Where we are and where we're going

Saturday, May 30
Devotions: Ps 30, 32, 42, 43; Deut 5:22-33; 2 Cor 4:13-5:10; Lk 16:19-31

Lord, I praise You, because You have protected me from my enemies.  Your anger is brief; Your favor is eternal.  I may weep through a long night, but joy comes with the morning.  When I cry to You, I am blessed and healed.  Continue, O Lord, to be my Helper.  Turn my mourning into dancing; remove my sackcloth and cloth me in gladness.  I will thank You, YHWH, forever!  For I am blessed by Your redemption and forgiveness.  When I face my sins and their consequences, and admit them to You, You forgive and heal me.  Let all the godly pray, in times of distress and in times of refreshment.  Let God be our Teacher as He Is our Master.  Steadfast love surrounds all who trust in YHWH; let the upright in heart shout for joy!  Lord, I thirst for You like a parched stag in a desert; tears cannot satisfy my hunger; so I turn my heart and mind toward God, and recall the days of thanksgiving and blessing.  Let my soul release its angst; hope in God, Who helps and blesses!  YHWH, You Are my Rock.  Vindicate me and defend my cause, Righteous Lord.  You are the One in Whom I take refuge.  Send out Your light and truth; let them lead me home to You, as I praise my God and Master.

YHWH wrote his Ten Words on stone and Moses carried them down to the people.  They quaked in fear before the awesome God, and begged Moses to interact with Him on their behalf.  YHWH said, 'I have heard the words of these people; they speak rightly.  If only they would remain in this frame of mind, fearful and faithful before Me.  Send them back to their tents; then hear what I have to say to them.  Tell them this: Be careful to do all that YHWH your God has commanded; turn neither to the left or right.  Walks straight along the path YHWH your God has laid out before you, so that you may live long in the Land of promise.

Paul continued his letter to the Corinthian Christians:  We share in the same Spirit Who led those who wrote the Hebrew scriptures; we believe, and speak accordingly.  The One Who raised Jesus from death will do the same with us and with you, and will bring us together into His presence.  It is all for your sake, so that as God's grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.  So we don't lose heart; our outer nature wastes away, but our inner nature is renewed day by day.  The slight, momentary afflictions of this time are preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.  We are focused on unseen, eternal things, and have no time or energy for visible, transient things.  We know that if this earthly tent, our mortal flesh, is destroyed, we have an eternal spiritual body, incomparably more solid and lasting, made by God to be our dwelling forever.  We will not be naked or ashamed; in this mortal tent we sigh with anxiety; but we are focused, not on our death, but with longing for our eternal clothing, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.  He Who has prepared us for this very thing Is God, Who has given us the Holy Spirit as a guarantee.  And so, in every earthly circumstance, we are always of good courage; while we sojourn in mortal flesh, we are away from the Lord.  We walk by faith, not by sight.  We have courage and would prefer to be away from this body and at home with the Lord.  So whether we live or die, abide or depart, we make it our steady aim to please God.  We must all appear before Christ's judgment seat, so that each may receive good or evil, according to what each has done while in the mortal body. 

Jesus told the story of Dives and Lazarus:  A rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen, feasted sumptuously every day.  At his gate lay a poor beggar, Lazarus, plagued by sores; he longed for the crumbs falling from the rich man's table; and the dogs licked his sores.  Lazarus died, and angels carried him to Abraham's bosom in paradise.  The rich man also died; he was buried.  In Hades, tormented, he looked up and saw afar Abraham and Lazarus in his bosom.  He called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy; send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.'  But Abraham demurred: 'Son, remember: you got your blessings in the former life, while Lazarus suffered many evils.  But now, he is comforted here and you are in anguish.  There is a great chasm separating us, and no one can cross either way.'  Then the formerly rich man begged the patriarch, 'Then send Lazarus to my father's house to warn my five brothers, lest they also fall into this torment.'  But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let those sources warn them.'  Dives begged, 'No, Father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, surely they will repent.'  And Abraham answered, 'If they don't heed Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.'