Luke 24
After Jesus rises from the dead, He appears to a number of His disciples.
INSIGHT
The most reasonable explanation for the empty tomb is the Resurrection. If, as some have claimed, Jesus had not been killed but only weakened by the crucifixion, the stone and the soldiers would have prevented His escape from the tomb. If Jesus' friends had tried to steal the body, the stone and the soldiers likewise would have prevented them. Jesus' enemies would not have taken the body, since a missing body would only encourage belief in His resurrection. The easiest way to quiet claims of His resurrection would have been to produce the body. This they could not do. The angel said, "He is not here, for He is risen, as He said" (Matthew 28:6). Since Jesus predicted and experienced His own death, burial, and resurrection, we can trust Him with our lives.
PRAYER
The Lord can be trusted with our lives because of His own life, and we praise Him:
I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart;
I will tell of all Your marvelous works. . . .
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed,
A refuge in times of trouble.
And those who know Your name will put their trust in You;
For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You (Psalm 9:1, 9-10).
Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression (Psalm 19:12-13).
Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.
Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out (John 6:37).
As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
Greater love for the lost
The work of missions in Africa
Your activities for the day
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands (Psalm 90:17).
Biblical Portrait
of Marriage
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
Basing Expectations on Truth
Basing Expectations on Truth
Mark 9:30-32
Forming expectations on the basis of preconceived ideas is a rather common practice—even the disciples missed important truth in this way. Christ told them repeatedly that He was going to be crucified and raised to life after three days. Their physical ears heard His words, but the message wasn’t able to penetrate their hearts and minds.
Although they were convinced that He was the Messiah, their assumptions about how and when His kingdom would come kept them from hearing Christ’s “alternate plan.” They were looking for a Savior who would overthrow Rome and set up His kingdom on earth during their lifetime; then they would rule with Him. Jesus’ words of death and resurrection were so contrary towhat they anticipated that they just couldn’t accept them. Since they hadn’t understood the promise of the resurrection, when their Messiah died, their dreams were dashed. They quickly descended into the despair of hopelessness and unbelief (Luke 24:10-11).
From our present perspective of knowing the outcome and purpose of Jesus’ first visit to earth, we might wonder, How could they be so dense? But before we judge them too harshly, let’s remember that we, too, often have predetermined ideas about how God should work in our lives and in the world.
God’s ways won’t always match our mindset because He works from an eternal perspective and we often see only the immediate. We must remember that His ways are best. Just think, if He had followed the disciples’ plans, there would be no forgiveness of sins. Let’s drop our expectations and trust Him.
Mark 9:30-32
Forming expectations on the basis of preconceived ideas is a rather common practice—even the disciples missed important truth in this way. Christ told them repeatedly that He was going to be crucified and raised to life after three days. Their physical ears heard His words, but the message wasn’t able to penetrate their hearts and minds.
Although they were convinced that He was the Messiah, their assumptions about how and when His kingdom would come kept them from hearing Christ’s “alternate plan.” They were looking for a Savior who would overthrow Rome and set up His kingdom on earth during their lifetime; then they would rule with Him. Jesus’ words of death and resurrection were so contrary towhat they anticipated that they just couldn’t accept them. Since they hadn’t understood the promise of the resurrection, when their Messiah died, their dreams were dashed. They quickly descended into the despair of hopelessness and unbelief (Luke 24:10-11).
From our present perspective of knowing the outcome and purpose of Jesus’ first visit to earth, we might wonder, How could they be so dense? But before we judge them too harshly, let’s remember that we, too, often have predetermined ideas about how God should work in our lives and in the world.
God’s ways won’t always match our mindset because He works from an eternal perspective and we often see only the immediate. We must remember that His ways are best. Just think, if He had followed the disciples’ plans, there would be no forgiveness of sins. Let’s drop our expectations and trust Him.
Pilate sentences Jesus to be crucified on the hill called Golgotha, "The Skull."
Luke 23
Pilate sentences Jesus to be crucified on the hill called Golgotha, "The Skull."
INSIGHT
Without conflict, there are no heroes. The hero and coward look alike until the battle begins. Then and only then, in the face of the challenge, is each one's true character manifested. In Jesus' time, you do not expect heroes of the Christian faith to emerge from the ranks of the Pharisees. But Joseph of Arimathea defies the expectations. This godly man risks wealth, reputation, and perhaps personal safety, when he asks for and receives the permission to take down Jesus' body from the cross and lay it in his own tomb.
