His kingdom come

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. As you read, I encourage you to add in any reflections or comments you may have.

Blessings and best wishes,
Dr. Will

Saturday, February 6, 2010
Devotions: Ps 23, 27, 75, 76; Gen 24:28-51; Heb 12:12-29; Jn 7:14-36

The Lord is my Shepherd, and I will have no needs unmet. God has me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters; He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness to the honor of His name. Though I walk through the valley of the darkest shadow, the shadow of death, I fear no evil, because God is with me. Lord, Your rod and staff comfort me. You prepare a feast for me, in front of my enemies; You anoint me with the oil of Your Spirit, Your grace, and my portion overflows! Surely goodness and love will follow me all my mortal days, and I will live in Your house, Lord, forever! YHWH is my Light and Salvation; I will fear nothing, no one. When the wicked assail me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, though war break out against me, I will be confident. I have asked God for one thing: to live in His house all my life, that I may behold YHWH’s beauty and search His temple for truth. God will shelter me; He will hide me in His tabernacle, and set me high on a rock of safety. My head will be exalted above my enemies, and I will offer to God sacrifices and shouts of joy; I will sing and make music in honor of the Lord! YHWH, I seek You alone. Don’t cast me aside, but lift me up. Teach me Your way, O Lord. I believe I will see the goodness of YHWH in the land of the living. Let us wait upon the Lord. He is coming, and He will judge fairly; let’s not get arrogant! His judgment is awful, and He will not be deterred. I will rejoicew for ever and praise the God of Jacob. The wicked He will destroy; His righteous will be exalted. God is well-known among the Jews; His name is great in Israel. Lord, You are glorious, more majestic than the everlasting mountains! You are terrible, stunning to the wicked, Judge over all creation. Let us keep our vows, as God is keeping His covenant, Who is terrible to the kings of the earth!

Rebekah ran to her home and told her mother’s household about all that had occurred. When he arrived, the servant laid his mission before Bethuel and Rebekah’s brother Laban, and they responded, ‘The thing is from the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before you; take her and go, and let her be the wife of your master’s son, as the Lord has spoken.’

Get yourself together! Lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees; make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may be healed, not thrown out of joint. Strive for peace with all men, and for holiness that opens access to God; see that no root of bitterness arises and causes trouble; see that no one is immoral or irreligious, like Esau who sold his birthright for a single meal! You know that later he was rejected, and had no second chance, though he sought it with tears. You have not come to what may be touched. Recall Mt. Sinai: there our God was surrounded by blazing fire, darkness, gloom, a tempest and the sound of a trumpet, and an awesome voice whose words made the hearers entreat that He speak no further messages to them. The Israelites could not endure God’s order: ‘If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.’ Even Moses trembled with fear. But you have come to Mt. Zion, not Sinai; you have come to the holy city of the living God and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. So see that you do not refuse Him Who is speaking. For if they did not escape who refused Moses who warned them on earth, much less can we escape if we reject Him Who warns us from heaven. Then, His voice shook the earth; but He has promised, ‘Only once more I will shake not only earth but also the heaven.’ By this, God indicates that what can be shaken will be removed, and what cannot be shaken will remain. Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving an unshakable kingdom, and so let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming Fire!

In the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus went up to the temple and taught. The Jews marveled at His teaching: ‘How does this man have such learning when he has never studied in our schools?’ Jesus answered them: ‘My teaching is not Mine, but His Who sent Me. If any man’s will is to do His will, he shall know whether the teaching is from God or whether I Am speaking on My own authority. Whoever speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but He Who seeks the glory of Him Who sent Him is true, and in Him there is no falsehood. Moses gave you the law, did he not? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill Me?’ The people answered, ‘You’re possessed by a demon! Who is trying to kill you?’ Jesus answered, ‘I did one deed, and you all marvel. Moses gave you circumcision (though it was from the patriarchs, not Moses), and you circumcise a male on the Sabbath. Now, if a man can be circumcised on the Sabbath, so that Moses’ law may not be broken, how can you be angry with Me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.’ Some in Jerusalem questioned: ‘Isn’t this the man they are seeking to kill? Yet here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing in response to him. Could it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where he comes from; and when the Messiah appears, no one will know where He comes from.’ So Jesus proclaimed as He taught in the temple, ‘You know Me, yet you don’t know where I come from? I have not come of My own accord; He Who sent Me is true, and Him you do not know! I know Him, for I come from Him, and He sent Me.’ For this, they sought to arrest Jesus; but no one laid hands on Him, because His hour had not yet come. And many of the people believed iin Him; they said, ‘When the Messiah appears, will He do more signs than this man has done?’ The Pharisees noted all this, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest Jesus. He said, ‘I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to Him Who sent Me. You will seek Me and you will not find Me; where I Am going, you cannot come.’ The Jews discussed among themselves, saying ‘Where does this man intend to go that we shall not find him? Will he go to the Diaspora among the Greeks and teach the Gentiles? What does he mean when he says, “You will seek Me and you will not find Me” and “Where I AM you cannot come?’”