Today's Passage - John 15:3-4

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english John 15:3-4   You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.                  The Lord says, "No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine." Sometimes we are not quite convinced: I really can still do a lot of things! Indeed, from the human natural life, your natural life will enable you to do many things: eating, sleeping, reading, working, raising a family, entertaining, even serving according to your natural life! But you cannot receive power and bear spiritual fruit from your spiritual life.                  It's like Moses who grew up in the palace of Egypt, becoming the prince of Egypt, but later he found out that he is actually an Israelite, then he saw his fellow-men enslaved under the Egyptians, he began to think about saving the Israelites with his own hands. In fact, looking back at history, certainly it is the intent of God for Moses to save the Israelites through his hands, but unfortunately, he knew how to live following only his natural life and personality during that time. So he beat the Egyptian to death when he saw him persecuting his fellow-man.                  He thought he would become the hero of the Israelites! Never can he imagine that the Israelites would detest him, "Who make you our king?" As a result, he had to flee into the wilderness to avoid the Egyptians' assault; he thought he could do great things for God, but he accomplished nothing. Until one day he met the Lord, his life was touched once again, and joined to the life of the Lord, though at the time he did not consider himself able to do anything, but the power of God flowed from his life naturally!                  Brothers and sisters, since we belong to God, we cannot, and should not lead a Christian living according to the natural life. Since we often ignore the most important thing in Christian life: getting close to God, such that our lives remain joined with the Lord's life. Therefore your spiritual life is dry, and there is no love in your heart, and the prayers unanswered. In fact the word "remain" appears nine times in this bible passage; in other words, we must continue to remain in the Lord.                  When we attended the conferences, we felt ignited at the close of the meeting, so we dedicated ourselves to spread the gospel and bear testimonies. Once we got back to our regular daily lives, however, the dedication gradually cooled down. Why did it cool down? The root cause is we fail to get close to God every day. When we get closer to God, our hearts become on fire; if our hearts are far away from God, they would cool down. God, help us, let us remain joined to the life of the Lord!                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, thank you, because you are our strength and our help, we can do nothing without you. Please help us depend on the power of your spirit, because you are the only God that affects changes. Thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!