April 25, Wednesday

The AMI QT Devotionals for April 23-25 are provided by Myra Huang. Myra, a graduate of Juilliard School (BA) and The Manhattan School of Music (M.A.), lives in NYC with her husband Ed Huang and two lovely daughters: Elie (9) and Abby (7). She has been a member of The Remnant Church since its inception in 1995. Myra travels the world performing concerts with opera singers.

Devotional Thoughts for Today

2 Corinthians 3:18

“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned that my last album with my colleague Nick was nominated for a Grammy Award in the “Best Classical Vocal Solo” category (2017).

Well, in the end, we did not win our Grammy category. I had butterflies in my stomach as they reached the few categories right before ours, as I knew they would be announcing ours soon. I truly did not expect to win, but the greatest gift I had received from the Lord was that He had released me from the fear of losing a few weeks before (see previous blog). After encountering God’s healing, I was able to look back at moments when He closed doors for me and understand His pacing and His timing. One thing I have learned deeply about His wise and loving leading is that His timing truly is perfect. I had experienced so much consistency in God’s faithfulness in my career that I knew that I did not “need” this Grammy to have a great career. The peace of God in such a moment of great expectation and the freedom to lose was the greatest gift the Lord could have ever given me. I felt so loved—and still feel so loved—that He sought me out to give me this kind of freedom before my big moment.

I never became a classical pianist “for God’s glory.” Many people attach that phrase to whatever they do as an afterthought. I pursued my career because I didn’t know what else to do; it was what God had put in front of me, and I just followed Him step by step. What I have learned is that we give God glory in whatever we do, by being transformed into His likeness and loving those around us. It’s not the career that glorifies God—it’s who you are in Christ that glorifies Him and your relationship with Him. Before I step out on stage at every concert, I spend time reminding myself that the concert I am about to give is my worship to God. I remind myself that I am performing for the audience of One.

My final thought about the Grammy’s is … let the Lord’s will be done! If He wants me to have a Grammy one day, that’s great; if not, that’s great too. Because I don’t need a Grammy to have a successful career. My goal is not to win, but to know the love of my Lord and to follow Him wherever He leads me.

Prayer: Lord, there are things, not only in my personal life but for Your greater kingdom purposes, that need to get done. But, before letting me see what I need to do, allow me to see and then constantly remind me who I need to be in Christ. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Timothy 3

Lunch Break Study (Pastor Ryun)

Read 2 Timothy 4:16-8: “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. ¹⁷But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Questions to Consider

At first glance, this passage may not seem to correspond to this morning’s devotion, but actually it does, because both deal with being constantly aware of the true reality as opposed to operating out of a false reality. Myra saw herself as a winner in Christ even though she didn’t actually win the Grammy, and this realization was already internalized before the winner of the award was announced. In the case of Paul, what did he already internalize long before whether anyone ever came to visit him in Rome?
In what sense are the experiences of Myra and Paul similar?
The kind of self-realization we are talking about here does require one thing: self-awareness of what truly drives and motivates us. Is it winning (even if it is for Christ) or being like Him—that is, being transformed by the Spirit to embody the likeness of Christ? Take a moment to reflect on this matter that we often ignore.

Notes

Before anyone were to visit Paul in prison to show their care and concern for him, the apostle already felt sufficiently cared for because he was acutely aware of the Lord’s protective presence in his life.
Their experiences are similar in the sense that they prioritized the presence of One in order to deal with their respective struggles. For Paul, the struggle was dealing with the sense that no one supported him, despite all that he had done for them; for Myra, the struggle was dealing with the sense that she is “only as good as your last performance.”
Personal response. It bears repeating what Myra said: “It’s not the career that glorifies God—it’s who you are in Christ that glorifies Him and your relationship with Him.”

Evening Reflection

In reviewing this day, was it a struggle to keep your head high (not in arrogance but in admiration of our gracious God) because things just didn’t turn out the way you planned? In recognizing our shortcomings, how is the Lord using that to transform you? Perhaps James 4:6 may be helpful here: “⁶But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’”

April 24, Tuesday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

James 1:17-8 (NLT)

“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.”

