REPOSTToday’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Pastor Ryun Chang (AMI Teaching Pastor), was first posted on May 3, 2015

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Women in the Bible”

Jn. 8:32 (NIV)

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

2 Sam. 11:4-5 (NIV)

“Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. [5] The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, ‘I am pregnant.’”

Is Bathsheba getting a free ride here?  Isn’t this the reversal of situation in John 8 in which the Pharisees condemned only the woman caught in the act of adultery?  Well, not really, since, while Bathsheba certainly participated in the adulterous affair, women in those days didn’t possess the power to stand up to men, much less a king. 

For feminists, Queen Vashti, not Esther, would be their hero.   When her husband Xerxes, King of Persia, called upon Vashti to stand before the nobles to “display her beauty” (Est. 1:11), she “refused to come.”  For that, Vashti was banished for life.  Not much had changed five hundred years later in the Roman Empire where women remained a disposable property of men.   The Jews weren’t all that better: the House of Hillel, a leading school of Jewish thought, even allowed divorce over burnt meal.

Some who don’t care for the Christian faith see the Bible as endorsing anti-woman culture of the past and present.  A pamphlet by Atheist United reads, “As long as women regard the Bible as the charter of their rights, they will be the slaves of man.”  But, Rodney Stark, Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University, in his 1996 book entitled, The Rise of Christianity, declared, “They are all wrong.”  Noting that most Christians in the Roman Empire were women, he commented that it had a lot to do church “promot[ing] liberating social relations between the sexes and within the family, giving women more status than they enjoyed in Roman society.” 

But in the antiquity, women weren’t treated with the kind of respect that God would later tell the husbands to bestow on their wives (1 Pet. 3:7).   So, on that fateful night, King David, blatantly disregarding Bathsheba’s marital vow, was the aggressor and “guilty of a greater sin” (Jn. 19:11; Lk. 12:47-8).  

Many things in Western society have changed for the better, including the treatment of women, thanks in large part to the liberating influences that were set in motion by the Gospel in the 1^st century.  Now women, mindful of their intrinsic value before their Creator and under protective laws, can tell a powerful individual like David to stop and fully expect his compliance.  

Of course, our world is far from being perfect and many terrible things still happen to women; nonetheless, they don’t always have to fight for opportunity; they just need to seize it.  This is especially true in God’s work because women are needed now than ever before to serve on the mission field, teach Scripture and even pastor churches (welcome to Latin America)!  Look no further than Miriam, Esther, Deborah, Aquila (Acts 18:26), Huldah (2 Chron. 34:22) and the four daughters of Philip (Acts 21:8-9) for inspiration.  Reflect on how you can be useful for God’s purpose—consider encouraging a wearied soul today with timely words from God’s word.   

Prayer (of Miriam in Ex. 15):  “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted.   The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.  The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.  The LORD will reign for ever and ever.”

Amen.

Bible Reading for Today:  2 Chronicles 26

REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, first posted on November 5, 2015, is provided by Pastor Yohan Lee, a friend of AMI, who in the past has served as a staff at several AMI churches.  He is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania (BA) and Cairn University (MA).

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Cutting Through the Baloney”

Nehemiah 6:1-8

Now when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left in it (although up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), 2 Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, “Come and let us meet together at Hakkephirim in the plain of Ono.” But they intended to do me harm. 3 And I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”4 And they sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner.5 In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written, “It is reported among the nations, and Geshem also says it, that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall. And according to these reports you wish to become their king. 7 And you have also set up prophets to proclaim concerning you in Jerusalem, ‘There is a king in Judah.’ And now the king will hear of these reports. So now come and let us take counsel together.” 8 Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”

Recently, my two-year-old son has been getting out of bed at night looking for any and every excuse to not sleep—this habit is killing my wife and me!  The other night we had this interaction: 

My wife:  “Jonny, why aren’t you in bed?”

Jon: “I can’t sleep. There’s a (hard to distinguish) in my bed.” 

My wife: “There’s a lion in your bed?”

Jon:  (contemplating if this is believable) “Yes.”

My wife:  “Well, I’ll go see and chase the lion away.”  

My wife then proceeded to “look for” and “chase” the lion away so that my son could go back to sleep. Great parenting, right?  Wrong. Within five minutes, my son got up again—this time claiming thirst; then five minutes after that, he was afraid of the dark.  Finally, after a few of these incidents, we had to talk straight to our son:  “Jon, if you get out of bed again, you are going to get spanked.  And that is going to hurt.”  The message was sent—he did not come out again.  

