Editor’s Note: The AMI QT Devotional for today is provided by Doug Tritton.  Doug, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania, is currently pursuing a M.Div. at Gordon Conwell Seminary while working fulltime.  He is married to Cindy and they serve at Symphony Church in Boston.  (Also, they just became parents!  Congratulations!)

Devotional Thought for Today

John 16:1-4

I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

What would cause you to fall away from the faith? That may seem like an unanswerable question to many of you, but sometimes it is good for us to ask ourselves that. Are there holes in your faith? Blind spots you’ve been ignoring? Any lack of trust? Do I really trust Jesus with my entire life?

For the early church, the threat of persecution and even death were common reasons for people to fall away from the faith. Maybe those are not real threats in our lives today, but there are other threats bombarding us day after day – the media, culture, and maybe even family – things that could be opposed to God and pull us away from Him. It’s hard to go through a single day without being reminded that this world is in many ways opposed to God.

How do we stand up against such hostility in this world? Well, this passage has the answer for us! Jesus says, “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.” The Word of God! We can withstand the pressures and hostility of the world by guarding our hearts in God’s Word. In His Word, we see promise after promise of His faithfulness to us, a faithfulness that is impenetrable by this world. Today, let’s feast our hearts on God’s Word, on His promises of love and faithfulness towards us, so that when we do face hostility, those threats will seem nothing in comparison to God’s great love for us.

Prayer

Lord, help me to trust in Your promises. This world often distracts me, causing me to turn my eyes from You, but help me to keep my eyes fixed on You this day, knowing that You are always faithful to me, so that I may withstand the hostility of the world. Give me strength this day to keep fighting the good fight of faith.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Corinthians 7

Lunch Break Study 

Read Isaiah 43:1-3a: But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

    he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

    I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

    and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am the Lord your God,

    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

Questions to Consider

1. Why does God say we should not fear?
2. Where and when will God be with us?
3. How can we face the trials of this life?

Notes

1. In this passage, God tells His people to not fear because He has redeemed us; and more than that, He has called us by name, and He has called us His own. We belong to God, and since as, this passage says, He is our creator, we know that He can protect us.
2. If we belong to God, He is always with us – anytime and anywhere. This passage highlights that when go through trials – through water, rivers, fire, or flame – He will be with us. There is a special way in which trials help us to know God’s sweet and enduring presence in our lives, even though His presence is always with us regardless of whether we are in a season of trial or not.
3. The Lord, the Holy One, is our Savior. Reflect on that a bit. If the Lord of everything is with us, then there is no trial that can ever be too difficult for us. So how do we face trials in this life? We remember God’s promise that He is always with us, through it all!

Evening Reflection  

Tonight, reflect on God’s promise that He is always with you. Perhaps you are going through some trial or difficult season; give space for God to speak to you and remind you that He is with you, and He will see you through this trial.

Editor’s Note: Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Kate Moon, who is currently serving in E. Asia.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 15:18-27

 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you . . . 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well . . .  26 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

John 16:8-9

 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me;

In a world that is hostile to their cause, Jesus tells His disciples that they must testify about Him.  The Holy Spirit would testify, but they, too, were to testify.  Below is the story of someone who decided to receive Christ about a month ago as she moves from being resistant to the gospel to embracing and in the end even proclaiming it.  May it encourage us to keep pointing people to God, even in a hostile world, today.

I always believed in destiny, that is, that everything was planned out without your realizing it – what kind of people you would meet and what kind of things you might do. Once I passed by a church and suddenly had a strong desire to go into it and see its magnificence first-hand. I went inside, sang the songs with a sincere heart, and for a long time afterwards the melody of those songs would not fade from my mind. At that time I basically knew nothing about Christianity.

The very first time I heard about God and the Bible was at English Corner.  The topic, “Which book has influenced you most?” came up, and two Christians shared about the Bible.  Because of the philosophy I had been taught since I was young, I at first felt offended by things like God and Christianity. It turned my ideology and values upside down. Another time we talked about, “Can people actually feel satisfied and fulfilled?” My answer was, “No, because I have never felt fully fulfilled in my life.” Many people agreed with me, but to my surprise, all the Christians present said unanimously, “I felt fulfilled the moment I received Jesus Christ.” This made me start to think, “What am I pursuing exactly?  What can actually make me feel fulfilled? Why am I living in this world and what makes me different from the grass or flowers?”  Ultimately I realized that all my current knowledge failed to give answers to these questions.

