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(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: Mark Ch. 8 (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)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>As written in this passage,\u00a0<\/span>Jesus fed four thousand people with seven loaves and a few small fish. Through his provision of loaves, once again Jesus<\/span>\u00a0showed\u00a0<\/span>compassion\u00a0<\/span>toward others<\/span>. This crowd had gathered for three days and there was not much food left.\u00a0<\/span>When\u00a0<\/span>Jesus\u00a0<\/span>had taken few\u00a0<\/span>loaves and\u00a0<\/span>fish\u00a0<\/span>from his disciples<\/span>, s<\/span>imilar to what he had done<\/span>\u00a0in the past<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>he gave\u00a0<\/span>thanks<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>broke\u00a0<\/span>the food, and distributed the food to the people. After the people\u00a0<\/span>ate and were satisfied, Jesus sent them home.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We tend to focus on Jesus breaking loaves and providing fish. How many loaves? How many fish? How many were fed? How much food was left? These are all good observations. Today, let us think about why so many people were willing to come from afar, even in hunger, to follow Jesus?\u00a0<\/span>Obviously,<\/span>\u00a0they were attracted by Jesus. Moreover, they were very different from the Pharisees mentioned in the following verses (<\/span>vv.\u00a0<\/span>11-13). Jesus\u00a0<\/span>had\u00a0<\/span>willingly performed a miracle and fed these people<\/span>. But for\u00a0<\/span>those Pharisees\u00a0<\/span>asking him for a\u00a0<\/span>sign from heaven, Jesus said<\/span>\u00a0to them<\/span>:\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As for us, are we attracted to Jesus<\/span>? Are we\u00a0<\/span>willing to follow him?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv. 14-21) Jesus cautioned the disciples to watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. With their skepticism and stubborn hearts, the Pharisees constantly appeared around Jesus and endlessly tested and questioned him! This is a good reminder to us. When we surrender to Jesus\u2019 authority, understand his words, and let God be in charge of our lives, we will act like the people who have been attracted to Jesus, following him closely! Moreover, if we are willing to exalt Jesus and proclaim the gospel of forgiveness and repentance, we can lead people to follow Christ. Let it be heard the life-changing message of His resurrection!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv. 22-26) It was right after Jesus had rebuked his disciples\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?<\/span><\/b>\u201d,\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Jesus laid his hands twice on a blind man\u2019s eyes and completely restored his sight. Our understanding of God may be incomplete and somewhat vague. Just like the disciples in this passage, we may not yet perceive or understand, have eyes but do not see, have ears but do not hear, or have experienced God but still do not remember. This blind man said this after Jesus\u2019 first touch,\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/b>I see people, but they look like trees, walking.\u201d<\/span><\/b>.\u00a0 Likewise, w<\/span>e can be honest to God, too. There is no need for us to pretend that we knowing everything when we actually don\u2019t. Just humbly confess to the Lord our imperfection, and ask him to open our hearts so that we can get to know him more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (<\/span>vv.\u00a0<\/span>27-38)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Based on\u00a0<\/span>today\u2019s scripture<\/span>\u00a0reading<\/span>, let us review three tru<\/span>thful<\/span>\u00a0statements<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Is there anything\u00a0<\/span>about Jesus\u00a0<\/span>that is still\u00a0<\/span>unclear<\/span>\u00a0to you?\u00a0<\/span>As<\/span>\u00a0you pray, confess to the Lord<\/span>\u00a0today<\/span>. May the Holy Spirit of truth help us<\/span>! May\u00a0<\/span>God touch our lives, so\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span>we can be<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>more like\u00a0<\/span>Christ<\/span>!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/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-2226","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\/2226","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=2226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2227,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226\/revisions\/2227"}],"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=2226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2226"}],"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
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Pray<\/strong><\/h3>\n