Paradox of Kingdom's Life - Power and Weakness

April 5, 2013 - Luke 6:17-23

    ^17-21 Coming down off the mountain with them, he stood on a plain surrounded by disciples, and was soon joined by a huge congregation from all over Judea and Jerusalem, even from the seaside towns of Tyre and Sidon. They had come both to hear him and to be cured of their ailments. Those disturbed by evil spirits were healed. Everyone was trying to touch him—so much energy surging from him, so many people healed! Then he spoke:

   You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all.
God’s kingdom is there for the finding.
You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry.
Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.
You’re blessed when the tears flow freely.
Joy comes with the mourning.

   ^22-23 “Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—skip like a lamb, if you like!—for even though they don’t like it, I do . . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.

Jesus' message came with the power of healing for people who had ailments and were disturbed by evil spirits. Even Jesus' presence was so powerful that people got healed through touching him. But at the same time, Jesus' message was so alien to this world and turned the contemporary worldviews upside down. Disciples of Jesus are blessed, though apparently losing, hungering, mourning, suffering for the sake of Jesus, as they receive the Kingdom of God, are ready for the Messianic celebration feast, have the comfort of Jesus, and experience the power and presence of Jesus in them through the Holy Spirit. 

Kingdom's Life of a believer of Jesus is always a paradox - suffering and losing for the sake of Jesus while at the same time receiving the spiritual blessings and experiencing the presence and power of Jesus. My Lord Jesus, teach me to be your disciple in faith, in hope, and in love - being with you everyday, following your example, and relying on your power to demonstrate the kingdom of God on earth by the Holy Spirit. 

We are called by Jesus to be His Disciples

April 4, 2013 - Luke 6:12-16

    ^12-16 At about that same time he climbed a mountain to pray. He was there all night in prayer before God. The next day he summoned his disciples; from them he selected twelve he designated as apostles:

  Simon, whom he named Peter,
Andrew, his brother,
James,
John,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon, called the Zealot,
Judas, son of James,
Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus is a charismatic person, who is always full of the Holy Spirit, sometimes prays all night before God, and performs miracles in healing and casting out of demons. But Jesus at the same time participates in human affairs - even messy lives of humans. Jesus is also incarnational in human lives. 

I (Matthew) am also one of the disciples called by Jesus. I am not Peter, James and John who are the key leaders of the apostles but I am still one of them to be called by Jesus. Jesus called me to follow Him and to leave my secular job as His disciple, his servant and even his friend. I am not only one of them but I am also a unique person to be called and loved by Jesus, my Lord. Jesus calls me to follow Him and imitate Him - to be incarnational in human lives (sometimes messy lives on earth - deal with people's sins, weaknesses, struggles), but at the same time, relying on Jesus, to bless and transform people's lives through preaching, teaching and healing by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus is the Lord - He is Compassionate

April 3, 2013 - Luke 6:1-11

    ¹ One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. ² Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

   ³ Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? ⁴ He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” ⁵ Then Jesus said to them,“The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

   ⁶ On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. ⁷ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. ⁸ But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

   ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

   ¹⁰ He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. ¹¹ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath. The Pharisees and teachers of the law treated observing Sabbath and other rules as their Lord but Jesus affirms that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He care about his followers more than concerning about the rules of the Sabbath. He allowed the disciples to eat the consecrated bread though they did not serve in the sanctuary; He healed the man with the shriveled hand on the Sabbath day though it was not acceptable by the religious leaders. Jesus performed miracles for the good of the people while the Pharisees and teachers of the law observed rules with the sacrifice of people's benefit. Jesus' heart is compassionate toward the needy while the hearts of the Pharisees and teachers of the law were hardened.

My Lord Jesus, may my heart be resonate with Your heart first that whatever I do, I do out of the compassion from you, and for the sake of the good of people and for Your glory. Thanks for protecting my life from another car accident yesterday. May I continue to see Your Compassion on people and Your mighty work on healing people through Your Spirit in my life and work today. 

Jesus' hand touches and cleanses us.

April 2, 2013 - Luke 5:12-17

    ¹² One day in one of the villages there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus he fell down before him in prayer and said, “If you want to, you can cleanse me.”

   ¹³ Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there his skin was smooth, the leprosy gone.

   ^14-16 Jesus instructed him, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed self to the priest, along with the offering ordered by Moses. Your cleansed and obedient life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.” But the man couldn’t keep it to himself, and the word got out. Soon a large crowd of people had gathered to listen and be healed of their ailments. As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.

   ¹⁷ One day as he was teaching, Pharisees and religion teachers were sitting around. They had come from nearly every village in Galilee and Judea, even as far away as Jerusalem, to be there. The healing power of God was on him.

Jesus is full of the Holy Spirit, and Luke states that the healing power of God was on Jesus. Jesus is able to heal all our diseases, outer and inner. Jesus is God. Jesus came to seek the lost and heal the patients, spiritually sick and also physically sick at His time of ministry. On the other hand, Jesus is also compassionate on people in need. The man covered with leprosy knew that Jesus was able to heal but he was not quite sure if Jesus was willing to heal. This man uttered a prayer of request to Jesus, "If you want to, you can cleanse me." This man begged for Jesus' healing of his life - leprosy is incurable to him. Without Jesus' healing, he would remain a leper for all his life's time. His earnest prayer touched Jesus' heart and Jesus in turn put out his hand and touched this leper, saying, "I want to, be clean" - I really want to cleanse you, delivering you from this illness and bondage; I really want to give you a new life, having freedom from all kinds of slavery and living out a cleansed and obedient life to God; I really want to.....

