07/01
Trust not in a friend, put not confidence in a guide; keep the doors of your mouth from her that lies in your bosom. For the son dishonorers the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house. Therefore I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7: 5-7
I Look to Jesus
They say I am a sinner. I know I am. I LOOK TO JESUS. They say I am a hypocrite. I may be. I LOOK TO JESUS. They say I am ugly, am badly brought up, insolent, proud, "too independent." I am sorry that I am. It is not all my fault. I LOOK TO JESUS. I LOOK TO JESUS. He is I and I am He. Let humans and churches say whatever they like about me. I am no more myself. "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). And because I quote the Scripture for my defence, churches say that I am a hypocrite. I look away from churches, and LOOK TO JESUS.
07/02
Good Master, what good shall I do that I may have eternal life? And He said to him, Why do you call Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. Matthew 19:16-17
What is Good
In answer to the question "What is good?" Jesus Christ told us "Good is God." Filial piety is good; charity is good. But whether filial piety or charity, these are fruits of goodness; and the goodness is God. To know God is to become a good person. To learn goodness is to approach God. Without seeking goodness, one cannot be good. Religion and morality, action and faith, these are two sides of one thing. One side cannot be dispensed with for knowing the other. The Bible defines a good person as "one who walks with God" (Genesis 5:22). To forsake God and commit idolatry means to abandon good for doing evil, for evil-doing is true idolatry. Anyone, whether a Christian or a Buddhist, who respects righteousness and seeks goodness, is a child of God and a heir to Israel.
07/03
The LORD is my strength, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock; I will trust in Him; He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower. Psalms 18: 2
Bible My Shield
The Bible has unlimited power, by which I can deserve my dignity and independence from others' attack and condemnation. The Bible is the shield of a solitary person, the fortress of a weak, the home for the person who is misunderstood. With the Bible I can stand against the Pope, Archbishops, doctors of theology, pastors and missionaries. Others may forsake and attack the Bible in order to oppose religious professionals. I will not forsake the Bible. I take refugee in the iron wall of the Bible because I know I am weak. With the Bible I can fight those who rebuke me as atheist and call me wolf. How can I forsake the strong hold of the Bible? How can I stand in the wilderness without the guard of the Bible and protect from others' arrows of merciless, shallowness, narrow-mindedness, and stiff-necked attacks?
07/04
You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God led you these forty years in the wilderness in order to humble you, to prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger, and then He fed you with manna, which you did not know, neither did your fathers know it, so that He might make you know that one shall not live by bread alone. But every word that comes out of the mouth of the LORD one shall live. Deuteronomy 8: 2-3
Faith Within and Without
Faith is both internal and external. Enduring and unshakable faith only grows on the combination between the proof of external and visible conducts and the spiritual and invisible revelations. Faith is liable to fade, like a dream, if it is confined within and mystified. Or, when faith is confined without, it shall diminish and degenerate into the worldly powers of politics and economics. Like a heroic body, faith must also stand erect on two feet, that is, the external history and nature on the one foot and the internal confidence and conscience on the other.
07/05
The LORD is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works. Psalms 145: 9
Religion of Common Sense
My Christianity is the teaching of common sense. Common sense is not human wisdom, but the sense of justice and truth which God gives all human beings. I believe in Christ not because I received special miracle or had special mystic experience. I have not seen God yet. He does not manifest Himself in dream or vision. If there is a special experience in my life, it is a special occasion that everyone has. An occasion becomes special for everyone because a person is an unique individuality. . . The grace of God is precious not because it is special, but because it is common. "Father in Heaven makes the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). The sun and rain are the greatest gifts of life. The light that shines over everyone is the most precious grace in heaven and earth. I am most joyful when God graced me the same blessing as everyone.
07/06
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church. Colossians 1:24
Follower's Suffering
Christ saved the whole world by His death. This is never a false statement, but the greatest truth of the truth. Christ bore and redeemed the sins of the world by His death. We, His followers, too can bear and redeem the sins of the world similarly in proportion to the gift that God granted us. This is a blessing to be thanked heartily. Dying with faith in the Lord, we can benefit the world eternally, however limited in extent, even though nothing worthy has been accomplished during the life-time. Salvation of humanity shall not be completed by Christ's suffering alone, but by suffering by us, His followers, of the agony of death, along with Him.
07/07
Salt is good, but if the salt have lost its saltness, with what will you season? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another. Mark 9:50
Peace with Salt
"Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another"; this is the way of peace. This means each one shall walk according to what is shown by righteousness. One shall respect other's right as one does one's own right. When one shall fulfill the righteousness with sincerity, eternal peace shall be realized. But, if righteousness is disregarded, peace shall not come. Peace shall not be a compromise of righteousness, but it is the full realization of righteousness. It is the peace of God and of eternal endurance. Consequently, no perfect peace can be expected in this world until every human can season salt, that is, righteousness within one's self. The secret of achieving peace is clearly shown in this word of Christ.
07/08
Blessed is the person who endures temptation, because when he or she is tried, he or she will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. James 1:12
Despise and Glory
Glory comes after being despised. Glory comes to us only after we have been ridiculed, trampled down, despised in the face, scorned as evil doers or hypocrites, by people around us. Yea, being despised is the forerunner of glory. We joy the hope of the crown of glory coming after being despised, as spring is preceded by winter and as the full moon is preceded by an eclipse. We should never be faint-hearted in the face of human's ridicule.
07/09
Our Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. Galatians 1: 3-4
End of Believing
Anyone who believes in Christ for the interest of one's nation will abandon Him after all. Anyone who believes in Christ for the interest of sociality and humanity will abandon Him after all. Anyone who believes in Christ in the hope of expanding the church will after all abandon Him. Anyone who adores Christ's character and believed Him will abandon Him after all. Anyone who wanted to attain to a higher thought by believing in Christ will finitely abandon Him. Anyone who sought help and consolation in troubles and hardships by believing in Christ will abandon Him after all. But the one who was shown of his sins, and cried "O wretched person that I am." (Romans 7:24), and found in Christ's Cross the only way to be righteous before God, and could not but believe in Christ on account of its joy, such a one can not abandon Him for ever, though heavens and the earth may disappear.
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