PRAYER
Give God praise that He enables His children to do heroic deeds on His behalf:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death . . . for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased You, O God (based on Hebrews 11:1-5).
Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
You were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (based on Ephesians 2:1-2).
Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
Greater courage in evangelism
The work of missions in Europe
Your activities for the day
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Since I am surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, . . . let me run with endurance the race that is set before me (based on Hebrews 12:1).
Pilate sentences Jesus to be crucified on the hill called Golgotha, "The Skull."
INSIGHT
Without conflict, there are no heroes. The hero and coward look alike until the battle begins. Then and only then, in the face of the challenge, is each one's true character manifested. In Jesus' time, you do not expect heroes of the Christian faith to emerge from the ranks of the Pharisees. But Joseph of Arimathea defies the expectations. This godly man risks wealth, reputation, and perhaps personal safety, when he asks for and receives the permission to take down Jesus' body from the cross and lay it in his own tomb.
PRAYER
Give God praise that He enables His children to do heroic deeds on His behalf:
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was translated so that he did not see death . . . for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased You, O God (based on Hebrews 11:1-5).
Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
You were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (based on Ephesians 2:1-2).
Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind. Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
Greater courage in evangelism
The work of missions in Europe
Your activities for the day
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Since I am surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, . . . let me run with endurance the race that is set before me (based on Hebrews 12:1).
Talking About Israel
Talking About Israel: Goldstone, J-Street, AIPAC and the Space in Between
By Donniel HartmanThe survival of all social structures, the Jewish community being one of them, is dependent on a delicate balance between tolerance of diversity on the one hand, and the setting of boundaries and limits on the other. When a social structure defines its shared cultural and ideological space in too narrow a manner, it does not allow room for the diversity inherent within the human condition to express itself, thus forcing all those who won't toe the line to belong elsewhere.
A healthy society, if it allows freedom of thought and conscience, will invariably have to allow as well multiple expressions and understandings of its ideals, values, and identity. At the same time, however, no social structure can survive if its tolerance of diversity is limitless. Without boundaries demarcating some core cultural and ideological commitment, there is no "there there," and identification and belonging become meaningless and impossible.
One of the central rules of boundary placing is that a social structure cannot locate its boundary in a place that excludes a large segment of its society. If it does so, then it is using boundaries to bifurcate its society and not unite it. One of the more problematic manifestations of the ideological debates permeating contemporary Jewish life is the erection of boundaries which allow one denomination's perspective of Judaism to monopolize the Jewish ideological space which must encompass all Jews. This move is particularly evident in some segments of the Orthodox community, which define the essence of Judaism in such a way that most Jews find themselves outside the discussion.
We are witnessing a similar failing and lack of wisdom in many segments of the Jewish community when it comes to defining what constitutes a legitimate relationship with the State of Israel. Many liberal and secular Jews, for whom religious pluralism is self evident in issues of faith and practice, behave like extreme ultra-Orthodox when it comes to the State of Israel. They want to monopolize what is allowed and permitted and willingly define large segments of the Jewish community as beyond the pale and outside.
If we are going to have a viable community in which a love of Israel is an integral part of our shared cultural space, we need to be far more sophisticated and delicate with both the extent of the tolerance of diversity we allow and the location of the boundaries we set. Such sophistication has clearly been absent in many of the most important forums of contemporary Jewish life, whether it be the Israeli Knesset or many leading North American Jewish organizations. Goldstone, Machsom Watch, B'tselem, J Street, and New Israel Fund, and their supporters, to name but a few, have all been bundled together as enemies of Israel and as outside the boundaries of what is acceptable in the Jewish community.
Regardless of one's position regarding any or all of the above, it is clear that our community is facing a structural problem. Too many members of our people both affiliate with and relate to Israel through their involvement in one of these organizations. A standard of loyalty to Israel which excludes all of them is akin to a definition of love of Torah that demands nothing less than full adherence to all of its traditional facets. As is the case with Judaism, when it comes to Israel, at issue is not the measure of one's agreement with other opinions, but whether one is willing to recognize that both love of Torah and love of Israel can and need to be expressed in multiple, diverse, and contradictory ways.
