Black Friday

Unlike last year, I did not go to Best Buy 3 in the morning to buy the items on sale.
I realized the futility of such effort because I knew that I won't be able to get any of the items on sale unless I camp out outside Best Buy the day before Black Friday.

So, I did most of my shopping this year on line. I was actually quite productive. I pored over all the deals on line for three days and I decided on purchasing several education games for my nephew. And then I did myself a favor by buying a TomTom One 3rd Edition GPS. While at it I bought one more for my brother-in-law's Christmas present.

I thought I was done with my Christmas shopping, but this morning I had this urge to buy 24" LCD monitor. I checked out on line deals, but I settled on Samsung 24" wide screen LCD monitor.
It was $439 plus tax and recycling fee, however it came with $120 rebate. So, I decided to purchase it and pick it up at a nearby Circuit City store. Unfortunately, there was no store in the vicinity which had the monitor in stock, so I ended up driving down to Fremont to purchase the monitor. As soon as I arrived at Circuit City, I walked toward Customer Service desk. There were several people waiting in line. I waited for about 20 minutes and then it was my turn to give my confirmation printout to one of the desk workers. The desk worker inputted the order number to the inventory software and it turned out that there were no monitors in stock.

The lady at the desk apologized profusely, but I told her that I did not come down to Fremont to get a refund. I was very firm that it was the fault of Circuit City that I had to drive down to Fremont despite the indication from their website that Fremont store had the item in stock. I then instructed her to check out the Circuit City website to see whether I could still buy the monitor from their website. It turned out that the monitors were sold out and now there was no way for me to purchase the monitor at a discount.

By this time, the lady at the desk got a bit tired of my insistence and pleaded me to get a refund rather than demanding her to get the monitor. So, I ended up talking to her manager and the manager's manager. Meanwhile, the lady at the desk found that the Dublin Circuit City store had several monitors in stock. So, after haggling with the desk workers at Fremont Circuit City, I drove to Dublin Circuit City. So, there I was able to purchase the monitor at discount.

As I was driving back home, it got me thinking. Was this worth it? Was it worth 4 hours of my time haggling and driving to get $120 discount on $440 monitor (well including tax and recycling it was nearly half-grand). I am not sure whether I would be doing this again next year. Although I have recommended to a very dear friend of mine that he will be able to get steep discount and best deal on Black Friday (surprising he bought 50" Samsung plasma TV for $900 which was a great deal!), I wasn't so sure anymore.

I told myself that I will never do this again...but I am not too sure whether I would be able to restrain myself from making an impulse buy sometime next year...

Ephesians 4:17-32

17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.

As a believer, you should not go back to old ways of living. If you were to harden your hearts, your understanding and knowledge of God will diminish. In the end your ignorance will distance you from living the life of God. If you continually sin, your sensitivity to sin will become numb. So, why should you strive for sinless life? It's because the life of God satisfies whereas the life of sin thirsts.

20You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

If you continually live in sin, you can not know Jesus Christ (i.e. God). If you were taught in Christ through the truth of the word of God, at first you will change your life style and that will cause your attitude of minds to be renewed. Moreover, you will have a new self, which was initially created by God to be holy and righteous.

25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26"In your anger do not sin"^[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27and do not give the devil a foothold. 28He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Do not speak untruthfully to brothers and sisters in Christ since we are all members of one body which is church. If you dwell in your anger over a day, you may fall prey to sin. If you steal you must stop stealing and put your hands to a good use otherwise you may fall prey to sin

29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Unwholesome talk is not edifying to the body (believers in church). Thus, we should choose our words carefully so that it does meet the needs of the body and it does benefit those who listen. When we were a prisoner of sin, God redeemed us. If we were to abandon our sinful ways (if we decide to come out of the cage of sin) and respect the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you), it will please the Holy Spirit of God.

Ephesians 4:1-16

1As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Paul states in next three verses what some of the prerequisites are for living a life worthy of the calling. When you are called by God, God has certain tasks in mind for you to perform. The Son of God was sent to the earth as a flesh to reveal the mystery of God.

