Calvary Church Hong Kong

17/06/2026

18 June 2026

God Bless You 🙏

The Fight of Faith

Once God says, "I give it to you," God doesn't have to give it again. When God says, "I give," that settles it. As far as God is concerned, it has been given.

This principle applies to each promise God has given us. We find an example of this pattern in Joshua 1:1-3, where God says:

“Now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.” (NAS)
In verse 2 God uses the present tense, "I am giving," but in verse 3 He uses the perfect tense, "I have given them the land."

From then on Israel had the legal right given them by God to the entire land, but they still did not have experiential possession of the land. They didn't own any more of the land experientially than they did before God spoke.

There is a difference between the legal right and the experiential possession of what God has promised us. I think this is very important for us as Christians. I sometimes have commented that if Israel had been like some Christians, after God said to them in verse 3, "I have given you the whole land," they would have lined up along the east bank of the Jordan River, looked westward across the river into the land and said, "It's all ours." Well, it would have been true legally, but it was not true experientially. The Canaanites still dominated the land. So bear this principle in mind which emerges from the book of Joshua. It's one thing to have the legal right, it's another thing to have the experiential possession.

So let's look at the actual process by which Israel moved into the land. Their first two successes came through miracles. A miracle opened the way for them to cross the Jordan and through a miracle they captured the first city of Jericho. But listen to this. After that they had to fight for all the rest. The only way that they actually gained experiential possession was by placing their feet actually on the ground that they were claiming. God said to them, "Every place where you place the sole of your foot, that's what's yours in experience, not just in legal right."

All this is a very close parallel for us in the New Testament as we gain our inheritance. Interestingly enough, the Hebrew name Joshua is the same in the original language as the name Jesus. There are just two different forms of the same name, and we kind of get this picture: In the Old Testament, under a leader named Joshua, God led His people into a promised land. In the New Testament, under a leader named Jesus (which is the same name) God leads His people into a land of promises. In the Old Testament, the inheritance was a promised land. In the New Testament, the inheritance is a land of promises.

Father, show me what You have given me, and help me to put my foot on that ground to actually take it into possession. Help me to not claim things or put my foot on ground you have not, or not yet, given to me. Help me to understand which are the battles I am supposed to fight, and from which I am supposed to steer away, simply because it is none of my business. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏

16/06/2026

17 June 2026

God In The Morning 🙌🏼

A New Season

According to Peter, God has given us his very great and precious promises, and everything we need is contained in them. God’s provision for you is in these promises. In order to receive Gods provision, you have to know His promises and how to move in and possess them. So let’s see how God's people Israel entered into the inheritance that God had promised for them.

You can read their story in the book of Joshua. Rightly understood, this book of Joshua provides a pattern that we too can follow as we enter into our inheritance in the New Testament.

Joshua 1:1-3 says:

“Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord that the Lord spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying, Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses.” (NAS)
This opening of the book of Joshua gives us the key to understanding what follows in the rest of the book. Bear in mind that God started what He had to say to Joshua with the statement, "Moses, my servant is dead; now therefore..." and I just want to point out a kind of principle in the spiritual life that often a death has to precede a new move. So many times, something has to die before we can take the next move. Moses had been one of the greatest leaders that God ever gave to His people and yet it was only after his death that his people could move into their inheritance. So, although they mourned the death of Moses, it was not a disaster, but it was a necessary preliminary to the next move.

I believe we find this in our own lives spiritually. It is like the cycle of the seasons. At the end of the summer there comes fall, and then winter which is a time of death. But out of the time of death of winter there comes the newness and renewal of spring. I believe there's something like that in our lives. So often, when God has something new before me, something old has to die first before I can move into the new.

Let's go on with this lesson from Joshua. God required that all the people cross over. That's so different from the contemporary Church, where if we get a 50% response from the people, we think we are doing pretty well. But at this point, in dealing with His people, God said not one of them is to be left behind. They are all to cross over. And I believe there is something ahead of the people of God in the next few years that is going to be very like that, where all the people who want to belong to God's people and into God's inheritance are going to have to cross over.

