Hear, Believe, Abide, Obey and Live!

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Thursday, March 19, 2009
Devotions: Ps 42, 43, 85, 86; Jer 10:11-24; Rom 5:12-21; Jn 8:21-32

My soul longs for You, my God, like a thirsty stag panting in a drought-plagued land. People scoff at me—‘His time is past; he claims God but shows no fruit.’ But I will not let my soul despair; I will meditate on God’s goodness and His history of kindness and blessing to me. I will place all my hope in God again today. With good reason, I choose to praise Him. Vindicate me, O God; I take refuge in You and You alone, my Helper! Lord, You have been favorable to Your people and their land; restore us, God, and forgive our iniquity. Revive us again—revive me again, O my Lord! Let me hear Your voice, and know Your will—that glory may return to our land. Let faith rise up to meet Your descending grace and righteousness. Gladden my soul as Your servant; I lift myself to You and call upon You in the day of my longings. There is none like You, YHWH! Unite my heart and mind to fear and serve You now and always. You are merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Show me (and those around me) a sign of Your favor, putting my enemies to shame.

Only the everlasting Creator God matters; all other objects of devotion will perish altogether. God’s words are mighty; all idolaters are fools. All idols are worthless delusions. I am wounded, but my God is triumphant. It is not in me to direct my path; Lord, direct me through Your kindness. Restore Your people and requite our enemies through Your holy might.

God has done a new thing in Jesus. Sin entered the creation with Adam, and reigned from Adam to Moses. Torah, given through Moses, defines and emphasizes the problem that all humans sin and therefore all face eternal separation from God. But God’s gift is different: through one Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, grace triumphed over both sin and the law. Jesus lived without sin and fulfilled the law; therefore, despite our many trespasses, through Jesus, God has graciously enabled every mortal to be justified and saved. One man’s righteousness leads to acquittal and eternal life for all mortals; God imputes His righteousness to all who believe in Jesus. Law came to increase trespass but grace abounded even more—through righteousness to eternal life. And all this is given through Jesus the Messiah, our Lord.

Jesus said to His Jewish opponents, ‘I am going away; you will seek Me, but you will die in your sins: where I Am going, you cannot come. You will die in your sins unless you believe that I Am He.’ They acknowledged that they did not know Who Jesus is, and questioned Him: ‘I Am exactly what I have told you from the beginning. I declare to the world what I have heard from God Who sent Me.’ They could not understand His meaning, even when He spoke plainly about the Father. So He continued: ‘When you have lifted up the Son of man, you will know that I Am He. I do and say nothing that I have not received directly from the Father. He abides with Me, since I always do exactly what pleases Him’ Many who overheard believed in Him! So Jesus said to these: ‘If you continue in My word, you truly are My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ [Let us hear, believe, abide, obey, and live!]