Sometimes, in order to cut through the baloney and the silly excuses, we need to talk straight and make some difficult call outs.  Look at today’s passage: When Sanballat and Tobiah hear that the wall of Jerusalem is almost done, they invite Nehemiah for a visit with the hopes of harming him and halting its completion (v. 2).  At first, Nehemiah tries to redirect them by saying that he is “too busy” (v. 3), but after four more similar attempts, Sanballat comes back with this fictitious treason accusation (vv. 6-7).  Finally, Nehemiah is forced to shoot straight and calls out Sanballat’s baloney: “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind” (v.8).  

Now how does this apply to us today?  Let me share something: Whether they are two, thirty-two, and presumably seventy-two years old, people will still come up with elaborate excuses as to why they are not doing what they should be doing (or doing what they shouldn’t be doing).  Of course, as they grow older, the excuses become more reasonable than having a “lion in the bed,” but they are nevertheless excuses.  So you may have heard of the following: “Everyone else does it”; “I’m just trying to be real or true to myself”; “I’m not hurting anyone”; or “I have unresolved daddy issues,” etc.  As a community in Christ, it is probably most loving to start subtly in helping another get past the elaborate excuses.  However, there may come a time when we must be willing to cut through the baloney and shoot straight with our friends and call out sinful behavior, misguided thinking, or selfish hearts. 

Prayer: Father, thank You for the community I have.  Help me to be wise and bold to share the truth in love.  Also, let me see what excuses or stories I am using to disobey You.  Amen.

Bible Reading for Today:  2 Chronicles 24-25

UPDATED Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Ryun Chang (AMI Teaching Pastor), was first posted on May 1, 2015.

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“Remember, Sin Wants to Eat You for Lunch”

2 Sam. 11:1-6 (ESV)

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. [2] It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. [3] And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” [4] So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. [5] And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

Jimmy Swaggart, the Billy Graham among the Pentecostals, fell from grace because of a sex scandal. Pastor David, a radio preacher with a national following, left his church after committing adultery.  Ted Haggard, a mega-church pastor and president of National Association of Evangelicals, was ousted after a graphic scandal involving a male prostitute. 

Shocked . . . but why? Why do we keep getting shocked by “holy” men misbehaving when we see that David, a man whom God described as “a man after my heart” (Acts 13:22), takes another man’s wife for his pleasure?  He must have walked around the roof of the palace before; he, therefore, knew about the view from the top.  While David may not have anticipated seeing a woman bathing, he wasn’t surprised to see something; he probably thought, “It’s my lucky day.”

Once, when I, as a Teaching Assistant at UCLA, said to my students, “Perhaps, social science got it backwards: racism, sexism, and classism may be symptoms of the human heart that’s causing them,”  one student disagreed, saying, “l believe that humans are really good at heart.”  But such an optimistic view wasn’t shared by Jeremiah who said, in the 6^th century B.C., “The heart is more deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (17:9).  Seven hundred years later, the apostle Paul declared, “Nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature” (Rom. 7:18).  No wonder “Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew . . . what was in a man” (Jn. 2:24-5). 

How, then, can we be liberated from the power of sin?  The regeneration by the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:5-6) is necessary but not sufficient; praying and reading the Word is necessary but not sufficient either. Folks, don’t ever underestimate the power of sin!  Don’t go to places where you know temptations await (e.g., rooftop); don’t hang around with people who will take you there (1 Cor. 15:33); don’t look at graphic images that will have you come for more (1 Jn. 2:16).   Have a healthy of fear of what sin can do to destroy our lives.  Today, think about the changes that need to be made in order that sin won’t eat you for lunch, again.  Make those changes when you are not actually being tempted. 

Prayer: Lord God, how scary it is to realize that there is no cure for the human heart that is bent on evil.  Our hope is in You and the Holy Spirit from within who constantly guides us to the right place, right people, and right view.  O my soul, listen to the Spirit; obey him, for it is for my own good.  Help me, God.  Amen.   

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 23

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Lunch Break Study

Read 1 Cor. 15:33 (NASB): Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Matt. 6:22-3 (ESV): The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, [23] but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

1 Jn. 2:16 (NIV): For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes . . .—comes not from God but from the world.

