QTin February Trusting, Dwelling, Rejoicing in the Word of God

By QTM

To help all generations meditate on the Word of God every day, QTM has published QTin Teens, QTin Kids, and QTin Sprouts with vivid testimonies from the readers, both kids and parents. With the increasing number of readers and subscribers from outside Korea, mainly from the English speaking world, the English QTin<

• Language: English
• Publisher: QTM
• Release date: Feb 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9791192205724

Book preview

Publisher's Notes

The Bread of Life

The Gospel of John was written by John who was the disciple whom Jesus loved. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels (the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke) the Gospel of John is not descriptive of the life of Jesus. But the Gospel of John provides answers to many questions that arise when reading the Synoptic Gospels. That’s why the Gospel of John is also called the commentary to the Synoptic Gospels.

Until He died on the cross, Jesus preached the gospel to the religious leaders, including the high priests, teachers of law, and the Pharisees, but they did not believe in Jesus. The Gentiles, however, believed in Him as Christ. Even if we go to church and read the Bible, if we do not open our hearts, the gospel cannot enter us. Jesus died on the cross for these people. This love is what the Gospel of John is based on. It was written for the people who already knew of the Messiah, Christ, and the church.

In chapter 1, John introduces Jesus, who came to this world as the Word and light and life. In chapter 2, John tells us of the miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. In chapter 3, Nicodemus doesn’t recognize Jesus as Christ because he is prejudiced, but in chapter 4, the Samaritan woman accepts Jesus as Christ. In chapter 5, Jesus heals a person who has been ill for 38 years and teaches the true meaning of the Sabbath. In chapter 6, Jesus feeds five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. The crowd who witnessed this miracle wanted to make Jesus their king because they thought Jesus would give them more bread and bring them worldly prosperity. However, what did Jesus say to the people who seek the bread of the world?

Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ (John 6:35)

Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Jesus tells the people who are seeking signs to seek the Word. No matter how great the bread of this world seems, it will eventually perish, because it does not come from above.

Then, what can we do to eat the Word of Jesus, which is the bread of life, and experience eternal life? We must stay close to the cross. We need to hold onto Jesus, who was nailed to the cross, and faithfully stay in the circumstances we are in. To do this, we should meditate on the Word every day, interpret our life through it, and repent of our sins.

We also need to be thankful for the things we have. God has come to this world to save all His people and not leave a single one behind. Therefore, we should also joyfully accept the family and friends that God has sent to us. We should say amen to any situation we face, and see all the people we meet as souls that need salvation. It is important to always be aware that today may be our last day and say what we have to say for other people’s salvation. Whenever we do something, we must think if it helps to save the other person.

Not many people, however, like to listen to these instructions. God wants us to relate to what the Bible teaches us about sin, but we tend to focus only on signs like the miracle of the five loaves of bread and two fish because we live in a time when morality is at an all-time low. This prevents us from eating the bread of life. We cannot know the true meaning of the Word without shedding the blood of repentance. That’s why Jesus had to die on the cross for us. We could be saved because Jesus didn’t come down from the cross and completed the ultimate sacrifice.

We, on the other hand, want to come down from the cross we bear. The role of a spouse, a parent, a worker, or a student is burdensome but a blessed role given to us by God for our salvation. If we remain faithful to our roles, God will tell us what we need to do through the Word of life and help us submit to the positions we are placed in and apply the Word to our lives.

Although there are many things we want in life, God is the only One we need, because only God can say, I AM THAT I AM. God tells us that He is the water that will never leave us thirsty and the bread of life. No matter how severe our pain is, everything that happens in this life comes to an end. Therefore, we should not waste our time and emotions on things that will soon pass. Cancer, unemployment, and infidelity by a spouse will all pass by. The only thing we need to hold onto is Jesus, who is the bread of life and His Word.

Dear QTin readers, the New Year has come. I pray that in the New Year, each and every one of you faithfully bear your cross, live your calling, and hold onto God and not the bread of this world.

Hoping God becomes my one and only reward,

Chief Director, QTM

Rev. Kim, Yangjae

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Nice to meet you. Please introduce yourselves to our readers.

Hanna Kim Shalom! My name is Hanna Kim, and I was born into a Christian family. But my parents were on the brink of divorce due to my father’s failed business and many other conflicts. Regardless, I tried to remain positive. People admired the way I handled myself during my family’s hardships. I prayed to God relentlessly about my family’s hardships, so I thought I deserved to be loved by God and others. But I was humbled once I started working. I currently work as a developer at an information security company. My boss disapproved of me, and I felt like I was in hell. After speaking to my church community and seeking their counsel, I realized how much I was seeking the approval of others. It became my idol, as I held their approval higher than God’s. Through my daily QT, I repented of my sins.

