Today's Passage - 1 John 3:10-12

1 John 3:10-12   This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.   This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.   Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.   The subject of love one another came up many times in the letters written by John.  According to him, if a person follows the will of God, he must also love brothers and sisters; on the contrary, if a person cannot love brothers and sisters, he cannot possibly be following God's commandments.  John even said that those who don't love brothers are not children of God - This is a truly serious matter!  In the church today, we often feel that while it's great for us to love one another, it doesn't hurt much if we don't as long as we all love God, so it's hard to accept such extreme teaching by John.   Actually, if we truly understand God's will, we won't dare to casually criticize and judge our brothers and sisters.  Whenever I hear about how brothers and sisters criticize one another either within a church or between churches, I feel really sad.  The fact is that one day we'll meet in heaven and we together forever.  If we are attaching each other on earth, how are we going to face each other when we meet in heaven?  If we think about this, wouldn't we want to accept and bear with one another?  May God has mercy on us and help us to love one another, for this is what we have "heard from the beginning."   John also reminded us that we ought not to be like Cain, who was jealous of brother Abe and just killed him.  Perhaps we won't kill others like Cain did, but often we hurt others with words.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that "anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment... But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell."  Very often we are not watching our words careful; consequently we stumbled many people, but we still thought we are being honest in love!  The kind of honesty that the Bible taught about is not simply voicing our opinion or straight-shooting word of fury.  Honesty in the Bible refers to the truth and word of God, or word of God that is preached in love but not our own words.  When the word is God is released, there will be healing, comfort and blessing.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, you are the source of love, so please help us to bear with and accept one another in the church.  Pour into our heart the sacrificial love that you manifested on the cross, so that we would know how to interact in love, but not hurting each other with our word.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

Today's Passage - 1 John 3:7-9

1 John 3:7-9   Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.  He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.   It is important to know the truth that "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work."  When we worship God, His throne is established in our midst.  We often, however, neglect the fact that the work of devil Satan is also very real.  Whenever we gather, we focus on the presence of the Lord and we also know that brothers and sisters are among us along with the angels; however, we often neglect that Satan is also working among us.  Many people can never retain any sermon that we hear because of what the enemy does on them.  Therefore, during our gatherings, we lift the throne of the Lord through praise and worship, and it also turns back the work of devil.   This is also true in our personal life.  If we want to defeat work of the devil, we must give praising the Lord top priority in our life.  The first thing we do when we wake up in the morning should be praising the Lord, else we're going to begin the day with a sign and not feeling like getting up.  The day has barely started but we're already defeated by Satan.  Every morning when we wake up, let us praise and proclaim that today is a new day, and that we will once again experience God's grace, faithfulness, wisdom and strength.   When we praise the Lord, we can defeat any attack by the enemy.  The enemy often uses our physical weakness to attack us.  When we understand the principle of spiritual warfare, we will understand how to defend ourselves against any attack and temptation.  When we praise Him, we welcome Jesus to come and rule over us.  The throne of the Lord will be established on us and we can be victorious by the Lord.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we welcome you into our life and help us to learn to praise and worship you daily.  Through praise and worship, let us life your throne high and rebuke any work by enemy Satan.  Let the son of God be manifested in every aspect of our life and ministry.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

Today's Passage - 1 John 3:4-6

1 John 3:4-6   Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.  No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.   As children of God, we have life that belongs to God; this life will grow naturally inside us and gradually make us take on the form of Jesus Christ.  That's why John, in verse 2, said that "when Christ appears, we shall be like him."  He didn't say we might look more like Him, but he said we "shall" be like Him, as if our growth is guaranteed.  A lot of people have told me I'm too skinny and ought to eat more, but I would point my father to them and let them know that since he's so skinny there's not much I can do to gain weight.  Not only am I as skinny as my father, I walk more and more like him too.  Since I inherited life from him, I naturally would become more and more like him.   I have discovered that this rule is actually also true in our spiritual life.  As long as we don't hinder God's work, the Spirit of God will naturally shape us from inside so that we will look more and more like the Lord.  Therefore, we have the responsibility of cleansing ourselves to become holy.  The Lord was here in order to eliminate sin from people; now that we have received the grace of the Lord, we shouldn't commit more sins to offend God.  When the Holy Spirit shines inside us and we see how filthy are, we must turn back to Him and believe that God has the authority to forgive sins and wash away all our trespasses and unrighteousness.   The Holy Spirit is really living inside us, and one of the most important tasks of the Spirit is for us to blame ourselves for sin, for righteousness and for judgment.  It's for sin because we often live in self-centeredness and disbelief, so we often don't live by God's will.  It's for righteousness because Jesus is the Lord who's completely righteous.  We thought we were righteous before, but under the light of righteousness from the Lord we see how filthy we are.  It's for judgment because God's judgment on sinners is truly terrifying and everyone wants to escape it.  If we know how terrifying it is, we would come before God to seek His clemency and forgiveness.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, I thank you because you are the Holy Lord, and your holy life is ruling inside our life.  Please come and shape us to be more like you, and please give us a softened heart so that we can be shaped by you in our daily life in order to manifest your beauty.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

