Author: Hans Sangtoki

Bible Reading: Psalm 119:9-16

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” (Psalm 119:9)

Purity can almost be said to be absent in today’s culture. This is true for purity concerning holy and godly living as well as purity in the sexual sense. Our generation does not like the idea of holy pious lives. You have probably heard those around you say, “why do you have like an angel? Nobody’s perfect”. 

We don’t have to look far because we also struggle with it. On one side, God’s Word pulls us towards holy living. On the other side, the world tugs us offering us shiny pearls of pleasure in anything but God. We often believe the lie, “No one can act Christian all the time. You can’t relate everything to God”. On the other hand, we believe the lie, “I’ll never be able to be holy like so and so. I struggle with sins. I’m not good enough. God wouldn’t accept me”. 

Satan entices us with sinful lusts for pride, acceptance, relationships, friends, sex, addictions to drugs, pornography, even gaming at times. All of us struggle. Our sinful hearts leap at Satan’s candy. Yet, at the same time, our conscience tugs us back towards God’s will. We all know the things that we ought to do. We know what our Christian life should look like. However, we still struggle. 

The hardship might be different for everyone. For some, you might struggle with impure thoughts and malice. Others might battle with insecurity, loneliness and the fear of missing out. Still, others might be frustrated at the hours they throw away playing games, watching youtube and scrolling through social media. Introspect yourself. Where do you struggle the most? 

Amongst the impurities we all struggle with, God offers us a trusted remedy. How are we to have pure and holy lives? How can we endure such a thing and leave behind our struggles and sinful desires? 

By guarding our way by God’s Word. This does not mean that we must constrain and bind ourselves to obey the laws of the Scripture. Many think this is what it means to guard our lives with God’s Word. Those who fail to understand that the Bible is not about legalistic obedience have surely never read the Bible itself. 

Guarding our way by God’s Word means growing to know God and who He is. It is about getting to know our Creator, who loved us so much to the point of dying for our sins on the cross. Many complain about why they keep falling back into a life of sin. The question is simple. Who or what do you really seek to be satisfied? What gives you the most happiness in life? 

Many profess to be Christians who love God. But how many really love Him? How many really long for a relationship with Him? If you loved God, you would value Him above all things. He would be the greatest desire of your heart and the first thing that excites you every day. 

The young man who seeks God’s Word and a relationship with God Himself delights most joyously in living holy and pure lives before God. Test yourself. Where do you find the most delightful and joyous moments in your life? Is it in God or something else? 

Reading God’s Word is the first step to purity. Not only theoretical reading but also reading to develop a personal growing relationship with God. Commit ourselves and see God plant hearts that are soft. By nature, if we grow to know God, our desires for worldly things will fade because our love for purity and holiness will grow. God did not come to fix our problems. He came that we would know Him. That is the root issue and remedy for our society.  

Only the Holy Spirit can do such things. Pray that He works in our hearts to see this truth. Pray that God opens a door for us to understand who we are as sinners and the beauty of holiness when we guard it in God’s Word. 

Lord, please help me seek You with a whole heart. Give me love and joy for Your Word. Please forgive my iniquities and sins. I have been deceived by Satan’s tricks once again. Teach me that the only solid foundation is Your Word, and Your Word is what I need. Help me to keep my way pure and in Your truth in all aspects of my life. I can’t do that myself, and I fail many times. Thank You, God, that You are loving and have given us Your Word that we might know You. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Bible Reading: Mark 2:13-17

“And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him” (Mark 2:14)

Do you often feel that obedience is impossible? Do you lose heart because you fail to obey God again and again? The answers do not lie within ourselves. In failure or even in success, look to the person of Christ.

Mark 2:13-17 recounts the calling of Levi. Levi was a tax collector. His job included collecting Jewish taxes for the Roman empire. Tax collectors were frowned upon by society at that time because with the power that they had, tax collectors would impose high taxes on citizens in order that Roman taxes be paid and also that they would make a little profit along the way. Tax collectors were scorned for being greedy, selfish liars. Society would cast them aside, refusing to interact with them at all costs. 

However, as Jesus walked past with all the crowds following Him, He intentionally stopped by Levi’s tax booth. This was a ridiculous thing to do. It would equate to walking into a brothel to meet with a prostitute in today’s time. No one would have even thought of stopping at a tax booth. They were places filled with sin. You would run away instead. 

