<\/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. 21 (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)\u00a0The\u00a0Gospel of John\u00a0was known by its account of\u00a0seven miracles\u00a0that were performed by\u00a0Jesus\u00a0prior to his death on the cross. In this chapter, the\u00a0Gospel of John records\u00a0the\u00a0eighth\u00a0miracle of Jesus,\u00a0which happened\u00a0after\u00a0his\u00a0resurrection\u00a0and during\u00a0the time\u00a0when Jesus and his disciples were\u00a0by the\u00a0Lake Tiberias, also known as the\u00a0Sea of Galilee. Does this miracle seem familiar\u00a0to you?\u00a0In\u00a0Luke 5\u00a0verses\u00a01\u00a0through\u00a011, in the early days of Jesus’ ministry, the fishermen\u00a0Peter, James, and\u00a0John\u00a0toiled all night and took nothing. They followed the Lord\u2019s command and let down the nets\u00a0for a catch\u00a0and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to\u00a0break\u00a0and their boat was so full that they began to sink.\u00a0Peter said at that time:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cDepart from me, for\u00a0I am a sinful man, O Lord!\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0” Jesus said instead,<\/span>\u00a0\u201cDo\u00a0not be\u00a0afraid from now on you will\u00a0be catching men.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Then they left everything and followed Jesus.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As written in\u00a0the Gospel of John,\u00a0Peter, James, John,\u00a0plus Thomas,\u00a0Nathaniel, and two other disciples\u00a0were toiling fishing all night and caught nothing. After hearing what Jesus\u00a0said\u00a0<\/span>\u201cCast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.\u201d<\/span><\/b>, they let down the nets for a catch and they caught such a large number of fish that they were unable to haul the net into the boat.\u00a0Peter later counted a total of 153\u00a0fish,\u00a0but even with so many fish, the net was not torn.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When they were\u00a0fishing, John\u00a0recognized Jesus and said,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s the Lord!\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Hearing what John had said,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cIt\u2019s the Lord!\u201d<\/span><\/b>,\u00a0Peter\u00a0immediately jumped into the\u00a0water, presumably swimming toward\u00a0Jesus on the shore. The disciples came ashore and saw\u00a0a\u00a0charcoal fire in place, with fish laid on it, and bread. The Lord had\u00a0already\u00a0prepared the food they needed.\u00a0To these disciples, this\u00a0fishing experience not only reminded\u00a0them of\u00a0the\u00a0original\u00a0calling\u00a0from\u00a0the Lord Jesus\u00a0for them\u00a0to\u00a0be\u00a0<\/span>\u201c\u2026catching men\u201d<\/span><\/b>, but also prepared\u00a0them\u00a0for their next mission\u00a0and\u00a0strengthened\u00a0their\u00a0faith!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dear brothers and sisters, as we grow older and\u00a0our faith is increased, each of us will continue to experience God’s\u00a0work\u00a0in our lives.\u00a0Such\u00a0experiences\u00a0could\u00a0happen to every little thing in our lives and sometimes they would lead to a big leap in our faith. May\u00a0we all grasp these true experiences,\u00a0walk with the Lord,\u00a0and abide in the Lord always.\u00a0Above all, don’t forget the Lord’s calling for us\u00a0and the mission\u00a0that has been\u00a0given to us.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv. 15-19)\u00a0At the end of John’s Gospel, the Lord asked Peter three times:\u00a0<\/span>“\u2026do you love me?”<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Peter also answered him three times,\u00a0\u201c<\/span>Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>In this\u00a0passage,\u00a0we also see that the Lord has placed the duty of feeding the Lord’s\u00a0lambs\u00a0in Peter’s hands. Jesus knew everything and knew Peter’s\u00a0heart and love for Him.\u00a0But then Jesus asked Peter three times\u00a0repeatedly:\u00a0<\/span>\u201c\u2026do you love me?”<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Why?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u00a0did not mean that\u00a0Jesus\u00a0had no trust in Peter nor\u00a0was Jesus\u00a0being sarcastic about Peter\u2019s\u00a0past history of\u00a0having\u00a0disowned the Lord three times. It\u00a0was\u00a0because\u00a0Jesus knew Peter\u2019s weakness\u00a0resulting from his past of\u00a0having disowned the Lord three times. Jesus used these questions to encourage\u00a0Peter\u00a0to\u00a0love the Lord alone and serve the Lord. Jesus wanted Peter to remember \u201cto\u00a0love the Lord\u201d\u00a0first as\u00a0the starting point\u00a0in preparation for his duty of feeding the Lord\u2019s lambs in the future.