Spontaneous Love

"Love suffers long and is kind..." (1 Corinthians 13:4). Love is not premeditated- it is spontaneous; that is, it bursts forth in extraordinary ways. There is nothing of precise certainty in Paul's description of love. We cannot predetermine our thoughts and actions by saying, "Now I will never think any evil thoughts, and I will believe everything that Jesus would have me to believe." No, the characteristic of love is spontaneity. We don't deliberately set the statements of Jesus before us as our standard, but when His Spirit is having His way with us, we live according to His standard without even realizing it. And when we look back, we are amazed at how unconcerned we have been over our emotions, which is the very evidence that real spontaneous love was there. The nature of everything involved in the life of God in us is only discerned when we have been through it and it is in our past. The fountains from which love flows are in God, not in us. It is absurd to think that the love of God is naturally in our hearts, as a result of our own nature. His love is there only because it "has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit..." (Romans 5:5). If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we really don't love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, which flows naturally from His nature within us. And when we look back, we will not be able to determine why we did certain things, but we can know that we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God exhibits itself in this spontaneous way because the fountains of His love are in the Holy Spirit. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Gracious Uncertainty

"... it has not yet been revealed what we shall be..." (1 John 3:2). Our natural inclination is to be so precise- trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next- that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, "Well, what if I were in that circumstance?" We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been. Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life- gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression‍ of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God- it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, "... unless you... become as little children..." (Matthew 18:3). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, "... believe also in Me" (John 14:1), not, "Believe certain things about Me." Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how we will come in- but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

What You Will Get

"I will give your life to you as a prize in all places, wherever you go" (Jeremiah 45:5). This is the firm and immovable secret of the Lord to those who trust Him- "I will give your life to you..." What more does a man want than his life? It is the essential thing. "... your life... as a prize..." means that wherever you may go, even if it is into hell, you will come out with your life and nothing can harm it. So many of us are caught up in exhibiting things for others to see, not showing off property and possessions, but our blessings. All these things that we so proudly show have to go. But there is something greater that can never go- the life that "is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Are you prepared to let God take you into total oneness with Himself, paying no more attention to what you call the great things of life? Are you prepared to surrender totally and let go? The true test of abandonment or surrender is in refusing to say, "Well, what about this?" Beware of your own ideas and speculations. The moment you allow yourself to think, "What about this?" you show that you have not surrendered and that you do not really trust God. But once you do surrender, you will no longer think about what God is going to do. Abandonment means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you totally abandon yourself to God, He immediately says to you, "I will give your life to you as a prize....." The reason people are tired of life is that God has not given them anything- they have not been given their life "as a prize." The way to get out of that condition is to abandon yourself to God. And once you do get to the point of total surrender to Him, you will be the most surprised and delighted person on earth. God will have you absolutely, without any limitations, and He will have given you your life. If you are no there, it is either because of disobedience in your life or your refusal to be simple enough. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

What Do You Want?

"Do you seek great things for yourself?" (Jeremiah 45:5). Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God want you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts- He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you. If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means. You have become a Christian based on your own terms. You protest, saying, "I asked God for the Holy Spirit, but He didn't give me the rest and the peace I expected." And instantly God puts His finger on the reason- you are not seeking the Lord at all; you are seeking something for yourself. Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you..." (Matthew 7:7). Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether. "Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him" (Matthew 6:8). Then why should you ask? So that you may get to know Him. Are you seeking great things for yourself? Have you said, "Oh, Lord, completely fill me with your Holy Spirit"? If God does not, it is because you are not totally surrendered to Him; there is something you still refuse to do. Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it? God always ignores your present level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness. He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He's continually working out His ultimate perfection for you- "... that they may be one just as We are one..." (John 17:22). [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Supreme Climb

"Take now your son... and offer him... as a burnt offering on one of the mountain of which I shall tell you" (Genesis 22:2). A person's character determines how he interprets God's will (see Psalm 18:25-26). Abraham interpreted God's command to mean that he had to kill his son, and he could only leave this traditional belief behind through the pain of a tremendous ordeal. God could purify his faith in no other way. If we obey what God says according to our sincere belief, God will break us from those traditional beliefs that misrepresent Him. There are many such beliefs which must be removed- for example, that God removes a child because his mother loves him too much. That is a devil's lie and a travesty on the true nature of God! If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of our wrong traditional beliefs about God, God will take us through an ordeal that will serve to bring us into a better knowledge of Himself. The great lesson to be learned from Abraham's faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was there to obey God, no matter what contrary belief of his might be violated by his obedience. Abraham was not devoted to his own convictions or else he would have slain Issac and said that the voice of angel was actually the voice of the devil. That is the attitude of a fanatic. if you will remain true to God, God will lead you directly through every barrier and right into the inner chamber of the knowledge of Himself. But you must always be willing to come to the point of giving up your own convictions and traditional beliefs. Don't ask God to test you. Never declare as Peter did that you are willing to do anything, even "to go... both to prison and to death" (Luke 22:33). Abraham did not make any such statement- he simply remained true to God, and God purified his faith. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

"Ready In Season"

"Be ready in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2). Many of us suffer from the balanced tendency to "be ready" only "out of season." The season does not refer to time; it refers to us. This verse says, "Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season." In other words, we should "be ready" whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything. There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not. One of the worst traps a Christian workers can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, "Now that I've experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God." No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him. You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times. If you make a god out of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life, never to return until you are obedient in the work He has placed closest to you, and until you have learned not to be obsessed with those exceptional moments He has given you. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Warning Against Desiring Spiritual Success

"Do you rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you..." (Luke 10:20). Worldliness is not the trap that most endangers us as Christian workers; nor is it sin. The trap we fall into is extravagantly desiring spiritual success; that is, success measured by, and patterned after, the form set by this religious age in which we now live. Never seek after anything other than the approval of God, and always be willing to go "outside the camp, bearing His reproach" (Hebrews 13:13). In Luke 10:20, Jesus told the disciples not to rejoice in successful service, and yet this seems to be the one thing in which most of us do rejoice. We have a commercialized view- we count how many souls have been saved and sanctified, we thank God, and then we think everything is all right. Yet our work only begins where God's grace has laid the foundation. Our work is not to save souls, but to disciple them. Salvation and sanctification are the work of God's sovereign grace, and our work as His disciples is to disciple others' lives until they are totally yielded to God. One life totally devoted to God is of more value to Him than one hundred lives which have been simply awakened by His Spirit. As workers for God, we must reproduce our own kind spiritually, and those lives will be God's testimony to us as His workers. God brings us up to a standard of life through His grace, and we are responsible for reproducing that same standard in others. Unless the worker lives a life that "is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3), he is apt to become an irritating dictator to others, instead of an active, living disciple. Many of us are dictators, dictating our desires to individuals and to groups. But Jesus never dictates to us in that way. Whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He always prefaced His words with an "if," never with the forceful or dogmatic statement- "You must." Discipleship carries with it an option. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Do You Worship The Work?

"We are God's fellow workers..." (1 Corinthians 3:9). Beware of any work for God that causes or allows you to avoid concentrating on Him. A great number of Christian workers worship their work. The only concern of Christian workers should be their concentration on God. This will mean that all the other boundaries of life, whether they are mental, moral, or spiritual limits, are completely free with the freedom God gives His child; that is, a worshiping child, not a wayward one. A worker who lacks this serious controlling emphasis of concentration on God is apt to become overly burdened by his work. He is a slave to his own limits, having no freedom of his body, mind, or spirit. Consequently, he becomes burned out and defeated. There is no freedom and no delight in life at all. His nerves, mind, and heart are so overwhelmed that God's blessing cannot rest on him. But the opposite case is equally true- once our concentration is on God, all the limits of our life are free and under the control and mastery of God alone. There is no longer any responsibility on you for the work. The only responsibility you have is to stay in living constant touch with God, and to see that you allow nothing to hinder your cooperation with Him. The freedom that comes after sanctification is the freedom of a child, and the things that used to hold your life down are gone. But be careful to remember that you have been freed for only one thing- to be absolutely devoted to your co-Worker. We have no right to decide where we should be placed, or to have preconceived ideas as to what God is preparing us to do. God engineers everything; and wherever He places us, our one supreme goal should be to pour out our lives in wholehearted devotion to Him in that particular work. "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might..." (Ecclesiastes 9:10). [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Light That Never Fails

"We all, with unveiled face, beholding... the glory of the Lord..." (2 Corinthians 3:18). A servant of God must stand so very much alone that he never realizes he is alone. In the early stages of the christian life, disappointments will come- people who used to be lights will flicker out, and those who used to stand with us will turn away. We have to get so used to it that we will not even realize we are standing alone. Paul said, "... no one stood with me, but all forsook me.... But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me..." (2 Timothy 4:16-17). We must build our faith not on fading lights but on the light that never fails. When "important" individuals go away we are sad, until we see that they are meant to go, so that only one thing is left for us to do- to look into the face of God for ourselves. Allow nothing to keep you from looking with strong determination into the face of God regarding yourself and your doctrine. And every time you preach make sure you look God in the face about the message first, then the glory will remain through all of it. A Christian servant is one who perpetually looks into the face of God and then goes forth to talk to others. The ministry of Christ is characterized by an abiding glory of which the servant is totally unaware- "... Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him" (Exodus 34:29). We are never called on to display our doubts openly or to express the hidden joys and delights of our life with God. The secret of the servant's life is that he stays in true with God all the time. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Don't Hurt The Lord

"Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?" (John 14:9). Our Lord must be repeatedly astounded at us- astound at how "un-simple" we are. It is our own opinions that make us dense and slow to understand, but when we are simple we are never dense; we have discernment all the time. Philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the Person he thought he already knew. The mystery of God is not in what is going to be- it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event. We have no reluctance to obey Jesus, but it is highly probable that we are hurting Him by what we ask- "Lord, show us the Father..." (14:8). His response immediately comes back to us as He says, "Can't you see Him? He is always right here or He is no where to be found." We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children. And while others see the evidence, the child of God does not. We want to be fully aware of what God is doing in us, but we cannot have complete awareness and expect to remain reasonable or balanced in our expectations of Him. If all we are asking God to give us is experiences, and the awareness of those experiences is blocking our way, we hurt the Lord. The very questions we ask hurt Jesus, because they are not the questions of a child. "Let not your heart be troubled..." (14:1,27). Am I then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? If I believe in Jesus and His attributes, am I living up to my belief? Am I allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am I allowing any questions to come in which are unsound or unbalanced? I have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. Realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedeom you receive is immediate. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Can A Saint Falsely Accuse God?

"All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen..." (2 Corinthians 1:20). Jesus' parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30 was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. This parable has nothing to do with natural gifts and abilities, but relates to the gift of the Holy Spirit as He was first given at Pentacost. We must never measure our spiritual capacity on the basis of our education or our intellect; our capacity in spiritual things is measured on the basis of the promises of God. If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, "You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me." When it is a question of God's Almighty Spirit, never say,"I can't." Never allow the limitation of your own natural ability to enter into the matter. If we have received the Holy Spirit, God expects the work of the Holy Spirit to be exhibited in us. The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, "Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me." Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you"? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied- "I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable." A person who is lazy in the natural realm is always critical, saying, "I haven't had a decent chance," and someone who is lazy in the spiritual realm is critical of God. Lazy people always strike out at others in an independent way. Never forget that our capacity and capability in spiritual matters is measured by, and based on, the promise of God. Is God able to fulfill His promises? Our answer depends on whether or not we have received this Holy Spirit. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Beware Of The Least Likely Temptation

"Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had not defected to Absalom" (1 King 2:28). Joab withstood the greatest test of his life, remaining absolutely loyal to David by not turning to follow after the fascinating and ambitious Absalom. Yet toward the end of his life he turned to follow after the weak and cowardly Adonijah. Always remain alert to the fact that where one person has turned back is exactly where anyone may be tempted to turn back (see 1 Corinthians 10:11-13). You may have just victoriously gone through a great crisis, but now be alert about the things that may appear to be the least likely to tempt you. Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall. We are apt to say, "It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world." Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect. They may not be forceful and dominent, but they are not there. And if you are not careful to be forewarned, they will trip you. You have remained true to God under great and intense trials- now beware of the undercurrent. Do not be abnormally examining your inner self, looking forward with dread, but stay alert; keep your memory sharp before God. Unguarded strength is actually a double weakness, because that is where the least likely temptations will be effective in sapping strength. The Bible characters stumbled over their strong points, never their weak ones. "... kept by the power of God..."- that is the only safety (1 Peter 1:5). [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Readiness

"God called to him.... And he said, 'Here I am'" (Exodus 3:4). When God speaks, many of us are like people in a fog, and we give no answer. Moses' reply to God revealed that he knew where he was and that he was ready. Readiness means having a right relationship to God and having the knowledge of where we are. We are so busy telling God where we would like to go. Yet the man or woman who is ready for God and His work is the one who receives the prize when the summons comes. We wait with the idea that some great opportunity or something sensational will be coming our way, and when it does come we are quick to cry out, "Here I am." Whenever we sense that Jesus Christ is rising up to take authority over some great task, we are there, but we are not ready for some obscure duty. Readiness for God means that we are prepared to do the smallest thing or the largest thing- it makes no difference. It means we have no choice in what we want to do, but that whatever God's plan may be, we are there and ready. Whenever the duty presents itself, we hear God's voice as our Lord heard His Father's voice, and we are ready for it with the total readiness of our love for Him. Jesus christ expects to do with us just as His Father did with Him. He can put us wherever He wants, in pleasant duties or in menial ones, because our union with Him is the same as His union with the Father. "... that they may be one just as We are one..." (John 17:22). Be ready for the sudden surprise visits of God. A ready person never needs to get ready- he is ready. Think of the time we waiste trying to get ready once God has called! The burning bush is a symbol of everything that surrounds the person who is ready, and it is on fire with the presence of God Himself. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

All Or Nothing?

"When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment... and plunged into the sea" (John 21:70). Have you ever had a crisis in your life in which you deliberately, earnestly, and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of the will. You may come to that point many times externally, but it will amount to nothing. The true deep crisis of abandonment, or total surrender, is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of only external things may actually be an indication of your being in total bondage. Have you deliberately committed your will to Jesus Christ? It is a transaction of the will, not of emotion; any positive emotion that results is simply a superficial blessing arising out of the transaction. If you focus your attention on the emotion, you will never make the transaction. Do not ask God what the transaction is to be, but make the determination to surrender your will regarding whatever you see, whether it is in the shallow or the deep, profound places internally. If you have heard Jesus Christ's voice on the wave of sea, you can let your convictions and your consistency take care of themselves by concentrating on maintaining your intimate relationship to Him. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Can You Come Down From The Mountain?

"While you have the light, believe in the light..." (John 12:36). We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, "I feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!" We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there. Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don't place yourself on the shelf by thinking, "How great to be in such a wonderful state of mind!" Act immediately- do something, even if your own reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God shows you shomething to do, don't say, "I'll do it"- just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off your fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary "gray" day according to what we saw on the mountain. Don't give up because you have been blocked and confused once- go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Failure To Pay Close Attention

"The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days" (2 Chronicles 15:17). Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, "Oh, that thing in my life doesn't matter much." The fact that it doesn't matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothting should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, "I know I am right with God"- yet the "high places" still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God. Are there somethings regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless- you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes' effort. [from "My utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Inner Invincibility

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me..." (Matthew 11:29). Whom the LORD loves He chastens..." (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, "Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!" Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That's why Jesus says to us, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you. "... to those who have no might He increases strength" (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him. "... the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veils from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility. It your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God's strength. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

What To Do When Your Burden Is Overwhelming

"Cast your burden on the LORD..." (Psalm 55:22). We must recognize the difference between burdens that are right for us to bear and burdens that are wong. We should never bear the burden of sin or doubt, but there are some burdens placed on us by God which He does not intended to lift off. God wants us to roll them back on Him- to literally "cast your burden," which He has given you, "on the LORD...." If we set out to serve God and do His work but get out of touch with Him, the sense of responsibility we feel will be overwhelming and defeating. But if we will only roll back on God the burdens He has placed on us, He will take away that immense feeling of responsibility, replacing it with an awareness and understanding of Himself and His presence. Many servants set out to serve God with great courage and with the right motives. But with no intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, they are soon defeated. They do not know what to do with their burden, and it produces weariness in their lives. Others will see this and say, "What a sad end to something that had such a great beginning!" "Cast your burden on the LORD...." You have been bearing it all, but you need to deliberately place one end on God's shoulder. "... the government will be upon His shoulder" (Isaiah 9:6). Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don't just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it. You will see that your burden is then lightened by the sense of companionship. But you should never try to separate yourself from your burden. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Complete and Effective Divinity

"If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection..." (Romans 6:5). Co-Resurrection. The proof that I have experienced crucifixtion with Jesus is that I have a definite likeness to Him. The Spirit of Jesus entering me rearranges my personal life before God. The resurrection of Jesus has given Him the authority to give the life of God to me, and the experiences of my life must now be built on the foundation of His life. I can have the resurrection life of Jesus here and now, and it will exhibit itself through holiness. The idea all through the apostle Paul's writings is that after the decision to be identified with Jesus in His death has been made, the resurrection life of Jesus penetrates every bit of my human nature. It takes the omnipotence of God- His complete and effective divinity- to live the life of the Son of God in human flesh. The Holy Spirit cannot be accepted as a guest in merely one room of the house- He invades all of it. And once I decide that my "old man" (that is, my heredity of sin) should be identified with the death of Jesus, the Holy Spirit invades me. He takes charge of everything. My part is to walk in the light and to obey all that He reveals to me. Once I have made that important decision about sin, it is easy to "reckon" that I am actually "dead indeed to sin," because I find the life of Jesus in me all the time (Romans 6:11). Just as there is only one kind of humanity, there is only one kind of holiness- the holiness of Jesus. And it is His holiness that has been given to me. God puts the holiness of His Son into me, and I belong to a new spiritual order. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Pray for California!

