Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu

Monday, January 10, 2022

Today's Passage - Matthew 12:22-28

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 12:22-28

...But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, "It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons." Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

In this passage, the Lord said, "if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." This seems the way how kingdom of God will come, isn't it? Jesus plus Holy Spirit can cast away the work of demons. Relying on the Holy Spirit is very important. Christians in this world need not only the salvation of Jesus, but the power brought forth by the Holy Spirit even more. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:20, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power." It is not about what we can do with our power, but rather about relying on the Holy Spirit. The biggest reason that Christians feel powerless is they don't understand the work of relying on the Holy Spirit.

The first time I understood the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit was when I was a young man attending a gospel training class for campus evangelism. They used a booklet, "Have you heard four spiritual principles?" The procedure was to find someone who needed gospel, and read the booklet with that person. At the beginning of the training, I was very excited. I never thought that preaching gospel could be so easy. After five week's training, we graduated. An evangelist coworker and I went out to preach the gospel. A few days later, more and more, I was afraid of going out with him. On the surface, we did the exact same thing, reading booklet with people. When he read it, someone would receive the Lord. But when I read it, there is no effect. I was frustrated. Later on, he told me that before every time we went out to preach, he spent many hours praying in front of God, asking the Lord to prepare him, to use him. Moreover, he prayed for those who he would meet, prayed that the Lord would see them. Even when we went out, he prayed that the Holy Spirit lead him, so that he could meet those who were thirsty. I witnessed the difference between him and me. He was humble, relying the guidance of the Holy Spirit, when I relied on the wonderful method I learned, not knowing to rely on God.

The secret of a victorious spiritual life is to rely on the work of the Holy Spirit. You need to rely on prayer to get closer to God, to receive the power of Holy Spirit. May branches like us be connected to the grapevine so that we receive revival power every day!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, we thank you, for you are our grapevine, the source of everything we need. Whenever we go to you with our needs, you always give us wisdom, power, and happiness. May your Holy Spirit fill us again, pour down on us so that we can live a victorious life every day. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

Sunday, January 9, 2022

Today's Passage - Matthew 12:16-21

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 12:16-21

He warned them not to tell others about him. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: "Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory. In his name the nations will put their hope."

These verses mentioned the work Jesus did on earth. He performed miracles with the spirit of God such that His words had authority. Jesus didn't perform any miracle before He was thirty. When He started preaching at thirty, the anointing of Holy Spirit descended on Him. When He preached, He did it with authority. When He casted demons and prayed, He had power. The Holy Spirit descended on Him so that blind could see, lame could walk, and those persecuted were set free. Those who serve God need to seek the anointing power of the Holy Spirit. By our true nature, no one can serve God. Only when we lean on God, get close to God, start receiving the anointing of Holy Spirit, can we bring out authority and power in our service.

The Lord not only had Holy Spirit in Him, but also preached the truth to gentiles. Jesus had one mission, that was to bring salvation not only to Jews, but also to Gentiles, to all the peoples. It is not God's will to save a few, but all nations and all peoples. This is what mentioned in John 3:16's "God so loved the world". This verse didn't say "God loved few" or "God loved Jews", but, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." God's heart is grand. He wanted all to be saved, not a single one to fall. The Lord came to this world to preach the truth to all nations.

Jesus humbly came to this world. Born in a manger. Spent thirty three and half years on earth. In the end, He was crucified on the cross to bear our pains in silence. On that cross, He personally absolved all our sins, and bore all the punishment for us so that we could be set free. Because He suffered for us on the cross, bore the punishment for our sins, He understood the pains in our heart suffering under evil authorities. He also understood that our lives were like that of a bruised reed, a smoldering wick. He would bring comfort, salvation to those who needed it. We are the bruised reed but he will not break. We are the smoldering wick that He will not snuff out, how incredibly precious that is!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, we thank you because you have borne all our weakness on the cross. Even though we are like a bruised reed, a smoldering wick, you will never cast us away. May your love pour down on us. Whenever we look upon to you, may your salvation come. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Today's Passage - Matthew 12:9-15

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 12:9-15

...And a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath." Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.

Pharisees didn't go to Jesus to find answers, but rather to find evidence to accuse Jesus. Pharisees paid great attention to the laws, while neglecting that the real spiritual Sabbath was getting close to God. From another perspective, Pharisees were good intentioned: to help others not to violate laws. There is this phrase "Sabbath's walk" in the Bible. At the time of the Old Testament, one couldn't walk or perform tasks on Sabbath. At the time of the New Testament, if one needed to perform task on Sabbath, what could one do? Pharisees came up with "Sabbath's walk": on Sabbath, as long as one walked no more than "Sabbath's walk", it did not violate the law. If one needed to walk a longer distance, he first came to someone's home, and then from that home walked to another home. As long as every segment was less than the "Sabbath's walk", a person could walk a long distance. From the perspective of men, this was great; however, in reality they totally missed the point of why God created Sabbath.

