Love and Power

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, (Ephesians 3:17-18)

I always envision ourselves as trees. Sprouting from the ground with constant care from God. Right amount of sunlight, right amount of water and right amount of care. When plants grow, they put roots in the ground, and that’s to be firmly standing when a strong wind comes and tries to knock them over.

God is a caring father who pays so much attention to our every little thing, and wants what’s good for us. He wants us to be rooted and grounded in his love. The verse in Ephesians mentions that I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power. Meaning being rooted in love come before having power. Power without love is reckless and can be abusive, even. (Martin Luther King’s quote)

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)

Without love, it is meaningless. We can evangelize and do all the works and even prophecy and heal people, but is that coming from a place of true love? It is a question we should ask ourselves daily.

I think it is crucial to always check if we are rooted in love.

On the flip side, what about love without power? What if we are rooted in love but we don’t exercise the power of Christ? Love without power is sentimental and anemic. (Martin Luther King’s quote, also) We can sit in our own comfort of home and fill ourselves with God’s love, but what are we doing with it? If we are truly overflowing with his love, then there will be an urge to go out and love on others as well, because that is the heart of Christ. Ministry without power, and especially evangelism without power is not very effective. I’ve seen it happen, I’m not saying it is totally not effective but when you are evangelizing with the Holy spirit guiding you and giving you instruction, it becomes SO MUCH more powerful.

Lord I pray that I always remain rooted in your love before anything else. So that when trials and tribulations come I will not shake, but will be firmly grounded in you. Amen!

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A little sleep, a little slumber

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:10-11)

I love sleep, don’t you? I love a little slumber, a little folding of hands to rest.

It is 11:39 pm right now, and I’m racing against the clock to finish this entry because I’m trying to be diligent and faithful in keeping my promise to journal everyday. It’s one of the things God’s been speaking to me about this season, “Discipline and Diligence” God delights the ones who are diligent and blesses them.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5)

When I read this the first time, I was like “oh! this is definitely about finance”. I felt pretty good about it being a natural born ‘hustler’ lol I have worked multiple jobs since the age of 15, and made good living out of it. But then I started to meditate on this a little more and thought this could also mean us being lazy with our spiritual walk with God.

How many of us are asleep? Taking a nap? During Covid, how many churches are asleep? I started to think about the fruit and the harvest. What is the fruit we’re producing in this season? Are we truly diligent in with our walks with God? spending time with God each day, meditating on his word, and filling our days up with prayer, and loving on our neighbors and spreading the good news of Christ? Or are we being lazy?

Then the poverty comes.

Poor people are always in “need” and they are not the one who can give to others. If we are not filled with the holy spirit and God’s love, we become the poor who constantly needs other peoples help in order to survive. (When it should be us who are helping others and feeding others) We become incompetent. We become inwardly focused and unable to bless others and die for one another, because we are so busy trying to “survive” We are not just talking about finance anymore.

Only out of abundant love of Jesus flowing through us, we can minister to others. But we cannot get there without diligently spending time with the Lord. In his words, prayer, and worship.

I really think accountability in this area is so important, whether it is a small community of people or close friend or in my case, my spouse (my 24/7 accountability partner) helps a lot! Lord thank you so much for the people you’ve placed in my life to keep me accountable, so that I do not fall into the sin of sloth. And from time to time, I totally was being lazy and I repent for not caring enough. I want to spend my time intentionally.

Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:16)

Days are evil and we cannot waste time anymore. Lord help me to always be mindful of how I spend my time, and more than anything I want to be diligent and faithful in loving you and becoming more like you each day! Amen.

p.s It’s already 12:30 and I know I was supposed to post this yesterday, but have grace on me ❤

Things of this world

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15–16)

I got married recently and my husband and I moved into this new apartment in Orange County. We found this place as a last minute lease-takeover and never seen the apt in person until we actually moved here. (I’ve never done this before) but I was just BLOWN AWAY at how beautiful and luxurious this apt complex was! I was immediately planning all the ways I can decorate this place and invite couple of friends for a housewarming. I was like a little girl giddy and excited all day yesterday, with adult apartment that comes with a fridge that makes ice! (I’ve never had this before, and I LOVE ice, so it was such a treat) I called up 2 of my old friends from this area and scheduled a housewarming this weekend. After that husband and I did a little cheers! and ate some delicious noodle dishes to celebrate our new home. It was like everything seemed so lovely and peachy, I’m living THE LIFE.

