Today's Passage - 1 John 3:23-24

1 John 3: 23-24   And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.   These two verses are the summary of God's will on us. Throughout the whole Bible, you will find that God's will is so simple. As Jesus summarized the laws in Mark 12:29, the first is that you shall love the Lord your God with all your hear, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. The second is that you shall love your neighbor as yourself. One is regarding God, while the other is regard your neighbor.   It is really not that difficult to understand God's commands. We shall always keep these commands regardless what we do and what we say. Can we glorify God with what we do? Can we rectify others with what we do? We should do whatever glorifies God and benefits others. We should think over whatever does the opposite. Why we cannot understand God's will now and then is because of the impurities in our mind, just like Peter. When he was praying on the roof of a building in Joppa, the Spirit came to him and showed him a vision: a large sheet came down with lot of unclean food in it. The Lord gave him a simple order: "Peter, kill and eat." This order was as clear as it could be. But it was still too "difficult" for Peter, to the point that he had to tell the Lord he loved three times: "By no means, Lord." Why? Because it was completely against his past tradition, concepts, experience and habits.    Jonah did the same thing. When God called on him to spread the gospel to the city of Nineveh, God even told him what to say. All he had to do was to keep shouting in the city for forty days: "Forty days more, and the city of Nineveh shall be overthrown." All God ordered him to do was to shout this sentence. Isn't it clear and simple? But it was so difficult for Jonah, to the point that he'd rather stay inside a fish for three days. Since people in the city of Nineveh were the enemies of the Israelites. Not only was he afraid to be called traitor by the Israelites, he didn't want those people to be saved anyway. Our thoughts always contaminate God's will, so that we are kept from following God's will. How are you doing today? Do you think God's command is evasive? Or does your own thought often hinder you?   Pray with Pastor Tong Liu    Lord, we come to you again to let you search us. If we have any impurity in our mind, may the Spirit shine on us, so that each brother and sister can recognize the shortcoming, sin and hindrance in his/her heart. Then each of them can willingly lay them down. May the Spirit strengthen each of them. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

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Today's Passage - 1 John 3:20-22

1 John 3:20-22 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.   It is such an amazing grace that we can have confidence before God. People always live in the darkness and vanity, so that they don't admit that they are weak and sinful. But it says here that God is greater than our hearts. Many times we would think that we could hide ourselves from God and get away, because no one sees our sins. But we can hide ourselves from other people, but not from God. Psalms 139: 7-8 says: "Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there." In other words, we have nowhere to hide.   God is also omniscient. Psalms 139: 1-4 says: "O Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from far away. You search out my path and my lying down are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely." God knows all about what we think of, what we say and what we do.  Whenever we confess our sins to Him, 1 John 1:9 says: "he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." For exactly this reason, we can come before God with confidence. So in verse 21 John said: "if our hearts don't condemn us", which means if we are cleansed from all our sins by the precious blood of the Lord, we can come before God with confidence.   John showed us here one of God's promises. Verse 22 says: "and receive from him anything we ask". Do you know that God has given you such a precious promise? Once you understand this truth, you will find out that prayer is the greatest responsibility of a Christian. Just like what John Wesley said, God doesn't do anything else besides answering our prayers. In other words, What God's mainly does is to hear our prayers and answers them.              Pray with Pastor Tong Liu   Lord, we thank you, for you have given us the authority of prayer. May you help each brother and sister, so that they can bring their needs to you. We believe that for sure you will answer their prayers, and reach out from the throne to deliver us. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

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Today's Passage - 1 John 3:17-19

1 John 3:17-19   If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence...   Verse 16 says that we ought to lay down our life for our brothers, which means we must have a merciful heart.  Verse 17 says that we ought to show pity on our brothers, which means we are the key to letting the river of God's love flow.  In the parable of Good Samaritan preached by Jesus, there was a man who was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, but he was beaten up and injured by bandits.  A priest went by, saw the man and just kept on going; a Levite went by, saw the man and also kept on going.  Finally, a Good Samarian saw him, stopped to wrap his wound and brought him to an inn to be healed.  The Lord asked the teachers of lawyer, who was this man's neighbor?   The Lord preached this parable because the teachers of law asked Him this question: You said we ought to love our neighbor, so who is our neighbor?  Notice that he asked the Lord who is their neighbor, but the Lord asked them who are the man's neighbor.  In other word, the Lord was telling them: Sorry, your question is wrong!  You shouldn't be asking who my neighbor is, but rather who is the neighbor of the one who was wounded.  When we are asking who our neighbors are, we are still being self-centered, and we won't be able to see the needs of others.   When we are asking who our neighbors are, we won't see the needs of others.  When we ask who are the neighbors of those who are hurt and broken, suddenly we must face one question seriously - Should we be their neighbor?  This is not only true in personal life, but also in missions.  I have noticed that Chinese churches always seem to be reaching out to the Chinese people, because we always think that if we don't take care of the Chinese, who will take care of them?  We, however, neglect the Great Commission of the Lord, which asks us to go to the nations.  If the Lord asked us who are the neighbors of all nations, do we have the heart of mercy to take a step forward?   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because you love us and you sacrificed for us.  We are will to care for people around us, not only the need of the Chinese people, but also people of all nations.  When you saw many people in need, you had mercy on them, and in the same way may your love flow out from our life.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

