A David Psalm

Psalm 40:1-5 (The Message)

1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.

2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn aside to false gods.

5 Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders you have done.
The things you planned for us
no one can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be too many to declare.



Mine (My God)
Father, I am amazed today that as great as You are I can call You mine. I'm not holding on to You, but You're holding on to me. You made the world and everything I see (not to mention the stuff I can't see), but You know my name and have allowed me to call You Father.
I guess when I think about it everybody around me has some kind of god, something they believe in and something that determines how they live their lives. But I am so glad You have me.
You rescued me when I had no hope. You pulled me up from the mess I made of my life.
You came when I cried out to You. You always do. You, God, cleaned me up and washed me off.
You put my feet on solid ground. God, You are my solid ground. And You allowed me to worship You. You gave me a new song, not the same old song the world is singing. My song is a song of praise to You because You deserve it.
And the stuff you planned for my life... wow! There's no way I could know all the amazing plans You have for me, but I love what You have done so far. And to top it all off, I belong to You and You belong to me.
I like saying to You today what David wrote in this Psalm, "O Lord, my God." I want You to be the God of me and I want to be wholly Yours today.

Thank you for being mine.

The Supreme Climb

"He said, 'Take now your son...'"
(Genesis 22:2)

God's command is, "Take now," not later. It is incredible how we try to debate God! Have you ever had that time when you know something is right, but you try to find excuses for not doing it immediately? If you are to climb to the height God intends, it can never be done later - it must be done now. And the sacrifice must be worked through our will before we actally perform it.

"So Abraham rose early in the morning... and went to the place of which God had told him." (22:3) Man, Abraham's simplicity is amazing! When God spoke, he did not "converse with flesh and blood" (Gal 1:6). Be careful when you want to "converse with flesh and blood" or even your own thoughts, insights, or understandings - anything that is not based on your personal relationship with God. These are all things that compete with and hinder obedience to God.

Abraham did not choose what the sacrifice would be. Always guard yourself against self-chosen service for God. Self-sacrifice may be a disease that messes up your service. If God has made your cup sweet, drink it with grace; or even if He has made it bitter, drink it still. If the will of God means a hard and difficult time for you, go through it. But never decide the place of your own martyrdom, as if to say, "I will only go there, but no farther." God chose the test for Abraham, and Abraham neither delayed nor protested, but steadily obeyed. If you are not living in touch with God, it is easy to blame Him or pass judgment on Him. You must go through the trial, because by going through it you learn to know God better. God is working in you to reach His highest goals until His purpose and your purpose become one.

The Key of the Greater Work

"The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things... you can count on it." (John 14:12)

Prayer does not to prepare us for greater works - prayer is the greater work. Why do we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise that we have to do? In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle in my life and in yours.

Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. In whatever way God may plan your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, "I am of no use where I am," because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually keep offering up prayers to Him. You know why? Because he promises, "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do..." (14:13).

But how come we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us? Guess what? This is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God's direction, and He says "On your knees and pray for harvest hands!" (Matt 9:38) I agree there is nothing exciting about a person who does the dirty work, but it is that person who makes the ideas of the genius possible.

It's the same with you. It is the Soul'd Out Warrior who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you pray, (from God's perspective) there are always results. You will get the surprise of your life to see, once God decides to reveal everything to you, all the work that has been done by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.

God's Silence - Then What?

"When He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was." (John 11:6)

Has God trusted you with His silence - a silence that has great meaning? God's silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the house of Lazarus! Just when they needed God the most, God kept silent! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you complaining before God because you do not have an audible response?

After pouring your heart out to Him in prayer - the wonderful thing about God's silence is that His stillness is contagious. It gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, "I know that God has heard me." His silence is the very proof that He has.
When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible - with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him - He is bringing you into the heart of His purposes.

Worshiping in Everyday Occasions

"When you were under the fig tree, I saw you." (John 1:48)

Worshiping in Everyday Occasions

We presume that we would be ready for battle if confronted with a great crisis, but it is not the crisis that builds us - it simply reveals what we are made of already. Do you find yourself saying, "If God calls me to battle, of course I will rise to the occasion"? Yet you won't rise to the occasion unless you have done so on God's training ground. If you are not doing the task that is closest to you now, which God has engineered into your life, when the crisis comes, instead of being fit for battle, you will be revealed as being unfit. Crises always reveal a person's true character.

A private relationship of worshiping God is the greatest essential element of spiritual fitness. The time will come, as Nathanael experienced in this passage, that a private "fig tree" life will no longer be possible. Everything will be out in the open, and you will find yourself to be of no value there if you have not been worshiping in everyday occasions in your own home. If your worship is right in your private relationship with God, then when He sets you free, you will be ready. It is in the unseen life, which only God saw, that you have become perfectly fit. And when the strain of the crisis comes, you can be relied upon by God.