At the same time, the Spirit of God was sent to us as a gift so that we can carry out the message of the good news. Are we actually living a life worthy or are we just paying a lip service?

2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

As a man of God, you should be completely humble, gentle, patient, and engage with one another in love. In addition, you should make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit with love. There should be one church (the body of Christ) and one Spirit to which each of our spirits defers. And we have one hope in heaven. One Jesus Christ, faith in God and born-again experience… There is one God who is the father of all and oversees us all who are his children. Keeping unity and being one in God is not a simple task and it takes a lot of effort and struggle. If we discontinue this struggle, our faith drifts, so does the unity of the body.

7But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it^[a] says:
"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men."^[b] 9(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions^[c]? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The Son of God appointed some to be apostles, teachers, prophets, and so on (Notice that the appointed ones are the messengers of God). They are the ones who witness of Jesus Christ, that he is God and that Jesus Christ is the act of God’s love for us all. They should not be the only ones who carry out the works of service. Every one of us should be a minister of the good news. When we obey his commands and act out our faith, our church will grow in spirit and be able to reach out to the Gentiles who are ignorant of Jesus Christ. This process will continue till the day that we become the likeness of Christ Jesus.

14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

When we become God’s children, we are no longer infants. When you become a child of God, you become cognizant of who your father is (That is the essence of difference between an infant and child. An infant is not old enough to walk and talk nor can it make an independent judgment. If one is a child of God, that child is able to communicate with the father and love him back).

The recognition of our father is not realized unless we see the Son of God who is Jesus Christ who is in the image of God. In other words, we cannot know God by ourselves nor can we communicate with him because of the severance of our loving relationship between our father and us due to the wage of sin. That severance was bridged by Jesus Christ. God is loving and sinless. Unless we are packaged in Christ, so that our sin looks invisible to God, we cannot directly know God. Only in and through Christ, we can have a glimpse of how God is like and how much God loves us.

That is the reason that we study the Bible, which is about Jesus Christ (the Word was God and the Word became flesh). In the book of Genesis, we see the Word has the power to create the world as well as living things. As we study the Word, we are able to know and understand who Jesus Christ is because he is the Word which witnesses of God the Father. As we learn more and more of the Word (Jesus Christ), we can build the knowledge of God the Father.

Through the image of the Word (Jesus Christ), we become confident and free in knowing that our father will be with us and protect us from harm’s way. In order for us to have the loving relationship with God, we need to be in the body (i.e. church) of Christ and we need to be fed from Christ (the Head, the Word) spiritually and through the word of God (biblical teaching). When we are properly nourished, then we can grow as one body in Christ. When the works of service done by each body part is worthy of the calling, the body will build itself up in love.

Some random thoughts

I just got a call from my former roommate (Justin) back in SLO (friends from Cal Poly) days. He was the youngest among my roommates and also very unique. He was studying electrical engineering back then, but at the same time he was very much interested in oriental medicine. I thought he may become a chiropractor or acupuncturist, but he ended up graduating as an IME (manufacturing engineering).

Many of the graduates became very successful and some are struggling. However, all in all, it appears that most of them are doing fairly well. Interestingly enough, I am probably the only one who is not married at this point. I guess the Lord has some plan in store for me:)

I had to go down to my brother-in-law dental office today to troubleshoot the office network problem. Several days ago, he called me in rather distressed voice about the network problem at his office. I told him that I would be unable to drive down to San Jose during the weekdays, but I will be able to help him out on weekends. Thus, today was the day that I had to help out my brother-in-law. Initially, I thought it was going to take all day, but it turned out that I was able to identify the network problem right away, so the Murphy's Law was in my favor this time around.

As I was driving home, I got into a contemplative mode. And I tried to recall some of the things that I had read in Knowing God. It occurred to me that the Bible verses the author quote and how he explains what it means didn't really go hand in hand. Maybe, that was the reason that I had such a hard time following what he says about the deity of God and Jesus Christ, God the Incarnate.

