Praise God for the Bible which provides many benefits in our lives including teaching us to build our lives right. Unfortunately, many times we use the Bible to measure other people’s effectiveness in building their lives right, and we miss the main purpose of the Bible!

We need to handle the Bible properly in order for it to produce the effect that the God desires in our lives. This book is so powerful that it can cut people and create great harm if mishandled!

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Matthew 7:15-17

One of the things that the Bible instructs us to do is to examine other people’s lives and see if it produces the fruit the scripture describes. The Lord encourages us to do that, so we can be wise in how we relate to others. The danger comes when we take it a step further, and now we are offended by the person whose life does not match up with the fruit we desire to see in their lives.

Honestly, I have been guilty of this offense many times. I don’t understand how one can claim, teach, and encourage others to live a certain way, but their own lives suffer in the same areas that they are proclaiming truth to others. It is a difficult and painful thing to see. However, offense is not the answer!

Offense only traps us and affects our relationship with the Lord. The offense eventually causes hardened hearts towards others and God. If Offenses go unchecked, they can cause broken relationships, and they will eventually lead one away from the church and even the Lord. This can all happen in the name of fruit inspection and being spiritual!

Is there someone whose Christian life is offensive to you?

I will share more on this in the next devotional.

Love Others-What is the impact of loving others on us?

Loving others will cost us something. Jesus didn’t ask us to just tolerate people or be nice to them. He asked us to love them. That’s a lot of work. First and foremost, we need to put aside our indifference towards others. Secondly, we have to develop a heart of compassion and care for others not in the name of doing ministry but to be Christ’s representatives.

We live in a world that is full of darkness and selfishness. The flesh is always after self-preservation, but it cannot be so for the people of God. God’s love is a graceful covering over the entire earth. However, He does more with those who are willing to follow Him. The Lord shows us His love to make us secure in Him, so we don’t have to live a life of self-preservation but a life of self-sacrifice!

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV)

The Bible calls us peculiar people. We are peculiar because we don’t live for “self” anymore. We are called to be concerned about someone else’s welfare even when that person has ill-will towards us. That is a peculiar action that can only be done by the power and the grace of God!

Love is the most vulnerable place to be with someone. It takes a risk to love people especially those who don’t care about us. True love demands that our hearts stay open towards another person and stretches us to hope again. Love does not give up. Genuine love comes from the heart of benevolence and benefit towards another person. Godly love doesn’t get offended when the other person doesn’t respond the way we hope.

I was recently challenged by the Lord to give up something for someone that I love very much. However, this person can be very indifferent and aloof. My conflict was that I didn’t want to make the sacrifice if they weren’t going to appreciate it. The reality is that the Bible doesn’t guarantee that our love will be appreciated or reciprocated.  If that’s our expectation, we will become very stingy lovers!

The good news is that God changes us from the inside out when we love others as ourselves. The kind of love God is asking us to give to others will soften us, stretch our patience, and make us rely more deeply on the Lord.  One of the greatest acts of violence against our old nature is to love someone who will not love us back!

Loving our neighbor as ourselves is a great vehicle to develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. If we never had to live/work with a difficult person, how can we grow in patience in our lives?  How can we develop self-control if there aren’t people who push our buttons? If we never felt unappreciated and unloved, how can we establish faithfulness in the midst of disappointment?

The two greatest commandments challenge us in two directions. Loving God will challenge us to live righteous/holy lives. Loving others as ourselves will demolish self, and it will protect us from self-righteousness! Praise God for His wisdom!

Who do you need to love better?

2. My neighbor-Who is my neighbor?

One of our challenges in having sensitivity towards our neighbor is that we are bombarded with bad news through various forms of media. This makes us become desensitized to sad news and causes us to just comfortably walk away from it.  We conclude that there is nothing we can do since we don’t know the people or they’re too far from us. Over time, this makes us grow indifferent towards the lives’ of those in our proximity. There are those close enough to us that we can actually do something about.

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”………. 

And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

Based on the Good Samaritan parable (See Luke 10:29-37), anyone that we come in contact with is considered our neighbor. Anywhere we go, there will be someone to love. We have the challenge and the opportunity to work towards people’s benefit wherever we are. Whether we are wearing the hat of a parent, a CEO, a church leader, or a mechanic, we are called to love the person who is coming across our path.

Jesus’ parable illustrated that even  religious people can have a designated method or time that they are willing to care about others.  A levite and a priest ignored the need right before them because they had something else on their calendar that they needed to get to.

We can’t just love people in a scheduled time slot by serving/volunteering within our church or in the community. Loving people cannot be a compartment in our lives. Neither can it be a valve that we turn on or off based on the busyness of the day or convenience level. It makes loving people a full-time job! Caring about man’s condition has to capture our hearts.