Moreover, in Old Testament, when lending to a poor, one had to exempt all debt of a poor in the seventh's year. Because of that, when a poor wanted to borrow in year six, the wealthy would think: "The seventh's year is coming. His debt will all be exempted." As such, the wealthy wouldn't lend money to the poor. What could he do? Pharisees found a way out: the debt mentioned in the Bible belongs to personal lending. But if a wealthy person lent money to the Temple, and the Temple lent money to the poor, it was no longer a personal loan, but an institutional loan, which needed to be paid back. Pharisees thought of every ways so that people would not violate the laws, but what they did was to lose the true intention of God's merciful will.

God's plan is to have people turn back to Him. God wants people to be forgiven from their debt. But people used all kinds of laws to move away from God's will. How pitiful it was! When we come to God, let us not follow the example of Pharisees. May God shine His light on us and examine our hearts!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, may you help us not to be like a Pharisee. From deep down in our hearts, we want to be willing to get closer to you and follow your laws, so that your love and mercy will manifest from our lives. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

Friday, January 7, 2022

Today's Passage - Matthew 12:1-8

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 12:1-8

...He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread - which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven't you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

The Lord said that "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." What is sacrifice? It's the law on the outside. When God established the law, it was His will for the law to lead people to turn back to Him. It was not just for people to follow the rules of law, but rather God hoped that people will come before Him and our relationship with Him would be restored. People, however, often only pay attention to the law on the outside, not only applying it to their own behavior, but also use it to judge other people. That's what the Pharisees were like back then - When they were able to follow the law to a certain degree, they use the rules of law to judge and condemn those who could not follow them. In the process, they unfortunately forgot what exactly the will of God was.

The Lord's will was to have compassion and mercy on the people who are weak, and that's why Jesus came to the world and was nailed on the cross for the weakness of people. God is happy to show His love to us again, and He wants us to turn back to Him in order to enjoy His love again. The Pharisees only paid attention to what people couldn't do on Sabbath, but the essence of Sabbath is for people to lay down all their burden, have peace in their hearts and restored the close relationship with God. Pharisees focused on what people could do and could not do on Sabbath, but neglected the fact that God called us to be near Him on Sabbath. We often also value things on the outside, but neglect that it is God's will for us to receive rest inside our hearts.

Faith is not just rituals on the outside. It's not whether you are attending services, making offerings, or involved in ministries. Services, offerings and ministries are certainly important, but the most important things are whether our hearts have turned back to God and whether we are close to God, because these are what God value the most! May God help us, not just follow the law, but let the Lord's love fill ourselves. The law will be completed in us because of love!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, I thank you because you desire mercy, not sacrifice. Please forgive us, because we often value what's on the outside, but neglect your will behind the law, which is to draw us near you. May you help us to be closer to you so that we can experience your presence and how real you are. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website

Thursday, January 6, 2022

Today's Passage - Matthew 11:25-30

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Matthew 11:25-30

At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

People have no peace in their hearts not because of their circumstance, but because they have departed from God, and the relationship with the Lord who created us and given us meaning to life has been severed. We often try to think of our own ways, live our own lives and walk our own path, but in reality our relationships are often broken because we want to do things our own way. The outcome from such self-centeredness is the result of sin, and we lose our rest because we're suffering the result of sin.

The Lord said that if anyone is in such circumstance, they can go to Him and He will give us rest. This rest is the rest from our repentance and assurance in our hearts. Rest doesn't come out from change in our circumstance or finding a refuge for us to hide, but rather it's from an assurance from deep down our hearts. We truly believe that in Christ our sins can be forgiven. Our God is God of Emmanuelle; the rest in Him doesn't mean that we don't have to do anything, and we might even have to do more than before. It's actually faith and assurance, and also a confirmation of knowing that we belong to God. God is working and also guiding us; even if we go through the valley of shadow of death, we should not fear because we know that our Lord is with us. Even if we will leave this world, we should not fear because we know that He will take us to heaven to be with Him forever.

There might not be obvious differences on the outside between Christians and non-Christians. Non-Christians will encounter hardship and dead just like the Christians will. The only difference is that Christians have the presence of the Lord inside. The world and everything in the world will eventually pass away, so the question is how will you live your life? You may live your life in hardship and sorrow, or you may live your life with the Lord's presence, with peace and joy inside us forever. This is the choice before us, as Jesus said "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Are you willing to bring your worries and burden before the Lord?

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, I thank you because you are the God who takes on our worries and carries our pain. When we bring all our needs before you, we believe that you will give us rest. Forgive our sins and let us be assured of your presence in our lives. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

River of Life Christian Church | office@rolcc.net | ROLCC Website