Resource Manager Posted January 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 26 January 2016 Genesis 42; 43Psalms 46; 47; 48Matthew 28 "A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE" Today we completed reading the gospel of Matthew with its' account of the resurrection. We especially noted its' conclusion that they were "to make disciples of all nations" - and only in our generation is this being completed. The outward proof of conversion is baptism. [Matthew 28:19] But we must make sure our heart has genuinely experienced conversion. Our chapters in Genesis tells us of the second journey into Egypt by the brothers of Joseph, this time Benjamin is with them and the scene is set for a drama to unfold as we will read tomorrow. But our hearts were most affected by the three Psalms we read [Psalms 46-48]! The 47th and 48th Psalms describe God's kingdom in action, Psalm 48 starts, "Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God! .... the joy of all the earth ... the city of the great King." But we let our minds dwell - in awe - on Psalm 46 - and its application to our world today - and its inspiration to those who still believe in - and - most particularly - have a relationship with God. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved ... the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble ... The nations rage, the kingdoms totter ..." [Psalm 46:1,2,6] But true and faithful believers will hear the words, "Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth ..." [Psalm 46:8-9] This is the climax to the 'history' of godless humans - those who have convinced themselves there is no God. Once again we are reminded that there are just two ways - the broad and narrow - one leads to wonder - the other to disaster. Let us makes sure the final words of this Psalm are fully embraced within our hearts and minds. ""Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!' The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress" Let us especially be ready to know and feel this - that our God and his Son are "a very present help in trouble." -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted January 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2016 27 January 2016 Genesis 44; 45Psalms 49Romans 1; 2 "YOU ARE STORING UP ... " Each of our 5 chapters today provide us with thought challenging verses. In Genesis 44; 45 we read of the drama when Joseph made himself known to his brothers – and the heart searching on that occasion. Then Psalm 49 provided a clear message that those who make money and gain possessions, that when they die they "will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish." [Psalm 49:19-20] A clear cut inspired statement that humans do not have an 'immoral soul'- this phrase never occurs in God's word. In Ezekiel 18:20, God bluntly tells him, “The soul who sins shall die.” The word “soul” means the person Then the first 2 chapters of Paul's letter to the Romans provide us with a multitude of challenging thoughts. Paul says, "the wrath of God is ... against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth." [Romans 1:18] One of the truths suppressed today is the reality that God, the Creator of all things, actually exists. In ancient Rome they imagined all sorts of gods and things about what they did or had done. Paul says that "what can be known about God is plain ... For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." [Romans 1:19-20] Paul tells those who think this way in Rome that "you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment (is) revealed." [Romans 2:5] At that time (surely our days) "there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil ..." [Romans 2:9] BUT - and what a wonderful "but" this is - "but glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good" [Romans 2:10] What is it to do “good?’ Remember what we read earlier this month in Psalm 15, “O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart …” What wonders God is “storing up” for those sort of people! What is God "storing up" for you and me? May our answer, by the grace of our Lord, lead us to "glory and honour and peace" because we have absorbed and put into practice the precepts in his word – and embraced the hope it reveals of the future - and this is constantly part of our thoughts – how soon now is “the day of wrath”? -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted January 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2016 28 January 2016 Genesis 46; 47Psalms 50Romans 3; 4 “NO ONE SEEKS FOR GOD” Today we read of how Joseph’s father and brothers and their families came to live in Egypt. This created the situation in which they would grow into a nation and God would raise up Moses and Aaron to lead them out of Egypt. He would then give them his laws at Sinai: but their faith would then falter and they would wander in the wilderness and that generation would die. In a sense the world today is ‘wandering’ in the wilderness of unbelief – and part of our Psalm [Psalm 50] today in a sense, describes this wandering! How appropriate are the words in Psalm 50:17-18, "For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you ... you keep company with adulterers." Psalm 50:22 challenges such people, ""Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart ... " Much of our world today deserves to be torn apart. The last verse is outstanding - as an exhortation to us! "The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" Our thanksgiving must be genuine - the outpouring of our hearts. An fitting conclusion to our thoughts is the way in which the Apostle Paul quotes from the Psalms in today's chapters in Romans. In Romans 3:10-12 we read, "as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless ..." Paul is quoting this, primarily to the Jews! He asks them "Are we Jews any better off?" [Romans 3:9] They must not look down on the Romans, they must not forget how their Lord condemned their religious leaders, they were no better than them. In our world "no one seeks for God" What of us? Are we sure we do - in a fully committed way? In Romans 4 we are told "that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness." [Romans 4:9] Abraham showed his faith by his actions - when "no one" around him sought "for God" when he lived in Ur. [Genesis 15:7] May we follow Abraham's example - and therefore lay claim to being "his offspring" spiritually. In conclusion let us take special note of Romans 4:12-13, and "walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham ....through the righteousness of faith" Let us "seek(s) for God" in the same way. -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted January 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2016 