You are not alone

Read Hebrews 4:9-16

Reflection of Tommy:

There are many sincere Christians who felt condemned because they experience temptation. Often, they also believe that they are the only one having this specific struggle; thinking no one will ever be able to understand or relate to them.

But, in today’s passage we can take comfort knowing that Jesus Himself, has experienced a full range of temptations throughout his life as a man. Jesus can truly sympathize with our struggle with temptations. We can be encouraged knowing that Jesus faced temptation without giving in to sin. With His strength and power, we too can choose not to sin when tempted.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me not to take my salvation for granted but to appropriate this gift through making daily decision and commitment to trust and obey You. May Your living Word, like the incisiveness of a surgeon’s knife, penetrate deep to reveal all my ways, good or bad and leading me in Your way everlasting. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

God, Answer Me!

Psalm 6

1O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.

2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony.

3 My soul is in anguish.
How long, O LORD, how long?

4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.

5 No one remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises you from the grave [b] ?

6 I am worn out from groaning;
all night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.

7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.

8 Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the LORD has heard my weeping.

9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy;
the LORD accepts my prayer.

10 All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;
they will turn back in sudden disgrace.

Reflection of Bee:

Whenever we want to go forward spiritually and serve God more, the devil will never leave us alone. He would tried to attacked us through people. It seems very effective when we forget about spiritual warfare. I experienced that yesterday and was feeling angry over some wrongful accusations. However, as I reflected on them, the Lord showed me that the enemy wanted to discourage me from bring people to Christ.

Knowing it is a spiritual battle somehow helps me turn to God instead of using my own strength to fight. Soon my anger for that person who wronged me turned into prayer for her instead. Yes, God will hear my prayers and not leave me alone.

Dear Lord,
Thank You for reminding me that I need to be on guard against the spiritual enemy. Greater is You who is in me than he that is in the world. You have given me victory. Praise You!
In Your name I thank You. Amen.



Reflection of Tommy:

The most ineffective prayer is when we pray by scratching only the surface of things or being awfully general. We need to know that God is always there listening and talking to us when we pray to Him. It is never a one-way “monolog” form of communication.

We can learn from David, who pours out his heart in tears to God in prayer. Likewise, we can be totally honest and direct when we pray to God. Honesty is important for effective prayer because it helps us to begin praying in details with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We will also be able to discern and listen to what God wanted to say or reveal to us.

Dear Father, thank You that I can approach You through prayers 24/7. Thank You for giving me the peace when I can rest all my worries into Your hands. Thank You that I can always trust You, Almighty God, that I don’t have to be victim of any circumstances or be weighed down by the guilt of sin. Lord, draw me closer to You each day, helping me to turn my attention from myself to You and Your mercy. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

A Unifying Wall

Nehemiah 4:10-18

10 Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall."

11 Also our enemies said, "Before they know it or see us, we will be right there among them and will kill them and put an end to the work."

12 Then the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times over, "Wherever you turn, they will attack us."

13 Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. 14 After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

15 When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.

16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

Reflection of Bee:

There were times, we felt discouraged by what we saw or heard. We may look at our problems that are too great to overcome. But thank God for encouraging us through fellow Christians who see beyond the problems and see God's greatness and faithfulness toward His people. God will always fight for us when we follow His way.

Like in the above passage, we need to learn to encourage each other instead of tearing each other down. We have to be on guard of our 'enemies' as we do the work of God. We need to be united as we build the 'wall' of God together.

Dear Lord,
Forgive me for saying things that may be discouraging at times. Teach me to speak words of encouragement and life. I pray for unity of spirit to build Your 'house'. Help me to be on guard against the enemy's weapon of sowing discords or disunity amongst fellow Christians. May Your love unite us together.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.




Reflection of Tommy:

Recently, I met up with this young couple from my church who was assigned to missionary work in China. They shared about their task of learning the rural ethnic dialects and languages and doing Bible translation work. It is a rather difficult task with all kinds of obstacle and setback during the years they were there.

But, what keep them going are their strong focus on God’s purposes for their lives and knowing God’s special purpose for their project. Also, like how Nehemiah’s workers looking out for each others while building the wall, the enormous love, encouragement and prayers from our church members has greatly helped them in their mission to expand God’s kingdom.

Dear Father, thank You for reminding me not to cut myself off from others while doing the works for Your kingdom. Thank You for the opportunities to work with my brothers and sisters in Christ to bring more to know You. Show to me how You can use me for Your kingdom and the plans You have for my life to please and glorify You. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

The Law of the Spirit

Galatians 5:16-25

Life by the Spirit
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Reflection of Bee:

Becoming Christians do not rid us of sins, may have discovered to our dismay. In fact, we may find ourselves 'more sinful' than ever. This is because our born-again spirit becomes very sensitive whenever we sinned against God. In addition, the devil tries to tempt us even harder. Even the Apostle Paul struggled with sins as shown in Romans 7:7-25:

4We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Yes, as we try to please God we may become very discouraged whenever we give in to our sinful nature, and we cried out "What a wretched man I am!" Thank God that through Christ and the Holy Spirit we can overcome the sinful nature (Romans &:25).

