Fulfilling all righteousness

Wednesday, May 7, 2014 Devotions: Ps 38, 119:25-48; Ex 19:16-25; Col 1:15-23; Mt 3:13-17 Lord, please don't rebuke me in anger; You made me and know me better than I know myself. There is no soundness in my flesh; I am prostrate before you, Holy One! You know the nature of my longing, and even I know I can be satisfied only by You—yet I keep searching for relief or satisfaction in other ways, from other sources. But I am waiting for You, honestly. I'm in pain, largely self-inflicted; but I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin, Lord. Do not forsake me; be not far from me, my God. Hurry to my aid, Lord, my Savior. I am dust, Lord; revive me by Your word. Teach me, and help me to reflect on Your statutes. Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me Your law. When you enlighten my understanding, I will hasten in the way of Your commands. Lead me in the path of Your commandments; help me observe them with all my heart. Turn my eyes from looking upon vanities; give me real life in Your ways. I long for Your precepts and the righteousness You alone can impart. Take not the word of truth from my mouth or my mind; obedience to God is the only true liberty, the true satisfaction of my soul. Amen. Moses had prepared the people for three days, awaiting YHWH's descent upon Sinai. On the third day, there was continual thunder and lightning and a thick cloud descended over the peak. A very loud trumpet blast was heard, and the people throughout the camp trembled. Moses led the people to the foot of Sinai, and the whole mountain quaked and smoked. The trumpet got louder and louder, and God spoke to Moses in thunder. YHWH called Moses to the mountaintop and he ascended. God told Moses: 'Go down and warn the people to stay back; if they come near, they will perish.' God had Moses fetch Aaron with him up the mountain. And He gave Moses the Ten Words. Paul wrote to the Colossians: Jesus Is the exact icon of the invisible God, First-born over all creation. In Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible: thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities—all created through Him and for Him. He Is before all things, and in Him, all created things cohere. He is the Head of the body, the church; He is the Beginning, First-born from the dead—so that in everything, Jesus is pre-eminent. In Him all the fullness of God is pleased to abide, and through Him to reconcile to God all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross. Once you were estranged from God, hostile in mind, doing evil things. But now He has reconciled you in His body of flesh, by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him—provided that you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, proclaimed to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan, to be baptized there by John. John objected, saying 'I need to be baptized by You—and yet you come to me?' But Jesus replied, 'Let it be so now, for this is fitting—it fulfills the Father's righteousness.' Hearing this, John consented and baptized Jesus. He went up immediately from the water, and the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on Jesus; and a Voice from heaven said, 'This Is My beloved Son, with Whom I Am well pleased.'