Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Romans 11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!    How unsearchable his judgments,    and his paths beyond tracing out!  "Who has known the mind of the Lord?    Or who has been his counselor?"  "Who has ever given to God,    that God should repay them?" For from him and through him and for him are all things.    To him be the glory forever! Amen.   Here Paul summarized the first half of the book of Romans, from Chapter 1 to 11: "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom of God!" Do you know how great the God you and I believe in is? Paul once said in Romans 1:20: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." He first mentioned how great and wonderful God's creation is. When we go on excursion and see the nature God created, we cannot help crying out "Oh". God's creation is so wonderful. God's design is wiser than ours. It is very hard for you to imagine why God created a thousand different kinds of spiders. But all these things reflect God's richness and His glory.     Paul said in Romans 5:1: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." God let sinners like us be justified. How amazing it is! You and I can approach God with confidence and pray, for Jesus has fulfilled the work of salvation on the cross. God's salvation is not for people of knowledge and perfect works. You can receive salvation just by pure faith, regardless whether you are educated and wealthy or not.    Paul also said: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters." He mentioned an even more wonderful thing, which is that we are not only saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, God also has a plan for us to conform us to the image of Jesus. You will find yourself not look like Jesus no matter how you look into a mirror. But the promise of the Lord never comes empty. He will personally work on you and transform you, which is so amazing! God's wisdom is beyond what we ask for. Let's praise Him together!    Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, we thank you. Let's come to you and lift your holy name on high and make your deeds known to all, for the richness of your wisdom is beyond measure, and your wonder makes people be without excuse. May you support us with the hands that support the universe, so that we may experience the richness of your love every day. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Romans 11:28-32 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may nowreceive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.   Paul said here that "for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." In other words, God's love for you and me is "the love to the end." In John 13:1 apostle John said: "Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." It is really hard for us to imagine what is "the love to the end", for our love is conditional and it keeps changing. We would say "I love you" today, but it might be totally different the next day. Once there was a song that said: "I woke up this morning, I saw you next to me. Suddenly I can't find that feeling of love. Bye, the girl I once loved..." When I was listening to this song, I felt so sad, not only because of this unreliable love, but also because this story is so real that it keeps happening around us. Our love is not the love to the end. So it is very hard for us to believe that there is such "love to the end" in the world.    God's love never changes. When someone is in Christ, God will embrace him and support him with His love until eternity, for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. Although King David backslid, the mercy of the Lord still helped him recover from failure. Although Peter backslid, the Lord never forsook him. He was kept where God wants him to be ultimately. When you look at each of these figures in the Bible, you have to admit that God is really full of mercy. The Bible says: "His love lasts forever, His compassion never fails". No matter how your circumstances are, just keep in mind that God will never forsake you. Whenever you return to God, you will find Him embrace you with His arms of love.   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, we thank you, for your love is so wide and long and high and deep. May you embrace us with your love that never fails, and become our help and hope in the circumstances of our life, so that we can overcome all kinds of difficulties because of you. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Romans 11:25-27      I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this wayall Israel will be saved. As it is written: "The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this ismy covenant with them when I take away their sins.   This passage is very hard to construe. First, what is the number for the Gentiles? Someone might point out that God has a quota for the Gentiles to be saved. In fact the Bible never reveals such a number. There has been a suggestion that number of 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7 actually grows with the increase of saved, and no one would claim that God only limits the saved to only 144,000. Most numbers in the Bible are symbolic with their spiritual meanings. The number of the Gentiles referred to here may just be symbolic and refer to the moment when God shuts the door of grace to the Gentiles. Secondly, it says here that all Israel will be saved. Does it mean that someone will be saved as long as he is one of the Israelites. Certainly not, for the Biblical teaching never says this is God's principle, and He will never violate His own principle. The whole Bible emphasized on "being justified by faith", and the Old Testament is no exception, because regardless who he is, at anytime if someone wants to have God's favor, he has to do it by his true faith. "All Israel" here is not supposed to be Israelites by birth, but "God's chosen people". Nevertheless, what Paul tried to emphasize was that a savior must come to remove all the sins from us. This savior Christ came to the world to save the sinners, regardless whether they are the Gentiles or the Greek. If one wants to receive the salvation, he must do so by faith. If one is not willing to receive the grace of the Lord, then the grace will not be able to come to him. Are you still excluded from the grace? You need to receive the salvation of Jesus Christ by faith. On the other hand, we also need to preach more of the gospel before the door of gospel is shut, so that the will of the Lord can be fulfilled.