Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 4:11-14    ...And as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side while the people watched. The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them. About forty thousand armed for battle crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war. That day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.     If one obeys God, God will make people stand in awe of him. That's a spiritual principle that never changes. Unfortunately, a lot of people have overlooked this truth; in their life and ministry, they make tremendous effort to elevate and show off themselves with their own might. They are afraid that people won't respect them, so they do whatever it takes to protect their stature; even when they are in church, they inadvertently try hard to solidify their influence. Actually, all these efforts are doomed for failure because they are out of our flesh. God's principle is very simple - Obey God, and He will consider us friends and He will exalt us. We'll be exalted not because we're worthy, but only because we obey God and become His vessel. People who cruise the streets with a policeman will be respected, and in the same way those who walk with God will also be respected.   Brothers and sisters, don't ever worry about your fame and stature, but always begin with the most basic spiritual matters in your life, which is obedience, and "those who humble themselves will be exalted." Obedience is a subject that everyone can talk about, but not everyone can practice. It's difficult to obey because our minds are filled with impurities. When Peter was praying in the upper room, he saw a vision, where a big sack fell filled with unclean foods fell from the sky. The Lord told Peter: "Kill and eat." It seems to be such a simple command, but it was extremely difficult for Peter, because those were things that he couldn't eat according to his tradition and he never had them before. In today's passage, Joshua set a great example for obedience. He obeyed God and he bore the testimony of obedience while leading the Israelites. This is a great example of trust and obedience, and may God give us to same determination to obey Him!    Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you because you are a faithful God, and every word from you carries power. You said that those who humble themselves small be exalted, so I ask that you help us to hear your voice more easily, and be willing to obey you. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 4:8-10   So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day. Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over...       Stones are often mentioned in the Book of Joshua.  Stone represents testimony as well as reminder. To the Israelites at the time, this was not merely a testimony for their descendants, but also a reminder for themselves. Joshua not only followed God's command carrying twelve stones from Jordan River, he also erected twelve stones in the Jordan River, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark stood. He did this so everyone who crossed Jordan River knew that they had truly crossed the Jordan River. Those stones were a testimony to God's grace, and a reminder to Israelites that they should remember God's grace.   We need to count God's grace. Often when we memorize God's words, we forget it all soon after we memorized it. But we never forget wrongs others did to us. Psalm 90:12 says, "that we may gain a heart of wisdom." For people of this world, the most important thing is not money, because money can be earned. What a man needs the most is a wise heart. When we count God's grace, God's spirit reminds us all the works He has done on us, such that we will not forget God's work and his truthfulness. You and I shall frequently erect stones in our lives to fight against spiritual amnesia. Whenever you count God's grace, it proves that God worked before, and it reminds you that God will continue to work.   No matter how deep the water you are about to tread, God always has ways to carry you over. To each and every God's people, God will say to them in Isaiah 43:1-3, "O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the LORD, your God," Erect a memorial stone in your life! Bear a testimony of God's grace to yourself again and again so that you will not slip but stand firmly under the grace that God has given you.   Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you. Because you are God who blessed us with all kind of grace. May God lift up our spirit, let us remember you grace, and stand firmly in your grace without waiver.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 4:6-7   ...To serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."     God asked each tribe of Israel to carry a stone on land so that they can be testimonies to their descendents. It shows that those stones represent God's salvation. Faith requires us to teach our children in our daily lives. The first thing that children learn is not the knowledge of God, but testimonies of daily lives. In Taiwan, local religion are very popular. However, if you ask those believers, they are usually clueless. But because they grew up with idol worshiping: today is the birthday of some goddess, tomorrow is the birthday of some god. One week of idol worshiping done, another week starts. When listening to their parents' conversation, they heard which Buddha is more effective.  That is this kind of environment that they grew up in!   Our faith seems to focus too much on rationality, but short of living testimonies. In fact, there are many things in life that call us to remember God's grace: for example, letting children know how we were saved, how we were victorious, how we were called. We also need to celebrate all the grace God prepared for us in our houses. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, " Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." In other words, let the whole family understand God's grace. This is an important spiritual principle.    May God give us wisdom so that we can establish good spiritual traditions in our homes such that our children understand the way of God from an early age. You can start with family worship where whole family worship and praise together so that your children will never forget God's grace for the rest of their lives.  May God help us, let us have all kinds of wisdom, and put God's words fully and abundantly in our hearts.      Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, may you again remind us your grace. Teach us so that just not we alone remember your grace, but let our whole family remember your grace.  May God give us wisdom so that we can use every possible way to bring family members to you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 4:1-5    When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, "Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight." So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites...       