Respecting the Difference (Amos 1-3)

"Damacus,... Gaza,... Tyre,... Edom,... Ammonites,... Moab,... Judah,... and Israel... Thus says the Lord: 'For three transgressions of [to all those people of their nation], and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because..."

Their transgressions are listed. They are WANTED. But Israel had the longest list than other nations in the book of Amos! Why did God rebuke Israel the most in this book? Naturally, God will discipline the one He loves the most. The disciplinary action letter shows that the people of Israel is special in His eyes.

Only Israel had this specific transgression listed:

"And I raised up some of your sons for prophets, and some of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not indeed so, O people of Israel? But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, 'You shall not prophesy.'... For the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?"

Wow! God will do nothing without first telling the prophets His whole story?! It's amazing how God won't unleash anything until He shared something with His people, the prophets! Why is it bad to make Nazirites to drink wine? It is Nazirites' vows that keep them separated from other people. They vowed not to drink wine, to refrain from cutting the hair, and to avoid any corpses and graves (even family). God showed His love by disciplining Israel the most, but He protects those two: prophets and Nazirites. Why did He protects them?

After reading this, I also began to understand and love those two as well! The Nazirites showed their disciplinary action by keeping their vows. They didn't change their mind and sway, but they remained firm in their vows. Although the prophets may drink their wine without displeasing God, but when a Nazirite drank a wine it will displease God because they broke their vow. Nazirites are those who are physically disciplined "Walk the Talk". While the prophets are those who are spiritually "a great listener".

We need to have some Nazirite and prophetical characteristics in us. Those people with Nazirite characteristics may seem rigid to some of us. Why didn't they loosen themselves up? Why did they refused to drink one ounce of alcohol? Why do they have to be dressy at all times? But you forgot all about their good side - their disciplinary action vowed to God. They may be boring, but they may be consistent and determined to finish their race. Those people with prophetical characteristics may seem crazy to some of us. Why didn't they plan anything specifically? Why didn't they meet the deadlines accurately? Why did they throw those unexpected things upon us? But you forgot all about their good side - their flexibility in obedience as they listen to Him.

But it's worthless for us to be like Nazirites or to be like prophets if we haven't love.

Silence + Seeking = Ready! (Zephaniah 1-3)

"Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near... Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord."

The day of the Lord refers to the specific period of time that God will infers the human affairs in either judgment or blessing. But as for our time, we are waiting for the rapture and for the thousand year of reign with the Christ on the earth!

It is interesting to note that God is telling us to be silent before the Lord God the first thing before warning us that "the day of the Lord" is near. In either judgment or blessing, God's name will be exalted through them for all of us to see. Just like how God's telling us to "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." -Psalm 46:10.

Later God told them to seek the Lord in everything so that He may not be angry with them (or so that He may bless them). "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." - Matthew 6:33

Let us shift our focus on receiving His blessing on the day of the Lord. What can we do to prepare the blessing to come? The Lord says, "be silent so that I may exalt myself, and seek Me so that everything may be added to you." When Jesus walked among the people, he was as humble as a lamb when he taught them about Love, even he was slaughtered like a lamb. And when he found his spare time, he will seek the Lord by going up to the mountain by himself to pray, so he prayed his last prayer about the harmoniousness for the Body of Christ before the cruxification.

After his silence and seeking, the cross has spoken His power and love for us as the chain of miraculous events occured. The curtain of the Temple was torn into two. The earth shook. The rocks were split. The tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who were asleep had awaken to walk into the holy city after His resurrection. Jesus resurrected and even more, he walked on the water transfigured before His disciples! Those are the day of the Lord for that period of time because the Body of Christ was blessed with the new movement after the day of Pentecost.

We need to relax as we allow God to shake things up while we seek Him in everything we do. Gary Haugen once said, "Do less, think more"... talk and do less + think about Him and seek Him = well equipped for the day of the Lord!

Believe It or Not! (Habakkuk 1-3)

"For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told." The Lord answered... It reminds me of the Ripley's Believe It or Not. So I googled up one of those Believe It or Not comics.

Ripley's Believe It or Not:

-California's Ridge Route mountain highway-

Built in 1915 and linking Los Angeles to Bakersfield, had 697 turns in just 28 miles of road!

-The Vadoma people, a reclusive tribe in Western Zimbabwe have only two toes on each foot!

-Scientists have created mircoscopic walking robots assembled from strands of DNA!

-Thresher sharks have tails that can grow as long as the rest of their body and they use them to smack and stun their prey!

I don't know if you believe any of this do you? Well, I just figure this out, 697 turns/28 miles = an average of 25.5 turns per mile, or 6 turns per 400m lap. I'd probably take my motorcycle and practice some laps at a cement track and field somewhere for 350 laps to prepare for this route! I checked the site and the northern end of the 1915 Ridge Route is closed due to the storm in 2005, but I could rent a motorcycle someday and travel along the route and camp to see if I could count the turns. But I probably won't get the accurate counts since the northern end is closed! So, I had to let it go and believe... although I might add this route to my life goal lists to check off!

"And the Lord answered me: write the vision (or revelation): make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision (or revelation) awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end- it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."

