Are you free from idolatry?
8 Mar 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
Deuteronomy 5
Deuteronomy 6
Deuteronomy 7
Mark 12:1-27
Little children, keep yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21).
Are you free from idolatry?
God desires to protect His people from idolatry; therefore, He specifies His uniqueness. Moses gives us the passage traditionally called the Shema, which means hear, from Deuteronomy 6:4-5. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” The Hebrew term for “one” refers to a one of unity.
This word also appears in Genesis 2:24. Moses records about Adam and Eve, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” As the two (Adam and Eve) become one flesh, there is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Interestingly, the model for unity given to the Ephesian saints consists of the Trinity (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Employment Point: Fully love the Triune God.
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Reflections
“So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Deuteronomy 5:32 NIV
- this is not just a reminder to the Israelites to to us as well who have heard God’s commands. Do as He says, we will have no regrets. If we did not follow, we will be facing with disasters.
Not sure if you have experienced where you hear the prompting from the Lord about things that you should do and followed? I have and have experienced through all these situations where I know He leads and guides, in His perfect timing. Never too late. It encourages me to know that He plans all things and is definitely a much better administrator than me. I may forget everything or not some of the things I need to do but He never. Trust Him and you will see His hands in everything!
“Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors,”Deuteronomy 6:18 NIV
- Remember Moses and Aaron who were not able to enter the promised land. Even these people who had done a lot of good cannot enter it. The Lord wants us to obey and not turn left or right. We therefore need to obey Him strictly. No excuses.. else we risk not being able to enter our promised land.
“And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.””
Deuteronomy 6:25 NIV
“You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?” But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.”Deuteronomy 7:17-18 NIV
- Our Lord has done this and He has the track records to prove that He has the ability to turn the impossible to possible and that if we trust Him enough, He will show us how He did that. For who is greater than the Lord God Almighty?!
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The Relinquished Life
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
March 08
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. — Galatians 2:20
It is impossible to be united with Christ unless we are willing to let go: to let go not only of sin but of our entire way of looking at things. In 1 Timothy 6:19, Paul writes that God wants us to “take hold of the life that is truly life.” But before we can take hold, we must let go. If we wish to be born from above in the Spirit, the first thing we have to let go of is pretending we’re something we’re not. What our Lord wants us to present to him isn’t goodness or honesty or endeavor; it’s real, solid sin. In exchange, he gives us real, solid righteousness. First, though, we must give up the idea that we are worthy of God’s consideration; we must give up the thought that we are anything at all. After we do, the Spirit will show us what else there is to relinquish. The giving up must happen repeatedly, in every phase. Every step of the way, we must give up the claim to our right to ourselves.
Am I willing to relinquish my hold on my possessions and affections? On everything? Am I willing to be identified with the death of Jesus? There is always a painful shattering of illusions before we finally do relinquish.
When we truly see ourselves as the Lord sees us, it isn’t the abominable sins of the flesh that shock us; it’s the awful nature of pride in our hearts against Jesus Christ. When we see ourselves in the light of the Lord, shame and horror and desperate conviction strike home. If you have come to the point where you must relinquish or turn back, go on through. Relinquish all, and God will make you fit for what he requires.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
I have no right to say I believe in God unless I order my life as under His all-seeing Eye.
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Reflections
I realise these words, “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” is true but it takes time to fulfil.
The Lord will slowly but surely guide us through our days and teach us to be more like Christ. We will go through lessons, learning why surrendering ourselves is important. We will also learn that because He lives in us, we no longer want to sin and gradually we are improved or transformed versions of ourselves by the grace of God.
As a Christian, our sins and our old ways are crucified on the cross together with Jesus. When He is risen, we too rise together with Him in spirit. We live like a fresh sheet of paper, like a newborn baby. We start to learn everything all over again.
However, there will be things that become intertwined with our lives so much that it will be hard to remove. It will take longer to do so but not impossible in God. But one thing I learned, is that we do have to surrender to God in entirety and be telling Him that we are willing to change. Our hearts must be open to His refinement. Though painful but definitely worth it.
May we have the courage to step out of our comfort and tell our Lord that yes, we open our hearts to do, do Your thing and have us transformed in Your timing.
