Today's Passage - Ephesians 2:19-20

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 2:19-20   "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."   Those in Christ are "members of God's household," and this is a very important value to the Christians.  The value system of the Kingdom of God is the value system of our spiritual home.  Paul very clearly said here that we are "no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household."  Those who believe in the Lord form a big spiritual family.  Since we are in the same family, we should carry out the value system of the family.  What is the key factor to having a happy family?  Is it money, indulgence, or good fortune?  None of them!  If it was that easy, then all the families ought to be happy and satisfied.  It is nonetheless mutual love, support and accountability that make a family edifying to its members and bring real satisfaction and happiness.  A healthy family doesn't follow the value system of the world, where people strive satisfy themselves and control others, but instead everyone will seek to edify and satisfy others.   Life in God's Kingdom is much the same.  God not only saved us from sin, He also brought us into a new body, which is the church, the house of God.  Through this body, our relationship with God and others is established.  Just like what Psalm 68 says, in God's sanctuary He gives the lonely ones a home.  People are supposed to be lonely entities; whether we are single or married, we are just individuals, but God's love joins us together to form one big family.   It is always God's will to form a body, but it is always the devil's ploy to destroy the body.  God's will is to let the lonely entities form a new body through connections made by the love of Christ, but Satan's ploy is to break up the new body into the status of lonely individuals.  It's not easy to live in a spiritual family; we are often afraid what would happen to ourselves if we only care about edifying and satisfying others.  God's word, however, says that we ought to live by faith, not by sight.  If you live by sight, you won't be able to move forward, but we can live by faith, which is established in our God who never lies.  By faith we believe that when we live to edify and support each other, not only can others be edified, we can also be edified.  We can also by faith become a living testimony that edify and satisfy others.                                                                                    Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because you have put us in a spiritual family so that we can support, love and edify one another.  May the Lord give us a humble and soft heart so that we would know your will.  Let us work together with one another in the church so that we have beautiful living testimonies.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!