![\"\"](\"http:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/thanksgiving-eric.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u9019\u4e00\u5e74\u767c\u751f\u4e86\u8a31\u591a\u8b93\u6211\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u7684\u4e8b\u3002\u70ba\u6211\u807d\u8a71\u7684\u5152\u5b50Luke\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\uff1b\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u7d66\u4e86\u6211\u4e16\u754c\u4e0a\u6700\u597d\u7684\u59bb\u5b50Tracy\uff1b\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u628a\u5718\u5951\u3001\u6559\u6703\u4e2d\u7684\u5f1f\u5144\u59ca\u59b9\u653e\u5230\u6211\u5011\u751f\u547d\u88e1\uff1b\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u8b93\u6559\u6703\u6709\u856d\u7267\u5e2b\u548c\u5e2b\u6bcd\u7684\u6559\u5c0e\u548c\u5e36\u9818\uff1b\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u5c07\u6211\u548c\u6211\u7684\u5bb6\u4eba\u5e36\u5230CBCWLA\u3002\u4f46\u4eca\u5e74\uff0c\u6211\u6700\u611f\u6069\u7684\u4e8b\u662f\u70ba\u795e\u7684\u638c\u6b0a\u611f\u6069\uff0c\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u8b93\u6211\u770b\u898b\u798f\u97f3\u662f\u591a\u9ebc\u7121\u50f9\uff0c\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u6559\u5c0e\u6211\u5982\u4f55\u6210\u70ba\u4e00\u500b\u5fe0\u5fc3\u7684\u50d5\u4eba\u3002 <\/span><\/p>\n \u56db\u5e74\u524d\uff0c\u7576\u6211\u4f86\u5230CBCWLA\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u6b63\u8655\u65bc\u4eba\u751f\u7684\u6700\u4f4e\u8c37\u3002\u6211\u7684\u5a5a\u59fb\u51fa\u73fe\u4e86\u554f\u984c\uff0c\u5c0e\u81f4\u6211\u8207\u795e\u7684\u95dc\u4fc2\u4e5f\u53d7\u5230\u4e86\u5f71\u97ff\u3002\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u7684\u6069\u5178\u548c\u6190\u61ab\uff0c\u7942\u91ab\u6cbb\u4e86\u6211\u5011\u5167\u5fc3\u7684\u5275\u50b7\uff0c\u5e6b\u52a9\u6211\u5011\u548c\u597d\uff0c\u4e26\u5728\u4eca\u5e74\u8cdc\u7d66\u4e86\u6211\u5011Baby Luke\u3002\u4f46\u9019\u662f\u53e6\u4e00\u500b\u6545\u4e8b\u4e86\u3002\u4eca\u5929\uff0c\u6211\u60f3\u5206\u4eab\u795e\u5982\u4f55\u5e6b\u52a9\u6211\u770b\u6e05\u81ea\u5df1\u662f\u591a\u9ebc\u6709\u7f6a\u548c\u9a55\u50b2\uff0c\u770b\u5230\u798f\u97f3\u662f\u591a\u9ebc\u7121\u50f9\uff0c\u4ee5\u53ca\u5982\u4f55\u6210\u70ba\u4e00\u500b\u5fe0\u5be6\u7684\u50d5\u4eba\u3002<\/span><\/p>\n \u5728\u6211\u4ee5\u524d\u7684\u6559\u6703\u88e1\uff0c\u6211\u5e7e\u4e4e\u53c3\u8207\u4e86\u6240\u6709\u670d\u4e8b\u3002\u5e73\u5747\u6bcf\u9031\u82b1\u4e8c\u5341\u5230\u4e09\u5341\u500b\u5c0f\u6642\u5728\u670d\u4e8b\u4e0a\u3002\u90a3\u500b\u6559\u6703\u7684\u7267\u5e2b\u66fe\u7d93\u554f\u6211\uff1a\u300c\u662f\u4ec0\u9ebc\u8b93\u4f60\u60f3\u82b1\u9019\u9ebc\u591a\u6642\u9593\u5728\u6559\u6703\uff1f\u300d\u6211\u8aaa\uff1a\u300c\u56e0\u70ba\u8036\u7a4c\u70ba\u6211\u6240\u505a\u7684\u4e00\u5207\u3002\u96d6\u7136\u7942\u662f\u7121\u7f6a\u7684\uff0c\u7942\u70ba\u6211\u7684\u7f6a\u6b7b\u5728\u5341\u5b57\u67b6\u4e0a\uff0c\u7528\u7942\u7684\u5bf6\u8840\u628a\u6211\u7684\u7f6a\u6d17\u6de8\u3002\u6211\u611f\u89ba\u6211\u8667\u6b20\u8036\u7a4c\u3002\u56e0\u70ba\u7942\u70ba\u6211\u737b\u51fa\u4e86\