All is in the nail-pierced hands of the risen Jesus

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching for that title. You might start with 'Welcome,' the first post in the archives, dated November 12, 2008, where I introduce myself and the blog. I invite to you add in any reflections or comments you may have.

Blessings and best wishes,
Dr. Will

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Devotions: Ps 5, 6, 10, 11; Gen 3:1-24; Heb 2:1-10; Jn 1:19-28

Hear my groans, Lord; I cry to You for mercy and help! Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness; because of my enemies, make Your way straight before me. They lie, they cheat, they steal; make them bear their guilt, O God and let them fall by their own counsels; though I am damaged, their offense is against You, and I leave them to Your justice. Will You let us rejoice who take refuge in You? You bless the righteous and cover them with favor as with a shield. Forgive me my trespasses and deliver me for the sake of Your steadfast love, YHWH! I am weary, Lord, of the struggle; I am angry and hurt by the cheating that steals from me and my household. How shall I respond? I will declare my trust in the Lord, Who accepts my prayer. And in His power and integrity, I declare this: All my enemies will be ashamed and sorely troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. Amen! The wicked arrogantly elbow in to steal from the righteous; let them be caught in the devices they have devised. Their eyes watch stealthily for the hapless. Arise, O God! Strike in my behalf. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer. YHWH, hear the desire of the offended and meek; strengthen my heart; do justice to me, so that earthy men strike terror no more. God, You are my only Refuge. I will plead with You and I await Your vindication.

The serpent was the most subtle of all the wild creatures God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?”’ She replied, ‘We may eat of the fruit, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, nor touch it, lest you die.”’ The serpent said, ‘You will not die. God knows that when you eat that fruit, your eyes will be open and you will become like God, knowing good and evil.’ So the woman was enticed; she saw that the fruit looked tasty, and it was delightful to the eyes, and the tree would make one wise. So she took of the fruit and ate; and she gave some to her husband, and he ate, also. Their eyes were opened; they realized that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves aprons. When they heard YHWH Elohim walking in the garden, they hid themselves. But God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ And the man answered, ‘I heard Your sound in the garden, and I hid, because I am naked.’ God said, ‘Who told you that you are naked? Did you eat from the tree which I forbade you?’ The man said, ‘The woman You gave to be with me gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.’ The Lord God addressed the woman: ‘What have you done?’ She said, ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘ Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any domestic or wild animal; you will crawl on your belly henceforth and eat the dust all your life. I will put enmity between your seed and the woman’s seed; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.’ To the woman, God said, ‘I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; you will bring forth your children in pain, yet you will desire your husband and he will rule over you’ And to Adam, God said, ‘Because you heeded your wife’s voice and ate of the tree I forbade you, the very ground is cursed because of you. You will toil lifelong to raise food, but the ground will bring you thorns and thistles, and you will eat of the plants of the field. You’ll eat bread raised with the sweat of your face, until you return to the ground. For you are dust, taken from dust, and to dust you will return. The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living mortals. And YHWH Elohim made skin garments for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. Then the Lord God declared, ‘Since the man has become like a god, knowing good and evil, lest he put forth his hand and also take from the tree of life and live forever,’ therefore the Lord God cast him forth from the Garden of Eden; and at the eastern gate of Eden God placed cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to prevent access to the tree of life.

We must play closer attention to what we have learned about God. The messages carried to humanity by angels are valid and every transgression is closely judged; how then should we escape if we neglect an even greater salvation? It was declared first by the Lord, and attested by those who heard Him and by God Who bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His own will. God has not subjected the world to come into the care of angels, but to humanity. It is written, ‘What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels, but You have crowned Him with glory and honor and put everything in subjection under His feet.’ God has left nothing outside the control of our Lord Jesus. At the present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him; we do see Jesus, for a little while made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, by God’s grace tasting death for everyone! It is fitting that God, for Whom and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, has made the Pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.

This is the testimony of John the Baptizer, in response to priests and Levites from Jerusalem who demanded to know who he was. ‘I am not the Messiah. I am not Elijah. I am not the Prophet to come mentioned by Moses. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” as the prophet Isaiah said.’ They asked, ‘Why then are you baptizing?’ And John answered, ‘I baptize with water; but among you stands One Whom you do not know, the One Who comes after me, Whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’ All this took place in Bethany in Trans-Jordan, where John was baptizing.