IT STARTS FROM PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION: BUILD A PERSONAL ALTAR DAILY

Psalm 5:3-12

3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.

5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.

6 You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
the LORD abhors.

7 But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.

8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies— make straight your way before me.

9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.

10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

—

1. From the Psalms above, David’s relationship with God is as a favored Son of a King. The attitude he had upon entering into the presence of the Lord was one of reverence and adoration and his heart and mind and eyes was on the Lord.
2. When I pray, fellowship at my cell group (or family altar) or church, I try to be open and honest with myself and God so that everything that I think, do and say is sincere and serious.
3. One can be changed in God’s presence because there is POWER in His presence. Evil cannot stand in His presence so we can be convicted of sin, delivered of bondages, healed of sickness, and if there are any evil spirits, they flee! It’s like God’s presence is a blinding light in darkness and pierces through. We also experience His love in His presence which empowers us to see ourselves the way He sees us, and empowers us to love others and see them with His eyes. It enables us also to forgive one another.

Be a Person that Brings Change

2 Kings  20:1-6 >>

Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery

1 About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the Lord says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.”

2 When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, O Lord, how I have always been faithful to you and have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you.” Then he broke down and wept bitterly.

4 But before Isaiah had left the middle courtyard, this message came to him from the Lord: 5 “Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the Lord. 6 I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my own honor and for the sake of my servant David.’”

—

1. From the above verses, King Hezekiah is a king that is bold enough to come sincerely to the Lord and make His requests known to Him. Also the first thing he did was come to the Lord. And apparently he was faithfult o the Lord in his lifetime, always doing what pleases God, serving Him “single-mindedly (v.3).”
2. God answers the prayers of His faithful servants. He has mercy on them also, and He blesses them by in this case, giving King Hezekiah a long(er) life. And he uses his faithful ones to be a blessing and make a positive impact on others. In this case, he used King Hezekiah to help deliver His people.
3. The visible changes that can be seen in my ministry at home, school, work and community is submission and me trying my best as to the Lord and not to man.

Rejecting Change

Rejecting Change
Luke 7:29-35 >>

29(All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. 30But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.) 31″To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other: ” ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.’ 33For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ‘ 35But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”

2 Timothy 3:14-16 >>

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,

15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

—

1. Based on Luke 7:29-35, there are two groups of people that hear the words spoken by Jesus and its truth, but the two groups gave very different reactions. The two groups were
“all the people,” or in this case, those “baptized by John,” and the other group was the Pharisees and experts in the law. The former acknolwedged that God’s way was right, where the latter rejected God’s purpose for themselves.
2. The part of my character and/or lifestyle God is working on changing right now is cleaning out things in the closet. It is confronting parts of me face on instead of ignoring it and changing things that aren’t purposeful to be purposeful. I want God to change me to be more like Him and positioned to do greater things for Him.
3. The Lord is changing me in that He is making me more open and honest with myself and with others. Instead of keeping things inside, I’m learning to ask for advice and guidance from trustworthy counselors, to open up past wounds so they can be healed by God, and to allow Him to guide me EVERY STEP OF THE WAY [2 Timothy 3:14-16].

To Change and Bear Fruit: Be a Peacemaker!

Luke 12:54-59 >>

54 Then Jesus turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right. 55 When the south wind blows, you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. 56 You fools! You know how to interpret the weather signs of the earth and sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the present times.

57 “Why can’t you decide for yourselves what is right? 58 When you are on the way to court with your accuser, try to settle the matter before you get there. Otherwise, your accuser may drag you before the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, who will throw you into prison. 59 And if that happens, you won’t be free again until you have paid the very last penny.”

—

1. God’s message for me is as much as possible, to live at peace with everyone and solve conflicts and not escalate it, but resolve it as early and as easily as possible.
2. I need to ilve at peace with others because God wants me to, and so I can be a light for others. I think I’ve been making the effort to make peace whenever there are conflicts with others. I’ve been able to bring up the issue more to solve it rather than hide it.

What Christ Does in My Life

Luke 4:17-21
17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18″The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[a]

20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

—

1. When Christ comes into my life, He is goign to anoint me to bring Good news to the poor, proclaim that captives will be released, and the blind and oppressed will be set free. It’s also time of the Lord’s favor.
2. Some changes He’s going to do in my life is anoint me and appoint me for a special task He’s purposed in my life. He will put me on the right path.
3. Some changes I’ve brought to others’ lives is try to set an example by my love and serving the Lord.

Consequences of Running Away from God’s Calling (2)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Jonah 1:8-17
8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.”

10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.)

11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 Then they cried to the LORD, “O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.

17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

Psalm 40:12
12 For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.

—
1. When Jonah fled from God and the tasks he has entrusted in him, it impacted the people around him because his disobedience caused them to suffer too. Although in the end, when he admitted his mistake, praise the Lord, God saved the others and He was glorified-Hallelujah!
2. The consequences of Jonah’s disobedience was that his journey was not under the blessing of God. And he was thrown overboard and got swallowed by a big fish for 3 days and 3 nights–what suffering!!! X__X That must have been uncomfortable. But God was in control and had mercy; He led Jonah to have a heart that surrenders and obeys. Though the storms seemed bad, they were in the end good, to lead Jonah to obedience again, although God could have used anyone…for some reason, He still wanted Jonah despite his being naughty, lol.

Consequences of Running Away from God’s Calling (1)

Wednesday, Sept 17, 2008
Jonah 1:1-7, Psalm 139:7

1. God’s calling in Jonah’s life was to go to Ninevah and announce God’s great judgement against it because He’s seen how wicked they are. God’s called me to intercede for my family before, and I did.
2. Jonah’s response was to run in the other direction and the result was that God “hurled a powerful wind over the sea that caused a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.” God was not blessing the journey.
3. I think I have run away and avoided God’s commands. What caused it was my own selfishness and not wanting to hurt other’s feelings. I want to change though so this is avoided and hopefully I don’t do this anymore in the future.