Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 10:16-20

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

Matthew 10:16-20

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Christians on earth are like sheep among wolves. May the Lord help us not be afraid, because He is with us. When God sent Livingstone to preach the gospel in Africa, one time his team was going to cross a river to enter into cannibal tribe territory in the Dark Continent. Everyone was afraid because they didn't know what's going to happen to them. Livingstone prayed to God, and God revealed Matthew 28:20 to them: "surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." After receiving this word, Livingstone was filled with faith, and the day after they cross the river to enter into a cannibal tribe. The gospel then spread over the entire continent.

Besides being courageous, we also need to be smart, as the Lord said to us in verse 16: "shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." 1 Peter 5:8 says: "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." We need to look upon God, because the Lord's Spirit will make way for us and guide us in any kind of difficulty. We saw how the Lord always received wisdom from God when He was in hardship caused by the enemy's ploy. Once time, the Pharisees tried to get Jesus into trouble, so they asked Him whether it's ok to pay tax to Caesar. If Jesus said yes, then He wasn't loyal to the Jews; if He said no, then they could accuse Jesus of not following Roman laws. Confronting such a dilemma, Jesus immediately had wisdom from God, and asked them whose face is on the coins. When the Pharisees said Caesar, Jesus said "Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

No matter what circumstance or hardship you are in, just focus on God, and His wisdom will guide you from inside. That's why it says here that "when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it." The Spirit of the Lord is inside you, and He will give you the appropriate words. May the Lord help us, no matter what circumstance we are in, let us not be afraid, but to guard our heart and look upon God, because He will provide us with all we need!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, I thank you because you are a faithful God. I pray for all the brothers and sisters; no matter what kind of circumstance they are in, I ask that you give them sufficient wisdom and cleverness, and also a soft heart that solely depends on you. Let us receive strength from you in our daily life. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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

Saturday, December 25, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 10:9-15

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

Matthew 10:9-15

Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts - no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

When the Lord sent out the disciples, He taught them several things. First, do not bring gold, silver or copper. In other word, they must trust that God will provide. This is not only true for the missionaries - We can also experience how God provides for us in our daily life. When I studying in Philadelphia, for some reason I stopped to work and we were short of money. One time Mrs. Liu was going out to buy things, but found out that she didn't have any money. She went before God in prayer, and suddenly heard a knock on the door. It was a sister from church who delivered an envelope, and told Mrs. Liu: "I believe this is what God prepared for you." She opened the envelope and found some cash in it! This sister's love offering provided for our needs at the most appropriate time. God not only provided for our needs through signs and wonders in the past, He can also satisfy our needs today through brothers and sisters, as well as other means.

Second, we must bring blessings to others. No matter what role in life God places us in, we have the same responsibility of becoming channel of His blessings. When we go to a city, we need to bless the city. When we enter a home, we need to pray for peace in the home. That's why we need to practice prayer walk. Chinese believers often overlook our responsibility to bless and bring peace to the city and community that we live in, because we're used to caring about nothing but our own business.

The Lord taught us that we need to pray for peace at the city we are living in. Have you ever prayed blessings upon your city? When we do that, people of the world will have two reactions towards the gospel that we preach: First, they will receive this peace; second, they will reject this peace. The Lord said, however, that the Lord's peace will be given to those who receive it, and the Lord's judgment will come upon those who reject His peace. It doesn't mean that we have condemned them of their sins, but they have condemned themselves because of their unbelief and rejection of the Lord. No matter what, we must follow God's will; no matter where we go, the gospel will be preached there as well, and Lord's blessings and peace will be there too!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, please help us to pray blessings upon others. When we trust in you, you will provide us for all our needs. Please also help us to become channel of blessing for others, so that your grace may flow through us to those around us 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

Friday, December 24, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 10:5-8

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

Matthew 10:5-8

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

Why did Jesus ask the disciples not to "go among the Gentiles"? If it's not the Lord's will for the gentiles to be saved, why then - as recorded in Gospel of John chapter four - did Jesus go all the way to Samaria to share the truth with the woman there? It's not that the Lord only loves the Israelites and not the gentiles. It is actually the strategy for the Lord to train the disciples. Lesson one in preaching the gospel is that we must begin with wherever we are familiar with. That is why, in Acts 1:8, the Lord asked the disciples to go and be His witness from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

We should always share the gospel starting from environment that we are familiar with, not to be overly ambitious. Very often we've never mentioned the name of Jesus to those around us, then how can we start sharing the gospel with people of various ethnic and racial origins? The Lord said here: "Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'" The message of kingdom of God was one that the Jews could readily understand, and the disciples were ready to preach it. Therefore, when the Lord chose the twelve disciples, He first sent them to the lost sheep of Israel.