Last November, I found out that my last album with my colleague Nick was nominated for a Grammy Award in the “Best Classical Vocal Solo” category. I am a classical pianist, and I concertize and record albums with opera singers.

When I was young, I grew up winning every competition I ever entered and being the star pianist in my hometown. However, around the time of college, for the first time, I wasn’t winning everything and doors were closing on me. I thought to myself, Ah, now that I’m growing as a Christian, God must want to humble me, so He doesn’t want me to win anymore. So when this Grammy nomination presented itself, I thought, How lovely! But God probably doesn’t want me to become arrogant, so we probably won’t win.

I spent a few weeks losing sleep because of my anxiety about losing—I knew it was going to hurt. But then one day, a couple weeks before the actual Grammys Award Ceremony, God met me during worship. He simply said, “You are not a loser.” Those words, coming directly from the Lord of my life, exposed that I had almost made a career of learning to be humbled by God. I thought He would never entrust winning to me again because it was my lot in my life to be humbled. But with the words “You are not a loser,” I understood in an instant with beautiful clarity that behind God’s sovereign directing of my life was His deep, vast, all-encompassing love.

Yes, He wanted to work in me so that I would not base my identity on winning or success … because He LOVED me. He loved me so much that He wanted to give me a security not based on such fleeting things. God’s timing was so loving to heal me right before the Grammys, so that I could actually enjoy the moment rather than fearing losing. Also for the first time, I was able to begin imagining all the good things that the Lord had in store for me, rather than just the slice of plain bread I would be rationed every day to survive. I was able to grasp how lavish was the love my God had for me, and hope began to flood my thoughts as I thought about the future. I was transformed from a servant who was allowed to be in God’s family, to a prized daughter who was dressed with her Father’s favor.

So, remember that you are a winner in God’s eyes, apart from anything you do or fail to do, and live a stress and anxiety free day today.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for Your death and resurrection. The hope of eternal life with You gives meaning to my existence, apart from anything I do or fail to do, and brings joy to the things that I get to do here on earth. Help me to live in light of the joy of eternal life today. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Timothy 2

Lunch Break Study (Pastor Ryun)

Read Luke 19:1-6 (NIV): “Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. 7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Questions to Consider

Given the category of being a winner or a loser, where would the Israelites place Zacchaeus and why?
Where would Jesus place Zacchaeus in this category? Winner or loser? Why do you think so?
Are you a winner or a loser in God’s eyes? Justify your choice.

Notes

The Israelites considered Zacchaeus a profound loser for using performance enhancing drugs (something illegal) to get ahead in his career (“chief tax collector”): he betrayed his people by working for the Romans, and he cheated and lied to collect more than what was required to pocket the excess.
Jesus would consider Zacchaeus a profound winner, because he recognized that no title or money could satisfy his sense of inadequacy and emptiness, so he sought Jesus—even though he must have looked like a fool climbing a tree to see Jesus. Anyone who seeks Jesus and His approval above all else is a winner.
Personal response. Quiet your soul and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart (Rom. 8:16).

Evening Reflection

This morning, the issue was how God ministers to us personally and intimately. Without being ministered that way, we cannot hear anything from the Lord. God may very well be saying, “You are not a loser,” but what good is it if we aren’t hearing it. So try this before going to sleep tonight and allow yourself to hear God’s voice through the Spirt in your heart: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (Ps 37:7a).

April 23, Monday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

“Fear”

Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

There are so many things we all fear: fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of loneliness, fear of uselessness, fear of not being smart. In my mind, so many of our fears point to one underlying predominant fear: the fear of not being loved.

I started piano at the age of 4, and my older brother started cello at the age of 6. We were star prodigies in our small town of Portland, Oregon. I won almost every competition I entered. You can understand how my identity became cemented in winning—or at least in being successful. My parents had a very violent and tumultuous marriage, ending up with the police at our home a few times a year; but the one thing that brought them happiness was when I did well. So I learned at an early age that if I did well, it would make my parents happy, and I would receive love. My performance became my currency to obtain love.

As a concert pianist, I am constantly struggling with the performance mentality. There’s a phrase in the business: “You’re only as good as your last performance.” That’s a lot of pressure to live up to. I have had to spend so much time in prayer surrendering my need to succeed, and to ask God to exchange my anxiety from fear of failure with the peace of knowing that I am loved just as I am. Living with such anxiety is exhausting, and eventually leads to burn out. I’m sure many of you can relate.