Father, help me to understand the seasons in my life. If sometimes something seems to be without life, help me to not cling on to it, but to take my refuge in You and allow You to work out Your purposes in me. I realise death is not nice, but ultimately necessary to come to resurrection! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏

15/06/2026

16 June 2026

God In The Morning 🙌🏼

The Provision Is in the Promise

“Through these [that's through the glory and goodness of Jesus], God has given us his very great and precious promises.” (2 Peter 1:2-4, NIV)
Everything we need is contained in the promises of God. I say it this way: "The provision is in the promise." That is so important that I want you to fix it in your mind. That explains why, on the one hand, God says He has given us everything and on the other hand, so many Christians are obviously lacking things they need. The answer is they haven't discovered where God's provision is. God's provision is in His promises. Logically therefore, in order to receive your provision, you have to know the promises of God and you have to know how to claim those promises, how to move in and possess the promises of God.

We will deal with that issue more specifically later on, but for now, let us go back to 2 Peter and see what happens in our lives when we realize that God's provision is in His promises. When we find the promises that we need and we begin to claim them and apply them to our lives, there are two amazing results that follow. First of all, Peter says:

“... so that through them [through the promises] you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (NIV)
There are two results of claiming the promises of God. The first is positive, the second is negative. The positive result is that we participate in the nature of God Himself. That is an amazing statement. If it wasn't right there in the Bible, I don't think I'd ever dare to say it. But it's so explicitly stated there that through appropriating God's promises we become partakers of God's nature. When we act upon God’s promises and appropriate them, when we make them ours in experience, the very nature of God begins to come into us. We become more and more divine.

And that leads us, logically, to the negative result which is "that we escape the corruption in the world through evil desires." Our old fallen nature is essentially corrupt - morally corrupt, spiritually corrupt and physically corrupt. But as the nature of God comes in, it replaces that corruption by the nature of God and the nature of God is, in essence, incorruptible. So a new kind of nature, a new kind of personality, a new kind of life comes into us as we appropriate the promises of God. It is the nature and personality and the life of God Himself coming into us through the promises that He's given us in His Word in the Scripture.

This leads us to a very important and wonderful conclusion. Ultimately, God Himself becomes our inheritance. Ultimately, it's not just things, it's not just blessings, it's not just experiences - but our ultimate inheritance is God Himself! We become partakers of the very nature of God! Beloved, don't stop short of God! Don't stop at just experiences or blessings or gifts. They're all wonderful, but the real purpose of God is that you inherit God Himself through His promises.

In the next devotional, we will begin to deal, in a practical way, with the actual steps we have to take to enter our inheritance.

Prayer Response
Father, what a wonderful truth it is that I may be partaker of Your nature! Please guide me, through Your Holy Spirit, in Your Word, to understand Your promises and how to apply them in my life. Thank You for Your Word, and thank You for Your promises, thank You that I may know You! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏

14/06/2026

15 June 2026

God In The Morning 🙌🏼

God Has Already Given Everything You Need

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:2-4, NIV)
Peter makes an astonishing statement. He says, "[God] has [already] given us everything we need..." and we must be careful to observe the tense of the verb. It does not say that God will give us, it says God has already given us everything we need. God has already supplied all our needs. Lay hold of that fact because if you miss that, then you are not going to be able to understand the nature of God's provision. God has already given us everything we need.

In the second part of verse 3 Peter returns to the theme that it is all contained in Jesus, "through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and [virtue]." It's so important that we understand that it is all contained in Jesus that Peter states that twice.

However, in that second passage the word that is translated in the English version "knowledge" is not exactly the same word as is translated "knowledge" in the previous verse. In that third verse, the word "knowledge" in Greek means "acknowledge." So it's not just an intellectual, theological knowledge of Jesus, but it means acknowledging Him, seeing who He is, recognizing Him and giving Him His rightful place in our lives.

So, Peter’s words reveal remarkable truths.

First of all, God's provision for us is in abundance.

Secondly, God is the only source for this provision. Jesus is the only channel.

Thirdly, God's power has already given us everything we're ever going to need, and I emphasize the perfect tense. It's all been done. God has already given!

And fourthly, this is a repeat of something, an extension of it, it is all contained in knowing Jesus. But it is not just knowing Him intellectually or theologically or having doctrines about Jesus, but it' is knowing Him as a person and giving Him His right place in our lives. It is really making Jesus Lord in every area of our lives. That is what is contained in the word "acknowledging Jesus."