Question to Consider

1. Why is it important to make sure that we are surrounded by the right people?

2. How important is it to guard what goes through our eyes?  Why is that important?

3. Re-read 2 Sam. 11:1.  Was David in the right place when his sexual scandal occurred?  This is to ask, where should you be at 11 AM on Sundays, or 7 PM on Thursdays or whenever your dinner time is at home.

Notes

1. Humans are social beings; peer pressure doesn’t just affect the youth; people are affected by those with whom they shared most of their time.  You can pray and read the Bible all you want, but if you still run with bad company, not much will change—I  guarantee it.   

2. Lust enters through the eyes; once entered, it darkens the whole body— that is, it affects the mind that controls what the body does.  We must take great care what our eyes are allowed to see.

3. Like in other springs, David should have been out, conducting military campaign to fortify national defense; instead, he put himself in a wrong place.  On Sunday mornings, you are supposed to be at church.  On a weekday, you are supposed to be at your family group or cell group.  At dinner time,   you should be at home and then stay there.  

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Evening Reflection

Without even trying, did you find yourself fibbing (even a little), having lustful and/or hateful thoughts today?   We shouldn’t be too surprised; rather, we need to repent and ask God for a renewed effort and power to live better tomorrow by being constantly aware of God’s presence within us.   Reflect and pray.

REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Doug Tritton, was first posted on November 16, 2016.  A graduate of University of Pennsylvania (BA) and Gordon Conwell Seminary (M.Div.), Doug is the Lead Pastor of Grace Covenant Church Philadelphia. 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“Do You Need to Make a Will?”

Hebrews 9:15-22

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Now that we have a daughter, my wife Cindy and I were thinking recently: Do we need to make a will? It felt a bit weird (the prospect of your own death!), but then I got to thinking that this probably does not matter too much – we don’t have that much anyway! If I were a millionaire or had lots or property or possessions that would be one thing, but nope, my will would be quite small!

In this passage, we also read about a will that God has made. But the difference is, unlike me, He has glorious riches beyond all measure. And more than that, He greatly desires for us, His people, to share in this wealth—He wants to distribute graciously! There is an inheritance waiting for all of us, as it says in this passage – “those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.” God made a will declaring that those who believe in the name of His Son Jesus may receive His inheritance and share in His glory. But rather than putting any burden on us to meet the requirements to receive this inheritance, He sent His own Son to die for us, thus allowing this will to be executed. Praise God for His love for us, His heirs!

This is very humbling. We are inheriting great, great riches—and this has nothing to do with anything we have done. God gave this freely. But remember, like the saying goes, “there is no such thing as a free lunch”; so while free for us, this inheritance was very costly—it cost the precious blood of Jesus. Though we live in the reality of receiving this inheritance, let’s not forget the price. Let’s worship our God who died freely so that we may live freely!

Prayer: Lord, thank You for shedding Your own blood for me. Thank You for writing this will before time, a will that You knew You’d carry out on Your own, at the cost of Your blood. Thank You that now I can share in Your eternal wealth and glory. Help me to never to forget this cost that You paid for me. Help me to honor You as You rightly deserve! Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 22

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Lunch Break Study  

Read Romans 5:6-8: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Questions to Consider

1. What was our state when Christ died for us?
2. What was God’s response to our current state?

Notes

1. This passage makes it clear – we were weak when Christ died for us: “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” That’s us. We were the ungodly, the ones undeserving of the riches of heaven.
2. God’s response to our weak state was to die for us! He knew we could not earn our way to His inheritance, so He paid the price Himself. Praise God!

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Evening Reflection

As you go to sleep tonight, remind yourself that you are an heir to God. How amazing is that!  He is giving us riches beyond measure – all the riches of heaven! Remind yourself of this hope we have in Christ, and let this give you peace that God our Father, who wrote us into His will, is taking care of us.

REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Ryun Chang (AMI Teaching Pastor), was first posted on September 30, 2015.

Devotional Thought for this Morning

“You Need to Listen the First Time Around”

2 King 24:1-4

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. ² And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by his servants the prophets. ³ Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴ and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. 

2 Chron. 36:5: Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord his God.

I didn’t know that “Roberto,” a church leader, was badly mistreating his wife who taught Sunday school.  By the time I was told by our pastor regarding their impending separation, he had warned Roberto several times to stop—but he didn’t.  Eventually his wife filed for divorce.   

