Month: April 2020

Deeply Rooted: Day 6

Posted on by Siree Sivapetchranat
Deeply Rooted Day 6
Here we are, the last day of our six-day devotional! We arrive at the concluding sentence of verse 8: “It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
This last verse promises that not only will our leaves be green but we will even bear fruit! It’s a promise that we will never fail to bear fruit! That is God’s promise to us if we abide in Him.
Fruit in the time of drought would be nothing short of a miracle. When drought comes, trees will naturally concentrate all their resources to just stay alive and keep vital functions going. Fruit is produced produced in times of excess resources and abundant conditions.
We are reminded of God’s promises that we will have life abundant. Read John 10:10. This is not a conditional promise dependent on the economic conditions of the world. God is not referring to any economic or monetary abundance. He is referring to the Spiritual fruit that can be ours in abundance. Read Galatians 5:22-23. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Take a moment to appreciate that in God’s economy, the abundance of this fruit is worth far more than any worldly riches. What do you think about that?
We must recognise that an abundant life in the Spirit is not a promise that is handed out without condition. What do I mean by that? Yes, God gives us unconditional love, but we can only receive His promises if we do our part. Whether this promise is fulfilled or not depends on us! How? Firstly, this promise is dependent on our heart condition towards God. Are we pursuing Him more than the promise of fruit?
How else can our heart condition affect whether this promise is fulfilled? If we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. Notice these conditional statements: IF you abide in Me, you will bear much fruit. IF you open the door, I will come in a dine with you. These “if-then” statements are more than hints for us to do something. God is not passive-aggressively hinting at what we should do and hoping that we get the clue. He makes it very clear and straightforward. They are direct invitations to act in partnership with God.
Days 1 – 3 of our devotional outlined the other conditions that need to be fulfilled: how and where we plant ourselves by the Living Stream. Let’s review the entire centrepiece of our Deeply Rooted devotional again.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

whose confidence is in him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water

that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

In review, studying God’s character, we’ve put our confidence and trust in God and so we plant ourselves in Christ. We continue to grow and seek nourishment by sending out our roots to drink deeply from God’s word daily. We then trust the process of the continual prep work of Spiritual strengthening and so trust that we can have courage when the troubles come. Our Spiritual lives prosper even in when all around us is dry and dead. We even bear fruit in all seasons! I’ve been so blessed to study these two verses and share this devotional with you. Personally, it is a another Spiritual marker for me in my relationship with our Lord. I sincerely pray that the outflow of my reflections and writing has encouraged you in some way. I’d love to hear from you and learn from you as well. Let’s keep growing and going together!

Deeply Rooted: Day 5

Posted on by Siree Sivapetchranat
Palm Sunday

We are now on Day 5 of our Deeply Rooted Devotional. Thank you for sticking through with this and I pray that it has been a truly Spiritually enriching experience as we camp out in these two verses!

 

“its leaves are always green.”

 

This part of verse 8 is a promise. Receive it as so. Biology was one of my favorite classes in high school and I was really interested the units on plants. While I’ve never had a green thumb, I really do appreciate learning about plant life! We study from a very young age that healthy plants have green leaves. Brown or discoloured leaves are a bad sign. Most of the time, it’s a symptom of a plant not having enough water. They start wilting, turn less green, more yellow and if left long enough without remedy, they will dry up, turn brown and fall off. In one of our science classes, we had to take care of our own house plant and I remember that when we came back from a long weekend, we found that one of my friend’s plant had drooped and wilted. She was quite distressed about it, but the teacher said, don’t worry, it can still be saved. Just give it some water, and it will come back to life. And it sure did! Thankfully, she saved it just in time.

 

Now, it’s natural that leaves do turn brown and fall off, but it’s not normal for most of the leaves on a tree to turn brown out of season. Leaves don’t suddenly turn brown and fall off immediately. Usually, there are some indications of a dying plant. We need to be aware of these “cries for help” so we can reverse the situation before it gets serious.

