midst of a worship song, you still know that the music, preaching, leadership alone cannot create an experience for us.

Each of us must choose to step into an encounter with Jesus! The Spirit draws us to a place where we desire and hunger to experience Him, and reveals Jesus to the thirsty heart, touching us in deep and significant ways in the process; often in the most unexpected ways.

God wants to be known and experienced by you. In fact, I believe He is eager for you to search and hunger for Him so He can gift you with His presence. Jesus is searching for the lost souls in order to draw them to an intimate relationship with Himself. Holy Spirit is wooing human souls in order to connect them intimately with Himself. In response to God’s initiative, we kiss the Divine by valuing His presence through worship, which is the primary place where our relationship with God is cultivated and nourished! 

Therefore, worship has to be experience-based; it is the central activity for the followers of Jesus. It is worship that causes all else that we do to become an act of worship. The experience of God flowing out of life of worship affects all areas of our life as the division between the secular and the sacred vanish. In fact, at our core, we are not business owners, artist, cashiers, moms, dads, children, etc. who worship but we are worshipers who are called to an intimate, nurturing relationship with God who serve the world as business owners, artists, cashiers, dads, moms, etc. So as we worship, we become increasingly sensitive and responsive to the Spirit’s presence so that we can do as Jesus did. Jesus saw what the Father was doing and He gave his life for the Father’s work!

Hebrews 12:2 | ...Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

We believe that the Spirit distributes His gifts to us, resulting in prophecy, prayer language, healing, miracles, and many other gifts we joyfully experience in His presence. 

So I believe we must value an approach to God’s presence that honors both God and people around us. We must avoid sensationalism and other efforts to manipulate either God’s presence or the response of others to His presence. We distinguish between the Spirit and the human response. We also believe that as we experience His presence through Christ by the Spirit we will be made more fully human and become a better reflection of God’s image.

As we spend the next 40 days in prayer and fasting, I want to share few gateways that will help you to increasingly experience God’s presence. Choose to enter these gateways provided for you each week and expect that He will meet with you in the process. See you next week!

Art of Growing | Daily Examen

Growth is happiness! When people grow and expand, they find joy in themselves and things they do. But how do you keep growing, day by day, week by week, month by month as a disciple of Jesus! I believe the fullness of life which Jesus shared in John 10:10 is not possible without growth. Therefore, growth is essential. 

Ignatius of Loyola, knowing that the human heart is deeply thoughtful, emotional and physical, suggested that we have a daily time to examine our life by taking time to cleanse, give thanks and reflect! It’s similar to what we call Quiet Time, which I shared in the last two articles. Ignatius called his exercise Daily Examen!

Daily Examen involves a series of simple questions that guides you to see the Holy Spirit’s work in the day you just completed, and to expect the Spirit’s work in the day ahead. You examine your souls before God, and then turn your heart to gratefulness, joy, repentance, hope and trust for tomorrow. If Quiet Time is most effective before your day begins [my opinion], then Daily Examen is designed to be most effective in the evening as you examine your day, seeking help from the Holy Spirit to guide, direct, and discover!

We approach the Daily Examen with love for God and gratefulness for His deep work in our lives.  At the heart of the practice is increasingly becoming aware of God’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s movement in your life! The primary focus in Daily Examen is in remembering. You are invited to concentrate on your experiences and encounters from the past 24 hours. The beauty of the practice is its simplicity; it is more a guide than a prescription. If some portion feels especially important on a given day, feel the freedom to spend all or most of your time in that portion. Remember, the purpose of the exercise is to increase awareness and sensitivity, not to finish a task.

Here are the series of questions you can ask during your Daily Examen. Take a moment to read and digest each section. Take your time, and give about 15 minutes at the close of your day to this spiritual exercise.

STILL HEART
Become aware of the presence of God. Recognize God’s presence with you and His desire to be with you. Consider praying to the Holy Spirit to help you to be attentive to God’s presence. Sometimes it’s helpful to repeat a simple phrase.

“Be still and know that I am God.” [Psalm 46:10].

In this moment, become present to Jesus. There may be days when you’ll need the entire time to remember and focus on the nearness of God. Don’t rush this part. Take the necessary time to be comforted by His presence.

THANKFUL HEART
Review your day with a thankful heart. See the day through a lens of thanks. Appreciate God’s gifts in each event of the day!

Meister Eckhart wrote: “If the only prayer you say in your entire life is “Thank You” that would suffice.”

Appreciate the big and small aspects of life, and recognize what reasons you have to be grateful. Focus on these experiences and encounters, helping your mind and spirit  center on the goodness and generosity of God. Use simple words to express your thankful heart to God.

“Praise be to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in heavens.” [Ephesians 1:3]

REFLECTIVE HEART
Become sensitive to your emotions. Reexamine your heart and review your positive and negative feelings. Did you choose to follow Jesus in each situation? An over-scheduled life robs us of the opportunity to learn and grow, to see how yesterday might inform today. This is the moment to press pause and learn more about yourself and about God’s activity in your life.

Try not to interpret, justify, or rationalize. Simply observe and remember. Allow yourself to wander the events and situations you’ve been in and notice details. Bring specific experiences to mind. When and where in the past 24 hours were you cooperating most fully with God’s action in your life? When were you resisting? What habits and life patterns do you notice from the past day?

Psalmist writes [143:8b,10] | “Show me the way I should go, for to you life up my soul... Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”


RESPONSIVE HEART
It’s only natural for you to respond to various remembering of the day. So take the time to journal and/or pray. Express your thoughts on the actions, attitudes, feelings, and interactions you’ve remembered as a part of this exercise. You may need to seek forgiveness, ask for forgiveness, ask for direction, express gratitude, or resolve to make some changes in order to move forward.

