Praising God with Ukelele

Paul Washer - Family, Dating, Relationship (I)

"Do You Now Believe?"

"'By this we believe ....' Jesus answered them, 'Do you now believe?'" (John 16:30-30). Now we believe...." But Jesus asks, Do you...? Indeed the hour is coming... that you... will leave Me alone" (16:31-32). Many Christian workers have left Jesus Christ alone and yet tried to serve Him out of a sense of duty, or because they sense a need as a result of their own discernment. The reason for this is actually the absence of the resurrection life of Jesus. Our soul has gotten out of intimate contact with God by leaning on our own religious understanding (see Proverbs 3:5-6). This is not deliberate sin and there is no punishment attached to it. But once a person realizes how he has hindered his understanding of Jesus Christ, and caused uncertainties, sorrows, and difficulties for himself, it is with shame and remorse that he has to return. We need to rely on the resurrectiuon life of Jesus on a much deeper lever than we do now. We should get in the habit of continually seeking His counsel on everything, instead of making our own commonsense decisions and then asking Him to bless them. He cannot bless them; it is not in His realm to do so, and those decisions are severed from reality. If we do something simply out of a sense of duty, we are trying to live up to a standard that competes with Jesus Christ. We become a prideful, arrogant person, thinking we know what to do in every situation. We have put our sense of duty on the throne of our life, instead of enthroning the resurrection life of Jesus. We are not told to "walk in the light" of our conscience or in the light of a sense of duty, but to "walk in the light as He is in the light..." (1 John 1:7). When we do something out of a sense of duty, it is easy to explain the reasons for our actions to others. But when we do something out of obedience to the Lord, there can be no other explanation- just obedience. That is why a saint can be so easily ridiculed and misunderstood. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Impovwrished Ministry of Jesus

"Where then do You get that living water?" (John 4:11). The well is deep"- and even as great deal deeper than the Samaritan woman knew! (4:11). Think of the depths of human nature and human life; think of the depth of the "wells" in you. Have you been limiting, or impoverishing, the ministry of Jesus to the point that He is unable to work in your life? Suppose that you have a deep "well" of hurt and trouble inside your heart, and Jesus comes and says to you, "Let not your heart be troubled..." (John 14:1). Would your response be to shrug your shoulders and say, "But, Lord, the well is too deep, and even you can't draw up quietness and comfort out of it." Actually, that is correct. Jesus doesn't bring anything up from the wells of human nature- He brings them down from above. We limit the Holy One of Israel by remembering only what we have allowed Him to do for us in the past, and also by saying, "Of course, I cannot expect God to do this particular thing." The thing that approaches the very limits of His power is the very thing we as disciples of Jesus ought to believe He will do. We impoverish and weaken His ministry in us the moment we forget He is almighty. The impoverishment is in us, not in Him. We will come to Jesus for Him to be our comforter or our sympathizer, but we refrain from approaching Him as our Almighty God. The reason some of us are such poor examples of Christianity is that we have failed to recognize that Christ is almighty. We have Christian attitudes and experiences, but there is no abandonment or surrender to Jesus Christ. When we get into difficult circumstances, we impoverish His ministry by saying, "Of course, He can't do anything about this." We struggle to reach the bottom of our own well, trying to get water for ourselves. Beware of sitting back, and saying, "It can't be done." You will know it can be done if you will look to Jesus. The well of your incompleteness runs deep, but make the effort to look away from yourself and look toward Him. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Our Misgivings About Jesus

"The woman said to Him, 'Sir, You have nothing to draw [water] with, and the well is deep'" (John 4:11). Have you ever said to yourself, "I am impressed with the wonderful truths of God's Word, but He can't really expect me to live up to that and work all those details into my life!" When it comes to confronting Jesus Christ on the basis of His qualities and abilities, our attitudes reflect religious superiority. We think His ideals are lofty and they impress us, but we believe He is not in touch with reality- that what He says cannot actually be done. Each of us thinks this about Jesus in one area of our life or another. These doubts or misgivings about Jesus begin as we consider questions that divert our focus away from God. While we talk of our dealings with Him, others ask us, "Where are you going to get enough money to live? How will you live and who will take care of you?" Or our misgivings begin within ourselves when we tell Jesus that our circumstances are just a little too difficult for Him. We say, "It's easy to say, 'Trust in the Lord,' but a person has to live; and besides, Jesus has nothing with which to draw water- no means to be able to give us these things." If we are honest, we will admit that we never have misgivings or doubts about ourselves, because we know exactly what we are capable or incapable of doing. But we do have misgivings about Jesus. And our pride is hurt even at the thought that He can do what we can't. My misgivings arise from the fact that I search within to find how He will do what He says. My doubts spring from the depths of my own inferiority. If I detect thses misgivings in myself, I should bring them into the light and confess them openly- "Lord, I have had misgivings about You. I have not believed in Your abilities, but only my own. And I have not believed in Your almighty power apart from my finite understanding of it." [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Destitution of Service

"... though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved" (2 Corinthians 12:15). Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, "It doesn't really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, buit also that I may be able to get you to God." "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor..." (2 Corinthians 8:9). And Paul's idea of service was the same as the Lord's. He did not care how high the cost was to himself- he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul. The institutional church's idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ's idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually, "out-socialized" the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see Matthew 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one's willingness to preach the gospel, but one's willingness to do something like washing the disciples' feet- that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul's delight to spend his life For God's interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns- "What if God wants me to go over there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things." All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ's idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others. [from "My Utmost fro His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Delight of Sacrifice

"I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls..." (2 Corinthians 12:15). Once "the love of God has been poured out in your hearts by the Holy Spirit," we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ's interests and purposes in others' lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christians service to be guided by our own insterests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13). I don't throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interest in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose- that he might win prople to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22). When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a "doormat" withiout resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul's motive at all. Infact, he stated, "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren..." (Romans 9:3). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Determination to Serve Others

"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve..." (Matthew 20:28). Jesus also said, "Yet I am among you as the One who serves" (Luke 22:27). Paul's idea of service was the same as our Lord's- "... ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake" (2 Corinthians 4:5). We somehow have the idea that a person called to the ministry is called to be different and above other people. But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a "doormat" for others- called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior. Paul said, "I know how to be abased..." (Philippians 4:12). Paul's idea of service was to pour his life out to the last drop for others. And whether he received praise or blame made no difference. As long as there was one human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt a debt of service to that person until he did come to know Him. But the chief motivation behind the Paul's service was not love for others but love for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another. Paul's understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. "I was formerly blesphemer, a prosecuter, and an insolent man..." (1 Timothy 1:13). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance

THE DISCIPLINE OF SPIRITUAL PERSEVERANCE "Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10). Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero is going to be conquered. Our greatest fear is not that we will be damned, but that somehow Jesus Christ will be defeated. Also, our fear is that the very things our Lord stood for- love, justice, forgiveness, and kindness among men- will not win out in the end and will represent an unattainable goal for us. Then there is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated. If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God. But one of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting for God. He brings fulfillment, "because you have kept My command to persevere..." (Revelation 3:10). Continue to persevere spiritually. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Do You Really Love Him?