I am learning how to tend to my identity in Christ. I’m learning how to make a habit of sitting before God doing nothing but resting in knowing that He loves me. When I’m busy, I’m learning to release the tension of trying to prove my worth, and to rather lean on His presence and faithfulness. Much of my prayer life has changed as well. I spend more time in silence, just being with God and listening, rather than making my supplications. I am meditating on God’s love for me, not because of what I have done, but because He chose me and created me. The fruit that is born of the Spirit becomes joy and peace. Only then am I able to understand how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, so that I may live in step with the fullness of His presence.

So, today, I invite you to a time alone with God, to contemplate on all the marvelous things He has done and continues to do to show His unconditional acceptance of us.

Prayer: Father, thank you for times of solitude, for times of slowing down, and for a life that is something more than just merely performing. Thank You for times to build into myself and the lives of others around me. Help me to spend this precious time wisely and well. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Timothy 1

Lunch Break Study (Pastor Ryun)

Read Romans 15:7: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God; Luke 15:20: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.”

Questions to Consider

Based on how the father treated the prodigal son, what does it mean that Christ has accepted us?
What is implied in the statement, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you”?
Are you struggling with this issue? Is people’s approval of your performance very important to you? Identify one or two areas where you feel the most pressure to perform, and then write out a prayer to the Lord to surrender those areas to Him.

Notes

The son had been clearly in the wrong, but his contrition or repentance was not a precondition for the father to have compassion for him and showering him with mercy (withholding the punishment he deserves).
The premise of the command for us to accept one another unconditionally is precisely because we do the opposite, meaning we treat people well when they perform (e.g., performance bonus) and not so well when they don’t. Let’s be careful to avoid doing this, especially if we are parents of small children—because they catch on fast.
Personal response.

Evening Reflection

During the business of this day, did I stop to ponder and experience God’s approval of me today, simply because I am beloved in Christ? Have I made time for resting in Him apart from any merit on my part? Spend some time reflecting on these matters and ask God for strength to feel less pressure to perform.

April 22, Sunday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Mark 12:38-40

And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

I remember going bouldering for the first time with a group of friends. It was fun learning the basics and trying to figure out how to climb the different parts of the wall. As we were resting, my friends shared funny stories of experienced climbers who loved to show off their skills by climbing the part of the wall that others failed to do. It would be in such a way to make sure everyone saw that they could do something no one else could. For them, it was not enough to be good at something; they had to make sure others recognized their abilities. It was not enough to climb the wall, but they had to look good doing it for others.

We find something similar in this passage. Jesus condemns the type of religiosity that the scribes practiced. It was not really about God and loving people, but they used their piety to draw attention to themselves. They seemed godly but there was no actual substance of godly character. They prayed long prayers to show off their knowledge and oratory abilities. They took the best seats during meals and in the synagogues and walked around in long robes in order to be seen. Jesus did not approve of such practice of flashy religion—He rightfully condemns it.

The temptation to be ostentatious about our relationship with God and religious practice still exists today. Many of us use ministry and the church to draw attention to ourselves—we desire positions of leadership to feel important and superior to others. In other words, we can have ungodly intentions that are fulfilled and masked with ministry. It happens all the time. And for this reason, we have to remain vigilant about our motivations. We must intentionally remain tethered to God and abide in Christ as we do ministry. Without intimacy with God, ministry can often devolve into something ungodly. In prayer, come before God and ask Him to help you to minister and live out your calling with the right motivations and with much humility.

Prayer: Father, I want to confess that my desires and motivations are often a mixed bag, even when it comes to ministry and service in the church. Purify my heart and help me to serve with pure intentions and motives. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Thessalonians 3

April 21, Saturday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Mark 12:28-31

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Today’s passage is a well-known story that most of us are familiar with, and it serves as a helpful reminder of what is central to our lives as Christians. Jesus is once again tested by the scribes and religious leaders about the Torah. They are desperate to ruin Jesus’ reputation among the Jewish community in order to put a halt to His ever growing movement. This time they ask Him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” to which Jesus rightly answers, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” However, it is interesting that Jesus also tells them what is the second greatest commandment, which is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” The common thread to each commandment is love: love of God and love of neighbor.

