Great Impact

2 Timothy 1:1-7 >>
Greetings from Paul

1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus.

2 I am writing to Timothy, my dear son.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

Encouragement to Be Faithful

3 Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.

5 I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 6 This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

—

1. From the verses read, the people that influenced and disciplined Timothy are Paul, his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois.
2. Reflecting upon myself personally, the strongest influence in my life are my parents (mentors too and strong women of God that I respect…but a LOT of influence is from my parents). They influenced me to hae a love of God and His people, and to not go with the flow but hear and obey God’s voice. The fruit of it is that I serve the Lord enthusiastically and love Him dearly! I am becoming closer to God by that influence.A fter I finish meditating on today’s devotional I should apologize to my grandma if I was being disrespectful this morning!

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.

To Make an Impact: Have Humility

Luke 14:7-14 >>

7 When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:

8 “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited?

9 The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the tables

10 “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.

11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward.

13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.

—

1. After meditating on the words above, I learned that we need to be humble and not exalt ourselves, for “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (v.11).” And we should not care about others because of reputation, but also invite those who are less in man’s standards, who cannot repay us.
2. My motivation in friendship building with others usually I think is convenience and history. Today I’m learning that appearance, wealth and popularity are not good motivations.
3. My treatment to poor, unattractive, unpopular people are okay I think. I try to treat them like anyone else.

To Make an Impact: Don’t Miss the Opportunity to Give

Luke 14:15-24 >>

Parable of the Great Feast

15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet in the Kingdom of God!”

16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ 18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’

21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ 23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”

—

1. The people who first got invited to partake in God’s feast were guests who I guess were like regular people, I’d compare it like middle and high class people. But then they made up many excuses like they are just too busy with their own cares of life.
2. Sometimes I fail to respond to a calling or invitation because of the same reason. I’ve failed in the past in properly responding to God’s calling when perhaps I didn’t want to cancel my plans with someone else, when I felt I wasn’t able to do something I felt He wanted to do properly, or I was just not as motivated for whatever reason – maybe just lack of taking action.
3. WHen I miss that opportunity it’s really sad because other people will take that opportunity and we will not even get a small taste of that banquet that initiatlly was the reward God had in store for us. All we had to do was respond.

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.

To Make an Impact, Have Humility

Luke 14:7-14 >>

7 When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice:

8 “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited?

9 The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the tables

10 “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests.

11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

12 Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward.

13 Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.

14 Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.

—

1. Jesus here is teaching us not to do things based on obtaining honor, status, riches or popularity. Instead, we must do things in humility and with the motivation of serving others.

2. I’m not sure if I’ve chosen friends based on appearance, wealth, or their popularity, or more so because we have more in common with eachother, but if I did then yikes. Sorry God.  I want my motivation in friendship or building relationship with other people to be pure.

3. My views/treatment toward unattractive people, poor, unpopular, not smart, or not good can be improved. I sometimes see them as not as good as me maybe? I’m not sure to be honest, I will try to think about that next time. I hope not though! I usually still try to build friendship with them actually, but at the same time, I may have a bit of favoritism and pride sometimes. I want to make new commitment today.

TO MAKE AN IMPACT: LIVE FEAR OF GOD

Luke 12:1-5 >> 1 Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands weremilling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. 2 The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!

4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell.* Yes, he’s the one to fear.

1. I need to possess respect and fear of God? [analyzed from verses 2-5] because He has the power to kill us and throw us into hell, and also has the power to have mercy on us as well. Man can do nothing. God is everything. He is good, but He is also just, but He is also merciful.

2. Understanding these verses help change me to be more cautious, think more deeply, and not to take lightly acts of sin. I want to confess any hidden sins to God and reconcile and make peace with God and if needed, any other person involved.

To Make an Impact: We Need Commitment to Christ

Luke 14:25-35

[A] – ACCEPT / RECEIVE GOD’S WORD:  I will ask the Holy Spirit to guide me in meditating on God’s Word so that I can experience an encounter with the Lord in His righteousness, and experience change.

Luke 14:25-35 >>
The Cost of Being a Disciple

25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26″If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28″Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

31″Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

1.
The Lord is teaching

34″Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

—

1. Jesus is teaching us to carry the cross, and to also hae a good foundation in every project that we have.
2. Some things that are burdening my steps are past regrets that guilt from past sins! I need to believe and accept God’s full forgiveness and not give in to the accuser of the brethren!
3. I think I am making an impact in bringing change to my family, school, associations and work environment.

5 Things I desire to do to be a salt and make an influence in my family, associations, school, and workplace:
1. Regularly keep in contact with girls in DC and SC
2. Stay holy and do not give in to sexual temptation and wandering eyes (especially now that I’m engaged!)
3. Do my work diligently
4. Live out the Word of God
5. Love my neighbors as myself