A result of our community's lack of thought and sophistication on the issue of boundaries has led to a polarized and untenable reality in which some believe that anything less than full and complete support for the policies of the government of Israel is unacceptable, while others believe that there are no limits or boundaries to loyalty, and any expression or act is legitimate, regardless of its consequences. Thus, for both sides, there is no difference amongst Goldstone, J Street, and New Israel Fund; everything is either equally acceptable or equally condemnable.
One cannot build a community in this manner, and the place of Israel in this environment is in profound danger. We need a boundary, which on the one hand respects the diversity so prevalent in Jewish life on these issues, and at the same time sets limits as to what is acceptable, and what is not. I would suggest that such a boundary may be found from within our tradition.
The central boundary universally adopted throughout the ages was affiliation and loyalty to the Jewish people. Our tradition was able to tolerate many extreme positions and practices, as long as the person in question still felt and acted in such a way that they were a part of the Jewish people. One of the more well known expressions of this boundary is the Passover Haggada's definition of the evil child as one who has separated himself from the community. The Haggada even goes so far as to define such a position as heresy and a rejection of the essence of Judaism.
Any position, whether complimentary or critical of Israel and its policies, which is done within the context of a commitment to Israel and a desire to see it grow and fulfill its potential must be designated as within the confines of the acceptable and legitimate. We must stop once and for all the intellectual and political witch hunt which is permeating Jewish life in which both the Left and the Right too easily exclude people from the conversation and thus from the community. "These and these are the words of the living God." If no single belief or ideology can exhaust the word of God, so too can no one be allowed to monopolize the category of lover of Israel.
At the same time, criticism or actions which represent a decision to disengage from Israel and which form alliances with those who unequivocally mean it harm must be designated as outside the legitimate conversation within our community.
Let's take Judge Goldstone as an example. The belief that Israel committed war crimes in Operation Cast Lead, which I and apparently even Judge Goldstone now believe to be factually incorrect, is not unto itself beyond the pale. The problem with the opinions presented in the Goldstone Report was not with the positions taken, but where Judge Goldstone chose to position his opinions, i.e., within the United Nations Human Rights Council, which for decades has been trying to undermine the legitimacy and viability of the State of Israel.
Judge Goldstone has now done tshuva. It is time for other organizations, including J Street, to do the same. It is time for us to recognize that there are many ways to love Israel. When one calls, however, for the boycotting or international sanctioning of Israel or the forcing of its government to adopt policies which are counter to the expressed will of its democratically elected government, even if one believes that one is doing so for the good of Israel, one is locating oneself on the side of our foes, a side that friends need to be wary of.
If our community will be wise enough to expand the inner tent to make room for a wide spectrum of opinions, debate, criticism, and acts of protest and condemnation, there will be no need for members of our community to find their allies elsewhere, and ones who do so, will be therefore declaring where their allegiance truly lies.
We are a people who believe that criticism is an act of love and loyalty. We are also a people who believe that there is a criticism out of love, and a criticism which is not. Locating the difference is one of the central challenges of our time.
By Donniel HartmanThe survival of all social structures, the Jewish community being one of them, is dependent on a delicate balance between tolerance of diversity on the one hand, and the setting of boundaries and limits on the other. When a social structure defines its shared cultural and ideological space in too narrow a manner, it does not allow room for the diversity inherent within the human condition to express itself, thus forcing all those who won't toe the line to belong elsewhere.
A healthy society, if it allows freedom of thought and conscience, will invariably have to allow as well multiple expressions and understandings of its ideals, values, and identity. At the same time, however, no social structure can survive if its tolerance of diversity is limitless. Without boundaries demarcating some core cultural and ideological commitment, there is no "there there," and identification and belonging become meaningless and impossible.
One of the central rules of boundary placing is that a social structure cannot locate its boundary in a place that excludes a large segment of its society. If it does so, then it is using boundaries to bifurcate its society and not unite it. One of the more problematic manifestations of the ideological debates permeating contemporary Jewish life is the erection of boundaries which allow one denomination's perspective of Judaism to monopolize the Jewish ideological space which must encompass all Jews. This move is particularly evident in some segments of the Orthodox community, which define the essence of Judaism in such a way that most Jews find themselves outside the discussion.
We are witnessing a similar failing and lack of wisdom in many segments of the Jewish community when it comes to defining what constitutes a legitimate relationship with the State of Israel. Many liberal and secular Jews, for whom religious pluralism is self evident in issues of faith and practice, behave like extreme ultra-Orthodox when it comes to the State of Israel. They want to monopolize what is allowed and permitted and willingly define large segments of the Jewish community as beyond the pale and outside.