God's training ground, where the Christian weapons are found, is the hidden, personal, worshiping life of the saint.

STAND FIRM!

1 Corinthians 10:12-13 (NIV)
"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

Temptations are like lions. They slowly creep up on you, silently, patiently waiting for the right time, and then BAM!, they get you at your weakest most vulnerable times. These are the times when you get to thinking, "Wow, I've been a pretty good Christian lately. I've done this...I'm really involved with that..." and so on. They get you at the times when you're just surfing the internet, and one thing leads to the other or "just talking" to "a friend" but in all honesty, that "friend" is someone you're really crushin' on OR...well, you get the idea. Before things really take a slide, you then start saying to yourself, "I got this." Soon you start making up excuses, trying to convince yourself, sayin' something along the lines of, "It's not like this is wrong or anything," or, "I'm not hurting anyone." But it's just how that verse in 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, "Everything is permissble...but not everything is beneficial."

Temptations, they'll always be around, but it's your choice whether to shake it off and continue to walk in step with God or give in and hurt Him. God is so good, that even when you're going through tempting situations, He gives you a way out. But again, it's your choice to make your escape. If there's a temptation that seems overwhelming, chances are, you shouldn't have placed yourselves in that situation in the first place. So with all that said, always keep your guards up for anything out there that could tempt you. Don't be like zebras minding their own business, thinking everythings' fine and dandy, only to find a lion's about ready to pounce on and devour it's next meal. And remember, if ever you do fall, don't just lie there! (God didn't send down Jesus Christ to die for ALL your sins -past, present, and future- for you to just lie there in regret and shame.) Get right back up and show Him the kind of love you can offer Him! =]

Hopefully this serves as a reminder while everyone's at back in school. Read over those chapters to see what else God might want to say to you for your life.

1 Corinthians 9

1 Corinthians 9

In this chapter, Paul was listing the rights of an apostle. He was saying how we deserve privileges from what he has been doing as an apostle of Christ. He said things like, because we sacrifice so much we should get something back. He was listing how apostles deserve food, drinks, and more. However, this is not what Paul thought. What he was stating was what others would think. Paul really found his reward in serving the Lord. At times it may feel like we should get a reward for what we are doing and sometimes it feels like we need a reward for the duties we fulfill for God, but that is not true. 1Corinthians 9 says that it should be a privilege, and that is the truth. Our true reward is in doing it for God, the privilege of giving back because God has given us so much. If the duty is a burden to you ask yourself, am I doing this for God? This chapter also says that we race to win a prize not of this earth, but of heaven. As Christians, we should want nothing less that excellence for the Lord. As we strive for this excellence, others will see the fight we have, and the power of God’s love in us. By aiming to please God, we glorify his name on the way, and may lead some of those who are lost to Christ. God chose us for a reason.

Romans 12

What is true dedication? 

As Paul described it here, Christian dedication involves three steps.

You give God your body (v. 1). Before we trusted Christ, we used our body for sinful pleasures and purposes, but now that we are Soulʼd Out - we belong to Him, we want to use our body for His glory. The Christianʼs body is Godʼs temple (1 Cor. 6:19–20) because the Spirit of God dwells within you (Rom. 8:9). It is our privilege to glorify Christ

in our body and magnify Christ in our body (Phil. 1:20–21). Just as Jesus Christ had to take on Himself a body in order to accomplish Godʼs will on earth, so we must yield our bodies to Christ that He might continue Godʼs work through us. We must yield the members of the body as “instruments of righteousness” (Rom. 6:13) for the Holy Spirit to use in the doing of Godʼs work. The Old Testament sacrifices were dead sacrifices, but we are to be living sacrifices. That means not doing what feels good, but doing what is right. The verb “present” in this verse means “present once and for all.” It commands a definite commitment of the body to the Lord, just like a Soulʼd Out Commitment. It is this once for- all commitment that determines what you do with your bodies.

Paul gives us two reasons for this commitment:

(1) it is the right response to all that God has done for us; and

(2) this commitment is “your spiritual worship.” This means that every day is a worship experience when your body is yielded to the Lord.

You give Him your mind (v. 2a). The world wants to control your mind, but God wants to transform your mind (see Eph. 4:17–24; Col. 3:1–11). This word transform is the same as transfigure in Matthew 17:2. It has come into our English language as the word “metamorphosis.” It describes a change from within. The world wants to change your

mind, so it pressures you from the outside. But the Holy Spirit changes your mind by releasing power from within. If the world controls your thinking, you are a conformer; if God controls your thinking, you are a transformer. God transforms our minds and makes us spiritually minded by using His Word.