This morning, I woke up and the first scripture verse I read was this. And it suddenly hit me like a brick,

What am I doing here?

God has blessed me with this beautiful place to call home for a while, but everything in this life is very temporary and finite. We are here on a mission, and not just to coast through life and have fun. When we talk about YOLO (You Only Live Once), we immediately think of the hedonistic lifestyle because why not enjoy all you can while you are on this earth?

But the YOLO in the bible is you are only on this earth for a short period of time. We have limited amount of time. And the days are evil. We are to become a light that shines throughout the darkest place on this land. We are NOT to be conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. (Romans 12:2)

So what does that mean and what does that even look like? We have to be very intentional about how we spend our time, and what we do with our resources given from God. How are we stewarding them? I was blessed with a job where I can work remotely and still make a great living, but with that job, what am I doing to advance God’s kingdom? I realized how important it is to spend time in prayer and as for God’s wisdom and guidance in how we need to be living every single day, to truly make an impact to God’s kingdom.

It is so easy to just let a day go by without trying. It is so easy to be comfortable in our little Christian bubble with our Christian friends. But is that what we are called to?

Rise up, you women who are at ease,
And hear my voice;
Give ear to my word,
You complacent daughters. (Isaiah 32:9)

God does not want us to be complacent. He wants us to hear his voice and actually pay attention, and to obey. We are to be salt and light of this earth, and I think it is really time for us to truly run hard after God’s heart, which is people. Bringing people back to God.

The weekend plan quickly changed from a chill housewarming party to a potential start of a revival. I am going to share all the testimonies of what God’s been doing in my life to my 2 friends whom I haven’t seen in a long time. I got more excited than before, because I knew God is going to do something amazing through this hangout. With every hangout or gathering from now on, I want them to be focused on God, and sharing his love to others, encouraging others to run hard as well.

I’m ready to make the most of every opportunity given to me by God. Thank you Lord, for the opportunities, and all the people you’ve brought in to my life. Even in the midst of Coronavirus pandemic, I want to be a faithful steward in all the resources you’ve gifted me with. Use me, and also use my husband for your kingdom. Amen.

Do not even think about it.

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. (Romans 13:14)

Out of all the books in the bible, I would probably have to say Roman is the book that convicts my heart the MOST. It just stabs me sometimes. Just like a double-edged sword, it penetrates and judges my thoughts and even my attitudes.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

I just ordered hundreds of dollars worth of clothing from online, happily unpacked the package and did a little fashion show and twirled around, because I was busy clothing myself with pretty things. Self gratifying with frivolous things. Where am I even going with these new clothes during the Pandemic? Perhaps grocery store.

When the bible talks about clothing ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, I always wonder what that looks like. Speaking of clothing, everyone sees what we wear, because we wear it on the outside, not inside. It is not hidden, it is for everyone to see. When we wear Jesus, do people see? Are we proudly carrying his glory for the whole world to see? Or are we hiding him in only in our hearts?

Another way I see it is, when we wear Jesus, we are protected. It says in Ephesians 6, Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Not only just a vague, figurative way, but it goes into specific detail about what to wear. It’s pretty cool.

¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:13-17)

We are at a spiritual war with the darkness, and without clothing ourselves in our Lord Jesus Christ, we will suffer. The second part of this verse then talks about our flesh. (Oh how I just love that word……..)

and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

What’s interesting here is it doesn’t say Do not gratify the desires of the flesh. It says to NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. Do not even let the thought of the world get into you. As soon as you recognize it, take captive of it, and give it to God instead of entertaining it.

…and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Lord please help us to take any fleshly thoughts and desires captive and to clothe ourselves in you. Amen.