Author: Sis Mhay

Scriptures : Matthew 5:38-42

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

There are two ways we can respond to a person who does evil to us. One is we repay evil for the evil he has done to us. This action is based on the law, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ The other is we repay good for the evil he has done for us. The Lord Jesus describes this as ‘turning the other cheek also’ or ‘going the second mile’. This action is based on grace and truth.

When the Lord Jesus came to the earth, He brought the grace and the truth of God. He revealed that God loved people and that He did not want anyone to perish. He also revealed that our real enemy is not people, but the devil who is the author of all evil. Thus, if we as Christians repay evil with evil, God will suffer because it will make the person who does evil to us thinks that God will punish the sins he has done. It will be harder for him to believe that God is good and that He has freely forgiven his sins.

God is good to those who do good as well as to those who do evil because He loves both unconditionally (Mat 5:45). He is good to those who do evil because He wants to give them chance to repent from their evil deeds. So, if we repay evil to those who do evil to us, we will misrepresent God and we will make them think that God will punish them immediately for the evil deeds they have done and there is no chance for them to repent. Besides, if we repay evil with evil, we allow, albeit unconsciously, the devil to work in our lives. Instead of being transformed into the image of God, we will be conformed to the image of the devil.

What if someone does evil to us and we do not repay him with evil, but we do not repay his evil with good either? Instead, we simply do nothing. We must remember that good and evil are not just actions, but they are spiritual forces. If evil is done to us and we do nothing, its force will oppress us. Our heart will not be peaceful. If we are strong, this evil will not break us, but we have not overcome it either. If we are weak, sooner or later this evil will break us and we will repay this evil with more evil.

The only way to respond to an evil person is not to resist him, not to repay him evil for evil or nothing for evil, but good for evil. The Lord Jesus did not say, “Whoever slaps you on our right cheek, slap his right cheek back or protect the other cheek,”  but “turn the other cheek to him also.” He did not say, “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, sue back or fight for it or do nothing,” but, “let him have your cloak also.” He did not say ,”Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him one mile,” but, “go with him two.”

Evil is the force of the devil and good is the force of God. Good is more powerful than evil. Whenever anyone does evil, he is allowing himself to become more like the devil and he is destroying himself. Whenever anyone does good, he is allowing himself to become more like God and he is building himself. If we repay evil for evil, then both we and the other person will be destroyed, but if we repay evil with good, then we do not allow evil to destroy us and we destroy evil in the other person. Therefore, it is written, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:21)

✨ Indonesian brother

Scriptures : 2 Chronicles 31:20-21

“Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered.” 

Like King Hezekiah, if we want God to prosper us, we must do the three most important things in our lives :

1. Serving in God’s house.

2. Obeying God’s commandments.

3. Seeking God Himself.

We may have our own lives – studying, working or doing business – but we must not forget to serve God, to do God’s work. Also, in this world where many sinful things are acceptable, we must not compromise. We must not conform to this world, but we live by God’s commandments. And the most important thing of all is we seek God Himself, not the things of this world, such as riches, pleasures, comfort or fame. In serving God, obeying God and seeking God, we must do it with all our heart.

In God’s eyes, not only what we do is important but the state or motive of our heart in doing it is also important, because we may do the right thing but with the wrong motive. People may not know it because they will only see our outward action, but God will know it because He can see our heart. The problem with doing the right thing but with the wrong motive is the right thing we do will not make a lasting impact. Like a rubber band, after we stretch it, it will return to its original shape.

What is the state of the heart that we must have so that God will prosper everything that we do? Our heart must be good toward others, true or honest with ourselves and righteous before God. Our heart cannot only be good toward others but not honest with ourselves or it cannot only be good toward others and honest with ourselves but not righteous before God. We must have all the three if we want God to prosper us in everything that we do.

When God anoints us with His Holy Spirit, we will have a good heart toward people and we will go about doing good to them, like the Lord Jesus Himself (Acts 10:38). When we do good to others, they will open their hearts to us and we can start to build relationship with them and become their friends. The Lord Jesus had friends besides disciples. Mary, Martha and Lazarus became Jesus’ friends because He did good things to them.

When God puts His Holy Spirit in us, our conscience will bear witness every time we are true or honest with ourselves, like what the apostle Paul experienced (Rom 9:1). When we are not honest, we lie to ourselves and our conscience will condemn us. We will feel guilty in our heart. Therefore, we should strive to have no offence in our conscience. If we keep ignoring the testimony of our conscience, we are actually injuring our heart and we are committing self-destruction. In the end we will destroy our own lives, even to the point that we can commit suicide like Judas Iscariot.