Gradually I started to read the Bible and listened to others’ reflections and testimonies, and then one day I became a Christian. It’s not like everything has suddenly become so clear, but I feel at least a door has opened to me, leading me in a certain direction. A brand-new beginning started for me when what Jesus did for me on the cross washed away all my sins.  I now live to worship and serve Him, helping more and more people receive redemption through Him.  I know that I am deeply loved by Him and will never worry that this love will vanish because He is an unfailing God!

~translation provided by E. Liu

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me to testify even as You testify today.  You are already working in the hearts of people in this world; I want to join in that work.  Open my eyes to the opportunities and empower my testimony today.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Corinthians 6

Editor’s Note: Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Jasmin Izumikawa who attends the Church of Southland.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 15:9-15:

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

“Abide in my love.”

When summer was in full glory and my garden was in full bloom, I had tomatoes dripping off the vines and enough basil to make buckets of fresh pesto; however, I wasn’t satisfied until the day I placed a birdbath in the garden. This element completed the garden dream that I had so longed for. In no time at all, there were fluttering of wings, the sound of twittering and splashing, and birds of all shapes, sizes and color bathing and drinking water. Who knew that such a simple thing as this could bring so much joy to me and my family?

When Jesus said, “Abide in my love . . . keep my commandments . . . that my joy may be in you,” I can imagine how His joy would overflow when we would draw near to Him and to one another. The quality of this joy would be fulfilling, restoring, and satisfying, always brimming freshly for us.

Loving others is not always easy to do; it means sacrificing our time, energy, and resources when we show love to others. The amazing part is that we don’t walk away empty-handed. There is a promise in this verse: “that my joy may be in you.” We are promised joy–abundant joy, “joy in full” when we love others. While it may feel like a huge sacrifice to set aside our own worries and frustrations in order to comfort someone else, or to humble ourselves and ask someone for forgiveness, or to offer our time, energy, and resources to others, the LORD delights in the moments that we show love and sacrifice to one another because God is love.

Let’s refresh ourselves with new joy again and seek opportunities to love those who are difficult to love and show kindness to at the moment.

Prayer:  LORD, thank you for showing us how to love You and how to love others. I want the joy You speak of so desperately. Help me to genuinely love the people You placed in my life. I want to abide in Your love. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Corinthians 4-5

Editor’s Note: Today’s AMI Quiet Time is provided by Kate Moon, who is currently serving in E. Asia.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 15:7-8:

 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Mark 10:51-52

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, ‘Your faith has healed you.”  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Many of us know all too well from our everyday experience that God does not always just grant us what we wish.  When we petition God, there is a condition to Him answering our prayers with a “yes”: that our hearts are aligned with His will (v. 7).

But what is God’s will?  When we ask for healing, we tag on, “if it is your will,” not always as an expression of humble submission but sometimes as one of just plain uncertainty.  Because we’ve experienced God’s “no’s,” we’ve become not really sure what we are asking is His will after all, and our prayers lack boldness and confidence.

Yet this lack of confidence is the exact opposite of the intent of this verse.  Why did Jesus say these words?  His main point was wanting to expand the scope of His disciples’ asking (“whatever you wish”) rather than limit it.  He was not saying these words out of a fear that His disciples would take Him for granted.  He wanted them to be bold in asking.

Though He was not presenting Himself as a genie, this was still the Jesus with the servant heart who asked the blind man, “What do you want me to do for you?” (v. 51). When the blind man says he wants to see, Jesus does for him what he wishes because it ends up being to his Father’s glory; this was the fruitfulness His Father desired of Him.

In trying so hard not to misapply this verse (John 15:7) out of a fear of wrong motives, we can lose the sense of empowerment that it was meant to give.  Are we trying to obey God’s commands?  Love God and love people?  Then we can ask whatever we wish.  We do not presume that the answer to our prayers will always be a “yes,” but let’s be bold in asking!

Prayer:  God, as I look at the world around me today, there is so much that I wish for.  I wish people could see You for who You really are.  I wish they would be healed and set free.  I wish for wisdom and love to speak Your words of life into their hearts.  Hear my prayer.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Corinthians 3

Lunch Break Study 

Read 1 Kings 3:3-12:Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 6 Solomon answered . . . 8 “Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.  9 So give your servant a discerning a heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.  For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him . . . 12 ”I will do what you have asked.  I will give you a wise and discerning heart . . .”