"She has done a good work for Me" (Mark 14:6). If what we call love doesn't take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love. Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I'm not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things- things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? "She has done a good work for Me." There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over your personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned abour the way we walk and talk and look. out of fear of offending God. "... but perfect love cast out fear..." once we are surrendered to God (1 John 4:18). We should quit asking ourselves, "Am I of any use?" and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Taking The Initiative Against Daydreaming

"Arise, let us go from here" (John 14:31). Daydreaming about something in order to do it properly is right, but daydreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. In this passage, after having said these wonderful things to His disciples, we might have expected our Lord to tell them to go away and meditate over them all. But Jesus never allowed idle daydreaming. When our purpose is to seek God and to discover His will for us, daydreaming is right and acceptable. But our inclination is to spend time daydreaming over what we have already been told to do, it is unacceptable and God's blessing is never on it. God will take the initiative against this kind of daydreaming by prodding us to action. His instructions to us will be along the line of this; "Don't sit or stand there, just go!" If we are quietly waiting before God after He has said to us, "Come aside by yourselves..." then that is meditation before Him to seek His will (Mark 6:31). Beware, however, of giving in to mere daydreaming once God has spoken. Allow Him to be the source of all your dreams, joys, and delights, and be careful to go and obey what He has said. If you are in love with someone, you don't sit and daydream about that person all the time- you go and do something for him. That is what Jesus Christ expects us to do. Daydreaming after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