You give Him your will (v. 2b). Your mind controls your body, and your will controls your mind. Many people think they can control their will by “willpower,” but usually they fail. (This was Paulʼs experience as recorded in Rom. 7:15–21). It is only when we yield the will to God that His power can take over and give us the willpower (and the wonʼt power!) that we need to be victorious Christians.

We surrender our wills to God every morning as we spend time reading His Word. As we spend time in prayer, we surrender our will to God and pray, with the Lord, “Not my will, but Yours will be done.” We must pray about everything, and let God have His way in everything. That is what a Soulʼd Out Generation is all about.

Try to begin each day by surrendering your body to the Lord. Then spend time with His Word and let Him transform your mind and prepare your thinking for that new day. Then pray, and yield the plans of the day to Him and let Him work as He sees best. I especially pray about those tasks that upset or worry me—and He

always sees me through. To have a right relationship with God, we must start the day by yielding to Him our bodies, minds, and wills.

Matthew 7

Matthew 7

Our Judgment of Ourselves

The first principle of judgment is that we begin with ourselves. Jesus did not forbid us to judge others, for careful discrimination is essential in the Christian life. Christian love is not blind (Phil. 1:9–10). The person who believes all that he hears, and accepts everyone who claims to be spiritual will experience confusion and great spiritual loss. But before we judge others, for a SURGE to be effective, we must judge ourselves. Ask yourself this question:

How is my Soulʼd Out Commitment? Am I really Soulʼd Out? How can I be an addition to SURGE? 

Two things must be avoided in this matter of self-examination. The first is the deception of a shallow examination. Sometimes we are so sure of ourselves that we fail to examine our hearts honestly and thoroughly. A quick glance into the mirror of the Word will never reveal the true situation (James 1:22–25). The second is examining yourself over and over and over again. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in self-examination that we become unbalanced. But we

should not look only at ourselves, or we will become discouraged and defeated. After we have judged ourselves honestly before God, and have removed those things that blind us, then we can help others and really create A Generation Soulʼd Out. But if we know there are sins in our lives, and we try to help others, we are hypocrites. The Pharisees were guilty of this. The reason for judgment, then, is not that we might condemn others, but that we might be able to help each other as we SURGE.

The Two Ways

These are, of course, the way to heaven and the way to hell. The broad way is the easy way; it is the popular way. But we must not judge spirituality by statistics; the majority is not always right. The fact that “everybody does it” is no proof that what they are doing is right. In fact, the opposite is true: Godʼs people have always been a remnant, a small minority in this world. The reason is not difficult to discover: The

Soulʼd Out path is narrow, lonely, and costly. We can walk on the broad way and keep our “baggage” of sin and worldliness. But if we enter the narrow way, we must give up those things. Many people who “trust” Jesus Christ never leave the broad road with its appetites and associations. They have an easy Christianity that makes no

demands on them. Yet Jesus said that the narrow way was hard. A Generation Soulʼd Out cannot walk on two roads, in two different directions, at the same time.

The Two Trees

These show that true faith in Christ changes the life and produces fruit for Godʼs glory. Everything in nature reproduces after its kind, and this is also true in the spiritual realm. Good fruit comes from a good tree, but bad fruit comes from a bad tree. The tree that produces rotten fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “Therefore, by their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:20). The second test is this: Did my decision to be Soulʼd Out change my life?

Churchians can produce only a false righteousness (see Acts 20:29). Their fruit (the results of their “commitment”) is false and cannot last. The problem with churchans is that the closer we get to them, the more we see the rottenness of their lives. They praise themselves, not Jesus Christ; and their purpose is to take advantage of people, not to help them. A person who is a churchan, will never experience a changed life. Unfortunately, some people do

not realize this until it is too late.

The Two Houses

From picturing two ways and two trees, God ended His message by picturing two builders and their houses. The two ways illustrate the start of the life of faith; the two trees illustrate the growth and results of the life of faith here and

now; and the two houses illustrate the end of this life of faith, when God calls our generation at the finish line. There are termites at the gate that leads to the broad way, making it easy for people to enter. But at the end of the way, there is destruction. The final test is not what we think of ourselves, or what others may think. The final test is: What will God say? Words are not a substitute for obedience, and neither are religious works. Soulʼd Out niches, Remix responsibilities, and being active in the church can be God inspired, but it does not necessarily mean we are saved. It is likely that even Judas participated in some or all of these activities,

and yet he was not a true Christian. We are to hear Godʼs words and do them (see James 1:22–25). We must not

stop with only hearing (or studying) His words. Our hearing must result in doing. This is what it means to build on the rock foundation. The solid foundation in this parable is obedience to Godʼs Word—obedience that is an evidence of true faith (James 2:14ff). The two men in this story had much in common. Both had desires to build a house. Both built houses that looked good and sturdy. But when hardships came (the storm), one of the houses collapsed. What was the difference? Not the mere external looks, to be sure. The difference was in the foundation: The successful builder “dug deep” (Luke 6:48) and set his house on a solid foundation. We are to be a Generation that is built on solid foundation.