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, we thank for the salvation you have prepared for us, so that we can be saved by it regardless whether we are the Gentiles or the Israelites. May the Spirit lead us so that we can participate in fulfilling your will of preaching the gospel. May you also turn us into your vessels and use us. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Romans 11:21-24   "For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!"    Our God is one who cuts off and grafts in. First, He is the God that cuts off. In our life, there are things that need God to cut off. Facing the limitation of our life, we would try to fix it by ourselves. However, the more we fix, the greater the breach. Then we would realize it is not up for us to change our life. What we need is not fixing, but complete tear down. It is not by our strength. Turn back to God and let Him work on our life.     Jesus entered the temple and saw some dove vendors and some money changers. Those people appeared to be helpful to offering the sacrifice, but in fact they colluded with the priests. When the priests checked the offered sacrifices, only those sold in the temple would qualify. So Jesus overturned the tables of those vendors. It may seem to be too harsh to some people. But in fact, the Lord knows the way to deal with the sins of people is not making compromise, but complete tear down. Do you have any sins in your life that need to be dealt with by the Lord? Just welcome the Lord to tear down and cut off! Cutting off symbolizes breaking off. God wants us to break off sins, any skeptical spirit, and any spirit to rely on flesh, so that our life can be renewed once again. On the other hand, we need to be grateful to God, for He is also the one that grafts in. God will never keep on punishing us, or turning his face away from us. His mercy will heal our rebelliousness and our wounds, so that we can be made whole again. Brothers and sisters, where are you? Are you a branch on the tree, or a branch that has been cut off? May the Spirit help us to remove sin from our heart every day. May the precious blood of the Lord purify us and remove any unrighteousness from us. May the Spirit once again put a pure heart inside us.     Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, we thank you, for you are the God that cuts off and grafts in. May you cut off and graft in in our life, so that our life can experience renewal every day to please you. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Romans 11:16-20   "If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.  If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.  You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in."  Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid."   Today, we are enjoying God's salvation because of His grace, and there's nothing we can boast about.  Especially as we face the Jews, we must not look down or despise them.  Even though they don't believe in Jesus, disobeyed against God and even distanced themselves from God's grace, God has never forsaken them.  Never forget that salvation from out from the Jews; they are still God's chosen people and God will remember them in His eternal plan.  On the one hand, we already have true freedom in Christ and we don't need to, like back in the Old Testament time, first become Jews in order to enjoy God's grace; but on the other hand, we cannot neglect the needs of the Jews.  Paul said that in the Gospel we are indebted to the Jews, and therefore we need to remember them in the Lord.   The Bible also taught us to bless the Israelites for the following reasons: First, God's revelation came through them; second, Jesus Christ was born through this race, and third, the end-time prophecies will be fulfilled through them.  It doesn't mean that they are more spiritual or closer to God than us.  They are just vessels in God's hands; God chose them in order to accomplish His plan of eternal salvation on earth.  Therefore, the history of the Israelites is like a signal of God's work that we must pay close attention to.   So how do we bless the Israelites?  First, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Psalm 122:6 tells us to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May those who love you be secure."  Second, ask God to open doors for sharing the gospel with the Jews.  Israel has been considering a law that would make any form of sharing the gospel with Jews by missionaries illegal, and the offenders will be imprisoned.  May the Lord block any of such legislation!  Also, ask God to bless the Israelites, because those who bless the Israelites will be blessed by God.    Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, please bless the Israelites, open the door for the gospel, and soften their hearts so that they will accept it.  Through our blessing, may the grace of the Lord come upon everyone who prays for the peace of Jerusalem.  I thank you and I pray for the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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