March 6, Friday

Today’s AMI QT Devotional, originally posted on May 9, 2013, is written by Pastor Matt Ro, who formerly pastored Journey Church in Atlanta.  

 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“The Difference between the Wicked and the Righteous: Whom Do You Want to Please?”

Psalm 52:1-4, 8-9 (ESV)

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. 2 Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. 3 You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah 4 You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue . . . 8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.  I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. 9 I will thank you forever, because you have done it.  I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly.

The introduction (vv. 1-4) references Doeg the Edomite, who incited Saul to order the killing of the priests.  In fact, Doeg was the accomplice who struck down 85 priests and destroyed the town of Nob. So, David is talking about the wickedness of Doeg and how he will face God’s righteous judgment. 

However, the verses above (vv. 8-9) give a contrasting portrait of the righteousness of David.  It gives us a look at what the proper attitude of the righteous should be, using David himself as an example.  Though he did not always live up to that righteous standard, at the time he wrote this, he could say that he was “like a green olive tree in the house of God.”  An olive tree tends to last better than most trees and is valuable in its ability to produce yearly crop.  

According to Psalm 1, there is a contrast between the wicked and the righteous. David believed that God was in control of all things and that evil would be judged and righteousness would be rewarded in the end, even if evil seemed to be prevailing at that moment.  In light of this, David does three things in this text: First, he praises God; second, he trusts God for the future; third, he testifies of these truths to others.

So, let’s not live like Doeg who did all that killing to please a man, namely, King Saul (1 Sam. 22:18-19); rather, let’s live like David who praised, trusted and testified because he wanted to please God.

Prayer:  Father, like David, we praise You and trust You for Your steadfast love.  Help me to trust You when I see evil prevailing around me. Your character of justice will manifest in due time.   I want to be like that “tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all he does, he prospers.” Amen.

Bible Reading for Today:  Isaiah 36

Lunch Break Study

Read Ephesians 2:19-22: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Questions to Consider

  1. Paul says that when we are united with Christ, we are no longer strangers and aliens.  What does it mean that we are “fellow citizens of God?” What are the unique privileges and resources available to those who are citizens in God’s kingdom and members of His household?
  2. What does it mean that we are “fellow members of God’s household?”
  3. How does vv. 20-22 stress the closeness of the members of God’s household?
  4. Cliques and racism are problems in most places.  Examine if you are in conflict with other believers of the body of Christ.  How should our oneness change the way that we interact with others?

Note

  1. We have entered a new kingdom, meaning we have a new citizenship, under a new authority, as well as new privileges. Just as being an American citizen comes all its privileges and protection, we are protected under the care of the King.  We have access to the infinite wisdom of God and His plan for our lives.  God invites us to call upon the resources that we have as kingdom citizens.
  2. The moment we are saved, we immediately become members of God’s own intimate family. In real life, a child of the authority would always outrank a general or a vice president.  For instance, if one of President Obama’s daughters has an urgent situation and knocks on the President’s Oval Office door, she has immediate access to the head of the country.  We have access to a Father who has ultimate authority and power in the affairs of the world.  It also means that we are placed in a family with brothers and sisters in Christ.  There is a concern for the entire family (body of Christ).  We must learn to love each other on the basis of our membership within the same spiritual family.
  3. Verses 20-21, Paul goes on further by saying we are in a close relationship.  A building might be considered a cold and impersonal way to compare our relationship within our spiritual family.  But what he is saying is that in the structure of the building, we fit tightly together as stones or bricks cemented side by side.  If the building materials were separated, the building would crumble.  This reveals the intimate nature of our relationship within the household of God.
  4. Personal response

Evening Reflection

Think about your best friend.  You probably spend a good deal of time hanging out, talking, and just having fun with this person.  Imagine that you got into an argument with this friend, and afterward, you de-friended him on Facebook and deleted his number from your contacts.  But one day, your friend apologizes and asks for your forgiveness. You talk about it and start spending time together, forgetting what has happened.  That is reconciliation. In a similar way, we are reconciled with God through Christ. Spend some time journaling ways in which this “reconciliation” has impacted our families, relationships at work as well as in the church. 

Prayer:  Father, help me to remember that in times of difficulty I have privileges and resources that many have never claimed.  Help me to live in the fullness of the provision You have made for me—not as a servant but as a child of the living God.  Thank you for the brothers and sisters that you have placed alongside of me. Help me to live as one who strengthens the family of God.  Amen.