John 13:34-35 I am thrown away if Christ does not live through me

John 13:34-35 34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." We are witnessing a huge wave passing through our midst. It is a like a post-earthquake tsunami or the large storm Sandy which is trying to shake our church and our homes. Last week was the first service we had for 2013. Do you remember the message? To be victorious in the spiritual battle you must continue to remember and change your heart. The reason being, that as a pastor if I use the Scripture as a tool to bless the congregation, then we should becomes partners. I could preach you to receive blessings and you could give me part of it. It is simple. However, no matter how you approach it, no matter how I call upon the name of Jesus to give you blessings, if you the receiver of the blessings, are not ready to attain the blessings, then the blessings cannot be yours. During Friday night service, when Pastor Lee teaches from the Word, she teaches repeatedly that the Bible gives us two commands. That which we are to do and that which we are not to do. If we do what we are told then it will be a blessing for us. If you do not do what we are commanded not to do, that also is a blessing. We do not do what we are told yet try to receive the blessings. And we also do that which we are told not to do and still try to be blessed. Is this not the reason why we are not receiving the blessings? The book of Numbers is filled with blessings. If you do what follows then you will be blessed. And if you do not do the things you are told not to then you will not be cursed. To say it another way, if you sin then you will be cursed. If you do not sin then you will not be cursed. Then if you stay away from the path of sin you will be blessed. Unless you live a life of obedience, you will not be blessed no matter what blessings are preached from the pulpit. This is the curse. If I proclaimed the blessing of love for you but you do not love, you do not forgive, and you fail to receive the blessing, then it is a curse. You may think that because the pastor preaches on the messages of blessings, peace, health or any positive message that you are blessed, but it is only in knowledge that you know about the blessings, unless you apply it to your life and reap its fruit it will all be useless. It is a curse. There are many points that we can discuss on this matter. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Many people today go through discipleship training. They do an incredible amount of Bible study. But key to being a disciple is love. Without it no matter how much discipleship training I receive no one will know that I am disciple of Jesus. Jesus will not receive that person as His disciple. Then what use will it be? What does all that disciple training matter? "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." What does it mean when He says that "by this everyone will know"? People will know by my actions. That is what I will be recognized for. Though I have all the knowledge and have received all the training and have thoroughly studied the Bible, and received a doctorate in seminary school, but when I live my life if it is no different from those who are in the world, then will I be known as a disciple of Jesus? No. Will Jesus know me as His disciple? No. You do not have to study nor do anything, but as long as you can love others they way Jesus loves you then you will be His disciple and everyone will know that you are. The Bible is telling us to live a life that shows our love. If that is so, then we can be the one who receives all the blessings. The source from which we can receive all the blessings as a disciple of Jesus is to live a life on the foundation of obedience. John writes again in his later letter about love and I will introduce a few verses to you. 1 John 1:7 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. Though I believe Jesus, and confess His name, if I do not live in the light, and do not have fellowship with one another, then the blood of Jesus will not purify us. But we confess with our mouths, we say we believe in the Lord but our lives are a mess but we think that because that we have called upon the name of Jesus that we are forgiven, but John tells us that it is not so. He tells us it is only when we live in the light and when we have fellowship then will the blood of Jesus, the Son, purify us from all our sin. A life that is not in Jesus is a life that will not be forgiven. It means the same thing either way you look at it. 1 John 2:3-6 3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4 Whoever says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands It is not enough to say that we know Jesus, we must keep His commands, but what commands? The new command He gave us which was to love one another. We must keep this command to be able to say that I know Jesus. If I do not love, then I do not know Jesus because I am not keeping His command. Without knowing Jesus and Jesus not knowing me can I say that I am going to heaven? Is there a back door to heaven? There is not. Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. If you desire to live a life in Jesus, then you will do as He did. We think by being able to answer a few questions that makes us Christians, but is the Bible not teaching us otherwise? 1 John 3:22-23 22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. To love one another as he commanded us. We must love as He has commanded us so that when we ask anything in Jesus' name then we will receive. The requirement for having your prayers answered is living out the command that He has given us. 1 John 4:20 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. Do I need to explain this? Though I do not explain this it has already been explained. In church we are all brothers and sisters. We sing hymns that we are all brothers and sisters and that we are all gathered here to worship God. But if I hate a brother or sister and dislike them for whatever reason, then can I say that I love God? I cannot. If I hate the pastor, elder, deacon or any other member, but I say that I love God, then is that confession of love true? It is false. But when we gather together we speak as if there is no consequence to our words. What we are really saying is that I do not believe Jesus, I do not love God. This is the true confession of our mouths. We are told that the words we speak will be the words used against us in judgement. We forget that the words I speak rashly out of my emotions will be used against me in judgement. The Bible tells us that through the tongue that there is life and death. It tells us to be careful of what we speak. But we do not. We speak whatever we feel like and then say sorry and think that everything is fine. Before we say sorry, the words that we have spoken from out of our hearts are a confession that we do not love God. It is the same thing. As Christians we must be careful. If the Bible is telling us that what we are confessing unseen things through our actions, then how attentive are we to be to God? The Bible is warning us but we do not even consider the thoughts. Why? Because we do not want to do these things. Isn't it the truth? It is because it pierces your heart. It is difficult. But the Bible keeps telling us that we will be judged for the lives that we will have lived. All that you have done on your own thoughts, standards, judgements. In everything that you have lived when you bring it before God as perfect, having cast out demons in the name of Jesus, receiving power, doing many things for God, gave many offerings, served in the church, went on mission trips, it will all be brought before God. But God will say that He will use a different standard to judge you and judges you as one who did it all illegally, then where will you go? Where will God send me? I will be cast out. If the Word that I choose not to see, is the Word by which I am judged, then I will have nothing to say. If I do not live the life as a disciple living in love as Jesus has shown, and not known as a disciple by others but used only the name of the Lord, then this life will be a wasted life. We must think about this life that is being shown to us as we live our lives of faith. 2 John 1:6 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. The truth is, the entire Bible says that have you heard, and to do as you have heard. It is telling us to not only keep it in our heads. We are to listen and to do. We are to love. If it says to forgive then we are to forgive. If it says to share then we are to share. If it says to serve then we are to serve. If today I cannot find it in my heart to forgive the other person and the day passes. You are too love but you rather you judge the other person. You are to share but you make excuses. You are to serve but you desire to lead. You have missed these moments and it is all being recorded by God When God brings up this matter to you, what will you say to him? If you have the confidence to answer then go ahead, but I have nothing to say to him. But as I stand here before you today with the message that I have been given the words in Scripture that are presented to you today, you must hear it and live it, that you may receive the blessings as disciples of Jesus. What is a basic preparation of one who wants to receive blessings? With the start of 2013 I desired many great blessings Blessing of revival, power and material. Do you not all also desire these things? If your neighbor this year was blessed with $1 million and you only half-million how would you feel? If your neighbor received 1 million you would want two million. Though I only speak figuratively in numbers but if you truly desire to receive spiritual blessings of God then as you desire 1 million or 2 million then you must prepare yourself to receive those blessings. You must live the life that will be blessed. You are not to look at others and be jealous of them. You must right yourself with God so that you can live the life, then will you not be ready to receive the blessings? When we look at the book of the law given by Moses we see that God promises many blessings. But there is a requirement for all of those blessings. That is his word. If you can confess that God is love, you must be able to know love, receive love, which is what you must do in order to love. You must first meet the requirement of receiving that love to make it your love. What is that love? The love that Jesus gave to me as he died on the cross must be lived out in my life. Then God's love will be complete in me. Is this not so? A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, you must love one another. What is the result of his love for us? He died on the cross. This is how we are to love to know the love of God. But we only try to love in theory. What is theoretical love? We use the other’s love to satisfy my need. What is a father's love? Children answered that it is when the father provides for the things that the child wants. People think that this is love. That is not love. True love is scolding the person when they are doing something wrong. Commending them for doing something well. Saying no to unnecessary requests and providing things though it is not asked for. Generally speaking when we speak of love we usually are speaking of our own satisfaction. We think that our wife loves us when they do what we want. We think our children love and respect us when they do what we want. Is this love? It may not be love. True love is giving freely without seeking anything in return. It is not about receiving but giving. To give without any demand like Jesus came to die for us. Everything is a sacrifice. Everything is at a loss for you. It is throwing everything away. That is love. Is this how you love? It is impossible. How can you love when you desire to be satisfied? The Bible tells us in order to receive blessings you must first do the act that is worthy of blessings. You must listen to the commands of God and live in obedience. Why is it this way? It is because God is the giver and you must satisfy Him in order to receive from. A parent will make sacrifices to provide for the child that is pleasing to them. It is the same in our life. I must please the one who is capable of blessing me in order to receive the blessing. I must live a life according to God's word and love others. To live my life as a disciple of Jesus that I may be living as a child of God. If this is what the Bible is teaching, then I must live in love so that God can be in me. If you choose to only receive God's love and not live in love and then you are living only for your satisfaction. It is a love that has nothing to do with God. If you love you must love in a manner pleasing to God so that you may receive his love. As I give you this message I examine my own life. In a time before I knew what living in the spirit was, as I was slowly coming into this life I got hung up on 1%. It was that last one percent that caused me to lose the blessing that God has prepared for me. I look back at it and laugh now but if I were to realize it a little bit sooner I could've come in the path that was easier and more blessed, and more peaceful doing God's work. During that time it was all about what I thought in my judgment and my understanding. Looking back now, Even in the events that have happened in the past two weeks, just as I was unable to receive God's blessing at that time there are many of you who are right now throwing away God's blessings in your life. But if we all sat down and talked about it all of you think that you are doing what is right. But in whose eyes is it not right? In God's eyes and according to His Word you are wrong. But out of your stubbornness you refuse to submit, and you continue with no end. You are throwing away your blessings. And yet you stand there convinced that you are righteous. You think by being stiff-necked that it is okay, that it is alright. I have said this many times before but will God return to you a blessing that you have thrown away? That blessing is gone. It is no longer yours. You are to put your focus on the things that you must do in order to receive the blessings. When I was 99% ready and the final one percent as God was sending down the blessing I turned over the cup and could not receive my blessing. In your personal lives you are given warnings to persevere and be patient and these final moments but you get angry and turnover your cup. We do this too often. What can I say? That blessing will never be yours. Because you have missed the blessing you will never know what that blessing could have been. But who knows? Yes, God knows but so do those other people around you. You are the only one who does not know what blessing you have missed. This is the problem. Because you have not received it , your life is no different than before. There is no change in your life from yesterday and today. That is fine because you do not know what blessing you failed to receive and you live just as before without knowing. When things get difficult you try to pray, but that is not it. I use myself as an example. Had I known a little bit earlier little bit sooner then maybe I could have helped you with your anger to stop it from coming out at least one time sooner. But I was foolish and let too much time pass. As I stand here before you today, we can think of it as trials that we must all go through, but when I see what you are going through I can only say how sad it is to see you do what I did. Examine your life and look back at those moments where you disobeyed and the results that followed. Of course you may see no difference. But had you obeyed in that moment in that day then maybe today you would be faced with a different challenges. The moment you say or do something wrong may be the moment you lose your blessing. We think that we lose blessings because we break things, lose our anger and make a big scene. But in front of God where I lose the blessing is at the moment I speak something that I have been harboring in my heart or act defiance or have doubt in my heart. These are the times that I have lost the blessings. That is why the Bible warns us always be awake. When Peter speaks of the devil as a lion do they always go about roaring? No, he does not. At times he may come as an angel of light. We do not know how he will come but in the moment it could be a thought, the wrong heart, the venting of your emotions. These are the moments we are being bitten by the lion who is the devil. At those moments you do not feel pain. If it were a real lion we would be dead. When the devil comes and grabs a hold of us in our thoughts and in our hearts in those moments we actually feel better because we are reaffirming our thoughts and our actions. We do not feel our wrong. But these are moments where we are actually killing ourselves. There was a video clip on YouTube that we saw together. It was a about snake venom and a cup of blood. I never knew the reason as to why when you were bitten by a snake that you would die. I thought that it was the poison that killed you. It was a cup of blood and they added one drop of snake venom. With that one drop they shook the cup once and they poured the blood out. The blood which was previously liquid had turned into something like Jell-O. It was instantaneous and it dropped as a solid chunk. In 1 to 2 seconds the blood had become solid. So the venom goes into the body makes it thick and it no longer circulates. One drop of venom. One misspoken word is death to me. One wrong word is putting my life in danger. It is like the Titanic that is sunk by an iceberg. There is no difference. But we are numb to this. Though we are bitten we do not know that we are dying. Though we have been bitten by the devil, we think that we live without realizing the spiritual death that we are experiencing. Is this not what it means to be asleep in the spirit. If you want your family to be in love and to be blessed, then from your life you are to love. There can be no hate in your heart when you love. But we are dissatisfied with their wife, husband, children, our brothers and sisters. How can God bless a family that is filled with complaints and dissatisfaction and hate? No matter how much you pray your prayers will have no answer unless there is peace in the house. Why must you love and why must there be no hate? If you have an unforgiving heart then like the venom in you your spirit will become hard. You will die. It is not my wife who will die but I will die because I am the one who harbors the hate which is the venom. It is my spirit that dies. We think that it is not so. We blame the husband saying that he does not provide but it is not so. It is I who will die. If it takes root then this will become disease to my body. It is for me that our Lord tells me to forgive. It is for me that my Lord tells me to love. We think the one who receives love is the one who is blessed, but it is not so. It is the one who loves who is blessed. It is the one who forgives who is free, blessed and feels good. I must plant the seeds of love in my heart so that the fruit of love can grow in me and live a life full of it. It is not to live a life that is satisfied in the flesh, but to live as The Lord has loved me. Because I live a life in union with the Lord, the Lord will use me for his glory and his work. Is this not the blessing and the power of the Lord you want in your life? Do you not? What more would a Christian want than to have the power of Jesus be evident in their life? But to have this life, the fundamental requirement is to be filled with love, to rid yourself of all the worldly things of hate, jealously, anger, and to live a life as Jesus commands. Then the power will be evident in your life. It is not me who is revealed, but The Lord who lives in me. He will reveal himself through me and He will use me for His work which is the life of one who is blessed. Then we can say we are blessed. Should we not be the one who lives this life? Do you truly want to love? Even in the worldly love our heart goes to the ones we care for. If I love my wife I am concerned for her from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. I will know if she is stressed, I will take interest in the things says, take notice of her hairstyle, I am concerned about everything she does. You would be concerned even about the dust on her shoulder. Your love would be evident. If you have no concern for how she looks or what interests her then there is no true love. But when you have the heart to care you help right the things that are wrong and help the one that you love. But when we say we love we argue, we complain and blame the other. We never thought to think to correct and to help. This is not love. If we see something lacking we are to understand. We are to desire to help. We are try to help in areas that they lack. Try to understand the reason for why they lack. When we start to understand, that is when loves starts. If I can say that I truly love God then the matters concerning God and the matters concerning Jesus and of the cross I must try to understand and apply it into my life. Though the world did not understand Jesus and crucified him, then will the world understand the life I live following the life of Jesus? They will not understand. But where should my heart still be? At the cross. At the feet of Jesus. When I surrender my life to be one with the life of Jesus then will I know His love. Then will I be able to confess that I love God and live the life as a Christian. How difficult it is to Iove. Most normal people do not understand the hardships of love. They think that by saying I love you that it is love. Many do not know how much they must sacrifice for love, the hardships they must face the perseverance they must endure. In perseverance through hardship, the life of sacrifice, is where you learn love. Love is not what you receive but what you give. You have been receiving God's love. It is because we fail to know this love which we have been given that we fail to give it. In order to teach us the lesson of love, God has a requirement of us. If we don't meet his requirement then can we fully receive His blessings? Ask yourself. Without satisfying the heart of the giver or fulfilling the duty as the receiver how can we fully be rewarded or accept the complete blessing that is promised? What Jesus taught is the answer. What did Jesus do when he was here? He did what he had seen His Father do. Everything was related to God. He lived His life in complete union with the Father. He did nothing in His own will. Then how are we to live our lives? It must be the same. Everything I do in my life, the things I seek to satisfy myself with, it is not to live for myself, but it is to live a life that God desires, which is in union with Him, according to the Scripture. This life is to be trained through the life of the family, in which you are to learn how to love, but the order of love is found in the Bible. You practice love in your family between parent and children, between spouses. The realities of love, the sacrifice, serving, ministering, giving. You practice and learn, but the order of love, according to the Word is that God first loved us. We must learn this lesson first, and use the standard for which He has given us, living the life that pleases Him, and loving my wife, loving my husband, loving my children, and serving my parents. But there are many times we do not do this. Why? Because we think that what we see is more real to us and we miss the warnings given to us by the Lord. When we miss the warning it is the moment that we miss out on our blessings as I have shared with you. The most important part of your life is the moment you hold on to the Lord. Our lives must be centered around putting God first. If we miss this we can never live a victorious life of faith. We think that we can do anything by using the Scripture but this is not so. To live in obedience to the Word, as Jesus has shown to us the life of obedience, is the life that pleases God. When we live this life, The Lord will know us, and others will see me and say that I am a Christian and a follower of Jesus. When we live this life, God will give this servant power so that God will be glorified. He will give Him strength to do. If a slave is weak and goes out into the world and is stepped on, who will be embarrassed? It is the owner. If I give my allegiance to the Master and live for His glory, then in order that God will be glorified He will give His slave power. It is power to live the life according to the Word, which is the blessing that we should attain. This is the life that pleases God. When we live this life, in this year 2013, which God has granted to us, and we live a life in complete obedience, will we not be able to say that we have received the greatest blessing that compares to no one else? Could this not be the year? May we live this life and be the light to many and be known as one who has lived as the disciple of Jesus and may you receive all your blessings this year. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park Translation by Miguel Park

