DAY 38 - Refining Fire Or Eternal Flames! (請按此處收聼廣東話Cantonese podcast click here)

Today's Reading: Mark 9: 38- 9: 50

**For a simple and good way of Daily Devotion method please click this link: Subject Shifting Devotion.pdf.

Please click this link to read Mark 9: 38- 9:50

• English(NIV): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark 9&version=NIV1984
• Chinese: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark 9&version=CUV

Bible Study

Following yesterday's section, Mark gives a deeper and broader picture of what does that means by "changing our game plan" which is from the "I" as centre and lord to Jesus as centre and Lord.

The Message gives us a translation more easy to understand:

John spoke up, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn't in our group." (verse 38)

"On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you'll soon wish you hadn't. You'd be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck." (verse 42)

"Everyone's going through a refining fire sooner or later, but you'll be well-preserved, protected from the eternal flames. Be preservatives yourselves. Preserve the peace." (verses 49-50)

The "human" game plan:

1. Group and Club mentality: Not Kingdom view but limited "group view", "club view", "my church view" and "my kingdom view".

2. Bullying or taking advantage of other people who trust us: It's the controlling issue in a church or a family. Spiritual bullying happens so easy and we do not aware we have done that. I am so painful to watch a video just a week ago that a top Christian leader told the reporter a few times in that 40 minutes of interview that "God will not bless AMiA"! Who can say on behalf of God that God is not going to bless a Mission which has been blessed by God for the past 12 years?!

3. Refining fire or eternal flames: our life will face all kinds of challenges to get rid of those "human" game plan not to bully or take advantage of others or to kick others out if they do not belongs to us but to be "salted" to preserve the peace and to bring out the flavour and good things in other people around us.

What have you got from Jesus today? What's your new "game plan"?

Have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage of scripture we have just read. Offer this time up to God as you listen to him, while listening to "Gabriel's Oboe"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmax47l2hLU

Spiritual Journal

What I heard from Jesus today is: Refining fire or eternal flames!

What I got from Jesus today is that we can not get rid of the refining fire to purify us to be more Christlike. The process is painful because we have so many "bugs" inside us! Let's have a daily "debug" process so that we can be salted again to be a peacemaker and to do His Kingdom work!

Dear Lord Jesus,

Please help us to be salted again so that we won't bully other people and can be a faithful disciple of you to be a peacemaker and to do Your Kingdom work.In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

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