Day 324

Sep 20: Acts 1-5

In chapter 5, some of the apostles had been arrested and put in jail for preaching the gospel. During the night, an angel of the Lord appeared and opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. Instead of running away to safety, what did they do? The angel directed them to "Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life."

Two things stood out to me in the rest of the story.

1. Did the guards and priests not wonder how ridiculous it is that these men were arrested for preaching Christ's resurrection, but went about preaching it again in plain sight upon their escape? This should trigger major questions like what exactly are these apostles preaching about? What if there's more to this Christ than what we think?

This shows how difficult it is to evangelize to people who aren't seeking. We can't provide them with answers to questions they're not looking for. We can only pray and live out our lives hoping to provoke questions by being radical like the apostles. Francis Chan says "Something is wrong if our lives make sense to nonbelievers."

2. I'm jealous of the power these apostles had. Having been with Christ firsthand, the aggressiveness and boldness of the apostles is unmatched.

chap 4 vs 13 says "When they (sanhedrin) saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

We take the easy way out, saying the apostles were so powerful b/c they were with Christ firsthand, and accepting that we can't be as influential as them. But Christ says, "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." If we at least try to tap into this eternal power at our fingertips, maybe we'd be as influential and impactful for His Kingdom. If we don't even try though, we waste that amazing resource.

Finally at the end of chapter 5, it says, "The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." I can't imagine this scene: a bunch of apostles rejoicing upon being flogged. How is that possible? How are they doing this, while I sin against God over and over? I pray that God brings more knowledge and understanding of His nature into my heart, that my love for Him would result in reverence and obedience.

Day 317

Sep 14: John 1-4

Food is what keeps us nourished, sustained and energized right?

In chapter 4, Jesus talks about HIS food. I love these few verses b/c its profound and kinda funny at the same time seeing the cluelessness of the disciples as they are just getting to know Christ.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

It's amazing how Jesus portrays things. Doing the Father's will and to finish that work is like food to Jesus. This love He has for the Father is what keeps Him going and is what ultimately gives him purpose and drive in His life. Just as God gives us this vast universe to see his sovereignty and gives us senses to feel his beauty, God also gives us food - something we rely on daily to keep us alive. Christ uses this analogy to show how much we should rely on that love which produces that will to do all things for His kingdom.

Are we as reliant on doing God's will as Christ was? We know that no one's life will ever be as purpose driven and as flawlessly executed as Christ's was, and maybe thats b/c He was eating a different kind of food than we are. In our struggles to become more Christ like, we ought to just look at what He was eating to keep him going. It's easy to go to church every Sunday and pray for every meal, but our daily lives need to be immersed with this urge and yearning to live out God's will. Only then will we see our lives becoming fruitful and impactful for His kingdom.

Day 311

It's been a hectic few months going to Korea, moving out etc etc...and I noticed that my intimate, personal time with God has been lacking as a result. I may have gotten too busy for myself and lost a little focus but I thank God for providing me with some devotionals and good company that sharpens me and helps me reflect on my shortcomings as His servant. If anyone still reads this, please keep me accountable as I'm closing in on my goal of reading the bible in a year. Weird that it's flown by like this but I know that I've grown so much this year and the Word is in me more than ever.

Luke 16-18

The Parable of the Persistent Widow found in chapter 18 really hit me.

¹Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ²He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

⁴"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, ⁵yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "

⁶And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

This text encourages me to pray and not give up just as Jesus had intended it to do. I have tasted how powerful prayer has been in my life and how quickly God answers, but just a few distractions here and there have hindered my prayer life. One verse that portrays the detriment that distractions has to me is Galatians 5:9 "a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." Am I going to let a few distractions derail the power of prayer in my life?

If anything, in the last month, I've learned what it means to guard my heart more. Without intentional intimate time and prayer to God, I've seen how sinful and needy I am of God's grace. I see glimpses of my old life knocking at my door and it is a harsh wake up call to how powerful sin is. In the end though, I'm reminded of the cross and the hope and restoration it gives me. I pray that I would keep praying, that I would persevere, and that His love would continue to be the thing that gives me purpose in my life.

Day 255

Jul 13: Daniel 1-3

Reading the first few chapters of Daniel reminds me of the identity we should have in Christ. If we truly believe ourselves to be liberated servants of Christ, we will always be exalting his name and proclaiming his glory. We will not miss a chance to witness about His goodness or evangelize about his nature.

In chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzar is growing impatient trying to interpret his dream and no one can help him out. Daniel prays about this and the dream is revealed to him. When the king asks Daniel if he can interpret it, Daniel states: "No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries."

Before Daniel even interprets the dream, he sets it up, he plants the seed to make sure the king knows that this power is from God in heaven. Once the interpretation is explained, King Nebuchadnezzar replies, "Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries."

