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

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“A Cruel and Unusual Punishment”

2 King 25:1-7

And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem and laid siege to it. And they built siegeworks all around it. 2 So the city was besieged till the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 4 Then a breach was made in the city, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, by the king’s garden, and the Chaldeans were around the city. And they went in the direction of the Arabah. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army was scattered from him. 6 Then they captured the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they passed sentence on him. 7 They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah and bound him in chains and took him to Babylon.

The final moment of Judah’s last king was a cruel and unusual punishment.  Zedekiah, after the Babylonians gauged his eyes out, lived a while longer as a prisoner in Babylon (Jer. 52:11).  Forever etched in his memory, however, was what his eyes last saw: the killing of his terrified sons.  No one, even a terrible king, should suffer such a horrible fate.  

Zedekiah was a bad king because “he became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord” (2 Chron. 36:13).  What led him to such a perilous path, however, was something we all struggle with: a desire to please people.   

Once, several officials of Zedekiah who despised Jeremiah said to him, “This man should be put to death’” (Jer. 38:4).  The king answered, “He is in your hands. . . . The king can do nothing to oppose you’” (v. 5).  Shortly thereafter, when an official sympathetic to Jeremiah found out he had been thrown into a muddy cistern to die, he said to Zedekiah, “These men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah” (vv.6-9).  The king, who moments ago allowed Jeremiah to be put to death, now commanded the official to “take thirty men . . . and lift Jeremiah . . . out of the cistern before he dies” (v.10).  In short, Zedekiah possessed no backbone; he went whichever way the wind blew.

Ultimately, Zedekiah feared man more than God.  Certainly, what Jeremiah told him was difficult to swallow: “Surrender to . . . the king of Babylon” (v.17).  Since by this time, God had handed the rebellious Judah over to the Babylonians, surrendering was His will.  Zedekiah couldn’t do it because he feared that “the Babylonians may hand [him] over to” the Jews already exiled in Babylon who “will mistreat [him]” (v.19).  Although God, through Jeremiah, assured him that “they will not hand you over. . . . then it will go well with you,” (v.20), Zedekiah disobeyed.

No matter how much we disobey God, we aren’t likely to suffer the cruel and unusual punishment that Zedekiah encountered; nevertheless, it will not go well with us when we disobey God.  We obey God against our so-called “better judgment” when we fear Him more than man.  Don’t over think or over analyze—be convicted by God’s word and simply obey!

Prayer: I love You, Lord, with all my heart.  When I fear man, acting as though I’ve no faith in God, please give me the strength to overcome that fear, so that I can boldly represent You with my gentle, yet firm words that speak of Your goodness and kindness.  Help me to live boldly for you. Amen.    

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 21

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Lunch Break Study

Read 1 Samuel 15:20-24: And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.“

24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 

Question to Consider

1. What made Saul to believe that he had obeyed the Lord?  

2. Put yourself in Saul’s shoes: what does it mean that he was afraid of the people?

3. What does “to obey is better than sacrifice” really mean in our time?

Notes

1. The command was to kill everything, including the animals, belonging to the Amalekites, the archenemy of Israel that always sought to annihilate her (Deut. 25:17-19)—but Saul spared its king and the choicest animals.   Saul assumed that he had obeyed the Lord because he made himself believe that the animals were for God, even though that wasn’t real reason. 

2. He was afraid of their opinion.  Surely, many people would have thought that killing of the choicest animals was a sheer waste that made no economic sense.  Saul, like Zedekiah, wanted to be liked by people instead of being liked by God.

3. God doesn’t want performance without the right heart; neither does He want what appears to be a flawless ministry that is executed without much prayer and dependence on the Holy Spirit.  He certainly does not want us do any ministry according to our time instead of God’s.  

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Evening Reflection

What tough decision did you face today?  Did you have an opportunity to present God’s word or truth today to someone at work or school?  Did you face a situation in which the matter of obeying God became a reality?  What does your response to these situations indicate with respect to the genuineness of your faith?  Take a moment to reflect and evaluate.  Ask the Lord for help.

REPOST Today’s AMI Devotional Thought, first posted on November 5, 2015, is provided by Pastor Yohan Lee.  He is 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).