Today's Passage - 1 John 3:1-3

1 John 3:1-3   See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.    As Christians, it doesn't occur to us very often that it is quite a privilege to become God's children. But John reminded us here what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called Children of God. We used to be just unworthy sinners. Had it not been for Jesus' crucifixion for us on the cross, how can we enjoy God's grace, and be called Children of God. Once I was the main speaker for a Christians' retreat. When I arrived at the camp, I asked a coworker there for the direction to the restroom. He just gave me a rough direction. I did see a restroom in that direction, so I went ahead. But when I got there, I looked up and saw the sign on the doors "Prince, Princess". My first thought was that it was not for me. But on second thought, since it was a Christian campsite, when they mentioned prince and princess, weren't they referring to the prince and princess in God's kingdom. Suddenly I realized that God gave us such honorable titles after all. Do you know that you have an honorable title in God's kingdom?     In addition, you have another precious privilege as Children of God, which is that we all have a Heavenly Father that loves us and remembers us every day. All parents would have the same experience, which is that children can never love their parents as much as their parents love them. Children often overlook the needs of their parents, but the parents never overlook the needs of their children. Likewise, our Heavenly Father remembers us every day. No matter what your circumstances are, or how rebellious you are, don't forget that you have a Heavenly Father that loves you. He will never forget nor forsake you. As long as our life is connected with Christ, we can enjoy all the grace God has prepared for us.     Are you sure today you are God's child? If so, you should live like one every day. A prince not only has his honorable identity, he has to live accordingly. May God give us a sensitive heart, so that we can live for the Lord every day.             Pray with Pastor Tong Liu   Lord, we thank you. You are our Heavenly Father. Nowadays many people can't feel your love. May the Spirit reveal to them, so that they can feel embraced by your loving arms and live out the identity of Children of God every day. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

Today's Passage - 1 John 2:28-29

1 John 2:28-29     And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. John encouraged us to continue in Him. Why? Because when the Lord appears we may be confident. It is referring to the second coming of Jesus, when He will judge the world. Just think about it. How can we stand firm when we come to this holy and righteous God in the future?     Many people would try to accumulate merits to make up for their previous transgressions. Actually, it is just a way of wishful thinking. One man's merit is what he needs to do after all. No one can redeem his previous sins with merits. Even if he could, who would guarantee that he would never sin again? If he sins, does he have to redeem his sin again with merits? The Bible tells us that Jesus has already become the atonement for our sins and sacrificed once for all, thus obtaining the eternal redemption. In other words, the redemption is once for all. Hallelujah!   Today we can approach the throne of our Heavenly Father with confidence by the precious blood of Jesus, for our sins have been wiped clean by the precious blood of the Lord. 1 John 1:7 tells us that the blood of Jesus purifies us from all the sins on one condition: we have to live inside the Lord. In the original language, "live" means "to stay" or "to keep". Another way to say "inside" is to be connected with the Lord. Just like the parable of vine and branch that the Lord uses in John 15, the branch has to be connected with the vine to get nutrition, so as to not only keep live but also bear fruit.     Likewise, as believers, we also need to remain in the Lord. How? First, we should read the scriptures to live in the Lord. God's Words are the food of our life. When we read God's Words, we are actually nurturing our own spiritual life, so that it can grow, get mature and strong. Secondly, we also need to be connected with the Lord through prayer. Someone once said: "Prayer is the breath of the spirit." We breathe in God's grace and breathe out any unclean thoughts every day, so that we can be renewed. Do you read the scriptures and pray every day? Just imagine your child told you that he was not fed for three days, would you say it is okay? You would immediately take him to the ER and have him checked out. May the Lord help us so that we no longer overlook the needs of our spiritual life, but rather keep connected with the Lord always.            Pray with Pastor Tong Liu   Lord, help us so that we can live in you every day. Give us a hungry heart for your Words. Also give us a hungry spirit so that we can seek your face through prayer every day. May you reveal your presence in our life. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

