Jesus is the eternal Truth

Wednesday-Saturday, November 10-13

Devotions: Ps 81-83, 85-87, 90-92; 119:97-120; 136; Joel 2:12-3:17; James 1:1-2:13; Rev 19:11-21;

Lk 15:1-16:17

Let us sing loud praises to our God; He has taken the burdens from my shoulder and delivered me from my distress. God's people are hard-hearted; if only we would listen and obey, God would soon subdue our enemies and satisfy us with sweet honey from the Rock. He demands justice for His people, from men and spiritual beings alike. Let God defend His own, and let us cleave to Him so that He can do so. Restore us again, YHWH; put away Your indignation and help us; show us Your steadfast love and give us Your salvation. Let me hear what God will say; surely His salvation is at hand for those who fear Him. Gladden my soul, Lord; I am Your servant; hear my prayer and let me hear Your commands and Your comfort. Teach me to walk in Your ways; unite my heart in love and obedience, and I will glorify Your name forever! Show me a sign of Your favor, Lord, that I may know that my name is written in Your book, and put my enemies to shame. How we love God's holy city—the source of all song and dance, the golden Jerusalem! YHWH, You have been our Dwelling Place for thousands of years. We are dust, but You are eternal. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may grow in heart-wisdom. Establish the work of my hands, Father; how I want to do something useful and beautiful for You! By living in God's shadow, I am made safe from every affliction; I have nothing to fear, for God is with me, and He will rescue and honor me and welcome me into His eternal habitation when this sojourn is completed. How good it is to thank God! I sing for joy in God my Savior. His enemies perish; His people flourish and abide. I will be fruitful in my old age; God is my Rock, and there is no shadow, no unrighteousness in Him! How I love Your word, Lord, and how it blesses me. Your word is food, shelter, guidance and comfort to me. Accept my praise and thanks, great King; Your testimonies are my lasting heritage. Let evil depart from me, and God's word cleave to my lips and my heart. God is my Judge and my Maker. Let all creation thank and praise our God, for His steadfast love endures forever.

God urged through His prophet Joel: Return to Me; tear your hearts, not your garments. I Am slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Let us celebrate His holy love; let God's people pray for God's forgiveness for our land and our people. Let God protect us from hostile foreigners. Let us rejoice in God our Savior, and await His bounty. Let us await the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that all may prophesy, and have godly dreams, and see godly visions. Let us notice God's portents in nature. And let us await with trembling God's coming Day of Judgment. God will destroy His enemies; we will set aside our peaceful activities and prepare for war. Jesus will reap the harvest of God's wrath, and the very heavens declare the awesome power and holiness of our Sovereign God.

James, half-brother of our Lord Jesus, wrote to the Jewish Diaspora: Count it all joy when you meet various trials; these test your faith and help you grow in steadfastness and spiritual maturity. Seek wisdom from God, with faith, and not with a double mind or deceitful heart. Remember that God exalts the humble and humbles the proud. All mortals pass like grass, but God crowns His own with eternal life. God tempts no one; we are tempted by our own sinfulness; if we give in, we will surely die. Everything good comes dome from the Father of lights, of Whom we are the firsfruits of His glory. Let everyone be quick to listen and slow to speak, slow to anger, and self-disciplined. Bridle your tongue, and do the good works God places before you: take care of orphans and widows; separate from the world; show no partiality to rich or poor. Love your neighbor as yourself; speak and act like those who will be judged most strictly, and give the mercy you would like to receive!

In his apocalyptic vision, John saw heaven opened. There was a Rider, called Faithful and True, seated on a great white horse; and He judges and makes war in righteousness. His eyes are like flames of fire; He wears many diadems; He has a Name inscribed on Him that no one but He Himself knows. He wears a robe dipped in blood; He is called the Word of God. Heaven's armies followed Him, all arrayed in pure white linen, riding white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword to smite the nations; and He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On His robe and His thigh is inscribed King of kings and Lord of lords. John saw an angel standing in the sun; he called to all the birds in the sky: 'Come, gather for the great supper of God, to devour the flesh of kings, of captains, of mighty men, of horses and riders, of slaves and freemen, small and great alike!' In John's vision, he saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war on the Rider and His army. The beast was captured, and the false prophet; and they were thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulphur. And the rest were slain by the sword of Him Who sits on the white horse, the sword from His mouth; and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

The Pharisees and scribes murmured against Jesus: 'He receives sinners and eats with them!' Jesus responded by telling them this parable: 'If any of you has one hundred sheep, and one strays away, you leave the ninety-nine and seek after the one, and finding it, you bring it home on your shoulders and celebrate with your friends that you have found your lost sheep. And if any woman, having ten silver coins, were to misplace one, she would light the lamp and sweep the house utnil she finds it. Then she calls together her friends and invites them to rejoice with her, for she has found what she lost. He concluded, 'Just so, I tell you, there is joy before God's angels over one sinner who repents.' And Jesus told them this: 'A certain man had two sons. The younger came to him and asked his father to divide his property and give the younger son the share that would be his upon the father's death. The man did so without objection, and the younger son took his inheritance and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered it all in loose living. When he had spent it all, a great famine arose in that land, and the son was in want. He joined himself to a local citizen, who sent the young man into his fields to tend pigs. And he would have gladly eaten the pods given the pigs, but no one offered him anything to eat. Finally, he came to his senses, and said to himself, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread to spare, but here I am, starving to death. I will get up and go to my father and tell him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants." And he got up and journeyed home. While the sone was yet a distance away, the father saw him, and had compassion, and ran to meet him, embraced him, and kissed him. The son spoke his apology, but the father ignored it, and told his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. And bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us feast and make merry. For this my son was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. The elder son was coming home from working in the fields and heard music and dancing from the house. He asked a servant, and was told about his brother's homecoming and their father's response. The elder was angry and refused to go into the house. So his father came out and pleaded with him; but the elder son answered in pique, 'Look: I've served you many years, and never disobeyed you. Yet you never gave me so much as a kid to make merry with my friends. Now this disgusting son of yours shows up, who has devoured your substance with harlots, and you kill the fatted calf for him!' The father answered, 'Son, you are always with me, and all I have is yours. But it was fitting to celebrate, for your brother was dead and is alive; he was lost and is found.' And Jesus told another story to His own disciples: 'A certain rich man had a steward who was charged with wasting his master's goods. The boss confronted the steward, and gave him notice. The steward pondered his predicament, and decided to try to earn the sympathy of his master's debtors, so that the steward would have some friends when he lost his job. So he quickly offered large discounts to those who would settle their accounts. The master actually complimented the dishonest steward for his shrewdness. Jesus added, 'for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own than are the sons of light. So: use the unrighteous mammon to make friends for yourselves, so that when it fails, you may be received into eternal habitations. Whoever is faithful with a little is also trustworthy with much; likewise, one who misuses a little will misuse a lot. So: be faithful with worldly riches, that you may be entrusted with things of eternal value. No servant can serve two masters—you cannot obey both God and worldly wealth. Love God, not money.' The Pharisees loved money, so they took offense and scoffed at Jesus. But He said to them: 'You justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts; what is exalted among men is an abomination in God's sight. Torah and the prophets endured until John came; since then, the good news of God's kingdom is preached, and many enter it forcefully. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void.'