It is our weekly habit to meet the core leaders and share about our experiences. That is the time when we gather and testify God's greatness in our lives though at some point of our talks, we still come to the topic about how we failed on that week.
As I was analyzing the conversations and stories, one of our leaders talked about Abraham and Isaac. Have you heard about their story?
Abraham is a very wealthy person at their time. Though he is old back then, what He ask for is a child from his own blood and family. Then after some years of faithfully waiting, God answered his prayer. Her wife bore a child name Isaac.
Since Abraham was longing for that son, His attention was too much given to Isaac though of course we believe that Abraham still stands faithful to God. At one point of his life, God spoke to him. (Gen 22:2) Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." (3) Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. (4) On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. (5) He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." (6) Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, (7) Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?" "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" (8) Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together. (9) When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. (10) Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. (11) But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. (12) "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
This was a very tough situation for Abraham, imagine he was challenge by God to sacrifice his only son from Sarah even though it was his very loving child. What I love about this story is that Abraham was truly faithful to God even to the extent of giving off his son.
TO sum it up, this is the danger of having idols in our lives. Time will come that God may remove them from our hands if we will give much attention to them rather than knowing God. If fact, we all know that we are made for His purpose. I guess its time for us to give up those idols then come back to God.
Again, if there are idols that we have in our lives, it will be best to take them off and make God the most important of all.
By: Edwin Joseph
Saturday, September 13, 2008
After Surrender— Then What?
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Labels: Bible Devotionals, Christian Lifestyles, Come Close To God, Daily Devotions, Daily Spiritual Encouragement, Instant Daily Devotion, RBC, Utmost For His Highest, Youth Devotionals
Labels: Bible Devotionals, Christian Lifestyles, Come Close To God, Daily Devotions, Daily Spiritual Encouragement, Instant Daily Devotion, RBC, Utmost For His Highest, Youth Devotionals
I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. John 17:4
True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.
Surrender for Deliverance. "Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest" ( Matthew 11:28 ). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— "Come to Me." And it is a voluntary coming.
Surrender for Devotion. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . . " (Matthew 16:24). The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being. He says, "If you want to be My disciple, you must give up your right to yourself to Me." And once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9 and (Philippians 4:19).
Surrender for Death. ". . . another will gird you . . ." (John 21:18 ; also see John21:19 ). Have you learned what it means to be girded for death? Beware of some surrender that you make to God in an ecstatic moment in your life, because you are apt to take it back again. True surrender is a matter of being "united together [with Jesus] in the likeness of His death" ( Romans 6:5 ) until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.
And after you surrender— then what? Your entire life should be characterized by an eagerness to maintain unbroken fellowship and oneness with God.
From: RBC - Utmost For His Highest
True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will. Yet God never forces a person’s will into surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. And once that battle has been fought, it never needs to be fought again.
Surrender for Deliverance. "Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest" ( Matthew 11:28 ). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— "Come to Me." And it is a voluntary coming.
Surrender for Devotion. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . . " (Matthew 16:24). The surrender here is of my self to Jesus, with His rest at the heart of my being. He says, "If you want to be My disciple, you must give up your right to yourself to Me." And once this is done, the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient (see 2 Corinthians 12:9 and (Philippians 4:19).
Surrender for Death. ". . . another will gird you . . ." (John 21:18 ; also see John21:19 ). Have you learned what it means to be girded for death? Beware of some surrender that you make to God in an ecstatic moment in your life, because you are apt to take it back again. True surrender is a matter of being "united together [with Jesus] in the likeness of His death" ( Romans 6:5 ) until nothing ever appeals to you that did not appeal to Him.
And after you surrender— then what? Your entire life should be characterized by an eagerness to maintain unbroken fellowship and oneness with God.
From: RBC - Utmost For His Highest
LIFE IS DIFFICULT
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Labels: Bible Devotionals, Christian Lifestyles, Crosswalk Devotionals, Daily Devotions, Daily Spiritual Encouragement, Instant Daily Devotion, Spiritual Encouragement, Youth Devotionals
Labels: Bible Devotionals, Christian Lifestyles, Crosswalk Devotionals, Daily Devotions, Daily Spiritual Encouragement, Instant Daily Devotion, Spiritual Encouragement, Youth Devotionals
Read Job 1:1--12
Life is difficult. That blunt, three-word statement is an accurate appraisal of our existence on this earth. When the writer of the biblical book named Job picked up his stylus to write his story, he could have begun with a similar-sounding and equally blunt sentence, "Life is unfair."
No one could argue the point that life is punctuated with hardship, heartaches, and headaches. Most of us have learned to face the reality that life is difficult. But unfair? Something kicks in, deep within most of us, making it almost intolerable for us to accept and cope with what's unfair. Our drive for justice overrides our patience with pain.
