Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 18:18-23

Acts 18:18-23
 
Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.  They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.  When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined.  But as he left, he promised, "I will come back if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus.  When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.  After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
 
Numbers Chapter 6, verse 1 to 5 talk about vows of the Nazirites, which is the pledge of thanksgiving that the Jews offered before God.  When the period of the vow ended, those who took the vow would cut their hair down, and if they were out of town they would have their hair sent back to Jerusalem.
 
Paul took a vow of the Nazirites to God when he was in all kinds of difficulties.  He asked God to keep him safe, and he asked God's Spirit to manifest His righteousness during debates about the truth.  He then saw that the vow he made before God was accomplished by Him: The church or Corinth has grown, God's truth was manifested during the debate about circumcision of the gentiles at the council of Jerusalem as recorded in Acts 15; God also personally comforted him when he was suffering, as God told him to "I am with you."  After he encountered all sorts of hardship and was protected by God, Paul witnessed the grace of God and was willing to give thanks before God.
 
God made the vow of Nazirites for three purposes: First, Paul was a Jew, but when he debated the truth that gentiles should no longer need to be circumcised, many Jews thought Paul didn't want to be a Jew anymore and no longer respects his own culture.  The truth was that Paul was a Christian but also a Jew, so he did keep his identify as a Jew.  Even though he had stressed that gentiles should not be circumcised, he still respected his own culture; he made the vow according to Jewish tradition, which unveiled his heart.  Next, to the Jews, the vow of Nazirites is a vow of thanksgiving, and also a channel for God's grace.  When Paul made the vow, it's a manifestation of his commitment before God, so that God will continue to use him in his life.  Third, Paul's vow was a prophetic action; even though we may encounter all kinds of persecution and even whipping, but God is still real!  Our Lord is still sitting on the throne!
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, I thank you because you are such a faithful God!  You have helped Paul to persevere all kinds of hardship and led him to land of peace, so in the same way you will release us from all kinds of attacks in our life so that we may experience your faithfulness and abundance.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
  
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 18:9-17

Acts 18:9-17
 
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.  For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city."  So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court.  "This man," they charged, "is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law."  Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you.  But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law--settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things."  So he had them ejected from the court...
 
Paul encountered a crisis in ministry, and God's comfort came upon him and God told him that "don't be afraid...  For I'm with you."  Very often, our circumstance makes us fearful and our faith may be lost; pressure from work, burdens on life, bondage of diseases, and weakness of our body can put tremendous pressure on us, causing us to be afraid of bravely moving forward for the Lord.  Very often we come before God and believe in His mercy and grace, but we undeniably have fear deep inside us, because we don't know what God plans to do on us.
 
God will eventually lead us to perfection, but we don't seem to have any control over the process.  Therefore, we are fearful and we'd rather stay put and not move forward.  The Lord is more than happy to help us, for He has given us words and promises that are truly precious.  He wants to tell us "don't be afraid, for I am with you."  In other word, God will move forward with us and He will personally battle for us.  Livingston is a missionary who entered Africa; one time he encountered great difficulty and had to decide whether to cross a river to minister to the people on the other side, because they were dangerous cannibals.  That night he knelt down before the Lord, and the Lord's word reminded him: "I am with you always, to the very end of the age."   His heart was immediately comforted, and he responded: "Lord, you are a gentleman, and a gentleman will keep his promise.  I will go in peace because of your word."
 
God's grace is not only prepared for Paul and Livingston, but also for you and me.  No matter what circumstance you are in, no matter who the giant inside you is, let's look upon him and depend on him, so that you will be set free from any fear.
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, we thank you because you are always with us.  No matter how the circumstance and relationships change, in you we still have hope that you will hold us up with your mighty arms.  We don't need to be fearful, and we ask that you once again grant peace and joy to all the brothers and sisters.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
  
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Monday, November 28, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 18:5-8

Acts 18:5-8
 
When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.  But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."  Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.  Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.
 