Devotional Thought for This Morning 

“Skimming Off the Top”

Nehemiah 5:14-16

Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. 15 But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

When I worked as an engineer, the company that employed me had a multi-service contract with the county.  This basically meant that for smaller jobs, the county would simply hire us to do the work, without putting the job out to be bid on by other firms—this contract was like a license to print money!  As the lead engineer for this one particular project, I put the proposal together and submitted it to the VP for approval, only to have it come back for almost double the amount of what I had calculated it would take to get done.  I remember feeling that had if we had to compete for this project, this proposal would have been more reasonable, but my boss was using the multi-service contract to milk the county.  What made it worse for me was that we were essentially stealing public money; I felt like such a dirty politician.  

Now to be clear, I was too wimpy to flat out call out the higher-ups about the situation; however, I did subtly express my concerns.  I could tell that my boss didn’t believe his numbers to be true either, but because he’d been inflating numbers on these contracts for so long, it really didn’t bother him.  Plus, these types of benefits are why you want to win multi-service contracts in the first place.  

What this encounter illustrated to me was that when it comes to money, benefits, and “skimming off the top,” there is often a deeply ingrained culture of wrong practice that is not easy to break.  People almost see it as a birthright—you pay your dues, you win the contract, you get to the kickbacks.  If I were Nehemiah, and the practice of gouging the people had for a long time been widely accepted (v. 15), I wonder how I would have responded?  I would like to believe that I would have had the integrity to not even eat the governor’s allotment (v. 14), but knowing me, I think I would have rationalized the whole ordeal, saying, “The previous establishment taxed 40 shekels.  I will slash taxes in half, and only take 20.”  

In the end, you see why Nehemiah was able to act without any corruption: “But out of reverence for God I did not act like that” (v.15).  This morning, ask yourself: Do you act in complete integrity out of reverence for God, or are you stuck in the hamster wheel of a culture of wrong practice?  Understand this: getting off is going to be difficult, and it is probably going to cost you some money (as it did Nehemiah).  But in the end, I hope that you will choose the difficult path that honors our Lord.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to revere and love You more than worldly gain.  Also give me eyes to see blind spots or areas where I have allowed time and culture to adversely impact me.  Give me courage and boldness to act with complete integrity.  

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 20

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Lunch Break Study

Read Psalm 1: Blessed is the onewho does not walk in step with the wickedor stand in the way that sinners takeor sit in the company of mockers,2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,and who meditates on his law day and night.3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,which yields its fruit in seasonand whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.4 Not so the wicked!They are like chaffthat the wind blows away.5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Questions to Consider

1.  Follow the progression of a soul in trouble in verse 1.  Do you feel like you’ve subtly gotten in a bad spot?

2.  Compare and contrast the righteous and the wicked.  

3.  Where are you in life?  

Notes

1.  The subtle nature of sin is, metaphorically speaking, that at first you are walking along with it, then you stop your motion and are standing in it; finally, you are sitting in it.  All this can happen very gradually or subtly, if you are not aware.  

2.  The righteous delight in and meditate on God’s Word; they are steady and fruitful.  The wicked, in contrast, waver and are on shaky footing. 

3.  This is a self-reflective question, but if it is the latter, remember the righteous person is rooted in God’s Word.  

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Evening Reflection

Are you stuck in a culture or in a pattern of behavior that does not honor God?  Is God calling you to make a change?  Do you feel like a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit (Ps. 1:3).  On the flip side, are there good habits you feel God calling you toward?  

REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Pastor Charles Choe who leads Tapestry Church in Los Angeles, was first posted on November 1, 2015.  Charles is a graduate of University of California, Riverside (BA) and Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div.).

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Leadership: A Pace Setter”

Nehemiah 3:28-32 (NASB)

Above the Horse Gate the priests carried out repairs, each in front of his house. 29 After them Zadok the son of Immer carried out repairs in front of his house. And after him Shemaiah the son of Shecaniah, the keeper of the East Gate, carried out repairs. 30 After him Hananiah the son of Shelemiah, and Hanun the sixth son of Zalaph, repaired another section. After him Meshullam the son of Berechiah carried out repairs in front of his own quarters. 31 After him Malchijah, one of the goldsmiths, carried out repairs as far as the house of the temple servants and of the merchants, in front of the Inspection Gate and as far as the upper room of the corner. 32 Between the upper room of the corner and the Sheep Gate the goldsmiths and the merchants carried out repairs.

