Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english
Luke 14:7-11
 
When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 'When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.  If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, "Give this man your seat."  Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.  But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, "Friend, move up to a better place."  Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests.  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.'
 
The parable that the Lord taught here tells us not to pretend to be humble, but rather to have genuine humility.  It's easy for us to be humble when we encounter things that we are not familiar with, but it's hard to be humble if we are dealing with things that we think we understand well.  Paul said that we must be humble in all things when serving the Lord.  Be humble in all things is an attitude, for we must be willing to depend on God and be corrected by God in all things.  In the church, when we collaborate in ministry, the most difficult thing is that many have never been disciplined by God during the process of their rebirth.  Everyone has their own nature and temperament, and they are easily hurt when conflicts happen.  As we serve God, may God help us to see that the most important thing is not what to do, but it's to let our natural lives be broken by God.
 
Jacob in the Bible best represents the natural life.  All his life he wanted to hold on to the blessings of the world with his own strength and intelligence.  When he encountered God in Jabbok, he still wanted to grab God with his own strength, but God made his natural strength collapse by a simple touch on his thigh.  He had to surrender his pride and dignity before God.  Chinese church leader Watchman Nee told the brothers and sisters who wanted to enter ministry: One day, you will encounter God, and you will experience what happens when God touches your thigh.  If a person wants to serve God with his natural life, the ministry will not be effective.  He needs to be disciplined and broken by God during the process of serving.  A jade vessel of fragrant ointment needs to be broken in order for the fragrance to fill the room.  In the same way, our natural life needs to be dealt with by the Lord in order for blessings to come out from our life.
 
Once you are willing to be broken, the humble life of the Lord will be manifested in your life.  Are you willing?  Let God come and work on you now, and let Him accomplish His will in your life!
   
Pray with Pastor Tong     
    
Dear Lord, please give us a soft and humble heart, and let us be willing to put down our views, and put down all the effort that we make on our own.  Let us humbly come before you and seek your will, and let us be victorious 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, September 29, 2015

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english
Luke 14:1-6
 
One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.  There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy.  Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?'  But they remained silent.  So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away.  Then he asked them, 'If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?'  And they had nothing to say.
 
This is another debate concerning the Sabbath.  What is the purpose of the Sabbath?  When the Pharisees interpreted the law, they totally overlooked the reason God wanted us to rest on the Sabbath, and they only focused on the actually words and the rules.  God said that during the Sabbath, no work should be done, but is walking, feeding livestock or taking care of daily business considered work?  In order to follow the law, the Pharisees set up things that they could and could not do.  For example, there was mentioning of travel distance allowed during Sabbath in the New Testament, and that is the rule that the Pharisees set up.  If they went beyond the distance, they violated the law.  Therefore, those who needed to travel a long distance end up going the allowable distance first, take a break, and then walk the allowable distance again.  They were following to rules just to abide by the law, but the mercy and grace that God originally intended for in the law were completely lost.
 
Jesus came to the world to proclaim that He is the Lord of Sabbath.  True rest doesn't have to happen during Sabbath, but it's the rest we enjoy in Jesus Christ.  When we observe the law of Sabbath, we often don't have peace in our heart, and we still think about car, house, work, children and life.  True rest doesn't have to follow a schedule or rules, but it's in Jesus Christ.  Many of us don't understand this truth, thinking that since Jews observe the Sabbath on Saturdays, therefore Christians observe the Sabbath on Sundays.  Actually, when we worship on the Lord's Day, we are not observing the Sabbath, but we are celebrating the day of resurrection of Christ during our Sunday worship.  The Lord resurrected on the first day of the week, so we celebrate it on Sunday, and thus we no longer observe the Sabbath on Saturday.  This doesn't mean we don't follow the Sabbath, because it's the first commandment in the Ten Commandments; in fact, everyday in Jesus Christ is a Sabbath day, because Jesus is the Lord of Sabbath.  May God grant us a soft heart to receive the truth, and not let the word of God become just hard rules in our heart.  May the Spirit of the Lord help us, to enjoy rest in Christ today.
   
Pray with Pastor Tong     
    
Dear Lord, please guide us with your Spirit to enter into your presence.  Let us enjoy peace and rest today, not by following rules and ceremonies, but to let our spirit enter your Spirit.  Let your peace and joy fill our hearts today.  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, September 28, 2015

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english
Luke 13:31-35
 
...'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."'
 
Jesus said these words of despair when He was standing on Mount Olive and facing Jerusalem.  When He was once again looking down on Jerusalem from Mount Olive, He could see the sign of multiple rebuilding phases of the city, representing how the city was destroyed again and again.  History told us that Jerusalem was destroyed and rebuilt fourteen times because of the disobedience of the Israelites.  Whenever the Israelites forsook God, their sin would lead them to destruction and God will allow them to sin and allow Jerusalem to be destroyed.  In order to draw their hearts back to God, God ultimately let Jerusalem to be rebuilt, which also proclaims to all people and all nations that God is still in control.
 
The re-establishment of the nation of Israel and its resurgence today prove that God's hand is still performing signs and wonders.  God never forsook His chosen people, but His chosen people must turn back to God to serve and worship Him.  This truth also means to us that even though believers like us may not forsake God or worship idols, we often worship money, and the influence from the material world is often far greater on us than the word of the Lord.  We may not be persecuting Christ, but we may deny His authority in our life, and we cause God's Spirit to worry.
 
