Thursday, March 31, 2016

Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 7:1-7

1 Corinthians 7:1-7
 
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry.  But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.  The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.  The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.  Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.  I say this as a concession, not as a command.  I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.
 
In this passage, Paul talked about the principles for relationship between a married couple.  When God institute marriage, it is His will to have two become one.  Therefore, in Genesis God said that "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh," which is an important principle.  In the New Testament, Jesus said that husband ought to be the head in a marriage and wife should be the body.  He didn't mean that men and women are not equal; when God made woman, He took a rib - a body part closest to the heart - from Adam.  When Adam first met Eve, he said "this is now bone of my bones and flesh and my flesh."  This is an intimate union; when God created Adam He created him as a wholesome person, but then took a rib from his body and Adam became incomplete.  God, however, then brought Eve back to Adam; he recovered the part of him that was missing and became complete again.  Therefore, the complementary nature of a marriage relationship is important.  Marriage is the union of two incomplete people, but they may find completeness in each other, and that's the principle of two become one in the Bible.
 
It's also important to note that "two become one" also means a physical union.  Paul specifically mentioned that husband and wife must be united physically; they ought to care for and respect each other.  Since they own each other's body, they must take care of themselves and offer their bodies as living sacrifice.  In a marriage, we can no longer distinguish who's body it is, but to become one body in Christ.  We must not just seek to take care of our own needs, but to also to seek pleasure and satisfaction for each other.  This is an important lesson in marriage - We must strive to seek for each other's pleasure and satisfaction so that we will have a lasting marriage relationship.
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, I thank you because when you instituted marriage, you have made husband and wife as one, so that they may support one another and enjoy the pleasure from physical union.  May you bless all the marriages so that all couples will enjoy peace, joy and satisfaction given by you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
      
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Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

1 Corinthians 6:18-20
 
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
 
Paul specifically reminded us here that the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, where the Holy Spirit actually resides.  We must first understand that the Holy Spirit is inside us in order to manifest that the Lord is with us,  In our busy life we often feel tired and weak, and we shout out to God: Lord, who is going to help me?  Brothers and sisters, your help is actually not from someone outside, but rather from Christ who is inside you.  Therefore, you shouldn't need to seek help from outside, but to look for God who is inside.  The Holy Spirit is your prophet who speaks to you and reveals God's will to you; He is also your priest who prays for you from deep inside your heart and soul according to God's will; He is also your king who shows you the way and provides you with guidance in life.  When you feel frustrated and weak in your busy life, just come before Him!  God is with us, and as long as He is with us, His promises and power are also with us.
 
Not only that, this truth also brings out another precious message, which is that the enemy has absolutely no authority in our bodies.  If our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, then God must have absolute sovereignty in His temple, hallelujah!  Therefore, when you encounter attacks from the enemy and sickness, you can boldly rebuke the attack and curse from the enemy, and let the sovereignty of Jesus be manifested.  You must declare to the enemy that it has absolutely no authority in your body, because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit!  When you declare it, the enemy has no authority in your body because Jesus has already redeemed you with His precious blood, so you belong to the Lord!
 
In addition, may God help us to live cautiously in our daily life.  Our body must glorify God in order for it not to become a tool for committing sin, so you must glorify God in everything that you do!
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, I thank you because you are with us and you live inside us.  You have absolutely sovereignty in our life so that we can rebuke all the attacks and diseases from the enemy.  Help us to be renewed with your power each and every day.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
      
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Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 6:12-17

1 Corinthians 6:12-17
 
"Everything is permissible for me" - but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me" - but I will not be mastered by anything. "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food" - but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.  Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!  Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh."  But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
 
Paul specifically pointed out the main principles for Christian living.  First, he said that "everything is permissible for me - but not everything is beneficial."  This is the principle of doing what's beneficial - Not just to benefit ourselves, but also to glorify God and benefit others.  This is an important principle for Christian living: Every time we do something, we must ask ourselves whether it will glorify God and benefit others.
 
Second principle is "not be mastered by anything."  Some things may seem harmless, but we can be controlled by it.  For example, more than a decade ago I used to love to drink coffee.  I would mix different types of coffee beans and then brew them in different ways.  I gained much satisfaction from drinking coffee, but then the Spirit of the Lord prompted me to quit coffee.  I was reluctant inside, but the Lord asked me: "When you are tired, where do you go first?"  Then I realized that whenever I felt tired, the first thing I would do was to have coffee, rather than coming before the Lord.  I then realized that my heart was controlled by coffee and it was hindering my relationship with God.  Since then, I quit my coffee habit and no longer need to drink it.  Coffee itself may seem harmless, but my heart was controlled by it and thus I was willing to quit for the Lord. 
 
We need to understand that our bodies need to be united with the Lord in the spiritual sense, which means we become one with the Lord in spirit.  Therefore, we must pay attention to righteous and unrighteous things in our lives, and not let both of them come out from the same person.  Book of James says that "out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be."  May God examine our thoughts, words and behavior so that we will not offend Him, but to please Him in our daily lives.
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, I thank you because Jesus has resurrected from death so that we may depart from sin and experience victorious life, and enter the glorious life of the Lord by His mighty power.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
  
      
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Monday, March 28, 2016

Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

1 Corinthians 6:9-11
 
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
 
Paul was rebuking the wicked man in this passage.  Although in the church today, we may not think that we are wicked, when you read verse 9, it says that not only the sexually immoral, but the idolaters, the thieves, the greedy and drunkards, none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.  Although we may not commit big crime or sin most of the time, there are often times when we covet after things that others have, such as their wealth or even their talents.  These "hidden" sins prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God. 

