Nevertheless at Your Word I Will

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus charged His apostles to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Further, they were to teach those baptized to observe what He had commanded. So then, are you a disciple of Jesus today? Let us all consider the mindset of a disciple that was displayed by Peter when Jesus called him. During that time Jesus was teaching at the lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1-3). Then, Jesus told Peter to let down his net into the deep (Luke 5:4-5). When Peter and his fellows did as Jesus told them, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking (Luke 5:6). Did you notice the mindset of a disciple of Jesus manifested in Peter? When Jesus instructed Peter to let down his net, he did not think it would do any good (Luke 5:5a). They had been fishing all night, but they had caught no fish. Honestly, wouldn’t a fisherman know more about fishing than a carpenter? Yet, Peter said, “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net” (Luke 5:5b). As the result of doing the Lord’s word, the catch was overwhelming for one net and even for two boats. Here we see the mindset of a disciple: “Nevertheless at Your word I will.” Peter and his coworkers were astonished at their success (Luke 5:9-10a). Then, Jesus reassured Peter and called him and his partners to follow Him (Luke 5:10b-11). Through …

How Deep Is Your Love?

If we ask each Christian the question, “Do you love Jesus?”, everyone will give the answer, which is a very easy, “Yes.” However, there is one thing we should notice. We need to determine whether our answer comes from the very bottom of our hearts or whether we are giving a very hypocritical answer. In Matthew 26:33 Peter said,“Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away,” and in verse 35, Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” Then, all of the disciples said the same.Here we find Peter using very extreme words, “never” and “if I must die with you,” to express his love. Yet, in the last verses of the very same chapter we find Peter’s denial of Christ. In John 21:15-17, we find the conversation of Jesus and Peter about love. Actually, Jesus was questioning Peter how much he loves Him. After Jesus asked him three times the question, “Do you love me more than these things?”, Peter was grieved because he recalled the moment he denied Jesus. Likewise, in our lives, especially while we are in good conditions, it is very easy to say, “I love God, I love Jesus, and I am faithful to Him.” However, we have no guarantee that we will never face a difficult situation. To our surprise, we might also deny Jesus like Peter if we face a similar situation, especially if our claim to love Jesus is …

What Is your Purpose for Living?

Nobody knows how long he or she will live. Yet, we all set plans for what we are going to do in our lives. The Buddhist people have their basic principle of life. They say, “While you are young seek education, when you become mature in knowledge and physical seek wealth, and when you become old seek Dhama.” Dhama means the truth, but it simply means seek God. This is their purpose of life. Would this be right for Christians? Are we to seek God only when we are getting old? Are education and wealth more important than God? Many Christians claim that seeking God must be the purpose of our lives. They quote Matthew 6:33-34, which reads, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Yet, most of them misunderstand and practice this verse in a wrong way. Many people seem to think that they better seek God to get what they want. They put the second sentence first as God will provide you the things you want if you seek Him. From this, a false teaching that “Christians are supposed to be rich” came about. The Devil, though, changed the priority whether to seek spiritual or physical things first. Satan said in Matthew 4:9, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” If we seek first God and His righteousness, we will find the way to life, which will take …

A Letter to the Youth

Nowadays many of the youth are thinking that preaching the Gospel is just only the job for adults as Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 1:6, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” Yet, note what God said in the following verse. “But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a youth”; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak’” (Jeremiah 1:7 ESV). According to this verse, we are not to say, “I am just a youth. I do not know much about God. So how could I preach these deep words to others? Even I myself do not understand very well.” After noticing the above sentence, there are some questions we should consider. These are: “Do we know God?” “Do we know that He loves us?” “Do we know Jesus Christ?” “Do we know what He has done for us?” Our answer will be, “Yes, I do.” So then, why don’t we help others who do not know God to know God, His love, His son Jesus Christ and what Jesus has done for us? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We all are familiar with this verse, and some can recite it very well. However, have we ever considered the meaning of this verse with …