29 January 2016 Genesis 48; 49; 50Psalms 51; 52Romans 5; 6 “WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD” What a wide selection of meaningful verses we can meditate on today! It is a real challenge to absorb all the meaningful lessons they teach us – when we are able to really open our hearts to take them in. We started with the last 3 chapters of Genesis; a particular highlight of these are the blessings of Jacob on his deathbed. He declares “God … has been my shepherd all my life long ... who has redeemed me from all evil .." [Genesis 48:15-16] This is not that he did not experience any evil, but God had shepherded him through it. David's training was as a shepherd, and how much do some of his Psalms reflect this. But first, our thoughts jumped to the inspiring thoughts in the letter to the Hebrews - that "the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ ..." [Hebrews 13:20-21] Truly, he works “peace” in our hearts. Today's Psalm 51, expresses David’s heartfelt repentance after his sin with Bathsheba. It begins, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me ..." David's sin was blotted out - but that did not mean that he did not suffer some consequences from it! Verse 6 has 'food' for our deepest meditation! " Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart." We are blessed to have God's word to impart to us this wisdom – let us fully appreciate this blessing - and make full use of it! Finally, and wonderfully, we have Paul's inspired perceptions of the wonder of God's grace in Romans 5; 6. Romans 5 starts, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. " The next verses tell us that through Jesus "we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." As a result of our "peace with God" we develop more and more a spirit of rejoicing, even "in our sufferings" [Romans 5:3] "knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character..." [Romans 5:4] Jacob and David went through this process - and the wondrous blessing that resulted - is that they and "we, have peace with God." -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted January 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2016 30 January 2016 Exodus 1; 2Psalms 53; 54; 55Romans 7; 8 "THE CREATION WAS SUBJECTED TO FUTILITY" Today we read Romans 7; 8. We see them as two of the most meaningful – but also the most challenging chapters in the Bible. We also read David’s Psalms 53-55. Psalm 53 is so appropriate for today, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good." [Psalm 53:1] "God looks down from heaven ... to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God." But "they have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." [Psalm 53:2-3] Yet the next verse speaks of "my people" as those affected by this - so God still has "people" on the earth who in some sense 'belong' to him. The last verse is fascinating! "Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad." We can see these words as both a plea - and a prayer - for today. Oh the wonder when God acts! Surely the restoration has started – we have witnessed this in our lifetime. Back in Romans, Paul is particularly thought provoking when he writes, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. " [Romans 8:18] This is a verse we need to 'cement' into our minds when the increasing evil in this world threatens to 'push' us off the 'narrow way." Paul's next verses are the most thought provoking. " For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption." This corruption is to be seen on two levels - the moral corruption that is swamping our world – following in the footsteps of Adam and Eve - but also the 'curse' on nature that God put on Adam. He told him, "cursed is the ground because of you ... thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you ..." [Genesis 3:17-18] As a final thought we again pick up Paul's point, "the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed" and part of that revealing is surely the removal of the "futility" to which "creation was subjected." -------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resource Manager Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 31 January 2016 Exodus 3; 4Psalms 56; 57Romans 9 “WHAT IS HIS NAME” We have now moved on to read about the dramatic life of Moses. Exodus 3 is about his challenging encounter with God at the burning bush. For 40 years he had been living as a shepherd in Midian after fleeing from Pharaoh after he killed an Egyptian and this became known. Now ‘the angel of God appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” [Exodus 3:2] We notice this is “the” specific angel that represents the Almighty; the rest of the chapter is written as if God himself is speaking. “Then the LORD (Yahweh) said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt … Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel out of Egypt.” [Exodus 3:7,10] What intrigued us is the question Moses puts to God. “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you and they ask me ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” Now why would Moses expect the people to ask the name of the God of their fathers? Well the word ‘name’ in certain contexts means reputation – such as when David ‘made himself a name’ [2 Samuel 8:13] and in some contexts in modern versions it is translated as ‘became famous’ and similar. Moses anticipates his generation of Israelites, will know little about the God of their forefathers and will want to know what reputation he had. All their lives they had been surrounded by the religious attitudes of the Egyptians and the legends about the prowess of their Gods, Osiris, Mont, etc. God answers Moses by saying, “I AM who I AM”. How is that an answer? We note the footnote in the ESV and RSV versions give the alternative of “I will be what I will be” This is better, it directly relates to YAHWEH, which as the ESV footnote, states ‘is here connected with the verb hayah “to be”. So God is saying, he is a God who becomes, he will establish his reputation by what he is going to do, not by legends of the past as with the gods of human imagination.. We will see, as we read the Old Testament, that this point is made quite frequently about Israel’s God, for example, Isaiah 63:14 “so you led your people (through Moses) to make for yourself a glorious name” Those who follow the God of the Bible must aim to make for themselves a name, that is, a reputation that is pleasing to God – and in the climax of the ages, when his kingdom bears rule throughout the earth, God will give them a “new name” [Revelation 3:12]-------- DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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