March 5, Thursday

Today’s AMI QT Devotional, prepared by then-staff of Kairos Christian Church in San Diego, was first posted on July 9, 2013.

 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“Our Faithful God”

Psalms 74:20-22

Have regard for your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. 21 Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise your name. 22 Rise up, O God, and defend your cause; remember how fools mock you all day long.

Finally, the psalmist finds hope in the covenant of God.  In the Ancient Near East, a covenant was a treaty sealed in blood.  In a covenant ceremony, animals were cut in half and the parties of the covenant walked between the pieces.  In this way, they vowed to keep their covenant promises or face the same fate as those animals.

When God makes a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, God alone walks through the halves of the animals.  God takes full responsibility for fulfilling His promises to His people. While our circumstances and feelings may tempt us to doubt God’s promises, our God is not a liar.  Ultimately, the Son of God Himself shed His blood to guarantee the fulfillment of every word He has said.  

God may not give us whatever we want, but He is absolutely faithful to fulfill His promises to us.  What promises address your concerns this morning? Pray with boldness that God fulfill His promises in your life.

Prayer: LORD, You are the God of promise.  I thank You that You have given to me more than empty words and sentimental thoughts, but the blood of your Son has secured every promise You have ever spoken.  Even in the midst of frustration and struggle, grant me grace to cling to your promises. I wait for the day when You bring each promise to its full fruition.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 35

Lunch Break Study

Read James 1:26-27 (NIV): Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Questions to Consider

  1. For those who do not keep a tight rein on their tongue, what are they doing to themselves? 
  2. What two qualities make up the “religion” that is pure and faultless that God accepts?
  3. Check your own tongue for patterns of gossip, lies, complaints, slander, etc.  

Notes

  1. Wrongful speech can come in various forms, maligning another’s character. Gossip, for example, does not merely annoy those who are maligned; it threatens the gossiper’s own spiritual health. Those who gossip are not merely slipping into a bad habit but rather, they are betraying their inner selves. 
  2. The first requirement is to visit orphans and widows in their distress. Visit implies to also provide care. God often promises to judge his people based on how well they care for the husbandless and fatherless (Matt 25:31-46). The second requirement is to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Here emerges a perfect example of being “in the world but not of it” where we must function as salt and light to the needy but not lose our ability to illuminate the darkness. 
  3. Personal response

Evening Reflection

Are there some Biblical promises that guard your heart from sinking into a sea of insecurity? Spend some time journaling about a few of those promises. 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I ask that my tongue be used to bless and not to curse; to build up and not to tear down; to speak truthfully and not deceptively. Amen.

March 4, Wednesday

Today’s AMI QT Devotional, first posted on February 6, 2013, is prepared by Pastor Ryun Chang who is the AMI Teaching Pastor.

 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“What Triggers the Hiddenness (i.e., silence) of God?”

Psalm 13:1-3

How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me? 3 Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.  Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.

Solitary confinement awaits those prisoners who behave badly. Enclosed by darkness and silence, it seeks to break the will. There may be no worse punishment on earth than being left all alone in such a confined space with all humanity hidden from them; with all humanity having forgotten them.  

What, then, does it mean that God hides His face, that He has forgotten us?  Does it mean our prayers fall on deaf ears; our situations go from bad to worse; our hearts know no peace?  Perhaps, no one knows that better than Moses, who spent 40 years in “the solitary spiritual confinement” in the desert,” during which time he didn’t hear from God even once. He put it, “I have become an alien in foreign land” (Ex. 2:22). To Moses, who once lived in the palace of Egypt, the desert—the place to which he ran after killing an Egyptian—was his solitary confinement. 

So why did God hide Himself from Moses for a such a long time? The LORD permitted this to break the self- sufficiency of Moses, who at the age of 40, felt very confident of his own ability; for, “Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not” (Acts 7:25).  While God wasn’t willing to use him then, once Moses became weak, He said to them, “Now, go” (Ex. 4:12a).

So when you feel like God is hiding His face from you, remember that He is teaching you to depend solely on Him.  Ask yourself this question: Do I really depend on God?

Prayer: Dear God, how often have I depended on my own strength and resources to seek success and solve my problems.  Even though I always make mess of things, I don’t seem to learn my lesson. Father, please forgive me of my self-sufficiency; help me to trust and depend on You more and more.  Amen

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 34

Lunch Break Study

Read Micah 3:4: “Then they will cry out to the Lord, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.”  

