Anna M. Zhou
As my loved ones are often in my meditation, I would like to take this chance to leave my confession of faith to future generations.
To know Christ and His Cross is the most precious thing in life, to share intimacy with my God, to delight in the Lord and to listen carefully to His Spirit illuminating the Scriptures. Prayerfully reading the Scripture have enabled me to prevail against nightly medical episodes, and His mercy has preserved my life to this day.
The Lord said, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Ex. 33:19) We are God’s children who are greatly beloved. (I John 3:1) Praise and thank God for all His grace, for forgiving our sins, and for healing our diseases. (Ps. 103:4-5) Do not conform to the manners of this world, but be transformed by renewing our mind to pleasing God. (Ro. 12:2) Don’t we know that we ourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in us? (1Cor. 3:16) Friendship with the world means enmity against God. (James 4:4) We cannot have two masters by serving both God and money (materialism); nor should we idolize humans. (Matt. 6:24) But godliness with contentment is great gain. (I Tim. 6:6) Live in peace and joy in Him. Jesus said, “The words I have spoken to you, they are full of the Spirit and life.” (John 6:63)
Love the Lord and Glorify God, Refuse to Idolize Humans
Some 38 years ago, someone said my faith was muddled, and that I did not understand God’s will. I was furious, for I thought I knew my own faith as a believer from childhood. However, when I calmed down and kept asking God, I knew that Lord’s greatest commandments—to love God and my neighbor—is easier said than done. It can only be achieved by being truthful and by humbling oneself, through reading the Scripture daily in prayer and through pondering Lord’s Word. Love the Lord and glorify God alone, refrain from idolizing other human beings or subscribing to online fast food culture. Listen to the Lord Jesus, who said: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matt 26:14)
Wishes and Blessings
My wish is that you will know the hymn: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so…… I am weak but He is strong!” This hymn helped me prevail through numerous trials. My wish is that you will learn to recite Psalms 1, 16, 23, and 121. I give you these blessings like your great grandma, Dr. Esther Li, who was invited to give a prayerful speech by Presidents Reagan and Bush, and who blessed your father with the following words: Your cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Ps. 23:5b-6) Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure. (Ps. 16:5-7) The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. (Ps. 23:1, 3-4) I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (Ps. 121:1-2)
Appendices
· Love your God with all you heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)
· A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (Luke 6:45)
·Jesus replied: Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules. (Mark 7:6-7)
（9/1/2024）
The following is the secret of following the Lord throughout my life: reading the Bible every day and renewing my daily life. I just choose five of my daily devotional records to share with my descendants.
20240830 Boast except in Christ’s Cross, Don’t Lift a Man High
Matt 16:21-23; 4:8-10; 1Cor 2:2; Gal 6:14
1 From then on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, be killed, and raised the third day. 21
2 Peter began to rebuke him: Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you! Jesus turned and said to Peter: Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. 22-23
Meditate
·Peter just acknowledged：the Lord is Christ, but rejected God’s will for not knowing the Cross, rejecting it, being afraid of sufferings as Satan’s instrument. Having in mind not God’s concern but only human concerns, steal the worship that God deserves, the Lord rebukes: Satan, get behind me! 16, 22; Matt 4:8-10
·Christ came to the world to accomplish the salvation on the Cross. We determined not to know anything among us except Jesus Christ and His crucifixion. Boast except in Christ’s cross, don’t lift a man high. 1 Cor. 2:2; Gal 6:14
(Reading the Bible in one year: Ezekiel 10-12)
20240823 Listen to God
Isaiah 50:4-5; Heb 5:8-9
The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to hear as the learned. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. 4-5
Meditate
·Song of the Righteous Servant, enlightenment：
The Lord gave me the well-instructed tongue, the Lord himself calling me to be His servant, humbled and learned to obey. A well-instructed tongue made me to know the Word to sustain the weary, soft and considerate and merciful. The Lord wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to hear, enable to listen and being taught, focusing the whole truth precisely. 4