I have been saying that God has already given you everything you are ever going to need. Now you may look at your life at this point and say, "Well, if God has given it, I don't see it. There are needs in my life that have not been met and yet I'm a believer and I'm doing my best to walk the Christian road and to serve God and to be one of God's people."

Well, here's the really important key. This is something that the Holy Spirit revealed to me years ago and it's been a major factor in my own spiritual progress. Where is everything? If God has already given it, why don't we see it? Why don't we seem to have it? Now, here's the answer. We will read the words of Peter and then I'll comment on it.

“Through these [that's through the glory and goodness of Jesus] God has given us his very great and precious promises...” (NIV)

In the previous verse we read, "God has given us everything we need." Now in this verse we read, "God has given us His very great and precious promises." What is the conclusion? It's very simple and very logical. Everything we need is contained in the promises of God, so when God has given us His promises, in them He has given us everything we're going to need for time and eternity.

Prayer Response
Dear Lord Jesus, help me to acknowledge You as Lord in every area of my life. And help me to see the depths of Your promises and how everything I will ever need, for time and eternity, is provided for in these wonderful promises. And thank You for Your sacrifice, that has made it available! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏

14/06/2026

13/06/2026

14 June 2026

God In The Morning 🙌🏼

God's Provision Is in His Promises

The Holy Spirit plays a special role in enabling us to claim our inheritance in Christ. But what is the actual form in which our inheritance comes to us?

The key passage for understanding this is found in the second epistle of 2 Peter 1:2-4.

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His [God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these [the glory and goodness of Jesus] he [God] has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them [that is, through the promises] you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (NIV)
I marvel sometimes at the writings of Peter because he was apparently a comparatively unlearned man and yet so much of tremendous truth and so many concepts and words that indicate a high level of education. Of course, Peter got his education through the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is really the best educator in the world and He still is today.

Peter starts by saying, "Grace and peace be yours in abundance..." The first thing I need to point out is that God's provision for us is in abundance. God is not a stingy God. He is not poor. He is not in financial need. He is not in spiritual need. He is the author and source of everything in the universe and when He provides for us, His people, He provides in abundance.

Peter goes on, "... through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." This indicates that every provision of God comes through knowing God and Jesus. There is no other way that provision can come except through knowing God and Jesus. I put it this way: God is the only source, Jesus is the only channel. And I want to emphasize the word "only." God is the only source; Jesus, the only channel.

Thank You, Father, that You have provided for everything I need, spiritual, physical, financial, through Your Son Jesus Christ. Help me, through Your Holy Spirit, to know Him more and more as my only source. Thank You that every provision comes through knowing You! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏

12/06/2026

13 June 2026

God In The Morning 🙌🏼

The Holy Spirit and your eternal destination

“And it happened, before he had finished speaking, that behold, Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, came out with her pitcher on her shoulder. Now the young woman was very beautiful to behold, a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her and said, ‘Please let me drink a little water from your pitcher.’

So she said, ‘Drink, my lord.’ Then she quickly let her pitcher down to her hand, and gave him a drink. And when she had finished giving him a drink, she said, ‘I will draw water for your camels also, until they have finished drinking.’ Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough, ran back to the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man, wondering at her, remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.” (Genesis 24:15-21)
In the parable from Genesis 24, the unnamed Servant typifies the Holy Spirit who sets out to find a Bride for Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Rebekah’s response shows how the Church, but also you and I individually, needs to respond to the Holy Spirit.

One aspect of Rebekah's response was to serve the servant. I call that faith with works. She didn't just believe, she didn't say yes; but she got busy, dipped down her bucket into that well and drew something like 400 gallons of water. I believe that Christianity has got to be the religion of active faith. Faith with works. Rebekah drawing the water from the well is a good picture of what that means.

Rebekah received the gifts the servant brought her. We cannot entertain a man and reject his gifts. That is true in life. If a young man saves up to buy a beautiful engagement ring for the young woman he wants to marry, never will it happen that the young woman will refuse the ring and marry the man. Accepting or rejecting the ring is an indication of her attitude toward the man. And so it is with us in relationship to the Holy Spirit. We cannot reject the gifts of the Holy Spirit and expect to be part of the Bride of Christ.

The gifts of the servant visibly marked out Rebekah as the chosen bride. And when the gifts of the Spirit come into operation in the Church, the Church is visibly set apart as the Bride of Christ.