Capitol Resource Institute writes; Separate but Unequal California's SB 323 came one step closer to becoming the law of the Golden State as the bill easily passed out of the California Senate Governance and Finance Committee. Should SB 323 become law it would break new ground in using the tax system to punish those who are disliked by the LGBT activists. SB 323 would remove certain State tax exemptions for public charity youth organizations that discriminate on the basis of gender identity, race, sexual orientation, nationality, religion or religious affiliation. But in today's committee hearing the proponents clamed that the bill would not affect those youth programs organized under the structure of a religious body. The Boy Scouts meeting at the local Presbyterian Church need not comply with the law, but the Scout troop meeting next door at the community center could lose its tax exemption if it restricts who can be troop leader. This oddity has led to the description of the proposed law as proudly promoting State treatment that is "separate but unequal". That disparity should raise a few eyebrows and demand further explanation. Apparently we are to conclude that a club that determines that a homosexual man should not be its leader is deemed so heinous that the organization should be punished into conformity by taxation. But if the youth group meets in a church, never mind. In allowing such an exception, the proponents implicitly admit that the State should show tolerance for different membership and leadership policies. While the target of this bill is the Boy Scouts (the Committee's official analysis says, "it is clearly aimed at them") its effects are much wider than that. This is good only because it means there will be other organizations expressing their opposition. While one uniformed Scout leader at the Committee hearing did his organization proud, another former Scout would not have earned a merit badge for his performance. He alluded to pressure for greater diversity in the Scouts and signaled that given time the Scout policies evolve and would change. The discussion of discrimination presumably would soon be moot. SB 323 requires that youth sports leagues allow children of any gender to participate on any team. But the State intends to reach beyond the playing field and into locker rooms, showers and bathrooms also. This bill's prohibition on gender identity based discrimination means that a boy claiming gender confusion is permitted to share those facilities with girls. Any attempt at segregation risks a fine in the form of taxes. Proponents of the new law seem genuinely angry that California's various pronouncements about sexuality are not being observed by certain youth organizations. They have declared certain things to be discrimination and that should be the end of the issue. But of course the law and public opinion, for now, say otherwise. In a landmark case dealing with the Boy Scouts in 2000, the United States Supreme Court determined that the First Amendment right of "expressive association" trumped the laws of a state dealing with this same type of discrimination. The Boy Scouts were allowed to deny an openly homosexual man a leadership position in a local Scout troop even though the laws of the State declared such a denial to be impermissible discrimination. The public seems to agree. If a mother says she wants to choose the role models for her 12 year-old when sending him to a voluntary club, most of us do not equate her with the racist bent on bringing back segregation. We get it that tolerance is a two way street. And we are a little unnerved by the idea that those who currently hold political power in our State are attempting to use that power to bankrupt any organization that does not agree with them. It is ironic that so many of those who are demanding that individuals be able to marry the one they choose would at the same time deny the right of the individual to simply choose his Scout leader. Thumbs Up! Thank you to Senator Knight for openly opposing this attack on freedom of association and free speech! Join with CRI in the Battles of the Future Capitol Resource Institute's mission is to educate, advocate, protect, and defend family-friendly policies in California's state legislature and at the local government level. Capitol Resource Institute is a 501c3 non-profit organization and all donations are tax-deductible. If you benefit from the work CRI performs on behalf of families, please consider a tax-deductible contribution today! Mail checks to: CRI 660 J Street, Suite 250 Sacramento, CA 95814 Make an Online Donation Today!

Complete And Effective Decision About Sin

"... our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin" (Romans 6:6). Co-crucifixion. Have you made the following decision about sin- that it must be completely killed in you? It takes a long time to come to the point of making this complete and effective decision about sin. It is, however, the greatest moment in your life once you decide that sin must die in you- not simply be restrained, suppressed, or counteracted, but crucified- just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world. No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be mentally and spiritually convinced, but what we need to do is actually make the decision that Paul urged us to do in this passage. Pull yourself up, take some time alone with God, and make this important decision, saying, "Lord, identify me with Your death until I know that sin is dead in me." Make the moral decision that sin in you must be put to death. This was not some divine future expectation on the part of Paul, but was a very radical and definite experience in his life. Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life- to see the very things that struggle against God's Spirit in you? If so, will you then agree with God's verdict on the nature of sin- that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot "reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin" (6:11) unless you have radically dealt with the issue of your will before God. Have you entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until all that remains in your flesh and blood is His life? "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..." (Galatians 2:20). [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

