Come to God, and let Him feed you

Thursday, January 31, 2013


Devotions: Ps 50, 118; Isa 49:13-23; Gal 3:1-14; Mk 6:30-46

YHWH, the Mighty One, speaks, and He summons all the earth, from dawn to dusk, east to west. Our God comes, surrounded by devouring fire and a mighty tempest; He comes as Judge over all the creation. He says, 'Hear, My people: I Am your God. Your sacrifices are ever before Me; but I reject them: I have no need of your bulls or goats; all life is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you. What I want from you is thanksgiving; I want you to keep your word to Me. Call upon Me in your days of trouble, and I will answer you; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.' Our God rebukes the wicked, who hate discipline and sully His word; they speak wickedness and slander one another. God honors the grateful and the righteous; to those who walk aright, He says, 'I will show them the salvation of God.' Amen. Let us thank our God, for He Is good; His steadfast love endures forever. In my distress, I call upon You, Lord, and You answer me and set me free. I have no fear—no mortal can harm me, for YHWH the Lord is on my side to help me. He Is my Strength and my Song; He has become my Savior. Let the righteous sing God's praises; Lord, forgive my sins and presumptuousness, I pray. You are my God, and I give You thanks and praise; I will extol You, for Your steadfast love endures forever.

Let heaven and earth exult and sing for joy; let the mountains peal forth praise to our God! He never forsakes His own. He says He has etched our names on the palms of His hands! Let us put on the prosperity of our God. Let us deck ourselves in His goodness. He raises His ensign before the nations, and brings His beloved home from the ends of the earth. He contends with our enemies; He saves our children. Those who wait upon Him will not be put to shame!

Paul wrote: foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? You know that the Messiah was crucified, died and was buried. You are saved by faith in Him, not by piety in keeping Torah. Our ancestor Abraham believed God; this is why he was accounted righteous by God. Those who follow Jesus by faith are the true heirs of Abraham. Those who rely on the law are cursed; the Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the law. He hung on a tree and died for our sins; and through His intervention, we have received the Holy Spirit—as God promised Abraham 430 years before He gave the law through Moses! The law was given concerning human sins, until the Offspring, Jesus, came and fulfilled the righteous demands of the law. God's promise belongs to t hose who believe in Jesus; the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith; and now that faith has come, we are no longer under the law. In the Messiah Jesus, through faith in Him, we are all sons of God. As many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ; there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, among us. We are all the same in the Messiah Jesus, and thereby, we are equally Abraham's offpsring and heirs according to God's promise.

The apostles came back from their first commissioned service, and reported to Jesus. He led them apart to a solitary place to rest and reflect together. But people saw them go, and multitudes hurried to their likely landing point, so that when Jesus came ashore, He saw a great throng waiting. He had compassion on them; they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. When it grew late, Jesus' disciples urged Him to dismiss the crowds, so they could purchase food in the surrounding country and villages. But Jesus said, 'You give them something to eat.' They reckoned it would take eight months' wages to purchase enough food for the multitude—and there was nowhere to find that much food anyhow. Jesus said to them, 'How many loaves do you have? Go find out!' They came back and told Him, 'We have five loaves and two fish.' Jesus commanded all to be seated in the green grass, and they sat down in groups of fifty and a hundred. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed the food, and began to divide it. He gave the fragments to the disciples, who distributed food to the multitude. All of them ate and were satisfied and they disciples gathered up 12 large baskets full of leftovers; there were 5000 men, plus women and children. Jesus sent His disciples back across the lake, while He alone dismissed the crowds. Then He went up the mountain alone, to pray.