Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 2:12-16

2 Corinthians 2:12-16   We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.   This passage says that "we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God."  By the grace of God, the Holy Spirit revealed the wisdom of God to us; therefore, a truly spiritual person can never be proud of himself since he would know that the revelation and wisdom he received is completely from God's grace and mercy.  Today, as you and us receive God's wisdom, we must keep in mind that we don't truly deserve it, for we are simply given God's grace; we have nothing to boast about and we just need to receive the revelation from the Holy Spirit by faith.   Holy Spirit can reveal God's wisdom to us so that we would have the heart of Christ, and only the Holy Spirit can give us such revelation.  Church often wants to figure out a way to be more like Christ and to better understand His will.  We end up with lots of good will and positive intentions, but neither can accomplish the will of God and they might even lead us to spiritual death because of the absence of the compassion of Jesus Christ.  Church needs the revelation of the Holy Spirit in order to become alive again before God; therefore, we must understand what God wants to do in any given minute so that we may accomplish His will with the compassion of Jesus Christ.   "The spiritual man makes judgments about all things," and he can foresee that the world and all things of the world will come to an end.  Without such vision, we'd only be busy everyday going about our own business and pursuing things of the world.  Only those who entered into light can understand the miserable circumstance of those who are still in the darkness.  May the Holy Spirit open our eyes and reveal to us, and let us see that the world and all things of the world will come to an end, and our hearts need to focus solely on the Jesus Christ.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because we can only have compassion of Jesus Christ and understand all things when the Holy Spirit enlighten us and reveals to us.  May the Spirit of the Lord enlighten us and come into our hearts today, so that we may be filled with the wisdom of God in our daily lives.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!            See Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - on Facebook!

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Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 2:10-11

2 Corinthians 2:10-11   ...But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God...  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.   We often overlook work of the Holy Spirit.  The fact is that Holy Spirit is one entity of the Triune God.  The true God we believe in has three different persons, and that's why when we baptize new believers we do it in the names of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  When Lord Jesus was baptized, the three persons also showed up on Him.  There's a sound from the heaven, the voice of Father God, that says "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."  The Holy Spirit landed on Jesus like a dove, and the three persons appeared at the same time.   We believe in one and only true God, but He has three different persons.  There are no differences in stature between the three distinct personalities, but rather they have different functions.  They have the same nature, but functionally complement each other.  Father God is the Creator, Designer and Planner; Jesus Christ is the one who executes the plan of salvation, and the Holy Spirit brings God's grace into the reality of our lives and He actually lives inside our heart and soul.  Father God planned salvation and Jesus came to the world, died on the cross, resurrected from death and accomplished the work of salvation.  Holy Spirit is the one who actually enters our hearts and brings all the abundance from God into our daily life.  Therefore, Holy Spirit is actually the person of God who's most intimate with us.   So what is a person?  A person has independent thoughts, mind and feelings.  We can see from this scripture passage that the Holy Spirit is a God who can think, because He "searches all things, even the deep things of God," thus He really understand the thoughts and mind of God.  1 Corinthians 12:11 says that gifts of the Spirit are "the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."  Holy Spirit is also God of feelings, and He's often worried about our sins, and Romans 15 talks about the love of the Holy Spirit.  Holy Spirit is indeed an independent person with His own thoughts, mind and feelings.  We need to come before God to exalt the true God who's three-in-one.  May God help us to open our hearts to know Him, and to welcome Him to work in our lives.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because you are our God of abundance that is far beyond what we can imagine.  Through the work of Holy Father, Son and Spirit, you have given us grace that is complete, so I ask that you once again open our hearts so that we may understand the mysteries of the spiritual matters.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!           See Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - on Facebook!

