GOD IS OUR ONLY JOY. Cohmi Coh

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2 GOD IS OUR ONLY JOY Cohmi Coh

3 God is our only Joy Copyright 2013 by Cohmi Coh I am giving you a permission to print and reproduce this book for personal use or for distribution. You are welcome to visit my temporary website that I made godisourjoy.weebly.com to download more free books that I wrote and I will write. You can also me at cohmi.coh@gmail.com for suggestions or comments Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

4 For Ongoco Family (Papa Roy, Mama Nette and my Favorite Sister Micah ) To God be the Glory

5 Table of Contents Main purpose of the Book Day 1 God is your only Joy Day 2 Beautiful Death Day 3 Joy in God is our transformation Day 4 When God becomes your only Joy Day 5 Why people don t enjoy God Day 6 Becoming Beautiful: Jesus took our sins Day 7 Becoming Beautiful: Jesus supply our righteousness Day 8 Great foundation of our joy in God Day 9 What about James? Day 10 Joy in God alone is a gift Day 11 Predestination for the glory of His Grace Day 12 Peaceful Walk Day 13 Joy in right believing in God s promises Day 14 The Deceiving Loneliness Day 15 What does it mean that God loves you? Day 16 Passion of God in His Glory: the reason there is Grace Day 17 People love the beauty of the world Day 18 When God does not become our only Joy Day 19 Intimacy with God by His Grace conquers sexual immorality Day 20 Power of the gift of no condemnation Day 21 Don t focus on how to conquer sin Day 22 In my failure, God is still my only joy Day 23 Refocused Joy: Reason of losing joy in God

6 Day 24 In your prayer life, God is your only Joy Day 25 In delighting in God s Word, God is your only Joy Day 26 In fasting, God is your only Joy Day 27 In serving God, when He is my only Joy Day 28 Let God work while we rest Day 29 Heart for the King Day 30 Heart to Give Day 31 Conversion Rate of your giving Day 32 Our joy in God is our strength in worst situation Day 33 Rejoicing in the midst of suffering Day 34 My reigning God is my rejoicing Day 35 Poisonous life of being a man- pleaser Day 36 Don t forget to bring and use your brain Day 37 Right heart redirects Day 38 Satisfied but still thirsty Day 39 Sustaining joy in God Day 40 Sustaining the Joy God is our Joy Ministries

7 Main Purpose of the Book I believe Christianity is not just about doing the right thing, it s not also about living a pure or righteous life because even Buddhist can do those things that s why even you are living a righteous life or you are one of the good citizen in your place, it doesn t automatically means that you are a good Christian because that is not Christianity. Christianity is about living a life that God is your only ultimate Joy and righteous life is just the fruit of that joy. And actually the truth is Jesus Christ died for that He died not mainly to save you from hell and bring you to heaven but mainly to make a way on how God will become your only Joy. And that is exactly the aim of this book it is to lead you to a new exciting journey that God is your only Joy that s why I entitled this book, God is our only Joy and I want you to realize right now that if you don t learn to enjoy God while here in earth, you will never enjoy also being in the heaven in the future because in heaven, the story is also all about God s glory being enjoyed by men and that s how important is this book you are holding right now! My Prayer to you After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, He went with the two man in the road going to a village named Emmaus and he interpreted to 7

8 them in all the scriptures (Luke 24:27) Do you know what is the impact to the two as Jesus opened to them the scripture? Look what the next verse said: They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road while he opened to us the scriptures? (v.32) Wow! Scriptures gave them a burning hearts! And that s exactly what I am praying to you! I am praying that what those two experienced in scripture will be your experience also as you finish reading this book in forty days. I pray that you will not have just an increased knowledge about God but you will also have a burning heart in God! That s why I am really praying to you the same prayer of Psalmist in Psalm 85:6 Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Notice it s in you, its in God! The revival that I am praying is a biblical revival it s a revival that bring back the joy of the people not in their ministries, not in evangelism, not in missions, not in discipleship but only in God. People who are truly revived are the one who are not just saying, My heart is burning to do ministries but the one who are saying, My heart is burning to be in the place where I am alone with God only to enjoy Him. Being revived means your joy is returned only in God. The definition of the revival that I gave to you is not according to my thoughts or my super introvert personality but it is according to what bible said: Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice [may have joy] in you [in God not in anything else that s why it s only in God] Revival is having joy only in God! 8

9 And lastly, I am praying also that if I commit any wrong interpretation in some passages in the bible and if I interpreted some passages that is based on my personality, based on my experience or based on what I want them to be interpreted rather than to be interpreted based on its context and based on what the Author of each passage is really intending to say to their readers in their ancient times, I am praying that may the Holy Spirit guide you to discern what is right and wrong. What matters to me in this book [that I am everyday praying] is that in the end, you will start having a life with a burning heart in God. Cohmi Coh God is our Joy Ministries 9

10 Day 1 God is your only Joy In our first day, let me use this day in explaining to you on what do I mean of God is your only Joy and why it is very important to live on that truth, that it leads me also to decide spending a long time to be isolated just to write this forty days devotional book for that one important truth. As a Christian, the reason we live in this world should be the same reason why Jesus died for us on the cross. We should live on what is the ultimate aim of the gospel. Right? Now let me show you what is the ultimate aim of the gospel and after that, try to evaluate yourself and check if your life [if you are considering yourself now as a Christian] is aligned on the main purpose of the Gospel. Are you living in the main purpose of the gospel? Are you really a born again Christian? Is the evidence of being born again is really in you? Let s see that today! 10

11 Satan knew the purpose of Gospel The god of this world [Satan] has blinded the mind of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4) Satan blinded the mind of unbelievers. Why? It is to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel. And what is that light? It is the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Anyways, Glory of Christ, who is the image of God simply means God is Christ and Christ is God. It means that the glory of God and the Glory of Christ are one. If I said glory of Christ, I am also saying glory of God! And that s actually what the book of Hebrews exactly said: [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature (Hebrews 1:3) So in short, Satan blinded the people to keep them from seeing the glory of God in Christ in the gospel. Wise people always learn from their enemies that s why let s learn from our enemy [Satan] what is the true ultimate aim of Gospel. The truth that Satan is blinding unbelievers in the gospel is already showing that seeing is actually the main purpose of the gospel 11

12 seeing God s glory is the aim of the gospel! God s ultimate aim of the gospel is that we will see the glory of God in Christ. Satan knew that and he is not a brainless enemy of God that s why he knew his job and [let me say this again!] his main job is to blind people not to stop doing good to others and not also to blind people so that they will do more bad to others but mainly to blind people to keep them from seeing the glory of God in Christ in the gospel. Jesus died so that we will live a life of seeing the glory of God in Him! The essence of seeing the glory of God Let s go to another question! What does it mean seeing the glory of God? What is the essence of it? The essence of it is in the beautiful prayer of David in Psalm 27:4! By the way, Psalm 27:4 will be our life verse for our journey of enjoying God so it s better to memorize it. David said: One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4) Did you notice that? David s desire in this verse is only to gaze [or to see!] the beauty [or the glory!] of the Lord and that is exactly the ultimate aim of the gospel according to what we learned a while ago. That s why in other words the aim of the gospel is to lead us to live the kind of life like David has. 12

13 We are going to learn what is the essence of seeing the glory of God in this verse. Okay, let s learn now by reading again what David said. David said, One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord The essence of seeing God s glory is simply desiring to dwell in the house of the Lord, which means desiring to be in the presence of the Lord always. Seeing God s glory is about God s presence is becoming your only joy, your only treasure and your only satisfaction! I didn t said in my title God is your Joy, what I clearly said is God is your only joy because when David is desiring to be with God always to enjoy His beauty, what he said is this: I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord Notice all the days of my life? If you are doing something that ultimately satisfy you and make you happy, you want to do that not just once a week but all the days of your life or forever of your life that s why the truth that David want to be with God and enjoy His beauty all the days of His life is that because that is his only joy and his satisfaction. Jesus Christ died so that we live a life of seeing the glory of God [so that we will live a life of God is our only Joy] and that s the heart of this book! 13

14 Anyways, in the next chapters that you will read everyday, you will notice that sometimes I am saying God is your only Joy and sometimes God s glory is your only Joy and sometimes God s beauty is your only Joy. If you notice that, don t be confused on that. Okay? They are all the same in essence. They mean, God, the glorious God, the beautiful God, is your only desire and joy in your life. Jesus is the key in this journey: God is our only Joy Obviously, Jesus Christ is our key in this journey [God is our only Joy] that we are going to enter that s why the Angels, when Jesus, the key in this journey of God is our only Joy, was born, said: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people (Luke 2:10) Jesus, the key for the great joy for all the people, was born! Fruit of Gospel: Joy That s why if you are going to read the book of Acts, you will notice a lot of people responding with a rejoicing heart in the gospel. 14

15 When Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ, this is what happened to the city: so there was much joy in that city (Acts 8:8) and when he also taught the good news of Jesus in the book of Isaiah to the Eunuch, the eunuch responded to him after he leave him: and the Eunuch saw [Philip] no more, and went on his way rejoicing (Acts 8:39) and when Paul shares the gospel to the Jailer, this is what the jailer responded: And he rejoiced along with the entire household that he had believed in God (Acts 16:34) and when Paul also told to the Gentiles that they are also partakers of the gospel, they responded: And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the world of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48) Ultimate end of the Gospel Many Christians today are shortsighted in seeing the ultimate end of the gospel [shortsighted to the truth that I already shared earlier]. They thought that Jesus died for them so that they will be saved from hell or they will be forgiven by faith or become righteous by faith. Do you think also the same way like many Christians today think about the ultimate aim of the gospel? If you think the same way, then, let me ask you this question that I hope will change your perspective: Why do you think you are now saved from hell or forgiven by faith or become righteous by faith? Answering this question should lead you now to realize that being in heaven, being forgiven, being 15

16 righteous is not the ultimate aim of the Gospel! And the truth is there are no other answers for this question but only this: It is for you to come to God freely to enjoy Him forever This answer [coming to God and enjoying Him forever] is actually the ultimate end of God s creation. Westminster [group of people who devoted their time and even their whole life in studying the Bible more than me and you] understands the main purpose why we are created by saying this: The chief ends of man is to enjoy God forever Gospel s ultimate end is to bring back humanity to the main purpose why he was created [or to his chief ends] and that is to enjoy God forever. In other words, Jesus Christ died on the cross so that God will not just part of our joy but our only joy. And Peter understood that that s why he explains the Gospel in this way: For Christ also suffered [died] once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18) Jesus died not just to bring you to heaven or to make you righteous or to justify you apart from your works but also [the ultimate purpose] to bring you to God Himself that s why I want you to realize that the heart of the Gospel is not Justification or even righteousness by faith [like Modern Christianity is stressing out in their teaching]. Justification and righteousness by faith is totally useless in your life if it doesn t bring you to God Himself that s why as a Christian, don t just enjoy being justified or righteous by faith instead, use them as a 16

17 means of enjoying God Himself. God gave you gifts so that through those gifts, you will fall in love more to the Giver not to the gifts itself. God, the Giver Himself, is the greatest gift we received in the gospel! People are blind Allow me to show you the reality that is happening to our world right now that our world is really blinded by Satan in seeing the ultimate aim of the Gospel. Do you know Manny the Boxer? Manny Pacquiao is a big- time boxer! He is popular around the world because he is always winning the almost impossible to win battle. He actually defeated almost all of the great boxers. One day, Manny experienced the most memorable story in his life. He became a born again Christian! He began having a new relationship with God by having faith in Christ! And after that conversion, he is going to fight with Marquez for rematch. People were surprised that Manny lost the fight with Marquez. When Manny lost that fight, many people blame his new religion. They are saying that His new relationship with God is the reason he lost. He lost because he became a Born- Again. Did you see that? It is very sad to see clearly that Satan blinds the people in seeing the main purpose of the Gospel. Satan blinds many in seeing the main purpose why Jesus died on the cross. Satan blinds 17

18 many in seeing the main purpose we have God right now in our life. They are blind! Blind people thought that the reason we have relationship with God through the death of Jesus Christ in the cross is only to use Him as a tool to be successful in our life in this world or as a Magic wand that will instantly change the situation of our life. No! That s not the main purpose of Gospel. We have new relationship with God by having faith in Christ because our heart is created only to rest in His creator! That s why if the people will not be blinded by Satan, and then, they experienced what Manny experienced losing some of his influence and popularity. They will be delighted to say, Even I fail or even the whole world leave me and dislike me or no matter what will be the situation of my life, I will continue to be happy because I have now relationship with God. God is enough in my life He is my only joy. They should be like Habakkuk who said, Even everything would fail in my journey, God will be still my only joy! He said it in this way: Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yields no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will take my joy in the God of my salvation. (Habakkuk 3:17-18) 18

19 Whatever happens, I am happy because I have God in my life and God is enough! I am living in what Jesus is saying to me in the cross, It is finished! Now I want you to be happy my beloved but of course, I want to be the reason! Peter s first Sermon Let me share you some simple trivia! What I shared to you today is actually the first sermon of the Disciples of Jesus in the history of Christianity Peter s Sermon! In His sermon, after he explain the resurrection of Jesus using Old Testament prophecies by David in Psalms, he concluded in his first sermon: Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. (Acts 2:36) Peter is saying here, the Old Testament prophecies of resurrection of Jesus displays the glory of God Jesus is God as well as Christ! The first sermon [which is about the displayed glory of God in Christ in the gospel] in the history of Christianity that Satan is continuous in blinding in the mind of unbelievers at this moment is the first lesson of our Journey that s how important is our lesson today! Anyways, Do you know what is the respond of the people from Peter on that sermon? Look at this: 19

20 Now when they heard this [the sermon of Peter!] they were cut to the heart (Acts 2:37) I am praying that our lesson today [Jesus died to display the glory of God so that God will become your only joy] might cut also your heart like what the audience of Peter experienced when he preached the same topic we have today. Reminders for today Be reminded today that the main reason Jesus died for you [Christians!] in the cross is so that God will become your only Joy all the days of your life. Hope you are really a born again Christian! 20

21 Day 2 Beautiful Death We learned yesterday that the ultimate aim of the gospel is God will become our only joy all the days of our life. Today, before we discuss our main topic which is about having a beautiful death or how to have a beautiful death. Let me show you first one more of the biblical foundation of the truth that God is our only Joy is the ultimate aim of the Gospel. Ultimate aim of the Gospel according to Isaiah Look at this verse in Isaiah 52:7! How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who bring good news [gospel], who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness (Isaiah 52:7) 21

22 Actually the word gospel in Greek literally means good news that s why good news here is also referring to the gospel. Did you see that? The good news or the gospel brings peace and it is also called the good news of happiness. Now what does it mean? In New Testament, Paul explains the gospel in this way: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith [or referring to gospel], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1) That s why the good news here in Isaiah means it bring us to have peace with God like how Peter explain the Gospel in 1 Peter 3:18 Jesus died to bring us to God. And because that good news brings us to God, it is also called good news of happiness. So in short, the Gospel that brings us to God have the purpose for us to be happy and that is obviously to be happy in God. By that, it is very clear that gospel s aim is that God will become our only Joy. Death that glorifies God Now let s go to our main topic. As a Christians, we are called to glorify God until to our last breath. The question is how are we going to glorify God in our death? What do you think? 22

23 Maybe, you might think or imagine of having a dramatic death. You might think dying in the midst of preaching. You might think dying in the midst of persecution in the mission field or you might think dying after having a lot of great achievements for God. And sadly, maybe right now you are thinking and believing that all of that kind of death will surely glorify God the most in your death. Honestly and Biblically, even you all have those things; it will not glorify God the most if you don t have the truth [God is your only Joy] in your life. Whatever you do if you don t live on the truth that God is your only joy, it will not glorify God the most. Now maybe, you may start asking in your mind, Is that biblical? Is that what our Bible is really saying? Let me spend the remaining pages of this paper in showing to you how did I come up with the conclusion that dying while God is your only is the kind of death that will glorify God the most. Paul said, For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:20) and how are we going to do that especially in death? Paul said, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death (Phil 1:20) and how God will be glorified in his death? Paul said on the next verse, For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain (v.21) Paul is simply saying that the way to glorify God in your death 23

24 is simply to realize that dying as a Christian is a gain. Why it is a gain according to Paul? It is a gain not because he will die with a lot of contributions in the kingdom of God, not also because he will die with a great contributions to missions and ministries, and not also because he will die with a lot of great achievements for God. Dying is a gain for him not because dying is an opportunity for him to start receiving a lot of rewards in heaven from all of his achievements. You know what is the true reason why Paul said that it is a gain? This is what Paul said in the next verses: having a desire to depart [to die] and be with Christ, which is far better (v.23) Paul is simply saying that to die is gain because when He dies, he will be with Christ forever and will see Christ as glorious as He is not like what He is seeing here in Earth that s why he called it far better. Dying is gain only because He will see Jesus face to face. Dying is gain because the prayer of David in Psalm 27:4, which is to dwell in the presence of the Lord to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord will be now a reality in his life. So meaning, Dying is gain because God is his only Joy. That s why the truth is sustaining your joy in God until your last breath actually glorifies God the most in your death. That s why I am 24

25 praying that this book will radically increase and sustain your joy only in God that will lead you also to consider death as gain and privilege in life because it is an opportunity for you to see God face to face and experience the one hundred percent of your joy. We are all in the race Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2) The Author of Hebrews said, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us The author of Hebrews, which I assumed, is Paul [but anyways, If Paul is not the author of this book, the message of this book Hebrews will not change, so knowing the Author really doesn t matter now but right now, I assumed, it is Paul] Paul in this chapter is talking generally to all believers not just specifically to Pastors, Church s leaders or missionaries. That s why when Paul said that let us run the race that is set before us, it means that all believers have a race. That s why you [me?] yes you, the one who is holding this book. You also have a race as believer. And the Greek word for race here that Paul used is not dromos, which the usual word that New Testament Authors used in their letters every time referring to race. The Greek word that Paul used here is agon, where we get our English word agony. So meaning, you have a race [agon!] a very serious race! 25

26 Now, question! What is that race? Let s complete the thought of Paul by including the next verse: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2a) I know that we all have different serious race, some are called to be pastor, some are missionaries and some are called to be professor in seminaries but all of us have one common denominator in our race, and according to Paul, that is looking to Jesus gazing, savoring and beholding the Glory of God in Christ or according to what we learned yesterday, it is simply living in a life of enjoying God. This day, I want you to know that this is a serious race God is our only Joy Journey is a serious Journey. We are not playing games here! The wise Beggar Let me share a simple story [that I am praying by the Grace of God] that may give you more burning heart in God alone in your present race right now! There was a very rich man celebrating his birthday and then, on his birthday, he decided to give everything he has for all of the people. He is saying, I already have everything. I am so happy in my life now. I can buy anything I want. I want to give away all of the things I have in this house. The rich man invited all the people to go in his house and encouraged the people to pick anything they want in the house. The rich man 26

27 added, By the way, before I forgot, you can pick anything but the rule is you will pick only one thing. One man saw the beautiful car in the garage and said, Can I have this sports car? The rich man answer, yes, of course! After that, no more! The other guy saw the flat- screen television and said, Can I have this? The rich man, of course, answer again, Yes! Yes! Yes! All of the people on that time are very happy picking up they want. All the people, who pick a lot of things in the house, were already going home that the little boy that is beggar and also an orphan saw them. The beggar boy said to them, Can I have food please? Can you give me a food please? I am so hungry now. The people replied to the boy, You must go to the house of the rich man. Today is his birthday and you can pick up anything you want but you can pick up only one thing! Go there quick! The beggar ran quickly to the house of rich man. He said to the rich man, Is it true that I can pick up anything here in this house? The rich man replied, yes. The boy is doubting the rich man that s why he asked a repeating questions: Are you sure? I can pick up any one thing here that I want? The rich man gets angry in his repeating question that s why he shouted, YES! YOU CAN! The boy looks at the rich man and said, I am an orphan, I am a beggar and I don t have a House and a Father, what I want in this 27

28 house is YOU I want YOU! The Rich man cannot deny it because he already said Yes to the many times question of the boy, Can I pick anything I want in this house? Now think about this. Among the people, who do you think get the much? Is it the one who got the sports car? Of course not! It is the beggar who got the much because He chose not the gifts of the giver but the giver of the gifts. It is the same with God. I want you to realize that when you have God in your life, you actually already have everything! I pray that may God will be you re only everything not just today but until your last breath in this world! Reminders for Today As I end this chapter, I want to encourage you again to continue your journey of enjoying God and I am praying that may God sustain your joy only in Him until your last breath here in earth so that in your death, God will be glorified the most. 28

29 Day 3 Joy in God is our transformation We are now in the third day of our journey. I am happy to see you again! If there will be two main important purpose of God in our journey needed to be remembered, I believe the first one is to see and enjoy God s glory and the second is to be like His Son, Jesus Christ. Gazing God s Glory and becoming like Jesus is a one action As I am studying in Seminary, I realized through reading the books of John Piper, seeing God s glory and becoming like Christ is actually a one process or one action. When you see God s glory, you become like Him. You re seeing is you re transforming that s the truth in our journey with God. 29

30 Now, let me give you the biblical basis of that truth. Look what Paul said here: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) Notice the word beholding. Beholding in Greek is actually an example of a present adverbial participle according to Robert Mounce. Now, let me explain to you what is the purpose if beholding in Greek is a present adverbial participle. Let me explain it slowly and step by step. So ready your mind and also your pen. Try to follow me and understand this truth. Participle All words that ends in ing are actually a participle. Beholding ends in ing [behold- ing] so Beholding is participle! Right? Hmm that s very easy. Okay, let s continue to the other one. Adverbial Participle In Greek, it is the same in English, Participle becomes adverbial participle when the participle is related or connected to the verb in 30

31 the statement. Beholding is connected and related to the verb are being transformed. Look at the text again: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) So meaning, as you behold His glory, you become like Him, you are transformed! Beholding and transformed is connected that s why beholding becomes adverbial participle in Greek. Present Adverbial Participle In Greek, there are different tenses and each tense have different functions. If the word is in present tense in Greek, that word may function as a continuous action. The truth that beholding is a present [tense] adverbial participle is actually beholding is a continuous action and actually the verb are being transformed is also in present tense in Greek that means it is also a continuous action. So in short, Paul is simply saying, as you continue to behold, you will continue to be transformed. That s why the truth is beholding is becoming. The more you continue to behold His glory, the more you become like Christ but the opposite of that is also true, the moment you stop beholding His glory, transformation stops also in your life. That s why I said in my introduction that beholding [or seeing] God s 31

32 glory and becoming like His Son, Jesus Christ is same process and same action. Peter s Story Actually it is like Peter who is walking in the water! [Remember it?] He is able to walk in the water like Jesus because he is looking at Jesus but as he stop looking to Jesus and refocus his eyes on the big waves of the sea, his ability to walk in the water stop also because his transformation in becoming like Jesus stop also. Anyways, I already told you yesterday what do you mean by beholding, seeing, savoring or gazing the glory of God. Right? It means that you want to be with God all the days of your life to enjoy His beauty or simply living a life that God is your only Joy. Living in a life that God is your only joy is the key to continue experience transformation in you. Okay, let s go back to the text and I will show you one more important truth in the text. Paul said, and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18) Notice the word transformed. The word transformed here in Greek is metamorphoo 32

33 And now, try to look at this verse here in Matthew: and [Jesus] was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes, became white as light (Matthew 17:2) Now, notice the word transfigured! Actually the word transfigured here in Greek is also metamorphoo. Wow! It is surprising! The Greek word of the transformation that Paul used is the same Greek words that Matthew [and actually also Mark in Mark 2:2] in explaining the Lord s beautiful transfiguration! And one more thing! Do you know the word metamorphosis? In science, we are taught that metamorphosis describes the process that changes ugly caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly! Right? Actually, the word metamorphosis we have right now in English is the transliteration of this Greek Word metamorphoo. That s why transformation that Paul is talking here is not the simple and ordinary transformation of your personality, attitude or mind that comes on your own will- power or self- discipline or from reading self- help and self- improvement books. That s not the transformation that Paul is talking about. It is not a trying to be like Jesus transformation, it is an extraordinary transformation that only the Spirit of God can do while you are beholding His glory. 33

34 That s why Paul also said in the end part of this verse: For this [he is talking about transformation] comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) Now, this is the question! Are you excited to experience that beautiful transformation in your journey? Yes? Then, let s continue walking in this journey that God is our only Joy. My Prayer to you And actually, I am already praying that as you finish reading this book in 40 days! [And good news! You are now in the third day!] I pray that you will be like Moses who stayed with the Lord forty days and forty nights experiencing seeing the beauty of the Glory of God (Ex. 34:28) that in the end of that 40 days, [Moses] did not know that the skin of his face was shining because he had been talking with God (v.29b) I pray that to you that you become a transformed beautiful Christian living in a life that God is your only Joy! Reminders for today But before I end this chapter, let me clarify one more thing! I am not saying that the motivation of your heart why you are reading this day by day [or beholding the glory of God day by day] is so that your face will shine also or you will become beautiful that people will admire 34

35 you! That s not the point! Because when Moses was beholding the glory of God in forty days, Bible said, he did not know his face is shining (v.29b) so meaning, he is in God s presence not having desire to make his face shine! He is simply in the presence of God! So please, don t use this book as your glutathione or your whitening skin because if you do that, in the end of this book, I believe God is not your joy anymore instead Your joy is your own beauty and by that, I already fail you in writing this book! This book is for you to bring you only to the journey that God is your joy! That s why I just want to remind you that even you are unconsciously becoming beautiful and transforming day by day, you should continue to say that God is my only Joy and you should not change it to My Beauty is my Joy Okay? Is that a deal? All right! That s all for today! Good- bye! See you again tomorrow! 35

36 Day 4 When God becomes your only Joy In this day, I am going to share important truths on what happen when God becomes our only Joy. I am going to share more aside from we are more becoming like Christ as we learned on the second day of our Journey. Get ready and be excited on this! Are you ready? Okay, let s start! When God becomes our only Joy, God is more glorified and we bear much fruit with true gladness in our heart Look what Jesus said to the Disciples: I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bear much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5) 36

37 In this passage, we need to realize that we are called not to bear fruit instead we are called to abide in Him. And what does it mean to abide in Him? Abiding in Him means you desire every seconds or every moments of your life to be with Him because you know and believe that apart from Him [even just one second] you can do nothing. In short, abiding in Him simply means God is your only Joy in your life. Jesus said, as you abide in Him or as you live in a life that God is your only Joy, you will bear much fruit. Anyways, what is that fruit? I believe that the fruit that Jesus is talking about is the same fruit that Paul is talking in Galatians. Paul said, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self- control (Gal. 5:22) that s the fruit. Notice also that Paul clearly called it fruit and most preachers today translated it as list to do. Paul gave us not list to do instead he gave us the fruit or manifestation of the Spirit. That s why we should not focus on how to love, how to have joy, how to have peace, how to be patient No! That is not the point! All of them are fruit and not list to do. Fruit means you did something first before you have that fruit. Right? And what are you going to do in order to bear fruit? We learned from Jesus a while ago that abiding in Him is the key. Right? Actually, Paul has the same idea. He said in this context we bear fruit when we are walking by Spirit. (v.16) Walking by Spirit means you are depending on the Spirit or in short, you are abiding and depending on the Spirit of God 37

38 because without Him, all you can do is nothing. That s why it is the same. Paul and Jesus has both mind how to bear fruit and that is to depend on Him or to abide in Him or simply to live in the truth that God is our only Joy. Anyways, let s go back to Jesus statement. Jesus said in the next verse after talking about abiding in Him: By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit (John 15:8) By this... And what is that by this? Again, in the previous verse, it is about your abiding in Him or God becoming your only Joy. Let s complete the statement of Jesus. He said, By this, My Father is glorified (v.8) Wow! When God become your only joy, your only joy in abiding in God will glorify God and that joy will lead you also to bear much fruit. That s why the truth is God is more glorified in us and we bear much fruit when we put all our joy only in Him or when God becomes our only Joy. Let s continue on what Jesus said. Jesus said on the next verses: These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11) 38

39 These things I have spoken to you And now, what is that these things? Again and again, it is about you, abiding in Him or God becoming your only Joy and by that, God is more glorified in you and you bear much fruit. Now, what happen if you learn that truth and live on that truth? Jesus clearly said, these things I have spoken to you, that my joy be in you and that your joy may be full Wow! As you live on the truth that God is your only desire or your only Joy, then get ready to experience a true joyful life! That s why the truth is when God becomes our only Joy God is glorified and we bear much fruit with also a true gladness in our heart Actually that truth is a reality in the life of Paul when He is writing in Philippians. Let me explain to you how. Paul said, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death (Phil 1:20) How Christ can be glorified even to his death. How he is going to do that? I already shared to you in the previous chapter how [Day 2: Beautiful Death]. Right? It is by seeing his death as a gain because He will be with Christ forever and enjoy Him forever. So in short, God is glorified in us [in our death] when God became our only joy in life [when we see death as way to be with God and enjoy Him forever]. 39

40 And that is exactly what Jon Piper is always saying: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him and actually, every ideas of this books comes from that wonderful statement that s why I am not the original teacher of all this lesson that I am sharing to you everyday. I am not the primary teacher of this. I am also a product and fruit of John Piper s Ministries. When God becomes our only Joy, we learn to be happy no matter what is the situation of our life Anyways, let s go back to the topic. When God became your only Joy, God is also glorified in you and actually not only that! Let me show you more! In the same letter [Philippians], Paul said on the next chapter, Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say, Rejoice (Phil 4:4) Actually, when Paul is saying this, he is in Jail. It is very surprising that even he is in jail, he still said to the Philippians who is not in Jail like him, rejoice in the Lord! and not once but twice, he said, rejoice and again, rejoice! As I meditate on this, I picture it as like this: it looks like a happy beggar who don t eat for almost two days saying to a troubled and sad rich, don t be sad smile J rejoice and be happy because God is our only Joy. 40

41 That s why the truth also is when God become our only Joy, God is not only glorified but we learned to rejoice also no matter what is the situation of our life. Reminders for Today So again, the summarize of everything I said in this chapter is this: When God becomes our only Joy, God is glorified in us and at the same time, we are more becoming a healthy Christians bearing much fruit with extreme gladness in our heart regardless on the situation of our life. That s why as I end this chapter, I encourage you to continue living in our journey that God is our only Joy. 41

42 Day 5 Why people don't enjoy God? We are now on the fifth day of our journey. Did you notice today that many people, even they already know that Jesus died for them for the purpose to bring them to God to enjoy Him, they are still continue living a life of no- joy and no- delight in God and the main question is why? What is their problem? This day, I am going to show you the problem why they never live a life of beholding the glory of the Lord [or simply enjoying God as I said in our first day] even they already hear the gospel. Veiled face: Hinders people of not enjoying God Look at what Paul said here: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to 42

43 another. For this comes from the Lord who is Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) We learned yesterday that beholding is becoming and beholding is the ultimate aim of the gospel. Right? At this time, try to notice the word with unveiled face. Paul said, we all, with unveiled face, beholding It means that people who live a life of enjoying God or beholding God are actually the people with unveiled face. That s why let us spend our day to understand what it means with unveiled face. What does it mean that you are with unveiled face? The best way to understand it is to go back to the previous verses of our text. So, let s go back and get ready to learn. Listen carefully because I think, this will be very hard to understand and this will be the longest chapter in our everyday lesson for forty days. Anyways, Let s start in in verse 6. Paul said: [God] who made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of the spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life (2 Corinthians 3:6) Paul said new covenant where it simply means that if there is new, surely, there is old. Right? So Paul, in this chapter, is actually 43

44 explaining Old Covenant and New Covenant and he called the Old as letter and the new as Spirit. Paul said in the next verse: Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stones, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end. (2 Corinthians 3:7) Now if the ministry of death ministry of death is referring to the Old that he called Letter the letter that kills in the previous verse that s why it is ministry of death. Let s continue, if the ministry of death, carved in letter on stone, come with such glory that Israelites could not gaze at Moses face because of its glory, where was brought to an end (v.7) Now, what is that ministry of death that is carved in letters on stone? Actually, Paul get the story of Moses and Israelites here in Exodus 34:28-35 and if you are going to read it, what was carved in letters on stone there is the ten commandments written on the two tablets of stone. (Exodus 34:28) So, Letter on stones that Paul is talking about is the Ten Commandments written on stones. So in short, the Old Covenant is the Law. The letter that kills is the Law. 44

45 Okay, let s continue on what Paul said: Will not the ministry of Spirit have even more glory? (2 Corinthians 3:8) Wow! Paul said that if the Old Covenant which is the Law is glorious, how much more the glory of the New Covenant, the spirit! It is much more glorious! What is the Old and New Covenant? Anyways, what is that old and new? Let me explain that briefly so that you will have background as we continue learning from Paul. Let s jump to Jeremiah 31: God said: Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their Fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them our of the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 31:31-32) Notice the word not like the covenant. Meaning, the Old covenant is referring to the covenant that was created when their Fathers was delivered from the land of Egypt and that is exactly the Law. 45