God may do more than you could imagine or dream, even He can give you more than what you asked for! Sometimes I couldn't believe that God did this or that, so I decided to turn my journal pages over to recall some of visions/revelations. And I couldn't believe that God did or will do for me and for the Body of Christ!

My 2009-2010 Protege Year journal should be called, "Kari's Believe It or Not"! Maybe you should call your journal, "Your name's Believe It or Not!" I think we should call the book of Elijah, "Elijah's Believe It or Not!", "David and Goliath's...", "Moses'....", and so on! Our lives are actually revolved around "God's Believe It or Not!" Who would ever heard of a man who sent his only son to die for the neighborhood?!

Don't Stare Not Fight (Obadiah)

It is not a human right
To stare not fight while broken nations dream
Open up our eyes, so blind
That we might find the mercy for the need

-Solution lyric by Hillsong United

"Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: "Rise up! Let us rise against her for battle!"

The people of Edom helped capture fleeing Israelites and turn them over to Babylonians at that time, and even some of them moved into Judean villages to live there. So they angered the Lord for they, the descentant of Esau, were related to the Israelites, so they should've helped them. So God punished the people of Edom for not helping them although God allowed Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem. So through Obadiah, the Lord promised that He will repay the people of Edom for their deeds.

"For the day of the Lord is near upon all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done to you; your deeds shall return on your head."

Today, everybody may be "Israelities". Jesus died so that we may have life! Everyone out there has the opportunity to be His "Israelities". Are we like the people of Edom as we took advantage of their wrongdoings? Or are we following Jesus' example by sacrificing his life to save His people? Israelities suffered for their wrongdoings, which is unbenefitical. While Edomites didn't do anything wrong, but they refused to take part in the sufferings to imitate Christ and even more they decided to take a side with the Babylonians!

They could have stare not fight instead?

1 Peter 2:20, "For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God."

Yes they could simply stare and not fight to receive no punishment. But if they decided to fight and suffered from it, then God will look at us and say, "This is a gracious thing!" As an American or even a neighborhood, we can decide to give up something to help the others. Such as our comfort in the food, in the home, in the clothing, in the education, in the everything for the third-world country or for the injustice country or for the injustice in the neighborhood. International Justice Mission (ijm.org) is currently fighting against the injustices for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other form of violent oppression.

Are we staring blindly or taking action?

God Wants to Protect (Zech 11-14)

"On that day the Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the angel of the Lord, going before them. And on that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."

It reminds me of a dream I had, I was sitting on a tree, scared to go down because I knew that those white wolves will come and destroy me if I come down. So I stayed up there until my mom came from the grocery in her car, and I called her. But she told me to not to worry for I will be safe up there and that she had to hurry into the cabin. So I stayed and then the wolves came, but they cannot hurt me. I had been afraid of that dream and wonder a lot about those wolves and what kind of attacks I probably face. But the Lord said, "I will seek to destroy everything that come against Us."

After I applied for Protégé program and before I was accepted into the Protégé program, I rode with a friend and was lifted up when I saw a car in the front of us with "Protegé" on it. I felt like God was confirming it. But after a while, I feel a nudge that I should look it up, so I did and here is what I find:

pro·té·gé-

a person under the patronage, protection, or care of someone interested in his or her career or welfare.

I was awestruck that God seemed to say that He is going to protect me through this Protégé program. Now looking back, I saw that God wants to be the "wall of fire" protecting us. He wants to be the house of David, to be our fortress tree. All I need to do is to remain in Him so that "the house of David shall be like God". God will keep us on the right path as long as we allow Him to protect us, to be our "wall of fire" that will keep us from falling in one of those ditches.

God wants us to understand His perfect love for "there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18) He doesn't want us to fear legalism, which may cause us to fall into lawlessness or to fear lawlessness, which may cause us to fall into legalism. He wants us to have the "fear of the Lord" so that we will walk onto the path of His perfect love as He will be our wall of fire, protecting us. He will be faithful to provide us the Word to protect us from any storms that may come into our mind that is full of fear.

Ask for Rain (Zech 7-10)

"Ask rain from the Lord in the season of the spring rain, from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain."

Sometimes we ought to simply ask the Lord for the rain at the right season. Those prayer prayed at the wrong season mightn't bring rain until the due season. How may we know when we should pray for the rain or prepare for the rain?

Let's look at how did the weathermen forecast the upcoming weather at the specific location:

Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. Weather forecasts are made by collecting quantitative data about the current state of the atmosphere and using scientific understanding of atmospheric processes to project how the atmosphere will evolve.

Once an all-human endeavor based mainly upon changes in barometric pressure, current weather conditions, and sky condition, forecast models are now used to determine future conditions. Human input is still required to pick the best possible forecast model to base the forecast upon, which involves pattern recognition skills, teleconnections, knowledge of model performance, and knowledge of model biases. The use of ensembles and model consensus help narrow the error and pick the most likely outcome.

Temperature forecasts are used by utility companies to estimate demand over coming days. On an everyday basis, people use weather forecasts to determine what to wear on a given day. Since outdoor activities are severely curtailed by heavy rain, snow and the wind chill, forecasts can be used to plan activities around these events, and to plan ahead and survive them.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_prediction

Let us be the spiritual weathermen as we "write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay." As we write down those things, we "collected" our data to be able to pray a seasonal-prayers or pray as we wait for the rains to come in the due season. Keep our Holy Weathermen as we plan, so that we may be prepared for the rains to come in due season!

