Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 1:39-55   "As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"  And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is his name..."   The story of Christmas is filled with work of the Holy Spirit.  In the first two chapters of Gospel of Luke, the work of Holy Spirit was mentioned seven times, especially when the whole family of Zechariah was filled by the Holy Spirit.  Verse 15 talks about how John was filled by the Holy Spirit in the womb, in verse 41 Elizabeth was filled by the Holy Spirit, and finally Zechariah was filled by the Holy Spirit too.  At first, Zechariah didn't believe the prophecy from the angel, so God made him dumb and unable to speak.  Later on, his wife became pregnant, and even when he witness his child and wife filled by the Holy Spirit, he still couldn't speak and became very anxious.  He didn't believe it before and was not eager for the Holy Spirit, but then he just wanted the Lord to open his mouth and he believed he will be filled by the Holy Spirit as well.  In verse 64, as soon as he could speak, he was filled by the Holy Spirit.  All three of them filled by the Holy Spirit and joy, and in the same way the joy of Christmas should be brought upon by filling of the Holy Spirit.   God's Kingdom is full of joy, not because everything is steady and smooth, but because of God's genuine presence.  Joy cannot be forced; when convenience stores launch a smile campaign, the store clerks' faces only become stiff after smiling for eight hours.  You can pretend to smile, but your heart might still be carrying tons of burden.  Only when the Holy Spirit lands upon you will your bitterness and hatred be broken by Him and your burden and worries removed, allowing you to have real joy.  The Bible says that when the Holy Spirit comes, there will be "the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."   Have you fallen into worries and have no joy in your heart?  You need to welcome the work of the Holy Spirit to bring you true release.  When you come before God, you will find genuine joy and satisfaction.  May the Spirit of the Lord help us to see what we really need inside, and we welcome the Holy Spirit to come and work within us, to bring the genuine presence of God into our daily life!     Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I ask that the Holy Spirit will help each brother and sister, to bring breakthrough to our difficulties in life.  No matter what our circumstance is, we believe in your genuine presence because the Holy Spirit will fill us.  Our hearts will be filled with great joy that words cannot adequately describe.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Forward email This email was sent to devotion1.08u7403jeij3g@blogger.com by edevotion@rolcc.net |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 1:26-38   "But the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.'"   God chose to reveal Himself to an ordinary woman, Mary.  Angel told Mary: "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God."  This sounded a response from God to her prayer, so when Mary heard this joyful message, she was unusually calm.  Back in those days, when a woman was pregnant prior to marriage, she'd be lucky not to be stoned to death.  What's the joy in the message?  She should be thinking how unfortunately she was - Why should she be humiliated so that others will be blessed?  It was a tremendous sacrifice, an extraordinary submissiveness and unusual compliance.  In fact, there was a strong wish inside Mary's heart to allow God to use her.  In verse 49, in her response to God, Mary prayed that "for the Mighty One has done great things for me."  In other word, God has listened to her prayer and accomplished great things for her.   God chose Mary because she had a strong desire for God to use her in her lifetime.  She wanted to be a part in God's eternal plan and to be a channel of blessing to others.  In the religious organization structure of her days, there were no opportunities for sisters to serve, thus it was impossible to do much for God.  Mary wanted to be used by God, but there's no channel for her to exercise such ambition.  God, however, opened a way for her so that Messiah the Savior was born to the world through her.  In the midst of constraints imposed by the circumstance, family, and religious traditions, God made a way for Mary and made her a channel of blessings to many, so that even until today we still commemorate her.  Today, God will accomplish great things for you in whatever constraining circumstance you are in.  Hallelujah!        Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because you are willing to listen to prayer.  When Mary prayed to you, you listened to her prayer, helped her to break through the circumstance and made her a blessing to many.  I ask that you bless the brothers and sisters, answer the prayers they made before you, and accomplish great things for them.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Forward email This email was sent to devotion1.08u7403jeij3g@blogger.com by edevotion@rolcc.net |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 1:18-25   "Zechariah asked the angel, 'How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.'  The angel answered, 'I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.  And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.'   ...After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.  'The Lord has done this for me,' she said. 'In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.'"   People will forget our pleading, but God will never forget.  We might have prayed for some things for a long time and thought that perhaps God will never answer.  Sooner or later we start to forget these things and no longer pray for them, but God will never forget.  We may look away from God, but God will never look away from us; He not only will answer prayers for the Kingdom, but He's willing to accomplish small things in our homes.  In the prayer of Zechariah, we saw that God was willing to accomplish his pleads before God.  Verse 14 says that "He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth."  For many years Elizabeth was unable to face people around her; she took all the blame from the family and was viewed as odd by others, but God removed the humiliation Elizabeth had suffered by answering their prayer.  