Beginning today, how do you want to live your life differently?
What habits or patterns do you want to continue practicing?

Here is an example of Daily Examen prayer by Augustine of Hippo:
“Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Lo, you were within, but I outside, seeking there for you, and upon the shapely things you have made I rushed headlong, I, misshapen. You were with me but I was not with you. They held me back far from you, those things which would have no being were they not in you. You called, shouted, broke through my deafness; you flared, blazed, banished my blindness; you lavished your fragrance, I gasped, and now I pant for you; I tasted you, and I hunger and thirst; you touched me, and I burned for your peace.”

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing in him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. ~ Hebrews 13:20-21

Blessings!!!

Cultivating Friendship with Jesus

From very early in my journey with the Lord, leaders and teachers told me to do quiet time. At retreats counselors would say, “QT time!” But no one actually took the time to explain thoroughly what QT stuff was all about; and why I needed to do them. It was something that had to be done at retreats to appease my leader and to eat meals! I wonder if any of you are in the same shoe? So this week I thought I’ll take the time to write about quiet time which is often refer to as devotional time or spending time alone with God.

If you want to passionately follow Jesus, quiet time is indispensable. It’s more than simply reading the bible everyday! While reading the Bible daily is very helpful, just reading the Bible will not lead you to more abundant walk with Christ. You need to take the time to soak in the word, study and learn from it everyday in order to cultivate intimate friendship with Jesus! Without this time alone with Jesus, your Christian walk will often feel dry and nonessential! But with it, you will soon understand what it means to walk with the Lord.

So here are some QT steps to help you: 

Time: Set aside around 15-30 minutes. You can choose the time according to your schedule but I prefer the early morning to spend the time with the Lord. Mornings are calmer and refreshing. No one tunes his instrument after a concert... I find my QT to be a time of readjusting my schedule and thoughts as I begin the day. But if mornings are impossible for you, find another time. But it is important to set fixed time everyday, as it brings discipline and consistency.

What do you need?
Your Bible, Notebook and pen. You can use a study bible to help you with difficult passages of bible. ESV [English Standard Version] study bible is an excellent resource to invest. As you begin your QT each morning, take a moment to ask God for his guidance to understand the passages. It is a very good practice to take notes in your QT. You will be pleasantly surprised when you go back to read your QT notes years later!

How to do QT...

Being with Prayer | Spend few minutes in worship and thanksgiving. Pick a song that uplifts your soul and readies you to receive what God has in store for you. Spend some time asking God to reveal any sins that displeases him so you can start with clear conscious. Ask for his guidance in today’s QT. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you clearly as you do your QT.

Passage for QT...

I use a small booklet called Living Life. Living Life helps me to read both the Old Testament and New Testament. But what ever material you use, reading a big section of Bible is a must. Stay away from booklets that give you one verse from the Bible and a large section that shares stories. It’s not that they are bad, but the Bible should be the main source to speak to you so that you will your own stories to write. Select 8-10 verse from a book of the Bible [if you are beginning start with the gospel - John]. 

Read the verses 2-3 times. And even though in discipleship training we use deductive method, in this case we will use the acronym ASPECT as our guide to do our QT.

A | About God - What can you learn about God from your reading?

S | Sin - Does it talk about any sin? Your sin?

P | Promise - Is there any promise to claim?

E | Example - Is there any examples to follow?

C | Command - Is there a command to obey?

T | Teaching - Is there a teaching I need to apply today/immediately? 

End with Prayer

A | Adoration - Praise God for what he has done and who he is.

C | Confession - Any sins God has revealed to you as you did your QT.

T | Thanksgiving - Is there anything you ought to thank God for?

S | Supplication - Ask God for anything he has placed in your heart [i.e. deliverance from sin, strength for the day, non-Christian friend, discipling relationship, anyone in growth group that shared prayer request...etc.]

Try it this week. Enjoy the Lord! Blessings. ~ P.Sam

All Fragments of Life as Worship!

Everyone has to work. There is no such thing as all play with no work. Just as we must eat and breathe, we must work. Work is a venue God has chosen to give us provision and bless us. We must work to live. It’s the way God has set his economy for us. We spend a third of our life in school in preparation for a dream job! But in fact, as we prepare for a job, unbeknownst to us, we work... as a student. We spend a tremendous amount of time at work. Do you love your work? Or do you hate your work?

According to the Center for American Progress, “in 1960, only 20% of mothers worked. Today, 70% of American children live in households where all adults are employed.”

In another study, the National Sleep Foundation found that the average employed American works a 46 hour work week; 38% of the respondents in their study worked more than 50 hours per week. 

We spend a whole lot of time at work. I hope you love your work!

But regardless of your attitude towards work, the meaning behind work for a Christian is quite different from the meaning of work for a person who has not received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In Genesis, God created Adam and Eve, and gave them work -- to tend the garden to make it as it ought to be. Work is more than a paycheck. Work is the means God has given us to care, serve, love, encourage and provide by expanding our energies. We aren't after money; we’re after the pleasure and the joy of God!

While not all of us will have our dream job, in fact some of us may hate our current job, God says in Colossians to see work as an act of thankful worship -- bringing glory and honor to Jesus as we express our attitudes, words, and work ethic in the world.

Colossians 3:17 | “...and whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all int he name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Do you love the work you did today or do you resent it? Why do you love it? Why do you resent it? Are you missing the preciousness and meaning behind your work because of attitudes in our own heart?