James 1:5: 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

Questions to Consider

1. When Solomon offered sacrifices at Gibeon, was he walking according to the statues of his father David (vv. 3-4)?
2. How does God respond (vv. 5, 12)?
3. Considering the two observations above: what principle can we draw from this passage? How does this passage teach me to approach God?

Notes

1. No, which meant that he was not worshipping God in the way that God had prescribed. He was not exactly in the center of God’s will.
2. He still meets Solomon and grants his request. It wasn’t that it didn’t matter that Solomon was not worshipping God where he was supposed to, or the Bible would not have mentioned it (v. 3). But there was this grace.
3. God responds to us, even when we don’t get everything exactly right. It does not mean we can have a casual attitude toward obeying His commands, but there is this grace; and He gives us credit for what we do get right.  We can approach God trusting and believing in His grace.

Evening Reflection  

What happened today when I asked God for whatever I wished?  Whether He immediately granted my request today or not, how did my obeying His command to ask Him freely impact my relationship with Him today?

Editor’s Note: Today’s AMI Quiet Time is provided by Kate Moon, who is currently serving in E. Asia.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 14:16-17, 25-27

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you . . . 25 All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Recently, I have been feeling an increased sense of responsibility and with it, the often accompanying feeling of being overwhelmed. Because of the particular journey through which I’ve ended up where I am now (overseeing a small house church in Asia), I’d often felt a sense of not having the right background for this work, wishing I’d had more training, etc. Before I came out here 14 years ago, I had learned much from being a member of and serving our church in NYC, but things were, of course, different out here; there were challenges I had never faced or even imagined before.

As different people prayed over me over the years, one running theme had been the affirmation that I had indeed been equipped with all that I needed for the work at hand. The prayers strengthened me in the moment, but when I came back to face the reality of what I needed to do each day, I would forget and come to doubt once again. What I didn’t realize was that I had been associating “equipping” with experience – what I had already learned, the skills I already had under my belt – but when I did, each time I faced an unfamiliar challenge, I would think that I hadn’t been equipped to meet it.

The truth was, however, that my equipping was not only my past experience but His Holy Spirit dwelling in me who would “teach [me] all things” (v. 26)—“teaching” implying that He would help me with what I didn’t already know, “all” including situations I had not previously faced. I began to make a list of all the situations I didn’t know how to handle but wished the Holy Spirit would teach me to handle, and as I presented them to Him, the peace came (v. 27).

What is on your wish list today? Something you are feeling at a loss about? A situation where you wish you knew what to do? Take heart – there is a Wonderful Counselor living in you who has been sent to be with you to teach you all things.

Prayer: Lord, I give every “I don’t know what to do” to you at this moment – would You teach me Your ways in all things? You are alive in me, so help me to walk closely with and depend on You this day.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Corinthians 2

Lunch Break Study 

Read John 14:23-26: Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Jeremiah 31:33: “. . . I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts . . .”

Questions to Consider

1. In addition to teaching us all things, what is the other role of the Holy Spirit mentioned in verse 26?
2. In what other words is “everything I have said to you” (v. 26) described throughout this passage (vv. 23-25)?
3. What is the main idea Jesus is trying to convey in this passage (i.e., what is the context in which His promise of the Holy Spirit is given)? When we seek the Holy Spirit, what do we usually seek Him for?

Notes

1.  Reminding Jesus’ disciples of all the things He had said to them.
2. “All this I have spoken” (v. 25), which refers back to “my teaching” (vv. 23-24) and “these words you hear are not my own” (v. 24).
3. He is urging His disciples to obey His teaching. He promises the Holy Spirit who will help them remember His teaching so that they can obey it. We may seek the Holy Spirit for power or for comfort, but how often do we seek Him to remind us of Jesus’ teaching so that we can obey?

Evening Reflection  

How was my fellowship with the Holy Spirit throughout this day? What did He teach me? What teaching of Jesus did He remind me of, and did I obey?

Editor’s Note: Today’s AMI Quiet Time is provided by Kate Moon, who is currently serving in E. Asia.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 14:21: “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Matthew 22:36-38: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.”

One day this past spring, one of the college students in our church came up to me and told me that several weeks ago, she had seen a particularly vivid vision of a plane with many Asian passengers fall out of the sky and into the ocean. At the time, she could only make out the letters “–” and “–” in blue painted on the plane and wondered what they meant; but a few days ago, a teacher in one of her classes mentioned that “—–“ was a Japanese airline. Knowing that I was flying to Japan in a few days, she made a connection and begged me not to go.

