As You Are

And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy. Luke 15:5

He sets him on his shoulders with great joy.

No judgmental words were spoken. No scanner to run through the lost soul. He does not inspect the once was lost and now is found. Does it have what it takes to belong to the flock again? Does it have the same wool after it has gone in it’s own way? How much he has changed in his unfruitful journey?

No interrogation was conducted. Why did you leave? Where have you gone? Don’t you know the way back home? Why did you not call or scream? No light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Only light coming from the Shepherd’s heart radiating on the found.

There was no quarantine needed. No need to wait for waiting hours. No need to fill up clearance papers before going in. The lost sheep gains full access again, not only to the flock but to the Shepherd. The wanderer wonders, “After all, I’ve done and have gone. My Shepherd opens his arms, opens his heart.”

He just puts him near him. He just lifts him up, together with his spirit. He carries him like never before so the sheep knows he is welcome. His search all shadowed with joy, great joy.

Such is our Shepherd, Lord Jesus Christ.

Whatever you are when he found you. Whoever you are where he set his eyes on you. He is just joyful he found you.

He will carry you back. He will take you, as you are.

Silent/Listen

There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Luke 10:42

She just listened. She was silent.

The whole time Luke writes the event of Jesus with Martha and Mary, we only hear two voices not three– Jesus’ and Martha’s. We don’t read any single word coming from Mary. The Lord and the busy servant did all the talking. Mary did all the listening.

She sat down besides Jesus’ feet. Maybe, she hears him telling stories of love and miracles, that made her stay put. Maybe, she hears him speaking about his upcoming suffering, which made her glued to her spot. Maybe, she listens to him talking about how important to listen to him, she does just that.

Can you sit at Jesus’ feet? Can you listen and allow him talk?

In the midst of today’s lifestyle, trivial matters compete with this. Facebook. Twitter. Music in your gadgets. Checking emails. Television programs you can’t let go.

In the midst of today’s society, where the person who has the last word somewhat wins. Arguments at the boardroom. Gauging who is more knowledgeable around the cubicles. Debates inside the classroom. Voices rising at the family room.

Mary listened. Not only to Jesus but did not battle her sister’s stimulating remarks. She allowed Jesus to answer for her. She shut her mouth so she can fill her heart with the grace coming from listening to him.

May you listen to him. May you be silent and allow Jesus to answer for you. Close your mouth and open you heart more often.

No wonder silent is a word when jumbled in the right way can turn into listen.

Forward

He was amazed at their lack of faith. He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching. Mark 6:6

It should have brought his drive down.

But not.

At his own hometown, Jesus saw the lack of faith. People questioned who he is . They asked where his words came from. They questioned the work of his hands. His humanity was presented yet his divinity is doubted. In fact, he already has followers by this time and that did not dig a hole in their hearts.

He may have retreated or went to other places with what he saw. His words and his works are bouncing back to him. His extra-ordinary miracles are seen yet people see him as ordinary. He saw their lack of faith but he saw an opportunity to teach the faith. Their doubts did not prevent him to go forward in bringing the gospel. No lack of faith will stop him. No hard hearts will block him. No doubting questions will give him a dead end.

Jesus moves forward.

In your life. In the midst of your doubts. You question him, he does not stop until you see clearly and get the answer. He sees your lack of faith, he fills you with grace to believe. You close you heart to him, he patiently knocks until you open. When you belittle who he is or what he can do, this won’t block him, he stays with you until he becomes big in your life.

Aren’t you glad he does not stop coming after you?

No retreating on you. Not quitting on you. He only knows one direction. Forward.

 

You Come First

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.” John 5:7

He was never first.

Every time he made strides to be the first one, someone beats him by a mile. His sickness has dragged him to the bottom of the pole. For thirty eight years, he was there. It might have encompassed his teens years where he was to be strong bodied and strong willed. It might have slowed his twenty something years where he must have been enjoying life as a bull, being a young man. Notice no wife was with him during this time, and this might have pulled his chances of marrying the woman who caught his heart since some best man won her heart over him because of his health.

Suddenly he comes first.

He comes first for Jesus. No lines to stand up to. No calling of rosters. What he can’t do, Jesus did. He can’t hop into the pool, the Source of living waters came to him. Remember, Jesus ask him if he wanted to get well, and get well he did. He did not need to line up like at the DMV or at the bank. His resume, which was filed down over the years, was not even looked up by Jesus.

