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.