Being good to people and being true or honest with ourselves are needed if we want to be prosperous, but they will not make us accepted by God. Why? Because the basis of our acceptance by God is not goodness nor honesty. People will accept us if we are good to them and we will be able to accept ourselves if we are honest with ourselves, but God will only accept us if we are righteous before Him. We can be very good to people and be very honest with ourselves, but as long as we do not have righteousness in our lives, we will still be disconnected from God.

To be accepted by God we must be righteous in His eyes. But the problem is we cannot be righteous before God ourselves. We are already sold under sin. Therefore, to be righteous before God we must receive the righteousness of God. How? The righteousness of God is only in Christ and the only way we can receive this righteousness is by faith. So, we must believe so that we are accounted righteous before God (Gal 3:11). We become righteous in the eyes of God, not because we live righteously but because we believe in Christ who has made us righteous by His blood.

✨ Vietnamese brothers and sisters

Scriptures: Hebrews 12: 1-2

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

A Christian life is described as the race of faith inside the arena, seen by many witnesses of Christ. These witnesses are believers who have completed their parts in this race of faith. They are already in heaven and now they are cheering us who are still running in this race.

The Lord Jesus wants us to reach the finish line in this race of faith as soon as possible. Therefore there are a few things that we must ensure in our lives:

1. Laying aside every weight. Weight is not sin, but it is something that occupies our minds and makes our hearts heavy. The cares of this life are weights that will slow down our running in the race of faith.

2. Laying aside the sin which so easily ensnares us. The sin which so easily ensnares us is the sin which we easily fall into. This sin is closely related to the weakness of our flesh. If weight will slow down our running, sin will make us stumble and fall in this race. If we often fall, we will lose a lot of time in getting back up.

3. Having spiritual endurance. The race that is set for us is not a sprint, but a marathon. Surely we cannot afford to run slowly, but in this race the most important thing is not speed, but endurance. Endurance will be the determining factor whether we can finish the race or not, especially at this time in which we live because this race has entered the final stage, which is the hardest stage.

4. Looking unto Jesus. In this race of faith we must always be looking unto Jesus, especially when the race has entered its final stage. We should not be looking at our present condition or the situation that is happening around us. People may despise us or persecute us. The situation around us may be very difficult. But, we should always consider how Jesus’ despised the shame, endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. By looking unto Jesus we will not give up even when we are in the hardest stage in this race of faith.

✨ Indonesian Brother

Scriptures : Romans 5:12‭-‬21

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Bible presents Adam as the first man and the Lord Jesus Christ is the last man. What are the differences between them? They are contrast in many ways. In Adam, we died, condemned and born sinners. In Christ, we are justified, righteous, and have eternal life. Because of one man’s failure sin continually enters the world and death reigns to us. In contrary, one man’s success gives people victory over sin and grace reigns to bring eternal life.

The death of Jesus Christ results justification and brings righteousness to many. He is the last man to be without sin nature. His nature was both human and divine. The man from heaven – the suitable sacrifice for the sins of the world. The Lord Jesus offered his life as a living sacrifice for our sin.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,  that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

Jesus called His followers sheep. And as His sheep we long to comprehend what it means to find contentment under the watchful eye of our loving, trustworthy, heavenly Shepherd. Remember HIM on the cross, he is worthy of our worship and adoration.

As we listen to God, we should answer. This is prayer – our response to the revelation and unfolding of God’s heart. “My God, Thy creature answers Thee. Prayer, understood in that way, is an extension of our visits with God rather than something tacked on.

Our meetings with God are like a polite conversation with a friend. They’re not monologues in which one person does all the talking and the other does all the listening, but dialogues in which we listen thoughtfully to one another’s self-disclosure and then respond.

One of my colleagues describes the process this way: If we’re reading a note from a loved one in which we’re praised, loved, appreciated, counseled, corrected, and helped in various ways and that individual is present in the room while we read, it’s only right that we should express thanks, reciprocate love, ask questions, and in other ways react to the message. It would be rude to do otherwise. That is prayer.

If you don’t know where to start, pray David’s psalms. His life was characterized by prayer (see Ps. 109:4). Prayer was the essence of David’s life and his genius, as it is ours.

We have this access to God, this intimacy with Him, this opportunity to receive all that the heart of God has stored up for us. It is the means by which we receive God’s gifts – the means by which everything is done.