I was in a quandary because what this sister saw was usually accurate and meaningful, but I also felt that in this case her interpretation may not be. In the end, I decided to still go, and she decided that she would fast and pray. When I arrived in Japan safely, she was relieved that her fasting and prayer had “worked” and shared that she’d never been able to fast for a whole day before this, but this time she could, and she was glad I was safe.

It was the first time anyone had ever done anything like this for me, and I was surprised and touched. At that moment, I realized that what God desires of us as His children, more than anything, is that we simply love him.

“Nothing we ever do could make God love us any more or any less.” “He loved us first.” These are all true enough. But when Jesus says, “The one who loves me will be loved by my Father,” what does He mean? I don’t know if I love this young sister any more or any less because of what she did, but I do know that when I received her expression of love, there was a response in my heart to the love that she gave. Perhaps this is all it means – that we have the capacity to touch our Father’s heart.

Prayer: Dear God, help me to have a more pure heart of love today, one that simply says, “I love you. You are important to me. I’d miss you if you were gone.” May my service and obedience today all just be an expression of this love for You. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 1 Corinthians 1

Lunch Break Study 

Read the following passages from Exodus and John.

Exodus 34:1-4, 15: 1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.” 4 When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments . . . 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.”

Exodus 34:17-20: 17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence.

John 14:21b: “ . . . The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

Questions to Consider

1. If God did not go with the people, would they still have been able to claim the Promised Land (vv. 1-2)?
2. What does Moses’ response to God’s offer tell us about his relationship with God (v. 15)?
3. In what ways are Jesus’ words in John 14:21 illustrated by this event in Exodus? How much do we long to see God’s glory (v.18)? For Jesus to reveal himself to us (v. 21)?

Notes

1. Yes; He says that He will send an angel to help them.
2. To Moses, God’s very presence was more important than what God could help him achieve. His heart’s cry was, “Lord, if you’re not going to be there, I don’t want to go.” He could live without the achievement, but he couldn’t live without God.
3. Moses loved God, and he was loved by God in return (God was pleased with him). The heart’s desire of the one who loves God is to see His glory; therefore, the greatest reward God could give such a one would be to reveal more of Himself to that person.

Evening Reflection  

When a child sees his father and runs in for a hug, because his arms are smaller, he will end up hugging the father first. The father’s arms will then wrap around his child. As the child expresses love, the father responds to that expression of love. A picture of how the one who loves God will be loved by God. A picture of a love relationship that is mutual.

Of course it is the father who loved first; the child is just responding to that love, but the father can also respond to the child’s love, and the circle of love keeps going round. Take a moment this evening just to say from the heart, “I love you, God. With my whole heart, I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you.” And then wait for His response–His revelation of Himself.

Editor’s Note: Today’s AMI Quiet Time is provided by Kate Moon, who is currently serving in E. Asia.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 14:8-9:  Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?  The words I say to you are not just my own.  Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves.”

Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you had been communicating something to someone, only to find out later that they hadn’t actually been getting it the whole time?

It is strangely reassuring to see that even the Son of God was not immune to the challenges of communication.  For three years He had been with His disciples, day in, day out, and one of the things He was thinking they would have picked up on was that through His words and actions (vv. 10-11), He was showing them the Father.  When Philip asks Jesus to show them the Father, when this was exactly what He had been trying to do the whole time He had been with them, our Lord can hardly believe what He is hearing, and His response here is so human: “Don’t you know me? . . . How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

I remember once asking one of our young leaders what they thought of moving closer to a certain location on the outskirts of the city to be able to serve students there more effectively, and this person answered, “It’s kind of far.” My heart sank a little at that moment because one of the principles I thought I had been communicating this whole time, in words and with my own life, was that when we see God moving, we adjust and re-orient our lives around what He is doing, even if it made other things in life inconvenient.  I thought I had been communicating this so clearly and consistently, but it seemed the message somehow hadn’t gotten through.

