| Romans 11:21-24 "For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!" Our God is one who cuts off and grafts in. First and foremost, He is the God that cuts off. In our life, there are things that need God to cut off. Facing the limitation of our life, we would try to fix it by ourselves. However, the more we fix, the greater the breach. Then we would realize it is not up for us to change our life. What we need is not fixing, but complete tear down. It is not by our strength. Turn back to God and let Him work on our life. Jesus entered the temple and saw some dove vendors and some money changers. Those people appeared to be helpful to offering the sacrifice, but in fact they colluded with the priests. When the priests checked the offered sacrifices, only those sold in the temple would qualify. So Jesus overturned the tables of those vendors. It may seem to be too harsh to some people. But in fact, the Lord knows the way to deal with the sins of people is not making compromise, but complete tear down. Do you have any sins in your life that need to be dealt with by the Lord? Just welcome the Lord to tear down and cut off! Cutting off symbolizes breaking off. God wants us to break off sins, any skeptical spirit, and any spirit to rely on flesh, so that our life can be renewed once again. On the other hand, we need to be grateful to God, for He is also the one that grafts in. God will never keep on punishing us, or turning his face away from us. His mercy will heal our rebelliousness and our wounds, so that we can be made whole again. Brothers and sisters, where are you? Are you a branch on the tree, or a branch that has been cut off? May the Spirit help us to remove sin from our heart every day. May the precious blood of the Lord purify us and remove any unrighteousness from us. May the Spirit once again put a pure heart inside us. Pray with Pastor Tong Liu  Lord, we thank you, for you are the God that cuts off and grafts in. May you cut off and graft in in our life, so that our life can experience renewal every day to please you. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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