Called for A Purpose...

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30
I remember when I was in grade three, we used to play soccer out in the field. And the way we would always pick teams is by having 2 captains and then having them choose their players. Now, it was always great to be picked early, you recieved a sense of pride to be picked 1st or 2nd and watch and infleuence who your team mates were going to be.

And that is the sense of pride I get to be in God's family, the sense of worth when I realized that God picked us first. That God really had it in store for us to be part of his family, to be heirs to his throne. However, in like every team, each player is placed there for a reason. Some of us can defend, some of us can stop goals, some of us can score. Though our gifts are all different, we all work hard for the same purpose on the field. I find that those who don't work hard, whose interest lie elsewhere, really struggle in the game. Therefore my brothers, I ask you what is your purpose on this field, what is God calling you to do. Today is the day you should figure it out, let's not play the game without a purpose, but rather have each of us running towards the victory with purpose.

Lastly, I would also ask you to consider, those brothers/potential brothers who are not in the game yet. When will we call them in to play?

Allan

3 John 1

1The elder,
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.

2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.

9I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church.

11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.

13I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

lol, go short books! I think the thing that spoke out to me, is how to discern whether someone is for God or if someone is in it for their own personal glory. Anyone who does good is from God, anyone who does evil is not from God. In this instance, Diotrephes has started acting out in a way that dishonours God. It is presented in such a way that John plans to come and straighten him out, when he comes. But, there is also Demetrius, who is spoken well of.

So my challenge to you would be that the actions you take each day. Are they upright and blameless? Do they imitate Christ? Or are they actions that glorify the self?

You Can Go Either Way Here

Here you yourself must be an example to them of good deeds of every kind. Let everything you do reflect your love of the truth and the fact that you are in dead earnest about it (Titus 2:7, the Living Bible).

Scripture: Titus 2:6-10
Song: "How Good It Is"

"Do as I say, not as I do." A parent may say it in jest, but the humor is often lost on the child. If we are to convince our own children, or any young person, of the truth found in the Word, then we must present evidence of our own conviction through our obedient behavior.

Not as easy task! And we can go either way with it: "Adam caused many to be sinners because he disobeyed God, and Christ caused many tro be made acceptable to God because he obeyed" (Romans 5:19). With an understanding of Christ's life and teachings, we see the power of His example to influence others to obey.

There was no deviation between what our Lord said and what He did during His earthly life. When we accept Christ as Lord of our lives, and we demonstrate our obedience to Him, we hasten the day when others will come to know Him.

By loving the truth we demonstrate our love for Him By living the truth in our daily lives we demonstrat His love to others.

Prayer: Lord, please help me show my love by obedience, just as Jesus did with the Father. In Jesus' prscious name, amen.

- taken from 365 Devotions by Standard (Pocket Edition)

An Exchanged Life

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in teh Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20

The Christian life is an exchanged life: Jesus' life for your life. When Christ takes control, your life takes on dimensions you would never have known apart from Him. When you are weak, then Christ demonstrates His strength in your life (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). When you face situations that are beyond your comprehension, you have only to ask, and the infinite wisdom of God is available to you (James 1:5). When you are faced with humanly impossible situations, God does the impossible ( Luke 18:27). When you encounter people whom you find difficult to love, God expresses His unconditional love through you (1 John 4:7). When you are at a loss as to what you should pray for someone, the Spirit will guide you in your prayer life. (Romans 8:16). When Christ takes up residence in the life of a believer, " all the fullness of God" is available to that person (Ephesians 3:19).

It is marvelously freeing to know that God controls your life and knows what it can become. Rather than constantly worrying about what you will face, your great challenge is to continually release every area of your life to God's control. The temptation will be to try to do by yourself what only God can do. Our assignment is to "abide in the vine" and to allow God to do in and through us what only He can do (John 15:5). Only God can be God. Allow Him to live out His divine life through you. He is the only One who can.

So yeah I (Howard) found this little something my friend wrote on her blog and I thought it was applicable to what we talked about at retreat. So I want you guys to leave a comment on what is the one thing we can do where we are (that being in school/work/family).

