Today's Passage - Matthew 8:5-13

Matthew 8:5-13   When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.  "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly."  Jesus said to him, "Shall I come and heal him?"  The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."  When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith...."   This centurion has great faith in God, so much that even Jesus praised him.  True faith is based on knowing God, and firm trust in the word of God.  Even though we often come before God with eagerness, but the eagerness won't give us faith.  Some people think that if they pray earnestly, God will surely answer them, but things didn't happen that way, and that is because the foundation of faith is not our wishes or the circumstances, but rather the Lord's word.  Romans 10:17 says that "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ," and Hebrews 11:1 also says that "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."  Faith is not only having a clear goal, but also receiving a clear assurance from the Lord.  This assurance should be built upon your knowledge of God and trust in the Lord's word.   Do you know God and understand His will?  Hebrews 4:14-16 says that "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin.  Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."  No matter whether we are in sin, suffering or disease, we can always come before God.  We are often like the Samaritan woman; when she was arguing with Jesus, Jesus told her: "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."  Unfortunately she didn't know who Jesus was, so she was still arguing with the Lord over theology and tradition.  If you know about the Lord's grace, you should ask for His grace as soon as possible!   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, I thank you for giving us your grace and letting us to come before you and pray to you by faith.   Every word of yours carries power and it'll never return.  May you once again grant your grace to the lives of all brothers and sisters, let us depend on you and receive strength and help from you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!           Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!