12/14 devotion

Hey! It’s been a while since I have written or done my devotional email, please continue to pray for me!

Matthew Ch 3 V1-12

¹In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea ²and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” ³This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ “^[a]

⁴John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

⁷But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

¹¹“I baptize you with^[b] water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹²His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

.  John the Baptist was a prophet who preached the word of God in the Desert of Judea. A desert is very dry, and finding food, water, and people there is usually uncommon. God provided John with food to sustain him, and people even went out of their way to go to the desert to find John the Baptist. God tells us that, no matter where we are called to go, He will always provide for us. Just as the people went out of their way to seek John to confess their sins, we also went to seek God for repentance. (1-6)

. As John rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees, when we see false prophets leading people away from God, we should be ready to let them know that what they are doing is wrong. If those false prophets continue on, in the end they will be cast into hell. (7-9)

.  Before Jesus came to die for the people, men had to constantly make sacrifices to repent for their sins. Since Jesus died so that our sins would be washed forever, whoever believes in Him and repents with all their heart will be made anew with the Holy Spirit. We will spend our eternities in heaven, while the unbelievers will spend their eternity in hell. (11-12)

Bible Verse: ^“The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:10

Why Jesus went to the cross

This is a very beatiful song, made me cry haha
A good reminder of what Jesus did on the cross, never forget!
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To God

There’s this feeling of hopelessness that will not go away; Lord, please come and mend my heart today.

Dream 10/14

I had a dream last night, in which I was speaking to my brother, who has not accepted Christ. No matter how hard I looked, I could never find the scriptures that I was trying to quote when talking to him. I believe this dream is telling me that I need to go back and read God’s word, so I may be able to learn more about Him and also be able to know what to say when I speak to non-believers.

9/28/09 Joshua’s Devotion

 John Ch 13 V1-8

.  Jesus knew His time had come, so He went to His disciples and served them. Jesus, even though He is all powerful, still took time to serve others, in this case by washing the feet of His disciples. He teaches His disciples that we can show love by serving others, and the extent of His love. (V1-2)

.  Some people cannot accept that God would serve His people, because there is no reason for Him too! God loves us, and have already given the gift of salvation which we can never return to Him. What we can do is to tell other’s of God’s love, so that they may also be saved. We did not understand why Jesus did all this for us until that day we finally came to know God, and accept Jesus as our savior. If Jesus did not serve others, did not love others, then why would we want to accept Him as our Savior? (V6-8)

Daily Verse:

Psalm 55:22

^“22 Cast your cares on the LORD
       and he will sustain you;
       he will never let the righteous fall.”

9/27/09 Joshua’s Devotion

John Ch 12 V 37-50

.  Even though Jesus had raised dead people back to life, fed thousands with a few baskets of bread and fish, cured people of diseases, etc. there were still many who did not believe. This applies to today too, even though there are so many who testify of God’s love and how Jesus has changed our lives, the people who hear our testimonies still do not believe. They have already hardened their hearts so much that they do not even try to understand Jesus. (V37-40)

.  There will also be those among those who persecute Christians that come to know God’s glory, but will not confess their faith because they are afraid of their colleagues. These people would rather seek approval from mere men, when they should be seeking praise from God. Why should we be afraid of what other’s think when we have come to know God, and His love for us? We should be telling others of this great news! Those who believe in Jesus will also see the glory of God. He has come to this world so that whoever believes in Him will be brought out of the darkness, and shown the truth. (V42-46)

.  Jesus did not come to this world to judge us, but to save us. For the people who reject Jesus and His gift of salvation, they will be judged in the end of times; they will get what they had wanted after death, an eternity away from God. (V47-48)

. Jesus only has one authority, and that is the Father. He seeks His guidance, and follows His every command, and that command was to be the sacrifice for mankind, so that we will have salvation. Likewise, we should come to seek and ask God for guidance, for we do not speak to glorify ourselves but our Father in heaven. (V49-50)

Daily Verse:

Psalm 52:8-9

^“8 But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love
for ever and ever.

⁹ I will praise you forever for what you have done;
in your name I will hope, for your name is good.
I will praise you in the presence of your saints.”

My Testimony and Baptism 9/13/09

.  Hello, my name is Joshua Wu.  Since I was a little kid my parents would always take me to this Chinese church that they went to, and it was all so boring to me. While everyone was reading the Bible or singing songs of praise, I was usually off sleeping or daydreaming. The miracles Jesus did, David and Goliath, Joshua crumbling the towers of Jericho; I saw these as cool stories that taught good morals.

.  During middle school, around the time I was 11, my life started to change dramatically. My parent’s arguments were getting worse. Around this time my father’s work in America wasn’t going well, so the company he works for had him return back to Taiwan. My parents also made me switch over from the school I went to my whole life to a public school, because we had to save money. I was angry at them for this decision; I stopped studying because I didn’t see anymore reason for school. At the new school I was introduced to many new things, such as gangs, cursing, and also that nerds were smart people with glasses. My life began to be shaped by what other’s thought about me.  During this time I also started going to my old school’s church, because not only was it a place to hang out with my friends but also a place to get away from the problems back at home. In 2004 my family moved from Louisiana to California. Taken away from all my friends, and not having my dad around to cheer me up, I became very self-negative, I saw myself as a huge failure, and I hated my life. All I cared about at this point was my friends, they were the only thing left that I cared for. I also stopped going to church because I saw it as a waste of time.

