Today's Passage - Luke 11:29-32

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 11:29-32   "As the crowds increased, Jesus said, 'This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.  For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation.'"   People in the world are searching for different things.  In the ancient time, Jews valued signs and wonders and Greeks valued words of wisdom.  It's the same for our generation, for we often seek signs and wonders, or rational answers to our questions, but neither of them can bring people to God.  Signs and wonders are great, but we are often focused on the miracles themselves and we often overlook God who performed the miracles.  Words of wisdom are great, but they indulge us in rationality and we often overlook God who gave us rationality.  These can often become tools of the devil, used for preventing us from coming before God.  Only Jesus on the cross can deliver us from sin, and only in Jesus we can find true peace, joy, satisfaction and wisdom in our heart and soul.   We must experience the power of resurrection of Jesus Christ by ourselves.  If we don't have personal experience, we are only receiving testimonies and theories from other people; it's not a personal experience unless we willingly open ourselves to come before Jesus and allow Him to work in our life.  You need to open your heart to welcome Him; otherwise you won't be able to experience how Jesus is the Savior and Lord of your life.  We must spread the message of salvation by Jesus in our daily life; if we truly understand the terrifying severity of God's judgment, we have no choice but to preach the gospel.  Because we don't know the harshness of the judgment, we often neglect the work of spreading the gospel.  May God place such a burden inside us, remind us to rise up and spread the gospel.   This generation doesn't need signs and wonders, or words of wisdom, but it needs salvation of Jesus Christ.  Only Christians have the authority to preach the salvation of Christ.  May God help us, rise for God to not only experience the deliverance that comes with salvation, but to become a channel; for salvation.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because you are the answer to all the questions in my life.  We bring all our needs before you, and we ask that you release your power in our midst.  Help us to spread the gospel in our daily life, and let such precious message be preached to people around us.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Luke 11:21-28

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 11:21-28   "'When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.  But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils.  He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.'"   In order for the Kingdom of God to come, not only do we need to depend on the work of the Spirit, we also need to bind the work of the devil in order to eliminate his deeds.  Spreading the gospel might seem difficult because we only see the challenges of living a victorious life, but we overlook the devil's work behind those challenges.  It's like we go to a strong man's house and try to steal his chairs; we can steal ten chairs away, but he will grab nine of them back.  In the church, we may have 30 new converts during an evangelistic meeting, but at the end only 3 or 5 of them stay and rest of them would disappear.  If we want to be victorious over the world, we must first bind the devil.  Jesus said, in Matthew 18:18-19, "whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven."  Let us once again see the importance of prayer, because when we pray together, we can bind any deeds of Satan.  Prayer is not just pleading and thanksgiving, but it's to work together with God and to fight battles with Him.   One time some people asked the disciples of Jesus to cast out demon, but the disciples couldn't make the demon leave.  When Jesus got there, the demon was quickly cast out.  Disciples asked him why, and Jesus told them that they needed to fast in order to cast that type of demon out.  That kind of prayer to bind the devil is not a casual prayer, and a price needs to be paid.  The Yoido Full Gospel Church in Korea is the biggest church in the world, and the congregation is still growing, because not only do their believers listen to the sermons and attend the meetings, they also pray feverishly.  I have been to their "prayer mountain" and I saw how many believers fasted and prayed overnight; it is not surprising that their evangelistic ministry carries powerful spiritual authority.  May the Lord help us to know how to depend on God when we serve Him; no only to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit, but also know how bind the work of Satan, and let the devil have no room to work in our life.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you for the authority to pray that you've given us so that we can bind the work of the devil through prayer.  You said that whatever we bind on earth, you will bind in heaven; we ask you to help us to pray for deliverance, and let our own heart and soul and those of whom we pray for will be delivered from the restraint by the enemy.  When we pray on earth, we know you will accomplish such great work in the heaven.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Luke 11:14-20