If the Northern Kingdom (“Israel”) could talk, it would tell God that He was being unfair.  While God let the Assyrians to swiftly destroy Israel in 722 BC as a punishment for its persistent rebellion, Judah, its sister kingdom, received two more chances before the Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BC.  God had hoped that Judah, seeing Israel’s doom, would “return to [Him] with all her heart” (Jer. 3:10); but “unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery” (v.8).  Thus, God declared, “Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah” (v.11).

The Babylonians first attacked Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (2 Ki. 25:1), and Judah became its vassal.  Nevertheless, Jehoiakim continued to sit on the throne while the temple stayed intact.   Had he repented then, there would’ve been no more Babylonian attack, for God had Jeremiah write, “Perhaps when the people of Judah hear about every disaster I plan to inflict on them, each of them will turn from his wicked ways; then I will forgive their wickedness and their sin” (Jer. 36:3).   “In the ninth month of the fifth year of Jehoiakim” (36:9), he finally heard “all the words of the LORD from the scroll” (36:11) prepared by Jeremiah; but, instead of repenting, “the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the fire pot” (36:23).   Jehoiakim completely ignored God’s warning—much like Roberto. 

That brazen act resulted in a swift retribution that happened a little later— in 598—but God in His mercy didn’t end Judah yet; amazingly, she was given another 12 years to make things right with Him.  When she stubbornly refused, the final curtain came down on her in 586 when the Babylonians annexed Judah, thereby ending her dynasty, and “set fire to the temple of the Lord” (2 Kings 25:9).  

Proverbs 29:1 says, “A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.”  Here is an advice worth heeding: When you are warned by godly and praying people because of your imprudent action, listen to them the first time around.

Prayer: God, how gracious and merciful You are by giving us multiple opportunities to repent.  It is certainly true that you take “no pleasure in the death of anyone.”  Please help me to be sober-minded so that when I am warned of my unwise action, I will humble myself and heed.  Amen

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 21

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Lunch Break Study 

Read Jeremiah 42:1-3, 7, 10, 13-15: Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah . . . came near 2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Let our plea for mercy come before you, and pray to the Lord your God for us, for all this remnant—because we are left with but a few, as your eyes see us— 3 that the Lord your God may show us the way we should go, and the thing that we should do” . . . . 7 At the end of ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. . . .  10 “If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. . . . 13 But if you say, ‘We will not remain in this land,’ disobeying the voice of the Lord your God 14 and saying, ‘No, we will go to the land of Egypt’,. . . 15 then hear the word of the Lord, O remnant of Judah. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “If you set your faces to enter Egypt and go to live there, 16 then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine of which you are afraid shall follow close after you to Egypt, and there you shall die.”

43:1-2: When Jeremiah finished speaking to all the people all these words of the Lord . . . 2 Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to live there, . . .’”c

Gal 6:1: Brothers,if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Question to Consider

1. Based on how Johanan, Jezaniah and Azariah responded to Jeremiah’s words, was their initial request genuine?  Who are these guys and what were they trying to do?

2. What does this say about the proper attitude we need to have before hearing from the Lord, particularly when encountering words of warning?

3. When we are the ones who are giving the words of warning, what must we watch out for?  

Notes

1. These guys already had made up their minds before coming to Jeremiah. These are religious folks who cared a great deal about appearing spiritual, but when push came to shove, they chose what they wanted—not what God had told them. 

2. One attitude that needs to be exorcised is pride; that is, refusing to allow other people to speak into their lives.  Jehoiakim, Johanan and Jezaniah acted as if they knew better than  Jeremiah, God’s messenger. But ultimately, they rejected the one who sent him—God. 

3. For God to use us to speak into the lives of others, we better not act as if we are better than them, or that we are immune from the same problem being addressed.  We must be gentle, compassionate, and empathetic. 

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Evening Reflection

As you wrap up this day, do you recall anything that was said to you (or even to someone else) that may have been God’s way of speaking to you? Close your eyes and reflect upon your day.  Ask God what He wants you to hear from Him: perhaps affirmation or correction. 