Yelim Lim Nice to meet you. My name is Yelim Lim. I am a game programmer, and was also born into a Christian family like Hanna. My father is a devoted Christian, but he kept the laws of the Bible literally. He hit me a lot and justified his actions with the Bible verse, If you strike him with the rod: he will not die (Proverbs 23:13). I hated him so much and wanted revenge. But when I joined a church community and did QT, I realized I neglected my father and made him lonely. Repenting over this freed me from the hatred I felt towards my father who tortured me my whole life. Since then, I have been attending almost all meetings that are held at church.

Seung Hwan Kim Hello, my name is Seung Hwan Kim. I am an engineer of semiconductor equipment. I was born into a Christian family and didn’t have many hardships when I was a little boy until I went to middle school and started to get bullied. Since then, I started saying to myself, Don’t look weak, and tried hard not to look weak to anyone. I constantly compared myself to others and easily judged the people around me out of arrogance and self-righteousness. I followed my parents to a church that led a QT ministry. After coming to this church and learning more about God’s Word, I started to see how stubborn and stiff-necked I was. It’s still hard to let go of my ego, but I am thankful that I am in a community in Christ and that the people around me say they are blessed when I share about myself.

How did you join the Pangyo Valley QT Meeting? What is a blessing you received from sharing the Word every week with QTin?

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Hanna Kim Early last year, I heard that there would be a QT meeting at the building next to my workplace. I was so happy and immediately decided to go to the meeting. During my third year at this company, my church friends would bring me food and coffee on my difficult days. The news of the Pangyo Valley QT Meeting reminded me of these friends (laughs). It felt as though an army would come to where I work to fight for me. This thought gave me comfort and the meeting seemed special. Whenever I think of taking a day off because of the Monday blues, I remember, I have a QT meeting tonight! That is how I fight my blues. The QT meeting has given me life! Each Monday, I share my honest thoughts with the people at the meeting, confess my sins, and receive their empathy and support. This brings me peace.

Yelim Lim I especially like the fact that the meeting is held on Mondays. My weekdays tend to be different from my Sundays. I separate the day I worship from the days I work. But sharing about my life through QT at the Pangyo Valley QT Meeting has helped me realize that God’s Word does not apply only on Sundays but on weekdays as well. It is encouraging to think that God and my spiritual community are with me during my fights against the harsh reality I face alone during the weekdays. After attending the meeting, I also became more devoted to QT.

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Seung Hwan Kim I found out about the Pangyo Valley QT Meeting through our church bulletin. It seemed a bit different from our church small group gatherings. Here, men and women from various age groups and occupations gather and share. At times, I even sometimes hear unexpected advice. Being able to hear advice from different perspectives has helped me think about my issues more deeply. I always wanted to share what I meditated on during QT with other people. Sharing with other people at this meeting has helped me realize what God wants to tell me through the Word and how to apply the Word to my life.

What was the most memorable sermon you heard at the QT Meeting?

Hanna Kim Whenever I have work problems, I first read the Word in the morning. But when things start to get better, and people at work start to praise me, I tend to delay doing QT. On days I spend my entire lunchtime eating out with the people at work, I do that day’s QT before I go to bed. I rationalized this by telling myself, ‘I struggled enough. I deserve to enjoy times like this.’ But when I heard the verse the fire must be kept burning on the altar during a sermon at the Pangyo Valley QT Meeting, I repented for not keeping the fire of the Word burning on my altar (Leviticus 6:9). I learned that I can maintain a healthy spirituality in my daily walk when I start each day meditating on God’s Word.

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Yelim Lim I had many scars because of my father’s violence. One day, my father was watching politicians apologizing on TV. He said, It’s about time they apologized. Hearing this, I bitterly thought, ‘You don’t apologize to me either.’ I went to the QT Meeting with this bitterness inside of me. At the meeting, I heard the pastor say, The meaning of the name Peter is ‘stone.’ Peter didn’t act like a stone when he betrayed Jesus. Nevertheless, God called Peter a stone and made him into one (Matthew 6). This part of the sermon touched me. It was like God was telling me, It’s normal to feel anxious, and you will feel anxious from time to time. But I will make you a stone, so don’t worry. I still feel resentment towards my father, but the feelings are not as strong as they used to be, and I feel them less frequently.

Seung Hwan KimI have served as a staff member at my church’s children’s ministry for two years. But I don’t get along well with the people in the ministry. I wanted to quit because I didn’t think of what was wrong with me and only complained about the others. But at the QT meeting I heard the verse, "How long will you… love your