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Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 2:8-9

2 Corinthians 2:8-9   None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"...   We very often simply don't understand the wisdom of God.  Back in the New Testament time, the rulers didn't understand the wisdom of God, so they crucified Jesus.  Isn't the lack of understanding always our problem?  People often don't dare to come before God because of lack of understanding of His grace.  It says here that "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him..."  Did you know that God has prepared something that no eye has seen?  God's way is indeed higher than our way and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  Back in the Old Testament days, when the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea, there was water in front them and enemy behind them.  Even though God told them that His way was in the deep sea, they could not imagine that God's was literally in the deep sea.  God actually opened way for them by parting the water of Red Sea and made it dry land, something that "no eye has seen" before!   When we think about how the son of God came to the earth and humbled Himself to take on the form of a servant, don't we just wonder how that could happen?  It's difficult for our meager brains to comprehend it.  We always think of God as an almighty Lord and Master, then how could such an almighty God bring to the world such a weak son Jesus?  Jesus was even given birth in a manger and lived rather ordinarily first thirty years of His life.  God actually took on the form of a servant and humbled Himself as a man!  No wonder that people back then wanted to crucify Jesus, because it was hard for them to imagine that the almighty Savior could become such a weak human being in order to take of all our pain.   What God has prepared for us is totally beyond our comprehension.  Jesus accomplished the work of salvation on the cross so that we can become children of the Kingdom of God.  It ought to amaze us to know how much God loves us even though it is hard to imagine that God would love poor and weak people like us.   God, however, truly loves us, and we just need to depend on Him and give our best to Him, so let's receive His love by faith!   Pray with Pastor Tong   God, we thank you because you always give us the best.  Through Jesus you have given your children all things.  Come and open our hearts so that we will believe you and depend on you, and help us to open our hearts to receive all your grace.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!           See Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - on Facebook!

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Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 2:6-7

1 Corinthians 2:6-7   We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.   In this passage, there are two types of wisdom.  One in the wisdom of the world, and the other is the wisdom of God.  Chapter three of book of James also talks about the distinction between these two types of wisdom.   First, wisdom of the world is filled with bitterness, jealousy and quarrel in order to elevate ourselves to turn against the truth.  When I was studying meteorology in the East Coast, the school held competition for weather predication every day, where students must predict the coming of snow storm  There is only difference of one degree between snowing and raining in the winter, so it's very difficult to predict correctly.  Some of my classmates were really bright and they often predict the weather accurately.  Today, some of us are also good in trading stocks.  This type of wisdom, however, is only good for boasting our own stature.  Before the flood took place, building the tower of Babel was also for boasting human wisdom and rejecting the truth.  Today, many compete with one another with such wisdom, to the point of even killing each other through developing weapon of massive destruction like chemical warfare.  Such human wisdom actually results in damages to ourselves.   Wisdom of God, however, doesn't work the same way.  James chapter three clearly tells us that "the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."  In other word, wisdom of God will give us peace, joy and true satisfaction.  This passage describes God's wisdom as "secret" because the wisdom is like a treasure hidden underground; you can't easily see it from the surface, but we must seek it with our life.  Jesus also mentioned, in the Sermon on the Mount, that the treasures in the earth need to be sought after and dug out with effort.  May God give us a heart that truly knows our own needs deep inside our souls and thirsts for Him.  In the story of Christmas, the wise men came from the east to look for the savior.  They were all wise people because they knew that only Jesus Christ is the true savior, and He alone can satisfy the needs deep down in our souls.  We must do the same thing today - Be willing to pay the price of life to seek for God's wisdom.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, I thank you and I praise you, because in you there is complete wisdom that can satisfy us.  May the Lord give us a heart that thirsts for Him, so that we may have your wisdom and true satisfaction in our lives.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!           See Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - on Facebook!

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Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

1 Corinthian 2:1-5   When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.  I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.   When we are preach the gospel, we don't do it by our "eloquence or superior wisdom," nor do we rely on "wise and persuasive words," but it's through "demonstration of the Spirit's power" and testimony of our lives.  Back in my seminary days, I had two classmates who were academically strong and they always get A on exams.  These two, however, didn't see eye to eye and each time they meet they end up fighting and get mad at each other.  It was a pity that even though they had outstanding academic knowledge, they did not have outstanding testimonies in life.  This convinced me that what God values is not our eloquence or wisdom, but life.  One cannot preach the gospel effectively by eloquence or wisdom, but only by testimony of life.   Besides the testimony of life, we also need to understand that we are not fighting a war against those of flesh and blood, but rather against those of the spiritual forces.  We must understand the power of darkness behind someone.  Many are unable to accept the Lord not because they can't understand the truth, but because there are some authority of darkness and stronghold in their lives.  We must break any authority of darkness in their lives and rebuke all the work on them by enemy Satan through prayer so that the hearts of people will be released from the bondage of Satan.  Once they realize that they are trapped in darkness, they will be willing to turn back to the Lord.   When we preach the gospel, we cannot do it by our own flesh and blood.  Instead of debating with others by flesh and blood, we must learn depend on the power of the Holy Spirit.  Only the Holy Spirit can touch and impress the hearts of people with God's love, and lead them to understand their needs and to turn back to God.  Let us pray and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we may work together with God in preaching the gospel.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because you are the message of gospel.  You were nailed on the cross and then came back to life for us, and that is the message that we want to preach all our lives.  We ask that you help us to not depend on eloquence, wisdom or persuasive words, but to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to turns the hearts of people back to you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!           See Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - on Facebook!