"then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit." -Lev 26:4

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" -Ecclesiastes 3:1

Prophetically Applications (Zech 4-6)

Ezekiel asked, "What are those two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?"... Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth."

Surfing on the website to google the definition of two olive trees and the lampstand, I found another verse related to this verse in Revelation: "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lamp stands standing before the God of the earth." (Rev 11:3-4)

After some thoughts, I realized that it sounds like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal to me when surfing the websites had led me into more prophets clinged to this original verse. Although they are prophetically, there's no point for us to look at those prophets if we didn't apply those words of prophet to our lives. How can we continue to look through those prophets without making them sounds like a noisy gong or clanging cymbal?

"And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." - 1 Cor 13:2

Let us ask ourselves this questions: "Do we learn the Words and apply them as we sow the right seed of love rather than of the power of influence or of knowledge beside the Lampstand, so that we may grow as tender and long-lived as a olive tree?"

Fact: Olive trees grow to 50 ft in height with a spread of about 30 ft. They are long-lived with a life expectantly of 500 years. Also those trees are easily sprouted back when even when chopped to the ground.

It amazed me at those olive trees will be able to sprout back easily even after being chopped to the ground! Will you be able to grow back in Him even when you died spiritually and physically after being through the heaviest storm ever? How may we become like those olive trees, even if we cannot be like them, we still can learn from them as we apply what we learned! Push yourself higher, even a step higher means a lot to Love.

Ministry of the Horsemen (Zech 1-3)

Four horsemen of Revelation 6 was relased before the fifth seal, but in the fifth seal, "those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne... then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been."

It's interested how God didn't need to release another horse for the fifth, sixth, and seventh seal. But if we look forward to Revelation 19, He finally released a white horse with Faithful and True sitting on it, "clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called The Word of God." But He didn't go on his horse alone for "the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses." It is when everything will be completed with the "Final Generation".

I just found it funny that the fifth, sixth, and seventh seal didn't release any horses, but God relased a white horse to lead armies of horses from the heaven. But in Zechariah 1:8, "I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses." So Zechariah asked what they are? So the man standing in Zechariah's vision said, "These are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth." And then they told the angel of the Lord, "We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest."

Why did they need to go to a specific area to maintain order and security as they pass along the road/area? It sounds like they are preparing the way for something. What are they preparing for?

At Gallaudet, I once walked through field house to see some security guards patrolling the area. So I had to go through another way out of field house after a basketball practice or so. The security had to patrol the area to prepare the safety for the congressmen to enter the building in order to dress up for their annual Congressional Flag Football game in around second week of November, after the Gallaudet's football season just ended.

The ministry of those horsemen is to prepare the safety, then the Lord said, "I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion... with the nations that are at ease... therefore, thus says the Lord, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hots, and the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem."

Now everything is safe and measured, the Lord says, "Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without wall,... And I will be to her a wall of fire all around,... and I will be the glory in her midst."

God gave us all the seasons of life, there are four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter or white, red, black, and sorrel/pale if you like! After all of those seasons in our lives, the Lord measures our inner self and then wrapped us in His glory, transformed! God, Himself, wants to dwell among us!

We all may help each other through those seasons by being a prayer warrior who will pray-through just like how those horsemen patrolled the earth by their ride-through. Praying-through doesn't mean we shall pray in our carnality, but in our spirit so that God's will may be completed in us.

One of 2nd Thief rider rode through 21 states for 5111 miles for 11 days praying over our nation from Virginia to California and back! If the Holy Spirit ever compelled you to do something like that, then GO!

Go Up the Mountain (Malachi 1-4)

"For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven,... But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings."

Exodus 19 and 32 are my two favorite chapters of many chapters! They are two of the greatest illustration of God's upcoming glory. They showed how we flee from His glory because we choose comfort in the people rather than in God, so we were being influenced by the society like how Aaron was influenced by the society when he rejected the opportunity to go up the mountain with Moses when God told Moses to take Aaron with him to Mt. Sinai (19:24). Exodus 32 showed the result of Aaron's comfort in his society when he called the golden calf, Yahweh, the true name of the true God because he missed the opportunity to go up to be in His presence! If you remain in Him, "then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God." (Proverb 2:5)

"You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." -Exodus 19:4

Those Israelities and Aaron have seen many miracles! Why did they reduce their God into a golden calf? We may see many miracles around us, but that doesn't mean we have matured through His glory. By being in His presence, we will see the ugly us. Aaron didn't want to see the ugly Aaron, so he remained with his people. But not Joshua nor Caleb! They refused to see God as small as a golden calf, but as a big God! And as a result, they led the next generation into the Promise Land after the long preparations in the wildnerness!

"The Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people."

But when God came down, the people trembled before Him as there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain. God met us down here because He knew that we cannot go up to the mountaintop! But even when God tried to meet us, we still trembled before Him because we didn't let Him change us. So God called Moses and the priest Aaron up the mountaintop afterward, but Aaron didn't. They dwell among the miracles, but not among His glory! What did they miss?

