August 29, 2011

I Love My Small Group

Last night, I made sure that I will rise up at exactly 4 o'clock in the morning. I set up three alarm clocks to make sure I won't be late for tomorrow  because honestly, I have a hard time going out of the bed especially when I feel really tired.

Thankfully, this morning, I was up to bed even before the time I set all the alarm clocks! (I think this was the first time. Haha!) I decided not to take a bath because we will be jogging around and will be sweating a lot this morning. I just washed my face, then have my teeth brushed, and hair combed, then I was ready for the said activity.

Happy Monday

Wonderful weather, beautiful sisters, sweet brother, lovely father, the Word of God- some of the reasons why I am really enjoying my Monday. :)

I started my day devoting my self to God. I read my Bible and I prayed. I believe that if you started Your day by immersing your soul with His complete and Final Revelation to man (which is the Bible), everything else will follow smoothly. All your anxious thoughts, worries, and heartache will be removed because of His Word.

August 10, 2011

James 1:22

I just want to share to you my homework in our Baptist College of Leadership (BCL) class. Our topic was about debotional method since we are currently taking up the subjest "Methods of Bible Study".

“Prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” James 1:22

EMPHASIS:

Doers of the Word- I am a Sunday school teacher. Those of us who are called to preach or teach the Word of God must put it on first. To proclaim the Word of God as if it was true in our life, when it is not, is a LIE. Another point is that, once we hear/read the Word of God, we are obliged to do what it commands. Yes, it’s quite hard to be as holy as what God wants us to be, but we can always ask God to give us strength.

Hearers who delude themselves- Those of us who receive the Word are also vulnerable to self-deception if we fail to put it into practice. Let’s take for instance, we hear a sermon or a lesson, and say “Wow! What a great truth!” and hurry off to share it with someone else without processing it ourselves and applying it in our own lives. If I do not act on the truth I hear of my good heavenly Father, then I am deceived because the truth I heard does not stay before me, and I soon forget it and so forget myself.

PARAPHRASE:

A genuine Christian does not just listen to the Word and so deceive herself. The Word must be applied and reflected in her life.

PERSONALIZE:

I must not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive myself. I must do what it says.

SIN TO CONFESS: I must confess that there are times I am being pretentious. I listen to the Word and read my Bible, but me, myself is not reflecting what that specific Scripture is telling me, especially when I teach in the Sunday School. Also, I am afraid to admit it when my life does not completely match up to the Scripture.

ATTITUDE TO CHANGE: I must be true, not only to myself, but most especially; I must be true to the One who created me, to the One who gave me the gift of teaching. This verse made me realize that I have a perfection complex. I have this thinking that I have to model perfection and not admit to something else. I must accept the fact that I can’t model perfection, because I am not perfect; I can only model growth. The people around me need to know that I am a real person in the process of maturing.

COMMAND TO OBEY: It is clear in this verse that we are commanded to do what the Word is telling us to do. We must continue to grow spiritually by reading, listening, and applying God’s Word in our lives.

PRAYER TO PRAY: Lord, forgive me for the times I have placed the quest for earthly perfection ahead of growth in You and Your Word. Help me model growth in my life today.

ERROR TO AVOID: We are tempted when we are in trouble to believe that just hearing the truth, or "knowing" the truth is enough.

TRUTH TO BELIEVE: This verse reminds me that listening and receiving again and again the truth of God's amazing love and grace for us will help us to be more deliberate and faithful in our words and with our actions.

To act on the truth we hear is to live as if God is truly our gracious heavenly Father and that He alone gives us our worth, our identity. But this is to allow very deep habits of mind, words, and actions to be transformed.

To act on what we hear though, is not simply to try harder not to, say, not complaining or being anxious. James 1:22 is not encouraging me to simply try harder to live right. This is encouraging me to do whatever I need to do in order to feed my faith in my heavenly Father.

SOMETHING TO PRAISE GOD FOR: I praise God for His faithfulness to complete me. I praise God for His unchanging, generous, and completely good character.