Before we know it, it will soon be winter, which also is the time of the year the geese in California begin their journey south to warmer climates. One of the fascinating things about geese is that they normally fly in a V-formation. Geese often cover thousands of miles, working together, in this formation. By flying in a V-formation, the whole flock gets 71% greater flying range than if each goose flew on its own. When one goose gets sick or wounded, two fall out of formation with it and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with the struggler until he’s able to fly again. The geese in the rear of the formation are the ones who do the honking. It’s their way of saying that they’re following and everything’s going well. The continual honks encourage those in front to stay at it. 

Here in our passage, we have more of the same from yesterday; more names, more chronology. But what’s of note in our passage today is how the priests were involved in doing some of the repairing (verse 28). This reminds us that leaders must set the example. By being first out in formation, leaders set the tone for everyone to follow. Not every season of the year will require leaders to have to do some jobs, but there are times when leaders going in the trenches with fellow servants is important.

A priest may have befitted with the dignity of his office, but it does not mean that he can’t pick up rubble or lay brick. No priest or pastor should have problems getting their hands dirty, especially if it doesn’t interfere from the primary duties of teaching and counseling. A leader who is willing to avail themselves to doing the “dirty work” will exemplify what Christ did when he washed his disciples feet the night before he was crucified.

Godly leaders should set the pace. It takes a good team captain, as well as good teammates, to continue to strive in the Lord’s work. Let’s cooperate, let’s lead well and let’s follow our leaders with good faith. In doing so, we bring God glory and honor. It may take hard work to do the Kingdom’s work, but God supplies the grace and strength for us to do it well. Let’s work with passion and joy in the labor of our God.  

Prayer: Dear God, help me to be your servant. If I am leading, help me lead those following well and to you. If I am following, help me to discover the joy of submitting well. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Bible Reading for Today:Acts 19

REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Jabez Yeo, now a friend of AMI, was first posted on September 26, 2015. 

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“Living by Faith”

Hebrews 11:8-16

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God… 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

In J.R.R. Tolkien’s short story, “Leaf by Niggle,” Niggle is a perfectionist painter who wants to paint a picture of a leaf and then a whole tree. While this project becomes his sole responsibility, Niggle doesn’t get much done because of his intense focus on painting the leaf and his heart for helping his neighbors. After an unfortunate accident, Niggle dies; weeping that he left only a single painted leaf. But as Niggle enters Heaven, he is comforted by Mercy because of his willingness to sacrifice for others. He then discovers that his tree, fully detailed and finished, is now “part of the True Reality that would be enjoyed forever”  

As Christians, each of us may have different godly visions or promises that we hope will be fulfilled in this life. In the case of Abraham, God had specifically promised him the land of Canaan and descendants as numerous as the stars (Gn. 12:1-3, 15:1-5). Yet at the time of Abraham’s death, Abraham only had a small plot of ground (23:17-18) and two sons (25:7-11). And Hebrews 11:13 notes that Abraham “died in faith, not having received the things promised…” 

How then did Abraham have faith, even in the midst of seemingly unfulfilled promises? Hebrews 11:13 explains that heroes like Abraham saw God’s promises and “greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth”. As believers today, do we remember that this world is not our final destination? When we seek a homeland (Heb. 11:14) and desire a heavenly country (11:16) like Abraham did, we can have faith that what we do for the Lord has eternal significance, even if we don’t see the desired end results.

As sons of Abraham by faith (Gal. 3:7), we know the final ending, in which “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” (Rev. 7:9) will gather to praise the Lord. Let’s put our faith in God that He will fulfill His promises, in this life of the next.

Prayer: Lord, increase my faith in You, the faithful promise keeper. I confess that so often, I have to see to believe. Remind me once again how blessed are those who have not seen but have yet believed. Thank You for Your patience with me and help me to fully seek my true home, where there will be no more tears, pain or death. In Your Name I pray, Amen

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 17-18

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

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“Having Sinned More, therefore, Loving God More?”