Life is not just difficult, it's downright unfair. Welcome to Job's world.
Job was a man of unparalleled and genuine piety. He was also a man of well-deserved prosperity. He was a godly gentleman, extremely wealthy, a fine husband, and a faithful father. In a quick and brutal sweep of back-to-back calamities, Job was reduced to a twisted mass of brokenness and grief. The extraordinary accumulation of disasters that hit him would have been enough to finish off any one of us today.
Job is left bankrupt, homeless, helpless, and childless. He's left standing beside the ten fresh graves of his now-dead children in a windswept valley. His wife is heaving deep sobs of grief as she kneels beside him, having just heard him say, "Whether our God gives to us or takes everything from us, we will follow Him." She leans over and secretly whispers, "Why don't you just curse God and die?"
His misery turns to mystery with God's silence. If the words of his so-called friends are hard to hear, the silence of God becomes downright intolerable. Not until the thirty-eighth chapter of the book does God finally break the silence, however long that took. Even if it were just a few months, try to imagine. You've become the object of your alleged friends' accusations, and the heavens are brass as you plead for answers from the Almighty, who remains mysteriously mute. Nothing comes to you by way of comfort. It's all so unfair; you've done nothing to deserve such anguish.
Pause and ponder their grief---and remember that Job had done nothing to deserve such unbearable pain. If it had been you, how would you have responded?
From: CrossWalk Devotionals - Charles R. Swindoll
Life is difficult. That blunt, three-word statement is an accurate appraisal of our existence on this earth. When the writer of the biblical book named Job picked up his stylus to write his story, he could have begun with a similar-sounding and equally blunt sentence, "Life is unfair."
No one could argue the point that life is punctuated with hardship, heartaches, and headaches. Most of us have learned to face the reality that life is difficult. But unfair? Something kicks in, deep within most of us, making it almost intolerable for us to accept and cope with what's unfair. Our drive for justice overrides our patience with pain.
Life is not just difficult, it's downright unfair. Welcome to Job's world.
Job was a man of unparalleled and genuine piety. He was also a man of well-deserved prosperity. He was a godly gentleman, extremely wealthy, a fine husband, and a faithful father. In a quick and brutal sweep of back-to-back calamities, Job was reduced to a twisted mass of brokenness and grief. The extraordinary accumulation of disasters that hit him would have been enough to finish off any one of us today.
Job is left bankrupt, homeless, helpless, and childless. He's left standing beside the ten fresh graves of his now-dead children in a windswept valley. His wife is heaving deep sobs of grief as she kneels beside him, having just heard him say, "Whether our God gives to us or takes everything from us, we will follow Him." She leans over and secretly whispers, "Why don't you just curse God and die?"
His misery turns to mystery with God's silence. If the words of his so-called friends are hard to hear, the silence of God becomes downright intolerable. Not until the thirty-eighth chapter of the book does God finally break the silence, however long that took. Even if it were just a few months, try to imagine. You've become the object of your alleged friends' accusations, and the heavens are brass as you plead for answers from the Almighty, who remains mysteriously mute. Nothing comes to you by way of comfort. It's all so unfair; you've done nothing to deserve such anguish.
Pause and ponder their grief---and remember that Job had done nothing to deserve such unbearable pain. If it had been you, how would you have responded?
From: CrossWalk Devotionals - Charles R. Swindoll
The Lamb of God
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Labels: Bible Devotionals, Daily Devotions, Daily Spiritual Encouragement, Instant Daily Devotion, Max Lucado, Spiritual Encouragement, Youth Devotionals
Labels: Bible Devotionals, Daily Devotions, Daily Spiritual Encouragement, Instant Daily Devotion, Max Lucado, Spiritual Encouragement, Youth Devotionals
“At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.”
Matthew 27:45 TEV
Of course the sky is dark; people are killing the Light of the World.
The universe grieves. God said it would. “On that day…I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight…I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day” (Amos 8:9-10 RSV).
The sky weeps. And a lamb bleats. Remember the time of the scream? “At about three o’clock Jesus cried out.” Three o’clock in the afternoon, the hour of the temple sacrifice. Less than a mile to the east, a finely clothed priest leads a lamb to the slaughter, unaware that his work is futile. Heaven is not looking at the lamb of man but at “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 RSV).
From: Max Lucado
Matthew 27:45 TEV
Of course the sky is dark; people are killing the Light of the World.
The universe grieves. God said it would. “On that day…I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight…I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and the end of it like a bitter day” (Amos 8:9-10 RSV).
The sky weeps. And a lamb bleats. Remember the time of the scream? “At about three o’clock Jesus cried out.” Three o’clock in the afternoon, the hour of the temple sacrifice. Less than a mile to the east, a finely clothed priest leads a lamb to the slaughter, unaware that his work is futile. Heaven is not looking at the lamb of man but at “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29 RSV).