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 11:14-20   "Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed.  But some of them said, 'By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.'  Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.  Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: 'Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall.  If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub.  Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out?'"   Lord mentioned here the specific secret of letting the Kingdom of God come upon us.  Many Christians feel powerless in our daily life and ministry, because we have not experienced the power of God, which comes from the work on the Holy Spirit.  We often neglect the work of the Spirit and we don't understand how to depend on the power of the Spirit; we like to depend on our own power, talent and understanding to serve God.  In church we often just discuss things during meetings, and we serve with our own talent and rather than with the Holy Spirit, so our ministry often turn out to be ineffective.   When I was in university, I attended evangelism training conducted by Campus Crusade.  They used Four Spiritual Laws booklet to share the gospel with people, and then invited them to accept Jesus.  I was pretty excited after the training, because I thought preaching the gospel was really easy, so I started going around the dormitory with a Campus Crusade coworker.  After a few times, I didn't dare to go out with the coworker anymore.  Even though we did exactly the same thing - reading booklet with the prospects - but when he did it others would accept Jesus, but when I did it there was no response, so I was quite frustrated.  Later on, he told me that before he went out the share the gospel, he actually spends a long time to pray and ask the Lord to prepare him and use him, and he also prays for those he will meet as well.  Although he didn't know exactly whom he was going to meet, he always first prays for that person, and he depended on the work of the Holy Spirit to share the gospel.  I then realized that I needed to learn to pray, and to pray each time before I went out to share the gospel; afterwards, I experienced the joy of bringing people to Christ through the booklet.  The secret, therefore, is not in the booklet itself, but rather the dependence on the power of Holy Spirit.   Brothers and sisters, we need to depend on Holy Spirit in our ministry.  Jesus said that "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  Let us learn to live and serve by depending on the Holy Spirit.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, please have mercy on us, because we often depend on our own body, talent and understanding to serve you.  Please let us see that we are meager and lacking, and let us turn back to you and start depending on the power of the Holy Spirit.  We want to work together with you through prayer so that our ministry will become more effective.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Luke 11:9-13

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 11:9-13   "'So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!'" When we pray, we must be persistent, to pray till the end.  Sometimes you may feel that God is hiding Himself, but praying is actually to experience the cross, where you will go through physical death in order for your spirit to be resurrected.  The physical death of our body is to put down oneself to submit to God.  It's like how Jacob wrestled with God at Jabbok's ford, and the meaning of wrestling is to struggle, because we need to struggle with our will and voice of our body against the will of God.  We need to lay down our will, not to force God with our own strength, and not to ask God to do things according to our understanding.  We must nail our old self on the cross, and let the resurrected life of God to be manifested in my life.   Through continuous prayer, we will see God's promise come true; ask, seek, and knock - every step will take our prayer deeper.  We need to ask humbly like a beggar, seek loyally like a servant, and knock by faith like a friend; we ought to keep on praying until God makes a way.  Lord said that He is going to give us the best, and He's talking about Holy Spirit.  We must value the work of the Holy Spirit, because only when the Holy Spirit comes will we convict our own guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment.  We need to come before God often so that we will lament and repent for our own sin before Him.  The Bible says that if it wasn't by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, no one can call Jesus Lord.  We can only know Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, and we can only come before Father God through Jesus Christ.  When the Holy Spirit comes, we will have all kinds of spiritual gifts to serve God, and to testify the power and greatness of God in our generation.  Through the mightiness of the Holy Spirit and our testimony, we will demonstrate that Jesus is our true resurrected Savior.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because you are willing to give us the best.  We want to ask you boldly and we want the Holy Spirit to fill us.  Let us continue to pray before you until your promise is fulfilled.  Let us rise up and depend on the mightiness of Holy Spirit to live victoriously everyday.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Luke 11:5-8