Prayer is worship. Our praying should be full of adoration, affection, and fondness for God that He is who He is, that He created us in order to have someone on whom He could shower His love, that He stretched out His arms on the cross, and that He intends, in the fullest sense, to make whole men and women out of us. In worship, as the word worth-ship implies, we declare what we value the most. It is one of the best ways in the world to love God.

Prayer is the highest expression of our dependence on God. It is asking for what we want. We can ask for anything – even the most difficult things. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). Anything large enough to occupy our minds is large enough to hang a prayer on.

Prayer, however, by its nature is requesting. It is not insisting or clamoring. We can make no demands of God or deals with him. We wait with patience and submission until God gives us what we request – or something more. David wrote, “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother” (Ps. 131:2). David was in exile, waiting for God, learning not to worry himself with God’s delays and other mysterious ways. No longer restless and craving, he waited for God to answer in his own time and in His own way. He is able to do far more than anything we can ask of imagine, but He must do it in His time and in His way.

Prayer is asking for understanding. It is the means by which we comprehend what God is saying to us in his Word. The process by which we gain awareness of his mind is not natural, but supernatural. Spiritual things are discerned spiritually (1 Cor. 2:6-16). There is truth that can never be grasped by the human intellect. It cannot be discovered; it must be disclosed. Certainly we can understand the facts in the Bible apart from God’s help, but we can never plumb its depths, never fully appreciate “ the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (V.9).

Prayer moves what we know from our heads to our hearts. It’s our hedge against hypocrisy, the way by which we begin to ring true. Our perceptions of truth are always ahead of our condition. Prayer brings us more into conformity. It bridges the gap between what we know and what we are.

Centering on God each morning should be done as though it had never done before. In that quiet place He comforts us, He instructs us, He listens to us, He prepares our hearts and strengthens us for the day. There we learn to love Him and worship Him again. We esteem His words and defer to him once more. We get His fresh perspective on the problems and possibilities of our day. Then we should take his presence with us all through the day – journeying, pausing, waiting, listening, recalling what He said to us in the morning. He is our teacher, our philosopher, our friend; our gentlest, kindness, and most interesting companion.

In God’s presence there is satisfaction. His lush meadows are boundless. His still water runs deep. “There, “ I say to myself, “I shall lie down in good fold and feed in rich pasture” (Ezek. 34:14)

Most people tend to think about God’s grace as something that’s exclusively connected to our salvation. But grace is about so much more than how we come to Christ.
In fact, our entire Christian walk must be fueled by the grace of God!
God’s grace is real and powerful in our lives. There’s nothing we can do that doesn’t ultimately come from his grace. Yes, grace saves us, but God also spreads it throughout our lives.

Grace forgives us. (Isaiah 43:25) Though we don’t deserve it, God wipes our slate clean by his grace.
Grace sustains us. (Philippians 2:13) God will never ask us to do anything he doesn’t give us the ability and the power to do. That power and ability is called grace.
Grace heals us. (Psalm 147:3) God heals our broken hearts and binds up our wounds.
Grace liberates us. (Matthew 11:28-30) Our relationship with Jesus isn’t about what we do. Instead it’s about resting in what the Lord has already done. If your Christian life is not a life of resting in Christ, you’re moving into legalism.
Grace gives us talents. (Romans 12:6) God has given each one of us the ability to do something well, and we’re to use those abilities for him.
Grace transforms us. (Romans 12:2) Through his grace, God makes us new through the renewing of our mind.
Grace matures us. (2 Peter 3:18) God’s work of making us more like Jesus happens not because we’ve earned it, but by the grace of God.

The Bible says, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” Philippians 2:13 NLT. With God’s grace, we can live a life of joy!

Until we take time to be quiet, we’ll not hear God. He will speak to us if we will give Him a chance, if we will listen, if we will be quiet. “Be still,” the psalmist wrote, “and know that I am God’ (Ps. 46:10). “ Listen carefully to Me, “ God pleads, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live” (Isa. 55:2-3) Listen to Him. There’s no other way to take Him in. “Your words were found, and I ate them” said Jeremiah (Jer. 15:16). Sit at His feet and let Him feed you. That’s the “better” place to be (Luke 10:38-42).

The problem with many of us is that, though we read God’s Word, we’re not feeding on God. We’re more intent on mastering the text – finding out its precise meaning, gathering theories and theologies – so we can talk more intelligently about God. The main purpose of reading the “come to Him,” to encounter Him as our living God.

Jesus said to the best-read Bible students of His day, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). We want to move beyond information to seeing God and being informed and shaped by His truth. There’s a passing exhilaration – the joy of discovery – in acquiring knowledge about the Bible, but there’s no life in it. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a stimulus to our interaction with God.

