<\/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. 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 (vv.1-11)\u00a0This woman, who was caught\u00a0in adultery,\u00a0was like a chessman used\u00a0by the\u00a0scribes and\u00a0Pharisees to test Jesus\u00a0and plunge him into a dilemma. They asked Jesus,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cNow in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.\u00a0So\u00a0what do you say?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b>If Jesus\u00a0wanted to\u00a0forgive her, it would be\u00a0equivalent\u00a0to seeing\u00a0adultery\u00a0as innocent\u00a0and against the Law of Moses. If Jesus were to follow\u00a0the Law of\u00a0Moses and stone a woman to death, he would\u00a0be going against\u00a0the\u00a0laws of the Roman government. It is because the Jews did not have the authority to kill\u00a0anyone\u00a0(John 18:31).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n What we see is a large group of people (scribes and\u00a0Pharisees) who knew\u00a0they\u00a0were\u00a0sinful\u00a0and\u00a0their sins were either\u00a0hidden\u00a0or\u00a0have\u00a0never\u00a0been confessed\u00a0publicly. They\u00a0wanted\u00a0to trap a completely innocent person (Jesus) by\u00a0his action in the face of\u00a0an obvious crime\u00a0(the woman who committed the\u00a0adultery).\u00a0In Jesus’ words,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cLet him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b>After that, all those who heard began to go away one by one\u00a0until Jesus and that woman were the only ones left.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For those with hidden\u00a0faults, they often\u00a0think\u00a0of themselves\u00a0as\u00a0more holy\u00a0than\u00a0others who have committed\u00a0notorious\u00a0crimes and always\u00a0wanted\u00a0to convict those people.\u00a0The reality is\u00a0we may be in such a situation ourselves.\u00a0Between known crimes and\u00a0hidden faults, which one are you\u00a0tackling\u00a0with\u00a0right\u00a0now?\u00a0During your quiet time today,\u00a0come\u00a0to Jesus honestly and\u00a0search your soul\u00a0to\u00a0identify\u00a0at least\u00a0one thing\u00a0that is a 1)\u00a0known crimes\u00a0and 2) hidden fault.\u00a0And then\u00a0contemplate on what the Lord said: \u201c<\/span>\u2026who is without sin among you\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and confess to the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus said,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cNeither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>By obedience to Jesus,\u00a0the sins that originally affected us\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0removed\u00a0layer by layer,\u00a0starting\u00a0from the outward actions to the inner thoughts,\u00a0so that we may\u00a0be\u00a0sanctified and\u00a0be more\u00a0pleasing to the Lord!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv.12-30)\u00a0Jesus has\u00a0revealed himself to mankind\u00a0by\u00a0the words he spoke\u2026\u00a0drinking water that would never\u00a0leave a person\u00a0thirsty and eating food that would never\u00a0leave them to\u00a0be hungry.\u00a0Jesus spoke to them, saying, \u201c<\/span>I am the light of the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and letting the world know\u00a0that\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Only\u00a0those who are\u00a0willing to believe and accept that He is the light of the world can have the light\u00a0for their own lives.\u00a0As for those who behave like the\u00a0Pharisees\u00a0who always\u00a0rejected\u00a0and refused\u00a0to\u00a0receive\u00a0the true light, eventually they will\u00a0walk in the dark and\u00a0perish in their own sins.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let us\u00a0read the Bible\u00a0and have daily devotions\u00a0to be\u00a0abiding in God. Let\u00a0the true light become the guide that illuminates our daily lives and\u00a0lead us to a clear and brighter path!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv.31-38)\u00a0The teaching of Jesus indicated\u00a0that if we want true freedom from the enslavement of sin, it must come from an understanding of truth. To\u00a0truly understand the truth, we must\u00a0follow his commands daily, that is, to follow Jesus. The words of Jesus\u00a0are\u00a0the\u00a0truth. His\u00a0actions\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0the truth.\u00a0And Jesus\u00a0himself is the truth.\u00a0When we realize that Jesus is the Savior, we can\u00a0be set free from\u00a0the bondage of sins\u00a0and follow Him with\u00a0a new\u00a0kind of\u00a0freedom!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv.39-59)\u00a0Jesus made it clear that the freedom of truth\u00a0was\u00a0not found in\u00a0the Jews who debated with him. They\u00a0stated\u00a0that they were descendants of Abraham and children of God. But Jesus pointed out that they had not done what Abraham had done: that is, to believe in and obey God. Precisely because the\u00a0Jews\u00a0had always resisted Jesus, their actions revealed their disbelief and disobedience to\u00a0God. To this end, Jesus also directly alleged that they\u00a0belonged to their father, the\u00a0devil.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Many people think that true freedom is the ability to be free, to do whatever they want\u00a0\u2013 which is what the world has taught\u00a0us\u00a0and\u00a0it\u00a0is wrong!\u00a0\u00a0Jesus told us that true freedom is the ability to\u00a0set\u00a0free from\u00a0the bondage of sins. That is, when\u00a0you\u00a0want to stop committing a crime,\u00a0you\u00a0can stop\u00a0it and you will\u00a0be truly free\u00a0at that moment!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let me share\u00a0with you\u00a0a story\u00a0that\u00a0I’ve heard before. An old smoker said to\u00a0a\u00a0Christian:\u00a0\u201cHow\u00a0limited\u00a0you\u00a0are to believe in Jesus\u00a0as you said\u00a0this cannot be done\u00a0or\u00a0that cannot be done.\u201d\u00a0You see!\u00a0If\u00a0I want to smoke a cigarette,\u00a0I\u00a0can smoke\u00a0freely anytime and be so happy.\u00a0So,\u00a0he picked up a cigarette and smoked it.\u00a0That\u00a0Christian responded,\u00a0\u201cIt\u00a0seems\u00a0you’re free to smoke, but in fact you can’t stop smoking, you don’t have the freedom not to smoke, because you’re completely\u00a0addicted!\u201d\u00a0And I, can choose not to smoke, because I have the freedom not to smoke!\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-2335","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\/2335","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=2335"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2388,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2335\/revisions\/2388"}],"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=2335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2335"}],"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