Who we are; Who God Is

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Devotions: Ps 87, 90, 136; Jer 13:1-11; Rom 6:12-23; Jn 8:47-59

Zion stands on Mount Moriah, the city founded by God; it is a blessing to be born in Jerusalem, the fountainhead of song and dance. We pray with Moses: Lord, You have been our Dwelling Place in all generations. You Are God, eternal, prior to all material reality—before mountains and oceans, before earth and sky. But we are mortals, and You consign our flesh to dust. A thousand years in Your sight is like a passing day, or a night watch. You sweep mortals away; we pass like dreams, like the grasses of the field—fresh and green in the morning, but by evening, faded and withered and dry. We are consumed when You Are angry, mighty Lord. Our iniquities lay before You; our inmost sins fester openly in the light of Your countenance. Our lives are brief and full of toil and trouble. Teach us, then, to number our days aright, that we may get a heart of wisdom. Have pity on Your servants, Lord; make us glad as many days as we have foundered. Manifest Your glory to Your servants, Your glorious power to Your children. Let the favor of our God be upon us, and may God establish the work of our hands! God's steadfast love endures forever: so let us give thanks to the Lord, Who Is good. He Is Lord of lords, Worker of wonders, wise beyond compare. He made the universe—heavens and earth, suns and moons and galaxies. He chose and delivered His people from bondage in Egypt; He divided the sea asunder and led them through its midst. But He overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts. God led the people through the wilderness. He overthrew mighty kings and cleared space for His people in the land He had promised to Abraham and his descendants. Let us thank the God of heaven: His steadfast love endures forever.

God spoke to Jeremiah: Go buy a linen waistcoat; put it on your loins. Then travel to the Euphrates; there, hide the loincloth in a cleft in the rock. Many days later, God told Jeremiah: Now go again to the Euphrates and bring forth the loincloth I had you bury in the rocks near the river. The prophet wrote: I did that—and the cloth was ruined, good for nothing. Then God's word came to the prophet: In this same way I will spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people stubbornly follow their own heart; they have gone after other gods to serve and worship them. So they will be like this rotten loincloth, good for nothing. I made Israel and Judah to cling to Me, that they might become for Me a people, a name and a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen.

Paul wrote: Don't let sin rule your mortal bodies; don't give yourself over to passion or wickedness; instead, submit yourself to God as one brought from death to life; give your members to God as instruments of His righteousness. Sin will have no dominion over you, because you are under grace, not law. Should we sin because we are under grace rather than law? No, God forbid. Consider: we are slaves to that whom or which we surrender. We all serve some master: sin, leading to death, or obedience, leading to righteousness. Let us thank God that you, once slaves to sin, have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you are committed Having been set free from sin, you have become the slaves of righteousness. As you once yielded your members to greater and greater iniquity, so now yield your members to righteousness unto sanctification. When you were sin's slaves, you were free in regard to righteousness—but what was your reward for this? Shame, and death. But now you have been set free from sin and its dominion, and have become bondslaves of God. The return is sanctification, resulting in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in the Messiah Jesus our Lord.

Jesus taught: Those who are of God hear and understand the words of God. If you don't get God's message, you're not yet yielded to Him! The Jews opposing Jesus challenged Him: Arent' we correct in saying that you are a Samaritan and possessed by a demon? And Jesus replied, 'I have no demon; instead, I honor My Father, while you dishonor Me. I Am not seeking My own glory; however, there Is One Who seeks glory, and He will be the Judge in this and all matters. I tell you most solemnly, anyone who keeps My word will never see death.' This just goaded the Jews further: 'Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did all the prophets. Yet you say that anyone keeping your word will never taste death. Are you, then, greater than our ancestor Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you claim to be?' Jesus answered, 'If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. But it Is My Father Who glorifies Me—the One you call your God. But you have not known Him; I know Him. If I said I did not, I'd be a liar like you; but I do known Him, and I keep His word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he was to see My day; he saw it and was glad.' The Jews replied, 'You aren't even 50 years old, and you claim to have seen Abraham?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly I tell you: before Abraham existed, I Am.' Hearing this, Jesus identifying Himself with YHWH, the Jews took up stones to throw at Jesus, but He hid Himself and left the temple.