Passage

[1 John 1:5]
"This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This is the District, Group, and Cell Leaders' Devotional Service.
Let us give all thanks and glory to God the Father who has blessed us to have this devotional service. I also give thanks to all the devotees who have prepared for this service with all your hearts, minds, and souls.
Dear devotees, you are the workers who are in charge of the most important part of the church.
You are like soldiers who are fighting at the frontline of the battle.
Though they are invisible to the physical eye, there are always fierce battles going on in the spiritual realm.
It is a battle where the spirits that belong to God fight against evil spirits to save even one more soul and to prevent children from being tempted.
You should save even just one more soul in your given area, and you should never lose the souls you led to be saved.
In this way you should constantly enlarge your given area.
The cell must grow to become a group, and a group to a district to enlarge the kingdom of God.
If you fulfill your duties well, you will enjoy the glory in Heaven that cannot be compared with any glory of this world.
You who have received such precious duties should also take hold of New Jerusalem by force.
In order to do that, I urge you to keep this message deep in your heart.
You should not just receive grace but engrave it deeply in your heart, so it will be completely yours.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will be able to possess the eternal glory of Heaven.

[Main]

Dear devotees, 1 Corinthians 4:20 says, "For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power."
Your duty is not a worldly duty but a spiritual duty to accomplish the kingdom of God.
And to fulfill this spiritual duty, you must have spiritual power.
You will receive spiritual power and authority and extend the kingdom of God greatly to the extent that you cast away evil from your heart and cultivate the kind of heart that is after God's own heart.
That is why the title of today's message is 'Perfect Goodness'.
People who truly long for goodness will be happy just hearing the word 'goodness'.
They will be touched and become happy through those people who give out the aroma of goodness.
God is goodness itself, and He becomes very happy when He finds good children.
Even though they are in solitary places, if there are people who give out aroma of goodness, God's heart will also face towards those places.
Even in a very big crowd, if somebody is speaking words of goodness and showing deeds of goodness, God's eyes will be focused on that person.
Now, let us think about ourselves.
You've learned the deep levels of goodness in this church where the gospel of holiness is preached day and night.
You learned many times that you have to break your self-righteousness and frameworks.
But we cannot say we have cultivated those words in heart just by hearing and knowing them.
We have to cultivate what we heard in our heart, and we have to cultivate perfect goodness having no forms of evil whatsoever.
Especially as leaders and workers, you have to have more fullness of Spirit and increasingly greater grace of the first love.
Your longing for New Jerusalem and holiness must become more and more earnest.
You must have burning passion in you for the kingdom of God.
You should cover for each other's fault, be patient with them, and you should take the responsibility for each other even though it's not directly your own fault.
You should seek the benefit of others in all things.
Even though you face the misunderstanding of others or receive unfair treatment, we should not complain to people but only rely on the righteous God.
Even though we face hardships without a cause, we should not lose heart but be faithful even more.
You know all these things very well.
Then, can you confidently say that you are doing all these things?
You should be able to say so.
But some people slow down or even backslide in their spiritual growth as they become leaders.
They should bear more of perfect fruit as they become leaders, but they don't.
When they hear about goodness, they also think that goodness is so fragrant and beautiful. They also want to cultivate a good heart, but in real life, they soon forget about their determination.
You have uncomfortable feelings when you have different opinions among different district leaders, between district and cell leaders, between group and cell leaders, or between group and district leaders.
Also, because you are leaders, you should be more perfect in all aspects, but you walk away from the right way thinking it's OK because you are leaders.
You create a framework with the truth you learned and pass condemnation on others or hurt their feelings.
Through this message, not only the devotees, but all other members should check their hearts once again.
First, male district leaders should check how much the measure of faith is that you actually have.
You are the ones who are supposed to have the greatest measure of faith among all male members.
You should be able to confidently say that you love God more than anything else.
2 John 1:6 says, "And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it."
As said, you should walk in the truth and be at least in the third level of faith or higher.
But what is your actual level of faith?
For example, when you discuss something for the kingdom of God, isn't your voice raised, or do you have hard feelings?
Some people show their anger and do not even realize they did it.
They just think, "I didn't quarrel. He was insisting on some nonsense and I just spoke the truth."
Or, they think, "I had righteous indignation not to cause damage to the kingdom of God."
Or, if some others' feelings are hurt because of your words, what do you think about it?
Do you repent of it thinking, "I was impatient. I didn't try to understand his standpoint."?
Or, do you think, "I taught only with the truth, and it's his fault if he cannot accept it." If this is the case, you should realize your self-righteousness and frameworks are very strong.
Many of you will say you love God first and you will obey every word of the shepherd.
Of course, you try to fulfill many duties diligently because of your love.
But if your confession is from the depth of your heart, you should long for holiness more than anything.
You should check what your actual level of faith is, whether your heart is really full of God's kingdom and the souls; whether you have burning passion to become strength of the shepherd; or whether you still have love for the world and desire for money and fame.
I hope you will cast away all forms of evil so that your confession of love for God can be acknowledged as a true confession.
Next, women district leaders should check what kind of aroma of heart you have.
You have been longing for the truth and New Jerusalem, and you tried hard.
You also fasted, prayed, and worked faithfully.
But what do other people really think of you?
Do they say, "I am touched and happy when I see her. I long for spirit and for New Jerusalem more and more whenever I see her."?
Also, when God sees you, is He really pleased with you saying, "You are a beautiful daughter who has a truly gentle heart."?
Can you confidently speak the kind of language that you usually speak before God as well?