Friends, God is inviting us to see work differently. Some of your work provides service for people and some of your work exists to provide enrich lives in other ways. Let us ask God to give us new eyes to see our work from God’s perspective. Let us receive work as an expression of our worship. 

“The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same times calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament [communion].” ~ Brother Lawrence

Brother Lawrence is inviting all of us who are in Christ, to give all fragments of our work day into one holy act of worship. He calls us to see our work as a privilege rather than a burden. Have a blessed week.

Inflamed With His Love

All living things grow. It’s consistent and insistent. If you are alive, you are growing for better or for worse. I pray all of us are growing for the better. Recently, I’ve fallen in love with gardening. Early this year, I placed tiny seeds in growth containers. Some of the seeds were so tiny, breathing on them would accidentally cause the seeds to fly everywhere. Yet, in these tiny seeds was all the necessary information to grow and mature.

California is known for majestic redwoods. These majestic trees reach into the heavens as if praising their Maker. The tallest tree living now on Earth is  a redwood, reaching up to 379 feet in height without roots and up to 26 feet in diameter at shoulder height. It started with a single seed! But not all the ingredients for growth are found within itself. Water from below and the sun from above must satiate its hunger. Roots, reaching deep and wide for their supply of nutrients from the mineral rich soil, offered by the life and death of the community of trees around it, must nurture it to full maturity!

A Psalmist often likens people with trees. Psalm 1 says those who meditate on the Word of God are like trees planted near a stream of water that blossom and produce fruit in due season. In other words, the “water” we drink and the “minerals” we gather all play an essential part in shaping our character into the likeness of Jesus. For the disciples of Jesus, those who have decided go ‘all in’ with Jesus, the only way to be truly what God had intended for us to be, is to stretch out our roots in prayer, study of His word, self-care, community life and disciple making. Personal growth is intentional; it’s a daily choice, on which the Spirit breathes!

Ephesians tells us that we ought to be always growing, pursuing the fullness of Christ [Ephesians 4:13]. It’s going to take all eternity to know that full fullness, for Christ is simply that vast and limitless. It’ll take a continual and consistent time in the Lord through prayer and reading of His word, community life...etc., to grow in intimacy with Jesus. It’s life changing... of course for the better. 

Augustine’s significance in the Christian history and theology can hardly be overstated. Augustine’s emphasis on grace, God’s love and the Trinity laid a firm foundation for the western Protestant doctrines. 

He was born 354 AD in Thagaste, Northern Africa. Augustine received excellent education. Augustine’s father, Patricius, was not a believer; but his mother, Monica, was a devout believer who passionately prayed for the salvation of her son! At age 17, Augustine moved to Carthage to continue his education. There he pursued a life of sexual immorality, eventually living for thirteen years with a woman who gave birth to their son, Adeodatus. All the while, Monica pleaded before the Lord for her wayward son.

After some years, Augustine began attending a cathedral in Milan to hear the great preacher Ambrose. God used Ambrose to work in Augustine’s inner life. At this point in his life, Augustine struggled with guilt and shame due to the lost life he had lived. 

Augustine writes: My tears could not stop because of the remorse and pains whirling deep in my soul. My sin was so immensely heavy that I could never remove it with my own strength.

One afternoon in his garden, Augustine was again tormented by the life he lived when he suddenly heard what sounded like a little child’s voice repeating the words, “take and read, take and read.” When Augustine looked over the fence, however, no one was there. Glancing down at the Bible he had beside him, Augustine took God’s Word and began reading when it fell open on:

Romans 13:13-14 | 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Convicted of his sinful behavior and lifestyle, Augustine repented, gave himself completely to Jesus and was baptized on Easter morning by Bishop Ambrose. 

In that moment of salvation, interior movement, which caused his soul to be inflamed with the love of Jesus, consequently caused him to love no created things in this world for its own sake... only in the Creator of all things... Jesus! [Foster and Smith, Devotional Classic, p.194]

Friends bring your interior world to Jesus - let the great Interior Designer design your life. Welcome Him to root and establish your identity in His love for you! As your spirit is inflamed to His love, your faith and hope will grow and mature... reaching the fullness of Christ! Let’s enjoy the journey! 

Blessings, 

P.Sam

Freely You Have Received, Freely Give!

Three habits continue to challenge me and push the envelope in my spiritual journey with the Lord. These habits are simple and basic: practicing the presence of God, the sharing of the gospel story, and the daily habit of dependence upon the Holy Spirit to practically work out these things in my life as God’s child in a mission in God’s world to train devoted disciples of Jesus to impact the world!

One of my favorite professors at the Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary was my systematic theology professor, Stan Nelson. Although he did not express it so, he was a spiritual mentor who helped me to see the necessity of practicing the presence of God -- not only behind a desk in preparation for a Bible study or a sermon but finding God in the daily mundane routines of life. He reminded us that unless we have a source of life, we have nothing to give. The inner world is what is expressed in the outer world, therefore, feed your soul with the source of life.

Proverbs 4 | “Watch over your heart with all diligence. For from it flow the springs of life.”

As you already know, when the Bible talks about our heart, it’s not pointing to the internal organ that pumps blood. It’s our sinner spirit. It’s the center of who we are! You and I must guard our souls. With diligence, intentionally guard our inner world because it will not be done by accident; but it can only be done intentionally.

When we read the gospels, we learn that Jesus often went away to a lonely place to find rest with the Father. Jesus once said, “Come away with me to a lonely place and rest awhile.” It’s a reminder to our young church, Disciple Church, to go beyond ourselves, that means we must be built up on the inside. The ministry is overflow, not overwork. We don’t have anything to bring to the world; only what flows from the throne of God, an intimacy where we truly know Jesus and feel known to him. That is what ministry is: we have a source life on the inside that is more important than the approval of people.

