Thursday, August 12, 2021

DAY 1 (2021) - I am blind! (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:
   

John 1

John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”[f]

John’s Disciples Follow Jesus

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter[g]).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

50 Jesus said, “You believe[h] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[i] you[j] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’[k] the Son of Man.”



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:I am blind!

It is painful to hear Jesus told me that I am blind. 
It is also a blessing for me to understand that I am blind. 
I need Jesus daily to open my eyes to see - to be able to see and focus my eyes to what John the Baptist saw in John 1: 29, 36:
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

It was a moving and stunning moment as I started to read John 1 to prepare writing this new series of reading the whole Bible, one chapter a day, starting from the New Testament and then the Old Testament. I am going to start with the Gospel of John, then Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts ...
to Revelation. Then from Genesis to Malachi.

The Lord opens my eyes to see three things: 
1. Light 
    The word “light” appears seven time in John 1 and that is from John 1: 4 to John 1: 9. 
    I should not be a blind person but lots of time I am blind because I am in darkness. I can be able to see only if there is light. The more light there is, the more clearer I can see. Sometime you even can see the dust floating all around your room when bright sun light comes in. 

2. Look
   Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world I need the “light” to see and focus my eyes and life on Jesus. 
   Jesus is the light(John 1: 9). I need Jesus to be able to see Jesus! 
   I look upon so many things but rarely to Jesus daily. By this wrong “seeing”, I am blind and live in darkness and yet I do not know. Only if I can “see” Jesus daily that I am able to invite Jesus to take away my sin and that I can see the things Jesus wants me to see. 

3. See 
    When I was receiving and meditating the messages above, I was about to write this journal. I thought I understood what the Lord told me. But Jesus said, “Wait, not enough. Count how many “see” in John 1.” Then I counted and said, “Lord, there are 20 words of “see”.” He then said, “Go and find out how many words of “see” in Greek of those 20 “see”.” I found seven and here they are: 
1/ Blepo(John saw Jesus, John 1: 29) – To see with physical eyes 
2/ Theaomai(We have seen his glory, John 1: 32, 38) – to view attentively and contemplate as in a Greek’s public show. 
3/ Ide(Behold; Look, John 1: 29, 36, 47) – As an utterance of one who wishes that something should not be neglected by another.. 
4/ Horao(No one has ever seen God; I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God, John 1: 18, 34) – To see with the mind, spiritual eye. This is the only Greek word for hearing! 
5/ Eidon(Come and you will see, John 1: 39 two times, 46, 47, 48, 50) – To see, to know, to perceive and to visit. 
6/ Emblepo(Jesus looked at him, John 1: 36, 42, 43) – To turn one’s eyes on. 
7. Optano(You will see greater things than these, John 1: 50, 51) – To allow one’s self to be seen. Matthew 5: 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

       
Dear Lord Jesus,
I give thanks to you for this time to be with you and see you. Help me to be pure in heart. To be transparent before you and other people that I can see you and those things you prepare for me to see.  
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 - 


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

       
    I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Dr. Alice Cheung for her 150 drawings for the 150 Psalms and her 31 calligraphy for the 31 Proverbs in the past 181 days!

    Thank you, Alice! 

    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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