The ultimate Servant Leader

Friday, December 10, 2010
Devotions: Ps 31, 35; Isa 7:10-25; 2 Thess 2:13-3:5; Lk 22:14-30

Lord, I seek refuge in You. Never let me be put to shame. Be my Rock, a strong Fortress to save me. Guide me out of the nets laid in my path. Into Your hand I commit myself, O faithful God! You hate idolaters, but I trust in YHWH, the one true God. Be gracious, Lord, for I am in distress. Terror hems me in on every side, but I trust in You, my Lord. You are my God; my times are in Your hand. Blessed is YHWH, Who wondrously shows His steadfast love to me. Contend with my enemies, my God! Rise against them and drive them away. Put them to shame and dishonor, and blow them away like chaff in a gale. You deliver the weak. I will praise You before every believer I know. Vindicate me according to the righteousness of my Lord Jesus the Messiah, Your Son. And let my friends exult. Great is YHWH, who delights in the welfare of His servants.

God promised to bring down Ephraim and the house of Remaliah. He invited Ahaz to inquire for a sign from God, but the Judean high priest declined. So God said, 'YHWH Himself will give you a sing. Behold, a maiden shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey when He knows how to refuse evil and choose the good. And the two kings who oppose you will be deposed and their lands empty. And I will bring the king of Assyria against Judea and Jerusalem. The Egyptian fly and the Assyrian bee will swarm over this land. And YHWH will use the king of Assyria as a razor to sweep away the manhood of Judah. But those who live in the land will have plenty to eat—curds and honey. Yet the vineyards and farmlands will be turned over to thistles, briars and thorns, fit only for grazing flocks and herds.

Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonika: We are bound to thank God for you always, because God loves you and chose you from the beginning to be saved by sanctification through the Holy Spirit and by believing God's truth. To all this God called you through our gospel, so you may obtain the lgory of our Lord Jesus the Messiah. So then, my brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions which we taught you by proclamation or by letters. May our Lord Jesus the Messiah Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in good work and word! Finally, pray for us, that the Lord's word may speed on and triumph as it did among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people—for not all have godly faith. We have confidence in the Lord about you, that you will continue to do what we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of the messiah.

When the hour for the supper came, Jesus sat at table with the apostles. He told them, 'I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.' And He took a cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, 'Take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.' And He took bread and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.' Likewise with the cup of wine after supper, saying, 'This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. Behold, the hand of him who betrays Me is on the table. For the Son of man goes as it has been determed; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!' The apostles began to question one another, about which of them would do this. Then a dispute arose among them concerning which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And Jesus said to them, 'The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so among you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For which is greater: the one who sits at table, or the servant? Isn't it the one at the table? But I Am among you as One Who serves. You have continued with Me in My trials, and I assign to you a kingdom, as My Father has assigned a kingdom to Me. You may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel.'