Listen!

Saturday, August 30, 2014
Ps 20, 21:1-7; 110:1-5; 116-17; Jb 9:1; 10:1-22; Acts 11:1-18; Jn 8:12-20

May the Lord answer in our days of trouble; may His name protect us! May God send help and support; may He accept our worship and offerings. May He be, and may He grant, my heart's desire; may I conform to His plans for me. May we shout for joy in the victory God gives and raise banners in His Name. May He answer our prayers as He chooses. I know God cares for me; my enemies will collapse, and I will rise and stand upright. Let God give victory to our cause. Our glory is great by His grace. YHWH, I trust You, and through Your steadfast love, I shall not be moved. The Father tells my Lord His Son: 'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies into a stool for Your feet.' He has made Jesus King of Kings, eternal High Priest, Lord of all whom God has given to Him. Glory to You, Lord Christ! I love God; He has heard and answered my supplications; He has preserved and prospered my life, and I will call upon Him all my life long. He delivered me from death many times. My God Is gracious and righteous, merciful and just. My soul rests in His kindness and exults in His might. I walk before the Lord in the land of the living; all my hope is in Him. I lift up the cup of salvation and call upon YHWH's name. I acknowledge Him before mortals and immortals. Lord, I am Your servant, son of Your handmaid; You have loosed my bonds and set me free. Let all God's people praise the Lord! Praise Him, all nations, extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us; and the faithfulness of our God endures forever. Hallelujah!

Job responded to Bildad: How can a mortal be just before God? I loathe my miserable life, but I ill not be silent. I say to God: Do not condemn me; let me know why and how I have offended You. I know You are incomparably greater than I; You made and sustained me to this point; You have given and taken, and I am guilty before You, Holy One. I am filled with disgrace; I cannot abide my own conduct and character. But You brought me into this life, and have sustained me in it. I am Yours, Lord—where is Your comfort, that I may live on in this vexed flesh and troubled life? 

The church in Jerusalem got word that Gentiles had also received the gospel of the Lord. So Peter went up to Jerusalem to discuss matters, and the circumcision party confronted him for meeting and eating with Gentiles. Peter answered: 'I was in Joppa, praying; in a trance, I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending from heaven; in it were animals, beasts of prey, wild birds, reptiles. And a Voice to me, “Get up Peter. Kill and eat.” I said, “No, Lord; nothing unclean has ever entered my mouth.” But the Voice replied, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” This happened three times, and then the sheet was withdrawn into heaven. At that very moment, three men arrived at the house where I was staying, sent to me from Caesarea. The Holy Spirit told me to go with them; these six brothers with me now went along, too; and we entered the man's house in Caesarea. He told us an angel had appeared to him in his house and had told him to send to Joppa for Simon called Peter; the angel told him I would declare to them a message by which the host and all his household would be saved. As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on all present, just as He did to us in the beginning. And I remembered how our Lord had said, “John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Now, if God gave them the same Gift He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus the Messiah, who was I to think I could oppose God?' When the critics heard this, they were silenced, and glorified God, saying, 'Well then: God has granted repentance unto life to the Gentiles as well!'  

Jesus was teaching at the Jerusalem Temple: I Am the light of the world; those who follow Me will not walk in darkness; they will have the light of life.' The Pharisees criticized Him: 'You are testifying for Yourself; such testimony is not valid.' Jesus replied, 'Even if I do so, My testimony is true; I know where I Am coming from and where I Am going; you know neither. You judge by the flesh; I judge no one—but when I do, My judgment is true, for I don't judge alone, He Who sent Me is with Me. Your law says a testimony supported by two is valid; I and My Father both testify for Me.' The Pharisees asked, 'Where then is your father?' Jesus said, 'You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.' Nobody arrested Jesus, for His time had not yet come.