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jesus’ inquiries can also be used to ask ourselves. Today, try to respond to Jesus’ question,\u00a0\u201c XXX\u00a0(your name), do you love me?\u201d\u00a0How would you respond?\u00a0Does this remind you of your weaknesses?\u00a0Have you ever proclaimed that you would\u00a0love the Lord, but\u00a0felt in debt of your services for\u00a0the Lord? Or do you feel like you’ve been\u00a0busy doing things\u00a0for a long time\u00a0such that you have been\u00a0ignoring\u00a0your relationship with the Lord and forgotten\u00a0your\u00a0original compassion for the Lord?\u00a0\u00a0As we\u00a0answer\u00a0the Lord\u00a0“<\/span>Yes, Lord; you know that I love you\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>every time, may we feel more appreciative for\u00a0the Lord’s love for us\u00a0and then truly love the\u00a0Lord!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (vv. 20-25)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I wonder if you’ll have a question like Peter’s. Peter saw the disciple whom Jesus loved and asked Jesus\u00a0<\/span>\u201cLord, what about this man?\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Jesus\u00a0previously said to Peter,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/b>(v.18)\u00a0and after that he said to him,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cFollow me.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Apparently, the\u00a0Lord’s request\u00a0was for Peter\u00a0to respond to\u00a0God\u2019s calling for him\u00a0only and not to mind other\u2019s\u00a0business!\u00a0God gives everyone a different\u00a0talent and His plan and arrangement for everyone is different. We also need such a reminder from time to time\u00a0and focus on our own relationships with the Lord!\u00a0For other people,\u00a0the\u00a0Lord will take care of\u00a0them and\u00a0so\u00a0don\u2019t worry!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are many other things that Jesus did,\u00a0and\u00a0these were written in the Bible\u00a0<\/span>\u201c\u2026so that you may believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.\u201d<\/span><\/b>\u00a0\u00a0(John\u00a020:31)\u00a0Thank you Jesus for your salvation and giving me a new life!\u00a0Thank you,\u00a0my\u00a0dear Savior Jesus!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0Bible Reading Devotionals Plan \u201cAbiding in the Lord\u201d, starting from the Gospel of Matthew to the Gospel of John, is\u00a0now completed. Thanks to the faithful service of the Church’s\u00a0coworkers who were involved in proofreading,\u00a0art\u00a0design\u00a0and text editing, English translation,\u00a0hymnal\u00a0selection,\u00a0audio recording and processing, publication to internet webpages, emails, and social media\u00a0platforms\u00a0(e.g., WeChat).\u00a0 There\u00a0are\u00a0a total of\u00a0over\u00a030\u00a0people\u00a0who\u00a0have been\u00a0involved in this ministry,\u00a0plus our church choir members\u00a0and\u00a0brothers and sisters\u00a0who\u00a0have\u00a0assisted in distributing and sharing the devotionals.\u00a0Thank God\u00a0for His enabling us to work\u00a0together and experience God’s\u00a0work\u00a0among us. May the Lord remember everyone’s\u00a0service and once again, we thank all the coworkers and\u00a0brothers and sisters!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Beginning from\u00a0February 8th\u00a0of\u00a0this year\u00a0until today\u00a0June 10th,\u00a0for\u00a0brothers and sisters who have gradually\u00a0developed the habit of\u00a0daily devotions,\u00a0my hope is that\u00a0you all\u00a0have\u00a0tasted\u00a0the sweetness\u00a0of God\u2019s Word and\u00a0been\u00a0strengthened\u00a0by God\u2019s Word. May God continue to\u00a0lead us and bless us so that we can come\u00a0before the\u00a0Lord every day and\u00a0abide\u00a0in\u00a0the Lord\u00a0always.\u00a0Jesus is the true God,\u00a0the living God. Glory\u00a0be unto God!<\/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-2401","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\/2401","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=2401"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2401\/revisions\/2402"}],"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=2401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2401"}],"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