Is. 59:2: “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

Ezekiel 33:11: “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”

Questions to Consider

  1. What other factor can provoke the silence of God?
  2. As far as it depends on us, what’s the quickest way to end God’s silence (Ez.  33:11; Jer. 29:12-14)?
  3. In view of this, how can you characterize God in terms of His attributes (Jos. 24:19, 1Jn. 1:5)?

Notes

  1. When we continue to sin, after having been advised and warned against it, we run the risk of provoking the silence of God, meaning He won’t respond to our pleads.  Even if one finally repents, while God will certainly forgive, the penalty of sin will still be meted out against him. (See King Manasseh in 2 Chr. 33:12-13 and 2 Kings 24:3.)  
  2. No other kings were more wicked than Manasseh and Ahab (1 Kin. 21:25-9) but when they repented, God immediately showered them with grace and mercy.
  3. Of course, we who have been so desensitized by sin can’t really grasp God’s holiness; thus, when God seemingly acts “angrily” toward sins, we want to say, “LORD, lighten up!”  Inasmuch as light and darkness cannot coexist, God will neither coexist nor put up with sin. Of course, in His grace and mercy, God will give us ample time to turn away from it but not forever!

Evening Reflection

Let’s return to what we studied this afternoon.  

If God were to be silent in your life, would that bother you, or it would fuel (being irked at God) your desire to live for yourself?   How is your relationship with God right now? Is it time for an honest evaluation so that you can get right with Him? As you review today, did you seek His presence in the decisions that you had to make?  Did you seek out His face? It’s not too late!

March 3, Tuesday

Today’s AMI QT Devotional (new) is provided by Pastor Doug Tritton who serves as the Young Adults pastor at Symphony Church in Boston. 

 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“New Creation!”

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

If someone presented you with two iPhones – one is an iPhone X and the other is an iPhone 11 – and this person told you to pick one, I think we would all mostly choose the iPhone 11, though it really would not make too much difference. The new one is shiny, has some better features, and might last longer. New things are usually better – more reliable, more durable. But now, imagine someone presenting you with a brand new iPhone 11 and a smart device that was brought back from 100 years into the future. This is not just a new model of an iPhone – it is completely different. It does not simply have better features, it is categorically better, with 10G data speeds and holographic projections and other cool things. I imagine people from 100 years ago would feel similarly comparing an old-fashioned rotary-dial telephone with today’s smart phones. It’s not just a newer model – it’s a complete upgrade. 

In the Greek language, there are two words to that are translated new. There is neos and there is kainos. If you have an iPhone X and then buy a new iPhone 11, that is a neos iPhone. They are basically the same thing, but the iPhone 11 is newer in time. Substantively, they are essentially the same thing, just one happens to be newer. But if you compare a rotary-dial phone compared to an iPhone 11, the iPhone is a kainos phone. It is not simply a newer model – it’s categorically and qualitatively new. It is better in every way.

When Paul says that anyone in Christ is a new creation, he uses the word kainos. We are a new-in-every-way creation. When we believe in Jesus, we are not only wiped clean, as if we are given a fresh start. That would be neos. We are fundamentally changed. If we water down the gospel to just forgiveness of sins, as if believing in Jesus is like going to a store to a get cracked screen on our phone fixed, we are missing the depth of what God is doing in us. We are a truly new creation when we believe in Jesus. Yes, our sins are forgiven, but there is so much more. We are given the power of the Spirit. We are partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). We can actually change.

This is important for us to remember. Change is possible in us because we are a kainos creation. We are not called to simply cope with the struggles we face; we are called to overcome. The world will say that real change is not possible, that people just adapt. But the gospel tells us we are a new creation and have the power of heaven in us, being born from above to be a completely, fundamentally new person. Let’s invite that power of heaven to work in us in a deep way.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you that your gospel is a gospel of great depth and power. Thank you that you have re-created us into a kainos creation through the power of your Spirit. May we not be satisfied with simply managing sins and struggle, but I pray that you empower us to have victory in our lives. Let us truly be a new creation in you. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 33

Lunch Break Study  

Read 2 Peter 1:3-7: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

Questions to Consider

  1. What has granted us all things for life and godliness?
  2. What does it mean to be a “partaker of the divine nature”?
  3. How can you live out a divine type of humanity today?