Seeing this exchange between Jesus and Philip, though, I was comforted as I realized that this is just what discipleship is like sometimes.   And just as after his initial incredulous response, Jesus went on with infinite patience to explain things to Philip so he could understand, because it was so important to Jesus that Philip understood; likewise, we can make the decision to do the same.  Is there anyone we need to make efforts to patiently explain something to today?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, help me today not to be discouraged if others haven’t understood my efforts to point to You and Your ways.  If even You experienced this kind of gap in communication, it must mean that sometimes it truly is just a process, so help me to persevere and not give up.  Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Luke 24

Lunch Break Study 

Read John 14:10-12:  10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Questions to Consider

1. In verses 10-11, the word “believe” is repeated three times. What specifically did Jesus want His disciples to believe here?
2. How is the kind of belief in Him that Jesus was talking about in verse 12 different from, let’s say, “believing in” Santa Claus (i.e., that he exists and his story is true)? (Hint: Jesus has just described it in the previous verses 10-11.)
3. What, then, specifically is the kind of belief in Jesus (v. 12) that will enable a believer to do what He did and even greater? Do you have this kind of belief in Jesus?

Notes

1. That God the Father was with Jesus and that it was because of this that Jesus could speak and do all that He did.
2. Believing in Jesus is not just about believing in His existence and that the gospel story is true (i.e., He really died and rose again). Here, it is about believing that a human being who was one with God, who had an intimate relationship with God, could do amazing things.
3. Believing that it was not because Jesus had superpowers but rather an intimate relationship with God the Father that He could do God’s work, including perform miracles; this kind of believing makes what Jesus did accessible to us, too. If we believe this was the dynamic at work, we can believe that if we have an intimate relationship with God through Jesus, we can also do what Jesus did and greater.

Evening Reflection  

Why was it so important to Jesus that Philip, His disciple, understand this truth, this dynamic, that the Father was working in and through Him?  So that His disciple could go on to do the same and greater.  As a believer of Jesus, did I do anything today that could count as doing the same work that Jesus had been doing, or even greater?

Editor’s Note: Today’s AMI Quiet Time is provided by Kate Moon, who is currently serving in E. Asia.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 14:1-3:  “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you,  I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

On a recent visit home, I came out of my room one afternoon to hear my mom in conversation with someone at the door.  Overhearing the person give my mother the name and address of a church, I thought perhaps it was an over-zealous evangelist and wondered how they had gotten to this point in the conversation.  Perhaps my mother, shy and language ability still limited, hadn’t been able to convey that she was a believer and already had a church she regularly attended?  Mild concern brought me to the door to find out what was going on when my mother turned to me with a sad, surprised look on her face and said, “C—- passed away.”  C—- was our good neighbor of over 20 years, and the person at the door was a relative delivering the news of her prior week’s passing, giving my mother the address of the church where the funeral services would be held.

The thought crossed my mind that my aged parents might be deeply affected by the news, but it passed when they seemed to be OK, going about the tasks of daily life without seeming particularly wanting to talk about it.  So I also let my mind focus on other things, the agendas of my trip back, and the two weeks flew by.  After a busy last few days, in a quiet moment at the airport while waiting to board my flight, an offhand comment my mother had made came to mind, and I suddenly realized that it had all affected them much more than I had thought.  By then, however, I’d already lost the chance to comfort them in person.

Jesus, at the moment He was facing the most difficult test of His life, was also able to care about how His disciples were feeling, and He took time out to comfort them.  He tells them, “Don’t worry or be anxious,” and “I will come back for you.”  What a personal picture of the God of all comfort.  How can we avoid being too busy to comfort someone today?

Prayer: Dear Jesus, forgive me, I can be so self-centered at times.  Help me to pay a little more attention to others today.  Remind me of anyone needing comfort that I may have been overlooking.  Thank you for showing me the way.  In your name I pray, Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Luke 23

Lunch Break Study 

Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Questions to Consider

1. How are we able to comfort those going through a hard time (v. 4)?
2. What do the phrases “all comfort,” “in all our affliction,” and “in any affliction” suggest about the comprehensiveness of God’s comfort?
3. Is there any current area of your life or past experience for which you feel you haven’t been able to receive God’s comfort? In light of today’s passage, what can you do?

Notes

1. When we ourselves are able to receive comfort from God when we go through hard times.
2. His comfort is available to us for any and every circumstance.
3. Comfort comes when we can see a situation in the light of God’s truth, but hurts, pride, lies of the enemy, etc. can blind and keep us in darkness. Ask God to remove all obstacles keeping you from receiving His comfort, which is surely available to you today.

Evening Reflection  

Did I see or think of anyone in need of comfort today?  Take a moment to pray that they would truly be able to receive (by being able to see in the light of His truth) God’s comfort that is available to them in any situation they may be in.