46 Now, we all know what is Law especially the Ten Commandments. It contains all the statements of saying, you shall you shall not you shall you shall not Right? That is the essence of the Law, the Old! Now, let s continue what God is saying about the New Covenant in Jeremiah. Look at this! God said: But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put my laws within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember there sin no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34) And actually, all I will statement of God here also means I will put my Spirit. God said in other passage, I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statues and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:27) Now, try to notice the difference of Old and New! In the Old Covenant, God said, You shall! You shall! You shall! while in the New Covenant, God said, I will! I will! I will! meaning, Old Covenant is about men working for God while New is about God s Spirit working for men. That s why obviously, the New is much more glorious because it s all about God working for men! Old and New Covenant: Justification Issue 46

47 And actually, the issue about Old and New Covenant in New Testament times is the justification issue. Anyways, I will prove that to you later. Justification is referring to us being not guilty in the eyes of God instead we are already beautiful in His eyes. We are justified means we are beautiful in the eyes of God and not guilty of sins anymore. Now the issue is this In the Old, the Law is demanding you to do the good things and obey the commandments for your own righteousness but in the New, Jesus Christ died to supply righteousness in you. In the Old Covenant, the righteous God demands righteousness from you through the Law, period. But in the New Covenant, it is still the same, the righteous God still demands righteousness from you but at this time, He also provides righteousness to you through Jesus Christ. The Old demands while the new supplies! Meaning, to be under the Old means you are trying to obey the Ten Commandments to be beautiful and righteous in the eyes of God and to be under New means you are believing that by the finished work of Jesus in the cross that he shouted, it is finished, you are already made righteous and beautiful in the eyes of God apart from the Law or good works. Now, you have now idea of Old and New Covenant especially in the justification issue. 47

48 Okay, let s go back to our passage in 2 Corinthians 3. Let s go to verse 13. Paul said: Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end (2 Corinthians 3:13) Here, we see that Moses put a veil over his face so that Israelites will not know that the glory he has in his face is fading. Meaning, to be under that covenant or to be under the Law is temporary. Let s continue in verse 14. Paul said: Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end When they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted (2 Corinthians 3:14) But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the Old Covenant The Old Covenant here is referring to the Old Testament we have in Bible because in their times, that is their Bible. Let s continue, when they read the Old Covenant [Bible], that same veil now, what is that same veil? That same veil is referring to the previous verse the veil that Moses put in his face. Paul said, that same veil remains unlifted 48

49 Now, did you get the logic of Paul? Let me explain! Paul is saying that it was thousand years ago that Moses put a veil over his face because the glory he has in his face is fading. Now at this day, we all know by our common sense that Moses face is not shining anymore but because the veil in his face to some people remains unlifted, some are blinded believing that Moses face is still shining which actually it is not anymore! We are not under the Law anymore instead we are under Spirit, the New! We are under the New Covenant. Okay, we are learning! Let s continue. Paul said: Yes, to this day, whenever Moses [referring to Torah] is read, a veil lies over their hearts (v.15) And actually In Synagogue, every Sabbath, they have practice to read Moses [Torah] (Acts 14:21) and as they read it according to Paul in this passage, the veil lies over their heart, meaning, they are all blinded that they remain to be under the Law. That s why when Paul is in the Synagogue and given an opportunity to preach, He preached: Let is be known to therefore, brothers, that through this man [Jesus Christ] forgiveness of sins proclaimed to you and by him, everyone who believe is justified from everything which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses (Acts 13:38-39) 49

50 See? The issue of Old Covenant [Law of Moses] and the New Covenant is justification issue. In the Old, you need to obey completely the Law in order to be beautiful in the eyes of God but in the New, Jesus Christ died on the cross as your obedience completely to the Law that s why apart from your own good works, you are made righteous and beautiful. And that is actually what Paul is teaching in his different letters. Paul said in his letters: Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith (Philippians 3:9) Righteousness is a free gift to received not a reward to work for or achiever for (Message of Romans 5:17) Now, let s go back to 2 Corinthians 3. We are near to unveiled face! Paul said in verse 1: But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed (v.16) See? The moment people believe in the finished work of Jesus and become under the New Covenant, they are not blind anymore in seeing that the Old covenant which is the Law is already no more 50

51 because the veil is removed. The veil is no more. So in short, they have now with unveiled face. That s why after Paul explaining and said that, He said on the next verse: and we all, with unveiled face, beholding (v.18) Now, we can define now what is the unveiled face here in its context. With unveiled face are now obviously referring the people who are not under the Law but under the New that they are righteous and beautiful in the eyes of God apart from their good works of the Law but only by the finished work of Jesus. So in short, Paul is saying: We all, [with unveiled face = beautiful in the eyes of God apart from our own works but only by the finished works of Jesus], beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed (2 Cor. 3:18) Now let s solve the problem of the world to day in our days. Did you see now the problem? Many people don t enjoy God because they do not believe that they are no more under the Law, they remain to be under the Law thinking, Am I beautiful in the eyes of God? Am I righteous before in the eyes of God? Have I done good enough to please God? Believing you are beautiful in God s eyes is the beginning of enjoying God 51

52 Let me explain again biblically how come that believing that you are already beautiful in the eyes of God will leads you to enjoy God. Bible tells us from Old Testament to New Testament that we, the redeemed people of God, the believer is actually His wife and God is our Husband. We are wife and He is our Husband. We are couple. We are married with God [our Husband]. Is that clear? Okay, let s continue! In Old Testament context, if you are going to read the book of Songs of Solomon [other Bible version called it Song of songs], if you are going to read it, the conversation of a husband and wife there shows that in ancient times, couples enjoy each other when they see each other as beautiful. That s the principle in that book. And sadly in ancient times and even at this moment, sometimes, the wife don t enjoy the husband because she don t see and believe that her husband is seeing her also as beautiful and her husband is also enjoying her. She is insecure by thinking, Am I really beautiful in the eyes of my husband? Did he really enjoying me? And because of her insecurities and unbelief, it holds her back to enjoy her Husband. That s why the truth that Jesus died for you with the purpose to make you righteous and beautiful in the eyes of God apart from your works is actually to lead you to stop thinking, am I really beautiful in 52

53 the eyes of God by my performance now? which is the main reason that it you hold you back to enjoy God. The problem of the world is this many people don t accept the opportunity to enjoy God because even at this moment, they are still thinking and believing that they don t have yet done good enough to show that they are beautiful in the eyes of God and worthy to come to Him to enjoy Him forever. My friend if you are one of them, I want to remind you again and again that that is exactly what Jesus did on the cross! He died so that you will become beautiful in the eyes of God no matter what you have done in your past and by that also, you could come to God with confidence to enjoy Him forever [And I will explain more the finished work of Jesus in the cross that made you beautiful in the eyes of God tomorrow]. Reminders for Today At this day, let s just learn that the truth is this the only way to continue beholding the glory of the Lord or simply enjoying God is to continue living a life with unveiled face or meaning, the only way to enjoy God is to continue living a life believing that by the finished work of Jesus Christ, you are already beautiful in the eyes of God and you don t need to try and try to do good just to gain the acceptance of God to you. You are already beautiful! 53

54 As I end this chapter, I want to remind you again that as a beautiful wife of God, let s continue living a life that God [our Husband!] is our only Joy. God is our only Joy! See you tomorrow! 54

55 Day 6 Becoming Beautiful: Jesus Christ took our Sins We learned yesterday that we continue to a journey of enjoying God only when we continue to believe that apart from our works, we are beautiful in the eyes of God and we learned also that people stop enjoying God because they stop believing that they are beautiful in the eyes of God, their unbelief and insecurities hold them back to enjoy God. That s why this day, we are going to spend to learn deeper how come that we become beautiful in the eyes of God through the obedience of our Lord Jesus and actually, there are two events that took place in us in becoming beautiful in the eyes of God when Jesus died on the cross. First is, Jesus took our sins [and that is what we are going to discuss today] and second is, Jesus supplied our righteousness [and that is what we are going to discuss tomorrow]. The reason why I am going 55

56 to share to you that two events is so that you will end up being so secured and affirmed that you are already beautiful in the eyes of God so that there will be no more reason anymore for you not to enjoy God. Okay, let s start! When Christ Jesus died, the truth is he took our sins and he is condemned instead of us. And that is the first event that took place in our life in becoming beautiful in the eyes of God. Let me give you now the biblical basis of it. Romans 8: Jesus took our sins Let us go to Romans 8:3 and let me show you in this passage the deeper truth about how God gave His Son. [God] sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemn sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3) Paul said, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin [other manuscript translates sin as sin offering] So Paul is simply saying here that God send His own Son as sin offering Now, what does it mean sin offering? Sin Offering in Old Testament 56

57 In the Old Testament, let me show you what happen in sin offering. Let us read Leviticus 16:21-22! And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself (Leviticus 16:21-21) In verse 21, Leviticus said, and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of live goat (v.21a) By the way, the live goat here in this verse is what you called the sin offering. Let s continue reading, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. (v.21b) Now, after you lay your hands on the live goat or what you called the sin offering and confess all of your sin, this is what will happen. The next verse said, the goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself. (v.22) So meaning, as you lay your hands on the sin offering, all of the sin you confessed will transfer in the body of the goat or the sin offering! That is what it means sin offering in the Old Testament. That s why when God send His Own Son for sin offering! It simply means that when Jesus His Son came here in earth, He took all our sin and He transfer it and put it in His own body and that is what it means He became our sin offering! Father sends His own Son for our sin offering. Okay? 57

58 Wrath of God in our sin Let s continue, the wrath of God is mainly designed for the sin and the truth is we have sin that s why we are called sinner. The wrath of God is like a heavy sword, that anytime, it is ready to fall on our head because of the sin inside our body but the good news is that we learned earlier that Jesus became our sin offering. Meaning, he took all our sins in His body. That s why Peter said: Jesus Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24) Now logically, because our sin was no more in our body but it was in the body of Jesus Christ, where is now the wrath of God? Where is now the condemnation? Obviously, it is in the body of Jesus. That s why look at this also! After Paul is saying, Jesus became sin offering to us (Romans 8:3) He said on the same verse, God condemn sin notice that Paul didn t say that God condemn the sinner, what God condemned is the sin itself! He condemns the sin of the sinner but not in body of the sinner instead in the body of the righteous one, Jesus Christ who took our sin. That s why next statement of Paul is like this: God condemn sin in the sinful man and that sinful man here is referring to Jesus Christ who became sin for us our sin offering that is mentioned in the previous verse so it simply means, God condemn sin in the body of Jesus Christ God condemn and poured out His anger and wrath towards the sin of the 58

59 sinner to the righteous one and to the innocent one Jesus Christ in the cross. That s why Paul also said on the next verse, Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died! (Romans 8:34) Who is the one who was condemned? Christ Jesus is He who was condemned because of our sin. Jesus sweat became like great drops of blood because of God s wrath to our sin That s why it will be never be surprising that before Jesus will be crucified, it was recorded in Luke that: He is praying more earnestly that His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44) His sweat became like drops of blood not because he is thinking that to be nailed in hands when you are alive is really painful. What were in the mind of Jesus that makes His sweat like blood were not the hammer or the nail of the angry people but the hammer and the nail of an Angry God. What was in his mind is the wrath of God. That s why Jesus said in his prayer while his sweat is becoming like drops of blood, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me (Luke 22: 42) and the word cup here in Gospel of Mark was called by Mark as Cup of Suffering. (Mark 14:46) 59

60 Cup of suffering in the Old Testament is mainly referring to the wrath and anger of God. That s why again what were in the mind of Jesus were not the hammer and the nail of an angry man but what was in His mind was the full wrath and full anger of God to our sin. That s why I believe when Jesus was on the cross, He was shouting, My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34, Matthew 27:46) In the cross, it is the first time you will hear that Jesus used my God when referring to God the Father! In the gospels, He always uses Father when calling to our God the Father but in the cross, He said on the first time, My God! My God! Why? It is because He who without sin became sin for us! Paul said: For [God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21 New King James Version) We are already forgiven! Before Jesus Christ will be crucified in the cross, Jesus Christ taught to the people, You must forgive so that your Heavenly Father will forgive you also (Matthew 6:14, Mark 11:25-26) but after He was crucified on the cross and shouted, It is finished! Apostle Paul, who receive the revelations of the Risen Christ taught two times in his letters: You must forgive [not so that your Heavenly Father will forgive you] but because you are already forgiven by God 60

61 (Ephesians 4:32, Colossians 3:13) That s been a change! Because when Jesus Christ died on the cross, He finished and satisfied the wrath of God to your sin, you are already forgiven! We are forgiven people of God. Jesus experienced the wrath of God in our sin In the cross, God poured out His ultimate wrath on Jesus because He sees Jesus on that time as murderer, homosexuals, adulterer, thief and disobedient or in short, the ultimate sinner who ever lived in the world. And the wrath of God that Jesus is experiencing in the cross was like a water in the pale that is continuous in pouring on his whole body and on the last drop of the anger of God to him, He was so exhausted but shouted victoriously, it is finished!!! (John 19:30) Hallelujah! It is finished! He was condemned so that we will never be condemned! He was punished so that we will never be punished! It is finished! That s why Paul said: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) Why? Is it because God becomes merciful in us? No! It is because condemnation was already done in the body of Jesus Christ in the cross. 61

62 That s why God become just and love at the same time in the death of Christ in the cross. He didn t leave our sin without being punished because He is Just and then, He is also love at the same time that He punished our sin not in our body but in the body of His Son. He punishes the sin of the sinner and save the sinner from the punishment of sin at the same time. In the cross, God s Justice and God s Grace are both glorified and magnified and that is God s wisdom! God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26) Reminders for Today If the enemy is still condemning you because of you re past sins after believing that you are already justified in the finished work of Jesus Christ in the cross. Look at the cross again! Be reminded today that as God justify you, God is now for you! And If God is for you, who will be against you? (Romans 8:31) If God didn t condemned you, who can condemn you? Jesus Christ took the ugliness of you sins and bore it in his body to be condemned by God and by that, you become beautiful in the eyes of God! Now as being beautiful in the eyes of God apart from your works, there are now no other reasons for you not to enjoy God that s why I encourage you this day, let s continue walking in this Journey that God is our Joy by believing that our sins was already punished in the body of our Lord Jesus Christ in the cross. 62

63 Day 7 Becoming Beautiful: Jesus supplied our righteousness We learned yesterday that one of the event that took place in us in becoming beautiful in the eyes of God through the death of Jesus in the cross is Jesus Christ took our sins and He was condemned instead of us. That s why when Jesus Christ was teaching to the people before He will be crucified [it was actually recorded in the gospel of Luke], you know what is that story when He is teaching? Let me show you! Let us read it here in Luke 4: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and 63

64 recovering of sight of the blind, to set a liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor (Luke 4:17-20) Verse 17 said, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah by the way, on that time, the book of Isaiah that we have here in the Bible is actually written on a scroll that s why it is called, and the scroll And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him [Him here is Jesus Christ]. Jesus Christ unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written So, Jesus read the Book of Isaiah and this is what He read, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and verse 19 said, and to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor and then, after reading that statement with the last word Lord s favor, Verse 20 said, And he rolled up the scroll and gave it to the attendant and sat down. Meaning, He return the scroll to the attendant. Now let me show you what is the surprising here in this story by showing you what Jesus was reading in the Scroll of Isaiah on that time. He is actually reading Isaiah 61: 1-2. Let me show you what is inside again in Isaiah 61:1-2 and you will be surprised in this! Isaiah 61:1-2 said: 64

65 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God (Isaiah 61:1-2) This is the text that Jesus was reading. Right? We learned a while ago that Jesus stop reading and close the scroll after reading this statement: to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor! He stops reading and close the scroll! Now, look at the original text in Isaiah! Look what is the complete statement that is written in Isaiah and look what is the text that Jesus never read. This is the complete text in Isaiah: to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor and the day of vengeance of our God (Isaiah 61:2) Notice that He never read and the day of vengeance of our God instead He just close the scroll without reading that statement. He just read to proclaim the year of the Lord s favor and then, he closed the scroll. Did you know why He didn t read that next statement? He did not read that not because that statement will not happen. Why do you think He didn t read that? He is simply saying that the year of Lord s favor will be fulfilled in us and the day of vengeance will be fulfilled also but not to us that s why He didn t read that to the people 65

66 because it is not for the people, it is only for Him. The day of vengeance of the Lord will be fulfilled only to Him in the cross. The truth is when Jesus died on the cross [as we learned yesterday], Jesus took our place to be condemned because of our sins. He is the one who experienced the wrath and anger of God for your sin. That s why for Jesus, it is the day of God s vengeance and anger but for all of us, it is the year of the Lord s favor. He will experience the wrath of God that He doesn t deserve so that we might experience the favor of God that we don t also deserve. That s why notice also the statement: the year of the Lord s favor and the day of vengeance of God Did you notice that God s favor is year but the vengeance of God is only a day where it simply shows that God s vengeance will happen only for a day but God s favor will be for a year. Day of vengeance will happen only for a day and that day is only the day when Jesus will be crucified on the cross and after He died and rose again and seated at the right hand of God, the year of God s favor will start and it started now [yes, now! At this moment you are reading this] and it will be forever! We receive the gift of righteousness And actually, the favor of God that is forever we received after Jesus experienced that one- day vengeance of God in the cross is His gift of righteousness to us. And that is the second event that took place in 66

67 our life in becoming beautiful in the eyes of God when Jesus died on the cross we become righteous forever! Jesus supplies our righteousness and that is what we are going to discuss more today. We learned on our third day that in the Old Testament times, Ancient people believe that in order to be righteous, you need to obey perfectly the Law, which are the Ten Commandments. If you obey that, you will become righteous and that s what you called that Under the Law System but the good news is Jesus died also for your righteousness. That s why after Paul said in Romans 8:1-3: God send His own Son as sin offering to be condemned in order that there will be no more condemnation After Paul said that, He also said in verse 4: [God send His own Son] in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us (Romans 8:4) It simply means that Jesus is not only the punishment for our disobedience but also the performer and provider of our perfect obedience. In Him, we are punished and also in Him, we are also made righteous! Or in short, Jesus died so that we become righteous in the eyes of God. That s why Paul also said, By the obedience of the one [that one is not you and not me, He is Jesus Christ!], many are made 67

68 righteous! (Romans 5:19) and Paul also said, Jesus who without sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21) and Peter also said, Jesus Himself bore our sins in His own body in the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24) When Jesus died, we are made righteous! That s why after the resurrection of Jesus, this is what happens after the finished work of Jesus Christ in the cross. Let us see in the gospel of John. Jesus said to Mary: Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God (John 20:17) Notice what Jesus said. Jesus said, go to my brothers take note! Jesus called His disciples as brothers. That is really amazing! Let s continue reading, and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and Your Father, to My God and Your God! Wow! That is really and totally amazing! Jesus Father is also now our Father. Jesus said, My Father and Your Father We are righteous forever 68

69 When Jesus died on the cross, we are made righteous and that righteousness is forever and now, allow me to show you logically in the Bible how come that we are made righteous forever in Jesus obedience. Paul said in Romans 5:19, By One man s disobedience, the many were made sinners Anyways, that one man is Adam. Because of his disobedience, you and I are made sinners! Paul also said in this verse, so by the one man s obedience, the many will be made righteous! and now, because of the obedience of Jesus Christ not our obedience, we are made righteous. And in the previous verse, which is verse 17, you will see there the word much more where it simply shows that Jesus Christ obedience is much more than Adam s disobedience. In short, the effect or the fruit or the result of Jesus obedience is much more than Adam s disobedience! In Adam s disobedience, many are made sinners and according to the Scripture, no matter how many times you try to do good things, it cannot take you away from being a sinner. When you do the bad, Law said, You are bad! When you do the good, Law said, It is not enough! No matter what try you do in obeying the Law; it cannot take you away from being a sinner. Right? And on the other side, because of One man s obedience! the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are made righteous through faith in Him. Now, because you are righteous in Him and then, you 69

70 fall into sin. What do you think will happen in your righteousness? Do you think it will take you away from being righteous? If you will believe that it will take you away from being righteous, then, it simply means that Jesus Christ obedience is not much more to Adam s disobedience because in Adam s disobedience, no matter how many times you try to do good things, it cannot take you away from being sinner but in Jesus obedience, only by one sin, then, it takes you away from being righteous. Now, if we have that belief system, where is the meaning of much more? how come that Jesus Christ obedience is much more to the disobedience of Adam! The truth is when Jesus died on the cross we are made righteous forever. The two events that took place in our life when Jesus died on the cross to make us beautiful is first, He took our sins and He was punished so that we will never be punished and the second one is, He put His righteousness to us so that we might become beautiful in the eyes of God. Those two are the two events. Reminder for Today I pray that as you learned now those two events, you will be now so secured and affirmed that you are already beautiful in the eyes of God no matter what you have done in your past, as you believe now in the Lord Jesus. 70

71 And I want to remind you also that the reason that God made you beautiful and lead you to realize you are already beautiful is not for you to enjoy yourself and enjoy your own beauty instead it is for you to enjoy God. God is our only Joy! That s why my friend, let s continue this journey that God is our only Joy. 71

72 Day 8 Great Foundation of our joy in God Woooh! We are already on Day eight. I want you know that I am very happy and excited for you everyday. Yesterday, I clearly shared to you that our righteousness is not based on our works but based on the finished work of Jesus in the cross. Actually the truth is righteousness by faith not by works is our great foundation of our joy in God. If you are not standing in this foundation, you are going to lose also your great foundation of your joy in God. That s why today, we will spend our whole time looking and learning the biblical basis of that truth [righteousness by faith is our great foundation of our joy in God]. It is very surprising that in the passage that we are going to read, God didn t demand people to work for righteousness if they are going to 72

73 pursue righteousness. Do you know what they should do according to the book of Isaiah? Look at this: Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who should seek the Lord Look to Abraham, your father and to Sarah who bore you (Isaiah 51:1-2) If you are pursuing righteousness according to this passage, what you need to do is to look to Abraham and to Sarah. Hmmm... What does it mean? How does looking to Abraham and to Sarah relates in pursuing righteousness? Let me explain this one by one. Let s start with looking to Abraham then we go to Sarah. Looking to Abraham What does it mean looking to Abraham? Let me start explaining. Paul, in hi letter to Romans quoted Genesis 15:16 in explaining righteousness, look at this: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness (Romans 4:3) Did you notice how Abraham became righteous? It is very clear that it is by believing and not by working. And that is actually the main 73

74 idea of Paul why he quoted Genesis 15:16 in this letter. It is to show to the Romans that righteousness is by faith not by works. That s why he actually said and explains that more on the next verse: Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. (Romans 4:4) The idea of Paul here is if you work, the righteousness will not be a gift of God to you anymore instead it will become a payment of God to you. That s why again righteousness is a gift of God by faith not a payment of God for our work. Paul said more on the next verse: And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteous (Romans 4:5) See? Paul quoted Genesis 15:16 in the previous verse simply to build a biblical foundation of the truth that righteousness is by faith not by works. So in short, looking to Abraham as a way of pursuing righteousness simply means that you already believe that you are righteous by the finished work of Jesus. Righteousness is by faith. That s simple! Right? Now let s go to Sarah. Looking to Sarah Now what does it mean looking to Sarah? 74

75 If you are going to read the story of Abraham, you will notice there that he actually have two wives. The name of her true wife is Sarah and the other one is their slave, Hagar. Abraham has both children to Hagar and to Sarah. And it is amazing that as Paul learn the story about these two wives of Abraham; he actually has deeper spiritual meaning and spiritual explanation in this story according to his letter to Galatians. Let me show you: Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman [referring to Hagar] and one by free woman [referring to Sarah] (Galatians 4:21-22) And Paul explains that these two women represents two covenants (v.24) Hagar s son represents people under Law working for their own righteousness while Sarah s son represents people free from the law and people under the finished work of Jesus believing that they are already righteous because Jesus is their righteousness. (v.24-26) Okay, let me jump to the conclusion of Paul in this chapter. He said on the last verse after explaining these two covenants by using the two wives of Abraham as illustration: So, brothers, we are not children of slave [Hagar] but of the free woman [Sarah] (Galatians 4:21-22) 75

76 Paul is saying that we are children of Sarah not of Hagar. Meaning, we are under the finished work of Jesus and not under the Law. That s why looking to Sarah simply means that we are no more under the law working for our own righteousness instead we are now under the finished work of Jesus believing that we are righteous not by our works but by the finished work of Jesus. Conclusion That s why in the passage that we read in Isaiah, looking to Abraham and looking to Sarah as a way of pursuing righteousness actually means the same: we are righteous by faith not by works: Righteousness is by faith: our foundation of joy in God In this passage, I already show to you that it is very clear that our righteousness is by faith. Now look what the next verse said here in Isaiah: For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord (Isaiah 51:3) Wow! As you stand in the foundation of righteousness by faith, you will experience a transformed life from wilderness to the Garden of Eden and from the desert to the Garden of the Lord. Hmmm What 76

77 does it mean? Does it mean that you will have a beautiful life? You will have a non- suffering life? No! That s not what it means. It means that you will have an extraordinary joy no matter what is the situation of your life. Maybe you are thinking now, How did you conclude that what that means is experiencing extraordinary joy? Let me show you the complete statement of this verse and explain to you how did I come up with that conclusion: For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord: joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song (Isaiah 51:3) See? It means extraordinary joy and gladness! Anyways do you know the joy and the gladness of a man being transferred from the wilderness to the Garden of Eden or being transferred from dessert to the garden of the Lord? Can you imagine his joy? Or How about the joy of a prisoner for almost 17 years and now already free? His joy is obviously an extraordinary joy! Right? Actually that extraordinary joy and gladness is what you will experience as you stand in this foundation: righteousness based on faith in the finished work of Jesus not based on our own performance. Righteousness by faith is our great foundation of our joy in God. 77

78 But anyways, before I end this chapter, I want you also not to misunderstand what I am saying. I am not saying that don t work anymore. I am not saying to stop working or obeying God anymore, what I am saying is focus more on faith not on works because actually faith is the one that produces works. Try to look at this: By faith Abel offered to God By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance (Hebrews 11:4,8) What did you notice? What comes first? Is it Works or Faith? Is it Obedience or Faith? It s faith! Faith comes first before Obedience! Right? Meaning, faith produces works not works produces faith. Focusing on works will not lead you to work more, focusing on faith is! That s why focus more on growing in faith and you will end up working. Faith is the root of our righteousness and works is just the fruit of it. Reminders for Today As I end this chapter, I want to remind you to always remain on the foundation of our journey: Our Righteousness is based on our faith not based on our works As you continue this journey of enjoying God, I want to encourage you to focus more on faith not on works because right believing is the one that produce right living. 78

79 Day 9 What about James? We are already in Day 9! I hope I already established in you [by the Grace of God] a strong biblical foundation of the truth that our righteousness or our salvation is only by faith and will never be by works I believe, someday, as you continue living a life that God is your only Joy and continue living a life of delighting in the Word of God, you will come back to me holding the book of James with a verse that is saying, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead (James 2:17) You might accuse me someday by saying, This verse is a clear statement that our salvation or our righteousness is not only by faith but plus works also and if you are going to look the illustrations of James in this passage in explaining this dead faith, it is really very clear [super crystal clear] that our righteousness is not really by faith alone but plus works also that s why you re wrong pastor Cohmi in what you are teaching in the previous chapters! 79

80 Before that will happen, I already made a Chapter for answering that accusation that s why I entitled this Chapter, What about James? Today, we are going to consider what James is talking about faith plus works. I am going to explain how come that Paul s idea of salvation by faith alone is not a contradiction to the idea of James that salvation is not just by faith but plus works also. I realized that the contradiction between the two in the mind of the people actually starts from a wrong understanding of having faith in Christ! Try to ask believers today what does it mean having faith! They will simply say, Faith is believing that Jesus died for our sins and some people also misunderstand faith by thinking that having faith means having prayed the prayer of acceptance Lord Jesus, I accept you in my heart as my Lord and Savior. Because that is how people understand faith, People now misunderstood James. They thought that faith without works means they should work or they should live a righteous life after praying the prayer of acceptance. The teachings of James that faith without works is dead don t mean that we should work for righteousness to show that we really have faith. Why? Because if that is what it means, it will means that We are saved not only by faith but plus works also where by that, you will end up contradicting the teaching of Paul where it should not be. 80

81 The best way to understand what James is really saying that faith without works is dead is to understand first what does it mean to have faith (not based in our modern times thinking) but of course, based in their ancient times thinking. What is faith in their times? Faith generally means believing but faith has different meaning and essence in the Bible based on the situation where it was used. Faith in God s miracle and faith in Christ for Salvation is the same believing but actually different kind of believing. They have different essence. Let me focus on faith in Christ! What does it mean to have faith in Christ? Jesus said to Nicodemus: And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:15) Jesus used an historical event in Old Testament that Moses lifted up the Serpent to explain how people will be saved by having faith in Him. Understanding that story that is in the mind of Jesus will lead us to understand what does He mean about having faith in Him. That s why let s look that here in Numbers 21:8-9, the passage that is in the mind of Jesus while talking to Nicodemus. Look at this: 81

82 8 And the Lord said to Moses, Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live. 9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set in on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live (Numbers 21:8-9) Jesus used a story of being saved or healed by seeing He used a story of seeing as a means of salvation because that is actually what He will do in the cross. He will display the glory of God in His resurrection and then, our salvation is through seeing that glory that He displayed in Himself. Let me explain clearer how come that I end up with that conclusion in this verse. Jesus is saying to Nicodemus: 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness [that whoever sees it may live according to Old Testament Context], so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15) Did you notice that? In the salvation in the Old Testament through the Serpent, to be saved is by seeing but in the salvation in the New Testament through Jesus, to be saved is by believing. Are they different? No, they re not different! Seeing is not different to believing instead believing is seeing. Jesus used that story in Old Testament to show that the believing that He is talking here is seeing. 82

83 The essence of the faith or the believing that Jesus is saying is seeing. Seeing what? The verse itself answers: It is seeing the Son of Man being lifted up Now the other follow- up question is this: What does it mean that Son of Man being lifted up? Let me include the previous verse of our main verse to show you what does the phrase Son of Man being lifted up means. Look at this: 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15) Son of Man being lifted up is referring to Jesus ascending to Heaven and then, He is ascending to Heaven is referring to His resurrection on the third day after His death in the cross. That s why try to notice how Luke used the phrase lifted up : And when (Jesus) had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight (Acts 1:9) He used the phrase lifted up as referring to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus being lifted up simply means He is resurrected from the dead. His resurrection will display the glory of God 83

84 John 2 According to the previous chapter of the verse we read a while ago, his resurrection has the purpose of displaying the glory of God. Let me show you where in the previous chapter. Look at this: 14 In the temple (Jesus) found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money- changers and overturned their tables. (John 2:14-15) In the temple, Jesus got angry to the vendors who make the temple of God a house of trade instead of a house of God. After that, this is what Jesus said to them: Take this things away; do not make my Father s house a house of trade (John 2:16) The statement of Jesus my Father s house is a claim to Himself that He is the Son of God. And because of that claim through His actions, the Jews said to him on that time: What signs do you show us for doing these things? (John 2:18) 84

85 They are asking, What signs do you show us claiming that you are the Son of God and equal with God by doing these things being angry to the vendor in God s temple Look the reply of Jesus to them: Destroy this temple [or simply, kill me ], and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19) Jesus Christ dying and being resurrected in the third day is the greatest sign that He is the Son of God and equal with God. In other words, His resurrection has the purpose of displaying the glory of God. John 8 In the next chapters, John also showed the same thing that the resurrection of Jesus has the purpose of displaying the glory of God. Look at what Jesus said that John recorded in his letter: When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He (John 8:28) In Original Greek, the word He in this verse is actually not included that s why you will notice that in most bible versions today, the word He in this verse is in italic (I am He). In other words, Jesus is saying here in original Greek is this: when you have lifted me, then you will know that I am 85

86 The two words I am has a theological significance in their times. I am is actually the personal being of God that was revealed to Moses. Look at this: Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I am who I am And he said, Say to this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. (Exodus 3:14-15) So Jesus being lifted up or simply referring to Jesus being resurrected after crucifixion has the purpose of leading the world to know that He is the same I am revealed to Moses in Ancient Times. Maybe, you might say at this moment: Hey wait! You have a quick conclusion but wrong interpretation Cohmi. It is very clear that Jesus said in the verse we read a while ago is only I am and not I am the I am. Jesus is not claiming that He is the I am. Jesus said very clear: When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am (and not I am the I am). You re wrong saying that He is saying, He is the I am when He is lifted up! If that is what you are thinking now, I want you to know that Yes, it s true that He said only I am and not I am the I am but 86

87 actually in this passage, even Jesus is saying only I am, in the mind of His audience, it automatically means that He is saying that He is the I am. In its context, I am is a short statement of saying I am the I am Let me prove that to you. Look at what Jesus said on the next verse: Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58) In this verse, it is very super crystal clear in your eyes that He said only I am and never I am the I am. Now, look what is the respond of the people in the next verse after hearing that two words (I am): So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple (John 8:59) They, who are picking up stones, know that their scripture said: Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord (Yahweh) shall surely be but to death. All the congregation shall stone him (Leviticus 24:16) People hearing Jesus saying I am understand that what He mean about I am is He is already saying that He is the I am. They also know that the name I am is the personal being of God revealed to 87

