Monthly Archives: November 2016

Spiritual Growth

Growth

A couple months ago, I used to believe that our faith is like a stock chart with ups and downs, and hopefully the trendline is going upward. Therefore, this trendline is invisible. It’s only a direction of where our faith is going overall. So the blue ups and downs line below is our faith, and the red broken trendline doesn’t mean anything but direction.

broken

But recently I changed my mind about this theory. Our faith is indeed the red solid trendline, which is our spiritual growth whereas the blue ups and downs line is our life, with positive and negative events. This is our earthly issues and physical body whereas the red trendline going upward is our faith because we are constantly growing in Christ.

solid

It’s impossible to grow spiritually in faith without pain and trials since all experience is the lesson drawing us closer to God. The book of Job is a great example here. If Job had never gone through any of these losses, he wouldn’t have been able to understand the magnificent power and unconditional love God had for him. The valleys and mountains are earthly life with trials, issues, successes, and failures. They are not our spiritual life. Instead the solid upward trendline is our spiritual life, our spiritual growth in faith through trials, through mountains/successes and valleys/failures in life. Through all of this and all experience, we gain spiritual knowledge and wisdom in God. Sometimes God can turn even our sin into something good. I remember when I was struggling with my own sin, I ran away from Him because I felt so shameful, guilty, filthy, and fearful. But He turned it into good. After I sincerely confessed my sin, for the first time in my life, I experienced first hand His unconditional love through the forgiveness of sin. This particular sin I committed was the valley of my life, but thanks to God, He turned it into something good to push my faith to the next level and help me grow spiritually by giving me a deeper understanding of His perfect love for a sinner like me. However, it doesn’t mean that we have to sin to get to the next level in faith. The valleys can be anything. It can be a sin in that example. It can be a loss of the loved one, a discouragement from a close friend, a financial setback, a disease, a failing relationship, a rejection from college, or in my case the fear of deportation sometimes. As long as we continue to preserve with our faith in God, He will reward us with spiritual growth and knowledge to bring us to the next level of faith to be closer to Him. That reward is worth it. That reward is better than any trials and setbacks combining.

Some people say that one has to be a backslider to grow spiritually, and I used to believe that until recently. But now I disagree with that concept! Our faith should grow constantly, and sin shouldn’t be required for that growth. Again the example of Job proves this theory. When Job lost everything, he didn’t listen to his friends and curse God. Instead he remained faithful. Yes he did complaint, but he didn’t turn his back from God; he didn’t live in sin. He chose to be faithful and continue to cry out to his beloved Creator. The reward: not only Job got back double his portion in the worldly possessions, he got something far greater: he got spiritual knowledge through the experience of pain and trials. He got closer to God, the love of his life, the one he chased after. Satan doesn’t know our faith, so that’s why he constantly challenges our faith. But God knows our faith because He knows the most intimate details about us. When I read the conversation between God and Satan at the beginning of Job, I wonder if they still have the same conversation about us today? Perhaps sometimes they even talk about me. Does Satan want to attack my life because he sees the growing faith I have? And does God allow the attack because He knows my faith is bigger than the trial and temptation Satan presents? Some preachers say “I will scare the hell out of them to bring them to God” when they plant the fear of hell in people’s minds, hoping that the fear will grow so big that the individual will turn to God to secure a spot in heaven. I propose a new solution: let’s love the hell out of them to bring them to God. Instead of the fear strategy, let’s use the love strategy. Let’s love every piece of sin and hell out of that person. Let’s love them so much that they want more and more of that love. Let’s be an ambassador of Christ, an example of heavenly love to draw the individual to the source of unconditional love: God.

A prophecy given to a servant of God must serve only two purposes:

  • To increase their desire for God like a burning fire inside their heart
  • To motivate them to choose to serve God like a humble servant

It shouldn’t be about personal gain; the prophet should have absolute no earthly gain from the prophecy. It’s only for the good of the individual receiving the message. My dad wants me to one day be able to get to the level of spiritual growth and knowledge to hear God’s voice directly and minister to others around me. To be a humble servant, a chosen disciple of God. Typically parents have a vision for their kids to be a successful doctor or lawyer, but I guess my dad is quite different! He has a different vision in mind for my future. He doesn’t care about the level of man or the successes of man. He wants more for me. He wants the best for me. He wants the level of God and the reward of faith for me. I guess our family tradition is somewhat different! I’m excited to get to that level, but at the same time, I honestly don’t know what that means. It’s like something I can feel but can’t really see or touch. I guess that’s where faith comes in: “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). The good news here is that even though I don’t know what the destination looks like, I know that I want it and I know how to get there: to continue studying the Bible, stay grounded in prayer, put God first on my priority list, and constantly humble myself before Him with a servant heart. That’s the action plan!