We have the privilege of loving the person who is going to come across our path today/this week.

I will share about the impact of loving others in our lives in the next devotional.

The Lord has wired us to need people in our lives and for people to need us in their lives. God made Adam and had a good fellowship with him, but later on He made Eve. His desire was for Adam not to be alone. We are healthy when we are in the right relationship with God and with others hence Jesus’ two greatest commandments.

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

Loving our neighbor as ourselves is not easy, but it is part of our path of holiness and Christlikeness that we must follow. Jesus’ second commandment has three elements.

1.  Loving Others-What is the impact of loving others in our lives?

2. My Neighbor-Who is my neighbor?

3. As myself- What does loving myself look like?

I’ll begin with the third one on the list and go backwards since that’s really the order of this commandment. The prerequisite to loving my neighbor as myself is that I need to love myself first. Then I can love the “neighbor” as myself.

3. Loving myself-What does loving myself look like?

In order to love ourselves in a healthy way, we need to receive God’s continual love and truth. God’s love heals us from wrong self-image. Whether the self-image is self-criticism or self-aggrandizement, God’s love and truth give us a clear picture of who we really are. There is no need for guilt or shame anymore. Neither is there room for arrogance and lofty thinking.

God’s word gives us  a perfect mirror to see ourselves clearly. His acceptance of us helps us to accept ourselves without needing to mask our true condition. We get comfortable in our own skin. How we evaluate our value and self-worth changes. We don’t compare ourselves to others and neither do we based on worth on our productivity.

The first commandment helps us to stay in a continual exposure and intimacy with the Lord which keeps us steady and stable in who are. The issues and difficulties of life will challenge our value, identity, & significance., but a healthy relationship with the Lord will strengthen us to resist pride, fear, or defeat. We know who we are and whose we are. We remain confident in the midst of opposition. God’s love keeps us soft, dependent, and in faith.

The fruit of loving ourselves is that we begin to like who we are. We don’t have to numb ourselves with busyness, people, or substances. Spending time with ourselves is not a bad thing any longer because we  enjoy our own company! We no longer fear being forgotten and neither are we controlled by the approval of others. I thank God for Him transforming the “Self”.

Do you love yourself in a healthy way?

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

God’s most beautiful and powerful scattering was accomplished in the New Testament times following Jesus’ resurrection.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

Jesus spoke prophetically about the people group and the places the disciples were going to minister in. He didn’t give them a strategy on how they were going to achieve it. He didn’t break them up in groups and send them to different locations. He simply stated that they were going to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

The disciples’ idea of preaching the Good News would have been limited to the people of their own ethnicity, religion, and culture. Their thinking would have been that the Messiah was only coming for His treasured possession, the Jewish people! Reaching Gentiles could have even been offensive since they were considered unclean to Jewish people.

Praise God that He is not a respecter of persons and has no partiality! Jesus’ prophetic words and His ways of accomplishing them went far above and beyond their understanding. In Acts 2, we see Peter and other disciples being baptized with the Holy Spirit. The Lord filled them with the Holy Spirit and then broke through their religious and ethnic prejudices to reach the world!

Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. Acts 6:7

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles….Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.  Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. Acts 8:1, 4-6

The persecution hit the newly planted church and as a result people were scattered. Hallelujah! Multitudes were saved in Samaria due to Philip going down there because of the persecution that broke out.

Through a vision God spoke to Peter and told him that the message of the cross needs to be preached to the Gentiles. No longer were they going to be considered inferior or unclean because of their ethnicity.

Cornelius and his household were the first Gentile family that were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit (See Acts 10). This experience opened the door to other Gentiles and nations to be reached and transformed by the Gospel.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,  1Peter 1:1 (KJV)

Peter went to areas where it is modern day Turkey and preached Christ there. The tradition believes that Thomas went as far as India and preached Christ to all the nations in between Israel and India. Paul after his conversion went as far as Rome and continued to minister to the Gentiles wherever he was sent or imprisoned.

I am of Assyrian heritage. Before the coming of Jesus, Assyrians were pagans and for the most part idol worshippers. Praise God for Thomas and other apostles who were willing to travel to those areas (Modern day countries of Iraq and Iran) and preach the good news to my people group!

God’s plan through the Great Commission was beautifully fulfilled as the people of God were persecuted and as a result had to scatter! They literally went out to the outer part of the earth (known at that time) and preached Christ!

The early church was ready and available to preach the gospel wherever they landed. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves or perceived themselves as victims. On the contrary, they seized the opportunity to preach Christ knowing that they could be the only light shining in their part of the world! Praise God for His purpose through scattering!

Are you being separated from your family and friends? Have you sought the Lord and His will in your situation? Are you ready and available to be a light wherever God sends you?

