bible-crunch

A gift for Fathers' Day..

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:45:56 +0100

Today's devotion: Jude 1:22-23

"snatch others from the fire and save them; .." ~ Jude 1:23a

It's Fathers' Day again. It may be very significant to some families, and not to some other families. Many children will feel alert to buy some gift for their fathers: maybe it's because of the guilt of taking the fathers for granted all this while, thus on this day it's a good time to tighten up the loosened bonds before; or some are being really close with their fathers, and they can't wait to put more smile on their fathers' faces on this day by sending them their favorite gifts.

If you are finding a gift for your father who has not accepted Christ today, why not consider the gift of love that God has prepared?

If your father is now sick on the bed, don't cry. Pray for his salvation besides God's healing upon him. Because nothing is more precious than a reunion in Heaven someday. As Jude put it, snatch them from the fire and save them.

If your father is now doing very well in his career and he has been so great a righteous man. But if he hasn't received his salvation, pray for that besides the continual success in all that he does.

If your father is one of those who persecute you for your faith, don't have to fight back but pray for his salvation. God puts you in that family so that you may help Him plant the seeds of salvation in your father's heart. Do our part, and God will make the seeds grow.

Nothing is more valuable than having our whole family reunite in Heaven like how we always do during new year celebrations on earth. And God plans everything well, including placing you in where you are. Some people that God puts around us in our circle of life may only hear the goodnews of salvation through you and you alone throughout their lives. People reject, people persecute. But you will never know how great God can use you to plant the important seeds of salvation in some people's hearts, by the willingness and love you have in reaching out to others.

God bless and Happy Fathers' Day.. It's time to send the greatest gift if life to your beloved father.. ^^

To strengthen others or to boast about ourselves..

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:50:19 +0100

Today's devotion: 3 John 1:9-11

"I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church." ~ 3 John 1:9-10

The third letter of John was written to Gaius. In verse 9-10, John mentioned about the unrighteous things that Diotrephes, someone with authority in the same church as attended by Gaius, had been doing.

Many of the church leaders have been observing how their flocks are doing. When unrighteous doings are carried out in the church and are identified, good leaders will stand up and speak about it for the strengthening of everyone in the church, rather than to keep quiet in order to protect their own position of authority.

However, when we speak out, do we often do it in order to build and strengthen one another, or to take the mistake of others as an opportunity to show that we are good? Let's see what did John do after addressing the mistake of Diotrephes:

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. (3 John 1:11)

John further reminded Gaius to follow only the good examples and continue to be strong in God, instead of causing divisions between the church and Diotrephes.

Many times, we see what our brothers and sisters have done wrong, but we react wrongly by condemning them and indirectly trying to show how good we are for not doing the same wrong deeds as them. Again I say this, that we should not condemn one another but build and strengthen each other. Everyone may make mistake, including ourselves.

Thus brothers and sisters, let us together imitate what is good and not what is evil. For remember, for every time we choose to do evil, we are telling the world that we do not know God (3 John 1:11 NLT).

Love, and you can save souls..

A choice to love..

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:08:43 +0100

Today's devotion: 2 John 1:5-6

"And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his commands is that you walk in love." ~ 2 John 1:6

Love is not as simple as we put it on our mouth. It's not just about sharing; it's about moving on from sharing to taking action over what we share. It's not just about caring; it's about giving our time. It's not just about forgiving; it's about giving our trust again. It's not just about reconciling; it's about deleting the past record of wrongs. It's not just about giving our trust once more; it's about always trusting without doubts. It's about how Jesus would always do in the same situation we are in now.

Each level of love is getting gradually difficult, but Jesus, in the weak human form like us, passed all the tests. If you want to know the secret behind His excellent test results, it's none other than by His obedience to the Father through the strength of the Holy Spirit.

Do we not have all that Jesus had? God is here, waiting for us to reach out our hands to Him for strength to love like He does. God provides us every strength we need to love one another just like how Jesus could. But our first key to failure is our selfishness. We worry too much about ourselves.

To love the sick person like someone with HIV disease, we feel sympathy but we are afraid of getting the infection. We just can't trust our God that He can protect us and cure us from the incurable disease.

To love the unloved children, we pity on them but we are afraid of extra burden, mentally and financially. We just can't trust our God that He is sending us blessings through these unwanted children.

We love our loved ones so much as long as they love us as much too but when we get hurt by them, we first think of protecting ourselves and thinking that they don't deserve our trust anymore. We just can't trust God's Word that the power of our selfless love can save souls.

Many more examples to ponder, and realize how selfish we are all this while. All we think is "I, me, my, mine". We are so good in loving people who love us. We always think of something of at least with mutual gain: You love me, then I love you; you don't love me, then why should I love you.

It's a barrier in our spiritual growth which we all need a cry of break-through. Brothers and sisters, let's keep one another reminded at every moment that, we are saved by God's selfless love. Thus, we have to learn to love selflessly, too.

