Thursday, April 30, 2015

Daily Devotion

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

Romans 11:11-15

 

"Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious.  But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!  I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.  For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?"

 

This scripture passage revealed Paul's deep burden for the salvation of his own people.  On the one hand, he felt sad about the disobedience of the Israelites, and on the other hand he had tremendous faith in the promise of God and believed that God has not forsaken the Israelites.  What he saw was not how Israelites were like back then, but what Israelites will be like in His eternal plan.  Paul saw the abundance of Israelites in God, and how God had plenty of grace for the Israelites despite of how much grace He has for the Israelites.  Paul was a man of prayer, and his prayer was one that holds on to the will of God.

 

When a person can pray by holding on to God's will, God has no choice but to honor his prayer.  I recall that there was a time I promised to cook simple American dinners with my daughter.  There was one week that I was particularly busy, and when my daughter called to remind me about it.  I told her that I was busy and couldn't make it, but she told me "daddy, you promised me!"  As soon as I heard it, my heart felt guilty because I indeed had promised her.  Therefore, I turned down my evening appointment and went home to cook with him.  When my daughter said "you promised", I couldn't help but to agree to her request, because that I indeed my promise.

 

When you pray to God, don't just bring your needs before Him.  Effective prayers are actually those that hold on to the promises of God.  Because Paul prayed by holding on to God's promise, he was able to see the future of the Israelites, and his heart was comforted in the promises of the Lord.  Let me invite you to once again bring all the needs in your life before Him, pleading Him by holding on to His promises, because He will never forsake you.

  

Pray with Pastor Tong     

    

Lord, I thank you because you are our merciful God.  I know you will never forsake us, so please listen to every plead we make to you.  May your Kingdom come, and your will be done on us.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!


 


 

                            

                                                                                       

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River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Daily Devotion

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

Romans 11:5-10

 

"So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.  And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.  What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, as it is written: 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.'..."

 

Since the Lord said that He has never forsaken the Israelites, why are there so many Israelites who have not been saved?  Paul said in verse 7 that "What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did."  How do we interpret this phrase?  If we study the Bible in entirety, we would see that people have been seeking God in two ways - through the flesh according our own ways, or through the revelation Holy Spirit and by faith, according to God's way.

 

Cain used his own way and offered harvest from the field as sacrifice, but Abel obeyed God and offered lamb as sacrifice.  Consequently, Abel became God's chosen one and Cain was rejected.   Esau didn't value blessings from God and used his own strength to hunt for a living, but Jacob understood and sought after God's blessing.  Later on, Jacob was chosen and Esau was rejected.  At the time of David and Saul, Saul offered the sacrifice without waiting to grand priest Samuel, and he also lusted after the properties of Amaleks and took them for his own use.  David, on the other hand, was honest before God, and when he repented to God he was granted mercy.  David was the chosen one, but Saul was rejected by God.  The real problem is not whether one is a Jew or a gentile, but whether one really follows revelation from the Holy Spirit to seek God.  This principle of God has never changed even till today.

 

In Galatians 3:3, Paul rebuked the believers at the time: "Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"  The same danger still exists in the church today; although we accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, we are not following the Holy Spirit in our daily Christian life.  We may even turn back to our old values and cultural backgrounds right after we accepted the Lord, and thus ignored the prompting of the Holy Spirit.  Which way are you seeking the Lord?  Are you doing it your own way, or are you seeking the guidance from the Holy Spirit, and living a renewed life each and every day?

  

Pray with Pastor Tong     

    

Lord, I thank you because you are always our graceful Lord.  May your Holy Spirit come and renew our soul.  Help us not to depend on our flesh, but to depend on Holy Spirit in order to live the form of Jesus Christ in our daily life.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!


 

 

                            

                                                                                       

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River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Daily Devotion

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

Romans 11:1-4

 

"God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.  Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah - how he appealed to God against Israel: 'Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me'?  And what was God's answer to him?  'I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.'"

 

Have you ever felt that you were abandoned by God?  Sometimes we are under circumstances that are not desirable, and we would convey our questions and struggles to God.  Wasn't Elijah in the Old Testament time like this?  When he was zealous enough to risk his own life, he fight with the four prophets of Baal in Mount Carmel.  Queen Jezebel, however, sent people to pursue and kill him until he was in the wilderness of Beersheba.  When he was under a broom tree he thought about everything that he had sacrificed for God, including risking his own life, yet God didn't help him and let him ran for his life.  "God, where are you?  I'm all alone now, aren't you going to do something?"  Are you familiar with such language?  Not only was Elijah under such circumstance, Martha in the New Testament was in similar situation.  She felt that she was busy for the Lord but wasn't recognized, while her sister didn't help her and just sat beside Jesus, yet received the better blessing.  Therefore, he spoke out to the Lord, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

 

The truth is that God has never forsaken you.  We feel forsaken because we don't understand the will of God.  On the other hand, we only see ourselves, but don't see what God's hand has done.  When Elijah sat beneath the broom tree and was waiting for die, the Lord told him: "I never abandoned you and the Israelites, for I have left seven thousand warriors who have never bowed down to Baal, but you just didn't know." 