u751f\u547d\uff0c\u6211\u4e5f\u61c9\u8a72\u628a\u6211\u7684\u751f\u547d\u737b\u7d66\u7942\u300d\u3002\u8001\u5be6\u8aaa\uff0c\u6211\u8a8d\u70ba\u9019\u662f\u4e00\u500b\u6a19\u6e96\u7684\u7b54\u6848\u3002\u4f46\u4ee4\u6211\u9a5a\u8a1d\u7684\u662f\uff0c\u6211\u7684\u7267\u5e2b\u63d0\u9192\u6211\u8981\u5c0f\u5fc3\u3002\u4ed6\u63d0\u9192\u6211\uff0c\u4e8b\u5949\u795e\u61c9\u8a72\u51fa\u65bc\u5f97\u5230\u6551\u6069\u7684\u559c\u6a02\uff0c\u800c\u4e0d\u662f\u51fa\u65bc\u5c0d\u795e\u7684\u8667\u6b20\u3002\u7576\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u4e0d\u78ba\u5b9a\u4ed6\u7684\u610f\u601d\u3002\u4f46\u662f\u4eca\u5e74\uff0c\u795e\u8b93\u6211\u660e\u767d\u4e86\u7267\u5e2b\u7684\u610f\u601d\u3002\u4e0d\u662f\u56e0\u70ba\u67d0\u4e00\u6b21\u7684\u8b1b\u9053\u3001\u67d0\u4e00\u6b21\u7684\u67e5\u7d93\u6216\u67d0\u4e00\u6b21\u7684\u9748\u4fee\uff0c\u800c\u662f\u6bcf\u9031\u53c3\u52a0\u4e3b\u65e5\u5d07\u62dc\u3001\u6bcf\u9031\u53c3\u8207\u5718\u5951\u67e5\u7d93\u3001\u4ee5\u53ca\u6bcf\u5929\u95b1\u8b80\u795e\u7684\u8a71\u8a9e\u548c\u9748\u4fee\u7684\u7d50\u5408\uff0c\u8b93\u6211\u610f\u8b58\u5230\u6211\u78ba\u5be6\u7528\u4e86\u932f\u8aa4\u7684\u5fc3\u4f86\u670d\u4e8b\u3002<\/span><\/p>\n \u9996\u5148\uff0c\u6211\u610f\u8b58\u5230\uff0c\u7576\u6211\u5e36\u8457\u8667\u6b20\u8036\u7a4c\u7684\u611f\u89ba\u4e8b\u5949\u6642\uff0c\u9019\u5f71\u97ff\u4e86\u6211\u8207\u795e\u4ee5\u53ca\u8207\u5144\u5f1f\u59ca\u59b9\u7684\u95dc\u4fc2\u3002\u7576\u4e00\u5207\u9806\u5229\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u5f88\u5bb9\u6613\u8b8a\u5f97\u9a55\u50b2\u3002\u300c\u770b\uff0c\u9019\u5c31\u662f\u795e\u62ef\u6551\u6211\u7684\u539f\u56e0\u3002\u300d\u7136\u800c\uff0c\u7576\u4e8b\u60c5\u9032\u5c55\u4e0d\u9806\u5229\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u5f88\u5bb9\u6613\u5c0d\u81ea\u5df1\u548c\u5468\u906d\u7684\u4eba\u751f\u6c23\u3002\u300c\u6211\u8f9c\u8ca0\u4e86\u795e\u3002\u7942\u6551\u4e86\u6211\u3002\u7942\u70ba\u6211\u6b7b\uff0c\u4f46\u6211\u537b\u4e0d\u80fd\u70ba\u7942\u505aXXX\u3002\u6211\u8667\u6b20\u7942\u592a\u591a\uff0c\u537b\u9023\u9019\u9ede\u5c0f\u4e8b\u90fd\u505a\u4e0d\u5230\u3002\u300d\u7576\u6211\u7528\u8667\u6b20\u8036\u7a4c\u7684\u5fc3\u670d\u4e8b\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u7684\u76ee\u5149\u662f\u96c6\u4e2d\u5728\u6211\u81ea\u5df1\u8eab\u4e0a\uff0c\u96c6\u4e2d\u5728\u6211\u80fd\u505a\u7684\u4e8b\u60c5\u4e0a\uff0c\u800c\u4e0d\u662f\u96c6\u4e2d\u5728\u795e\u8eab\u4e0a\uff0c\u96c6\u4e2d\u5728\u7942\u5df2\u7d93\u70ba\u6211\u505a\u7684\u4e8b\u60c5\u4e0a\u3002\u5e7e\u9031\u524d\uff0c\u7576Alex\u5f1f\u5144\u8b1b\u5230\u300c\u7a4d\u529f\u5fb7\u300d\u548c\u300c\u4fe1\u5fc3\u300d\u7684\u5340\u5225\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u610f\u8b58\u5230\uff0c\u5e36\u8457\u4e00\u7a2e\u8667\u6b20\u7684\u611f\u89ba\u3001\u4e00\u7a2e\u8a66\u5716\u511f\u9084\u8036\u7a4c\u7684\u611f\u89ba\u4f86\u670d\u4e8b\uff0c\u5c31\u662f\u53e6\u4e00\u7a2e\u300c\u7a4d\u529f\u5fb7\u300d\u3002\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u5176\u6b21\uff0c\u7576\u6211\u5e36\u8457\u4e00\u7a2e\u8667\u6b20\u7684\u611f\u89ba