The grace of God that was with me!

1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

1 Cor 15 is about resurrection. Paul thought about the glory of resurrection that he would participate in the future and confessed that he was abnormally born and the least of the apostles and did not even deserve to be called an apostle. (15:8, 9)

When we think about the glory that will be given to us and look back on the 2018 this year, we can only confess that everything is by the grace of God.

Though there were difficulty, the country was preserved, families were preserved and we have been alive like now. All of these are the grace of God who is with us.

I hope that the grace would not go in vain and next year we would work harder for God and give bigger glory to Him with fruits.

I pray that in this new year through God’s kindness and touching, may there be God’s provision and abundance in your household and business.

Shalom and God bless!

Be a wise and faithful manager! (Lk 12:41-48)

Lk 12:42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?

Today’s verses are Jesus’ teaching about his second coming. Disciples must share food as a manager who is in charge of God’s words.

For this, we must be wise and faithful.

We need to become a manager who have both. And we need to give food at the proper time. That means to give the words at the proper time.

It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. He will put him in charge of all his possessions. (43, 44)

However, if the manager beats the entrusted servants and eats and drink s and gets drunk, there will be a severe judgment when the master comes back. (45-48)

Look upon Jesus who will come back and decorate yourself with holy behavior. And do the entrusted duty with wisdom and truth and receive inheritance from God.

Shalom and God bless!

Jesus will soon knock on the door!

Luke 12:35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,

36 like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.

About a month ago, two thieves came into our house and searched the whole house. And I shouted in a loud voice, so they were surprised and left some stuffs and ran away.

If I knew the thieves would come, I would have prepared ahead. Likewise, Jesus will come at a time when we would never expect. So we must prepare. (12:39, 40)

Are you preparing to welcome Jesus? Are you dressed ready for service? Are you keeping your lamps burning?

Jesus said he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. (12:37)

When we look at several signs of the world, the second coming of Jesus is really close. Be prepared to welcome Jesus who is standing right before the door.

Shalom and God bless!

Protection of a stronger one

Luke 11:21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.

22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.

Today’s verses were the words that Jesus said after driving out demons.

Because Jesus is stronger than demons, he was able to drive out demons.

The strongest one in the whole universe is Jesus.

If Jesus protects us, our life and our family are safe.

Hence, completely trust Jesus’ protection.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Tim 1:7)

So always and only equip yourself with power, love and self-discipline.

Shalom and God bless!

Possess God’s kingdom!

Luke 12:32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Though we want to possess the kingdom on this earth, God wants to give us His eternal kingdom.

That is given to us when we help others with our possessions.

That is like a pocket that never wears out and that is like storing treasures that are never exhausted.

People who put their hearts in heaven store treasures in heaven.

They serve their neighbors who are in pain as a proof that they put their hearts in heaven.

So store your treasures in heaven that would never disappear.

Shalom and God bless!

Do not worry! (Lk 12:22-31)

Lk 12:22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.

Worrying is worthless. Nevertheless, we waste most of our life worrying.

And our worries are mainly about our life, such as what to eat, what to wear, and where to live.

If the poor looks at what we worry, they will think that what we worry are extravagance.

If we determined to live simply with faith, our worries will be reduced up to 10% or more.

Believe in God’s provision and protection. Do not regret that you have wasted your life by worrying at the end of your life.

Seek God’s kingdom which is the only eternal value. God who cannot lie will add all these things to us just as he promised.

Shalom & God bless!

Open the treasures with great joy!

Mt 2:10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Several wise men from the east saw a star that suddenly appeared in the sky and came to Jerusalem by the guiding star.

Since the wise men were looking for a child who is to be the king of the Jews, the whole Jerusalem including King Herod was shocked.

The wise men who received the command to go to the Bethlehem saw the star stopped over the place where the Jesus was.

It was an indescribable joy for them who came very long way to see Jesus. As much as they rejoiced, they freely opened their treasure that they prepared.

I want to pray and think about what kinds of treasure that I can give to Jesus who is my Savior and all my joy in 2018.
Shalom & God bless!

Good news of great joy

Luke 2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

To the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks at night, an angel appeared and told them about the news of the birth of Savior. That was good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

That was a new hope for the people who were in despair, pain and fear. To the people who were under darkness politically, religiously and socially for 400 years, a new light was shone.

That was Jesus Christ who came as a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. That was a sign.

The ultimate solution of life is not authority or material abundance but the baby Jesus wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. He is the answer of all worldly problems.

I hope that we can look upon the baby Jesus lying in a manger and find and apply the answer of life on this Christmas.

Shalom & God bless!

Merry Christmas!!

You who are highly favored

Luke 1:28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

Today’s verses are about the scene where angel Gabriel came and talked to Mary who pledged to be married to a man named Joseph.(1:26-27)

Jesus is God, but had to be born as a weak human being for the salvation of humanity.

He shouldn’t have the blood of sinners, he must be conceived by the Holy Spirit. And he had to be born from a woman in order to become a human.

God chose a holy woman to conceive holy baby Jesus. God chose a woman who obeys God’s will. (Lk 1:38) He chose a woman of patience who can endure the suffering of Jesus’ cross together. (Lk 2:35)

The chosen Mary was used preciously by God as a tool of life to conceive Jesus.

We also need to have the same character like Mary so that we can be the tools of life to preach Jesus who has come as a Savior.

Shalom and God bless!

Be on your guard against all kinds of greed!

Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

One person was trying to have all parent’s inheritance, so his brother came and asked Jesus to tell his brother to share the inheritance with him. So Jesus mentioned a fundamental issue of life.

Jesus said “your life won’t be abundant just because you have a lot of money. So first you need to be on guard against all your greed.”

We need to work hard to fill all the physical needs. And we need to work hard to help others. And we need to work hard for the glory of the Lord.

However, at the same time, we shouldn’t forget that our true satisfaction is in Jesus. If we have greed in order to have safety from the materialistic things, we need to be on a active guard to it.

Shalom and God Bless!