Rebekah made room for the servant and his camels. Taking the Holy Spirit into your life means a lot of changes. It means you have to get rid of a lot of things in order to make room for what God wants in your life. It means radical changes. It means putting the will of God before your own convenience.

Then, she followed the servant to her appointed destination. The only way we will make our way through this world and come to that encounter with our Heavenly Bridegroom is through following the Holy Spirit.

Rebekah's relationship to the servant was essential to her destiny in God. And equally so for you and me as believers in Jesus Christ. It is our relationship to the Holy Spirit that is going to determine our destiny. If we snub the Holy Spirit we cannot enter into our destiny. He is the helper sent to enable us to claim and receive our inheritance.

Prayer Response
Father, help me to see what You want me to do, and how I can actively express my faith in works that You have set aside for me personally. Help me to be open for the gifts You want to give me, and teach me how to use them, for the benefit of my brothers and sisters, and this world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏

11/06/2026

12 June 2026

God In The Morning 🙌🏼

How Will You Respond to the Holy Spirit?

“Then they called Rebekah and said to her, ‘Will you go with this man?’ And she said, ‘I will go.’ Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed.” (Genesis 24: 58, 61)
In Genesis 24, Abraham’s servant sets out to find a bride for Isaac. In this beautiful story, the unnamed servant is a picture of the Holy Spirit, who is serving God the Father to prepare a Bride for Jesus Christ.

In this parable, Rebekah is a picture of the Church and of the response the Church has to make to the Holy Spirit in order to qualify to be the Bride of Christ. Her response does not only reflect the Church, but also shows how you and I individually need to respond to the Holy Spirit.

Let’s consider seven aspects about Rebekah's response and their significance for you us as believer in Jesus.

1. First, her first contact was with the servant, not with Abraham or with Isaac.

2. Second, her response to the servant determined her destiny.

3. Third, her response was to serve the servant. She immediately began to draw water for his camels - very hard work.

4. Fourth, she received the gifts the servant brought.

5. Fifth, the gifts, when she placed them upon her, visibly marked her out as the chosen bride.

6. Sixth, she made room in her home for the servant and his camels. And let me point out that camels take a lot of room.

7. Seventh, she followed the servant in faith to her destination.

Let's see how this typifies the way in which we are required to respond to the Holy Spirit.

First of all, our first contact with God is always through the Holy Spirit. He is the one that first reaches into our lives and begins to reveal to us the Father and the Son.

Second, it is your response to the Holy Spirit that will determine your destiny for time and eternity.

At that point, through the servant, Rebekah was faced with a decision that determined her destiny for the rest of her life. If she said yes to the servant, her destiny was in accordance with the will of God and was good; but if she said no to the servant, then the rest of her destiny would never have been revealed to her and she would have missed all that God had purposed for her.

Why not take some time to consider how Rebekah’s example relates to your life and God’s Spirit?

Prayer Response
Lord, please help me to always respond in the proper way to Your Holy Spirit, since it will determine my eternal destiny. Help me to respond according to Your will, which is always good and perfect in every way, and reveal to me what my destiny is in You. I want to walk in the destiny You have laid out for me! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏

10/06/2026

11 June 2026

God In The Morning 🙌🏼

The Holy Spirit: Your Servant-Guide

“The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my family, and who spoke to me and swore to me, saying, ‘To your [b]descendants I give this land,’ He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.(…) Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed, for all his master’s goods were in his hand.” (Genesis 24: 7, 10)
The story of how God found a wife for Isaac, Abraham’s son is a parable of God finding a bride for Jesus Christ, His only Son. In this interpretation, Abraham, the father of Isaac, represents God the Father. Isaac, the only son, represents Jesus, the only Son. Rebekah, the chosen bride, represents the Church; and we are left with one more major character, the unnamed servant. But I see the unnamed servant as the Holy Spirit's self-portrait. I think perhaps it' is the clearest portrait in all Scripture of who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. And it always blesses me that the Holy Spirit is so modest and unassuming that He never even gives Himself a name. All He is called is "the servant."

In the light of that, I want to point out to you seven facts about the servant and his relationship to Rebekah and to Abraham and Isaac.

1. The first fact is stated very clearly in that account that he, the servant, had charge of all that Abraham owned. He was in complete control of the entire inheritance.

