<\/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. 14 (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. 1-14)\u00a0At that time, Jesus\u2019\u00a0disciples\u00a0heard Jesus saying\u00a0that he was\u00a0about to leave them and be killed and that one of them would betray Jesus and another person would disown\u00a0the Lord three times…. How\u00a0did they feel about\u00a0all of the negative news? If we were there, we would\u00a0probably\u00a0be very depressed. At the beginning of this\u00a0Chapter, we see that Jesus comforted them by saying,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cLet not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Jesus knew that they were in anxiety and\u00a0so he\u00a0encouraged them to show\u00a0their\u00a0faith! If we are also in the midst of\u00a0confusion and anxiety, I hope we can\u00a0find\u00a0hope\u00a0by reading\u00a0the first verse.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus told his disciples that\u00a0he was leaving them because\u00a0he was going to the Father’s house and\u00a0he\u00a0would\u00a0return\u00a0to\u00a0take them there.\u00a0This sounds like\u00a0an expression of a\u00a0new\u00a0age, a new\u00a0world\u00a0\u2013\u00a0the eternal home.\u00a0But if we\u00a0continue reading the\u00a0scriptures,\u00a0we will find that more likely this refers to\u00a0the Holy Spirit (vv.\u00a016-18)\u00a0that\u00a0will be given\u00a0to them\u00a0after the resurrection of Jesus, so that everyone can return to the Father and be with Him because\u00a0of their belief in\u00a0Jesus!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus said this clearly, <\/span>\u201cI am the way, and the truth, and the life.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b>No one in\u00a0the history, in this nation or\u00a0aboard,\u00a0can make such a declaration! Only Jesus\u00a0can as\u00a0He is the only way to God. Only He has God’s full truth, and only He can make man truly alive! How blessed it is for us to be saved by the Lord!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the same time, don’t forget the Lord’s command that we still have work to do. The Lord said:<\/span>\u00a0\u201cwhoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/b>What we are referring to here is not\u00a0to say\u00a0that\u00a0the\u00a0believers\u00a0should perform\u00a0greater miracles\u00a0or\u00a0feed more people, but that\u00a0believers are on a mission to preach\u00a0and spread the gospel\u00a0so that more people can be saved. We want to help\u00a0people\u00a0reconcile with God, which is the most important work of Jesus’\u00a0life here\u00a0on earth\u00a0and\u00a0the new duty of every\u00a0believer. As\u00a0stated\u00a0in 2 Corinthians\u00a05:17-18,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cTherefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.\u00a0The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let us do our part. If we see God\u2019s great work\u00a0among us, why are we still questioning or hesitating? Jesus said:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWhatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Together, let us\u00a0pray in the name of Jesus\u00a0that God will strengthen our church and that\u00a0our brothers and sisters\u00a0will be humbled and\u00a0work with God.\u00a0Let us\u00a0pray to God today\u00a0that people around us will\u00a0know Jesus and\u00a0receive\u00a0the\u00a0gift of\u00a0salvation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv.15-31) Remember the verse in John 13:1,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cNow before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus loves us to the end at the expense of his own life. How\u00a0can we respond to His love for Him? The following verses\u00a0could not have been clearer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John 14:15 \u201cIf you love me, you will keep my commandments.\u00a0\u201c<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John 14:21 \u201cWhoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my\u00a0Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n John 14:23-24 \u201cIf anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my\u00a0Father\u00a0will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.\u00a0 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the\u00a0Father\u2019s\u00a0who sent me.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our love for the Lord Jesus can be\u00a0seen\u00a0from whether we are willing to obey His Word. When we can resonate\u00a0in\u00a0why we should\u00a0love Him and love Him\u00a0wholeheartedly, we\u00a0will\u00a0obey\u00a0His Word in\u00a0our lives.\u00a0Such obedience will result in a positive and continuous growth\u00a0of our spiritual life.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n According to the\u00a0scriptures,\u00a0<\/span>\u201c\u2026he who loves me will be loved by my\u00a0Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>(v.21)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>and<\/span>\u00a0\u201c\u2026\u00a0my\u00a0Father\u00a0will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>(v.23)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Isn’t that what we want\u00a0the\u00a0most?\u00a0We desire God to show us His faith,\u00a0manifest Himself to us, and we desire to be closer to Him, to be with the Lord,\u00a0and\u00a0walk with\u00a0the Lord\u00a0daily!\u00a0These words are saying that we are\u00a0absolutely\u00a0inseparable from God’s Word. There are no other shortcuts!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Thank God\u00a0for\u00a0his\u00a0revealing\u00a0of\u00a0such truth to us. And\u00a0thank God for giving us the Holy\u00a0Spirit, which is the Holy Spirit of truth,\u00a0and\u00a0through His\u00a0guidance and teaching,\u00a0we\u00a0are enabled to know\u00a0the truth\u00a0more\u00a0deeply!<\/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-2356","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\/2356","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=2356"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2382,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2356\/revisions\/2382"}],"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=2356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2356"}],"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