<\/p>\n
(Translated version, original article written in Chinese by Pastor Mickey Hsiao)<\/em><\/p>\n By singing praises and hymns, awake your soul, open your heart to the Lord, and prepare yourself to welcome the presence of God and receive the Word of God that will be given to you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Petition with thanksgiving to God for a wonderful day and pray sincerely for a focused Scripture reading time! (Do not rush into reading the Bible without starting with prayers!<\/strong>) (e.g., you may start with a simple prayer like this: “Dear Lord, what will you be speaking to me today?)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Get the following items ready in advance: your devotional notebook, paper, pen, and\/or electronic devotional articles so that you can easily write down the Bible verses, questions, and thoughts you have noticed! You are encouraged to open your Bible and vocally read out the scriptures (Try to practice this reading method daily or once a week)!<\/p>\n Scripture Reading: Matthew Ch. 17 (ESV)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Take a moment to quietly reflect on today’s Scriptures. Through such exercises, let God’s Word be gradually written into our hearts and be inscribed to our mind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Read the devotional articles prepared by CBCLWA (*Read the Bible first before reading any devotional materials.<\/strong>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n (<\/span>vv.\u00a0<\/span>1-13) Jesus went up the mountain with three of his disciples and revealed to them his glory. At the same time, Moses and Elijah appeared – one representing the law, and the other representing the prophets – and Jesus is the one that all the law and the prophets have been pointing to. 2 Peter (1:16-19) shows us Peter\u2019s thoughts as he\u00a0reflected back\u00a0on this time, and Luke also specifically detailed the things they spoke about\u2026 Luke 9:31\u00a0<\/span>\u201cwho\u00a0<\/span><\/b>(they)\u00a0<\/span>appeared in glory and spoke of his<\/span><\/b>\u00a0(Jesus\u2019)<\/span>\u00a0departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Praise the Holy Spirit for revealing many of these things to us, so that we who are reading the Bible in present times may come to know Jesus better through it.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Just as Peter said on the mountain to make three tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah, we also may not be able to respond correctly to things in the moment, but when we think back and reflect on the marks that God has left in our lives, don\u2019t forget to praise Jesus for his wonderful grace!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (<\/span>vv.\u00a0<\/span>14-23) After a miraculous experience on the mountain, we see the disciples facing a challenge as soon as they get back down. Do you still remember Jesus granted them authority and sent them out to proclaim to gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons (M<\/span>atthew\u00a0<\/span>10)? But this time they faced a demon they could not cast out, why? Jesus said they didn\u2019t have enough faith, and that this type of demon could only be cast out through fasting and\u00a0prayer1<\/sup>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Jesus is the founder and perfecter of our faith (Heb<\/span>rew<\/span>\u00a012:2), on the path of faith, we must with faith turn to him at every moment. Any time we do not turn to rely on him, we will face the dangers that come with having little faith. May those experiences of seeing\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>\u2026<\/span><\/b>no one but Jesus only\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0not simply be left at the high places (<\/span>i.e.,<\/span>\u00a0during worship services), but rather be brought down the mountain and into our everyday lives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The pitiful father came to see Jesus, the demon was cast out with a single rebuke from Jesus and the boy was healed instantly.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Look at the disciples, then\u00a0take a look\u00a0at ourselves. Sometimes, we\u2019ll be quick to advise other people on their problems but be equally frustrated if we hit a wall. But thinking about it differently, wouldn\u2019t it be better if we could lead the other person directly to Jesus instead? Not only would the problem be solved, but they\u2019d also be able to more deeply experience the power of Christ.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (<\/span>vv.\u00a0<\/span>24-27) Exodus 30:11-16 gives us the background and meaning of the two-drachma tax:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cYou shall take the atonement money from the people of Israel and shall give it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may bring the people of Israel to remembrance before the Lord, so as to make atonement for your lives.<\/span><\/b>\u201d (Ex<\/span>odus<\/span>\u00a030:16). This is an annual tax that must be paid by every Israeli male over the age of 20 to cover the expenses of the temple.<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Peter was asked by the collectors of this tax,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cDoes your teacher not pay the tax<\/span><\/b>\u00a0(about half-drachma coin)<\/span><\/b>?\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0and he replied,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0But after coming into the house and being asked by Jesus, he discovered it wasn\u2019t that simple. In principle, Jesus is the Messianic King, the Son of God, the Lord of the temple, so should naturally have no need to pay taxes. But in order to avoid stumbling others (because, at the time, other people\u00a0weren\u2019t able to\u00a0accept the reason for Jesus not needing to pay the two-drachma tax), Jesus was willing to\u00a0<\/span>lay down his identity and pay taxes according to the rules.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Although the result of Jesus paying the tax is still the same, in the process, Jesus asked Peter to go to the sea and take money from the mouth of the first fish that comes up, which would pay the tax for both Jesus and Peter. Through this, Peter was able to experience yet another miracle, and once again see God\u2019s faithfulness and provision.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Do we also respond like Peter, making decisions in our lives instinctively based on our customs, habits and rationality? Let\u2019s try to take Jesus\u2019 teaching here to help us be more thoughtful when it comes to making decisions; carefully considering, since we walk with Christ, why\/for whom are we doing these things? May God bless us through being trained in this way, so that the decisions we make today may lead us to experience the same grace that Peter received upon finding the shekel to pay the tax \u201cfor me, and for yourself.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 1<\/sup>Some manuscripts insert verse 21: “But this kind never comes out except by prayer and fasting. (Source: ESV.org)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Give thanks to God for His enabling us to read the Scriptures and for our response for living out the Word of God today! (e.g., You may start with a simple prayer like this: \u201cDear Lord, what\/where are you going to lead me to today?”)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abiding-in-the-lord","category-pastor-mickey-hsiao"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2164"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2179,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2164\/revisions\/2179"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Worship<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Thanksgiving<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Scripture Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Meditation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Devotional<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Pray<\/strong><\/h3>\n