Yet, Jesus decided to confront Levi. It would have been very shameful for Levi. A righteous and holy man comes and catches him red-handed in his tax-collecting mischief. However, here we learn about who Jesus is, who our God is. He is a loving God. He was willing to humble himself to come to earth and seek out sinners individually. All of us are no better than Levi. We are sinners who rebel against God. If He has come to seek us out and confront us of our sins, how grateful we must be. It might be shameful and hard, but if God calls, respond in humility. 

In shame of his sins, Levi heard Jesus say two words to him – “Follow me.” Without saying a word, Levi rose and followed Christ. At that time, the whole crowd that had followed Jesus would have been watching. Levi did not turn to them once. Instead, after personally understanding the love of Christ for him, in silence and humility, he left his tax booth behind completely and resolved to follow Christ. 

The key to obedience is not in our willpower or strength. Obedience flows out of love. John 14:15 says, “if you love me, you will keep my commandments”. And, our love flows out of God’s love for us as written in 1 John 4:19, “we love because He first loved us”. 

Behold God’s love for sinners. He came from heaven to earth to seek us out individually and personally. Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17b). Christ is the great Physician who came to bring life to those who would trust in Him. He came to heal our sins and renew our broken hearts. What Christ came to do was to deal with our whole self. He came not just to add balm to our wound but to operate and cleanse us from our cancer that lies beneath. 

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made” (Mark 2:21). Christ came not only to patch up our sins. His kingdom is about renewing the law by fulfilling it Himself, ultimately on the cross for our sins. In our place, He died so that life may flow for us. 

Obedience is a call for Him to change us. Do you want to be healed? As Jesus calls to Levi, He calls to us, “follow me”. What is our response? 

Lord, I want to follow You. Sometimes I don’t know how to obey You, and many times, I hurt Your heart. Please forgive me. Work in me, Lord, and change me. I want to trust in Your love and faithfulness to me. Please help me. GIve me a deeper understanding of Your love and help me to follow You. Thank You, God. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Bible Reading: Colossians 4:2-6

“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should” (Colossians 4:3-4)

Paul teaches us not only to pray for ourselves but to also pray for church leaders and the advancement of the gospel. As our lives are fully dependent on God, our mission to advance God’s kingdom is also fully reliant on Him. Do not buy into the lie of our self adequacy. Again let me stress, we are nothing. To learn this is a life-long lesson. 

Too often, we place our confidence for successful ministry on the shoulders of our pastors, church leaders, and ministry leaders. We think that it is within such a theologically grounded church whose foundations stand unshakable that the cornerstone for mission and successful ministry lies. “There is zeal, fire and spirit in my church. It is reformed. It is evangelical. God must be working amongst us. Our ministry will surely succeed”. 

If that is our mindset, we are in grave danger. We take God’s work too lightly. We toy with it as if it were part of our daily tasks. If we take ministry lightly, in our pride, we assume ourselves to be capable. We assume that we are able to serve God and advance His Kingdom. As the future generation of the church, we must grow to understand that God’s work is solely His work. To be given a role in it is a miracle from God every single time. 

Many of us grew up in the church. The culture of ministry is something we were raised with. If someone offers us an opportunity to serve, we will not reject it. Yet, do you know that if you wanted God to open a door for His gospel through your ministry, you are asking for a miracle?

Ministry is not about giving yourself ‘holy’ work that gratifies your otherwise sense of guilt. Its main point is not in doing but in the process. God uses our ministry to serve others. That is true. However, God gives us ministry so that we may learn to serve Him. The important part is that relationship with Him. Like a carpenter father who takes his son to his workshop to show him his tools and craft, the end goal is not a finished product. Rather, it is that the father in love may show his son his craft so that they may grow to enjoy it together. God wants to teach us in love what He knows to be the greatest thing for us – that we may walk with Him, serving alongside Him in His plan of salvation for the world. If we think serving is about doing this and that, we completely miss the point. It’s about walking with God. To those who have never experienced it, terms like ‘walking with God’ and ‘knowing God’ are abstract concepts. And there is no way to define it like you would in maths or physics. You have to ask God that you may personally experience it. 

What is the remedy to our ministry? How do we focus not on doing but on the relationship with God? 

Pray. 

Pray for your church leaders and ministry leaders because they can’t serve unless God opens the doors. Pray for your church as a whole and for the ministries you take part in because nothing, let me repeat, nothing you do will ever succeed for the sake of the gospel in God’s eyes unless He is pleased to work. Pray to know the living God who is faithful and trustworthy in all things. After that, dive into God’s Word. Read it, cherish it, remember it. Study it, come back to it. 

Pray that you may walk with God and get to know Him. 