If we are going to have a viable community in which a love of Israel is an integral part of our shared cultural space, we need to be far more sophisticated and delicate with both the extent of the tolerance of diversity we allow and the location of the boundaries we set. Such sophistication has clearly been absent in many of the most important forums of contemporary Jewish life, whether it be the Israeli Knesset or many leading North American Jewish organizations. Goldstone, Machsom Watch, B'tselem, J Street, and New Israel Fund, and their supporters, to name but a few, have all been bundled together as enemies of Israel and as outside the boundaries of what is acceptable in the Jewish community.
Regardless of one's position regarding any or all of the above, it is clear that our community is facing a structural problem. Too many members of our people both affiliate with and relate to Israel through their involvement in one of these organizations. A standard of loyalty to Israel which excludes all of them is akin to a definition of love of Torah that demands nothing less than full adherence to all of its traditional facets. As is the case with Judaism, when it comes to Israel, at issue is not the measure of one's agreement with other opinions, but whether one is willing to recognize that both love of Torah and love of Israel can and need to be expressed in multiple, diverse, and contradictory ways.
A result of our community's lack of thought and sophistication on the issue of boundaries has led to a polarized and untenable reality in which some believe that anything less than full and complete support for the policies of the government of Israel is unacceptable, while others believe that there are no limits or boundaries to loyalty, and any expression or act is legitimate, regardless of its consequences. Thus, for both sides, there is no difference amongst Goldstone, J Street, and New Israel Fund; everything is either equally acceptable or equally condemnable.
One cannot build a community in this manner, and the place of Israel in this environment is in profound danger. We need a boundary, which on the one hand respects the diversity so prevalent in Jewish life on these issues, and at the same time sets limits as to what is acceptable, and what is not. I would suggest that such a boundary may be found from within our tradition.
The central boundary universally adopted throughout the ages was affiliation and loyalty to the Jewish people. Our tradition was able to tolerate many extreme positions and practices, as long as the person in question still felt and acted in such a way that they were a part of the Jewish people. One of the more well known expressions of this boundary is the Passover Haggada's definition of the evil child as one who has separated himself from the community. The Haggada even goes so far as to define such a position as heresy and a rejection of the essence of Judaism.
Any position, whether complimentary or critical of Israel and its policies, which is done within the context of a commitment to Israel and a desire to see it grow and fulfill its potential must be designated as within the confines of the acceptable and legitimate. We must stop once and for all the intellectual and political witch hunt which is permeating Jewish life in which both the Left and the Right too easily exclude people from the conversation and thus from the community. "These and these are the words of the living God." If no single belief or ideology can exhaust the word of God, so too can no one be allowed to monopolize the category of lover of Israel.
At the same time, criticism or actions which represent a decision to disengage from Israel and which form alliances with those who unequivocally mean it harm must be designated as outside the legitimate conversation within our community.
Let's take Judge Goldstone as an example. The belief that Israel committed war crimes in Operation Cast Lead, which I and apparently even Judge Goldstone now believe to be factually incorrect, is not unto itself beyond the pale. The problem with the opinions presented in the Goldstone Report was not with the positions taken, but where Judge Goldstone chose to position his opinions, i.e., within the United Nations Human Rights Council, which for decades has been trying to undermine the legitimacy and viability of the State of Israel.
Judge Goldstone has now done tshuva. It is time for other organizations, including J Street, to do the same. It is time for us to recognize that there are many ways to love Israel. When one calls, however, for the boycotting or international sanctioning of Israel or the forcing of its government to adopt policies which are counter to the expressed will of its democratically elected government, even if one believes that one is doing so for the good of Israel, one is locating oneself on the side of our foes, a side that friends need to be wary of.
If our community will be wise enough to expand the inner tent to make room for a wide spectrum of opinions, debate, criticism, and acts of protest and condemnation, there will be no need for members of our community to find their allies elsewhere, and ones who do so, will be therefore declaring where their allegiance truly lies.
We are a people who believe that criticism is an act of love and loyalty. We are also a people who believe that there is a criticism out of love, and a criticism which is not. Locating the difference is one of the central challenges of our time.
Never forget!
Never forget!