It is important to recognize the order of these commandments. The first must be heeded before the second is made possible. As one commentator says, “Love of God is prior to love of neighbor and establishes its possibilities.” As much as we would like to think of ourselves as loving people, most of us are more self-centered than we’d like to think. We spend the majority of our time tending to our own needs and wants—only using the time and resources leftover for the sake of others. Simply put, we usually come first before anybody else. And it is difficult to find freedom from this posture of self-absorption.

What we desperately need is to be in a love relationship with God, learning how to love Him with all that we are and be loved in return. This relationship has the effect of healing our selfish tendencies and reorients us to live a life aligned to the kingdom value of other-centeredness. The more intimate we are with God, the more we are filled with love that can be shared with those around us. Without the first commandment, it is impossible to fulfill the second. For this reason, let us dive deeper into a love relationship with God!

Prayer: Father, help me to fulfill these two commandments. I am very selfish in many ways, often only thinking about myself. Free me from my self-centeredness and help me to love You and others well in my life. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Thessalonians 1-2

April 20, Friday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Mark 12:18-27

And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

Ernest Becker, a Jewish-American cultural-anthropologist in the 60’s and 70’s, is famous for writing The Denial of Death. Its thesis states that human civilization is essentially a complex defense mechanism in the face of its own mortality. In other words, humanity is terrified of its inevitable death and attempts to structure life in such a way as to find meaning, in spite of our inescapable mortality. Becker wrote this Pulitzer-winning book while battling colon cancer and facing his own imminent death. And the book was praised for its insight as many related to his conclusion.

All of us are afraid of death, not necessarily because it is something we do not understand but because it robs us of lasting meaning. All of our hard work and accolades lose their significance when we pass away. As a result, people have been desperately searching for a way to have true meaning that can overcome the problem of death. Becker calls this “immortality projects”; it is our way of remaining alive after life has ended.

Here, in our passage for today, Jesus is tested by the Sadducees on the doctrine of the resurrection. Interestingly, the Sadducees did not believe that God would resurrect the righteous at the end of time; that was a Pharisaic belief. They posed this question, as a trap, in order to make Jesus look bad; however, Jesus avoids their trap and disagrees with them, stating that God is not God of the dead, but of the living. In other words, He believes in the resurrection. In some ways, this is a foreshadowing of His own resurrection that would take place after His death.

For many of us, the resurrection is a doctrine that we only think about during Easter. However, it must be something that informs our lives on a daily basis. The resurrection tells us that there is life after death; that death is not the final word but life is—all because of the victory we find in Jesus. As a result, we do not need our own “immortality projects,” because Christ has accomplished it through His death and resurrection. This means that our work in the present has eternal significance that cannot be robbed by death’s power. And the life we live for God will not be in vain but will be everlasting. Let us remember today that the work of God’s kingdom, whether at church or in our workplace, will not go to waste. We are part of a project that will last forever.

Prayer: Father, thank You that death does not have the last say in my life because of the resurrection of Your Son. In light of this, help me to live for the eternal and not the temporal things of life. Help me to invest into the work of Your kingdom rather than things that will one day fade away. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Thessalonians 5

Lunch Break Study

Read John 11:17-27:Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Questions to Consider

How does Jesus respond to Martha’s grief and pain?
What do you think Jesus means when He says that He is the resurrection and the life?
What role does the resurrection play in your life?

Notes

Jesus responds by telling her that her brother will rise. She thinks that He is talking about the doctrine of the resurrection, which says that the righteous will rise at the end of time. However, Jesus wants to divert her focus away from an abstract doctrine to the person of the resurrection, who is Jesus Himself. Eternal life and resurrection is not found in believing a doctrine but by believing in the person of Christ.
Resurrection can only be had through Jesus Christ. No other means can overcome death.
Personal response.

Evening Reflection

“The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether (as the hymn so mistakenly puts it…). They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.” – N.T. Wright

April 19, Thursday

Devotional Thoughts for the Day

Read Mark 12:1-12

“And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.”

