Editor’s Note: The AMI QT Devotionals from July 24 – 31 are provided by Pastor Yohan of Radiance Christian Church, San Francisco. Yohan graduated from University of Pennsylvania and Cairn University, where he studied theology. He is married to Mandie, and they have four children: Maggie, Jonathan, Abigail and Simon.
Devotional Thought for Today
John 4:46-54
So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
In my parenting career, I have tried just about every tactic to get my children to listen to me: I have asked nicely; I have yelled; I have pleaded; I have threatened; I have bribed; I have punished; I have over-punished; I have shown grace; I have tried time-out; I have tried Korean time-out; I have spanked; I have counted 1-2-3; I have taken away privileges; I have banished them to rooms; I have banished them early to bed—the list goes on and on. And yet I find myself constantly having to repeat myself. It has gotten so bad that I find myself repeating even to my wife, simply because I am so used to having to say things multiple times before they are carried out: “Honey, could you get me some water? I would really like some water, please.” You know what I lack? I lack authority in my household. When I speak, no one trembles in fear of my power or instinctively obey because they know that I am correct and righteous.
Christian theologians will often describe the difference between power and authority as such: Power is the ability to influence or control people, outcomes, or events; whereas, authority is the recognition of that power by others. Authority needs power to back it; and without power, authority can be empty. However, without authority, a powerful person becomes a bully. In my household, I am undoubtedly more powerful than all of my children—meaning, that I can, by brute force, make them do whatever I wish. However, until they see that I love them and know better than they, they will never recognize my authority and willingly do what I wish.
As a person with little recognized authority, I appreciate both the power and the authority of Christ, and how He wields both. In today’s passage, we see that Jesus had the power to heal the official’s son from distance, as He was about a day’s travel away. Jesus speaks and sickness flees. In other passages in the Bible, we see that nature and even demons obey His word. Jesus is powerful, and all things in creation recognize His authority—all things, except people. For whatever reason, God has given His people the option to recognize and submit to His authority or not to submit. Christ is not going to be “a spiritual bully.” We have to follow Him willingly. I don’t know how that thought makes you feel, but I hope that this day, you will choose to live under His power and authority and submit to Him.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I know that You hold all things in Your hand. You say that heaven is Your throne and the earth is Your footstool; there is no place that can contain Your greatness. Yet You choose to live in the hearts of Your people. Help me to follow You, not because I am powerless against You, but because I see You are good and know all things. Help me to fully surrender to You.
Bible Reading for Today: Psalm 126
When I was in my 20s, I laughed at men who told me they practiced yoga. Though I knew yoga was a great way to relieve stress— limber one’s body and strengthen the core—I couldn’t get over how feminized the practice had become. You go to any yoga class and the ratio of guys to girls is something like 8:1. Plus, everyone wears these tight clothes, and all the instructors seem either too crunchy or too spacey. It just wasn’t for me, so I mocked it. Then I hit my 30s and noticed how tight my muscles had become—meaning, I started pulling muscles when I over exerted myself. Long story short, I tried yoga, and I really felt a difference. Now before you start laughing at me, I am not very consistent and still a beginner–and I don’t own tights! But I like it and would probably benefit from making yoga a part of my weekly routine.
I think everyone, at least at once in their lives, has felt like they have ruined their witness for Christ. Here are a few of mine: In college, my hall mate confronted me about things I allegedly said behind her back (to this day, I still deny it). At work, my boss called me out for goofing around when we had a project due (yup, I deserved that). And at my son’s soccer game, I showed up with a less than healthy snack and got in a huge fight with that overly involved soccer mom, who is also the president of the PTA (okay, this hasn’t happened yet, but I feel it coming soon). I confess that I may not be Christ’s best representative, and I’m not trying to come off sounding like Judgy McJudgerson, but here’s the deal: at least I’ve never had five wives and a sixth “roommate,” like this Samaritan woman (she had husbands, but you get the point).
