After brunch and DTs, I went over to the self paced center and worked until my lecture at 3pm. At 4pm I went home. 6:30pm, our apartment went to Henry's house for dinner and school work. Dinner was delicious. We worked on our economics essays until about midnight and then drove back to Berkeley.

I'm sitting in the self paced center right now. It's 1:09. I signed up for a tutor, and when the tutor came over to grade my projects, I discovered that I had accidentally erased half of a project that I had spent a whole day working on. My heart sank when I saw that it was gone, since I literally spent over a day working on it.

Thankfully the second half of the project was intact, since it was harder than the first half. I sat down and started working on the first half again, redoing everything I did this weekend. It was easier since I had done it once before already.

Somehow, I redid the whole half of the project in half an hour... Praise God.

I like the part at the end of the song Everlasting God by Lincoln Brewster where a child reads Isaiah 40.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

Devotion time questions:

Zechariah 12

How is the LORD described in verse 1?

God is all powerful, and able to accomplish something as big as stretching out the heavens (or creating the universe), but something so small and detailed as forming the spirits of individual people (or creating life). Therefore, God's power is not limited by any means and can accomplish all things, big and small.

How do these characteristics of God provide assurance for the prophecy concerning Israel and God’s ability to fulfill it?

If God is a God that can do the things described in verse 1, then accomplishing what he promises regarding a nation is pretty trivial in comparison. God is all powerful and all truth, therefore we can have full assurance that everything he tells us about the future will come to pass.

How has this prophecy become a reality for the modern day nation of Israel? What kind of hope does this provide for the spiritual Israel?

When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.
Luke 21:20-22

Israel is surrounded by nations that are "gathered against her". The Mediterranean Sea is to the west, Lebanon is in the north, Syria and Jordan are to the East, and Egypt is in the southwest. These are just the countries that immediately border Israel... Pretty much every country in the region is an Arab or Muslim country, and many of them would like to see Israel wiped off the map.

The God that revealed this to us also promised that he would shield, protect, and save us. Therefore, seeing that the prophecies regarding the physical nation of Israel are being fulfilled, we can be assured of God fulfilling his promised to each of us.

In what ways am I experiencing strength “because the LORD Almighty is [my] God?” If this is not the case, from whom or what am I trying to gather strength from?

In certain aspects of my life I've been experiencing God's strength (e.g. dealing with and being protected from sin), while in others I find myself still depending a lot on my own strength and wisdom.

For example, I think I rely too much on myself when preparing for exams in school and do not put enough faith in God. I need to seek him more through the whole processes of things I'm concerned about, instead of leaving him out until a prayer at the very end.

What will cause the people to “look on [him], the one they have pierced?” How does this challenge any notion that God is aloof and distant? How does this show me it is truly by grace that people are given even the desire to seek God?

They look upon "the one they have pierced" after God pours out his spirit of grace and supplication on them. God isn't a passive God who waits until people somehow find him, but he actively draws his people to himself. Therefore, if it were not for God's grace, we would have no desire to seek God.

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:10-11

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30

Who are the people that I need to pray for God’s “spirit of grace and supplication” to be poured out on?

I need to pray for the non-Christians God has brought into my life. Specifically I also need to pray continually for the salvation of extended family members in China. I pray that God will pour out his spirit of grace on my mom's parents so that they may receive the desire to seek him.

What should be my response to the one that “[I] have pierced” by my sins? When was the last time I mourned and grieved bitterly for Jesus who died for me?

I should fully acknowledge and remorse over the fact that it was my personal sins that nailed Christ to the cross, and therefore strive to live a righteous life. I pray that the only thing I fear in life is sin.

Thoughts omitted here.