I pray that we embrace and love the presence of God and that we are willing to make it our life. The presence is what makes everything we do impactful and effective. What does that mean? You must first receive, then you can give. Presence precedes proclamation. There is this intimacy from which it goes out. There is filling, and it over flows. So apostle Paul urges us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. He says to lose yourself in the Holy Spirit. Drown in his presence. I believe the phrase he actually uses is ‘be drunk in the Holy Spirit.’ And we must also put the word of God in our hearts. We will never outgrow the word of God - the living and active word of God that can pierce the inner world to conform to the image of Jesus.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “The Bible is like a lion, it needs no defense; let it out of its cage, and it will defend itself.” 

We’ve got something supernatural. I want our bellies to be filled with so much fire, we can’t help it but to share the gospel. As one of our forefathers had said, “Preach gospel at all times, use words if you have to.”

No matter what we do, we are disciple makers, which starts with the sharing of the gospel. We make disciples because that is what Jesus did for the precious 3 years of His earthly ministry. We make disciples because that is His final will over our life before he ascended to the right hand of the Father. We share the gospel because our disciple-follower relationship with Jesus starts with the gospel. We must tell our stories; more accurately God’s story living in and through us. Along with sharing the gospel, we must heal and cleanse and give! What did Jesus commissioned his disciples to do in Matthew 10?

“Heal the sick. Raise the dead. Cleanse the lepers. Cast our demons. Freely you have received: freely give.” They were living the kingdom life!

Last week was our monthly gospel sharing Sunday. Some of us had the burden to share the gospel with our neighbors. We approached about 45-50 people with kind words to introduce the gospel. Some people were prayed over in Jesus name. Some were given the Four Spiritual Laws so they can get acquainted to the gospel. Some people had opportunities to share the gospel with strangers. If someone rejected your sharing, it’s not you they rejected but the one who called you by His name. If they had received you, they had received also the one who sent you. I am so proud of you!

“I am not ashamed of the gospel,” proclaims Apostle Paul! Why? It is the power of God that changes the eternal destiny of humanity! Friends, don’t let this gospel become a foreign story to you? Don’t let the story that changed your life, erode. The gospel has been faithful to change the hearts of people, to save the human race. It is the telling of the story, the announcing of the gospel, that we must continue to do. The Spirit of the Lord is in us and upon us to be his witness.

Acts 1:8 | But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Blessings | P. Sam

Expressing Him Most Beautifully!

Disciples of Jesus are people who instill life in others. So, don’t judge. Don’t condemn. We are not prosecutors! We are not lawyers! Rather, we are good doctors. Good doctors pay attention to their patients. Their goal is to give life. They care not whether a patient is a good person or a bad person. A patient's past does not affect how the doctors treat their patients unless the information is helpful in healing. 

Friends, don’t walk with people who gossip about the church or people. Don’t walk with those who mock God. Don’t sit with those who scheme to defame or slander people. Don’t even let your shadow be cast over among people who want to ruin others.

Jesus got really angry once. He made his visit to the temple in Jerusalem and was appalled by what he saw. He turned the tables upside down and ran people out of the temple. Why?

Mark 11:17 | ...he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

What is prayer? It’s the way God gives life to people. Where is ‘a den of robbers?’ Is it not wherever people get together to conceive ways to kill, steal and murder?

Have you wondered why you have five fingers? When we consider the fingers, the pinky finger seems so insignificant and unimportant. The thumb is used to show approval or when something is good. And we use it often. The index finger is used to show people direction. Middle finger is used by kids to play a game of marbles.The fourth finger is the most sacred finger. It’s pure. It’s precious. Men and women put the symbol of their love on the fourth finger. When I was a child, my mom would stir medicine with the fourth finger. But how about the pinky finger? What is it used for? I guess we can say, it’s great for picking one's nose. But let’s think about this. What is the function of a nose? It’s used to breathe! Breath is life! The pinky finger opens up the ‘tunnel’ that allows you to breathe! Not so insignificant is it? One more thing. When we make promises with another human being, we use the pinky. No one uses the thumb or the index finger. What we consider to be an unimportant finger is used by billions people to express ones inner desire to show that one is trustworthy.

When God wants to impact the world, He often sends people. And when God chooses a person we often scratch our head, thinking... really? No! He often chooses the ‘pinky finger’ to do His great work! Apostle Paul writes, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not —to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” [1 Corinthians 1:27-29]

How are you these days? Are you having a bad hair day? Do you feel insignificant? Are you barely going through your daily routines? I want you to know something... God wants to use you to do extraordinary things. You are with us not by accident, God wants to use you to give life to others!

Jesus’ prayer is that God’s kingdom will come and that the will of God will be done on earth as it is being done in heaven! God’s kingdom is about saving people. God’s will is to save people through you and I. The purpose of church is to infuse life through the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

John 6:40 | For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

What was Jesus’ purpose on earth? He came to save that which was lost! Jesus did not come to live an extravagant life. He did not come to consume but to be consumed! He came to die so that those who are dying can find life through Him.

The church is the body of Christ. The church is not a building. The church is an organism; living, moving, expressing, loving, caring, encouraging, giving, serving...etc. The church is not an organization that exists for itself! Like Jesus, it exists to die to itself so that people can find life. The church is the body of Christ that expresses Him to the world! May Disciple Church express Him most beautifully where ever we find ourselves!