True Faith In Jesus

The Lord wants to know “do you truly believe in me?” Let us examine ourselves. God seeks us out daily and asks us if we truly believe in Him. “Do you truly believe in me?” Do you truly believe God the Father? Do you believe that Jesus Christ died for me, saved me, that I have been cleansed by His blood, that all my sins have been washed away, so that I may live my life before God? The Holy Spirit speaks to us, guides us and teaches us about God, Jesus and the Spirit, but do we believe Him and live our life in obedience? Do you truly believe? Do you truly believe that God created the universe? Or is it something that you know because you have heard it? Do you believe because you believe or is it something that you think you do without truly believing? Though the world end today, though you face unthinkable trials and suffering, though you do not have money to eat today, do you still believe that God is your Father? Really? Do you truly believe? When you are in a good mood you say you believe. You say you believe that God exists. But the moment you feel down, where is God in your life? You question what has God done for you? You question why God put you on earth? You question why you have such parents? You question why you suffer when others are doing well? You question why you have to suffer your trials and not live the life you want? Is this how you live your life? We do not commune with God even if we feel bad in the slightest. If we do commune with Him it is because He lives. This is whom we argue against. This is whom we complain to. But our problem is when things are going well we forget about God. It is confusing that you blame Him when things go bad because in your life He does not live. The whole world argues with God when they are angry or frustrated. Why does God disappear from your life when things go well? Why do you take credit for your life? You blame God when things go wrong, then when things go well why do your get rid of God and take credit for it? Why did you do it all? Why do you think you are special? God is not there. Where do you stand? Do you stand on both sides? Do you stand on the side that blames God or do you stand on the side that takes credit for everything because you think you are the one to make it all happen? Are you looking for approval from people? You are responsible for your mistakes that cause you to be disapproved. You blame God when it is your fault that you fail. And when you put in a little effort and something good happens you take all the credit. You take God out of everything. Though we may act as though He does not exist He is everlasting. He has been since before Creation. He has no beginning. He is and always will be. We say we believe in Him but we have doubt. This is why He asks us “do you believe in me?” This has many different meanings. Do we believe that He exists? Do we believe that He is guiding us? Do we believe that He is with us even today? He is wanting to know if we believe that He is with us no matter how difficult our circumstance is? Do you believe? When things are difficult, in your suffering, though you may not attain that which you desire, though nothing that you want comes to pass, though the task you have been assigned may not seem like it is being accomplished, though you may have nothing in your hands, though you have nothing, do you still believe God and continue to move forward? Do you truly believe? I have nothing more to say to you. God has asked me this continuously this week. “Do you believe me?” “Do you believe that I am guiding you?” I had questions for God this week, but just like Job, rather than answer my questions He asked me His questions and wanted to know if I believed in Him. I told God that that is not the question that I was asking. I have conflict within me, I have worry, I am trying to forgive everyone and trying to love them, and in the midst of a struggle I was having this week, and rather than answering the request I was making He was asking His own question “do you believe in me?” This is what God was asking me this week. “Do you truly believe in me?” Yes, I believe you I answered. I believe that you live. I believe that I am cleansed by the blood of Jesus. I believe that He died for me. I believe that He leads me. I believe it all, but then He still asks me “do you believe in me?” I asked Him, “God what are you asking me?” It is easy for me to forgive someone I know but this past week I had a problem with someone I did not know. As time went on I hated this person more and more. I could not forgive this person as time passed on. But what did I preach? Repent, love, and bless. Then after that I preached on giving thanks and right after that message God threw this problem in my direction. In the beginning it was not a problem at all. It was a problem that had nothing to do with me. But like a snowball that you keep rolling and it gets bigger, this little thing over time over powered me to the point I could not overcome it. I told Him, “God this is what I preached on.” He said “yes.” That is why He asked “Do you believe in me?” It was the same problem. He asks me the same question though I have a different problem. I told Him you are not making sense. I told Him that is not what I am talking about. But God continued to ask me “do you believe in me?” So in the midst of my struggle and prayers God answered me. Then I found peace in my heart and I could forgive and resolved the issue. I was redeemed and now I stand firm once again in Him. Why is it like this? The question I ask and how God answers is different. My thoughts and God’s thoughts are different. I cannot move the boulder in my path. Only through the leading of the Hoy Spirit, and God being with me, and when I surrender all to Him and to the cross, the boulder is removed for me in a moment. How about for you? If I truly am alive to you. If you truly believe that I live, then what is it that can be a problem? This is what He is asking. “If I am truly your Father, then can you not forgive and let go of those things that bother you?” “If I truly live and am your Savior and you believe that I bled on the cross and died for you, the can you live your life in that manner?” This is what He is asking us. “If I am truly your Savior and your friend, is there anything that you could not do for me?” This is what He is asking us. “If you truly believe that I am with you, then should you not be joyful, glad and enduring?” God asked me, “If you believe that I am with you, then why could you not remove the pebble that was in your way, but rather make that into a large boulder that consumed you to the point you let it ruin you and make you unforgiving?” What about you? Do we forgive those we do business with when they hate us? Do you have patience to sit down with your spouse and understand them or do you get up and leave because you are angry and then act as if nothing has happened? Does this resolve the issue? I wish it was this way but it is not. When I do not remove the problem in my life, it does not go away but it only becomes bigger. We think that we can overlook a problem. A day passes. We think because we do not confront the issue that nothing will happen. We think that it is irrelevant. I had an issue that had nothing to do with my husband but that problem entered into me, and though I thought it did not matter it mattered a great deal. Because I did not remove that seed, it continued to grow in me. It became uncontrollable. Because God continued to ask me if I believed in Him I did not know how to resolve this issue. My question and God’s answer was not related. But after a couple of days in prayer and asking God again, He made it clear that if I believed that He is with me, and that I believe in Him, that He is my Father, that Jesus who died for me and bled for me is my bridegroom, and that the Holy Spirit continues to guide me today, then can I act in this manner? This is what He asked me. How about you? When you are faced with a minor problem, when you lack material blessings, you feel bad and from that moment on you get upset, you are in pain, you give up, you want to abandon everything. You want to stop believing in God, you no longer want to come to church. And then when you feel good you get excited because you hear His voice and cry out to Him. Is this not how you are? You say that He is good if something good happens. You sing that He is good. But when you are filled with worry, rather than sing hymns and pray, you give up and abandon everything and no longer want to believe in God. You question “what has God done for me?” You blame God saying that you have believed Him for so long yet He has done nothing for you. Then God asked me, “You forgave those whom you blamed for your father’s death, but how is it that you cannot forgive this person this problem?” I told Him I do not know why. I have a little history with these people. But it is not an issue that affects me directly, but I could not figure out why I could not forgive them. I struggled with this for a few days. Nothing seemed to help. Did I not pray about it? I did. I did not understand why God kept asking me the same question as to did I believe in Him? I thought about when the Lord asked Peter the same question three times. I thought about other circumstances. I questioned if maybe I really did not believe in God. May be I really did not believe in Jesus Christ. He said “you do believe in me.” Then He would ask again, “do you believe in me?” Then I realized it was something else. In that moment when He keeps asking if I truly believe that He lives, He is wanting to know why I have not resolved the matter. He wants to know why I am not resolving the matter. He is telling me to uproot it and throw it away. No matter what difficulties we encounter. Because we believe in Him does not mean that we only receive blessings. We will face hardships and trials. In all circumstances, in the midst of a storm, are we still trusting in God? When we are faced with trials and are frustrated, so God is frustrated with us when we are not right with Him. He is wanting us to put our trust back in Him, this is why He is asking us. We know that Jesus weeps for the lost souls in Heaven. He desires that many souls be embraced by the Father. God is showing me that He is concerned over each of our souls. He gets frustrated and seeks us out. But what can we offer Him? We only desire to receive blessings. We desire that He does everything we ask. We desire only happiness. We desire that He does everything we want on our terms and this is why He asks us “do you believe in me?” What about you? God loves each and everyone so much. He cherishes each of us. He desires so much that each of us stand right before Him and the Holy Spirit weeps for us. He desires that we go in the right path and daily knocks on our hearts so that we would listen. He knocks so that He can come into us to dine with us. He desires that we are one with Him and dwell together with Him. We are to let the Spirit burn in us so that it may catch fire and burn into the souls of others. But we put it out. We do not fan the flame. But the evil things we let into us and consume us unto a point we cannot overcome and are led to destruction by it. We cannot win unless we let the Spirit of God light a fire in us and love Him. I felt like dying those few days I was in that state. I could not live. There was no joy nor peace in me. I was not free. In my body though I am sick and in pain, I am with joy and peace, but when something enters me and consumes me, the painkillers do not work and my heart is bound to something that it should not be bound to and there is nothing else that matters. We are not using the fire in the right way. We fan the flame of evil. We refuse to kill it. We hate someone and it continues to grow. The Bible says that if we hate someone we are a murderer. Why? It is because we kill someone after we hate them. We do not kill someone because when we love them. When a good fire is lit, when the Spirit burns within us we are to continue to flame it and spread it to others, but this flame we put out. We are living backwards. Let us not be this way. I learned a great lesson. I learned something that I did not desire to learn. We think what a great person for having gone through what they did. No. It would be greater to put out the flame of evil before having to get to that point. But I am the one to carry that burden. In the end it was I who did not put out the fire. Do not be foolish like me. The moment an evil flame sparks inside of you put it out. And if the Holy Spirit lights a fire in you, continue to flame it a grow it and spread it to those around you so that we can live in an abundance of the Spirit. When God asks you, “Do you truly believe in me?” What will you say? As you live this week may you think about this. Sermon by Pastor Joy YoungSook Lee Translation by Miguel Park

His Resurrection Destiny

"Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" (Luke 24:26). Our Lord's Cross is the gateway into His life. His resurrection means that He has the power to convey His life to me. When I was born again, I received the very life of the risen Lord from Jesus Himself. Christ's resurrection destiny- His foreordained purpose- was to bring "many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10). The fulfilling of His destiny gives Him the right to make us sons and daughters of God. We never have exactly the same relationship to God that the Son of God has, but we are brought by the Son into the relation of sonship. When our Lord rose from the dead, He rose to an absolutely new life- a life He had never lived before He was God incarnate. He rose to a life that had never been before. And what His resurrection means for us is that we are raised to His risen life, not to our old life. One day we will have a body like His glorious body, but we can know here and now the power and effectiveness of His resurrection and can "walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). Paul's determined purpose was to "know Him and the power of His resurrection" (Philippians 3:10). Jesus prayed, "... as You have given Him authority over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him" (John 17:2). The term Holy Spirit is actually another name for the experience of eternal life working in human beings here and now. The Holy Spirit is the deity of God who continues to apply the power of the atonement by the Cross of Christ to our lives. Thank God for the glorious and majestic truth that His Spirit can work the very nature of Jesus into us, if we will only obey Him. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Why We Lack Understanding

"He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead" (Mark 9:9). As the disciples were commanded, you should also say nothing until the Son of Man has risen in you- until the life of the risen Christ so dominates you that you truly understand what He taught while here on earth. When you grow and develop the right condition inwardly, the words Jesus spoke become so clear that you are amazed you did not grasp them before. In fact, you were not able to understand them before because you had not yet developed the proper spiritual condition to deal with them. Our Lord doesn't hide these things from us, but we are not prepared to receive them until we are in the right condition in our spiritual life. Jesus said, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now" (John 16;12). We must have a oneness with His risen life before we are prepared to bear any particular truth from Him. Do we really know anything about the indwelling of the risen life of Jesus? The evidence that we do is that His Word is becoming understandable to us. God cannot reveal anything to us if we don't have His Spirit. And our own unyielding and headstrong opinions will effectively prevent God from revealing anything to us. But our insensible thinking will end immediately once His resurrection life has its way with us. "... tell no one...." But so many people do tell what they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration- their mountaintop experience. They have seen a vision and they testify to it, but there is no connection between what they say and how they live. Their lives don't add up because the Son of Man has not yet risen in them. How long will it be before His resurrection life is formed and evident in you and in me? [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Collision Of God And Sin

"... who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree..." (1 Peter 2:24). The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God's judgement on sin. Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundation of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross- He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God. The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus- He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (revelation 13:8). The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of seperating "God was manifested in the flesh..." from "... He made Him... to be sin for us..." (1 Timothy 3:16; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both. The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience. The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there. The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

His Agony And Our Access

"Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples.... 'Stay here and watch with Me'" (Matthew 26:36,38). We can never fully comprehend Christ's agony in the garden of Gethsemene, but at least we don't have to misunderstand it. It is agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. We cannot learn about Gethsemene through personal experience. Gethsemene and Calvary represent something totally unique- they are the gateway into life for us. It was not death on the cross that Jesus agonized over in Gethsemene. In fact, He started very emphatically that He came with the purpose of dying. His concern here was that He might not get through this struggle as the Son of Man. He was confident of getting through it as the Son of God- Satan could not touch Him there. But Satan's assult was that our Lord would come through for us on His own solely as the Son of Man. If Jesus had done that, He could not have been our Savior (see Hebrews 9:11-15). Read the record of His agony in Gethsemene in the light of His earlier wilderness temptation- "... the devil... departed from Him until an opportune time" (Luke 4:13). In Gethsemene, Satan came beack and was overthrown again. Satan's final assult against our Lord as the Son of Man was in Gethsemene. The agony in Gethsemene was the agony of the Son of God in fulfilling His destiny as the Savior of the world. The veil is pulled back here to reveal all that it cost Him to make it possible for us to become sons of God. His agony was the basis for the simplicity of our salvation. The Cross of Christ was a triumph for the Son of Man. It was not only a sign that our Lord had triumphed, but that He had triumphed to save the human race. Because of what the Son of Man went through, every human being has been provided with a way of access into the very presence of God. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Give Thanks.