88 Moses and saying that you are the I am means that you are claiming to be God (equal with God) and claiming to be God is a blaspheme to God because they believe that there is only one God. They are monotheist! That s why as Jesus is saying that He is the I am especially when He will be lifted up in this passage, what people respond to the verse we read is stoning Him. People throwing stone to Jesus is their body language of saying that they understand clearly that Jesus statement of I am is a statement claiming to Himself as God He is the I am! He is God! I am is the short statement of saying I am the I am. So when Jesus is saying, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am, He is saying, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the I am When Jesus is resurrected (or lifted up), we will know that He is the I am He is God! In other words, Jesus being lifted up has the purpose of displaying the glory of God the glory of I am. So meaning, to believe in Him, which is about seeing Him lifted up means seeing the glory of God in Him. The faith that Jesus is talking about to Nicodemus has the essence of seeing the glory of God in Him especially in His resurrection. 88

89 Believing has the essence of seeing and that is very clear in what Jesus said. Look at this: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:40) Seeing God s glory is our transformation Seeing God s glory or Beholding God s glory is actually also our transformation (and we already learn that on Day 3! Right?) and this truth is the one that save me (and will save you now also) in understanding what is the faith without works that James is talking about. Paul said: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding glory of the Lord, are being transformed... (2 Corinthians 3:18) I already showed to you in this chapter that beholding or seeing God s glory is the main essence of having faith. Right? And in this passage, it is very clear that beholding God s glory will never be separated from becoming like Christ. As you are beholding God s glory, you are also naturally becoming like Christ you are becoming more righteous in your actions and thoughts. Beholding God s glory is the root while becoming like Christ is the fruit. Beholding is the root and living a righteous life is a fruit. 89

90 That s why James is actually saying the truth that faith without works is really dead. Having faith but not having a continuous transformed life is impossible. Faith without becoming like Christ is totally impossible unless the definition of your faith is not beholding God s glory in Christ. As beholding God s glory and becoming like Christ is impossible to be separated, so the faith and works. Faith is the root while the works is the fruit. So faith plus works [faith and living a righteous life according to the context of James] doesn t mean that we should live righteous to show we have faith to be saved instead it means that we should have right understanding of having faith seeing God s glory and by seeing, we are becoming like Christ! As beholding God s glory is not demanding you to become like Christ instead beholding God s glory is supplying transformation to you where you are becoming like Christ naturally, so also the teaching of James about faith without works, James is not demanding you to work, it means you are standing in the wrong foundation of the meaning of having faith in Christ. That s why the teachings of James that faith without works is dead is not a contradiction to the teachings of Paul that we are saved by faith alone not by works We don t work to be saved, we naturally work because we are already saved by having a saving faith beholding God s glory in Christ. Righteous life is not our way to 90

91 salvation; it is the fruit of beholding God s glory (or having saving faith) the only way to salvation. Reminders for today Be reminded today that having faith in Christ doesn t mean that you prayed the prayer of acceptance instead it means that you already have the opened eyes of seeing, beholding and admiring the glory of God in Christ or simply living in a life that God is your only Joy. The person who really has a saving faith is the person living in a life of beholding God s glory (God is his only Joy). 91

92 Day 10 Joy in God alone Is a gift! Day 10! We are already in day 10! That s great! Anyways, I already shared to you yesterday that the way to be saved is not mainly by praying the prayer of acceptance but by having a new eyes opened in seeing the beauty of the glory of God [the real meaning of having faith in Christ!] Right? Today, I am going to help you in this whole chapter to see clearly in the Bible that people who become born again through having eyes opened in seeing the beauty of the glory of God is actually only a gift of God to them that s why I entitled this chapter, joy in God is a gift! Having opened eyes in enjoying God s glory is a gift of God I already said in the first day that the ultimate aim of gospel is that we are going to enjoy seeing the glory of God in Christ or simply 92

93 having joy only in God Himself. Gospel s aim is that God will become our only Joy. Right? And I already show you the biblical basis of that in 2 Corinthians 4:4. Now, let s go back to that chapter and read the next verse, which is verse 6: For God, who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6) Okay, let me start explaining everything. In verse 4, Paul taught us that we are actually blinded by Satan that we cannot see and enjoy God s glory in the Gospel but here in verse 6, Paul taught us that God opened our blinded hearts to the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ. He taught us that how the Lord gives light to darkness in the creation of the world in the beginning is actually the same thing He did in our blinded hearts that we are now able to see the glory of God in Chris in the gospel. So in short, God is the one who work in us in seeing His glory in the gospel. It is a gift of God to us. We have joy in God not because we want to have joy in Him but because He said to our blinded hearts, Let there be light! Being Born-again is a gift from God Let s go to the other passage. Let me teach you something deeper! Actually Jesus Himself calls people who have opened heart in enjoying seeing the glory of God, which Paul is talking about in the 93

94 verse we read earlier, as born- again. That s why people who live on this truth [God is our only Joy] are the true born again Christian in this world. Now, I want you to know that Born again Christian is not the man who pray the prayer of acceptance word by word but the man who experience the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit which is the opening of the blind heart of a man to see and enjoy the glory of God in Christ in the gospel. Jesus said to Nicodemus take note! Nicodemus is one of the most religious man who is faithful in religious activities in their times and yet, Jesus said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3) Even one of the religious man in their times need to be born again in order to be saved need to experience seeing and enjoying the glory of Christ in the Gospel in order to be saved. Nicodemus ask Jesus how to be born again and because he didn t yet experience the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, he is blind that he thought being born again is entering for a second time into mother s womb. (v.4) Jesus continue to teach him about being born again on the next verse, born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (v.6) Jesus said that to be born again is not be born of flesh [and that is what Nicodemus is thinking on that time] but to be born 94

95 of the spirit! It is a spiritual birth! Jesus continued teaching on the next verse: The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it with everyone who is born of the Spirit (John 3:8) Let me explain clearer what Jesus said here! The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes (v.8a) Jesus is saying here that no one can control the wind and it goes where it wishes! Now, maybe you might think and ask, so what? What s the point? Jesus answered, So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit [or to be born again!] (v.8b) Meaning, to be born again is not our control, it is not our work, and it is not from us instead it is only from the Grace of God through the Holy Spirit opening our blind heats in seeing the glory of God. To be born again or to have joy in God is again a gift of God, it is a work than is impossible for man to do; it is a work that God can only do that s why again, it is only a gift. Loving God more than money is a gift from God The truth that I share to you just a while ago is actually the same in this passage. Try to look at this. This passage will tell us that loving God more than money or having joy in God more than money is impossible for man to do, only by God s mercy, man can do it that s 95

96 why it is also a gift. In short, Joy in God over money is also a gift of God. Jesus said to the one in order to follow him, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me (Matthew 19:21) Jesus is saying, your joy should not be your money, but your joy is only in following me in short, your joy is me and when the rich man heard this, he went away (v.22) because he is rich and love money more than God. Jesus said to His disciples, Again, I tell you, it is easier for camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God (v.24) Disciples thought that it is impossible for camel to go through the eyes of a needle so in short, it is impossible for a rich person also to love God more than money. Jesus looked at them and said: With man this is impossible [Camel going through the eyes of Needle! Rich Man loving money more than God! It s impossible in man!] but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26) In short, even loving God more than money or having joy only in God and not in money is also the work of God that s why it means it is also a gift of God. Joy in God is a gift of God to us. Repentance to be saved is a gift from God 96

97 Peter preaches: Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise [of the gift of Holy Spirit] is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself. (Acts 2:38-39) Repentance and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit is for everyone whom the Lord our God call to Himself. In other words, to be a Christian or to be saved is a fruit of the calling of God not the fruit of your decision. That s why in the next verse that says: So those who received his word [those who repent] were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41) Those people who received and were added is the fruit of God s work they are called by God to Himself! Luke makes it crystal clear in the next verse: And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved (Acts 2:47) 97

98 It s the Lord who added it s the Lord who is working in the repentance and salvation of every believer. In short, even repentance in order to be saved is also a gift of God to us. Why I wrote this book if Joy is a gift? But before I end this chapter, maybe, you are still confused by saying in your mind: If having joy in God is only a gift of God, then, why do I need to read this kind of book? Good thinking! I want you to know that means and repentance or having joy in God work together. God uses people as means to grant His miracle of repentance. It s true that I wrote this book about enjoying God to lead you to have joy only in God but actually I wrote this book only as a means. The truth is only God can open your heart in enjoying Him through this book Only Him not this book! Look at what Paul said to Timothy: And the Lord s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. [Those are the means! Now, this is the miracle of God.] God may perhaps grant them repentance (2 Timothy 2:24-25) See? We are the means and He is the miracle! That s why if I will be Paul and you are my Timothy today, this is what I am going to write as my paraphrase to the verse we read a while ago: And the Lord s 98

99 servant must write a book about God is our Joy and teach them that book. [That is the means! Now, this is the miracle!] God may perhaps grant them to have joy in God. That s why as I wrote this book, I pray that this will be a means of God s miracle of opening your heart to see His glory to enjoy Him more. Without God s granting of miracles in you, this book is totally nothing and useless It is just like the other books that provide only knowledge! Reminders for Today As I end this chapter with one simple truth that your joy in God or being a born again Christian is only a gift of God to you, there are two things that you should always remember! First, there is now nothing to boast about you! Instead of boasting and saying, Oh People! Look at me! My joy and satisfaction is only in God! I have a beautiful heart, be humble in the Grace of God and learn to say, Lord! Thank you for giving me this gift of joy in you! Second, you must realize also that you must continue seeking your joy in God not from your own power. Instead of saying, I must have joy! I must produce joy! Kneel down before God and ask Him, Lord! Have mercy on me! Give me more joy in you for the sake of the glory of your Grace! 99

100 Day 11 Predestination for the glory of His Grace We are now in Day 11! Hello! Yesterday, I already shared a lot of scriptures that shows that having joy alone in God is only a gift of God to us. Right? Actually, our Salvation or becoming a born again as a gift of God to us actually means God predestined us before the foundation of the world to be saved or to be born again. Bible said: He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace (Ephesians 1:4-6) One of the main issues in predestination when I was still in Seminary is this: If God predestined those who will be saved before the foundation of the world, why I need to be a missionary? Why I need to share the gospel? Why I need to be an evangelist? 100

101 Most leaders in the Churches don t teach the doctrine of predestination because they thought that if their members will believe (and actually, they should!) that those who will be saved are predestined to be saved before the foundation of the world, their members would lose their heart in missions and evangelism. No one would have passion to share the Gospel anymore. Their Church will not grow in numbers anymore! Maybe, right now, you are also thinking in that way! Actually the main reason why many are thinking on that way is because they missed the main point of the doctrine of predestination. Bible said, He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace (Ephesians 1:5-6) Did you see that? Predestination is for you to acknowledge only the glory of His Grace that s only the purpose! Every time predestination is coming in your mind, it is for you to acknowledge the glory of the Grace of God and for you to stop looking on yourself or boasting about yourself - that s the only main purpose of predestination! In predestination, don t think any other things except the glory of the grace of God! Instead of spending your time thinking of Do I have responsibility anymore in doing evangelism and missions? Put your knees down before God acknowledging the beauty of the glory of His Grace in predestination! Now, once you live a life that you are not boasting about yourself anymore instead admiring always the glory of God in everything, 101

102 your passion to proclaim the beauty of the glory of God you are admiring will start also to grow in you and that s how you will be involved in missions and in evangelism! You will be involved in missions not because you have heart for mission or evangelism but because you have burning hearts to proclaim the beauty of the glory of God you are admiring. You do mission not for the sake of mission itself but for the sake of the glory of God! Doing mission now exists in your heart only because your heart is burning from seeing the beauty of the glory of God! That s why don t ever think that the doctrine of predestination will lead people not to be involved in mission or in evangelism anymore. And that thought about predestination I shared a while ago is also the main reason I never stop teaching the doctrine of predestination. I believe this doctrine will lead the people to stop seeing about their self and start seeing only the glory of God s Grace in everything! That s why I am going to share more in this chapter about the predestination of God in our salvation. I must bring them Jesus showed us a glimpse of the truth of predestination in the gospel of John. Look at this: 102

103 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. (John 10:16) The I must bring them of Jesus in the verse we read actually means in the next chapter: Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad (John 11:51-52) When Jesus is saying, I must bring the other sheep that are not of this fold in John 10:16, He is actually saying, I am gathering into one the children of God who are scattered abroad In the verse we read, it doesn t say, gathering those who will become children of God, it says, gathering the children of God Meaning, they are already children of God! The truth is before the foundation of the world there are already sheep of Jesus and children of God! Jesus said, And I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. (John 10:16) The phrase I must bring them of Jesus in this verse is actually the reason why there are Born Again Christians today the reason why you are one of the Born Again Christians [if you are a Born Again Christian] is because you are included in the them that Jesus is saying many years ago you are a predestined sheep! 103

104 Anyways, how are you going to know that you are one of the Sheep or you are one of the them that Jesus is saying in John 10:16? The true sheep of Jesus according to Him in the previous verse is this: The sheep hear his [Shepherd s] voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice (John 10:3-5) The sheep know the voice of His Shepherd. If you are really one of the sheep, you know the voice of Jesus that is saying, follow me! That why again, if you are right now a Born Again Christian, the reason you are Born Again is because you are a sheep that knows and heard the voice of Jesus! That s why I am believing right now that the reason you are continuous in reading this book everyday is not because someone encouraged you to read this book or because you are only wondering the truth of God is our only Joy. It s not an accident that you are reading this book and you are already here in day 11 [Wow! Did you notice that? It s already been 11 days!] I want to believe that you are continuous in reading this only because you are one of the sheep that knows the voice of our Shepherd Lord Jesus! You are hearing the voice of Jesus in this book to come to Him your only exceeding Joy! You are a sheep that knows that God, our shepherded, is really the only joy of every true sheep in this world! 104

105 But anyways, I don t want you to misunderstand me! I am not claiming today as Jesus or even as the voice of Jesus instead I am claiming that every passage in the Bible or scripture that is written in this book as the voice of Jesus that leads his sheep [including you!] to come to Jesus and follow Him! Now, maybe you are thinking right now, Where did I learn that the scripture or the Bible we have right now is actually the voice of Jesus that leads his sheep to come to Him and follow Him? This is the biblical basis of it. Look the prayer of Jesus to His disciples: I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word (John 17:20) In this verse, how are the those [or simply referring to the sheep scattered in the world] will believe in Jesus? Is it by Jesus words? Yes, it is but through their word. Who is the their in this verse? It is referring, of course, to His Disciples! In their times, through their word is referring to the words or teachings that will come out from their mouth but in our modern times, because they are already gone in this world, through their word is referring to their words or teachings that is written in our Bible right now. In 105

106 other words, Jesus is saying in this verse, those who will believe me through their words [in the Bible] Scripture is the voice of the Shepherd that leads the scattered sheep and children of God in the world to come to Him and follow Him! [I believe, including you!] Consider your calling Paul said, For consider your calling brothers (1 Corinthians 1:26) What does it mean of considering your calling? There are two steps to understand this statement. It is to understand first on how you are being called [and you are going to see that in the next verse] and the second is to understand what is your calling based on the context of this passage or what are the things you are called to do [and you are going to see that in the previous verse]. How you are being called? According to the next verse, Paul said: But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things are not, to bring to nothing things that are (1 Corinthians 1:27-28) 106

107 Did you notice the word chose in this passage? The word chose here is related to considering your calling. Considering your calling means you must realized that you are chose by God. And the Greek word that Paul used in this word chose actually appears only once among the letter of Paul and you will see that word appears only in the introduction of Paul in his letter to Ephesians that s why, after that, that word appears no more in any letters of Paul. So in other words, the chose in this verse is the same to the idea to the introduction of letter of Paul to Ephesians. Now look how Paul used that word in the introduction of his letter to Ephesians: He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him (Ephesians 1:4) Did you see that? Paul used the word chose in this verse that is something that is related about being predestined before the foundation of the world. So the main idea of chose in the verse we read a while ago in 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 is God chose before the foundation of the world Again, how you are being called? You are predestined before the foundation of the world that s how you are called! What is your calling? 107

108 Now, the next question is what is that calling based on the context of that passage? We are going to learn that in the previous verse. Look at this: but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:23-24) In this verse, you will see that there are actually three categories of people. The first are the Jews who are not called that s why they see Christ as a stumbling block. The second are the Gentiles who are not also called that s why they see Christ as folly. The third are the Jews and Gentiles that are called that s why they see Christ as power and wisdom of God! The calling you have is the calling of seeing Christ as the power and wisdom of God. Let me now answer the question, What does it mean power and wisdom of God for us to go deeper! Let me explain it. Power of God Seeing Christ being crucified as power of God means seeing Christ as the glory of God. It is referring to beholding the glory of God in Christ and as we learned in the first day, it means having God as your only joy in life. 108

109 Look what Psalmist said to God about what He is beholding: So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory (Psalm 63:2) In this verse, power is identical or parallel to power because the truth is power of God is also referring to the glory of God. That s why seeing Christ as the power of God also means enjoying the glory of God in Christ! Wisdom of God Seeing Christ being crucified as the wisdom of God means seeing the death of Jesus as the way of our wise God of making Himself Just and also Love at the same time. When Jesus died on the cross, God is Just that s why he punished the sin of the sinner but God is also Love at the same time that He don t want us the unworthy and ugly people, to be punished that s why He punished our sin not in our body but in the body of Jesus Christ! Through the death of Jesus, God became Just and Love at the same time and that s how come Jesus become the wisdom of God! 109

110 The essence of seeing Christ as the glory of God (power of God) and our righteousness and justification (wisdom of God) is the main essence of being a Christian! The truth is seeing Jesus as wisdom and power of God or simply being a Christian is a calling and not a decision. You don t decide to be a Christian and you don t make yourself a Christian instead God called you to be a Christian. Calling to be a Christian is like being shouted of wake up by someone while you are having a good sleeping! If you are sleeping and someone shouted, wake up! you will wake up instantly! You are not going to ask yourself before you wake up, Am I going to wake up with this loud voice? No! You are not going to think that! You are not going to have a decision! You will instantly wake up because you will be shocked by the loud voice: wake up!!! It s the same with being a Christian, when God called you to be Christian, it s not a call to ask you, Do you want to become a Christian? instead it is a call that make you instantly Christian! It is a call that revive and open your heart to see the beautiful glory of God and be satisfied on it! It is like the loud voice of Jesus to Lazarus, Lazarus, come out! (John 11:43) and Lazarus, never decide on his own if he will come out or not instead by the call of Jesus, he woke up from the tomb! 110

111 That s why when Paul is saying, consider your calling, what he exactly means is you must realize and recognize that the reason why right now, you are seeing Christ being crucified not as a boring thing, foolish thing or non- sense thing instead you are seeing Him as the beautiful glory of God and the great wisdom of God is because are called to see it! You are predestined in it before the foundation of the world! Being a Christian by being satisfied in God or by having God, as your only Joy is also gift from God to you! Considering you calling means you are acknowledging and recognizing the truth the your Joy in God is a gift of God to you! Reminders for Today Continue being reminded that the reason you are a Born Christian is only because of the Grace of God you are predestined of it by His Grace! And every time you are thinking of predestination, you should focus your mind only to the true purpose of predestination, which is to acknowledge and admire more the glory of His Grace that s why every time you are tempted to think, Do I have responsibility in missions and evangelism after knowing that those who will be saved is predestined by God? Do a quick refocus of your thought and kneel down before God to say, What a beautiful sovereign God! What a beautiful and glorious Grace that saves the unworthy to be saved like me! 111

112 Day 12 Peaceful Walk Hello! We are now on the day 12. Today, I am going to encourage you that as you continue walking in this journey, you should continue to grow also in peace and at the same time, growing also in gratitude to the One who is giving you peace and I called that peaceful walk. I will explain more about that peaceful walk in this chapter. Okay. Let s start. Our peace comes from the finished work of Jesus Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you. When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. (John 20:19-20) If you are going to read this passage, you will actually notice there that it contains the story of Jesus after He was crucified on the cross. 112

113 After He was crucified, this is what Jesus said to the disciples, peace be with you (v.19) and after He said peace be with you, what He did next according to the next verse is this: He showed them His hands and His sides (v.20) It looks like Jesus is saying here, peace be with you! Look at my hands and my sides. And if you will read more the next verses, which is verse 26 and 27. You will see the same. It happens twice! Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put your hand, and place it in my side (John 20: 26-27) You will see here also that Jesus was talking to Thomas about peace. He said to Thomas, peace be with you! (v.26) Then after Jesus said that to Thomas, He said also in next verse: Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side (v.27) It looks like again that Jesus is saying here, peace be with you Thomas! Look at my hands and my sides. Now, did you notice that pattern? Every time that Jesus is saying peace be with you He always show His hands and His sides, where actually His hands and His sides simply symbolizes His finished work in the Cross. So meaning, He is saying that our source of peace is nothing more and nothing less but only His finished work in the cross. 113

114 That s why the first thing you must experience after believing in His finished work, that lead you to a life that God is your only Joy is peace. Actually, we have a lot of peace that we can get from the finished work of Jesus but right now, I am going to focus only on the peace that we should have in the future judgment. [I think that is the most important that modern believers should learn today] Peace in the future judgment Paul said, We will all stand before the judgment seat of God (Romans 14:10) Many people today [sadly, including believers] because of lack of knowledge of God s Word are troubled so much on the future judgment. Instead of having excitement and peace, they are having fear. They are so troubled, even at this moment I am writing this and you are reading this, that they are still condemned by their past and haunted by their past and they are thinking that those past will be revealed in the future judgment and they will be condemn on their evil things in the past, which actually, not true at all. Many people believe in that idea by quoting what Paul said to the Corinthians: 114

115 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10) They say, See? It is clear! Evil! We will be judge by the good things we did and by the bad things we did Actually Yes! Yes, It is true that there will be judgment of good and evil but as believers, our judgment is only about the good things we do for our rewards [not for our salvation] while unbelievers, will be judge by their evil things. So in short, they are the only one who will be condemned not us. That s why the truth is this For us believers, there is no condemnation- judging, there is only rewards- judging. Now, let me start explaining on how did I end up with that conclusion. The judgment seat here in Greek is bema that s why let s just simply called it bema judgment. Okay? Let s continue. The Greek word bema is actually a familiar term not in our modern days [of course!] but familiar to the people of Paul s day. When they hear bema, they recognize it easily because that is familiar word for them. In there times, they have a large Olympic Arenas and in that arenas, there was an elevated seat on which the judge of the contestant sat. After the contestants were over, the successful competitors would assemble before the bema [or judgment seat in our Bible] to receive rewards or crowns. The bema was not a judicial bench where 115

116 someone was condemned; it was a reward seat. That s why as Christians and believers, judgment seat or bema of Christ has only the purpose of examining each of us to give the proper reward to each. There is no condemnation. Only to those who don t believe, there is condemnation. So again, in the future judgment, listen! Believers! I want to encourage you to have peace in your journey by believing that there is no more condemnation waiting on you in the future That is actually what Paul is saying to the believers to the Romans: Therefore there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) Notice the word now. It is now, meaning, starting from the moment you believe, become born- again and be in Christ, there is no more condemnation waiting on you. Paul said the reason in the next verse. The reason is because Jesus was already condemned instead of you (v.3) and it is because He became also your obedience to the Law that s why He is your righteousness. (v.4) So, every time you feel condemned and feel afraid in the future judgment, don t look to yourself, look to Jesus, your righteousness! And that is also exactly what John is saying. John said, we may have confidence for the day of judgment (1 John 4:17a) John is saying us here that we should have confidence in the Day of Judgment. By the way, before I continue, the word confidence here in Greek is pharessia, which means assurance. So meaning, we should have 116

117 assurance that as we are in Christ, there is no more condemnation waiting in the Day of Judgment. Okay, now, let me show you the complete statement of John: we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as [Jesus] is so also are we in this world (1 John 4:17) So meaning, we should have assurance for the Day of Judgment that there will be no more condemnation waiting on us because as Jesus Christ is, so are we in this World. Let me make it crystal clear. It exactly means that as Jesus Christ is righteous before God, so are we in this World [not just in the future but now, as you are reading this]. As Jesus Christ will never be condemned, so are we in this world, there is now no more condemnation. And even in the Day of Judgment, as He is righteous, beautiful and acceptable in the eyes of God and He will never be condemned anymore, so also are we we are righteous, beautiful and acceptable in the eyes of God and there is no more condemnation because of Christ! That s why we should have assurance and peace because as Jesus is so also are we in this world and in the future! Reminders for Today As we continue this journey that God is our only Joy, I pray that may you continue to have a peaceful walk by walking in this journey with peace and with gratitude to the One who ultimately bless us now and will bless us more in the future. 117

118 Day 13 Joy in right believing in God s promises Hello! Have a blessed day! My friend, we are already in Day 13. We are already far in this journey. Anyways before we start discussing our main topic, let me ask you first a question. When is the last time you hear the promise of God to you? When is the last time you hear the word of God to you that He promised that He will do to you in the future? and also, What is that promise? Think of it! I will now give you time to think. Don t read the next paragraph unless you re done in thinking. [thinking ] Finish thinking? Anyways, if you don t have His promise holding right now, it s okay also. You can continue reading and learned Okay, I have a follow up question! How do you believe in His promises to you? Do you have a common belief system of a traditional Christian like this: If I have a little faith, God will never fulfill His promise of miracle to me that s why I should have a big 118

119 faith first in order to activate His miracles Do you have that kind of perspective? Actually, the joy you are going to experience in His promises is depending on how you believe in His promises. Today, I am going to talk about the joy you are going to experience through right believing in God s promises. I said right believing because some Christians have a wrong belief system regarding to God s promises that s why even they know and believe God s promises to them, they still never experience joy from it because they are under the wrong belief system. Right believing that produces joy Now let s go to the Bible and get the right way of believing in God s promises that surely produces joy in our journey. Look at what God said here in the book of Isaiah: For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater (Isaiah 55:10) This verse obviously means that whatever happen, nothing will stop the rain in watering the earth as it started to come down from heaven. The question is now so what? God explains more in the next verse: 119

120 So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth: it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11) Did you get the point? It s easy. Right? When God release His promise to you through His Word, no matter what happen, His promises will surely be fulfilled in your life. As the rain come down from heaven and impossible to return there instead water the earth, so the promises of God to you that you receive through your daily quiet time, whether you have little of big faith in it or whatever happen, it will be fulfilled in your life. Meaning, God will fulfill His promise to you not based on your faith but based on His Grace. Now the moment you have this kind of belief system, which I called right belief system because first of all, it is biblical. Look what God said about what will happen to you in the next verse: For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12) You will experience joy and not just actually joy but also peace that s why as much as I can do today [by the Grace of God], I will force you to be in the right belief system that: God will fulfill His promises to you not because you are good or pleasing to Him or because you have a big faith in His promises but because of His Grace. God will fulfill His promises to you not based on you but based on Him. I will 120

121 push to be in the right belief system because again, you can only find the joy in that foundation. You will experience joy and peace if you are standing on the right belief system. Jesus made a miracle of calming the storm Let me show you some sample of biblical passages in the bible that will encourage you to stand on that right belief system. Try to look at the story of the miracle that the Disciples experienced. In Matthew 8:23-27, Disciples were so afraid because on that time, the storm is getting stronger that it is already destroying their boat that s why that they wake up Jesus from sleeping and asked Him to save them and then, Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea, and the storm stops that s why there was a great calm but before Jesus saved the Disciples, He said to them: Why are you afraid, O you of little faith? (Matthew 8:26) Did you see that? Even though they have a little faith, God still saved them by calming the storm. That s why the truth is their salvation or the miracle of the goodness of God to them is not based on the measure of their faith but based only on the measure of God s Grace. That s why I am really encouraging you that if you are now holding a word from God [a word that contains promises that He will fulfill in 121

122 your journey] that you received through your daily quiet time, believe!!! Believe that it will be fulfilled not because you have a big faith but only because He is faithful in His promise even sometimes we are not actually being faithful. Growing your faith effortlessly Actually the good news is if you are living in this kind of belief system, you will not just experience joy and peace but unconsciously and effortlessly, your faith will grow also. Do you know where did I learn that? I learn that from Jesus! Look at this. Disciples asked Jesus: Increase our faith! (Luke 17:5) Jesus taught them the secret on how to grow in faith by replying to them in the next verse: If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you. (Luke 17:6) Mustard seed is a very small seed! Right? Wow! Jesus is saying that even you only have a very small faith you could do impossible! What does it means? How does it relate in growing in faith? It simply means that to grow in faith, what we must realize is that miracles happen not based on the measure of our faith but based on the 122

123 measure of God s power of grace. Big faith or small faith doesn t matters, what matters in God s miracles is His Grace! The more you focus on His Grace and His goodness to you motivated by His passion for His glory as a basis of fulfilling His promises to you, the more your faith in His promises grows naturally and effortlessly. So in short, to grow in faith, what we must do is: focus more on His Grace not on our own faith. Lady s faith operates effortlessly Let me now give you an example of a faith- operating effortlessly by simply focusing on the amazing Grace of God rather than focusing on our own self [especially on our own faith in God]. Do you know the lady who experience miracle of healing from bleeding disease for already 12 years in Mark 5:25:34. Why do you think she was healed? Many interpreters said that it is because she has a great and big faith. The are quoting what that Lady said: If I touch even his garments, I will be made well (Mark 5:28) Do you think that her faith really heal her? Actually she is not even conscious on her faith on that time and she doesn t even know what it means to have faith. Do you know where she is conscious? She is actually conscious in the Grace of God that she believes that Jesus is a great healer to the poor and to the undeserving. 123

124 Jesus asked the people who touches him because he feels that a small amount of power was released on Him. I said before that the lady never know what is faith and don t know even that she has big faith in what she is doing. Do you know why I said that? It is because the Lady who touches him never says to Jesus, I am sir! I am the one who touch you because I have a big faith in touching you. I believed that I would be healed if I touch you with my big faith! And that s the reason sir why power was released to you and I got healing No! She never says that instead what Bible said about what happen to lady is this: But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him (Mark 5:33) And when Jesus saw her, He said, Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease. (Mark 5:34) On that time, you must realize that she focuses not on her faith [that she can be healed through her big faith in Him] because she doesn t even know what it means to have faith instead she focuses on God s grace [that she will be healed only because Jesus is a great healer even she is not deserving] that s why in the end, her faith operates and works effortlessly. Focusing on God s grace make her faith grow deeper and operates effortlessly! She sees the Grace of Jesus and then, Jesus saw her faith because the truth is her seeing of the Grace of God was converted to her faith! 124

125 That s why what Jesus said that her faith has made her well doesn t mean that she believed that having big faith in Jesus will lead her to receive healing instead it means that her eyes of seeing the grace of God made her healed! Your faith has made you well! means Your eyes of seeing my Grace has made you well! That s why don t say, I believe my big faith will lead me to experience God s miracle in my life instead learn to say, I believe God s grace will be the one that will lead me to experience His miracle even I only have a small faith as small as mustard seed and by that, get ready to experience a faith operating effortlessly like the Lady who got miracle of healing that I shared earlier. Reminders for today As I end this chapter, I want to remind you again in your belief system in every promise of God to you. The way you believe affects your joy in this journey of God is our only Joy. I am reminding you that God promises will be fulfilled to you in His time not based on yourself [your faith or pleasing works] but based on His Grace [His goodness to you motivated on His passion for His own Glory] and by remaining on that kind of belief system, I will not be surprise that your faith will operates and grows effortlessly. 125

126 Day 14 The Deceiving Loneliness Wow! We are already on Day 14. Did you notice that in our days many are living today in a destroyed life? And what is surprising here is loneliness is actually the number one reason of it. Loneliness destroys many lives. Because of loneliness, many people today are addicted in drugs, in alcoholic drinks and also in computer games. Because of loneliness, many people are addicted in seeking a lot of fiends and sometimes, they find bad friends. Because of loneliness, many are addicted in boyfriend and girlfriend relationships and sometimes they have a relationship with the wrong person and also in a wrong time. Loneliness destroys many lives! 126

127 And the worst is, we are actually deceived only in the feelings of loneliness. Loneliness is not what we feel when we are alone or we are very far away from our friends or families. Loneliness is the exact feeling of our heart when we are very far away from God that s why most of the time, you feel lonely not because you are alone and there are no friends or families besides you but you feel lonely because you don t have time to be alone in God. God created us including our hearts that s why our heart can rest in peace only when it rests to the Creator of it. Augustine prayed, My heart can rest only if it rests in you Anyways, before we continue, let me first show you some passages in the Bible that support that principle of loneliness that I am sharing to you a while ago. [Loneliness is what we feel when God seems very far away in us] Psalm 13:1-2 Look what David said here: How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? (Psalm 13:1-2) 127

128 See? According to David, the man who is very close in God, believe from his own journey that the sorrow that he is experiencing in his heart or what we called loneliness is the fruit of not experiencing the moments that God is near and beside Him. Loneliness is the feeling of a heart longing for God. Psalm 25:16-17 Try to look also what David said here: Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged. (Psalm 25:6-17) Like the previous passage, again, his loneliness is the same! His loneliness is the fruit of not experiencing the moment that God is near and beside Him. Loneliness is the feeling of a heart, which is totally homesick in God. John 16 Try to look also this chapter in John that Jesus is talking to his disciples before He will be crucified. Jesus said to them, You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy (John 16:20) Now, Why Jesus said that? It is because according to the previous verses, 128