\u4f86\u4e8b\u5949\u795e\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u4e5f\u8cb6\u4f4e\u4e86\u798f\u97f3\u7684\u50f9\u503c\u3002\u6211\u7528\u4e00\u500b\u6bd4\u55bb\u4f86\u89e3\u91cb\u4e00\u4e0b\u3002\u60f3\u50cf\u6709\u4e00\u5929\uff0c\u7f8e\u570b\u7e3d\u7d71\u9001\u7d66\u4f60\u5e0c\u671b\u947d\u77f3\u3002\u5e0c\u671b\u947d\u77f3\u662f\u4e00\u984645\u514b\u62c9\u7684\u947d\u77f3\uff0c\u50f9\u503c\u7d043\u5104\u7f8e\u5143\u3002\u4f60\u6703\u6709\u4ec0\u9ebc\u53cd\u61c9\uff1f\u4f60\u6703\u4e0d\u6703\u8aaa\uff1a\u300c\u7e3d\u7d71\u5148\u751f\uff0c\u4f60\u771f\u662f\u592a\u6177\u6168\u4e86\u3002\u6211\u8acb\u4f60\u53bb\u5403\u62d0\u89d2\u7684\u9ea5\u7576\u52de\u600e\u9ebc\u6a23\uff1f\u300d\u9019\u7a2e\u53cd\u61c9\u6703\u8cb6\u4f4e\u5e0c\u671b\u947d\u77f3\u7684\u50f9\u503c\u548c\u7e3d\u7d71\u7684\u5584\u610f\u3002\u540c\u6a23\uff0c\u7576\u6211\u7684\u670d\u4e8b\u662f\u51fa\u65bc\u8667\u6b20\u611f\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u8cb6\u4f4e\u4e86\u798f\u97f3\u7684\u50f9\u503c\uff0c\u4e5f\u8cb6\u4f4e\u4e86\u8036\u7a4c\u5728\u5341\u5b57\u67b6\u4e0a\u7684\u72a7\u7272\u3002\u5c0d\u65bc\u8036\u7a4c\u70ba\u6211\u4e0a\u5341\u5b57\u67b6\uff0c\u8d16\u7f6a\uff0c\u6211\u7121\u80fd\u70ba\u529b\u511f\u9084\uff0c\u53ea\u80fd\u76f8\u4fe1\u3001\u63a5\u53d7\u548c\u611f\u8b1d\u3002\u5c08\u6ce8\u65bc\u81ea\u5df1\uff0c\u5c08\u6ce8\u65bc\u6211\u5982\u4f55\u8667\u6b20\u4e0a\u5e1d\uff0c\u4ee5\u53ca\u6211\u8a72\u5982\u4f55\u505a\uff0c\u53ea\u6703\u8cb6\u4f4e\u795e\u7684\u6069\u5178\u3002\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u6700\u8fd1\uff0c\u6211\u5011\u5718\u5951\u8b80\u4e86\u8def\u52a0\u798f\u97f320:19-26\uff0c\u95dc\u65bc\u662f\u5426\u61c9\u8a72\u7d0d\u7a05\u7d66\u51f1\u6492\u3002\u6211\u5011\u8a0e\u8ad6\u4e86\u300c\u7d0d\u300d\u548c\u5c07\u5c6c\u795e\u7684\u6771\u897f\u300c\u6b78\u300d\u7d66\u795e\u7684\u5340\u5225\u3002\u7576\u4e00\u500b\u4eba\u7d0d\u7a05\u6642\uff0c\u4f60\u8a8d\u70ba\u9019\u4e9b\u9322\u662f\u4f60\u81ea\u5df1\u8cfa\u7684\uff0c\u7136\u5f8c\u628a\u81ea\u5df1\u8f9b\u82e6\u5f97\u4f86\u7684\u9322\u7d66\u51fa\u53bb\u3002\u800c\u8036\u7a4c\u63d0\u9192\u6211\u5011\u8981\u601d\u8003\u4ec0\u9ebc\u662f\u5c6c\u65bc\u795e\u7684\u3002\u9019\u5e6b\u52a9\u6211\u610f\u8b58\u5230\uff0c\u904e\u53bb\uff0c\u7576\u6211\u51fa\u65bc\u8ca0\u759a\u611f\u670d\u4e8b\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u7121\u610f\u9593\u8a8d\u70ba\u6211\u7684\u6642\u9593\u3001\u6211\u7684\u91d1\u9322\u3001\u6211\u7684\u624d\u80fd\u90fd\u662f\u300c\u6211\u7684\u300d\uff0c\u90fd\u662f\u6211\u8f9b\u82e6\u5f97\u4f86\u7684\uff0c\u800c\u4e0d\u662f\u795e\u8cdc\u7d66\u6211\u7684\u3002\u4f46\u5982\u679c\u6211\u8457\u773c\u65bc\u795e\u3001\u5b9a\u775b\u65bc\u795e\u6240\u8cdc\u7d66\u6211\u7684\u6771\u897f\uff0c\u7136\u5f8c\u4f86\u670d\u4e8b\u7942\uff0c\u6211\u5c31\u6703\u610f\u8b58\u5230\u6211\u751f\u547d\u4e2d\u7684\u4e00\u5207\u90fd\u662f\u795e\u7684\u6069\u5178\uff0c\u90fd\u662f\u795e\u767d\u767d\u7d66\u6211\u7684\u3002\u65e2\u7136\u6211\u767d\u767d\u5730\u5f97\u5230\u4e86\u5b83\u5011\uff0c\u6211\u5c31\u61c9\u8a72\u767d\u767d\u5730\u7d66\u51fa\u53bb\u3002\