Notes

  1. “His divine power” is what has given us all that we need for life and godliness. God’s power is at work in us when we believe in Jesus. We do not pursue godliness by our strength; rather, it is God’s power at work within us.
  2. As radical as it may sound, by partaking of the divine nature, we are in a sense being made divine. Though we are obviously not God, we become like Him. Our very natures are changed. To be a new creation means to lose the fallen nature of the world and to take a new heavenly nature. If you read vv. 5-7 in the passage, you will see that there is a progression; as we take on the divine nature, we grow and the ultimate fulfillment becomes love, the last thing mentioned in that list. By taking on the divine nature, we become beings of love, just as God is.
  3. Invite God to grant you his power that you might be a being of love to those around you. We are new creation and this means we can be like God to the people around us by the way we love. Ask God to help you to love and to demonstrate to those around you that you are a kainos human.

Evening Reflection

Remind yourself this evening that because of your faith in Jesus, you have been re-created. Take time to surrender the lies you hear in your mind that change is hopeless, that you are stuck as you are. Ask God to replace those lies with the truth that in Christ—you truly are a completely new creation.

March 2, Monday

Today’s AMI QT Devotional (new) is provided by Pastor Doug Tritton who serves as the Young Adults pastor at Symphony Church in Boston. 

 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“The Afterlife Starts Now”

John 3:1-8

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 Is there life after death? That is a question that every person who has ever lived has wondered. Hopefully, most of us have asked ourselves that question and found that the answer is “YES” – if we believe in Jesus, there is life after death, when we will be with Jesus for all eternity.

But, are we missing something when we say that the “afterlife” comes after we die? Is this life simply a time of waiting until that fateful day when we pass and are transported up to heaven? I think Jesus would say something different; I think he would say that the afterlife starts as soon as you put your faith in him and choose to follow him. 

In our passage, Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be “born again.” He is saying that for someone to experience the Kingdom of God, they must be radically changed by the Holy Spirit, changed in a way that fundamentally alters who they are. Jesus says it is like being born a second time. When you believe in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, you are made completely new. Simply put, you become a new creation (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). 

So, back to the question of the afterlife—When does the afterlife begin? For those in Jesus, the afterlife actually begins when you believe in him. When you put your faith in Jesus, you are born again; you are made into a new creation. Further, the word Jesus uses in the original language for “again” is a word that also can mean “from above”. When Jesus says you must be “born again”, it also has this connotation: “born from above.” This second birth, this re-creation, is heavenly. Many people think the afterlife is about us going up to heaven one day; but for Jesus, the afterlife is heaven coming down to earth. We experience the afterlife now when we believe in Jesus, when heaven comes down and impacts our life such that we are born again. If you believe in Jesus, you are living in the afterlife now.

If this is the case, what does this mean for our lives? This means that we bring heaven with us where we go. Jesus called us to be ambassadors for his kingdom and we model the kingdom when we demonstrate a life that is born from above. When you go to work or school or wherever today, remind yourself, you are bringing heaven with you and pray that God would work the power of heaven through you.

Prayer: Lord, thank you that you have given us a second birth, a birth from above. Thank you for changing us by the power of the Holy Spirit and recreating us to be ambassadors of heaven. May we seek to bring heaven wherever we go. Use us to demonstrate heaven through our lives.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 32

Lunch Break Study  

Read Matthew 13:33: He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”

Questions to Consider

  1. What does it mean that the kingdom of heaven is like a leaven?
  2. How can you be leaven for the kingdom?

Notes

  1. According to this short parable, the kingdom of heaven is like leaven that influences the whole batch of dough. A little leaven can influence something much larger; in the same way, the kingdom of heaven is small at first, but grows quickly by influencing its surroundings.
  2. Remembering that we are new creation, born from above, this means we bring the kingdom of heaven wherever you go. We are leaven that can influence are neighborhoods and workplaces and everywhere else we go. Think about how you can consciously bring the kingdom to these places such that the leaven in you leavens everything around you.

Evening Reflection

Tonight, spend time in prayer, inviting God to use you this week to be an influence for the kingdom. We can only do this by his power, so invite the Holy Spirit to empower you to bring heaven this week to the areas around you.

March 1, Sunday

Today’s blog, written by Pastor Ryun Chang, was first posted on February 8 and 9, 2013.

 

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

‘Life of Substance over Style” 

Haggai 2:3

“How does it look to you now?  Does it not seem to you like nothing? 