129 He said, a little while and you will see me no longer and again a little while, and you will see me (v.16) The troubled heart, uneasy feeling, sorrow or loneliness of the Disciples are actually the fruit of being left by Jesus for a while and the opposite of it, which is joy, is the fruit of the returning of Jesus to be with them. And Jesus promised also that the Holy Spirit would be with them forever that s why Jesus said on the next verses, No one will take your joy from you (v.22) Jesus is saying that loneliness here of the Disciples is the fruit of being left by Him and the Joy of the Disciples is the fruit of His return to them. Again, the truth is loneliness is the fruit of not experiencing the moment that God is near and beside us. Loneliness is the feeling of a heart, which is very far away to it s creator. That why hey! If you feel lonely today just because you are alone and you are very far away from friends, you are actually just deceived in the feeling of loneliness. Don t let your emotions be cheated. I want you to know that the truth is even you are surrounded by a lot of happy friends and by a sweet family, if you don t have time be 129

130 alone in God to seek and experience Him, you will still be lonely. Lonely people are not the loner or the one who is always alone. Lonely people are the people who don t have time to be alone in God to experience Him. That s why whether you re an introvert or extrovert, you must be alone in God or else, you will be lonely even you are an extrovert surrounded by many friends. Have joy in praying alone That s why let me end also this chapter by encouraging you to have joy in being alone in God just to pray and experience more of Him. I encourage you to be like Jesus in His prayer life. [Jesus] would withdraw to desolate places and pray (Luke 5:16) And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:35) We should be like Jesus seeking a desolate place to be alone in God to pray but it doesn t mean that you should do the same what Jesus is doing which is waking up in the very early in the morning even you are a night person. The principle here that we should learn is we should have a time to be alone in God everyday to pray and experience more of Him. 130

131 I extremely believe that one of the most important parts of the life of Jesus is His prayer life. You know why? Try to notice what His Disciples asked to Him. They asked, Jesus, teach us how to pray (Luke 11:1) His Disciples never asked, Jesus, teach us how to do miracles or how to preach or how to heal the sick. What Disciples asked only is, Jesus, teach us how to pray. What you asked to someone is actually what you admire most in his life. Right? If I am a good basketball player and you admire most how I play basketball, what you will ask me is, Cohmi, teach me how to play basketball and not Cohmi, teach me how to sing. Right? What you ask to someone is what you admire most of him. That s why it is the same with the Disciples! The truth that they ask Jesus to teach them how to pray is what they admire most of Jesus is His passion in being alone to pray. That s why again, I encourage you this day to be like Jesus. Let s have joy also in being alone in God to pray and to experience more of Him and fight the deceiving loneliness of the world. And actually, that is also the true essence of living a life that God is your only joy! You have joy in being alone to pray and experience more of God! Reminders for Today 131

132 When you are lonely, be reminded that God is our only Joy! When you are lonely, be reminded not to seek friends or others instead seek place to be alone in God to pray and experience more of Him! Let s continue walking in this journey that God is our only Joy! 132

133 Day 15 What does it mean that God loves you? Hello! Wow! We are now on the day 15. I am so happy for you. 25 days more! Anyways let me ask you a question. When I say that God loves you! What is in your mind? Maybe you will define the love of God to you by getting the definition of the world about love! The world define love in this way: When you are loved by someone, you will be the most important person in his life, he cannot live without you, he will do all the good things he can do to you, he will not let you to be hurt or suffer! That is love! Now, question! Is that what you define the love of God to you now? Is that what you define the love of Jesus to you in the cross? Is he died for you because you are the most important person in earth? Hmmm you know because of the mixed definition of love by human ideas, reasoning and philosophies, the meaning of the love of 133

134 God to us is also corrupted. Many people become Atheist because of a wrong understanding of the love of God. They are asking, If God loves the people, why He allow His beloved to suffer? Therefore, I don t believe there is God! see? The definition of God s love is corrupted. Biblical definition of God s love In this day, allow me to explain the love of God to you from a biblical perspective a love that is according to the eyes of God not according to the eyes of man. Let s go to the life of Lazarus and see some sample of God s love according to His own eyes! [And actually, in the following day, I will give you more examples this kind of love of God] But right now let s go first to the life of Lazarus. When Lazarus died, Bible tells us that Jesus wept (John 11:35) and when Jesus wept, human reasoning will say that He cares on Lazarus. Lazarus is important to his life. Right? And that s why the Jews said, see how [Jesus] loved [Lazarus] (v.36) Notice first that it was the Jews and not Jesus Himself who said that He loved Lazarus when He wept to Lazarus that shows He cares on Lazarus. So meaning, that is the love of Jesus only according to Jews eyes but not on his own eyes. 134

135 Now, let me show you what is his love in his own eyes. Let s go back to the introduction of this story. Bible said, Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus (John 11:5) In this verse, it is very clear that Jesus loved Lazarus! Right? Now, let s continue reading in this verse and be surprise, So, when He [Jesus] heard that Lazarus was ill (v.5) Before we continue, if we are going to use the definition of love according to the world that I said in my introduction, what do you think Jesus will do as He heard that Lazarus whom He loved was ill? Of course! He will run quickly to Lazarus and heal him and will not allow Lazarus to suffer and experience death! Right? But it is very surprising that according to the next verse, when Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was (v.5) and because Jesus stayed longer, Lazarus died (v.15) and buried in the tomb (v.17) what! Jesus loved Lazarus so much that He allowed Lazarus to die? Yes! He did! That s what Bible said! And that is love! And what is the purpose of the death of Lazarus? Jesus said, this illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it (v.4) Lazarus death was designed to show the glory of God to them and that is God s love. That s why biblically, a loving God means, a God who has passion for His own Glory to be displayed to the people 135

136 And actually, it is the same with us today! God love us mean that He will continue to reveal His own glory to us and as we continue seeing His own Glory, the more we will have joy in it and the more we will be more satisfied in it because on the first place, God created us for His own Glory Before we continue, allow me first to give you the biblical basis of the truths that I mentioned! God s Glory makes us glad Let s start first with the truth that Seeing God s beauty make us joyful Look at this! Bible said: The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad and blossom like the cactus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. (Isaiah 35:1-2) They are glad and rejoicing with joy. You know why? In the next verse, this is the reason: They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God (Isaiah 35:3) Did you see that? Seeing is rejoicing. God s beauty is our joy. 136

137 We are created for God s glory Now, let s go the second truth! We are created for God s Glory! That truth is very clear in what God said to Isaiah: bring my sons from afar and my daughter from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. (Isaiah 43:7) God loves you means Okay now, let s go back to our main lesson for today. When God loves you, what does it mean? It simply means that He will bring you back to the life why you were really created and that is to be glad in seeing His own Glory or simply He will bring you to a Journey that His beauty is your only joy And now, you should realize also that the love of God to you in the cross has the purpose not of leading you to realize that you are the most important person in this world but to lead you to realize how grateful you should be that Jesus made a way for you to see God s Glory and by seeing it, you will be glad. Jesus died so that God s beauty will become your Joy all the days of your life. That s why again biblically; loving God doesn t just mean, a God who has passion for His own Glory but mainly means a God who has 137

138 passion for His own glory to be displayed to the people for their joy all the days of their life Loving your Neighbor Now we learned that the love of God is God display His glory so that He will become our Joy. That is the definition of love in bible. Right? That s why now we should change also our perspective in loving others. Loving our neighbor doesn t just mean doing good things to them or making them feel cared but it mainly means, leading them to see more of the glory of God and have more joy in God. You love them so that they will fall in love more not in you but more in God. That s why whatever you do to them, you should do it for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) you do everything to display the glory of God to the people. Reminders for today As we end our lesson this day, I want to encourage you again God s beloved! Continue living a life of beloved, a man whose joy is in the beauty of God. God is or only Joy. That s all for today! Thanks! See you tomorrow! I will discuss tomorrow that is related to our lesson today that s why be excited of it. Good- bye! Continue enjoying God in this Journey. 138

139 Day 16 Passion of God in His Glory: The reason there is Grace Hello! I am actually concern on what will be your reaction yesterday on the truth that God loves you means He value not you but only His glory to be seen by you for your joy. You know, the first time I learned that! I am thinking, What kind of God is that? A God who cares more on His own glory than His beloved? A God who value more His own worth than His beloved? And actually not just more but only! He value only His own glory! What kind of God is that? That s what in my mind before when I heard this truth on the first time! That s why I am concern on what you are thinking now as you learned that truth! If that is in your mind like my mind before, there are two things that you must realize always about the passion of God in His own Glory. The first one is His glory to be seen is the main source of your happiness Your seeing is your rejoicing [I already established the biblical basis of that truth in the previous chapters]. The second one 139

140 is His passion to His own glory is the main reason that even at this moment you are reading this, there is Grace! [And I am going to share you the biblical basis of that truth in this chapter] Grace means, you are blessed even you don t deserve that s why instead of asking, Why! Why! Why! Just be thankful and have joy and passion also in God s glory, as He is happy also in His own Glory. Have a lifestyle that God s beauty is your joy Now, let s go to the biblical basis of the truth that Passion of God in His Glory is the reason why there is Grace I will give you three biblical passages for that truth. Are you ready? Okay, let s start! Ezekiel 20:8-9 The Lord said, They rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. (v.8a) Did you see that? People are rebelling against God! What do you think they deserve? [Is it punishment?] Right! Punishment! You re totally right! That s justice! That s why the Lord said to them, Then, I said, I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt (v.8b) God is going to punish them and that is what they deserve but the good news is Grace came! Underserving blessing came. Undeserving favor came. God didn t continue to punish them and you know why? You know what is the reason? Next verse tells us why! Lord continued, But I 140

141 acted for the sake of my name, in the sight of the nations among they live, in whose sight I made myself known to them bringing them out of the and of Egypt (v.9) Now, did you see what is the reason why God will not continue to punish them? Why God gave them Grace instead justice? According to God, it is because it is for the sake of His own name. He is jealous for His name. The truth that He gives importance so much about His Name shows that He is a God who extremely has passion in His own glory. Wow! God s passion for His own glory and to His name is the reason they are saved by grace and they don t receive the punishment they deserve that s why the truth is God s passion for His own glory is the reason why even at this moment, we are experiencing rain of grace And let me show you two more text that will support that truth! Psalm 106:6-8 Psalmist said, Both we and our Fathers have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedness. Our Fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red sea (v.6-7) Again, In this passage, they deserve punishment! Right? But according to the next verse, God saved them and you know why? Look at the next verse: Yet He saved them for His name sake, that He might make know His mighty powers (v.8) the same truth right? 141

142 God s passion for His Glory is the reason there is Grace. As electricity produces light, God s glory produces Grace. That s the truth. Okay, one more text! 1 Samuel 12:20,22 And Samuel said to the people, Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil (1 Samuel 12:20) what! Because you have done evil, you should not be afraid! Did I type wrong? No! Even you check your Bible! That is what written in the bible. Samuel didn t say, Fear! Be afraid because you have done all this evil He did not say that instead what he said is do not be afraid! Hmmmm very strange! Why? Samuel said on the next verse, For the Lord will not forsake His people (v.22a) Wow! God will not leave them even they have done evil! Is it because they are special people of God? No! It is not because they are special people of God! This is what Samuel said: For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name s sake (v.22) wow! Again, they are saved only by the Grace of God motivated by His passion in His own glory! Reminders for today Again, as I end this chapter, I want to remind you today that the reason why even at this moment, no matter what you have done in 142

143 your past, no matter how worst are your rebellious actions to God in the past, you are still blessed by our God, you are still blessed in such a way it looks like you have done something good for God the reason why you are experiencing the goodness of God is only because of His passion in His own Glory. That s why again, instead of thinking Why! Why! Why! Why God value so much His own glory more than me! Just simply be thankful that He has that passion because that passion is the reason we are still blessed! That s why my friend, let s continue living a life that God s beautiful glory is our Joy. Continue walking in this journey that God is your only Joy. 143

144 Day 17 People loved the beauty of the world We are now on the day 17. We still have 23 days left. Are you ready for our lesson today? [I m Ready!] That s good! Today, I am going to discuss about the sad news that people nowadays love the world more than God. It is a sad truth that we are currently living in a fallen world. People enjoy so much the world that they even don t mention God in their everyday life. People loved the beauty of the world! You know what is the truth behind that? People loved the beauty of the world because they are blind in seeing the beauty of God Now, maybe you re mind is running again thinking where did I learn that? Allow me to use this day to explain to you how did I come with that biblical truth. 144

145 Biblical basis of the truth that people loved the world because they are blind in seeing the beauty of God. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions is not from the Father but is from the world. (1 John 2:15-16) John said, If anyone loves the world (v.15) Before we continue, the world that John was talking about here according to the next verse is this: for all that is in the world the desires of flesh and desires of the eyes and pride in possession (v.16) Is that clear? So meaning John said, If anyone loves the world [which are the lust of the flesh, lust of eyes and pride in possessions], the love of the Father is not in him. (v.15) Did you see that? Why people love the world? It is because the love of [Notice it is not love for but it is love of ] love of the Father is not in him. So meaning, people loved the world not because they don t have love for the Father or they don t love God but because they don t know how much they are loved by God. People love the world not because they only have one percent of loving God but because they don t realize the one hundred percent love of God to them. 145

146 And in our days, I realized that people love the world not mainly because they don t know that they are loved by the Father but it is because they don t know what does it mean that they are loved by the Father love of the Father is not in them. If you are going to ask one of the youth in your church what does it mean you are loved by God and if he didn t know what to say because he never experience it, surely, he loves the world because the truth is the presence of evil passions in the world in people s mind is just the absence of God s love to their mind. That s why this day, I am going to share also what does it mean you are loved by the Father. What is the love of the Father? What does it mean love of the Father not love for the Father? We can learn it in the Gospel of John but take note first John is the same author of the verse we read earlier. John actually witness the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus and he recorded it in his own gospel gospel of John. And Jesus shows also in that prayer what does it mean the love of Father is in us that s why John knew what does it mean the love of Father is in us! Okay now let s listen to the prayer of Jesus. Jesus prayed to the Father, that the love which You [You is referring to His Father] have loved me may be in them. (John 17:26) In other words, He is saying, Your love may be in them love of the Father may be in us! 146

147 Now, what does it mean that the love of Father will be in us? We will see it in the previous verse, which is verse 24! Let s look at verse 24: Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world (John 17:24) In this verse, you will see clearly that Father loves His Son means He want the people to see the Glory of His Son That is His love! That s why the prayer of Jesus in the previous verse that is saying, the love which you have loved me may be in them means that may my glory will be more seen by the people and by seeing, they will have more joy. Love of the Father may be in you means the glory of God in Christ will be seen and rejoiced by you! Father s love to you simply means that He will help you to live in a truth that His Beauty [or glory] will become your only joy and that is exactly what we learned yesterday. Right? Now, John understood that kind of love! That s why after John said, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (1 John 2:15) He repeated again what He learned from the prayer of Jesus on what does it mean Father love us in the next Chapter. Look at this! See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are Beloved, we are God s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that 147

148 when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-2) John said, See what kind of love the Father has given to us (1 John 3:1) Now, let s see what kind of love the Father has! John said on the next verse, Beloved, or meaning, you the one whose the love of the Father is dwelling! We are God s children now, and what we will see has not yet appeared, we shall be like Him [Him is referring to Jesus], because we shall see Him as He is (v.2) Father love us means that He will show to us the glory of His Son and as we see Him fully, we will be fully like Him and actually, that s what we learned on our third day! Right? Beholding Him is becoming like Him. That s is His love He reveal the glory of His Son! So again, John has the idea that being beloved means our eyes is opened to see more of God s glory and have more joy in it and also means we have privilege to see fullness of the Glory of God in the future and to experience the fullness of our joy. That is what it means to be beloved! That s why the truth behind on what John in saying, If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him is this Many people loved the beauty of the world because they are blinded in seeing the beauty of the Lord! 148

149 Illustration of the truth that blindness in the beauty of God is the reason people love the world Now let us say that you are blind and nearsighted your eyes are both poor that s why you are wearing a big eyeglass for you to see clearly. If you don t wear your eyeglass, you will not able to see things clearly unless they are very close to your eyes that s why you cannot see the things that are very far to your eyes. And then, let us say that there is a handsome guy with a long distance in your eyes and he is the most handsome guy in the world and there are also ugly guys with a short distance in your eyes. If you don t use your eyeglass, obviously, you are nearsighted and cannot see the most handsome guy [like our Lord Jesus] in the long distance, what you can see are the guys only in the short distance that s why you thought that those ugly guys are the most handsome and because of that, you started falling in love with them. But one day, someone gave you an eyeglass and as you wear it, you are so surprise that you saw the most handsome guy in the long distance that lead you to fall in love to him and lead you also to stop falling in love to the ugly guys that you thought the most handsome in the world. You get the point? The point is this it is the same with the problem of the people in the world People love the beauty of the world because even at this moment they don t wear eyeglass instead they remain blind and 149

150 nearsighted seeing only the beauty of the world and never see the glimpse of the beauty of God in eternity but once they see and enjoy the beauty of God, they will unconsciously stop falling in love to the beauty of the world. The truth is you will stop loving the beauty of the world when you are not blind anymore in seeing the beauty of the Lord! The moment that you are not blind and not nearsighted instead you are already seeing some glimpse of the beauty of God s glory while in this world, I think, you will be like the Church of the Thessalonians who were turning to God from idols (1 Thes. 1:9) Notice it is not turning from idols to God. It is clearly turning to God from idols. Meaning, they see the beauty of God first and then, by seeing, they realized the ugliness of their idols that s why started to hate the ugliness of their idols the idols that they thought beautiful when they are still blind and nearsighted in the beauty of God. So again the truth is this Many people loved the beauty of the world because they are blinded in the beauty of the Lord! And Satan knew that secret that s why his ultimate weapon is not to tempt the people to go and sin more but his ultimate weapon is to blind the mind of unbelievers from seeing the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4) He knew that our weapon to stop loving the beauty of the world is our opened eyes in seeing the 150

151 beauty of God s Glory. Our weapon is simply having a desire in living in a life that God s beauty is our only Joy Try to look at this verse! Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) The author of the Hebrews said, Keep your life free from love of money Did you see that? He is talking to the people who love the world, people who loved pride in possession. Now, as we learn a while ago, what is the key not love the world? It is to take our joy only in God. Right? That is actually what the author of Hebrews said. He said, Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have where should be you content? Hebrews said that be content on what you have that s clear! But the other question is what is that on what you have? He continued, and be content with what you have for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you See? It means, that be content or be satisfied in God who will never leave you nor forsake you and that is actually your key not to love the money or to love the world. God is your only Joy is the key not to love the world. I also have passage to share that will shows that God is your only is the key not to love the world specifically in the desires of flesh but I 151

152 didn t put it here because I will discuss it in Day 19. I entitled it, Intimacy with God by His Grace conquers Sexual Immorality Anyways, my friend, I want you to know that I am praying so much that as you read this book day by day, your eyes will continue to be open widely in the beauty of the glory of our God and continue to have more joy in it. Let me end our lesson today sharing to you the story of the temptations that Jesus experienced in wilderness that is recorded in Matthew. Let me give you a beautiful principle in that. Before Jesus was tempted, according to the previous verse which is verse 17, the last verse of Chapter 3 in Matthew. God the Father said to Him, this is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased Now, remember that word beloved. He is called beloved son. Can you say beloved three times? [Beloved! Beloved! Beloved! Beloved!] I said only three times. Why four? Just kidding! J Now, remember that word! Beloved! Anyways, I already assume that you already know what does it mean to be called beloved because I already said it a while ago. Okay, let s continue, After Jesus receive that affirmation, in the next chapter, he undergo temptations and try to notice that statement of temptations of Satan to Jesus. Satan said twice in verse 3 and verse 6: If you are the Son of God Now, read it slowly! If you are the Son of 152

153 God What do you notice in the statement? What is missing? Do you remember what I ask you to say three times? [Beloved?] Right! Beloved! Satan drops that special word! He never said, If you are the (beloved) son of God Why he dropped that word in temptations? Because the truth about temptations is the moment we realize how much we are loved by the Father or we know what does it mean to beloved, temptations will lose its power. That s why every time you are tempted, be reminded that you are a beloved, focus and enjoy on the beauty of God! The opposite of what John in saying, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him is this: if anyone hates the world, the love of the Father is in him, He know he is beloved! Reminders for Today That s why hey you! Yes you! You are God s beloved my friend! You have a privilege of seeking God to see more His glory. Live in the truth that God s beauty is your only Joy and by living on that, get ready to conquer the temptations of the beauty of the world! 153

154 Day 18 When God does not become our only Joy We are now on Day 18. This day, what I am going to share to you is about the truth on what will happen in your journey when God does not become your only Joy. What do you think will happen in your journey as a Christian when you live a journey that God is not your only Joy? Do you know what will happen? Let me show you what will happen biblically from Old Testament and also from New Testament. Are you excited for it? Anyways, let s start from Old Testament. Old Testament Book of Nehemiah said that God blessed people of Israel in different ways and if you want to know how they are blessed in detail. (Just read Nehemiah 9:19-25) Anyways, I didn t put the whole text here 154

155 and I am not going to discuss it in detail because I want to share to you directly the truth in this passage as faster as I can. That s why let s start but anyways, don t rush, read this slowly and carefully so that you will understand clearly. Bible said that even the people of Israel are so much blessed; they still turned away from God and rebel on Him. (Nehemiah 9: 26) And because of that, God allowed them to be under the hand of their enemies that lead them also to suffer and then, in the time of their suffering, they cried out to God to ask help from Him and because of God s great mercies, God saved them from the hand of their enemies. (v.27) And after they rest in God s salvation, here comes again, they rebel to God again and did evil again to Him and then again, God allow them to be under their enemies to suffer and then, during their suffering, they cried out again to God and God saved them again. (v.28) Before I start explaining, try to look first at the end part of verse 28. and many times, God delivered them according to His mercies. Notice the word many times. It means that what happen to them, which is rebelling to God after being blessed, happen not just twice but many times. God bless them, then, they rebel, then as they rebel, God punish them, then as they suffer, they cried, then as they cry, God bless them again, then, they rebel again and so and so It is a cycle! Many times! 155

156 Now, the question is What is the problem of the people of Israel that in spite of the repeating goodness of God to them, they continue to rebel? Why? What s the problem? Book of Jeremiah tell us what is their problem and this is according to the eyes of God. Look on what God said to them in the book of Jeremiah. God said, What wrong did your fathers anyways, the fathers here that God is saying are referring to the people of Israel in the past, where he talk also in this passage about the story that I shared to you earlier [they continue to rebel on God in spite of his continuous mercies to them]. Okay, let s go back to what God is saying. God is saying, What wrong did your Fathers [the people of Israel in the past], find in me that they went far from me? (Jeremiah 2:5) Listen! Israel rebel to God after being blessed is not because there is wrong with God instead there is wrong with Israel and what is wrong with Israel? God said it on the next verse! Look what God said to the next verse: They did not say, where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells? (Jeremiah 2:6) In the life of Israel, what happen to them is what they remember are only the blessing and salvation of God and never God Himself. That is what it means when God said to them, They did not say, where is the 156

157 Lord? Meaning, they did not remember God, what they remember is only the goodness of God. Let s go to the next verse! He is going to talk the same topic but in this verse God is now talking about them the present people of Israel not about their Fathers in the past the Israel in the past. God said: And I brought you [see? It s you. It s not them] into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. The Priest did not say, Where is the Lord? Those who handle the law did not know me (Jeremiah 2:7-8b) Did you notice it again? What their Fathers did in the past is the same thing that they are doing now. In their life, what they remember only is God s goodness and never God Himself. What they enjoy most is the blessing rather than the Blesser Himself. What they enjoy most is the gifts rather than the Giver Himself. Now, do you notice the purpose of salvation and goodness of God to them [and also to us?] All of those things have the purpose to lead them to remember God forever and enjoy God forever and that is actually what they fail to realize that s why even they experience a lot of blessings from God, they end up rebelling against or sinning against God. 157

158 And that truth is very clear on what God said on the next verse. He said: My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13) We all know that waters have the purpose to satisfy one thirst. Right? That s why people refusing God as fountain of living waters simply means that they don t find their satisfaction in God or People don t live on the truth that God is their only Joy. And that is actually evil and that is where the strength of rebellious heart [sin] begins. So, the reason they continue to sin against God in spite of the blessing and salvation of God to them is because God does not become their only joy through those blessings and salvation instead the blessing of God and the salvation of God becomes their joy. That s why the truth is When God does not become your only Joy, the strength of sin grows stronger in you! New Testament Paul said, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) Paul didn t say, for all have sinned and disobey God What does it mean? Paul emphasized that the sin of people and the root of sin is falling short of the glory of God. 158

159 What does it mean fall short in His Glory? Paul explains it in the previous chapters. Falling short means exchanging the glory of God to others (Romans 1:23) When you treasure something that is above God, you are exchanging His Glory to that something. That s why falling short means God s Glory is not your only Joy. God is not your only Joy. Anyways, Look at this: And [they] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things (Romans 1:23) Now, obviously in this verse, God is not their only Joy that s why their joy is in others. Do you know what will happen when God becomes not your only Joy? Sin comes in their life when God does not become their only Joy! You can see what I said in the next verse: Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves (Romans 1:24) Paul repeated again that truth on the next verse. Look at this: they exchanged truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature than the Creator (Romans 1:25) 159

160 So here, Paul is telling us again that people has their joy not only in God who are their creator instead their joy is in His creature. Now, do you know what happen when they chose the creature of God as their joy rather than God Himself the Creator? [Sin comes in again?] Exactly! Paul said in the next verse: For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error (Romans 1:26-27) Did you see that? Again, the moment they lost their joy in God and put it to others, which is in the creature, the Homosexuals came! Sin came! Now, did you see that? As they don t value the glory of God above all things or as God don t become their only joy, God gave them up in the strength of sin. They are conquered more by the strength of sin. Notice also the tense of the verb in God gave them up It is gave. It is in past tense it happened already. So meaning, thousand years ago, when people don t live a life that God is their only Joy, God gave them up, defeated and conquered by sin. Many people continue to live a life of sin 160

161 because thousand years ago, our fathers exchange the glory of God to other things. The ultimate root cause of sin is the exchanging the glory of God to other things. It is the same with sin issue, the best way to cure the disease of people addicted in sinning is not to answer how to avoid sin but mainly to answer the question how are going to value again God s glory above all things or simply, how are we going to have joy in God alone again. God is our only Joy is the medicine of the people living in defeated and conquered life by sin. That s how important is the truth that God is our only Joy! And actually, the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross [or the Gospel] has that purpose! The ultimate aim of the Gospel is to reveal God s glory so that God s glory will become our Joy [that is what we learned in our first day. Right?] Jesus died so that God will become our only joy, and that joy will lead us also to conquer the strength of sin. So in this day, if you are becoming addicted to sin to the point that sin is already overcoming you, I want you to know that it is not the disease that is revealing, it is just the symptoms of the disease that is 161

162 revealing, and the main diseases is not addicted- to- sin disease, it is no- joy- in- God disease. The truth is the Absence of Joy in God is the presence of the strength of sin in your life. That s why again the truth is When God does not become your only Joy, the strength of sin grows stronger in you! Reminders for Today So again, as I end this Journey, let us continue our steps in this road that God is our only Joy and be a conqueror! 162

163 Day 19 Intimacy with God by His Grace conquers Sexual Immorality Hello. How are you? We are now on Day 19. This day, we are going to learn about the story of Joseph. Do you know Joseph the Dreamer? It is amazing that in the story of Joseph, he conquered one of the greatest temptations that our world is facing now. The wife of the Pharaoh is tempting Joseph to lie with her (Genesis 39:7) and that lady is doing that kind of temptations to him day after day (v.10) but the amazing here is Joseph refuse that strong temptations. He replied to the lady, How then, can I do this wickedness and sin against God (v.9) It is totally amazing! Right? Sin didn t overcome Joseph and how come that Joseph was not conquered by sin? I will show you this day the key. On my own experience, I realize that what you advise or share to the special person in your life are actually the things that help you a lot in your journey or the things that is very important in your journey. 163

164 That s why obviously, what will I share to my children in the future will be: May our God be your only Joy always What I will share to my children is what help me a lot in my journey, which is God is my only Joy! And it is actually the same with Joseph! We can know how he overcome sin by looking what is the most important in his journey through looking his first advise to his closest brother Benjamin, when he meet his brothers. Look at what Joseph said to him here in Genesis 43:29: God be gracious to you, my son Notice the word gracious. He said, May God s grace be with you. It simply shows that in Joseph story, God s grace plays a great role in his journey and obviously, it is God s grace also that lead him to be undefeated by the sexual temptations. Grace conquers Sin! In New Testament: Grace is the key to conquer sin Actually, in New Testament, Grace is also the key to conquer sin and lack of Grace is the reason many are conquered by sin. The author of Hebrews said, See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God Now, what will happen if someone fails to obtain the grace of God or someone lacks of the Grace of God? Let me complete the statement of this passage and show you what will happen: 164

165 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God: that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral (Hebrews 12:15-16) See? Lack of Grace makes someone conquered by sin and the truth that Joseph value so much the Grace in his journey is actually the way that leads him to be conquered by sin of sexual immorality. Now, question! How do we fall short or fallen away from the Grace of God? Paul said: You are severed from Christ, you who would be counted righteous by the Law; you have fallen away from Grace (Romans 5:4) The moment you try to be under the Law, trying to do all the good things you can do in order to be beautiful and acceptable in the eyes of God, you fallen away from Grace, and surely, that is the beginning of your life, defeated and conquered by sin. And Paul experienced that principle in his letter in Romans 7: Look at this! Paul said, For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing (v.19) Paul is saying that he keeps doing the bad and you know why? He found a principle why he keeps doing bad and he said it in the next verse: So I find it to be a law that when I want to do the right, evil lies close at hand (v.21) meaning, the more he know the right and desire to do the right, the more he do the bad! That s the principle! He said more on the next 165

166 verse, For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of mind and make me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. (v.22-23) Again, the more he delight in the law of God and learn what to do right, the more it make him captive to sinning. That s the principle! Why? The Law of God that gives him knowledge what to do and what not to do makes him more weak and conquered by sin. Why? It is because we learn a while ago that the moment we try to do good things or obey the Law to be beautiful in the eyes of God, we fall in the Grace of God and as we fall in His grace, we become more weak and conquered by sin. Paul said in the last verse, Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death. (v.24) Did you notice that Paul said who and not how? He said, Who will deliver me from this not How I will be delivered from this Meaning, the deliverance is not knowing how but knowing who it s a person! That s why Paul said on the next verse, Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (v.25) Jesus Christ, His Grace is the key to conquer Sin! 166

167 You should be on the right mountain: mountain of Grace! That s why actually in Hebrews, after the author of Hebrews tell us not to come short of the Grace of God so that sin will not conquer us. He said on the next verse: For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest (Hebrews 12:18) And he is actually talking here the Mount Sinai, where the Law came! Meaning, He is saying that we do not come to the Mount Sinai, we are not under the Law, and we are not under the Old Covenant. After that, He said on the next verse: But you have come to mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering. (Hebrews 12:22) And now, what is the mount Zion? He gave us clue what is it on what he said on the next verse: And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant (Hebrews 12:24) And that new covenant is obviously full of Grace because in that covenant, by the finished work of Jesus, we are already righteous and beautiful in the eyes of God apart from the good works of the Law. So 167

168 meaning, Hebrews is simply saying that you are not under the Old Covenant of Law but under the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus! That s why Paul also said: Those who receive the abundance of Grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17) Paul said that we reign in life. The word reign here in Greek word is basileou, which is actually referring to the reigning King. So meaning, you reign in life like a King and the question is, reigning in what? In it s context, it is referring to reigning over sin and death. You are a King and the death and sin are under you. When you reign, sin and death will not reign in you. That s why other Bible version translate this verse in this way: All who receive God s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5: 17 NLT) So in short, you are victorious over sin s power and death s power is what it means, you reign in life. Now, how do you reign over sin and death according to this verse? Let s read it again and learn. Paul said, those who receive the 168

169 abundance of Grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life (Romans 5:17) What you need is two! First is abundance of Grace and second is free gift of righteousness. It is abundance and not little Grace and second, it is free gift of righteousness not reward it is a free gift that you will receive only through Jesus Christ not a reward that you need to achieve or work on through obedience to the Law. Now, the moment you have that two, then get ready to reign in life, reign over sin and death and that is actually the essence of being under the new covenant of Grace. That s why Paul also said in just the next chapter of this verse. He said, For sin will have no more dominion over you, since you are not under law but under Grace (Romans 6:14) Meaning, sin has no more power over you when you don t try to be under the Law, trying all the best you can do just to be beautiful and acceptable in the eyes of God but only if you are under Grace, believing that apart from your good works, only by the finished work of Jesus, you are already beautiful in the eyes of God and by it, you are now in the life of enjoying your beautiful relationship with God. But don t misunderstand what I am saying; I am not saying that you can now disobey the Law because you re free! No! You should not 169