Are we setting up our God like this? Do we plant seeds wherever we can? Do we truly have the mentality that we are servants of Christ? If we really analyze our day to day lives, there are probably many opportunities for us to at least plant seeds into the hearts of our friends, our co-workers, and random strangers. As servants of Christ, this is our job. This is a challenging chapter but a necessary one. I pray that God would give me boldness everyday, that He would help me look at these opportunities as a means of worship and praise, as a way to bear fruits for his kingdom.

Day 254

Jul 12: Ezekiel 36-38

Chapter 37 is the chapter that has the story of the Valley of Dry Bones. I love this story because it shows the hope that God gives us, that even when we are super dry in our spiritual lives, we can be revived through God's Word and Spirit.

What is needed for this revival to happen though, is honest assessment about our current state, and the realities of that present life. If we are struggling with lots of things and are in a dry spell in our lives, but don't realize it, there will be no healing and renewal that can occur. We need to come before God, knowing that we are totally depraved and expose ourselves to our sins as ugly as they might be. When we realize this and we are true to ourselves and more importantly true to God, he will bring the healing and revival that we need so much.

Vs 4 says, "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!" and vs 14 says "I will put my Spirit in you and you will live"

It's important to see that God's word and Spirit are so necessary in this revival. God is the one that is bringing us this transformation, not ourselves. We need to cling and love his Word passionately and allow the Spirit to enter and move in our lives.

I pray that we would we learn to be honest with God. What can we really hide from him? Does he not know us more intimately than even we do? Although we want to feel like we are in control of our lives, we need to realize that being dishonest about our current state only makes us suffer more in the end. Bringing our total depravity before God shows great humility; we trust that He will be the one that renews us as our power comes directly from the eternal strength that He has.

Day 228

Jun 16: Jeremiah 30-43

Theology leads to doxology. The more knowledge we have of God, the more we want to praise and worship him. This has been tugging at my heart the past week and the more I dwell on it, the more I see how true it is.

Because we have a God that is perfect and good, when we come to know more of his being, we will naturally want to praise him more. Essentially, this means that we are limited in our ability to worship God, when we have lacking knowledge of him. An analogy I thought of that kind of illustrates this is our speech. We are limited in our speech by the vocabulary we know. We can't speak words we do not know and hence we can only go so far in our speech because of that. Likewise, if we only know 10% of God, we can only worship up to that 10% we know of him. However, if we know say 75% of our God, we have that much more knowledge and basis to praise him from. We'll never know God to the fullest extent, we'll never know 100% of him, but we should strive to know all of his goodness in order to exalt his name as much as possible. What that also means is that God, through the holy spirit, is a never ending giver of knowledge. I read somewhere that the knowledge of God is like a treasure chest with no bottom to it. There is no limit to the amount of knowledge God can release to us through the Word and Spirit if we are continually seeking. How amazing is that?

Jeremiah 33:3 - "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know" The first word there is CALL. How can we find something if we're not looking for it? I pray that I may seek out more knowledge and understanding of God every day, so that I can praise and worship my creator better than I did the day before.

Day 219

Jun 7: Jeremiah 12-14

In chapter 12, Jeremiah gets pretty angry and upset at his people and society:

vs 2b "You are always on their lips but far from their hearts. 3 Yet you know me, O Lord; you see me and test my thoughts about you. Drag them off like sheep to be butchered! Set them apart for the day of slaughter!"

God wisely answers; vs 5 "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?"

What's going on in this passage? Jeremiah is just straight up complaining. Although his motives for complaining are most likely out of holy anger for the evil doings of his fellow people, he is looking for a quick solution, he is looking for God to just wipe these people out.

Our generation definitely relates to this. In a society filled with technological advancements, we're so used to having things done quickly that we have no perseverance or grit. We burn out easily and give up easily, not seeing things through to the end.

As Christians, this poses big problems on our ministries and our walk with God in general. We may stumble often, quit our ministries, give up on relationships, maybe even leave the church. Instead of relying on our own strengths though, we must rely on God to fill us. We shouldn't hold back or be fearful of burn out or exhaustion in serving because it is exactly in those times that God will take control and show us why He is so sovereign. Do we doubt that God will fill us when we are serving his kingdom wholeheartedly? Do we doubt that he'd leave us hanging, exhausted and wiped out for serving him?

In 1 Kings: 18-19, Elijah is busy serving God, putting on the spectacle at Mount Carmel, showing up all the false prophets of false gods as God brings fire down on the water drenched altar that Elijah set up. After this, Elijah runs away as Jezebel hears of the news and is out for his life. Elijah was really afraid and comes upon a broom tree "and prayed that he might die. I have had enough, Lord, he said. Take my life" What does God do then for the exhausted and burnt out Elijah? He sends an angel and feeds him twice and "strengthened by that food, [Elijah] traveled forty days and forty nights."

God's provision for Elijah here is pretty astounding. Elijah goes from complete exhaustion and despair, to being able to travel forty days and forty nights in a matter of an afternoon. How great is God's power in our lives? What do we have to fear? When we plug into the eternal power source that we have in God, we can serve wholeheartedly without a worry in the world.