In my neck of the woods, a dominant sports story occurred earlier this month when Kevin Durant announced that he was joining the Golden State Warriors for the 2016-17 NBA season. For those of you who are unfamiliar with basketball, Kevin Durant, who is in the discussion for being one of top three players in the world, joined a team that was five points away from winning back-to-back NBA championships. And this team already has four all-stars, one of which is Stephen Curry, who is also in the discussion for being one of the top three players in the world.
In a recent commercial promoting the low-light camera feature on the Samsung Galaxy S7, advertisers made the claim that, “All the best stuff happens in the dark.” They gave these examples: dancing happens in the dark, people are younger and better looking in the dark, food becomes more expensive and romantic in the dark, and my personal favorite, “If you are well below average-looking, your only chance of kissing an attractive person is in the dark.” Obviously, the commercial was meant to be comical, but it does hit on some truth; namely, that we enjoy the literal darkness because we can hide in it, and our imperfections are not as pronounced.
Editor’s Note: The AMI QT Devotionals from July 24 – 31 are provided by Pastor Yohan of Radiance Christian Church, San Francisco. Yohan graduated from University of Pennsylvania and Cairn University, where he studied theology. He is married to Mandie, and they have four children: Maggie, Jonathan, Abigail and Simon.
Several years ago, I was on a mission trip in Beijing. One of the activities we did during that trip was to go and share the gospel out on the streets. I speak no Mandarin or any other Chinese dialect, so I left the sharing up to the locals and missionaries. After one particularly engaging conversation that ended with a declined invitation to accept Christ, I asked the missionary with whom I was partnered what he said and how things ended. Basically, he told me he shared the Gospel and asked if the hearer wanted to accept—this person declined. So the missionary responded, “Thanks for listening; I believe in heaven and hell, and I hope to see you in heaven one day.”
In high school and college, I never had periods where I “fell away,” nor do I have fantastic stories of my BC (before Christ) days. Even in college, I didn’t drink, never went to frat parties, smoked or used drugs; and because girls were not that interested in me, I didn’t get into too much trouble there, either. I’m pleased to report that from my teenage years through my twenties—and even now—I was/am pretty boring. Of course, I didn’t start that way. I know it sounds silly, but even young kids can be bad, and that was me. Before my twelfth birthday, I had already been in multiple fights, busted for shoplifting (twice), and set the record for cumulative hours of detention at school (I’m not even sharing the stuff I’m truly ashamed of either). I didn’t know it at the time, but the trajectory of my life was pointing the wrong way. I truly believe that I was only a few years away from getting into drugs and a slew of bigger problems. Thankfully, the grace of God was (and is) upon me, as I moved to a different neighborhood, state, school, and eventually started going to church regularly. Every once in a while, I will search for some of my old teachers from elementary school on Facebook. I’d love to connect with them and tell them that I turned out all right—I’m sure they’d be shocked to learn that I am a pastor.
I used to lay in bed as a kid with my legs propped up on the wall. This was my thinking position. And I would spend hours just thinking about some of the weirdest things. When I would think about God, I would often pray, “God, if only You would show Yourself to me, then I wouldn’t struggle as much believing that You are real.” I think we’ve all prayed that prayer before. I have met countless number of people who have gone to amazing conferences and incredible mission trips, bringing back stories of how they had witnessed God’s unbelievable power at work. I, too, have had those experiences.
When you study the history of the Jewish people, you might be surprised to find that the often criticized group of the New Testament called the Pharisees had God-honoring intentions when they were first formed. During what is called the intertestamental times (in between the Old and New Testament) or the 400 years of silence, the Pharisees began as a group that sought to maintain the purity of the Jewish faith, while the Jewish people were scattered and under foreign oppression. However, by the time Jesus enters the scene in the New Testament, what started as good intentions soon became religious stubbornness.
I was on a flight early in the morning, and all I wanted was some sleep before I landed. Being a “larger-than-the-average” Asian man, the worst thing on a plane is to sit next to another “larger-than-the-average” person. The gentleman who sat next to me was this “larger-than-the-average” dude. He looked like a bouncer that stands in front of clubs. Turns out he was a bouncer that stands in front of clubs. I just wanted to sleep, but God kept pressing me to talk to him.