 

Before I keep going, let me clarify that, no, this is not a biology lesson on the life of trees! But I think you know where I’m going with this. God’s word uses illustrations from the natural life to uncover truths in our Spiritual life.

 

Let’s pause here and think of any indications that your Spiritual life is suffering. Are you feeling dry, worn out and weary? I’ve played a game with my kids to shout a colour out loud when I say a word –– an object, a mood or concept.  It’s really fun and insightful to see how our mind connects different feelings and thoughts to different colours. So if I asked you, what colours represent your Spiritual life right now, what would you say?

 

What is your natural response when we are tired? We know we need sleep and we rest, but even these restful activities can’t give true rest to a weary mind and heart. Only Jesus can give us that kind of rest. Read Matthew 11:28-29.

 

Trees planted and resting far away from the source of water will be the first to dry up. Their leaves brown and wither away in times of drought. Trees resting by the river will have the clear advantage for survival. Even the same sturdy species of tree will grow differently just because of where they are planted. They may both survive the drought but only the one drinking from the continual source of water will thrive. Their leaves will even be green in the drought!

 

When we rest in Jesus and seek Him to fill our Spiritual tanks, we will thrive even in the dry Spiritual seasons when we really can’t see any fruit squeezed out from our forbearance. As we keep going by faith and not by sight, the promise that our “leaves will always be green” will be fulfilled. Remember though, that we are not to focus on seeking the promise of green leaves, but seek the One Who promises this.

 

How often do we we get distracted from seeking God’s face and strive for that green vibrant Spiritual life “just like her/him”.  Because we compare ourselves and our faith to others, when our the tips of our leaves are start to turn yellow, what do we do? We try to cover it up; we paint those tips green so that no one will really know what’s going on inside. It’s either a case of pride or guilt. We may be too prideful to think that we can get through this alone without the prayers of our faith community. Or we feel guilty for sharing our burdens, because it may sound like we don’t have enough faith and we really don’t want to bother anyone.

 

Friends, all that is deception. And deception comes from the enemy of our souls. He wants us to think that we need to look the part of a good Christian all the time. God doesn’t want us to look like a good disciple, God wants us to be a faithful disciple. It’s a continual heart and life transformation from the inside, not a cover up on the outside for our inadequacy. How do we attempt to paint our yellow tips to cover up our inadequate Spiritual life? We strive to be busy doing things that look good and even feel good. Read the full chapter of Matthew 6. Note down what God wants you to see from these verses.

 

God is sitting me down this season to be still. Don’t try to produce green leaves; don’t try to produce the fruit in my own strength. Stop asking, “When will the fruit come? When will this season end? God is telling me to seek Him, the One who gave the Promise. God is telling me that in Him and with His strength, I can thrive in any season. Abide in Him a day at at time and do not be anxious about to tomorrow. Let Him do the work in me. Re-read Matthew 6:25-34.

 

What to do today: Take some time to journal your thoughts. Confess any pride or guilt to God. Pray for God to connect you a Biblical faith community on a regular basis so you can grow together with others.

 

Deeply Rooted: Day 4

Posted on by Siree Sivapetchranat
Deeply Rooted Devotionals

Welcome to Day 4 of the Deeply Rooted Devotional! I pray that it has been a blessing to you to study God’s attributes and character, put your trust in Him, find your location to get into His word and surrender to the Holy Spirit’s teaching. We are drinking deeply from the source of our Spiritual nutrition.

 

 

 

 

 

Now that the vital first steps are complete, today we are ready to move on to the next part of verse 8 of Jeremiah 17, which says, “It does not fear when heat comes;”

 

 

When we’ve done our part as much as we can and are able, it’s time to trust the process. As we practice the discipline of meeting with God over His word daily, we can trust that we will be getting Spiritually stronger and stronger by the day. We’ve done our part to prepare and the Holy Spirit continually does His.