Paul's ministry had its ups and downs and upheavals.  In Acts chapter 16, Paul was victorious in the prison and was asked to leave the town as soon as he was released.  In chapter 17, he went to Thessalonica and was accused of causing chaos, and thus was chased away to Berea, where he was welcomed.  They studied the Bible every day and Paul was pleased.  Very soon, however, he was persecuted by the Thessalonians and his coworker team was dissolved.  Paul went alone to Athens and saw people there worshipped the idols; he grew very anxious, so he went to the market in Athens to debate with scholars from various schools.  Some laughed at him and others accepted the Lord.  In Chapter 18, he went to Corinth and was rejected intensely by the Jews.  He ended up shaking his clothes and told them: You sin is on yourselves and have nothing to do with me.  In Corinthians chapter 2 verse 1 to 3, Paul also said "I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling."  Paul had already given up his life to the cause of gospel, but he was fearful that his ministry might have no effect and he was rejected repeatedly.  We can only imagine how frustrated and depressed Paul was.  Praise the Lord, for the trough of an ocean wave is also the beginning of the next crest, because Lord clearly knows towards which direction he wants to lead His servants. 
 
Vessels of God must learn how to look upon Him and wait.  Very often we anxiously want to see God's work here and there, on this person and that person, and we hope that God will do this and do that.  Actually, God knows what to do much better than we do, because He never misses the mark.  It doesn't mean that God is a dictator; He knows our need and he will make way for us when we need Him the most.  Our God is still able to make a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.  He wants us to simply believe Him and depend on Him.
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, I thank you because you are a faithful true God.  Although we may be suffering, let us know that you are still working and guiding us, so that we may take the setbacks in our daily lives more casually.  We ask that you once again increase our faith so that we'll able to regain strength to proclaim victory.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
  
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Sunday, November 27, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 18:1-4

Acts 18:1-4
 
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.  There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.  Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
 
God had already prepared coworkers for Paul; Priscilla and Aquila are lay believers who were making tents for a living.  Kingdom of God not only needs people in full-time ministry, but also those who are tentmakers.  Therefore, you should never underestimate your place in the Kingdom, because you are in God's plan to pass on His love to those around you.  Priscilla and Aquila are great examples for lay believers in ministry.  The order of this couple's names is also intriguing - It's always Priscilla first then Aquila.  This is also a great example for sisters - Don't look down on yourselves, but do rise up and serve.  In fact, God wants to raise up sisters to serve in this generation, so don't be afraid, but serve God bravely.
 
When Reverend Yonggi Cho of Korea was starting his church, he couldn't find suitable cell group leaders, so he asked the Lord to prepare some for him.  The Lord asked him, why don't you ask the sisters?  Back then, having sisters serve in the church was an anomaly, so he thought that must have been deception that comes from the devil.  He prayed again and the Lord's Spirit guided him to see these things: Who was Jesus born from?  A sister.  When Jesus was on earth, whose house did he like to visit?  A sister.  When Jesus was being crucified, who followed Him to the cross?  Sisters.  Who anointed the body of Jesus?  A sister.  After Jesus resurrected, to whom did he reveal Himself first?  A sister.  Reverend Cho suddenly realized that the church needed to raise up the sisters in ministry, and then God used them mightily to make the cell groups flourish.
 
No matter it's men or women, full-time or lay, everyone of us needs to serve in the name of the Lord according to our gifts.  May God grant the church all kinds of gifts so that we may manifest His glory.  As we ponder about building a glorious church for the Lord, we need to know that a glorious church is not just one with a beautiful building, but it's one where all parts of the body has been edified to work together for the Lord.  People will see the glory, truthfulness and all-mightiness of God from how the church works together, so let's give all the glory to God!
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, I thank you because you are the Lord who continues to lead us in our lives, and you have prepared many coworkers around us.  Let us appreciate the opportunity to work with everyone, and let us be joyful in collaborating with you.  May the glory of the Lord be manifested through our collaboration.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
  
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Saturday, November 26, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 17:26-34

Acts 17:26-34
 
"From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'  Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone - an image made by man's design and skill.  In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead..."
 
In this passage, Paul answered three big questions that people often ask: First, where do we come from?  Second, why are we here?  Third, where are we going?  First, Paul said definitively that God made all nations from one man.  In other word, human beings are created by God, not evolved from apes.  Human beings and animals have fundamentally different characteristics.  All human beings by nature wants to worship; no matter how primitive a culture is, you will see people conducting certain form of worship.  Some worship rocks and mountains, but no matter how under-developed the place is, it is human nature to worship in order to seek the meaning of life.  You will never, however, see apes or dogs contemplating about meaning of their life, or worshipping something.  Thus, human beings and animals have drastically different nature when it comes to worship.  The desire to worship also illustrates that human beings are created by God, because when God created people He left a void in our hearts, and the void can only be filled by God.
 