He does acknowledge that one of the essential qualities of God is omni-presence. Yet, God sent his only son (God himself, God Incarnate) to the earth as flesh. However, here is the dilemma. How can he be omnipresent if he came to the earth as flesh? That means that Jesus Christ is not God. There appears to be some hole in his logic. It is hard to fathom who God is. We just seem to understand a side of God through Jesus Christ. Probably, that is the mystery that we should come to accept as the unknowable.

When you think ahead and do things for their well being

There are times in life when you have to make tough decisions for your family and in that process, you end up alienating yourself. Another way of saying this will be playing a "bad" cop (or villain) hoping that the affected person will realize later on that I did it for the sake of that person.

There were several occasions when I had to do this and I ended up losing my mentor, putting a wedge between myself and the cousins that I grew up with, and tarnishing my own image so much so that I was perceived as a cold-blooded person. It is one thing to contemplate such action and it is another for you to go about executing your premeditated plan.

However, if you are a decision maker, you have to live with your decision whether the consequence of that decision is good or bad. If you make a quick decision and the outcome is not good, you will be considered careless and impulsive. If you take time to make a decision and it doesn't turn out the way you wanted, you will be considered indecisive and cautious. On the other hand, if you make a quick decision and it turns out to be right, you look decisive whereas if you take your time in making a decision and it turns out to be good, you will be considered thorough and thoughtful.

Likewise, how people judge one's decision is based on the consequence not on the process or the effort. It doesn't matter how thoughtful or forward-thinking your plan is.

Since I am not an omniscient being or a person with foresight, there is no way for me to know the consequence of my action, but I do know that the consequence of my action will involve heartaches and regrets which will end up haunting me later in my life. However, you do take such risk on the premise that a change is better than a non-change. You also do take such risk to cut your own losses.

Witnessing to a friend of mine

It is really odd that I am consulted by a friend of mine in regards to his marital issues because I am not married nor have I really "loved" anyone up until this point of my life. I think the reason that some people ask me for an advice is because they think that I would be more objective than themselves and I tend to be fairly blunt (or genuine) in my assessment.

However, it is very odd that God uses an occasion like this to witness to friends of mine who are not Christians. I never thought in my wildest dream that I would be saying something biblical to a friend of mine and he would actually concur and thank me for giving him an analogy which befits his current situation and how that analogy helps him understand his current impasse with his wife or his significant other.

When Dr. Iorg came for the revival, he had given us a message on a passage of the Book of 1 Samuel. During the message, he syas how Saul did not completely "obey" God's commandment and how that effected in God rejecting the kingship of Saul. On the surface, this is a typical example of God through the prophet, Samuel, judging Saul for not obeying his commandment. However, if you were to look one level deeper, you see this is how we view others in our relationships. We always feel like we are a "victim" like in the case of Saul and we give our selfish excuses, however that makes your counterpart even angrier because of the perceived breach of contract that you have made with that person.

I remember Colin Powell as saying to President Bush that if you break a vase, you own it in reference to the U.S. invading Iraq. In case of Saul, the damage was done when he disobeyed God and the relationship was beyond repair. Even if it were to be repaired, God could not have retracted his statement since whatever uttered by God has an eternal consequence.

Knowing this lesson, it is important to realize the consequence of our disobedience to God. Once you have disobeyed God, it can't be undone and it has an eternal consequence.

Have a blessing week.

Meditation on God's Love

What does it mean by loving someone?
Is there such a thing as a loving relationship?

In a Christian sense, the love that we strive for is Agape Love, otherwise known as unconditional love. We love our brothers and sisters "unconditionally" although that statement does come with some baggage because more often than not we say those words to be "correct" because anything else would not be "acceptable" and blasphemous.

How can we love someone or a group of people unconditionally because they happen to believe in the same God, even though we are not in any way blood-related? I hate to use the word, "love" because by uttering it so often in many different situations in a church or para-church setting somehow "cheapens" it. It somehow makes it less genuine. If someone says that he likes someone, craves some food, delights and congratulate someone getting wedded to someone else, you don't feel that strong obsessive and delusional aspect about that person's feeling.