How well we’ve prepared will be tested. Verse 8 does not say “If  heat comes,” but states, “When heat comes.” Read Matthew 5:45 and John 16:33.  We’re to expect problems and troubles in our lives. Why? The simple answer is: because we still live in a broken world. This is irregardless of whether you are a child of God or not. The brokenness of this world touches every corner of creation.

Some problems that affect us may be consequences of our own decisions, but many times, it is a consequence of others’ actions. Even if we are not of the world, we are still in it. Read John 17:11. 

Understandably, we may ask, “Why does God not show us special favour to His children? Why do the wicked still prosper when your beloved are deep in trials?” Read Psalm 94.

I think there are many ways we can answer that, and you may have heard many reasons for this, but may I suggest that we move our focus from “the why” to “the how” God uses this fact that we do suffer here on earth.

Let’s pause here and recall God’s attributes. Remember Who He is and Who He is not. God is not a sadistic abusive being who takes advantage of us. He doesn’t rejoice in our pain so that He can use it for His purposes. He weeps with us in our pain. His word promises that He is close to the brokenhearted. He promises to never tempt us beyond what we can bear. (Read 1 Corinthians 10:13) Our God is a God of principles. There are natural laws that take effect because of sin which humans are subject to until Jesus comes again to redeem the whole creation and create a new earth.

Don’t be mistaken, God is not subject to these natural laws, but we humans are because we are still a part of this current state of creation. How about miracles like parting the Red Sea, water from the rock, fire sent down from heaven at Mount Carmel, or the resurrection of Lazarus? I believe that where and when God performs miracles, it is to reveal His power to mankind –– not with the singular primary purpose to make us feel better.

Do not believe that the Creator of the Universe is ever at our beck and call to answer our prayers on our terms. But because all of God is good, because there is only goodness in Him and from Him, when God intervenes with His supernatural power into this world, His grace supernaturally overflows out the blessings that do indeed bring us physical comfort and safety. He parted the Red Sea to show the Israelites that He is almighty and they can trust in Him to save them from an impossible rescue by any mere man. God fed them water, manna, and quail to show them His loving-kindness in providing for His chosen people. He brought Lazarus back from the dead to show that He has power over death. When He brings supernatural healing today, it is to point us to Him to glorify His name. All this to point to His awe-some power over nature. And those who witness these miracles benefit from the overflow of the blessings of His majestic awe-inspiring display of power.

While we are still subject to the consequences of sin in the world, we must focus on the fact that the suffering can be used to mould us to be more like Jesus.

God doesn’t rejoice because of our pain, but He is determined use it. He will not let it ever go to waste. He is the Redeemer – the only One Who could ever redeem all the pain we’ve ever had. God will not waste your pain. He will not toss aside our pain and our tears when we give them to Him. He takes them and uses them to transform us. That is God’s desire and so it should be ours too. The thing is, it is actually up to us whether we partner with Him in this transformation or not. And we start that process by offering up to Him all the pain that’s ever been inflicted to us and the unforgiveness that we hold onto for Him to redeem.

And then we keep going knowing that there will still be trials ahead but praying that we will be ready that “when the heat comes”, we can trust that we will be strong and resilient enough to withstand it. Knowing God’s character, having a real loving relationship with Him, hiding His word in our hearts, may we not fear the heat but have courage and have faith in our prep work that we continually do with God.

Trust the process that the stored-up truth in our hearts and minds can get us through the troubles. God tells us to store up treasures in heaven. I believe that part of this is investing in eternal relationships with Him and with others. Yes, we we still in the world. And while our feet are still planted in this world, heavenly resources like God’s word, the fruits of our own prayers and the prayers of our faith community will guard our minds and hearts when heat comes. Because when our minds are set on things above, we can really focus on things that truly matter. Read Matthew 6:19-20, Colossians 3:1-15.

And thankfully, unlike the droughts that dry up natural rivers and resources for life, which literally evaporate, no drought can dry up our source of Living Water. There is no denying that the pain we experience is real, but when all around us is dire, dry, parched, and dead, we who have our lives in Christ can still send our roots to the stream and not only survive but thrive Spiritually.