This is what Jesus gives you. You line up to all these distractions or less noble things, yet he puts you on the top of his priority list. If you think he is ignoring you as you are in a tight hole in your life, think again. He will enable you. He will heal you. Jesus will go up to you and tells you, you matter to him. Tired of being at the last of the order? Weary of taking chances with zero possibilities? For him, no one comes second or third or at the cellar.

For Jesus, you come first.

Born Into A Battle

…and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

This king will be protected.

In the war on the chessboard. Every subordinate will make sure their king is standing. All strategies point to shielding this king whether the move is attacking or retreating. In this battle, they will sacrifice oneself for their king. They will go after their demise as long as their king sits on his throne. Not even sure if that will assure victory. This king who can only make one step at a time and that’s all.

This King will protect.

In the war starting at the manger. For a short time, he will have shepherds and wise men as short time subordinates.  All strategies point to this King protecting his people up until his death on the cross. He will go after the enemy. Defeat sin by dying sinless. Defeat death by death. In this battle, the King lives, will die and will live for his people. A King whose love for his people is expressed by being one of them. He will claim back his people. He will emerge as victorious King. This King who can and who will make all steps in every place and in every time to bring you over to his kingdom.

This King is born to give abundance and unexplainable joy. Most importantly, he is born into a battle.

Unfamiliar

…and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:7

I woke up in an unfamiliar place.

Once a month, we go down to New Jersey to attend our community’s prayer meeting. To cut cost on hotel, my family sleeps over a brother and sister’s home before or after the meetings. We sleep in their comfortable basement yet every time I wake up in the morning, I get this unfamiliarity. I have to take my whole bag to the bathroom, which I don’t do at home. I come up to their breakfast table wondering where will I get my tea or food which I usually and easily does in our kitchen back home. In all these unfamiliarity, I get to miss our home.

He woke up in an unfamiliar place.

Manger. Hays and horses. Lowly shepherds and wise men mixing it up. Teenage mother bearing him in her arms. Carpenter father looking with amazement. This is the first sight of Jesus’ eyes. Unfamiliar.

He is King, now he is an infant. He is worshiped day and night, now he is in the middle of a dark cold night. He tells angels to come here and there, now he is dependent on his earthly parents. He has a Father who created the universe, the world, everything, now he has a father who creates something out of wood.

Let me tell you why he is in this unfamiliar place. For him to become familiar to you. He came to that unfamiliar place to come near to you for you to know him and love him. He came to that unfamiliar place for you to know how much he will go to express his love for you.

Wake up!

A Strange Way to Save the World

And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” Luke 1:35

Clark Kent is Superman. Peter Parker is Spiderman. Bruce Banner is the Hulk. Maria Mendoza is called Wonder Woman. I can go on and on and on.

These superheroes become extra-ordinary from ordinary. A journalist changing into a flying super strong man. A teenage guy becoming a high leaping, wall crawling protagonist. A physicist being magnified physically and turn into a high level humanoid.

An expected way to save the world. From ordinary to extra-ordinary. From zero to hero. From weak to strong. From needing a savior to being the savior.

When the angel announced to Mary on how God would save us, it was just the opposite.

A Son of God will be born on earth to save mankind. Yet, he will be born weak, a baby. He will be born out of a teenage mother, not a queen. He will have a carpenter, not a king, as a father. Ambiance of a manger smell will first go into his nose. Poor shepherds will be among his first visitors.

A strange way to save the world. From being God to being man. From being a majestic King to being an infant depending on his parents. From being strong to being weak. From being the Son of God to being a son of a wood worker.

There are things you don’t understand on how God works, yet God works, all the time for your good. Your manger is his palace. His small arms holds your world. His baby breath gives life to you. His cries are the answer to your prayers.

God comes to save you. God will come to save you. But don’t expect the same route.

Father’s Day

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. John 3:16

He sacrificed for his children.

He is my father. He wakes up early. Eats some food, he provided from his pocket. He is getting ready to go to the store/shop where he is the owner, manager, salesman, utility man, accountant, public relations, etc. He goes to this place not with a car to ride but bundles of textile riding him. He shoulders rolls of materials for jeans and upper wear so his family can shoulder day to day living. He opens and closes the shop as he opens the future for his eight kids. At the end of the day, no beer or any vice to color his monotonous life but rather goes straight home to rest his tired body. No fanfare when he comes home, just a house full of imperfect children. Imperfect as they commit mistakes not following his directions. Milking from his sacrifices day in and day out, they give him reason for him to stop what he is doing but he doesn’t.

I was thinking, how can he do this?

I answered myself — he must have followed God’s footprints.