The Enlightenment marked a profound change in human history. No longer was God central to the grand narrative of culture; that place was now taken by men and their optimism for humanity’s potential and ability to create meaning apart from God. People began to invest into the sciences and philosophies not as a way of discovering the wonders of God but to gain autonomy apart from Him. This began the secularization of the world in which we find ourselves today; where society has sought to maximize individual freedom and to write its own narrative script. In some sense, it has attempted to kill off God and take over the course of history – seeing it as its own project.

Similarly, in our passage for today, Israel in its own way attempted to distance themselves from God as a way of running their lives as how they saw fit. Here, Jesus is narrating the story of Israel in parable form. Israel is represented by the vineyard and their religious leaders are represented by the tenants. The servants are the prophets of God who were dismissed and killed throughout the history of Israel. The “beloved Son” in the story is Jesus Himself who is cryptically predicting His own fate that will come at the hands of the religious leaders. In other words, this story condemns the religious leaders’ failure to once again recognize those who are from God; instead, they attempt to keep their traditions alive even if it meant killing God’s servants. This is just like the tenants who said “This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.”

In many ways, this is the essence of sin. It is humanity’s attempt at killing off God for the sake of our own individual autonomy. I once heard it said that sin is living life as if God did not exist. In our culture, the temptation to follow this course is strong. Everywhere we look, we see the culture telling us to carve our own path, to follow our dreams, and to pursue the things that make us feel good. However, we have to understand that just like the tenants, the life given to us is not ours; it is given to us by our creator God who has a purpose for our lives- a life meant to be lived out in loving submission to His will and plans for us. Today, let us once again surrender our lives to God in prayer, committed all that we have to Him.

Prayer: Father, forgive me for I have often tried to take control of the life You have given me- living for my own purpose. Help me to surrender and give You full control of every aspect of my life. Help me to trust You with all of my life.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Thessalonians 4

Lunch Break Study

Read Romans 12:1-2: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship 2 Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Questions to Consider

What is Paul’s main call to the Roman Christians in this passage?
What is the purpose of renewing our minds?
Which part of your thinking reflects the world rather than the thoughts of God?

Notes

Paul is calling them to present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God. The entirety of your life is called to be sacrificed to God as a means of spiritual worship to Him.
Our minds must be renewed so that we may be able to understand and discern what is the will of God for our lives.
Personal response

Evening Reflection

As we are busy carving out and setting the course for our lives, take some time to prayerfully consider where your life is headed. Does it seem like it is a life shaped by God or shaped by your own hand?

April 18, Wednesday

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Read Mark 11:20-25

“As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Recently, I had dinner with a missionary who I’ve known for a very long time. And one of my favorite things about meeting with him has always been the stories he would share about how God has been moving in his ministry. Although each story is different, the underlying thread is the faith that the missionary has in God to do the impossible—whether it’s reaching out to someone who seems hopelessly lost or the huge financial deficit that needs to be resolved by a certain deadline. Each challenge isn’t met with anxiety, fear or trying to work harder to overcome the roadblocks; instead, he chooses to go to God and ask for mountains to be moved.

In our passage for today, Jesus challenges us to do the same. Here we find an interesting story about a fig tree that’s withered as a result of Jesus cursing it; and then, He begins to talk about prayer and faith. What’s the connection? The fig tree represents the temple that Jesus had just cleansed in the previous passage. Just like the fig tree, the temple was useless because it bore no fruit— it was busy with religious activities but did not further the mission of God. For Jewish readers, this was a shocking statement since the temple was the focal point of their religion. Jews who were not living in Jerusalem would face east towards the temple when praying, because it was where the presence of God resided.

However, Jesus in this story is suggesting that the temple no longer functions in the same role. With His coming, the temple has dissolved, and as a result, prayer and faith must be directed towards Him. For this reason, the disciples should not lose heart over the failures of Israel exemplified by the temple; instead, they should have faith in God (v. 22) and pray for the impossible. Their movement is not dependent on an institution but on the God who loves them, the One who would ultimately die for them.

Jesus invites His disciples to pray impossible prayers—like having mountains taken up and thrown into the sea—as they continue in their mission to usher in the kingdom of God. I wonder how many of us approach God in our prayers with that type of faith and audacity. As we try to live for God as believers, do we have faith as we pray? Do we easily get discouraged by the difficulties of life, or do we boldly approach God in prayer knowing that He can pull us through? As followers of Jesus, let us be people of faith. Let’s spend some time in prayer, asking God to move the mountains in our lives for the sake of His glory!