Taking The Initiative Against Drudgery

TAKING THE INITIATIVE AGAINST DRUDGERY "Arise, shine..." (Isaiah 60:1). When it comes to taking initiative against drudgery, we have to take the first step as though there were no God. There is no point in waiting for God to help us- He will not. But once we arise, immediately we find He is there. Whenever God gives His inspiration, suddenly taking the initiative becomes a moral issue- a matter of obedience. Then we must act to be obedient and not continue to lie down doing nothing. If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed. Drudgery is one of the finest test to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiredsome and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested and we will know whether or not we are spiritually genuine. Read John 13. In this chapter, we see the Incarnate God performing the greatest example of drudgery- washing fishermen's feet. He then says to them, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet" (John 13:14). The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. In some cases the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it becomes different. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it. Our Lord takes our human flesh and transforms it, and now every believer's body has become "the temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19). from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Taking The Initiative Against Despair

"Rise, let us be going" (Matthew 26:46). In the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples went to sleep when they should have stayed awake, and once they realized what they had done it produced despair. The sense of having done something irreversible tends to make us despair. We say, "Well, it's all over and ruined now; what's the point in trying any more." If we think this kind of despair is an exception, we are mistaken. It is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize we have not taken advantage of a magnificient opportunity, we are apt to sink into despair. But Jesus comes and lovingly says to us, in essence, "Sleep on now. That opportunity is lost forever and you can't change that. But get up, and let's go onto the next thing." In other words, let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the sweet embrace of Christ, and let us go on into the invincible future with Him. There will be experiences like this in each of our lives. We will have time of despair caused by real events in our lives, and we will be inable to lift outselves out of them. The disciples, in this instance, had gone to a downright unthinkable thing- they had gone to sleep instead of watching with Jesus. But our Lord came to them taking the spiritual initiative against their despair and said, in effect, "Get up, and do the next thing." If we are inspired by God, what is the next thing? It is to trust Him absolutely and to pray on the basis of His redemption. Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative

"Arise from the dead..." (Ephesians 5:14). Not all initiative, the willingness to take the first step, is inspired by God. Someone may say to you, "Get up and get going! Take your reluctance by the throat and throw it overboard- just do what needs to be done!" That is what we mean by ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes to us and says, in effect, "Get up and get going," suddenly we find that the initiative is inspired. We have many dreams and aspirations when we are young, but sooner or later we realize we have no power to accomplish them. We cannot do the things we long to do, so our tendency is to think of our dreams and aspirations as dead. But God comes and says to us, "Arise from the dead...." When God sends His inspiration, it comes to us with such miraculous power that we are able to "arise from the dead" and do the impossible. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we "get up and get going." God does not give us overcoming life- He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says, "Arise from the dead...," we have to get ourselves up; God will not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand, "Stretch out your hand" (Matthew 12:13). As soon as the man did so, his hand was healed. But he had to take the initiative to overcome, we will find that we have the inspiration of God, because He immediately gives us the power of life. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

"None of us lives to himself..." (Romans 14:7). Has it ever dawned on you that you are responsible spiritually to God for other people? For instance, if I allow any turning away from God in my private life, everyone around me suffers. We "sit together in the heavenly place..." (Ephesians 2:6). "If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it..." (1 Corinthians 12:26). If you allow physical selfishness, mental carelessness, moral insensitivity, or spiritual weakness, everyone in contact with you will suffer. But you ask, "Who is sufficient to be able to live up to such a lofty standard?" "Our sufficiency is from God..." and God alone (2 Corinthians 3:5). "You shall be witnesses to Me..." (Acts 1:8). How many of us are willing to spend every bit of our nervous, mental, moral, and spiritual energy for Jesus Christ? That is what God means when He uses the word witness. But it takes time, so be patient with yourself. Why has God left us on the earth? Is it simply to be saved and sanctified? No, it is to be at work in service to Him. Am I willing to be broken bread and poured-out wine for Him? Am I willing to be of no value to this age or this life except for one purpose and one alone- to be used to disciple men and women to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life of service to God is the way I say "thank you" to Him for His inexpressibly wonderful salvation. Remember, it is quite possible for God to set any of us aside if we refuse to be of service to Him- "... lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" (1 Corinthians 9:27). [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

How To Be Obedient To The Word.