He gave his only Son for he so loved the world. The world is us. Imperfect us. He rides on the clouds yet our sins burden him. He carried us from our iniquities by giving his Son, his only Son. No day, we don’t falter. No hour, we don’t commit mistakes in his eyes. We justify our action saying we are only humans. Yet, the Father continues to do what he does — loving his imperfect adopted children. And his love is not only given just for us the experience it, it is given for us for our eternal  future. The human father works for a limited future for his children, but our heavenly Father works for an unlimited future for you and me. He opened the eternal gates for us to enter through Jesus Christ.

All the Father is asking is for you and me to believe. Believe in the Son he gave. Believe in his great love.

I am thinking, why believe in his love?

I answer my question again…

He sacrificed his only Child.

Remember Ananias

But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call upon your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.” So Ananias went and entered the house. Acts 9:13-17a

He had thoughts against God’s.

Ananias had to wrestle with the Lord before coming to Saul who was persecuting the growing church. He had valid reasons. Saul has done unholy things to the holy ones. If he’ll go to this man, he is also risking his life, never to see the church grow as he might have imagined. More than that, Ananias might have thought who he was compared to such person of stature in Saul. Will this Saul give me his time or take my life? Will this Saul listen to me or speak to his influence to stop me from breathing?

You know what happened to Paul. Ananias obeyed the Lord and came to Saul. Before Saul became Paul, Ananias the reluctant became Ananias the obedient. Before Paul became an instrument to the Gentiles, Ananias was instrumental for Paul’s conversion. Before Paul wrote the letters we read from the Bible, Ananias’ name is already written in Paul’s heart. Thus when you read how Paul was radical, because a man called Ananias put himself on the line. When you listen to a sermon about Paul’s one heart for God, note there was Ananias who was committed to God alone.

I wonder if my Ananias had the same reaction to God when he felt the urge from God to invite me to this Christian life seminar. He might have told the Lord, its just a waste of time. Edwin will just make fun of me and of the invitation. No way Edwin will respond positively. There’s no chance Edwin will attend or complete the sessions. Not a slightest probability Edwin will take God seriously.

But when he handed me the invitation, I signed in. I don’t remember what transpired over the moment of invitation yet his coming to me made the greatest difference in my entire life. God came to me, and I came to know him. I still work to be radical for him and God is patient with me. I still pray to have a single heart for God and God is enabling me through struggles. All of these changes in my life and experiencing of God’s graces are not reality if my Ananias did not do what God called him to do.

Everyone of us has an Ananias. A man or a woman who heard God’s call for them to come to you. A person who stepped out in faith to tell you about God. A friend who courageously stood up and told you about his life in God. A relative who shared her time with you when you were blind. A neighbor who entered your house and entered your heart by his actions and words rooted in the Lord.

When a Paul preaches, listen to Ananias by his side. When a Paul writes, read Ananias through his letters. When a Paul is remembered, remember Ananias.

The God Who Won’t Go

And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” John 20:13

I wonder how many times he has done this.

I’m talking about my boss. He is cleaning up an office cubicle again. Box after box. Binder after binder. Paper after paper. Another subordinate has left the company where my boss has been working for thirty-two years. I was imagining in those three decades, how many times he has done clearing out a cubicle when a colleague bids goodbye to the office. How many boxes has he put out? How many binders has he filter out to be thrash? How many project studies’ documents has he kept from that deserted office nook?

When I was interviewed by him, I asked him this, “How do you do it? “What is that” he said. “Going to the same office for thirty years”, he replied, “Besides I love the work, the company is my family.” And yet, people left. Co-workers who became his friends abandon him. Owners sold and new owners bought the company and he is still there.

I wonder how many times she has done this.

I’m talking about Mary Magdalene. She is weeping again. Another man left her. Yes, a man after another man. Tears after tears. Broken heart after broken heart. Loneliness after loneliness. Another man she trusted with her life disappears, as she thought. However, this time she is wrong. This time is different. So, is the man she is after. The man she is visiting at his tomb is not dead. He is alive. He is risen.

He is Jesus.

He does not leave you. He does not disappear from your life. He is not like the co-worker across your cubicle, Jesus is permanent in your life. His presence is constant with you whether you are faithful or you falter. He loves you though you may not express it back. He is not going anywhere. He is with you years after years. Decades after decades, more than thirty. He stays for he loves you and for you are his friend, his family.

Don’t weep. Jesus stays with you. Grow with him. Live for him. Love him. Love with him. Nobody is taking him away, he’s still there with you. He is the God who won’t go.