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Lent devotion Day 19/53
taken from YouVersion, Lent for Everyone
Lent for Everyone is a devotional created and written by N.T. (Tom) Wright. For each day of Lent, there is a reading chosen from the Gospel of Matthew, plus a reflection by Wright. These readings have grown out of a project encouraging Lent reading in Northern England. This is the second in a three-volume series based on the Revised Common Lectionary of the Church of England.
Today’s reading:
Psalm 95
WEEK 3: SUNDAY
A small boy I knew asked his grandfather, a retired priest, what 'worship' meant. The old man paused. He was over 80 years of age, he said; he had been a clergyman most of his life; and he still found it hard to say exactly what 'worship' meant. Like someone who takes ten thousand breaths every day but still couldn't explain to a medical student what breathing is or why it's important, the old man had worshipped all his life, and led others to do so, but found it more and more mysterious.
This Psalm is one that the old clergyman would have said day by day throughout his life, because in the prayer book he used it was prescribed for every day except Easter. I myself grew up in a church where we sang this Psalm almost every Sunday. And I believe we can learn a great deal about what worship is from seeing what's going on here.
The Psalm is not addressing God directly, but calling on other people to join the poet in doing so, in praising the God he here describes. When you really discover who God is, then it is natural to 'make a joyful noise' (verse 1), to come into God's presence with thanksgiving and make music (that most mysterious of all the arts, itself joining heaven and earth) to acclaim him and proclaim his greatness.
Worship, then, is about contemplating who God is and what he's done, standing in awe and expressing that awe in thanks and praise. In the Jewish and Christian traditions, this always begins with praise to God as creator. Every step of scientific advance should increase this chorus of praise (instead of what happens at the moment, that every new scientific discovery leads someone to claim that this has disproved God's existence!). God isn't part of the natural order, though his presence permeates it. Rather, he is other than and outside it, as different from it, and hence from us, as we are from microbes and atoms — only far more so, since they and we are, at one level, all part of the same stuff. God's power holds together the deepest and the highest places on earth, the unfathomable vastness of the sea and the wonderfully sculpted dry land in all its variety.
That would by itself be enough to call us to worship: perhaps, today, you might spend some time contemplating the astonishing range of God's creation. Out of a small window where I am sitting, I can see several different colours, several types of tree and plant, various different animals, and, not least, the sky itself, a source of endless wonder. A short walk, even in an apparently dull area, can lead to wonder and praise. And if you go out on the sea, or into the mountains, or pause in a richly stocked garden, there is no end of extraordinary and beautiful things for which to give thanks.
As always in scripture, contemplating God as creator leads to the astonishing claim that he is 'our God' (verse 7). God has chosen Israel as his people; and we who believe in Jesus believe him to be the fulfilment of this promise, so that all who belong to Jesus can make the same claim. 'We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.' City-dwellers often suppose that animals are basically stupid. Not so. Near where I live, the elderly cows in the field know precisely which noises will signal the arrival of fresh food. They recognize voices and react accordingly. In the Middle East, to this day, the relation- ship of sheep and shepherd is warm and intimate, a mutual bond of knowing. That's how it should be with God and his people. Here, in the middle of Lent, we should celebrate that and be encouraged.
That's important, because as the final verses of the Psalm remind us (sadly, some churches tend to miss them out), we can't take God for granted. The Israelites, whom God had rescued from Egypt, spent 40 years grumbling and questioning. We are warned against going the same way. The best antidote is to return to worship and praise. An older generation used to sing, 'Count your blessings, name them one by one; and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.' If you include the whole of creation, in its vast scope and tiny detail, among those blessings — as the Psalm encourages you to do — it will not only surprise you. It will take quite a long time.
TODAY
Sovereign God, we praise you for your wonderful world, and we pray that you will replace our grumbles with gratitude, and our questioning with adoration.
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Let’s pray:
As we reflect upon our life along with our bible reading, Father help us to remember Your goodness and to sing praises and give thanks to You O Lord. Thank You Father for the wondrous nature and scenery You have provided us to see, to not forget Your great majesty and the power of Your creation. Help us to be willing to step into the furnace in Your hands and refine us to Your own image. But be with us Lord, have mercy on us and let it be not too much to bear. In the Almighty name of Jesus we pray. Amen 🙏🏻
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