Another reason for not sending the disciples to the gentiles was what Paul said in Romans 1:16: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." The book of Romans mentions this order several times - First the Jews, then the gentiles. This is an order established by God, therefore the Lord asked the disciples to preach the gospel first to the house of Israel. In verse eight, the Lord also gave us very clear principle in preaching the gospel, which is "Freely you have received; freely give." We received the gospel from the Lord for free, not because we deserve it. After we received the Lord's grace, we also ought to share this grace with people around us, so that they may also experience the Lord's mercy and love.

Let me see the Lord's will in our daily life. Let's not just keep the gospel for ourselves, but to let God's grace be passed onto all nations and all people through us. Let us follow God's will in our daily life!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, I thank you because you are a faithful God. Lord, you love us and take care of us so much in our daily life, so we ask that you would help us to freely pass on the grace that we've received freely from you. We pray that people around us may enjoy your grace as we have. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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

Thursday, December 23, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 10:1-4

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

Matthew 10:1-4

He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Ever since Jesus started his work on earth, he had been calling those who believed to come into His kingdom. It's the Lord's will that not only should people experience His all mightiness, but The Lord would give them the mission of expanding His kingdom. The Lord chose twelve disciples. They were specially called to bear witness to the Lord's resurrection. In general, every born-again Christian is being called by God. The original meaning of "church" was a group of people who were called. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are", refer to the whole church, the chosen people. 1 Perer continues, "royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Maybe you feel that you are weak and can't do much for The Lord. But look carefully of the disciples chosen by Jesus - There was no famous character among them. As far as leadership is concerned, maybe only Peter qualified. But his temper is not stable at all. Jacob and John, Jesus gave them the nickname of 'Sons of Thunder'. On the one hand, it was the hope of the Lord that they would do something thunderous for the kingdom of God. On the other hand, it showed that they had bad temper. Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew were loyal and warm hearted. But they did not possess leadership talent. Matthew's background was even worse. He was a tax collector, i.e. those who worked for the Romans and were despised by Jews. Thomas, whenever we think of him, we remember his doubts. As for Jacob the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, and Simon, we don't even know them. Of course, there was the traitorous Judas. Even though The Lord knew Judas would betray Him all along, Jesus still loved him. Unfortunately, Judas didn't repent and ended in destruction.

Looking at the ist of disciples, we can be truly comforted, can't we? Even though those on the list are such ordinary people, the Lord loved them nonetheless and personally chose them. If The Lord could use those people at that time, He can surely use us today as well. Don't underestimate yourself - When the grace of God comes, let us rise up and do great things for the Lord!

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, I thank you for being willing to work with us. You not only chose twelve disciples at that time, you chose each of us today. May you raise us to respond to your calling in our daily life, and to bear witness for your glory. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!

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

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Today's Passage - Matthew 9:32-38

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

Matthew 9:32-38

While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus. And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel." But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons." Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Jesus went through all towns and villages, teaching people in their synagogues. The Lord also sent us into all corners of the world to preach the Gospel. Those who preach the Gospel need to do a few things. First, we must see what the Lord had seen. Verse 36 says, "He saw the crowd, had had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless." We witness many things; however, we do not have the Lord's compassion in our hearts. The Lord saw them harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Today's people are indeed like this. There are many who seem successful. There are many families which seem alright. But deep down in those people's hearts there are pain and brokenness. May God help us to not only see what's on the outside of people, but have the mercy of the Lord, see what the Lord has seen. When we see others in need, may we have the mercy of the Lord and be willing to bring them the Lord's salvation.

Second, hear what the Lord has said. In verse 37 the Lord said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Have you heard the Lord's calling? He said that the harvest is plentiful. At the time of Jesus, the world population was not that big. And yet the Lord said that the harvest is plentiful. Today there are over 7 billion people in the world. Isn't the harvest even more plentiful? Have we heard the voice of the Lord? More importantly, the Lord teaches us to pray to Him, the Lord of the harvest, to send workers out to the harvest field. May God revive us because we are His workers. Not only should we pray, we should also have willing hearts so that God can use us and He will let salvation flow through us. Are you willing?

Pray with Pastor Tong

Lord, may you give us merciful hearts to see the needs of this world. May we hear you calling, and may we pray that you will send us to complete your work. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, Amen!

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