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u8b93\u6211\u8209\u5e7e\u500b\u4f8b\u5b50\u3002\u6211\u771f\u7684\u5f88\u70ba\u5152\u5b50Luke\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u3002\u4ed6\u662f\u4e00\u500b\u8d85\u4e56\u7684\u5c0f\u5b69\u3002\u4ed6\u5403\u5f97\u597d\uff0c\u7761\u5f97\u597d\u3002\u56e0\u70ba\u4ed6\u7684\u4f5c\u606f\u898f\u5f8b\uff0c\u4e00\u500b\u6708\u7684\u6642\u5019\u5c31\u53ef\u4ee5\u7761\u904e\u591c\uff0c\u6211\u6709\u4e86\u5f88\u591a\u6211\u672c\u4f86\u4ee5\u70ba\u4e0d\u6703\u6709\u7684\u984d\u5916\u6642\u9593\u548c\u7cbe\u529b\u3002\u7576\u6211\u4ee5\u8667\u6b20\u795e\u7684\u5fc3\u670d\u4e8b\u6642\uff0c\u6211\u6703\u544a\u8a34\u81ea\u5df1\uff0c\u6211\u61c9\u8a72\u628a\u4e00\u4e9b\u984d\u5916\u7684\u6642\u9593\u548c\u7cbe\u529b\u7d66\u795e\uff0c\u7136\u5f8c\u518d\u628a\u5269\u4e0b\u7684\u6642\u9593\u7559\u7d66\u81ea\u5df1\u3002\u5c31\u597d\u50cf\u9019\u4e9b\u984d\u5916\u7684\u6642\u9593\u548c\u7cbe\u529b\u662f\u6211\u8f9b\u82e6\u5f97\u4f86\u7684\uff0c\u6240\u4ee5\u6211\u53ef\u4ee5\u6c7a\u5b9a\u9019\u4e9b\u984d\u5916\u7684\u6642\u9593\u548c\u7cbe\u529b\u8981\u505a\u4ec0\u9ebc\u3002\u4f46\u662f\uff0c\u9019\u4e9b\u984d\u5916\u7684\u6642\u9593\u548c\u7cbe\u529b\u4e26\u4e0d\u662f\u6211\u5f97\u4f86\u7684\uff0c\u662f\u795e\u7684\u6069\u5178\u548c\u6190\u61ab\u3002Luke\u9019\u9ebc\u4e56\u662f\u795e\u7684\u6069\u5178\u3002\u65e2\u7136\u795e\u767d\u767d\u5730\u7d66\u4e86\u6211\u9019\u4e9b\u984d\u5916\u7684\u6642\u9593\u548c\u7cbe\u529b\uff0c\u6211\u51fa\u65bc\u611f\u6069\u7684\u5fc3\u4e5f\u53ef\u4ee5\u767d\u767d\u5730\u7528\u9019\u4e9b\u6642\u9593\u4f86\u4e8b\u5949\u795e\u3001\u670d\u52d9\u5f1f\u5144\u59ca\u59b9\u548c\u6155\u9053\u53cb\u3002<\/span><\/p>\n \u6211\u4e5f\u70baTracy\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u3002\u5979\u975e\u5e38\u5584\u65bc\u7167\u9867Luke\uff0c\u4e5f\u5f88\u5305\u5bb9\u6211\u3002\u56e0\u6b64\uff0c\u6211\u6709\u4e00\u4e9b\u984d\u5916\u7684\u6642\u9593\u53ef\u4ee5\u7528\u4f86\u670d\u4e8b\u5979\uff0c\u4f8b\u5982\u82b1\u984d\u5916\u7684\u6642\u9593\u6e96\u5099\u5979\u6700\u559c\u6b61\u7684\u98ef\u83dc\uff0c\u8cb7\u5976\u8336\uff0c\u6216\u505a\u6240\u6709\u7684\u5bb6\u52d9\uff0c\u9019\u6a23\u5979\u5c31\u6709\u66f4\u591a\u7684\u6642\u9593\u4f11\u606f\u3002\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u6211\u73fe\u5728\u4e0d\u518d\u7528\u8667\u6b20\u795e\u7684\u5fc3\u670d\u4e8b\uff0c\u6211\u7684\u670d\u4e8b\u662f\u51fa\u65bc\u5c0d\u795e\u7684\u611f\u8b1d\uff0c\u51fa\u65bc\u795e\u8c50\u5bcc\u7684\u6069\u5178\u548c\u6190\u61ab\u3002\u6211\u670d\u4e8b\u662f\u56e0\u70ba\u6211\u77e5\u9053\u795e\u767d\u767d\u5730\u8cdc\u7d66\u4e86\u6211\u751f\u547d\u4e2d\u7684\u4e00\u5207\u3002\u6b63\u5982\u4fdd\u7f85\u5728\u54e5\u6797\u591a\u5f8c\u66f89:9\u6240\u8aaa\uff1a\u300c\u4ed6\u65bd\u6368\u9322\u8ca1\uff0c\u8cd9\u6fdf\u8ca7\u7aae\uff0c\u4ed6\u7684\u4ec1\u7fa9\u5b58\u5230\u6c38\u9060\u3002<\/strong>\u300d\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u8b93\u6211\u770b\u5230\u81ea\u5df1\u7684\u7f6a\uff0c\u5b78\u5230\u5982\u4f55\u8b19\u5351\u81ea\u5df1\uff0c\u6210\u70ba\u4e00\u500b\u6a02\u610f\u7684\u5949\u737b\u8005\uff0c\u4e26\u6559\u5c0e\u6211\u5982\u4f55\u5728\u5f97\u5230\u795e\u6551\u6069\u7684\u559c\u6a02\u4e2d\u53bb\u4e8b\u5949\u3002\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Eric Wu<\/p>\n I am thankful for a lot of things this year.