Right now I think I pass level 1, the elementary stage knowing that there’s a God, and His name is Jesus. That He loves us. He helps us. And He answers our prayers. Now I’m preparing for level 2: knowing that God speaks to us. That He guides us, and He wants us to be His servants. Level 3 is more advanced to be able to hear His voice directly and be able to distinguish His voice from Satan’s voice. The task is indeed difficult, but we have an instruction of step-by-step process to accomplish this: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4: 1-3). Also another instruction from God is this: “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3: 7-8). Also coming at this level is the battle between heaven and hell, clearly described in Scripture: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). Personally this verse is more scary than any Halloween horror movies I have ever seen! But of course, the fight is worth it because the reward in heaven is worth it and the victory is already on our side when we stand with God. Level 4 is to be able to walk with God and listen to God every step of every day everywhere. I don’t mean “feeling like the Holy Spirit is talking” but actually know what the Holy Spirit is saying like talking to a friend at lunch time hearing every single word he’s saying. This level takes a tremendous amount of faith because the servant must comfortably allow God to take control over all of the steps at all moments of his day and his life. I asked my dad what’s next after this level. He didn’t tell me. He said that when we get to this level, we will know what the next one is because at this stage, we already have the spiritual knowledge needed for constant growth.

I have been a Christian for awhile now (Jan 14, 2017 is my 6-year anniversary with God). Throughout all this time during my walk with God, I only know one person that has reached the highest level described above: my dad. I’ll give a simple example. When I was home for 5 days for spiritual training, his phone never rang once. The day I left to the airport to go back to Florida, it phone started ringing; God put him back to work (for the ministry God is doing through him). That small example shows that God, not my dad, controls his schedule. God decides when my dad’s working on the next project, where it is, and what it is. He tells dad which roads to take, whom to talk to, and what to say. One time my dad was speaking to this stranger about the biggest secret he was doing. Well no surprise here but the guy was shocked! He thought nobody knew what he was doing. I guess he was wrong. God knew what he was doing. God told my dad and used my dad to confront him. Again going back to the two solely purposes of prophecy: my dad didn’t gain anything from this situation, but the stranger confessed and got back to God. Hallelujah! Most of the times, if not always, we speak too much and know so little. That’s why it’s important to close our mouth and open our ears to listen to God and listen to others for God.

To get to the next level, there’s a price to pay. For me, the entry level was baptism when I publicly announced to the world I would give my life to Jesus and follow Him. The price for me was the loss of my mom. When we are ready for the test, God will present the scenario and show us the price we have to pay to get to this level. At that point, we have to make a decision 1) to pay the price to be closer to God and have a stronger relationship and understanding of God at a deeper level or 2) to not pay the price and stay at the same level we currently are. If we choose option two, it doesn’t mean we lose our salvation; it simply means that our faith is not strong enough to get to a higher level of spiritual knowledge. None of us knows when the test will come, what that price is, or under what scenario. So what we need to do is to CONSTANTLY GUARD OUR FAITH; we need to always be grounded in spiritual growth to fulfill the requirements of the price to pass the test when it comes. To put it in practical terms, I will continue to study the Bible and maintain a humble servant heart before God. How good of a servant I am depends on how much and how hard I study.

To stay humble, we must understand its opposition: pride. For me where I am right now, I see pride as priority or intent of the heart. If my priority is me, I will do whatever it takes to satisfy me. That’s pride. I’ll help somebody to make me look more appealing, sound smarter, feel better, and be higher than that person. If my priority is man (people around me), eventually I will lose the desire to help anyone because I won’t be able to please everyone. The best scenario is if my priority is God, then I will serve, bless, love, and help somebody else not because I’m so good, but because I’m so bad and God is so loving that He still wants to use me to do His work. I’m nothing without him. I can do nothing unless He’s preparing it, planning it for me, and doing it with me “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). So it only comes down to this: what’s the motive behind our actions? To serve ourselves, man, or God? There are three options; the math is quite simple, but the decision is tough. Which one do you choose today? Tomorrow? And for all eternity? “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Which one do you serve today? Tomorrow? And for all eternity? I choose to serve God today, tomorrow, and for all eternity. On October 22, 2016 I made this commitment to God. Since then I have been following it and today I want to restate that commitment to God.

God I accept the responsibility to be your disciple. I choose to love you, honor you, praise you, and walk with you everyday. To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with you for the rest of my life and all eternity.

Some people say I’m too young to do the kind of things I do and have the kind of knowledge I have. I used to believe it until recently I disagree. Age is a label put on us by man; they put it on us the moment we were born. Don’t act your age. Act the spiritual age God wants you to act. What is your age in God’s standard? Are you an infant, teenager, adult, or senior? Well as for me, I’m no longer an infant. I think I’m in elementary school now as I excitingly prepare for middle school.