After all Israelites crossed the river, God asked each tribe of Israelites to pick one person who would carry one stone from the river bed of Jordan River and placed the stone in the place where Israelites stayed. Among the twelve tribes, each tribe sent one person to carry a stone. Why did they have to do that? Because God wanted Israelites to know a principle of spiritual battle.   In a spiritual battle, proclaiming victory towards your enemies is a very important principle. This proclamation is not restricted to leaders only, but that all family of God shall be part of claiming victory. Every tribe must claim victory, proclaiming that the victory belongs to God. Indeed, God's blessing saved everyone. It is not sufficient to just have faith in spiritual battles. One needs a proclamation action. It is because of our proclaiming our faith, we broke the old bondages, and enter into God's victory. When we are sworn in to be a citizen of the United States, one will find that the immigration officer will not allow anyone to leave at will with a Certificate of Citizenship. If you walk out, he will block you. You are free to leave only after swearing ceremony - It is that important!   Many people think that as long as they know it by heart it is good enough. "Knowing by heart," however, merely makes it a secret. Only after we proclaim with our action, can we bring out the power of victory. God asked every family and every tribe of Israelites to rise up and proclaim victory so that people would commemorate this great deed by God for the rest of their lives!   Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, may you give us lively faith. Let us not only believe you are the Lord, but also proclaim you are our Lord over anything and any circumstance. Not only will we proclaim to ourselves that Jesus is the Lord, we also will proclaim to enemies that Jesus is the Lord. May the flag of Lord's victory fly high in our lives always.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 3:16-17   the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.   Verse 17 says that Israelites crossed over the dry ground. What a miraculous thing God did! God not only opened a path for Israelites in the face of certain death, He is also God of thoughtful. Not only did he stopped the water at the upstream, He also made the river bed dry. Otherwise, it would have been an incredible task for an army of two million people to cross the muddy river bed. Whenever I read this, I was full of joy. God truly guides us with His skillful hands.     He is not only God that guided Israelites to cross the river, He is also God that made them walking on dry ground. Often we worried about our future, not knowing the path in front of us. Nor do we know how God will guide us. Even though we believe that God will surely guide us to cross, we are still not confident, afraid that the path prepared by God will not be as good as the path prepared by us. Even when we walk on the path prepared by God, we still worry. Just like Israelites who walked on the dry ground, many of them were probably worried: walk faster, in case the water will come back! Verse 17 says that "until the whole nation has crossed" Jordan River. How little faith does a man have. Even when he is walking in the miracle of God, he worries. Like Peter seeing the Lord walking on water, he asked, "If it is you, tell me to come to on the water." The Lord asked him to come. The moment Peter stepped his feet out of the water, he had to be very excited. Seeing the Lord, he walked forward. But then, as soon as he saw the wave, his faith disappeared. He fell into water. Had he fixated on the Lord, he would have kept walking. But once he saw the circumstance, he lost his faith, and fell into the water.   Brothers and sisters, we have to learn to focus our eyes on God. If we only see our circumstances, our faiths will be bonded by worry, and fear. We will lose our confidence. When we fixate our eyes on God, God will open a way for us. It is a way that He prepared, which far exceeds that of what we think, what we ask. Come to lean on God with faith! Give everything in your life to God. Remember, it's far better to be in the hands of God than those of your own.       Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you, for not only did you guide Israelites to cross the Jordan River, you let them walk on the dry ground. We place the path of our life in your hands as well. May you let us lean on you, because you are the Lord who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith..  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 3:14-15   So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge...   At the time Israelites were planning to cross the Jordan River, it was at flood stage. In other word, it was a bad time to cross the river. There might have been people who would say: "We've waited for forty years, what's the big deal waiting for another few months when the water level is lower?" There were six to seven hundred thousand people - just men alone - so there must have been a better route to go. Even if the water level subsides, they'll all get wet crossing the river, such an inconvenience! Brothers and sisters, aren't you familiar with such words?   In our life, we're often in "inconvenient" moments. When God calls you to be near Him, you'd say "Lord, this is bad time for me." When God calls you to serve Him, you'd say "Lord, this is a bad time." When you are young, you'd say "this is a bad time because I need to study." After you graduate, you'd say "this is a bad time because I need to start working and form a family." After you have a family, you'd say "this is a bad time because I have three kids now." When you are in middle age, you want to start your own business, so it's still a bad time. After you are old, you're no longer healthy, and it's once again a bad time.   Brothers and sisters, there are too many inconvenient moments in our life, and we allow these inconvenient moments to become hindrance for us to follow God. In fact, God never tells us "well, this is a bad time for you, so I will wait until you are able to follow me." God's command is always for the present time, and God's presence and His power are also for now. He wants us to hold on to His promises now and move forward by faith. This is not a blind faith or faith by our feeling; true faith is based on the foundation of God's word. It's not doing whatever we feel like, but it's to believe in whatever God promises us, and doing whatever God commands us to do. Joshua was able to move forward despite of such bad timing and circumstance because he sincerely believed in God's promise and was determined to follow God's command, not because he was a super brave man.   Book of Joshua repeatedly reminds us that Christians must live by faith, not by sight. Are you also in an inconvenient time today? May God grant us faith, hold on to His promises and be determined to follow Him starting today!    Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, I thank you because your promise is for this moment, and your commands are for now. May the Lord help us to follow you now; no matter what the circumstance is, you will become our strength and help. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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