The AMI QT Devotionals from May 15-21 are provided by Pastor Barry Kang, who heads Symphony Church in Boston. Barry, a graduate of Stanford University and Fuller Theological Seminary (M.Div.), is married to Sunny (an amazing worship leader, chef and math wizard). They are the proud parents of Caleb and Micah.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch!”
2 Corinthians 11:7-11
Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. 10 As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
“There is no such things as a free lunch,” my high school economics teacher loved to tell us. Many of us, over the years, have learned to become skeptical of anyone who will offer to give us something for free. “What’s the catch?” we wonder. The Corinthians, under the influence of “super-apostles,” were wondering why Paul labored as a tent-maker if this message he had was so valuable. If what is being offered is truly valuable, then it ought to cost something to the receiver.
And of course it does. But we understand the gospel is not for sale—it’s a gift. And when a gift is given, the giver takes on the cost. Paul accepted support from the church in Macedonia and worked as a tent-maker in Corinth during his time there, so that Corinthians would not have to pay anything for the gospel. Paul’s determination was this: he was going to disadvantage himself so that the Corinthians could be advantaged. In this, he was showing the nature of the gospel. The gospel is free to us, but costly to the giver. Christ paid the price so that we could receive forgiveness “free of charge”!
Prayer: Father, thank You for Your incredible grace. Forgive us that we often think that we have to pay something in return, as though our efforts could compare to the value of the gift. We want to receive this grace freely; and in return, find our hearts transformed so that like Paul, we are willing to give freely so that others would also receive. We take a moment to pray for all the bi-vocational pastors and missionaries who labor so that the gospel may come free of charge, and ask that You bless their labor. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Deuteronomy 4
LUNCH BREAK STUDY
Read Mark 2:3-5 (NIV): Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Questions to Consider
- What did the paralyzed man do in this story?
- Whose faith amazed Jesus in this story?
- What does this passage teach us about carrying others’ burdens?
Notes
- The paralyzed man simply was carried by his friends to Jesus. He did not earn Jesus’ forgiveness, he did not earn the healing that Jesus would give him; rather, he was brought to Jesus by his friends, carried along by their strength and determination. He had a “free” trip to Jesus.
- The faith of the friends is what amazed Jesus. After Jesus saw what these friends went through to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, He then forgave the sins of the paralyzed man and also healed him of his paralysis.
- Oftentimes when we think of carrying others’ burdens, we think in physical or emotional terms. But there is a spiritual dimension as well. Just as the faith of those men had an impact on their friend, our faith and our prayers for others can have a spiritual impact on them as well. Let’s be burdened for the sake of others’ in our lives!
EVENING REFLECTION
Is there someone in your life going through a difficult season or maybe someone who is in need of God’s love, presence, and healing? Spend some time praying for that person, and thus carry their burden. Just as Paul was burdened for the Corinthians, let’s be burdened for those God has brought into our lives!
Early in our marriage, Sunny would sometimes forget to wear her wedding ring. One time, she was in a grocery store shopping for groceries, when a good looking man approached her saying, “Excuse me, you look like you know how to cook.” She realized that this was a very sweet but clumsy pick-up line. As she told me this story afterwards, we laughed about the incident. I could laugh because Sunny had given me little reason to actually be jealous. I also sternly told her to wear her wedding ring from that time on!
If you have been following the NBA (National Basketball Association), there has been a notorious character flooding the sports news – Lavar Ball, the father of UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball. He has been making outrageous claims that his son, without being drafted onto a NBA team, is already better than Stephen Curry and Michael Jordan. More recently, BBB (Big Baller Brand), Lavar Ball’s apparel company, released Lonzo’s shoe to be valued at $500. To give readers some context of the situation, only NBA super stars release their own shoes, not undrafted college players. Even when NBA super stars release their shoes, they are at most $300—not $500!
If you have ever run a race at a track meet, you know that you are confined to your lane, which means you are not allowed to step outside of the lane assigned to you. If you do, you get disqualified. These lanes are there to keep you from hindering other people from running their race as well as to keep you safe.
Tennis has always been a large part of my life. I started learning how to play when I was 7 years old and spent majority of my time training for tournaments. I became obsessed with the game and would spend hours watching professionals play. One thing I noticed is that professionals in the top 30 are equal in skill: they all can hit serves at amazing speeds, have great footwork, and their forehand and backhand are fluid. However, what separates the top 5 from the rest is—their mental game. The reason why Roger Federer was able to hold his no. 1 position for years was because he had a strong mental game. Yes, he would get frustrated, but losing a game wouldn’t hinder him from finding a solution to beat his opponent. At the core of it, tennis is a mental game.
In my family, gifts have always been an essential part of a celebration; whether it be Christmas, birthdays, or anniversaries, my wife and I make sure to put lots of thought into what kind of gifts we get each other. However, between the two of us, my wife is much better at choosing gifts; she can figure out what I like and do not like, without making it very obvious that she is asking. Since we have been dating, I’ve never been disappointed in the gifts she has given me—I can’t say the same for her.
The AMI QT Devotionals from May 8-14 are provided by Emerson Lin. Emerson, a graduate of University of California, San Diego, serves as a staff at Kairos Christian Church, while studying at Talbot School of Theology. He is married to Annie.
In the 1984, my father immigrated to the United States from Taiwan with my mother, to study Computer Engineering at San Jose States University—he wanted a better life for his wife and his future children. So when my father became a United States citizen in 1985, he had to give up his Taiwanese citizenship. He explained to me that while becoming a citizen had its benefits, it was also very complicated: he had to learn everything that came with becoming a citizen such as jury duty, taxes, and different business policies. Additionally, he had to adhere to the laws and rules that came with becoming a new citizen.
Last week, a deacon and I went to East Asia to serve at a retreat. Since we arrived a few days earlier, we were able to spend time with the local church leaders. During lunch time, we met with a group of leaders to hear how God was working in the church—it was a time of laughter and encouragement. But once the bill arrived at our table, we started to bicker back and forth over the bill, and each time, the church leaders would tell me, “Just accept love.” While I was frustrated with not “winning,” I was incredibly encouraged to see how eagerly they wanted to bless us with their finances.
In science, there is a process called a positive feedback loop in which a change from the normal range of function elicits a response that amplifies or enhances that change. An example is a cattle stampede. Once panic causes some cattle to start running, other cattle will find this frightening and start to run, until the general level of panic and the number of cattle running reaches its peak.
A young man wrote a love letter that included these words: “I would cross the widest ocean for you; swim the deepest river for you; scale the highest mountain for you; and crawl across the burning sands of the desert –nothing is too much for you!” Then he added this postscript: “If it doesn’t rain, I’ll be over to see you on Tuesday night.”