1 Samuel 16:7

“The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

The comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who performed as recently as 2001, and the second temple named after Zerubbabel have one thing in common: they got no respect.   Dangerfield’s typical routine starts out with, “I get no respect,” followed by a line that makes merciless fun of himself such as, “My father carries around the picture of the kid who came with his wallet” and “I met the surgeon general; he offered me a cigarette.”  At least the entertainer became famous and rich, but Zerubbabel’s temple, built by the Jewish returnees from Persia, was not so fortunate.  Having been forgotten by most Christians, Herod’s temple is routinely dubbed as the Second Temple.  Once, a conference speaker, after listening to my sermon about Zerubbabel’s temple, said to me, “I always wondered about why Herod’s temple was called the Second Temple.”  The fact is that Zerubbabel’s temple gets no respect. But why? Had Dangerfield done Christian comedy, he might have said: “Zerubbabel’s temple was so ugly that a commentator, writing about the temple of God, mentioned Solomon’s and Herod’s temple, and instead of Zerubbabel’s temple, referred to Ezekiel’s temple, which had never been built!” (Ez. 40-47).   One so-called biblical scholar actually did that! But God is into substance, not style!

So, what was it about the temple of Zerubbabel that made it hardly noticed?  While its dismissal may stem from the fact that it didn’t lead to the glorious return of the Davidic Dynasty, its ordinary appearance, in comparison to the glitz and glamour of Solomon’s temple, didn’t bode well in terms of popularity.  God Himself, to the builders of Zerubbabel’s temple, rhetorically asked: “Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing?” (Hag. 2:3). Fortunately, it was said only for effect because He quickly made it very clear as to which temple was more pleasing to Him: Zerubbabel’s temple.  God said, “The glory of this present house (Zerubbabel’s temple) will be greater than the glory of the former house” (Hag. 2:9a).  Why?  It’s because while “man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” In short, God was moved by the heart of those who gave up a comfortable life in Persia to return to Jerusalem, still lying in ruins, for the sole purpose of rebuilding the temple that was destroyed earlier.  Such a dedicated heart is what God is still looking for today.  

So how is your heart?  Are you more concerned about how you appear to people than pleasing God? Is your life adorned with a fine cover but nothing else to read thereafter?  Turn to Him and pray . . . 

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to REALLY deal with my sense of inadequacy and insecurity that induces me to focus on impressing people.  Please help me to REALLY root myself in the love of God expressed through Christ. Help me lead a life of eternal substance; help me to unshackle myself from a flimsy lifestyle through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 31

February 29, Saturday

Today’s blog, written by Pastor Sam Lee, was first posted on July 26, 2014

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

1 Peter 3:17

For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 

Some people try to be good so that bad things won’t happen to them. But this is not the attitude that God wants us to have, since such thinking reflects an inadequate understanding of who God is. God is good all the time, and His goodness towards us does not hinge upon our behavior, whether good or bad.  God’s goodness is an essential aspect of His character and nothing can change this. But faulty theology begets faulty assumptions and trying to be good so that bad things won’t happen is one of them. 

Even the good that we do, for whatever reason, is often done in public, but how are we in our private world?  Someone said that character is who you are when no one is looking. Certainly, we should be in our private world what we are in public but, unlike God, we are so inconsistent.  Perhaps, too many of us forget that God is watching us even when we are all alone. Furthermore, character is something that shouldn’t change because of the way people respond to us.   It should be affected neither by people’s applause nor by their pressure. It is part of us and it should be constant whether we are with many people or if we are by ourselves. 

As to why some bad things may happen to people, looking at the New Testament church, while it is clear that Christians were persecuted, it wasn’t because they did something awful that merited God’s wrath.  That is to say, it wasn’t because they cheated their neighbors or lived an immoral life. But they were persecuted precisely because they were going good. 1 Peter 2:12 states, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, thought they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God . . .” Despite of this, “those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went” (Acts 8:4).   In other words, they continued to love one another and preached the gospel of Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, when things are not going my way, especially when these are not my fault, motivate and empower me to perform a good deed that would benefit others; in fact, prompt me to share the gospel with someone. Amen.  

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 29-30

February 28, Friday

Today’s devotional, prepared by Pastor Jason Sato, was originally posted on April 22, 2014.  He and his wife Jessica (along with their three young children) moved to Japan in 2019 to serve as missionaries. 

