Comply with God's order

Saturday, September 28, 2013 Devotions: Ps 87, 90, 136; 2 Ki 11:1-20a; 1 Cor 7:10-24; Mt 6:19-24 On Mount Zion stands the city God has founded; YHWH loves the gates of Zion. How majestic is this holy city! Those born there are praised, and the wellsprings of song and dance are there. Moses prayed: YHWH, You abide as our Resting Place for all generations. You Are God from eternity past and forever. In Your sight, a thousand mortal years are a like a watch in the night hours. And we mortals are like dust on Your scales, a cobweb swept away like a dream. We are overwhelmed and consumed by Your wrath. Our lifespan is seventy years; eighty if we're especially hardy. They are a fleeting spasm of toil and trouble, and soon over. So, Lord: teach us to number our days, so that we may attain the heart of wisdom. Have pity on us, Your servants, and manifest to us Your power and goodness. And establish the work of our hands as Your handmaids and bondslaves, great Lord! Amen. Athalia, mother of Ahaziah, sought to usurp rule in Judah; she caused all the royal family to be murdered. But one of King Joram's daughters, Jehosheba, Ahaziah's sister, took Joash, Ahaziah's son, and hid him away, and he was not murdered in Athalia's purge. Prince Joash remained in hiding for six years; in his seventh year, Jehoiadah, YHWH's priest, summoned the Carites and royal guards to God's temple; he put them under sacred oath, and revealed the rightful prince to them. He deployed the loyal forces to guard the king's house and protect the crown prince. He delivered to them the spears and shields that had belonged to King David. Then Jehoida brought Joash out and croned him in public and anointed him king over Judah, and those present applauded and cried out, 'Long live the king!' Then the priest commanded that Athalia be brought fourth, and she was executed at the point where animals normally entered the king's compound. Paul's instructions to the Christians in Corinth continued: Spouses should not separate or divorce; nor should believers divorce unbelieving spouses who consent to live with them. Unbelieving spouses are consecrated through their believing partners, and so also are their children. However, if an unbelieving spouse chooses to separate, let it be so—the believing partner is not bound. God has called us to peace, not to conflict Let ev lead the life to which the Lord has assigned them and to which He has called them. There is no need, no advantage, being circumcised or uncircumcised; what matters is keeping God's commandments. Every one should remain in the state in which s/he was called, and abide in Christ. Jesus preached: Don't lay up treasures for yourself on earth, vulnerable to corruption, decay and theft. Rather, invest your treasure in heaven, where is no corruption or theft. Your hearts will abide wherever your treasure is. The eye is the lamp of the body; if your sight is sound, your whole being will be flooded with light; if your sight is unsound, you'll be filled with profound darkness. No one can serve two masters: you will hate the first and love the second, or be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve both God and mammon.