My Devotional Plan

John MacArthur's Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, vols 1, 2, 3.

Got the "almost new" ones from Amazon, ~$5.99 each including shipping.

Zephaniah 3:17

"The Lord your God is in your midst,

a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

he will be quiet you by his love,

he will exult over you with loud singing."

~Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV)

ex-gay, ex-drug dealer, and now a Christian professor

I heard of Yuan's story, an ex-gay who was a drug dealer and now a professor at Moody Bible College on the internet before. Yet hearing him live at my church today makes a deep impact. His message penetrated me, in particular the part he was convicted by the Holy Spirit whilst in prison to choose either God or his homosexuality. He consulted the prison chaplain, who gave him another little book and said God's OK with homosexuality! Christopher said the Holy Spirit indwelled in him wouldn't let him believe that lie, even though he had all the reasons to want to believe it.

That struck me. I remember having heard from several gay "christian" individuals who told me that they felt the "peace" within them, and "peace with God." I didn't question them because I didn't feel I could question their personal experience. And I've been puzzled about it for a long time. After hearing Yuan's testimony, I learned that the Holy Spirit contradicts the false teaching in a person's heart. If that's the case, how come the Holy Spirit doesn't convict my friends? What's that peace that's experienced by my gay friends? Some of my friends expressed that they had initial struggles. I'm not saying that they lied to me about the peace. If they are, then they had first lied to themselves. I'm thinking that Satan LIES and made them believe that God's OK with it. Well, it's not the first time -- didn't he do something similarly when he convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Satan's crafty.

Christopher said that the opposite of homosexuality is not heterosexuality, but Holiness. Wow! I had sort of thought it impossible for my gay Christian friends to change, but Christopher's testimony has given me new impetus to pray for them. May God open their eyes to see the truth of the matter, deliver them from longtime bondages, help them to will to choose His Holiness as their identify rather than their sexual orientation. May God save them.

pray for America and its U-turn

I don't usually feel a persistent burden to pray for things that are "public." For individual's need, or from a friend's salvation, yes; or, for an evangelistic meeting I feel more a "duty" than a burden. The Harvest Crusade 2011 for LA was how my heart started to want to pray for Los Angeles, and America. Well, I guess reading Pastor Jaeson Ma's blog or FB updates of his passion for America might have prepared my heart as well.

Joyce Meyer's Hearing from God Each Morning talks about this kind of prayer burden,

A burden is something that comes to your heart and feels weighty and important; it is something God is asking you to carry in prayer... Some people are called to pray a lot for certain things. My husband prays a lot for America. I know people who pray for Israel all the time. One woman told me she prayed for veterans returning from war. I believe God has every need in the world covered. We don't all need to pray for the same thing because, if we did, all the needs woul not be taken care of. Pay attention to what God is placing on your heart and pray for that.

I pray that Jehovah's people in America will humble themselves and pray, that they will seek Jehovah's face and turn from their wicked ways. I pray that God will heal our land.

the Cross

Paul writes in his letters of three different deaths and resurrections, which are part and parcel of our Christian experience. The first is the death to sin and subsequent life to God, which happens to all Christians by virtue of our union with Christ in his death and resurrection. By it we share in the benefits both of Christ's death (its forgiveness) and of his resurrection (its power). This is inherent in our conversion/baptism.

The second is the death to self, called variously taking up the cross, or denying, crucifying or mortifying ourselves.... This death is not something which has happened to us, and which we are now told to 'reckon' or remember, but something which we must deliberately do ourselves, though by the power of the Spirit, putting our old nature to death. Indeed all Christians have done it, in the sense that it is an essential aspect of our original and continuing repentance, and we cannot be Christ's disciples without it. But we have to maintain this attitude, that is, take up the cross daily.

The third kind of death and resurrection ... is the carrying about in our bodies of the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our bodies (2 Cor 4:9-10). Plainly the arena for this is our bodies. It refers to their infirmity, persecution and mortality. It is in this connection that Paul could say both 'I die daily' (1 Cor 15:30-31) and 'we face death all day long' (Rom 8:36). For it is a continuous physical frailty. But then the 'resurrection', the inward vitality or renewal from the life of Jesus within us, is continuous too (2 Cor 4:16).

To sum up, the first death is legal; it is a death to sin by union with Christ in his death to sin (bearing its penalty), and the resultant resurrection with him leads to the new life of freedom which justified sinners enjoy. The second death is moral; it is a death to self as we put to death the old nature and its evil desires, and the resurrection which follows leads to a new life of righteousness in fellowship with God. The third death is physical; it is a death to safety, a 'being given over to death for Jesus' sake', and perfect in our weakness. The legal death was a 'death unto sin once and for all', but the moral and physical deaths are daily--even continuous--experiences for the Christian disciple.

John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: 1986), 280.

John Stott (1921-2011)

http://www.langhampartnership.org/john-stott/

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/07/27/john-r-w-stott-1921-2011/

God stalled my car?

Occasionally I have problems starting my car. It happened again last night when I was already running late to pick up people to church. I tried for several minutes, but to no avail; that's a bit unusual. Eventually, I started calling others to help pick up my riders. However, I couldn't find help right away. I then got off my car to make more calls. And as I was making more calls and wandering around my house, oh... mine... I had a full-length window wide-opened! Surely I would've left it in that state that if my car had started. (I don't live in a very safe neighborhood: one of my church friends got robbed right in front of her house in broad daylight just a week ago; she lived on the next block, within walking distance from where I live.) Immediately, I went back to my house, locked that window/sliding door, wondering if that's why I wasn't able to start the car.

Sure enough, I went back to the car and it started right away. By the time I finished church, my car started fine. The next morning it also started fine.

What do I think? Thank God for taking very good care of me.

a good jolt

It's an ordinary Wednesday.

On the way to church to attend our weekly prayer meeting, something quite not so ordinary caught my eye. As I drove past a familiar street near the freeway bridge where homeless people would sometimes spend the night, I caught a glimpse of a young brother from church squatting and talking a homeless person.

I was touched by what I saw. The sight gave me a much needed jolt from being self-absorbed, feeling self-pity for the past several weeks. God, thank you for waking me up. I, my needs, my problems, my family have been very well-taken care of by you. I need to look beyond myself and care about others.

piano student's awesome mom

To give me a heads up of schedule change, the mom of one piano student told me that she's waiting for test result about possible thyroid cancer. Wishing to comfort her and tell her that God would be watching over her, I shared with her how God saved my mom by prompting me to bring her to the doctor. The mom agreed with me and, out of my expectation, then told me that she happened to be praying for my mom around those days.

It's not the first time that people whom I didn't even imagine to remember my needs would have the heart to intercede for my mom. God's awesome. I am sure He's the one prompting people to intercede. God cares for my mom and us in ways that I can hardly comprehend. Praise the Lord!

p.s. I will need to pray for my piano student's mom. She has thyroid cancer and will be undergoing surgery and possibly other treatments afterwards.

true success according to meyer

"I know, O Lord, that a man's way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps." ~Jeremiah 10:23.

Joyce Meyer writes:

"Remember that true success is not just the ability to accumulate material wealth; it is the ability to truly enjoy life and everything God provides in it. Many people have position, finances, power, fame, and other similar things, but they may not have what really matters--good relationships, right standing with God, peace, joy, contentment, satisfaction, good health, and the ability to enjoy life."

This is the lesson I am learning.