My Devotion

Solo Christo, Sola Gratia, Soli Deo Gloria

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If not me, then who? If not now, then when? -- Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson

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Worship in Spirit and in Truth (Part 1 of 2)

John 4:23-24 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

Recently, I've been thinking -- do I really know what worshiping in spirit and truth means? Or do I have some unfounded idea like "oh, worship in spirit means to worship in the Holy Spirit, which means singing in tongues."?

So I began to do some Bible study. This time, I will share about worship God in spirit, and we'll do worship God in truth another time. First, let us look at the text in context:

John 4:19-21 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 

The Samaritan woman was concerned about the where of worship. But Jesus answered that it is not about where, but how.

The Samaritans say that Mount Gerazim, where Abraham and Jacob had erected altars, was the place of worship.[1] The Jews insist that the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the place of worship, where David had built an altar, and Solomon had built the First Temple. But why were the Jews and Samaritan so concerned about the location of worship?

Under the Old Covenant, they had to be at a physical location to worship God. The law of Moses says that all the children of Israel have to go up to Mount Zion(Jerusalem) to worship God three times a year.[2] They had to offer animal sacrifices and perform certain rituals. Even then, only the High Priest could enter the presence of God in the Holy of Holies once a year!

So the children of Israel not only have to be at a physical place to worship God, they had to do it by law. They were obligated to worship.

BUT this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jer 31:33)

Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit writes the law in our hearts and minds. We are no longer obligated to worship, but we want to worship God. This is what it means to worship God in spirit; to genuinely worship Him with your heart and mind. The Old Covenant is all about outward obligations, but the New Covenant is all about the inward inclinations

We no longer worship in a temple made of stone, because we have become the temple of God[4]. The veil of the Temple was torn, when Jesus cried out, "It is finished!". We now have full access into His presence.

This is a good reminder for me to never take the presence of God for granted, but to cherish His presence every day. Let us worship Him not only in our words, but mean every word we say in our hearts.

References [1] Mount Gerazim as the place of worship - Wesley's Explanatory Notes, Genesis 12:6-7, Genesis 33:18

[2] The Three Pilgrimage Festivals - Exodus 23:14-17, 34:18-24, Deuteronomy 16

[3] Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement - Leviticus 16, Hebrews 9:7

[4] We are the temple of God, both corporately (1 Cor 3:9,16-17) and individually (1 Cor 6:19)

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Overcoming Temptation

1) Meditate on His Word

Psalms 119:11 NKJV "Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You."

• Fill heart with the Word of God and sin cannot come in • Meditating on the Word of God turns your heart to righteousness • Do not just know verses, meditate and internalise those verses • Be ready to quickdraw a Sword

2) Watch and Pray

Matthew 26:41 NKJV Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

• Watch: be diligent • Many times we fall because of complacency • A constant prayer gives you strength to overcome

3) Sow to the Spirit

Galatians 6:7-9 NKJV Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

• There is a carnal man and a Spirit man inside of you • The one you feed will be stronger • Keep promises to yourself! • Be it exercising, being on time, praying, saving money, reading God's word -- keeping doing the good things that you have promised yourself • One good act will lead to another. You will form good habits

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Week 7: The One Thing

Luke 10:38-42  -- Jesus visits Mary and Martha's house

In this familiar story, Martha was busy with serving, preparing food and attending to the guests.

But God does not have a problem with busy-ness; God uses busy people!

It is distraction that Jesus has an issue with!

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." (Luke 10:40)

In the busy-ness of life, it is easy for us to lose focus on the one thing that really matters -- Jesus. Sometimes we get so busy serving God that we forget why we are serving Him in the first place! We neglect our devotion to Him, and we find ourselves becoming weary, anxious and stressed.

And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

Even good things can be a distraction. Education, career, family and even ministry can be a distraction! Service must always flow out of worship.

Maybe God is speaking to some of us about one thing.

It could be a fear or problem that you have been running away from, and you know you need to face it.

It could be someone God wants you to forgive.

It could be a call from God to be more devoted to Him.

Whatever it is, will you obey God today?

Friends, it is far better to obey God in 1 thing He asked you to do than to do 100 "good things" He has not asked you to do.

The Bible says that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22). Don't go doing 100 things that God has not asked you to do. Obey that one thing He has been speaking to you, which you may have been delaying. Remember, His burden is easy and His yoke is light. 

For our cellgroup corporately, the one thing that God has called us this year is to fulfill vision 100.

For our zone, it is to see the rise of the Mega Cellgroups.

For our church, it is to raise up a new generation of believers who will take Asia by storm!

"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance." -- Apostle Paul

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Prima Scriptura vs Sola Scriptura

Most Protestants adhere to Sola Scriptura or “by Scriptures alone”, which refers to the Holy Scripture as the only source and final authority of doctrine.

We believe that the Bible is sufficient to know salvation and to live a Christian life. This is contrasted with Sacred Tradition, the belief that traditions handed down by the early church have the same authority as the Scriptures, a belief which many Roman Catholics uphold.

However, there are subjects that are not sufficiently addressed or specifically spelled out in the Bible. How about falling under the anointing when laying hands, holy laughter or silver dust? There is no verse that explicitly mention these manifestations of the Holy Spirit. However, we believe in these because of experience.