Lk. 7:37-50 (ESV) 

And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, [38] and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. [39] Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” [40] And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” [41] “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. [42] When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” [43] Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” [44] Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. [45] You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. [46] You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. [47] Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” [48] And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” [49] Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” [50] And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Just two months after I arrived in Mexico, when my Spanish was still shaky, I was asked to speak at the men’s regional retreat of the United Methodist church.  But I still understood most of what was said during testimony time. Three words summed up their past life: drinking, violence and women.  Their testimony was that now, having been redeemed, they felt like the man whose great debt was cancelled; they felt like the woman with a sordid past whose sin Christ forgave.  And they were grateful to God.

This parable seems to suggest that those who are redeemed from a sinful lifestyle can sense God’s love and grace more readily than those who have always behaved; as a result, they love God more than others. After all, Jesus tells this story in response to a Pharisee, a moral person, who questions him for allowing the sinful woman to touch him.  

But this parable isn’t saying that at all; in fact, those who have sinned less can love God even more.  On the last day of conference, the bishop, a man in his mid-40s, said this: “While I thank God for these wonderful changed lives, my story is different.  Having grown up in a Christian home, I’ve never drank, been given to violence or cheated on my wife.  But it was all because of God’s grace, and that is my testimony.”  

Additionally, this parable isn’t saying that some sinners owe more to God than others (500 vs. 50 denarii). Whether we’ve broken God’s laws a thousand times or just once, we’re equally lawbreakers before God (James 2:10-1).  A spiritual danger that Christ points to is our tendency to assume that we aren’t as sinful because of our impressive piety (“I fast twice a week and I give a tenth of all I get”); so, we further assume that we’ve been forgiven of 50 denarii worth of sin instead of 500.  That is what kills spirituality because that leads to loving and appreciating God less. 

Instead, be like the woman in this parable (and not like the Pharisees) who wasn’t concerned about what people thought, but showed love for God in earnestness and humility.      

Prayer: O God, You are to be exalted and lifted on high, for your loving kindness towards me continues to be unfathomable!   How awful for me to fathom that I can contribute something toward my own salvation or that I’m not as sinful as others.  Forgive me for my arrogance and foolishness.  I love Lord.  Amen. 

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 16

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Lunch Break Study

Read James 2:8-10 (NASB): “If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. [9] But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. [10] For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” 

Ps: 143:5 (NASB): “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands. [6]I stretch out my hands to You; My soul longs for You, as a parched land.”

Phil. 3:7-8 (NASB): “but whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. [8] More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ. . . .”

Question to Consider

1. What would you say to someone who feels like he/she is less of a sinner than others?

2. What spiritual/mental exercise can help us to appreciate God more even as we are becoming more pious (meaning sinning less than before)?

3. What are some spiritual conditions in your life that cause you to be less appreciative of God, thereby loving Him less?  What can help us to stay humble?

Notes

1. It only takes one break in a rope for a mountain climber to fall to his death.  Likewise, one who commits a crime once or ten times is deemed as a criminal before the law. Similarly, one who breaks God’s law once or hundred times is the same: they’re both law-breakers who face the same consequences.  

2. First, we constantly remind ourselves (like during our prayer times) the miserable state that we were in (sordid lifestyle, loneliness, alienated self, etc.) before meeting Christ; second, we quickly forget the good works we have done or the accolades we have received from men. 

3. One thing that can keep us in check is people’s criticism of us.  While in Mexico, most pastors who I worked with really appreciated my ministry and liked me as a person.  But there were exceptions: I always tried to used their criticisms to remind myself to stay humble. 

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Evening Reflection

Review your day.  Did anything occur today (good or bad) that helped you to appreciate and love God more?   Reflect on what happened; thank the Lord for such an opportunity; be grateful for your salvation.

REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Peter Yoon of Kairos Christian Church in San Diego, was first posted on April 28, 2015.  Peter is a graduate of University of California, Riverside (BA) and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.). 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“How Many Real Friends Do You Really Have?”

