Today's Passage - Ephesians 5:1-3

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 5:1-3   "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."   Love is what sets Christians apart in the world, and the love of Christ is the example for our love.  Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for us so that we may receive eternal life, so the love of Christ is a sacrificial love.  This sacrificial love contrasts with the love of lust, filth and greed, and such love is called a self-seeking love, which comes out from the desires of our nature and is self-centered.  We might hear someone saying "I love watermelons," but does he really "love" watermelons?  When he gets a watermelon, he will cut it open and eat it, so he actually loves his stomach more than watermelon.  When we say "I love this person," it means "I like to be with him because he makes me happy and feel important, and makes me feel precious."  We all like to be with people who have money, talent, status and who are pleasant to be with, because we do whatever is favorable to ourselves.  The love of Christians, however, shouldn't be like that.  We need to let sacrificial love replace self-seeking love, because Jesus Christ didn't decide not to come to this world because of He cared for Himself.   We need to demonstrate love of the Lord in the world with the same way that Christ loved us.  After Jesus resurrected from death, He asked Peter three times: "Do you truly love me more than these?"  Peter replied, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."  Then Jesus instructed him three times: "Take care of my sheep."  Jesus didn't tell him to "take care of your sheep."  If we follow our nature, we would only care about those who are popular, pleasant, healthy and inspiring, but Jesus said here "take care of my sheep."   Who is the sheep of Jesus?  Jesus said that He's here to seek and save the lost.  He entrusted us the mission of caring for those who are weak, hurt and in pain.  We are not to seek our own benefit, or to show others how loving we are and how success is our ministry, but we should simply learn to love for the sake of Christ.  We not only love the souls of the people, we also love them in entirety.  That is the testimony that God wants us to carry in this world!  We love because Christ loved us first; therefore, we ask the Lord to draw us closer to Him for us to always be in His love, so that we may live out His love in daily life.                                                                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, please let your love pour into and fill the deepest corners of our hearts.  Let us truly understand that your love is a selfless love; we love because you first loved us.  Let us love the people around us with selfless love, so that they may experience your abundant love.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Ephesians 4:31-32

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 4:31-32   "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."   The heart and soul of people today are often bound by thoughts of hatred.  Memories of how we were hurt and failed since we were young are hard for us to forgive and forget.  Many of us are filled hatred and we often contemplate seeking revenge.  While we claim to want to seek revenge, deep down inside us, however, we thirst for being forgiven by others.  Forgiveness is the center of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and also the way that Christians ought to live in the world.  When we hear the teaching on forgiveness, we would first think: "Why does he apologize to me first?  Why should I apologize first?  It's not fair because he's the one who's wrong, so why should I forgive him?  He's lucky that I didn't get back at him!  Why should I accept him and love him?"  When we don't forgive others, we are actually the real victim.  The more we think, the more bad we'll be, and we'll be filled with anger against the unfairness and we won't be able to do anything!   I've read this in a book: "Having hatred inside can turn a beautiful girl into a witch, a friendly man into a devil; the outcome of rage is a slow suicide."  Once I communicated with a brother who was filled with grievance and bitterness inside, because he really hated another brother at church, believing that the brother has been giving him a hard time, so he really wanted to seek revenge.  One night, he dreamed about some high profile murders throughout history; an assassin killed President Lincoln, and another assassin killed President Kennedy.  Then he saw himself taking a gun and aiming at the brother he hated, wanted to kill him, but the brother took out a gun and killed him first.  He woke up from the nightmare and suddenly realized that God had spoken to him through this dream: "You want to revenge?  The outcome is your self-destruction!"  He immediately bowed down, confessed and repented for his sin, and asked for God's forgiveness.   Brothers and sisters, are you filled with thoughts of unfairness?  Are your heart and soul bound by hatred and cannot be released?  May the Lord help us, first come before Him to confess our sin, let light of the Lord shine inside us so that we can see our own darkness, and confess that we really need the love of the Lord.  Let the love of the Lord fill us first, and then we can deal with our hatred inside with His love.                                                                                    Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, in your name I bless all brothers and sisters; if they have hatred inside and cannot forgive, please cover them with your precious blood, break all the bondage of hatred and release them so that they can experience true freedom.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Ephesians 4:29-30

