05/01
Because I live, you shall live also. John 14:19
Living Christ
Christians from the beginning until now have continued to believe in the activity of the Living Christ. And their belief is certainly not a superstition; neither is it simply a tradition of the church. It is the believer's living experience. Every Christian who led thorough-going life of faith, firmly believed in this fact of life. A person became a Christian not because one came to understand the truth of Christianity, but because one met Christ, and owned Him as one's lord; because one was found by Him, taken prisoner, and called to be His servant. The true Christian is the one who has entered into immediate personal relationship with the Living Christ. On this point, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, all agree. In Christian Religion, conversion is not simply understanding; it is entrance into immediate personal relationship with the savior. If Christ is not now living, there will be no conversion. A person is converted not because the one apprehended the doctrine, but because the one was introduced into the presence of Living Christ and one's whole life changed as the result of this experience.
05/02
Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Psalms 126: 5-6
Reward
God rewards us fully in other world, but also partially in this world. God gives us fruits of our labor and revives our fainting hope. God makes no disappointment for our labor of sawing the Gospel but give us hope of how wonderful will be the time of harvest. How joyful is to see the fruit of Spirit. When I see a true Christian as fruit of my labor with blood and tears for ten or twenty years, my joy flows out as if my soul ascends to heaven. A fellow person discovered God, the Creator of the universe and human beings, and I was an instrument for that discovery. How joyful is to see that we could serve a person for the discovery of God.
05/03
Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos has plotted against you in the midst of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. For so Amos says; Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely go into exile out of his land. Amaziah said to Amos . . ., Prophesy not again any more at Bethel; for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. Amos 7:10-13
Heresy
People scorn heresy. But nothing can be more precious than heresy in the world. Only with heresy can the world make progress. The prophet was a heretic. Jesus was a heretic. Paul also was a heretic. Luther was a heretic as well. Wesley, similarly, was a heretic. Because of their heresy they can still influence the world today. Heretics arise from their innermost conviction. It discerns truth without depending upon human authority. Heresy subjects itself directly to truth, never indirectly. It marches straight to truth and the God of truth without regard to humans. Heresy, thus, always keeps new life; the stereotyped should not be heresy. Heresy may not be without several errings, but it goes ahead persistently. By shunning heresy, one commits the risk of deadlock. The old shall invariably follow the orthodox faith; but the youths should not hesitate to be heresy.
05/04
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Psalms 19: 7-10
Value of Bible
Why is the Bible the word of God? Because it speaks what cannot be said but by God. Unpolished or unskillfulness of its sentences is not the matter. Misrepresentations of historical facts or lacks of scientific evidence do not affect the importance of free revelation of God's will at all. We wish to know God's will about our life and our universe. And the Bible satisfies this wish most precisely. That is to say, the Bible is perfect, not because of its formality of words but because of God's holy will penetrating it throughout. Grace of God overflows the Bible; this is why the Bible is the word of God.
05/05
Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man will give you. For God the Father sealed Him. John 6:27
Faith and Labor
Faith cannot be maintained by faith. Faith can only be maintained by labor. Faith is the root, and labor the branch. The former gives out the sap, while the latter assimilates it. Without branches and leaves, the sap will get rotten and petrified. Without labor, faith will degrade and bring forth skepticism. What is required for keeping faith shall not be more faith, but labor with the hand and brain. Without labor, the flesh starves and the soul perishes. Labor is indispensable not merely for sustaining the physical body alone but for the spirit.
05/06
I have learned to be content in whatever state I am. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound. In everything and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:11-13
Dependence and Independence
A person of content shall be a person of independence. A discontented person is a person of dependence. This world makes a pleasant place to live in, relying alone on God and one's own self. To ignore this simple principle, and only seek favor of fellow humans, getting angry when denied, and to spend weary days, ever complaining of the cold humanity, one must be fooling one's own life. Happiness always rests on one's own hands and heart. Seeking it elsewhere as other's hands, the inevitable recompense will be disappointment, shame and discontent.
05/07
Do not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own, for you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Serve God
Christopher said "Human is the genuine temple." The heavenly sphere, enclosing the Plough, the Orion and the Pleiades, is not a place where God abides. When thunderbolts shake mountains and troubles waters, this is not a time when God speaks to human. God abides and speaks to us when and where a baby lay in us. God demands of us faith and obedience to Him. To serve God is to serve human. Without loving human we have no way to serve God.
05/08
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14: 1-3
Stranger in World
My life on earth may not be matter: maybe hated, misunderstood, poverty-stricken, or even naked. My eternal destiny is not determined by the circumstances surrounding me upon this earth. Jesus Christ, who gave up his life for me, is the One who determines my destiny. He went up to His Father to prepare a place for me. He promised to come back here again to receive us to Him. I am a stranger and a wanderer for a time in this world (Psalms 119: 19). I pitch a tent temporarily, and not building an eternal mansion, upon this earth. Whenever called by God, I will at once cut off the lope of the tent and hasten home into His Nation.
05/09
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you. In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you shall be My disciples. John 15: 7-8
Prayer for God's Will
A prayer that cannot fail to be heard is the prayer for the fulfillment of the will of God. God's will cannot fail to be done. By praying for His will, our prayer should never be a failure. One may then say, "If God's will is to be sorely accomplished, why has human to pray for it? God will do His will even without human's prayer." Not so. God works with us to accomplish His will. God wants us to join for His work. A father does not want to do his own work, leaving his son isolated. To let the son participate in his work, and to share the glory with his son; this is a father's will. Quite the same with the Heavenly Father. He wants to see that His own will reach Him through human prayer, and to accomplish it, so that man may partake of God's glory. So be that will of God of Love. So be the honor of mine to pray. Nothing more glorious for me than to pray for God's will as my own. When my will coincides with God's, and when my prayer coincides with God's design, nothing should then remain unfulfilled.
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