You will be amazed to know how much your willingness can help save souls by loving one another selflessly.

Love, because you're created by and for it..

Our prayer can make a difference..

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:06:27 +0100

Today's devotion: 1 John 5:16-18

"If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. .." ~ 1 John 5:16a

We who have sinned against God, if we come back to Him to confess our sin and repent from it, God will forgive us. Our God is always gracious and merciful. But when we sin and we do not repent, then we are preparing our own way towards death.

There are many people living around us, and we like to observe others. When we observe, we like to comment and judge what others have done. But let's ask God, what does He want us to do when He puts these people around us?

I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me." (John 13:20)

When our brothers and sisters come to us and share their burdens and their guilt, we as one body should be the first ones to accept them. Don't pretend to comfort them and later on judge them from behind. Being in one body, we should know that we can find comfort and encouragement in this household of faith, and not judgment and condemnation which could discourage us even more. When there's no judgment among you, there will be sincere and genuine sharing where each other gets to grow spiritually.

The deepest hurt or cry can only be shared when there's zero condemnation. And the truest encouragement only comes to strengthen one another when there is heartfelt sharing.

Be alert, brothers and sisters, that if you know anyone of you who are praying for repentance and forgiveness from God, pray for one another. Let's unite in spirits and cry out to the Lord. Your wholehearted prayer can save a soul, it always can.

God's love and our love..

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:03:45 +0100

Today's devotion: 1 John 4:7-21

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

When we claim that God is love and God's love is great, how great is that: have you ever wondered? Every time I read or learn about God's love, I just know it's great, and that's all. I never really spend time to ponder to what extent is that greatness.

When a stranger does something that could hurt your feelings, you get hurt and then that's it. The hurt is so short-term and forgettable.

Then comes someone whom you know to hurt you. You get hurt and then you may choose to forgive or not. And the hurt sometimes remains, but it is not quite a big deal.

Now, your trusted and loved ones hurt you, and eventually break the trust. What pain do you feel: you grieve? You cry out loud? You regret? You get angry? You get disappointed? You feel like taking revenge and hurt them back?

You know what God does every time we sin and hurt His feelings? God chooses to be patient, and be kind to us. God does not want to envy the worldly desires that draw us away from Him, He does not boast how much greater a joy that He can provide us than the worldly desires that we are running after. God is not proud of His greatness. God does not want to be rude to us, and He does not want to be self-seeking (selfish). He chooses not to get angry at us easily, and He is ready to delete our record of wrongs when we turn to Him to confess and repent truthfully. God does not delight in all the sinful deeds of ours but we put a smile on His face by our righteousness. God protects us at all times; we choose to walk the crooked and dangerous way on our own. God gives us His trusts at all times; we choose to break God's trust and God's heart again and again. God perseveres and bears our stubbornness and disobedience at all times; we choose to take God's mercy for granted as much as we can.

Recalling all our flaws and sins up to this point of our lives, shall we get to realize at least a little of God's greatness and His love now?

If you still want to know how great is God's love, breathe and you will know; see the beautiful nature around you and you will know; look at Jesus on the cross, look at how wide He stretched His hands to tell all of us,

"I love you this much.."

Choose for ourselves who we want to live for from now on: for ourselves or for God. God bless..

Saying "I Love You"..

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:07:40 +0100

Today's devotion: 1 John 3:16-18

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." ~ 1 John 3:18

We confess with our mouth that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, and we don't stop there. Like faith, love is also justified by action, be it love for God, our loved ones or enemy.

Some people may feel very helpless, for they thought they have provided all that their families need - enough pocket money and all, yet their families aren't satisfied with them. If you are one of them who face this problem, actually, all they want is your T.I.M.E.

God's love is the greatest motivation and energy source to move us in doing anything. And Jesus Himself demonstrated to us how love should be, by being nailed on the cross. If He only walked around and told everyone "I love you" and "I love you", yet chose not to be dead on the cross when the time came, we are destined to eternal death today. For it is through His love that He had shown on the cross that the whole world is saved. It is now up to you and me to choose whether to receive His love or not.

Thus, let's fix our eyes on Jesus always, and look up to Him for how we should love one another in life like He does towards all of us. Live the Word out. God bless..

Do we hate..?

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:12:54 +0100

Today's devotion: 1 John 2:9-11

"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness." ~ 1 John 2:9

We all are in at least one relationship: either it's a parents-children relationship, brothers-sisters relationship, God-creation relationship, boy-girl relationship or friendship. However, one very sad thing about this is that, we all, too, experience broken fellowship.

Some relationship cannot be changed, like a father-and-daughter relationship. However, in any relationship, changeable or unchangeable, will have its fellowship changed. In simple words, fellowship is the condition of a relationship. That's why we can have strong fellowship or broken fellowship.

As parts of the body of Christ, we are commanded to love one another (Matthew 22:39), and this includes our enemy (Matthew 5:44). So how much more should we love our families, our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ?