Today's Passage - 1 John 2:26-27

1 John 2: 26-27 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him.        John mentioned that each believer should have the anointing of the Lord in his life. And he said that the anointing is real. What is anointing? The Bible uses the anointing for many times to illustrate the work of the Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our personal savior, the Spirit will live inside us. The most important goal for the Spirit to live inside us is to let us be sure that we belong to God. 2 Corinthians 1:21 states that when the Spirit anoints us, the anointing is like a seal on us. What is a seal for? I usually would put a seal of "Tong Liu's book collection" on every book I buy, which states that that book belongs to me. If you fail to return a book you have borrowed from me, next time you open the book and see the seal, you will realize that it belongs to me, so you should return as soon as possible. Likewise, the anointing of the Spirit puts a seal on us to let us know that we all belong to God. The enemies may attack us. The world may put us under siege. But we can never be separated from the love of the Lord, for we belong to the Lord.     The anointing of the Lord will also shed light on us, so that we may understand His Words. If without the leading of the Spirit, one would forget what he has read when he reads God's Words. Someone once said that God's Words are just like raw rice. One cannot chew it up. Nor can he digest it even if he manages to swallow it. Many people just feel that when they read the Bible. But when the Spirit lives inside us, it is like putting raw rice in a rice cooker. The raw rice will be cooked. And we can read and assimilate, and it will become the strength in our life. The anointing of the Lord then can guide us into the truth and help us understand His Words.     The anointing of the Spirit can also guide us in our daily life. The Spirit has another name, the counselor. Counselors in the world are never perfect. They can see the problem. But they can never set people free from the power of the darkness. Only when the Spirit comes, will He help us no longer live in the darkness, and set us free from the power of the sins.     Do you know that you belong to God? Many believers still live under the deception and accusation of the enemies without joy or peace, for they haven't realized that they belong to God, nor have they realized that there is the anointing of the Lord in their life. May the Spirit open our eyes today, so that we can understand and enter into His grace.   Pray with Pastor Tong Liu   Lord, we thank you for giving us the Spirit inside. This anointing is real. And it will guide us into your Words. It will guide us and become our strength and help. Lord, we welcome you to rule in each area of my life. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

Today's Passage - 1 John 2:24-25

1 John 2:24-25 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us - eternal life.     John said that we should see that what we have heard from the beginning remains in us. What we have heard from the beginning is the teaching of salvation, the gospel that the Lord became flesh for us. Had He not become flesh, He wouldn't have had the experience of our dilemma. Nor would He have taken over our weakness and carried our pain. Just because the Lord became flesh for us, experienced the physical death and was resurrected from death, He was able to give us the authority to overcome the sins. Thus all those who are still in the bondage of sins and living in fear of the death today can have the power to overcome. This is the gospel we have heard from God from the beginning.    John told us that we should see that his gospel always remains in us through praise, prayer and reading God's Words. Praise is the first lesson we should learn in our life as a Christian. The first thing we should do in the morning after we get up is to learn to praise God, and proclaim that today is a new day and God's resurrecting power will be manifested on us. When we see that what we have heard from the beginning remains in us, we already accept Christ to enter into our life and be our savior. The Lord gave us the clear promise that we then live inside the Son. What precious truth it is!     As believers, it is so great for us to be able to live with the Lord from now on. There is nothing else more precious than the presence of the Lord in our living world. You may have honors and titles in this world. But without the presence of the Lord, you will still not have the true satisfaction. You may experience all kinds of sufferings in this world. Without the presence of the Lord, you will never enjoy the true comfort. Nothing can take away the eternal life that the Lord promised us. Therefore, in Romans 8:38-39, Paul said: "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." In other words, no circumstances can take away the presence of the Lord. Not even death. This is all the promise and hope we have in the Lord. Brothers and sisters, do you have such a hope inside of you? Do you have the assurance?   Pray with Pastor Tong Liu   Lord, we thank you for not only promising us that we have eternal life, but also promising us that you will be with us. How precious such presence is! May your Spirit guide us so that we can experience your presence in our life every day. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!       Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

