Today's Passage - Acts 18:24

Acts 18:24   Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.   There was a man named Apollo, who was not only extremely knowledgeable, he was also good at teaching the Scripture, so he should have been someone who loved the word of God.  In the Great Commission, it is God's will for us to become the Lord's disciples.  Disciples means students; in other word, when someone is baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the person did not graduate, but rather it was only the process of registration into the school of God to become a student of God.  In the entire Book of Acts, the terms "believer" and "saint" only appeared once, but the term "disciple" appeared more than forty times.  I believe that's the reason for the mighty power that the early church possessed: When they preached the gospel, they didn't just invite people over to attend the service, but they taught and trained them to become disciples of the Lord.   We often sing a hymn with lyrics that say "the greatest thing that happened in my life was getting to know you."  Perhaps you may not agree with it inside; you might think that the greatest thing that happened in your life should be the time of your marriage or when you made a fortune from stocks, how could it be knowing God?  One day, however, when you look back at the path of your life, you'd realized that, just like what the Bible says, the world and everything in the world will go away, and only knowing God will give you eternal value.   God's word helps us to know Him, and God's word cleanse our hearts.  The Bible says that God's word is like a mirror in front of us which allows us to see what we really look like.  If we don't look in the mirror in the morning, we don't know how messy our face looks; once we look in the mirror, we see our face and we quickly want to wash it.  In the same manner, God's word is a mirror that lets us see our filthiness, and thus we will seek God's help and salvation.   Besides that, God's word also provides guidance to our lives.  Today, we've heard lots of principles for successful marriage, and they actually all come from principles in the Bible.  There will be changes in generations, culture and social structure, but principles in the Bible will always be truthful and practical.  If we are willing to seriously study God's word and live by it, we will surely be able to experience a wonderful life granted by God.  No wonder the author of Psalm says that "God, Thy word is the lamp to my feet and the light to my path."   We must place God's word inside us and also be willing to follow it in our daily lives, so that we may really experience the benefits of the truth.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, may you grant us an eager heart to study your word and let your word enter our lives in a practical way, so that we may enjoy the help and strength from your word.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!       Participate in Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - by Donating a Seat for a future new believer!