Friday, July 16, 2021

DAY 155 (2021) - Why be captivated by human desires? (Please go to FaceBook(silastyng) to watch my video of this blog)

 



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
3.   Sing a song to praise God (you are welcome to use "Father, I adore you" which I have been singing every morning for the past 20 years or your own choice to praise God)

          Father, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Jesus, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Spirit, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
      

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:


     “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 and having Jesus as my Lord. 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 gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life: https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/)

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."


    Bible link: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%207&version=NIV

    Time with Abba one year Bible reading: http://api.pastoralcareschool.org/twa/

    Today's passage:
   

Proverbs 5

My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
    turn your ear to my words of insight,
that you may maintain discretion
    and your lips may preserve knowledge.
For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,
    and her speech is smoother than oil;
but in the end she is bitter as gall,
    sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
    her steps lead straight to the grave.
She gives no thought to the way of life;
    her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

Now then, my sons, listen to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
Keep to a path far from her,
    do not go near the door of her house,
lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity[a] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!
13 I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble
    in the assembly of God’s people.”

15 Drink water from your own cistern,
    running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    your streams of water in the public squares?
17 Let them be yours alone,
    never to be shared with strangers.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
    and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19 A loving doe, a graceful deer—
    may her breasts satisfy you always,
    may you ever be intoxicated with her love.
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?
    Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?

21 For your ways are in full view of the Lord,
    and he examines all your paths.
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them;
    the cords of their sins hold them fast.
23 For lack of discipline they will die,
    led astray by their own great folly.

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to him. 


    My Listening
    The topic I received from Jesus is Why be captivated by human desires?

Money, sex and power are the three main traps for the Devil to put us into captivity like Egypt or Babylon. I have seen so many marriages broken because of one or both committed adultery. I have seen so many people being captivated in all kinds of addiction of sex, destroying everything in their lives.

Everybody knows that King Solomon was being destroyed of being captivated by sex. And, he wrote this chapter? 
He wrote this, he got numerous warnings from God and he still couldn't control and lost it!
 
How sad! 
He did everything he said that one could not do in this chapter! 
How could that happen?! 

Do you think you are better than King Solomon?
Are you being tempted or captivated by the Devil using sex or other human desires as an instrument to pull you away from Jesus as your Lord?

Do you have anyone you know who need your prayers and help to pull away from this kind of captivity?

Dear Lord Jesus,
Help us to know that you are holy and we need to be holy. 
In Jesus name we pray,
 
Amen.

       
      Reflect on these questions:
     1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch and what have you heard from Jesus now?
      
      2.  What is your next step to be more closer to Jesus?
    
           Family Corner:
     Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 
     

        
Please click this link to worship with us - 
 Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide)

     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link: https://www.pastoralcareschool.org

       
    Since January 1, 2021, I started to lead you to read one Psalm everyday for 150 days that you can experience a powerful experience to use Psalm to pray and sing praises to the Lord. I completed that in July 11,2021.

    Then starting on July 12, 2021, I am going to lead you to read one Proverbs a day for 31 days.
    
    Alice Cheung, who is now the Vice Principal of Diocesan Girls' School (https://www.dgs.edu.hk/) drew a painting each day to highlight the key message of that day's Psalm and then had a calligraphy for the Proverbs series. 

     You can see the photos below of Alice, one pictures was taken in Hong Kong of Michelle and me, and Alice and her husband Johnson. The other picture is with her Doctor of Education gown standing besides the Alumni Wall of DGS and with her name and the year 1984, the year she graduated in that school. She had been a principal of a high school for seven years and worked as a Vice Principal two years ago. 








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