Together

by an ISR Alum!

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. -Hebrews 10:23-25

This passage has been on my heart a lot this past month. Something that stands out is that “us” and “we” are repeatedly used. The author of Hebrews understood, and exhorts us, that we absolutely need the body of Christ to run this race. “Let *us* hold unswervingly to the hope *we* profess” (v. 23), “And let *us* consider how *we* may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (v. 24), and “Let *us* not give up meeting together … but let *us* encourage one another” (v. 25). God created each of us to have a unique role in the body of Christ as well as a need for the rest of the body (1 Corinthians 12). But sometimes it can be so easy to forget this. Maybe we’re too busy to spend time with other Christians, or perhaps negative experiences in the church have turned us off.

God has been graciously reminding me, in a very personal way, how much I absolutely need to be closely connected to the body of Christ. After moving to Chicago in September, I had to find a new church. While searching, I didn’t join a small group because I didn’t want to attend a group until I finally decided what church to commit to. This turned out to be a bad idea (and I do not recommend it). In fact, I joined a small group for the first time just last week, which means I hadn’t been in a small group for over five months. For me, that was a long time especially because I’d been involved in small groups since freshman year (ISR 5 and in youth group before that.

Even though I was going to church weekly, I felt that I wasn’t closely connected to the Body without small group. I knew something was missing in my life. And finally when I went to small group last week, I realized just how much I was missing out on. Yes, the Bible study was great, the prayer time and fellowship was encouraging, and I felt at home immediately. But it was more than just a well-organized, vibrant meeting. God’s special presence was there as we gathered in His name as a body of believers (Matthew 18:20). He uses the body of Christ as a powerful means for us to receive His grace and to be sharpened by one another.

And why are we able to hold onto our hope, spur one another on toward love and good deeds, and encourage one another? It’s because God is faithful (v. 23) and we are eagerly waiting His return (v. 25).

I felt spiritually revived and renewed just from going to small group again. And I can’t wait to keep going . Let us never underestimate the importance of the body of Christ. Let us keep running after God and pressing on … together!

Remember

by Rachel Christudhas

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. -Deuteronomy 8:2-3

God sure did save my craziest semester for my last one as an undergrad. Yet at the same time, I find myself feeling like each year there has been different deserts He has walked me through. From roommate struggles, applying for the education program, health issues and now trying to make it to graduation, God has clearly had His hand over me.

This semester as I struggle with working with a difficult cooperating teacher, a challenging group of students while balancing ministry and relationships, I have often felt like just throwing in the towel. But this passage challenges me so much. I need to remember how God has moved mountains for me these last four years with relationships and health to school and future. God is evidently humbling me with a difficult teacher to refine this heart to progress from seeking approval from people to looking to God’s approcal. God is testing my heart to see if I will truly love my students (even when they talk back, throw things, and don’t listen), just because of His love and what He has done for me…rather than if they love me the way I want. God is humbling me in a way to chase after Him alone as I serve in ICF and struggle with the “madness of life”—that it is for His glory and not my own. I want to REMEMBER that it is all for Him. He is the reason why I should move forward, why I press on, why I am doing (or should be doing) all that I am this semester. I cannot depend on the confidence man gives me, the love people send my way, or the glory I can receive as I do different things. I need to solely live for “every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord”. When things get tough and graduating seems impossible, relationships get difficult and I question about my career choice…I want to always REMEMBER. God has carried me through this far and He will not stop. His grace is enough and even in the desert may my prayer be …just as one of my favorite songs goes “let me find You in the desert..till this sand is holy ground”. I want to be faithful and remember this semester that He is all the reason I need to move forward and “keep on, keeping on” =)

pray that I won’t push till may but make the most of this time on this campus and love the Lord so that I’ll still be smiling all through may for Jesus! =)

Slaves and Masters

by Jed Hernandez

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. – Ephesians 6:5-8

I think it was God’s sovereignty that this is the passage I’m on as I go through the book of Ephesians for my QTs. I had a long talk with my younger brother and our conversation got heated like it does many times because our views on life/spiritual things don’t line up. He listens to Joel Osteen and the the prosperity gospel that he preaches.

It’s tough talking to him but this passage is a great reminder that I’m a slave to Christ…and life won’t always be easy because at times, we will need to be slaves to our bosses at work or the different authorities in our lives. The important thing to remember is that we should serve with the right heart and right attitude.

I want to ‘do the will of God’ at work and even in my conversations with my brother. It pains me and it breaks my heart that his view on Christianity is kind of sugarcoated. I kept trying to explain that we need to be faithful with the different callings we have in our lives and at this moment, my calling is to be here in Champaign, ministering to PSA and the Filipinos on campus.