SF.1.11.2013 How to be obedient to the Word. The one who is obedient to the word. What does it mean to be obedient to the word? The Bible is the Word of God. It is evidence. It shows us that God lives, that he is with us, that Jesus is our groom. It shows us how the Holy Spirit guides us. It shows us how we are to live in the arms of God and be witnesses for the Gospel. This is the Bible. But we have a hard time understanding this Word. When we have been blessed with little gifts of knowledge, understanding, power, and anointing, we think that we have attained everything. We think that we are worthy. We fall in the pit of pride. We have visions, and see dreams, hear his voice, and see heaven and hell. But these are only a glimpse to let us know that these things are. But we become proud. When we hear his voice, are filled with the Spirit, prophesy a little, we think that we are more important than the Word that he has given us. We put ourselves higher than His Word. We do not understand His word. We do not understand God and His mercy for us. Even when we talks amongst each other we have misunderstandings. We do not understand each other. When God,who has created the entire universe speaks to us, we do not understand, but we try to understand and when we do not understand we do not obey. For some it leads to complete disregard for God. This is why we do not understand the Bible. It does not matter how much you read it, you will not understand it unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to you. But because we have attended church regularly and have learned from other teachers we mistakenly believe that we know the Word of God. With this knowledge we think we know God. When you ask many people how many times they have read the Bible they have not read it much. Some have not even read it once. They have no idea what the Bible contains yet they assume that they know who God is and what His word says. With what little we know we act as if we know everything. We are fake believers. The more I read the Bible the more I do not understand it. The deeper I go into the Word the more I do not understand the depth of God and his heart. When I first came to know God and read the Bible I thought that I had understood much and realized many things. I became proud. But the more I prayed and read the Bible, the more I had to humble myself because I did not know. Is the Bible a complete description of God? No. It is just a small portion so that we can put our faith in Him and follow Him. If you truly want to know God you will only know him when you go and meet Him in Heaven. But having not gone to Heaven yet we think that we know God well. We think that we know Him. We are too proud. Many pastors share that they cannot know the Bible completely. Yet with what little we know we think we know everything. With what little we know we think that we have a complete understanding. Because of our pride rather than go through the training we refuse to be disciplined by God. We think that the year, three years, five years or 10 years is sufficient. This is what we go around saying. What is sufficient? If anyone is to bother us we fall down, our pride rises up, we get angry, we hate them, and yet we say that we have trained enough. If someone falls, we judge and persecute them. The more I go through discipline the more I believe that it never ends. We will be trained until the day we are called to stand before Him. Why? We are beings made from dirt. In us he breathed life and gave us spirit. He has allowed us to understand the things of the spirit. Through the sin of Adam and Eve we were considered dead in our spirit. It is only through our faith in God that our spirit is given new life. And just as a child is born and raised our spirits must also be raised up. We think that with a little life in our spirit that we have completely grown up. We think highly of ourselves. We think that we are worthy and that is why God has blessed us. We are mistaken and stand in a foolish place. We take pride that we have believed in God for five or 10 years. We think because we have been raised up in the church since our mother's womb it becomes a status symbol for us. We boast about how many generations of believers are in our family. Of what use is that? If I do not believe in God right now I cannot go into heaven because of the generations of believers from which I come from. Though I may come from generations of unbelievers if I believe in Jesus Christ today and I obey him then I can go to heaven. But we boast about being believers since our mother's womb. God promises great blessings to be passed on from generations to generations. Even in my family it is been passed on from generations. Because of the generations of believers in my family it has been easier for us to continue in the faith and follow him in obedience. This is a blessing. But to be proud of this blessing, and to not truly live the Christian life because of this blessing and not pray or read the Bible, and think that you will go to Heaven because you come from a history of believers in your family is unbiblical. You will not. You have misunderstood the Word. Do not be mistaken. You will not go to Heaven just because you are a pastor's child, or because you are a pastor. There are many testimonies of pastors who are in Hell. You do not go to Heaven because you are elder, deacon, a church member, or because you have some duty assigned to you at your church. We are being shown that there are many elders, deacons, church leaders who are in Hell. Faith is individual. I must believe in Jesus to go to Heaven. It is a great blessing to have parents who believe and also children who believe. But if your parents believe but you do not believe then that blessing is not yours. There are many believers today who stand strong in the faith though their parents do not believe. Do not misunderstand God's word. Do not misunderstand His providence. All people, even nonbelievers call out to God when they are in trouble. They will call out to Jesus. They will call out to God. It is because God is our Creator. When a nonbeliever drowns he will not call out to Buddha but he will call out to God. All people seek God though some unknowingly. Atheists are fools. Why? All of God's creation, the wind, trees, flowers, lakes, stones, waters, seas, praise and worship their Creator. But the part of creation who God has put special care into, us, we distance ourselves from Him, and betray Him. We do not understand Him. We choose to live our lives according to our stubbornness and our desires. If I were God I would rid the planet of us. But God is patient. He continues to wait for us even today. Even today He asks us to return to Him. But even this has a timeframe. It is not forever. There will be a time when He will no longer calls us. There will be a day of judgment. When we die it is our time to face judgment. We say that these are the last days. Many people are proclaiming that these are the end times. They are saying that it will be time for rapture soon. There will assuredly be and end. God is love and it is His love that has been patient with us until today. It is this love that requires judgment of us. It is because God is love. He cannot stand the sight of evil. He will not tolerate it. When the land becomes filled with sin and God's patience can no longer tolerate the sin then His wrath will be unleashed like on us like Sodom and Gomorrah and He will bring an end to it all. But we think that this planet will be here forever. It is not so. When our sin has reached capacity judgment must be faced. Many other pastors are also proclaiming this message. They are pleading for people to repent. They are pleading with that America would change its course and its purpose. They are pleading that Korea would change its purpose. But who is listening? Who is listening, understanding, and praying? It is not the sin of the unbelievers that is bringing the judgment. It is the sins of the believers that God is inquiring about. God is inquiring about the sins of the believers and especially of those who pray. To those who pray God has made known things to them. We will be responsible for these sins. What will you reply to God then? Will you still think that you are better than others? Will you continue to betray God in your pride because you have received gifts, anointing, revelation, and power? Will you not pray for the land and country that you live in though it is dying? The choice is in your hands. If those who are called to pray would do so then God will delay judgment. This all depends on those who are called to pray. There is an earnest pleading to pray. Times are difficult even here in this land. God is telling all of those who pray to pray. He is pleading with us to do so so that he can be patient with us. But of those who hear this message, who is humbling themselves and praying? Those of you who are here are all people of prayer. We are all living here. America is our home and Korea is also our home. How diligent are we in holding on to the words of God and praying for his will to be done? How are you applying the Word of God into your life? How has the word of God been applied into your life that it has pierced your mind, body, and spirit so that you would humble yourself, repent and live in His will? How are you obedient to the Word? How will you obey? Is it by living the way you desire? Is it by doing what you want? Is it by thinking that you have done enough? Is it by thinking that you have received enough training and discipline from God? Jesus himself trained for 30 years. Why would he need training? His ministry only lasted three years. But we think that with what little we know, with what little we have experienced, with a title of elder or deacon we become proud. We have no humility, we do not know how to humble ourselves. We have no thought of receiving training. The more I do my ministry the more I must be trained, more humbled, and more unseen. If you think that you are standing then you must be careful that you might fall. You have already fallen down if you think that you are standing, that you are getting better, that you have received power, and that you have received enough training. The root of the tree has been uprooted. But yet you think you are so worthy. You boast that you have seen Heaven and Hell. Do not be proud. If you are proud then the voice you say you hear is not God's voice. It is only your thoughts. It is from the devil. This is why many pastors have a hard time accepting the words of those who do certain ministries because people come with their own thoughts while claiming that it is God's command. That is why we are told to test the spirits, to verify it and then follow. How can you test the spirits if you refuse to listen? This problem has been a great hindrance to the work of the Holy Spirit. This gives the evil spirits great freedom to do their work. Please be humble. Humble yourself before the Word of God. Obey. Only then can the words pierce your heart and change your life. Understand what God is saying to you. Be the person who is obedient to the Word of God. Just as it says that the truth will set you free, I pray that we will truly be free and united in rejoicing and thankfulness. Let us pray. Sermon by Pastor Joy Youngsook Lee Translation by Miguel Park

Are You Listening to God?

ARE YOU LISTENING TO GOD? "They said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die'" (Exodus 20:19). We don't consciously and deliberately disobey God- we simply don't listen to Him. God has given His commands to us, but we pay no attention to them- not because of willful disobedience, but because we do not truly love and respect Him. "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Once we realize we have constantly been showing disrespect to God, we will be filled with shame and humiliation for ignoring Him. "You speak with us, ... but let not God speak with us...." We show how little love we have for God by preferring to listen to His servants rather than to Him. We like to listen to personal testimonies, but we don't want God Himself to speak to us. Why are we so terrified for God to speak to us? It is because we know that when God speaks we must either do what He asks or tell Him we will not obey. But if it is simply one of God's servants speaking to us, we feel obedience is optional, not imperative. We respond by saying, "Well, that's only your own idea, even though I don't deny that what you said is probably God's truth." Am I constantly humiliating God by ignoring Him, while He lovingly continues to treat me as His child? Once I finally do hear Him, the humiliation I have heaped on Him returns to me. My response then becomes, "Lord, why was I so insensitive and obstinate?" This is always the result once we hear God. But our real delight in finally hearing Him is tempered with the shame we feel for having taken so long to do so. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Galatians 1:10

