Grace now!

Monday, June 1
Devotions: Ps 41, 44, 52; Deut 11:13-19; 2 Cor 5:11-6:2; Lk 17:1-10

Blessed are those who consider the poor; YHWH in turn delivers these compassionate ones in their days of trouble--in threats to life and home and health.  I asked God to heal me of my infirmities, and He has blessed me more times than I can count.  God needs no thing from me; He asks me to listen with an open ear and ready heart; He just wants me to glorify Him by obedience and a circumcised heart.  Lord, I delight to do Your will; I take joy in sharing Your gospel.  Let me speak of Your steadfast love and faithfulness.  Let these benefits be showered upon me day and night.  And may all who seek You be blessed to find you; may those who scorn You and me experienced the consequences of their folly and sin.  You Are my King and my God; I will trust in You alone.  Help me tolerate the trials You allow, and come to my aid at real need, Lord.  For the sake of Your steadfast love and Your glory, deliver us yet again, I pray.  I am like a green olive tree in God's arbor; I trust in His steadfast love forever.  I will proclaim Your Name and Your glory to the godly, now and always.

Moses told the Israelites:  YHWH says this:  if you will obey My commandments, to love your God and to serve Him with all your heart and soul, He will prosper you: seasonable weather, rain in due proportion (neither drought nor flood), healthy crops and livestock, and plenty of food for all the people.  Don't allow false gods to divert or deter you; no detours!  If you make God angry, peril and exile and death lie ready to swallow you.  Lay up these words in your hearts and souls; bind them to your hands and brows.  Never forget!

Paul wrote:  Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade mortals.  What we are, what we signify, is known to God and that is enough; but I hope your conscience also affirms all this.  We want you to have good answers for those who scoff and note a person's status, not what is in their heart or head.  If we are beside ourselves, it is only for your sake--God shakes us constantly to serve you.  And if we make sense, it is so that you may prosper and be saved.  The love of Christ controls us; we are convinced that the One died for all, and in His death, all of us mortals also died, so that all who put their faith in Him may also be raised with Him from death to eternal life!  He died specifically for our sake.  From now on, we judge no one from a human viewpoint--though once, we made that error in judging the Messiah Himself.  But no longer: all who are in Christ are new creatures; the old has passed away, and behold, all things are made new!  All this is from God, Who through Messiah Jesus reconciled us to Himself and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation.  That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting our sins against us, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.  So: we are ambassadors for Christ; God makes His appeal through us.  We beg you, on Christ's behalf: be reconciled to God.  For our sake, God made Him to be sin, Who had no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.  Working together with Him, then, we beg you: don't accept God's grace in vain.  He has helped you at just the right time.  NOW is the acceptable time; NOW is the day of salvation, brothers and sisters! 

Jesus told His disciples:  'Temptations to sin are sure to come; but woe to those by whom the temptations come!  Better for them to have a great millstone to be tied around their necks, and then to be cast into the sea, than that they should cause even one of God's little ones to fall into sin.  Discipline yourselves; and if your brother or sister sins, rebuke them; if they repent, forgive them.  Even if they sin repeatedly, if they also repent repeatedly, keep on forgiving them.'   Hearing this, the apostle begged Jesus, 'Increase our faith!'  But He said, 'If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this sycamore fig tree, "Be uprooted and cast into the sea," and it would obey you.  Listen: if you were a master whose slave finished his field work and came into your house, would you tell that slave, "Here: sit down and have supper."?  No, the master would say, "Now prepare and serve me my supper; then you can refresh yourself."  The master doesn't thank the slave when the slave simply does what is expected.  Same with you:  when you have done all that God commands, say this: "We are unworthy servants; we have only done what is our duty."'