170 think that way! What I am saying is you should not be like the Pharisees obeying the Law by works not by faith. (Romans 9:32) What does it mean? It means that you are living a life obedient to the Law not to be beautiful but because you are already beautiful in the eyes of God by faith in the finished work of His Son. Faith is the root while works is the fruit but don t focus on fruit, focus on root because only right believing produces right living. Joseph is close with God that s why He was unconquered by temptations Now, let me end this chapter by going back again to the story of Joseph. In the story of Joseph, you will notice a lot of statement that God is with Joseph (Genesis 39:2,3,21 and 23), those repeating statements simply shows that Joseph, by the fruit of the Grace of God, has a super close relationship with God or has a experiencing God relationship. And that is actually the true essence of Under Grace, you are not worrying if you are beautiful or not in the eyes of God, instead you are only focusing on enjoying God more to the fullest that s why Under Grace people are people who have close relationship with God. Now, let me show you in the other passages on how come that intimate relationship with God conquers sexual immorality like what 170

171 Joseph experienced in conquering temptations by having an intimate relationship with God. 2 Corinthians 6:16-17 Let s start with the letters of Paul to the Corinthians who is doing sexual immoralities and who is having wrong passion of lust for prostitutes. Look at this! Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:16-17, Do you know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it was written, the two will become one flesh (v.16) If someone joined to a prostitute, they become one flesh. Now, let s continue reading. Paul said, But he who is joined to the Lord becomes One spirit with Him (v.17) Here, if someone joined to the Lord, he becomes one Spirit with Him. Did you see the logic? Paul started the statement in verse 17 with the conjunction or connector word but and not and. He said, But he who is joined to the Lord where but simply shows that verse 17 is the opposite of verse 16. Let me clear what I am saying. He said, If someone joined to the prostitute but if he who is joined to the Lord Let us learn the principle in this passage that joining to the prostitute is the opposite of joining to the Lord where it simply means that 171

172 burning with wrong passion of sexual immorality is the opposite of burning with passion for God. Wrong passion for seeking physical intimacy to someone is the opposite of passion for seeking intimate relationship with God. So in short, burning with wrong passion of lust is the fruit of lack of intimate relationship with God. The moment you lose your joy in God, the temptations to sin especially sexual immorality will start to grow stronger and the moment you start having joy in God [which is my main prayer for you in writing this book], the temptations to sin will start to lose their power in you or in short, intimacy with God [as the fruit of being under Grace] leads you to conquer sexual immorality. That is the truth that you should remember today. That s why try to notice the prayer of David after He committed sexual immorality in the eyes of God with Bathsheba, He prayed in Psalm 51, Do not cast me away from Your presence (v.11) It is a prayer that He want God not to remove His intimate relationship with Him and after He prayed that, He said on the next verse, restore to me the joy of Your salvation Intimacy with God that produces more joy in Him is what He is praying after He committed adultery. Why? That is actually what he lost not after he sinned but before he sinned that s why he was conquered by temptations of sexual immorality. He is losing his joy in intimate relationship with God. 172

173 That s why you must realize now that in this world, you have only one passion and that passion should be only for our glorious God or else, it will be in this world! The moment you fail to have passion to our beautiful God, passion for the world especially lust of the flesh will starts to burn in you that s the truth you should learn! 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 Paul said: For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in passion of lust like Gentiles who don t know God (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5) Paul is saying that people who are not abstaining from sexual immorality and burning with wrong passion of lust are actually the people who don t know God like Gentiles. So in short, Sexual Immorality is the fruit of not- knowing God. Now, maybe you may say to me, I have a friend who know God and I also know some Theologian (or expert in Bible), who knows about God, and yet they are sexually immoral! First of all, to know God in their times when Paul wrote this doesn t just mean to have knowledge in God. Let me explain you what it 173

174 means you know God. Let s look at the other ancient letters on how they use the word the know. Here in Old Testament: Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain (Genesis 4:1) The Meaning of Adam knew Eve is Adam have this very close and deep relationship with Eve that lead them to have baby. Now, Here in New Testament: When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but he knew her not until she had given birth to a son. (Matthew 5:24-25) The word knew here is used in explaining sexual intercourse. Joseph didn t knew Mary means he did not have sexual intercourse with her and sexual intercourse are only for those who are married and have intimate relationship with each other. That s why in short, the idea of to know God in their times doesn t just mean that you have a knowledge about God like theologians instead it means that you have a very close intimate relationship with God like the couples and Gentiles lacks that that s why they are conquered by a wrong passion of lust. That s why again the truth is the people who don t have intimate relationship with God are the people who are burning with wrong passion of sexual immorality. 174

175 Reminders for Today My friend, let s continue this journey unconquered by temptations of sexual immorality by simply being Under Grace a person who is thinking only on enjoying God and when he is thinking on trying to do good, it is not in order to be acceptable in His eyes but because he is already acceptable in the eyes of God by the finished work of Jesus in the cross. 175

176 Day 20 Power of the gift of no condemnation We are now on Day 20! Wow! We are already on the half- road of our journey! Anyways, let s start our topic. In the Bible, there are two ways on how the people repent and go back in God. In Old Testament, it is by condemnation. Prophet of God back then, is saying, Repent! Go back to God or else you are near to destruction, you will experience the ultimate wrath of God. People especially in Old Testament repented because of condemnation. The other way is, by the goodness of God. Paul said in Romans 2:4 that the goodness of God leads people to repentance. And of course, I chose to be a minister of unveiling God s goodness rather than God s condemnation for the repentance and for the revival of joy of the people in God [like Paul]. That s why it is already been days since I started sharing the goodness of God through Jesus Christ to you. 176

177 Peter s repentance Allow me to show you a sample of a man who repented after experiencing the abundant goodness of God. In Luke 5:4-8, Jesus commanded Peter to go fishing and catch again some fish (v.4) and Peter, expert in fishing, believe that there are no more fish that s why He said, Master, we toiled all night and took nothing but Peter believe in Jesus that s why He said also, but at your word, I will let down the nets (v.5) And you know what happen? Look at this! And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. (v.6) Wow! It s a miracle! They caught a lot of fish. Did you see that? Jesus Christ allowed Peter to experience the goodness of God without any conditions. Look what happened to Peter after experiencing the goodness of God: And when Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, o Lord (Luke 5:8) Peter repented! The super abounding goodness of God leads Peter to repentance. And that is exactly the principle of what Paul is saying that the goodness of God leads people to repentance. 177

178 That s why as I share again this day [sorry for a long introduction but don t worry, our lesson today will not be so long], this day, as I share to you another goodness of God, I pray that you will end up also in repenting and saying, Lord, I don t deserve your goodness that s why I really want to thank you and please allow me to enjoy You more in my life Okay, let s start! I m excited for you! Effect of fear of Condemnation Let s go first to John 3: Verse 18 said: Whoever believes in Him (Jesus Christ) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already (John 8:18) Notice that Jesus never said, will be condemned, what was written is is condemned already So meaning, We are already under condemnation when Jesus Christ is not yet here in earth and we deserve to be condemned but when Jesus came, He save all who believe in Him from the condemnation. Right? Okay, let s continue in verse 19: 178

179 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 8:19) Jesus Christ, light of the World came but people hate Him because they are doing evil that s why they remain in darkness. Now, what is the reason why they want to remain in darkness that leads them to continue living an evil life? Let s continue in verse 20: For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed (v.20) See? They remain in darkness because they are afraid to be exposed and be condemned by their evil works. They remain in darkness because they feel secured and safe from condemnation. In short, the root cause of the people living in evil life is they are afraid of condemnation of the light (Jesus). They think that as they will come to the light, they will be condemned and because of that fear, they remain in darkness and continue living an evil life. That s why before Jesus explain this. He actually said first: whoever believes in [me] is not condemned Condemnation is the root cause why people don t come back to the light. They don t come back to God instead they choose to remain in darkness that leads them to 179

180 continue living an evil life. So in short, fear of condemnation is the main reason why people stay in darkness and continue living an evil life. Adulteresses was freed from the bondage of sin Now, let me show you one beautiful story of Jesus empowering someone to be free from darkness and bondage of sin. In John 8, there was a woman who had been caught in adultery by the Scribes and Pharisees and then, they bring her to Jesus. (v.3) They are saying to Jesus: Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to throw to stone such women. So what do you say? (John 8:4-5) What do you think Jesus did? Did he throw stone to that Lady? Jesus said to them, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her (v.7) and what happen? Did anyone pick stones to throw her? No! This is what happened: But when they heard [what Jesus said], they went away one by one (v.9) Everybody went away because they are not all worthy to throw stone to the Lady because they are all sinner but there was one man who remains. Who is that man without sin that can throw stone to 180

181 the Lady? [Jesus?] Of course, Jesus! And it is amazing that in the story, Jesus never throws stone to the Lady! Pharisees would like to throw stone to the Lady if they could but on the other side, Jesus could throw stone to her but He would not. That s our Savior! Full of Grace! After that, Jesus said to the Lady: I will not condemn you also; go, and from now on sin no more (John 8:11) Notice that Jesus never said, Go, from now on sin no more [first] then after you do that, I will not condemn you also He never said that! Sadly, some of our modern Churches are the one who are saying that! The very first statement of Jesus to her is: I will not condemn you also Why? He knows that condemnation is the reason why this lady remains in darkness and hates the light and continues living an evil life. That s why after Jesus said that He will not condemn her. He said next, Go, and from now on sin no more It simply means that God gave her the gift of no condemnation and that gift empowers her life to conquer sin. That is the power of the gift of no condemnation! 181

182 Paul also said that truth! He said: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of the life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2) God gave us gift of no condemnation to empower us to conquer sin in life. The truth is condemned people never enjoy God and the only way to conquer sin in this world is by having more joy in God that s why condemned people who never enjoy God continue being conquered by the strength of sin. That s why in our days, what the enemy is doing is he is reminding people from all of their past especially their sins to lead them to feel condemned and ugly in the eyes of God that lead them also not to come to God anymore instead remain in the darkness because they think that they have no more beauty to show to God. That s why you [me?] yes! You! If you are one of the victim of the enemy, if he is reminding you by saying, Hey! You don t deserve anything! You have done a lot of evil things! You are not worthy to come to God because you are ugly and you have a very worst past! If the enemy is condemning you by that, just simply say and reply to 182

183 him, yes! It s true that I have done a lot of evil things in the past! I am not worthy to come to God anymore because I am ugly! It s true that I don t deserve anything but that is actually the exact meaning of the Grace of God, that is the exact purpose of the death of Jesus on the cross. I, who don t have any beauty at all might be beautiful in the eyes of God by His righteousness and by His beauty that is imputed [or transplanted] in me in the cross If the enemy is reminding your past and saying you don t deserve to come to come to God and enjoy Him, be reminded on the Grace and finished work of Jesus to you! Reminders for Today As I end this day, I want to remind you again that do not let yourself be condemned that will lead you to stop having joy in God. I want you to know that receiving and believing the gift of no condemnation is the one that will leads you to have more continuous enjoyment in God, where that continuous joy will be your continuous strength in conquering sin and that is the power of the gift of no condemnation! No condemnation people! Let s continue this Journey of enjoying God to the fullest and be a conqueror of sin! 183

184 Day 21 Don t focus on how to conquer Sin We are now on Day 21. Wow! It is already been twenty- one days that I am talking with you. I hope you will continue to listen even I am just a simple book. I think it is already been a days that I am talking to you about conquering the strength of sin and temptations. Right? And I hope, in every chapter I wrote about conquering sin, you notice the one simple truth that the way to conquer sin is not to focus on how to conquer sin or temptations instead the way to conquer sin is to focus on how to have more joy in God. That s why I always end up every chapter with one simple truth: God should be your only Joy In this day, I am going to show you biblically how come that focusing on how to conquer sin leads you to be more conquered and defeated by sin. 184

185 Focusing on how to conquer sin makes you to be more conquered by sin Look at this the experience of Paul in struggling to sin. Paul said, For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate (Romans 7:15) He also said, For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing (v.19) Did you see that? Paul is saying that he is struggling in temptations and the strength of sin in him is growing stronger and stronger that he cannot control it anymore that he end up doing that bad things he don t want to do. And you know why? Paul said, so I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand (v.21) meaning, he keeps doing more the bad thing, as he learn to do the good things and try to do it. Surprising! Right? It is like if you are in a diet and you saw a food, the more you fight it in your mind and say, I am diet! I am diet! I will not eat! I will not eat! the more it becomes strong to you and you end up eating that food. The more you know the good and want to do the good, the more you are doing the opposite. Paul continued, For I delight in the Law of God Law of God gives him knowledge of good what good things to do! And now, do you know what happen, as he knows more what good things to do? Paul continued, For I delight in the Law of God but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members (v.23) What! The 185

186 more you know the good and think to do the good, the more you do the bad! What is that principle! The more you know how to conquer sin actually leads you to be more conquered by sin. The more you think of strategies on not to watch porn movies, the more you will watch it. The more you think of strategies of avoiding sin, the more you go near to sin. The more you think of good, the more you do the bad. That s why Paul said to himself because of that, Wretched man that I am! (v.24a) Now, question! How are we going to fight sin and temptations? Paul said in verse 24: Who will deliver me from this body of death? Notice the question? It is not How to be delivered from sin but the question is Who will deliver. It is who not how. So meaning, it s a person and actually it s God! That s why what you need in conquering sin is not strategies but God. What you need to answer is not how to conquer sin instead how to have joy in God. That s why in the different chapters I wrote about conquering sin, I never give you strategies on how to conquer sin, I give you the different goodness of God that I pray that will lead you to live on this one simple truth: God will be your only Joy Now, you already know that it is biblical to believe the principle that the more you think of how to conquer sin rather than thinking how to have more joy in God, the more you will be conquered by sin. 186

187 Remembering God s goodness in the past and believing that you will experience more will lead you to conquer temptations Okay, now, let s go to the other truth. Let me discuss in remaining page of this chapter that the goodness of God the leads us to have more joy in Him leads us to conquer more sin. So, instead of spending your time thinking of strategies of how to conquer sin, spend your time remembering the goodness of God to you and have more joy in Him. Let me explain that more! Let s remain here in Romans. Notice how the Lord gave the revelations to Paul about His beautiful goodness in Romans 8! I believe Romans 8 is the longest chapter in the Bible that contains the beautiful goodness of God. Let me give you some samples. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (v.1) You have received the Spirit of Adoption as Sons by whom we cry, Abba! Father! (v.15) We are children of God (v.16) All things work together for good (v.28) No one can separate us from the love of God (v.38-39) Did you notice that? It contains a lot of beautiful goodness of God! Where actually before Paul wrote this, Paul wrote in the previous chapter the text that I shared to you earlier. He wrote in the chapter 7, the previous chapter of this beautiful promises of God, For I do 187

188 not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Notice the flow of the revelation of God to Paul? Let me show to you clearer. Chapter 7 contains the struggles of Paul to sin and the next chapter, which is Chapter 8, contains the revelation of God to Paul the beautiful goodness of God. So meaning, when Paul is struggling to sin, that is the time that God gave Him abundance of revelations about His goodness to Him. What does it mean? Remembering the goodness of God lead us to the road of conquering our struggle to sin and conquering our rebellious heart a heart that is against God. And that is actually the problem of the ancient people why they are rebelling against God: How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the desert they did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from foe, when he performed his signs in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan (Psalm 78:40,42-43) And starting from verse 44 to verse 72, Psalmist wrote one by one the goodness of God to them to be remembered. It was 28 verses about the goodness of God. Now, did you get again the principle? 188

189 The principle is this They did not remember the goodness of God is one of the reasons they continue to sin and continue to rebel against God. I said that it is just one of the reasons and not the main reason because remembering God s goodness is not enough to conquer sin. Okay, come and let s go deeper in this principle. Let s go back to Romans. In Romans, when Paul is struggling with his heart to rebel against God in chapter 7 and receive the revelations of abundance goodness of God in chapter 8, actually, the goodness of God that he receives as revelations are all present and future promises of God to us, meaning, they are all needed not just to be remembered but they are all needed to be believed and to have more trust God for the future. Remembering God s goodness is not just for you to have gratitude for God s goodness in the past but also for you to have more faith in God that He will do more goodness to you in the future and that faith in the future goodness of God is the one that leads you to conquer sin. Look at what God said to Moses about the rebellious people in ancient times. He said to Moses: How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all that signs [all of the goodness] that I have done among them (Numbers 14:11) 189

190 Did you see that? Remembering God s goodness that should lead them to believe more in God is what they lack that s why they continue rebelling and sinning against God. Reminders for Today As I end this chapter, I want to remind you again that don t focus on how to conquer sin instead focus on how to have more joy in God, and one way on how to have more joy in God is remembering His goodness and believing to experience more in the future. That s why my friend, as we continue walking in this journey that God is our only Joy, always be reminded on His goodness to you and continue to be motivated to believe that you will experience more His goodness in the future. But don t misunderstand me today! I am not saying, focus only on His goodness because if that s what happens to you focusing only on His goodness not on Himself, it might lead you to conquer sin also like what we learned in Day 16 (Remembering only the goodness of God and not God Himself leads the people conquered by sins) What I am saying today is, focus on God and not on how to conquer sin and you focus on God by simply remembering His goodness in the past and believing to experience more in the future. In other words, 190

191 don t focus on His goodness instead use it as a means of focusing on God more. And to apply what I am saying, Just simply imagine in your journey that you are a beautiful lady in the eyes of God [because of what Jesus did on the cross for you] and God is your ultimate lover and He continue to give you gifts [which is the goodness of God], so that you will continue to fall in love not to the gifts [of course!] but only to God the one who give you gifts, and by being in love in Him so much, you will lose your joy anymore to love and entertain any guy [which is the temptations of the world]. In our journey, let s continue focusing on that truth that God is our only Joy! 191

192 Day 22 In my failure, God is still my only Joy Hello! We are now on Day 22. We still have 18 Days. Wow! We are already more than in the half- journey! Today, I will be talking about standing again in times of failures. Are you ready for that? Okay, let s start. Many people today, after experiencing a great failure in life end up living their whole life being condemned, down, and discouraged to the point that they think of their selves as a man who never have a hope of seeing and experiencing the goodness of God anymore. If you are one of them, then, this chapter will be the best chapter to you. Today, I am going to show you the story of Peter s failure and how the Lord renews his strength from that failure. I am going to share you that story as a means of bringing you from the life of being condemned by your past failures to the life of rejoicing in the 192

193 goodness of God. That s why I pray that as I end this chapter, you will be rejoicing in Grace even broken by failures. I m so excited that s why let s start. This is the story. Story of Peter s Failure Peter denied Jesus because he boasts on his own strength he is proud that chose to depend on his own strength rather than depending on God s strength. He said, Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death (Luke 22:33) And when Peter denied Jesus, Jesus already know it that s why he said to Peter, I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me (v.34) By that coming failure of Peter, Satan might use it as a way to Peter to lose his confidence in coming back again to Jesus. That s why Jesus said also to Peter, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail (v.31-32) Wow! This is comforting! Even Peter will fail; Jesus prayed that his faith might not fail! What does it mean that Peter s faith may not fail even he fail? We all know that every time people come to Jesus as simply who they are to get healing from him and got healed, Jesus 193

194 always said to them your faith has made you well or your faith has healed you So meaning, faith means coming to Jesus as who you are. That s why the truth that Jesus prayed that Peter s faith may not fail is a prayer that even he experience this greatest failure denying the treasure of Heaven [Jesus], he will still have faith confidence to come back again to God. Now, we all know that the mind of Jesus on that time based on this passage and based on our common sense is not Peter will fail and deny Himself because on the first place, he already knew that, what is in the mind of Jesus is Peter s faith should not fail even he fail. Let s go now to the moment that Peter already failed and denied Jesus. After he denied Jesus, the rooster crowed as what Jesus said, and after the rooster crowed, the Lord turned and looked at Peter (v.61) And that look is not to condemn Peter but because Peter is self- centered on that time and focusing only on his own strength he is thinking what he can do for God, what happen to him as the Lord look at him is this: And peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times. And he went out and wept bitterly (v.61-62) Peter thought it is a condemning look because he is occupied so much with his pride that leads him focusing only on his promise motivated by his own strength that he will not deny Jesus and never 194

195 focused on what Jesus said to him that He is praying that even he fail, his faith might not fail. That s why I believe that Jesus look on that time is different on what Peter think. Let me illustrate what I said. If I look at you right now, maybe, you may think, I have a crush on you but actually on my mind, it is different, I look at you because you have dirt in your face. Your mind and my mind in why I am looking you is not the same! It is the same with the look of Jesus to Peter, what was inside in the mind of Jesus why He look at Peter is different to what was in the mind of Peter why Jesus looked at him. He look not to condemn but simply to comfort because on the first place, He already knew Peter will deny Him. That look is simply a look of saying, Peter, do not ran away from me! Remember what I said to you! I am praying that even you fail; your faith will not fail! I am praying that you will still have confidence to come back to me. I am praying that you will not ran away from me instead you will run to me in your failure We all know that Jesus said that, the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angel of God (Luke 12:9) Right? Now let me show you the amazing grace of God to the failure of Peter. After Jesus was resurrected, He commanded His angels to said to Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome: 195

196 Do not be alarmed. You seek of Jesus Nazareth. He has risen; He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell His Disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee (Mark 16:6-7) Notice that? Peter was special mention among the Disciples! Why? Because He is the one who needs much comfort on that time so that his faith will not fail from that failure he experienced. Peter was humbled down by his failure And when Jesus saw Peter, He didn t said, Peter, where is now your promise? You deny me Peter! You fail your promise! Right? That s why I also denied you before the angels of God! Jesus never said that! This is what He said according to the text: Simon, son of John, do you love [agape] me more than these? (John 21:15) The word love that Jesus used here in Greek is agape, which is referring to the highest kind of love. So Jesus is simply asking him, Peter, do you love me to the fullest that you will die for me? Peter was humbled down by his failure that s why he replied in the same verse: Yes Lord, you know that I love [phileo] you (John 21:15) 196

197 I said that he replied with a broken and humble heart is because the love that Peter used here in replying to Jesus in Greek is not agape but phileo, which is referring to admiring someone or liking someone So what Peter is saying is not, Yes Lord, I love you! What he is saying is, No Lord, you already know that I don t and I can t, I only like and admire you Now, be surprised that Jesus never reply, what Peter? You said you love me that you will go with me both to prison and to death and now, you change it, you don t love me instead you just like me! Jesus never said that condemning words and instead, what he said according to the same verse is this: Feed my sheep (v.15) that statement is a welcoming statement! Jesus is saying, Peter, you are still welcome to me as my disciple and I will still use you for my kingdom Jesus welcomed Peter even he failed Jesus and even he honestly said that he cannot love Jesus by his own strength. Lessons on Peter s failure Now, let s go to the lessons. The two lessons we should got today in this story is these: First, As you experience failure now, I want you to know that no one can really separate you from the love of God. Even you fail, God sill 197

198 loves you and waiting for you to come back to Him that s why instead of running away from God, run to God! And the second lesson is, Stop boasting about yourself to God or about your strength to God or about what you can do for God instead act as a weak man who always needs to depend more on God. Act as a man who is totally nothing without the grace of God What to do as you are currently in the moment of failure? Anyways, let me end this chapter by encouraging you also that in times of failures or brokenness, what you must do is not just come to God in prayer but what you must do is more come, seek and experience His presence. The key word here is experience You must seek Him to experience! The most important is you experience God. Let s go back to the failures of Peter and I want to highlight some important truth about the importance of experiencing the presence of God in the times you are down in your failures. After Peter experience the failure of denying Jesus, he actually decided to go back to his old life of fishing and then, the others disciples go with him but as they went out to go for fishing, they caught nothing. (John 21:3) 198

199 Jesus appeared to them and this is what the text said: Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus (v.4) Now, take note of that did not know! On that time, they didn t recognize yet the presence of Jesus. Then, Jesus commanded them to cast the net on the right side of the boat and then, as they cast, this is what the text said: So as they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish (v.6) Did you notice the word they? Meaning, they are many and yet not able to haul it. Who are those they? They are actually seven people according to the previous verse: (1) Simon Peter, (2) Thomas, (3) Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, (4-5) the sons of Zebedee, and (6-7) two others of his disciples were together. (John 21:2) They are seven and yet not able to haul. Okay, let s continue the story. After that, John started to recognize that is the Lord. (v.7) Now at this time, they already recognize the Lord. Always remember that! At this moment, they already recognize Jesus! Now look at this miracle! When they got out on land, Jesus told them to bring some of the fish that they caught (v.10) but Peter brings not just some of the fish but all of the fish they caught. This is what the text said: 199

200 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them (John 21:11) Now, did you notice something strange? On the time that they don t yet recognize Jesus, they are seven and yet not able to haul the net. Now, as they recognize His presence, Peter, who is very near in the presence of Jesus, who is weak, who is broken from failure, able to haul the net it is the same net that was not able to hauled by the seven people in the previous verse. Wow! What is the lesson? I want you to know that in the presence of God, your weakness became your strength! Weak became Strong! Impossible become possible! And broken people gain new strength! That is what is amazing in being in the presence of God that is the importance of experiencing the presence of God in the moment that you are broken and weak because of your failure! Reminders for Today That s why again as you continue in this journey that God is your only joy, every time your failures in the past is haunting you, remain on God s presence and be totally dependent on His Grace and by that, God is still becoming your joy even you are in failure. In your failure, God is still your only Joy. 200

201 Day 23 Refocused Joy: Reason of losing joy in God Day 23! We are already in Day 23. I pray that you are enjoying your everyday reading! Anyways, did you notice that we are actually in the days that we are easily pleased to something new? Our problem today is we are easily become happy to something new! We are easily pleased is the main reason we have a lot of moments in our journey that our joy in God was losing! Now, let me explain to you more this principle by sharing to you the experience of others, my own experience, and [of course] experience of the people of God in Old Testament and that will be the biblical basis of this principle. Basketball Player Experience One of the basketball players in NBA, when he was not yet in NBA, enjoyed playing basketball even just in the streets because of his 201

202 great passion in playing basketball. He said, I love this game! I love playing basketball! Because of his passion, he became a good player of basketball and became part of NBA! It is amazing also that he became rich and popular in Basketball and then, his popularity leads him also to gain a lot of followers especially ladies. By playing basketball, he experienced all of these good stuffs! And slowly day after day, he is losing everything, that one day, he come to the point that he lost everything he lost his richness, his popularity and also his followers especially ladies. As he lost everything, it is very sad that he also lost his passion in playing basketball. He said, I don t have this anymore richness and fame! Because of that, I don t love this game anymore! I don t love playing basketball anymore! I quit! Now let s try to go back quickly to the years that he is not yet in NBA and playing only in the streets! Did you notice that on the very first part of his journey, he actually don t have yet anything richness or even popularity and even he don t have those things, he said, I love playing basketball It is true that he lost everything richness and fame but the truth is he didn t lose the ability to play basketball and yet, it is very surprising that he concluded, I don t love playing basketball 202

203 anymore! In the streets, he has the ability to play basketball that s why he enjoy playing basketball and now in NBA, he lose only his fans and richness but still has the ability to play basketball and yet he don t enjoy basketball anymore like the first joy he experienced in playing in the streets! Did you see that? What happened to him? What happen why he lost his passion in playing basketball? It is because he refocused his joy. He refocused it from simply playing basketball into being admire and popular in the world. His passion is not playing basketball anymore like on the first time he is enjoying playing basketball in the streets instead his passion now is how to be rich, how to be popular, and how to be admire through playing basketball! And that s the problem of our world We are easily pleased and easily become happy to something new is the main reason we lost our joy to the one that really give us joy on the first time. Actually, it is the same with God, the first time we experience this new relationship with God through having faith in Christ or through having an opened eyes in seeing the beauty of His glory, we experience the feeling of being the [most] happiest man in the world but because we are easily pleased and become happy of something new, we easily lost that first joy we experienced in God. 203

204 This principle is actually a reality to many ministers today [including me]. Let me explain! The first time we serve in the ministry, we have this fresh joy in God that s why we are enjoying serving God in the ministry. Right? But as the years passed by, we ended up quitting in the ministry, saying, we have no more joy in serving in the ministry, that end up also losing our joy in God. Why? Ministers! What is our problem? We are easily pleased and easily become happy of something new is the main problem! When we begun our involvement in the ministry, most of the times, our joy is refocused. Our joy is refocused from God to the ministry. We fall in love in the ministry than God Himself the very first reason why we are in the ministry. Refocused joy is the main reason we lose our joy in God while in ministry. Cohmi s Experience I remember the very first time that I experienced the glimpse of the truth that God is our only Joy and that was when I was 17, entering the journey of being missionary in Cambodia. I remember that I was alone sitting under the tree, watching the flow of rivers and listening to the beautiful sound of nature, that I said to my thoughts, Today, I am the [most] happiest man in the world only because of God 204

205 I am saying those statements with no- money in my pocket, with no- big ministry, with no- name, with no- influence, with no- friends [because I am a new foreigner on that place], with no- possible good future in me. That s why on that time, I am happy not because of the situation of my present life but only because of God. My first ministry there is simply to preach the Word of God with a one audience only and the maximum audience that I have there every time I preach is two. It was 9 months that I stay in that place Cambodia, as missionary, experiencing the truth that God is our only Joy. When I went home here in Philippines, it is amazing that God used me in different Churches. I started to preach and share testimonies and the amazing grace of God here is, every time I preach, I see the tears of the people the old ones and more surprising is even the teenagers like me! People love to embrace me and hug me after I m done in sharing my testimony that s why on that time; I really enjoy serving God in this journey of the ministry through preaching. And months later, I decided to enter seminary for following this journey of preaching. One year before I graduate in seminary, I experience the principle that I am sharing in this chapter [ we are easily pleased to something new is the main reason that most of the time, we are losing our joy in God] I experience that when I was invited in a Church near to our Seminary to preach and then, as I am preaching, I am already 205

206 expecting people to be blessed by my preaching because on the first place, I pray hard and I already preached this sermon to the other church that lead them also to be blessed and have tears in their heart. That s why I am expecting that what happen to that Church where I preached this sermon is what will happen also in this Church that I am going to preach. But what happen is, after I preach the same sermon, I am seeing in my own eyes that no one is blessed and no one really say anything even just an amen. Everybody is silent and nobody talks about the sermon. The service was done in a way that it look likes they never heard someone preach! Because of that and also because of my immaturity, I experienced brokenness, and I said to myself, I don t want to preach anymore! I don t want this kind of journey of preaching anymore! I want to quit now because I have no more joy in this kind of journey By saying this statements in my mind while having tears in my eyes, I quickly remember the moment when I was in Cambodia sitting under the tree that I said, I am the (most) happiest man and again, I remember that on that time, I never experience preaching to many people. I just preached with the two audience and every time I end my sermon, I end up always being happy no matter what they react. On that time, I am happy in my simple journey! 206

207 And on that day, I began to realize that my joy was unconsciously refocused and that is the exact reason why I don t have joy in my journey anymore. My joy was refocused from God to the preaching. My joy is not in God anymore but my joy is in leading people to be blessed in my preaching and leading them to admire me in my preaching. Again, the principle is true that we are easily pleased and become happy of something new is the reason that most of the times, we are losing our joy in God. Refocused Joy is the reason of losing our joy in God! Israelite s Experience Now, let us end this chapter with the biblical basis of that principle! Every principle we learned from experience and from our journey should be proven and supported first by the Biblical passages before we share it and teach it to someone. That s why let s go now to Jeremiah 2 the biblical basis of our principle. God said to Israelites, I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as bride (Jeremiah 2:2) Now, why God said that to them? Why God said that He remember the first- love of Israelites to Him that it is like the love of a young lady to her new husband. Why He said that to the Israelites? It is because on their present day, their love to God is not the same anymore like the first time they love God that s why 207

208 God said on the next verse: What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went farm from me (v.5) What happen to Israelites that she loses his joy in God and went away to God [His husband]? What happen why their love to God is not the same to first time they love God when they are young in relationship with God? Did you know what happen? God gave us the answer in verse 6. God said: They did not say, Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of desserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells? (Jeremiah 2:6) Notice the statement of God: they did not say, where is the Lord Meaning, they don t seek the God who save them and bless them after experiencing those blessing and salvation. They are easily pleased and become happy of something new is the reason they lose their joy in God. They are falling in love more on the blessing than the Blesser Himself. They are falling in love more on the gifts than the Giver Himself. They are falling in love more on the salvation than God who saves. Their Joy is refocused refocused from God to God s goodness 208

209 that s why their love, devotion and their joy to God is not the same anymore to the first time they love God. Reminders for Today Let me end this chapter by saying to you what God said to Israelites! God said [to you], I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride (Jeremiah 2:2) My friend, try to remember the first time you meet the Lord and try to remember the feelings you have on that time it is the feelings that you are the [most] happiest man in the world because God, the ultimate joy of humanity is already with you. Is the feelings you have right now in God is the same feelings you have to the first time you have God in your life? Be reminded today that God is your only Joy and don t get easily pleased and become happy on something new. Be reminded that refocused joy is the reason of many Christians ending up their journey with no more joy and delight in God. Please, sustain and remain your joy only in God no matter what happen to your life. God is our only Joy. In the next days, I am going to discuss more about topics that will remind you that in everything you do, God should remain as your only Joy. 209

210 Day 24 In your prayer life, God is your only Joy Hi! You are already in Day 24. In this day, what we are going to talk about is about your prayer life! How is your prayer life? In your prayer life, God should be also your only joy! The sad truth in our modern days is the reason why many ask and do not receive what they ask is because they ask a wrong prayer request and the reason why they ask a wrong prayer request is because in their prayer life, God is not their only joy. Now, let s go first to the biblical basis of that truth: We don t receive what we prayed because God is not our only Joy in our prayer life Why we don t receive on what we ask? You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people (James 4:3-4) 210

