Wholehearted praise is the only appropriate response when recognizing God’s name and works. When we recognize who God is (His Name), and see the “marvelous things” He has done (His works), our response is always worship. Those who don’t worship God have failed to recognize God’s character and creation. But since we were made for worship, they give their praise to other lesser things (nature, sports teams, rock stars…). Who gets your worship?
This is from Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Focus on the eternal things of God and trust Him with your temporal earthly needs. When Jesus teaches us to stop worrying and start seeking God, He is giving us the proper focus for our internal voice. Stop the self-talk (worry) and start talking to God (prayer). It takes the same amount of energy to pray as it does to worry, except the first actually works. Turn your worries to prayers. Lift up your eyes and hearts and seek God’s kingdom!
The Bible is a book for us, but not really about us. It is a book about God. The Lord chooses to reveal Himself to Abram. With every turn of the page, the Bible records more about the Person and Character of God. Here, He identifies Himself as “El Shaddai-God Almighty,” the Omnipotent One. What does it mean to you that God is All-Powerful? What do you face today that requires His strength?
Jesus’ definition of love was so much higher than what His hearers had ever understood. He tried to describe unmerited, unconditional love (agape) to them, but they couldn’t see it. So, He went to the cross and stretched out His arms and showed them how much His kind of love required. When we receive Jesus, His Spirit resides in us and gives us access to this amazing love. Who is your enemy? How can you show them love today?
Abram, whose name means father, was called to leave his family and go to a land that God would show him. This is the story of the man of faith, whose name became Abraham, father of nations. He trusted God’s promises before seeing their proof. He obeyed God’s call. What has God called you to do?
After Jesus overcame Satan and returned from His wilderness fast, He began His public ministry. News of Him soon reached other lands, including Syria. In the book of Acts we read that Christians were in Damascus in such number that the persecutor, Saul, headed there to bring them to trial. Of course, His mission was changed when the Lord struck him blind along the way. Instead of persecuting them, he ended up preaching the gospel there. A large Christian fellowship of believers has lived in Syria since the 1st century. Yet, today they are experiencing terrible persecution once again. Pray for the Christians in Syria. Before the civil war, they made up over 10% of the population. Untold numbers have been persecuted and killed. Pray that the Lord once again directs help to a street called “Straight” (Acts 9:11).
After Jesus was baptized, He fasted 40 days and nights in the wilderness, where He was tempted by Satan. Adam and Eve were tempted too, but in the garden. They were well fed and satisfied. Jesus was hungry, thirsty and tired. Satan used the same bag of tricks on both. The first Adam sinned after the devil caused them to doubt God’s Word asking, “Did God really say?” (Gen. 3:1). The “last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:22; 45) overcame by His righteousness, answering every temptation with the Word of God. We have this same Word available to us to overcome temptation.
The one who reads and studies Proverbs is promised wisdom. What is the foundation of this understanding? The fear of the Lord. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus said not to fear those who can only kill the body, but instead to fear the One who can send both body and soul to hell. For those who have received Jesus, the fear of judgment and hell is removed. Yet, the fear of God’s holy displeasure is not. As His children we want to please the Father. We “fear” (respect, honor) Him so much that we do not want to leave any sin unconfessed. The fool however, has not learned this healthy fear.
It’s a new year and it can be a new “beginning” too. Because the God that “created the heavens and the earth” is the same God today as He was yesterday. He can make us a new creation in Christ. He is the Creator God. He stands outside of time, space and matter. He is wholly Other. But He is also the God that took on human flesh and died for us. He is both transcendent and immanent. He can change your life. He is the Author, not only of this Book, but of our salvation.
Welcome aboard another journey on the Bible Bus. All aboard for a new beginning! (This year I am following the NLT – New Living Translation)
“‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).
As the year 2013 ends and so our readings from the OYB, it seems appropriate to quote verses from the last books of both Testaments. In the OT reading from Malachi we read of a coming “Day of the Lord” (Hebrew: Yom Yahweh) that will be preceded by a preparer of the way, Elijah. In the gospels, Jesus taught that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of this prophecy, coming in the spirit of Elijah. This was the first “coming.” In the last book of the NT, the apostle John closes the Revelation with another “coming,” this one has yet to occur. I’m sure the contemporaries of Malachi wondered what year, what day would be the DAY. Perhaps they even doubted it would ever arrive. But it did. I wonder what 2014 holds for us?