God, help me to see what You are doing and listen to Your voice. To never forget what You have put on my heart, to never lose sight of the great need for love and hope, to always walk behind You. Help me to stay when You say "stay," and go when You say "go." Help me to honour You in the small things, though there are a million other things I would rather be doing than studying Renaissance English terms. Show me more of who You are and make my heart more hungry for the things of Yours.

What are You doing in Toronto? What are You doing in Sri Lanka? What are You doing in Latin America? What are You doing here in Kingston?Lord, would my heart remain restless until Your will is done in my life!

Trial and Tribulations?

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you.
For I am the LORD your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I gave Egypt for your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in your place."

- Isaiah 43:2-3

Meditate, and let God into your presence. How great is our God.

Threats and Warnings

READ: Deuteronomy 4:32-40

Keep His statutes and His commandments . . . that it may go well with you and with your children after you. —Deuteronomy 4:40

“God never threatens; the devil never warns,” declared Oswald Chambers. We sometimes use the words threat and warning interchangeably, but Chambers saw a principle that suggests a distinction. Threats are used to get people to do what is in our best interest. Warnings are issued to get people to do what is in their best interest. In other words, threats seek to preserve power, whereas warnings serve to protect people from danger.

Satan wants us to think of God’s loving warnings as mean-spirited threats, but he is wrong. According to Chambers, “A warning is a great arresting statement of God’s, inspired by His love and patience.” The evidence of this is found in the many commands that are coupled with phrases like “that it may go well with you” (Deut. 4:40; 12:28).

In loving relationships, people warn one another of the inevitable consequences of foolish behavior. In unhealthy relationships, people threaten one another with punishment if they fail to live up to unreasonable demands.

As we interact with others, it’s good to consider the nature of our counsel and commands. Do we use ultimatums to preserve our own well-being? Or do we lovingly warn others to keep them from harm? — Julie Ackerman Link

FOR FURTHER STUDY
How can we take comfort from the love of God if we don’t feel loved? Read How Has God Loved Us? on the Web at www.discoveryseries.org/q0102

Warnings are an expression of love; threats are an expression of control.

Taken from Our Daily Bread
Jon

Our 10 Talents

Our Verse comes from Matthew 25:14-28
To Follow what Richard said, I really want you to think about what your ONE is:
1) What did God call me to do on Earth? What are my gifts?
2) How can I get involved at CCF or my church to manifest my gifts?
3) Am I serious and deticated to what God has called me to do?
4) What expectations do I have?
5) Am I ballsy enough to do it?

If you truly don't know your gifts, I suggest you try out a bit of everything. Get involved as much as you can, and you can see for yourself why God has put you where you are. You may get alot of questions answered that were unanswerable before. I've asked before, will you "Take the Call", now i'm asking will you Trust God in that Call....If your really interested in getting involved please email me at ahuang_6@hotmail.com. Let's build the new God centred Tomorrow, starting Today.

I want you to read verse 28, and consider very carefully the meaning and implication: " 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

~Allan

Retreat After Thoughts

Hi Guys,

I thought instead of a devo today, we could post a little bit of our thoughts on how the retreat went. I realize now that we didn't get to meet as a group of guys during the retreat, so I want to have this time to open up on how things went.

So...

What did you guys learn about God?
How did you experience Him?
Did you discover your One thing you can do for God?

-Richard

Growing Through Grief

readings: Psalms 119: 65-80

A woman who lost her husband of 40 years to a sudden heart attack said that the resulting grief had caused her to value love more. When she heard couples arguing, she sometimes spoke to them, saying, “You don’t have time for this.” She noted that the wasted moments in all our lives become more precious when they cannot be repeated.

Grief changes our perspective on life. It is trite but true that how we deal with sorrow will make us either bitter or better. In a remarkable statement, the psalmist actually thanked God for a difficult experience: “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word. . . . It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes” (Ps. 119:67,71).

We don’t know the nature of the psalmist’s affliction, but the positive outcome was a longing to obey the Lord and a hunger for His Word. Rarely can we use this truth to comfort those who hurt. Instead, it is the Lord’s word to us from His compassionate heart and the touch from His healing hand.

When we grieve, it feels more like dying than growing. But as God wraps His loving arms around us, we have the assurance of His faithful care.