Lord, teach me what it means to serve You. Teach me that ministry is dependent on You and that You want a relationship with me through it, not just a list of tasks for me to do. Please open up doors for Your gospel to be spread through Your church. I pray that You may give my pastor and church leaders boldness that they may proclaim the gospel clearly. Show that You are faithful by working amongst us. Thank You, God, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Bible Reading: Colossians 4:2-6

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (Colossians 4:2 – NIV)

Shortly and succinctly, Paul and Timothy leave practical applications for the Colossian church, which are simplistic yet full of depth. Three of them relate to prayer. Two of them speak of our conduct towards those outside the church. Paul and Timothy have already discoursed the conduct Christians ought to share in Colossians 3:12-17.

In three imperatives, Paul and Timothy exhort the importance and necessity of prayer. Prayer is the grounds of our Christian life. God is the only one who can change our hearts. He is the only one that can work to advance His kingdom and His glory in the church and us. Our whole life, faith and ministry are solely dependent on God. He is the vine, and we are the branches. A branch without its vine has no nutrients and is bound to wither. Without Christ, our lives will also cease. There is no way we can grow spiritually. There is no way we can serve God to expand His Kingdom. Without Christ, our life is in vain because we will continue to live in our sins for ourselves. 

Paul and Timothy knew this, so they commanded, “devote yourselves to prayer” or in the ESV, “continue steadfastly in prayer”. Make prayer our prime duty. Make it the stem and root of our lives. Bring all things in prayer to God. Humble yourself before Him. 

Concerning prayer, there are two things mentioned here – “being watchful and thankful”. Jesus tells His disciples to “watch and pray that [they] may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). Pray to be at watch. We are always apt to fall back into our sins. Pray for changed hearts, for the mortification of sin and the clothing of holiness. Pray that God works personally in your life and that God strengthens you to put to death your old self and put on your new self in Christ. 

In prayer, we must also learn to give thanks. Thanksgiving is not a natural thing for us. Instead, we love to complain and grumble about the shortcomings in our lives. Our vision is so often clouded by ourselves, our problems, our desires. All that we see and think about is centred around ourselves. Because of that, we miss what it means to be thankful and to realise the countless blessings God has already given us. 

Devoting yourself to prayer means devoting yourself to thanksgiving. Are there really things to be thankful for every day? 

First and foremost, we ought to continually thank God for the salvation we have in Christ. His love is so abounding and unfathomable that if we were to ponder it for just a moment, we should be brought into awe and endless praise. The reason we lack such thanksgiving is that we do not know God’s love for us. Ask that He will reveal it more and more to us every day that we can praise Him more and more. 

Apart from that, we should continually thank God for His providence that works all things for our good. If we wake up this morning, God has a plan for our lives today. Each day, God is working to craft us into a masterpiece that is pleasing to Him. Sometimes, He rebukes our sins. Sometimes He sends hard times. Sometimes they are full of pure joy. All in all, we must rejoice and give thanks because God is good, and His love continually blankets us, working in ways we do not understand. 

We must also give thanks for the privileges God has given us. It is a profound privilege to be able to hear God’s Word daily. It is a profound privilege to be part of His true church, surrounded by brothers and sisters who can encourage and build one another. It is a profound privilege to serve God and be used as part of God’s master plan of salvation. Give thanks to God because He loves you, and He loves His church.

When we give thanks, God turns our eyes to be directed to Him and His goodness. God pulls us out of our pit of selfishness and despair where we pity ourselves. God teaches us to see and know that He is good, and He rebukes us of our selfishness that has grumbled for our problems and ignored God’s goodness that encompasses us always. 

How often do you pray in a day? Have you ever set aside time to pray to God and just let your heart out to Him? Have you been watchful and thankful in your prayers? Do you want to learn together, God’s will for us to pray?

Lord, please teach me how to pray. Teach me what it means to pray and why it is so necessary. Shape in me a heart that is reliant only on You. Teach me to be watchful against sin and temptation. Only you can help me do that. Teach me also to give thanks. Thank You that I am in Christ. Thank You that You loved me so much to die in my place to offer me eternal life. Thank You that I may know You and can walk in Your loving providence day by day. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Bible Reading: Proverbs 1-2

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7)

Take the words of Proverbs 3:21-24, “My son, do not lose sight of these—keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” 

The Christian life should be one filled with security, contentment and a firm foundation in the Lord no matter what storms life throws at us. Yet, why do so many of us lack such assurance and stronghold? 

The problem is not our outward circumstances. Rather, it is the state of our hearts. In our sinful nature, our hearts love to crown ourselves as king. We love to control and dictate our lives according to our pleasure and will. We despise submission, and we foolishly believe that our preconceived ideas are always correct and that our ways will always resolve the issue. 