The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; my ears to hear as the learned, I have not been rebellious and not turned away. 5
·Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered. And, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him. Heb 5:8-9
(Reading the Bible in one year: Jeremiah 49-50)
20240822 Commit to Obey God
Daniel 1:1-20
1The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took captivity of the Jews elite. Daniel and three companions were selected into the king’s palace to be trained in Chaldeans culture. 1-7
2 Daniel and his friends kept taking clean food, refusing king’s food and wine defiled by idol sacrifice. At the end of three years, they were appreciated by the king. 8-16
Meditate
·They were tempted in three aspects: standing by the king in his palace; receiving the king’s food and wine; entering pagan society. 5-7
·Daniel set an example: Determined to keep faith, not to be defiled by pagan food; gentle and polite, had favor and mercy in king’s sight. 8-9
·Clear minded, analyze things to make sense, easily accepted by others, God gave him wisdom, understanding and knowledge, and succeeded in literature career. Talking and responding appropriately in the king’s favor, healthy with longevity，he continued in use even unto the first year king Cyrus. 12-21
Dear Lord, lead me daily read the Scripture in prayer and commit to obey my Lord.
(Reading the Bible in one year: Jeremiah 46-48)
20240821Prervailing Prayer (Ro 12:12)
Rejoicing in hope, enduring in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
1Continuing steadfastly: be earnestly persevere, constantly diligent; spiritual breath, open heart to heart.
2Rejoicing in hope: Believers’ hope never come to nothing, the Spirit pours out joy, and His will be done. Ro 5:5; 8:16-26; 1Pet. 1:3-9
3Eduring in tribulation: Enduring in hoping victory, for tribulation is unavoidable, but Christ has overcome. Jn 16:33
4Continuing steadfastly in prayer: praying whether or not in tribulation, keeping in fellowship with God at any time. Luke 18:1
Meditate
·God regards our prayer as more important than our works. The tax collector repent rather than that man (boating self-righteous Pharisee), went home justified before God. Desperately ask like the widow. Rejoice always, pray unceasingly, giving thanks in all circumstances. Ask and listen to God, not with wrong motives. Luke 18:14; 1Thess. 5:16-18
·Focusing on Christ alone, remove idols without worshipping men. Confess sins to one another and pray for one another. No babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Matt 6:7, 33; James 5:16
(Reading the Bible in one year: Jeremiah 41-45)
20240820 The Necessary Experience of Our Prayer
Eph 3:14-21
Our prayer should have wonderful experience
1 Our inner person be strengthened with might. 14-16
2 Let Christ dwell in our hearts, so rooted and grounded in Love, enabling us to comprehend Christ’s the surpassing Love immeasurable in length, width, height, and depth.17-18
3 Let the love of Christ pour out into our heats, and be filled with the fullness of God. 19; Ro 5:5
4 Let God’s power work in us, knowing the church is Christ’s body of God’s glory. 20-21
Meditate
Lord, remove obstacles to prayer. His hands scared on the Cross stretched wide-open to hold those who return to pray Him. God paid attention and heard them, in the book of remembrance written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed His name. The Spirit knows God’s mind helps us in our weakness not knowing what ought to pray for, the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans, leading us boldly to God’s throne of grace, for us to receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Mal 3:16; Ro 8:26; Heb 4:16
(Reading the Bible in one year: Jer 37-40)
20240819 The Spirit Helps Us Pray Full of Joy
1 Thessalonians 5:16-19
1 Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 16-18
2 Do not quench the Spirit. 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. 19, John 14:26.
Meditate
· My spirit rejoices in God my Savior. In various trials, we love and trust Him, and rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. Luke 1:47; James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:18
·The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through. Ro 8:26
·Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
Ask in Lord’s name means ask after His heart. Lord, make known to me the path of life; fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. John 16:24; Ps 16:11
(Reading the Bible in one year Jer. 33-36)