- David C. McCasland

I have been through the valley of weeping,
The valley of sorrow and pain;
But the God of all comfort was with me,
At hand to uphold and sustain. —Anon.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. —Psalm 116:15

taken from "Our Daily Bread"

Richard Chan

Forever and Ever, Amen

Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end (Psalm 119:33).

Scripture: Psalm 119:33-40
Song: "Give Me Thy Heart"

Solemn vows echo through time. "I do's" resonate for life. "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, Lord and Savior" directs choices made day to day. The psalmist declares, "I shall keep it unto the end (119:33) ... with my whole heart" (vv. 33, 34). Such absolute decision are both honorable and honored.

Thankfully, God's promises form the precedent and model for us. When He vows, He does what He vows. There is no need to doubt; we simply follow His example. In the human words of Frances Ridley Havergal:

Take myself and I will be
Ever only, all for thee

Golden wedding anniversaries, celebrations commemorating decades of minitstry, memroal services for a faithful Christian- all are occasions that acknowledge and honor solemn vows uttered decades before, solemn vows kept no matter what life brought. That is the challenge for each of us: to find God's way, to vow to walk therein, and to do it ... forever and ever, amen.

Prayer: God whose way is true and worthy, give me the grace to walk therein. Help me in my effort to make Your way known to all. In Jesus' name, amen.

- taken from 365 Devotions by Standard (Pocket Edition)

Fresh

What do you think of when you hear the word fresh? When the weather is nice, my husband and I enjoy going to the farmers market so we can buy produce that was picked that very morning. To me, fresh means just-harvested fruits and vegetables—not stale or spoiled, but crisp and full of exquisite flavor.

I need that kind of freshness in my relationship with God. I can have too many stale attitudes—impatience, criticism, and selfishness—and not enough “longsuffering, kindness, . . . gentleness,” which are “the fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23).

As David repented of the sin in his life, he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart.” Then he petitioned God: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Ps. 51:10-12). Confession and repentance of our sin renews our fellowship with the Lord and allows us to joyously begin anew.

What better time than today to ask God to give you a newness of spirit, a freshness of faith, and a renewed appreciation of Him!

Lord, we want the fruit of our lives to always be “fresh and flourishing” (Ps. 92:14). Help us to experience Your love, compassion, and faithfulness that are “new every morning” (Lam. 3:22-23). Amen. —Cindy Hess Kasper

The Master is seeking a harvest
In lives He’s redeemed by His blood;
He seeks for the fruit of the Spirit,
And works that will glorify God. —Lehman

To bear good fruit, clear out the weeds of sin.

devo from Our Daily Bread, Feb 13, 2008

Sin is Lawlessness

"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4

It is dangerous thing to live your life without a spiritual "plumb line" or standard, by which you determine right from wrong. God's Word is that plumb line. Spiritual laws, like physical laws, are meant to protect you, not restrict you. You may exercise your freedom to challenge the laws of electricity, but to do so can bring you death. Likewise, you will not break God's laws, they will break you. God established absolute moral and spiritual laws that we are free to ignore, but we do so at our own peril. These laws are timeless. Culture does not supersede them. Circumstances do not abrogate them. God's laws are eternal, and they will save you from death if you follow them.

You may feel that God's laws restrict and bind you. On the contrary, God's Word protects you from death (Romans 6:23). For example when God said that you are not to commit adultery, He wanted to free you to experience the fullest pleasure of a marriage relationship. Furthermore, He knew the devastating heartache that would come to you, your spouse, your children, your relatives, your friends, and your church family if you broke this law. How important the laws of God are for your life! Without them, you would be robbed of the delights God has in store for you. Sin is choosing a standard other than God's law on which to base your life. If you are measuring your life by that of your neighbors, or society at large, then you are basing your life on lawlessness, and lawlessness is sin.

Part 2

http://www.boundless.org/2005/answers/a0001265.cfm

Are you guys in on this battle? Let us know so we can pray for one another.

- Howard

Part One

Have a good read on this one guys. Quite interesting. Howard will have Part 2 tomorrow.

http://www.boundless.org/2005/answers/a0001256.cfm

Life Beyond the Ritual

A royal dignitary was greeting residents at a nursing home, when he was surprised by the unresponsiveness of one woman who just sat there and stared at him. Finally, the dignitary asked, “Do you know who I am?”—to which the woman responded: “No. But that nurse over there helps us with those kinds of things.”