For example, in our insecurity and angst, often we seek comfort and relief in the company of many friends. Yet, the real issue of our insecurity is our neglect of God and personal satisfying relationship with Him. Christian friends are good gifts from God. However, true contentment is only found in the Giver of these gifts. 

In pride, our natural inclination is to reject wisdom and instruction. The writer of Proverbs labels us as “fools”. It is a very foolish thing to boast in our decisions. We are humans who were dead in sin. Our preconceived ideas are tainted with sin and lies we had frequently believed. Do not be so foolish as to believe in yourself. 

God’s will for us is sanctification. He longs to work in us and renew us. Yet, our good God will not force us into obeying Him. He will not enforce change. Instead, in His love, He patiently waits until we repent and learn humility. 

Wisdom can be described as the ability to discern and make godly life choices. It is about choosing and undergoing the best way to live. Wisdom only comes if we have knowledge. We need to know about the right and best way to live in order to live it out. We are so clouded by sin and lies. We need knowledge of the truth. We need knowledge of why God created us and for what purpose. Only then will we live wisely in security, peace and a firm foundation because we will be living how God intended us to live. 

However, how do we get knowledge? How can our lives be changed into the pleasant sanctified lives God wills for us? 

Proverbs 1:7 tells us, “the fear of the Lord”. This fear is not the fear of punishment for sins. This fear is one of awe, reverence and submission to one who is great, dignified and mighty. Fearing God means understanding who God is and what He has done for us and acknowledging His ways above ours. In essence, it is about stepping off the throne of our hearts and letting God be the new king who rules over what we do. It’s about humbling and lowering ourselves to God’s plan and will because we know that what He has in store for us is for our good. 

God longs to change us into people who please Him. His first step is always to give us tender humble hearts that lay down themselves to God’s ways in obedience. Do we long for wisdom and godly lives rooted firm in faith? The first step is a lowly teachable heart that is willing to learn. Ask God what He longs to teach you. Open your heart to His Word and will. Surrender your desires and longings to Him, and He promises work in us. 

“If you seek [wisdom] like sliver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity.” (Proverbs 2:4-7)

Lord, please plant in me the fear of You. Please shape in me a humble and teachable heart. I know that often I reject Your teachings and like to follow my own desires. Please forgive me and change me. Give me a heart that submits to Your will and let me taste Your goodness in it. You are the giver of wisdom. Teach me a life that pleases You. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith”. Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758) is one of the giants of faith whose steps we ought to follow. As a preacher and theologian, God used him mightily to convict many of sins and bring many to repentance in the Great Awakening. Edwards’ discourses for youths are still highly relevant for us today.  

Bible Reading: Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

These days, radical Christianity is definitely not normal. Youths with faiths like Edwards are scarce to be found. There are few who seek after God and holiness in our current world. Have we surrendered the entirety of our youth to God? Is He whom we seek before the days go evil? Edwards gives some points as to why we must remember God in our youth. 

1. We must turn to God in our youth and do so presently because if we surrender to God in our youth, we will have the greatest time to know God and be sanctified.

Many people do not get to know God from a young age. Yet, God has given us the privilege to be surrounded by God’s Word in His church even from when we were little. This was no coincidence. God wills that we surrender our young lives to Him in order that we may have a longer time in our life to get to know God and serve Him. Getting to know Him and serve Him was God’s original plan. However, we fell into sin, deserving hell. If God has given us more time to return to Him and enjoy earlier His grace and love, why do we still procrastinate to follow God in all aspects of our lives fully? 

2. It is fitting that our lives should begin with God.

God is our creator. Shouldn’t the first thing a creation do be acknowledge his Creator? In God’s providence, He has given us opportunities now to surrender our minds, wills and affections to God. We do not know if God will give us another chance in the future.

As we get older, the more we will sin, the more our hearts and consciences become hardened. Also, the days become eviler, and many of life’s distractions will keep us from coming to God. Matthew 12:45 says, “the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation”. If we reject God in our youth, our future will continue to backslide into greater sins, our consciences will be seared and made numb to the will of God, and we will continue our days and life pursuing evil in rebellions against God. 

Youth is the prime and fitting moment for us to turn back to God. If we turn to God in our youth, our lives will conversely be sanctified, made holy into a pleasing sacrifice that bears fruit for the glory of God. 

3. Early piety is especially acceptable to God because we give the flower of our age and the first fruits of our life. 

Our whole lives should be offered to God. However, He is especially pleased when we give our best to Him. Our youth is the best part of our life. It is the time when we have the most strength, liveliness and power of the mind to serve God. Exodus 22:29 says, “you shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses.” Why should we delay in offering our lives to God now? 