We are all servants of Christ. Galatians 1:10 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Today is the first Sunday of 2013. It seems like yesterday was the beginning of the new year. How fast time flies. God has granted us this year of 2013 but with what purpose are you living this year as True Light church members? With the life that God has granted you, what kind of life are you to live? With what purpose must you live that you would live a life that is pleasing to God? With these questions in mind let us look at today's verse in Galatians 1:10. 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. When they say servant of Christ who are they referring to? Many believers use the term slave. Who are they referring to when they use these terms? Who is a servant of Christ? What does it mean to live a life that you were called to live? Who are we referring to when we say servants of Christ? What are we talking about when we say that one is living the life that they are called to? Are we referring to a pastor who is powerful and preaches well? Is he a servant of Christ? Is he living the life of his calling? Or are we talking about someone who prays, who has the power to heal, who prophesies? Is this one who is a servant of Christ? Is this the individual fulfilling their calling? Or is it someone who goes to a country like Africa as a missionary? Is this a servant of Christ, is this person fulfilling their calling? Who is the servant of Christ? And what kind of life must one live that they may be living the life that they are called to? Who are we speaking of? What kind of person is this? In today's Scripture Paul is telling us that there is a life which is not lived as a servant of Christ. Many people received prayer and are told that they have been called by God. Then what do they do? They all decide to go to seminary school. If you go to seminary school does that mean that you have been called by God? For those of you who have not gone to seminary school, then have you not received a calling? If you have stepped foot on a seminary school does that mean that you have been called? What are we talking about? Who is the person living what kind of life that is called and living the life of their calling? With what standard are we able to make this decision? Do all people who are called need to attend seminary? Do you need to be a pastor or a missionary to be fulfilling your purpose or to be a servant of Christ? I would like for you to think about these things. Is it so? Yes or no. No. Why? It is written in the Bible, "you have been purchased with a price, do not be servant of men." What does this mean? We have been purchased by the blood of Jesus. Through the blood of Jesus we have become children of God. So then according to Scripture we have been sold to Jesus. We are servants that have been sold to God. Each of you is a servant of God, and because you are his servants, we are commanded not to be servants of men. But we are caught up in people and try to please others. Is this not the condition of our lives though we say we are servants of God? We have all been purchased by Jesus, and we must acknowledge that we are his servants then we can move to the next step. We know that in history people bought slaves. Does a wealthy man purchase a slave that is sick and dying? What kind of person does he purchase? When you go to buy a horse or when you go to buy cattle, you examine the animal first. You buy the animal that is healthy. It is the same when you purchase a slave. You examine and when you have found the one that is to your liking that is the one you purchase. Why do you purchase the slave? It is because the owner will reap a benefit and has use for the slave. So if today Jesus has saved us and called us, it is because God has a purpose for you to fulfill and that is why you have been called. Everyone has a purpose. But when anyone is told that they have a purpose their response is "no." They answer saying that it is something that a pastor is to do. They say "no", that it is up to a missionary, an elder or deacon. Everyone refuses to answer the call. Everyone who has been saved by the blood of Jesus and believes in him, has been called to fulfill a purpose. You must know this in order to make the decision to live as a Christian. There was a purpose in saving your life. And the owner of your life desires to use you in a certain way. But you who are a servant refuse and say no. What must be done with you? When a servant does all that the master requires, then who is responsible for feeding clothing and providing all that the servant needs? The owner is responsible. All that the servant needs to do is do what he is told. The rest is the responsibility of the owner. But us, mere servants, stand in defiance before God demanding that our needs must be met first before we will do our work. To demand that our needs be met first before we do what is required of us means that we have placed our self in the place of master and put Him in the place of servant. If we have switched our roles, and yet come out to worship before Him and call on His name, would the master fulfill all the needs that you are requesting of Him? We know that God created the heavens and the earth. It is revealed to us in Genesis 1:1. From the time of the creation until now, through all that has happened has been revealed to us through the Bible. We know everything has happened in God's providence. If we know we that everything is going according to his will until we are all come face to Jesus. If all is to be done according to the will of God. If we see that we are standing at a crossroad where we must choose to do our part in being used in the unfolding of God's will, then whatever it is that God asks of me, must I obey or choose to do what I desire? Think about it for yourselves. Each of you has a different talent, job, and if the same job, at different locations, everything is different. As men, women, fathers,mothers. Everywhere you stand it is separate from others. But as a wife if you were to argue with your husband, could you ask to trade places with him so that you can be the husband and make him the wife? Would this resolve your arguments? The place where you have been put, your calling, your position, can never be changed. We must acknowledge that where we are is where God has put us and it is our duty to accept this and to do our best. But rather than doing so, we complain about how heavy our burden is and would rather lay it down. Are we complaining and putting the blame somewhere else and desiring an easier life? We are to accept our calling. But we would prefer to be seen and recognized by others. All want to be pastors. All want to be leaders. There are many times when this is the case. When we look at the history of the church in Korea the pastor and the usher are both officers of the church. But the pastor was given the honor and the usher person is not. Who is judging who? Those who claim to believe in Jesus. Jesus told the parable of the rich man who was told to sit in a place of honor and to those who is dressed poorly to go sit where others will not be able to see them or at the feet of someone else. This is how we judge. When we judge someone who has been created in the image of God who are we truly judging? We are judging God. God has made both the one to be used for noble purposes and one for less noble. But we do not realize that we are judging the one who has created all for his work. This is why everyone wants to be raised up. They want to be recognized by others. Everyone wants the best for themselves. What happens if all are lifted up? What if there is no foundation to support them? Then it will all be finished. The foundation must be built well so that as you build upon you can go up higher without falling apart. If we all desire to live lives going higher, we must realize that there is a problem. How we failed to see this. Let us look at watches. There are expensive watches and inexpensive ones. What is the purpose of the watch? It is to tell time. The watch tells us the second, the minute, and the hour. As technology advanced it tells us the date and day. Much of the things are accessories but the basic is the second, minute, and hour. On the outside there are many different styles and sizes. Some are encrusted with jewels and very expensive. There are also ones that are worth just a couple of dollars. Although this is not important but what is important is that it tells time. In order to tell time how many parts are needed for it to do so? How many parts are needed to work together to tell us the second, minute, and hour? Have you thought about this? We just look at the time and never give it another thought. What we see is the secondhand, minute hand, hour hand and the numbers on the clock but that which we do not see we do not even know how many parts there are. Of all the countless parts that would we do not see that they must move precisely together to tell us the exact second, minute, and hour. There are those who do the work of God who are seen by others and give glory to God, but there are countless more who are unseen who are also doing the work of God according to his purpose. The more expensive the watch, the workings of it can be altered by the smallest foreign particle. It can speed up or slow down the measurement of time. The value of the watch will diminish. Within your families, within each of your own individual lives, same principle applies. If I stand before you and you are able to see that I am fulfilling my duty as a pastor and doing everything in speech and action, teaching and living in a manner to be recognized that I am following the path of Christ means that what you do not see, the spiritual life within me, must first move rightly to do so. If I have one wrong thought, or say one wrong thing, or do any thing wrong in action, then the time that I reflect which is to be of Jesus, will be wrong. People will look at me and say that I am false. They will say that though I say I am a Christian they will think otherwise. Just as a watch will lose its purpose of telling time, the purpose I have of being a witness of Jesus I will have ruined. We fail to see this. We think about having a title of pastor, elder, or deacon and by preaching a good sermon that we have fulfilled our purpose. That is not so. From the top of my head to the soles of my feet, every cell in my body, every thought that I have, must work together perfectly, and then be shown in my life, as a Christian, as one called to live life of purpose, to be a witness of Jesus through my life that comes from within. But if I say something wrong, if there is dust in my life, or because of my character I get angry easily or I speak bluntly because I am unable to control my tongue, or I think foolish thoughts constantly, then what is reflected in my life is not Jesus. What do you think will be reflected in your life? Can you say that in this condition that Jesus will be reflected in your life? Will anyone look at you and say that you are a follower of Jesus? Will they want to follow Jesus because of you? Think about this. If it is not so, then what must you do with your life as you must do with an expensive watch? Cheap watches once it is broken you will throw it away. But the more expensive the watch is, what does the watchmaker recommend? They tell you at least once a year to clean it. To clean a watch once is at least $100. There are many watches that cost a hundred dollars, but to clean a watch is worth that much if not more. I am only speaking of this as an example. The more you try to live a life that is right in Jesus, you must pay a higher price. You must clean yourself regularly without doing so you will not be worth the value that you are. No matter how expensive a watch is if it stops telling time then even that watch is useless. And to prevent that you take care of it and likewise, in order to live the life that has to fulfill the calling for which you have been called, then daily you must repent and live your life according to the word so that you can live a life that is renewed, fulfilling the purpose for which you have been given. What is the purpose of a student at school? It is to study. They are to do well in studying. Who are they to listen to? When the teacher teaches, they are to listen and learn and do their best in study. This is the duty of a student. At home the mother and the father each have a specific duty. As a Christian, as a member of True Light church, as one who has been called in into God's providence out of this vast universe, in your individual life, you have a purpose to which you have been called. To be a witness to all you meet in your place in speech and in action through your