2. Secondly, he sought nothing for himself, but only for Abraham and Isaac.

3. Thirdly, it was his responsibility to find a bride for Isaac.

4. Fourthly, he came with ten camels bearing gifts.

5. Fifthly, he confronted Rebekah with the choice that settled her destiny.

6. Sixthly, he was Rebekah's only source of information concerning Abraham and Isaac.

7. And seventh, it was he who guided Rebekah to her bridegroom.

Now, let's apply those truths about the servant to the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the Church.

First of all, the Holy Spirit is the administer of the total inheritance. He is the one who takes the things of Christ and discloses them and imparts them to us.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit seeks nothing for Himself. His aim is to glorify the Father and the Son.

Thirdly, it is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit in the world today to find the Church, the bride for the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Fourthly, when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, He comes with many, many beautiful and wonderful gifts.

Fifthly, He is the one who confronts us with the choice concerning Jesus that settles our destiny for time and eternity.

Sixthly, He is our only source of direct information concerning God the Father and God the Son. We do not see the other persons of the Godhead, but the Holy Spirit reveals them to us.

And seventhly, He is the one who's going to guide us through this world to our meeting with our heavenly Bridegroom.

Prayer Response
Dear Father, thank You again for the Holy Spirit. Teach me to be friends with Him, to be sensitive to His nudging, His Voice, His guidance and to follow Him, together with my brothers and sisters to our Heavenly Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m longing to meet Him! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏

09/06/2026

10 June 2026

God In The Morning 🙌🏼

The Servant Who Searched for the Bride

When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, (…) He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

According to God’s Word, we are his heirs, through our faith in Christ. John 16:13-14 says it is the Holy Spirit who leads us into the land of God's promises, the land of our inheritance. Let us study more fully the part that the Holy Spirit plays in bringing us into our inheritance in Christ.

There is a very vivid and beautiful picture from the Old Testament to illustrate this. It is the story of how Abraham obtained a bride for his son Isaac, found in Genesis 24. Of course, it is a series of historical incidents that actually took place and even in that sense, it is a beautiful story. But it is also a kind of parable acted out in history that reveals to us other spiritual truths that are even more important and which concern us, as believers in Jesus, today.

By this time, Abraham was settled in the land that God had promised him, the land of Canaan. He had received the miracle son, Isaac, who was to be the heir of all that God had promised, and he needed a wife for Isaac, but he did not want to take a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites. That is why he called his senior servant, the main steward of his house, and told him to go back to Mesopotamia, which was the country of Abraham's origin, and to find a bride from Abraham's own clan there.

So, the servant equipped himself with ten camels laden with gifts and good things and set out for Mesopotamia. On the way he prayed that God would direct him to the young woman of God's choice to be the bride for Isaac. When he came to Mesopotamia, he stopped at a well and he specifically prayed that when the right woman came along, he would ask her to give him a drink and she would respond by not merely giving him water, but by drawing water from the well for all his camels. In this way, he would know that she was the woman chosen to be Isaac's bride.

Well, after he had finished praying, Rebekah, who was a member of the same clan as Abraham, came along with her flock. The servant asked her for a drink. She gave him drink and she immediately also of her own initiative proceeded to draw water for his camels. Now that's significant because he had ten camels. They had made a long journey through a desert and it is estimated a thirsty camel can drink about forty gallons of water. So, if she had to draw water for ten camels, she was an active, vigorous woman because she had to draw about four hundred gallons of water with a bucket out of a well! I think that says a lot.

Then the servant brought out the gifts that he was carrying and he gave her some beautiful gifts which she immediately adorned herself with and then she introduced the servant to her family. The family welcomed him and his camels into their home. He presented the destiny that God had for Rebekah and she responded in faith that she would go. Her family blessed her and so she set out with the servant and the camels once again to take that long journey back to find the man that she was due to marry. And bear in mind, she had never seen Abraham. She had never seen Isaac. Her only contact with the family into which she was going to marry was through the servant. Likewise, the Holy Spirit also introduces us to God the Father and Jesus Christ, His Son.

Thank You, Father, that You know beforehand the path You want for us. Thank You that You even set apart a husband/wife for me. Thank You for the beauty of Your Word, and I pray that, through Your Holy Spirit, I may understand more and more about Jesus, and Your plans and destiny, for me, Your Church, Israel and the world, so I may choose my path according to Your will. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

God Bless You 🙏