How we shall overcome

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching the blog archives for that title. You might start with 'Welcome,' the first post, dated November 12, 2008, where I introduce myself and the blog. As you read, I encourage you to record any reflections or comments you may have, for the entries here serve best as the first remarks in a conversation.

Blessings and best wishes,
Dr. Will

Friday and Saturday, April 16 and 17, 2010
Devotions: Ps 16, 17, 20, 21, 110, 116, 117, 134, 135; Exod 16:22-17:15; 1 Pet 3:13-4:19; Jn 16:1-33

Preserve me, God, for I take refuge in You. You are my Lord, and I have nothing good apart from You. I delight, too, in Your saints. Those who choose any other god multiply their sorrows. But I belong to YHWH, and the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Because God is near, I will not be moved; in this, I am secure and serene; my heart is glad and my soul rejoices. Lord, You show me the path of life and eternal pleasures. Vindicate me, Lord; let my eyes and mind perceive what is right. Wondrously show Your steadfast love, Savior of all who seek refuge in You. Confront my enemies an overthrow them, Father—human and spiritual enemies, and my own sinful nature. Let me awake from trouble and see You! May YHWH answer in my days of trial and testing; may He send help, the Helper, and grant my heart’s desire, to know and serve Him all my days. Set up banners and shout for victory! I boast only in the name of YHWH my God. Lord, my heart rejoices in You and in Your might. You have given me life, length of days, and love. You have glorified me with Your own splendor and majesty. Your wrath will swallow my enemies; Your fire will consume them. I sing of Your goodness and might! God the Creator has exalted my Lord Jesus to His right hand, and is making footstools of all His enemies. May my Lord reign; God has made Him king and eternal High Priest, Judge of all! Glory to Jesus. I love God because He continues to hear and help me. He has delivered me from death and from Satan. YHWH is gracious and righteous and merciful; He preserves the foolish; when I was brought low, He saved me. My soul, take rest, for YHWH has dealt generously with you! Lord, You deliver my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I walk before You in the land of the living. I will raise the cup of salvation and speak of Your kindness, O Lord. I am Your servant, son of Your handmaid. I will praise and serve You forever. Great is Your steadfast love and faithfulness, YHWH! Let all God’s servants bless the Lord and worship Him in His sanctuary. For the Lord is good and gracious; we sing His praise. He is Sovereign; He has acted to create, deliver, preserve and edify His people. Lord, Your name endures forever; have mercy, Lord, and deliver me from the clutches of sin and death. Amen.

When Israel was in the desert, they learned to obey God’s directions. The sixth day of each week, they would gather twice as much manna as on other days—two omers per person. Those who tested God found that there was no bread on the Sabbaths, and manna they tried to store on other occasions turned foul and wormy. The manna was white and tasted like honey wafers. God had the Israelites preserve an omer of it in the tabernacle or temple of YHWH. Israel ate manna for forty years till they entered the land God had promised them. As the people proceeded from the wilderness of Sin, their next stop was at Rephidim, and they found no water there. So again they grumbled against Moses and God, and Moses again cried out to YHWH, and God instructed him: ‘Take the rod with which you struck the Nile; lead some of the elders of the people to Horeb. There, I will stand before you; strike the rock and water will pour forth, that the people may drink.’ Moses obeyed, and God provided. Moses called this place Massah and Meribah (Proof and Contention) because of the behavior of the people in doubting and challenging God. The Amalekites attacked Israel at Rephidim. Joshua led Israel’s forces in the battle, and Moses took a position on a hill overlooking the battle ground, with God’s rod in his hand. Moses took Aaron and Hur with him to the hilltop. Whenever Moses held up the rod, Israel prevailed; but when he rested, Amalek was winning. So the men sat Moses on a rock, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, and Joshua mowed down Amalek. YHWH told Moses: ‘Write this as a memorial in a book, and recite it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.’ Moses built an altar and named it YHWH Nissi [YHWH is my Banner], and said, ‘YHWH will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.’