SF.3.8.2013 Give Thanks. Let us look at what it means to give thanks. When we give thanks we first have requirements. We are grateful when we have attained something or achieved something. Then we are filled with joy, happiness and feel good. But according to God’s Word we are to be grateful for no other reason than that we are living under God’s grace according to His will. We were once dead for all eternity, but it was through the blood of Jesus in which we are allowed to stand before God. This is a miracle. This is why we are grateful. But we do not find this a reason to be grateful. Why? We take for granted that Jesus died for me. Many Jewish people do not believe that the Messiah has come. They still wait for Him to come even today. But Jesus Christ did come, He did die for us, and through His death we have been saved and given life and made a child of His kingdom, and as a bride to the Bridegroom we are to be grateful. These are the reasons we are to be grateful. We give thanks when we get to eat the food we want. We are grateful when we have the clothes or the things we want. We say we are grateful and filled with joy if we have a good job or in a higher position than others. But in God’s Word and when we live in truth, we will face suffering, hardships, and we will face discouragement and frustration. We will face persecution and though we may have done nothing wrong we will be falsely accused. Even then we are to be filled with joy and thanks. We do not do this well. It is difficult for me at times as well. Somedays it seems fine and then other days it is my inability to forgive and therefore there is no gratitude. If someone slanders me or makes my life difficult, rather than thanks I am disappointed. The reason? Because things are not going the way I want. Not according to the Word, but not meeting my satisfaction, that is why I am ungrateful. We tell God “anything but that.” We complain that the other person did me wrong so why should I be grateful. I know the the words in the Bible but because that person has acted a certain way to me I am unable to be grateful. This is how we make excuses. We are to be grateful in the Lord, not in the circumstance. We are to be grateful and joyful in the Lord because we are in Him and He in us. It is not about our circumstance or environment. We are to truly be grateful and joyful but to what extent are we truly so? How grateful are you when things that you want and desire to do are not? What about the students who are not getting the grades they want? Even then are you grateful? We are to be grateful for God’s grace. God is allowing you to face trials so that you can be prepared for greater things. If you receive a bad grade because you did not study then you deserve the bad grade. But if you did your best and studied hard and still did not get a good grade can you still be grateful? Gratitude is difficult. If you have been looking forward to a promotion but someone who you think is not as qualified gets the promotion, can you bless them and be grateful? We cannot. We compare their qualifications with ours. We consider ourselves better than them. We complain about the company and also complain to God. We ask God what is it that we have done wrong? What is it that I lack that I am unable to get promoted? What have I done so wrong? I keep the Sabbath. I tithe. I give my time for the church. I even did my best at work. What is it that I lack compared to the other person that I was not the one to be promoted? Those of us who do business. We ask God why are we not blessed when we live according to His Word when those others lie, steal and cheat in business and are doing well? We tell God that we are going to have to start doing business like they do because we need to provide for our families but with the income we have now it is not possible so we complain to God. But God does not want us to concern ourselves with what we eat and need but He desires that we first stand right before Him. He is saying to first be one with Him. But we fail to do so. Rather we put demands on our allegiance telling Him that if He grants our requests we will follow Him, whether it be good grades, passing exams, or meeting financial needs. We are doing everything in reverse. God wants us to first seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Then He will give is the things we ask for. But we first ask for the things we want and after we receive it, then we will pledge our allegiance to Him, give tithes, serve in the church, do missions and give extra in the offerings. This is backwards. God desires that we first are one with Him. He says, “accompany Me.” He desires that we walk in His path. God trains up the individuals He desires to use for His glory, but we do not want to be trained but only seek to sit in that place. God desires that we first stand before Him. He desires that we accompany Him. God desires to train us up in the manner He desires to use us. We are to face trials. Then God’s will can be known. Then we will not be ridiculed by others. Without sacrifice, no one will listen to the message we share. We are not to make sacrifices according to the world but we are to make sacrifices according to God’s will. When I look back in my life I do not really see much sacrifice. In my mind, I think that I have laid down many things and made many sacrifices, help others, love others, but in truth when we examine our hearts, we have only done so to the degree that we see as enough, never doing do to the degree that God desires because we do not have that much faith. We are not grateful. Jesus Christ gave us Himself completely. What does that mean? God the Father, gave us His one and only Son. God the Father also gave us everything. But we only want to give a little. We want to give a little and keep everything else for ourselves. My children, my family, my business, my friends, everything according to my standards. The friends we like are the ones who meet our standards, who answer us the way we like, and do our requests. We do not want to see the friends who tell us our wrongs and try to help us live right. Why? Because it is difficult for us. Because we do not have our way. Because they get in our way. They stop us from going down the path we want. We cannot be grateful. We are the same way with God. God desires we go right, but we want to go to the left because the path He shows us seems to be difficult. We tell God no and say we must go left. We tell God to wait for us because we need to go to the left and go do what we want to do today. Then when we encounter a problem we ask God why He did not stop us. God tells us that He has used may people to try and stop us and He has been patient with us. We hear this quite often. There are many testimonies of people who have converted from other religions and they all at some point ask God why did He not come to them sooner, but God responds by saying that He has sent many people, but it was they who refused to listen. Even now God is saying the same thing to us. But our response is to put the blame on someone and say that it was because of that person I could not believe in Jesus. We are believers but likewise those around us look at us and judge us. But because we are doing so much wrong that we are unable to share the gospel and the and the message cannot be delivered. But we point our fingers at them who are nonbelievers. When have you been such a great believer? God truly desires that His Gospel is spread to the ends of the earth. Unless I am dead to myself and completely obedient, love the God, grateful, and joyful the message will not be spread to the ends of the earth. We must be grateful so that we can serve God wholeheartedly. We cannot serve God without gratitude because then we are working against Him and hate Him. What must we do? We must truly get into the Word and be grateful. We are not to be grateful for having our needs met but we are to grateful simply for God’s grace. We are to be grateful because of our faith in Jesus. It is an incredible grace that we have been chosen to come before God, to fellowship with Him and worship Him. We are to be grateful. Rather we come before God with an attitude that we deserve something because we came to church while others are doing what they enjoy doing. We ask Him to bless us for having come to church. Will God accept our worship? We are to come before God in joy and gratitude and offer up our worship to Him because God the Father, sent His one and only Son, Jesus to save me, and because we are so grateful we sing praises to Him and worship Him. This is God’s will for us in our lives. Even today, God is going to ask you to do something that you will think is impossible. Die a little more. Let go more of your pride. Love and forgive those who hate you. When God asks us to do this we do not have the heart to do so. We are ungrateful and unable to be so. Do not think about anything else. God has died for me. God is always telling me to forgive someone. I tell Him that I cannot I am having difficulty doing so. Then God asks me “what happens if I do not forgive you?” He used to ask me this when early in my faith. But it is the same today. Sometimes when I have something that I am disappointed or frustrated about the Lord asks me, “what if I had not sent Jesus to you?” “what if I did not forgive you, where would you go?” He says “Forgive them as I have forgiven you.” Things got easier as I started to forgive the things that which I could not forgive in the beginning. But on days that my spirit was not right, and my heart was heavy then forgiveness became difficult. Once you have forgiven it does not last. You must keep doing so. Even small things at times are difficult to forgive. We do not have in our hearts to do so. This happens especially between spouses and parents and their children. You can choose to not see other people and when you do not see them you feel as though you have forgiven them. You did not forgive but because you do not see them everything seems fine. If we do not truly forgive the ones who are closest to us then this will be a stumbling block. Our relationship with God will not be restored. There are things that have happened between you and your children. They may think that they are going on well, but in the eyes of the parent it is not so. After a word or two you decide to just let them be. You think that they will figure it out. But there is a difference between forgiving and covering up which is not forgiveness. It is not love. God asks me, if I do not forgive my children then who will? Do you think that God is pleased with everything that you do? Does God love us and forgive us because we please Him? No. Parents are not to raise up their child to their preference. We are to raise them up in a manner that pleases God, as children of God, as workers of His kingdom, and as His servants. At times it will not be what we may like. Why? Because what God desires and what I desire are not the same things. God raises His children according to His will. But, we as parents raise our children according to our preferences. This is why we express displeasure at times. That is wrong. There are things that God is not pleased with and we must be sure to teach that to them. But there are times that the children are right. Being a parent does not mean that you are always right. But as parents we use our position of authority and demand complete obedience. This is not right. We are to still love and forgive our children. This does not mean that the child has the right to oppose and rebel against their parents in disobedience. That is not so. When the parent is wrong but you in obedience say yes, then God will move in the heart of your parent and show them what is wrong. It is wrong if a child refuses to obey because they think that the parent is wrong. If you see something that your parent is doing wrong then bring it up to them and explain. If they do not listen then pray. Pray that God will move in their hearts. We are all the same. Both parent and children. Each wants to do what they want. Do not complain behind their backs. We must truly pray. We must truly be grateful in our hearts. When we are grateful then we can forgive. We can love. We can bless. But if cannot be grateful then we cannot bless others. Even though there are people who are wrong, you cannot fix them. I have tried and could not fix people. Only God, through the Holy Spirit can people change. But there are many people who have been touched by the Holy Spirit yet refuse to change. It is true, there are too many people who refuse to change. How can you change someone who refuses to listen to the Holy Spirit. How can we try to change those who do know God’s grace when there are those who know God’s grace and yet refuse to change. It is not your power to do so. It belongs in the hand of God. If for this reason you become upset and condemn yourself and are unable to be grateful then you are the one who suffers. Do not try to change them. After you have given them a warning or two then let it be. You are only bringing down your faith. I must be joyful and grateful in the Lord. I must be grateful, I must stand first, I must live right before God so that others around me will see me and believe in God. I will be a witness. Do not look at your neighbor, but be the first to stand right before God. I must be the one to be grateful first. We have no requirements for being grateful. Please, think about being grateful daily in your lives. I am going to give you homework. Keep a daily record of the things that you are grateful for in a notebook. Try to write at least one thing down, If you find twenty or thirty things then write it all down. Even if you feel you have nothing to write, before you go to bed write at least one thing down. Then, when you first find things to be grateful for, you no longer see your neighbors faults but you begin to have a heart of love. May you live a life of victorious life in faith. Sermon by Pastor Joy Lee Translation by Miguel Park

