The Playground.

Galatians 4:1-7

What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father.  So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world.  But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

The games we played as a child had many rules which determined who was the winner. Your daily activities have changed since childhood. 


Do rules still guide you the same way? Think about the boundaries that God has set for you. The Holy Spirit serves as an internal rule book and teacher, reminding you of the rules and inclining your heart to follow. 


God gave us laws to help us learn how to live, like children learning to play fair. But at the right time, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to be our guide, to fulfill the laws. 


Thank God for sending the Spirit into our hearts to be our guide. 

sick?

We all sick, now and then, sometimes for long periods, sometimes for short periods, but I'm sure that everyone has gotten sick once or twice before. When we're sick, its because our immune system is down and weak, and we fail to fight against the bacteria and germs out there.

Same for our spiritual health. We have to make sure we are spiritually fit, in his Word, in his Life and in his Love. If our spiritual immune system is weak, Satan can easily break into us and bring us down. We can't let that happen!

For some people, it is because of a weak spot, for instance, the eyes may be weak, and one may be continuously looking at things that are not holy and are inappropriate, or maybe its one's mind, that their judgement is clouded at times, and they easily give into temptation.

When we're sick, doctors give us medications that treat what is wrong, it doesn't treat our entire body, but only what is wrong. The antibodies or drugs go right to the source, and that is how we should be treating our spiritual health, at the root. We shouldn't be using "pain-killers", because it only targets surface area problems, we need to go right to the source. Usually, its the heart. We must learn to guard our hearts above all else because everything we do flows from it (Proverbs 4:23).

Reflect on your health, not just your physical health, but your spiritual health too. Are you sick? Are you weak? Easily targeted by the Devil? Need a cure? Don't tackle the surface problems, go straight to the heart. Keep your spiritual immune system fit!

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:12-17 

Journey: Guangxi

Unity.

Unity is necessary on all projects, on all levels, to have a good communication, and good relationships with one another. Without unity, the team can easily fall apart. Especially in a missions trip, when you're in the battlefield, you need all the support you can get, and without it, its extremely easy for Satan to tear and bring you down.

There are four main things that will break unity.

Gold. Resembling material possessions, if we have an attitude of wanting something to gain out of it, may it be money or a gift, its isn't the right attitude to serve with. You're there to give, not gain.

Glory. Serving and helping out, you are usually using your gifts and talents to glorify God, but if you are doing it with intentions of receiving praise and to show off your talents, for your own glory, that is also the wrong perspective to view ministry.

Guys/Girls. Ministry is not an opportunity to mingle and to get to know others, brewing relationships, especially romantic ones.

Gods. Before you go on a missions, you have to know the priorities in your heart. Where does God stand? He should be at the top. Are there other things that may be fighting that spot with God, may it be people, or materialistic things, but we have to make sure we have the right heart and attitude before entering the battlefield.

All these things have one thing in common, they all do not have God in mind. They're all self-oriented attitudes. All team members should have God first, working to please and honour him, and with the same goals and attitudes, unity can thrive.

Practical ways to sustain unity.

1) Positive and good communication. Do not assume things and over analyze things. Learn to confront others in love and privately.

2) Rejoice with one another. Seeing yourself and others succeed are always great motivations, learn to support one another. Share with others how God is working in your life!

3) Empathize with one another. Don't hide your feelings, be vulnerable and share with others, and be sensitive when someone decides to open up to you. Its through transparency will tighter relationships be made.

4) Be generous with one another. Take care of one another and give to one another. These members are your team for the missions time period, watch out for each other.

5) Forgive one another. You're going to be spending x amount of days with the same people, and you can get frustrated. In times of stress and trouble, things will get hard, but forgive each other.

6) Affirm our common goal. Be constantly reminded of why you are here and who you are serving. Its easy to get distracted and stray away in the pride and the hype of all things.

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

1 Corinthians 1:10 

break my heart for what breaks yours.

Today was Today's Teens Conference for the AGAPE/BASIC leaders, and during our first breakout session, we went to Running With Fire: Passion for the Broken. Although it wasnt a session I wanted to attend, and reading the blurb about it, it didnt really appeal to me, but crazy things happen. I truly believe that if you willingly open your heart/mind/eyes to receive God's word, and whatever he wants to say to you, you'll get something out of it.

So during this session, our speaker talked about the broken. He talked about the brokenness, personal brokenness, the things we deal with, from cutting, to drugs, to sexual immorality, loneliness, depression, and pain. We are all broken, and im sure there are broken people around us. Its really important to really try to see that and be of support. One of the videos they showed today talked about seeing how God sees the world. At first, everyone seemed normal, playing games, socializing, but then when we were "given God's eyes", it revealed the baggage that everyone was going through, from teen pregnancies, to being self absorbed. God truly knows what everyone is going through, but we should be sensitive and see that in others as well.