Speak the Truth in Love

Love

The phrase “speak the truth in love” from the verse “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15) is one of the many verses that have been misused a lot in the world today, both inside and outside the church. Most people stop at the “speak the truth in love” part and never finish the verse to “grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” The purpose of speaking the truth in love has to be growth, meaning that whatever we say to our brothers and sisters in Christ, it should lift up them to help them grow. If the purpose is not right, the consequences are negative, and the action is not just. To speak the truth in love is not just how you say it, it’s also why you say it. What is your intent to speak that truth to your brothers and sisters? Is it to lift them up or put them down? Is it to serve you or God and the other person? If a brother is growing and serving God and you get jealous, you may point out to them their negative traits and sins in the past. When that happens, you may want to ask yourself: by me saying these things, am I helping them to grow? Do I lift them up? Is my heart right with God? Is my motive pure for saying these things? Does my intent come from jealousy or compassion and love?

The first part “speak the truth” has to be dealt with carefully. It’s ok to point out the negative aspects of the individual, but again is it for a good purpose? If a brother is sinning, it’s our duty to point it out to him. Conviction is hard. It hurts but it also brings a sense of joy and peace because there’s a hope of forgiveness through Christ. If the brother wants to improve a certain skill or if he’s not doing something so well, it’s ok to point it out what you think can help him improve. So that’s the good kind of speaking the truth. However, if we bring up the sins in the past, we may do so because we listen to Satan’s lies out of our jealousy and anger toward the brother. Once we sincerely confess our sin and ask God for forgiveness, the blood of Christ washes the sin away. It’s gone, deleted, forgotten, erased, washed away, past tense, no more, as if the sin has never happened. The only one that will ever bring it up again is Satan to hurt us, to make us feel guilty and shameful because he cannot stand the fact that we have gone back to God and turned away from that sin. God will NEVER bring it up again to hold us accountable for that sin. So when you “speak the truth” by pointing out somebody’s past sin, you’re not doing God’s will. You’re doing the opposite of God’s will, you’re doing Satan’s will because you listen to Satan’s lies instead of God’s voice. Another way this is misused is when we point out the negativity of an individual for no good reason. For example, if a brother is called to teach a Bible study, you may get jealous and give him all of the reasons why he’s not a good fit for the job: he’s shy, not good at public speaking, not have enough knowledge, too young for the job, etc. These things may be true, so you can cover it by saying you’re speaking the truth. But in reality, the action is unjust because you’re not doing this to help him grow and to serve God. You’re doing this to bring him down out of your jealousy and anger.

That leads to the second part of the verse: IN LOVE. Every good thing we do has to be in love. Otherwise, there’s no meaning. “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13: 1-7). So when we speak the truth to somebody (point out their sin, negativity, or anything else), we have to ask ourselves the following questions based on this instruction from God:

  •  What is the intent of the truth you’re speaking? Does it come from love or jealousy and anger?
  • Do you speak out of faith in God or faith in yourself?
  • Do you speak up to help the brother or to boast about yourself? Do you lift them up? Or do you put them down so that you can feel better about yourself, so that you can be above them, so that you can satisfy your pride and jealousy?
  • Are you being patient?
  • Are you being kind?
  • Are you jealous and prideful? Is it about your ego or their growth?
  • Does it put them down to boast you up?
  • Do you listen to God’s voice or Satan’s whisper of lies to your ears when you speak the truth?
  • Do you protect them from sins, harm, and lies?
  • Do you give them hope?
  • Do you encourage them to persevere?

Most of the times we don’t realize the power of the tongue. Words can encourage and lift somebody up, but at the same time they can destroy an individual. God calls for unity; Satan calls for division. The devil can whisper lies into our ears to turn us against each other. He doesn’t like Christians, and his goal is to tear us apart. Sometimes when we’re not careful, we become his assistant by listening to his lies and acting it out. When a brother is serving God and you speak the truth out of jealousy, a couple things happen. First, you probably listen to Satan’s lies and actually believe it. So between you and God, you need to reconcile by turning away from Satan, closing your ears on him, and instead listening to God’s voice. Second, between you and the brother, you have done him wrong. So you need to come to him and ask for his forgiveness. Third, between the brother and God, he needs to ignore what you say and only listen to what God says. This is the test of his faith. Will he listen to his friend or his God? The book of Job is a good example here. Will he persevere and continue to do God’s work: teach a Bible study, lead a ministry, join the worship team, serve for a great cause, etc.? Or will he have a self-pity party and quit? That’s the decision we each have to make. And when you make these decisions, ask yourself this:  when I stand before God and see Him face to face, what kind of discussions will we have about the decision I make today?

A good friend, also a sister in Christ, recently “spoke the truth” to me out of jealousy. It was discouraging, and it hurt. I cried about it and asked God for direction. It didn’t take Him long to answer that prayer. Immediately the Holy Spirit delivered the truth in many ways; all of them are in love! So I chose to ignore what my friend said; I chose to serve God by teaching the Bible study.