I want to ‘serve wholeheartedly, as if serving the Lord, not men’. It was just so hard for him to understand that God convicted me to serve this group of Filipinos and not any other group back home in the Chicagoland area. I love my brother too much to let our arguments destroy our relationship…I just want him to see that life is about more than just money and more than just attaching God to the good things in life…that it’s about a genuine relationship with God and it’s about serving God faithfully in all circumstances, whether we’re healthy or not…whether we make $20,000 or $200,000 a year. My hope and prayer is that someday he’ll realize that…I just need to do my part and keep praying for him.

A Different Auld Lang Syne

By Geoff Ng

Recently, there was an article on CNN.com that focused on the the well-known fact that our resolutions usually don’t last more than a couple weeks, much less the entire year. All our goals- financial, academic, health-related, and even spiritual, tend to get lost as time goes by. Every new year, I try and take some time to think about the things that I wanted to accomplish in the previous year and see how far I’ve come since. Today was that day- let me share some of those goals with you:

1. Everyday, to have a good quality time with God
2. To share the Gospel openly in my workplace
3. To love my small group more and more everyday
4. To want God more than anything else (a “stretch” goal)

To be honest, my personal conclusions weren’t so encouraging. For each goal, as I looked back, I could see how often I failed- in the stale and rocky times in my relationship with God this year, in how hard and jaded my heart was in my workplace, in how unloving and selfish I was with my small group, and, most strikingly, in how much I had desired other things rather than God. It seems like it’s just another year of “failure.”

But the one thing that I have learned this year, the one thing that God teaches me every year, is that it isn’t so much my ability to reach these goals that counts, but only His grace and faithfulness working throughout the year that count. It’s that grace and faithfulness that continues to teach me the same lessons over and over again, despite my hard head and selfish heart. Everyday, I wake up and go to sleep in that grace and faithfulness. And every fight won and lost is covered in it. His love is boundless and beyond measure and His desire is to make us a little bit more like Jesus each day.

That being said, looking over the past year, I see so much of how much God has worked in me and the people around me; so much so, that I can’t help but be hopeful for the year to come. That hope, the hope in the promise “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose,” (Rom 8:28) gives me strength for this new year.

So for this year, I will add another goal to the list. Praying that God will give me the strength to keep it. It’s from Oswald Chamber’s devotional for January 1st. I guess it’s kind of a more personal way of looking at all the other goals.

5.”To shut out every other thought and keep myself before God in this one thing only— my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.”

Happy New Year!

Psalm 23

by Rachel Christudhas

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.- Psalm 23:1

A verse from a Psalm I was “asked” to memorize when I was younger.  It is a verse that I often overlooked in terms of its importance to the passage.

“The LORD is my shepherd…”

God Himself will lead me and guide me..

will protect me and keep me..

will love me and care for me.

and because He is the Good Shepherd..David declares, “I shall not be in want”.

David is so full of God’s promise and provision that he can’t help but say “I shall not be in want”.  And I can’t help but wonder if I am just as sure of this.  Yes, God has been faithful and provided for every need.  Ever since I began walking with the Lord I was able to see His hand over my life and in many hard times, step in faith knowing that He is with me.

However, I still find myself worrying and wanting away.  I’ve been struggling a lot this semester with finding my satisfaction with the Lord and having my heart set on many other things. Whether it is about wanting the best job or the best future, I need to remember that “The LORD is my shepherd”.  I need to remember that He is going to guide me and lead me through the best path for me.  I need to remember that though I try to make situations work out for my own wants, He has the best in store for me and that I should have no other wants aside from following my Shepherd.

Not sure if this seems vague or lacks depth, but more than anything for this winter break I want to grow as a faithful follower after the Shepherd.  One who doesn’t worry or chase after the world, but one who is so content and satisfied in the Shepherd who provides green pastures and quiet waters, that I have no other wants but Him.  I ask now for prayers that I would grow a heart of contentment with where God has me and trust in His provision and placement for now and for the future.

Ephesians 2:1-10

                                                                                        

     Posted by Jed Hernandez

     Ephesians 2:1-10 

     1As for you, you were dead  in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature^[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This passage is a great reminder of what’s true in my life…what’s already been done. In the midst of the holiday season, i’ve just been so consumed by work. I have to come in an hour earlier and usually stay an extra half hour to an hour because Christmas is around the corner. Many people are looking to buy presents for their kids and for themselves as well! I come home from work too tired to do anything else. I literally come home and either fall asleep because of the long day or just sit/bum around and watch tv.