UPDATED Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Peter Yoon of Kairos Christian Church in San Diego, was first posted on October 10, 2016.  Peter is a graduate of University of California, Riverside (BA) and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.). 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“Turning Fear Into Joy”

John 21:19-20

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

“To fear is to have more faith in your antagonist than in Christ.” – D.L. Moody, The Overcoming Life

The Gospel of John, chapter 19 describes one of the darkest event in history. The Lord Jesus Christ was cruelly punished and put to death in the most gruesome way. Understandably, the disciples who followed Jesus for 3 years were gripped with fear as their own aspirations and dreams of God’s rule came to an abrupt and most shocking. Their Messiah was now lying lifeless inside a tomb. Without their teacher, miracle-worker, and leader, the disciples were gripped with fear that any moment those who arrested Jesus would also come looking for them. (I wonder just how effective the locked doors of ancient homes would have been in keeping out unwanted guests.) 

Then, all of a sudden, they found an unexpected guest amongst them. Jesus stood among them. With just a few words, Jesus transformed the fearful disciples into joyful worshippers. The presence of a living and resurrected Jesus brought new hope that would embolden the disciples to break through the locked doors and proclaim the Lord’s resurrection. 

At Kairos Church, we just celebrated the 10^th Anniversary (2016). The church began (just as many other AMI churches) with a group made up mostly of college students who lacked in resources, finances, character, experience, and wisdom when it comes to planting a church. Yet, the church had faith in Jesus. Pastor Mark Chun placed his faith in the Lord and made the bold decision to plant. Over the past 10 years, Kairos Church recognized many of its shortcomings, deficiencies, and limitations. Yet, God continued to show His faithfulness and invited the church to keep trusting Him as the Head of Kairos. As we reflected on the past decade, Kairos Church joyfully celebrated God’s work in transformation of people, raising up of servant-leaders, and many who became children of God. 

Let us seek the Lord’s presence in our churches. His presence will transform our fears into joy. 

Prayer: Lord, in my own weakness, I confess that I am gripped with fear (fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of man, fear of giving up control, fear of the future). Fill my heart with your presence and may your peace bring joy in my spirit. In Jesus name, Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 20

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Lunch Break Study  

Mark 4:35-41 (NIV): That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Questions to Consider

1. What is implied with Jesus’ invitation to “go over to the other side”? 
2. What is significant about Jesus’ sleeping in this narrative? 
3. What are your thoughts about the authority of Jesus as it pertains to your fears? 

Notes

1. In context, the following story shows that the boat lands in the region of the Garasenes. Jesus planned for a mission into Gentile territory. Jesus wanted the disciples to understand that the good news of God’s Kingdom was for all nations. 
2. Ironically, the only place in the Gospels that we hear of Jesus sleeping is during a storm. The scene depicts his complete trust in God in the midst of adversity, like the farmer in the preceding parables (4:3–9, 27) who trusts God’s providential working over all obstacles and adversities.

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Evening Reflection

What are some fears that irritate you? Spend some time being honest before the Lord and confessing your fears. Ask the Lord to replace those fears with faith in Him. 

REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Charles Choe who leads Tapestry Church in Los Angeles, was first posted on October 31, 2016.  Charles is a graduate of University of California, Riverside (BA) and Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div.).

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“To Have Your Cake and Eat It Too”

Hebrews 5:1-6

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you” (verse 5). 

The expression “to have your cake and eat it too” has always been one of my favorites. The idea is that you get two good things at the same time, especially two things that are not usually possible; when it happens, there is a sense of being a fortuitous recipient. In many ways that is what Jesus is to us. He is both the sacrifice, and He is the One who makes the sacrifice, like that of the High Priest—two things come together in the person of Jesus Christ. 

The author of Hebrews begins chapter 5 with details of the office of the high priest. This is done so that his readers will make their own contrast between the high priest of the Old Covenant, and Christ, the great High Priest of the New Covenant. The two may have the same function, but the most significant difference is that Jesus does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself.

This is all possible because the Sonship and Priesthood come together in Jesus. For salvation in God’s economy, the Son has to be the High Priest, and vice versa. God is under no obligation to save us, but once He chose to save us, it had to be through His Son, who would become both sacrifice and the great High Priest.

Jesus willingly submitted to His Father in order to secure our salvation. Though our sacrifice will never compare, we are also at times called to submit to our spiritual leaders, to our parents, to the authority in our workplaces, and even towards our government leaders, to advance the kingdom. Ask God to help you obey where submission is commanded by Scripture.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, You are the Son of God and our High Priest. In You, I have access to the Father. I thank You for making a way. I thank for Your great sacrifice. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. 