He also talked about brokenness outside, internationally, in the world, from the poverty, famine and hunger, and how we can help. From sponsoring a child, to working with World Vision or doing the 30 hr famine and raising awareness. There were some crazy statistics they gave,

- The US Defense Bill for ONE DAY could eliminate world hunger

- The average amount spent on ice cream by Canadians could eliminate world hunger

But the end, he challenged us with this. He dared us pray this prayer, and mean it. "Break my heart for what breaks yours." I dont think i fully took it in, but its really a prayer to see with God's eyes, to build that passion for the broken. And if we can see the world from God's perspective, we can truly follow in his footsteps, and be his representatives and help those in need. If you can read this, it means you've been blessed to live in such a wealthy environment/country. God placed you in this position to be the leaders to help the broken, those who do not have that luxury. Challenge yourself, to pray that prayer, and take the first step forward.

competition?

³⁷ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.³⁸ And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

matthew 10:37-38

Whoever loves their OWN FATHER and MOTHER MORE than Christ is not worthy of God. One may ask, why is God so mean, that we cant even love our parents? And it goes on to say even our sons and daughters?

Reading my devotionals today, it put this verse into a different perspective. The overall lesson was competition and priorities. Within your heart, you only have one spot. One reigning spot that rules all. As Christians, Christ should be in that spot. But sin is very tempting sometimes. And there are other things that may fill up that hole. May it be a relationship, or a sexual desire, pride, materialism, or greed, something will fill the hole.

What's in your heart? Is there something competing with Christ for that? I love the last verse, whoever does not take up the cross cannot follow me. We've stated before, being a Christian is hard. Its a commitment. Its like marriage. Life long (but this relationship with God is longer than that). You have to be +100% dedicated to him. Nothing should be competing with Him. He is the creator, he is the king of kings, how is it that the latest apple gadget or yourself can beat that? The one that loves you, gave up His son for you? Why is this even a fight? He should be way up the scale. I dont know my answer either. I dont think i've fully realized the degree of love, and sacrifice the gospel is yet. It hasnt fully hit me yet.

There should be NO competition between Christ and the things of this world. He lasts, worldly things fade.

Rock Or Sponge?

Ezekiel 36:24-28

²⁴ “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. ²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

Think about it this way. Your heart is either a sponge or a rock. When water is poured onto the rock what does it do? The water just slides right off. But, when water is poured onto the sponge it gets absorbed.

It's like God's love for us. God wants to fill our hearts with his love. God wants to pour all kinds of love and blessings into our lives. God can give us a new heart. One that will soak up all his love.

We should love others because Christ first loved us. He will always be our God. He accepts us for our sins and we need to repent of them.

Calling?

I got this message in my facebook inbox today.

"Hi Jason, our 2012 OJ planning will start soon. I wonder if u and your friends want to join us this year. If you do, I can send you the helper application form this year.Actually, I see if you have interest in running the kids camp as director too."

The past two years, i've been doing OJ during the summer. There were tears, there was laughter, there were definitely many memories made. This year, im dealing with the conflict between China + Vacation vs. OJ + Summer Camps. This year, i dont know if its his calling, but i've felt drawn towards family. Building that relationship with them, and recently i temporarily, kinda officially decided to go to China, to spend the final few months with them. But then i get this.

To be honest, i think i saw it coming, but i dont know. Is this God calling me back to Quebec? What does this mean? I've thought about this, if its God calling if they ask me to be director. What should i do? What is right? I dont know anymore. I know the past my heart was set for Quebec, and i miss my kids oh so dearly, but then now, its even, and im torn.

Why Do I Ask?

As a kid, I always asked my parents for things. Things such as toys, new clothes, the latest electronics, and money. I always thought that once I ask, I’ll receive it right away. I thought that that was how God worked, ask and I’ll receive right away.

There are many Christians out there that ask but don’t receive. Why? Because they don’t have the right heart. I realized that most of my requests to God weren’t being answered. I kept questioning why He would do that.

I thought He listened then brushed it off. Then, I realized that I wasn’t asking because I needed those things. I asked because I wanted them.

Growing up in a Christian school I was very exposed to “The Lord’s Prayer”.

It’s located in Matthew 6:9-13 it says:

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

I always thought that it was just another thing to memorize until January 1, 2012. After all those years I soon realized that there was a deeper meaning to it. I’ve studied these verses but it was just a quick brief about what it was, I never really dug deep into what it really meant.

The first day of this year I entered the gym (where we have our youth service) not expecting anything. As I was listening to my pastor she focused on these verses and I realized that there was more to those words that came out of my mouth. I thought of it as a slap in the face. Something that I’ve been doing for so long and not knowing what it meant really hit me hard. She said this one line in her sermon, “God doesn’t answer because we’re doubtful.”

I think that this hit me hard because I wasn’t asking God for the right things. It was just for me, me, and me. She helped me realize that God only answers our prayers when we have the right heart. We don’t need to use big words or be in a certain place at a certain time. We just need to have the right mind and heart.

My pastor explained 3 reasons why God doesn't answer our prayers.

1. Because of the unconfessed sins in our lives.

Isaiah 59:1-2:

¹ Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. ² But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

2. Because of our own doubt.

James 1:6-7:

⁶ But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

3. Because we have the wrong motives.

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James 4:2-3:

² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

"The greatest prayer anyone can pray is, “They will be done.”"

-Lehman Strauss, Sense and Nonsense about Prayer