Prayer: Father, thank You that You are a great God who can do the impossible. I ask that You grant me the type of faith that asks with certainty for mountains to be moved in Your name. Help me to trust in Your power and not in my own strength. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Thessalonians 3

Lunch Break Study

Read Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Questions to Consider

What are we called to make known to God?
What is the result engaging God in prayer and supplication?
How do you deal with things that make you anxious in life?

Notes

We are called to make known to God about everything. Oftentimes we simply engage God with only the bigger things of life; however, Paul commands us to bring everything before God.
We are given the peace of God. This does not always mean we will understand the struggles and difficulties of our lives, but nonetheless, God will grant us a peace that is beyond our own understanding.
Personal response.

Evening Reflection

Our busy lives are often full of worry and anxiety. Instead of trying to figure things out on our own, take some time to name them and surrender them before God. Tell Him about all the “mountains” in your life that need to be moved.

April 17, Tuesday

Devotional Thoughts for the Day

Mark 11:15-19

And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.

The story of Jesus cleansing the temple has always been one of my favorite stories in the Gospels. It’s a picture of Jesus unlike any other. Oftentimes, we imagine Jesus to be someone who is always peaceful and calm, and yet, here, in Mark we see a display of Jesus’ anger—not only communicated through words, but by the overturning of tables and physically driving people out of the temple! I remember being shocked when I first read about the temple cleansing. Was Jesus even allowed to react this way? Why is this story in the Gospel accounts?

However, when we study the text closely, we see that it was an appropriate reaction. The question that must be posed is, “What made Jesus so angry?” Many of us point to the fact that there was a marketplace set up in the temple courts. Since it is the house of God, commercial activity would be inappropriate. Others suggest that a marketplace was necessary, because people had to buy animals to offer their sacrifices; but what angered Jesus was the unjust manner in which business was done by the temple officials. I would suggest that these conclusions are only half-correct.

When we read Jesus’ response in verse 17, we are offered a clue to the reason for His anger. He says, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?” Here Jesus is quoting Isaiah 56:7, which prophetically spoke of a day when people from all nations would be gathered in the temple of God as His people. In other words, salvation would be offered even to those outside of the nation of Israel. You see, the original vocation of the Jews was not to enjoy the blessings of God by themselves but to be a conduit of those blessings to the world around them—that people might proclaim Yahweh as God. This was the purpose of the Abrahamic covenant.

However, instead of living into that vocation, they were setting up a noisy marketplace in the only area of the temple where Gentiles were allowed to worship. Instead of cultivating an atmosphere conducive for people from all nations to encounter the living God, they were using it as a place of commerce. In other words, instead of a house of prayer for all nations, they turned it into a den of robbers.

Simply put, Jesus was angered by Israel’s failure to live out their calling to be the light to the nations. His anger was fueled by His passion for missions; it was something taken extremely seriously by Jesus. And the question we have to ask ourselves is, “Do we have the same passion for God’s mission? Have we also forgotten our vocation to be the light to the nations as the church?” Just like Israel, many of us have often neglected this calling. It only becomes a focal point of our lives during the summer when we venture out with our short-term mission teams. However, we must remember that we have been saved by God to be a light to those around us. Let us remember this calling and not neglect it like Israel! Let us pray and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who do not know Him all the days of our lives!

Prayer: Father, forgive me for neglecting the calling You have given me as a missionary. Help me to live out this vocation faithfully and to have a heart for those who are far away from You. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Thessalonians 2

Lunch Break Study

Read 1 Peter 2:9-10: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Questions to Consider

What is the reason that God has called and saved His people?
Have you lived out your identity as someone that is part of the royal priesthood and holy nation?

Notes

He called and saved His people to proclaim the excellencies of Him. Our salvation is not only for our own benefit, but He has given us a vocation to proclaim and share the gospel message to the world around us—to tell the story of God calling people out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Personal response.

