<\/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: John Ch. 2 (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 (vv.1-12)\u00a0The first miracle recorded in the Bible\u00a0that Jesus did was\u00a0at a wedding reception in Cana.\u00a0Jesus’ mother\u00a0and his\u00a0disciples were there\u00a0with him. Jesus\u00a0performed a\u00a0miracle\u00a0turning water into\u00a0the best wine. What can we learn from this miraculous\u00a0change to an\u00a0element\u00a0(turning water into wine)?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Miracles are the signs of God, in which\u00a0there is God’s sovereignty to show God’s actions and glory, so that people\u00a0may\u00a0know Jesus better. They\u00a0understand that they must come to Jesus,\u00a0knowing\u00a0their own constraints,\u00a0and be willing to obey God’s will.\u00a0On the contrary, if\u00a0you\u00a0just want to see if there is a miracle, you are unlikely to believe it even after seeing a miracle\u00a0because\u00a0you won\u2019t believe it as God\u2019s action. Or perhaps you\u00a0have\u00a0no\u00a0interest\u00a0to follow\u00a0God’s\u00a0will nor waiting to\u00a0humble\u00a0yourself.\u00a0According to\u00a0the answer\u00a0Jesus\u00a0gave\u00a0the Pharisees, there is no other miracle, only Jonah’s miracle\u00a0can be shown\u00a0(which is\u00a0the miracle of\u00a0Jesus\u00a0risen\u00a0from\u00a0death).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So how do we deal with the argument\u00a0from those who\u00a0would only\u00a0believe in Jesus by seeing\u00a0his\u00a0miracles? In\u00a0addition to the above discussions,\u00a0there was a case where God\u2019s miracles and wonders\u00a0were seen by the\u00a0Israelites\u00a0who\u00a0came out of\u00a0Egypt into the wilderness. Yet this group of Israelites were always complaining\u00a0and they\u00a0fell\u00a0and perished\u00a0in the wilderness\u00a0in the end.\u00a0Obviously, seeing miracles alone does not\u00a0guarantee that someone will\u00a0eventually\u00a0believe in God.\u00a0Also, don’t forget\u00a0this reminder.\u00a0God is not your vending machine.\u00a0Had\u00a0you received\u00a0everything you asked\u00a0for\u00a0then you\u00a0were a god!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv.13-25)\u00a0It is recorded here that Jesus first cleansed\u00a0the temple\u00a0when he visited Jerusalem for the Passover. When Jesus saw\u00a0the crowd selling items and others setting tables exchanging money in the temple courts,\u00a0he made a whip out of chords, drove\u00a0out\u00a0all\u00a0cattle and sheep\u00a0from the temple courts, overturned the tables, and so on. Can you imagine Jesus’\u00a0emotion\u00a0and expression when he saw these scenes? I’ve seen a film\u00a0made\u00a0based on\u00a0the account of\u00a0John’s Gospel. I can\u2019t forget about this part of the firm and I deeply remembered\u00a0the\u00a0angry eyes of the actor\u00a0and\u00a0his actions.\u00a0Jesus\u00a0must have been really\u00a0angry!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What are the\u00a0likely symbolic\u00a0cattle, sheep, and pigeons in modern churches and in the hearts of believers? What could be trading tables\u00a0and\u00a0silver coins? What\u00a0are the reasons and things that hinder your worship or keeping you from getting closer to God? In 1 Corinthians 3:16,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cDo you not know that you are God\u2019s temple and that God\u2019s Spirit dwells in you?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Have you ever wondered if Jesus would be\u00a0worried\u00a0if he came to our synagogue and\u00a0dwelled in our hearts? Jesus said,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cTake these things away; do not make my Father\u2019s house a house of trade.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>May our synagogue\u00a0and our body (the temple)\u00a0be\u00a0cleaned\u00a0and\u00a0be\u00a0dedicated to the Lord alone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When the Jews questioned why Jesus had driven the cattle and sheep out of the temple\u00a0courts\u00a0and\u00a0overturned\u00a0the tables,\u00a0Jesus answered them<\/span>, \u201cDestroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Jesus said with\u00a0his body as the temple, that He was the Son of God, that He came to save the world with the sacrifice of His body. Neither the\u00a0Jews there nor His disciples\u00a0there understood what Jesus said. Jesus\u2019 disciples did not remember what He had said until\u00a0Jesus had risen from the dead.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Brother and sister, have you ever waited patiently for God’s time?\u00a0In the scripture, this\u00a0Passover\u00a0is generally believed to be the first Passover when Jesus began his mission. How\u00a0long did it take the disciples to remember\u00a0Jesus\u2019\u00a0statement that\u00a0his body is the\u00a0temple?\u00a0May we keep\u00a0God’s Word in\u00a0our\u00a0heart\u00a0frequently. In God\u2019s time, our faith will be strengthened\u00a0when\u00a0we remember God\u2019s Word.\u00a0<\/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-2318","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\/2318","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=2318"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2323,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318\/revisions\/2323"}],"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=2318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2318"}],"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
\n
Pray<\/strong><\/h3>\n