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Today's Passage - 1 John 3:13-16

1 John 3:13-16   Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.  We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.  Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.     If you feel like you are lacking love, then you must come before the cross and think about what Jesus has accomplished for you and me.  Our hearts will then be touched, because it is the momentum and source of love in our life of faith.  Often when we watch how Jesus was put to death, we didn't feel that it has much to do with us, because it was a group of people with hardened hearts that rejected Jesus and nailed Him to the cross.  But if we really think about it, who was it that actually nailed Jesus to the cross?  A hymn describes how a person was furious about the death of Jesus and wanted to find who, at the time of Jesus, nailed our sinless savior to the cross.  He wanted to let justice prevail, but it turned out that he found himself holding a hammer.  Yes, Jesus was nailed to the cross because of the sin of you and me.   Whenever I think about how Jesus said to the crowd on the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they have done," I also accepted the forgiveness of the Lord in my heart.  Yes, the Lord has sacrificed His life for me so that I would know what love is.  Brothers and sisters, the Lord also gave his life for you, so you should know what love is.  Sometimes it seems easier for us to accept the Lord's sacrificial love than to accept the commandment for us to sacrifice ourselves and love one another.  The word of the Lord, however, taught us here that to sacrifice means to give up our own right in our life to love brothers and sisters.   It is great to have someone around you who are willing to sacrifice their own right.  We often hope others will do it, but we are not willing to do the same.  Actually, loving one another is a lesson in faith, because you would never know what would happen after you take this step forward.  To those who believe in the Lord, however, our God is watching us in the dark and He will always reward us for what we have done.  His grace is always sufficient for you, and his love can flow out from you.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we want to thank you, for we love because you have first loved us.  You have sacrificed for us on the cross so that we may receive new life.  I ask that you pour down you love into our life so that we would be willing to sacrifice our right in order for our brothers and sisters to be edified.  Please give us wisdom and strength to do it.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

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Today's Passage - 1 John 3:10-12

1 John 3:10-12   This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.   This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.   Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.   The subject of love one another came up many times in the letters written by John.  According to him, if a person follows the will of God, he must also love brothers and sisters; on the contrary, if a person cannot love brothers and sisters, he cannot possibly be following God's commandments.  John even said that those who don't love brothers are not children of God - This is a truly serious matter!  In the church today, we often feel that while it's great for us to love one another, it doesn't hurt much if we don't as long as we all love God, so it's hard to accept such extreme teaching by John.   Actually, if we truly understand God's will, we won't dare to casually criticize and judge our brothers and sisters.  Whenever I hear about how brothers and sisters criticize one another either within a church or between churches, I feel really sad.  The fact is that one day we'll meet in heaven and we together forever.  If we are attaching each other on earth, how are we going to face each other when we meet in heaven?  If we think about this, wouldn't we want to accept and bear with one another?  May God has mercy on us and help us to love one another, for this is what we have "heard from the beginning."   John also reminded us that we ought not to be like Cain, who was jealous of brother Abe and just killed him.  Perhaps we won't kill others like Cain did, but often we hurt others with words.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that "anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment... But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell."  Very often we are not watching our words careful; consequently we stumbled many people, but we still thought we are being honest in love!  The kind of honesty that the Bible taught about is not simply voicing our opinion or straight-shooting word of fury.  Honesty in the Bible refers to the truth and word of God, or word of God that is preached in love but not our own words.  When the word is God is released, there will be healing, comfort and blessing.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, you are the source of love, so please help us to bear with and accept one another in the church.  Pour into our heart the sacrificial love that you manifested on the cross, so that we would know how to interact in love, but not hurting each other with our word.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

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Today's Passage - 1 John 3:7-9