.  In the beginning of 2007, out of nowhere, I suddenly fell in love with tennis. Up until that point I did not even care for this sport. It was as if something was urging me to play tennis. I started to practice tennis everyday for many hours, and while going to my cousin’s church one day, I learned that many of the guys at church played tennis, so I started to come more often. As I kept coming each week, I began to learn more about God and the way He is in my life. Eventually sometime in early 2008, I became excited to follow Him because of the joy He had brought me since I believed He was real. This was the wrong reason for believing in God, and I learned it the hard way. In Fall 2008, when school started and the stress started to build up, the time I spent with God began to grow less, until I stopped relying on Him for my strength and guidance. The goals I were trying to achieve began to fail, one by one. With all these failures I became more self-negative.

It was when my life had hit the very bottom, when I had nowhere else to find comfort in, God opened my eyes. By showing me how imperfect I was, I finally understood God’s love when He sent Jesus down to earth to die for all of the world’s sin. God loves me so such, that even though I am a sinner and will continue to sin because I’m not perfect, He still wants me to spend my eternity with Him. At some time in Spring of 2009, I accepted Jesus as my Savior. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I told Him that I believe in His son Jesus, what He did on earth, and that because I am a sinner, I do not deserve salvation, but by the grace of God, Jesus, I am saved.

.  Since accepting Christ, I have been able to do things that I would not have been able to if God was not in my life. I was able to finish my last year of high school with the highest grades that I had ever gotten because I was not working for my own goals but to glorify God through school. I have matured enough so much that when my family from Taiwan came to stay in America for vacation in August, my grandmother and aunt were able to notice how much I have changed from the immature person I was just a few years back. I was able to share my faith with many people, such as my family from Taiwan, random strangers I meet at school, and also Frank, who was my roommate for much of the summer because of God’s love for me, I want others to know of His joy.  I am able to put all my trust in God for my future, and that He will always provide. Now whenever I need wisdom or strength, I always come to seek His help in prayer and bible reading. I have also learned many new things after accepting Jesus. I learned that a relationship based on feeling is not a true relationship, but I have to constantly be striving for God, to rely on Him through the good and the bad times. I also learned that God does not want to be only a part of my life, He wants to be my life, and to constantly remind me of His love, I always remind myself through John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  I still continue to face many problems, but each time I overcome one, whether it is with my family, friends, with my brothers in Christ, God has strengthened our relationship. God uses these struggles to mold me into the man He wants me to be.

.  Thank you God for all the people You have placed in my life, how each and every one of them has been a blessing to me. Thank you God for this church; for the people of EFCHH. Please continue to guide me in my walk with You, so that my faith will not waver, and that You would be the only thing that I strive for each and everyday. Thank You.

Praise God!

9/26/09 Joshua’s Devotional

John Ch 12 V 20-36

.  Jesus knew His time had come, and also explains that with His sacrifice many will be saved. He tells us that whoever is willing to lay everything down for God will find true joy for eternity. When we begin to live life to glorify God, we allow His will to be done and the Spirit to work through us. Jesus knew that what was coming will not be pleasant, but acknowledges that it was for this very reason He came down to earth. Put your trust in Jesus and ask Him for guidance for your future.

Daily Verse:

Psalm 51:10

^“10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

I found a led pencil! Praise God!

Yea!

I was looking all over my house for an 0.5 mm led pencil for about 2 hours, then when I was just about to give up, I asked God to either let me find one in the next box I look in, or if not, I would stop searching. Digging through the box, the very last thing I picked up was a led pencil, and it is special because there are no buttons on it; The led automatically feeds out of the pencil! I got more than I asked for, praise God!

9/20/09 Joshua’s Devotion

John Ch 12 V 1-11

¹Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³Then Mary took about a pint^[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.^[b]” ⁶He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. ” It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

⁹Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

.  God is priceless compared to anything else, He was the one who has given us everything we own, we should give in thanks, not because God needs our gifts but because we want to give them to Him. There are men like Judas, who cannot see God for who He is. God is above all else. Knowing this, how do we often fail to forget this fact and focus more on our work, school, or other matters? Let us place our hopes and our future in God’s hands.

John Ch 12 V 12-19

¹²The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. ¹³They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!^[c]“
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”^[d]
“Blessed is the King of Israel!” ¹⁴Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
¹⁵“Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”^[e]

¹⁶At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

¹⁷Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

.  Jesus is always there for us. Having God always there to guide us and protect us, shouldn’t we be happy? We may not be able to see Him, but we know He is there. God has promised that Jesus will return back to this world; God always keeps His promises. While waiting for our King to return, we should continue to spread the word of God so that every person may be able to hear of God’s glory, love, and free gift of salvation!