Tuesday, August 17, 2021

DAY 6 (2021) - No time with Jesus? (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 6

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[d] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”


60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit[e] and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”



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: No time with Jesus?

 As I was reading John 6 this morning, I was thrilled to know the reason why Jesus calls me to write my daily blog since July 2009, for more than twelve years! 
It is not only to encourage more Christians to have daily devotion but to make sure I have daily devotion. 

Can you believe that? 
As an ordained priest for 33 years and a bishop for twelve years, I do not have daily devotion? 
Well, not before July 2009! 
Lots of time in the past many years I told Jesus, “Sorry, I am too busy. I have no time to be with you.” 
I suffered a lot by not staying with Jesus, especially in having some devotions but not daily devotion. 

Stephen Covey in his ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ says, “the effort needed to break or establish habits to the great amount of energy initially needed by a rocket to overcome the earth’s gravitational pull. Once out of the earth’s atmosphere, however, the rocket glides with small amounts of energy.” 

I am so sorry that the Lord has to use this kind of method in order to push me to the orbit. Jesus could feed 5000 men (total perhaps 20,000 plus women and children)in one miracle and He can feed anyone of us in any difficult condition. The thing I need to do is to be certain that He is the Bread of Life and not other things. 

Again, the order of Coming, Seeing and Listening appears again in this chapter. 
Only by coming to Jesus (v.35), seeing Jesus (v.40) and listening to Jesus (v.45) can we be able to eat His flesh and drink His blood. 

We need to spend more time with Jesus!

Jesus told me today, “My son, this Daily Devotion is for you that you can be a blessing to many who are willing to come to me, see me and to listen to me each day.” 
       
Dear Lord Jesus,
Help us to be able to spend more time with you.  
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

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