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 11:5-8   "Then he said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, "Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him."  Then the one inside answers, "Don't bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can't get up and give you anything." I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man's boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs."   Lord has taught us the principle of intercession in the Kingdom of God.  First of all, we must see the urgency of the need.  If you don't see the need, you won't get up to pray.  There are many churches that are locked inside their own ivory tower, they can't see the needs of the world nor hear the crying of the souls.  In this parable, the Lord described a friend who came to ask for bread in the midnight because of hunger.  We must see the needs before us, and then we will rise up and pray for the needs.   We must not only care about church activities, but we must enter the community, and care for the needs of the community.  Besides seeing the need, we also need to see that we are powerless; otherwise, we will try to solve the problems without praying.  Power can only come from God; prophet Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet because he saw the disobedience of the Israelites and his own lack of power, he felt tremendous sympathy and compassion for them.  We ask God to place a compassionate heart inside us, so that on the one hand we see the need of the world, but on the other hand recognize that we cannot do anything.  We will come before God and eagerly cry out for the world.  Also, we need to love willingly others, because we can only see the needs when we have true love in us.  We won't try to push away our responsibilities, but to willingly sacrifice unselfishly.  Continuous prayer must come from the zeal, love and compassion from God, because otherwise it will just become a duty.   Lord has mentioned, in another parable, that the prayer of the Pharisees is merely talking to themselves, because they only focus on how they have sacrificed themselves for God.  Thus, it is not prayer, but just fulfilling a duty.  If your prayer doesn't come from a heart that loves the souls, the church, brothers and sisters, then your prayer will sooner or later become a report, or even accusation.  May God help us, let us recognize that we need fire of prayer inside us, and when God places us on a broken wall, we need to stand on the broken wall and pray until something happens.   In the ministry of prayer, God has given every different gift.  Some are called to pray for the whole world, some for the social issues, some for the church, some for families, and some specifically for Israel.  When God places a specific burden inside us, we need to rise up to work with Him, and to experience the victory of God through prayer.      Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because you are the victorious Lord and because you have chosen us to collaborate with you through prayer.  Please call us to become prayer warriors all our life, so that you may bring down revival through us.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Luke 11:1-4

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 11:1-4   "He said to them, 'When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.  May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us each day our daily bread.  Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation and deliver us from the evil one."'"   Through the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught the disciples how to pray in five ways:   1. Hallowed be your name: Learn to praise God; Jesus wanted the disciples to praise God with His name.  Our God has many names - Jehovah Jireh, our provider; Jehovah Rophe, our healer; Jehovah Rohi, our shepherd; Immanuel, God is with us.  God's name can save from sin, for He is called the wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, and prince of peace.  Every name carries promise, and when we praise God with His names, we may receive the grace that the names bring along.   2. Your Kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven: When God's will is done on earth, God's Kingdom will come.  When we pray, we don't just keep on asking, but we ought to learn to listen to God's will.  When we pray according to His will, God's kingdom will come.  Therefore, we ask God to let us understand His will in us, in our family, and in our church, so that His Kingdom will come upon us.   3. Give us each day our daily bread: God is happy to take care of us, even down to the most minor things, so that we can bring our daily needs before Him, because He will provide us with everything we need.   4. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us: Ask Holy Spirit to shine on us, to see the darkness inside us.  Bring everything that hinders our communion with God or displeases God before Him; ask Him for forgiveness and cleansing with the blood of Lord Jesus, so that our communion with God will have no hindrance. 5. Lead us not into temptation: We will encounter spiritual battle in our daily life, and the enemy often robs our peace and joy away.  In the blood of Jesus Christ, however, we have the authority to be victorious; we can stand on the foundation of the precious blood and God's word to rebuke the enemy everyday, and chase the enemy away.   May God help us, let us pray with the Lord's Prayer, and enjoy the power that comes from prayer.      Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, please help us to learn to praise your name, seek your will, and bring all our needs before you.  Please wipe off our sin with your precious blood, and help us to rebuke the work of Satan with your authority for victory, so that we can experience your victory today.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Luke 10:38-42

