Friday 1/6/12

1 John 5:11-13 ESV

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

These verses remind us that we have eternal life in Jesus Christ, that we do not have to fear death, and this current life in this sinful world is not all there is. This current life is temporary, for a season. We will have eternal life in God, in the new heaven and earth He will create.

With temporal life vs eternal life in mind, we can live this temporal life more meaningful and avoid the vanities of life. We can focus more on building up our treasure in Heaven, rather than earthly wealth (which we will lose) and enjoy earthly (sometime sinful) pleasure.

Wednesday 30/5/12

1 John 5:3 ESV

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

The best way to show our love of God is to keep His commandments and to follow His way. As we love Him, we think more of Him, study & meditate on His Word, involve in church activities, pray to Him often. As we do them, we understand His way more and enjoy the fruit of it. This motivates us to keep His way & do His commandments.

God does not give commandments to burden us. They are the principles to guide our life. They keep us safe from the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the vanities of life, which exhaust and destroy our life. They help us focus on the good things which give us love, joy and peace. God's commandments are light, and to help us see the light of life.

Tuesday 29/5/12

Proverbs 23:26 ESV

My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe my ways.

In this verse, God asks us to give Him our heart. Our heart is the center of our being, it encompasses our mind, our soul, our strength, and our spirit.

_ Giving our mind to God is to learn from His Word & apply His teaching.

_ Giving our soul to God is to learn to love what He loves, e.g. peace, humility, patience, righteousness, fellowship... and hate what He hates, e.g. sinful gain, temperament, lie, lust...

_ Giving our strength to God is to do what pleases Him, like helping others, go the second mile, do our work with all our strength & diligence, serve the church...

_  Giving our spirit to God is to be emotionally / spiritually connected to Him, aware of His presence in our life, pray & talk to Him & seek His counsel for our decisions.

By giving our heart (mind, soul, strength, spirit) to God, observing and keeping to His way, we will grow closer & more mature in Him, enjoy His guidance & blessing, and be a channel of blessing to other.

Friday 25/5/12

1 John 4:21 ESV

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

In this verse, God shows us that a sincere Christian love (love as described in 1 Corinthians 13)  is the clearest sign of a God-fearing and living person. As believers, we should strive to show Christian love to other people, and practice this until it becomes our second nature. This shows our love to God, and our life in Him.

Thursday 24/5/12

1 John 4:7-8 ESV

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This verse gives us a command and a sign to recognize if a person is of God:  if he /she shows love to other people. Love, as in the Bible, is the way a person treat other people, not a feeling. Christians can act that way, with the help of God

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Wednesday 23/5/12

1 John 4:5-6 ESV

They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

This verse teaches us that the way people respond to us is from the side they take.

_ If they are from the world, they think according to the reasoning of this world. If we say in God's logic, what we say make no sense to them and they won't listen to us. But that's ok.

_ If they of God, they know the truth of God and understand the reasoning of God. Therefore, they listen to Godly reasons.

Also, by the way one thinks and reasons, we can know they are of the world or of God, following the spirit of falsehood or of  truth.

Tuesday 22/5/12

Proverbs 22:4 ESV

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord

is riches and honor and life.

The (sinful) world esteems those who act mighty and prideful, those who show their strength and achivements. However, God esteems those who are humble - gentle, meek and think lowly of themselves.

Also the world praises those who are wise in their own eyes and walk their own ways, but God esteems those who fear Him, keep to His way and seek His counsel in their decisions - rather than trusting their own judgement.

The rewards of seeking God's esteem are enduring wealth, honor, and life - an abundant life under God's love and providence.

Friday 18/5/12

1 John 2:15-17 ESV

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

This world is beautiful and it has many loveable things. It's because it has been designed and created by God to be good and beautiful, with the blue sky, the colorful flowers, the cute animals... and kindness, goodness, and love.... They are in this world, but they are of God.

This world also has things God didn't put in the beginning: sin and evil - the.love of the flesh, the love of the eyes, and the vanity of life. They are not of God, but of this world. They are wrong use of the good things God created. If we love them, we love to do things He hate, violate His commandments, and harm His creation with our sinful deeds.

As actions speak louder than words, we can evaluate ourselves and others by checking actions. If we love & do what're of God, we love Him.