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 19

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Lunch Break Study  

Read Matthew 27:45-54: From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli,lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49 The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him. 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[c] went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Questions to Consider 

1. When Jesus cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He said some of the most profoundly mysterious words in the entire Bible. Why did He cry out to His Father this way? 

2. The curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place was an elaborately woven fabric, where no one was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place behind the curtain—except the high priest, only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. What does tearing of the curtain signify?  

3. We have access to God through Jesus Christ. How are you going before God’s throne these days?    

Notes

1. In some real way Jesus had to be cut off from the fellowship with the Father that had been His eternally. Bearing the sins of humanity brought forth God’s wrath.

2. The tearing of the curtain signifies the removal of the barrier between a holy God and sinful

people. This is how Jesus becomes the ultimate High Priest for us. 

3. Personal. 

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Evening Reflection

As you spent the day with work and play, were you able to take time to access the presence of God in a genuine way? 

REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Christine Li, was first posted on November 15, 2015.  Christine, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, serves as a deaconess at Remnant Church in Manhattan, New York.  

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“A Jar of Clay”

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Have you ever started a special collection of items? For a brief period, my mother was very interested in collecting different types of teapots. However, even though the collection was very precious to her, the teapots lay wrapped up in storage for years and years. When a neighboring family moved away and gifted us their china cabinet, the teapots finally came out of hiding. Now that they had a proper setting, they could be put on display for houseguests to see and admire.

When we have something to show off, don’t we all try to find a special platform or exhibition place for it? After all, this is why we frame academic diplomas and buy gift wrap; we believe that the outer wrapping should at least match the quality of what is inside. 

If we projected our tendencies onto God, we would expect Him to only use the most glorious and terrific settings or people to showcase His glory; however, as apostle Paul says, God has chosen to display His light in us, these “jars of clay.”

The “jars of clay” term is hardly a compliment – it drives home the reminder that our human bodies are frail and temporary. Clay jars, disposable and made of base material, would be too banal for noble purposes; it would be like recycling cardboard boxes to store previous gold jewelry in. But this is exactly what God has done – He has chosen our human impermanence and brokenness to carry and reveal the knowledge of who He is.

As we draw near to Him today, let’s regain the wonder that God would commission us to be His vessels. Though our bodies are limited in time and physical capacity, He will use our lives to contain and showcase His glory and goodness. However He chooses to use us– whether it be by overflowing, being poured out, or even broken to release the contents – let us be humble and available for His purposes.

Prayer: Father, thank You for loving us and giving us the knowledge of who You are. Thank You for the privilege that we may be used to show others Your glory. We offer up our lives, Lord, use our lives as vessels filled with You. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 18

REPOSTToday’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Pastor Ryun Chang (AMI Teaching Pastor), was first posted on February 15, 2015.

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Before Speaking the Truth, We Have to First Know It”

Matt. 13:47-52 (NIV)

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. [48] When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. [49] This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous [50] and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [51] ‘Have you understood all these things?’ Jesus asked. ‘Yes,’ they replied. [52] He said to them, ‘Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.’”

Many Mexican pastors do not have seminary training; some have barely finished elementary school.  One day, a pastor visited my friend who ran a Bible institute in Mexico, begging for an admission.  Having preached and taught the Bible for awhile without any formal training, the warning given in James 3:1 suddenly dawned on him: “Not many of you should become teachers, . . . because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (James 3:1).  Subsequently, this pastor became terrified that everything he had ever taught might have been wrong; instead of treasures, he feared that he had brought out poison.  While that is not a healthy attitude, his new found seriousness toward God’s word was refreshing only because too many people take the “teaching of Christ” (2 Jn. 1:9) quite casually.  Yes, before speaking the truth, we have to first know it.

In the today’s parable, the good fish (i.e., those who hold to the correct teachings of Christ—a.k.a., orthodox) and the bad ones (i.e., those who hold to wrong doctrines—a.k.a., heresy) are in the same net, and they aren’t separated until the end of age.  This indicates that the correct teachings of Christ and the incorrect one are very similar.  And this similarity is what makes teaching of God’s word not so easy. 