As a result, I haven’t been as disciplined in my Bible reading (already 10 books behind from my pace last year!), my QTs have been inconsistent and I get easily frustrated with whoever is around me. I get so discouraged that I forget about what’s already been done…that i’ve been made alive in Christ..by His grace. I’ve been given this gift through faith, but I get so caught up sometimes in trying to do what Christian people should do (read the Bible/do QTs). Not to say that we shouldn’t do those things, because we should definitely do them. I just feel like i’m going through the motions, not really doing things because I want to do them, but because I feel obligated to do them.

As I was struggling to get blessed at lock-in a couple weeks back, I think what I realized was that i’ve kind of forgotten about my first love…Jesus. I’ve used the excuse that work has been so busy, so I can’t do my Bible reading or be consistent in my QTs because i’ve just been too tired. In reality, because i’m not right with God, in my relationship with Him, i’m really feeling the side effects…spiritually, physically, relationally, emotionally, mentally..basically any -ally you can think of!

I don’t really get a break because I have to work but i’ll be going to OIL and I really want to take the next few weeks to prepare my heart for what God wants to do in me. I can already feel Him at work because this Christmas season seems to have a different feel for me. Light had our monthly open house last week and the question of ‘Is Christ in your Christmas?’ was posed to us. I really want to remember God in everything I do, especially at work and in my relationships with people around me, whether family, friends, coworkers, etc. I can’t forget that i’ve been made alive in Christ. 

I really want to apply verse 10 where it talks about us being ‘God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…’ I’ve been called to work at my job and I want to do it with joy and I want to be faithful in all I do. I want to serve my bosses and serve our customers with the love of Christ already in me, no matter how frustrated I may get or how tired I may be. Christ is in me to strengthen me and to help me in whatever i’m doing…what else can I really ask for?   

              

              

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5

2 Thessalonians 3:1-5 (NLT)

by Matt Garard

 1 Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes, just as when it came to you. 2 Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer. 3 But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we are confident in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we commanded you. 5 May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

It seems as I grow older, a question I tend to ask myself more often is “Am I growing spiritually?”  In college, this question wasn’t one I wrestled with a lot because I was just beginning to understand what a relationship with God meant and there was a lot of zeal and excitement surrounding this experience.  It was happening at such an obvious pace and depth that it wasn’t necessary to sit down and search hard to find evidence of growth.  The period of time that’s passed since then hasn’t been that long but I know that my understanding of theology as well as my awareness of what motives and desires lie in my heart has developed so much since then.  Yet, as I keep asking myself that question “Am I growing spiritually?” and  I put it in the context of passages like verse 5 which talks of having our hearts gain a “full understanding and expression of the love of God”, I feel like there’s been more regression than progression.

I remember my freshman year in college when someone shared with me an analogy that helped shift my perspective about what it means to follow God.  He said that the way many Christians views their faith is similar to someone who lives their life confined to a fenced in are, where the commands of the Bible keep them closed in from enjoying everything else that exists outside of that enclosure.  The reality, he said, was that the journey of a relationship with God gives you freedom to go anywhere except for the traps and pits along the way which God fences off with His commands in order to protect us.  I was reminded about this analogy this week while reading a book (well…actually listening to the audio book) and the author mentioned the Ten Commandments and what it would mean to be a Jew hearing these commands from God.  He mentioned the similarities to a list of rules and guidelines and that a Jewish bride and groom would read together on their wedding day and mutually agree upon as commitments that were necessary in order to have a healthy and lasting marriage.  God’s intent in providing the Israelites with these commandments was not to give them an arbitrary list of do’s and don’ts, but to emphasize what was necessary in order for the relationship He wanted to have with His people to work.  If a spouse requested the marital equivalent of “have no other gods before me”, we wouldn’t view that as being too restrictive or unfair, but acknowledge it as a vital part of having a healthy relationship.

I think that the latter part of this passage hints at the correlation between feelings I have of spiritual stagnation or regression and my own commitment to God.  Paul’s prayer for those in the church in Thessalonica was that they would find that “full understanding and expression of the love of God”.  Paul acknowledges who’s able to make this happen by saying “May God lead your hearts”.  It’s God doing the work.  However, there’s also another factor to it.  The word “leads” implies that the person being led is allowing the other to lead them.  I don’t think God’s dragging or forcing the person, but there’s an element of trust there and admission that the person being led doesn’t know how to get to the destination.  If I’m constantly fighting against the commands God gives me which are meant to help me have the most satisfying relationship possible with Him, then I will continue to experience only a shallow version of what I’m supposed to be enjoying.  It’s motivating for me to be reminded in passages like these of how much I need to pray for a receptive heart in my relationship with Christ in order to receive everything that God wants to provide (full understanding and expression of God’s love).

Call to Prayer

Posted by Marilyn Thomas

This past Thanksgiving week was unlike any other. Throughout the week I heard about so many tragedies of death of young adults in the Indian community, then a major terrorist attack in India, and on Thanksgiving a few of my family members were in a bad car accident that God allowed them to walk away without a scratch! I realized more that God did not promise us tomorrow. 

