Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 19:1-10   Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.  All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"  But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord!  Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."  Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.   The Bible says that Zacchaeus was a short man.  He wanted to see Jesus, but because there were lots of people, we could not see anything from the back.  His height became a hindrance in his life.  Today, many people want to come to know Jesus, but there are also many hindrances in their life, including having no time available.  It is normal to be busy in the society today, but we still need to think about why we are so busy.  Zacchaeus was a busy chief tax collector, then how come he had time to go see Jesus?  Thank God, it wasn't that Zachaeus had time available, but his heart was actually available.  He saw that the pursuit of material wealth couldn't give him satisfaction, so he overcame all hindrances to come before Jesus.   To many people, perhaps science is a hindrance, because they think the 21th century should be an era of science, so how can we believe in God?  The fact is that science and faith do not conflict, and science can even help us to know God better.  A person with a true appreciation for science will also love and have eagerness for the truth.  For example, when people praised the great scientist Isaac Newton for his wonderful inventions, he also said humbly: "I didn't invent anything, but I simply found some truth in the immense universe that God created."  Science did not become hindrance for his faith, but it actually became his momentum to study science.   Zacchaeus had an eager heart to come to see Jesus, and it was only because he was short and there were many people that he couldn't see Jesus.  Thank God that Zacchaeus didn't give up this opportunity to get to know Jesus.  He climbed on a sycamore-fig tree and found Jesus from there.  In your walk of faith, what is your hindrance?  Are you willing to lay down the hindrances and sincerely try to become intimate with God?     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, please help all the brothers and sisters; when they are willing to lay down their hindrances before you to see you, please have an encounter with them and reveal your trueness to them.  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 18:35-43   As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.  When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening.  They told him, 'Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.'  He called out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'  Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'  Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 'What do you want me to do for you?'  'Lord, I want to see,' he replied.  Jesus said to him, 'Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.'  Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.   Why did Jesus say the blind man was a man of faith?  First, when he heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out "Son of David, have mercy on me!"  In the Old Testament, God prophesied that a savior and king will come out from the house of David, and when He came to the world the captives will be set free, the blind will be able to see, and the oppressed will be set free.  This blind man sat along the road everyday and he has heard the name of Jesus and what signs and wonders that He has performed.  The blind man was eager to meet Jesus because he believed Jesus must be the savior that God had prepared, so as long as the blind man was willing he would be healed and also be delivered from the bondage of the circumstance in his soul.  Therefore, he cried out because he had faith, and in the same manner we need to come before God with faith, to surpass all the limitation of rationality, so that we may experience the feast of abundant life that God has prepared for us.   Next, he was open in expressing his wish to the Lord, and he directly asked for the ability to see, no only physically but also spiritually.  If Jesus asks you the same question, would you ask for money, fame, position or a wonderful family?  These are not bad, but the Bible says that the world and the things of the world will come to pass.  One day, these things will disappoint you, even to the point where those dearest to you might disappoint you.  Do you come before God to plead for things of the world, or are you willing to say "Lord, I want to see!  I want to see your love, your will in me, and the way I should be walking on!  When this blind man said to the Lord "I want to see," his spiritual eye was opened by the Lord instantaneously.  Therefore, the Lord said to him, "you faith has healed you."  Faith always comes before blessings, so are we asking for blessings before God, or are we asking the Lord for faith so that we can experience Him?     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, please pray for the brothers and sisters who are suffering physically.  Please grant them faith in their heart.  Lord, when the blind man believed in your promise by faith and brought his need for you, you healed him; please give us the same grace to every brother and sister.  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 18:31-34   Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, 'We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.  He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him.  On the third day he will rise again.'  The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.   This scripture passage is a turning point in the Gospel of Luke.  Prior to this point, the book primarily covered the teachings and miracles of the Lord, which revealed that He is a glorious savior.  But from this point on, the Lord with glory and authority became a suffering savior.  This was not just difficult for the Jews to accept, but even people today cannot understand why Jesus had to go on the cross.  If Jesus didn't die in our place, and to resurrect from death, it would be impossible to resolve human beings' problems.  The main problem today is not with education, politics or social system, but a problem of the heart.  Ever since human beings sinned and left God, human beings became self-centered, unable to accept others and be considerate of others.   Self-centeredness results in many conflicts between people, which is what the Bible refers to as "sin."  Looking closely at human history, it's easy to find that human beings have been living under the authority of such sin, and controlled by the sin.  Our good conscience has been polluted and our soul has been damaged, and we have no way out.  