Please just take this time to quiet down for awhile. Think about anyone whom you are having a broken fellowship with now. Be it your loved ones, or your enemies, God expects you to take the first step in restoring the broken fellowship. If it means putting down your ego, put it down then. If it means embarrassing yourself in front of others, it's ok. After all, it's better to be embarrassed in this world than during the judgment day later on. If it means to forgive the greatest hurt you have had, forgive then. For God's healing upon you is far greater than the hurt that you could have.

Brothers and sisters, take action now. Slowly, do it one-by-one. I suggest you to start it from your family or your loved ones, if they are one of those whom you have broken fellowship with. For being as loved ones together, no matter how bad the fellowship could be, still the acceptance for one another is greater.

I pray that God softens all our hearts and molds us to be more like Jesus. Let's love and save one more for Jesus. You will be surprised to find that the power of love itself is greater as a testimony to others than spreading the gospels alone. God bless.. ^^

Do you want to walk out of the darkness?

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 04:35:18 +0100

Today's devotion: 1 John 1:5-10

"If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." ~ 1 John 1:6

Our relationship with God can never change, but our fellowship with Him can. At times, our fellowship with God breaks, then be restored again, and the cycle continues. Some people choose to stay in broken fellowship; some choose to stay in bonded fellowship: we, too, can make a choice here.

We sin throughout our lives. And somehow, we tend to weigh our own sins - is it a big sin or a small sin. But to God, sin means sin, no such difference as big or small. When your whole piece of white clothe is dirtied by a tiny little black dot, it's no longer a pure white clothe. And God cannot be with us when we carry sin in us, because He is a holy God and can never be together with sin. For God even had to forsake His only Son, Jesus Christ, while Jesus was bearing all our sins on the cross. (Matthew 27:45-46) That's why the Bible tells us clearly that sin separates us from God.

Now brothers and sisters, let's hand out this impure white clothes of ours to God for cleaning and renewal constantly, as we know we sin everyday. And it's only Jesus' precious blood that can wash them clean and make them pure again. Remember, God doesn't mind how many time do you send your dirtied clothe to His laundry, He even promotes and says, "come for free unlimited laundry service here!" All you need to do is to choose to hand it out to Him, be grateful for 'free laundry' and remind yourself that you have to give your best in maintaining the cleanliness and purity of your cloth. Especially, we should already learn to avoid the white clothe from the same dirt it had before.

All these are not easy to do, but they are not impossible to be obeyed. Remember, obedience is your best strategy to move God's heart. God bless..

God knows what to do..

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:48:56 +0100

Today's devotion: 2 Peter 2:4-10

"if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment." ~ 2 Peter 2:9

For whatever we have done, is doing, and will be doing, remember it leaves a print in your eternity.

We have no time to judge others or suggest God how He should punish others for their sins. Really, the time is near and grab any chance you have to pass the tests God registered your name to sit for..

Of wives and husbands..

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 23:31:25 +0100

Today's devotion: 1 Peter 3:1-7

"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." ~ 1 Peter 3:1-2

"Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers." ~ 1 Peter 3:7

Beautiful..

This is a blessed husband-and-wife relationship that pleases God. In fact, the Bible speaks about this matter in many other books, too. However, how many couples are actually experiencing the joy of living this marriage life? Of course, I am yet to be experienced in this process of life, but as an observer, I have been learning something and I wish to share this here. Bear with me if it sounds immature to you. ^^

Husband and wife is the closest relationship that human can have. Thus, our partner needs to be someone whom we can count on for spiritual support throughout our lives. I'm not trying to be critical, but honestly, many Christian couples are not living as lovingly as they should. I have been witnessing Christian couples shouting at one another, fighting, struggling for getting divorced, all for some reason that maybe I as an outsider cannot understand, but surely gives no excuse for them to be so unloving towards one another, since they have pledged before God to love their partners forever.

We can stumble people, especially unbelievers who are living around us, by living an ungodly marriage life. The worst thing is, when one of the partners is not a believer, he/she may perceive Christianity as how you treat their Christian partners treat them. How then, shall the love of God be shared to them and eventually touch their lives?

Brothers and sisters, put aside our selfishness. If you are not happily-married today, no matter you are the offended or the offender in your marriage life, please now, respond to God. Being myself as a teenager, I know I have no right to say all this to you, who surely has tasted more 'salts and sugar' in life. But see to this as said sincerely by a sister in Christ, you need to take action step to work out your relationship.

Don't stumble your unbeliever friends around you by the way you and your partner are conducting your life. Above all, don't stumble your unbeliever partner. He/she need you to share with them the gift of live prepared for them by God. Don't feel condemned or judged by what I have shared here. I purely share this because I hope to see more couples to live as blessings to the unbelievers who would get to be touched by God's love through your living testimony.

Remember, to love, you need to be selfless, like Jesus Christ. May God bless your marriage lives abundantly.