\u00a0 I am thankful for my wonderful son, Luke; thankful for the best wife in the world, Tracy; thankful for all the brothers and sisters in my fellowship and in the church; and thankful for Pastor Mickey and Shimu; and thankful for God bringing me and my family to CBCWLA.\u00a0 But most importantly, this year, I am thankful for God\u2019s sovereignty, thankful for God showing me how priceless the Gospel is, and thankful for God teaching me how to be a faithful servant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When I came to CBCWLA four years ago, I was at the lowest point in my life.\u00a0 I was having marital problems and, because of that, my relationship with God also suffered.\u00a0 Thanks to the grace and mercy of God, He healed the wounds in our hearts, helped us reconcile to each other, and, this year, gave us baby Luke.\u00a0 But that\u2019s a story for another time.\u00a0 Today, I want to share how God helped me see how sinful and arrogant I was, how priceless the Gospel is, and how to be a faithful servant.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In my previous church, I was one of those people who was involved in almost everything and spent on average twenty to thirty hours weekly on church related things.\u00a0 The pastor at that church once asked me, \u201cWhat makes you want to spend so much time at church?\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cBecause of what Jesus did for me.\u00a0 Even though He was without sin, He died on the cross for my sins and washed me white as snow.\u00a0 I\u2019m indebted to Jesus.\u00a0 Because He gave His life for me, I ought to give my life to Him.\u201d\u00a0 Which, to be honest, I thought was a pretty good answer, but, to my surprise, my pastor told me to be careful.\u00a0 He warned me that serving God should be motivated by the joy of receiving salvation and not by feeling indebted to God.\u00a0 At that time, I wasn\u2019t sure what he meant, but, this year, God taught me what my pastor meant.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a particular sermon, a particular Bible study, or a particular daily devotion, but it was a combination of attending weekly Sunday Worship, studying the Bible in fellowship weekly, going to the retreat, and reading His Word daily.\u00a0 And I realized that, indeed, I was serving Him with the wrong heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n First, I realized that when I served Him with a feeling of being indebted, it affected my relationship with God and with my brothers and sisters.\u00a0 When everything goes well, I am tempted to be arrogant.\u00a0 \u201cSee, this is why God saved me.\u201d\u00a0 On the other hand, when things don\u2019t go well, I am tempted to be angry at myself and at those around me.\u00a0 \u201cI have failed God.\u00a0 He saved me.