Today's Passage - Psalm 42:4

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Psalm 42:4   These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.   In verse 3, the first hindrance that prevents us from being thirsty for God was the hindrance of hardship. In verse 4, we can see the second hindrance, which is what I'd call the hindrance of the "past". Psalm was thinking about the past and compared with current circumstance, and then he had doubt in his heart and his heart could no longer thirst for God. Brothers and sisters, our God is the God who does new things. If our heart is stuck on what God did before and how He worked in the past, then we will always feel uncertain and stagnant, and we will also be sad when we think God is no longer doing new things.   When Isaiah led the Israelites into the beautiful land of Canaan, the biggest change that God made during the journey was to stop providing the Israelites with manna. Manna was what God provided the Israelites with as food for over forty years, so it represents God's provision. Suddenly manna stopped coming down, so did that mean God will no longer provide us with our needs? Or did the leader or some of us do anything wrong? It's actually none of the above. God simply changed the way He provided for them and He wanted to do new things! Started on that day, God said they will eat the produces from Canaan, and they would cultivate and harvest by themselves. Brothers and sisters, God's work in the past was good, but when God wants us to move forward, these work in the past could become our hindrance.   When disciples saw Lord Jesus lifted to the heaven, the Bible described how they stared at the sky. Why were they staring at the sky? Because they felt uncertain and didn't know what was going to happen. Before, when Jesus was around, they only had to follow Jesus; when the storm came, Jesus calmed it; when they were hungry, Jesus fed them; and when they were sick, Jesus healed them. Now that Jesus was gone and gave them a great commission, they were faced with a major transition in era. The angels, however, told them: "Men of Galilee, they said, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." In other word, the angels told them that even though they could no longer see Jesus, God's work would not stop; it's not that God didn't care about them anymore, but they must transform the way they follow and serve Jesus! The Lord will be with you and He will work with you; don't keep on thinking about how He worked before, because God will have a new way! Brothers and sisters, may God let us see that God will do new things in our life, so don't let us become a hindrance to God's work, but to serve together with God!   Pray with Pastor Tong          Lord, we thank you because you are the God who continuously does new things. May you give us an open heart and let us welcome your new work, and give us a sensitive heart to follow you in our daily life. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!