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 10:38-42   As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!'  'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'   The two sisters represent two types of ministry: Mary represents the inward ministry and Martha represents the outward ministry.  Both ministries are important and precious.  Many have mistakenly believed that Martha's work is not valuable and Mary's ministry is more important, but Jesus didn't say that here; rather, He was simply pointing out the right attitude for serving.  There are indeed many outward ministries that a church needs to engage in, so if everyone becomes like Mary, then who will work on those ministries?  Obviously both inward and outward ministries are important.   We can see two ways to be busy here: One is outward, and the other is inside the heart.  The problem of Martha is not that she's busy with her work, but it's the fact that her heart is restless.  Although Martha was serving the Lord, she was relying on her natural life, so she had to worry about many things.  When we serve God, we need to ask God to help us not to be bogged down by being busy with the outward things, and let our heart be restful so that we'll come before God with the right attitude.   The two sisters also focused on different things: One focused on herself, the other focused on Christ.  Martha only saw herself while serving, so she had a narrow view and felt that she was the only one who was busy.  Aren't we often like that too?  We pity ourselves and feel things are not fair - why am I the only one who's busy?  That's why Martha asked the Lord "don't you care..."  Actually, she's the one who really cared and her heart and mind were bound.  Mary, on the other hand, focused on Christ while serving and her eyes set solely on Jesus, so she was able maintain a peaceful heart before the Lord.   It is not so important whether we are busy on the outside, but we need to examine whether we always have our eyes set on Jesus, so that we won't develop the feeling of self-pity and unfairness by just focusing on ourselves.  Lord reminded Martha not to just be busy, but to know exactly what the Lord wanted her to do through learning to listen.  Let us work together with God and understand His will; not just to be zealous for the Lord, but to collaborate with God.  If you are feeling busy in your ministry, may God remind you to not just have great zeal, but let God teach you how to work with Him.    Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, please you help us to learn from Martha how to examine ourselves.  If we are zealous in serving you, may your Spirit remind us to listen to your voice and learn to work and walk together with you.  Teach us how to stay close to you everyday in our life.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Luke 10:29-37

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 10:29-37   But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, And who is my neighbor?'  In reply Jesus said: 'A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him...'  'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?'  The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.'  Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'   When this expert in law asked the second question, Jesus didn't respond directly, but rather He started telling him the parable of the good Samaritan.  After telling the story, Jesus asked him which one of the three was the true neighbor of the one was beaten.  When the expert in law first asked who was his neighbor, he was simply thinking in a self-centered way.  We often think that whoever I like or has similar cultural background with me is my neighbor, but that's a self-centered response, and thus the outcome will produce more self-centeredness.   A university conducted an experience where they asked each student to donate one dollar, and they may choose to contribute to one of the three causes: Feeding starving children in Africa, helping poor students at the school, and buying a new copier for the department.  The result was that 85% of the students donated their dollar for buying a new copier for their own department, because that is the most personal cause to them.  When we ask "who is my neighbor," we are thinking in very narrow terms.  The Lord is reminding us here: The question is not who is your neighbor, but it should be who is the neighbor of those that need to be cared for?  Lord is asking us today: Who are the neighbors of the single parents, young foreign students, widows and widowers, homosexuals, and those in sin?  We often only know how to condemn someone, but don't understand the merciful heart of Jesus Christ.   When we understand the Lord's command, we will understand that God wants us to have mercy on those who are weak and in sin, and He wants us to bring the love of Christ to them, so that they may be touched and thus turn back to God.  If you understand this, you won't be condemning anyone, but instead you will ask to be filled with more of the Lord's love and to have love flow out from your life.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because you are filled with mercy.  May the Lord open my eyes to understand this parable, so that I don't ask the wrong question again.  I don't need to ask "who is my neighbor," but I shall ask "Lord, who is the neighbor of those around me that have needs?"  Let us have a merciful heart to help those in need.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!