**If this is your first time to have daily devotion or you have not had daily devotion for a long time, I suggest you to use this link for a 40 days of daily devotion through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, my Break.Build blog/podcast:
Silence
40 Days Break.Build daily devotion:
Silence
1. Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2. Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.
Praise and Thanksgiving
1. Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2. Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html)
1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in you:
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
2. Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sin to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gift to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
The Word, Time with Abba (Psalm 75:1-10; 1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34; Romans 4:13-5:5; Proverbs 19:17)
Bible link:
English(ESV):https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=列+王+紀+下+13&version=ESV
Bible link:
English(ESV):https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=列+王+紀+下+13&version=ESV
PAUSE HERE!!!
Please read all four passages first before reading my sharing.
To know, learn and practice this method of Time with Abba, please click this link:
Please see below the passages I copied today:
My Listening
The topic I received from Jesus is: "Bad character can't changed? Really? How to change?"
Yes, in fact, I have quite a number of bad characters have not been changed all through the past many years, including not patience, easily get angry, easily distracted by many things and not focus on the thing Jesus commands me to focus and many more!
And I give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ because many of my bad characters have been taken away completely like smoking, sleep late, not easily frightened, more courage to do the things Jesus commands me to do and many more.
Then, when the Holy Spirit drew my eyes closer to Romans 5:1-5 I found out that each time I had a better chance to change my bad characters was always when I faced with sufferings. Wow! When suffering comes into my life and I have a better chance to change my character to be more Christlike!
That's how Paul says, "we also glory in our sufferings, because ..."
Because our sufferings help us to understand we are mere human beings and we need Jesus to help us, to save us. It is sufferings to help us to open our eyes to see our sins of the importance of "being" with God and not "doing" many things for God so that we experience what Paul stresses in the Romans of "Justification by faith".
It is sufferings to lead us into the path of Romans 5:1-5:
1. Sufferings produces perseverance: our sufferings helps us to return to the arms of God and that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit and that the fruit of the Holy Spirit will be pouring down on us. "Perseverance" is the most obvious gift of the Holy Spirit that we can aware of because the "demonstrating" of perseverance in our lives lead us through the trap of discouragement, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts or even action!
2. Perseverance produces character: Actually when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the result, the fruit will be what Paul says in Galatians 5:22-23:
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
That's why our bad character can be changed!
3. Character produces hope: We lose hope in ourselves, in our family members, in our church and in God when we take sufferings as something that should not happen to us because God loves us. We take sufferings as punishment from God so that we live in bitterness, pain and hopelessness!
When our bad character beings changed, hope comes back!
4. Hope take us out from shame: It's a shame to many Christians when they are being pulled into the cunning trap of Satan using failure, pressure, anger, anxiety, depression to smash the relationship of a disciple of Christ with Christ Himself and with other people. When "hope" comes back we live in light again and not in darkness and hopelessness anymore.
5. The Holy Sprit will then pour down into our hearts God's love: Wow! Do you know how that happen in the very beginning? It all start from how Paul describes in Romans 4:16:
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have by faith of Abraham.
So, the key is FAITH! If you count how many times the word "faith" and "believe" are from today's Romans 4:13-5:5, the answer is 11 times!
Yes, Satan's main attack on you is to KO(knock out) you by pulling FAITH away from you! You lose faith on your pastor and you change church, you lose faith on your husband or wife and you divorce, you lose faith on your family members and you cut the relationship and see that person no more, you lose faith on God and you will be pulled into anxiety, can't sleep or always want to sleep, can't eat or always want to eat more, depression, then leave your faith, be an atheist or join other faith.
How can that happen? Because you do not allow Jesus to change your bad character through sufferings testing you FAITH.
How can your bad character being changed? Have faith to welcome sufferings as an examination paper to test your real faith so that you become a better and better disciple of Jesus and full of the love of Jesus, not one of those "religious people"!
Dear Lord Jesus,
Today I was shock at how Jesus talked to me through Romans 5:1-5 with just one single message: Bad character can't changed?
And I give thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ because many of my bad characters have been taken away completely like smoking, sleep late, not easily frightened, more courage to do the things Jesus commands me to do and many more.
Then, when the Holy Spirit drew my eyes closer to Romans 5:1-5 I found out that each time I had a better chance to change my bad characters was always when I faced with sufferings. Wow! When suffering comes into my life and I have a better chance to change my character to be more Christlike!
That's how Paul says, "we also glory in our sufferings, because ..."
Because our sufferings help us to understand we are mere human beings and we need Jesus to help us, to save us. It is sufferings to help us to open our eyes to see our sins of the importance of "being" with God and not "doing" many things for God so that we experience what Paul stresses in the Romans of "Justification by faith".
It is sufferings to lead us into the path of Romans 5:1-5:
1. Sufferings produces perseverance: our sufferings helps us to return to the arms of God and that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit and that the fruit of the Holy Spirit will be pouring down on us. "Perseverance" is the most obvious gift of the Holy Spirit that we can aware of because the "demonstrating" of perseverance in our lives lead us through the trap of discouragement, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts or even action!
2. Perseverance produces character: Actually when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the result, the fruit will be what Paul says in Galatians 5:22-23:
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
That's why our bad character can be changed!
3. Character produces hope: We lose hope in ourselves, in our family members, in our church and in God when we take sufferings as something that should not happen to us because God loves us. We take sufferings as punishment from God so that we live in bitterness, pain and hopelessness!
When our bad character beings changed, hope comes back!
4. Hope take us out from shame: It's a shame to many Christians when they are being pulled into the cunning trap of Satan using failure, pressure, anger, anxiety, depression to smash the relationship of a disciple of Christ with Christ Himself and with other people. When "hope" comes back we live in light again and not in darkness and hopelessness anymore.
5. The Holy Sprit will then pour down into our hearts God's love: Wow! Do you know how that happen in the very beginning? It all start from how Paul describes in Romans 4:16:
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring - not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have by faith of Abraham.
So, the key is FAITH! If you count how many times the word "faith" and "believe" are from today's Romans 4:13-5:5, the answer is 11 times!
Yes, Satan's main attack on you is to KO(knock out) you by pulling FAITH away from you! You lose faith on your pastor and you change church, you lose faith on your husband or wife and you divorce, you lose faith on your family members and you cut the relationship and see that person no more, you lose faith on God and you will be pulled into anxiety, can't sleep or always want to sleep, can't eat or always want to eat more, depression, then leave your faith, be an atheist or join other faith.
How can that happen? Because you do not allow Jesus to change your bad character through sufferings testing you FAITH.
How can your bad character being changed? Have faith to welcome sufferings as an examination paper to test your real faith so that you become a better and better disciple of Jesus and full of the love of Jesus, not one of those "religious people"!
Dear Lord Jesus,
Help us each day to have faith in you and your servants so that through sufferings we have a better chance to change our bad character and that our lives can demonstrate the fruit of the Holy Spirit is so real in our daily lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Reflect on these questions:
1. Do you think you have a better understanding of sufferings today?
2. How can you make use of your sufferings to become the best opportunity to change your bad character?
3. What have you received from Jesus today?
Praise and Thanksgiving