My Lord Jesus, You are not only a mighty God but You are also the most compassionate One on earth. You want to cleanse me; You want to heal all my illnesses (spiritually or even physically though you may have your own way of working in me); You want to liberate me to live out a cleanse and an obedient life to you. You want to and You even stretch your hand to touch me - to show Your love; to show Your power of healing; to show Your affirmation, etc. My Jesus, let me experience Your touching in me today. May I experience Your words of affirmation - "I want to, be clean" and Your touching hands in cleansing and deliverance.

   

Push Out into Deep Water - See Jesus' Glory

April 1, 2013 - Luke 5:1-11

    ^1 1-3 Once when he was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, the crowd was pushing in on him to better hear the Word of God. He noticed two boats tied up. The fishermen had just left them and were out scrubbing their nets. He climbed into the boat that was Simon’s and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Sitting there, using the boat for a pulpit, he taught the crowd.

   ⁴ When he finished teaching, he said to Simon, “Push out into deep water and let your nets out for a catch.”

   ^5-7 Simon said, “Master, we’ve been fishing hard all night and haven’t caught even a minnow. But if you say so, I’ll let out the nets.” It was no sooner said than done—a huge haul of fish, straining the nets past capacity. They waved to their partners in the other boat to come help them. They filled both boats, nearly swamping them with the catch.

   ^8-10 Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell to his knees before Jesus. “Master, leave. I’m a sinner and can’t handle this holiness. Leave me to myself.” When they pulled in that catch of fish, awe overwhelmed Simon and everyone with him. It was the same with James and John, Zebedee’s sons, coworkers with Simon.

   ^10-11 Jesus said to Simon, “There is nothing to fear. From now on you’ll be fishing for men and women.” They pulled their boats up on the beach, left them, nets and all, and followed him.

Jesus did miracles in Peter's life, which were not manipulated by Peter himself. Rather, Jesus intervened in Peter's life - Jesus climbed into Peter's boat; Jesus invited Peter to join in his preaching ministry through using his boat as a pulpit; Jesus knew about Peter's frustration of catching   no fish after fishing hard all night. Most importantly, Jesus stretched Peter's faith by demanding Peter to push his boat out into deep water in order to let his nets out for a catch. Jesus demanded Peter's absolute obedience in Jesus' words and Peter followed. The miracle happened through submitting to Jesus' command and awe overwhelmed Peter and people around him. The occurrence of this miracle transformed Peter, enlightening Peter's eyes to see his sinfulness and Jesus' holiness. Jesus received the glory and people, like Peter, James and John, were transformed as well and became disciples of Jesus. 

My Lord Jesus, may the love of heavenly Father to you also be in me that I love you and become more passionate for your glory. I desire to see the glory of your Gospel and your mighty work that awe overwhelms my life. Give me faith to follow your command in my life and help me to follow. Stretch my faith and lead me to push my life out into deep water. Jesus is faithful and loving - "there is nothing to fear."

May the Lord and His Grace be with our spirits

March 31, 2013 - 2 Timothy 4:22

4:22

願 主 與 你 的 靈 同 在 。 願 恩 惠 常 與 你 們 同 在 。

 ²² The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.

The Presence of the Lord with our spirits is the most wonderful blessing for our life. The Lord promises that His Spirit is with our spirits and His Grace is with us forever. Today is a special baptismal Sunday that four believers of our church will be baptized into the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Baptism is not simply a ritual act or external religious performance but signifies how believers are united with Christ by the washing of rebirth and regeneration of the Spirit through our faith in Jesus Christ. This also gives believers a promise that God's Spirit being with our spirits and His Grace being with us all. 

My dear Heavenly Father, thanks again for your Grace through Your Son - Jesus Christ - in seeking us and restoring us back to your children, and the continual work of Your Spirit in our lives. May I rest in Your Grace and continue to experience Your love more and more through Your Spirit. 

Breathe the Life of the Spirit through Reading the Scriptures

March 30, 2013 - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

3:16		聖 經 都 是 　 神 所 默 示 的 、 〔 或 作 凡 　 神 所 默 示 的 聖 經 〕 於 教 訓 、 督 責 、 使 人 歸 正 、 教 導 人 學 義 、 都 是 有 益 的 ．
3:17		叫 屬 　 神 的 人 得 以 完 全 、 預 備 行 各 樣 的 善 事 。

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Paul proclaims that all Scripture is inspired by God or God-breathed by the Spirit of God. Reading the Scriptures are not merely understanding the content that talks about the knowledge of God but are at the same time like breathing the Spirit of God - receiving the life or breath of the Spirit that nourishes and sustains our spiritual life, teaches, equips and trains us in God's righteousness, and lifts our spirits to see the heavenly realm of God. 

My dear Holy Spirit, You are the only Spiritual Teacher who equips me for serving the Lord through reading and understanding the words of God; and You are the Spiritual Guide who leads me to experience the love of heavenly Father and my Lord Jesus; and You are the Spiritual Giver that endows me with the necessary spiritual gifts in my ministry as I earnestly ask for and pursue after these gifts - teaching people the words of God, mentoring and coaching emerging leaders, building up godly ministry teams, and praying for people's transformation and healing.