life. But do we not fail to live our lives this way much too often? We say we have been purchased by the blood of Christ. When we live our lives in purpose as Christians, what kind of life are we to live? In Matthew 5:13-16 Jesus says: 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Jesus is telling us that our purpose is to be the salt and light to everyone. Did Jesus say this only to his disciples? Who did he speak these words to in Matthew 5? The sermon on the mount was spoken to the people. It was to everyone who was following Jesus. If you say that you are a follower of Jesus then you have a duty to be the light and a duty to be the salt and it is your calling to live this life. It is a command. But we think that I coming to church and having a title of pastor, elder or deacon, missionary we think that only these people have received a calling. But again I say that this is not so. The moment I call upon the name of Jesus Christ, I must surrender my life over to God because he has purchased me with his blood, and I must live my life as one who has been called. This is what we are told. But we forget this truth many times as we live our lives. When there is light it is not put on the floor nor is it covered, it is put up on a high place to shine on everything. If your life is not shining light on the people around you, and no one is able to see Jesus through your life, and you are not living as the salt and light that you are called to do, then we must examine ourselves. What was the last command Jesus gave to his disciples as he washed their feet? He told them to serve each other and do as he has shown them. But rather than to serve each other we desire to be lifted up above others. Because I am a pastor, missionary, elder or deacon, we choose to only live our lives of faith through our speech. This is not the way. This is wrong. As you increase in faith you are given more responsibility, and as you are given a different position, you must follow Jesus taking off your robe in putting on a towel and washing your neighbors feet and serving them and caring for them. Then will God be able to use you. This is the life of one who has been called. Rather than living this life, we take the anointing that God has given us and try to put ourselves over others. The Bible teaches us that with the gifts, grace and love that we have been given, we are to share, serve, to humble our selves and lift up Jesus, and raise up the ones before us, but do we not fail to live this life? Like Paul confesses, the life of one who is called is not living to please men. It is living to please God. In your life today you choose to live the life that you are called to, you are not to live to please the person whom you see before you, but you want to choose to live to please the one who has given you life and salvation. What does it mean to please God? What does it mean to live a life that is pleasing to God. Is it to constantly be fasting, to always be giving, to always be praying, does this please God? To always be dancing and praying losing and singing? Is this the life that God is pleased with? What pleases God? What is it? Yes. Only obedience! There is no other life that pleases God except a life of obedience. what kind of obedience? Obedience outside my thoughts, my judgments, my wisdom, and my experiences. It has nothing to do with me. If I am told to go I go. If I am told to stay I stay. This is obedience. This is the life that pleases God. But no matter how much we are told, without experiencing it ourselves we refuse to obey. This is the condition of our heart. We boast about praying, praising, fasting, or whatever it is we do and then say that it pleases God. We sing and worship him for our pleasure. This is false worship. To live in obedience according to the word. When Abraham was called did he argue with God? He who is the father of our faith did not argue with God. When he was told to leave he left. When he was told to offer his son as a sacrifice he offered him up. This is obedience. We are taught that it is through this life that we can receive the blessings that is given to us through faith from Abraham. But still we refuse to obey, and too often we try to do things according to our thoughts judgments, stubbornness and try to control our circumstance. Let us say that God has given you an anointing. What will you do with this anointing that you have been given? Is it to be lifted up? Is it to say that when you pray for something all your prayers are answered? Is it to bring all people to you? It is not God to whom you are to give glory for being used by Him rather you bring all people to you because it is you who claim to do it by your will. Are we not walking along the cliff of pride? With the anointing that we are given we are to reveal Jesus to others. The life of obedience is to serve others and show Christ. This is the calling of a Christian. We must examine ourselves and decide to live this life. Galatians 2:20 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul is saying that by believing in Jesus he is now dead and no longer present. He lives so that Jesus can be revealed through the life he is living. This is the confession of a Christian. To live the proper life of faith you must be able to confess that you have died with Christ. I must die with Christ in order that the resurrected Christ may be revealed through me. Without dying the resurrected Lord cannot be seen in me. Ephesians 2:22 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. In Christ we are in a process of being built. Because we were once safe and have received grace does not mean that we are complete and that the work is done. To be a place where God can dwell, we are being worked through Christ. This is what we are told. But because of the grace we have once received, we forget that we are continuously being worked on and neglect this in our lives too often. We think because at one time our prayers were answered or because we had a vision that everything is made complete in us. It is not. Our faith is worked upon daily in the renewal of ourselves until we meet our Lord. Ephesians 4:1-4 1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; We are to make every effort to keep these commands so that we can live the life that we have been called to, which these verses teach us. But do we live completely humble? Are we united? Are we gentle and patient bearing with one another in love in our lives? Are we making every effort to keep peace in our lives? We are to make every effort to make our churches one. The work of the Spirit we have been brought together as one church here but where must you put in your effort first? Your family must be first. Can you do it by yourself? It must be done with hard work and effort. But we refuse. We claim to be the leader of the house and direct orders to others. We demand that people listen to what we say. Is this not how we live? Two are to be one, but you are separated and try to control each other. The family can never be one. The Spirit cannot do His work in this place. The love of Jesus Christ cannot be seen in this place. But in order for there to be peace how must it be done? If the parents are not one how can the children be one with the parents? How can there be a change to be like Christ? Ephesians 6:6 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. A slave of Christ does not do work halfheartedly. They do it from the heart knowing that God is watching them. It is a life of allegiance, the life of purpose. If all of you are living a life of purpose, then we are to live this life. Psalms 24:3-6 3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. 5 They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob., If you desire to stand in the place with God, then your hands must be clean and your heart must be clean and you do not trust idols or swear by. You will receive blessings from the Lord and be vindicated from God. This is the life that you must live so that you can stand with God in His place. Without living a clean life and having a pure heart how can one think to enter into the kingdom of God? This is the question that we are being asked. I am not to live my life as master of my life. Isn't a servant one who lives their life to please their master? In fourth century BC there was a painter named Apellos? but there exist none of his paintings. But he is recorded in history to be one of the most brilliant painters but how can that be? How can we say that he was a brilliant painter when none of his paintings exist? His students had made copies of his works. Those copies of his work were considered brilliant. Meaning that the teacher's work was far superior. His work was based upon the copies made but his students. This is a story in history. It's in fourth century BC this happens then what about today. Those who are believers claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ who came 2000 years ago. You live as a copy of Jesus Christ, then when the world is looking at your life who must they recognize when they see you? They must look in your life and be able to praise the one who you serve. Then your life is one that gives glory to God. One person can be lifted up by the copies of his work done by his students. In today's time when there are its countless people who claim to follow Jesus but is there anyone who lives their life that receives the recognition and who would make someone think that Jesus was a great Savior? Because our lives do not reflect Jesus we are called the antichrist. Who's fault is this? It is my fault. With my mouth I say I believe in Jesus. I claim to be as disciple do my quiet time, study the Bible, but because Jesus is not present in my life that I live, the world does not pointer finger at me but they point the finger at Jesus. What am I doing? I must see that I am crucifying Christ on the cross. But we fail to accept this. We must be able to examine ourselves and repent of my sins. This heart does not move within us, do you know why? It is because of Jesus that we only desired blessings, and we do not desire to put our hope in eternal salvation. We only desire to live well here on this planet. This is why we have fallen down on the wrong path which we mistake as faith. Matthew5:16 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. This is a command given to us by Jesus. We are to live as like that others may see our lives and give glory to God. We are commanded to live like this. Will we choose to use the name of Jesus in order that we may benefit in this life. That we may be lifted up amongst others. That we may receive recognition from others. This is wrong. When we go before God we will be judged. Our lives will be a stumbling block that prevents us from entering into heaven. Though we live like this we think that we are living according to the calling we have received. We must realize our sin and examine ourselves and turn from this path. I must decide to live my life according to God's command that through my life God would be glorified. The outer appearance is important, is it not? When we are ridiculed, persecuted, or judge, we react. But although your outside of what we see is important, it is the inside the inner workings within ourselves that are reflected on the outside. I used the example of the watch. If today I think that through my speech, thoughts and actions that I am well like a watch that tells time but if other sees me and tells me that I am wrong like a watch that tells the wrong time then there is a problem within me, within my spirit, which is causing the outer appearance to be wrong. We must cleanse ourselves and fix our problems so that Christ can be reflected in my life so that others may see the great value of the one in me, that God would be glorified through my life. It is my inside that I must first change but the work of the Holy Spirit and bring before God and be washed and cleansed by the blood of Jesus. In order that through my life I am able to fulfill the duty that was given to me. I must make the decision to live this life in order to receive all the blessings that God desires to give me in His grace in this year of 2013. In order to live this life, examine and see where in your life you are not right with God, fix that problem first. Truly we are not here to please men but to live a life that pleases God. And it is in the lives of those who please Him that God is glorified and it is in their lives that God allows for blessings. If this is so, then may you live your life in this year of 2013 in a manner that will allow you to receive all the blessings that God has planned to give you in his providence. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park Translated by Miguel Park