211 James said, You ask and do not receive meaning, you don t receive your prayer request and you know what is the reason why sometimes we don t receive? James answered, because you ask wrongly Sometimes, we don t get the right answer because we have a wrong question! It is the same in prayer when you ask, you don t receive it because what you asked is wrong! You have wrong prayer request and that is the reason you don t receive! And why we ask wrongly? James gives us idea in the next verse! He said, you adulterous people! (v.4) And actually, the adulterous people here in Greek is moichalides that comes from the word moichos. Moichos is the masculine of adultery, meaning, it is the men committing adultery while moichalides is the opposite, it is the feminine of adultery that s why the adulterous people in this passage which is originally translated as moichalides in Greek literally translated as adulteresses! Meaning, it is a lady who is committing adultery! It s not adulterous people; it is adulteresses in original version Greek version! When we are praying, James gives us a picture that we are like a lady! James is telling us that we don t receive on what we ask because what we asked is wrong and we asked wrong because we are like an adulteresses like a lady who is cheating his own husband! Now, what does it mean? Let me explain that clearer! 211

212 In this passage, James is simply giving us a picture that when we are praying, we are the wife of God and God is our Husband. And sometimes, we ask wrongly because first of all, God is not our only joy and our satisfaction! God who is our husband is not our only joy we have an adulteress s heart in praying! When we are praying, we are like the wife asking twenty dollars to her own husband to use it to date with other guys and never puts all her joy only in her own husband Adulteresses Heart! That s why the first thing you must learned is this In your prayer life, God is your only Joy. You must realize that every prayer request you should have should lead you to have more joy in God and should lead you to have more delight in him! In your prayer life, delight first in God And actually, that is exactly what David is saying: Delight yourself in the Lord [live a life that God is your Joy] and He will give the desire of your heart (Psalm 37:4) Bible clearly tell us that Delight yourself in the Lord [first!!!] and He will give you the desire of your heart! I put first because that is very important and If I will not emphasize delighting in the Lord as the first thing to do, many will misunderstand this verse, they are going 212

213 to took this is in a very self- centered way or self- focused way. If I am not going to put the word first in that verse, they will understand it in this way: Think of any desire in you want and create that desire in your heart and after that, come to God and delight in Him or put your joy in Him and then, He will give you your own desire! that is not the message of the verse! So don t say, I desire to have an expensive motor because I want to stroll in the town and in order to receive that, I will decide to start delighting in Him and along the way of delighting in Him, He will give me my motor! Yehey! by that wrong examples, it shows obviously that your delight is more in your own desire your motor than God Himself! This verse is not a genie verse and it is not also a your wish is my command verse. That s why I try to put first! Delight yourself in the Lord first and He will give you the desire of your heart! It means, put your joy in God first. Delight in Him first in a way that you are going to delight in Him not because you want to receive what you desire. You just simply delight in Him as He is worthy to be delighted in. And then, along the way you are delighting in Him, He is the one who will put the desires in your heart that is also His will for you for His glory and then, as He planted His will to you in your desire, you will ask Him to help you in the burning desire that you have [which actually comes from God through delighting in Him first] then, boom! Receive it because you ask the right desire! 213

214 Did you get what I mean? Let me explain that clearer so that as we end our lesson this day, you will really understand everything clear as crystal clear! Is that okay? Anyways, even you say no! I will continue to share the illustration. Now, let us say that My Father s will to me is to be a Doctor and let us make it also more specific. My Father s will to me is to be a Doctor in Philippines. When I was a kid, I don t have that desire even one percent of that desire but in my journey, I live a life that my Father is my only joy. Meaning, I am happy only when I am with Him and because of that, I grew up with a very close relationship to my Dad. Everyday we are talking. He is always sharing to me something related to a Doctor so that he will transplant his will to me in my heart. He is saying to me, Son, do you know that doctor helps a lot of people? They are great! Right? He is saying also to me, Son, you know, it s a great privilege to be a doctor here in Philippines, many admire that dream! and when I grew up, I come to my Dad asking, Dad! Can I be a doctor someday here in Philippines? Can you help for this burning desire that I have? My Dad is saying in his mind, Exactly! That s my will for you! You ask rightly! Now, receive! 214

215 Did you get the point? As I am delighting in my dad, my dad continuously putting to my heart his will and after I have that desire, I asked my dad to help me in my desire and boom! He will surely give that to me because on the first place, that is what He wants me to ask! That is what it means: Delight yourself in the Lord first and He will give you the desire of your heart (Ps. 37:4) Now, let s go back to James! James said, you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly you adulteresses! (James 4:3-4) the opposite of that is this: you ask and receive because you ask right you who is delighting in God Reminders for Today As you live on the truth that God is your joy, I am encouraging you to change now the perspective of your prayer! You should have this in your mind every time you are praying: Every prayer request I ask to God should serve as a sweet love letter from Him! The reason I ask is nothing more and nothing less but only to fall in love not to the letter, not also to mailman but to the One who wrote the letter God Himself! God is our only joy even in our prayer life! That s all for today! See you tomorrow! 215

216 Day 25 In delighting in God's Word, God is your only Joy Wow! We are already in Day 25. In this day, I am going to encourage you as much as I can [of course only by the mercy and grace of God] to encourage you to have a mind that in reading and meditating God s word, our motivation should be only to enjoy God Himself no other motivation! That s why I entitled this chapter, In delighting in God's Word, God is your only joy again, it is only. Psalm 1:1-2 Look at this! Psalm 1:1-2! Psalmist said: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, not sits in the seat of scornful but his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in His Law, he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2) 216

217 Okay now, Let us learn from this passage! Again, Psalmist said, Blessed is the man And who is that man that is blessed according to this verse? Let s continue Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful By the way, I am not going to discuss this verse deeper because we will go now directly to verse 2 where we will get the main lesson of this chapter so let s jump in verse 2 Verse 2 said, But his delight is in the law of the Lord... the Law of the Lord here is translated as instructions or torah [in Hebrew]. That s why in their times, it is actually referring to the first five books of Moses the torah! But right now, it is referring to our Bible today, what we believe as inspired Word of God. That s why we can paraphrase this verse in this: but his delight is in the Bible, and in the Bible he meditates day and night. Now, try to notice also how Psalm 1:2 starts! Verse 2 said, but His delight It starts from the word but and not from the word and where but simply shows that the man in this verse is actually the opposite of the previous verse. What do I mean by that? It means that verse 1 is the fruit while verse 2 is the root. Let me illustrate what I am saying by making my own sample verse that will show that verse 1 is the fruit while verse 2 is the root. Okay? 217

218 This is just an illustration! Sample, Let us have Cohmi 1:1-2! And that verse said, Happy is a lady who is not very fat or obese (v.1) but her delight is in diet (v.2) Verse 1 tells us, happy is a lady who is not very fat or obese! let me repeat! Happy is a lady who is not very fat or obese and verse 2 said, but her delight is in diet Verse 2 which is talking about delighting in diet is the root. Now, the moment you delight in Diet, the fruit will be the verse 1 which is you become a lady that is not very fat or obese You get the point? Delighting in diet is the root while being a happy lady that is not very fat and obese is the fruit. It is the same in our passage, let me read again Psalms 1:1-2. Verse 1 says, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seats of scornful and verse 2 says, but his delight is in God s Word Verse 2 which talks about delighting in the Word of God is the root. Now, the moment you are delighting in the Word of God, the fruit will be the verse 1 which is you become a man that not walks in the counsel of ungodly and a man that not stand in the path of sinner and a man that does not sit in the seats of scornful and that is the purpose why verse 2 starts from but not from and. So meaning, most of the bad and worst people that are described in verse 1 are actually the people who are not delighting in the Word of God or the people who stop delighting in the Word of God! 218

219 That s why in the statement in verse 1 that says, blessed is the man, the blessed man there is referring to the man in verse 2 the one whose delight is in the Law of the Lord. In short, Psalms 1:1-2 is saying, Blessed is the man whose delight is in meditating the Word of God Day and night And actually, the blessed here in Hebrew is esher which comes from the root word asher which means, happy or happiness. That s why the literal translation of the blessed here is happy. Happy is the man! And it is also very surprising that if you will check the Hebrew, the Hebrew esher or happy in this verse is actually not in singular form but it is in plural form. That s why we are going to translate it also in plural. So happiness became happinesses and you know when I am typing to my laptop this chapter and I typed this word happinesses, my laptop gets angry on that word! My laptop underlines that word by a color red! Meaning, there is no such nonsense word in English! In English, there is no actually happinesses but in Hebrew, there is! In Hebrew, it is in plural form. So in short, Psalmist said, He is more than happy as he is delighting in the Word of God! And the question today is why do you think that sometimes some people never experience extreme happiness or extreme joy from delighting in the Word of God? Why even they already spend hours and hours reading and meditating the Word of God, they never 219

220 experience that happiness? Why every time they are going to read the Word of God, most of the time they cannot express the same feelings that psalmist expressed in verse 1? Happinesses! The answer is Because we fail to realize that delighting in the Word of God is also referring to delighting in God Himself. Delighting in God s Word and delighting in God is a one delight. Many delight in the Word of God but not in God Himself! And now the question is this: Where did that principle come from? I am going to show you two biblical passages and share also my own experience to show you how did I come with that principle. Main reason man never experience happiness in delighting in Scriptures Look what Jesus said here: How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:44) Based on the context of this verse, Jesus is talking here to the people who are delighting in studying the Word of God or simply the scriptures. Jesus said in the previous verse, You search the scriptures (John 5:39) See? He is really talking to the one who is delighting in scripture on that time that is His audience! His audience is the people who love studying their Bible! 220

221 And the believe that Jesus is saying here in how can you believe is referring to seeing the glory of God in Christ to be admired, received and enjoyed. In other words, Jesus is saying, how can you see the glory of God as you are studying the scripture Now let me explain how come that that is what it means. According to John, the author of what we are reading, believing is actually receiving. He said to his introduction: But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12) Did you see that? The truth is receiving is believing! Let me explain what is receiving by simply showing to you the previous verses: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (And the Word became flesh as John 1:14 said which clearly referring to Jesus. In other words, Jesus was God). He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not made that was made He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. (John 1:1-3,10-11) Obviously, the receiving here that people failed to do in its context is referring to acknowledging that Jesus is the Word that was God that 221

222 became flesh and that all things were created through Him. In other words, it is referring to seeing the glory of God in Christ to be admired, acknowledge, received and enjoyed. That s why as John said on the next verse: But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name (John 1:12) The receiving that John is saying here based on the context is seeing the glory of God in Christ to be received and enjoyed. Receiving is believing! That s why if you will go back to the passage we read a while ago, you will see the previous verse of it is like this: I have come in my Father s name, and you don t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe (John 5:43-44) Again, believing is receiving even in this passage! And we already know that receiving is referring to seeing the glory of God to be admired and rejoiced. Now notice the word can in how can you believe It s not how will you believe instead it is how can you believe Meaning, even you will or you want to believe, you cannot believe! You don t have ability to believe or to receive or simply to see the glory of God to enjoy it even you really want to see it as you are delighting in 222

223 scripture or in the Word of God. Do you know why? Let me show you the main reason of it by giving you the whole statement of the verse: How can you believe (How can you see the glory of God), when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:44) If you are studying scriptures only to get human praise like most preachers are doing in studying their bible, you eyes will be closed to see the glory of God! And because you cannot see it, there is no doubt that you are not experiencing happiness in it! That s how many people never experience happiness in delighting in God s word it is because as they study, they are thinking on what they are going to preach or to teach not to help people to enjoy God more but to lead people to praise them. They love human praises! That s why as you delight in the Word of God, your joy is not the human praise instead your joy should be only in God or else, you will never see God s Glory and will never experience happiness in delighting in God s Word! Always remember that in delighting in God s Word, God is your only Joy! Delighting in God s Word and delighting in God should be a one delight! David said: 223

224 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple (Psalm 27:4) Try to notice the word inquire! Actually the word inquire here in Hebrew can be translated also as meditate. That s why if you have ESV Bible, there is a footnote in that word and it is written in the footnote: meditate. So again, in this verse, David is meditating and as He meditates, He has only one desire in his heart. What is that desire? It is simply to enjoy the beauty of the Lord. That s why let us had the same principle in the life of David: As we meditate the Word of God, our only desire is simply to enjoy His Beauty Delighting in God s word and Delighting in God is a one delight. My Own Experience In my journey with God in preaching, God help me to make this truth [In delighting God s Word, God is your only Joy] a reality in my life when He spoke to me in my thoughts while meditating His Word for my scheduled preaching in the Chapel in our Seminary. This is the question that enters to my mind that change my whole perspective: Cohmi, are you going to continue meditating My word [Bible] at this moment even someone will inform you today that the preaching scheduled to you next month is already canceled? 224

225 In that question, God taught me that I should put my joy in meditating God s word not for the sake of preaching or for the sake of public teaching ministry but only for the sake of enjoying God. From that experience, I learn to have more delight in His Word. Reminders for Today So again, I just want to remind you this day, In delighting in God s word, God is your only joy and that s all for today! Good- bye! See you tomorrow! 225

226 Day 26 In fasting, God is your only Joy Hello! It is already Day 26! Hmmm We still have 14 days to go. Let me start our lesson today by asking you a personal question about your journey with God. When is the last time you fast? By the way, what I mean fasting here is you decided for hours or days not to eat any kind of food, you will just spend your whole time in praying and reading the word of God. That s what I mean by fasting. Okay? Now, question! Are you still practicing that? If not, don t see me as condemning you but I want to say to you that if you are not practicing that, you are actually missing the half- joy of being a Christian. And on the other side, if you are still practicing fasting, then, that s good for you! But wait I have a new question to you. Why are you doing fasting? Try to think about it! 226

227 Wrong motivation of Fasting I hope you are not like others and also me before in fasting. When we are fasting, we fast because we want our sins to be forgiven, we fast so that God will smile on us and will be pleased on us, we fast because we want our prayer request to be answered, we fast because we want to get something from God out of our own desire. Hope you are not like us before as you are currently practicing fasting now because everything I said to you is actually not biblical. Biblical Motivation of Fasting But anyways, what should be our right motivation when we are fasting? The right motivation should be of course biblical. It should be based one what Bible said. Now, allow me to show you what Jesus taught on when and why we should fast. Let s look together the passage in Matthew 9:14-15 and let s learn together. Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast (Matthew 9:14-15) 227

228 People are asking Jesus, why do they and the Pharisees fast, but his disciples do not fast? (v.14) You know why they don t fast? Jesus replied to them is this: Can the wedding guest [referring to the Disciples] mourn [referring to fasting] as long as the Bridegroom [referring to Himself Jesus!] is with them? (v.15a) Let me clear what I am saying! Jesus is saying here, Can my Disciples fast as long as I am with them? Did you see that? They don t fast because Jesus Christ is still with them. The purpose of fasting is very clear! Obviously, the purpose of fasting is simply to experience being with Jesus, the image of God or simply to seek God and experience being with God super intimately. That s fasting! That s why the amazing truth is this The absence of fasting of the Disciples in their times is the clear evidence that the very presence of God is still in their midst. Now, let s continue on what Jesus said in the next statement. He said, the days will come when the bridegroom [Jesus] is taken away from them [disciples] (v.15b) Jesus is saying that He will not remain to be with them but it doesn t mean that Jesus will not be with them anymore because Jesus promised also that the Holy Spirit [His Spirit] will be with them always and forever. What He mean is this they are not going to experience anymore the more intimate, the more personal, the more face to face presence of Jesus because He will 228

229 went back to Father. That s why He is simply saying on the verse we read earlier is this: the days will come that I will return to Father in heaven and during that time, you what Jesus told them to do? Let s complete the whole statement and learn something new! the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then [and then? What?] they will fast (v.15) See? When and why they will fast? They will fast when the very presence of Jesus is already in Heaven and seated at the right hand of God. So when we are going to fast? The answer is when Jesus is already in heaven and that time is now! That s why I want you to know that now is the time to fast! Okay, let s go with other question, why the Disciples are going to fast? It is because they are missing the moment experiencing that the very presence of God is with them, talking with them, laughing with them and eating with them. So why are we going to fast? The answer is because we are longing for the much more of God. The truth of fasting is this the burning desires of your heart to do fasting should comes only from the growing seed of homesickness for God in your heart. Fasting is having a heart like Augustine when he prayed to God, my heart cannot rest until it rest you. You fast because you are hungry for God. You fast because you are longing to experience more of God. 229

230 In this age, the truth is there is an ache inside every Christian that Jesus is not here fully and intimately and as powerfully and as glorious as we want to be we hunger for so much more. That s ache give birth to fasting! Fasting is crying to God what Psalmist cried and longing: As the deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1-2) Reward in living a life that God is our only Joy Actually as you live on that principle that when you are fasting, your desire and longing is only to experience God more, I believe in the future, I will see you being awarded by God. You might start thinking again, Where did you learn that? Let me show you what Paul said to Timothy: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that Day and not only me but also to all who have loved his appearing (2 Timothy 4:8) Did you see that? Paul will be awarded but not only him but also those who loved the appearing of Jesus. The one who loves the appearing of Jesus is not the one who loves studying the doctrine of 230

231 the second coming of Jesus but the one who s God is his only Joy in his life. That s why those who people live in a life that God is their only joy [like us] will surely be rewarded also in the future. Hmmm that s why the truth is as you continue living in this life that God is your only joy even in fasting, you will be awarded in the future according to Paul. Exhortation to Fasting That s why let me end this chapter with a short exhortation about fasting as a means of desiring God more. Listen and read this slowly and carefully. When you fast you decided not to eat food! Right? Practically, food symbolizes your life. If you don t eat food in weeks, or months or forever, surely, you are going to die! That s why as you fast, you are simply saying gently in your heart: Lord, I am dying I am near to death I am in emergency room please come here quickly You are my only life! I am so hungry to You! I want You! Reminders for Today Be reminded that you fast only because you are hungry for God! That s why let us not fast not because we are or we want to be the strongest or greatest man of God but only because we are the (most) hungriest man to be in God! In fasting, God is your only Joy! 231

232 Day 27 In serving God, When He is my only joy Hello Day 27! Say Hi to Day 27! You are already in Day 27. This day, from the title itself, we are going to learn what happen when God is our only joy in our journey of serving God in our ministries. When God became our only joy in our ministries, the truth is [1] earthly rewards and [2] future results of what we are doing for God will not be our business anymore because that is not our joy anymore, God is our only joy! Now, let me give you the biblical basis of that truth. 1. Earthly rewards of what we are doing for God will not be our business anymore when God becomes our only joy. David is our best example living in a journey that God is our only Joy and that is obviously revealed in what he said in Psalm 27:4. Let me 232

233 show that to you again. [Again and again?] Yes, again and again! So that as we end this book you already memorized the life verse of our journey. David said: One thing that have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple (Psalm 27:4) Now, let s continue Do you remember the story of Goliath? Look what the Bible said here: And the men of Israel said, And the king will enrich the man who kills [Goliath] with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father s house free in Israel. (1 Samuel 17:25) People on that time knew that King Saul said that the one who will kill Goliath will receive a reward of great riches and will receive also his daughter as his wife. Amazing! Whoever defeats Goliath will surely be rewarded with great earthly riches. Let s make the long story short. David defeated Goliath. Now, King Saul is already giving his reward, which is his daughter. It is very surprising that David never replied, Oh yes! That is what I m waiting for because that s my reward in defeating Goliath. I deserve that award! Right? David never said that even he has right to say that. What surprising more is he said to King Saul when he is already receiving the reward, Who am I, and who are my relatives, my 233

234 Father s clan in Israel that I should be son- in- law to the King (1 Samuel 18:18) and he also said, Does it seem to you a little thing to become king s son- in- law, since I am a poor man and have no reputation (v.23) Wow! David feel he don t deserve that reward even he defeated Goliath, which simply shows that when he fight Goliath, rewards are not in his mind. That s also why he never expects of it. David s motivation in fighting Goliath You know why he fights? Listen to this! This is what David said to Goliath before they fight: I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know there is a God in Israel (1 Samuel 17:46) Wow! He fights thinking only of the glory of God to be displayed all over the earth that s why rewards are not in his mind anymore. That s why David never say, One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I might be the greatest man of God or that I might be the greatest King and Leader of Nation for God s Glory! David never said that because what he desires is simply to enjoy God all the days of his life. 234

235 Like David, when God becomes our only Joy, earthly rewards will not be in our mind anymore. When God becomes our only joy, we will serve Him not to get earthly rewards but simply to enjoy more of God. 2. Results of what we are doing for God will not be our business anymore when God becomes our only joy. The seventy- two returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. (Luke 10:17) Those seventy- two obviously have joy in the success of what they are doing for God. Right? Now, look what Jesus replied to their rejoicing in the next verse! Do not rejoice in this that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20) Jesus said, do not rejoice in this Do not rejoice in what? Jesus said, do not rejoice in this, that spirit are subjects to you Wow! Jesus is saying, do not rejoice that you are successful in what you are doing for God and Jesus told them in same verse where should be the source of their joy. Jesus clearly said, but rejoice that your name are written in Heaven. (v.20) What does it mean? It means that their joy should not be in the result of what they are doing for God especially to the success of what they did for God instead their joy 235

236 should be in God in eternity. Their joy should be in having privilege to enjoy God here in earth and forever in heaven. Results of what we are doing for God should not be our joy especially successful results because God is our only joy. My Personal Testimony in serving God that He is my only Joy Actually in my ministry, what I struggle most is the preparation of my heart in preaching because the hard thing in preaching is your true heart why you are going to preach will be reveal most of the times not before you preach or while you are preparing your sermon. Most of the times, it is after you preach! After you preach is the only time you will see if God is really your only joy or not. After I preach, if people respond positively and admire me, I shouted, Glory to God! Thank You Lord! but if people respond negatively, I am so sad saying, Lord! Why? I prepared for this! I pray so much for this! I spend a lot for this sermon! Why? Now, did you see that? My true heart is revealed! My heart is in the result of my preaching especially the affirmation and applause of men. That s why my joy in preaching is shakable because my joy is in the future result of my preaching than in my present moment with God while preparing and studying my sermon. 236

237 That s why after learning the truth that God is our only joy, my perspective also in serving God especially in preaching His word was changed. My perspective why I am praying as part of my preparation of my preaching was changed. I pray not mainly to be effective in the pulpit but I pray that may God sustain my joy only in Him no matter what is the result of my preaching. In serving God, result of what we are doing for God is not our business anymore because God is our only joy. Reminders for Today Now, as I end this chapter, let me summarize everything I share. Let us simply learn today that when God becomes our only Joy, results of what we are doing for God even successful results will not be our joy anymore and even the earthly rewards that we are going to receive as we serve Him will not be our joy anymore. Rewards and results might sometimes made us glad but it should be always temporary, our joy should always return and end in God because we are living in a life that God is our only Joy only joy! 237

238 Day 28 Let God work while we rest 12 days to go! We are already here in Day 28. In the ministry, it is very surprising that God is actually most glorified in a weak person who can do nothing to the point that what he can do is only to rest in God s strength and let God work in everything. Maybe at this moment, you are already thinking and saying by your confused mind, What! If I will just rest and let God work, He will be more happy in me and will be more glorified? Exactly! Actually God will be happier! Now, allow me to show you biblical passages about that truth. Jabez Let s go the life of Jabez. I think most of the people [maybe including you] already know the famous prayer of Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4. He prayed: 238

239 Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border [territory], and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain (1 Chronicles 4:10) And in the story, it is amazing that that kind of prayer honored the Lord more than his brothers: Jabez was more honorable than his brothers (1 Chronicles 4:9) But the sad thing here is many misunderstand the point of the prayer of Jabez how it honored the Lord. Many misunderstand it by saying, Let us be like Jabez having a big faith in God by praying to God that He will bless us and enlarge our territory by fulfilling our own big and impossible dreams! Let us pray that we are going to have sport cars, house and lots, millions of dollars, big time ministries and big time preaching! Let us pray for our impossible dreams and then, like Jabez, it will please and honor the Lord! How sad that many misunderstand how the prayer of Jabez pleased and honored the Lord. It was written: Jabez was more honorable than his brothers (v.9) Now notice the words than his brothers. God was honored in Jabez than his brothers. That s why the best way to understand how the prayer of Jabez honored the Lord is by knowing first who are his brothers. 239

240 Some Scholars and Theologians suggest that his brothers are in the previous chapters They are the Simeonites and Reubenites! And actually, these three brothers Jabez, Simeonites and Reubenites have a common denominator in their story. All of them have a territory and the only difference is they have different stories on how they got their own territories. Simeonites [from chapter 4] gained his territory by fighting for it. Meaning, he work for it! The other one is the Reubenites [from the chapter 5], where he gained his territory by fighting for it also but the difference is he fights only after asking God to support them in the fight. They fight using God s support. And the last one is Jabez! He gained his land only by asking God for it or only by praying for it. He fights for his territory nonviolently but by depending on God through prayer Among the three brothers, Jabez is the one who do nothing in getting his territory instead God do all the work and because God did all the work, all glory is given to God alone. Obviously by that, God was more honored to Jabez among his brothers! 240

241 In the life of Jabez, let us learn that God is most glorified in us when we are weak resting in God and letting Him to do all the work. Anyways, don t end up reading here, finish this chapter so that you will not be confused and you will not misunderstand also this truth that I am sharing today. We rest and let God work doesn t mean that we pray and then, we sleep like sleeping beauty and as we wake up, we shouted, Amen! Glory to God! That s not the application of the truth I am sharing! Let me explain more the application of that truth later. At this time, let us spend more our time in seeing other passage that supports that truth! Gideon Let s go to the book of Judges. In the book of Judges, God used Gideon. Did you know Gideon? Let me introduce him to you. Gideon said to God: Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father s house (Judges 6:15) Wow! Gideon was the weakest man from the weakest clan and it is amazing that God want to use that kind of man! 241

242 Let us continue the story. When they are going to attack their enemy, which are the Midianites, God commanded Gideon to decrease the numbers of the warriors that will attack their enemy because they are so many. And what is surprising in the story is, it starts from 33,000 soldiers and then, ended up with 300 soldiers only. (Judges 7:6) What! God want to use 300 soldiers than 33,000 soldiers and He also wants to use a weak leader that is from the weakest clan? What is the point of God in this story? What He wants us to learn? Look what the Lord said to Gideon on what is His purpose to everything. The Lord said to Gideon: The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, My own hand has saved me. (Judges 7:2) If they will win over Mindianites with 33,000 soldiers, they will acknowledge their own strength by saying We won! We won! We won! but if they will win by just 300 soldiers, they will surely say, It s impossible, this is really impossible! Did we really win? This is really the work of God! God won! Glory to God! Now, the purpose of God why He wants to use only 300 soldiers rather than 33,000 soldiers in the battle is very clear God will be 242

243 more glorified in their lack and in their weaknesses. The story of Gideon tells us also that God s heart is not actually to help them to win from their enemies instead God s main heart is to get the glory in their victory over their enemies. That s why the truth is God is most glorified in us when we are totally weak to the point that we can do nothing and what we can do is only to rest in God s strength and let Him work in everything for the sake of His own glory. But don t misunderstand this truth! I am not saying that you should now be weak to that point that you should now be poor or uneducated [like modern ministers do boasting that God will use them more because they are weak and humble that they never undergone Bible schools] No! That s not the point. The point that I am saying that you should be weak is you should be a man that seriously need to depend on God because without Him, all you can do is nothing even you are an educated man or even from a rich family or from influential family. What I mean of be weak is be totally dependent on God not be poor and don t study. Isaiah In ancient times, Isaiah said that the gods in their times exalt themselves by making man to work for them and according to him, 243

244 man serving those gods actually shows more and reveals more how weak is their gods. Working for God shows that God is weak that s why we don t work for God instead we let God work for His kingdom and for His glory. And that is exactly what Paul said in Acts 17:24-25 about God. Look at this! He said: The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything (Acts 17:25-25) Our God doesn t need anything. He doesn t need the work of man unlike the gods in ancient times. That s how strong and glorious is our God! Now, the application of this truth in our ministry is we should be reminded that in our ministry, we are not working for God. We, of course, are called to serve God in the ministries but because of the truth that we learned a while ago, let us be reminded again and again that serving God doesn t mean that you are working for God, it means, you are resting in God s strength and letting Him to work in you for His glory. 244

245 And that is what exactly Peter said in his letter: Whoever speaks, as one who speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 4:11) He said, whoever serves as one who serves must served by serve by what? Peter continued, by the strength that God supplies and what is the reason that as we serve in the ministry, we should be totally dependent on God s strength? Peter answered, in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ Meaning, it is so that God will be glorified in our every actions in the ministries! Reminders for Today That s why again, as I end this chapter, I want to remind you that in the ministry, you should realize that you is not in you instead God is in you. Meaning, without God working in you, all you can do in the ministry is totally nothing! You are totally weak and limb without God working in you in the ministry. You are totally dependent on Him! And that is one of the essences of living a life that God is your only Joy even in the ministry - You are weak and He is your only strength! 245

246 Day 29 Heart for the King We are already in Day 29. In this day, by the help of grace of God to us, I am going to encourage you that in your journey, your heart should be not in the kingdom itself but only in the King of the Kingdom by sharing you a simple story in the Old Testament! Are you ready for that? [Ready!] Oh! That s good! Okay, let s start. Servant Joab in the eyes of King David In 2 Samuel 23, if you are going to read that chapter, you are going to notice that what was written there are list of names of David s Mighty Men that s why verse 8 started with this kind of statement: These are the names of the mighty men whom David had (v.8) It s a chapter of list of names of the mighty men of David. And what is surprising there is Joab who is one of his great leaders and warriors is missing on the list. He is not on the list of David s 246

247 mighty men. It is more surprising that his brothers and his armor- bearer is the only who are mentioned in the chapter and every time he is mentioned, he is mentioned always only as a reference to others. Meaning, his brothers and armor- bearer are mightier than him even he did greater things than them! Look at this samples of using his name only as reference to others mighty warriors: Abishai, the brother of Joab (v.18) Ashael, the brother of Joab (v.24) Nahari of Beeroth, the armor- bearer of Joab (v.37) See? Joab is not included as David s mighty men even he did a lot of great things in the kingdom. Did you know why? Let me show you how come that even Joab serve in the kingdom of David by doing a lot of great things, he is not still included as one of the great man in the kingdom according to the eyes of King David. Joab in the Kingdom of David Let me start the story of Joab in this Absalom, one of the sons of David, stole his kingship. He is also looking hard to kill his father David but even though that is what 247

248 Absalom is doing to his own father, blood is always sticker than water that s why David [still] ordered to his leaders, which is Joab and Abishai and Ittai, Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom (1 Samuel 18:5a) meaning, David ordered them not to kill Absalom for his sake. And it was written also in the same verse: and all people heard when the King [which is David] gave orders to all commanders [which are Joab, Abishai and Ittai] about Absalom [which is, don t kill Absalom for my sake] (v.5b) So again, at this time, all people know that they have an order from the King not to kill his son Absalom for the sake of the King. Okay, let s continue the story. One of the Warriors of David saw Absalom hanging in an oak and ready to be killed anytime. And that warrior who saw Absalom reported it to Joab. (1 Samuel 18:10) Did you know what is the reply of Joab to the warrior? He said on the next verse: What! You saw [Absalom!] Why then did you not strike him there to the ground? I would have glad to give you ten pieces of silver and a belt (1 Samuel 18:11) In this verse, it is very obvious that Joab has already the plan to kill Absalom for Kingdom s sake. He is going to kill Absalom because what he thinks is what is good in the Kingdom rather than what is good for the King. 248

249 Now, did you know what is the reply of that warrior to Joab? He said on the next verse: Even if I felt in my hand the weight of a thousand pieces of silver, I would not reach out my hand against the King s son [Absalom], for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, for my sake protect the young man Absalom (1 Samuel 18:12) Now, look what Joab did: Again, Joab replied, I will not waste time like this with you! And he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the oak (1 Samuel 18:14) In short, Joab killed Absalom! Now, in the story, you will see two kinds of warrior serving in a one Kingdom. One is Joab, he is serving in the kingdom for kingdom s sake He don t have the heart for the King instead his heart is only in the kingdom that s why his mind is to do what is good in the kingdom and not what is good for the King. The other one is serving in the kingdom for King s sake. His heart is for the King not for the kingdom that s why he serves the King not the kingdom. He serves for the sake of the King. His heart is to listen to the command of King and obey it. 249

250 That s why in the end of the story, even Joab did a lot of great things in the kingdom, he is still not great in the eyes of the King his name is not included in David s mighty men. Again, it is because he don t have the heart for the King instead his heart is only in the kingdom his mind is to do what is good in the kingdom, which is killing Absalom and not what is good for the King, which is not killing Absalom for King s sake. Great warriors in the eyes of the King are not the one who is doing a lot of great things in his kingdom but the one who has a great heart mainly to the King and not to the Kingdom He serves the King not the kingdom and He lives for King s sake not for Kingdom s sake. Meaning, his heart is to listen to the King what to do for his kingdom rather than to do what is good in his own eyes for the kingdom. To be great in the eyes of the King is not to think what is good for his kingdom instead to be great is simply to have a heart for the King. That s why I am encouraging you now, have a heart for the King not just for His Kingdom! What matters in our ministry! In your current ministry, let me ask you a question. Why are you serving in the ministry? I hope you serve not just for the sake of the ministry itself [like Joab!]. I hope you are in the ministry for the sake 250