Let us go back to Malachi, "He stood in awe of my name. True instuction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips." So Malachi called the people to repentance with respect to : the priesthood, which had become corrupt; worship, which had become routine; divorce, which was widespread; social justice, which was being ignored; and tithing, which was neglected. "Will man rob God?" the Lord asked through Malachi.

In all, God's saying, "Come unto me, little children and I will lift you up on the wings like eagles so that you may run your race and not be weary, so that you may finish your race! Because My glory will move you up from your comfort of the world into the comfort of my grace."

GO UP THE MOUNTAIN!

We, His Flowers (Ez 45-48)

"The prince shall enter by the vestibule of the gate from outside, and shall take his stand by the post of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until evening."

The prince didn't do anything, except bringing his offerings and allowed the priests to burn them to God. God was pleased when those offerings came up to Him. Then the prince went to worship Him as in "making love" to God. It reminded me of the bowlful of flowers I carried for around 13 blocks to home from Union Station after getting off Amtrak from my friend's wedding. I was smiling when I carried those beautiful flowers as if I am feeling "proud of my God", my Man, our Man. Now it stands on my glass dining table, which was full of "Love" in different languages printed on it!

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God." - 2 Cor 2:14-18

Through those verses, God showed us that God's also carrying us, feeling "proud of His children". We are like the aroma of Christ to God and to those among us. I recalled saying that to one of my friend implusively, who was baptized in the public pool at field house in Gallaudet University, "the fragrance is being spreaded through the small opening under the door, through every door within field house, and so on! Your fragrance had filled up the whole building!" He laughed! I believe that his bravery enabled the aroma of Christ in him to spread throughout the building and the aroma remained.

"In opinion of scientists there are more than 270,000 versions of colors. Each flower, is shrouded by illusive and mysterious aura, and that magic mood with which it presents all people without exception, whether it is a man or a woman, a small child or an elderly person."

We are all unique and beautiful!

Prince in a Holy Temple (Ez 41-44)

"Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord. He shall enter by way of the vestibule [hall] of the gate, and shall go out by the same way."

No one may enter because the Holy Place was filled with God's glory "as the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east." Ezekiel heard the sounds of His coming like many waters, and the earth shone with His glory. God came into the east gate, where the sun will come up first in the morning. Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord? The Jews say only the kings of the house of David were allowed to sit in the sanctuary before the prophecy. God entered the temple. Jesus entered this world by flesh and he ascended in the same way. And then Jesus entered us when we open our door to him because each of us are like a temple that only a prince may enter.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." -Rev 3:20

"Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning all the statues of the temple of the Lord and all its laws. And mark well the entrance to the temple and all the exits from the sanctuary." God wants us to mark our temple well by measuring everything within our temple. Are we measuring our obedience? What does our temple looks like (to see who we are)? Is it facing the east? Does any foreigners enter your temple? How do we set our gates toward the east?

When your temple is facing the east, then you will receive the sunshine that will provide the heat for your temple. If your gate is facing north or south, then you may receive some lukewarm sunshine, but you will never see the sun! West gate may see the sun when it disappears toward the west. Which one are you? Hot, lukewarm, or cold? Obeying Him to the fullest, obeying some, or none at all?

"For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." -Rev 3:17

Zealous for His Holy Name (Ez 37-40)

"Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name."

Ever caught yourself feeling a different kind of jealousy, but it wasn't for yourself? We normally get jealous over the others when we compared ourselves with others. We became disappointed. But when we feel the jealousy for His holy name, we became disappointed for their backsliding or ignorance. Either ways, we couldn't do much, except being jealous for either our names or for His holy name.

BUT in other translation, jealous is just like being zealous. When you are feeling jealous, you can become zealous! God is showing us how to pour out our disappointment into a zealous for His holy name. God, Himself, restored Jacob and gave mercy over the whole house of Israel in order to get their eyes back to Him. And God, Himself, may anoint us and send us out.

Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound..."

But what may we bring when we have nothing to offer? It is easy for us to bring our own judgments when we knew that we had nothing to offer! So what did God told Ezekiel to do?

"Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath'... So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, exceedingly great army." First, God was upon Ezekiel and brought him out in the Spirit. Then God told him to deliver this message to these dry bones and then He lay sinews, flesh, skin, and breath to come upon dry bones. God wants us to carry out His message of restoration to the poor, brokenhearted, captives, and prisoners. When you are feeling jealous for His holy name, be zealous to deliver His message of restoration not your judgmental messages. Ask them if you could pray for them, hug them, or encourage them through those encouraging Scriptures of restoration for "With God everything is possible".

God repeated this several times in the Bible, "they shall be my people, and I will be their God." Let us be His people by showing our zealous for His holy name as well by restoring these dry bones.

Tips to True/False Shepherds (Ez 33-36)

"Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep... the lost you have not sought and with force and harshness you have ruled them... my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them... I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them."

