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Jesus’ Fives
1A religious sees Christianity as a religion like many others. But Christians see it as arelationship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In order to maintain a good relationship between two parties, each party may expect other to do a couple of things.When we invited Jesus Christ into our hearts He has become our Lord, or our owner, and we arehis children. As a Father, he has the right to expect us to do many things. However, He knowsour weakness, and He accepts us not on the basis of our merit, but according His grace. Thewriter of Hebrews states,”
 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize withour weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet waswithout sin
” (Heb 4:15—NIV). That does not mean that we should not do something to pleaseHim.Following are five least things we may ask God to help us to do for His pleasure.I.PraiseOne time, a teacher of the law--the Law of Moses--wanted to test the Lord Jesus’knowledge about the Scripture. So he asked the Lord, “Of all the commandments, which is themost important” (Mark 12:28*)? Jesus answered him by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, OIsrael: the LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart andwith all your soul and with all your strength” (See Mark 12:29-30). However, even though Hehas the right to demand our love, He took the first step: He first loved us and did not even spareHis One and Only Son as “an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (I John 4:10). For that very reason,although we do not have to, we should love Him with all our heart, and with our entire mind, andwith all our soul.As a human being, I wish someone say to me, “I love you, I do.” I’ve noticed that in thiscountry--the U.S.A.--people overuse the phrase “I love you” to the point it becomes a greetingmeaning “Hello, or good-bye.” It may not mean “I really care for your well-being, and I can laydown my life for you.”What do we do to show our love? When we love someone, we try to do everything to letthat person know that we really love him or her. In the country where I came from, we almostnever say “I love you” to someone even if we are really crazy about that person. It is different inthis country where people say “I love you” to someone even before they really know that person.People may be sincere, but do not understand the implication of that phrase.However, even if the phrase “I love you” doesn’t mean anything to the person who saysit, it is a positive statement that has a positive effect on the person who hears it. So it isappropriate to use it, of course with sincerity.As husbands and wives we must maintain a healthy marriage. A healthy marriagerequires a good relationship. When the relationship turns sour, the marriage is no longer healthy.Divorce is--for the majority--the quick cure for sick relationships. The next relationship will not be better if one cannot learn from the previous experience.King Solomon teaches us, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheershim up” (Proverbs 12:15). Indeed, human beings love to hear kind words or positive advice. A
 
Vietnamese proverb says, “The sweetness of honey can trap flies.” Many hearts have beenchanged for good by the sweetness of God’s word.If we can practice speaking kind words at home--as the Lord Jesus Himself would--how peaceful our families can be! How many marriages could be saved each year?In the Old Testament, through many prophets such as Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Hosea, theLord compares Himself to a husband, and Israel to His wife. Most of the times their relationshipturned bitter because Israel was not faithful to her spiritual husband--the Lord--who was, in time,not happy with His spiritual wife.That was the past. How about today? How about the relationship between the Christianchurches and their spiritual husband--their Lord and Savior? For some churches the relationshipis great; for some, it is OK; for others, it may not be good at all. But the commandment of God,“Hear, O Israel [O Christians]...Love the Lord [Jesus],” is still the most important commandmenttoday.How can all Christians, regardless of their denomination, obey that commandment and bless their Lord, even though they may fail the Lord miserably? How can a mature Christian bless his/her Lord? The answer is to praise Him. That can be done corporately and individuallythrough worship.The Lord Jesus one time spoke to a Samaritan woman by the well of Jacob in the town of Sychar saying, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” (John 4:21). Based on the very word of the Lord, we mayworship Him anywhere--in our closet, in our garden, or even in front of a television set. In aChurch Sunday service, we start with a short prayer, asking for the Lord’s presence. Then we praise Him. Praise is the word He loves to hear.The writer of the psalm asserts, “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3 KJV). Also in the Old Testament, praise delivered King Jehoshaphat fromthe hands of his enemies. In the New Testament, praise delivered Paul from prison. Thedisciples of Jesus asked Him how to pray, and He told them to remember to praise first. “This,then is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’” (Matthew 6:9).Today, the Lord still loves to inhabit the praise of His people.God commands us to love Him with all of our being. We should love Him because Hefirst loved us. To love God is to praise Him, to acknowledge Him, and to give Him glory in allwe do and in all we say.
Seeking God’s Face
When I dated my wife, I spent a lot of time at her house--or to be correct, at her parents’little store--just to talk. Actually, we did not talk a lot. I was a quiet young man who listened toher, a quiet young lady. I tried to come up with a subject, and that was not easy for me, eventhough we were both teachers. But it was a great time. We just enjoyed each other’s company.
 
To maintain a healthy relationship, husbands and wives must spend time with each other.Common sense tells us, “Out of sight, out of mind,” or “Lack of quality time causes love to loseits grip.”Christians do not consider Christianity as a religion, with all the “dos” and don’ts,” butrather a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If that is the case, a personal relationship is notgood without quality time, or quiet time, or devotional time. What do we do during that time? Iwould say that the Lord does not want us to
DO
anything, but to “be still and know I the Lordam God.” He just wants us to enjoy His presence and He also wants to enjoy us.I sometimes wonder why, at the end-time, some who profess to be Christians will wish tocome into His presence, but He will say to them: “I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.” * Is it because they have never been with Him? All their time was spent for other gods, i.e. money,career, celebrity. The Lord Jesus states, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will bealso” (Matthew 6:21). To know a person’s values we need to find out where he invests the mostof his time.In America people say, “I have everything but time.” Who needs more time? All of usdo. Even people who are retired say they are busier after they retire than when they wereworking. If our schedule is so full, the Lord will appreciate if we can try an hour or thirtyminutes with Him. This quiet time is for our benefit more than for His benefit.Quiet time indicates solitude, meditation on the Scripture, and prayer. That is a timedevoted to the Lord alone, without interruption, without distraction. How much time should wededicate to the Lord? It is based on our love for Him. The Lord is our Savior. He saves us fromsins, and He also frees us from all the burdens of the Law. And although there is no set amountof time prescribed in the Bible, a goal might be to give one tenth of our time since we give atenth of our income to God. Quality time is a practice to get us acquainted with the time we willspend in eternity with God.When the Apostle Paul admonishes us to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17),we know that he didn’t mean spending 24 hours a day and 7 days a week on our knees. We willhave all the time for Him when we spend eternity with Him in heaven. Paul teaches us to beaware of His presence in our life, and to live as though He is going through every event of our life. Someone has illustrated God’s walking by our side with two sets of footprints on the sand.Has our Lord promised His followers, “Lo, I am with you always even unto the end of theworld” (Matthew 28:20b KJV). Has He told us, A“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). And where is Henow? He dwells in us through His Holy Spirit, because He would not leave us as orphans. Weneed His presence, and He desires our fellowship.The prayer life of our Lord shows us the importance of the time we set aside for Him.The four Gospels have recorded the instances where the Lord Jesus spent time alone with Godthe Father. They only show us that the Lord prayed--sometimes all night--for the key issues suchas choosing the twelve apostles, and the crucifixion. (See Matthew 26:39, 42, 44; Mark 1:35;14:35, 39; Luke 5:16; 22:41, 44; John 17:21.) I am sure those are only a few times that Jesus prayed that the writer chose to include in the record. We can be sure that He would have spentmore time in prayer, because He could not afford to depend on Himself for the work of theFather. If God the Son needed prayer to fulfill the Father’s will, how much prayer do Christiansneed to live in line with God and Father and God the Son?
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