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SCRIPTURE:
"They discussed this with
one another and said, "It is because we have no bread.
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them:
"Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or
understand? Are your hearts hardened?
(Mark 8:16-17, NIV)
OBSERVATION:
I had asked myself what was Jesus' reaction to the
disciples internal discussion of having no bread without involving Him?
Aware of their
discussion, Jesus asked them: "Why are you talking about having no
bread?
OBSERVATION:
Yesterday, I asked myself what is the second reaction
Jesus has to the disciple's discussion?
Jesus reacts with a question to the the disciples,
"Do you still not see or understand?"
OBSERVATION:
Today, I asked myself what is the third
reaction Jesus has to the disciple's discussion?
The third reaction Jesus has to the disciples discussion is
asking them, 'Are your hearts hardened?'
INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself why does Jesus react with this
question?
I believe it is because the disciples were so focused again on
their circumstances and not with the One who can help them overcome the
circumstances. Their minds were focused on the problem at hand instead
of the One who can give them the solution. The more we focus on
problems, the less we will have time to look for the solution in Jesus.
When that happens HARDENING of the heart could be an effect. Jesus
wanted them to see that!
IMPLICATIONS:
I saw important implications for my own life! If I am not careful
with the problems at hand, I won't be looking for a solution in Christ
but will become so submerged in the problem itself that my heart will
become HARDENED to what Jesus can do for me and why He came. The sad
thing is that no matter how much Jesus did in front of the disciples and
was with them, when they took their focus of Jesus and focused on the
problem, their discussion turned to problem analysis instead of solution
analysis.
I have been guilty of that too because many times I have focused too
much on a problem than focusing on the One who can give me solution to
the problem. I realized all the self-help books on things could not
really help me and all the discussions with others would not have helped
me if it were not for the intervention of Jesus in a particular area.
I am reminded of some of the verses
in the Word of God regarding HARDENED that apply to me:
"But when his heart became arrogant and HARDENED
with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his
glory." (Daniel 5:20, NIV)
"See to it,
brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns
away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it
is called Today, so that none of you may be HARDENED by sin's
deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till
the end the confidence we had at first." (Hebrews 3:12-14, NIV)
HOW GOSPEL GIVES ME TESTIMONY
REGARDING H.A.R.D.E.N.E.D:
Many years ago, my heart became
very HARDENED regarding what happened to me. I did not want to have
anything to do with MINISTRY at all. I was also very MAD with GOD.
I was so focused on the SHAME of what happened to me but a pastor
named Andrew Gill met with me and wanted to go over RUTHLESS TRUST: A
Ragamuffin's Path to God by Brennan Manning. It did help a lot but
the more I focused on what happened to me and how could God let this
happen, the more my heart became HARDENED. In essence, I did not apply
the principles of TRUST mentioned in that book.
For me the worst firing is being
removed from ministry and that happened to me BUT IT WAS ALL MY FAULT. I
felt that Daniel 5:20 applied to me. In my pain, it was HARD to focus on
CHRIST or anything so I gave up on ministry. BUT JESUS DID NOT ABANDON
ME OR WAS NOT DONE WITH ME because He gave me a dream after being
removed from ministry.
In my dream, I saw TWO TOWERS and
both of them came tumbling down and I could remember thinking to myself,
'everything I had built in years of ministry' came tumbling down and I
was devastated. Then I felt I should look up instead of focusing on
myself. I knew looking up meant looking to the ONE WHO CAN CHANGE THINGS
AROUND. So, I looked up and I saw the TWO TOWERS coming back together
from the rubble. I told myself, "Wow, Lord is BUILDING BACK UP whatever
I felt was lost."
When I woke up, my outlook on
MINISTRY changed even though I was removed from an area of ministry. I
felt that Jesus was going to restore me amidst the shame and that He did
not want me to remain having a HARDENED HEART. THANK YOU JESUS.
I have seen Jesus do so much
through the years as I look back. The same church that Pastor Andrew
Gill used is the same church building I am part of now after many years.
It is now Pittsburgh Chinese Church-Oakland with Oakland International
Fellowship as its English congregation.
I shared all this with you so when
you are so down and ashamed of yourself that makes your heart so
hardened to the things around you and the people around you, NEVER
FORGET THAT IN THOSE MOMENTS JESUS LOVES YOU THAT MUCH MORE. I
experienced that through the years after that.
After being REMOVED FROM MINISTRY,
church life became much more sporadic but GOD'S GRACE will not keep us
where we are at BUT will move mountains.
My mommy nor anyone else who knows
me could have imagined that I would consistently be part of a church
community to this day because I was never about being part of a church
BUT that changed as GOD WORKED ON MY HARDENED HEART and SOFTENED IT.
I am reminded of the verse in
Ezekiel that talks about a HEART OF STONE to a HEART OF FLESH.
