December 16, 2023

“Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.” 

1 Samuel 13:10

When Sebin was a baby, she would get up and come down looking for something to eat. Hyemi would be making breakfast for the family. We are all hungry. While Hyemi is fixing food, Sebin can’t wait anymore. She would run to Mom and say, “I want to drink soy milk! Give me some!”

Now Hyemi knows that is not a good idea because if Sebin drinks a cup of soymilk, Sebin will feel full. Sebin won’t be able to enjoy as much the good food prepared by Mom. Sebin will only eat a little bit and there will be leftovers. Hyemi says, “No. I am making a good and tasty breakfast. Please wait until you eat this breakfast and then I will give you a cup of soymilk.” Sometimes Sebin would listen, but other times she would insist. She would keep on asking for it. Sebin would lose patience and she says, “It’s ok! I will drink first!” Sebin is hungry and she can’t wait. She is willing to give up what is much better to come by choosing what is available now. If Sebin learns to be patient, then she will get to enjoy what is better. 

It seems something similar happened to Saul. They were surrounded by the Philistine army. They are outnumbered. In the meantime, they were waiting for Samuel the Prophet. They waited for Samuel to arrive for seven days. Saul lost patience. Then he offered the burnt offering himself. Right after that, Samuel arrived. As a result, Samuel tells the king that his kingdom will not continue because “you (Saul) have not kept what the Lord commanded.”

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December 9, 2023

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than we first believed.” Romans 13:11

The country of Iceland was a huge sensation in the Euro 2016. This was the European version of the World Cup. 

Iceland has only a population of 330,000 people. That’s the size of a small city in a big country. The country is cold, and the grass wouldn’t grow well on soccer fields. They only have 100 professional soccer players. They had never passed the qualifying stage in the past. But you know what happened that year? This small country managed to join the Euro 2016 by winning in the qualifying stage. Also, they won games in the group stage, advancing to the round of 16. From there, they beat England (one of the best teams in the world) and then advanced to the quarterfinals. Their journey ended, thereby losing to France. They called it a miracle.

How did this happen? One commentator said that Iceland started preparing 15 years ago. They started investing in their infrastructure, investing in leaders and players, and building indoor soccer arenas so that they could practice. Of course, this infrastructure was still small compared to bigger countries with strong teams. Yet Iceland was determined. They were determined to win and advance. Hence the whole world had witnessed this miracle.

This shows certain spiritual implications for us. We must be prepared. Our growth cannot happen all of a sudden. It takes time and commitment. But we must be prepared for that moment. We must be determined. We call it faith. Unlike Iceland, Jesus has done all the important work. We have to have faith in Jesus that we can win. 

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December 2, 2023

“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4.

The story is found in Luke 5. It’s the story where Jesus calls the fishermen to be His followers. When Jesus spotted two boats by the lake, He got into one of them. Jesus simply sat down and spoke to the multitudes waiting at the beach. When Jesus was done speaking, He said, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

Simon replied and told Jesus that they had been working all night and couldn’t catch a single fish. But Simon eventually said, “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” You know the rest of the story. They caught so much fish that their boat almost sunk. Simon came to his knees at the feet of Jesus. Luke 5:11 says, “they forsook all and followed Him.”

What does this tell us? These men were pros at what they were doing. They knew what needed to do and followed their work by the book. Yet they had no results. It was only when they surrendered to the voice of Jesus that brought them abundance.

We may be making a similar mistake in ministry. We do our best. We do everything we can by the book. But the most important thing to remember is to listen to Jesus. Our skills and techniques mean nothing. There is nothing we can do on our own. We need to depend on Jesus and listen to Him.

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