Start with a conscious desire to engage Him in a personal way. Select a portion of Scripture – a verse, a paragraph,  a chapter – and read it over and over. Think of Him as present and speaking to you, disclosing His mind and emotions and will. God is articulate: He speaks to us through His Word. Meditate on His words until His thoughts begin to take shape in your mind. Thoughts is exactly the right word because that’s precisely what the Bible is – “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16) When we read His word, we are reading His mind – what He knows, feels, wants, enjoys, desires, loves, hates.

Take time to reflect on what He is saying. Think about each word. Give yourself time for prayerful contemplation until God’s heart is revealed and your heart is exposed.

Read quietly, slowly , word for word to enter into the subject more with the heart than with the mind. From time to time make short pauses to allow these truths time to flow through all the recesses of the soul.”

Listen carefully to the words that touch your emotions and meditate on His goodness. “Feed on His faithfulness” (Ps. 37:3). Think about His kindness and those glimpses of His unfailing love that motivate you to love Him more (Ps. 48:9). Savor His words. “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8).

Mother Teressa said, “ Spend one hour a day in adoration of the Lord and you’ll be all right. “ It’s not important how much time we spend at first. The important thing is to make a beginning. God’s Spirit will let us know where to go from there.

Our reading should be toward relishing God and delighting in Him – “to behold the beauty of the Lord,’ as David said (Ps. 27:4). When we approach God in that way, If inclines us to want more of Him. “I have tasted thee, and now I hunger for Thee.” It’s the pure in heart who shall see God, “ Jesus said (Matt. 5:8). The more of God’s truth we know and want to obey, the more we know.

We shouldn’t worry about our doubts either. How could God possibly reveal Himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? Those who believe they believe in God… without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, not in God himself.

Uncertainty is the name of the game. The best thing is to take our questionings and doubts directly to God, as David often did. His psalms are filled with discomfort and disagreement with God’s ways. He fills page after page with confusion and disbelief. God can handle our hesitancy.

Sometimes we’re mentally dull or emotionally flat, weary, and tired. On such occasions it’s worthless to try to make ourselves think more deeply or respond more intensely. We should never worry about how we feel. Even when our minds are confused or our hearts are cold, we can learn from our solitude. Don’t try to make your heart love God. Just give it to Him. If we don’t yet trust His heart, we should read the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There we hear what Jesus said and did and what was said about Him. There we see Him making visible the invisible God. The main use of the Gospels is to help us see the character of God made real, personal, and understandable in Jesus. What we see Jesus doing – caring, suffering, weeping, calling, seeking – is what God is doing and has been doing all along. If you can’t love God, try to see Him in Jesus. There He’s revealed as One who has no limits to His love; One to whom we can come with all our doubts, disappointments, and misjudgments; One “whom we can approach without fear and to whom we can submit ourselves without despair.” In the Gospels we see that God is the only God worth having.

Any thoughtful person wrestling with prayer asks “Why pray at all?” “Is the basic purpose of prayer to get things from God?”. What if God knows prayer to be the thing we need first and most? What if the main object in God’s idea of prayer is a supplying of our great, our endless need – the need of Himself?

Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other need. Prayer is the beginning of that communion, of talking with God, a coming-to-one with Him, which is the sole end of prayer, yea, of existence itself.

God wants us for Himself. He desires communion with us. His purpose in prayer is not to make us sit up and beg. He wants us to know Him.

For that reason, God has made himself known through His Son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross and rose again to pay the penalty for our sin. If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, go to Him in prayer – maybe for the first time – confess your sin, and receive the forgiveness you need. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Then you’ll begin that all-important communication with God, which is as essential to your spiritual well-being as breathing is to your physical life.

Scriptures : John 15:1-8
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

In the Old Testament, the vine was Israel where God had done everything he could to make them bear fruit but yet they bore none. It had forfeited his privilege.

In the New Testament, Jesus is the true vine, the true tabernacle, the bread of life, the light of the world, the only way and the door to everlasting life. He guaranteed the security of the true believer that whoever comes to HIM will never cast out and perish.

Scriptures : Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

Storing your treasures on earth, therefore, leads to eternal loss. Real wealth is obtain by investing treasures in heaven. The way to lay up treasures in heaven is to develop Christ-like character. A character which is enhanced by actively spending time in personal devotions, prayer and bible study so that we can increase in faith, hope and charity.

We also lay up treasures in heaven when we actively work towards the salvation of others. The Bible mentions rewards await for those who serve the Lord faithfully. It encourages servants that God has an eternal reward for those who serve HIM heartily.