"I will give
you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your
heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26, NIV)
I felt like Jesus was making that a
reality in my life. Few years ago, I remember a dear brother named
Phillip Chang who might be leading a Bible study so I wanted to be part
of his Bible study and came to a church on May 22. Little did I know
that his group was not there that day but Elias was leading a cell group
called Potters Clay and gave me an invitation to join them. I joined a
group that had Elias, Christy, Liz, Kamella, Amigo, Jasmine, Mark, Luke,
Dave, and Jeremy. It was their CARING, SHARING, AND PRAYING for one
another that touched me.
You see I needed help on a website
and I had shared a request that night. So, Kamella called me the next
day and told me that she was up until 5:00 a.m. looking through the
website and wanted to help me. So, I was so touched that someone in
their hectic busy IS schedule would take time to revamp my website as
she did. Then, she and her husband helped out tremendously. So, I
started attending the church they attended because I found people who
CARED, SHARED, AND PRAYED together. They also helped out at the
activities fair for me.
Then, my beloved dad who is with
the Lord now was having all kinds of health problems so I stopped going
but I remember the month I was visiting my dad in the ICU how members of
OIF community cared for me especially from Potters Clay and Pastor Hugo
from PCCO-Oakland.
How could I not become a member of
this church after their sermons were biblically based too so I joined.
Then recently my heart became
HARDENED again because of issues in my life but JESUS used Pastor Hugo,
Edwin, and Marie tremendously in my life including the encouragement
Elias, Kristen, and Bryan gave me after what happened in my life to
SOFTEN my heart. BUT, the FULL CREDIT goes to JESUS.
Jesus could have left me on the
wayside but Jesus did not. He reached me in my weaknesses and has put me
on SOLID GROUND giving me an ESTABLISH LOVING COMMUNITY to be part of to
work through my issues. I did not have that before. That is God's
grace.
I remember Pastor Hugo and Edwin
telling me something to the effect: "It is God's GRACE that you are here
with us Ramesh because if you did not FEEL YOU WERE PART OF A LOVING
COMMUNITY that brings CONVICTION instead of CONDEMNATION, you would have
left us BUT GOD IS NOT DONE WITH YOU, so He wants you to remain in OIF
to work through the issues"
I praise the Lord for my times with
Pastor Hugo and Edwin to process things in my life. I don't have it all
together and will never have everything together on earth but I WAIT FOR
THE DAY THAT I WILL BE COMPLETELY SANCTIFIED BY HIS GRACE. For I know my
Redeemer lives, and His Sanctification by Grace is a process in my life
to help me work through issues.
Once again, I don't share this with
you to say WOE IS ME, look what happened to me in ministry, etc but to
share A HARDENED HEART can be easy to come without the RIGHT COMMUNITY
LOVING US and without Christ's DIRECT INTERVENTION.
It is easy for me to RUN AWAY from
problems but so hard to WALK THROUGH THE PROBLEMS but I thank my Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ that He is helping me walk through my problems
with His help and those He has placed to invest in my life.
I am excited that I will be going
over the book, "Lord, change my attitude before it's too late" by Pastor
James McDonald with Edwin, one of the CORE leaders in our church.
I am so glad that Jen from Living
Acts shared Ezekiel 36:26 yesterday as her favorite verse because I did
not know this was the reference for the verse above. It was very
applicable to what we discussed yesterday.
Our hearts can get HARDENED easily
when we take our F.O.C.U.S. of Jesus, not A.W.A.R.E of what Jesus wants
to do in our lives, and S.T.I.L.L miss to see why things happen the way
they do.
I don't want that for you friend
nor do I want it for me. To escape it, we need JESUS CHRIST IN OUR LIVES
AND THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL WHICH TRANSFORMS AND CHANGES US FROM THE
CAPITIVITY OF SIN. Praise the Lord!
Jesus could have abandoned me but
Jesus did not. Jesus showed me in different ways how much He loves me
and He wanted to fix the HARDENED heart. Jesus wanted to do the same
thing for the disciples whose hearts were
HARDENED. Jesus wants to reach out to you too and does not want your
heart to be HARDENED.
I ask you now
dear friend, when have you HARDENED your heart?
Dear friend, a HARDENing of the heart occurs when things don't go our
way and our focus is taken of the Lord. It is easy to HARDEN our hearts
in relationships, regarding circumstances, and most of all towards the
Lord Jesus Christ if we are not careful. But mostly, it can happen
because of PRIDE.
"But when his
heart became arrogant and HARDENED with pride, he was deposed from his
royal throne and stripped of his glory." (Daniel 5:20, NIV)
"When we walk
in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
The lust of the flesh specializes
in HARDENING of hearts because Satan is at the core of it.