For instance, do you know why the Mormon Church is not considered as part of the historic Christian faith?  One reason is this: While Christ’s atonement forgives the original sin, it is by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Mormon Church (which there are many) that one’s own sins are forgiven.  How about the Jehovah’s Witnesses?  They certainly believe Jesus as a deity but not as an eternal being; to them, Jehovah created Jesus who, then, created the rest of the world.   While some believers are alarmed by this type of doctrinal deviations, too many folks in the church would “put up with it easily enough” (2 Cor. 11:4).  Referring to teachers who spew out false teachings, Paul commented, “For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.  It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:12-5).

Sadly, those who thought that they had the truth are thrown into “blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  It’s because “a different gospel . . . is really no gospel at all” (Gal. 1:6).

So, even as we seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit and practice all of his gifts to the church, “watch your life and doctrine closely.  Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16).   Study the Bible.  Get good books to help you understand it.   

Prayer: Dear God, help me to desire to know the truth. Strengthen me to take the time to discover Your truth embedded in Your holy book.  May I have the boldness to declare it without fear.  Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 16-17

REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, written by Pastor Andrew Kim, was originally posted on June 23, 2016.  Andrew is presently pastoring Alive Church in Montreal.  He and his wife Jessie are the proud parents of two young boys. 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“Bono & Peterson Talking About Their Fondness for the Psalms”

Habakkuk 1:12-17 

Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he? You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore, he sacrifices to his net and makes offerings to his dragnet; for by them he lives in luxury, and his food is rich. Is he then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever? 

Recently, U2 lead singer Bono met with theologian Eugene Peterson to discuss the Psalms and their significance. Both possessed a fondness for the Psalms. They marveled at its beauty and composition. However, what captured their hearts was its brutally honest nature. The psalmists never shied away from expressing exactly what was on their hearts, whether it was great joy, paralyzing confusion, or profound sorrow. There was no attempt to wear a mask before God, only a genuine vulnerability that laid it all out. And this is one reason why we sense that the psalmists’ relationship with God was marked by a real sense of intimacy and authenticity. It was not about appearing spiritual by praying the right words but about honestly inviting God into one’s interior life.  

Just as the psalmists expressed their genuine concerns, Habakkuk voices his disbelief at God’s divine plan. Instead of hiding his confusion, he boldly complains: How could God use the evil Chaldeans to enact justice? Is He then to keep on emptying his net and mercilessly killing nations forever? It was his firm conviction that this was not a suitable plan and he let God know it. Just like the psalms, there is a brutal honesty that pervades the complaints of the prophet. The fact that he would dare complain to God speaks to the implied sense of safety he felt, and that his relationship was not merely one of slave and master but something deeper that allowed space for honesty. It was a real relationship. 

Many of us struggle with being honest before God, because we are afraid of being wrong or punished. In turn, it’s become more about performing and acting as spiritual as possible in an effort to remain in His favor. Even our times of prayer have become religious obligations, where we try to pray the right words instead of expressing what’s actually on our hearts. However, what God desires from us is our hearts in its raw and unfiltered form. He desires honesty and vulnerability. He desires to hear about your complaints, frustrations, and joys. Of course, we do this with reverence and a healthy sense of fear, but it is only when we reveal our true selves that we allow Him to transform us from the inside out. Spend some time today praying and sharing with God. He desires to hear from His children! 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, how majestic is your holy and loving name.  I praise you and worship you.  May my life manifest your grace and mercy in this world devoid of meaning and purpose apart from you. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Chronicles 15

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Lunch Break Study 

Read Psalm 13:1-6: A Psalm of David. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

Questions to Consider 

1. Why is the psalmist frustrated? 
2. What is the psalmist’s mood in the beginning of the psalm and how does it change at the end?
3. What would it look like for you to be more honest before God? 

Notes 

1. The psalmist is frustrated because his enemies are triumphing over him, and God seems to be silent. He wants God to help him but seems like God is slow to act. 
2. He is frustrated and bitter in the beginning, but he ends with a statement of praise and trust in God. 
3. Personal. 

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Evening Reflection 

“He sees the inside of all; and what men are there, that they are to him. He sees not as we see, but ponders the hidden man of the heart. No humble, broken, contrite soul, shall lose one sigh or groan after him, and communion with him; no pant of love or desire is hid from him….” –John Owen.