For President Obama and all Americans to earnestly desire to keep God�s Word in their hearts to be empowered to live the holy lives
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
�Psalm 119:11
As we pause to praise You today, we remember the words of President Abraham Lincoln, who said of Your Word, �It is the best gift God has given to men. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things desirable for man�s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it.�
Your Word, O God, is empowering! We ask today, Lord, that You give our President, and all of us, an unquenchable desire for the Bible and the wisdom it contains. Help us to be disciplined to read and apply it daily, and let it be planted within our hearts so that we may live in a way that makes You happy and impacts the lives of others. Do this, great God, we pray, in Your name, amen.
1-3 Dignify those who are down on their luck; you'll feel good�that's what God does.
God looks after us all,
makes us robust with life�
Lucky to be in the land,
we're free from enemy worries.
Whenever we're sick and in bed,
God becomes our nurse,
nurses us back to health.
4-7 I said, "God, be gracious!
Put me together again�
my sins have torn me to pieces."
My enemies are wishing the worst for me;
they make bets on what day I will die.
If someone comes to see me,
he mouths empty platitudes,
All the while gathering gossip about me
to entertain the street-corner crowd.
These "friends" who hate me
whisper slanders all over town.
They form committees
to plan misery for me.
8-9 The rumor goes out, "He's got some dirty,
deadly disease. The doctors
have given up on him."
Even my best friend, the one I always told everything
�he ate meals at my house all the time!�
has bitten my hand.
10 God, give grace, get me up on my feet.
I'll show them a thing or two.
11-12 Meanwhile, I'm sure you're on my side�
no victory shouts yet from the enemy camp!
You know me inside and out, you hold me together,
you never fail to stand me tall in your presence
so I can look you in the eye.
13 Blessed is God, Israel's God,
always, always, always.
Yes. Yes. Yes. (The Message)
"It is an error which is by far too common among men, to look upon those who are oppressed with afflictions as condemned and reprobate. The Scriptures in many places plainly and distinctly declare, that God, for various reasons, tries the faithful by adversities, at one time to train them to patience, at another to subdue the sinful affections of the flesh, at another to cleanse, and, as it were, purify them from the remaining desires of the flesh, which still dwell within them; sometimes to humble them, sometimes to make them an example to others, and at other times to stir them up to the contemplation of the divine life."
(Commentary from Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms)
"What Really Counts"
Galatians 6:15-16
15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
"The gospel of a crucified Messiah was the least 'seeker-friendly' message that could have been preached." Basically, this is because of the humiliating nature of crucifixion. To "boast in the cross," as Paul has said in the previous two verses, was unthinkable in that culture.
"What really matters is this new creation..." Circumcision is ultimately an indifferent matter. Unless, of course, it is being attributed as a means of obtaining salvation. The cross of Christ has rendered the Mosaic law obsolete in terms of redemption. And Paul says all who walk by this rule are given peace and mercy. And they are called "the Israel of God." This phrase in the Greek text refers to the same group that the phrase "all who walk by this rule" refers to. This means that Paul is, effectively, calling all believers "the Israel of God." "The church, made up of Jew and Gentile, will inherit all the promises made to Israel, for the church fulfills God's purpose for Israel."
Week 2/Tuesday "Best Kept Secret"
Galatians 3:3
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
What is the best kept secret? "Jesus paid it all. I mean all He not only purchased your forgiveness of sins and your ticket to heaven, He purchased every blessing and every answer to prayer you will ever receive. Every one of them--no exceptions."
The reason this is the best kept secret is because we don't believe that we are still spiritually "bankrupt." We've entered the kingdom by grace, solely on the "merit of Another," but we are now attempting to pay our way by performance. As discussed in previous entries, we only declared temporary bankruptcy and we're trying to live by works rather than grace.
This is key. At some point in our walk, we fall flat on our face. We fall back into an old sin or something. When this happens, we begin to "assume we've forfeited all blessings from God for some undetermined period of time." "Our expectations of God's blessings depends on how well we feel we're living the Christian life."
Here's a good test offered by the author. Consider a time when you stumbled; fell on your face spiritually. Then imagine if you had immediately afterward gotten an opportunity to share Christ with a non-believer. Could you have done it with complete confidence in God's help? Wow. That's a real good question. I would wager that most of us would struggle with that. But why?? Either God is with us or he isn't! And do any of us think for a minute that God would not want us to share Christ with someone because we just got through sinning a few minutes ago? As Paul would say, emphatically, God forbid!
We have got to get ourselves away from the thought that God stops blessing us or stops being with us when we sin. God has promised us his presence, and Romans 8:38-39 promise us that there is nothing...NOTHING that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Sin is part of "nothing." I emphatically disagree with the old philosophy that sin separates us from God. THAT IS NOWHERE IN THE BIBLE!!! Yes, it affects our relationship with him, just as disobedience affected our earthly parental relationships. But did disobeying our parents ever "separate" us from them? (Outside of "Go to your room!") NO! Our parents did not leave us because we disobeyed them! Neither does God!
*steps down off soapbox*
Whew. Ok. Bottom line...we can't pay our own way. The Christian life is entirely by grace through faith. There is never a point at which grace stops working and we have to rely on our own works from that point on. Never happens.
I don't know about you, but I rejoice in that fact. Frequently. Daily.
Grace and peace, friends!