But when we have Christ in us and
allow Him to work in our lives more than allowing self-help books, etc,
He will transform us by the power of the Holy Spirit as only He can. It
is not always a one day thing or even a few days thing but many times it
is a process through the years. This is called SANCTIFICATION BY HIS
GRACE. Praise the Lord.
The disciples were with Jesus for a long
time and just did not get it but Jesus kept working with them and will
work with us too.
This means we need to give Jesus
the time of our lives and not to self-help books, yoga, transcendental
meditation, etc thinking they will solve our problems, etc because in
the long run they wont. Any help given without the saving
power of Jesus Christ, won't last and sometimes we will be worse of than
where we started.
It is easy to HARDEN our hearts
when we are also with others who do not believe in what we believe in,
etc because sometimes we let them influence us more into their thinking
than to the mind of Christ. This happens much more for students who
specialize in Philosophy without having a solid faith in Christ but is
not limited to Philosophy. We all can have the MIND OF CHRIST when
we let Christ control our lives! Praise the Lord!
"For who has
known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the
mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:16, NIV)
Now Philosophy confuses so many
people that the faith they had, they become HARDENED to it because their
professors ridicule them, tell them that this Jesus is not for
intelligent people, etc. This can be far from the truth. The more we
listen to lies and let them control us, the more we will become HARDENED
too.
Jesus did not want that for the
disciples so he pulled them away from the Pharisees and warned them what
the 'yeast of the Pharisees and Herod' can
do. Jesus does not want your heart to be HARDENED too. This means
whatever you do, you need to remember Christ and His teachings holding
on to them even when you are taking Philosophy, Biology, Geology, etc.
This is not to say Christians cannot take those course for I even have
taken all three.
Jesus' teachings are the Truth and
they have stood the test of time and will continue to stand the test of
time regardless of what you are taught in many courses.
The more we focus on self and the
less we focus on the Lord, the more our heart is put in a position to be
HARDENED.
Jesus did not wants the disciples
hearts to be HARDENED nor does He want your heart to be HARDENED on this
earth. Because of that Jesus came into this world to give a new heart to
those who acknowledge only He can transform and change a wicked heart
into a heart of love.
Friend, all of us have HARDENED our
hearts when we were born wicked because that is what the Bible says. If
we were born wicked then we cannot make ourselves good on our own since
goodness cannot come out of wickedness.
We needed help from the outside and
that is why Jesus came. Jesus intervened in the human race to become
part of the human race to transform and change hearts. More than
anything Jesus went to the CROSS for you and me to die for our sins so
once the sin was all absorbed upon Him, He could take away the
wickedness from all of us if He turned to Him. Jesus did that by washing
us in His precious cleansing blood. The BLOOD of Jesus washes away all
our wickedness and evil.
We are able to turn to Jesus
because of what Jesus already did for us. If Jesus did not intervene for
us, we would still be lost and our hearts still HARDENED but Jesus did
intervene.
This means we did not choose Jesus
but Jesus first chose us when He decided to go to the cross. By
going to the cross, Jesus opened the door of humanity to come to him.
Now after Jesus chooses us He can
work in our lives through different means so we are able to choose
Jesus. It starts with Jesus not with us.
How can a wicked heart turn to
Jesus unless Jesus intervenes first to soften that heart. I believe
Jesus did that on the cross but many HARDENED themselves still to Jesus
because they did not want to pick up their cross and follow Jesus.
Many HARDEN their lives to Jesus
even this day but Jesus has not forgotten them. Jesus paid the ultimate
price to redeem humanity and no wicked heart can keep His purpose from
being accomplished.
God desires
that none should perish but all come to repentance.
This means God already provided a
way for humanity to come to repentance through Christ because God did
not want anyone to perish.
Yet, we see people perishing
because even though it is God's desire, God does not force Himself on
us. God wants us to believe in Him for who He is and why He came than
for what we can get out of Him. His love is so great that He came as
God-incarnate in Jesus Christ for us.
So when we believe that Jesus died
so He can become the blood donor giving us His antidote as a medicine
for our wicked heart, we will have new life in Christ because nothing
but the blood of Jesus can wash us clean and make us new.
Friend, won't
you accept the blood donation Jesus has for you?
He loves you so much that He
would have died for you if you were the only one living to rescue you
from your wicked heart. I know Jesus did that for me and also did it for
you.
Jesus made a way for me to believe
in Him and I do believe in Him. I know Jesus is using people in your
life right now to show you His love and why He came so you do not have
to live in bondage to sin and wickedness.
Friend, no matter how good we think
we are, we are not good compared to the standard of God. And only the
standard of God really matters.
All of our
works are like filthy rags to the Lord!
Because apart from Christ and His
redemption, we are lost. A lost person cannot do anything good
without intervention for they are lost.
