Today’s AMI Devotional Quiet Time is provided by Pastor Ryun.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
“How much money does it take to have a good time?”
Proverbs 15:17
Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.
Are you a young parent? Let me share a tip on how to have a great family time—without spending hardly anything. Not interested? Oh, money is not the issue? Okay, I get it, but don’t you know by now that money cannot buy happiness, and costly family vacations do not guarantee pleasant memories? Well, let me share a lesson I learned as a young father 18 years ago, when my kids were nine, six, and three years old—at the time were living in Southern California.
Is it possible to feed a family of five with sumptuous Chinese food, and eating it together while enjoying a great view? We found this Chinese Wok restaurant close to Christy’s (our daughter) school that offered one main dish platter + noodle or rice for a special price of $.99! So after picking up Christy from school, we bought four plates and headed to our favorite hangout place—the Claremont villages, right next to the Claremont schools where old gift shops and restaurants are found.
And after countless times of hanging out in that area, we managed to find this great place to eat. We were facing the sidewalk of several shops but sort of hidden in this one corner was a built-in cement table with benches on the sides. Water fountain was on one side, as well as a place to dispose trash and a restroom close by. (It came in handy.) We brought our own drinks as well as chips and nacho dips. (Christy even brought packages of wet towels.) We had a great time of eating outdoors, watching people go by, looking at the Christmas decorations, while enjoying the cool California air in December—and all for around $5.00. And I did spend part of that to buy my wife a Starbucks coffee, which was located about 40-50 feet from the table (that made her happy). My kids enjoyed the day and so did I—partly because this all cost me less than $5.00.
I still remember this day—it was a spontaneous family time that still stands in my recollection. No, our family times throughout the years did not always end so happily, but that day it sure did. It was truly a day when I understood what this meant: “Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.”
Ultimately, it is because of the Lord that there is love in our family. That hasn’t kept us from bickering and fighting at times, but because of the great love that we all have encountered in Christ, “a time of war” was followed by “a time for peace.” So, before taking another time consuming and going on a costly vacation, work on love—beginning with your own family members. When you get really good at it (loving), maybe you will enjoy your family more while spending less!
Prayer: Dear God, help me to be the father/mother who truly loves my children with affection, prayer, and teaching of God’s Word, instead of trying to buy their love by getting them the latest gadgets. Help me to have discernment so that I will not spoil my kids to their detriment. Lord, I need wisdom, discipline, and courage to be the parent that my kid(s) needs. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Judges 20
Trevor Hoffman, who played in the Major League Baseball for 18 years, mostly with San Diego Padres, was an incredible relief pitcher who saved more than 600 games! In 1998, Hoffman was at his best as his success ratio of saving games was nearly perfect—98 percent. So it was long over-due that Hoffman was finally elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame this year. Ironically, it was that year—the 1998 World Series—that the whole world witnessed his imperfection. Pitching to a Yankee player named Scott Brosius, who hit about .200 that year (very pathetic), Hoffman gave up a home run that won the game for the Yankees.
Gloucester, Massachusetts was historically known for being an important shipbuilding center. More than 100,000 Gloucestermen died at sea due to severe storms from 1663-1923. In 1925, the town designed and built a sculpture famously known as the Man at the Wheel. On a small plaque it reads, “Memorial To The Gloucester Fisherman, August 23, 1923.” On the front plaque there is an inscription taken from Psalm 107:23: “They that go down to the sea in ships”. In 2000, there was a movie titled The Perfect Storm that was based on a true story dedicated to the Gloucestermen lost at sea.
The AMI QT Devotionals for March 22-23 are provided by Pastor David Yoon. David, a graduate of California Baptist University and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.), is serving at Tapestry LA Church as the college pastor.
I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior at a summer youth retreat in seventh grade. I still remember the tent that was used as the chapel, and where I was standing when I first experienced God’s overwhelming love and grace. During praise and response, I would lift my hands up to worship God; and at times, I would get on my knees to pray as my eyes filled with tears—my heart was filled with the Holy Spirit. Looking back, this was when my love relationship with God began and a spiritual marker in my life.
If I came to you and claimed I can throw a baseball over 150 mph, you might say, “Nice try, but that’s not funny.” If I can back to you the next day and made the same claim, you might think, there is something seriously wrong with me. If I followed up next day with the same statement without a hint of humor, you will have to conclude I am flat out lying, or there is something mentally wrong with me, or quite unlikely, I might be the god of baseball. 
The AMI QT Devotionals from March 20-21 are provided by Pastor Charles Choe of Tapestry Church, Los Angeles. Charles, a graduate of UC Riverside and Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div.), is married to Grace, and they have three children: Chloe, Noah, and Camden.
In my youth I was totally confused. I was a tall skinny kid, a wanna be athlete, trying so hard to fit in with the cool kids, even going through a phase of wearing Cavarccis to look like MC Hammer for a while, and then finally, feeling somewhat comfortable with the a more preppy look. In other words, I was totally insecure about what others thought of me and without much sense of my place in the world. Then I met Christ, and there is where I found myself. I realized in Him I was first and foremost a child, the beloved son, of the King.
There used to be a TV show on the Discovery Channel called Dirty Jobs. The title gives the basic premise of the show: the host would go around the country and join actual workers for a day, doing their “dirty jobs” that were uncomfortable, hazardous, disgusting and sometimes all of the above. Some of the examples of the dirty jobs that he did were sewer inspector, pig farming, mosquito control officer, and diaper cleaner. None of these jobs are at all appealing, but they are all necessary because someone has to do them.
The senior pastor of a church died and proceeded on to heaven. At the pearly gates, the pastor’s guardian angel met him to escort him to his heavenly abode—otherwise known as a place prepared for us by Christ (Jn. 14:1-3). Along the way, the pastor spotted the church janitor who had died a few months earlier. The pastor marveled at the grandeur of the janitor’s mansion and thought, “Wow, if his heavenly home looks like that, then surely mine must be bigger and more splendid!”
Perseverance in prayer can be wearisome, especially when our prayers seem to be unheard and unanswered. Perhaps you have brought your prayers to the LORD, time and time again, only to hear no answer or to see no changes after. The temptation to stop praying then becomes great, but that is when we need to persevere in prayer. “Ask . . . seek . . . knock . . . and you will find and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). How often we may have missed an answer to our prayers because we did not persist in our prayers.
This passage often comes to mind when we think of babies. For me, I come back to this passage every time a circumstance has whispered the lie that I was unknown or insignificant. The psalmist’s words remind me of how intimately my Creator knows me and has formed me. Our God is so big and sovereign, yet He knows what each of our days will hold.