Overcoming Worries

You may have seen Kim Reichhelm, a former member of the US Ski Team, two-time NCAA All American for University of Colorado and the only skier to win the SA, US and World Extreme Skiing Championships in one year, on television skiing down the peak of a treacherous mountain that looks like certain death for anyone who tries to do what she does. Some have died attempting what she does. Others have become seriously injured, but the sport of extreme skiing like a siren is alluring more and more people to the dangers of the challenge. 

Tim Etchells writes, “What you focus your eyes on becomes critical in the woods [ he is talking about skiing down hills]. Look at the spaces between the trees - the exits where you hope to be traveling.” Reichhelm, the expert int he sports says, “The secret is not to stare at what you don’t want to hit.”

In other words, don’t focus on what you don’t want! Where you focus matters. An extreme skier who focuses on the trees is more likely to hit the tree because we have tendency to move towards what we focus on. The one looking for the spaces between the trees is going to avoid the obstacles. But it’s hard not to look at the trees because of fear of crashing into them. But ironically when we focus on our fears, we will likely go crashing into them. The good news is that when focus on the open places between them, we will likely to pass by them. So how do you maneuver through life so that you get past the forest of fear without getting a mouth full of tree barks. The bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

The key is to fix our focus on the truth that God will see us through no matter what! How many of you are paralyzed in the present because you play a movie in your mind of all the bad things that could possibly go wrong in the future? There is always something that can go wrong: losing a job, aging parents, wayward children, illness...etc. It is easy to focus on the trees and not so easy to focus on the open spaces. How can we deal with worries?

We focus on the face of God and in so doing, the problem that at one time seemed so big now looks almost insignificant. We have a promise in the Bible which says, “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials...” 2 Peter 2:9. Isaiah the prophet says, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16

No matter what you go through, our God will see you through them. Change your focus. Begin to concentrate on how big our God is, not how big our problems are. We know that God is able, and that is what we need to focus on. We have the confidence that nothing will happen to us that God cannot handle, and even use for our benefit.

Meditate on the following words..., “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry. . . . The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all” (Psalm 34:17-19). 

We have the assurance that God cares for us, is watching over us and using even the ugly places in life to do something beautiful.

What are you focusing on today? What is before you that seems to turn its ugly head over and over again? Focus on God who makes us “lie down in green pastures”. Focus on God who leads us to quiet waters to refresh our soul. Blessings.

Hearing the Divine

Though I have always known that prayer is a conversation, early in my Christian walk prayer was a one way conversation--usually in which I demanded God to give me things I wanted! This was the model prayer I grew up around. People would come together to pray for an extended period of time, but once they were done, they simply got up and left as if they did not expect God to speak back to them. There was no waiting to hear God. But how do you hear God?

Often people look for signs from God. When they see a ‘sign’, they then try to make sense of it. They even suggest some of them--"God if you want me to date her, have her say hi to me." Or, we use an existing circumstances to read God’s voice into them--"Wow, she said hi to me. I think that means God wants me to date her." Of course I do not deny these methods, but God has no trouble simply talking to us! The problem is that we don’t understand how He speaks to us; and we don’t know how to listen to Him.

The Bible says that God is Spirit [John 4:24]. Spirit is not physical flesh and blood. So God does not ordinarily talk to us in a physical way, as in an audible voice. Of course, God can and does speak to us in audible manner, but these instances are rare and few. It’s just not his usual method in communicating with us. His usual method is spiritual!

Some people rely on their feelings to hear God. That too is physical. Some people determine God’s voice through a feeling of electric charge, a tingling sensation, a strange burning feeling, a pain in the back...etc. Those are all physical. Of course God can give us a tingly feeling if He so chooses, but often these are psychological reaction to something God is  doing that is spiritual. You’d have same kind of feelings at a rock concert or when someone asks, “Will you marry me?” That’s you - your response to what God is doing. Emotion is you reacting to what God is doing spiritually, but that is not God. You can hunger for God so much that you can actually fabricate these reactions. Did you know you can conjure up feelings of happiness, sadness, joy and rage? That’s why as important as emotions are, we’re not to trust them completely when it comes to God. Emotions simply are too unreliable, even though they are very important to our walk with Jesus. Therefore, having a group of loving people, such as our growth group, to pray along to confirm God’s voice is important!

At this point I want to be clear. I am not saying God does not speak to us in audible or emotional way. He does! Some more than others. But that is not his usual method. We are physical but we also have a spiritual component. Remember, our spirit is not made of flesh and blood. But it’s part of us which interacts most with God. Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit to remind us and share God's thoughts with us. This is the part where we find what the Bible calls ‘the heart’ -- not the blood-pumping organ but the center of our spirit. The heart is who we are. It’s the part God sees when He looks at us. It’s what he listens to when we pray. It’s also the part of us He talks to. It’s our spiritual ear; so use your heart! God pays attention to our heart not necessarily to our words - even though words can be our heart’s expressions. So people often shout and yell when they pray and others are so desperate, like Hanna in the book of Samuel, who could not utter words but mutely expressed her hunger and desire for the Lord.

When the words we speak and heart do not match, it’s what is referred to as double-mindedness. And God does not answer such prayers. When God speaks back He usually speaks to our heart. Now the hard part is that we listen not through our physical ears but with our hearts. And by the way, when God speaks to our hearts, he does not necessarily speak to us in English. Or whatever our first language is. He speaks in raw, powerful ideas. But when we understand and want to communicate God’s message to others, we have to put it in terms we can understand. That involves a bit of interpretation on our part. That is why each Bible writer sounds unique; yet at the same time, they all sound like God. God’s message filters through their own personality and uniqueness. 