\u00a0 He gave me his life, but I couldn\u2019t even do anything for Him.\u00a0 I owe Him so much, yet I couldn\u2019t even do this little thing for Him.\u201d\u00a0 When I am motivated by feeling indebted to God, my eyes are focused on me, on what I can do, rather than on God, on what He has done.\u00a0 A couple of weeks ago, when brother Alex preached on the difference between \u201caccumulating merits\u201d and \u201cfaith\u201d, I realized that serving with a feeling of being indebted, with a feeling of trying to pay off my debt to Jesus is just another way of \u201caccumulating merits\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Second, by serving Him with a feeling of being indebted, I also cheapen the Gospel.\u00a0 Let me explain with an analogy.\u00a0 Imagine one day, the president of the United States gives you the Hope Diamond.\u00a0 For those who don\u2019t know, the Hope Diamond is a 45-carat diamond valued at about 300 million.\u00a0 How would you have reacted?\u00a0 Would you have said, \u201cGeez, Mr. President, that is so generous of you.\u00a0 How about I treat you to the McDonalds that\u2019s just around the corner?\u201d This reaction would have cheapened the Hope Diamond and the nice gesture by the President.\u00a0 Similarly, when I serve God out of a feeling of being indebted, I cheapen the Gospel and I cheapen Jesus\u2019 sacrifice on the cross.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing I can do, except to simply believe, receive, and thank God for what He has done.\u00a0 Focusing on myself, focusing on how I\u2019m indebted to God, and how I ought to do only cheapen God\u2019s grace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Recently, we read Luke 20:19-26, the passage on whether one should pay taxes to Caesar.\u00a0 We discussed the difference between \u201cpaying taxes\u201d and \u201crendering to God the things that are God\u2019s\u201d.\u00a0 When a person pays taxes, you think of the money as your own, and you\u2019re giving your own money away.\u00a0 On the other hand, Jesus is telling us to think about what things are God\u2019s.\u00a0 It helped me realize that in the past, when I served out of feeling indebted, I was thinking of my time, my money, my talents, as \u201cmine\u201d, and not as God\u2019s.\u00a0 But if I serve by focusing on God and focusing on what God has given me, I realize that God has given me everything in my life, and since I received them freely, I should freely give them away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Let me give a couple of examples.\u00a0 I am really thankful for Luke.\u00a0 He has been an amazing baby.\u00a0 He eats so well and sleeps so well.\u00a0 Because of how well-behaving he is, I had a lot of extra time and energy that I did not think I would have.\u00a0 When I served out of feeling indebted to God, I would tell myself that I ought to give some of this extra time and energy to God and, then, have some time for myself.\u00a0 It\u2019s as if I\u2019ve earned this extra time and energy, and these extra time and energy are mine to decide what to do.\u00a0 But, I did not earn this extra time and energy.