From: Max Lucado
Scared of the Dark
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Labels: Bible Devotionals, Daily Devotions, Daily Spiritual Encouragement, Instant Daily Devotion, New Wine Skin, Spiritual Encouragement, Youth Devotionals
Labels: Bible Devotionals, Daily Devotions, Daily Spiritual Encouragement, Instant Daily Devotion, New Wine Skin, Spiritual Encouragement, Youth Devotionals
Matthew 6:22
The eye is the lamp of the body. . . If your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness.
Darkness vs. Light
Most carnivals and theme parks feature a “Tunnel of Terror.” It is a dark place with frightening monsters, and oversized tarantulas that suddenly drop down or pop up right in front of a person. People pay money for the adrenalin rush of confronting pretend ghosts and monsters. It’s altogether different, though, if we find ourselves alone in the woods at night without a flashlight. And it’s even worse to be walking down an unlit alley in the middle of a big city. The slightest sound gnaws at our nerves, setting us on edge and making our survival instincts kick in.
The darkness of evil is similar to both of these experiences. Because we have a sin nature, evil often attracts us like a carnival ride. We lie to get out of trouble. We might experiment with alcohol or marijuana just to see what it’s like. We might get an adrenalin rush by shoplifting at the mall or sneaking out at night to be with friends. These situations are similar going through a “Tunnel of Terror.” They are scary, but the consequences are not necessarily permanent.
The reality of evil, though, is much closer to walking through unknown, potentially dangerous territory in the dark. Just as we could fall into a ditch and break a leg in the woods, we can suffer severe spiritual injury by walking in spiritual darkness. In fact, spiritual darkness holds the threat of the ultimate evil, eternal separation from God in hell.
Once we realize how perilous it is to walk in darkness, we know we need a rescuer. Just as the arrival of police car with its headlights beaming would drive away our terror in that dark alley, the light of the gospel beams into our hearts, giving us spiritual safety and security. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Every one of us is born in darkness. We’re all walking in the dark in a blind alley with hosts of demonic powers lurking in the doorways ready to pounce on us. But, we don’t have to stay in the dark. At any moment, we can cry out “Lord, save me!” When we do, He immediately shines His light into our lives and frees us from the darkness and terror of sin, evil, and hell.
Today’s Prayer:
Dear Jesus, help me see how dangerous it is to live in the darkness, dabbling in sinful behaviors. Please, shine your light of salvation into my heart today. Also, give me your Holy Spirit to help me recognize when I am heading into the darkness instead of walking in the light. Amen.
From: New Wine Skin - Written by Martha E Menne
The eye is the lamp of the body. . . If your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness.
Darkness vs. Light
Most carnivals and theme parks feature a “Tunnel of Terror.” It is a dark place with frightening monsters, and oversized tarantulas that suddenly drop down or pop up right in front of a person. People pay money for the adrenalin rush of confronting pretend ghosts and monsters. It’s altogether different, though, if we find ourselves alone in the woods at night without a flashlight. And it’s even worse to be walking down an unlit alley in the middle of a big city. The slightest sound gnaws at our nerves, setting us on edge and making our survival instincts kick in.
The darkness of evil is similar to both of these experiences. Because we have a sin nature, evil often attracts us like a carnival ride. We lie to get out of trouble. We might experiment with alcohol or marijuana just to see what it’s like. We might get an adrenalin rush by shoplifting at the mall or sneaking out at night to be with friends. These situations are similar going through a “Tunnel of Terror.” They are scary, but the consequences are not necessarily permanent.
The reality of evil, though, is much closer to walking through unknown, potentially dangerous territory in the dark. Just as we could fall into a ditch and break a leg in the woods, we can suffer severe spiritual injury by walking in spiritual darkness. In fact, spiritual darkness holds the threat of the ultimate evil, eternal separation from God in hell.
Once we realize how perilous it is to walk in darkness, we know we need a rescuer. Just as the arrival of police car with its headlights beaming would drive away our terror in that dark alley, the light of the gospel beams into our hearts, giving us spiritual safety and security. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Every one of us is born in darkness. We’re all walking in the dark in a blind alley with hosts of demonic powers lurking in the doorways ready to pounce on us. But, we don’t have to stay in the dark. At any moment, we can cry out “Lord, save me!” When we do, He immediately shines His light into our lives and frees us from the darkness and terror of sin, evil, and hell.
Today’s Prayer:
Dear Jesus, help me see how dangerous it is to live in the darkness, dabbling in sinful behaviors. Please, shine your light of salvation into my heart today. Also, give me your Holy Spirit to help me recognize when I am heading into the darkness instead of walking in the light. Amen.
From: New Wine Skin - Written by Martha E Menne
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