Psalm 1; Galatians 5:7-9

Psalms 1

 ¹ Blessed is the man 
       who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked 
       or stand in the way of sinners 
       or sit in the seat of mockers.

 ² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, 
       and on his law he meditates day and night.

 ³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water, 
       which yields its fruit in season 
       and whose leaf does not wither. 
       Whatever he does prospers.

 ⁴ Not so the wicked! 
       They are like chaff 
       that the wind blows away.

 ⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, 
       nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

 ⁶ For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, 
       but the way of the wicked will perish.

Walk. Stand. Sit. These action verbs define to us the gentle fading of a person's relationship with God. Maybe we started with good intentions like reaching out to our non-Christian friends. But little by little our influence over them is overtaken by their influence over us.  And we not only "walk" but stop to "stand" alongside them, speaking like them, dressing like them... eventually we "sit" and engage and we've forgotten our purpose...  they've won us over. It's never usually one big thing that turns us around, but the little compromises that we make. 

Galatians 5:7-9

⁷You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?⁸That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹"A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough."

Looking back at all the camps we've had, we usually leave being fired up and focused. But as we enter our schools, hang out with our friends, listen to our professors, the light in us fades. So what do we do? Lock ourselves in our rooms? Become loners? Never leave camp?  Of course not!

 ² But his delight is in the law of the LORD, 
       and on his law he meditates day and night.

 ³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water, 
       which yields its fruit in season 
       and whose leaf does not wither. 
       Whatever he does prospers.

This is why our devotions are so important. Like wood to keep our fire burning, we need to feed on the Word of God constantly. In the dictionary, the word "devotion" is defined as "love, loyalty or enthusiasm for a person, activity or cause." How devoted are we to God?  The same way we constantly talk with our close friends in school, the only way we'll get to know God more is to keep talking to Him. As the saying goes, "it takes two to tango." No matter how much God keeps running after us, we have to do our part as well. Reading the Word of God, praying to Him (even sometimes venting to Him) equips us and keeps us in check everyday as we go to school, hang out with our friends, listen to our professors... in everything! The more we know God, the easier it is to turn away sin. If we know what we are standing for, we will not be easily swayed. 

FAITH AND WORKS

James 2:14-26

In this scripture, James explains about Faith and Works. Starting from verse 14 it says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?"
As Christians, its important we have faith but our faith must be backed up strongly by what we do. James explains in more details by giving us an illustration in verse 15-16.

¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

The verse is pretty much self explanatory. If a person is hungry, its much better to get him/her something to eat rather than to say "i hope you're full."

In these similar ways its important that we don't only say things but we mean it and sometimes if necessary what we say must be supported by what we do. It's hard for non-believers to tell if you're Christian for example, If you say you love God, but you don't respect you parents, its like doing the opposite. James mentions that 'faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.' I think James was just emphasizing how important it is for us Christians to have both faith and works part of their lives.

I pray that you too will live lives not just full of words but words that are alive, expressed through the actions you make in the house, school, and church.

-kuya

Meaning of Faith

Hebrews 11
By Faith

1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.

3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. 4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

5By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

7By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he[a]considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring[b] will be reckoned."[c] 19Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.

READ THE WHOLE CHAPTER. IT’S JUST TOO BIG TO BE PUT HERE

Connecting it to the previous devotional entry about “The dead girl and the sick woman” this week will also about faith. Similar to the sick lady from the previous devotional entry every faith has a corresponding action. Hebrews 11 talks about people in the bible who were faithful and acted upon it. It was said in Hebrews 11:6 without faith it is impossible to please God. Similar to the sick lady, she was there in the crowd and had faith that Jesus can heal her, and she touched His garment and really believed that she could be healed.

So in our daily lives do you think if we give our 50% on the things we do everyday shows that we have faith in God? Giving anything less than your 100% means that you doubt that God cant give you what you need. All he wants is that when you face your trials that you to give it your 100%. Even if you think that your trials are so big that it can never be done, just do your 100% and God will give you enough strength to overcome it. That is living by faith, when you give everything you have to God and you trust that he will be with you all the way through.