Is Your Mind Stayed on God?

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trust in You" (Isaiah 26:3). Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant's life. If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to Him and be saved (see Isaiah 45:22). Your creative mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You whould seek to be "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ..." (2 Corinthians 10:5). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with all that happens in nature- the rising and the setting of the sun, the shining of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in service to God. "We have sinned with our fathers...[and]... did not remember..." (Psalm 106:6-7). Then prod your memory and wake up immediately. Don't say to yourself, "But God is not talking to me right now." He ought to be. Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Is Your Ability To See God Blinded?

"Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things..." (Isaiah 40:26). The people of God in Isaiah's time had starved their imagination by looking on the face of idols. But Isaiah made them look up at the heavens; that is, he made them begin to use their imagination correctly. If we are children of God, we have a tremendous treasure in nature and will realize that it is holy and sacred. We will see God reaching out to us in every wind that blows, every sunrise and sunset, every cloud in the sky, every flower that blooms, and every leaf that fades, if we will only begin to use our starved imagination to visualize it. The rest test of spiritual focus is being able to bring your thoughts and imagination under control. Is your mind focused on the face of an idol? Is the idol yourself? Is it your work? Is it your idea of what a servant should be, or maybe your experience of salvation and sanctification? If so, then your ability to see God is blinded. You will be powerless when faced with difficulties and will be forced to endure in darkness. If your power to see has been blinded, don't look back on your own experiences, but look to God. It is God you need. Go beyond yourself and away from the faces of your idols and away from everything else that has been blinding your thinking, your imagination. Wake up and accept the ridicule that Isaiah gave to his people, and deliberately turn your thoughts and your eyes to God. One of the reasons for our sense of futility in prayer is that we have lost our power to visualize. We can no longer even imagine putting ourselves deliberately before God. It is actually more important to be broken bread and poured-out wine in the area of intercession than in our personal contact with others. The power of imagination is what God gives a saint so that he can go beyond himself and be firmly placed into relationship he never before experienced. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Are You Exhausted Spiritually?

"The everlasting God...neither fants nor is weary" (Isaiah 40:28). Exhaustion means that our vital energies are completely worn out and spent. Spiritual exhaustion is never the result of sin, but of service. Whether or not you experience exhaustion will depend on where you get your supplies. Jesus said to Peter, "Feed My sheep," but he Gave him nothing with which to feed them (John 21:17). The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment of other people's souls until they learn to feed on God. They must drain you completely-to the very last drop. But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted. Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you. You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God. We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for Him. Have you delivered yourself over to exhaustion because of the way you have been serving God? If so, then renew and rekindle your desires and affections. Examine your reasons for service. Is your source based on your own understanding or is it grounded on the redemption of Jesus Christ? Continually look back to the foundation of your love and affection and remember where your Source of power lies. You have no right to complain, "O Lord, I am so exhausted." He saved and sanctified you to exhaust you. Be exhausted for God, but remember that He is your supply. "All my springs are in you" (Psalm 87:7). [From "My Utmost For His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Cost Of Sanctification

"May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely..." (1 Thessalonians 5:23). When we pray, asking God to sanctify us, are we prepared to measure up to what that really means? We take the word sanctification much too lightly. Are we prepared to pay the cost of sanctification? The cost will be a deep restriction of all our earthly concerns, and an extensive cultivation of all our godly concerns. Sanctification means to be intensely focused on God's point of view. It means so secure and to keep all the strength of our body, soul and spirit for God's purpose alone. Are we really prepared for God to perform in us everything for which He seperated us? And after He has done His work, are we then prepared to seperate ourselves to God just as Jesus did? "For their sakes I sanctify Myself..." (John 17:19). The reason some of us have not entered into the experience of sanctification is that we haver not realized the meaning of sanctification from God's perspective. Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God. Are we prepared to be caught up into the full meaning of Paul's prayer in this verse? Are we prepared to say, "Lord, make me, a sinner saved by grace, as holy as You can"? Jesus prayed that we might be one with Him, just as He is one with the Father (see John 17:21-23). The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him. Are we prepared to set ourselves apart for the Holy Spirit's work in us? [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Spiritual Dejection

"We were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened" (Luke 24:21). Every fact that the disciples stated was right, but the conclusions they drew from those facts were wrong. Anything that has even a hint of dejection spiritually is wrong. If I am depressed or burdened, I am to blame, not God or anyone else. Dejection stems from one of two sources- I have either satisfied a lust or I have not had it satisfied. In either case, dejection is the result. Lust means "I must have it at once." Spiritual lust causes me to demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Himself who gives the answer. What have I been hoping or trusting God would do? Is today "the third day" and He has still not done what I expected? Am I therefore justified in dejected and in blaming God? Whenever we insist that God should give us an answer to prayer we are off track. The purpose of prayer is that we get ahold of God, not of the answer. It is impossible to be well physically and to be dejected, because dejection is a sign of sickness. This is also true spiritually. Dejection spiritually is wrong, and we are always to blame for it. We look for visions from heaven and for earth-shaking events to see God's power. Even the fact that we are dejected is proof that we do this. Yet we never realize that all the time God is at work in our everydays events and in the people around us. If we will only obey, and do the task that He has placed closest to us, we will see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God comes to us when we learn that it is in the everyday things of life that we realize the magnificient diety of Jesus Christ. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As An Offering?

"I am already being poured out as a drink offering..." (2 Timothy 4:6). Are you ready to be poured out as an offering? It is an act of your will, not your emotions. Tell God you are ready to be offered as a sacrifice for Him. Then accept the consequences as they come, without any complaints, in spite of what God may send your way. God sends you through a crisis in private, where no other person can help you. From the outside your life may appear to be the same, but the difference is taking place in your will. Once you have experienced the crisis in your will, you will take no thought of the cost when it begins to affect you externally. If you don't deal with God on the level of your will first, the result will be only to arouse sympathy for yourself. "Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar" (Psalm 118:27). You must be willing to be placed on the altar and go through the fire; willing to experinece what the altar represents- burning, purification, and seperation for only one purpose- the elimination of every desire and affection not grounded in or directed toward God. But you don't eliminate it, God does. You "bind the sacrifice... to the horns of the altar" and see to it that you don't wallow in self-pity once the fire begins. After you have gone through the fire, there will be nothing that will be able to trouble or depress you. When another crisis arises, you will realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What fire lies ahead in your life? Tell God you are ready to be poured out as an offering, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]