The Way To Permanent Faith

"Indeed the hour is coming... that you will be scattered..." (John 16:32). Jesus was not rebuking the disciples in this passage. Their faith was real, but it was disordered and unfocused, and was not at work in the important realities of life. The disciples were scattered to their own concerns and they had interests apart from Jesus Christ. After we have the perfect relationship with God, through the sanctifying work of Holy Spirit, our faith must be exercised in the realities of our everyday life. We will be scattered, not into service but into the emptiness of our lives where we will see ruin and barrenness, to know what internal death to God's blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is certainly not of our own choosing, but God engineers our circumstances to take us there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is sustained only by feelings and by blessings. But once we get there, no matter where God may place us or what inner emptiness we experience, we can praise God that all is well. That is what is meant by faith being exercised in the realities of life. "... you... will leave Me alone." Have we been scattered and have we left Jesus alone by not seeing His providential care for us? Do we not see God at work in our circumstances? Dark times are allowed and come to us through the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do what He wants with us? Are we prepared to be separated from the outward, evident blessings of God? Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we serve. Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. The sense of God's blessings is fundamental. "... be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (16:33). Unyielding spiritual fortitude is what we need. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

"If You Had Known!"

"If you had known... in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:42). Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly and the city was stirred to its very foundations, but a strange god was there- the pride of the Pharisees. It was a god that seemed religious and upright, but Jesus compared it to "whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27). What is it that blinds you to the peace of God "in this your day"? Do you have a strange god- not a disgusting monster but perhaps an unholy nature that controls your life? More than once God has brought me face to face with a strange god in my life, and I knew that I should have given it up, but I didn't do it. I got through the crisis "by the skin of my teeth," only to find myself still under the control of that strange god. I am blind to the very things that make for my own peace. It is a shocking thing that we can be in the exact place where the Spirit of God should be having His completely unhindered way with us, and yet we only make matters worse, increasing our blame in God's eyes. "If you had known...." God's words here cut directly to the heart, with the tears of Jesus behind them. These words imply responsibility for our own faults. God holds us accountable for what we refuse to see or are unable to see because of our sin. And "now they are hidden from your eyes" because you have never completely yielded your nature to Him. Oh, the deep, unending sadness for what might have been! God never again opens the doors that have been closed. He opens other doors, but He reminds us that there are doors which we have shut- doors which had no need to be shut. Never be afraid when God brings back your past. Let your memory have its way with you. It is a minister of God bringing its rebuke and sorrow to you. God will turn what might have been into a wonderful lesson of growth for the future. [from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

The Cross

SF.2.22.2013 When we mention the cross what comes to your mind? The cross. To us the cross has a good meaning. The reason is because of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, a path has opened up for us to be a child of God, a path of forgiveness for our sins. The cross means something good for us and many people even wear it on their bodies. But the original cross was for a sinner to bear and be crucified on. It was a means of torture to the one who was to be killed. But today the cross has become a symbol of adoration and holiness. The cross was originally something that was looked at with disgust and dishonor though now it carries a good meaning because Jesus died on it as a sinner. Why did Jesus have to die on this cross for me? We think that Jesus should have died for us, and that by carrying the cross ourselves we have become Christians and are now people going to Heaven. We think about these matters too lightly. The suffering on the cross is something we are not even qualified to talk about. I have never been on the cross so I do not know. I have suffered some pain, and it is only pain because I suffer. But even that at times has been difficult and unbearable. Those who were originally put on the cross were sinners convicted of crimes. But Jesus who was without sin, was nailed on the cross for me. This arouses no emotion or thought to us. It is mere information that you know that Jesus died for me. God came down into a body of a virgin whom He created and as a child grew up, and lived as us in the body and lived for thirty years before starting His ministry and then dying. We really do not know Jesus. We think we know Him and therefore experience no emotion, we have no joy in God’s sovereign power, we do not delight in Him. If we truly were grateful for His death on the cross we could not be like this. If we would focus on the Jesus and the cross when we go through our sufferings and trials we would be able to persevere and be victorious but we do not look to Him. In the walk of faith we are told to die to ourselves and carry the cross. We cry when we get a small splinter in our finger. We refuse to abandon everything and carry then cross and when it gets to that point we walk away. We like the blessed Jesus, the good Savior, the one who gives us joy, we like to know that He heals us when we are sick, provides for us when we are in need. We are focused only on the blessings and desire God who is good. When we first come into the faith we seek this good Savior, the one who gives joy, and is blessed but as our faith grows we see that there is also pain, suffering and trials, which is where our faith grows. We have grown up from childhood through our various experiences. Whether you are 10 or 20, through trials and suffering, we grow and live. Faith also is tested for maturity through spiritual trials. We do not desire to have this mature faith. The reason? Because there is pain. There is pain in bearing the cross. Because you are to raise others up. You are to forgive others. You are to love others whom you consider lower than yourself. You are to love. Our Lord tells us to love the ones we want to hate. We hate to forgive. We hate to love. We hate and look upon those whom we consider less than ourselves with disdain. We ignore others. But the Bible teaches us that these are the ones whom we are to embrace, love, forgive and walk together with as one. But we do not want to. Though they may have really wronged us, betrayed us, and abandoned us, these are the ones that God tells us to forgive, love and ultimately bless. We do not want to bless them. We do not even want to forgive them, but because we fear that God will not forgive us for not forgiving them, we do that much. We fight with God. We are like a yo-yo. When God saves to forgive we say we will not. Then when we kneel down to pray we say that we will. Then the moment we open our eyes and see the person we do not want to forgive them. We ask why we need to forgive that person when that person is the one who wronged me. There is no benefit in it for me. Then again we kneel down to pray and God tells us to forgive them. Then after fighting with God we forgive them. Then again we open our eyes and we cannot. We keep doing this until we mature in the faith and then one day we forgive. Then God tells us to love. A person we hate we can forgive when we do not see them. But now that we are able to forgive, God tells us to love. Love is not easy. Why does the Lord then love us? Are we worthy of His forgiveness? Are we worthy of His love? We are not. What does the Lord say? He tells us to love others as He has loved us. This is not easy even for me. There are times even now when it is not easy for me. Jesus Christ loved me and died on the cross for me. “Did I not die for you?” “Did I not die for your eternal salvation?” “Can you not die for me?” “Can you not forgive them and love them for me?” Our Lord is asking us. What are you going to do? We fight. We remind the Lord that we have forgiven but is it too much to ask that we do not love? We say that love is a give and take relationship but that person does not love me, why is it that I must love? This is the same with our spousal relationship and our relationship with our children. My husband is the one who does not love me, why must I love him? My wife is the one who does not love me, why must I love her? This is how we are to one another. Children are the same. He has told us to nurture our children in love. He has told the children to be obedient in love. This is very difficult for us. But He has commanded us to love others as He has loved us. We are to love the Lord and our neighbors. We are to start with loving those who are next to us. There are not many things that please us in our lives. Each of our standards are different. Someone may like “A” but the person next to them may not like it. Each of us has our own thoughts. No matter how good I am to you and you are to me, unless it meets my standards I will not be pleased. We are the same. Because we do not know the heart of people or the heart of the ones whom we interact we love according to our standards. God tells us to love and forgive according to the standard of His Word. Be it not for God’s standard there is much that I could not forgive. I never thought that others could not forgive me, I have lived up to now not being able to forgive many things. But in God’s grace I have come to know that I have been unforgiving of many people and incidents in my life, and others have not been able to forgive me and not love me for the things I have said. I will never really know their hearts. I have a hard time understanding my own heart. But we think that everyone else needs to understand us, be like us, and think like us. Our thoughts are not to be the same independently but rather it is to be one in thought, heart and purpose in Jesus Christ. That is in the Lord. In the Lord we are to be one heart and have one purpose. We each have differing thoughts and understandings but in this, God unites us and desires that we walk together as one. Once we have passed this test then the next lesson is to bless others. To pray for them and bless them. What happens when we bless them? We feel like we are losing something. We can forgive and love, but when we bless them and they do well, then we get sick to our stomachs, but still God tells us to bless them. Is this where you are at? The person who hates you, dislikes you, you are to forgive them, love them and bless them today. If they are hungry you are to take them something to eat. If they are sick you are to pray for them. If they have no money and you have some, then take it to them. We must be able to bless others so that God’s complete love can be revealed through us in accordance to the Word of God. Are you truly blessing others? Can you truly comfort the one who hates you? It is very difficult and hard to do. But we must do this to live according to the Word. God does not command us to do anything that we are not able to do. He commands us to do things that we are able. Individually you may say that you cannot do it. “I a weak.” “I am not that kind of person.” “God you know how I am.” God does know you very well. He knows you all too well. God knows me very well. God knows me too well. But still He commands us to bless them. “Yes, with you heart, your mind, your desire, you cannot bless them.” But, in whom are we to do so? In Christ. In God. We are to bless those in the will of the Father. This is a mature faith. This is living by faith. You must be people who considers other better than yourselves and bless them. Are there still things that you have not been able to forgive? Forgive. Do you still see someone who needs to die for their sins? God does not see it that way. You and I are all sinners worthy of death. But Jesus Christ came and pardoned us. Are you at a point where you are unable to love someone? Love them. You must love so that you can move to the next level. God is telling us to start blessing others. He is telling us to stop dwelling on the past and forgive, love and bless. “Did I not bless you?” He asks. “Am I not with you?” He is telling us to hold onto His hand and to move forward with Him. We must meet Him where He is so that we can go forward with Him. What can we do if we cannot forgive others? What can we do if we are not able to love? Unless we are able to bless others, we will not be able to do anything. Do you not want to receive blessings? If you want to be blessed then bless others. God is now wanting to us to move forward with Him. We must be a people who blesses others to do so. No longer look back. Are you in sin, then get up. Shed it off. Come before God and seek forgiveness. Repent. If there is someone whom you have a hard time loving then force yourself to love them in the beginning. You may think you will do so when you are ready but then you will never be ready. Forcing yourself to love someone moves you to love them. You can never prepare yourself prior to it. It is the same with forgiveness. You cannot bless them as well. Do not be fools. Do not act foolishly. Do not sit down when God is desiring to move forward. May you all be a people who receives all the blessings that God desires to give you as you move forward in your faith. Sermon by Pastor Joy Lee Translation by Miguel Park