It sounds like those shepherds had king bellies! When their bellies became their king, they forgot about their sheep. So those sheep were scattered and lost! "And I will set up over them one shepherd, my David, and he shall feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd." God will raise up true shepherds and take those innocence sheep away from those false shepherds who used those sheep for their own gain, for their own glory. God will take care of those false shepherds, not us for God promised, "I will rescue my sheep from their mouths." All we can do is to relax in Him as His sheep.

How do we know whether we are acting like a true shepherd or false shepherd?

The question reminds me of how Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" Then Jesus responded, "Feed my lambs", "Then tend my sheep", and "Then feed my sheep." After those three comments, Jesus told Peter the most important tip as a true shepherd:
"Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go." -John 21:18

Who is your Shepherd who will dress you and take you to where you don't want to go? Are you allowing God to dress you and take you to wherever He takes you, so that you may tend to the sheep rather than yourself when you allow God to take care of those things? If you take so much of your time taking care of yourself, then how may you take care of those lost and untended sheep?

Pray: Hey Daddy Up There, help us to remember Peter's failure and our failures after we said we love you. But we know that we don't actually love You to the fullest and never will! Yeah, we are greedy because we love to say, "me...me...me..." rather than "they need this or that... how may we help them... may we go over to them..." as we keep a lookout for them. Please take us and dress us, we need You to take care of our needs so that we may begin to forget about our king-selves and tend to those wounded or lost sheep. Let us turn our eyes to how You have been taking care of us and bless us continually so that we may begin to relax in Your arms as we tend others who need the caring more than we do. In Jesus' name, we say Amen!

Sabbath, a Day of Humility (Ez 17-20)

"Morever, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them... and keep my Sabbath holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God."

In those verses, it showed that keeping our Sabbaths help us to know that He is the Lord. We rest so that we can change our mindset from self-absorbed to God-absorbed, which may be uncomfortable at first when we didn't see the benefits of it! So "In the first, he fears and flees and seeks deliverance from all that can humble him. He has not yet learned to seek humility at any cost... there may be an unconscious self-exaltation with it all." -Humility, Andrew Murray

"As a pleasing aroma I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered... and there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed."

"Paul at once entered upon a new stage in his relation to the trail: instead of simply enduring it, he most gladly gloried in it; instead of asking for deliverance, he took pleasure in it." He realized that he is the least of the apostles because he persecuted the Church of God. He was humbled because he learned how to take pleasure in his errors, so he considered himself the least of the apostles rather than the best! He learned Jesus' meekness.

Do we take our time to recall how we had defiled ourselves by our errors, so that we may humble ourselves?

God's Romantic (Ez 13-16)

Let's wire our intimacy with Him! God's being romantic today. This passage shows that God's watching us with a special admiration! Who is as romantic as our God? No, not one!

"And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
"When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine. Then I bathed you with water and washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with embroidered cloth and shod you with fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your wrists and a chain on your neck. And I put a ring on your nose and earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour and honey and oil. You grew exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. And your renown went forth among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through the splendor that I had bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.

God is speaking to Israel as a woman. God is watching her growing after He spoke to her, "Live!" So Israel lived and grew as God watched over her until she was ready. When God spoke to our blood, "Live!" We began to grow as Jesus personally teaches us within our spirit just by dwelling in us and through the Holy Spirit, we will be able to read God's Love Letter for us. Why did God write those love letters? 1 John 2:21, "I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth." God is saying that we already knew the truth, but He write to us because we already knew Him. It is not a resume letter to invite us to Him, but it is a romantic letter because we already knew Him.

"But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his." We became self-absorbed that we became a whore to Him! We chased after the world that will perish rather than remaining in His kingdom, which is like a bedroom made for us to be with Him! How often do we think about ourselves?

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughter had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy." (FYI- this verse didn't mention about Sodom's sexual sins, but about how greedy Sodom was! So what do you get from this verse about the ultimate sin in God's eyes? http://ncc.gd/61 )

God destroyed your sister Sodom because they weren't part of the Servolution! Dino Rizzo told his leaders, staff, and volunteers: "You are the greatest church on the planet. It is your heart to serve that has truly ignite our servolution, and it is why I love doing life with you. Your humility, extreme generosity, and compassion for the poor and hurting take my breath away."

How may you serve the people around you today? Maybe you could take your guest on a motorcycle ride to the airport 4am in the morning! Or you could pick up your co-worker's dog's poop! Or you could cook an oatmeal with some flax seeds and fruits for your guests! Or even you could simply wave at someone lonely as you walk to your workplace daily to give a small ounce of love to that person!

Be 'sexy' for God by serving! (censored)

New Things to Come (Ez 9-12)

Every time we read the Bible, we saw that there are many new things that keep coming out of the Bible as if they are alive. And they are! The Bible is God-breathed and All Scripture is useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteous. Ruach simply ignites us! God blew his Spirit into us through those alive words that kept moving and jumping in the Bible like how the miniature indians from "the Indian in the Cupboard" jumped out of the cupboard.

"And he called the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist." Then he went through the city to put a mark on the foreheads of the men who is in anguish over the outrageous things being done in the city against God. But when he went through the city, he found no one to put the mark on, so Ezekiel was the only one who survived! Is the Spirit marked upon us?

