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Category: devotions

A Leader Under Submission

:: a leader under submission thoughts on leadership Read a book. Before he was King David, he hid in the caves to escape a king who wanted his death- a king who David once favorably served. Setting was a cave. Protagonist was the one brokenhearted, desolate, weak, and emptied. Young David sang songs in response to the crushing of his hopes. He sang and cried from deep resignation, and the angels listened like a hungry audience. utcasts fled to the caves. Many joined David. They were liars. They were thieves. They were rebels. But they heard David’s moans, David’s humility, and trust in the Lord. Without scepter and crown, people began to follow David- the weak, the broken- the leader under submission. Through him, God’s resounding strength and great might were revealed. Through the broken. ____________________________________________________ “David did not lead them. He did not share their attitudes. yet, unsolicited, they began to follow him…why did they follow him? They didn’t, exactly. It was just that he was…well…David. That didn’t need explanation. And so, for the first time, true kingship had its nativity.” “if you are asking if i am a former thief and cave dweller and one who followed a […]

“Ruthless Trust”

I’ve been reading “ruthless trust” by Brennan Manning because this lacks in me. With coffee in hand to defeat fatigue, I was resolved to learn about the application of this so called trust in 181 pages. The text seems obscure, and at times I just want a copy of “ruthless trust, kindergarten version” so I don’t have to think too much, just gain the wisdom it’s offering, but this impatience has taught me the path to God isn’t easy. Darn. The last thing I highlighted was this: “Anyone that God uses significantly is always deeply wounded.” why? When i was 13, in my innocence of God’s molding, I stumbled upon a devotion in my daily bread with the last statement having a lasting state in my mind. I have no recollection of what the devotion was about, but I remember the words bolded at the bottom. “God never uses a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” This upset me so much because i wondered how a loving God would want to hurt his beloved- a beloved who would be an instrument to His glory. “Funny how there are some things that just stick out in your memory”, one […]

“God Loves You, OK?”

“God loves you, OK?” -p first thing that came into my head was, “yes I know God loves me. That is always true- He has such affection for me.” I turned off the computer and went upstairs feeling defeated. I believed God loved me yet I still felt that everything is all wrong. I took comfort in the fact that despite circumstances, at least God loved me. As I was about to sleep, I thought about it some more. It kept repeating in my head like a children’s Sunday school song- so simple yet there’s something buried deep inside it, one day hopefully revealed by a child who learns to search beyond the words. I saw the folly of my limited thinking. “Love” isn’t the mere capsule of human’s capacity or standard of love. But “love” in context of that sentence encompasses a deeper plight and purpose other than and including affection. “Love” is not just the obscure emotion as one can “love” a certain color or particular food. Instead, this “love” imitates that function of a verb- an action beyond the mushiness of the heart. Instead, it is the manifestation of the complex idea. And for me to agree […]

Unity

warning:: crazy reflections:: ramifications=overkill on blogging. i taught youth today although i had some reservations in doing so. i felt so unprepared for a lesson that i was so interested in. it’s in john 17:20-24… the whole chapter is a prayer of Jesus to God the Father. This is after Jesus had already emplored His disciples to abide and remain in Him, for He was the vine, and they were the branches. Time was drawing near for His arrest and i can feel the urgency of His desire for them to understand that it is through Him that they can have Life. What secrets He longed for them to understand…knowing that they’re going to have to put everything together once He is crucified. He wanted to love them so…even in John 15…He emphasized with sweet refrain, “abide in me and I will abide in You.” Then in John 17, we see an intimate portrait of Jesus in His own prayer closet, pouring His most intimate desires to the Father…what was in this deep heart of our Savior????? Wouldn’t you want to know? Have you ever admired a person, so much so that you wished if only you could hear their […]

A Glorious Destiny

I see a lot of things these days. I hear various ideas and I think sometimes I, in paranoia, poison what can be conceived as innocent, as threats to my comfort. In conflict, I confuse pride with sensitivity, and humility with indifference. I just confuse myself and God’s investment in me. Then I stumbled on this while looking at an old picture of my praise team from college, which was inserted in my Bible as a sentimental bookmark: “Was it for nothing that I kept my heart pure and kept myself from doing wrong? All i get is trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain. Then I realized how bitter I had become, how pained i had been by all I had seen. I was so foolish and ignorant- I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. Yet I still belong to you; you are holding my right hand. you will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. Whom have i in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit my grow weak, but God remains the strenth of my […]

“Plant the Bulbs”

“38Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” -Matthew 9:38 I keep hearing the voice of my mom telling me, reminding me over & over not to forget to plant the bulbs that are already sprouting near the side of my house. This is something she`s adamantly been requesting of me since she left for the Philippines. I admit, the cold highly affects my drive in accomplishing this small request, but all in all, I also readily admit that i can`t wait until it`s planted. Why? Hmmm. Well, I guess because it`s something i wouldn`t normally do- plant. But the prospect of investing something living to the garden is somewhat intrinsically exciting. And to watch it grow will probably be just as concerning for me when I come home on the weekends. Now i know why my mom prides so much in her garden and the newly grown flowers that have bloomed while i was away. She`d always take me outside to show me the final masterpiece of a slow overlooked struggle of a flower blooming. Maybe that`s what God intends for us when He asks us to plant. I shamefully realize that […]