Some people pass judgment and condemnation with their evil when talking about others, but they just think they have discernment.
Because they know the truth, they cover their words as if they were the truth, but in fact those words are words of untruth.
It's the same when you have to point out something or give advice.
Even though you express yourself softly and gently, it will still hurt other's feelings if you do it from within your self-righteousness.
It's like hiding a sharp needle inside a piece of cotton.
If you have a stubborn heart and think that you are right and others have to follow your way, then you have to demolish this thought, too.
If you think, "I've been a believer for a longer period of time and accumulated prayer more than they did. So, they have to follow my words," then you have to cast away this thought, too.
All these self-righteousness and frameworks are derived from your evil.
We can give peace and comfort to others only when we have none of these things I've mentioned.
Luke 6:45 says, "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."
I hope you will fill your heart with only goodness.
I also hope each word of yours will be a confession of goodness which God can accept.
Next, the group leaders should think about whether you are really doing everything with the heart of the Lord and the heart of the shepherd.
Many of you are very faithful visiting many members, preaching the gospel, distributing church newsletters, helping the needy and so on.
But I would like you to check once again as to what kind of attitude you had when you did all those things.
Can you confidently say that you put God's kingdom before everything else?
Have you ever considered your family or your position and fame more precious than God's kingdom?
You may work very hard for the kingdom of God. But if you want to be recognized and you just try to do what you want to do, then you will have conflicts with others.
1 Corinthians 15:31 says, "I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."
The apostle Paul never thought he did anything well, even after giving his whole life to God.
He just thought, "The Lord saved me who was the foremost of all sinners, and how can I pay back this grace?"
I hope you will have the same kind of attitude.
You should not say you tried your best to act in goodness and faithfulness. You should have the attitude of the unworthy servant saying, after giving everything you have, "It's not me but the grace of the Lord."
This way, I hope God will also be able to praise you saying, "You are truly my sons and daughters who are good."
Of course, you have been longing for goodness and you have tried to act in goodness.
But the goodness that God tells us to cultivate is different from the goodness that men think of in their limitations.
Matthew 18:21 says, "Then Peter came and said to Him, 'Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?'"
If somebody repeatedly makes the same kind of mistakes regarding you, how many times can you forgive him?
Usually, we can say you are patient if you bear with him three times.
Then, you may even very confidently rebuke that person saying, "I've been patient with you again and again, and how can you do this to me?"
Thinking about this, when Peter said seven times, he was being very generous.
But Jesus said, not just seven times but seventy times seven.
To be patient these many times, we won't even be able to count how many times. It actually means we have to forgive unconditionally.
If you can forgive seven times, we may say you are good with the standard of men, but it is not really goodness with the standard of God.
If you just suppress your hard feelings, it means you still have them, even though you are patient scores of times.
We should not just suppress these hard feelings, but we must not have any kind of ill-feelings.
It's the same in everything else.
You have to earnestly long for goodness as much as you love God, and you should not stop anywhere in the mid-way thinking, "Oh, this much is enough."
You have to have perfect goodness so that God can acknowledge you.
If the other person does not change even though you are patient with him, you should not just forsake him but wait for him to change with more patience with love.
If the other person always wants to receive even though you serve him all the time, you should still keep on serving him.
1 Corinthians 13:7 says, "[love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
I urge you to have this kind of attitude when you interact with any kind of person: pastors, other leaders, or the flock entrusted to you.
I hope you will always think of other people's standpoints and serve them with consideration.
Next, the cell leaders have to think about what the most important thing is, what your priority is in your life.
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
You should always put God first in your heart.
In doing everything, you should consider the kingdom of God, the Lord, the shepherd, and the flock first.
You should always choose what is better according to the truth.
In lower levels in faith, people have the struggle between the desires of flesh and the desires of spirit.
For instance, when two boxers have similar skills, they will exchange punches with each other in a fierce fight.
Likewise, if you have similar amount of the heart of flesh and the heart of the spirit, you will feel that things are very difficult in your spiritual battle.
Also, when your heart is divided this way, you cannot overcome financial trials or other trials quickly.
But if one boxer is much better than his opponent, the match will be over very soon.
In our Christian life, too, if you have much greater heart of truth, the spiritual battle won't feel so difficult.
I hope you will always choose the truth in all things so you will easily win the victory in spiritual battles.
If you keep on acting in the truth all the time and consider the souls of the kingdom of God most precious, you will always receive blessings of God.

[Conclusion]

Dear devotees, God does not forget any of your efforts or toils that you gave to God for His kingdom.
But all that faithfulness can bear greater rewards and give God greater glory only when you cultivate perfect goodness.
I urge you to keep today's message in your heart and become spiritual workers.
You should not just stick to what you think is good, but you should cultivate perfect goodness which God desires of you.
I challenge you to try to speak and think with the viewpoint of God and accept and harbor the souls.
The higher your position becomes, the more you have to humble yourself and serve others. You must never break peace.
You should speak the words that are only gracious and edifying. You should have the discernment and self-control not to speak any words that you shouldn't speak.
If you can achieve all these attributes, revival will be very easy.
You will be able to give rest to the souls entrusted to you and lead them to Heaven, so God will send more and more souls to you.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will fulfill your duties with the perfect goodness, so that you will all be recognized as the great in the kingdom of Heaven.

[Amen]

2010-02-22 Posted
2010-03-23 Updated