All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:1-3)
In this chapter and in these first three verses, Moses brings a reminder to the nation of . He is reminding of how God took a people in bondage and listened to their cries. He then took them into the wilderness where they might learn to depend upon God’s provision for their needs. Again and again, Moses reminds them how God humbled them that they might recognize that their God was faithful to provide for their every need. Moses also reminded the nation of Yahweh’s (the redemptive name of God) unfailing love for those with no protector, and how He showed this people undeserved mercy in bringing them out of bondage.
People do forget!! When we are going through distress, misfortune, mishap or other unpleasant circumstances, we tend to cry out to God, but when everything is better we almost forget that we know how to pray. This was the point of Moses sermon. They had been in the wilderness a long time and the whole time, God totally provided for them. This made it easy for them to depend on God. It is simpler to trust God when there is no other way to live. Moses’ warning was meant to bring the people into preparation for the time that was coming - God’s blessing and provision. He knew that if they could remember the things God had done for them, even in the promise land they would still cry out to Yahweh for aid in those times of need. They were to remember manna in the wilderness and water in barren and dry places. He also wanted them to remember how for forty years their clothes did not get old and they didn’t have to buy new shoes for their feet. He wanted them to never forget - what God had one. “But without faith it is impossible to please him:” (Hebrews 11:6a).
Where do we lose our faith in God? Most people might say it is when we go through such tremendous trouble, pain, distress, and hardship. I believe that our faith is more quickly lost during times of comfort, abundance, and material blessing. During these times, you don’t have to cry out and have faith in God for what you already have. Moses did not worry about the people losing their faith when the water ran out or when there was nothing to eat, but he did know that once they were in the promise land - It might be different. “Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God” (vs. 11). We should always remember God’s blessings, and never forget what he’s done for us, and where he brought us from.
All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:1-3)
In this chapter and in these first three verses, Moses brings a reminder to the nation of . He is reminding of how God took a people in bondage and listened to their cries. He then took them into the wilderness where they might learn to depend upon God’s provision for their needs. Again and again, Moses reminds them how God humbled them that they might recognize that their God was faithful to provide for their every need. Moses also reminded the nation of Yahweh’s (the redemptive name of God) unfailing love for those with no protector, and how He showed this people undeserved mercy in bringing them out of bondage.
People do forget!! When we are going through distress, misfortune, mishap or other unpleasant circumstances, we tend to cry out to God, but when everything is better we almost forget that we know how to pray. This was the point of Moses sermon. They had been in the wilderness a long time and the whole time, God totally provided for them. This made it easy for them to depend on God. It is simpler to trust God when there is no other way to live. Moses’ warning was meant to bring the people into preparation for the time that was coming - God’s blessing and provision. He knew that if they could remember the things God had done for them, even in the promise land they would still cry out to Yahweh for aid in those times of need. They were to remember manna in the wilderness and water in barren and dry places. He also wanted them to remember how for forty years their clothes did not get old and they didn’t have to buy new shoes for their feet. He wanted them to never forget - what God had one. “But without faith it is impossible to please him:” (Hebrews 11:6a).
Where do we lose our faith in God? Most people might say it is when we go through such tremendous trouble, pain, distress, and hardship. I believe that our faith is more quickly lost during times of comfort, abundance, and material blessing. During these times, you don’t have to cry out and have faith in God for what you already have. Moses did not worry about the people losing their faith when the water ran out or when there was nothing to eat, but he did know that once they were in the promise land - It might be different. “Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God” (vs. 11). We should always remember God’s blessings, and never forget what he’s done for us, and where he brought us from.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wisdom’s Benefit Package
Wisdom’s Benefit Package
Proverbs 2:1-22
When someone applies for a job, a common question is: “What does the benefit package include?” Since the world’s advice about how to have a good life is in sharp contrast to what the Bible recommends, we might want to consider asking a similar question about the value of living according to God’s wisdom: What arethe benefits? In other words, Why should we seek to live in obedience to the instructions given in the Scriptures?
First of all, in seeking God’s wisdom, we will acquire a deeper understanding and knowledge of the Lord (Prov. 22:4-6). Our perception of life is greatly enhanced when we know Him intimately. He’ll give us the ability to see ourselves, others, and situations from His perspective. As biblical principles permeate our minds, they will shape our thinking and responses to all of life’s situations and challenges.