251 of enjoying God you have a heart for God! You are in the ministry not for the sake of doing great things but for the sake of delighting in God. What matters in our ministry is not the ministry itself but God! And actually, the main reason why many in the ministry are burned- out and end up quitting in the ministry is because in the ministry, they start falling in love in God first but they end up falling in love more in the ministry than God Himself. They forgot that their first love is God not the ministry. They forgot that they are married to God not to the ministry. They spend a lot of thinking strategies on what to do in the kingdom to the point that they don t have enough time to be alone with the King their heart is for the Kingdom not for the King! Try to notice the journey of Abraham, Jacob and the other man of God. God reveals His plan to them one at a time. Did you know why? It is because the most important to God is not just His plan to them but also His personal relationship with them. If He will reveal to them His plan in a one setting, it is possible that they will be focused on the plan itself rather than the one who made the plan but if he will reveal to them the plan one at a time, their focus is only on Him who made and will continue to reveal the plan. In other words, in your present journey, the truth that He reveal to you His plan in your journey one at a time is because He want you to 251

252 have a heart not for His kingdom or for the ministries or even for your own journey in this world, He want you to have a heart for Himself. That s why again, Have heart for the King! Reminders for Today As I end this chapter, I want to encourage you to be like David who is saying: One thing have I asked of the Lord that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord [Psalm 27:4 our life verse in our journey!] Let us be like him that his heart is only in God. His heart is not on how to be a great King of God or how to be a great warrior in the kingdom of God. His heart is only on how to be in the presence of God always or simply how to live a life that God is his only joy. Let us be like him, a man who has heart not in the kingdom of God but only in God. Let us be a man who has a great heart not just in evangelism, not in mission, not in discipleship, not in preaching but also [the most important] in God. Have a heart not in the Kingdom or in the ministry but only in God by having a heart spending most of your time alone in Him to listen to Him! God is our only Joy! 252

253 Day 30 Heart to Give Wow! We are already in Day 30. Amazing! Today, I am going to share about giving. How is your giving to others? I want you to realize today that if you don t learn to invest something to others through giving, you will never increase your treasure in your bank in heaven because the only way to deposit in your bank in heaven is to give to others while in this world that s why today, by the grace of God, I am praying that I might encourage you to have a heart of giving not just your money or things to others but even your own life to others. Are you ready for it? Okay, let s start! Saving treasures in your bank in heaven Jesus said: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal (Matthew 6:19) 253

254 Based on the context of this passage, the treasure in this verse is mainly referring to the money. Let me jump to the conclusion of Jesus to these teachings about treasures. Jesus said in the next verse: you cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24) The idea of treasure in this passage is money. That s why Jesus is saying here, do not focus on laying up or saving money here in earth But anyways, please don t misunderstand me. Jesus doesn t mean that we should not desire to earn a lot of money anymore by working or doing a lot of business in this world. What does it mean? Jesus said on the next verse: But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:20) It means that we should desire to earn a lot of money more than our needs only to save money not mainly in our bank in this world but in our bank in heaven by investing our money according to the will of God. Now, the quick follow- up question is this: What will be the wise investment of our money in this world? and of course, our answer of it should be also biblical! Let me now give you a biblical answer! 254

255 The wise investment you can do in your money is to invest it related to the expansion of God s glory in the world and to the spreading of the gospel. Jesus said: And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings (Luke 16:9) Let me say the main point of the verse first and then, I am going to show you how come that that is what the verse means. Jesus is saying here, Use the money you are receiving in this world that comes from God in spreading the gospel so that the people, who are the fruit of what you are doing, which is investing your money for the spreading of the gospel, will welcome and receive you happily when both of you see together in heaven. Okay now, let me explain how did I come up with that interpretation. Actually the verse we read is the conclusion of the short parable of Jesus about the dishonest Manager. The story of the parable according to the previous verse is this: There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be 255

256 manager. And the manager said to himself, What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people receive me into their houses. So, summoning his master s debtors one by one, he said to the first, How much do you owe my master? He said, A hundred measures of oil. He said to him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Then he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures of wheat. He said to him, Take your bill, and write eighty (Luke 16:1-7) The actions of Manager here towards his neighbor is obviously not an example of having compassion to others but an example of unrighteous actions he is cheating his master s wealth by using it for his own good, which is buying earthly friends. Jesus said in the next verse after sharing this kind of unrighteous manager in this parable: For the sons of this world are more shrewd than the sons of light. (Luke 16:8) Sons of this world, like the unrighteous manager or simply, the unbelievers, are shrewder than the sons of light the believers or the children of God. And because that is the reality, Jesus said on the next verse: 256

257 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9) What is unrighteous wealth? According to the parable, the idea of unrighteous wealth comes from the unrighteous manager that is using not his wealth but the wealth of his master for buying friends. Using Unrighteous wealth as a means of making friends simply means using the wealth of others not your wealth in making friends! And now, what is the eternal dwellings? It is actually referring to heaven. That s why what Jesus is saying here in this passage as his conclusion to the parable is this: As the sons of this world is wise in buying earthly friends using not his own money but the money of his master, we, the sons of light, the believers, should be wiser in using the money of our Master [God] in bringing sinners to salvation, so that when they arrive in heaven, they will embrace us and welcome us We should be wiser to them because we are concerned not just in earthly ones [which is temporary] like them but we are concerned more with eternal matters. 257

258 Jesus said also in the next verse: One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. (Luke 16:10) Many people today used this verse in out of context. They are using this verse to say that the reason many people today are still poor because they don t use their money in spreading of the gospel they don t give. They are not faithful in the little money they have that s why God didn t allow them to experience a life of being rich. That s totally out of context! That s not what Jesus is saying here! Giving is not the way to make you rich in this world; it is the way to make you rich in heaven. According to its context, the little that Jesus is talking in this verse is referring to the money we have in this world while the much is referring to the treasure in heaven. He is saying, If we are not faithful in the little [the money we have in this world] in spreading the gospel, we are not worthy to be trusted in the much [the treasure in heaven]. That s what Jesus means in this verse that s why Jesus said on the next verse as the continuation of this verse: If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth [in the little], who will entrust to you the true riches [in the much]? (Luke 16:11) 258

259 If you are not using the money you have while in this world that is related in spreading the gospel, how are you going to have a treasure in heaven the true riches? Again, let me repeat the truth: Giving is the way to be rich but not mainly in this world, it is in heaven! Giving: Secret way of meeting your own needs Maybe you are thinking now, Do you know Pastor Cohmi that I am very poor? How can I give and provide the personal needs of others if me, myself, are not actually meeting our own personal needs? Let me share you something. Actually the secret truth that few people apply in their life is this: the secret to meet your personal needs is not to think how to meet your own personal needs but to think how to meet the personal needs of others. Maybe, you doubt me now on what I am saying: Where did I learn that? It is very unpractical! Let me explain how did I come up with the secret truth. Look what Paul said: Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:7-8) 259

260 In this passage, the phrase God is able to make all grace abound you means based on its context is God is able to prosper you more than your needs and the purpose of it is for you to do good works to others, which obviously, is by giving. The blessing that you receive more than your needs are for you to do good works to others. In this verse, God lead me to realized that the man who is focusing on the needs of other would surely be the man who will be blessed by Him in order for him not only to survive (to meet his basic needs) but also to help others (to meet the basic needs of others). And because of that, I realized also that there is now another way on how to survive in this world or how to meet your own personal needs. The common way we know on how to meet our personal needs is to think of how are we going to meet our own personal needs but in this verse, there is another way! It is by thinking of how to meet the personal needs of others. This is the secret truth that few people are using focusing on the needs of others! The principle we can learn in this verse is this: Letting God or trusting God to meet your own personal needs in this world has the essence of focusing not on how will you survive but focusing on how will you give and help the needy. Let s focus on giving and by focusing on it, we don t just actually treasure but we also survive! 260

261 We need to experience the truth God is our only Joy Jesus said after teaching us to lay treasures not in earth but in heaven: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21) Jesus is saying here, where you spend your money actually determines where is your heart. Heart is the one that affects your perspective in giving. If you are saving money in this world for your own good rather than for the expansion of God s glory in this world, there is something wrong in your heart. The reason that believers don t give is because of their heart. It s true that you are in this world but don t ever forget the truth that this world is only your temporary home and heaven is your permanent home you are in this world but not of this world! That s why my friend, your heart should be always in eternity and that s what this book is all about setting your heart to be in God in eternity and leading you to a journey that God will be your only Joy now and in eternity. In order to have a heart of saving more treasures in heaven through giving, what we need is to experience is a radical change 261

262 of heart a new heart that is set only on God in eternity and I am praying that you are already experiencing that in this book! Reminders for Today Be reminded today that every time you are giving, you are actually giving for God s glory not just for the benefit of others but also for your own benefit your joy in the future in heaven is multiplying because your treasures in heaven are increasing! I am encouraging you also to continue living a life with a heart that is set on eternity or continue living a life that God is your only Joy so that you will continue also to have a heart of saving more treasure in heaven by giving! My friend, don t forget to have a heart that God is your only Joy 262

263 Day 31 Conversion rate of your Giving Wow! We are already in Day 31! Anyways, this chapter is actually a continuation of our lesson yesterday [Heart to give]. Today, we are going to talk about the conversion rate of what you give to others to your treasures in heaven while you are in this world. Actually, your treasure in heaven doesn t depend on how much you give but depends on how important to your life what you give. Little Hunters It was late night when I was in the forest farm in Laos that I saw kids have their own strange equipment in their bags. I tried to follow them and check what they are going to do. I am so surprised and broken hearted that I found out that they are setting up a lot of traps for rats and it is not mainly to stop rats destroying the crops of the farm but it is for them to have food to survive. 263

264 Because of poverty in this farm, little kids in every family learn to become a little hunter of rats, crickets and snails for their food. By that experience, I am thinking that if treasure in heaven is based on how much we give, I think, the poor believers here in the farm who is able to give only little will have little treasure also in heaven in the future. Oh no! How sad is their story! But I thank God that scripture doesn t support that kind of thought. Look what Bible said: Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts in the offering box and he saw a poor widow, put in two small copper coins (Luke 21:1) Because the widow in their ancient times is difficult to have work, she becomes poor and from her poverty, she still gives two small copper coins where that is actually equivalent to how much the cost of her living. So meaning, she gave not from her budget of extras but from her budget of personal needs. Look what Jesus said as He saw these two kinds of offering: Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on (Luke 21:3-4) 264

265 As the poor Widow gave not from her budget of extras but from her budget of personal needs, Jesus said that she is the one who gave the most among the people there who are giving. Meaning, Your treasure in Heaven doesn t really depend on how much you gave but how important to your life what you gave. That s why the truth that giving up your life, time, ambitions and dreams for the expansion of God s glory in this world is the best way to make you instant rich in heaven in the future. Because your treasure in Heaven doesn t depend on how much you gave but how important to your life is the thing you gave, you must realize today that the one who is receiving a lot of money has a greater responsibility in giving. The truth is the poor man who is earning 100 dollars monthly because he is born in a poor family and giving 50 dollars monthly for the expansion of God s glory in the world will have more treasure in heaven that the rich man who is earning 1,000,000 dollars monthly and giving only 150 dollars monthly for the expansion of God s glory. Kamu Tribe slaughtering Pig I have an experience also in the Forest Farm in Laos seeing a pig being slaughtered by the farmers. They killed the pig by hitting his head many times [I think, that s that culture of their tribe in slaughtering pigs]. I am becoming so emotional on that time seeing 265

266 with my two eyes and hearing with my two ears the cry of the pig because of the pain of being hit in head. After the pig died, I am talking to the other pig in my mind. I am saying to them, Hey Pig! How do you enjoy the life of being a pig if your purpose in this world is only to be killed to serve as the food of others? How do you enjoy your everyday life that everyday you wake up, you are seeing the date in your calendar the day that you are going to be killed? Escape from this place and enjoy your life. If all of you don t escape right now, all of you will die soon like your mother! The pigs answered [in my mind, of course!], Haha! Don t worry Cohmi about our death. We are always happy and excited checking everyday our calendar the date that we are going to be killed and give our life for the good of others. We are pigs and this is our purpose in this world that s why to die might be painful to us but it is an exciting moment for us to die. It is great privilege to die because by dying, we are already fulfilling our purpose in this world and we are becoming who we really are in this world Pig! Our joy and fulfillment in life is to die like our mother and to serve as food to others! Don t teach us to escape our calling and our purpose or else, we will lose the joy of being a pig! By that thoughts, I realized that if every believers will think like how my friends pigs think [giving their life for the good of others], I think, all believers will be instantly rich in heaven. 266

267 Your treasure in Heaven doesn t depend on how much you gave but how important to your life is the thing you gave that s why giving your whole life not just part of your life [like the pigs giving their whole life] for the spreading of the gospel to the world might make you poor in this world [because you are going to give up your personal dreams and ambitions] but I believe, it will make you instant super big- time rich in heaven. I never made a sacrifice! Because of my conversation with those pigs, I learn to have a new resolution in my life: As I enter the life of being a missionary, my greatest joy in this journey is like the joy of the pig, it is to die to serve as a food for the benefit of many people! When I was entering Seminary, I am receiving a lot of negative comments that lead me to have this kind of thoughts saying to myself: After ten years, when your friends are already buying cars and houses because they are already successful in choosing a path that will surely make them rich, you are going to regret this day you chose to study in seminary and be a missionary It s true that I might regret if I am seeing my friends, who chose different path, are already buying cars, gadgets and houses but one thing I am sure is when I am already in heaven and when I see all the 267

268 treasures I save there because of the life that I gave to God to be His missionary [Anyways, it is by the Grace of God that I love to serve God], I believe, I will say to myself [and actually, I am already saying it now even I am not yet in Heaven]: I become a Missionary and I never made a sacrifice Giving is not sacrifice, it is saving! Be the Extraordinary! That s why I am encouraging you today to be the extraordinary! What do I mean by that? Let me show you what do I mean by being an extraordinary! Look at this: The man who used to rob must stop robbing, in order to earn an honest living for himself and to be able to help the poor (Ephesians 4:28) There are three types of person in this verse. The first one is stealing to get money, the second is working to get money and the third [and this one is very extraordinary] is working to get money not just for the sake of getting money but also for the sake of giving. Now I am encouraging you to be the third type of person in this verse the extraordinary one! Our motivation in earning money is to give. The motivation of having job, business or any source of income is to give. We desire success in our business and in our jobs so that we can give. 268

269 They, unbelievers, save treasures by saving literally but we, believers, save treasures by giving. That s how Christians becomes crazy: we increased when we decreased In receiving, I know that you are increasing something but the truth is what you receive is always temporary while in giving, it might looks like you are decreasing something you have but actually the truth is you are not decreasing instead you increasing something and that is not just temporary but it is something that will last forever treasures in heaven! That s why it is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35) Reminders for Today I am encouraging you to have a heart of giving to have more treasures in heaven and I strongly believe if every believers will have a heart of giving [starting from you], we are going to have a church that is very similar to the ancient times there was not a needy person among them (Acts 4:34). I want to remind you again that the conversion rate of what you give while in this world is not based on how much you give but how important to you what you give that s why don t give just part of your life to others instead give your own life to others! 269

270 Day 32 Our joy in God is our strength in worst situation We are now in day 32! I am so glad that you are still here listening to me! Thank you my friend! This day, we are going to talk about what to do in times of experiencing worst situation. I want you to know that in our world whether you like it or not, problems, troubles and trials will always come in your way. If you are in the midst of trials right now, that s normal and if you are not yet in the midst of trials, I want you to realize that it will come soon. Problems or trials are all inevitable but even they are inevitable, you discouragement from those problems is always your choice and that s actually the main essence of what Charles Stanley is saying, Disappointment is inevitable but discouragement is a choice. 270

271 Actually, the key to stay strong and unmoved when you are in the midst of worst situation is simply putting all of your joy alone in God s beauty or simply putting all of your joy alone in God that s the key! Now, let me give you examples in the Bible who experienced the truth or the key that I am saying to you. I will share from New Testament and also from Old Testament. Stephen Let s start with the story to Stephen in New Testament. Do you know Stephen? I think, except Jesus, Stephen is the one who experience the most painful suffering in being a follower of Jesus. Let s learn from his experience! Bible said, people cast Stephen out of the City and stoned them. (Acts 7:58) Now, imagine the pain of it! He was stoned to death! Bible also said, and as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit (v.59) Notice stoning? It is a continuous action! Meaning, he experience a lot of stones to die! He died not by a single stone but by a lot of stones! And Bible continue to explain what he is experiencing when people were stoning him, And falling to his knees (v.60a) Ouch! Can you imagine the pain? His knees are already falling down because of the pain of stones and pain of negative words of the people! That s why you should not be 271

272 surprised also that on that time, Bible also said, He cried out with a loud voice (v.60) He did not just shout but cried out loud and what is surprising is after those pain, he never said, It s painful Lord! Why! Why I experienced this! what he cried is this: Lord, do not hold this sin against them (V.60) Wow! Stephen, in the midst of worst situation ended with peace and forgiveness in is heart! Now, what is his secret? His secret is in the previous verse, which is Verse 55. This is actually what happening to him while he is experiencing the pain of stones. Look at this: But [Stephen] full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55) In the midst of suffering of Stephen, God s glory was being revealed to him. That s why the truth is Stephen s pain of suffering is nothing compares to the joy he is experiencing in gazing [or beholding] the beauty of the glory of God! That s why I assumed that Stephen is saying on that time, It s true that it s painful! Ouch! It is painful! Ouch! But even it hurts and even it is is painful, it is totally nothing compares to the joy that I am experiencing now from seeing the beauty of the Glory of God! What a beautiful glory! And that s actually the essence of what Paul is saying in his letters about suffering: 272

273 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us (Romans 8:18) That s the secret! The key to stay strong and unmoved when you are in the midst of worst situation is simply putting all of your joy alone in God s beautiful glory or simply living a life that God is your only Joy Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego Now, let me give you one more from Old Testament and I think, this is the best example! Let s go the life of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Old Testament in Daniel 3. This is the story. King Nebuchadnezzar created gods and also the golden image for the purpose to be worshipped and served by the people (Daniel 3:10) and he said that whoever does not fall down and worship that god should cast into a burning fiery furnace. (v.11) Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego pay no attention those gods and to the Golden Image. They don t serve and worship those gods (v.12) that s why the king said to them, if you do not worship [my gods], you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace (v.15) 273

274 And in the story, it is very surprising that these three men of God have strength to face that suffering. They are not afraid! Now, question! What do you think is their secret? Look what they reply to the King after that king gave them a threat to put in fire and be burn if they will not worship the gods he created. They said to the King, Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us our of your hand o King (v.17) Because of this verse, many suggest that the reason they are not afraid to face that suffering is because they trust that God is alive and He is able to save them and protect them if they will suffer in fire. But actually, that is not their secret! That is not the source of their strength. Trusting that God will save them is not the main source of their strength. Did you know what? Let me show you the complete statement of what they said. This is what they said: Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us our of your hand o King, but if not, be it know to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up (Daniel 3:17-18) Try to notice the word but if not that s powerful! They are saying that if God will not save them, they will still not worship the golden 274

275 image instead they will continue to worship the Lord [Yahweh!] So meaning, God save them or not, it doesn t matter to them, what matters to them is God. They suffer or not, God will remain to be their only God! That s why the truth you can see to them on that time is God is their joy not because God saves and do miracles but simply because He is God, period. The salvation of God or even the miracles or even the goodness of God is not the main source of their joy instead God Himself is the main source of their joy God is their only Joy. And actually that is the secret God is their only Joy! The key to stay strong and unmoved when you are in the midst of worst situation is simply putting all of your joy alone in God Himself like those three man of God I shared a while ago from Daniel 3. David Now, let me quote again the life verse of our journey in this book, which is Psalm 27:4! David said, One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord And let me show you one more truth in this verse that I never share before! Actually the verse before David said in Psalm 27:4 is this but before we continue, what is the verse before Psalms 27:4? What 275

276 do you think? [Is it Verse 3 Cohmi?] Right! Verse 3! Of course verse 3! And I think that s common sense! Just kidding. Anyways, this is what verse 3 said: though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear, though war arise against me, yet I will be confident (Psalm 27:3) Wow! Did you see that? Living in a life that God is his only Joy [mentioned in verse 4] made him strong and has confidence to face problems, trials and difficulties in the future [mentioned in verse 3] It is amazing that the truth that I repeatedly teaching you in this chapter is also there! The key to stay strong and unmoved when you are in the midst of worst situation [mentioned in verse 3] is simply putting all of your joy alone in God s beauty [mentioned in verse 4]. Paul s Exhortation to a suffering Christians Let me end this chapter by using the exhortation of Paul in the book of Hebrews to the Christians who are presently in the times of trials and sufferings. He said: Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus [or as I said in our first day, beholding God s glory or living a life that God s glory is your only Joy] (Hebrews 12:1b- 2) 276

277 Let us continue this race of God s glory is our only Joy. Do you know why Paul said that to the present suffering Christians as his encouragement to them? Let me explain briefly the reason. Paul said: looking to Jesus, the founder, and perfected of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2) Paul is saying that in our suffering, we must continue the race, looking to Jesus or living a life that God s glory is our only Joy because that is exactly what Jesus did that He is able to endure also the suffering in the cross. Paul is simply saying: [Because of the] joy that was set before Him, [He] endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2) And let me clear what I am saying. What is that joy? Joy in what? Let s see some clue from other passage on what is the joy of Jesus Christ especially in the cross! Let s look first at what Jesus said to the death of Lazarus: This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. (John 11:4) According to Jesus, the coming death of Lazarus has the main purpose of displaying the glory of God! Now, look what Jesus said on the next verse when Lazarus already died: 277

278 Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there [and he died], so that you may believe [see the glory of God in his death] (John 11:14-15) Here, you will see the glimpse of the happiness of Jesus Christ It is from displaying the glory of God through the death of Lazarus that s why obviously the joy of Jesus in his suffering in the Cross is nothing more and nothing less but only to display the beautiful glory of God! That s is His joy to display God s Glory! Now, let s look the prayer of Jesus! He mentioned in his prayer what would happen in the cross before He will be crucified: Father, the hour has come [He is talking to crucifixion that he is going to experience]; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify You (John 17:1) In the prayer of Jesus, we see clearly that his crucifixion has the purpose of displaying the glory of God and we learned also from other passage that the joy of Jesus is displaying the glory of God so in other words, what will happen in the cross, which is the glory of God will be displayed, is actually the joy that was set before Him that Paul is saying in Hebrews and then, Paul also said that that joy is the one that gives him strength to endure the suffering in the cross. 278

279 So meaning, the joy of Jesus in God s glory leads Him to endure His suffering and Paul used that illustration to say to us that it is the same with us about enduring suffering: Continuing the race of looking to Jesus [continuing living a life that God s glory is our only Joy or simply God is our only Joy] is also the way to endure suffering in this world like Jesus enduring suffering. Reminders for Today So my friend, again and again, I encourage you to continue living in the truth that God is your only Joy especially in times of suffering or in worst situation because that joy is actually your strength. 279

280 Day 33 Rejoicing in the midst of Suffering Wow! My friend, you are now in Day 33, we still have 7 days to go after this day! Today, I am going to talk about Try to think about this! If the Gospel is the key not to experience sufferings and problems anymore [like Modern Christianity is teaching], Why the Apostles in the Bible who are the one who started spreading the gospel still suffer from a lot of persecutions and why even just one of them never experience becoming one of the richest people in the world while they are living here if Gospel is really the key to be rich [like most Prosperity Gospel preachers are preaching] Actually, the biblical truth is when we became a Christian; it doesn t mean that we are now away from sufferings in this world. Becoming a Christian didn t give us a non- suffering life instead it gives us a rejoicing life in the midst of suffering that s our title! 280

281 As I said yesterday, Suffering is inevitable! Whether you like it or not, you are going to experience suffering and problems in this world but always don t forget the truth that happiness is always a choice. If you are suffering right now, it s not the suffering itself who decided if you are now happy or not instead it s you who decided if you are now happy or not. While suffering is inevitable, happiness is always choice! The only problem today is many don t know how to choose happiness in the midst of suffering that s why in this chapter, I will help you to rejoice in the midst of suffering by teaching you how your suffering will become a beautiful suffering that is worthy to be rejoiced! The more you suffer, the more you experience the presence of God Paul said as his introduction to Corinthians: Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3) Notice the word comfort? Actually, the Greek word comfort here are ten times used by Paul in the first seven verses of this first chapter, which means that this word comfort is very important to Paul in this chapter. Okay, let s continue reading, Paul said: 281

282 For as we share abundantly in Christ sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too (2 Corinthians 1:5) Now, did you get the spiritual rule here? Abundant suffering produces abundant comfort from God. You are most comforted by God when you are most uncomfortable by the suffering in this world That is the spiritual rule! Now, let s go deeper. The word comfort here comes from the two Greek words, which are para that means, alongside and kaleo that means, to call. So meaning, to comfort a person is to answer his call to walk alongside him to cheer him, guide him or simply to be beside him and to be with him. That s why the word comfort here means God is beside him That s why the clearer truth that Paul is saying here is that the more he suffer, the more he actually experience the para- kleo [or comfort of the presence of God]. The abundance suffering will lead us to the abundance parakleo or the comfort of the presence of God that s how suffering becomes beautiful in our life as a Christian. By it, we will experience more His presence! Suffering is a beautiful experience because it leads us to be closer to God. 282

283 Where did Paul learn the spiritual rule about suffering? Where do you think Paul learned that Spiritual rule the truth that abundant suffering leads you to be closer to God? I believe he learned it from his experience with God about his suffering related to his thorn of flesh. Let me show you what Paul said about his suffering here in his the same letter: A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me (2 Corinthians 12:7) In his letter, Paul is experiencing the harassment of Satan through the thorn of flesh that he has. Now, maybe you may ask, What is that thorn of flesh? Actually no one knew what is that. Theologians have their own theory [Take note! only theory!] on what is that thorn of flesh. Anyways, we will not discuss that, what you should understand now is that the thorn of flesh he have is the one that leads him to suffer more. Let s just get the idea that thorn of flesh means suffering. Let s continue, Paul said: Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this that it should leave me (2 Corinthians 12:8) 283

284 Now, Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove it not just once but three times and what surprising in this story, is that God refused Apostle Paul, the man of God. God didn t remove it. Why God didn t remove it? This is what God said to Paul on what is the reason of not removing it: My Grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9a) From the answer of God, the purposes of his suffering are actually two things! First, when he suffer, he will seek and depend more in the grace of God and he will have more joy in depending on the Grace of God and that is what it means that God said to Him, My Grace is sufficient for you and second, God s power will be more displayed in him as he will depend more on him that s why God s Glory will be more displayed in his suffering, and that is what it means that God said to Him, My power is perfected in weaknesses. In other words, as God will allow him to suffer, he will have more joy in depending on God and God will be more glorified in his dependence. And after Paul realizes that purpose, Paul said, therefore notice therefore! The word therefore here shows that what he will say in next statement will be the conclusion in his mind after realizing the purpose of that thorn of flesh. Paul clearly said: 284

285 Therefore I will boast all the more gladly my weakness [meaning, Paul is saying, I want to suffer more!] so that Christ power may rest on me [meaning, Paul is saying, so that I will have more joy in depending on God and by depending on Him, His power will be glorified in me] (2 Corinthians 12:9b) I believe that this experience of Paul leads him to realize the spiritual rule that He shared and teaching in his introduction: Suffering leads you to be closer to God Again, the truth is suffering is the greatest source of our comfort in the presence of God that s why suffering is a beautiful experience that we should rejoice! The more we suffer, the more we experience Him! Chinese Pastor Let me give you now a beautiful testimony of a man who experience a beautiful suffering only because the suffering he experience leads him to have more joy in God! There was a Chinese Pastor who was imprisoned for 18 years by the Communist because of his faith. Day after day, year after year, He was assigned to work in the prison camp s cesspool. Every morning he had to wade into that stinking hole and spend his day scooping out human waste. He was given this job as special punishment 285

286 because he kept holding his faith. It is very surprising that the Chinese pastor was so grateful for that ugly punishment!!! Do you know what is the reason of it? The reason why he is grateful is because of the solitude he had. The stench was so bad that even the guards stayed far away. That s why the Pastor had a freedom to pray aloud, sing hymns to the Lord, and recite scripture. That s why the cesspool had become a Garden of communion with God the ugly place becomes paradise because God, the source of all beauty is with Him and God is His only Joy. From this story, I want you to realized also the truth that even you will be in hell, as long as God will be with you there, that hell will surely become heaven for you because the beauty of the place is not based on the place itself but based to the One who is with you Heaven is beautiful only because of God Himself! The suffering of that Chinese Pastor in the story I shared a while ago [a suffering of man like being in Hell] becomes a beautiful suffering only because it leads him to be closer to God. His hell- like suffering becomes a heaven- like rejoicing! Reminders for Today As I end this chapter, and as you continue walking in a journey that God is your only Joy, I want to encourage you now to have a new 286

287 perspective in every trials and problems you have! See your trials as an opportunity to fall in love in God more and opportunity to have more joy in God. That s why if you will be in the midst of problems, trials, difficulties or sufferings, always start thinking how are you going to fall in love in God more through those situations and that is actually the true essence of having joy in God alone or simply, God is our only Joy 287

288 Day 34 My reigning God is my rejoicing Hi my friend. I want you to know how happy I am that we are already in Day 34. Today, we are still going to talk about problem issues in life. Nothing will change the reality of our everyday life everyday, we have different situations to face and because of those inevitable circumstances especially the negative situations, most of the times, our joy in God starts to shake that s why this day, I am going to help you how are you going to sustain your joy in God every time your situation is shaking your joy in God. Reigning God is our reason to Rejoice Okay, let s start with Psalms: Say among the nations, The Lord reigns! (Psalm 96:10) 288

289 What does it mean the Lord reigns? In the palace, the King is reigning means everything that is happening in the palace is under his control. Every plan of the people in the palace should be known and approved first by the King before they do that plan and that s actually what it means, King reigns! It means, he is in control of all things. And actually, it is the same with our Lord. He reigns means He is sovereign and in control of all things in the universe that s why what Psalmist said in complete statement is this: Say among the nations, The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved (Psalm 96:10) The Lord is in control in whatever happening all over the world. He reigns! Psalmist said also in the next chapter, The Lord reigns (97:1) and if you are going to read the next verses, which is verse 2 to verse 6. The Lord reigns exactly means He is in control all over the earth. The Lord reigns means that He is a sovereign God. Now, let me show you the complete statement of what Psalmist said and be surprise. Psalmist said: 289

290 The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! (Psalm 97:1) In this verse, Psalmist is saying that we rejoice and we become glad when we realize and believe that God reigns or believe that God is sovereign and in control of all things. Our Reigning God is our rejoicing! That s why the first thing you must realize in your situation every time it is shaking your joy in God is we have a God who is sovereign and who is in control in all things. We must realize that our Reigning God is our rejoicing in the midst of our problems or trials! God is sovereign in all things For by [Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him (Colossians 1:16) Did you see that? Paul clearly said that all things were created by God and he didn t say some things were created by God and then, Paul also said that all things are all for His glory. Maybe, you are thinking now, Does it include negative situations? Unexpected Problems? Trials? Difficulties? 290

291 Paul clearly said, rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for him Remember rulers and authorities in this statement. Okay? Now, let s go the next chapter. Paul said on the next chapter: [Jesus] disarmed the rulers and authorities (Colossians 2:15) In this verse, rulers and authorities here are probably the demonic rulers and authorities. That s why, Yes! He is in control even in your negative situations, problems, trials and difficulties because even demonic rulers are under his sovereignty God s authority in Pilate s authority Look at this. Look on what Pilate said to Jesus. Pilate said to Jesus: Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you? (John 19:10) Now, question! Do the enemy of Jesus really has the authority to crucify Him? According to what we learned a while ago, all authority is created by God and for God and actually that is exactly what Jesus replied to him. Jesus answered to Pilate: You shall have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above (John 19:11) 291

292 Yes! It s practically true that Pilate [which is the enemy of Jesus], has authority but God is still the author of his authority. Pilate has only allowed- authority by God and that authority is for God s Glory. See? God is sovereign! He reigns! Now, rejoice! So in short, even the negative, evil things, or worst situations of life, God allowed it to be used for His Glory. He is sovereign that in all things, He will display His Glory. So, Rejoice! Our Reigning God is our rejoicing in the midst of any problems we are experiencing! All things are made to display His Glory All things have a purpose to display God s Glory! And that is actually what the Romans 8:28-29 means. Let me show it to you and explain how come. Paul says: All things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [Jesus Christ] (Romans 8:28-29) Okay, let me explain briefly. For those who are called according to God s purpose, all things are not good but all things will work together for good. Now, what does it mean for good? For good here means, all things work together to fulfill the purpose of God in your 292

