It's the Lord!

Jan 18, 2021 at 5:58 AM
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28)

Jesus said, “Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” I’ve already drunk from “the water Jesus gives,” and I should be like the transformed Samaritan woman, “leaving her water jar, going back to the town and saying to the people” (giving testimony).

Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Yesterday’s Sunday sermon also reminded us to “give testimony, glorify God.” To glorify God means to reveal His life and nature in every part of life (church, family, work…), to live out His life and nature before revealing it.

Today’s prayer “May the love, gentleness, and patience You have shown me be expressed through me to others” helps me understand “glorifying God, revealing God” in a practical way. First, I need to know God and His nature, to experience His grace, to “taste and see that the Lord is good”. Next, my life needs to be changed—taking off the old self, putting on the new. After that, I need to testify about the change that God’s life and nature brings before others.

As for me, “love, gentleness, patience” are what I lack. I’m not gentle with my wife, and lacking patience with my kids. But looking back at over ten years of life changes, it’s been slow. Yet God still watches over me and upholds me. That indeed is God’s love, gentleness, and patience. I know how the Lord treats me, so I should strive to live it out and testify of Him.

Brother Oswald Chambers also reminds us not to let our passion for serving the Lord outstrip our passion for the Lord Himself. “To become a fit vessel” is a broad prerequisite.

Thank God for:

1. Hearing the Sunday sermon on “glorifying God”;
2. Recent devotionals and sermons (including sermons from Pastor Yu Hongjie’s) reminding me not to be caught up in tasks, but to value my connection (relationship) with Jesus;
3. Through certain events (the passing of a friend I once shared the Gospel with, a relative coming to Shanghai for medical treatment) and certain people (a particularly fervent brother spreading the Gospel), I’ve seen the importance of “evangelism.” And I truly need to repent, as my current view of evangelism is one of reverence, fearing the Lord, fulfilling a command out of “duty” rather than responding to Jesus’s love with a “mission-driven” mindset.