\u00a0 It is God\u2019s grace and mercy.\u00a0 It is God\u2019s grace that Luke is so wonderful.\u00a0 Since God has freely given me these extra time and energy, I can freely give them away by serving God and serving others.\u00a0 I am also really thankful for Tracy.\u00a0 She has been amazing at taking care of Luke and sharing the burden.\u00a0 As a result, I have some extra time which I can use to serve her, such as spending extra time preparing her favorite meals or doing all the chores around the house, so that she has more time to rest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Instead of serving out of feeling indebted, I now serve out of being thankful to God, out of God\u2019s abundant grace and mercy.\u00a0 I serve out of knowing that God has freely given me everything in my life.\u00a0 As Paul said 2 Corinthians 9:9, \u201cAs it is written, \u2018He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Thank God for showing me how to be a cheerful giver, and teaching me how to serve out of the joy of receiving God\u2019s salvation.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Eric Wu \u9019\u4e00\u5e74\u767c\u751f\u4e86\u8a31\u591a\u8b93\u6211\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u7684\u4e8b\u3002\u70ba\u6211\u807d\u8a71\u7684\u5152\u5b50Luke\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\uff1b\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u7d66\u4e86\u6211\u4e16\u754c\u4e0a\u6700\u597d\u7684\u59bb\u5b50Tracy\uff1b\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u628a\u5718\u5951\u3001\u6559\u6703\u4e2d\u7684\u5f1f\u5144\u59ca\u59b9\u653e\u5230\u6211\u5011\u751f\u547d\u88e1\uff1b\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u8b93\u6559\u6703\u6709\u856d\u7267\u5e2b\u548c\u5e2b\u6bcd\u7684\u6559\u5c0e\u548c\u5e36\u9818\uff1b\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u5c07\u6211\u548c\u6211\u7684\u5bb6\u4eba\u5e36\u5230CBCWLA\u3002\u4f46\u4eca\u5e74\uff0c\u6211\u6700\u611f\u6069\u7684\u4e8b\u662f\u70ba\u795e\u7684\u638c\u6b0a\u611f\u6069\uff0c\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u8b93\u6211\u770b\u898b\u798f\u97f3\u662f\u591a\u9ebc\u7121\u50f9\uff0c\u611f\u8b1d\u795e\u6559\u5c0e\u6211\u5982\u4f55\u6210\u70ba\u4e00\u500b\u5fe0\u5fc3\u7684\u50d5\u4eba\u3002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13844,"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":[358,482,430],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heavenly-cloud","category-thanksgiving-testimonies","category-testimonies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13843"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13852,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13843\/revisions\/13852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cbcwla.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u8b80\u5b8c\u6709\u611f\u60f3\uff1f\u8acb\u53cd\u994b\u7d66heavenlygarden@cbcwla.org<\/a>\uff01<\/span><\/pre>\nThankful for God\u2019s Sovereignty<\/span><\/h1>\n
Any feedback? Please drop us a line: heavenlygarden@cbcwla.org<\/a>!<\/span><\/pre>\n