If you are a visual person, God’s messages to you are more likely to evoke visions and prophetic dreams; or perhaps you are going to notice things others don’t. If you are the words-type, you get words, poetry, and vocal messages. If you are musical, you will produce music. If you are artistic, you produce art - abstract or otherwise. If you are emotionally sensitive person, you will be moved emotionally. Everyone produces different result when God downloads into them.

Now it’s totally possible that you have been talking to God but had never realized what you were producing were the results of speaking to God and Him speaking to you. You never realized that He’s been speaking to you all of your life, even before you were a follower of Jesus... and you thought you were the one coming up with all these brilliant ideas! Interacting with God will rub off on you. He talks to us all the time, far more than we realize.

Have you had this happen to you? You are about to do something and then all of sudden something deep inside reminds you, “I should not do this; it’s wrong.” And you start to argue with this voice, trying to rationalize what you are about to do. You are thinking, but that’s me. If it’s you, why bother arguing with yourself, just do it. But no, it’s God. The Holy Spirit is speaking to your spirit, leading you towards Jesus, and trying to direct you towards God! Many people can’t hear His voice anymore because they have rejected him repeatedly. The place to start for them is to repent and turn towards God. They must sensitize their hearts again to the Lord’s voice by spending time with him, i.e. Quiet Time.

God speaks to us all the time. One by one, you have to learn to recognize which promptings are of God. We have to learn to stop confusing them with out own internal voice. That takes time and effort. But the more we practice differentiating between God’s voice and our own, the better we get at it! 

So, how do you know you’ve heard from God, or whether you are just hearing things? Here are some suggestions:

Compare what you think is God’s voice with the Bible. The bible is what we know God’s said in the past, and since God’s character does not change, it’ll be consistent between the bible and today! Do you want to know what God is like and how He sounds? Read the Bible. Read everything Jesus said. Read the Old Testament and New Testament! 

Have your growth group* members and pray together to confirm what you perceive to be God’s voice. Seek out other Christians who hear God. Namely those gifted in the prophetic. Find out which prophets have a good track record of conveying God’s messages correctly and accurately. Whenever you hear God’s voice, share what you think you heard with them. Permit them to teach and encourage through God’s message. 

Once you determine it really is God, there is only one thing left to do... OBEY! When God talks to you, He doesn’t do it to give us a warm fuzzy feelings. He gives you messages for a reason... to build the Kingdom of God. He wants us in. He’s looking for obedient disciples. If we act on His messages, and demonstrate our usefulness, He’ll give us more messages and strengthen our hearts so we can hear him clearer and better then ever before. The key is intimacy! The more intimate you are with the Lord, the more he will share. Spend time with Him this week and listen for his voice--the sweet soft voice whispering into your heart. Blessings.

Pray Without Ceasing

Talk to a Christian and most of them will tell you that you need to pray more. Take  a walk through a Christian bookstore and you'll realize that there is a flood of books written about prayer - subject range from fasting prayer to meditative breathing prayers. Prayer books are everywhere. Why is that? It’s probably because most Christians do not pray enough. And perhaps that is true, but these books do something to us that, perhaps, was not intentional by the authors. These books intentionally or unintentionally, make Christians think they do not pray enough. Again, this may be true but I also notice people pray for 15 minutes and beat themselves up for not praying for an hour a day! Or even longer!

I remember taking about 300 teenagers to a summer retreat where the theme centered around prayer. And at the end of the last worship service, the speaker challenged these students, who rarely prayed, to commit to two hour prayer a day! What? Really? Why do we get this sense that prayer should consist of lengthy conversation with God? I mean how long is a satisfactory time to spend time talking to God? How long does He want us to talk to Him? When we read the Bible, prayers don’t seem to be all that long!

When we talk about the length of prayer, we tend to go straight to 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which says ‘pray without ceasing’ or as the New Living Translation says ‘Never stop praying.’

Wait a minute! Never stop? You mean never ever stop praying? How do we do that? Don’t we need to sleep? I mean if you were to get a major surgery, don’t you want the doctor to pray at home and concentrate on the surgery rather than praying? Does that mean I have to join a group so we can pray every day, for 24 hours a day?

I get the sense that for most Christians, it doesn’t matter how much they pray, it’s simply not enough. How did intimacy with God, talking to God, become such a duty filled, agonizing activity? Is length what God meant by ‘pray without ceasing’?

Let’s take a look at the original word from which we get the phrase ‘never stop’, which we normally associate or interpret the word as never ending prayer - 24/7 prayer!

When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he wrote to the followers of Jesus who were ‘obsessed’ with the end times. They were fixated on the idea of the end times; so they neglected to do the things followers of Jesus ought to do. They were not caring for the needy. They were not obeying God’s clear commands. And they were not keeping up on the prayer times.

The Greek word ‘adialeiptos’ [ἀδιαλείπτως] means without a break, without intermission; hence the translation, ‘without ceasing’. But Paul can’t possibly mean we should pray without a break! Paul used this term again in 2 Timothy 1:3 when he prayed for his spiritual son Timothy - “unceasing remembrance of Timothy”. But this does not mean that in every waking moment Paul remembered Timothy! In fact, Jesus did not pray every waking moment. So in light of the context of the book of Thessalonians, we can surmise “without ceasing” to mean, not to take a break from prayer! In other words, don’t skip prayer. Don’t slack off on prayer. Don’t quit your regular practice of prayer! This takes into consideration two necessary categories of prayer: habitual, routine prayer at certain times as well as spontaneous prayer at other times. Often your prayer alertness leads to spontaneous prayer. 

