Deliver us from Evil

Before reading today’s text, I always questioned why we pray “lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”


Does God tempt us?

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. (James 1:13-14)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

God doesn't tempt us, but he allows us to go through trials and temptations to make us stronger in our faith.

Give Us Our Daily Bread- Reflection

Sorry so late everyone. The snow is a worthy enemy that I had to overcome.

Well today's reading was truly an encouragement to me and a reminder that God is ALWAYS trying to speak to me even when I cover up my ears or when I pretend to listen and keep going on with my own ways.

That God is desiring for ME of all people to depend on Him so that He would provide me with everything I need has been so hard for me to understand. When I read this passage, I always find the cynical side of me thinking, "well God will definitely give me my daily bread, but it's going to be in one of those ways where I will appreciate it in retrospect and not in the moment." Kind of like a life-lesson that we learn to appreciate but not the amazing kind of provision that we read about every once in awhile. (like winning the lottery or getting something really awesome without having the means to get it)

So I've always taught myself to ask God for things with a grain of salt. I ask in a way where I sort of know the answer to in advance. Am I making any sense here? I'm just trying to be honest.

Reading this passage and having long talks with P.James and Dulla, I realize that this is NOT a true dependence on God for his awesome provision and how I am actively limiting God's amazing power. In the end, it comes down to faith.

Not to say that God is our ATM machine at all. But He is also NOT merely a God who just dispenses abstract answers to prayers. He actually does and LONGS to provide.

My problem has always been, where do I draw the line between sounding too greedy and asking with a right and reasonable heart? Should I even be reasonable when I request amazing things from God or am I just setting myself up for heartache or failure?

But reading this and reflecting on talks with others, I know that no matter what- I can never be perfect and God does not expect me to be. He expects me to depend on Him and be satisfied with what He gives because His ways and thoughts are so much higher than mine.

Please pray for me to stay encouraged and above all to have PEACE with God's plans. And also pray that I will never contain God in the box of my own cynicism or doubt.

I don't know what will happen or how God will provide, but I know that He will never despise an earnest request and that He loves me no matter what.

Concern for God's Glory

This is second time happening to me . After an hour and half writing the blog, I accidentlay erased entire blog again. Il suggested me to write in Word process and copy into the blog. I didn’t see it as a big deal!
I don’t know about you but I have been tested each time I write the blog. It seems though there is a resistance…. Please pray for me.

I don’t remember everything that I wrote previously. But…
As I was reading the passage, I realized that Lord’s prayer started with “Our Father in heaven.” When we call upon God, He will meet with as a loving Father. God who created heaven, earth, and everything in it by His Word is the very same God who we call as Father.
Book of Ephesians,which is my favorite book in the Bible tells us why we can call Him our Heavenly Father and why He loves us the way He does. It reveals us that how much we are worth to God. We know the fact there is absolutely nothing in us that deserves or demands Love of God and His abundant blessings for us. In Ephesians 1:4, "In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accoradance with his pleasure and will."
God loves us because He is full of love and grace. That's who He is. His magnitude of love and grace is beyond what we can fathom. We respond to His amazing love for us by seeking Him and living our lives to glorify His name. God deserves everything in us. He is all in all.

Christian Prayer

What's striking to me is that the Lord's Prayer is the first time (that I can find) where God instructs us to refer to him as our father and not our God. If this prayer was to be found in the Old Testament, one would expect it to start, "God of our fathers" or "God of Israel" or "Almighty" or "Most powerful holy creator." But through Jesus, God cuts through our perceived notions and reveals two things: that Jesus is "the EXACT representation of his being" and He wants us to relate to him as "our Father."

Certainly the nature of God inherently implies that he is omnipotent and holy. He even attributes that to Himself throughout the Old Testament and even the Lord's Prayer. But He wants to define a relationship with us first and foremost as an unconditional loving father, with an appreciation of his attributes second.

God Will Reward You

Be careful not to do your "acts of righteousness" before men, to be seen by them. (Matthew 6:1)

First of all, I apologize for this late post. It was snowing a lot and ... I'm kidding. I hope you guys can forgive me. Snow has nothing to do with this. Anyways, after reading 'Religous Practices' (pg. 196), I personally don't find it hard being unostentatious about my acts of righteousness. Maybe it's not hard because there aren't many to look back on, but I find it much harder not to "dwell on it in a spirit of self-congratulation" as John Stott put it.

