Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: October 2021

Sunday, October 31, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 2:16-18

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 2:16-18

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."

Each time I read this passage, I am greatly saddened. It is not that God cannot comfort, or that He is not willing to comfort, but it was Rachel who refused to be comforted. It is not that God cannot work, but that we are unwilling to receive His work. This is such a tragedy. We know that God's work is coming and can bring about healing, salvation, peace and joy. Yet, people refuse to be comforted and miss much of God's work.

Isn't this something that can happen to us? Why do we refuse to receive God's blessings? The main reason is because we do not understand God's will and God's work. When my daughter was young, someone gave her a jacket. I brought it to her, but she was not excited about it at all. When it got cold one day, and her other jacket was in the laundry, she reluctantly. Hence she refused to take it off even when she got home, and of course she did not want her old jacket back.

Brothers and sisters, aren't we like this sometimes? We refuse to allow God to work in our lives because we do not understand how God's work will bring about much beauty and blessing. We hold on to our old jacket, and refuse to allow God to put on a new one for us. The purpose of God's work in our lives is to make us more like our Savior, Jesus Christ - to have his gentleness, loving, wisdom and compassion. May we come before God and have a willing and humble heart, so that His work may be accomplished in our lives.

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, if we are like Rachel in the past, rejecting your work and rejecting to be comforted, I pray Lord that your spirit will have mercy on us. Open our hearts to understand that your will is perfect and melt the ice off our hearts so that we may receive your grace and love once again. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

Saturday, October 30, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 2:13-15

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 2:13-15

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

We can see two things in this passage: First, the obedience of Joseph. When the angel appeared to Joseph, he obeyed God and brought His family to Egypt without questioning. If you do not recognize Jesus as your Lord, your heart will always be filled with "why". However, when your heart is submitted to God, you will discover that God's ways are higher than our ways and God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

Second, because of human submission, God's word is fulfilled. This is such a miraculous thing. Because Joseph submitted, it fulfilled the word of the prophet. God actually chose to co-work with men. From another perspective, this is also a very risky thing. If Joseph did not obey, God's prophecy will not be fulfilled! However, God still used to choose us to co-labor with Him. Just as Jesus commanded us to go into all the world and preach the gospel before He ascended into heaven. If you were the heavenly angels, and you saw Jesus give this command to the apostles, would you be nervous and think, what if these people fail to do that?

We thank God because He is indeed miraculous! He can work in the hearts of men. God's spirit can touch us so that we may submit to Him and through our submission, His eternal plan can be fulfilled. Brothers and sisters, do you understand that you are so important to God? You are an important part in God's eternal plan. May God grant us a heart of submission, so that we may obey his leading and allow His will to be fulfilled through us. May God's heart can be satisfied!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, thank you because you are such a miraculous Savior! I want to co-labor with you and play a part of your eternal plan. May the Lord grant us a heart of obedience just like Joseph, to submit before your will and path, so that through us, your perfect plan may be accomplished. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

Friday, October 29, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 2:11-12

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 2:11-12

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

The Magi traveled a long way to find Jesus and came with a longing heart. Their purpose was not to bless themselves, but to worship Him. They did not come to the Lord with anything and did not ask for any blessings. Instead, they presented Him with gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh, which are very valuable gifts back then. Their long trips were solely to worship this Savior.

Today when you and come before God, what is our attitude like? We often pray to God like an idol worshiper burning incense to ask for blessings, except that we use the prayers instead of incense. This is contradictory to what the Bible teaches us. Prayer is not man-centered, but God-centered. The important thing in our faith is to please God, not to seek our own satisfaction. The truth is when we seek God's pleasure, we find our own purpose as well. Only in God can we find true satisfaction. Hence, when we come before God, we need to come and just worship Him, not for ourselves, but just like the Magi, to simply come and adore him.