I was lost and all humanity
has been lost but Christ came to find them and give them life. He came
to find you and me to give us new life. If we decide to reject Jesus, we
are rejecting our Salvation for eternity and the One who has the
antidote to free us from sin. The Lord found me when I was a Hindu
through different means as His instruments. I am so glad the Lord found
me because without Jesus I would have still been lost and don't know
where I would have been.
Jesus has been working in my life
to transform and change me. Jesus will do that for you too no matter how
HARDENED you are. Come to Him as you are and allow Him to work in your
life and transform you.
"Heart's
Abomination Reveals Destruction, Except Nurturing Emmanuel Delivers!" (H.A.R.D.E.N.E.D)/"When
have you H.A.R.D.E.N.E.D your heart?"
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much that you came for hardened hearts to
soften them and transform them. I know Lord you continue to do that in
my life. Thank you Lord I did not choose you first but you chose me when
you came into this world to die for those around you and those that
would be born so their wickedness can be taken away when they turn to
you. You have provided so many ways for people to come to know you as
their Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you Lord for that but you will
not force yourself into our lives unless we open the door of our heart.
You stand at the door and knock and since you are knocking we thank you
that you have chosen us. Now Oh Lord help us to choose you always
knowing you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the
Father except through you. Thank you for working in my life and giving
me an opportunity to come to you. Help me to always remember the price
you paid to set me free and give me new life. You paid it with your own
blood for me so my heart does not have to stay hardened. Oh Lord Jesus,
God of our Salvation please help us so we do not get hardened. We know
when we take our mind of you, it will happen. But we thank you too that
when we came to you, you saved us for eternity and you who began a good
work in us will continue to do that . Thank you that we always have your
blood covering over us. When we go our own way and sin we do that
because we do not focus on you but on ourselves. Thank you when we turn
to you, you forgive us. We give our life to you and ask you to be Lord
and Savior of our lives. Thank you Jesus! Please come into my heart and
make my heart your home. Live in me Jesus and I will live for you and
serve you the rest of the days of my life. Thank you Jesus for being my
Lord and Personal Savior. Thank you Jesus you have heard my prayer and
answered me. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
May you experience the POWER OF
CHRIST'S RESURRECTION this day, and give Him the LOCKED areas of your
life too so you can experience His PEACE as you become an ACTOR in the
film called LIFE being directed by your DIRECTOR, JESUS CHRIST who comes
to give JOY and PEACE.
You
don't have to be locked away anymore for Christ is here to free you and
give you peace to live out your actions.
How do you look at GODISNOWHERE?
One
of my pastors, Pastor Hugo shared this example this past Sunday at the
RESURRECTION DAY SERVICE in the combined worship service of Pittsburgh
Chinese Church-Oakland & Oakland International Fellowship:
If
you look at it as GOD IS NO WHERE, you will still be lost in your sin
and be in bondage locked away in your sins and problems finding no
peace.
But
as my pastor spoke to the congregation and spoke to me, I am here to
tell you that GOD IS NOW HERE.
Yes,
friend God is alive and wants to bring a transformation in your life
through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ for He paid the penalty on
the cross to rescue you and me and came back to life to save us and live
with us.
Yes,
friend that is exciting to know that we can experience HIS SAVING GRACE
& LIVING GRACE.
When
we mess up, we can go to Jesus with our shortcomings and He will forgive
us and restore us to Him and we will find peace in Him.
"Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the
world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore
Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him
who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God." (Colossians 5:17-21, NIV)
"For the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord." (Romans 6:23, NIV)
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9, NIV)
Friend, we need Jesus because we have been separated from God due to our
sin. Because of our sin, Jesus had to pay the price to become our bridge
so we can reach God now not of our own good works but because of the
finished work of Christ, the Lord on the cross.
"For it is by grace you have been saved,
through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not
by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV)
May
you come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior becoming
His offspring so you can spend Eternity with Him. He is waiting for you.
Come as you are. Please do not reject the gift of God.
If you would like to
invite Jesus Christ into your heart and make Him a daily part of your
life, you can this very moment. You will never be alone. You can claim
God's promises for you in the Bible and see them come true, before your
eyes, in His wonderful timing. You don't have to wait for a special time
to come to the Lord. You can come right now as you pray this prayer,
meaning it in your heart and finding your new identity in Christ Jesus.
Make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking
you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you
though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to
Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer
will! Amen!
Make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking
you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you
though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to
Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer
will! Amen!
Prayer:
Jesus, I thank you for being the Bread of Life. You are the Living Bread
of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for
the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you
Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life,
digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living
Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life.
I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit!
I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the bread
represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your
blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are
reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord
Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and
acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that
you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me
life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my
sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to
forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me
and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and
please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you.
I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your
home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve
you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in
me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will
be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and
willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus. I
thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you
Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I
am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal
Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
