Editor’s Note: Today’s AMI QT Devotional is written by Pastor Andrew Kim at Tapestry Church. Andrew, a graduate of Eternity Bible College, is currently attending Fuller Theological Seminary. He and Jessie were married in 2014.
Devotional Thoughts for Today
Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places
A renowned scholar Walter Brueggemann suggests that so much of our societal ills that continue to plague our culture are caused by embracing a mentality of scarcity. In other words, we always feel as though we never have enough. As a result, our lives are characterized by constant dissatisfaction and frustration, which inevitably leads to a perpetual need to buy the next best thing or to find a more fulfilling relationship in an effort to feel full and satisfied. However, the sad fact is that no matter how many promotions we receive or how much money we make, it still feels like it’s not enough. It is no surprise that so many people in our culture constantly struggle with a profound sense of emptiness.
As Christians, we are not immune to this. Countless believers wrestle with the same issues as they compare their lives to those around them. At the root of this problem is that we so easily forget the amazing truth of Scripture. In Ephesians 1:3, the Apostle Paul reminds us that at the point of conversion, we have received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. In other words, all that we could ever want is ours in Christ Jesus and have now become people of abundance rather than scarcity. This is true of us no matter what our circumstances might indicate, because the blessings of heaven have been eternally secured by the work of Christ in the gospel! In those moments of emptiness, I want to encourage you to look to the word of God and remind yourself that you have more than enough— in Christ you have received more than you deserve and have been filled to the brim by the grace of God!
Prayer: Father, forgive me once again for my greed and lack of dependence on You. Remind me constantly that Christ is all sufficient in my life. Thanks for having given me all that I possess, including health and relationships. Motivate me to share what I have with those in need. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Psalm 16
Lunch Break Study
Read Ecclesiastes 6:10: Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless
Luke 18:9: To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else . . .
1 Tim. 6:10: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. . . .
1 Tim. 6:17: Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
Questions to Consider
- According to King Solomon and Apostle Paul, respectively, what should we look out for when we seek to be financially secure?
- What are some factors that might make us feel as though we do not have enough money even though we have plenty in the bank?
- What should we do instead with respect to wealth? How are you managing your wealth?
Notes
- Solomon warns that no amount of money will lead to the feeling of having enough—he ought to know since he was the richest man in Israel. Paul warns that loving money will lead to all kinds of conflicts that lead to much headache.
- Two factors: first, humans always compare, and as a result, they inevitably find someone who has more money than they which leads to dissatisfaction; second, since we realize that wealth is not certain, we try to amass as much as possible for rainy days.
- We are told not to put our trust in wealth, which means two things: first, engage in activities other than making money (like helping people); two, be generous with your money.
Evening Reflection
Reflect on Paul’s philosophy on possessions: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (1 Tim. 6:7). Now reflect on Agur’s thought on wealth: “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God” (Prov. 30:8b-9).
In light of that, what is your philosophy on wealth? Do you need to making any adjustments?
For the last couple Christmas vacations, my younger brother and I have passed away our time by buying ourselves at least one new video game to play together. This past year, we bought our game with very little time left, so we used a walk-through manual to help us. The manual gave us all the tactics to solve different puzzles and to prepare against different enemies. After playing the game for a couple of days, I felt oddly dissatisfied with the experience. We were beating the game, but having all the answers completely detracted from the joy of actually playing and experiencing it.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is a collection of funny short stories I used read as a child. The main character, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, spends all of her time with the children of the neighborhood and cleverly instills various good habits in them. One such situation is called “The Radish Cure,” where one of the girls refuses to take baths. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle instructs the parents to let their daughter stop taking baths as she wishes. The daughter begins to get dirt and grime caked on her, and one night her parents secretly plant radish seeds on her. The next morning, the girl is horrified to find little sprouts on her body and immediately begs her parents to let her take a bath.