However, as soon as you hear someone mention about someone's love for another you feel the obsession and infatuation with that person. And then your close friends or parents or siblings fret out loud that he or she is "drowned" in love (probably delusional).

So, how is God's love different from us? Is his love obsessive or temporal or conditional? Can we actually understand God's love when our understanding of love is vastly different from God's? Since our understanding of love is different, we don't actually "love" him if we were to love him like we love our parents, siblings, wives, husbands, so on. God will "feel" our love only when we love the way he wants us to love him.

Although God loves everyone equally, we know that his love for his only begotten son and his complete obedience (to his death) was what really pleased God and made God feel loved and glorified. Therefore, we understand that our love for God should be obedience to the teachings of his words in the Bible and Holy Spirit.

In the time of the Old Testament, it was the ministry of the Father through the messengers, aka the prophets. In the time of the New Testament, it was the ministry of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In the present time, it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If we truly strive to have a loving relationship with God, we should strive for obedience more than anything else because that's how God wants us to love him and how he wants to be glorified.

God Bless!

Matthew 13:1-23

1That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear."

Jesus initially positioned himself on the shore, but decides to get into a boat and sit in it because of the large crowds gathered around him. And then he starts to tell a parable of a farmer who went out to sow his seed.

10The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"

11He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

Obviously this passage needs to be distinguished from the mystery that Paul refers to when he speaks to fellow Christians. Jesus does not only speak of the knowledge of one secret but "the secrets" of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus had been telling his disciples that God has incarnated as a man (Jesus Christ). Back in the Old Testament days, God spoke through prophets (i.e. ministry was done through prophets), but in the New Testament God Incarnate (Jesus Christ) is personally doing his ministry. The only path to the kingdom of heaven is through Jesus Christ. Jews had to sacrifice animals to have their sins forgiven, however the obedience to the One alone is able to forgive one's past, present, and future sins.

13This is why I speak to them in parables:
"Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
" 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.'^[a] 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

He is telling his disciples that even though the prophets longed to see and hear God (Jesus Christ) they were not able to, but God descended on the earth as fully human and God and they are able to see and hear firsthand God himself.

18"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

Be careful what you say: Mark 7:14-23

14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "^[f]

17After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")

20He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

I used to have this passage on my Post-It and carry it within my Bible. I think the reason that I started doing it in the past was because I used to make judgmental remarks which were borderline offensive. In some sense, I do bear some semblance to PD who says things which are borderline offensive and hurtful.

We are all human beings. We are fallible and mistake-prone. I do say things which I regret later on. However, what the passage says is quite true. What enters into one's mouth can not defile that person because it comes out of his body whereas what comes out of one's own mouth does defile a person because it comes from the person's heart.

On many occasions, people say things which they haven't "meant" to say and then they try to defuse their remarks or awkward situation by saying that it was only a joke. But, nothing can be further from the truth. When a person says things more often than not they really "mean" it. It can not come out of one's mouth unless it had been simmering in one's heart. Somehow, this passage stuck with me all day today.

Have a great week! May God bless you throughout this week!

Obedience: 1 Samuel 15

Tonight was the second day (and probably the last day if we were to exclude the Sunday service) of the revival meeting. I went to the meeting without expecting much, but it seems as though God works his miracles in a mysterious way and tonight was no exception.

One thing that I didn't realize from the day one was that the theme of the revival event was obedience. Not just any obedience but total obedience. Jesus' obedience to God was total, however in this chapter we see Saul, who was handpicked by God to lead the kingdom of Israel, not completely submitting himself to God.

Saul did "obey" God, but he did not follow his commandment word by word. His self-serving attitudes and words angered God because he first did not obey God's commandments spoken through Samuel and at the same time he blamed everyone but himself for his failures.

Looking back at my life, I remember many times that I blamed God for my own failures. Although back then I did neither have spiritual maturity nor accumulated wisdom not to make those mistakes since there was no such thing as "God's commandment" telling me how I should behave in those circumstances or any secular guidance that I was able to extract from my readings.