 

What to do today: Write down what matters to you. Don’t think too hard about it. Don’t try to write down the “right answer”.  Just take a couple of minutes to make a quick list. Then pray over it and ask God what matters to Him and take note of those. 

Deeply Rooted: Day 3

Posted on by Siree Sivapetchranat
Deeply Rooted Devotional Day 3
Welcome back and welcome to Day 3 of our 6-day devotional! Moving on the next part of the Jeremiah 17:8: “…that sends out its roots by the stream.”
This is an act of pursuing God in submission and humility. God’s promise to us is: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (Read James 4:7-10)
The words “send out” makes me think of an act of reaching and extending like a stretch. But do plants move? They don’t move around like animals but they do move. Roots move and adjust their direction of growth even when we don’t see it. Disciples need to have roots too. Once we’ve planted our roots in our relationship with Jesus Christ, the work doesn’t stop there. 
We are to let our roots grow deep, grow in spiritual maturity by seeking the nourishment from God’s word. Practically, how do we send out our roots? In Day 2, we talked about how we need to be positioned by – that is, right next to – the water. 
Actually in John 15:4, Jesus tells us to be even closer than just next to Him, doesn’t He? He calls us to abide in Him. We are to be in Him and at the same time His Spirit is in us! But that doesn’t mean that once we’ve positioned ourselves in Him our work of growing stops. We still have a continual responsibility to move towards God and and grow in maturity.
So how and when do we continue to move towards God? Read Matthew 22:37. We need to pursue God all the time and love Him all the time with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Our pursuit of growing in Christ needs to happen on a daily basis. Just as we eat food to fuel our bodies daily, God calls us to have our Spiritual meals with Him daily as well. 
In practical terms, when should we have this Spiritual food and sit down in our dedicated Bible reading spot? Think of this as an appointment you have with God. If it helps, put it in the calendar as you would with any other important can’t-miss-this appointment. Appreciate and be grateful for the fact that God is waiting for you to come to Him at any time, but the dedicated Bible study time is a time where you really don’t want to miss. Really think of it as a daily meeting with your Heavenly Father to get your mind aligned with His and be equipped with His Word before you start your day. It’s our Spiritual prep work for the day. 
Roots move under the ground where no one sees. No one may see the Spiritual prep work that the Holy Spirit does in your mind and heart, but know that the fruit will eventually be apparent for all to see.
What to do today: Abide in God and meditate on John 15:1-4.
See you tomorrow!

Deeply Rooted: Day 2

Posted on by Siree Sivapetchranat
Deeply Rooted Day 2
Location matters. What is the importance of where we position ourselves?
Verse 8 of Jeremiah 7 starts with, “They will be like a tree planted by the water.”
It’s an obvious fact that trees should be close to the source of water to grow and flourish. This verse brings to mind my own physical location of where I sit down to study God’s word. I’d like to invite you to pay attention to the practical detail of where you literally sit down during your Bible study time. Consider whether you’re in the right location and have the right tools to get into God’s Word.
Firstly, take a look at the physical place where you get into the word. Is it your desk, your couch, or dining table, or on your balcony? Gauge the physical distance between you and to your Bible study tools when you sit down to read.

Like a pilot would do a systems check before take-off, do your own “systems check” by asking yourself these questions:

  1. How close are you to God’s word? Make it easy and practical for you to open up the word of God. Where do you keep your bible?
  2. Do you use your phone to read the bible? How do you deal with the distracting notifications that pop up?
  3. Where do you sit when you study His word? Are you in the same space everyday? Or do you find it hard each day to even find a spot to do any reading? 
  4. Do you have the right tools like a pen, highlighter and journal to get into His word? 
  5. And lastly but importantly, do you have your coffee and tea ready so you don’t have to get up again?
Don’t neglect these practical details because these little things can add up to either help or hinder your bible study time. I find that having a specific spot helps me be more ready to read. Settling down with my writing tools queues my mind to get ready. Avoid getting up again after you’ve set up unless really necessary. The enemy can really use the smallest distraction to get you out of your time with God. There have been countless times when I get distracted and get up from my bible reading and never actually go back to it.

