For great insight and wisdom for National Security Advisor General James Jones and members of his team as they advise President Obama on key issues
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.
�I Kings 4:29
Lord, we praise You today that You are the only source of true knowledge and discernment. Because You are the Creator of the Universe and hold the present and the future in the secure grip of Your will, You know what is in store for us and our nation. You know in advance what challenges or trials lay ahead, and can prepare us for them as we trust in You.
Omniscient Lord, we therefore intercede for General Jones and his work as our country's National Security Advisor to President Obama. God, give him and his team all the insight and intelligence they require to keep and protect our nation from harm, according to Your will. Just as the threats against our country seem as measureless as the seashore sand, greater still is Your understanding. Impart it to General Jones, in Your name we ask, amen.
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
bring me out of my distresses.
18 Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you.
22 Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.
"In order that God may become the protector and defender of our innocence, let us first conduct ourselves uprightly and innocently towards our enemies, and then commit ourselves entirely to his protection."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"Not Under the Law"
Galatians 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
We, as believers, experience an ongoing struggle. We enjoy salvation, having received the Spirit through faith in Jesus. However, our fleshly nature has not been obliterated. So, until physical death, our "evil desires" oppose the Spirit. So we were told in yesterday's passage to walk by the Spirit so we don't gratify the flesh. And today, we are told that if we are, in fact, led by the Spirit, we are not under the law. However, this does not mean that the ethics of the law are optional. To bear the fruit of the Spirit is to fulfill the law. "Even though we are not 'under law,' by the Spirit we live it out."
There are a couple of things that stand out to me from the Genesis readings today.
First, in the matter of Cain and Abel from chapter 4, Cain asks the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" From this, I hear God tellin me, emphatically, "YES! You are your brother's keeper!" We are all our brothers' keepers. This is part of the message that God is pounding into my head this year. I must love the body of Christ. I must love my brothers and sisters in Christ without exception.
Second, in Genesis 5, there is a geneology from Adam to Noah. Included in this lineage is the mystery of Enoch. It always fills my heart with longing when I read that short verse that says, "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." (5:24) This is only one of two people in all of history that I know of that did not experience physical death. Here is a man who was so close to God that God simply took him up. His age was around 365 years, if I am reading right, a relatively short life in comparison to everyone else in Genesis 5. I can't help but wonder what it would be like to be that close to God.
I also pray for more of an attitude of "brother's keeper." You have emphatically stated to me that I am my brother's keeper. I have not done well in that responsibility. Forgive me, Lord, and help me do better.
Grace and peace, friends.