1 John 3:7-9   Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.  He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.   It is important to know the truth that "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work."  When we worship God, His throne is established in our midst.  We often, however, neglect the fact that the work of devil Satan is also very real.  Whenever we gather, we focus on the presence of the Lord and we also know that brothers and sisters are among us along with the angels; however, we often neglect that Satan is also working among us.  Many people can never retain any sermon that we hear because of what the enemy does on them.  Therefore, during our gatherings, we lift the throne of the Lord through praise and worship, and it also turns back the work of devil.   This is also true in our personal life.  If we want to defeat work of the devil, we must give praising the Lord top priority in our life.  The first thing we do when we wake up in the morning should be praising the Lord, else we're going to begin the day with a sign and not feeling like getting up.  The day has barely started but we're already defeated by Satan.  Every morning when we wake up, let us praise and proclaim that today is a new day, and that we will once again experience God's grace, faithfulness, wisdom and strength.   When we praise the Lord, we can defeat any attack by the enemy.  The enemy often uses our physical weakness to attack us.  When we understand the principle of spiritual warfare, we will understand how to defend ourselves against any attack and temptation.  When we praise Him, we welcome Jesus to come and rule over us.  The throne of the Lord will be established on us and we can be victorious by the Lord.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we welcome you into our life and help us to learn to praise and worship you daily.  Through praise and worship, let us life your throne high and rebuke any work by enemy Satan.  Let the son of God be manifested in every aspect of our life and ministry.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

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Today's Passage - 1 John 3:4-6

1 John 3:4-6   Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.  No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.   As children of God, we have life that belongs to God; this life will grow naturally inside us and gradually make us take on the form of Jesus Christ.  That's why John, in verse 2, said that "when Christ appears, we shall be like him."  He didn't say we might look more like Him, but he said we "shall" be like Him, as if our growth is guaranteed.  A lot of people have told me I'm too skinny and ought to eat more, but I would point my father to them and let them know that since he's so skinny there's not much I can do to gain weight.  Not only am I as skinny as my father, I walk more and more like him too.  Since I inherited life from him, I naturally would become more and more like him.   I have discovered that this rule is actually also true in our spiritual life.  As long as we don't hinder God's work, the Spirit of God will naturally shape us from inside so that we will look more and more like the Lord.  Therefore, we have the responsibility of cleansing ourselves to become holy.  The Lord was here in order to eliminate sin from people; now that we have received the grace of the Lord, we shouldn't commit more sins to offend God.  When the Holy Spirit shines inside us and we see how filthy are, we must turn back to Him and believe that God has the authority to forgive sins and wash away all our trespasses and unrighteousness.   The Holy Spirit is really living inside us, and one of the most important tasks of the Spirit is for us to blame ourselves for sin, for righteousness and for judgment.  It's for sin because we often live in self-centeredness and disbelief, so we often don't live by God's will.  It's for righteousness because Jesus is the Lord who's completely righteous.  We thought we were righteous before, but under the light of righteousness from the Lord we see how filthy we are.  It's for judgment because God's judgment on sinners is truly terrifying and everyone wants to escape it.  If we know how terrifying it is, we would come before God to seek His clemency and forgiveness.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, I thank you because you are the Holy Lord, and your holy life is ruling inside our life.  Please come and shape us to be more like you, and please give us a softened heart so that we can be shaped by you in our daily life in order to manifest your beauty.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

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Today's Passage - 1 John 3:1-3

1 John 3:1-3   See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.    As Christians, it doesn't occur to us very often that it is quite a privilege to become God's children. But John reminded us here what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called Children of God. We used to be just unworthy sinners. Had it not been for Jesus' crucifixion for us on the cross, how can we enjoy God's grace, and be called Children of God. Once I was the main speaker for a Christians' retreat. When I arrived at the camp, I asked a coworker there for the direction to the restroom. He just gave me a rough direction. I did see a restroom in that direction, so I went ahead. But when I got there, I looked up and saw the sign on the doors "Prince, Princess". My first thought was that it was not for me. But on second thought, since it was a Christian campsite, when they mentioned prince and princess, weren't they referring to the prince and princess in God's kingdom. Suddenly I realized that God gave us such honorable titles after all. Do you know that you have an honorable title in God's kingdom?     In addition, you have another precious privilege as Children of God, which is that we all have a Heavenly Father that loves us and remembers us every day. All parents would have the same experience, which is that children can never love their parents as much as their parents love them. Children often overlook the needs of their parents, but the parents never overlook the needs of their children. Likewise, our Heavenly Father remembers us every day. No matter what your circumstances are, or how rebellious you are, don't forget that you have a Heavenly Father that loves you. He will never forget nor forsake you. As long as our life is connected with Christ, we can enjoy all the grace God has prepared for us.     Are you sure today you are God's child? If so, you should live like one every day. A prince not only has his honorable identity, he has to live accordingly. May God give us a sensitive heart, so that we can live for the Lord every day.             Pray with Pastor Tong Liu   Lord, we thank you. You are our Heavenly Father. Nowadays many people can't feel your love. May the Spirit reveal to them, so that they can feel embraced by your loving arms and live out the identity of Children of God every day. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

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