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“The Crux of the Message of the Cross”

Galatians 5:7-12 (ESV) 

“You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion is not from him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. 11 But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!”

At first glance, it may be difficult to understand why someone would reject a free gift of grace for a demanding law of works. Would you rather win the lottery or work sixty hours a week for forty years? Most of us would probably choose the lottery. 

Yet, somehow, the Galatians, who “were running well” (v.7), are now greatly tempted to abandon Paul’s teaching and embrace circumcision. This error is attractive enough that it could “leaven the whole lump,” or corrupt the entire Galatian Church. It does not come from God (v. 8) and deserves punishment (v. 10), yet the Apostle Paul is persecuted for opposing it.  In fact, this issue behind circumcision is at the very center of what makes the cross offensive (v. 11). So why is the cross so offensive?  

The message of the cross is that the Son of God had to die in order to save helpless sinners from themselves. The cross is offensive because it destroys our pride and self-reliance. We’re forced to acknowledge both our wickedness and our complete inability to do anything about it; and to admit that we are utterly at the mercy of God.

So when the message of circumcision comes to the Galatian Church, this way of earning acceptance before God appeals to their pride. Though painful, circumcision provides the Galatians with a means by which they can boast before God and one another. If one became so bold, he might even demand his rights before God, saying, “I’m circumcised, therefore you HAVE to bless me!” 

If salvation is by grace alone, then we cannot boast, and we certainly cannot demand anything from God. We can only be thankful and worship him. Take a moment to pray that your obedience to God today would be motivated by a desire to honor and know Him, rather than to get something from Him.

Prayer: Father, I thank You that Your love is freely given to me, though I deserve the opposite. I am blessed that You don’t treat me fairly or as I deserve, but You give me abundant grace! Lord, may I rejoice always in grace rather than my own goodness that You might be exalted in my life and not me.

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 28

Lunch Break Study  

Read Luke 18:9-14 (ESV): “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Questions to Consider

  1. Looking at the prayer of the Pharisee in the parable, how do we exalt ourselves?
  2. Looking at the prayer of the tax collector in the parable, how do we humble ourselves?
  3. Who is the Pharisee aware of in his prayer?  Who is the tax collector aware of in his prayer?

Notes

  1. We exalt ourselves by comparing ourselves favorably over others and boasting in our good works.
  2. We humble ourselves by acknowledging our failures and our need for mercy.
  3. The Pharisee is very aware of himself as well as those he others who he is better than. The tax collector is aware of the One True and Holy God.

Evening Reflection

Reflect on your day. Were you tempted to believe that God was being unfair to you? What can you thank God for?

February 27, Thursday

Devotional Thought for This Morning

“It’s Objective—then Personal”

1 John 5:6-12 (ESV)

This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

The world tells us that all matters of religion are subjective, that your personal relationship with God is based solely on your opinions and feelings.  The Scriptures, on the other hand, tells us that our relationship with God is based on our experience of objective truth. Most people would admit to the fact that Jesus was an actual historical figure, and that the beginning of his ministry was marked by his baptism in water.   In addition, a large number of people would even confess to the fact that Jesus concluded his ministry on the cross, through the shedding of his blood for our sins. However, mental assent to these facts is not enough. The water and the blood are symbolic of the two bookends of Jesus’ earthly ministry, but unless the Spirit testifies along with the water and the blood, we only have powerless doctrine.  But when all three testify, we receive the power of the Gospel.  

One of the primary functions of the Holy Spirit is to bring the testimony of God into the hearts and minds of men, and to convict us of our need to trust in His Son.  This is not simply an emotional experience but also an encounter with the truth. The battle for your soul is engaged primarily in the mind. One of my old seminary professors, Neil Anderson, wrote that the center for all spiritual bondage has its roots in the mind: Wrong behavior comes through wrong thoughts.    I am convinced that the reason why we see so little lasting transformation in the church is because we simply don’t have enough truth to bring this change about. After all, it was Jesus who declared, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn. 8:32). But when we rely on our feelings and emotions, while this certainly can make us feel better for a time, we will soon revert back to our old patterns of life.  Unless our minds are renewed by God’s truth and our hearts are touched by the Spirit of the truth constantly, we leave ourselves vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. Read and study the Word, not to accumulate more knowledge but to correct yourself as if seeing your reflection on a mirror. Pray unhurriedly and ask God to show you why you say and do the things that hurt you and others.     