Secondly, the Magi went with a heart that was corrected. When the angels told them not to go back to Herold, they returned to their country by another route. They will willing to be guided by God and walked God's path. When you worship God, are you willing to be changed by God? Once I got a traffic ticket and had to go to traffic school. The teacher said, "Do you know why people dislike traffic school? Firstly, because there is nothing new to learn. Everything taught here is what people already know. Secondly, traffic school cannot change driving habits. Many people will continue to drive at 90 miles an hour when they leave the class!" God's Spirit reminded me at that time that the church is the same way. Why is it that the church does not attract people these days? Because people already know many of these teachings. Secondly, these teachings cannot really bring about change. Hence, the church is powerless and cannot attract people to the Lord. May the Lord have mercy on us. The Jesus inside us is not weak, but all-powerful. We need to be willing to be changed by God, so that the power of Christ can flow out from our lives!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, may you help us to worship you with a heart of longing. May you give us the will to be changed and allow your power to flow through our lives, so that this generation may recognize you and worship you. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 2:7-10

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 2:7-10

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him." After the Magi had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

According to biblical records, these Magi were longing to see Jesus. They came from a far away land to find Jesus Christ. However, even when you are trying to follow the Holy Spirit, you may go the wrong way. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, how did they end up in Jerusalem? Jerusalem is the city of the King and the capital of Judea. The Magi were following the Holy Spirit, but when they came close to Jerusalem, they did not notice that the star was continuing to move towards Bethlehem.

We are the same way when we follow the Lord. We are easily led astray by our circumstances, our fleshly desire, our habits and our world view. In the spiritual world, it is not as scary when we wander off the path. The scariest part is if we do not have a heart that is willing to be corrected. It is so difficult for God to change us sometimes. What Christians need most is to recognize the Lordship of Christ. Jesus is not only our Savior, but Lord of our lives, our emotions and will. We need to allow God to do the work of correction in our lives. It is not enough to only have passion and zeal when we serve God. In the Bible, the Pharisees have great zeal, just like Paul who was zealous in persecuting Christians.

Secondly, we need to pray for the pastor's family. A pastor's family is often attacked by the enemy. We need to pray for the pastor's children. They grow up under a lot of stress and become rebellious easily. Many pastors are often heartbroken or troubled by their children because they do not know how to lead them. May God give special grace to them so that they may glorify His name in their lives.

Passion and zeal alone will not please God. We need to be willing to receive God's correction, so that we can be vessels that are fit for God's use. No matter how weak you are spiritually, as long as you have the desire for God and a willingness to be corrected by God, God's Spirit can bring you to the fertile land. When the Magi received the correction of the Holy Spirit, they finally lifted up their heads and in verse 9, it said, "suddenly the star rose and went ahead of them." I like the word "suddenly". Did God stop guiding them or shorten His arms? Did God stop blessing them? Of course not, it was just that they have never paid attention and never allowed God to guide them. May the Lord give us a humble and willing heart to receive his correction gladly in our lives every day.

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, I thank you and praise you because you are such a faithful and mighty God who is willing to guide us every day. May you constantly remind us so that we can avoid taking the longer route in our spiritual walk. Give us a humble heart to listen to your Word and to walk according to your commands. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 2:1-6

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 2:1-6

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: "'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"

The birth of Christ should have been joyful and exciting news, but according to the Bible not everyone was excited about it. When King Herod heard that the magi from the east were looking for the newborn savior of the world, he wasn't joyful at all, but rather he became anxious. Even though King Herod was not a Jew, he knew about the faith of the Jews. He understood that God promised that the Messiah and the king would come and rule the children of the king. He was anxious because he didn't know what he would do once the messiah became the king.

Not only that, the people of Jerusalem were also anxious. It was great that the Messiah was coming, but they were under the rule of Rome and the king of the Jews was the brutal King Herod. It wasn't a great time for the Messiah to come, because it would surely cause some turmoil, and thus they became anxious. Similarly, even though we look forward to the coming of God's salvation, but when God's salvation actually comes we might rebel against it and reject it.

Where was Jesus Christ supposed to be born? The scribes and Pharisees were familiar with the Bible, which says that Christ was supposed to be born in Bethlehem; unfortunately, even though they had the knowledge, they took no part in the birth of Christ. Bethlehem is a mere five kilometers away from Jerusalem. I recall that when I visited Jerusalem, we went to Bethlehem to visit but the bus that was supposed to pick us up didn't show up. So, we ended up walking back to Jerusalem, which took about one hour. These towns were very close to each other, but the scribes and Pharisees did nothing about the most important thing that could have happened in their life. Today, many have the same attitude towards Jesus Christ. Everyone's busy with daily life, but neglect the most important thing in their life, which is the salvation of our soul. Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ was born, but are you letting Him work in your life, so that He would become your guidance and give you wisdom?

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, we thank you because you have come to the world for us. Give us an open heart to welcome your work in our daily life. Please remove any anxiety in our life so that we may receive the true joy and satisfaction in you. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website