The Peace-Of-Mind Game

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Reflection of Bee:

Tonight's devotional passage is a very familiar one.... "The Lord is MY Shepherd". Yes, He is mine and I can feel secured in Him in all circumstances. He can restore all my brokenness, and give me victory over my physical and spiritual enemies.


Dear Shepherd,
Thank You for restoring my soul
and for making me whole;
For the table You spread for me
in the presence of my enemies;
For Your goodness and great love
that follow me till I leave this earth.
May Your peace reigns tonight
even though sometimes I may cry.

In Your wonderful name I thank You. Amen.


Reflection of Tommy:

We can get so worried over things that we forgot who our Shepherd is. We somehow are able to separate what God can do and what He can’t in our lives. We tend to seek our own ways to calm ourselves and to get back in control of the situation.

But as Christian, we don’t have to rely entirely on our own strength to carry all our burdens and worries. God is always there with us (v4) and He will give us His peace, guidance, comfort and sustaining grace to face the challenges in life.

All we need to do is to first seek Him, pray to Him and then to trust Him fully to do what is best. As what the Scripture says “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”.

Dear Father, thank You again for reminding me to pray and to trust You to do what is right. Thank You also for reminding me that there’s nothing so complicated or difficult that You can’t handle it for me. Forgive me of my lack of faith and underestimating what You can do and what You’ve planned for me even before I was born.

Lord, I pray that You will continue to lead me to You, obeying Your commands and relying always on the Holy Spirit’s guidance in all my ways. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

My Life A Mist

James 4:13-17

Boasting About Tomorrow
13Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." 16As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.

Bee's Thoughts:

My life "a mist", this I already know.
Will I see tomorrow? That I don't know.
If the Lord's will, there is one place I will go.
Although it is cold, I like to touch the snow.
- Bee

Sometimes unknowingly we boast, thinking we hold tomorrow.... so we make many plans and goals without asking if they are within God's will. We forget that our lives are in God's hands. Such boasting can become sinful and lead us in the wrong direction. We, therefore, need to be humble and prayerful, committing out lives, plans, paths, etc, to God.

Dear Lord,
Thank You for reminding me again that my life is "a mist" and I need to live a day at a time to glorify Your name. I want to commit my work, my relationship, and my all into Your hands. Teach me to do what is right so that I may not sin against You or others.
In Jesus' name I humbly pray. Amen.

Tommy's Thoughts:

We always think sin has to do with us doing wrong, but James in today’s passage tells us that sin is also about knowing what is right and not doing it: the sin of omission. It may be a God’s direction to us to do a kind act, to render a service to someone in need. Or it may be a prompting from God for us to restore a relationship with someone we know.

Thus, we need to be always willing and put into action when we are made known by the Spirit to help and serve others.

Dear Father, thank You for teaching me to be always sensitive to the needs and concern of others around me. Lead me also to put my every word into action of love and kindness to others. I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

God Fights Against Us

Joel 2:12-17

Rend Your Heart
12 "Even now," declares the LORD,
"return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning."

13 Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.

14 Who knows? He may turn and have pity
and leave behind a blessing—
grain offerings and drink offerings
for the LORD your God.

15 Blow the trumpet in Zion,
declare a holy fast,
call a sacred assembly.

16 Gather the people,
consecrate the assembly;
bring together the elders,
gather the children,
those nursing at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room
and the bride her chamber.

17 Let the priests, who minister before the LORD,
weep between the temple porch and the altar.
Let them say, "Spare your people, O LORD.
Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples,
'Where is their God?' "

Bee's Thoughts:

"return to me with all your heart" (v13).

The Lord demands ALL our heart, not just a portion of it....

As I look into my heart,
I saw a number of things:
People I love so much
And all my heart's longings.

Where is my dear Lord?
Are You even here?
He is by the wall
Waiting for me to come near.

I am sorry my dear Lord,
Now take all my heart.
Take all I have got
Let me have a new start.