Bible clearly tells us that Jesus Christ is the way to salvation that God has prepared for human beings.  According to the righteousness of God, we were supposed to stand on trial by God, but because God is merciful to us, He sent his one and only son to the world to become man, accepted God's punishment on the cross in our place, so that we may enjoy real peace in Christ.   Because Jesus is free of sin, God made Him resurrect from death, and became victorious over all authority and rule of sin.  When we accept Jesus as our personal savior, Jesus Christ's life will come inside us, so that we may enjoy a victorious life.  When Jesus was working on earth, He clearly knew that God's will wasn't just to let Him go around and preach about the Gospel of God, but also to have Him to on the way of the Cross.  Jesus said that "unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds."  Kingdom of God was never built on the way of people, but it was through the way of the cross.  Are you willing to sacrifice yourself, and take on the way of the cross with the Lord?     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because you sacrificed yourself for us.  You went on the way of the cross so that we may receive new life.  May the Lord help us, to follow your example in our daily life, to sacrifice our own carnal desires and to follow your will so that we may be empowered.  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 18:24-30 Jesus looked at him and said, 'How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'  Those who heard this asked, 'Who then can be saved?'  Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with men is possible with God.'  Peter said to him, 'We have left all we had to follow you!'  'I tell you the truth,' Jesus said to them, 'no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.'   It is so hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?  In the Bible, there are many rich people among those who followed the Lord and loved the Lord.  Abraham and Job were both rich people, and Nicodemus in the New Testament was also a rich man.  Therefore, there's no direct relationship between how wealth is a person and whether the person loves and follows the Lord.   In the Mark 10:24, the Lord commented at the end of the same story about the rich people: "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!"  The problem is not whether a person is rich or not, but it's whether the person depends on money.  When a person depends on money in his heart, money becomes an invisible authority that grabs his heart, and he naturally will follow the money but not follow God, and there won't be any room in his heart for the Lord.  Not only the rich depend on money, but those who have no money also depend on money; those who buy lottery tickets are often not rich, but the desire for money in their heart is far greater than their eagerness for God.   Today, our world is under the authority of money, and we are ruled by this authority.  Jesus knew that this is a problem with authority, so unless a person clearly sees that he's ruled by the authority of money and willing to be released from such authority, he cannot possibly truly follow the Lord.  Jesus said that it may not be possible for people, but in God all things are possible.  As long as you heart is depending on money, or your career, family or property, you cannot be released from the rule of the authority of the world and enter the abundance of Kingdom of God.  When your heart is turned back to depend on God, believing that His grace is sufficient for you, God will release you from your worries, and make you experience all of his abundant grace.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you for releasing such truth for us to better understand your will.  In the victorious name of Jesus, I pray for the release of those brothers and sisters who are under the bondage of authority of money.  Let them truly believe in your promise, and believe that your name is Jehovah Jared, and Jehovah will provide from His throne on the mountain.  Let them follow you with peace and joy in their heart.  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 18:20-23   'You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'  'All these I have kept since I was a boy,' he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, 'You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'  When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.   From human perspective, it is a wonderful thing that this rich young man came to find Jesus, and he followed all the commandments.  Jesus, however, knew that there was a major hindrance in his heart, which was his wealth, because his wealth has replaced God in his heart.  The world today is much the same; no matter rich or poor, everyone is talking about money.   The U.S. bills have printed on them "In God We Trust," but the truth is that in the real life it's more like "In Money We Trust."  Money and material things have long replaced God's place in our heart, and thus our heart has no room for God.  Jesus doesn't want every one of us to sell everything we have, but if we want to seek the true meaning of life, we must first humbly remove the hindrance in our heart.  Perhaps your hindrance is not money, but it might be ambition in career, or arrogance in self-righteousness; it could also be problem with pride and rationality.  No matter what it is, you need to see that none of these things could bring you true satisfaction.   The Bible says that the world and everything in this world will come to pass, but only God will never change.  If you are seeking things of the world, one day you will be disappointed.  Believing in Jesus is not only finding a spiritual safe harbor, because even a spiritual safe harbor is self-centered because it doesn't consider the responsibility and mission that God has given to people.  Believing in Jesus is also not finding the "Aladdin's lamp" for you to get whatever you ask for.  Believing in Jesus means to follow Jesus, to have Jesus become the ruler of your life, leading you to walk on the path of life, and to understand His will and plan in your life.  We will find the true meaning and goal of life only if we lay down ourselves and joyfully walk in the path of God.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I ask that you bless every brother and sister, give them a humble heart to come before you, and to lay down all the hindrances in our life.  Let them be willing to honor you and follow you as our Lord in our daily life.  Let them be filled with your joy and peace, and to dash forward on your path everyday.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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