Thursday 1/11/12

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 ESV

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

Knowledge and vision from God in this world are partial things, they are only good until the perfect world comes with the return of Jesus Christ. After that they are no longer needed, i.e. pass away. However, love is even more important in the world to come. So love is more important than knowledge, faith, vision or any others. We must always cultivate and practice it, now AMD forever.

Tuesday 30/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:8 ESV

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Once again, the Bible contrasted love and prophecies (visions), tongues and knowledge. Visions will come and pass away. Tongues will cease when the song ends. Knowledge is useful sometime, but may become useless later. They are temporal things, at times useful and at times useless. But love is always applicable and eternally important, from now till eternal. Thus above vision, tongue and knowledge, we must always cultivate love.

Monday 29/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:7 ESV

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love accepts long suffering and is kind. It does not concern much of its wellbeing or its right, but the wellbeing of others. Thus it can bear all difficulties, can keep its beliefs in all circumstances, can keep its hopes against multiple setbacks, and can endures all pains and sufferings.

Love derives joy & happiness not in its wellbeing and success, but in the wellbeing and success of others, its loved ones. That's the key of its strength and energy.

So the way of love is:

Love is patient, love is kind.

Love does not envy or boast.

Love is not arrogant or rude.

Love does not irritable or resentful. Love does not rejoice in wrong doing, but rejoices in the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Friday 26/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:6 ESV

it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

Another manifestation of love is that it does not rejoice at wrongdoing. It does not rejoice at lying, cheating, cursing, condemning, deceiving... or anything that's not right. Love does not enjoy doing what benefit itself. Instead, love rejoices at knowing the truth, and enjoy doing what is right.

Love is patience, love is kind. Love does not envy or boast; love is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist its own way; love is not irritable or resentful. Love does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth

Wednesday 24/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:5 ESV

or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

Love is not rude, it knows how to say, how to behave, how to treat others in a pleasing, considerate and constructive manner.

Love does not insist its its own way. It is considerate to others and is mindful of other's interest and wellbeing. It takes care to avoid hurting others.

Love is not irritable or resentful. It does not bear grudge, or memorize past wounds, or recount other's previous transgressions whenever opportunities arise. It forgives and does not bring up the past.

Friday 19/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

The Bible exhorts love above tongues & voices, above vision, wisdom, even above giving and self sacrificing. Without love, they are nothing. But what is love? Is it the magical, romantic feeling that makes a person fly high and forget the world  when he or she is with the beloved?

No, that's charm & romance, not love as defined in the Bible. You cannot love the Lord your God or love you neighbors that way. So what is love?

Love is when you care for other people (e.g. their wellbeing, their work, and their future) more than you care for yourself. Thus you are willing to deny yourself for their good.

Here Paul listed the manifestations of love:

_ Love is patient (long suffering): love can suffer long without resenting or retaliating. It is selfless & doesn't concern much of its right.

_ Love is kind: love cares for others and wants them to have good things.

_ Love does not envy or boast: love does not compare itself with others. It does not resent when others do better, neither does it boast when others do worse.

_ Love is not arrogant: love does not put itself above others, or put others below it. Love treats others with respect and as equal.

These are the way and the manifestations of love: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.

Thursday 18/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:3 ESV

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Giving and self sacrificing are very noble deeds. However, even those noble deeds gain us nothing if we do not act in love.

If we give away what we have, not because we love and care, but because of other motives like fame and praise, or later gains, will it gain us respect & honor from people who see our heart, especially God?

Similarly, if we sacrifice our body to be burned not because we love and care, but to gain fame & praise, then will our sacrifice benefit us or anyone?

Therefore, giving & self sacrificing are nothing without love. Vision, wisdom and faith are nothing without love. Voices and tongues are nothing without love. Above them all, we must first cultivate our love, for God and for people around.

Wednesday 17/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:2 ESV

And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

Besides angelic voices & gracious tongues, prophetic vision, knowledge and faith are highly valued gifts. With vision, we can see the future to plan our life and avoid troubles. With knowledge, we can understand all things and discern good from evil. With faith, we can move mountains. But these valuable gifts won't do us any good if we have not love.

Without love, we will use our gifted abilities for only our gain, usually at other's expenses.  We use our vision, our knowledge, our faith not to do good, but evil, not to build up, but tear down. We do no good to anyone, and ultimately cause harm to ourselves.

So our vision, our knowledge, and our faith are only good if we use them in love. Love God, and love our neighbors.

Tuesday 16/10/12

1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Gong & cymbal are musical instruments. Their sound is a delight to everyone. But they must be used in the right way, as designed by the composer and in hamorny with others. Otherwise, they are useless and annoying, interfering other music and ruin the song.