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 4:29-30   "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."   Paul reminded the believers to discipline themselves more in talking, avoid filthy language and speak helpful words that build up others.  Not just one or two good words, but in all things.  Words can hurt people and even put people to death, but they can also edify people and resurrect them from death; it's totally up to us how we would use the words.  If parents constantly call their kids low achievers, their kids will most likely grow up to be low achievers; if parents always encourage their kids, the morale of the kids will be continuously lifted.   Reverend Yonggi Cho once testified about this.  His child had really bad greats before, and one time he only scored 35% on a test.  Reverend Cho got real mad and scolded his child.  Later, Spirit of the Lord rebuked him and reminded him that God would never dealt with his mistakes that way.  He then said to his child, "it was good that you got 35%, but I think you have potential to do better, so how about getting 40%, 5% higher, next time?"  On the next test, his child actually got 40%, so he praised him again and told him, "that was great, getting 40% means you really have potential, so how about getting 45% next time?"  Since then, his child's grade kept on rising higher than 80%, praise the Lord!   One word that edifies people can truly bring great impact.  May the Lord help us, don't hold back on speaking word of praise.  Chinese people often hold our feelings inside and don't know how to encourage people around us.  Couples should particularly become cheerleaders for each other; when we do well we applause each other, and when we don't do so well we'll encourage each other.  If we don't speak word that edifies others, but speak words that are filthy, critical and judgmental, they won't help others but can hurt them, and it'll cause Holy Spirit to grieve.  Brothers and sisters, has your words be trained?  May God guard our mind and thoughts, let our tongues be cleaned by the Lord's Spirit, so that people around us will enjoy the fragrant presence of the Lord.                                                                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, please guard our tongues so that we speak every word in your love and Holy Spirit.  Please guide us in our relationships everyday so that we can speak words that edify and benefit those who heard them.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Ephesians 4:25-28

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 4:25-28   "Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.  "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.  He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need."   Paul taught us many things that are practical for believers' life.  First, he said we ought to put off falsehood and speak truthfully.  We can easily understand this teaching, but it's hard to put it in practice in our life.  The problem is that we don't understand what the "truth" according to the Bible is.   We think that it means we ought to say whatever we think of.  Not only will people not be edified, but we will cause even bigger problems.  In the Bible, the word "truth" really means the Word of God.  God wants us to speak His Word in all circumstances in life, and to understand the will of the Holy Spirit and to speak what He wants us to say at Hid time.  As long as you understand this truth, you won't easily use your words to hurt others; you will speak cautiously and be more responsible for what you say.  James 3:1 says: "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly."   Next, "in your anger do not sin."   We thank God because He didn't say we can never get angry, but to sin when we are angry means that we hurt others physically or mentally when we are angry.  When we are angry, it's easy for us to say the wrong thing, curse others, or even physically hurt others.  It could easily happen to people who are nearest to us, like spouses or children.  One time we discussed this passage in the cell group, and the leader asked which the most difficult thing to do is.  Everyone said it's "in your anger do not sin."  Therefore, we decided to put this into practice for a whole week.  Later on, a brother testified that on their way back home, his wife told him that his son was really misbehaving in the children program.  He was really mad and wanted to spank the boy once he got home; however, he thought about the topic of "in your anger do not sin" that they just studied, so he prayed to God for wisdom.  Once he reached home, he didn't spank the boy, but he took him to the room and asked him whether he knew what he had done wrong.  The boy nodded, so they both knelled before God to pray and confessed their sin.  He said that was the first time he prayed with his son and it was wonderful.  Brothers and sisters, did you know that following God's Word can give you a wonderful experience?  Are you willing to practice it today?                                                                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because you are the momentum in our daily living and source of our life.  Please help us to keep our months in check, so that we often speak God's Word and never "put off falsehood."  Let us never sin in our anger and don't allow our mouth and body to hurt anyone.  Keep our hearts in you so that we can be pleasing to you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Ephesians 4:20-24

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 4:20-24   "You, however, did not come to know Christ that way.  Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.  You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."   As a new creation in Christ, we need to learn the lessons of "putting off" and "putting on" everyday.  With these two terms, Paul explained to us how to live a victorious Christian life.  We cannot live a victorious life with our own strength, so we need to put on the life of Christ.  Putting on means that we don't own it and we need to receive it from the Lord everyday.  Many Christians fail because they try to live the life of Christ by their own might.  If we look at the nine types of the fruit of Spirit Paul mentioned in Galatians, we would find that all these virtues are all fruit of the Holy Spirit from God, not from human nature.  Therefore, we need to depend on God and learn to draw the virtues we need from Him everyday.   Some have said that Holy Spirit living in us is a like having a deep well in our life, which has unlimited amount of spring water.  It's our responsibility to draw water from the well.  If we are lacking patience and gentleness, we need to acknowledge our shortcomings before God; bring our empty bucket before Him, and God will fill you with His patience and gentleness.  Don't complain about all the relationship problems that you are having, because that is the opportunity for you to put on virtues of the Lord!   Many years ago, I thought I was very patient, but after I had our second daughter I discovered that I was really not very patient.  My second daughter was cute but also stubborn; if she wanted something, she had to have it.  Whatever worked with our elder daughter didn't work with the second daughter at all.  Many times I came before God and prayed for her, but God revealed to me that my impatience was the problem.  Later, I changed tactic and treated her nicely in order to shift her attention to other things.  Not only was she happy, I could also commit less sin.  We thank God because He often uses people around us to learn about our own shortcomings, and then we learn how to put on virtues of the Lord.  Verse 23 says that we ought to "be made new in the attitude of your minds."   "To be made new" is in the present tense.  In other word, we need to put on the new creation everyday; not just on the day we were saved, but we need to be renewed every day and become new creations in Christ.                                                                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I thank you because in Christ we are given abundant life.  May the Lord help us not to depend on our selves in our daily life, but to retrieve your virtues.  Help us to put off our old selves and put on our new selves, so that we can live the glorious form of Jesus Christ.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Ephesians 4:17-19

