Today's Passage - Ephesians 5:11-14

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 5:11-14    "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible-and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: 'Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'"   God is the light. When the light shines, all hidden things will be revealed. When the light shines, you will find that something originally quite valuable in the darkness turns out to be simply valueless. When you turn to the light, there is no darkness between the light and you. However, when you turn your back to the light, you will see the darkness you generate, which is your shadow. If we want to live a holy life, we must learn to "turn to the light" everyday. In God's Holy light, all of our hidden thoughts such as pride and lust will be revealed to make us feel shameful. We will be like Adam whose first feeling was shame after he committed sin so he tried to cover himself with clothing made of leaves. His first reaction was to avoid God because he was afraid to face Him.     Many people don't want to face God, so they simply deny that God exists. As much as you may deny the existence of God, you cannot deny the guilty feeling inside your heart. Were it not for Jesus' precious blood, we would not be able to come to God fearlessly. If you still think you can anyway, that is because you haven't really got to know this living God.  The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice for sin, the redemption God has prepared for the mankind. He sacrificed Himself once for all, having obtained for us the eternal redemption, so that our sins can be forgiven by God, and we can be cleansed again. By His redemption, the broken relationship between the mankind and God was restored, so that we can come to our Heavenly Father and call Him "Abba Father" and "our Father in Heaven", which proves His most precious Grace between the lines, in our prayer.     If you are really aware of your sins and the redemption by His precious blood, you will not live a casual life, unlike some Christians who commit sins right after their confessions and confess right after they commit sins. His precious blood never fails to not only forgive our sins, but also lead us into a more intimate, open and honest relationship with God. When we come to God, His light will shine on us. His precious blood will also cleanse us. Are you willing to bring yourself into God's light?                                                                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, thank you for being the true light so that when we are in the darkness, you shed light onto our inner world to reveal our sins. May you cleanse us with your precious blood to help us turn around from sins and receive the peace when our sins are forgiven. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!