Next, why are we here?  Paul said here that our time and place are determined by God, so everything in our life, our movement and our existence are in Him.  God is indeed the Lord who give us meaning to our lives.  The purpose of our life on earth is to glorify Him.  No matter what we do and where we go, we must manifest His beauty in our lives.
 
Third, where are we going?  Paul clearly told us that one day we will face judgment, and Jesus is the Lord who will come and judge us.  You and I will be on trial, and the Bible tells us that those who believe in Jesus will receive eternal life, and those who don't will perish eternally.  May the Lord help us to truly understand our own faith!
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, I ask that you once again open our eyes and our hearts to receive you, to confirm to us that you are the Lord who created us.  Manifest to us the reason you created us so that we may follow you in our daily lives and experience your truthfulness.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
  
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Friday, November 25, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 17:22-25

Acts 17:22-25
 
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.  "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
 
The God we believe in is the true God who created all things.  Other religions are about people seeking god when they are in trouble, trying to find answers while struggling in the cycle of life.  Christianity is the only faith where God was not found by people.  Genesis 1:1 started clearly with this declaration: "In the beginning God create the heaven and the earth."  Since God is the master who created heaven and earth, He must have a plan, and therefore people are living on earth for a good reason, and our lives are not just like lights that go out when we die.  In other word, it is not a coincidence that you are in the world; God has a plan for you and goals for your life.  Many people cannot find meaning in their lives because they gone away from Lord the Creator.  If a table has gone away from the carpenter, it would not know why it was created.  Can it be used as a chair?  Maybe, but it won't be very ideal or comfortable.  A creature can only find the purpose for its creation by coming to the creator, the Lord who gives us meaning in life; we can only find such significance and our true identity through connecting to Him.
 
The Bible tells us not to worship idol, because idols are made by human beings, but true God is the only who created human beings.  Many have been living under the bondage of fear from idol worshipping, and that why the Chinese has saying that we need to respect gods and ghosts but keep a distance from them; in Chinese traditional belief, we cannot be near a god.  But our God is different because He is love, and our Lord will never abandon us.  No matter what the circumstance is, He has a plan for us.  You, therefore, could not have been born in the wrong place, at the wrong time or under the wrong circumstance; you are now exactly where God wants you to be.  Since God is the savior who created us, we ought to live daily for our creator, loving Lord and redeemer, and that our live will certainly become meaningful.
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, I thank you because you are the true God who created us, and we ask that you manifest to us your will in creating us.  Sometimes we may wander off from the path of our life, but when we turn back to you, please reveal your will to us so that we would stay on your path for the rest of our life and never go astray again.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
  
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Thursday, November 24, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 17:16-21

Acts 17:16-21
 
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
 
The Athenians have an interesting characteristic.  They love to talk about and listen to new ideas.  This is the same problem we have with our society today.  People want to talk about and listen to the truth, but do not wish to face the truth.  In such a rapidly-changing world, a piece of news is only good for a week, before you have to change the subject.  People always like to listen to new things, so this word does not care about the truth that we are preaching.
   
Unfortunately, this is also true of the church sometimes.  Many Christians merely talk about and listen to God's truth, but they do not truly place their faith in God, or believe that God can transform the world.  These Christians go to church every Sunday, listen to the worship team and the pastor's sermon, without truly experiencing or having faith in God.  Once a sister sang a song called "The Lord lives" during the Easter service.  In the chorus part, the lyrics go, "Jesus is still live, He talks to me, He walks with me, along the narrow path of life."  When she got done singing, the people in the audience were touched.  An old lady came up to her and asked, "What does He say when He talks to you?"  This sister replied bewilderedly, "Talk to who?"  The old lady said, "Jesus! Didn't you just sing the song that says he talks to you and walks with you?"  Finally, this sister said, "I was just singing!"
 