My dad has always stuck out to me as being exceptionally steadfast and solid in his faith, so I asked him how he came to know Christ in grad school. He said that he had grown up going to church only to please his mother, and he had no intention of keeping that up in America. Despite that resolution, he found himself going back to church each Sunday and even attending Bible studies. One day, realizing that he was spending a lot of time in these Christian activities, he decided that he should just continue to follow Jesus Christ. I was dumbfounded. That was it? Given my experience of his faithfulness and love for God, I was surprised that there was no dramatic moment or revelation that set it all in motion.
So little is written about Apollos, but it seems that he had great impact on the early church. His arrival was clearly very notable; and after he was joined up with Priscilla and Aquila, he went on to play a similar role as Paul, strengthening believers and defending the faith publicly. He clearly was so compelling and effective that people were tempted to break off into an Apollos camp in the Corinthian church.
Fear is an exceptionally powerful motivator in our lives. There might be smaller worries that create momentary fear, such as accidentally dropping a smartphone down a chute, which makes me cringe every time I enter an elevator. Or there are some fears that are so powerful that they cause us to entirely change our lifestyle – for example, one of my friends from college gave up eating certain foods altogether because of one particularly bad experience with food poisoning.
Editor’s Note: The AMI QT devotionals for April 17-23 are provided by Christine Li. Christine graduated from University of Pennsylvania and currently lives and works in New York City. She attends Remnant Church in Manhattan.
I love the movie Finding Nemo. Like every good children’s movie, it not only has beautiful visuals, memorable songs, and witty lines – the story has multiple layers that both children and adults can enjoy. You can take the story at face value about a sea adventure, or you could also find some life analogies, like the joy that comes from friendships pursuing a common goal. Marlin befriends so many creatures along the way. Some of these friendships last for a short moment; others, like his with Dory, are long-term commitments through thick and thin.
In 2014, Whatsapp, one of the most widely used global messaging apps, sold for $19 billion dollars to Facebook. What many people found more noteworthy than the price was the irony, since both of the founders had been rejected after interviewing at tech companies, including Facebook, years prior. One said optimistically at the time, “Looking forward to life’s next adventure.” Both men had decided to step off the path of finding an existing tech job and find something new to do. Eventually, they teamed up to build a platform that became much, much larger than they would have foreseen.
Part of the fun of being a parent of small kids is that children can be so logical and illogical at the same time. For example, we watch this cartoon called Paw Patrol (if you have small kids, you probably know it well), and it is undoubtedly one of the stupidest shows on TV. The premise of the show is that a ten-year-old boy named Ryder has adopted six dogs that he has trained as special rescue pups. Each dog has his/her own special skill set—so there is a police dog, a fire fighting dog, a water rescue dog, etc. And each dog also has a doghouse that transforms into a rescue vehicle corresponding to their jobs—so a police truck, a fire truck, a hovercraft, etc.; the dogs, of course, drive. Paw Patrol takes place in a city called Adventure Bay, where there are apparently no competent adults, because Ryder and the Paw Patrol are constantly called on by everyone from the mayor to the local grocery store owner to save them from various mishaps. And although several different types of animals, ranging from cats to eagles to whales, find their way on the show, for whatever reason, none of them have the ability to talk—except the six members of the Paw Patrol.
Seventy-five percent of the time, whenever single people from our church come over to talk or share a meal, my wife and I will ask them about boys or girls. Of course, this talk slowly evolves (or devolves) into us playing matchmakers. But sometimes our guests get a little uncomfortable and will ask why this topic interests us so. My wife will typically explain it like this: “It’s been several years since I’ve been single, but I still remember how it felt starting a relationship. You go out on fun dates and he is always trying to impress you. All the while, you are constantly wondering how into you he is. You feel this odd combination of adrenaline, insecurity, anxiety, and euphoria, all at the same time. It’s both the fun and exhausting part of dating, and in many ways, I am living vicariously through you because I miss that feeling.”