The time came, God answered her prayer, and her shame was gone.  Our God is full of grace and mercy, for He truly understands the weakness of people, and He's also willing to accomplish what we prayed before Him.   You can bring anything you need in life, whether it's big or small, before God in prayer.  God is willing to listen to your prayer, not just for the purpose of His Kingdom, but also to bring you joy.  He can also remove all the shame from your life.  Hallelujah!  If you sense that you are surrounded by the power of darkness, then in the victorious name of Jesus Christ rebuke all the deception and accusation from enemy Satan.  You can receive God's love today, and enjoy God's grace today!      Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, I thank you because you are the God who can turn our sorrow into joy, and you can remove all the shame we have in the world.  Come and protect us with your love, because in your love all the shame and fear will be removed, and we can enjoy your abundant grace once again.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Forward email This email was sent to devotion1.08u7403jeij3g@blogger.com by edevotion@rolcc.net |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 1:8-17   "Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.  Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.  When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.  But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John."   The altar of incense represents our prayer before God.  When Zechariah was serving God, he went before God and prayed.  God listens to prayer, and He will also respond with wonderful work on us.  In verse 13, Lord said to Zechariah: "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John."  The meaning of the name John is "God's gift"; not only did God listen to his prayer, He also gave him a gift.   Your prayer before God is not done in vain.  God will listen to your prayer and also give you a gift.  He will do wonderful things in your life.  When God accomplishes something for you, He's actually doing it for His Kingdom and His will.  Verse 14 says that many will rejoice because of the birth of Jesus, and John the Baptist will be the pioneer for Jesus Christ who will prepare the way for Him, so that His salvation can come upon all nations and all people.  Even today, we are blessed by the prayer of Zechariah that God listened and responded to.   The ministry of John, as described in this passage, was to turn the hearts of the Israelites back to God, and let the Father's heart turn back to the children.  Bible often describes turning back in both directions; on the one hand, God will cover His eyes from seeing our sins in order to welcome us back; on the other hand, we are happy turn back from the path of disobedience and stubbornness to run towards God's arms.  God is happy to let us encounter Him and He's waiting for us to meet him.  You might think that you have been waiting for God, but that's not quite true, because God is also waiting for you.  God expects you to turn back to His arms so that His grace can come upon you.  He wants to listen to your prayer and also make you a part of His eternal plan, to become blessing for many, much like the family of Zechariah.      Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord Jesus, I thank you because you are willing to listen to prayer.  Not only do you listen to our prayer because you sympathize with our weakness, but you also want us to take part in your eternal plan.  I once again give you thanks and praise, and I bring all my needs before you.  May you answer our prayer by your glorious and abundant riches.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Forward email This email was sent to devotion1.08u7403jeij3g@blogger.com by edevotion@rolcc.net |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054

Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Luke 1:1-7   "Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.  In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly."   The purpose of the Gospel of Luke is to outline the chronicles of Jesus Christ for the future generations to read, and so people would know that everything they've been taught are true.  We thank the Lord because our faith did not come out from nothing, but it is a proven faith.  When Luke recorded the events of Jesus Christ in chronological order and historical context, we know that our faith has historic proof that carries factual evidence.   Zechariah was a priest that serves God in the temple.  He was old and had no children, and such a person was not respected in the society of his day.  He, however, was very faithful, as he routinely fulfilled his responsibilities as a priest before God whenever his turn came up.  There were lots of priests back then, and they didn't live in the temple, but they just waited at home, for they did not have that many opportunities to serve in the temple in their entire lifetime.  He was an ordinary man, but God likes to listen to the prayer of ordinary people.  We can see in the Bible that God often revealed Himself to ordinary people; not only did the resurrected Lord reveal Himself to the twelve well-known disciples, in 1 Corinthians 15 we also see that He revealed Himself to more than five hundred believers whom were mostly unknown ordinary people.   We sometimes feel that we have many flaws, thinking we are not beautiful and smart enough, thinking we are too ordinary and no one really values us.  Lord Jesus Christ, however, came to the world to tell you that He values you, and God has chosen to love you.  This is such a precious message!      Pray with Pastor Tong           Dear Lord, although we are as ordinary as Zechariah, we thank you because you love each one of us.  No matter how ordinary we think we are, may your love speak to us and touch our hearts.  Let us bring forth thanksgiving to you, and we love you because you have first loved us.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Forward email This email was sent to devotion1.08u7403jeij3g@blogger.com by edevotion@rolcc.net |   Update Profile/Email Address | Rapid removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. River of Life Christian Church | 1177 Laurelwood Rd. | Santa Clara | CA | 95054