Prayer: Holy Spirit, we pray that you would fill us with the truth.  Help us to live lives of conviction, based not just on our emotions and experiences, but grounded on the objective reality of the Gospel.  May your testimony find deep roots within our minds and hearts. Amen.  

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 27

Lunch Break Study  

Read John 4:19-26: “ The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Questions to Consider

  1. What was faulty in the Samaritan’s worship?  
  2. What are the barriers to authentic worship?
  3. How can we rediscover authentic worship?  

Notes

  1. The Samaritans had rejected much of the Old Testament except for the books of Moses; therefore, they had an incomplete view of God and the coming Messiah.       
  2. Some of the artificial barriers that we erect against true worship are centered in things like style, setting, and separation by culture and nuanced theological differences.  
  3. We can see that Jesus diverts the woman’s attention from these inconsequential differences and speaks to her about the nature and the substance of worship.  In order to rediscover authentic worship, we need to get down to the spirit and the truth of what worship is.  

Evening Reflection

Spend some time worshipping God by listening to some praise music or spending time in prayer.  Write down anything you hear, feel, or have an impression of during your time with God.

February 26, Wednesday

Today’s AMI QT Devotional, first posted on November 12, 2014, is provided by Pastor Yohan Lee, a friend of AMI, who has served as a staff at several AMI churches in the past.  He and his wife Mandie have four adorable children: Simon, Maggie, Jonathan and Abigail. 

 

Devotional Thought for this Morning

Proverbs 6:1-5

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger, 2 if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth, 3 then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor. 4 Give your eyes no sleep and your eyelids no slumber;5 save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the hand of the fowler.  

In the 1995 film Heat, Robert DeNiro, playing a bank robber, tries to live by one guiding principle: “Don’t let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner.”  As a felon, one could see how such a philosophy would be helpful: if you have to flee from the police, it behooves you to not have to go back for a family, house, dog, etc.  Of course, in the movie, DeNiro is undone because he betrays his life principle, and ultimately his relationships (girl and loyalty/desire for revenge) lead to his downfall. (By the way, don’t watch Heat, it’s kind of slow and violent.)  

In many ways, I see debt as that thing that regular honest people cannot “walk out on in 30 seconds flat.”  For example, when I was doing college ministry, countless number of people have told me that they felt called to go overseas and serve in missions.  But since they were students and had to pay off student loans, they worked after college. Yet after working for a few years, the Parable of the Sower kicked in, where many were “choked by the cares of this world and the deceit of wealth” (Matt. 13:22).  Payments on cars, homes, credit card debt bills and other financial obligations won out, while the dream of missions never materialized. (I still hope and pray that these guys will make it out some day.)  

In today’s passage, the writer of Proverbs warns against debt (technically co-signing) and likens it to being trapped by a “hunter.”  Anyone who has been in heavy debt will tell you that this is an accurate description of what it feels like. Have you ever thought that your financial responsibility can make or break the way God uses you?  There is a reason why Christian financial advisors warn against debt. If God were to tell you to get up and go, would be you be prepared financially to obey? If the answer is no, then understand that financial freedom (in Christ) does not often happen overnight.  Although it takes years of disciplined decisions, the process could start today.  

Prayer: Dear God, help me to be a faithful steward of all that You have given me.  Help me to “leave no debt outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another” (Rom. 13:8) but to make wise and disciplined choices starting now.  

Bible Reading for Today: Isaiah 26

Lunch Break Study

Read Matt. 13:1-9; 18-22: That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil,6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.” 18 “Here then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

Questions to Consider

  1. What do the seeds represent? 
  2. What do the differing types of soil represent?
  3. Personally, which of these “soils” best represent you and your life?  

Notes

  1. Although the common interpretation is that the seed represents the gospel message, it can still be applicable to the believing Christian, because any Christian can hear God’s word/calling and fall into these circumstances. 
  2. The seed on the path are those who are easily plucked by Satan; rocky soil is a person with a poor foundation; thorn filled soil is one who has a lot of worries in life and loves riches and is endangered of being choked; and the good soil is a receptive heart yielding an abundant harvest.   
  3. Personal response. 

Evening Reflection

Did you have a chance to eliminate some thorns today, particularly in your financial decisions?  Is there a debt that you need to pay off? Is there some other word that has hit you lately that needs to fall on good soil?  Were you able to move toward that goal today?