Now the Lord had said to Abram:

The Lord not only uses scattering as a form of punishment, but He also uses it as a form of blessing and maturing process for individuals and/or a group of people. God commanded Abraham to leave his land and his people and to go to a place that he didn’t know anything about. Abraham did what the Lord asked him without hesitation. As you read the scriptures about Abraham’s journey, you see God’s hand of blessing and provision upon his life.

There is a faulty mentality that if we are loyal to people, we have to stay with them for the rest of our lives. Some believe that the only time you leave a relationship is if there are unresolved differences. The scripture has a different story. There is no reference in the Bible that Abraham had any issues with his family. He only left because God asked him to. That means he had to actually leave the comfort of what was known to step into the unknown! God was developing a relationship with Abraham that may not have been possible if he had stayed with his family of origin.

My family was scattered when I was in my teens. My brother left the country and came to the U.S. at the age of 19 and went to Nebraska to go to college. A year later, I came to the U.S. at the age of 15 and landed in California to start as a Junior in high school. My parents had to flee from my hometown a year later due to outbreak of war and bombing! We were not scattered because we had issues with each other. On the contrary, we all missed each other very much. The separation was very hard for me for quite sometime!

Looking back,  I am a different person because of those years of separation and difficulty. I learned to take responsibility for my own actions. My family wasn’t around to support me or to have a shoulder to cry on. I didn’t have the luxury of living with excuses neither did I have anyone to cuddle me. The separation brought me to a place that God’s voice became the most important voice in my life. Over the years, God has weaned me from man-made identity and false security in others! If it weren’t for those years, I would not be the person I am today. I am so thankful for those tough years of separation!

How do you view separation in the light of scriptures?

The Lord works in mysterious ways which at times are beyond our understanding! Sometimes the very thing that was a blessing last time, it becomes a curse this time. This is why we can’t create formulas out of God’s ways, but we need to relate to God properly and allow Him to lead us!

Scattering is one of those areas that God has used both as a blessing and as a punishment in the Biblical history.

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.  And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.  Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.  And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:1-4

The people had much in common, so they decided to have a joint venture by building a city and making a tower together. It almost sounds like these people were bored, and somebody came up with a bright idea! They probably thought to themselves,  “Since we have all this material, let’s build a tower!” Building the tower wasn’t the main problem, there were deeper issues that God had to address:

1. They were trying to reach the heavens.

The problem was that their approach wasn’t going to get them to their desired goal. They had a good goal but wrong method for trying to achieve it. They were seeking God on their own terms and with their own self-effort. We see this all around us. People follow various religions and philosophies and do all kinds of works trying to get to heaven.

2. They desired to make a name for themselves.

People who are in search of significance can go to great lengths to be impressive or make themselves known. These people had the ambition to reach the heavens and to be impressive.

Some are willing to sacrifice their marriages and/or their children at the altar of making a name for themselves. That could be in their jobs where they are pursuing the next promotion. It could be in their social circles by trying to maintain a certain lifestyle that stresses the marriage and the finances. Nowadays, we have superstars in the spiritual circles. Some think unless they are known, they haven’t really reached the spiritual pinnacle of success.

3. They didn’t want to get scattered.

God chooses to gather people together for a purpose and then He scatters them at His timing. When the Lord was about to judge the whole earth, He told Noah to gather his family in the Ark. That was for a short time and for a specific purpose.

If it’s time to scatter, but we fight it or avoid it, we are actually causing more harm than we are producing good. Generally, relationships stay healthy for a season and then the Lord changes the nature of the relationships. We need to be willing to go with God where He wants to take the relationship rather than holding on to our comfort. Otherwise the relationship will begin to become toxic and have an adverse affect on those who are part of it.

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

God knew that Balaam was going to do something foolish, so He used Balaam’s donkey to block him.

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”  So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. Numbers 22:28-31

One’s History

Balaam was willing to strike his donkey three times even though the history of this donkey was obedience and faithfulness. Did it ever occur to him that there could be something wrong with his donkey? Most of us are very in tune with our animals. When they act out of line with their character, we don’t jump into conclusion. We just wonder, what’s the matter with this animal.

Do we appreciate the people around us who serve faithfully right along our side? Do we know their character well? When they do something out of line with their character,  are we willing to slow down and find out what is going on instead of getting defensive with them?

May Be a Last Chance

Finally, God allowed the donkey to speak up. It’s a huge problem when a donkey speaks! You can consider it a miracle, but it was a sign that Balaam was being stiff-necked.  He was too intoxicated with his own plan, and God used an unusual measure to get Balaam’s attention!

