Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 6:46-49   "'I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice.  He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.  But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.'"   We often care a lot about the security provided by this world, such as job, retirement, finance, etc., but we seldom care about the security of our spirit life.  One day, when you leave this world, where will your soul be?  If the judgment and the salvation in the Bible are true, are you sure you soul has been saved?   In this parable, we usually only notice who's smart and who's ignorant, or whether the house should be built on rock or on sand.  God, however, wants us to see a deeper truth here: It doesn't matter who you are, whether you are smart or ignorant and whether you are a believer or a non-believer in Jesus, you will encounter storms in life while you are on earth, and God does allow these storms to come to us.  We often ask why when we are in the midst of storms, but God seldom answers such questions.  Lord is actually asking us a question through this parable: When you encounter storms in your life, where is the foundation of your spiritual life?   The security of our spiritual life should be based on two things: first, listening to the word of the Lord.  Let us open the Bible daily, read God's Word and contemplate it, and let our heart and soul be refreshed.  God's word is the lamp to our feet and light to our path, so when we listen to God's word daily, it will bring renewal and power to our soul.  Second, not only should we listen to God's word, we also need to follow God's word.  When we follow God's word, we will discover that it is powerful, and it can bring about real change in our life.  May the Spirit of the Lord help us, to once again think about the foundation of our spiritual life.  Also, let us seek Lord Jesus, because He is the rock of our life.  Let us establish our life on this rock; listen to the Lord's word daily, and follow Lord's word in your life.                Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because you are the rock of our life.  May the Lord help us to be willing to read your word, and let it become the lamp to our feet and the light to our path.  Give us the courage to follow your word, and let us experience change in our daily life.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 43-45   "'No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.'"   "For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."  Besides the words, we can also evaluate a person according to his behavior and life, because behavior and life are manifestation of a person's inner life.   When my daughter was young, she often tipped over full cups and spilled liquid, so whenever she was holding a cup, I got very nervous, because everything in the cup would end up on the floor.  It was fine if the cup just had water, but if the cup had soup or coke, then the carpet was ruined.  In the same way, our life and behavior reveals the nature of our inner life.  May God help us not to live by our own will, but let the Spirit of God control us so that we can live a life that pleases Him.   Whenever we're making a decision or learning how to treat others, we must ask ourselves whether our behavior and life reflect the nature of our God.  If our behavior and life cannot properly reflect God's nature, then doing our way would not please God; on the contrary, if our decision or action does reflect the nature of God, we can proceed with it.  May the Spirit of God help us to constantly examine ourselves!   Additionally, we must also be cautious when we accept teaching from others.  We should pay attention not just to the quality of the preaching, but also outer and inner life of the preacher.  Many who follow heresies or cults might be great at teaching, but if you examine their lives you'd find that they are always exalting themselves but not having mercy on people.  They will do everything to accumulate wealth for themselves but not for helping others.  You will then be able to discern whether these people are from God or acting out of their own desire.  May the Spirit of God help us to examine a person from the fruit he bears, and to see his inner life based on what he manifests on the outside.  Let us stay on the right path in our daily life, which is the path in the truth of God, and experience true freedom, peace and joy that the truth will bring us.                Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, please grant us the spirit of discernment in our life.  Lord, let us bear good fruit, and let the goodness inside us flow out and help those around us.  Also, let us be cautious in discerning the truth that we hear and in examining whether the preachers are setting good examples, and let us follow you by acting according to your example.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 6:39-42   "'Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, "Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye," when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.'"   The Lord clearly taught us here that before we remove the speck of sawdust in our brother's eye, we must remove the plank in our own eye first.  We, however, usually first notice the problems with other people's life, or what they have done to hurt us, but we forget that we are indebted to them even more.  When you read this passage, you might think that it doesn't really describe your situation, because you indeed only have a speck of sawdust in your eye, but he has a plank in his eye; his sin is much more serious than mine and he has mistreated me before I mistreated him.   The "sawdust" and "plank" here actually do not refer to the size of the sin each one committed.  We like to look at the outside and compare the magnitude or order of the mistakes people and we committed.  It might be true that others have committed greater sins than you have, but the "plank" Lord mentioned here does not describe the severity of a sin, but rather the spirit of criticism.   When we have the spirit of criticism inside us, no matter what others do, they won't look right to us and we'll keep on complaining and holding grudges against them.  The spirit of criticism can ruin your interpersonal relationships, and also your relationship with God.  You will be able to see others with the eyesight of the Lord after you remove the spirit of criticism, and others will not sense bitterness and complaint because the wisdom given by the Lord will resolve any interpersonal conflicts.   When you say ten phrases to someone, if only one phrase has the tone of your sinful nature, then that's the only phrase the person will hear, and he will respond with the same.  Others can sense that we have the spirit of criticism or we're speaking out of our sinful nature.  