Glory That's Unsurpassed

"... the Lord Jesus... has sent me that you may receive your sight..." (Acts 9"17) When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ. His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumes with nothing but Jesus Christ- "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus Christ. We must learn to maintain a strong degree of character in our lives, even to the level that has been revealed in our vision of Jesus Christ. The lasting characteristic of a spiritual man is the ability to understand correctly the meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ in his life, and the ability to explain the purpose of God to others. The overruling passion of his life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you see this quality in a person, you get the feeling that he is truly a man after God's own heart (see Acts 13:22). Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I've lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit's vision, Gazing on the Crucified.

1 Corinthians 4:20 Life of Power

TL.2.17.013 1 Corinthians 4:20 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 2 Corinthians 1:1-7 1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all his holy people throughout Achaia: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise to the God of All Comfort 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. Last week we looked at the Word in 1 Corinthians 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. Power we said is the ability to do work and we went over different kinds of power that were shown in the Bible. I want us to think about and remember the kinds of work that the children of God are capable of accomplishing as members of His kingdom. What can one accomplish as a Christian? What is it? What are the things that the children of God are capable of doing? As you ponder this let us see how it relates to what Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 1:1-7. The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. The world gives is much pain, suffering, worry, anxiety, and many other things that try to take us down, but power is the ability to overcome these things. It is not victory through means of this world but through the strength given to us by God. The one who can overcome is the child of God. Each of us are in difficult circumstances that are are own. Where does the strength to overcome our circumstance come from? It comes from the Holy Spirit who gives us power to be victorious. Should our lives not be like this? So that we may live this life, the servants of God give us His Word and tell us to always be joyful and give thanks in all circumstances. We have the Word but how do we apply this into our daily lives? The Christian life is an example of how to take the impossibilities of this world, the things that conflict with knowledge, and the things that are hard to understand and live in faith. Let us take a look at an example. What does the word “diet” mean? What you do not eat. What you limit yourself to eat. The things you are careful of eating. Diet refers to the food that you do eat. When we say diet we think about starving, losing weight, not eating. We think that an overweight person is trying to lose weight, but it is defined as the food that one eats and or the daily eating habits of an individual which is a diet. Also, the manner in which one eats is also called diet. Eating is your diet. But we think diet means to not eat and lose weight. We misunderstand the meaning. If we think that diet means to go hungry and lose weight then it means that we are mistaken. In another dictionary it is defined as the limited amount of food one consumes for health reasons. Though it is limited it is still the food that one eats that is a diet. Do you understand? This is something that we can easily understand by changing our thoughts. With the Scripture that I have introduced to you today, the question I want to ask to you is, is it possible that we have been misunderstanding what it means to believe in Jesus? What do we say when we go out to witness? Believe in Jesus and be blessed. Believe in Jesus and go to Heaven. Believe in Jesus and go to Heaven, do not believe in Jesus and go to Hell. These are some of the messages that are being used in effort to convey the message. Does the Bible teach us to witness in this manner? Is that what is written in the Bible? For sure, it is not. Nowhere in the Bible is it written that if you put your faith in Jesus today and pray to Him that He will heal your sicknesses, fix your children's problems, fix your family problems, and take care of all your problems, as long as you pray, believe in Jesus and go to church. We have changed the Gospel, and give personal testimony of the blessings we have received while trusting in Jesus, but if we take out the circumstances and witness the situation becomes serious. The most fundamental point of believing in Jesus is confessing that I am a sinner and need to repent of sin. It is to show that we are sinners. To say that Jesus is our Savior is to first understand that I am a sinner who was dead, and for that reason Jesus came to save us. To be saved from this world, and to live the life of salvation, which is to be freed from the bondages of this world, the old life as the children of the devil, is difficult and hard and it is a spiritual war that becomes your life. This is the life of following Jesus that is the path of suffering and hardships that we are to reveal and share as part of the Gospel. We leave this part out and only witness by saying "believe in Jesus and be blessed." Before Paul wrote his second letter to the church in Corinth, in other parts of the Bible we find verses that teach us that when we decide to follow Jesus and believe in Him, that there are certain expectations one must consider before doing so. Romans 8:17 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Do you want to share in God's glory? Then share in the suffering. But when we suffer we assume that it is not God's will then is it possible that we are living our lives of faith in error and praying the wrong prayers? Philippians 1:29 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, Because you have received grace you are to also receive suffering. It comes together. Why? Grace is given to us by God from above, and suffering is part of the flesh as we struggle to be free from the conflict that arises from the bondages that try to keep us down. The Scriptures tell us that this struggle is real. 2 Thessalonians 1:5 KJV 5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: To be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, then you will suffer for His kingdom. It is difficult to be counted worthy for the kingdom of God without suffering. More than difficult it is impossible. The Bible tells us that in order to enter into the Kingdom of God, the life we live in the body will face suffering and hardships. 2 Timothy 1:8 KJV 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; You do not only receive power but also suffering along with the gospel. Be partakers of the affliction of the gospel according to the power of God. What did Jesus say? He told us that the world persecutes Him because it did not accept Him, and if we choose to follow Him, then the world will also persecute us. We water down the gospel by removing the persecution that comes with it. The gospel preached without persecution is the wrong gospel. We will either preach a gospel that is changed that the world will like or preach a gospel that will cause the world to change. We see with our eyes that the world is becoming more evil, but if there is no resistance to the gospel being preached then there must be a problem somewhere. The Bible is showing us the problem. It is not Biblical to think that because you believe in Jesus everything will be well. A changed gospel, like the one that promises you everything will be well by believing in Jesus, is missing the command that tells us to suffer. As a child of God, to be worthy of His kingdom, we are told that we will suffer. True prosperity comes after suffering, but to remove the suffering and only speak of the result and to not overcome the hardships you face in life, you will only end up having a greater difficulty when you decide to truly follow Jesus. People worship their gods of this world because they expect their god to protect and bless them for following them. This is obvious and therefore people go and worship and follow their gods. God desires to bless us, to save us from death, by sending His one and only Son for us, and He has done so with a price that can never be repaid. God has suffered incredibly for us which we refuse to acknowledge, and try to receive the blessings without living in obedience, and if we come before God trying to receive the blessings that are promised in a manner as we would the gods of this world, then have we brought God down to a lower level by the manner in which we worship Him? If the purpose for our faith is to receive blessings then we can compare that with the Bible and see that something does not match. Which is truth? I have said this a few times, starting with me and all those who preach from the pulpit, if you could be blessed just by having me speak words of blessings upon you, then I would speak only words of blessings to you. It is good to hear. But the blessings cannot be attained without having gone through the trials of suffering and hardship as the Bible clearly states. What I am saying is for you to not lose out on the blessings that come after the trials of suffering by which you must overcome through perseverance in pursuit of living like Jesus. In today's passage in chapter one let us look at the kind of suffering that Paul suffered for Jesus. Everything that he suffered for the gospel, the comfort he receives from God for the gospel, why are these things necessary for me, and why must I suffer? Both the suffering and the comfort that a believer goes through and receives becomes a life of example for those who follow in the faith. Those of you here today in your own families, when you are faced with hardships and if without losing faith, you persevere in God's grace, and God seeing your perseverance resolves your situation with grace and comfort, then your children who are sharing in your hardship, will learn from your life how to persevere and overcome. You are showing the example. Paul writes that his distress is for their comfort. His comfort is for their comfort. Everything he suffers is for them. As the parent, the one who leads, the one who is older, the one to believe first, all that one suffers in trials and the comfort that they receive through it is to be an example to others which is the life of a Christian. To what extent is it possible to suffer as a follower of Jesus? It is to the death. Though you may be alive, it will be a point near death. Paul was stoned and thrown