Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

John 11: 41-46

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have hear me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Larzarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet were wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them,"Take off the grave clothes and let him go!" ....

Lazarus' resurrection happened in two stages. The first stage was when Jesus commanded him saying, "Lazarus, come out!" The second stage was He asked that the grave clothes be taken off. This actually symbolizes two important stages in our Christian lives: First, we needed to be born again. We were in the valley of death and the kingdom of darkness in the past, but because of the salvation of Jesus on the cross, we are freed from the power of sin. Just like Lazarus, he was under the power of death, but all of a sudden, upon Jesus' command, he was freed! When the power of death was broken, it could no long contain Lazarus, so he could walk out alive!

In reality, just walking out is not enough. He was wrapped with strips of linen all over; he needed to be freed from these wrappings. Similarly, Christians needs to be born again, and in addition, they need to be freed from their old lives. Even though we have been Christians for a while, but we are entangled by our many traditions and experiences - perhaps because of our religion, or wounds in our spirit. Even though we have been born again, we can hardly move forward because of all these burdens we carry. In the victorious name of Jesus Christ, we should therefore break away from the bondages caused by such traditions, religion and even from our old habits and wounds.

Jesus said, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old has gone and the new has come!" Not only do we need to be in Christ, we should also rebuked and cast away the old in the name of our victorious Jesus! We deeply believe we have this power of victory in Christ! Hallelujah! The old has to depart, but with our permission. If your lives have not been renewed due to, perhaps, old traditions in your lives, you can certainly proclaim in the name of victorious Jesus Christ and demand that the old be gone, and everything be renewed!

Pray with Pastor Tong

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Dear Lord, we thank you for not only have you given us a new life, but also the strength to lead this new life. In the victorious name of Jesus Christ, we command the old to leave us so that we may be renewed. With thanks we pray in the victorious name of Jesus Christ, Amen!