"And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh." God replaced the old with the new! After the wipeout, He came to renew us so that we may walk upon the salvation, upon the path marked with suffering, to walk with Jesus gleefully to the cross.

"Who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house." God warned Ezekiel not to dwell among them. Although Israel is God's people, but they are in a rebellious house when they became deaf and blind to the Spirit. Israel is the Body of Christ today. Helen Keller once said something like this, "Deafness separates people from people while blindness separates people from the things." We are deaf to God when we choose to listen to the voices of the world rather than God's voice. We are blind to God when we choose to see things of the world rather than seeing God's kingdom that is to come.

Wow! God is speaking Revelation to us, the Church, in Ezekiel! Now are you seeing how the Bible is jumping out of it's own page across the pages?

True Humility (Ez 5-8)

Humility is our response to the grace that God gave us: grace upon grace. Numbers 12:3 says, "Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth." God told them that He doesn't have to speak to Moses in riddles, but clearly face to face without sending any prophets to speak to him. What is it that makes Moses one of the most humble man on the earth? How did Moses responded to God's grace?

That is something that we each had to find out! All we know is that Moses gave up his high position to be with his people, obeyed God even when he didn't speak fluently and got "Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" as a response, led Israel out of Egypt, carried His laws, delegated his leadership to Joshua, and lastly he created new songs so that the people may remember Him and how His grace had helped them. When he prepared to leave his people to die, he passed down the lengthy song and lengthy blessing to Joshua and Israel!

I think somewhere in Moses' story, Moses' saying, "I did all of this for God's name not mine." Moses is able to give up his high position given by Egypt in order to be with God. He could stay in this political position as he waits to become a Pharaoh to be able to get things in order, but he degraded himself to save his people! Even more, in God's kingdom, he is able to give up his leadership position that God had given him in order to pass it down to Joshua and walk alone with Him to die! Moses knew that nothing of this world belong to him, but that he belonged to the kingdom of God. He followed God all the way!

"Humility and death are in their very nature one: humility is the bud; in death the fruit is ripened to perfection." - Andrew Murray, Humility: Beauty of Holiness

"Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed: pride has budded. Violence has grown up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor their abundance, nor their wealth; neither shall there be preeminence among them." -Ezekiel the street prophet, Ezekiel 7:10-11

Notice how humility budded to make their death fruitful while pride budded to make their death violence and unfruitful in comparision. Are you willingly to give up your name to be part of His name, to be part of something bigger and fruitful? So that you may be part of the answer to Jesus' last prayer before he went to the cross for us?

God promised, "I will put an end to the pride of the strong."

Tell the Others (Ez 1-4)

"And the hand of the Lord was upon me... the Lord spoke to me, 'Go, shut yourself within your house... So that you cannot go out among the people. And I will make your tongue cling to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute and unable to reprove them, for they are a rebellious house.'"

God had made Ezekiel a watchman, who will warn the Israel about the danger. But Ezekiel was not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to Israel. So God had made Ezekiel a watchman over the people of Israel after confirming Ezekiel's calling by lifting him up so that he may hear the voice of a great earthquake behind him! He was so overwhelmed that he ought to rest for 7 days, so that he may store up what he had experienced into his heart. Daniel also once lay sick for some days after he received a vision about what is to come. They felt burdened, so they had to rest for some days to restore themselves, so that they may recover and act. Their visions are about to happen.

But it is unusual to receive the vision from God and keep silence! That was after God told him three times, "If you didn't warn them, then their blood I will require at your hand." What a burden! Ezekiel knew that whenever God told him about something, he had to share His words with them or it will be required at his hand. And then God made him mute before Israel! What is He talking about?!

It is all about His timing. God knew when it is time and when it's not time to tell the others about His words. So Ezekiel had to stay in his house and do his own stuff and wait until God told him, "Go!" And he went! God knows when He is sending the power of the Holy Spirit to stir up their hearts, then God sent Ezekiel to tell them, well actually God sent Ezekiel to act...

Did you ever ask God to show you His timing? Do you tell the others or encourage the others to focus on Jesus? Ever get some rest to store up things what God had done?

Languages Save (Esther 7-8)

After Esther revealed Haman, the king's signet ring was taken from Haman and the king gave it to Mordecai while Haman is being hanged on his own gallows. So Mordecai had to make a quick decision regarding the Jews in the name of the king and seal it with the ring without revoking what Haman had sealed. Mordecai declared through different languages saying that the king allowed the Jews from every cities to gather together to defend themselves on the 13th day of 12th month, even allowed them to destroy, kill, and even annihilate any armed force of any province that may attack them. Then this message quickly spread around 127 provinces without any delay as the couriers rode on swift horses to every provinces.

"From India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own script and also to the Jews in their script and their language."

King Ahasuerus probably hired many writers and messengers. Those writers will write to each province and to each people in its own script, including Jews and their language. Then those messengers will mount on the swift horses and ride to deliver those letters. It reminds me of Zechariah 6:7, "When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, 'Go, patrol the earth.' So they patrolled the earth." When those letters were sealed with the king's signet ring, those messengers are able to ride all around 127 provinces to deliver the message.