 I got an email from an ICF leader that said: “I don’t know what God is doing in the Indian community but we got to PRAY.” A wave of guilt and shame fell over me as I read that word – PRAY. 
   At times, I find myself reminiscing on past convictions and passions to pray/serve the Indian people. I remember how filled with zeal and prayer I once was to see revival in India and with my community…wet pillows for my people sometimes seem like a distant memory.
 Reading through these news article, I was reminded of the urgency of sharing the gospel and the importance of persevering in having a fervent prayer life. Often I get so frustrated and discouraged with my personal prayer life.  Unfortunately, it took such tragic stories to wake me up! With all that is going on in the world, I cannot just be discouraged about my lack of heart and prayer, but as I repent God is showing me again how to intercede. The task of prayer seems so immense at moments -.In times like these I want to be in-tune with the Holy Spirit and be a child on my knees once again…

Ephesians 6:18-20 “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” 

John 4 – Jesus Talks with a Samaritan Woman

Posted by Matt Lee

This is a very well-known account regarding the encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well.  In verse 4 John tells us that Jesus “had to go to Samaria”.  For those of us who have an extensive Sunday school background, you may recall that Jews normally would take a longer route around Samaria when traveling from Judea to Galilee (or vice versa), in order to avoid having any contact with the dreaded and contemptible half-breed Samaritans.  Then why did Jesus have to go to Samaria?  Pastor Min broke down this passage in an old sermon by suggesting that Jesus was responding to a “love necessity” – he had to go to Samaria because of his love for this singular lonely and neglected woman. 

After his encounter with the woman at the well, Jesus admonishes his disciples by proclaiming that his food, i.e. his passion, is to do the will of the Father.  He describes his passion with this marvelous illustration: “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’?  I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest.”  (v.35)  In the midst of his three-and-a-half year ministry in which he performed astounding miracles and taught to the multitudes, Jesus took a serious detour in his itinerary to reach out to one hurting Samaritan woman… because he just had to.   

These days I’ve been getting increasingly busy with helping out at major church events (like Praise Nite and Revival weekend), and work has also been hectic.  At some point I had to stop scheduling appointments with people so I could carve out time to take care of those things.  Here’s the problem: as I’m gradually trying to get normalized again, I find myself not really wanting to start meeting up with people again.  I’ve gotten used to just getting home from a long day of work and not having to gear up to listen to someone’s problems, offer a word of advice or encouragement, or just pray with someone for a few minutes. 

But I think the lesson of Jesus and the woman at the well is that the moment I lose my passion to be around people and minister to them – that’s the moment when  I miss the entire point.  Jesus had a passion for people, because his food was to do the will of the Father.  I pray that by the Lord’s help I will never fall so far from the heart of the Father that I see people as mere nuisances… If Jesus was willing to drop everything to quench one lonely woman’s thirst, maybe he wasn’t making a detour after all – he was right on course.

I Need Daily Grace

by Geoff Ng

Lately, I’ve been reading through some of the (many, many) books I’ve bought at past OIL conferences. Bout time I get some return on the investment, right? Right now, I’m reading through The Necessity of Prayer by E.M. Bounds. Below is a paragraph that has particularly struck me:

“True prayers are born out of present trials and present needs. Bread, for today, is bread enough. Bread given for today is the strongest sort of pledge that there will be bread tomorrow. Victory today, is the assurance of victory tomorrow. Our prayers need to be focused upon the present. We must trust God today and leave the morrow entirely with Him. The present is ours; the future belongs to God. Prayer is the task and duty of each recurring day – daily prayer for daily needs. As every day demands its bread, so every day demands its prayer.”

I think the most convicting line is that last one. Do I see each day as a day that demands the grace of God in my life? Too often I walk into the office and “turn off” the grace. I trudge through the day as if I’m suffering under some cloud of persecution, hardly noticing all the time and opportunities for God’s grace to work in me and through me. My days are such a waste without prayer. I am too easily satisfied with just “getting through.”

It reminds me of what Pastor Min has preached in the past, “you can’t rely on past faithfulness or experience. You’ve got to have faith now!” Each day needs to be a day where God is really God of my life. I thought I would have learned this earlier, but I am so thankful for the lesson now. It’s helped me to see not only how godless my life is because I don’t pray, but how much more grace, strength and purpose is in each day when I do pray.

It really is true what they say – an extra minute of real prayer does make a difference. And each moment of difference can lead to another and another. Soon enough, we see God working and moving in ways we never noticed before. And that makes me want to pray more!

Just a quick thought! Thanks for listening.