Second, God promises divine guidance and protection if we walk wisely (vv. 7-10). Nothing outside His will can penetrate the shield of protection around those who seek to obey Him. When we let His wisdom enter our hearts, discretion watches over our desires and emotions, preventing us from entering into foolish or sinful relationships that would draw us away from Him (vv. 11-20).
Godly understanding and protection don’t become ours simply because we want them. Such benefits come to people who diligently seek divine wisdom. If you receive the wordsof Scripture and let them fill your heart and mind, the Lord will reveal Himself to you and give you His discernment.
Proverbs 2:1-22
When someone applies for a job, a common question is: “What does the benefit package include?” Since the world’s advice about how to have a good life is in sharp contrast to what the Bible recommends, we might want to consider asking a similar question about the value of living according to God’s wisdom: What arethe benefits? In other words, Why should we seek to live in obedience to the instructions given in the Scriptures?
First of all, in seeking God’s wisdom, we will acquire a deeper understanding and knowledge of the Lord (Prov. 22:4-6). Our perception of life is greatly enhanced when we know Him intimately. He’ll give us the ability to see ourselves, others, and situations from His perspective. As biblical principles permeate our minds, they will shape our thinking and responses to all of life’s situations and challenges.
Second, God promises divine guidance and protection if we walk wisely (vv. 7-10). Nothing outside His will can penetrate the shield of protection around those who seek to obey Him. When we let His wisdom enter our hearts, discretion watches over our desires and emotions, preventing us from entering into foolish or sinful relationships that would draw us away from Him (vv. 11-20).
Godly understanding and protection don’t become ours simply because we want them. Such benefits come to people who diligently seek divine wisdom. If you receive the wordsof Scripture and let them fill your heart and mind, the Lord will reveal Himself to you and give you His discernment.
Jesus shares the Passover meal with His disciples.
Luke 22
Jesus shares the Passover meal with His disciples.
INSIGHT
At the beginning of human history, the first people disobeyed God. That fateful choice proved spiritually fatal-for Adam, Eve, and all their descendants. Since the fall, we have all imitated our first parents. We have tried to usurp God's right to control His creation. We have demanded the right to control our own destinies, our own moral judgments, our own decisions. Even those who actually walked with Jesus fell prey to this proud way of thinking. During the Last Supper, which you might think would be one of the most spiritually intimate moments in the disciples' experience, an argument broke out about who was the greatest among them. Jesus replied that the greatest among them must be a servant to all. Beware when you find yourself striving for preeminence. Instead, your quest must be servanthood.
PRAYER
Praise the Lord that He has revealed His will for us in His Word:
Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides.
They continue this day according to Your ordinances,
For all are Your servants.
Unless Your law had been my delight,
I would then have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have given me life (Psalm 119:89-93).
Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (Romans 7:22-23).
Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.
Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8).
As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
Greater humility before God
The preaching of the Gospel
Your activities for the day
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
I put on the whole armor of God,
that I may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil
(based on Ephesians 6:11).
Biblical Portrait
of Marriage
Instructor
Jesus shares the Passover meal with His disciples.
INSIGHT
At the beginning of human history, the first people disobeyed God. That fateful choice proved spiritually fatal-for Adam, Eve, and all their descendants. Since the fall, we have all imitated our first parents. We have tried to usurp God's right to control His creation. We have demanded the right to control our own destinies, our own moral judgments, our own decisions. Even those who actually walked with Jesus fell prey to this proud way of thinking. During the Last Supper, which you might think would be one of the most spiritually intimate moments in the disciples' experience, an argument broke out about who was the greatest among them. Jesus replied that the greatest among them must be a servant to all. Beware when you find yourself striving for preeminence. Instead, your quest must be servanthood.
PRAYER
Praise the Lord that He has revealed His will for us in His Word:
Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.
Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides.
They continue this day according to Your ordinances,
For all are Your servants.
Unless Your law had been my delight,
I would then have perished in my affliction.
I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have given me life (Psalm 119:89-93).
Pray this confession to the Lord as you seek to keep your life free from sin:
I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (Romans 7:22-23).
Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind.
Now pause to pray this affirmation to the Lord:
You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8).
As you make your requests known to the Lord, pray for:
Greater humility before God
The preaching of the Gospel
Your activities for the day
Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
I put on the whole armor of God,
that I may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil
(based on Ephesians 6:11).
Biblical Portrait
of Marriage
Instructor
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