out of a city as people thought he was dead. Getting beaten for sharing the gospel of Jesus was common. Being imprisoned was common. In that kind of circumstance he never gave up hope, being always joyful and giving thanks using the comfort that God gave him, to overcome this life and be an example for us. This is why he was able to give us this message today. How are we to live our lives today in faith and be an example for my children and my neighbors? We need to look at ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 KJV 16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. In chapter one the Paul speaks of the abundant suffering but here in chapter 2 it is described as light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. He says that it works for us. Paul is describing the suffering that leads to death as a light affliction. Where does faith like this come from? Where does this strength come from? It does not happen from knowing in your head and simply saying you believe. But like Paul, we must confess that we who have been raised from the dead, and are suffering in accordance to the will of God, whether we live or die, then we will be comforted from above and be given strength as we live for the glory of God. Ultimately this cannot happen if I am alive. I must die before God that The Lord whom I serve in my heart will reveal himself through power, so that the suffering we endure will be light. Why will it be light? It is because God's will is far more exceeding and eternal. We can say that the suffering we suffer in the flesh will is light. To live this life is to live this life as a person of His kingdom. To confess this is to be able to live the life of power. If we have received the calling as Paul and Timothy have, then today having been called by God, and come before God truly believing Him to be our Father, and God having called us for His purpose and His glory, and we confess that this is our life, then what are we to do with all circumstances in our life? Did God save us and Jesus die on the cross so that we can live for our own pleasure? No He did not. Jesus died for me that I may become a child of God through the blood He shed, then as Paul confessed, whether I live or die, Christ will be glorified by living the life that God has called us to. You are to live your lives in a manner that pleases God. Should we not be the ones as Christians to confess that God has called me for this life? Philippians 4:4 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! When Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians we know that he did so from prison. Does it make sense that someone in prison would write these words? If someone is in prison we should be the ones to go and comfort them, but it is the one who sits in prison who comforts us. Rejoice! I will say it again: Rejoice! Does this make sense? He was beaten for sharing the gospel and put in prison. What did he do in the middle of the night? He praised and worshipped God and the doors to the prison opened. Is this life possible? He is showing us by example that it is possible in God. Though we may say that it is impossible to follow in the footsteps of Jesus because He is the Son of God, then as Paul lived in the footsteps of Jesus we can follow the example of Paul. How? It is not by living by our own strength, but by the Holy Spirit whom our Lord promised us. By receiving power, we can live a life that reflects Jesus but only if I die to myself. I do not live because I am alive. But through my death, The Lord whom I serve, is able to reveal Himself through me which makes this life possible. The words given to us in Philippians to always "Rejoice" and also the words given to us in 1 Thessalonians "Be joyful always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God though Christ Jesus our Lord." There are people of this world who have changed some of the words to this. One person states that you do not laugh because you are happy, but when you laugh you become happy. He continues to say that the problems you have will be resolved and you will find happiness. This was quoted by William James in a lecture that I heard someone give. I do not know who William James is but if I were to give you a message based on his words, though you may not understand the Bible when it tells you to "always rejoice, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances," but like this person says, you do not laugh because you are happy, but because you laugh you become happy. He has made it clear. He then says that your problems will be resolved and you will be happy. He is saying that by applying this to his life he had these results. What is there to complain about in you life? Though we may feel as though we are about to be killed like Paul, we are nowhere near that circumstance. It is only in our thoughts that we may think so, but if we lay down our standards and surrender ourselves to God and die, what greed will you have? What dreams will you have? You are dead. If you are hungry you have no reason to satisfy it. Why? You have died. You do not have to get up and go do something because you are already dead. But we always need to go do something. Why? Because we have yet to die. This is the problem. When I am still alive our Lord is unable to reveal Himself through us. The Bible teaches us that this is why we are unable to live as Christians. If we compare all our problems with the eternal power of God then everything is light. If I do not eat a meal then so be it. If I bear a burden then so be it. If I am stoned then so be it. Though in the flesh all these things seem difficult and unbearable, the moment we lift our eyes up to The Lord, these things are light. They are nothing. When we are able to confess this will we not be living the life of a Christian? Recently in Korea a professor who speaks on laughing gave a lecture about the medical benefits of it and I wrote down a few things. He says that your face does not belong to you. I have said before that when you look in a mirror you are only seeing a reflection. It is not your real face. You may see parts of your body as it is, but your face only can see a reflection of itself. You cannot see your own face. Then why is your face important? Your face is not for you , but it is for the one who sees you. That is why you take care of it. But we take care of our face for ourselves. We make a fuss over an image and in some cases we even make changes to it. But he says that it is not for me but for others. Medically the face changes every 4 years. Though they say every 4 years but in reality it is then changing everyday. Everyday as time is changing so is your face. As it changes everyday in 4 years it will change to your making. To make it into a happy face or an angry face is done by who? I do it. When I see a problem and I complain, argue, get angry then as time passes the poison inside of me will change my face to one that is angry in which others will see. We may look at the mirror and say that it is not but when others see me they will know what is going on inside of me. Be joyful always, give thanks in all circumstances, try laughing in all situations, then when people see my laughing face, they will embrace me and honor me and desire to see my face one more time, so that when I go apply for a job I will have offers lined up for me. Why? Because I have a face that others want to see. Who makes it this kind of face? I do by the words I speak today, by my actions I do today, by all my thoughts I have today I am to change my face into that of a Christian. This has been shown by science. Science supports what the Scripture says as to why we should always be joyful and give thanks in all circumstances. When we live in this manner, the face which I have that is to be seen by others, becomes a face that others will delight to see. Is this not the life that shines the light and the aroma of Christ? But we have become rigid. We think that we should not smile at others, or do anything and are tense and boiling on the inside. Where does all that go? It has nowhere to go and shows up in the face. If we are living our lives in a manner in which people find it difficult to accept us as people of peace, then are we living as Christians? Bones become new every 2 years, muscles become new every 1 year, and blood becomes new every 4 months. You entire body is becoming new every day. I used to think that your bones were what you had as a child and as you grew you maintained for your entire life. But the cells in your bones are constantly being changed. Everything in your body is changing and becoming new over and over again. Then, as we compare this to the Word of God, as I consume the Word of God everyday so that it creates in me new blood, and transforms me, then as I live my life everyday, the muscles that have wasted away or is damaged will become new. The bones will become new. Everything will become new and science proves it. Then if I live my life in joy in God, everything will change. God has created me in this manner that I may live to give Him glory. But if I live everyday bound to the worries of this world of what I will eat, drink, take pleasure in, worries and anxiety, then my blood, muscles, bones, face, everything about me will change according to the manner of the stresses of this world. But if I eat the Word of God and live in joy and and always give thanks, then as a Christian everything will change. Completely. What kind of life do you desire to live? What kind of life should you live? God has given you form according to the purpose He has for you. Even twins are different. Meaning that though you may have multiple children at the same time, they do not have the same purpose. We must see that the purpose given to them by God is different. If we believe that we have been sent here by God to fulfill His purpose, then in order to fulfill His purpose, we must we must listen to His voice and live to fulfill that purpose, by surrendering ourselves. If I die and truly serve The Lord in my heart, then in my life The Lord will reveal Himself, and give me the strength to overcome the world. When I live my life in obedience to the Word, my blood, muscles, bones, and face in 4 years will completely change. Why did God allow you to live this life? It is so that you can live a life of power and become children of His kingdom, and for this reason He has created us in this manner. If you believe this, then what will God do to the one who lives their life in this manner? He will bless you. What will He do to the one who lives this life? He will give them power. The one who lives this life, they will have the power to overcome all struggles in their life. This is the life of one who is blessed. This is the life of power. May you live this life of power, and through your life reap the fruit of living a life that gives glory to God as True Light Church members. Sermon by Pastor Howard Park Translation by Miguel Park