So how do we turn back?  In verse 35, Lord tells us that "you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"  This means we should joyfully wait expect the return of the Lord, and it also teaches us to praise God.  We need to praise the name of the Lord and the work in His hand, and when we praise God, He will take control of our life.  Praise and worship is the first thing that God wants us to do, and it's also the most important thing.  One time the Lord said to the disciples: "If you do not praise God, even these rocks will get up and praise Him."  Perhaps you and I won't have a strong feeling towards this scripture passage because we don't see lots of rocks around us, but in Jerusalem, rocks are all over the place, covering roads, houses and hillsides.  Can you imagine the scene of rocks rising up to praise?  This is the will of God for us.  May God help us to start exalting the Lord right now, to worship Him and never forsake Him.
   
Pray with Pastor Tong     
    
Dear Lord, please give us a heart of flesh, and remove the heart of rock inside us.  Let us come before you and praise and worship, and let us exalt you in our life everyday.  Reminder us not to be disobedient like the Israelites, but to understand the sorrow in your heart, and be willing to spread the gospel inn our life in order to fulfill your will.  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

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english
Luke 13:22-30
 
...'Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.  Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, "Sir, open the door for us."  But he will answer, "I don't know you or where you come from."  Then you will say, "We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets."  But he will reply, "I don't know you or where you come from.  Away from me, all you evildoers!"  There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.
 
Jesus seemed to have given two conflicting messages.  He asked us to "make every effort to enter through the narrow door," but He also said "many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to."  The key of the problem lies in the word "effort," for we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven by our own effort.  Many people think that they will enter the Kingdom by serving more at the church and helping more people in the community; some believe that they can get closer to God through reading the Bible, studying in the seminary, praying more, or raising their voice in every service.  Some even believe that, as described in verse 26, taught in the streets.  From human perspective, all these things are greatly spiritual behavior, but they might not please God.  Just like the Pharisees at the time, they like to do things according to the book of law and they are truly pious, and they were definitely not actual criminals, for all they wanted to do was to please God through their own effort.  Their intentions were good, but their methods were wrong, and therefore their ending was to perish.
 
Paul said in Galatians 3:3:"...Are you so foolish?  After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"  There are two ways to run on the path to heaven: first way is to by your own body, and the second way is to depend on the Holy Spirit.  The first way is what we are born with, we depend on our own thoughts, rationality, determination and strength, for these are things within our control, but they are not methods that please God.  The second way is what we are not familiar with, because we can't rely on our body any more, but rather we depend on the Holy Spirit to guide our way.  Paul has said, in 2 Corinthians 5:7, that we should live by faith, not by sight.  It's easy to live by sight, and to do things by our body, but to live by faith we need to depend on the Holy Spirit.  If your faith depending on your body or the Holy Spirit?  Do you live by sight or by faith?  May God help us, let us once again walk on the path to depend on the Holy Spirit!
   
Pray with Pastor Tong     
    
Dear Lord, I ask that you help us not to depend on our own effort in our daily life, but to depend on the mighty power of your Holy Spirit.  Teach us not to live by sight, but to live by faith in order to live a victorious life everyday.  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, September 26, 2015

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english
Luke 13:18-21
 
Then Jesus asked, 'What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to?  It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.'  Again he asked, 'What shall I compare the kingdom of God to?  It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.'
 
Jesus has used a couple things as analogies for the Kingdom of God here: God's Kingdom is like mustard seed or yeast, which means God's Kingdom is not static, and it can continuously expand.  It might be small at first, just like mustard seed or yeast.  When Jesus ascended to heaven, He only left a few disciples behind, and from the view of people those disciples won't be able to do much, because they were merely fishermen or ordinary people.  If it was up to you and me, we wouldn't have picked those people as disciples, but we'll pick some experts in marketing or management.  The Lord, however, entrusted the mission to expand the Kingdom of Heaven to these seemingly ordinary people.  Because they did not depend on their own might or authority, but rather depended on the power of the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel everywhere, they brought forth change wherever they went.
 
In the Book of Acts, there were accusations against the disciples at the time, saying that they were turning the world around.  Indeed, it is the mission which the Kingdom of God has given us while we're in the world, to expand the Kingdom and to influence the whole world.  Kingdom of God is not just to spread the gospel, but it's also about bringing justice and equity into a wicked world.  The unfairness in the world cannot be resolved by social reform, because no matter how many reforms take place the selfish nature of people will not be changed, and the reforms only lead to the formation of another privileged class.  A society with true fairness and justice can only happen with the Kingdom of God.  After the gospel was preached in China, the change it brought forth was more than spiritual, but rather change in culture and life, including abolition of feet binding by women, promotion of science and education, movement to ban drugs, establishment of hospitals, creation of newspapers, etc.  These are all changes that were brought forth by the gospel.
 
Therefore, in the expansion of Kingdom of Heaven, we are facing an all-out war, just like a military war that is fought with army, navy and air force together.  God's Kingdom must be expanded in all directions, so not only are full-time servants like pastors and missionaries needed, people of all professions and walks of life need to put on their armor of gospel and spread the gospel wherever they are.  Have you ever thought about how to match your professional expertise with the Kingdom of God?  God wanted believers like us to remain on earth in order to expand the Kingdom of Heaven through us till the return of Jesus Christ.  May the Spirit of the Lord help us to see the will of God, and to be willing to offer ourselves to work feverishly for the expansion of the Kingdom of God.
   
Pray with Pastor Tong     
    
Dear Lord, I ask that you adjust our heart and mind, for there are bondage of rationality and traditions within us.  May your Spirit deliver us from such bondage; allow us to truly understand your heart so that your grace will come upon those who need it.  No matter how your grace will come upon them, let us open our heart and be joyful for what you will accomplish.  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