Many people are confused about who Jesus is. But through His Word, God helps us know and enjoy the real Jesus. You will find Him wonderfully compelling. Tough fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots gave up everything to follow Him (Mark 1:18). Women felt safe with Him. Crowds stood in awe of His power and authority.

Jesus is not content to be just our “fire insurance,” saving us from eternal punishment in hell. Rather, He wants us to know Him for who He really is, and He desires to connect with us on a deeper, more personal level.

If you are weary of a religion that is about rules and regulations, then welcome to life beyond the rituals. Welcome to a relationship in which you can find companionship, comfort, wisdom, and reality. Welcome to the wonderful privilege of getting to know Jesus and the joy of following Him.

Get to know Him—and you’ll grow to love Him more and more each day. —Joe Stowell

Which of all our friends, to save us,
Could or would have shed their blood?
But our Jesus died to have us
Reconciled in Him to God. —Newton

To know Jesus is to love Jesus


--Taken from Our Daily Bread

Where are Gideon's Men (Part 3)

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
~1 Samuel 16:7

I want to start this Devo with a Prayer:
Father God,
I just thank you for your power and your infinite patience in us
Lord, that at times we falter and break, but Lord you do not crumble
However, you sit there with arms open asking us to return back to you.
How amazing, that we KNOW that we have this gift of free salvation.
How your love for us,spurs us on, even in the bleakest of nights
God, Give us the heart of service, and just fill it with your Godly Joy.
Amen

So in the last few Devos we've hit a couple of topics. We started with the importance of keeping God at the head, so that God can guide you. We then tackled Trusting God (having faith), praying for power and then going out with courage to do the work. Which leads us to today.

Often there are times we procrasinate God's work. we pray weak prayers before we go to bed, and just give him whatever is left over of our week or our day, and then we feel relieved of our duty to serve. It is like we hit some spiritual quota we needed to meet or just to get his work out of the way, so that we can move on with our lives. I want you to consider today, if these offerings are pleasing to God.

In the verse provided today, it gives us great insight into what God sees in us. Is God more interested in what we do outwardly, or the inward processes that take place to why we do it? Does God want our duty or does God want our heart? I cannot think of a man who serves God by duty, that truly knows and understands the amazing power of his salvation. However, I have known many men who serve the Lord wholeheartly, and see and experience God daily.

What kind of relationship are you striving to have with God? One where the Master's face is always shrouded because you've never met him, or one where he shares his table with you and calls you friend. I strongly ask you to answer this question today. If you decide today that you want to know your Creator personally, then I encourage to make that prayer that I began with.

Lastly, I wanted to leave you with something John Piper wrote in his book "Desiring God", he writes: "I find the bible a divine command to be a pleasure seeker that is, to forsake the two bit, low yield, short term, never satisfying, person destroying God-belitting pleasures of the world and to sell everything "with joy" (Matt 13:44) in order to have the kingdom of heaven and "enter the joy of your master"(Matt 25:21,33).

May this bring you my brothers infinitly closer to God
~Allan

message of the day:
-Serve the God with your heart, not out of duty

Prayer

Hey everyone!

Today's devo is taken from James 5:13-16 (NIV):

13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

I had an incredibly short post on prayer before, I think I was kind of mad at the time. I apologize, so let me add some more on prayer.

This is pretty much what James ends off on in his letter, I don't know who his target audience is or was, but there is a lot you can learn from his letter. I would consider it something akin to the "Proverbs" of the NT, as he covers a wide multitude of topics.

It's so great how he speaks of prayer, that we should truly pray in all circumstances. There is no doubt that this part: James 5:13-20 deals about prayer. If you're in trouble, pray for deliverance (exams, anyone?). If you're sick? Pray for healing. If you are happy? Sing songs of praise! It even goes on to give the example about Elijah and how righteous prayer can cause droughts and rain.

There's also another part to this: That is COMMUNITY. Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another to be healed. Does this healing have to do with physical health or spiritual?
I'll leave that to you. In any case, we are to be open with one another, and pray for each others' vulnerabilities.