Instead of focusing on the negative aspects (sins) and try to avoid them, we should focus on the positives aspects of the fruit of the Spirit:

love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
self-control

When the above aspects of the fruit of the Spirit are shown in our lives we don't have to struggle to fight our sinful nature. They come about when we allow the Spirit of God to lead us daily.


Dear Lord,
Thank You for always answering my prayers. Tonight I pray that each aspect of Your fruit will be evident in my life.
I pray especially for "joy" and "peace" which are missing in my life the last one month or so. I pray that tonight you will restore the joy of my salvation and give me peace that surpasses all understanding.
I pray too for Tommy that Your Holy Spirit will indwell him daily that Your fruit will be seen in his life clearly by those around.
I know You will hear my prayers tonight just like You always did.
For I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.



Reflection of Tommy:

There are many who give the excuse of being ‘normal’ or natural for indulging in wrongful and selfish desires. They find that there is nothing wrong with their attitude as everyone is like that or that they ignore and refuse to deal with them but continuing doing what is wrong. They think that God being merciful and all that, will obviously understand their action.

But is it really so? The danger is that they’ll eventually find them selves coping with not doing what they want but doing the very thing they do not want. This happens because the desires of the sinful nature are totally conflicting and contrary with the Spirit (v16).

So, how do we counter this obvious (v19) trap of our sinful nature? Whenever there are sinful desires or passions in our heart, do not ignore them but to ask God to bring them to light for us. By committing our sinful tendencies to God’s control and empowering the Holy Spirit to lead us, we then make the decision to do what associated with the fruits of the Spirit, not our sinful desires. By doing this we will gain the power of Christ to help us control and overcome our selfish desires and to keep in step with the Spirit (v25).

Dear Father, thank You for teaching me to identify any contradicting desires inside me that go against the Spirit. Remind me always that Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature in me together with all its passions and desires. Because of this, I no longer under the law (v18) but to live by the Spirit - living each day led, controlled and guided by Him. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Bee's 14th Month of Devotion

It's 2007 now, and it marks my 14th month of running this spiritual race together with my Best Friend, Tommy.

There were a number of times I wanted to pull out from doing my devotion here, but each time I came back again. The reason is that Tommy had been patiently waited for me to post my thoughts here by saving his as "drafts" and not publishing them till I input mine.

A week ago, I almost stopped blogging here altogether as I couldn't access the blog admin anymore after this blog was switched to beta.blogger. It created some misunderstanding between us. Thank God that it's settled now. On hindsight, I realized there is a spiritual warfare out there whenever we wish to spend time with God or to have fellowship with believers. The devil will try to use the technique of "divide and conquer" to cause misunderstanding and create divisions. We should be very vigilant and not fall into the trap of the devil.


Dear Tommy,
In this new year, I wish to thank you for your patience and kindness towards me for the past 14 months. Thank you for all the things you have done for me.
Sorry for the times I have misunderstood you or may have said things that are hurtful to you. I ask for your forgiveness.

Dear Lord,
May 2007 bring about new understanding between Tommy and me, and new growth in our spiritual walk with You. May we become channels of blessings to those who come into contact with us. May we touch lives as we continue this devotional journey together. May Your love be felt through us.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.


... the thoughts of Bee

Bee's 13th Month of Devotion

After having done my devotion together with my buddy for the last 13 months, I feel it's time for me to leave.

Perhaps God really wants to teach me to trust Him despite of my pains. He led me to read an article "Getting to Trust God" when I was searching for a verse. The following excerpt from the article helped me understand the difference between "faith" and "trust":

But trust, which must go hand in hand with faith, says, "Lord, I commit myself to Your care and keeping." That's trust. Faith is believing what God can do and what He is willing to do. But trust says, "I commit myself to Your care and keeping. Do with me, Lord, whatsoever You will." Faith is believing God can push a wheelbarrow on a tightrope across the Niagara Falls. Trust is getting on board that wheelbarrow. Faith is believing that William Tell is so skilled with a bow and arrow that he can shoot straight through an apple that's sitting on someone else's head. Trust is being that person with the apple on your head.

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15).

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because God is with me" (Ps. 23:4, paraphrase).

I was going through very difficult time and just want to be alone. However, my buddy's waiting for me to post here for the past few nights makes me do an U-turn... So here I am again.


Thanks for waiting, Tommy.



... the thoughts of Bee