I Can See Better
SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER
SUNDAY, April 7
John 20:19-23
“The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord” (v. 20, NRSV).
Every morning I pick plenty of butterfly pea flowers in the back yard and sun-dry them to make tea. One day I was busy doing ministry all day until the sun went down, but I didn’t want to waste those abundant blue butterfly pea flowers. So I went to pick the flowers in the evening, but I could only find a few. I thought, Why are there fewer flowers this evening? The next morning I went again, and my eyes could see better. I could see all the butterfly pea flowers on the vines when the sunlight touched its blue flowers.
Jesus is the light to the eyes that helps balance our eyes of all colors in the visible spectrum. The Holy Spirit shifts our sight to see the short wavelength of blue color.
Father, thank you for sending Jesus to be the light to my eyes.
May your Holy Spirit be a new lens that I will forgive others as I am forgiven. AMEN.
PRAYER FOCUS: HOSPITALITY TO STRANGERS
My Pointing Finger Is Not the Moon
MONDAY, April 8
John 20:24-31
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (v. 29).
A Vietnamese pastor was studying Buddhism so he would know how to share the gospel with his community. He said, “One night Buddha and his disciples finished teaching the four truths of life and were walking away from the crowd. The Buddha stopped, pointed his finger toward the moon, and asked his disciples, ‘What do you see?’ ‘It’s the moon,’ they replied. Then Buddha said, ‘You are right. My finger is pointing to the moon, and my pointing finger is not the moon! There will be One coming after me; he is the moon.’”
Some people point to what they think is the way. But Jesus says,
“I Am.”
Father, God, please open my eyes to see people around me who are seeking for the way. Many religious people are working hard to guide people to the way. Help me to be the light that shines and reflects the way, the truth, and the life to the hungry souls. Amen.
Here Is My Car! You Can Use It for Anything
TUESDAY, April 9
Acts 4:32-35
On December 26, 2004, more than 30,000 victims were killed by the tsunami that hit Phuket Island in Thailand. I flew there to help. The relief camp was short-staffed and needed tools to move the bodies from shore to the camps.
“Hi bro, here’s my car. The fuel is full. You can use it for anything. I will come and take it when you are done,” a man from the island told us. I spent five days working with people I had never met before, people who were giving all that they had, with one heart and mind.
In today’s passage, we see the early church sharing everything they had. And believers were added to the kingdom of God.
Here, Lord, I offer my life and my all to you. Here are my hands that will give to those who are in need. Here are my lips to praise you in the places where your name has never been proclaimed. Please, fill up my cup and may it overflow. AMEN.
PRAYER FOCUS: THOSE WHO HAVE HURT US
We Are One Family in Christ
WEDNESDAY, April 10
Psalm 133
Last year, Serve Globally personnel Don and Lillian Dwight invited my husband and me to visit Covenant partners in the Philippines as the first pioneer Asian national couple serving as regional coordinators of Asia. When we were introduced, there was a sense of racial tensions of Asian nation against nation. Unexpectedly the pastor called my name to speak to the church first. But my husband was prepared to speak and I wasn’t. My brain was blank! The Lord led my lips saying, “As I am standing up here, I don’t see Philippino, Thai, or American. I see my brothers and sisters who are one family in Christ. How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” The congregation in front of me smiled, relaxed, and made sounds of joy. “I am glad that our new Asia RC is an Asian couple,” said the pastor. At the end of church services, we grasped the microphone and joined in karaoke with the worship team.
Dear Lord, make me a servant of all. Make me be like precious oil poured on the head running down on the beard of our family in Christ. Make me like the dew of Hermon which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there you bestow your blessing to every life forevermore. Amen.
Unto Thee, O Lord
THURSDAY, April 11
1 John 1:1–2:2
“If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (v. 7).
One evening we invited students for fellowship at our place. We had
a welcome program singing, “Unto Thee, O Lord, do I life up my soul.
O my God, I trust in Thee.” Then I shared with the students that I used to steal. I was caught and was interrogated by policemen when I was a fifth grader. I brought shame to my family. Then I met Jesus and he healed me from shame. He did not let my enemy triumph over me.
Dear God, thank you for the power of your love on the cross. You remember not the sins of my youth, O my God. I trust in you. Help me not to be ashamed, nor my enemy to triumph over me. Please make me free as a new person. AMEN.
PRAYER FOCUS: FORGIVENESS
The Moonlight Helped Us Walk Faster
FRIDAY, April 12
1 John 2:3-11
When North Vietnam invaded Laos in 1958–1959, one survivor said,
“I grasped nothing but my baby girl and few cents in my hand. We hid in the bushes during the day and walked in the moonlight. The moonlight helped us walk faster and we escaped to the Thai side safely.”
Hatred created war. Love and forgiveness is what people need. Christians claim to be the light to the world, and if we hate our brother or sister we do not love as Jesus did. The darkness has blinded us.
Father, please make your love complete in me. Take control of my life that I may love like Jesus, that my love for the darkness passes away, and your true light shines. May Christ shine through me to draw others to cross from the shadow of death to life. Amen.
What Do You Treasure?
SATURDAY, April 13
1 John 2:12-17
“The love of the Father is not in those who love the world, for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world” (vv. 15-16).
There is a story about how Tapao Mountain in Thailand came to be. The name means “big ship,” and the mountain is shaped like a turned-over ship. The story goes that once a Chinese millionaire was sailing his treasure ship on the sea. But the ship sank, and the millionaire’s spirit has guarded it up until today. Whoever goes searching the treasure on Tapao Mountain will lose their mind of will never return.
What do you treasure in your life? Is it some thing? Is it somebody? Some experience in your life? Riches? This text reminds us that the best things in life are not of this world.
Father, I treasure your will. You give good material things in life—more than we need, much more than we deserve. Make me wise to remember that the world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. AMEN.
PRAYER FOCUS: THE UNEMPLOYED OR UNDEREMPLOYED