I am aware of my sins and my failures to obey God. At the same time, I am unaware of the consequences of my disobedient life. The consequence of Saul's action was him being rejected as the king of Israel. Although that didn't happen right away, we do see David being groomed as the future king of Israel as a successor to King Saul.

What is the consequence of my disobedient life? What is the consequence of my disobedient action? There will be "grave" consequences of my sins and that does give us more incentive or I should say a reason to live by the word of God.

1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy ^[a] everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "

4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6 Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves ^[b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.

12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal."

13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."

14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"

15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."

16 "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night."
"Tell me," Saul replied.

17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' 19 Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?"

20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

22 But Samuel replied:
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king."

24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."

26 But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"

27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. 29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."

30 Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God." 31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.

32 Then Samuel said, "Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites."
Agag came to him confidently, ^[c] thinking, "Surely the bitterness of death is past."

33 But Samuel said,
"As your sword has made women childless,
so will your mother be childless among women."
And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Liability: Hebrews 12: 1-3

Lately, I had been bothered by my lack (or I should say unwillingness to obey). I had been praying for the Holy Spirit to intervene so that I could overcome the very sin that had been in my own treasure chest all this time. It has become something that I can't do without. If there was one thing that stood out in tonight's message, it was the "liability" which hinders our walk with God. Hebrews 12:1 -3 talked about two things that we should strive for as a man of faith. First off, it talks about relieving ourselves of the "liability" (anything that hinders our walk with God) and the sin that so easily entangles for the sake of those who are watching us (those non-believers or those believers who are not full-fledged - our liability and sin can adversely influence their walk with God). In addition, we should keep up our walk with God. You should not make a decision to obey God one day and then go about sinning on the very next day.

So, what are "liabilities?" As Pastor Iorg succinctly described, it is something that we do not categorize as a sin, but something that hinders our walk with God. If your hobby, physical condition because of lack of exercise, your eating habit, the way you engage with others, your humor, etc. hinders your walk with God, you should immediately do away with them. Wow... Is that easy? I must say that it is not something that can be easily done. It takes the accountability of the Holy Spirit as well as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ overseeing your walk with God.

As a man of faith, we should focus our eyes on our goal or I should say the "taste of success." Jesus exemplified a "man of faith." He showed how a man of faith should behave under persecution to other Christians. He also kept his faith to the very end (i.e. obedience to death). What was the end result? He resurrected (although isn't it harder for God, an immortal being to die than resurrect?). Knowing that Jesus (God as a man) was able to endure the hardship of an ordinary human being and the fact that he resurrected from his death, give us hope and courage that despite our fallibility we have a standard to live up to.

Have a great weekend!

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

The Father: Ephesians 3:14-21

We will probably study the rest of Chapter 3 next week, but we won't be having any Bible study this week because we are having Jubilation this weekend. Hopefully, I will get to see most of you during the revival (hopefully I will be there).

I thought about writing a blog sometime before, but I never had the diligence or time to do it.
Hopefully, this will be the start and I will be able to continually share the Words of God and little that I learned from it. Besides, I won't be cluttering your mailboxes with my opinionated pieces, so you will have a piece of mind with this change.

14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family^[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name.

As a Christian, we are of God's lineage. We owe our existence and identity to the Father in heaven.

16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Obviously, this passage is specifically meant for Christians. Paul prays that despite difficulties we remain steadfast in our walks with God through the help of the Holy Spirit.

17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

We will not have any room for Christ unless we equip ourselves with faith in God the Father in Christ.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Can we "know" God? Obviously, we as creatures are limited in terms of what we know of God and how much we can know of him. However, when we are firmly rooted in love for God the Father, we come to recognition that it is love that transcends everything that we want to know about God. Pharisees and high priests claimed that they "knew" God, but they knew not because they did not understand God's love for the Gentiles as well as Jews. I wonder how deep, long, and wide our love for Christ is as well as others in our group.

20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

God will always provide us with more than what we ask of him because of his love for us. How do we respond to that? How do we glorify God the Father? We glorify the Father by showing our heart-felt love for him by being obedient to the words and teachings of the Spirit.

Have a great week.