Acts 20:4

He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

Now, be honest: Have you ever looked at someone on your Facebook friend’s list and decided that it was time to “unfollow” them? But given that you cannot just de-friend that person, since that would be perceived as immature, passive-aggressive behavior, Facebook has given you the wonderful option to “stay” friends—that way the other person assumes that the two of you still have a friendship. 

Okay, maybe it’s not that complicated for you. Today, we live in an age where we actually think we have hundreds, if not thousands, of “friends” via social media. Unfortunately, research reveals something else: “According to data from the General Social Survey (GSS), the number of Americans who say they have no close friends has roughly tripled in recent decades. ‘Zero’ is also the most common response when people are asked how many confidants they have, the GSS data show. And adult men seem to be especially bad at keeping and cultivating friendships” (Time, Mar. 2015). 

As Paul traveled from city to city preaching the gospel, he faced constant opposition and persecution. However, he also added friends and trusted companions who accompanied Paul on his mission. These are what one pastor calls “spiritual friends.” A spiritual friend is someone who deliberately helps you to pay attention to God. And because we are hugely shaped through relationships, a spiritual friend plays a vital role in our own spiritual growth. 

One of the qualities of a spiritual friend is that you have an admiration or a sense of respect for the person’s relationship with God. Another quality is that he/she is willing to risk discomforts in your relationship to point you towards God (Proverbs 27:6: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses”). 

In reality, you don’t need hundreds of these “spiritual friends,” but certainly you do need a few. Take a quick inventory of your life: Do you have a spiritual friend? If so, keep cultivating that relationship. If not, ask yourself why you don’t have one. Have you been purposefully keeping them away? Begin asking God for a few of these in your life. 

Prayer: Lord, thank You for all of the friendships in my life. Teach me to cultivate spiritual friendships where we may be able to speak truthfully with love into each other’s lives. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 15

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Lunch Break Study  

Read 1 Sam 18:1-4: After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.

Questions to Consider

1. How does the author describe the friendship between David and Jonathan?
2. What does Jonathan do in making a covenant relationship with David as his true friend? 

Notes

1. In using the phrase, “loved him as himself,” we are reminded of Jesus’ second greatest commandment— to love our neighbor as ourselves. 
2. By removing his robe, which was a royal robe (as a son of King Saul), and giving it to David, Jonathan was renouncing his claim to the throne. He also gave to David his daily warrior’s sword and bow. Jonathan’s gifts to David represent his willingness to give up and transfer his particular position as heir to the throne of Israel. 

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Evening Reflection

Spend some time praying for your friends. Perhaps you can reach out to them by asking how you can pray for them. Express your gratitude to them for their friendship. 

REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, first posted on March 2, 2016, is provided by Pastor Mark Chun who pastors Radiance Christian Church in S. F.   He studied biology at University California, San Diego and completed his Master of Divinity at Talbot School of Theology.

Devotional Thoughts for This Morning

“Either Preach My Word or Get Out”

Acts 5:12-16 (ESV)

Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed. 

George Ladd, who was a renowned professor of New Testament at Fuller Seminary , taught that the kingdom of heaven is the dynamic reign of God and that the present reality of the kingdom is manifested through various signs such as the forgiveness of sins, care for the poor, healing for the sick, deliverance from evil spirits, miracles over nature, and the raising of the dead.  Jesus began the rule of God through His life, death, and resurrection but Satan is still the god of this world (according to 2 Corinthians 4:4) and will not be completely defeated until the second coming of Christ.  For John Wimber, this became the foundation on which he built the healing ministry at Vineyard through a theology of both power and pain.  It was a way of believing that healings will happen but also a way to explain why it doesn’t always happen.  

As Wimber preached through the New Testament at the beginning of the Vineyard, he began to focus on this connection between the kingdom of God and the gifts of healing.  After four months he came to an impasse, in which he questioned whether or not healing was supposed to be a regular part of the church’s ministry.  He concluded that it was and the following Sunday, he asked people to come up for prayer.  The results were horrifying because instead of healing the sick, the prayer team caught the sicknesses of those they were praying for!  As Wimber continued to encourage prayer for the sick, the church began to shrink because people thought this healing ministry was far too risky.  Wimber knew from his time as a church consultant that it was okay to talk about some things as long as you didn’t actually try to do them and he questioned whether to quit or continue.   