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 4:17-19   "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more."   Christians should live the life of a new creation, which is a life that is set apart from the world.  In verse 17, Paul said that we "must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking."  "Futility of their thinking" means that we might think that God cannot see what we're doing.  Many people follow their own evil desires and do all kinds of filthy things because they think God cannot see or hear, so they do whatever they want.  Some people like to put dark films on windows so that that they can see outside but people from outside cannot see them.  We feel that is it's safe to hide inside our own little space and we can do whatever we want.  The fact is that our God is all-powerful and all-knowing.  May God give us a heart that fears Him as we live each day of our life on earth.   One time when I was transferring in Seoul, Korea, I was all alone in a place far-off to me.  Suddenly I heard God's voice saying, "when you are alone, can you still obey faithfully?"  At the time I clearly knew that the Lord was right beside me, and I understood the challenges before me from the Lord.  Therefore, even though I was alone in a far-off place, I was able to faithfully live of the Lord; not for anyone, but simply for the Lord.  Brothers and sisters, can you faithfully obey the Lord when you are alone?  We like to talk about God's presence because it's comforting to know that Lord will never forsake us; on the other hand, it keeps us on our toes because we are always living before Him, twenty-four hours a day without a break.  If you understand this truth, you won't be living with futility of thinking like the non-believers, thinking that God will never know.  On the contrary, you will faithfully and obediently serve Him in everything that you do.  Are you willing to do that?                                                                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, I give all the brothers and sisters onto your hands and ask that your precious blood will cover us.  In the victorious name of the Lord, I rebuke all the futility of thinking inside us.  Please forgive us if we thought you can't see and can't hear us.  Please enlighten us to see that you are the God who's always with us.  Examine everything that we do and give us a heart that fears you.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

Today's Passage - Ephesians 4:14-16

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 4:14-16   "Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."   It is difficult for children to discern what's right or wrong.  It might be easier for us to discern right or wrong on worldly matters, but in spiritual matters we may still be children.  As we are pursuing spirituality, we easily become focused in knowledge and experience more than discipline of life.  It's easier to develop discipline in Lord's Word and Spirit, because we can see the outcome immediately.  The Lord's life, however, is a different matter, because it takes time to deal with our personality issues and we need to pay a price to develop character.  It's not a personal matter either, for such discipline needs to be developed in cell group life.  In our pursuit of spirituality, the Lord's Word is the foundation, Lord's Spirit is the momentum, and only Lord's life is the result.   Experience of miracles is only a momentary thing, but growth of life is a lifetime effort.  We need to discern God's will while pursuing spirituality, else our life will be like what Paul describe in verse 14, "blown here and there by every wind of teaching."  We might not be swayed by heresies and other religions, but we might be swayed by all the trends happening in the church!  In 1 Corinthians 14:20, Paul said that "brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults."  May God help us to understand His will, and be willing to accept discipline in life.  In verse 16, Paul gave us a clear picture: Each believer in the church is like different body parts.  The body can be healthy and strong only when all parts are functioning well.  If any part of you doesn't function well, the whole body is affected and won't grow normally.   There, in the church, we must actively participate in serving the Lord, and also learn to collaborate with each other.  While we may encounter many difficulties in the process or even get hurt, criticized or feeling lonely and unaccepted, let me remind you this - Are you doing every to serve God?  Also, what are the reasons that you are not serving God?  May God once again change our attitude; let us learn from the example of the sacrifice of Jesus to support and work with each other.  Individuals can only be built up in love when the body of Christ is built up.  God's will is for us to build the body of Christ, so are we willing to collaborate with Him?                                                                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, please help us not to be like children and be swayed by the winds of the world.  Let us be deeply rooted in your Word and welcome the work of Holy Spirit so that our life will keep on growing.  Let us take on the form of Christ and collaborate in the body of Christ, so that in love we will be built up.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!