Devotions: Ps 81-83, 119:97-120; Jdg 7:19-8:35; Acts 3:12-4:12; Jn 1:29-51
Let us sing and praise our Lord with all joy and enthusiasm. God has relieved me of my heavy burdens; He tests me and sustains me; He is growing me into the likeness of His Son. He delivers His people—if only we would listen, hear, and obey! Then, God will prosper us beyond our highest aspirations and furthest hopes. God gives justice to the weak, the orphans, the prisoners. He Is Judge of all creatures. God makes His enemies disappear; let them be put to shame and banished forever. YHWH alone is God over all the earth. God, how I love Your law! Your commands make me wiser than my enemies; Your testimonies are my meditation day and night. Keep me from evil paths, I pray. Light my path with Your precepts; accept my confession and forgive my sins. Uphold me by Your covenant; let me not be put to shame, for I fear Your holy and righteous judgment. Amen.
Gideon
and his three groups of one hundred men arrayed around the Midianite
camp, broke their crockery, waved their torches, blew trumpets and
shouted –and YHWH threw the Midianites into confusion. They killed
one another, and ran away. And Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and
Manasseh came forth and pursued and struck down the straggling
enemies. Gideon sent messengers throughout the Shephelah of Ephraim,
summoning out the Ephraimites, and they took Oreb and Zeeb, Midianite
princes, prisoner and executed them beyond the Jordan. Gideon
skillfully defused the resentment of the Ephraimites. As Gideon
continued his assault, he was refused provisions by the people of
Zebah and Zalmunna and Penuel—and Gideon promised godly punishment
for these communities. Gideon attacked fifteen thousand with his
three hundred troops, and took prisoner the kings Zebah and Zalmunna.
And returning by the paths he had taken, Gideon requited the elders
of Succoth and the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of both
unfriendly cities. Gideon himself killed Zebah and Zalmunna. The
Israelites invited Gideon to be their king, but he refused: 'YHWH
will rule you, not I.' He collected the gold earrings and pendants
and purple garments of those he had defeated. He used the gold to
cast an ephod for his home city, Ophrah—and this ungodly object
became a snare to Gideon and his family. Gideon had seventy sons by
his wives, and son named Abimelech by a concubine in Shechem. After
Gideon's death, the people again fall into Baal worship, ignoring
both YHWH and the family of Gideon, despite all the good he and God
had done for the Israelites.
When the people marveled to see the once-crippled beggar leaping and walking and praising God in the temple, they were amazed. Peter took the occasion to address them: 'Why stare at us as if we did this? This miracle is by the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, Who glorified His Servant Jesus, Whom you delivered up to Pilate to be crucified, even after he had decided to acquit Him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and instead demanded the release of a murderer; you killed the Author of life; but God raised Him from death. We are witnesses of all this. And His Name, and faith in His Name, have made this man strong and whole; you see him and you know him, and now you are witnesses also: the faith that is in Jesus the Messiah has given this man perfect health in your very presence. Brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your rulers. God foretold by His prophets that His Messiah would suffer, and He has fulfilled all this. Therefore, repent and turn in a new way, that your sins may be blotted out, and times of refreshment may come to you from the Lord, and He may send you the Messiah He promised, Jesus. All the prophets from Moses to now proclaimed what you are experiencing. God sent His Messiah to you first, to turn you from your wickedness.' As Peter was addressing the throng, the temple officials, temple police and Sadducees arrested Peter and John and put them in custody overnight. But many who heard Peter's message believed, and the number of men following Jesus came to about five thousand. The next day, the Jewish authorities—rulers, elders and Torah scribes—gathered in Jerusalem, with members of the high-priestly family: Annas, Caiphas, John and Alexander. They put Peter and John in their midst and interrogated them: 'By what power or by what name do you do this?' Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, replied—the healing of the crippled man was done by the name of Jesus the Messiah of Nazareth, Whom the authorities crucified and Whom God raised from death. Jesus Is the Stone rejected by the 'builders'--the Jewish rulers and authorities—but now the Chief Cornerstone in God's own house: 'For there is no other name given among mortals and under Heaven by which we must be saved.'
John
the Baptizer had defined his own mission as the Messiah's forerunner.
And the very next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him, and declared:
'Behold, here Is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the
world. This Is He of Whom I said, “After me comes a Man Who ranks
before me, because He Was before me.” I didn't know Him myself,
even though for His sake I came baptizing with water, that He might
be revealed to Israel. I saw the Holy Spirit descend from heaven
like a dove and alight and remain upon Him. God, Who sent me, told
me: “This Is He Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” Now I have
seen and affirm that this Is the Son of God.' The following day,
John was standing with two of his disciples when Jesus passed by;
John said to them: 'Behold the Lamb of God!' And the two followed
Jesus, and asked Him where He was staying. Jesus invited them to His
lodging, and they spent the remainder of the day with Him. One of
the two was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He immediately found his
brother and told him, 'We have found the Messiah!' And Andrew
brought Peter to Jesus. Jesus looked at Simon as said, 'You are
Simon, son of John. You shall be called Cephas.' This name in
Aramaic can be understood as Peter, the Rock. The next day, Jesus
decided to set forth to Galilee; He found Philip and said to him,
'Follow Me.' And Philip hurried to his friend Nathanael, and told
him, 'We have found Him of Whom Moses and the prophets wrote—He Is
Jesus of Nazareth.' Nathanael was skeptical: 'Can anything good come
out of Nazareth?' Philip just said, 'Come and see.' When they came
to Jesus, He said of Nathanael, 'Here is an Israelite in whom is no
guile.' Nathanael asked Jesus, 'How do you know me?' Jesus
answered, 'I saw you beneath the fig tree before Philip called you.'
Nathanael was convinced: 'Rabbi, You are the Son of God, the King of
Israel!' Jesus answered, 'Because I told you I saw you under the fig
tree, now you suddenly believe, right? You'll see much greater
things than these! I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven
opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of
man.'
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