Something For The Soul

Read Psalm 119:9-16

Reflection of Tommy:
Today, we are constantly bombarded by impure influences and Medias around us. How do we as Christian be able to remain pure and true to God’s teachings in this environment? We will never be able to do it on our own without God’s strength and wisdom.

The psalmist in today’s passage gave a clear way to keep us from falling into sin and keeping our heart pure and blameless. It is through reading and memorizing God’s Word in our heart and putting them to work in our lives and making it the most important guide for everything we do.

Dear Father, thank You for giving me the right perspective that all Your commands are to free me to be all that You want me to be instead of restricting or burden my life. Thank You for teaching me to learn Your Word and apply them in my life, helping me to truly follow Your path and avoiding those that lead to destruction. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

Talent Search

Isaiah 6:1-8

Isaiah's Commission
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."

4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

Reflection of Tommy:

We may feel like quitting when we realized how our shortcomings will never measured up to God’s standard of holiness. With frustration, we may turn away from seeking God to change us and settling on what we can do best on our own.

But, we need not ‘run’ away from God when we realize His holiness, purity and moral perfection compares to our sinfulness. Like Isaiah, allow God to work in us and recognize the extent of His forgiveness. By submitting ourselves and confessing our sin before Him, through His love, mercy and grace, he will forgive, renew and purify us again. Then, we will be empowered once more to worship and serve Him with confidence and thankfulness.

Dear Father, thank You for giving me the right view of You when it was distorted by the daily frustrations, pressures and my own shortcomings. Forgive me of all my ‘unrighteousness’ and for doing things that are not pleasing to You. Cleanse me from within with Your burning coal that I may be purified once more to truly represent You to the world. Thank You and I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God’s Secret

Romans 6:11-23

11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness
15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Reflection of Bee:

The amazing grace of God had saved us from the guilt of sins when we accepted His salvation. After being saved, we need to know that Satan has no more power over us, unless we allow him to control us (v14). "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." —1 John 4:4

The wages of sin is death (v23). This death not only refers to the physical one but also the spiritual death and death to our soul. When we continue to sin our conscience may becomes numb to guilt and therefore will not repent.

We need to learn to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit prompting in our heart so that we will not fall into the trap of the devil.


Dear Lord,
Thank You for the fact that sin has not power over me. Therefore, I can have the choice to be Your 'slave' and do what is right in Your sight. Yes, though there may be struggles in obeying You, yet You always win. Let me be sensitive to Your Spirit and know Your will for me in my life.
I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.



Reflection of Tommy:

There are still many Christians out there who are struggling with sin. They are unable to picture themselves as slave to righteousness as mentioned by Paul in today’s passage. Despite their sincere desire to offer themselves in slavery to righteousness they still stumble continually in the bondage of sin. Is there a way out? Is it really possible for us to freely choose between sin and righteousness?

The solution to this problem can be found in the first and greatest commandment of all: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37). To love Him is to obey Him wholeheartedly and looking at His commands positively. It is also about trusting and surrendering our all fully to Him. Next is to seek Him and His kingdom first. And God will then be able to give us the power and strength to obey Him with all our heart.

Dear Father, thank You for what Christ has done on the Cross and Your gift of salvation. Forgive me Lord for any disobedience and ignorance towards Your clear commands to me. Remind me always that because of my union and identification with Christ that I should regard all my old sinful nature as dead and that I have the choice of no longer obligated to give in to sin anymore. Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to help me in my daily experience to grow into what You have declared me to be. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.

No Fast Food In The Bible

Psalm 119:9-24

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.

10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.

11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

12 Praise be to you, O LORD;
teach me your decrees.

13 With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.

14 I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.

15 I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.

16 I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.

g Gimel
17 Do good to your servant, and I will live;
I will obey your word.

18 Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.

19 I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.

20 My soul is consumed with longing
for your laws at all times.

21 You rebuke the arrogant, who are cursed
and who stray from your commands.

22 Remove from me scorn and contempt,
for I keep your statutes.

23 Though rulers sit together and slander me,
your servant will meditate on your decrees.

24 Your statutes are my delight;
they are my counselors.

Bee's Thoughts:

I like this Psalms very much, not because it has my name in it, but because they appropriately speak of the longing in my heart. The secret to living a pure life and keeping pure love for someone is "By living according to your word" (v. 9).

The secret to avoiding sins is to hide (memorizing) God's word in our heart (v. 11).

I started to memorize scripture verses when I was in the Sunday School. They have truly kept me from many sins and temptations, and also encouraged me in my Christian walks. They would always come to my mind just at the right time, when I am down or when being tempted. They saved me!

Yes, I want to "meditate" on God's word everyday. I want God to "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." (verse 18)

The writer of Psalm 119 obviously did a lot of mental chewing as he read God's Word. No fast food for him! If we follow his example of careful and prayerful Scripture reading, we will:

Be strengthened against sin (v.11).

Find delight in learning more about God (vv.15-16).

Discover wonderful spiritual truths (v.18).

Find wise counsel for daily living (v.24).

Meditation is more than reading the Bible and believing it. It's applying Scripture to everyday life.

Dear Lord, the above Psalms are my prayer to You too. I want to get back to basic... to read and keep Your word in my heart "that I might not sin against you".

.......the devotion of Bee