One week, as Wimber was preparing his Sunday sermon, he slammed his Bible shut and told the Lord, “I will not teach about healing anymore.”  He immediately sensed the Holy Spirit rebuking him by saying, “Either preach my Word or get out.”  Fortunately, he continued the healing ministry at the Vineyard and began to witness the power of God move through his congregation.  Eventually, hundreds of people would be healed and the movement known as the Vineyard renewal was born.  

It is impossible to preach through the Bible especially the Gospels and the book of Acts and not have to wrestle with why the church seems to have so little power.  We often end up preaching our experience as opposed to what the Holy Spirit would have us believe about these subjects.  The advancement of the kingdom is often evidenced by a display of miraculous power over sickness, both physically and spiritually.   The Scriptures present to us an indisputable connection between the two.  After all, the apostles represent the greatest preachers, pastors, and teachers in Christian history but we see that their ministry was not simply a matter of persuasive words but was evidenced by the demonstration of power.   

Prayer: Lord, increase our faith to believe that you came to heal the sick, release the captives, give sight to the blind, and to free those in bondage to sin.  Help us to overcome our lack of faith and to pray your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as in heaven.  Teach us how to seek your kingdom first and trust that you will add everything else unto us.  Amen.  

Bible Reading for Today:  Acts 14

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Lunch Break Study

Read Matthew 10:5-15 (ESV): These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. 9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. 11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town. 

Questions to Consider

1. Why does Jesus give priority to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” in his mission?
2. How should we view the commands given by Jesus in verse 7-8 to proclaim the kingdom with its accompanying signs and miracles?
3. Why did Jesus forbid the disciples from taking money and supplies on their mission?

Notes

1. In the beginnings of Christianity, the strategy was to evangelize the Jews first for two main reasons.  The first reason is mainly spiritual.  Since the Jews represent God’s original people, his first born son, and the tree that Gentiles would be grated into, they had the privilege of receiving the gospel first.  The second reason was more pragmatic.  Jewish converts to Christianity would already have a baseline understanding of God and the OT scriptures from Judaism so they could quickly grow in their new found faith in Christ.  
2. Although many people dispute the commands in verse 8 as being limited to just the original disciples, there is no biblical warrant to relegate the commands to heal the sick, exorcise demons, and even raise the dead to Christians in the first century.  If this were the case, we would have to limit the command to proclaim the kingdom to the original apostles.  We see in the book of Acts that there was no such limitation in place nor is there any exegetical proof that miracles ceased with the last apostle.  Therefore, Christians throughout the ages can expect signs and wonders from time to time.  
3. Jesus wanted the disciples to depend on the grace of those who received their ministry.  Clearly this was not to exploit the sick or become rich using the name of Jesus as some have done but rather it was a means of teaching about God’s grace to both giver and recipient.  It should be remembered that ministers of the gospel are not paid for their work but rather paid so that they can serve more freely.  

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Evening Reflection

In what ways have your experienced the supernatural work of God in your life?  How have you limited God or limited yourself in terms of the ministry that you are called to perform?   It has been said that a Christian is only bound by the limits of his or her faith.  Pray that you would grow in faith and expect to do great things for God.    

REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, provided by Pastor Ryun Chang (AMI Teaching Pastor), was first posted on January 29, 2015.

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“An Absurd Argument Only to Stress a Point”

Lk. 18:1-8 (NIV)

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. [2] He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. [3] And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ [4] “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, [5] yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” [6] And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. [7] And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? [8] I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Perhaps, the widow facing injustice is in a situation similar to that of another widow who says to Elisha, “. . . you know that [my husband] revered the LORD.  But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves” (2 Ki. 4:2).  Whereas Elisha is willing to help the widow, the judge in the parable is not. 