Evening Reflection

Consider this statement made by Leslie Newbigin, a missionary from England who serviced in India for forty years:

“Mission begins with a kind of explosion of joy. The news that the rejected and crucified Jesus is alive is something that cannot possibly be suppressed. It must be told. Who could be silent about such a fact? The mission of the Church in the pages of the New Testament is like the fallout from a vast explosion, a radioactive fallout which is not lethal but life-giving.”

April 16, Monday

The AMI QT Devotionals from April 16-22 are written by Pastor Andrew Kim at Tapestry Church. Andrew, a graduate of Eternity Bible College, is currently attending Fuller Theological Seminary. He and Jessie were married in 2014

Devotional Thoughts for Today

Mark 11:1-11

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest! 11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Growing up, I was the type of kid who would try anything. And I would always begin with much enthusiasm and excitement, whether it be learning a new sport or instrument. However, as time passed on, my commitment and passion for my new endeavors would quickly wane. It was because I began to realize what it actually meant to acquire these new skills—the hours of practice needed and the amount of focus necessary for improvement. I wanted fast results and it was not going to come easy, so I quit. And this happened over and over again. Looking back it is easy to see that initial excitement for something does not necessarily lead to a lifetime of commitment, nor is it a sign of real passion or love.

We find an example of this truth in our passage for today. Mark 11:1-11 is a dense section of Scripture, littered with messianic allusions, two of which are important to consider: First, as Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey, Jewish readers would see it as scriptural fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9, where the prophet proclaims the salvation of Israel that would be brought about by the coming of a humble king riding on a donkey. Second, it is important to notice that though Mark seldom mentions names of places throughout his Gospel, here he mentions the Mount of Olives. This location reminds readers of Ezekiel 11, where the glory of God departs the temple in Jerusalem and settles on the Mount of Olives. Many believed that the glory of God would return from the Mount of Olives and back to the temple. For this reason, Mark makes sure to point out that Jesus is descending from the Mount to the temple as a way of bringing to the forefront the very identity of Jesus as the return of God Himself. Both of these allusions emphatically point to Jesus as the coming Messiah, who is the God of Israel Himself.

In light of this, the people of Jerusalem rightly proclaim with much enthusiasm: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” They were excited about the possible return of their Lord. However, as most of us know, within a matter of a week the very people celebrating the entrance of Jesus were the same people who wanted to crucify Him. You see, the people were expecting a particular kind of king that would lead them to swift victory over their enemies. However, Jesus redefined the nature of the kingdom. It was about loving their enemies and took the shape of the cross. As a result, the initial excitement and commitment to the movement of Christ waned and people began to leave.

Many of us also begin following Jesus with much excitement. We often have a picture of what discipleship is going to look like that fuels our enthusiasm. However, when God begins to bring us through the journey of transformation that is entirely unexpected and difficult, we begin to lose steam and even faith in the entire process. What we have to remember in moments like this is that discipleship means following the pattern of Christ—not one of easy triumph but one where life comes through death. For it is only through the dying of ourselves in discipleship that we find resurrection life. Today, even in the difficulty of discipleship, let us hold fast to Christ and remain steadfast in our commitment to Him.

Prayer: Father, thank You for calling me to follow You. I admit that at times it is difficult and sometimes the road You lead me on is not what I had expected. However, I pray for a steadfast commitment and trust in Your plans for me. Help me to faithfully follow You. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Thessalonians 1

Lunch Break Study

Read 2 Corinthians 4:7-12: But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Questions to Consider

Why does God place His treasure in jars of clay?
What does Paul mean that he is “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus?”
What areas of discipleship do you find most difficult?

Notes

God places the power of the gospel within broken people, like Paul and us, in order to show that the surpassing power belongs to God. The power is much more easily attributed to God if it is displayed through broken people.
As Paul mentions in verse 8, he has gone through much. He has been crushed, afflicted, and struck down; in some sense, he is always dying. However, his suffering and constant dying to himself has resulted in bringing life to those around him through his ministry.
Personal response.

Evening Reflection

We live in a culture where success is equated with the absence of discomfort or suffering. However, our discipleship to Christ calls us to die to ourselves and brings us into places of discomfort and suffering. In what areas of your life are you holding onto? Which parts of your life do you need to die to in order to experience the life of Christ?