Visual queues are very helpful for yourself and those around you too. It also lets those around me know that I’m doing Bible study and they respect my time and space.

If your desk is cluttered, that can hinder your reading time too. One of the first things you might need to do is set up your space. It doesn’t have to be big, but it has to be dedicated as your bible reading and studying spot. It might just be the same chair at the dining table. Dedicate a spot for your appointment with God to get into His Word together.
Once all that is ready, you can get started and drink deeply from the word. Remember to take in the word by inviting the Holy Spirit to be the One to feed us. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher. He knows what to feed us from His own word. What’s the point of reading the Word without inviting the Holy Spirit to guide you? Ask Him, “Lord, what do you want to teach me today? I’m here to learn and listen to Your voice only. I humbly submit my thoughts and mind to you in Jesus Name.”
“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:6) 
“However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.” (John 16:13)
What to do today:  Take some time today to do a “systems check” of your bible study space. Let me know what what felt hard for you to do in setting up the space.
Then, see you tomorrow when we will talk about how we are to extend our roots towards the stream.

Deeply Rooted: Day 1⁠ 

Posted on by Siree Sivapetchranat
BCDC Devotional Day 1 Deeply Rooted

“Trust in the Lord. Have confidence in Him.” (Jeremiah 17:7) Let’s dig into this part of verse 7.

How do we trust in the Lord? It would be unreasonable to ask you to trust someone whom you do not know, wouldn’t it? So to trust God, we need to discover Who He is.

We need to know and study His attributes – what is He like? While it would be impossible to contain all of Who God is into mere words, God does want us to know Him.

Here are 15 of His attributes that we can use to help grasp a picture even if only in part with our human minds of Who God is.

1. God is infinite and not confined by space or time. He is not a created being. He is self-existing without origin.

“And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” – Colossians 1:17
“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure” – Psalm 147:5

2. God is immutable. He never changes.

“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” Malachi 3:6

3. God is self-sufficient. He has no needs.

“For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself.” – John 5:26

4. God is omnipotent. He is all powerful.

“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth.” – Psalm 33:6

“Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. If He comes along and confines you in prison and convenes a court, who can opposeHim? Surely He recognizes deceivers; and when He sees evil, does he not take note?” – Job 11:7-11

5. God is omniscient. He is all-knowing

“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” – Isaiah 46:9-10

6. God is omnipresent. He is always everywhere.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.” – Psalm 139:7-10

“‘Am I a God at hand,’ declares the Lord, ‘and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord” – Jeremiah 23:23-24

7. God is wise. He has perfect unchanging wisdom.

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” – Romans 11:33

8. God is faithful. He is infinitely, unchangingly true.

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep His commands.” – Deut 7:9

“[I]f we are faithless, He remains faithful— for He cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13

9. God is good. He is infinitely and unchangingly kind and full of good will.

“O, taste and see that the Lord is good” – Psalm 34:8

10. God is just. He is infinitely and unchangingly right and perfect in all He does.

“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.” – Deuteronomy 32:4

11. God is merciful. He is infinitely and unchangingly compassionate and kind.

“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” – Romans 9:15-16

12. God is gracious. God is infinitely gracious to spare the guilty.

“The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.” – Psalm 145:8

13. God is loving. God infinitely and unchangingly loves us.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” – 1 John 4:7-8

14. God is holy. He is infinitely and unchangingly perfect.

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord Almighty” – Revelation 4:8

15. God is glorious. He is infinitely and unchangingly beautiful and great.

“His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And there is the hiding of His power.” – Habakkuk 3:4

Reflect and meditate of these attributes of our God. Doesn’t it help you to see Him for Who He is and put your trust and confidence in Him? Over the next few days, remember God’s attributes as the backdrop as we continue to explore these two verses. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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