So if you are not praying 10 times a day, relax... don’t fret! You are not expected to. It can be a nice habit to aim for, but first we have to get in the habit of praying once a day. Don’t go running in a triathlon when you can’t even run a 100 meter! And don’t feel guilty for not praying as much as the spiritual giants who prayed for 6-7 hours a day. Start with 15 minutes a day and increase your time as you begin to enjoy your time with the Lord. You can join our Upper Room on Friday nights to pray with your fellow brothers and sisters for an extended time. Get together with your growth group and pray together for that which concerns your heart. Come together five minutes before Sunday service and pray with those around you over our service.  Take a walk while talking to the Lord and making your concerns known to Him. Do some gardening early in the morning as you praise His wonderful provision over your life. Take a break from daily routine and spend some time thanking God for who He is and what He has done! Remember His thoughts over you are wonderful and beautiful. And the Bible says that God's thoughts over you are greater than all the sands in the world. That's a lot of wonderful thoughts from our Divine Father. Thank Him for that. Thank Him for your family, friends and co-workers. Make it a habit. Pray without ceasing! 

Laughter - God's Gift!

It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either. ~Wayne Dyer

Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.
~ Victor Hugo

Laughter is a very serious matter. We don’t realize how important laughter is in life! Our culture does not honor humor. We are so serious, we forgo the seriousness of laughter. To be an adult does not mean you have to be serious about everything. Young people know how to laugh and have some serious fun but once they get older and get married with kids, suddenly, everything is hyper serious and laughter seems to be a thing of the past. And such people become angry old gramps, while kids grow up to be unbalance and unhappy as their parents. Don’t we all enjoy a good laugh? I mean can you imagine a life without any laughter? 

When you watch kids, they laugh at anything and find things to laugh about in any situation. I remember reading same bedtime stories to my kids each night; but it never failed to make my kids laugh... over and over again! I read that children laugh over 300 times a day when adults laugh less than 15 times! 15? What happens to us when we grow up? Perhaps adults are too serious to have a sense of humor. 

Laughter has many levels. Some laughters are an inward smile you keep to yourself... it’s a private matter. A tender smile to a baby or your loved ones. Laughter can be polite too - to uplift someone. Remember the awful jokes your folks told? The one that made no sense at all... often brought awkward moments? Still you smiled anyways, because you did not want him to feel bad!

I heard recently that there are groups of people gathering together for the sole purpose of laughing out loud; and this activity is called laughing yoga! All of us ought to try it someday.

Here are some benefits of laughter:

• Lowers blood pressure
• Increase vascular blood flow and oxygenation of the blood
• Give a workout to the diaphragm and abdominal, respiratory, facial, leg and back muscles
• Reduce certain stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline
• Increase the response of tumor and disease killing cells
• Defend against respiratory infections
• Increase memory and learning; in a study at Johns Hopkins University Medical School, humor during instruction lead to increased test scores
• Improve alertness, creativity, and memory

[http://www.care2.com/greenliving/8-health-benefits-of-laughter.html]

Remember life is meant to be enjoyed in Jesus, no matter what our circumstances are. If you are able to laugh at any situation, you’ll most likely do well in all situations. We should not take life too seriously. Hold it loosely, it belongs to God anyways. So enjoy! And one of the best way to enjoy the beauty of life is to laugh... a lot! So laugh! Laughter is one of the best ways to be present - to be in the moment at all times. So let us laugh! Tell a joke! Make someone laugh. Hear a funny story and laugh with someone! Try it today. And when you find yourself frustrated, angry, anxious...etc., this week, remember, Jesus loves you... so smile and laugh a bit! It’s God’s gift to you and I. Besides I bet you’ll feel a lot better when you smile and laugh! 

“Enjoy your life. No matter how hard it may seem, when life gives you a thousand reasons to cry, show the world you have a million reasons to smile!” ~ unknown

Don't Be a Crab

In our Wednesday DT 1 [disciple training], we shared about speaking words that edify, words that will encourage and lift others up with positive attitudes and determination.

People say that a picture is worth 1000 words but pictures never cause revolutions. But with a little over 100 words, Lincoln stirred up our nation to fight against slavery, which eventually led to emancipation! Martin Luther King Jr., with words, caused a nation to start a revolution against racism and unequal treatment towards minorities. Words are powerful. In fact how we use words will often speak greatly about the type of person we are. Words often determine the destiny of a person. So use good words, words that edify, words that build up and lift up... it’ll certainly make an impact in you!

But sometimes it’s not about you but it’s about those who surround you! Have you been surrounded by people who suck energy out of you? Negative people who kill all your dreams and pour water over your fire? People who are always thinking about all that could go wrong; those who always identify problems with your dream with no solutions to share... do you know anyone? Are you that person?

A while back ago, I remember a conference speaker saying, “If you want to be a turkey hang out with turkeys but if you want to be an eagle, you gotta hang out with eagles.” It’s humorous but true. In fact, those around us inevitably influence us to become like them. So I often suggest the Pareto principle which is often referred to as 80/20 rule. In the business world it’s often refer to mean 20% of people do the 80% of work. But in a relationship what you want to do is to spend 80% of your time with those who will lift you up, edify you, dream with you, run with you...etc. But with the remaining 20% of time, you minister to those who need extra grace! Why because you need the 80% to feed you so you can give the energy necessary to the people who need extra grace! 