Peter admonished the Diaspora: ‘You have nothing to fear if you are zealous to do right. And you’ll be blessed and vindicated if you suffer for righteousness. Don’t waste energy on fear or anxiety; always be ready to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope you have—but do this gently and with reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that when you are abused, those who revile your behavior in Christ may be put to shame. If it is God’s will that you should suffer for a time, it’s better that it is for doing right than for doing wrong. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body, but made alive by the Spirit, in Whom He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly disobeyed as God patiently marked time in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark in which eight persons were saved. This survival in the Flood corresponds to baptism in Christ, which saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, Who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand, with angels, authorities and powers subject to Him. Christ suffered in the flesh, so arm yourselves with this thought: whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, in order that they may live for the rest of time they spend in the flesh, not by human passions but by God’s will! You’ve had enough of the world already: licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing and lawless idolatry. The worldly are surprised that you don’t continue to join them in wild sins, and for this they abuse you; but they will give account to Him Who is ready to judge the living and the dead. This is why Jesus preached the gospel even to the dead, that though judged in the flesh like men, they might live in the Spirit like God! The end of all things is at hand; so keep sane and sober for your prayers. Above all, hold fast to your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly among yourselves. Use your God-given gifts reverently as good stewards, to help one another. Speak with God’s words; serve with God’s strength. In all you do, glorify God through Jesus the Messiah. To Him belong glory and dominion for ever! Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. Instead, rejoice that you share in Christ’s sufferings, so that you may rejoice forever when His eternal glory is revealed. You are blessed whenever you are reproached for the name of the Messiah, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you! Let none of you suffer for sin—for murder or theft or wrongdoing or mischief—but if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him bear that name with joy and glorify God. The time has come for judgment to begin, and it will begin with God’s own household, as judgment first fell on God’s own Son; and if it starts with us, consider the end of those who disobey God’s gospel! If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will befall the impious and sinners? Therefore, let those whom God appoints to suffer continue to do right and to entrust their souls to the faithful Creator!’

Jesus spoke to His closest disciples on the night before He was crucified: 'I have told you many things to help you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues; people who kill you because you are My followers will think they are offering service to God—all this because they have known neither Me nor My Father. When their hour comes, remember what I have told you. I say all this now, because I Am going to the Father, Who sent Me. As I’ve told you these things, sorrow has filled your hearts. However, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away; unless I go, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convince the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment—sin, because they do not believe in Me; righteousness because I go to the Father and you will see Me no more; and judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. I have a lot more to tell you, but you can’t hear it all now. So when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth, speaking what He hears from Me and My Father, and telling you about what is to come. He will glorify Me, taking what is Mine and declaring it to you. All that the Father has is Mine, so what the Spirit declares to you comes from Me. In a little while, you will see Me no longer, but then a bit later, you will see Me again!’ Some of the disciples wondered about this, and Jesus understood their curiosity and confusion. So He addressed them: 'Very truly I tell you, you will cry and grieve as the world rejoices; but your sorrow will turn to joy. It’s like a woman struggling in labor—when she delivers her child, the pain and sorrow are transformed to joy that a child has been born. You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. Then, you’ll ask nothing from Me; truly I tell you, if you ask anything from the Father, He will give it to you in My name. Until now, you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, and your joy may be complete! Till now, I have spoken in figures, but the hour is coming when I’ll speak very directly about the Father. In that day, you will ask in My name; I’m not simply saying that I will pray the Father on your behalf—for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father. I came from the Father into the world, and now I Am leaving the world and going to the Father.’ His disciples understood what Jesus was saying, and told Him, ‘By this we believe that You came from God.’ Jesus replied, ‘So you finally believe? The hour has come when you will be scattered, every one to his home, and will leave Me alone. Yet, I Am not alone, for the Father is with Me. I have told you all this so that you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world!’