Editor’s Note: The AMI QT Devotional for September 10-11 are written by Pastor Ulysses Wang who are now serving at Radiance Christian Church in San Francisco.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 13:34-35

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’”

Since when did the command to love one another become a “new commandment”? I’m pretty sure I’ve heard this one before: “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). In fact, Jesus, when responding to questioning from a lawyer, said, “You shall love the Lord your God with` all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). In His own response He acknowledged the important place that this more-than-thousand-year-old Law maintained. So what then was so new about what Jesus said?

Cutting to the chase, the scholar Sir Edwyn Clement Hoskyns said, “whereas the Old Testament demanded that men should love their neighbours as themselves, the New Law is that they should love the brethren better than themselves, and die for their friends.” In other words, as He usually did, Jesus was upped the ante. “Just as” Jesus laid down His life for His friends, we are to do so as well. This is radical, but more than possible because of the great power available to us through the indwelling Spirit.

During Old Testament times, even loving one’s neighbor as one’s self was impossible – the Law revealed our sin (Romans 7:7). Oftentimes, attempts at obeying the Law became legalistic, a prime example of which can be seen in the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. Even though we have the Spirit now, how often do we love like we’re still living under the Old Covenant! Our love can be so legalistic, forced, done out of Christian obligation, but when we love this way we sell short the power of the Spirit. When you dream about a loving community within your church, what do you see? Let us not settle for anonymity in church, or never moving beyond just being acquaintances! Let us not settle for small groups where we don’t share what’s really going on in our lives or don’t care to carry the burdens of another! Let us not give up loving those who seem so difficult to love! We live in an age of extraordinary possibility when it comes to the kind of love that can be experienced because we live in the age of the Spirit. By this love all people will know that we belong to Jesus.

Prayer: God, help me to really love the people in my small group. Help me to feel compassion when someone around me is in pain. Help me to be willing to sacrifice for the needs of others. Fill me with the Spirit so that I can love as You do. Make our church a place of love so that all can see that You are real. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Luke 22

Editor’s Note: The AMI QT Devotional for September 10-11 are written by Pastor Ulysses Wang who are now serving at Radiance Christian Church in San Francisco.

Devotional Thought for Today

John 13:21-30

“After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.”

Of all people, Jesus knew what this meant: “With friends like you, who needs enemies.”  Maybe you can relate to it as well.  Allow me to explain.

This passage follows closely on the heels of v.18 – “But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me’” – where Jesus explicitly connects the betrayal that He was about to experience with the fulfillment of Psalm 41:9. What is less obvious is the understanding that the act of eating bread together implies friendship, which David, the author of this particular psalm, makes clear from the first half of v.9 (which Jesus left out): “Even my close friend in whom I have trusted…”

What this should remind us of is the fact that Judas was a close friend of Jesus. It’s tempting to view the entirety of Judas’ life through the lens of his final act of betrayal. He’s the one with the shifty eyes, slicked-back hair and bad cheek scar. The only reason Jesus put up with this most obvious of villains was because He knew the role Judas was to play in the Father’s plan. I don’t believe this version of events to be true at all.  Judas was Jesus’ friend; in fact, that’s what He called Judas – “Friend” (Matt. 26:50) – right after he kissed the Lord as a signal to those who came to arrest him.  He was right alongside Jesus and the other disciples when they ministered hour after hour to the masses, enduring tiredness and hunger. When Jesus had no place to lay His head, neither did He. He was responsible enough to be entrusted with the moneybag. He talked, walked and laughed with Jesus.

I say all this to make a point – Jesus was betrayed by a friend, not an arch-nemesis out to get Him from the beginning, and if you’ve ever experienced the deep pain that comes from this kind of betrayal, you are not alone.  In fact, He would experience betrayal several more times before His death: the rest of His disciples fled at His arrest; Peter denied knowing Him three times.  Jesus knows what it’s like to be burned and burned bad.

William Blake once said, “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” I think there’s a lot of truth in that statement. Are you holding on to unforgiveness in your heart because of past sins committed against you? Were you wounded by a friend? A family member? A brother or sister in the church? Let us find comfort in our Savior, who is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but has experienced firsthand our pain and suffering. Ask Him for the power to forgive as He forgave and to release those who have hurt you from the grip of personal judgment.

Prayer: Jesus, You didn’t go to the cross solely through the work of the devil, but through the actions of a friend. Help me to move towards the power of forgiveness that is offered to me, as I seek to forgive as you forgave. Thank you that you do not belittle my past hurts, but rather, that You empathize with the reality of my pain. Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: Luke 20-21