Thursday 17/5/12

1 John 3:3 ESV

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Hope keeps us focused and gives us strength to persevere in the face of adversary & disappointment. In this fallen world, everything are tainted by sin. People who lose their hope in God & heaven will also lose their heart, their mind,  their spirit & their soul, in sin. On the other hand, the hope in God and heaven will give His believers strength to purify themselves from sin and keep to the way of righteousness.

It's good to be alive, and it's good to keep the hope of heaven.

Wednesday 16/5/12

Proverbs 21:6 ESV

The getting of treasures by a lying tongue

is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.



People often lie, cheat and do evil things for some gains. However, in this verse, God warns us those treasures gained by wickedness are all fleeting vapor - they easily vanish to thin air. Even worse, they are the snare of death which can trap & destroy us. Think of all the wicked governors, lawless robbers, or cheaters, they are blinded by temporal gains and are trapped and ruined, only to find their wealth vanish.

On the other hand, righteousness and kindness bring life and lasting honors. Wealth rightly and slowly accumulated are enduring. Those who know God should strive for these.

Tuesday 15/5/12

Proverbs 21:21 ESV

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness

will find life, righteousness, and honor.

Kindness & righteousness, not wealth & achivements, are the source of life and honor. People think having wealth, a good career with many achievements will bring life & honor. But God, the designer of this world, correct us in this verse. Wealth & achivements, without kindness & righteousness, just bring curses from God and from other people. They will not endure & will soon vanish. On the other hand, kindness & righteousness grant us goodwill and help and friendship from God and men. They give us life and honor.

Saturday 12/5/12

Proverbs 21:17 ESV

Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;

he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

In this verse, God warns us the danger of loving pleasure, wine and oil (the cosmetic of ancient time). Pleasure is good for relaxing & recreation, wine is to increase appetite, and oil or cosmetic is to beautify life. God has created them for good, but we are to use them, not love them. Used to overdose, they will take up time, strength and money from more meaningful activities like working, learning and fellowshipping - which harm us.

We are to love God, love our neighbors, love our work and love what is good. We are to focus our time, our money and our strength on them. Pleasure, wine (food & drink), oil (cosmetic & clothing) are just little good things for our free time. They should be in low priority compared to the things we are commanded to love.

Wednesday 9/5/12

Proverbs 20:22 ESV

Do not say, "I will repay evil";

wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.

When being hurt, physically or emotionally, we want to pay back. This verse specifically instructs us to resist hurting back, but accepting the pain and staying patience and kind. God will judge the matter. Pray to God, bring up the matter to Him, seek His love & strength to forgive and to be gracious. Ask God to judge, and accept God's judgement, even if God does nothing and let it go.

Tuesday 8/5/12

Proverbs 20:24 ESV

A man's steps are from the Lord;

how then can man understand his way?

This verse asserts God's ability in directing decisions of men. He can give us favours from other people, direct our paths from the heart.

Monday 7/5/12

Proverbs 20:18 ESV

Plans are established by counsel;

by wise guidance wage war.

In this verse, God teaches us the way to success. To make good plan, we need to seek counsel & ideas from many people, esp. those wiser & more experience than us. Similarly, to be victory we need help & guidance. The first person we are to seek for help, guidance, counsel and ideas is God, via prayers.

Making plan, wagimg war by oneself - without adequate help & advices - is a receipt for failure. We don't know enough what're waiting ahead & how to do things right.

Saturday 5/5/12

Proverbs 20:3 ESV

It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,

but every fool will be quarreling.

This verse reminds us of what the God of love considers the most important characteristic: a good temper. Being slow to anger is better than being strong & mighty, ruling one's spirit well is better than having great achivement, and avoiding strife is more honorable than defending face (or ego).

A good Christian has to cultivate a good temper, full of love (as in 1 Corinthians 13), ruling his/her spirit well, being patient & avoiding strife.

That's better in God's eyes than being successful, or mighty, or having good face.

Friday 4/5/12

2 Thessalonians 3:11-12 ESV

For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

I believe God designs human to work, to contribute to society and spend time productively. God has created the earth He gives human the task to harness the earth, beautify it and create a better life for themselves. Thus we should keep ourselves busy at work, earn our living and have extra to support others.

Additionally, this verse warns us to avoid being busy with non-productive, no value work. Wasting out time is a sin, we need to make the best of our time and do the most productive things.

Thursday 2/5/12

2 Thessalonians 3:5 ESV

May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

This verse shows us the correct direction for our heart: we should set our heart on loving God, and on dutifully following God's commands and doing the good things God wants us to do. From that, we will know God more & have a blessed life under His care & guidance.