Today's Passage - 1 John 2:20-23

1 John 2:20-23 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist-denying the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.     John asked: "Who is the liar?" Of course whom he referred to here are those who deny that Jesus is the Christ. But the real liar is Satan. The Bible calls him the father of liars. In fact, Satan often attacks us through deception and accusation. When Jesus was tempted by the devil, the devil asked: "If you are truly the Son of God, why does he allow you to suffer?" The devil tried to deceive Jesus. Likewise, he also tried to deceive us very often by saying: "Are you truly the children of God? Actually you are not!" "You are just His second-best children. You only deserve the second-best blessing. The promises in the Bible are for those children who are more spiritual, not for you!" He tried to deceive us, so that we may think that we are not the children in God's will and fall into the trap of discouragement or despair. We have to come to God and resist the devil's deception in the name of the Lord.    Secondly, the devil often accuses us by saying: "If you are the son of God". This is a way of accusation. In other words, he is saying: "Actually you are not. You are so weak. How can you be the son of God?" Satan also accuses us in this way very often: "You committed sin again. Your ministry will never be fruitful!" Even when you are in difficulties, he would also say: "If you walk in God's way, how come you run into difficulties? Forget it! Just give up!"      May God help us to put on the spiritual armor every day, and resist Satan and his deception or accusation in the name of the Lord. May the Spirit guide us, so we can pray with God's Words, believe in God's promises, and rely on His power to overcome the attack from the enemies. The Bible says that if we resist the enemies, we can stand firm. May God help us every day, so by Him we can resist the spirit of liar of Satan.   Pray with Pastor Tong Liu   Dear Lord, we come to you, and rebuke in the victorious name of Jesus any attack, discouragement and frustration the spirit of liar puts into our heart. May we once again be assured that we belong to you, and you are still our Lord who rules from the throne. May you once again put hope and strength into the hearts of brothers and sisters today. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!    Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project

Today's Passage - 1 John 2:18-19

1 John 2:18-19   Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come.  This is how we know it is the last hour.  They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us.  For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.   In this passage, John talked about how "antichrists" will appear at the end time.  Actually, antichrists don't refer to individuals who will be against Jesus at the end time, but rather the authority that will be against Christ.  From that perspective, there are already lots of spirits of antichrists in the world.  For example, many unbiblical laws, such as those concerning abortion or homosexuals, have been passed in the U.S.  Years ago, some American churches encouraged high school students to gather under the flagstaff to pray blessings on the church, but many students were arrested by the police.   The spirit of antichrist is moving fiercely in the U.S., even in the religious arena.  Many are claiming to be Christ and asked people to follow them.  For example, Sun Myung Moon from Korea claims that Jesus is not the perfect Christ because He was never married, and he is actually the perfect Christ because he has four wives.  Many are deceived into following him.  When we participated in prayer walk in Washington D.C., we found that so Lamaism is popular there that even many celebrities in politics and entertainment are following it.  They meet and proclaim that the authority of Lamaism will rule over Washington D.C.  All these are examples of the spirit of antichrist in the U.S.   Because we are in the end time, we must ask God for a sober heart so that we may guard our heart from falling into any kind of temptation, and also distinguish between the tales and rumors so that we won't fall into deception and fear.  Back in 1995, some people prophesied that China will attack Taiwan, so many believers and even entire churches immigrated overseas.  Not only did they become laughing stock of others, it also became a subject with which gentiles attacked the Christian faith.  Christians should not fear hardship, because it's in hardship that God's presence will become more tangible.  May God help us to know what to do in the end time, and to be alert and pray while waiting for the Lord's return.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, I thank you because your word is so true.  Our hearts are filled with peace and joy when we live by your word.  Even though our circumstance always changes and the spirit of antichrist is moving, we have assurance and peace in our heart because we know that we are in you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!   Support Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Expansion Project