Spiritual Journal Set #3

Lectio Divina Exercise #2

"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls." -- 1 Peter 1:6-9 (NLT)

            I believe God is the Author and Perfector of faith.  We cannot initiate faith by trying to believe in something.  The kind of faith that is generated by man's attempt will easily fail and die out eventually just like a building built on sinking sand.  Faith in the Bible is divine, active and persistent.  The Scripture clearly states that we are saved by grace through faith.  Most people recognize grace as gift from God.  It's not from us.  But what about faith? I assert that if our salvation is solely achieved by the power of God, which is His grace, our faith should also be completely dependent on God. There is no way that disciples of Christ were able to endure incredible hardships and persecutions with only self-sustained determination and their will power. Verse 7 says, "These trials will show that your faith is genuine." I believe that what Peter meant by "genuine" is faith that comes from God, not from oneself.

            Another noteworthy aspect of faith is its potential to grow and be matured.  Faith is active and the source of strength for any actions. In the given passage, it says, "It [faith] is being tested as fire test and purifies gold." Gold must be tested with intense fire for an extensive amount of time to become pure gold.  In a similar way, I believe that God allows us to go through trials and hardships for our faith to be refined and built so that we may reflect the light and glory of God in this world.

            Lastly, this passage delineates the Christian faith in verse 8 and 9; Having faith means loving him even though you have never seen him and trusting him though you do not see him now.  Ultimately, the manifestation of faith is the joy and expectation of God's salvation of eternity in spite of trials and tribulations that we have to face because of our faith in Christ.

            The most eye-opening revelation through this Scripture was God's sovereignty over our victories and struggles. God starts His saving work in us by giving us faith in the Son of God.  Then He allows hardships to cultivate our faith and to glorify Him.  Finally, He grants the infinite gift of salvation to those who proved their genuine faith in their lives.  I love this incredible involvement of God in His people to deliver them from the path of death and to use them as the special utensils for His Kingdom and His glory.

            Father, I thank you for giving me faith in you.  I also thank you for being faithful to me when I acted according to my faith.  There have been numerous occasions that assured my faith and challenged it to grow.  I want to praise you for giving me not only this most precious gift but also opportunities to refine and strengthen it.  Even though I still have many questions and some doubt about the way the world operates, You have enabled me to overcome them by throwing myself to You and Your cross.  One thing I ask of you is keeping my faith like a child in the midst of the growth and purification process of it.  I want to grow wiser and stronger, but I do not want to be independent on you by being able to depending on myself.  It is the most fearful thing I can ever imagine to happen in my life.  Please keep me humble and help me to acknowledge your grace that I absolutely do not deserve.  You raised me from my spiritual death and have sustained my salvation by Your incredible grace and mercy.  My life is rightfully Yours and let me be Your living and holy sacrifice to You.  Please do whatever You wish to do for Your glory according to the maturity of my faith.  In Your holy and mighty name I pray, Amen.

Spiritual Journal Set #1

Lectio Divina #1 

"God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan." -- Ephesians 1:9-11(NLT)

            I believe that the advent of the Son of God is the most spectacular and remarkable event in the history of mankind and the entire cosmos. He has been with God since the beginning of eternity; He has communed and worked with God the Father and the Spirit as One in order to accomplish the purpose of God through their marvelous creation of men in their own image. The work of Jesus Christ astounds me, not only because it is the fulfillment of numerous Biblical prophecies, but also it is a powerful reality in my life.  

            "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son" (John 3:16A) and the Son was willing to descend to earth as a lowly Servant and undergo excruciating sufferings and insane death on the cross in order to satisfy the Father's insatiable wrath towards man's sin. Furthermore, God promised to send the Advocate - the Holy Spirit - to those who believe in the Son of God. He did this so that man could be united with God and carry out His will just as Christ exemplified what it means to give God glory and bring Him great joy.  This Gospel message of what God did in the past gave me an assurance of God's incredible love for all mankind. It also gave me a desire to believe that it can change my wretched and doomed destiny into something astonishingly beautiful and eternally valuable through the power of the Spirit, which is working powerfully in my heart in this present time.  Finally, the Gospel gave me an extreme sense of hope for the future. I do not have to worry about anything, not even death. I can live my life to please God freely instead of wasting it by satisfying my earthly desires in which there is no eternal value. Ultimately, I believe that God will lead me to His glorious Kingdom as long as I keep my faith in Christ.

            This truth regarding God's love demonstrated through the creation of the world, the work of Jesus Christ, and the promise of the Holy Spirit and eternal life has been revealed to me by His grace alone.  Moreover, this revelation has becoming clearer and more real as I have been walking with Him and following His perfect decrees.  I love this particular passage because it is a great affirmation of my previous belief about the Gospel and it helped me to grasp a deeper understanding of unity with Christ.  The apostle Paul asserted that "We have received an inheritance from God and He makes everything work out according to His plan". God has already given us an access to all the powers and resources of the Kingdom of God. With this privilege then, we are able to do mighty things like turning this world upside down and proclaiming the Good News about Christ with great confidence and boldness.  Furthermore, this Scripture emphasizes that God is the one who makes everything work out not us, and they will be done according to His plan, not according to ours.  I believe that God certainly uses our work and efforts but I was encouraged and strengthened as I realized that God completes and perfects our work for His very purpose, and that any power or authority cannot change his purpose.

            I recognize that I'm a chosen person of God only because of His infinite grace and special mercy. Thus, I want to continue to develop my union with Christ by fostering my devotion and submission to Him through a continual attitude of "taking up the cross daily and following Christ".  Moreover, with the power and understanding of His will, that I receive through my relationship with God, I am so eager to do anything to please Him and advance God's divine will on earth as it is done in Heaven.