Be holy! Be clean! Be healed! Be free!

       

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 sins 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."

    

    The link to today's Time with Abba passages:   http://api.pastoralcareschool.org/twa/

    Time with Abba passages: (Psalm 30:1-5, Leviticus 11:1-12:8; Mark 5:21-43; Proverbs 10:8-9)

    Today's key passage:

      44 I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. 45 I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

46 “‘These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. 47 You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.’”

Leviticus 11:44-47

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: Be holy! Be clean! Be healed! Be free!

My main catch today through all four passages is that when we say to the Lord, "My Lord, my God!", just as today's Psalm 30:2, and John 20:28 when Thomas saw the risen Christ in front of him, he said, "My Lord, my God!", our life will be completely changed!

    After I completed reading all four passages, I took a deep breath and said to Jesus: my Lord, my God!

    Surprisingly he replied to me saying: Yes, I am the Lord your God! Be holy! Be clean! Be healed! Be free!

        Do you know what "holy" really means? You may understand more about what "holy" means these few days when you read the book of Leviticus. "Holy" means you do what God wants you to do and not do what God commands you not to do. It also means what is clean and unclean, you eat what God says you can eat and not God says you cannot eat. Of course, at that time thousands years ago God had rules for His people to obey so that they could keep healthy and safe. We do not need to observe most of those laws as people have been eating lots of various animals nowadays. But, you need to know that in 2003 SARS in Hong Kong killed lots of people and created a chaos, the past two years Coronavirus killed more people and the world is in chaos and fear. Why? Because from some research, some people ate animals that should not be eaten! Uncleanness kills!

    Now, could you say the same word as Thomas said to Jesus so that you can be healed and be free, no more living in fear each day because of Coronavirus or other things: 

        My Lord, my God! Heal me! Free me!
  

    Dear Lord Jesus, 

    Help us to be able to say to you: my Lord, my God! Heal me! Free me in any circumstances so that we can be holy, be clean, be healed and be free.  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 for the video version of this blog: 

 https://youtu.be/JuFg5gqwyuY

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