- Your child Bee

Tommy's Thoughts:

My church’s speaker told a story about a Christian who complained to God for not punishing those unbelieving bad people swiftly but allowing them to flourish and prosper. He argued how unfair for God to bring hardship and suffering to him instead.

Then, God answered him by saying the suffering he’s going through now is like God gently and delicately pruning all those twigs in him with a sharp scissor. And He does that while holding him lovingly in His caring arm.

But for those disobeying bad people that does not remain in Him, He will be chopping off them like a dying branch with a big axe and thrown into the fire and be burned! (John 15:6)

Dear Father, thank You for reminding me to remain in You even as the going get tough. Teach me not to hold back from turning to You completely. Guide me to surrender all my needs, worries and concerns to You, trusting You to take care of all of them.

Thank You O Wonderful and Loving God,
In You, I find true rest, peace and love,
Because of You I discover truths,
And You alone, I desire more than everything.

In Jesus’ precious name I pray, Amen.

Bee's 8th Month of Devotion

Thank You Lord,
for those time spent here
for Your words so dear
for Your presence so near

Thank You Lord,
for Tommy my best friend
for being heaven-sent
for lending me his hands

Thank You Lord,
for making things beautiful
for making life wonderful
for making us grateful

Amen



... the thoughts of Bee

Bee's 4th Month of Devotion

Time flies, really flies...
Just like blinking of my eyes,
Four months have past without me realize.
This devotion time is like my exercise
To keep me healthy, to change my life.

Thank God for helping me keep my commitment to spend time with Him daily. :)


.......the thoughts of Bee

A Lost Art

Colossians 1:9-14

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Bee's Thoughts:

What did Paul pray for the Colossian Christians?

1. knowledge of his will - through all spiritual wisdom and understanding
2. live a life worthy of the Lord - and may please him in every way
3. bearing fruit - in every good work
4. growing in the knowledge of God
5. strengthened with all power
6. have great endurance and patience
7. joyfully giving thanks to the Father

This is a good way to pray for a person, for we all need to cultivate the above attributes.

"give thanks in all circumstances,
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:18

To be able to give thanks to God in all situations requires absolute trust in God... to thank God in spite of heartaches and sorrows, in spite of wanting to crying, in spite of being left alone...

So what can I thank God for? I like the poem below:

It's that time of year, God,
when even the secular world says,
"Stop! Take time to say 'Thanks'."

For what? For whom?
The list is endless.

First of all - there's us.
Alive, energetic, enthusiastic -
both within and without,
bursting with health and movement
in spite of the periodic slowdowns,
joyous that you thought enough of us
to give us the experience of life.
Our lives are vibrant
with the flow of Your energy,
touched, seared
by the Love that is You,
yearning to be to others
what You have been to us.

For us, dear God, we thank You!

Then there are the others,
utilizing their creative powers
to enrich our lives
through fields that feed
and rivers that quench,
through fabrics that clothe
and forests that house,
through presence and absence
through the rhythm of then and now.
Without them we would be isolated,
crouching in our corners of self-sufficiency.
But with them we are invited,
called forth to contribute
of our plentiful harvest
to the sum total of humanity.

For all of them, we thank You!

But, most of all, dear God, there is YOU -
gracious, considerate, understanding,
cleansing, challenging, demanding,
drawing us to Your embrace,
clearing, pruning, breaking,
touching, lifting, healing.
Our destinies lie with You,
for we are the branches
grafted with Your Spirit
onto the vine that zaps its sap
into our beings.

For You, our God, we thank You!
.....Loretta Girzaitis




Yes, God, no matter how sad and painful I feel, no matter how lonely I am, I want to give you thanks. For I know I am "in this transient world of impermanence" and my life is just a "mist"... my suffering is just temporal. I want to thank you for all you have done for me... for hearing my prayers always, for the friends you sent me, for the love I experienced... for you are good. Amen


.......the devotion of Bee