What about gambling and drugs? The Bible does not explicitly mention these vices, nor does it condemn them as sin. But we know that “all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” (1 Cor 10:23).

From this verse, we deduce that a habit of gambling and taking drugs are detrimental for Christian living and should be avoided. We believe this because of reason.

And yet there some traditions that we hold on to that are not specifically mentioned in the Bible, such as the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, belief in the Trinity and many more. What about the DNA of City Harvest Church? Is not our DNA of discipleship, cellgroup system, etc. a modern form of tradition as well?

As such, I am inclined towards Prima Scriptura — Scripture being first or above all other sources of divine revelation, but also including common sense, charismatic gifts, tradition, a word in season and personal experiences.

The term Prima Scriptura was coined by John Wesley, the great theologian and founder of the Methodist Church. John Wesley also went on the establish the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, which states four sources of doctrine: Scripture, tradition, experience and reason.

Nope, I’m not gonna become a Methodist. But we as non-denominational Christian do adopt beliefs from varied denominations to form our doctrinal framework. And Prima Scriptura seems to be a reasonable doctrine to adopt.

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42 Weeks of Consecration

I am always amazed when I see how SOT transformed the lives of people I know. I saw how their capacity was stretched beyond human strength, how their love and relationship with Jesus grew so much deeper and how they carry a certain anointing, authority and victorious spirit.

I want to see God move the same way in my life.

Wei Ren says that they experience such growth only because they set apart 7 months to seek God. Consecration is the key to godly growth. Thus, I thought it good to begin a consecration of 42 weeks.

In these 42 weeks, I want to draw strength from Him everyday, to be completely dependent on His grace. Just like how Jacob wrestled with The Angel of His Presence (a type of Jesus), I want to seek Him until I feel a touch from Heaven.

Jeremy Goh inspired this idea with his 100 days of happiness. When you proclaim your plans proudly to others, you would be driven to complete it, not just because you speak your thoughts into reality, but also because you are now obliged to keep your word!

I am really encouraged by Sun’s message about God is glorified more in our weaknesses than our strengths. I do not have to despair at my weaknesses, but accept them and bring them to God, trusting in His grace to overcome.

May God our Father be glorified in my weaknesses.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

— 2 Cor 12:9-10 —

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Week 6: Humility, Patient Love, Unity

Meditation from Ephesians 4:2-3 (NLT): 1. Always be humble and gentle. 2. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.

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Week 5: Number Our Days

"So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.” - Ps 90:12

Cliché as it may be, life is short — ridiculously short. How quickly have 25 years sped past me, and you can be sure the next 25 years would be no different.

What really matters? How would you spend your ever so precious time that is desperately evaporating into history?

A heart of wisdom is oriented by things of eternal value and not the temporal. If you are wise you would sow your time, a limited and precious resource, into things that last forever.

If you are wise, you would not love this world, nor the things of this world. They are all temporal. Be it pleasure, popularity, power or self-ambition, they all have no long lasting meaning or purpose. Even good things such as education, career and yes, ministry can be distractions of what really matters!

Sow to the eternal. Sow to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul in his letter to the Colossians writes,

"For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

A person of godly wisdom and spiritual understanding knows what the will of God is. Such a person is fruitful and pleasing to God.

It is all about His kingdom and His gospel. Why do you think the church is under attack? Why do you think Pastor Kong and our leaders are being put on trial? Is it not because we are a gospel-driven church?

Perhaps you are going through a tough week, but “beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you;” (1 Peter 4:12).

There is only one thing our cellgroup needs to focus on this whole year: vision 100.

Remember it is not just about a 100 souls for Jesus, it is also about sending a message of revival, that with God, all things are possible. With God, our cell groups can become Mega Cellgroups. With God, we can be next generation of our giant-slaying pioneers!

Focus! Sometimes we are distracted by bad reports, trials and a host of unfortunate events. But sometimes, we can be distracted by good things: School life, studies, camps and CCAs. It may also be career, family or even ministry.

Basically, anything done in selfish ambition, no matter how good and holy it seems, is not the will of God.

My meditation for this season is 2 things: consecration and unity. I believe these 2 are the keys for our cellgroup to grow to 80 first, then to 100.

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Week 4: First Love

We love Him because He first loved us. I John 4:19

During thurs pm, I felt the Holy Spirit stirring in me to pursue a greater love relationship with Jesus.

I felt His presence and love and was reminded that I am the pearl of great price which the Merchant bought by selling all that He had on the cross.

I was reminded that my name is written into His hands — His nail-pierced hands. (Isa 49:16)

It is a call to go back to my first love like how I used to love Him as a young believer. And it is all because He first loved me.

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Week 3: One Heart, One Mind, One Accord

Meditation of the week. Felt the Spirit of God speaking through the book of Philippians about One Heart, One Mind and One Spirit.

"fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. “

Not my ambition or ministry, but humility in serving together “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

Be interested and look out for others’ needs, don’t be consumed by your own needs “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Scripture: Phil 2:2-4

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Week 2: Rejoice in Hope!

Psalms 42:1-2, 8, 11 NKJV As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life.

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.