 

Brothers and sisters, did you know that God has never forsaken you?  When Jesus was nailed on the cross for the sins of you and I, He also tasted the bitterness of being separated from God.  Therefore, when He was the cross, he cried out to God: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  Because He was resurrected from death, He opened a new way to life, and our relationship with God will never to cut off again.  As long as you are in Christ, God cannot forsake you; if you are in a spiritual valley, you need to proclaim victory again the enemy!

  

Pray with Pastor Tong     

    

Lord, I thank you because you are the God who'll never forsake us.  Your love lasts forever and your mercy will never come to an end, for every morning is new.  May the Lord help us to stand firm on the foundation of your promises and proclaim victory against the enemy.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!


 


 


 

                            

                                                                                       

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River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

Monday, April 27, 2015

Daily Devotion

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

Romans 10:17-21

 

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.  But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: 'Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.'..."

 

"The message is heard through the word of Christ."  There are two distinct words that describe the word of God, "logos" and "rhema."  Logos means any word spoken by God, including the whole Bible, but the word used in this passage is not logos, but rather rhema, which means specific words spoken by God in specific circumstance.  Logos refers to the word that God has spoken before, and rhema is word that God is speaking right now.  In all the choices in life, how do we have the faith to know that we are choosing God's way?  Not only do we need to understand God's logos - what He has spoken before - but more importantly we need to come before Him to seek His rhema - what He wants to tell us now.  Once we have rhema, we will have peace and assurance inside us, and we naturally will have more faith.

 

When I was considering whether to enter full-time ministry many years ago, my greatest struggle was that I thought it was also good to remain in lay ministry.  At that time, I just couldn't convince myself to take the step forward into full-time ministry.  Even though a pastor kept on telling me that he thought God was calling me into full-time ministry, but I couldn't see the same thing, so I waited before God and asked Him to give me a confirmation.  God led to read Exodus 8:25-27, where Pharaoh didn't allow Israelites to leave Egypt and told them: ""Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land."  But Moses responded to him, " but Moses told him: "We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he commands us."  When I read these two passages, suddenly all the hindrance and dilemma in my mind disappeared.  I understood that my job was my Egypt, and God wanted me to leave my work post to go where He wanted me to serve Him.  This scripture passage became the confirmation of my faith, which is my rhema.  When we make decision every day, so we have God's rhema?  If not, you need to wait and seek Him, because true faith is not established on feeling or circumstance, but on the word of God.

  

Pray with Pastor Tong     

    

Lord, please use your word to guide us and affirm our faith.  Let our faith be established not on the changing things of the world, but on your word.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!


 


 


 

                            

                                                                                       

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River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Daily Devotion

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

Romans 10:13-15

  

...For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"

  

How precious God's promise to us is, thateveryone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It is such a wonderful grace. As unworthy as we are, the Lord opened the door to salvation for us so that as long as we call on His name, we will be saved. This promise may seem simple. But when we try to look into what is behind this promise, we will find that actually it is far from being simple.

  1. If someone is unwilling to believe, how can he humble himself and call on the name of the Lord? If anyone is willing to call on the name of the Lord, he has to have two understandings: one is that he has to understand that he is powerless and helpless, otherwise he will not feel it necessary to call on other's name; the other is that he has to understand that God is omnipotence and loving, willing to help and capable of helping, otherwise he may or may not call on the name of this God. Therefore, if someone wants to call on God's name, he has to believe first that God can save, heal and help.

  2. How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? Our faith is not blind. If someone has true faith, it has to be based on the never-changing truth. When the truth enters into someone, it will naturally convict that person concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. It will also set that person free from sins and all kinds of bondages.

  3. How can they hear without someone preaching to them? There are still tens of millions of people who have never had the chance to hear the gospel. As Christians we cannot just sit here and wait. We still need to make efforts in unity to fulfill the commission. Think about people around you. You may be the only Christian they know. If you don't preach to them about Jesus, who else will? How can they hear, believe in and call on if they are not preached to?

  4. How can anyone preach unless they are sent? The Lord says in Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations". After we become believers, God has already staged us to "go out". We have already been sent into the world. Since we have been sent out, we need to answer God's calling and go out to preach gospel. Once we become obedient, we will witness the fulfillment of the promise of the Lord, which is that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.     

Pray with Pastor Tong     

    

Lord, we thank you for sending us. You already gave us the Great Commission to spread the gospel to the end of the world. May the spirit of the Lord anoint us so that we can bravely bear witness for you in our daily life. May you help us be fruitful in our ministry. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
 


 

                            

                                                                                       

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River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054