Do you prize the preaching of God’s Word?

 16 Feb 26

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One


Readings:

Leviticus 22

Leviticus 23

Mark 1:1-22


He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Revelation 2:7). 


Do you prize the preaching of God’s Word?


Mark captures the commencement of Jesus’ ministry with the following words: “Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14). The author of the second gospel writes to a Roman audience. This gospel is action-oriented, and so is the Son of God. Matthew shows the urgency of Jesus’ message: “Repent,” says Jesus, “for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Preaching was a primary function of Jesus’ forerunner, John the Baptist, as it is for the Messiah. Paul, noted for preaching the gospel everywhere he goes, tells Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). Are you ready to hear God’s Word preached in season and out of season? 


Employment Point: Be faithful to hear and obey the preaching of the Bible.

———————-

Reflections

“Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.”

‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭22‬:‭20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

  • Passage tells us that the Lord had commanded His people to make sacrifices that are without defect. It is like the giving to the Lord, where the Lord expects the giving to be truly from your heart. As if one truly wants to be forgiven, they will be willing to sacrifice their best for an exchange of being holy again. On the other hand, we can imagine if someone were to offer something of defect to the Lord, it says a lot of his character and what he made of the sacrifice..
  • Father help us to truly serve you with our willing hearts and never offer you anything that may be displeasing to your eyes. 🙏🏻


We saw in Mark 1, who Jesus called as His first disciples. Namely Simon, Andrew, James and John. They formed His inner circle. 3 of them went up with Him to the mountains and witnessed the transfiguration. Note that His inner circle were all fishermen. None of them were learned but all of them were willing and teachable.


As His disciples, we are all called to preach the gospel. However, are we ready for this?

————————

Inspired Initiative

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

February 16


Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. — Ephesians 5:14


Not all initiative is inspired. “Just do it,” people say. “Just get on with it.” That is ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes in and says, “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead,” we find ourselves genuinely inspired and ready to act.


We all have visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find that we have no power to make them real. We give up on our dreams and let them die; we let our ideals wither away. Then God comes in with his miraculous power, and we find we are able to do the impossible.


A mistake we make is believing that, because God is capable of miracles, we don’t need to put forth any effort of our own. When God says, “Rise from the dead,” we have to get up; God will not lift us up. In Matthew 12, Jesus heals a man with a shriveled hand—but first, Jesus asks the man to reach out to him. “He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ So he stretched it out and it was completely restored” (v. 13). As the man acted in faith, Jesus acted to help the man. The same principle holds true in our lives: Although God, in his infinite power, could give us a life of instant, effortless gratification, this is not his will for us. Instead, he asks us to extend ourselves to him as he extends himself to us.


If the Lord has extended the hand of spiritual initiative to you, reach out and take it. As soon as you do, you will find that the light of God’s inspiration is yours: “And Christ will shine on you.”


Leviticus 19-20; Matthew 27:51-66


WISDOM FROM OSWALD

We are in danger of being stern where God is tender, and of being tender where God is stern.

————————

Reflections

A picture of hands touching one another forms in my head as I read this devotion. The lovely pierced hand of Jesus stretching His hand out to us, waiting for us to stretch our hands out to hold His hand.


We need two hands to clap. His leading hand and our willing hand. He holds us and lead us in the journey forward. But are we willing to let Him hold our hands or do we prefer to walk on our own. Which way is your preference? Do we trust in ourselves or trust in Him to bring us through?


For things to work, indeed we still need to put in effort. We need to work alongside Him in order to move things. We cannot be sitting in comfort, not doing anything and expect things to move. No, it doesn’t work that way. Our relationship with our Lord is one of collaboration. Is it a partnership. It works when communication is two ways and works when we choose to obey His commands and do His calling.


Let’s pray:

Father when we hear Your calling and when it’s time for us to step out of our comfort zone, give us courage Lord, to listen and abide in You. Grant us wisdom and knowledge to discern Your calling and be willing to embrace change. Help us to put our complete trust in You as You lead us forward. In Jesus’s name we ask and pray. Amen 🙏🏻 

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