Sometimes, to stress a point, an absurd argument is used.  Ruth Graham once said, “If God doesn’t soon bring judgment upon America, He’ll have to go back and apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!”  She meant that Americans were steeped in sin.  Jesus does the same here: to show the effectiveness of persistent prayer, he has to make the judge (who represents God) out to be indifferent and uncaring.  If the judge were to be kind and willing, then there would be no story to tell.  

For a long time, the judge shows zero interest in addressing the widow’s grievance; her lack of stature only adds to his indifference.  But the judge’s mind wavers as she keeps shouting and even banging on the door; he is clearly overwhelmed by it.  As the days turn into weeks, the judge, out of sheer exhaustion, relents; she gets what she came for: justice. 

Ultimately, although God isn’t like an uncaring judge, He still may not respond right away so that we can learn to pray persistently.  On the other hand, God may respond immediately, as Elisha says to the widow, “How I can I help you?” and immediately provides a miraculous way for her to pay the debt (2 Ki. 4:7).  

Praying consistently both in depth (“[Jesus] prayed more earnestly” [Lk. 22:43]) and length (“Could you men not keep watch me for one hour” [Matt. 26:40]) may just come down to developing it as a habit.   Some scientists say that a typical person needs at least 3 weeks to form a good habit.  Two components are necessary to develop any habit: intentionality and a plan.  So decide that you are going to develop a prayer life where you pray daily for a significant length; develop a prayer strategy that includes adoration (praise), confession, thanksgiving, supplication and intercession.   Just pray!

Prayer: Lord, what am I that the God of this universe would heed to my words!  It is beyond comprehension that I matter that much to You.  O God, if I just stop for seconds to think about this amazing reality, nothing in life can make me really sad.  Father, accept my prayer as a fragrant offering unto You.  Amen.   

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 13

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Lunch Break Study

Read Lk. 2:46-55 (NIV): “And Mary said: ‘My soul glorifies the Lord [47] and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, [48] for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed, [49] for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. [50] His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. [51] He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. [52] He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. [53] He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. [54] He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful [55] to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.’”

Question to Consider

1. How does Mary begin her prayer?  Why is that important?

2. What does Mary pray after that?   What is the significance of doing that?

3. Consider structuring your prayer under this acronym: A-C-T-S: adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication (including intercession, that is, praying for the needs of other people; this part should be the longest).  Write out a quick prayer under each letter. 

Notes

1. She begins with a declaration, praising God: “My soul glories the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God.”When speaking to a waiter, we don’t say, “My stomach glorifies the chef”; we just get to the point.  However, we shouldn’t speak to God as if He were taking our order (“easy on the butter”).

2. She recalls all the powerful, faithful and merciful things that the Lord has done in the past on behalf of her people; this, no doubt, gives her confidence that He can help her cause as well. 

3. A: Father, I acknowledge You as my loving yet sovereign Ruler of my life; C: I confess that I have repeatedly failed to acknowledge You in my everyday life; T: I thank You for always forgiving me and providing for my needs; S: Lord, I pray that you will provide for the education of my children.   

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Evening Reflection

As we wrap up this day, I think it is appropriate to end it with a heartfelt prayer as we meditate on this verse: “How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Matt. 7:11).

REPOST Today’s AMI QT Devotional, first posted on March 28, 2016, is written by Pastor Son who serves as a missionary-pastor in Taipei, Taiwan.  David, a graduate of UC Berkeley and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div.), is married to Grace and they have three small children.

Devotional Thought For This Morning

“Uncovering the Lies of the Devil”

Acts 13:5-12

When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them. When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar- Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

One of the most powerful scenes in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy is the deliverance of Theoden, king of Rohan.  Though he was a fine king, a man of respectable character in a powerful position, he sat amidst poor counsel—that of Grima Wormtongue. As a result, Theoden’s reign was reduced to a powerless, feeble, puppet-king, ceding to Wormtongue’s every lie. But  Theoden’s freedom finally came when the liar was cast out.

In our passage, we find that Sergius Paulus had many things going for him: he had influence, he was a man of intelligence, and even sought to hear the word of God. But what he really needed was to kick out that liar who sat next to him, Bar-Jesus (which means “son of Jesus”). Paul quickly identifies him and calls him for who he really is—“you son of the devil”!