The truth is many Christians still live under the sin of idolatry today.  Although they worship God with their mouths and claim to be Christians, they worship things of this world in their daily lives, such the worship of money or other things that draws our hearts away from God. In the Bible, the prophets rebuke the people of Israel multiple times, saying that their mouths may be close to God, but their hearts are far from God.  This is also a portrayal of today's Christians and the reason that the church is so weak today!   May the Lord help us to not just listen to and talk about God's Word, but also be willing to live according to His Word each day of our lives. 
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, we pray that you help us, not only to read your Word each day of our lives, but to act according to your Word as well.  Help us not to merely listen to your Word and talk about it, but also to engrave your word upon our hearts, so we may live a life that is Christ-like.  We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!
  
  
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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 17:10-15

Acts 17:10-15
 
As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

Here it says that the Bereans received the message with great eagerness and studied the Scriptures every day.  It is very important to read God's word every day. When we read God's words regularly, our thoughts are our spirit will be refreshed each day.  If we do not have God's word as our foundation, our thoughts day and night will be filled with trash.  This is why many people are filled with thoughts of anxiety, resentment and fear.  If you want your thoughts to be positive, you need to feed your mind with the word of God. 
 
Many people pay close attention to their diet every day.  They eat at fixed times, in fixed portions and they even count the number of calories in their meals.  However, when it comes to reading God's word, they are a lot less disciplined. They read more chapters of the Bible when they feel like it, and when they do not feel like reading, they do not even pick up the Bible. Very often, we pay much more attention to our physical needs, our environment, whether our food is contaminated, more than our spiritual contamination.  Many of us have a mind that is completely open to the world, and we allow the world to tempt us with various things.  Yet, we spend little time coming before God, and allowing God to use his word to influence us.  May the Lord help us, not only to care about counting calories in our food, but to be concerned about getting sufficient spiritual "calories". 
 
You must set aside time each day to read the word of God.  Whether it is day or night, we need to arrange for a time to spend time with God.  It does not have to be a long amount of time.  15 minutes every day can allow you to experience the truth in God's Word.  There is a secret to maintaining the spiritual discipline of reading God's Word - it is to be prepared.  If you want to read God's Word in the morning, make sure you clean your desk the night before and flip to the passage in the Bible you want to read.  When you wake up the next morning, you will naturally read the word of God and His Word will be your help and strength!
      
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, we pray that you will give us the desire to read your Word daily, just like deer panting for the water.  We also pray that your word will be our help in our daily lives, the light to our feet and the lamp to our paths. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!
  
  
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Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Today's Passage - Acts 17:1-9

Acts 17:1-9
 
When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd...
 
Paul and Silas were known to be people who disrupt the world.  In reality, the world was already in chaos.  Paul and Silas were preaching the gospel to try to put some order back into the world.  They were indeed a great influence on society at that time, so the world could not tolerate them, and were persecuting them. Let us learn from Paul and Silas, to preach the gospel with courage.  I often feel that this generation of Christians, are so afraid that they do not even dare to go out to hand out a tract.  They hesitate to give thanks for their food, and do not dare to come forward as a witness for Christ.
 
Brothers and sisters, the world is indeed a chaotic world.  The gay and lesbians march on the streets, but the Christians are hiding in their homes, and afraid to admit their identity. When I see the weakness of Christians today, I am deeply grieved.  We need to be strong and courages for the Lord.  I remember this testimony from a sister.  Her son had to write an essay on evolution at school. In his heart, he wanted to be a witness for the Lord, hence he wrote his whole essay about how God created the universe.  The teacher gave him a big "F".  If you were the child's parents, what would you do?  The Chinese parents may say, "Silly boy! This is just homework, just write what the teacher wants you to write.  Why get an F for this?" However, I really admire this boy for being willing to suffer an "F" so that he can proclaim God to the world! 
 
We rarely come forward for our faith, and we try to stay out of trouble.  This causes us to lose our witness in this world.  May God have mercy on us and give us with courage to bear witness for him in the community and society we live in. 
   
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, we thank you because you are the resurrected true God, and you also live in our hearts. We ask that you'd give us courage to proclaim that we are Christians, and to share the gospel with others in our daily life.  Let our good deeds bring glory to you. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!
  
  
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