Additional verse: James 2:16-17


-Kuya

A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

Mark 5:21-40 (New International Version)
A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

21When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. 22Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet 23and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." 24So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. 26She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." 29Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

30At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

31"You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' "

32But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

There are two kinds of people in that crowd. The first kind was the one that just wanted to see Jesus' miracles and the second kind was similar to the bleeding woman who wanted to get their problems fixed. Both of those kinds of people believed that Jesus can do miracles. Now if you think about it there people there who had problems might even have worse problems than the woman and also they are touching his arms and other parts of his body. But how come none of them got healed or when they touched them Jesus didn't felt any of his power leave his body? But this bleeding woman only touched his clothes and immediately he was healed. The answer is in verse 34 reread it again to see. So in the end just ask your selves are you just one of the crowds who believed Jesus can solve you problems or are you like this woman who had faith that He could help you?

FAITH WITHOUT DEEDS

James 2:26
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

As it says, having faith without deeds is dead. It's kinda like praying to God for good grades, but you don’t do your school work because its too hard. Just like when Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Isaac, he followed by faith (Hebrews 11:17).

-kuya

EVERLASTING GOD

Isaiah 40:29-31
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Deuteronomy 7:9
9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

In Isaiah 40:29-31, God is the everlasting God. And in your walk of faith if you feel like giving up just remember that God is always there to pick you up. Don’t ever take God’s love for you for granted. Have faith and know that God will be your support. Love God, obey Him, and our faithful God will see us through.

-Kuya

TREASURES IN HEAVEN

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content
whatever the circumstances. Philippians 4:11

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into
the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and
clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into
temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge
men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and
pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:6-10

Treasures in Heaven

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do
not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also. 22"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole
body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will
be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is
that darkness! 24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and
love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and Money. Matthew 6:19-24

We are at the beginning of 2009. As we watch the news, we feel very uneasy with what will happen in our future. We even have predictions from Gerald Celente that makes us even more uneasy with our situation. Like Paul said in Phil 4:11, he is content for whatever the circumstances. This is a guy who suffered so much (check 2 Cor 11:23-27) but he still persevered, having faith in the Lord that he would be taken care of.

Matthew 6:19-24 said it for us. We have this American dream in our heads: fancy cars, big houses, the easy life. But what's really important? Treasures here on earth or in heaven? Don't get me wrong having money is not a bad thing but look up Matthew 6:24 it says...you cannot be devoted to two gods. Having money is different from worshiping money. Just from my experience at work, getting money at first wasn't a big deal. Whenever I'd get my pay check I wouldn't even think about what I'd do with it. It wasn't a big deal to me. But recently, when I checked my hours and I calculated how much money I'd get, suddenly all these ideas went through my head. Questions I know I shouldn’t be asking myself, like what things I should buy or getting excited the day I'd get it. I caught myself thinking this way and I said to myself "Whoa, slow down. Why am I even thinking like this?" Whenever you get money, just ask yourself, "What are your intentions?" Is it for yourself or is it to forward the work of God? One thing I learned through out the years is that you cannot lie to yourself. In the words of Master Yoda, "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future.

-kuya

JOSEPH

"When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that that Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant..." Genesis 39:3 NIV

Ever felt that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time? Maybe you've felt that you didn't belong in a certain situation? You were placed somewhere that you despised. Maybe you have to take up a subject in school that you're no good at. Maybe you have a job that just down right sucks. What do you do?

In Genesis 39, here we see a short part of Joseph's story. He was a guy, loved by his father and hated by his brothers. His brothers were so jealous and so angry with Joseph, that they sold him into slavery. He then ends up at one of the Pharaoh's officials' home. In this scripture, it shows how Joseph was placed somewhere he didn't belong, somewhere he didn't want to be and was made to work as a slave in a strangers' house. But despite that, he gave his best, being faithful, wherever he was, because he knew God was with him. Joseph excelled so well in everything he did that even the master saw the Lords' hand. Because of this, he entrusted Joseph with everything except the food he ate.

As an Ate, these scriptures spoke loud and clear to me. I've realized that in order to be trusted with bigger things in the future, I have to be faithful with the smaller things I've already been entrusted with. Joseph is also a good example to me when it comes to letting your life speak for your faith. Even when Joseph didn't talk about his faith, the Egyptian master saw the Lord's work in him because he succeeded in everything. Josephs' life serves as a reminder to be excellent in every area, even if I may not like the situation I'm in because in the end, God's glory will be shown.

I encourage anyone reading this to read over Genesis 39 too! Email us and share whatever insights you received during your devotions! (:

-ate