The AMI QT Devotionals for November 15-16 are provided by Jennifer Kim, a staff of Church of Southland, Anaheim, California. Jennifer, a graduate of Biola University, is current finishing up her M.Div. at Talbot School of Theology.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
Luke 15:4-7
“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Upon returning from our church retreat a couple months ago, I discovered that I had lost my car keys. Immediately, I went into a panic mode and began searching everything around me. I frantically checked all of my belongings, every vehicle I had entered, and every room I set my foot in. When some of the church members noticed my predicament, they quickly jumped in and helped me search for my keys as well. One of my friends even went as far as to call the retreat site and ask about any lost items. After a couple hours passed by, I came to the unfortunate reality that my keys were officially lost.
Throughout the following weeks, not a day went by without me thinking about my keys. I found myself constantly retracing my steps, forwards and backwards, in hopes that I may have overlooked a spot where I could have misplaced them. I called the retreat site again multiple times and searched our entire church building with a sense of determination. However, after two full weeks of incessant searching, I was left disappointed and ready to give up. As I reluctantly made the decision to move forward and make the necessary replacements, I received an unexpected text from one of our staff members. To my surprise, my keys had been discovered in the back crevice of one of the church vans. I literally leapt to my feet and was filled with an overwhelming sense of relief and happiness. My keys were finally found!
As silly as this story may be, I am reminded of the relentless love of our God. If we, being merely men, have such concern for a couple scraps of metal, how much more does our Heavenly Father have concern for those who are completely lost and without hope? Here, we see a God who actively pursues us in our desperate need. He does not leave us to fend for ourselves, but His eyes watch over us with careful attention.
As we reflect on this short passage this morning, let us be reminded of God’s great love for us. That no matter where we have been or what we have done, God never rejects a heart that is broken and contrite before Him (Ps. 51:17). He opposes the proud, but rejoices over a heart of humility. Let us give thanks to God for how far He has carried us up until this point. But not only that, as we have been recipients of God’s undeserving grace, may we also seek to exemplify the heart of our Father and become a channel of God’s blessing to those around us. Perhaps God is nudging you to be the very display of His care to another. Whether this is to extend a helping hand or a listening ear to a friend, family member, or co-worker, may you be used by God to be a source of fresh hope and encouragement today!
Prayer: God, thank You for being a Father who never gives up on me. Help me to have a heart that is tender before You and actively seek to be an extension of Your love and care to others. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Jeremiah 14
Lunch Break Study
Read Luke 18:9-14: And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed 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 stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Questions to Consider
- How did the Pharisee measure his standing and righteousness before God?
- What was the tax collector’s posture before God?
- Why was the tax collector’s prayer to God more justified than the Pharisee?
Notes
- The Pharisee depended upon his own religious works and performance. He thought himself to be more superior to others because of how much he fasted and tithed to God (v.12).
- The tax collector was aware of his sinfulness and desperately pleaded for God’s mercy (v. 13).
- The Pharisee was full of pride and was impressed with his own ability to perform religious works. He was completely unaware of His desperate need for God and thought he was better than the tax collector. On the other hand, the tax collector understood the gravity of his sin and felt unworthy to approach a holy God. He knew that only God could ultimately save him from his sinful condition. He humbled himself before God’s saving mercy rather than relying on his own righteousness.
Evening Reflection
Take some time to reflect on everything that happened today. In what ways were you a channel of God’s blessing to those around you? In what ways did you struggle to be a display of God’s love? Pray for strength and ask God to fill you with His love and compassion.
Jennifer Kim, a graduate of Boston University, spent a year in Shanghai as one-year intern from 2013-14. She is currently serving as a staff at Catalyst Agape Church (New Jersey) while attending Alliance Theological Seminary.
During my senior year in college, I started experiencing these awful “night terrors”, in which I would wake up in sheer panic and fear. It was a very bizarre experience, but as a result I actually became afraid to go to bed. After a few weeks of dealing with this, I became desperate for healing and I knew I had to share with my roommates. That very night, as I mustered up the courage to share, they decided to tuck me into bed and pray over me. In my exhaustion I fell asleep as they were praying, but in the middle of the night I startled myself awake, not out of fear or panic, but to use the restroom, completely unaware that I had gone almost the entire night without a single nightmare. But as I was getting out of bed I noticed all three of my roommates huddled together sleeping on the floor of my 80 square feet room. As a matter of fact, because they could not all fit in my room, one of them was sleeping in the hallway of our apartment. From that night on, I never woke up in panic or fear again—I was completely healed.