For years, I also dealt with a lie that said, “David, no one actually cares about you…” It seems silly to let a thought like that govern my life, but it did. During that time, every thought/word/ action went through the lens of this lie. But I remember one particular night of victory, when, by the grace of God, I recognized this as a lie from the enemy. Lying in my bed that night, I called out the truth, and rejected the lie. From that moment on, it has never had power over me as it once had.

We can’t fight lies with our status, our experience, or our intelligence. We need to kick out the liar himself! If you have been living under the weight of a lie(s), call it out! In Jesus’ name, reject the lies of the enemy!

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, that You are more powerful than any other thing and that we belong to You. Protect us from the schemes of the enemy. Holy Spirit, help us to identify the ways that the enemy might be attacking us and to see lies for what they are. We repent for lending an ear to the enemy; instead, fill us with your truth today. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Acts 12

Lunch Break Study

Read Mark 13:14-29: And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Questions to Consider

1. Why couldn’t the disciples drive out this evil spirit?
2. Jesus says, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” Where in this passage do you see a prayer happening?
3. What does this teach us about the power of prayer?

Notes

1. We don’t know what the disciples were doing before, but we know there was no prayer. Perhaps the disciples were just commanding the evil spirit to leave. Jesus makes it clear that “this kind of spirit can only be driven out by prayer.”
2. Although Jesus mentions that only prayer can drive out this demon, at first glance, there doesn’t seem to be any prayer happening. One of two things may be happening. It may be that Jesus is praying to God the Father, silently. But actually, there is another prayer in this passage, the prayer of the father of the child: “I believe; help my unbelief!” This is not usually the kind of prayer that we think about when we think of powerful prayer.
3. Prayer is our most powerful weapon against the enemy. It is not a light thing when we pray for protection or deliverance. Because of Jesus, every prayer prayed in faith has weight in the realm of spiritual warfare. 

Evening Reflection

“What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” – Luke 11:11-13

Tonight, let’s meditate on this promise, and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Let us pray with the faith that our heavenly Father is a good Father!

REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, provided by Jabez Yeo, now a friend of AMI, was first posted on August 2, 2015.  

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“The Story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot”

2 Timothy 4:6-7

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 

On June 15^th 2015, missionary Elisabeth Elliot passed away at age 88.  Mrs. Elliot grew up in Philadelphia and studied classical Greek at Wheaton College, seeking to be equipped to translate the Bible into an unknown language. It was at Wheaton where she met her husband, Jim Elliot, who also had a heart to share Christ with the unreached. The Elliots went to serve amongst the Quichua Indians in Ecuador along with four other missionary families in the mid 1950’s. On Jan 8^th 1956, the five male missionaries attempted to make contact with the Hourani Indians but were killed by them during their attempts to communicate. 

Though their lives vary greatly in length, Jim and Elisabeth provide two inspiring examples of finishing the race well. In regards to Jim, he passed away at age 28 and had seemingly nothing to show for his life other than a college degree and a small family. However, his journals were collected and later used by Elisabeth to write Through Gates of Splendor and Shadow of the Almighty. These two missionary accounts inspired thousands of Christians to become missionaries and serve among unreached peoples. One quote in his journal that still inspires many today is: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”

In regards to Elisabeth, she ended up outliving Jim by almost 60 years! Yet her life, too, was used by God in extremely powerful ways. Elisabeth ended up serving amongst the Huaorani and Quecha Indians for several years, planting churches and raising disciples. Once back in the U.S., she wrote several more classics such as Passion and Purity and The Mark of a Man. She counseled thousands of people through mail correspondence and her radio program Gateway to Joy ministered to many believers.

Like Jim and Elisabeth, heroes of faith who have gone before us, let us fix our eyes on the crown of righteousness that the Lord has for us. We may not know how long our race may be, but let us run well to receive the prize (Phil 3:14).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I only have this one life to live. Help me not to throw it away aimlessly or to try and save it through my own means. Help me to lose my life for Your sake, for what good is it if I gain the whole world but lose my soul? By Your grace, help me to run this race well; may my life be used for Your glory. In Your Name I pray, Amen

Bible Reading for Today:  Acts 11