Like Mordecai, God also warned us about the end times through His love letter, the Bible. Today the Bible is being written in about 4000-5000 languages so far. According to Wycliffe Bible Translators there are around 2,200 more languages to have Bible printed for. May we all have the "ALL ACCESS" to the mysteries of His kingdom as we keep advancing forward when God expanded His kingdom upon the earth to create a new access to Him for us. Exciting, uh?! I say yes! We got to be able to sing our new songs in our own languages, our greatest gift to Him.

Pray: Dear Father in heaven, thank you for advancing Your messages as You used us to create those technology, so that we may have more writers and messengers to write and deliver Your message to the people out there. You carried Your messages from Moses' songs to carved stones to papyrus, leather, parchment, metal and much more before they were published into Books. Then You continued to expand Your messages into websites, DVD, CD, and even they got into our blogs and facebook! You're an awesome God. You enable us to have that deep intimacy with You 24/7 through those "All accesss" resources! In Jesus' name, we say we love you, amen.

God Counteracted... (Esther 5-6)

God created a counteraction when Haman decided to create the gallows, which is fifty cubits. Since a cubit was about 18 inches, so it is actually about 75 feet high! Who would build a 75 feet structure just to hang a person when a person is only about 5 to 7 feet high! 75 feet high is probably ten times his height! The measure of Haman's gallows that was created for Mordecai may show the true measure of Haman's inner egoism, or maybe it is a true measure of Haman's wife's egoism since she is the one who suggested Haman! Or should I blame both for they are united as husband and wife, so there is only one measure of their egoism?

It doesn't matter how we should measure their egoism because God measured theirs. God saw that Haman hurried to kill Mordecai before Esther may infer by revealing Haman's plot in the next banquet. Even our hero, Esther, couldn't do anything about it! God is the only one who counteracted on this part! So God dropped something into the king's head, so the king wasn't able to sleep that night! It forced the king to pay attention to what has not been done, so he ordered his servants to bring him the book of memorable deeds and found the name of Mordecai, who saved him, and realized that he didn't give him any honor.

Then came Haman! The king was relieved that he wouldn't have to figure this one on his own! So he asked Haman how he should honor someone who deserved an honor. So it is when Haman's true measure of egoism is being exposed unawared. "Then the king said to Haman, 'Hurry; take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.'" It's like God is making sure that Haman didn't leave out any small measure of his egoism here! So Haman had to go out and do what he said. After his egoism is being measured out, Esther revealed his plot, and Haman crushed! Done!

God counteracted on His own! God wants to measure Haman's egoism on His own. God didn't design us to measure each other's egoism. So He worked things out for our good, so Esther didn't reveal Haman's plot on her first invitation. Haman didn't create the gallows until Esther increased his pride by inviting him. Then the king had a sleepless night. God did everything according to our good! So He took care of the deserving-measurement.

Are you trying to measure someone's deserving-measurement? Are you trying to measure it back to that person? Do you realize that God wants to be the only one who will counteract? Are you willing to allow Him to counteract in His own time?

God is bigger than you think! He is a creative God who measured it back to Haman in a creative way! Haman honoring Mordecai with the king's robe after he created the gallows just for him?! How hilarious! I think God is rolling on the floor laughing (ROFL) right now!

Bring Out a Courage (Esther 3-4)

"Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish." Mordecai warned Esther after she claimed that the king haven't called her these thirty days.

Esther wondered what she can do. The first thought is to go to the king, but then she realized that it would mean death according to the law. Trapped. What else can she do? The king haven't called her to him for these thirty days. She felt helpless.

But Mordecai knew that Esther will be trapped in her helplessness as well! So he warned her that if even if she remained helpless, then she may miss the opportunity to bring the relief and deliverance for the Jews out of her hand. Mordecai encouraged her by telling her that God must have a purpose for this, "And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" What a bold statement! Mordecai saw that God brought Esther into the kingdom to be a queen. So Mordecai saw how God may play His role in a time as this through Esther! Mordecai believed that God work things out for everybody's good. So God must have put Esther into that position in the right time so that she can bring deliverance for the Jews, then God's name will be glorified again through this.

Esther took Mordecai's words when she saw the bigger picture of what God's going to do. So she believed and proclaimed a three days fast among Jews through Mordecai, her young women and herself. Esther allowed God to take care of the result as she courageously gamble her life and position for a bigger opportunity.

Mordecai saw that it is much more than just a blessing that came from God. Mordecai saw that it is a bigger opportunity for Esther to take. So Esther took a risk!

Did you receive a blessing from God? Got a new job? Got a promotion? Do you think God gave you those just to bless you? Or maybe God wanted to bless you and to give you a bigger opportunity to do something like Esther did? Are you bold enough to take a risk like Esther did so that God may be glorified through this?

Esther was a Star (Esther 1-2)

"She asked for nothing except what Hegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her... the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen..."

She won! She won the king's heart after the beautifying process of six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments, plus the favor of Hegai because she pleased him. I had no idea what those women did to her in the process, those incandescent green eyes, or what you are thinking right now, "Oh, Esther is a star because she was beautiful." Hold your thoughts!

"Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother." She had a problem of her own, who doesn't! What did Esther think when she was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace? Those things may run in her head: I've got lousy legs... muffins... nose... navel... toes... eyelashes... or even pink mustaches! People are people alright. There's always someone better! But instead of lifting her head up to see what is around her, she clinged to her words. She obeyed Mordecai as she didn't made known her kindred or her people, then she took Hegai's advice, and so she won the king's favor.

It is much more than her beauty that won the king's heart! It is her willingness to accept a huge stride into the royalty from being an orphan who was raised by her cousin Mordecai. Even with a huge stride, she remained true to her people as she rescued them by facing a life and death situation herself later on.

What is your attitude toward God's beautiful people? Toward yourself? Are you constantly comparing yourself with the others? Today is the day that we will take a huge stride from comparing to complimenting. Turn your incandescent green eyes into a star-eyed that will guide the others to the light. Be true to your people. Be the Esther, the star!

"But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." - 1 Peter 3:4

Option recipe: If incandescent green eyes don't apply, then apply your "turn your Grinch-heart into Santa-Claus-heart" today.

God Sustained Us (Neh 9-13)

"And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshipped the Lord their God."

A lot of us may misunderstood the word, "worship" in this verse, which with the illumination we may have an absolute different perspective upon this verse's context. Worshipping is much more than the music itself, worshipping is when we do things out of obedience. I consider my blogging and vlogging my act of worship because it is what God had led me to do! So whenever I do those, I worshipped God. My heart just glows when I'm doing those things because I knew that He wanted me to do so, not because I have to! When those people heard the Words for around 4 hours since the daylight should last for an average of 16 hours a day. After 4 hours of reading, they confessed and act things out of obedience, they may rearrange their homes in order to connect with Him better! Then after those 8 hours of loving God, they began to do what they needed to do for another 8 hours within the community before they get themselves into bed!

It's amazing how 8 hours loving God + 8 hours of loving people + 8 hours of loving our rest = living your life to the fullest! But those 24 hours probably turned into 48 hours because God acted upon the other 24 hours! God provided us everything that we lacked, so that we may lack nothing like how God sustained those people in the wilderness for 40 years! "You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell."

William J. Seymour once prayed five hours a day for two and half years just because he felt called to do so! But in the end of those two and half years, he felt called to increase the hours of prayer to seven hours a day and it continued for another one and half years before the revival began! Which must have totaled 8395 hours of prayer for those 4 years out of 35,040 hours of daylight. The prayer "batting" average is 0.36, which is more than a quarter of the day! The result of William J. Seymour's prayer "batting" average, the revival called "Azusa Street Revival" appeared! It's not just a revival, but a supernatural revival that continued for three years! His prayer life had sown those seeds, so he reaped those seeds for those three years of revival!

"Services at the mission were conducted three times each day at 10 AM, noon and 7 PM. They often ran together until the entire day became one worship service. This schedule was continued seven days a week for more than three years." (http://www.azusastreet.org/WilliamJSeymour.htm)

What's in your heart? What kind of seeds are you sowing? Do you believe that God will sustain you when you give yourself more to Him so that you may live your life to the fullest? Why not risk something, starting with an hour of seed? Praying is a way of letting God to speak to you through silence, through reading His words through Bible or others' testimony, or even singing your new songs. Just like how you would spend time to get know your parents, close friends, or someone in relationship. Praying = spending time to get know God. Worshipping = obeying and adoring Him through our action.

The Dung Gate (Neh 3-5)

"Malchijah the son of Rechab, ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem, repaired the Dung Gate. He rebuilt it and set its doors, its bolts, and its bars."

Malchijah is awesome! I'm not talking about Malchijah the son of Harim (rebuilt the Tower of Furances) or Malchijah the goldsmith, but Malchijah the son of Rechab who rebuilt the Dung Gate. Remember it is "rebuilt" not "built", so the foul odor of the dung was left hanging in the air as they worked, but they didn't simply work at the Dung Gate, but they also guard by night! "The common laborers held a tool in one hand and a spear in the other. Each of the builders had a sword strapped to his side as he worked. I kept the trumpter at my side to sound the alert... guards by night and workmen by day." So they probably tried to walk as far away from the Dung Gate as they can to guard by night, or its probably the other way around for their nose may be numb or deaf from smelling the foul odor all day long!

Nehemiah probably took some strides around the city with the trumpter at his side to survey some works done. Nehemiah probably smell the foul odor, since his nose wasn't numb from those foul smelling he had lose his appetite. Which enable him to be even more generosity as he refused to take much pleasure in the food allowance of the governor, so he ate just like his workmen! "Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people."

Sorry to disappoint you, but the "foul smell" may hang in the fiction section in the bookstore since the Dung Gate was probably abandoned for 70 years! So it may be greener and more beautiful than everywhere else! I don't know where they would put their fresh dungs while those walls are being rebuilt, so a temporary Dung Gate may be created meanwhile. Well who knows! Let's remain in fiction section and continue to imagine the foul smelling left hanging up in the air while they worked so hard!

Ever think of any creative ways to be more generosity like Nehemiah who refused the luxury from the government? Nehemiah was touched by how much his people worked hard to achieve God's vision, so he wanted to show his appreciation by refusing to make their work harder. So he ate something below his standard, probably below his generosity! He gave more than what he can afford to eat.