Paul tells us one truth and good news we have in the Lord, which is God has shed His blood for us in Christ Jesus.  In other words, we do not have to live in bondage to sin.  What you and I need to do is to simply accept the grace of God.  The blood of Christ has cleansed us, so that we may be called "righteousness" and we may live a life that is Christ-like.  "Justification" simply means something we do not deserve.  But because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, Jesus took away our unrighteousness and gave us His righteousness.  This is a spiritual exchange. We have exchanged our unrighteousness with God's righteousness, so that Jesus can take our unrighteousness on the cross for us.  Because Jesus took our unrighteousness on the cross, we can truly be called righteous.  The Spirit of God in us, continues to cleanse us of our sins, and gives us strength to rebuke the acts of the enemy Satan and the temptations of evil, so that our lives continue to grow in Christ.
 
Brothers and sisters, we need to return to the presence of God and understand that living in Christ is a daily choice. It does not mean that you are living in Christ just because you were living in Christ ten years ago.  You need to choose to live in the light of Christ each day.
   
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, we thank you and praise you because you are a Holy God, and you cleanse us from our sins. You give us strength to live our daily lives by the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of us.  May you manifest your victorious power in our midst once again! We thank you and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen! 
  
      
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Sunday, March 27, 2016

Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 6:1-8

1 Corinthians 6:1-8
 
If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church! I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? But instead, one brother goes to law against another-and this in front of unbelievers! The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.
 
Paul mentioned here the principle of settling despites among Christians.  Firstly in verse 7 he says that Christians should not sue one another because it is totally inconsistent with the principle of spiritual life. Human beings often emphasize the right and wrong due to the self-centered and self-righteous nature. However, the spiritual principle is different.

In the spiritual life, the emphasis is not about right and wrong, the emphasis in the church is love and denying oneself. Only in love and self-denial can we love one another and support one another.  Let me say it again.  It is not that right and wrong is not important.  I have discovered that arguing about who is right and who is wrong is only to prove one's self-righteousness.  When this happens, the church suffers because the church is divided.  Pray that God will help us see that this is not the heart of Christ Jesus.  The Lord gave Himself for us. He suffered much wrong for us so that the great work of redemption may be accomplished in our lives.  Today you and I have to follow the example of Christ's love, and love one another.
 
It says here why not rather be wronged for the Lord. This does not mean blindly suffering wrong.  Paul was referring to disputes among believers in this passage. If the dispute is not between believers or is between believers and non-believers, you can definitely take them to court.  However, when it comes to dispute among the Christians, we should come to church pastor and seek God's guidance for a fair and just way to resolve the dispute. I believe that the Spirit of God will guide us in the path to take. If the dispute still cannot be resolved, and needs to go back to legal system, that is fine too.  The real principle behind this is, as Christians, we should not defraud others, and especially, not defraud our brothers and sisters in Christ.
   
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, we pray you will remind us once again that you have given yourself for us to accomplish the great salvation in our lives.  Pray Lord that you will help us follow your example of suffering.  Let us be willing to seek your guidance and wisdom in resolving any conflicts we have with other believers within the church. We thank you and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!
  
      
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Saturday, March 26, 2016

Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 5:9-13

1 Corinthians 5:9-13
 
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."
 
Paul specifically mentioned here that the church has the responsibility to deal with the problem of morality within the church.  But we also know that in this entire chapter, while Paul mentioned that we need to confront the sinner, he also mentioned that in the process, there is a key principle, which is not to condemn. When we do so, on the one hand, we destroy his sinful nature, on the other hand, his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

In other words, we need to ask God to help us help us to restore the sinner to Himself. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He rebuked sin, but He loved the sinners. No matter where He went, when He went into the city, he was together with sinners, and was looking for sinners. Even the Pharisees thought that it was ridiculous that Jesus was always among the sinners. Jesus hated sin, but loved sinners.
 
But the church today often rushes to convict others, without the mercy or love of Christ.  When the Lord was on earth, he saw many who were lost, like sheep without a shepherd, and He had compassion on them. This is because it is easy to pass judgment, but it is hard to restore. When I see how the church deals with the weak, or preachers who have stumbled, I am sad to say there is sometimes no love in the church. It seems that the church is also a place where only the fittest survive and the weak ones are purged.  I have a deep prayer in my heart: Lord have mercy on us, so that the church is never a place of condemnation, but a place of healing and restoration for the weak, because this is the heart of God.  Ask the Lord to help each one of us, so that we do not rebuke others, but learn to show the love of God in our daily lives so that we may cause those in sin to repent, and restore the weak. 
 
Pray with Pastor Tong
 
Lord, we thank you again because your will is not to condemn us, but it is to restore us. May your mercy and love once again fill our hearts, so that in the body of Christ, we may learn to love and support each other, and grow spiritually in Christ. We thank you and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen! 
  
      
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