God is more glorified if we give our lives to Him in our youth because we have a full life to serve and honour Him. On the other hand, if we choose to delay and by God’s grace He still gives us a chance to repent, we would have wasted our days in the service of Satan, only to give God the leftovers of our life. 

There is no reason to hinder our repentance. Have we sought holiness and piety seriously in our youth? “For to this end (godliness) we toil and strive” (1 Timothy 4:10). If we seek godliness early, there will be more time for us to taste true joy, comfort, peace, and satisfaction in communion with God. Do not wait! Turn to God now. 

Lord, thank You for great men of faith who teach us with haste the vitality of your Word. Here is my life. I do not want to live my youth in sin, rather accept it as a pleasing offering to You. Please forgive me, for I have not been serious in following You in my youth. Take the rest of it all, wholly for You alone. Teach me to know and taste Your goodness and the wisdom of your loving plans for my life when I give it wholly to You. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

This devotion is a paraphrase from Jonathan Edward’s sermons, Early Piety is Especially Acceptable to God (1734) and The Time of Youth Is the Best Time to Be Improved for Religious Purposes. They can be found in the book To The Rising Generation, a collection of Edward’s preaching for youth published by Soli Deo Gloria Publications. 

Bible Reading: Colossians 2:11-15, 3:1-17

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3)

Too often, our Christian life is filled with dos and don’ts. When we fail to resist temptation, we pity ourselves and our inability. On the contrary, when we succeed in leaving behind sin and putting on godly virtues, we become satisfied in pride with our capabilities. When our actions show that we have served the Lord and have contributed to the greater cause, we are convinced that we have been made right with God.

Satan deceives us into the ways of the Pharisee. When our Christian life is based on do’s and don’ts, it is no Christian life at all because, in essence, we have fallen to believe that our works can bring us salvation. If we think that by serving God, resisting sin and becoming Holy, God will be pleased, we are in grave danger. 

Our goodness can never satisfy the Holiness of God. If we thought it could, we do not understand the depth of our sin. Sin is more than just an action. It is more than just lying or coveting. Sin is our heart’s attitude. When we live in sin, our hearts are in rebellion against God. Our hearts seek to satisfy ourselves, and so, fruits of sin like lying and coveting surface. We are all people who reject and forsake our loving creator. That is a severe issue deserving the eternal wrath of God.

If you think that by ticking the “Christian” boxes, you will be safe, in the deepest part of your heart, there lies pride which says, “I am still capable of saving myself, I don’t need a saviour”. With such, it is evident that you have and continue to reject God in order to rule your lives by yourself. 

The basis of Christian living is not the dos and don’ts. The essence is found in who Christ is and what He has done on the cross. God wants us to grow in knowing Him, knowing who He is and what He has done for us. God did not create us to check boxes. He made us for a personal relationship with Him. That personal relationship starts from knowing what He did for each of us personally. 

We all know the theoretical answers, but do we actually know what Christ has done for us on the cross from personal experience? 

Read through Colossians 2 and 3 carefully. Paul and Timothy talk about how our sinful God-rejecting nature has been put to death on the cross in Christ. We who were dead to God in our sinful ways have been made alive by Christ’s power. He has also forgiven us for our terrible crime and has cancelled all the debts we had to bear. He did all this by offering His own Holy life to be ours and bearing our sins on Himself. Not only that, but He also defeated all the powers of evil, triumphing over them in the assurance that what He has done will not fail. 

Do we know this Jesus? Do we know what He is? If someone asked you about your best friend, it wouldn’t be hard to describe who they are and what they’re like. However, if someone asked you, “who is this God you believe in?” would you have an answer? 

The basis of Christian living is knowing God. Earnestly pray and seek to know God personally for yourself. Ask God for it with all your heart. He will not reject you because he promises to reveal Himself to you if you seek whole-heartedly (see Deuteronomy 4:29). 

When we know God, works will flow as fruit that blooms. God will work it Himself in us. When we know God, then we will put to death sin. When we know God, we will grow to love and serve Him. In our Christian life, turn our focus to knowing God. From there, our life will show itself that we are people who know God. 

Lord, please help me to know You. You have died for me and loved me, yet I do not actually know who You are and what You have done for me personally. Please forgive me. I focused on the dos and don’ts. You promised to reveal Yourself to those who seek You with a whole heart. I want to know You personally. Please reveal Yourself to me. Thank You, God. In Jesus’ name, amen.