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Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

1 Corinthians 1:26-31   Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."   The Lord's work is often more than we can imagine. Verse 27 says, "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." Does the world really have wise people? Or does the world really have strong people? The truth is no. Often times, we do not understand our own limitations, especially when we are young.  We think that we can do everything. However, as we grow older, we realize that we cannot even overcome our own temper! As we grow older and wiser, we become more humble and realize how much we lack wisdom and power.  You and I all need to come back to God and seek His help.    Verse 30 says, "It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." Jesus Christ is our wisdom, the source of our power. If there were no revelation from God, how could we understand the truth?  If there were no power from God, how could we live a life of victory? When Jesus was crucified on the cross, there were two robbers next to him. One of them with his dying breath, said to Jesus: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" How did this robber know that Jesus was not entering death, but entering His Kingdom?  How did he know that Jesus came for the Kingdom and was dying for His Kingdom?    One day if I meet this robber in Heaven, I would ask him, "How did you know that Jesus' death was to enter into His kingdom? How did you figure out this important truth?" I believe this was not because of his understanding, but it was a revelation from God.  When God's revelation came, he understood his lacking and asked God for wisdom and power.  Today we need to come before God and acknowledge that we are weak and we need Him.  We need to turn to Him to ask for wisdom and strength in order to live a victorious, joyful and fulfilling life.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we pray your Holy Spirit and wisdom will fill us once again. Let the power that resurrected you fill us.  Help us to live a life that depends on you, and become more Christ-like each day. We thank you and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!           See Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - on Facebook!

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Today's Passage - 1 Corinthians 1:22-25

1 Corinthians 1:22-25   Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.   The Jews were seeking miracles, and the Greeks sought wisdom.  This represents the Western philosophy which emphasizes the reasoning and intelligence.  The eastern philosophy is miracle-seeking, and demands to see if something works.  To the Chinese, the primary concern is often not whether there is a true God, but whether this God works or not.  The Jews sought miracles, but in reality, miracles cannot bring about a changed life, and it does not bring answers to life's questions.  During Jesus' time, there were many people who followed Him. They saw many miracles, and even experienced miracles. However, this did not mean that their hearts were turned toward God. It does not mean that their lives were changed.  Although a lot of people saw miracles, their hearts were still hardened, and they still could not find the meaning of life. Merely seeking miracles will not allow us to find the meaning of life, or be contented.   Similarly, the Greeks sought wisdom. You can be thinking all day, but still may not find the truth. How much time does it take in this generation to explore the philosophy of life? We may be able to rationalize things very eloquently, but when we look at our own lives, we are disappointed. There is a power that is missing in us for us to live a meaningful and contented life.  The real answer to this question is Jesus Christ.  He is the true wisdom of God, and He brings meaning and power to life. When we keep our eyes on Jesus, we can find true wisdom in Him, we begin to see things differently and understand God's heart. In Christ, we have the power to live life to the fullest, and we can be healed.   Brothers and sisters, I do not despise reasoning or miracles.  There are some who say we do not need miracles nor reasoning, we only need Jesus.  This is wrong! When we preach the crucifixion of Christ, it brings us into truth and brings us to the power of God.  When we meditate upon Christ each day and abide in Him, we can experience His victory each day.    Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you and we pray that the Holy Spirit will fill our hearts each day so we may depend on you because you are the only wisdom.  Help us to draw strength from you each day and live a victorious life.  We thank you and pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!           See Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - on Facebook!

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