Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Joshua 5:15   The commander of the Lord's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.     When Joshua encountered the Lord, the Lord asked him to remove his sandals, because the land where he stood was holy. It was originally just an ordinary place, but the throne of the Lord was established, it became holy. Wherever the Lord set up His throne, God makes it holy. That's why, in Isaiah chapter 6, when Isaiah met the Lord and saw that the Lord sat high up in the throne, he said "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips..." Isaiah had such an experience because the Lord's light of holiness shined on him.    If a person wants to be used by God, he needs to be first cleansed by God. Holiness is not a standard that we can achieve by ourselves, for it always must begin with knowing the holiness of the Lord. If a person doesn't know the Lord's holiness, it'd be like cleaning a room in the dark. You'd always feel that the room is clean and nothing needs to change. When the light of the Holy Spirit shines upon you, however, we'd see our filthiness. In the same way, when we see our filthiness and decay inside, we will humble ourselves. No excuse from the past is justifiable and there's nothing we can boast about ourselves before God. That is truly the first step of holiness. Next, we also need to obey God. When God wants Joshua to remove his sandals, Joshua followed. In the same way, when the light of the Holy Spirit shines on us, we also need to obey God and remove the darkness from our lives. In other word, we should no longer have a hardened and rebellious heart.   Holiness is a lesson that we need to learn for the rest of our lives. Some people will live in sin all their live and never understand God's will for holiness. Others live their life always fearful of not being holy enough, and are thus filled with sense of guilt. Actually, we need to understand that it is the Lord's Holy Spirit that makes us holy. We don't need to live in the fear that we might not be unholy, because there's no way that we can become holy overnight. Holiness is a process, and in this process we just need to be sensitive to the voice and light from the Lord, obey His guidance, and God's Spirit will make us more mature in our spiritual life. Joshua was not a completely holy man, but when he was willing to obey, he became holy because of the Holy Spirit inside him, and thus he was able to be used by God.   Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, may your Holy Spirit shine upon us now so that we can see our darkness inside. May the Lord's light of the Spirit shine inside us and cleanse us, so that we may become vessel of holiness and be used by 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 5:14-15      "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?" The commander of the LORD's army replied, "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.       Once Joshua heard that the Lord is to be the commander of the army of Jehovah, he immediately fell facedown and acknowledged that the Lord was the commander of their army. Surrendering leadership to the Lord is the secret of winning spiritual battles - Giving the authority of life to the Lord. Those who have been in the army understood that the first lesson in boot camp is to learn obeying order absolutely. To complete any task in the army, everyone has to obey unconditionally. Similarly, in spiritual battles, we have to obey God's command absolutely. We must first ask for his kingdom, not our own interests.   As we serve God, we encounter many difficulties. There are many enemies. But we neglect to realize that the number one enemy who obstructs God's work is quite often not others, but ourselves. We want to serve God according to our own wills and our own ways. We do what we want to do. We care for what we want to care for. It is as if we are building a mini kingdom for ourselves. That kingdom could be in your home. Or maybe it is in your cell group. Or it could be at church. When we do this, we exclude God from the kingdom. Isn't God the Lord of church, family, and our own lives? If it is, what does He want us to do? If He truly tells us to do something, will we follow?   We have to seriously deal with the question of who has authority in our lives. If it is God's will for us to preach gospel, then no matter how inconvenient it is, we have to follow His command. If it is God's will for us to enter local community, to provide service, then no matter how difficult it is we have to do it. If it is God's will for us to love our wives, to obey our husbands, then we have to follow wholeheartedly. In the realm of service, God reigns over everything. Serving God doesn't mean devising our own ways, then ask for God's blessing. It is for all of us to seek God's will and then follow.    Hebrew chapter 11 mentions that when God called on Abraham to leave his homeland, he didn't know where to go. But Abraham was waiting for a city that had good foundation, a city that was built by God. Equally, when we face the challenges ahead, we often don't know where to start. We have to follow Abraham's faith, not relying on our own hands or our own ways, but to let God build and let God manage. During the process, let us offer our lives to God so that we can partner with God.     Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, I am willing to put my life in your hands again, for you are the only king in my life. May God break down the walls of Jericho of my life and all strongholds so that my heart and spirit can be truly free.  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 5:13-14      Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"  "Neither," he replied, "but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant?"   In spiritual battles, Lord is not only the marshal of the war, He is also the linchpin of our victory. In Old Testament, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Moab's army surrounded them. People were frightened, not knowing what to do. The spirit of God said to king Jehoshaphat, "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's." The words are not meant to let us become loose. Rather, because victory doesn't depend on us, we need to rely on God with prayer even more. If we clearly know that God controls whether we win or lose, and yet do not rely on God by praying, then after our defeat, we will regret not doing everything we should have done.   Before the battle, Joshua came to God searching. He saw a messenger, standing in front of him holding a drawn sword. He immediately asked the question that everyone would have asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" Isn't that a question that we always care for? But the Lord didn't seem to answer that question directly. He merely said, "as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come." In other words, the question was not which side was God on, but which side was Joshua on. God is the marshal of the army of Jehovah. Are you and I on God's side?   During Civil War, both army engaged in a tug of war. President Lincoln and his staffs were all praying. His staff asked he worriedly, "Mr. President, do you feel that God is on our side?" President Lincoln answered, "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side" We have to adjust our attitude. What we often care about are ourselves, family, career, children, and marriage. We need to focus on the Lord. At every crossroad of our life, say to Him, "Lord, we are willing to surrender to the work in your hands. May you fulfill it on us according to your will."   Only after our hearts have surrendered to the God can He start His work. Otherwise, we always think we know better ways, have better answers, and not willing to let God do His work. Brothers and sisters, this is a choice that you can make - From now on, are you willing to choose to be on God's side in your daily life?   Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we worship you as the marshal of our lives. May you help us not be self-centered, not just live to satisfy with our own desires, but simply seek you. Lord, I am willing to be on your side everyday!  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 5:13    Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?"       Joshua was a man who understood war. Facing the first battle in Canna, he was filled with anxiety. Then, at that moment, he approached Jericho and looked. This is a very important principle in spiritual battles. Why shall we look? First, we need to understand what we need. In Old Testament, when Nehemiah was to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, he rose up at night, and examined the city wall to understand its damages. In New Testament, Jesus ask disciples, "open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." Opening our eyes and looking are to let us understand the challenges ahead. Especially when preaching gospels, we have to understand the challenges facing us. We can't just provide spiritual feast to everyone who comes to our church. Different people have different needs. Some should eat hamburgers. Some should have a steak dinner. Some should eat salads and exercise more. We have to satisfy different spirits based on their needs.   Second, we open our eyes and look so that we understand God's will. In Habakkuk of the Old Testament, in order to understand God's will, the prophet walked up the tower, and look out for what Jehovah would say to him. Open our eye and look so that we understand God's will on us, on our church. Visions were never the results of our collective brain power. Visions come from God, and come from profound prayers. May God open our spiritual eyes in our prayers, seeing what wonderful a work He has accomplished. Let us learn to care what God cares. As Joshua approached Jericho, in one hand he wanted to understand, on the other hand, he was seeking visions from God, seeking the way God would fight this battle.    Joshua was a truly obedient person. He was a leader of the army, so he might already have a dozen plans in his head. He, however, was willing to humbly come to God, seeking how God would lead. That was the secret of his success!  The way God chooses will always beyond what he could imagine. No matter what circumstance you are in, if you desire victory, seek God first. When Joshua looked up, he saw a man with a drawn sword. Authority comes with a sword. He started to understand who the real marshal in his life was, and he started to turn to God for help. Brothers and sisters, do you know the marshal in your life? If you don't, come to know Him and follow Him!   Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you because you are glad to be the marshal in our lives. May God give us obedient hearts, seeking your will in everything we do, and be glad to follow 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 5:10-12    On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.     The Israelites ate the produce of the land, and the next day manna stopped. Israelites would no longer have manna. It was not easy to accept this fact. For forty years, Israelites had been custom to picking up manna early in the morning. They knew that they had to pick every morning. What they could not consume would turn bad after night. On the day before sabbath, they had to pick twice the portion. Because on the day of the sabbath, God would not distribute manna. At the beginning, they might not been accustomed to the way God was providing. Some picked more than they could consume. It turned bad. Some forgot to pick twice the portion the day before sabbath. And they had to endure hunger. It had been this way for forty years. Then, there was no manna. It was a big deal for Israelites. Afterward, they started eating the produce of the land.   God's promise will never change. But his way of providing us will change. When we first become believers, quite often, our prayers are always answered, just like the days of Israelites eating manna. We feel that God is so precious. He provides everything. There is no need for us to worry. But after our spiritual lives grow up, God starts to train us. No longer are we in the days of simply relying on manna. We have to produce, and to rely on ourselves. God wants us to stand up, to be responsible for our spiritual lives, not only relying on others or on pastors, even not relying on our comfortable circumstances. God wants to train us so that our spiritual lives can grow, and we are no longer second hand Christians. You may not be comfortable at first. How comes God doesn't answer like He used to? I believe that on the day that manna stopped, there had to be many Israelites out seeking manna. But manna had gone forever.   Many times, God leads us in new ways. May God help us not to rely on the grace of yesterday. Manna was great, but it was only yesterday's grace. No matter how wonderful yesterday's grace was, if we were still relying on it, it will become our hindrance. May God help us not to hold on to yesterday's grace. When God asks us to move forward wholeheartedly, let us follow Him by faith!   Pray with Pastor Tong     Lord, we thank you for all your grace in the past. May you help us not to rely on the grace in the past, but lead us to know your will and follow your steps. We welcome your work in us, and may all the glory be upon 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 5:8 - 9   "And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed. Then the Lord said to Joshua, "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.   God said "Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you." Isn't the salvation completed when the Israelites left Egypt? The miracle of Passover is where God used blood as a sign to rescue the Israelites from the destroyer. And Israelites were delivered from their four hundred years of slavery on the day after the Passover. The sight of leaving Egypt was magnificent and joyful. And as they left Egypt, they took Egyptians' wealth and livestock. Why then, God said He rolled away the reproach of Egypt today? This is because even though they have left Egypt, but Egypt is still in their hearts.   This is because when they were in wilderness, they always complained about how good Egypt was and how unwilling they are to leave Egypt. Even though they have departed Egypt, but Egypt had remained in their heart. Therefore when they were arrived at the gateway of the Promised Land, they were unwilling to enter the Promised Land because they heard that the indigenous people are like giants. The real problem is because of the Egypt that is like a stronghold in their hearts, which prevented them from entering the abundance of God. Only when Israelites had their circumcision, where they not only had it on their flesh but also surrender to God through the act of circumcision, the Egypt that was on their hearts were finally removed.   In our Christian journey, there are times where we were lead out of Egypt. God set us free from sins and bondages, but unfortunately, Egypt stayed in our hearts. The influence of the world is so strong in their hearts to a point where their lives are filled with all sorts of bitterness. Many believers don't understand that the bitterness in their hearts are due to Egypt not being removed from their hearts and have become a stronghold.   How about you? Are you willing to have the reproach of Egypt rolled away from you? May the Holy Spirit help us to surrender to God. Only when we are obedient to the leading of His word in our daily lives, then the Egypt could be removed from our hearts. As we obey, God will say "I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you."   Pray with Pastor Tong     Dear Lord, may you do the work of rolling away the Egypt from our hearts today. May the Gilgal comes into our hearts. May the Lord remove from our hearts all the bondages and strongholds from the world, so that we may be obedient. I thank you and I pray all these in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!

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