August 6, 2011

Proverbs 3:1-2


DEVOTIONAL METHOD
   
Proverbs 3:1-2
   My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,
2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

VISUALIZE:

   I can imagine in this verse a father lying in a bed, a bedridden loving father, who is telling his child about the things he must not forget.

EMPHASIS:

   My- a possessive pronoun, meaning God is really talking to His children, those who believed and accepted Him.
  
   Son- this is not only pertaining to male, but instead, it is used in this verse as a general term

   Do not forget- They say in Filipino, “Ang gamot sa limot ay paalala”. These are the ways that I do to not forget His teaching and commandments: I always read the Bible, as in every time I get a chance to read it; I memorize it; I write it down on a sticky note and post it on my wall so that every time I open my eyes, I will be reminded again.

Teaching and Commandments- As I read this, I remembered the Greatest Commandment:  "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

In your heart- God is concerned about our hearts. A question came into my mind: “When God listens to my heart, does He hear His Word?”. When God’s Law is in our hearts, He can do something through us, in us, and for us. What’s in our hearts will determine what’s in our lips. If the truth of God is in our hearts, then the Word of God will be on our lips. Taking care of the heart is the most important thing we can do. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”-Proverbs 4:23

Long life and prosperity- True prosperity and true "long life" can be found only in heaven.


PARAPHRASE:

   Anyone who doesn't follow the guidelines of wisdom presented in this proverb is doomed to poverty and to death at an early age.


PERSONALIZE:

   “I must not forget His teaching. Instead, I must keep His commands in my heart, for He will prolong my life many years and will bring me prosperity.”

SIN TO CONFESS:
  
   I must confess that most of the time, I worry about things such as, “How long will I be staying here on earth?”, “What are the things I should ask God so that I can be prosperous?”, “Will I really be spending my eternity in Heaven?”. Notice that I am very anxious and doubtful about God’s promise to me. In other words, I am not living a doubt-free life. Although I’m reading my Bible, I must also confess that the lessons I get from the Word of God are not actually being practiced in my own life. Also, I still don’t acquire the habit of asking God’s help about anything He commands.

PROMISE TO CLAIM:

   These verses clearly state the promise that God will prolong my life many years and He will make me prosperous. And for God, true prosperity can only be found in heaven, together with Him.

ATTITUDE TO CHANGE:

   I should hide His Word in my heart so that I might not sin against Him. When I’m going to make a decision, I should think about this first: If He was in my place, what would Jesus do? I must also change my attitude of worrying.

COMMAND TO OBEY:

   The command for all the believers is found in verse 1. I should not forget His teaching by always reading His Word and applying it in my life. I should keep His commands in my heart, not just in my mind.

PRAYER TO PRAY:

   “Heavenly Father, help me remember that Your will is good, pleasing, and perfect. Thank You so much that You reward those who obey You, keep Your commands, and do what’s right. I pray that Your will may be done in my life. Help me humbly follow You. Help me to reflect Your love through my testimony. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
 
ERROR TO AVOID: For me, it is a big mistake if you don’t practice what you preach.

TRUTH TO BELIEVE:

   I believe that the guidelines in these proverbs are the God-appointed pathway to prosperity and long life, but God has higher perspectives and purposes that will sometimes require His children to forego such earthly success. It is only because of God's mercy that wicked people sometimes live long and prosperous lives on earth, yet they will not escape His judgment in eternity.

SOMETHING TO PRAISE GOD FOR:

   I praise God for His faithfulness to complete me. I will forever be grateful for His mercy and Grace. I know I don’t deserve to be in heaven, but because of His grace, He helps me to put my faith and hope in Him to save me.

APPLICATION:

   One of the key words in the Bible is “REMEMBER”. We are to remember God’s works His mercy, His faithfulness, and His commandments. Sometimes we forget all God has done for us.
  
   I will find some time to write down the gracious deeds the Lord has done for me since I have been walking with Him. I will tuck my “story” into my Bible on how I followed His commandments, and look at it from time to time. This might also be a great time to start a spiritual journal since I haven’t done this before- a Day-to-Day record of my life with God.

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