Similarly, we highly value gracious tongues and angelic voices. They are the delight & comfort to everyone. But without love, they are as useless and annoying as noisy gong & clanging cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13 is the chapter about love. Paul started by emphasizing love is above everything. We must do everything in love. Without love, even the sweet & gracious tongues turn sour and useless. 

Monday 15/10/12

Matthew 7:24-27 ESV

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

Listening & practicing the Word of God is like building our house on a rock foundation. It will stand strong against the storm, the flood and other disasters in life. Those who ignore God's Word and follow worldly things are like building their houses on the sand. The house looks nice, but when the storms & the floods of life come, it will fall crashing down. Having a strong foundation and an enduring house which give lasting peace and safety in life, that's the advantage of following God's Word.

Many people ignore His Word and chase after worldly things: wealth, fame, and pleasure. Some have their wealth all vanished in a misfortune. Some lost their fame in a misstep. Some suffer the bad consequences of indulging in pleasure.  While pursuing these things, they do many wicked deeds and bring much harm to those around. In the end, their house which they built at the cost of others collapse in a storm & flood of life. And they suffer the eternal wrath of God in hell when He judges their life. That's the fate of those who ignore His Word.

Thursday 11/10/12

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'  And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Here Jesus made it clear that calling Him as Lord doesn't help us enter into heaven. We must do God's will, e.g. love God and love our neighbors, seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord our God.

The workers of lawless and wicked deeds will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven, even though they call Jesus as Lord and claim to do many great things in His name. Jesus will banish them out of His sight to hell, because their deeds are lawless and they bring forth evil fruit. They just deceive themselves, not God.

Wednesday 10/10/12

Matthew 7:16-18, 20 ESV

You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?  So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.  A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit... Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

How can we differentiate a true sheep and a wolf in sheep clothing? They all appear pure, harmless and good. How can we see through all the clever deceptions and rationalizations? They all look good and sound reasonable.

By checking the fruit they bring forth - the effect & the result of their work, we will recognize them. If they bring forth fruit of the Holy Spirit in themselves & inspire others - love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, kindness, faithfulness, self control - they are of God. If they bring forth evil fruit (contention, strife, hedonistic, quarreling...), they are wolves in sheep clothing. By their fruit we shall see if they are of God, or wolves in sheep clothing.

Tuesday 09/10/12

Matthew 7:15 ESV

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Here Jesus warned us of false prophets, those who claim to be the men of God and speak in God name, but are not. They appear pure & good outside (in sheep clothing), but inside they are full of evil intentions (like ravenous wolves).

God calls His people as His sheep. Wolves are enemies of sheep. They hurt, kill, and eat sheep. In the same way false prophets hurt, destroy and profit (financially) from believers instead of building them up like true prophets.

False prophets appear in sheep clothing, outward just like believers. We need to discern them by checking their inward, not by their appearance.

Monday 08/10/12

Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

When it comes to the following God, we need to actively seek God, learn from His Word and personally responsible for our progress. We need to learn from others, but we must not blindly following them & let them let us astray. The popular way, easy, wide and crowded may feel safe & right, but it maybe deceiving and lead to death. The small and hard way may seem strange and unnecessarily troublesome, but it leads to life.

Thus we need to personally responsible for our walk with God, learn from others, but discern the right from wrong and do not let them lead us astray. The right way may be small and hard and lonely, but it is the way to life.

Thursday 04/10/12

Matthew 7:12 ESV

So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

This rule is the golden rule, the summary of all moral rules, the Law - how God wants mankind to live, and the Prophets - what God wants to achieve.  That people care not so much about themselves or how others treat them, but about how they treat others.

Human tend to tone down this law as "do NOT do to others what you do NOT want them to do to you". But not doing bad does not make you good, and what will happen if people do bad to you? Retaliate? The two laws are not equivalent. Jesus' law is proactive & demand initiative actions even in unfavourable circumstances. Human's law is passive, defensive & easily broken in hostile scenarios.

God wants us to take actions & make things happen.

Tuesday 02/10/12

Matthew 7:9-11 ESV

Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Christians are to profess God as their Heavenly Father. If you believe so, you need to think and plan your actions based on this.

The first application of this belief is in prayer - talking with God, seeking help and asking good things from God. Here Jesus said earthly fathers, even though they are not prefect & have many wrong, still know how to keep their children from harm & give them good things. How much more the almighty God can do for his children?

However, a child needs to honor, listen and obey his father's teaching. In the same way, as Christians we must honor God, listen to Him, and study from His Word. In that way, we can live a life pleasing to Him, ask good & agreeable things to Him which He's happy to give.