Have you noticed how successful people often surround themselves with positive, enthusiastic, and other successful people? They surround themselves with high energy people who believe in them. And when you do the same, it’ll generate energy and creativity and the belief that anything is possible... and it is. You see, the people you surround yourself with does matter. Your friends reflect the type of person you are and it points to the kind of person you will become. And you will be limited by the attitudes and beliefs that are declared around you. They will hold you back. And YOU will eventually become like them!

Now you may say, "but I know people who are successful in light of those around them." That shows that this person has put tremendous effort on their part and these folks surrounding them will not think about their sweat and blood but rather they’ll say, “You struck it lucky.” They will try and bring you down... fast... it’s in their nature.

Next time you are at a local fish market check out the crab barrel. Owners never put a lid on it because if one crab tries to crawl out, the others will grab onto it and drag it down! That’s what negative attitude does to you and me... and the world is full of it. The question is are we the type of people who drag others down? Jesus said that we are to be light of the world and to treat others with kindness and goodness. "Think of others better than yourselves" says Apostle Paul. There is a tremendous call for  the followers of Jesus to lift others up so that they can become what God has envisioned them to become. There is hope in that. And hope gives us strength to cope with anything... in fact I realize that people can come out of anything if they have a strong support system around them. Paul says that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. All things? Yes, all things. That applies to me? Absolutely!

Someone once said to become the change you are looking for! May you add and infuse joy in others. May the words coming out of your beautiful mouth encourage and spur others up to pursue a life of passion in Christ Jesus. And as you stir others up for the glory of God, you will realize you are changing for the better as well. May our growth groups be filled with encouragement and edification regardless of the circumstances because we believe in the God who believes in us! DC you are the best. Blessings. ~ P. Sam

Honesty...

Have you noticed how many people stand on the stage of the American Idol reality TV show ? Do you see what I see? It’s interesting and sad to note that many of them are convinced they are the best singers in the world when everyone else knows that they can’t sing if their life depended on it! The tragedy of modern people is that they do not have people in their lives who love them enough to tell them the truth; to be frank and open with them; to be honest with them. Everyone is aware of what needs to be said but no one has the courage or enough love to share with them. So year after year, they go on without anyone sharing what needs to be told. The Bible says to speak the truth in love [Ephesians 4:15]. An honest answer is the sign of a true friendship. That’s fellowship. In the end, people appreciate honesty over flattery. Healthy relationships are built on honesty rather than false pretense.

Do you have someone who will tell you that you have a blind spot? I mean do you have someone who loves you and cares for you enough to point out what everyone else can see but you can’t? If you want to grow spiritually, you definitely need someone like that in your life. You won’t grow without them. Why? Because healthy relationships allow expressions of frustrations, bitterness, anger and all sorts of closed up emotional baggage that lives within us.

Some may say, “We don’t want any anger in our group. We want it to be nice.” If this happens, you’ll never get to the real issues because no one is willing to express deep felt feeling and sometimes that feeling is anger. Other times, it’s guilt. As your pastor, I wish I can only share nice things with you, but as I had to last week, we had to deal with some stuff. Why because my love for you demands that I am honest with you and be able to share things that may be difficult to hear at times. And as your pastor, I am saying it’s okay to express anger in your group. It’s the only way we are going to grow together. In fact, conflict is your friend in growing deeper relationships. There is no such thing as intimacy without going through the door of frustration and conflict. When you go through the conflict door, everything in your body will say “don’t do it! Go around it!” Bit if you want to leave fake, tireless accolades behind to find real deep Christ Centered relationships, you must enter this door. When you take real issues of life into a fake and shallow community, people get upset. And people start to cover things up to remedy the issues not by dealing with them but by sweeping them under the carpet. And the group will remain fake and phony. But if you’ll stay in it and go through it with love and gentleness, this door of conflict is where the relationships are built!

Bible says that iron sharpens iron [Proverbs 27:17]. There are sparks flying when an iron hits another iron as it tries to mold and shape each other. There is no growing and molding when those sparks are absent. Likewise, there is no deep relationships without conflict because we are human beings who all have our own opinions. And when we care deeply about something we are going to butt heads; if not, that means we are not really sharing anything deeply rooted in us. People are scared to death by conflict so we try to avoid it so nothing ever gets resolved, nobody grows, and we just are...

Loving honestly is an evidence of care. If you don’t care, you don’t say anything. Proverbs 27:5 | 5 Better to correct someone openly than to let him think you don't care for him at all.

This is why getting together in growth groups is so important. Remember few weeks ago we said that number one need in developing deep relationship is frequency. That is the first building block. Why? Because if you don’t spend enough time together you can’t build any trust. And if you don’t build trust, you can’t ever be honest with them. You can’t be honest with anyone you just see once a week or once a while. You can’t deal gut level issues when you are just acquaintance. You have to earn the right to be frank. And that happens over time!

THREE RULES FOR BEING HONEST WITH SOMEONE:

1. Praise Publicly but Correct Privately.I don’t care if it’s your kids, your wife or someone in your group. Compliment and praise in public, correct in private.
2. Correct when they are up and not when they are down.
   You don’t hit a person when they’re down, when they’re emotionally low. You don’t correct right after your husband/wife had a hard day. You don’t correct when your kids are just about to hit the sack. Ask God for wisdom so your timing is correct! Sometimes, in correcting, timing is everything.
   
3. Never offer correction until you’ve proven  you’re open to it yourself.
   I mean you have no right to correct anyone until you have proven that you are open to it yourself. That’s why humility, which we talked about before, comes before honesty! You’ve got to be open to it first.

”Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal.”  The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:1 “Brothers and sisters, if someone in your group says something wrong, you who are spiritual should go to that person and gently help them make it right again.”