DAY 719 - Worship & Obey! Not Listen & Obey! (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

I would like to invite you to join us in a 100 days of prayer (From April 9 to July 17) for Michelle, our family and my ministry. Please click this link to join us to pray:
New 100 Days Prayer Campaign (2014.04.09-2014.07.17)

What you need to do is very simple. Choose one hour slot for the whole week to pray for Michelle, our family and my ministry. You may use the whole hour in prayer or you can still do you work in your office but use as much time as you can to pray and the other time work prayerfully that hour to pray for us. I encourage you to participate. We need you to join us! Trust in the power of prayers!

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Want to know why I have been writing and recording my blogs and podcast daily since August 10, 2009? Click these three links:

Confirmation from John Stott in 2009: 
http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html
My MicroMacro Discipleship, A missing DNA in Discipleship Development: http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/introduction-micromacro-discipleship.html
Subject Shifting Devotion Method(Inspired by John Stott in 1991: http://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

                               Today's Reading: Hebrews 8:1-6

** If you would like to learn a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please read my “Count Down 5” from my Devotion on Fire blog:

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html

To use this simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link:

 .Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf

Please click this link to read Hebrews 8:1-6

English(ESV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews 8&version=ESV

Chinese: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=希 伯 來 書 8&version=CUV

Bible Study

     Today's passage is the conclusion for the author to explain to the Christians, especially the Jewish Christians of the contrast of the old system of priests and the new system of the one and only High Priest from Heaven, Jesus Christ. 

Bishop N.T. Wright says ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._T._Wright ) :
      This passage, in fact, draws together for the last time the contrast between Jesus as the true high priest and all the priests that have gone before him.  It places this contrast inside two larger contrasts: the contrast of the earthly and temporary tabernacle or Temple and the true, heavenly one; and the contrast between the old covenant, the bond established on Mount Sinai between God and Israel, and the new covenant, promised long ago and now brought into being by Jesus…
     The thrust of this conclusion, then, is that the readers must learn to distinguish between the copy and the reality…The Jewish Christians needed to know very clearly, that the Jesus who they were following was indeed the true high priest, and had indeed entered the true Temple on their behalf.  The old Temple was good; the new, real one was better.  The old priests were good; the new Priest was better.  The old covenant was good; the new one was better, established (verse 6) on better promises.   

N.T. Wright. Hebrews for Everyone. Louisville,KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p.83, 84.

      Are you still on an old system similar to the Jewish following the copies, people or things? Or are you following and worshipping Jesus Himself and not others? Do you know the difference? 
     

Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time up to Jesus as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe":  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

Spiritual Journal

    The title I heard from Jesus today is: Worship & obey! Not listen & obey!

    The message I got from Jesus today is a huge paradigm shift for me. Why? Because for the past more than twenty years I have been teaching people mainly two words "listen & obey". Then five years ago when I started to write my blog I add up one more thing "a daily intimate personal relationship with Jesus". So, people who know me well know that my main vision and focus is to teach Christians this:

    You need to have a daily intimate personal relationship with Jesus in order that you can listen and obey

    Wow! Today, our Lord Jesus Christ changes that. It is "worship & obey", not "listen and obey". Jesus has been using the main message of Hebrew the past two days to open my eyes to a newer and deeper vision of my life mandate. The past three days we have been learning from the author of Hebrews that Jesus is the Heavenly high priest who is the only one who can lead us to draw near to our Heavenly Father. He is the only one who can help us to learn the heavenly pattern of how to worship God and obey God. Not like Moses or any other human beings who can only get the copies of those things from heaven, but the true things daily from heaven to us so that we can worship God and obey God according to what is happening there up in heaven.

    The main image Jesus gives me is the experience Michelle and I got on Friday when we saw the Queen of England. The ceremony started at 11:15a.m., all the dignities and admirals arrived before 10:00a.m. Prince Charles arrived at 10:30a.m. And, the Queen arrived at 11a.m. They all came to worship the King, our Lord Jesus Christ and to install a several admirals to become knights. They waited for the earthly king at least more than an hour in advance. Then the Queen waited to worship the King, our Lord Jesus Christ at least 10 minutes before.

    The message I got today to make me have a new paradigm from "listen & obey" to "worship & obey" is that most Christians do not go to church 10 minutes before the service to be silent and wait before worshipping the King. Why do those dignities have to arrive one hour before the Queen arrived. I think that is an order which everyone respected and obeyed. How about our Heavenly King? Why we can't come to church like what the Queen did, 15 minutes before? Or like Prince Charles did, 45 mins. before? Why we have to be late or "sharp" rushing to worship our Heavenly King?

    May be it is because we think we cannot be able to listen to Jesus, we do not want to listen or we listen but we do not want to obey. Listen and obey can't goes together. 

     But, worship and obey can go together. If you learn and experience how to worship, then you will automatically obey. Just like those dignities two days ago, worshipping the Heavenly King and obeying their earthly Queen, they arrive at least one hour before.

    Are you able to worship and obey? If you say you are able, why don't you start with going to your church this Sunday, sit down( or kneel down) at least 10 minutes before the worship time.

    Worship and obey! Not listen and obey!
     
Dear Lord Jesus,
Lead us to following you lead to draw near to our Heavenly Father and be able to truly worshipping Him. Teach us to worship and obey.  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Please click this link to the News that day: http://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/474912/Queen-pulls-out-of-part-of-her-duties-at-historic-Westminster-Abbey-ceremony

Please click this link to worship with us -

從心合一

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJWZQyLzDRQ

Here I Am to Worhip (Tim Hughes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86v2ZEsEKW8

You may choose to follow my other daily blog: 

Daily Devotion on Fire 2(2 years plan -One year New Testament, one year Old Testament): 

http://bishopsilas2.blogspot.ca/

Daily Devotion on Fire (3 years and 3 months plan, one chapter a day to finish reading the whole Bible): 

http://bishopsilas.blogspot.ca/

Break.Build (40 days daily devotion- For Renewal or First Step for new Christians): http://www.breakbuild.blogspot.ca/

Emmanuel330 (40 weeks First Step Bible Study): 

http://emmanuel330.blogspot.ca/

This blog:
Discipler 123 (Daily devotion using N.T. Wright's NT for Everyone as source)

http://discipler123.blogspot.ca/


Rev. Nicky Gumbel's daily devotion: Bible in One Year
http://www.htb.org.uk/bioy