With the pumpkin spice lattes, cornucopia decorations, and colder weather upon us, it’s clear that the long awaited day of food coma and family get-togethers is approaching. But we all know that the reason for the season isn’t for the turkey or the cornbread, or even the pumpkin pie, but it’s to remember all that we should be thankful for this season. I’m sure you’ve heard countless messages and read dozens of devotionals explaining why we should be grateful and what we should be grateful for, but have you ever wondered what the cost of ingratitude is?
The AMI QT Devotionals for November 11-12 are provided by Christine Wang who, along with her husband Ulysses, recently planted the Renewal Church in Sunnyvale, California. A graduate of New York University, Christine is a proud mother of Audrey and Noah.
Yesterday, I shared how God didn’t relinquish my husband Ulysses and me from the call to China after we had run from it. Instead, He relentlessly pursued us and allowed us time in the “belly of the fish” to experience Him.
Run. Why is it that whenever God calls us to do something, our first reaction is to run in the opposite direction? I know for myself, it is always because of my feelings of inadequacy, insecurity and fear. Maybe you would fill in that blank with different things that only you struggle with. Whatever the case, we often find our lives filled with, “I can’t, Lord.” I heard a sermon once preached where the pastor said, “Call it for what it really is. Your ‘I can’t’ is really, ‘I won’t.’” For me, that was all too true. Thankfully, God wanted to change my “Nos” to “Yeses.” There are four things we experience during that process. I will share two today and the rest tomorrow.
The AMI QT Devotionals from November 6-12 are provided by Pastor Paul Liu, who pastors the Grace Covenant Church Singapore. He is a graduate of University of Illinois (BA) and Biblical Theological Seminary (M.Div.). He and his wife Ailsa have three beautiful daughters.
Shocking! That’s not an unusual response to the content of the Bible, since the Bible is filled with realistic portrayals of sin and tragedy and failure: Abraham, the father of faith, lies through his teeth. Moses, the deliverer of his people, was a murderer. David, the man after God’s own heart, committed adultery, had the woman’s husband killed, and covered up the whole affair. None of it is softened or rationalized away. We’re just shown the ugly truth about sinful people so that we might see how awful sin is and its consequences.
An undeniable fact of contemporary life is that we live in a MULTI-TASKING world—we’re always doing multiple tasks at the same time. So the other day I was just being a product of my culture by doing two things at once: preparing pour over coffee while cooking ramen noodles. Neither of these things is that difficult by itself, but doing both at once was a bigger challenge than I anticipated. The pour over is done in measured pours over three and a half minutes, so you get an even extraction from the coffee beans. For ramen, you want to take the pot off the boil when the noodles have cooked for just the right amount of time—not too soggy and not too hard. But because I was doing both at once, time became my enemy and I ended up rushing the first thing and being late for the next—ending up with sour coffee and soggy noodles. I had ruined both (depending on your tastes).
As a man, I have to humbly admit that a lot of my own ‘self-talk’ involves these words, ‘Be a man!’ more often than I care to admit. When there’s a decision to be made and I’m feeling torn – ‘Be a man!’ When my feelings are hurt and I’m licking my wounds – ‘Be a man!’ When I have to say something hard but true to someone who I hope doesn’t reject me – ‘Be a man!’ Now, I’m not saying this is only for men. ‘Be a woman!’ is a great line as well! But it does tell us that it takes courage to live with integrity. ‘Be a man’ or ‘Be a woman’ means: Don’t let fear keep you from doing what you know you ought to do. ‘Be a man’ or ‘Be a woman’ means: Don’t put off the necessary for fear of the imaginary. We need courage to live for God – which is what we see in today’s passage.
I’m not sure if this is a trait more common to men or women, but I’ve often been guilty of testing fate by letting the gas tank run all the way to empty. I know I shouldn’t do this, and it’s probably an excuse to say I’m testing the fuel efficiency of my car or wanting to know how many miles to the gallon I’m getting. But I keep doing it, in spite of all the warning systems around me: my wife, the actual light on the dashboard, the occasional loss of power when I press the gas… When will I ever learn?
Have you ever looked in the mirror and not liked what you saw reflected back? Of course you have. We’ve all gone through puberty… But where we might think a pimple or a rebellious strand of hair ruins everything, the reality is usually quite different. We oftentimes think worse of our looks because we’re insecure. The reality probably is—it’s not that bad.