In the same manner, if we are filled the forgiveness and love of the Lord, others will also feel the difference.  May God help us to battle this spirit of criticism, and let us become a channel for His grace, and let His forgiveness and joy flow to those around us.  Are there people around you who are really hard to deal with?  May God help us to remove the spirit of criticism, and give us a fresh spirit to deal with our interpersonal relationships wisely.                Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because your teaching is so real and precious.  Please remove the plank in our life, which is the spirit of criticism, and let us experience your forgiving love.  In our daily life, let us receive refresh spirit to deal with people around us.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 6:35-38   "'But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High...  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.'"   The Lord taught us to love our enemies, for it is the will of God.  God loves the world, and He didn't say that He only loves good people in the world; He even gave us His only son so that those who believe in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  Jesus also set an example for love, for Romans 5:8 says: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  He took on all our weaknesses and punishments that we deserve to get.  When the Lord was on the cross, the first thing He said was: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."  When the centurion under the cross heard it, he immediately knew that Jesus is the Son of God, because no one could have being so forgiving unless it is out of true love.  The Holy Spirit came to live in us to bring forth the sacrificial love of Jesus, so that we can love our enemies; such love cannot be from the body, but only from God.   When the famous artist Da Vinci was painting Judas in the "Last Supper," he was wondering what Judas looked like.  First image came to mind was someone he really hated, so he painted the face of that person in place of the Judas on the painting.  When he was ready to start painting Jesus on the second day, however, he just couldn't do it, and he was filled with anxiety.  The more he thought about love of the Lord, and more he couldn't sleep.  Suddenly his mind opened, he went to his workshop and wiped off the face of his enemy.  And then, he could clearly visualize the face of Jesus Christ, which was filled with love and forgiveness.   Holy Spirit has the power to pour the love of Jesus onto us, so that we can love those who are difficult for us to love.  Matthew 5:44 says: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  It might be hard for us to love our enemies, but we can at least pray for them.  When we are willing to obey and pray on our knees before God for those who persecute us, we will experience relief and the downpour of love of Christ through the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps deep down inside you do not feel any love, but when you obey God and pray, God's grace will flow through you.  Are there people in your life that you cannot face, or you cannot love because of your hatred for them?  Let us obey God's word from our heart, so that we no only love our enemies, but also pray for those who persecute us.  Let us get on our knees before God to bless those who hurt us, and we will be released from the hatred.               Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because you taught us to love our enemies.  This cannot be done by our power, but only through the love of Christ that came onto us through the Holy Spirit.  May your love pour down on the life of each brother and sister, so that we may be released from bitterness and hurtful feeling.  You grace, love and joy will fill us once again.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 6:27-34   "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.  If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  Do to others as you would have them do to you."   The morality taught in the Sermon on the Mount is personal morality, not morality of the nation or society.  On the morality of a nation and society, the Bible taught that the government has the right to bear a sword, to reward and penalize, in order to maintain equity and justice in the society.  Therefore, we need to actively engage in politics, in order to influence the nation to walk on the path that pleases the Lord.   "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is the norm of the world, and people usually think it's the right thing to do.  The Lord, however, wants us to love our enemies and to be kind to those who hate us.  It's not that the Lord doesn't want justice to prevail or doesn't care about right and wrong, but the Lord doesn't want us to act with vengeance in heart or commit evil deeds from our bitterness.  Christians should not only do what's right, but also do more than just what's right; not only should we do the right thing, but we should also not forsake anyone in our heart.  We may not look as if we are forsaking anyone, but we might be holding a grudge against someone, and we might be happy to see others suffer, we think their suffering will reveal how righteous and just we are.  Although we might not be forsaking anyone on the outside, but deep inside we might be no different from the evildoers.   Lord used many examples to explain the concept of "turning the other cheek," for it is the most commonly misunderstood scripture passage.  In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord focused the attitude inside, but not just the behavior outside.  When the Lord was on trial, He didn't turn the cheek when His right cheek was slapped; when Paul was on trial, he actively defended himself and didn't turn the other cheek.  Forgiveness from our heart is the most important thing.   When we are hurt by others such as our boss, we often feel humiliated and we will hold a grudge again those who wronged us and be filled with thoughts of revenge.  The Lord, however, reminded us here that we shouldn't value our own pride so much, but rather value life of the Lord within us; we shouldn't value the humiliation that we suffer more than the humiliation that we may bring to the Lord.  The thought of revenge will only kill our soul, so we ask the Lord to release us from it!              Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, if we are holding a grudge against anyone, may the Lord help us and fill us with the Holy Spirit.  In the victorious name of Jesus Christ, I proclaim that the spirit of revenge will be broken and our heart will be freed and filled with the love of Christ.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!   Building a House of Shekinah Glory http://www.rolcc.net/shekinah-glory-eng/

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