By the time we hear something from an unexpected person, it should be a warning that we have already gone too far in this.  God is using one of his last measures before he gives us over to the lust of our own hearts. It’s an alarm to wake us up from stupor! Unfortunately, Balaam did what was in his heart and gave counsel to make the Israelite men to sin against their God (See Numbers 31:16).

Sometimes people wonder why God allows certain bad things to happen. This story illustrates that God in His loving kindness tried to stir Balaam away from sin, but ultimately Balaam chose otherwise. Each man has to choose if they are going to listen to the Lord and cleanse their hearts, or they will give themselves over to the desire of their hearts! Balaam ended up getting killed by the Israelites.

Opportunity to Change Direction

When someone seems to block, challenge, or frustrate us, there is a blessing in the situation if we handle it right:

1. Don’t get defensive.

2. Pray for humility.

3. Receive the truth offered to you.

4. Sift through it by listening to the Holy Spirit first not your friends.

If the person carries an ounce of truth, then praise God for not missing the truth offered to us. However, if the person is wrong, the Lord will comfort us. He knows how to take care of the situation the way He knows best!

It’s a beautiful thing that God desires to speak to his mere mortal creation. Praise God for His direction and His will in our lives. His voice and instruction is so valuable that we shouldn’t ignore it or take it for granted!

Balaam was a non-Israelite who was known as a prophet. King Balak sought him out to curse the Israelites, but God told Balaam that he is only allowed to bless the Israelites and not curse them.

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”  So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. Numbers 22:28-31

God was aware of Balaam’s intention to assist King Balak, so He tried to stop him by sending an angel to block him. Balaam did not see the angel but the donkey did. The donkey tried to avoid the angel, who made Balaam angry, so he struck the donkey. After the third strike, God opened the donkey’s mouth, and she asked Balaam why does he keep striking her?

There are a few things we can glean from this:

Technical Obedience

God instructed Balaam specifically not to curse Israel, but He told Balaam that He could go with King Balak. He was only allowed to bless the Israelites and not curse him. While on the surface it looked like Balaam had done nothing wrong, God knew that Balaam was technically going to be obedient to Him but didn’t have a heart to do what was right. We can be technically obedient to God or others, but if our heart is not set on doing the right thing, we will manage to find a loophole to accomplish what is in our hearts!

A Blind Seer

The fact that Balaam, a seer prophet, couldn’t see the angel but the donkey did is alarming! Most of us don’t own a donkey nor are we going to have interactions with a donkey. However, we will have people or situations around us that seem like they are blocking us to get to our goal. What if God is using someone to block you from your goal? What if your twelve- year- old son says something profound that exposes the condition of your heart? What if a new believer that you have ministered to gives you Godly counsel? What if God uses the mouth of babes to speak something that others don’t have the courage to say to you?

My Pastor tells the story on how a rookie on His NFL football team challenged him to faith. The rookie player told my Pastor (paraphrased), “Don’t you know that God has a plan and purpose for your life? The way you’re living your life, it doesn’t show that you do.”  While my Pastor was one of the top players on his team, this rookie was not intimidated to tell him the truth and help him understand there is more to life than being a popular football player. Praise God for this young man! Praise God for all those who are willing to look like a fool but still be bold and courageous for Christ!

Who is blocking you today? What is frustrating you today? Could it be the hand of the Lord moving you in a different direction or trying to give you a fresh perspective on the situation?

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

 And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?”  Matthew 26:62

Jesus was given all power and authority, but He chose to restrain himself by doing “nothing” as the above scripture states.  Doing “Nothing” is significant because it goes against our cultural norm where there should always be a solution to a problem or a rebuttal to an argument.

When Jesus was accused of wrongdoing, He chose to do “nothing”. He knew that not answering the high priest would be a kiss of death for Him, but he chose not to defend Himself. Jesus was secure in who He was and didn’t need to prove it to anyone. He also was well acquainted with the condition of man’s heart towards Him. If a man/woman was hungry and thirsty for truth, Jesus chose to reveal HImself to them, but for others He offered them no self-disclosure!

If Jesus chose to do “nothing” at times, then we should be prepared for it as well. Jesus wasn’t concerned about His reputation neither was He worried about losing followers. Jesus was not even compelled to do something out of the fear of being punished wrongfully, so He remained quiet.

If Jesus had responded, they could have reacted with a mocking rebuttal or an angry reaction. However, there is nothing better than one  hearing own’s voice spewing hateful accusations at an innocent man!

Saying “nothing” is different than silence treatment. Silence treatment is a form of manipulation and control in a relationship, and the flesh gets great gratification out of it.  However, doing “nothing” as directed by the Lord will require the flesh dying to self and not defending itself.

Next time you are tempted to react or rebuttal quickly, stop and ask the Lord if the answer to this one is doing “nothing”!