293 life why you are called. And Paul said on the next verse that the purpose of God to you is this:...to be conformed to the image of His Son (v.29) As we learned on our third day, how do we become like Christ? [if you can still remember] We learned that it is only by seeing and beholding the displayed glory of God in Christ. Right? So in short, all things work together for good means all things are made for you to see God s Glory to be like His Son. So again, even you are facing negative situation right now, because of God s passion for His own Glory, He will use that to display His Glory. All things will be used by our sovereign God to display His glory that s why in every situation you are experiencing, see it always as an opportunity and privilege to see more of God s glory and by that, your joy will be sustained in God no matter what happens in your life. Our reigning God is your rejoicing! God s sovereignty in Joseph s Story Let me end this chapter by giving you one beautiful example of having joy sustained in God no matter what happen to his life because he believe God is sovereign in all things he believe that God reigns! Do you now Joseph? Joseph is the dreamer boy who experiences a lot of problems in his life. His own brother sold Joseph as slave. Then, He 293

294 was put in Jail where he actually doesn t do anything wrong. And it is very surprising that Joseph never complaint to God by saying, why! In those negative situations in life, he never says anything against God. You know why? Because he believes that God is sovereign and He is a reigning God. You know how sure I am that he believes God is sovereign? Look at what Joseph said to his brothers after selling him as slave. He said to his bad brothers who sold him to slavery: You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today (Genesis 50:20) Joseph believes that God reigns and He is Sovereign! that s why after all those negative situation he experience, his joy is still sustained in God. Our Reigning God is the rejoicing of Joseph in the midst of his problems and trials he encountered in life. Reminders for Today If your joy in God is shaking because of the situation you are experiencing, it simply means that you should be reminded that your eyes should not be on the situation itself but mainly to the Glory of our Sovereign God glory of our reigning God! 294

295 As I end this chapter, I am encouraging you to say, In every situation that I am going to experience even the negative situations in life, God should remain to be my only Joy! God is my only Joy because I believe God is a reigning God and a sovereign God that He can do all things in my life to work together for my good, which is to see more of His Glory and have more joy in it In short, My reigning God is my rejoicing especially in the midst of my problems and trials in life. So again, I am encouraging you to let s continue walking in this journey that God is our only Joy. 295

296 Day 35 Poisonous life of being a Man-pleaser Wow! We are already in Day 35! That s amazing! Today, we are going to discuss about being a man- pleaser. Being a man- pleaser is very poisonous in our life that s why we need badly a remedy for it but anyways, before I give you the remedy of it, let me first show you the experiences of others in the Bible to convince you that I am really right in saying in my title that the life of being a man- pleaser is really a dangerous and poisonous life! Jews Let s start with the ancient Jews. If you are going to read New Testament books, you will notice there that most of the times, Jews are always jealous to the Disciples! Actually their jealousy is the fruit of being a man- pleaser. Jesus describe them who knew their hearts: 296

297 How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:44) They are always jealous because they are man- pleaser seeking only the human praise and now, look the fruit of their jealousy when many people responded in the preaching of Paul in the Synagogues: But when the Jews saw the crowds [rejoicing in the preaching of Paul based on its context], they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him (Acts 13:45) Jealousy leads them to close their heart and mind to learn from others and leads them to contradict the teaching of anyone who is getting the attention of the other people even the teaching is not actually wrong! In the same event, look at this one also: But the Jews [who are filled with jealousy] incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district (Acts 13:50) Jealousy leads them to do the worst thing to do in this world kill others! In the story, I hope you are now seeing that being a man- pleaser is really poisonous! 297

298 King Saul Let s now go the story of King Saul! Look at this: And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands. (1 Samuel 18:7) Do you know what is the reply of King Saul to this song? Look his response here in next verse: And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him (1 Samuel 18:8) If King Saul was not a man- pleaser or not a lover of human praise, this kind of song should not lead him to be angry or to be jealous instead this should lead him also to rejoice in God. The truth that he becomes angry shows that he really becomes a man- pleaser and a man who loves the human praise! Now, do you know the fruit of becoming a man- pleaser to the life of King Saul? Look at these passages: And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, I will pin David to the wall. But David evaded him twice (1 Samuel 18:11) 298

299 And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David (1 Samuel 19:1) Did you see that? The heart of murdering someone is the product of being a man- pleaser. Hmm Oh no! How dangerous and poisonous is the life of being a man- pleaser! Pilate Pilate is actually having a desire to release Jesus so that Jesus will not be crucified because Pilate knows that Jesus done nothing wrong. Look at this: From then on Pilate sought to release [Jesus], but the Jews cried out, If you release this man, you are not Caesar s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar (john 19:12) Pilate is having a desire to release Jesus but because people [the Jews!] are against on that decision and he is a man- pleaser thinking that if he will release Jesus, people will not admire him anymore, Pilate quickly changed his mind! Look what the next verse said: So he delivered [Jesus] over to them to be crucified (John 19:16) Did you see the effect of being a man- pleaser? It leads you to have a wrong decision! When you are living a life thinking of what others 299

300 are thinking about you, your decisions will be affected and most of the times, it is a wrong decision! Mary and Joseph We all know that Mary got pregnant from the Holy Spirit. When Joseph learned of her pregnancy, he is thinking to divorce her quietly. What is the purpose why Joseph wants to divorce her? This is the reason: [Joseph] being a just man and unwilling to put her [Mary] to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly (Matthew 1:19) When you said that you would divorce in ancient times, it means that you will literally be away with someone whom you will be divorced. So meaning, the truth that Joseph wants to divorce her was to be away from her. Now, did Joseph didn t think that if he do that, Mary will be alone taking care of her son? The truth that he didn t think that caring thought is because he is a just man, which is daikaos in Greek that also means righteous. What do I mean by that reason? Let me explain! People know that Joseph is daikaos or righteous. Now if people will hear the news that Mary is already pregnant and yet Mary is not yet fully Joseph s legal wife, there will be a big issue about the name and Identity of Mary and also of Joseph as righteous. So in short, he thinks 300

301 of a divorce not only to not to put Mary to shame but also to protect his own name to the people. He is thinking what others thinking about them and especially about him. The negative fruit of taking care so much your name [becoming a man- pleaser] is you become anxious about what others think about you that leads you sometimes to think and make wrong decisions like Joseph. Jonah Jonah was commanded by God to Nineveh, (Jonah 1:2) to share the message, of an angry to God to their sinful life, that their home [Nineveh] shall be destroyed in forty days (3:4) After the people heard that scary news that God will destroy them, they quickly do the things they can do to show that they are repenting. (3:5-9) God saw that they are having a true repentance that they are truly turning from their evil way. When God saw it, God relented of the destruction of Nineveh that He had said he would do He did not destroy Nineveh. (3:16) that is amazing! Right? Now, notice the reaction of Jonah in the decision of God in not destroying Nineveh in the next chapter: But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and He was angry. (4:1) 301

302 Actually the literal translation of this statement in Hebrew is this: it was exceedingly evil to Jonah and He was angry The decision of God of not continuing the destruction displeased and makes him angry. And after being displeased and angry to God, He went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. (4:5) He is waiting for the city to be destroyed. It is very surprising that instead of being happy and rejoicing in the salvation of the people, he became angry. Why? Now, this is what I assumed. I assumed that it is because Jonah cares on his own name. He said to Nineveh very specific that in forty days, Nineveh should be overthrown. Now if that will not happen, he is thinking on what people is thinking about him. He is thinking that some people will think that he is not saying the truth. He is not really a man of God. He cares on his own name he is becoming a man- pleaser! The fruit of that is it totally blinds his heart to care and love other people. Cohmi s Experience Okay now, let me share my own worst experience about the negative effects of being a man- pleaser. 302

303 1. Because I am a man- pleaser and I don t want to destroy my image as a good, submissive and kind guy to others, I lost my ability to say, no to anybody even it is not actually for God s glory anymore but already becoming for Cohmi s glory. 2. Being a man- pleaser keeps me away from having deep relationship with others because I begun having a hard time of trusting others. Because I am a man- pleaser, I never tell the truth about others directly to them even I am already seeing it in my own two eyes instead what I am telling to them is only what they think they like to hear from me so that they will continue to admire me and love me. And when someone say something to me, it is very hard for me to trust what he is saying about me. I am thinking, Is he really saying the truth about me? God lead me to realize that my difficulty to trust others is actually the product of not trusting my own words to others. That s why being a man- pleaser keeps me away from trusting others and having a deep relationship with others. 3. I always feel shy and cannot act normal because I am a man- pleaser thinking always, Do I still look good and handsome if I do this? Man- pleaser always thinks before he acts: If I do this? Can I still be me? Can people still admire me, accept me or love me? His every action is based not on his own happiness but based on the happiness of others. He always needs others just to be Him. 303

304 4. Being a man- pleaser is really very stressful because it takes a lot of effort to be a fake person than to be simply you who really you are! When I become a man- pleaser, I become not free anymore to be me. My identity, character and personality are based on what others are thinking. My thinking to what others thinking about me leads me to be a frustrated and stressful fake person. That s how poisonous is the disease of pleasing- man. It destroys a lot in your life your personality and even your relationship with other people. But when God is our only Joy came into my life, it is really a liberating power to me! I am now becoming a free person with the audience of one [God!] and becoming free also from the bondage of pleasing people from my ministry of good works and even from my ministry of preaching. I learn to do anything not for people to admire me anymore or be happy in me but only for God s glory to be displayed and for people to be happy in God [not in me!] In short, God is our only Joy is the remedy in this poisonous life of being a man- pleaser. When God becomes your only joy, human praise will never be your joy anymore! 304

305 Reminders for Today Do not be a man- pleaser or else, you might end up experiencing little by little the poison of being a man- pleaser like what I experienced and like what some people in the Bible experienced that s why I am encouraging you not just today but everyday to be a man whose God is his only joy and never the praise of human. 305

306 Day 36 Don t forget to bring and use your brain Hello my friend! We still have 4 days to go. Did you notice that most of our modern churches today are anti- intellectualism? I remember when I was 18 [and that was just 2011], most of our leaders in our church and even my missionary friends in the field, when I am entering Seminary, are saying to me, What! Are you going to study in seminary? Oh no, you will just waste your time there! The second coming of the Lord is very near! You don t need to study the backgrounds of the Bible because the most important is just the Holy Spirit just pray and pray and pray! You can actually served God even you are uneducated, just be a man of prayer! They believe that what matters at all in the kingdom of God is you are devoted in God through prayer while thinking is not important. Mind is not important at all. What matters is how the Holy Spirit speaks to you in the Bible and not what is the context of every texts in the Bible. 306

307 And when I was in Seminary also, I heard one of the preacher there graduated also in a Seminary, condemning us students by preaching to us that we should not focus in growing knowledge about the Bible instead we should focus only on knowing God through prayer! That s why he concluded also in preaching that knowledge about the Bible is not important at all, having deep exegesis and deep exposition of the text or knowing deeper the background of every text in the Bible are not important at all, the most important is you have an intimate relationship with God through prayer even you don t have deep knowledge about God. That s why even he is graduated from a seminary; he ended up his sermon without any exposition of the text in the Bible he don t focus so much on scripture instead he focus only on his experience in his life. He just gave us the principles that is from his journey and according to his experience in life, where actually, not strongly supported by the Bible itself. Now, it is very obvious that we are in the days of neglecting the use of our mind and our thinking in our life as a Christian we are in the anti- intellectualism stage! But anyways, I am not saying that I don t agree to them that relationship with God through prayer is the most important. I agree on them especially on that truth because I am living also on that 307

308 truth and I am an extreme lover of that truth. What I don t agree and I want you not to agree also to them is their principle of neglecting the use of mind and use of thinking as a means of growing with an intimate relationship with God. They thought that using deeply your mind in the Bible or doing scholarship in the Bible is against in your growth of relationship with God. That s why this day, I am going to encourage you that we should not be the people that focusing on feeling only or having passion in God only to the point that we are already neglecting the use of our mind and thinking in our Christian life. I believe that Paul will be pained today if he will see the feeler Christians but not thinkers today like how he is pained in their times when he sees in his Jewish kinsmen that have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:2) That s why my friend, we should not be feelers only but thinkers also. Love the Lord your God with all your mind Jesus commanded us, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37) Notice that Jesus said with all your mind. What does it mean? I think the true essence of loving God with our mind is like what Paul is saying in Philippians 3:8: I count everything as loss compare to 308

309 the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord Knowing God, of course, includes using of your mind and then, Paul said that he counted everything that is not related in [using his mind in] knowing Christ as loss, where it simply means that he is using his mind or engaging his thinking for only one purpose and that is to know more of God, period. That is what it means loving God with all of our mind engaging your mind only to know God not just to know about God. I love what John Piper said about loving God with all of our mind, He said, our thinking should be wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt of treasuring God above all things. Meaning, we use our mind only to have more passion in living in a life that God is our only Joy! That s why again, we should not neglect the use of our mind instead we should go for a deep study of the bible and we should grow more in our knowledge about the Bible. Now, maybe, you may think and say, knowledge puffs up as Paul, said in 1 Corinthians 8:1. Yes, it s true especially if you have a wrong motivation in using of your mind. In my observation, some are also extreme in knowledge about the Bible, some have a very deep knowledge about the Bible, they know how to read the Bible in his original language Hebrew and also in 309

310 Greek but if you will try to ask their prayer life, their passion in God, their personal quiet time in God, they cannot answer because they are totally zero on that area. Not all who think deep have a beautiful intimate relationship with God So Meaning, not all who have deep knowledge about God because of their passion of using their mind extremely automatically have a deep relationship with God. That s why we should be aware on that also! Actually, even in the Bible, there are people that are good in using their mind and thinking but they don t have even one percent of joy in God. They love their minds and their knowledge about God more than God Himself, who gave them their mind. Look at this! In Matthew 16:1-4, Jesus said to the Pharisees and Sadducees with a good mind that is asking Jesus to show them a signs from heaven, Jesus said: When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning, it will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening (Matthew 16:2-3a) 310

311 On that time, the Pharisees and Sadducees are actually using their minds with Aristotelian Precision. Premise One: Red skies at night mean fair weather tomorrow Premise Two: The Sky is red tonight Conclusion: Tomorrow it will be fair Jesus Christ is simply saying that they have a good thinking, they are good in using their mind, and they know how to interpret the appearance of the sky. That s why Jesus said in the same verse: You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of times (Matthew 16:3b) Notice the last statement of Jesus but you cannot interpret the signs of times. Why they cannot interpret the signs of times? Why even they are good in using their minds, they cannot interpret the signs of times? Jesus gives the answer in the next verse: An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign (Matthew 16:4) Anyways, those people who seek for signs are the Sadducees and Pharisees! And they are good in using minds but they don t know how to interpret signs! You know why? According to Jesus, because they are adulterous! What does it mean they are adulterous? 311

312 It means that their Messiah, their God, their husband it not the one they loved. He, as their husband, is not their joy in using of their mind and in practicing deep thinking. That s why the truth is not all who have a deep knowledge about God through using mind strongly have intimate relationship with God. Principles in using our mind What I am going to do next to end this chapter is to give you two principles that will lead you to seek God more or desire God more as you are having a passion to use your mind and thinking more to grow in knowledge about God [and also to help you to avoid the danger of delighting in thinking thinking deeper but not growing with intimacy with God]. 1. You are Lack and He is your abundance Let s start with the book of Proverbs. Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. (Proverb 26:12) This is really a strong words but I want you to notice the words in his own eyes! The proverb didn t say a man who is wise instead what was said is a man who is wise in his own eyes What does it 312

313 mean? It simply means that the one who thinks by himself that he is full of wisdom! According to proverbs, if he thinks that he is full of wisdom, the fool, who has no wisdom at all, has more hope than him. You know why? Look what James said: If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who give generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him (James 1:5) Notice lacks wisdom? Meaning, the people who will ask God will not be the man who thinks he is a full of wisdom because this command will be an insult to them. The problem of the people today is many people thinks they are already full of wisdom that s why they don t ask God for wisdom. That s why the proverbs is saying the truth when the fool, who lacks wisdom has more hope to the man who thinks wise in his own eyes because he is the one who has the possibility to come to God for asking wisdom because he lacks wisdom. Now, this is the principle we should learn: As you continue to have more passion in thinking and growing in knowledge about God, always see yourself as lack of wisdom and see God as abundance of wisdom! You need Him especially in your growing passion of thinking In other words, you are lack and He is your abundance! 313

314 2. Thinking is a means while Wisdom is a Miracle Let s go the next principle. The next principle is actually almost the same in the first principle that I shared a while ago but the difference is this principle is more about remaining humble in the presence of God even growing in knowledge about the Bible. Okay, this is now the principle! The best way to humble us even we are already growing in knowledge about God through deep thinking is simply to realize the principle that thinking is a means while wisdom is a miracle. Always remember that principle! It means that deep thinking is a means while getting wisdom through deep thinking is only a miracle of the grace of God. Now maybe you may think again, Is that biblical? Is that principle is supported in the passages in the Bible? I will say, Yes! That principle is actually the true essence of what Paul said to Timothy. Look at this and let me explain. Paul said: Think over what I say [that is the means. Now this is the miracle.] for the Lord will give you understanding in everything (2 Timothy 2:7) Thinking is a means while wisdom is a miracle. We do the means while God will do the miracle. We think and God will give wisdom. 314

315 Even we think deeper, we will never gain wisdom unless God grants a miracle but it doesn t mean that we should not think hard and deeper anymore because the opposite of that is also true. God will not do or grant the miracle if we don t do the means. We will not receive God s gift of wisdom if we don t think deeper and harder first. Now, remember the second principle: Thinking is a means while wisdom is a miracle Reminders for Today As I end this chapter, I am reminding you that we should use our mind and we should do deep study about the Bible only for one purpose and that is only to fuel more our zeal and passion in treasuring God above all things. We use our mind only to have more increasing joy in God alone and that is what it means love God with all your mind that s why my friend, as we continue walking in this journey that God is our only Joy, we should not forget to bring our own brain and don t forget also that you are bringing your brain only for the sake of your joy only in God, period! 315

316 Day 37 Right heart redirects Wow! We are already in Day 37! We are very near to a big goodbye! I am really going to miss you my friend but anyways, I want you to know that we are now in the last chapter about growing in wisdom. Today, I am going to share to you the truth that Right heart redirects! Maybe you are thinking now, Redirects what? Right heart redirects your wrong action into a right action! Hmm What does it mean? Don t worry! I am going to explain that clearer in this chapter because that will be our main topic today. If you are confused right now in this introduction, I am so sorry for that but I believe as you finish reading this book, you will understand what I am saying here in introduction if you read this part again! Anyways, let s start our topic! Noble Project of David 316

317 Let s go to the story of David about his desire of building a house for God. Look at this: The king [David] said to Nathan the Prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. (2 Samuel 7:2) This statement of David is not just actually a statement of informing Nathan where he lives and where God lives but also a statement of his noble project that is in his mind David wants to build a house for the Lord! He wants to build a house for the Lord because he has the kind of heart that God is a Big and Glorious God that should always remain to be bigger than any other else. He thought that because the Ark of the Covenant is in the Tent, God is living in the tent and then, because he is in the palace, he thought that he is now bigger or greater than God where his heart is saying, this should not be! God should be greater! Now, look what Nathan said to him about his noble project: Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you. (2 Samuel 7:3) In other words, David has a right heart that even Prophet Nathan agreed to the noble project that he had in mind. David has a right 317

318 heart that God should be always in a bigger and glorious position than any other else! But look what God said to Nathan the Prophet as His respond the noble project that is in the mind of David: Go and tell my servant David, Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of cedar? (2 Samuel 7:5-7) In the respond of God to David through Nathan, it is very obvious that God did not want a house at that time and did not want David to build one. I agree to our Hebrew Professor in Seminary that the noble project of David of building a house for God actually looks like an insult to God when David desired it. When David is saying to God I am going to build a house for You!, my Professor said that he is actually like a small dog barking to His master and saying, Master, I am going to build a house for You! while the Master is replying to the bark of his dog, What? What are you saying? I don t understand you! 318

319 David s wrong action comes from an innocent knowledge! The truth [that God revealed to David] is even the Ark of God is in the tent, it doesn t automatically means that God is already living in the tent. In other words, David is wrong in his thought that he is becoming greater and bigger than God when he is living in the palace while the Ark of God is in the tent and then, that wrong and innocent thought leads him to a wrong action! God did not want David to build a house for Him instead He is the one who build a house for David! David did a wrong action because he is innocent in his actions that s why look what next verse said: the Lord declares to you [you here is referring David] that the Lord will make you a house. (2 Samuel 7:11) But in the continuation of the story of the life of David to his son - Solomon, it is very amazing that God loves the heart of David on that noble project of building a house for Him. That s why even God did not want David to build a house for Him on that time; we see that God approved His plan on the later story! Then he called his son Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, My Son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me saying, You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the 319

320 earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest His name shall be Solomon He shall build a house for My name (1 Chronicles 22:6-10) In this passage, we see now something change! On the first respond of God to David is a No! but in this passage, we see that the respond of God to David is a Yes but His Son [Solomon] is the one who will build a house for God not him and that house will become a Temple! From this story, I began to realize that David s right heart [that God should be always bigger and greater than any other else] redirects his wrong action to a right action. The wrong he did was redirected to right because of his right heart in what he is doing. God allowed his noble project because of having a right heart. Sometimes, you might do something wrong that leads you to a wrong result because you are innocent of it but because your heart is right a heart that always see God as always bigger and greater than any other else, your right heart justifies your innocent wrong action and will be redirected into a right actions but anyways, take note the word innocent! Meaning, you really don t know that it is wrong. If what you did is wrong but if your heart is right, it will redirects your wrong into right! That s why what I am desiring and praying to you in this book is to lead you to have a right heart in your journey which is God s glory 320

321 should be your only Joy God should be always bigger and glorious in any other else in your life. Now, maybe you are thinking, How can I apply that principle in growing in wisdom especially in reading my Bible? Okay, that s what we are going to learned in the end of this chapter! Let s continue! Relating our new principle learned to delighting in the Bible This principle, which is right heart redirect your wrong action to a right action, is actually the main principle we need in approaching our Bible. But anyways, I don t mean here that because right heart redirects our wrong action to a right action, we should not focus anymore in growing in knowledge about the truths in the Bible instead we just need to remain innocent because as long as we have a right heart a heart that God is always bigger than any other else, I am always safe in my every actions! No! That s not the application of what I am saying in this chapter! My main intention in sharing you this kind of principle [right heart redirects our wrong action to a right action] is not for you to stop delighting in studying and in seeking truths from the Word of God and focus only on having a right heart instead it is for you to be safe 321

322 in delighting in studying God s Word [Bible] especially in getting and formulating truths from it by focusing on having a right heart! When you are studying your Bible, focus on having a right heart because the right truth always comes from a right heart and the wrong truth that you might get from the Bible will be redirected by God into a right truth if your heart is always right! In other words, you re safe when you have a right heart! Right heart is the beginning of true wisdom Proverbs said: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7) What is that fear that proverbs is saying the beginning of wisdom? In New Testament, let me show you how Jesus Christ see the meaning of fearing God in Old Testament times and you will be surprise that fearing God doesn t mean that you should be afraid, trembling or scared to God to the point that you don t want to come to Him anymore. That s not what it means fearing God! Let me explain the fear of the Lord based on the mind of Jesus. 322

323 When Satan tempted Jesus, he said to Jesus, all these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me (Matthew 4:10) Jesus replied to him by quoting scripture from Deuteronomy in Old Testament, which is Deuteronomy 6:13. Jesus quoted it, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. (v.11) Did you notice the word worship? Now, remember that word! Worship! Let s go back to Deuteronomy 6:13 the original scripture that Jesus quoted and let us read that in its original text: It is the Lord your God you shall fear Him you shall serve and by his name you shall serve (Deuteronomy 6:13) Did you see that? In original text in Old Testament, it is fear! And In New Testament, when Jesus quoted it, he changes the word fear to worship. He changes fearing God to worshipping God. That s why it means that in New Testament especially in Jesus eyes, to fear God means to worship God above all things. And that is exactly what David said about fearing the Lord: You who fear the Lord [What are you going to do as you fear the Lord?], praise Him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify Him (Psalm 22:23) Fearing means worshipping! In other words, fear of the Lord [or having a heart that God should be always above than any other else] is the beginning of wisdom! That s why I am encouraging you today 323

324 to have a right heart like the heart of David a heart that says, God is glorious and worthy to be always bigger, greater, and above than any other else Reminders for today As I end this chapter, I am encouraging you right now to be like St. Augustine, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards and John Piper in studying our Bible they are using the lenses of God s Glory! They have all a theocentric mindset in approaching the Bible! Meaning, Every time they study the Bible, God s glory is the central focus of everything. Their mind is always focusing on God seeing God as glorious as He is than any other things and seeing God as the center of everything! Their conclusion in the end is always: God is greater than any other! God is bigger than any other! God is glorious than any other! 324

325 Day 38 Satisfied but still thirsty Hello! Wow! It is very surprising that we are already near to the last day. By the way, I want you to know right now that I am praying [as I am writing this chapter] that this chapter will help you to examine your present faith right now or your being as a Born Again Christian Are you really saved? As I end this book, my desire is to help you to see yourself if you really a Born Again Christian. Anyways, let s start now our [I think] heart- breaking lesson! Christianity is all about God s Glory Christianity is all about beholding the glory of God. As Planets are revolving around the sun, everything that we experienced in our Christian life is actually revolving around God s glory. 325

326 As we learned in Day 10, our justification [being forgiven and being made righteous] is through beholding God s glory in Christ in His finished work in the cross and as we learned in Day 3, our sanctification [becoming like Christ or living a righteous life] is also through beholding God s glory! Complete transformation is through complete seeing of God s glory And actually, even our glorification in the future is through beholding God s glory. Maybe glorification is a new vocabulary word to you. Let me explain briefly what is glorification. Glorification is actually what you [as Born Again] are going to experience in the future you are going to have a perfect and immortal body like Jesus [a very different body you have right now in this world] that will never experience disease, death and pain anymore and there will be no more loneliness, tears, and sadness in you. In other words, glorification is referring to your complete transformation like Jesus in the future. Look what John said: Beloved, we are God s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared [we are not yet glorified], but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2) 326

327 Seeing Jesus fully will fully transform us like Jesus. Our complete transformation or our glorification is when we start beholding the complete glory of God when we see Him as He is! The glory we are beholding in this world is only a glimpse While here in earth, the glory of God we are beholding is only a glimpse. Paul said: And we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in the mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18) In other version like NIV, there is actually phrase as in the mirror in this verse. Now notice that Paul compares the Glory that the believers are beholding to a man beholding in the mirror. What does it mean? The mirror in ancient times is not like the mirror we have now, their mirror were actually polished metal. If you used our mirror today, you will see your perfect or exact detail of your face in the mirror but if you used the mirror in ancient times which is the polished metal, you will not see the 100% you instead you will see only the glimpse of you where it simply shows that Paul is saying here that the glory of God we are beholding right now is actually not 327

328 the exact and the perfect representation of God s glory in the future. The glory of God right now is only a glimpse. While we are here in earth, the glory we are seeing is a glimpse. That s why look what Paul also said here: My desire is to depart [to die] and be with Christ, for that is far better (Philippians 1:23) Paul is saying that it is far better to die and be with Christ because the glory of God he is seeing in earth is just a glimpse. He wants far better of God s glory, which will be possible only when he die and already in heaven. The glory of God we are beholding is only a glimpse that s why the happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, and transformation that we are experiencing is also just a glimpse only of what we will experience in the heaven when we see fully 100% the beauty of God s glory. That s why we, the Believers who have saving faith [have an eyes opened in seeing the beauty of God s glory] or simply the born again Christians are satisfied in God alone but still thirsty and hungry to the much more of God. We are satisfied in God but still thirsty to see more God s glory in our life and especially the 100% beauty of God s glory face to face in the 328

329 future that s why I entitled this chapter, Satisfied but still thirsty! In my title, I am talking to the true Born Again Christians! Final story That s why in the final story of the Bible, look what God said to the believers, who have saving faith [or the Born Again Christians], who are already in heaven: It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty, I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment (Revelations 21:6) In this verse, Why God called the believers as thirsty? Again, It is because of the their experience of having an eyes opened in seeing the glimpse of the beauty of God s glory here in earth that leads them to be Born Again. While they are here in earth, they tasted the glimpse of satisfaction and happiness from seeing the glimpse God s glory and because it is only a glimpse, it leads them to be thirsty. They want to taste more of it that s why they are also desiring to see the much more of God. Believers today, who have saving faith, are satisfied in God but still still hungry and thirsty for the much more of God. People who received Salvation are the people who experience divine experience saying, Lord, I want to see Your glory! I want to be with 329

330 You all the days of my life only to enjoy the beauty of Your glory! I am hungry and thirsty to You! Parable of the Persistent Widow Try to look also at this parable: In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, Give me justice against my adversary. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. (Luke 18: 2-5) The main idea that I encouraged you to get in this parable is only the continual coming of the Widow. She kept coming and coming! Now, look what Jesus said in the next verse: Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? (Luke 18: 6-7) At this time, Jesus refers the elect as the same to the widow who is non- stop in coming to the Judge! Look what Jesus said more in the next verse: 330

331 When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? (Luke 18:8) This verse simply saying that in the second coming of Jesus, will Jesus find those who have faith in Him a kind of faith that is thirty in Him that makes a person coming to Him day and night like Widow who is non- stop in coming to Judge? In other words, every born again Christians while in this world are satisfied in God but still thirsty to the much more of God that s why they are continuous and non- stop in coming to God and that is actually the main essence of a man living in a life of God is his only joy. God is our only Joy we are satisfied in Him but still thirsty to His much more! Reminders for Today Let this chapter be your self- evaluation today. Paul said, Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves (2 Corinthians 13:6) Do you think you are really a Born Again Christian having faith in Christ? Do you really experienced the truth, God is your only Joy? Be reminded today that the true mark of being Born Again is he is living in a life satisfied in God alone but still thirsty to the much more of God while in this world! 331

332 Day 39 Why Mission exists? Wow! We are now in Day 39. Oh no! We are already in the second to the last day! I am really going to miss you my friend! Today, we are going to talk about why mission exist. Why there are missionaries proclaiming the gospel in every nation. Are you ready for it? Okay, let s start! John Piper said, Mission exist because worship doesn t I really love that statement! Piper simply means that missionary go the mission field and proclaiming the gospel not actually to seek the lost people or the unsaved people going to hell but mainly to seek worshipper of God. That is the heart of Gospel in Mission! It is that Every people, every tongue and every tribe will sing, Hallelujah to the Lamb! and it is also that the prophecy in Revelations will be fulfilled: 332

333 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and that is in them, saying, To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! (Revelations 5:13) Mission exists because worship doesn t that s the truth! The heart of mission is to display His glory to all people in every nation. Doing mission is doing the prophecy of Habakkuk. He said: For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14) Psalm 96 Now, let s see the passage in Old Testament with the same truth that I am sharing to you earlier. Look at Psalm 96! Psalmist said: Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples! (Psalm 96:3) The main reason we do global mission only to declare His Glory. We proclaim the gospel to all the people among the nations only to declare His glory. In the next verses, Psalmist said the same, he said: Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the people, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength (Psalm 96:7) 333

334 Again, we do global missions so that every families of the earth will ascribe to the Lord s Glory that s mission! And now, as people of the earth see that displayed Glory of God, what will be the respond of the earth? Psalmist said in the next verses: and let the earth rejoice (Psalm 96:11) God display His Glory to Nation and then, Nations rejoice in that! That s why again, mission exist because people rejoicing in God doesn t exist. And I actually that s what I want to say also about this book this book [God is our only Joy] exists because people rejoicing in God doesn t. Psalmist said in the Previous Chapter: Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise (Psalm 95:1-2) Psalmist is calling for worship to God and do you know why? Psalmist said in the next verse: For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods (Psalm 95:3) 334

335 The truth why worship exists is because God s great Glory that is greater than any other gods is displayed. Message of every missionary to the world The message of the missionary to the people to every nation is the gospel and I already explain to you what is the main purpose of Gospel in our very first day, it is to reveal the Glory of God and have joy in it. Right? William Mounce commented that the words gospel of the glory in 1 Timothy 1:11 should not be translated glorious gospel, as most modern versions of the Bible do because in original Greek grammar, the glory is actually the actual content of the Gospel. That s why it should be translated gospel that tells and reveals the glory of God Proclaiming the Gospel in every Nation [or in short, doing mission!] exist because people rejoicing in God s glory doesn t exist. Missionary shares the gospel only to display the glory of God in Christ and call people to worship that displayed Glory of God! Reminders for Today As I end this chapter, I want to encourage you to have a missionary heart [a heart of giving your life for the spreading of the glory of God to the world] and I want to remind you again that what people need 335

336 to hear from you as a missionary is not a Gospel that will lead them to feel how much they are loved by God, how much they are cared by God or how much they are valued by God instead what they must hear is the Gospel that will lead them to see the beautiful glory of God that will lead them to live a life of God is their only Joy. Mission exists because people living in a life of God is our only Joy are not existing! 336

337 Day 40 Sustaining the Joy We are now in the last day of our Journey. Before I start this chapter, I want you to know that I am so thankful that you come this far. Thanks! It is already forty days that I am with you that s why today, I am already assuming that you are already living on a truth that God is your only Joy that s why in this day, what we are going to learn is how are you going to sustain that joy? But let me clarify one thing before we start this day, I want you to know that I am not saying that what I am going to teach you this day is the only way to sustain your joy in God, it is one way of sustaining it but I believe this is the most important of all. Okay, let s start! Disciple s preaching at Synagogue It was recorded in the book of Acts that Disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:5) Notice that Disciples are not 337