I am shame to admit that sometimes I find myself blaming God for not answering my prayers despite of all my good deeds or my piety. I set my own standards like this and let myself get discouraged if God doesn't meet my expectations. I think this is the biggest mistake I can make in my walk of faith. Who am I to set standards or have expectations when Jesus gave His all without asking anything in return?

I shall let God be the judge on my piety and my good deeds.

prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

(1 Peter 1:13)

I shall never be discouraged and trust God that he will answer and reward as he pleases.

Because anyone who comes to Him must believe He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

(Hebrew 11:6)

Seeking First Things First

"but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you" matthew 6:33

this verse expounds the secret of how to live the christian life well.

inherent in the verse is a very wonderful and glorious promise.

we need not be anxious about the legitimate necessities of life (food, drink, clothing)--they are legitimate and "your Heavenly Father knows that you need them" (v.32).

but the verse states, "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness". seek His reign and His righteouness FIRST and all the other necessary things will be added.

in our heart of hearts, what are we seeking? are we seeking the very same "other" things that the pagans run after?

the following quote i thought was an excellent exposition about "seeking God's righteousness". it is from a preacher named ray pritchard. it is well worth reading:

"This week I read about a man who looked at his life and concluded that he was just like the Professor on Gilligan’s Island. 'The Professor knew how to turn banana peels into diesel fuel and he could take algae and make chocolate fudge, but he never got around to fixing that hole in the boat so he could get off the island. Same as me. I spent my life learning to do amazing things that didn’t matter, and I ignored the hole in my boat. And that’s why I’m stuck where I am.'

If you want righteousness, you can have it. Let me go out on a limb and make a bold statement. Whatever righteous thing you desire in the spiritual realm, you can have if you want it badly enough. I don’t think we appreciate the importance of that truth.

Most of us are about as close to God now as we want to be. We have about as much joy as we want, about as much peace as we want. Abraham Lincoln said that “most people are about as happy as they want to be.” Totally true. We are the way we are because that’s the way we want to be. Either we’re happy that way or we’ve accepted that this is who we are and we’re not going to change.

For the most part, you are where you are right now because that’s where you want to be. If you were hungry for something better from God, you could have it....

What we seek, we find. This is true in every area and realm of life. Unless we seek, we will not find. And what we seek, for good or for ill, we eventually find."

most christians, i guess, most especially myself, do not live the christian life well because we seek and value the lesser things.

but if we could just learn to seek God's kingship and righteousness first, all the "lesser" things will be added.

this argument from the lesser to the greater is foolproof and is reiterated by the apostle paul: "He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all--how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?" (romans 8:32).

i end this blog with another quote that gets to the heart of the matter:

"if we give top priority to those pursuits which should have low priority, if we ‘major in minors,’ if we show a ‘first-rate dedication to second-rate causes,’ if we allow friends and impulse and the convenience of the moment to dictate our priorities, while we weakly drift with the tide of daily circumstances, we will be shabby, mediocre, and ineffective persons.” –from The Disciplined Life by Richard S. Taylor

may God give us grace to seek His kingdom and righteousness first. not only would we then live the christian life "well", but we would be able to properly enjoy the "lesser" things without all the anxiety that normally accompanies the attainment of them.

The Six Antitheses

Do I love my enemy?
Do I turn the other cheek?

The answer to both of these questions is unfortunately mostly NO. This passage didn't make me feel too good about myself because if we take it even further... I barely love my neighbors and I'm usually all for the "eye for an eye" principle as I have quoted it and rationalized it as Biblical many times in my life.

How then, can I be a child of God? My nature IS the antithesis of Christ. I'm sitting down and doing my devotional late as I just got back home from the airport and realized that it was my day to blog...all of this after I cursed the airlines for delaying my flight 2.5 hours, was internalizing my hatred for the guy that sat next to me on the plane that was definitely over his side of the arm rest, shaking his legs, took off his shoes and was pointing his smelly feet at me, then proceeded to snore for 1/2 the flight.... the woman in front of me that had to recline her seat ALL THE WAY back, the man behind me that kept kicking the back of my chair....oh I could go on... but I won't... I realize the divide between God and myself is so great...and am SO THANKFUL for his boundless mercy. Good Night!