Today's Passage - Matthew 11:11-15

Matthew 11:11-15   Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear.   The Lord says that "the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it." Note that "violence" means more than mere hardworking; it means to be aggressive and forceful. Violence in this context refers to strong desire. When one comes before God, he needs to be strongly desiring God's grace if he were to receive God's grace. Just like what the author of Psalm 42 says, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God." When a deer is thirty, it searches everywhere for water and would not give up regardless of distance or dangers. Some waters are very far from the deer, but when the deer smells the water it would run towards the water until it drinks from the water.   Does your heart desire God in the same way? A strong desire that makes you feels that you have to get hold of the Lord and be captivated by Him regardless of the price that you have to pay, just like that four men who carried a paralytic to Jesus. At first these four men could not get near to Jesus because many gathered at the house that Jesus was in. But their strong desire causes them to uncover the roof where Jesus was and let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. The Lord saw their faith and healed that paralytic. When one comes before the Lord, he needs to have such desire, for the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, not by human's force but by the strong desire to come before God.   On the other hand, violence in this context also refers to denying oneself in order to enter the kingdom of God. Denying oneself means full submission to God and full obedience to His leading. The Lord says, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." It takes efforts to follow the Lord, not by our hardworking but by confessing our weaknesses and by fully submitting to Him thereby allowing Him to work on us. We need to come near to God and keep following Him, so that His wills can be done on us. Are we following God closely today? Or are we following God loosely today? Let us have the strong desire to closely follow our Lord!   Pray with Pastor Tong   Dear Lord, may you grant a deep desire in us, so that we would be willing to be captivated by you and follow you in our daily lives.  Help us to obey you so that your will may be done. I thank you and pray all these in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen!        Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!