So my challenge to you is two part:
1. Pray more, because prayer is key. Speak to God and listen to Him as He works in your life.
2. Be open with your brothers and sisters. Let us build each other up to be a community of valiant Christian warriors that can boldly and fearlessly proclaim His good message.

-Richard

The Atrocious Mathematics Of The Gospel

Reading: Matthew 18:23-25

From childhood we are taught how to succeed in the world of ungrace. “You get what you pay for.” “The early bird gets the worm.” “No pain, no gain.” I know these rules well because I live by them. I work for what I earn; I like to win; I insist on my rights. I want people to get what they deserve.

But Jesus’ parables about grace teach a radically different concept. In Matthew 18, no one could accumulate a debt as huge as the servant did (vv.23-24). This underscores the point: The debt is unforgivable. Nevertheless, the master let the servant off scot-free.

The more I reflect on Jesus’ parables proclaiming grace, the more tempted I am to apply the word atrocious to describe the mathematics of the gospel. I believe Jesus gave us these stories to call us to step completely outside our tit-for-tat world of ungrace and enter into God’s realm of infinite grace.

If I care to listen, I hear a loud whisper from the gospel that I did not get what I deserved. I deserved punishment and got forgiveness. I deserved wrath and got love. I deserved debtor’s prison and got instead a clean credit history. I deserved stern lectures and crawl-on-your-knees repentance. Instead, I got a banquet spread for me. - Philip Yancey

--> taken from Our Daily Bread

Richard Chan

Something Worth Passing On

I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also (2 Timothy 1:5, New International Version)

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:1-5
Song: "Faith of Our Fathers"

My dining room hutch displays a plate of Bavarian china, and I treasure its pastel roses and gold rim. I value this heriloom, not for its monetary worth, but because it belonded to my grandmother and then to my mother.

One day I too will hand down some of my treasures to my children and grandchildren. This plate will be given to one of my daughters, who will probably pass it to her daughter. With the passing of each generation, we celebrate our shared history and its mementos.

Faith may not be a tangible heirloom, but it is surely the best thing we can pass to the next generation. Modeling an authentic, growing faith in our own lives creates a generational legacy by which children are compelled to explore God's calling in their own lives.

I possess more than a plate that belonged to my granmother. I'm forutnate to also have a legacy of faith from my mother and grandmother. This faith has become completely my own, and now I hold it out to my children and grandchildren, just as Lois and Eunice did with Timothy.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be a living example of fatih in You. And ket my faith be a lasting legacy to the generation who follow. In Christ's name, amen.

- taken from 365 Devotions by Standard (Pocket Edition)

Life's Seasons

"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven." - Ecclesiastes 3:1

The beauty in the way God designed the four seasons is that, though each one is distinct, they all work together to bring life and growth. Spring is a period of freshness and new life. Summer sees growth and productivity. Autumn is a time for harvesting the rewards of past labors. Winter is the season of dormancy and closure. Each season has its own unique beauty and makes a significant contribution to life.


Just as God planned seasons in nature, He planned seasons in life as well. Life has its springtime, where we begin new things and look excitedly at the future. Summer comes and we work diligently in the heat of the day at all that God has assigned to us. With autumn comes the fruition of things begun at an earlier time in our lives. Winter brings an end to a particular period in our lives. Sometimes winter brings hardship, but we remain hopeful, for another spring is just around the corner!


In God's perfect design for our lives, He has planned for times of fruitfulness and activity. He will also build in times of quiet and rest. There will be times when He asks us to remain faithful doing the same work day after day. But there will be also be periods of excitement and new beginnings. By God's grace, we will enjoy seasons of harvesting the fruit of our faithfulness. By God's grace, we will also overcome the cold winters of heartache and grief, for without winter there would be no spring. Just as it is with the seasons of nature, these seasons in our lives work together to bring about God's perfect will for each one of us.

- Prayer Request: I am in the midst of a crapload of work... its really scaring me, but as this devo says, I need to push myself and be faithful, and KNOW that God is there watching over me. I need your prayers as I work through this time. Thanks

jacky

The Most Important Thing

If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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 13:1-3

Guys.. please pray for me as I'm struggling to love my family right now. Thanks!