Are you practicing the known will of God?
10 Apr 26
Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One
Readings:
1 Samuel 4
1 Samuel 5
1 Samuel 6
Luke 12:35-59
And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:47).
Are you practicing the known will of God?
First Samuel gives a stark contrast between the godly Samuel and the two wicked sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas. Eli is confronted because he honors his sons more than the Lord. A man of God asks the priest, “Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me?” (1 Samuel 2:29). Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas know what God expects of them; however, they disobey the Lord, which costs their lives (1 Samuel 4:11, 18). Eli and his sons exemplify the principle written by James centuries later. “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
Employment Point: Practice the known will of God to please your Master.
———————
Reflections
Just a note that we have passed 100 days this year! Continue to persevere! Let’s go!
“As she was dying, the women attending her said, “Don’t despair; you have given birth to a son.” But she did not respond or pay any attention. She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.”1 Samuel 4:20-21 NIV
- Ichabod meant no glory. It’s interesting how the people from the older times name their children over events or whatever situations they were facing and the people had to carry those names throughout their lifetime. It can be quite depressing right? I can imagine if my name were to mean “no glory”. A forever reminder of all the bitterness, anger or sadness that had happened during birth.
“Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.”1 Samuel 5:2-3 NIV
- what a good reminder! Who can stand against the Lord our God!!
“So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it.”
1 Samuel 5:11 NIV
- it was not up to the Philistines where they would like the ark of God to be. They brought it upon themselves when they attacked the Israelites. It even looked as if that the Lord planned for the defeat so that they can capture the ark and He can also officially rain down ill fortune on all who worship other gods. No one was spared.
“Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.””1 Samuel 6:8-9 NIV
- a reliance on the Lord and letting Him lead. This is prove that the Lord’s hand is indeed hard upon them. They can’t run away.
“But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them. And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?””1 Samuel 6:19-20 NIV
- God is still God. It doesn’t mean that He went roaming in pagan land that He is reverend no more. He is still the same God from the past, right now and in the time to come. He is our unchanging God, both now and forever.
““Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.”Luke 12:35-36 NIV
- this is exactly what He wants us to do. Always ready to receive Him for we do not the actual time that He is coming. Remember the wise virgins and not the foolish ones.
““The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows.”
Luke 12:47 NIV
- This has already been made known to us. We know what we ought to do but are we conscientiously doing it? Else then perhaps it is time to come to the Lord in repentance, ask for His mercy as well as His help to help us persevere, even though the time may be tough.
“But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”Luke 12:48 NIV
- so it doesn’t mean that we as servants does not know anything then would not deserve any punishment. The Lord have mentioned this that even if we do not know we would still be dealt with few blows and all the more we should be mindful that if we were given task or in a leadership position, then all the more we need to watch and be mindful so that we do not stumble others, and then we have to keep track on our own actions as we will have an even heavier responsibility to fulfil.
———————-
Moral Decision about Sin
BY OSWALD CHAMBERS
April 10
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. — Romans 6:6
Have I decided that sin will be killed in me? It takes a long time to come to a moral decision about sin, but when I do it is the great moment of my life. In this moment, I decide that just as Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, so sin will be put to death in me. Sin won’t simply be curbed or suppressed or counteracted in me; it will be outright crucified.
No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may think that getting rid of sin is a good idea. We may agree that it’s what our religion asks of us. But what we must do is come to the decision Paul forces us to in Romans 6. Paul doesn’t describe something he hopes God will bring about in the future; he recounts a radical and definite experience: “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1–2).
Am I prepared to let the Spirit of God search me until I see what it means to have a sinful disposition—to have something inside me that wars against the Spirit of God? Will I agree with God’s verdict on that disposition, that it must be identified with the death of Jesus? Have I entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ, until the only life remaining in my body is the life of Christ? “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).
If you haven’t done it already, make the moral decision about sin. Take time alone with God and tell him what you want. Say to him, “Lord, identify me with your death until sin is dead in me.” Only when we’ve been through this radical moment of decision can we consider ourselves dead to sin.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD
The emphasis to-day is placed on the furtherance of an organization; the note is, “We must keep this thing going.” If we are in God’s order the thing will go; if we are not in His order, it won’t.
————————
Reflections
I believe each of us have our own wars of fighting with against the Spirit of God for we are all made unique. And I believe this devotional is also meant to speak to us so that we are reminded what we are supposed to do. To come to the Lord, ask Him to search us and allow Him to crucify our sins along with His death on the cross.
I think this is something really intentional and yet essential, so that we really can grow closer to the Lord Jesus. Because once we don’t have to fight with Him, we will be aligned with Him, along with His plans and His will. In that sense, we will really be growing to know Him personally and at the same time have an intimate relationship with the Lord.
This is a process and sometimes it needed time and other times it just needs the Lord’s hands in it to transform everything. We do know what is not humanly possible is always possible by God. And it’s also not looking at ourselves and asking the Lord how we are going to do this because we tried so many times and yet have failed. It is about our surrendering to Him in totality, letting Him take the reign, instead of us wanting control. It is the commitment and also obedience to really tell the Lord, “ok, we have enough of trying. We want to stop sinning. Please show us the way.”
————————-
Lent devotion Day 52/53
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:
Matthew 13:1-23
EASTER FRIDAY
Reading Jesus' parables in Easter week is particularly fruitful. Imagine Matthew's friends reading his book, with their own Easter celebrations now a regular weekly feature of life, and hearing them in a whole new way. Jesus had spoken elsewhere, after all, about his own life in terms of a grain of seed falling into the earth and dying, and then bearing a great deal of fruit. It looks as though he was applying to himself the strange picture in the parable of the Sower, where much seed seems to be thrown away (how sad, people sometimes say, that Jesus died so young when he had so much still to give! What a waste!), and yet some bears fruit 30, 60 or 100 times over.
What started life, then, as Jesus' explanation of how his own kingdom-work was going ahead during the course of his public career can be translated, without difficulty, into the explanation that the Easter church now needs for how the work of world mission will fare. One of the standard objections to the Christian message, as we saw, goes like this: how can you say the kingdom of heaven has arrived on earth, when it's obvious, looking around you, that nothing of the kind has happened? Things are still pretty bleak. Often Jesus' followers seem to be part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Jesus' own explanation of how the kingdom works is still the classic answer to this question. What did you expect: that God would send in the tanks like a totalitarian dictator, crush the opposition and set up a 'kingdom' which would leave half the world bruised and resentful? What sort of a 'god' would that be? No! God will bring in his kingdom by the same means, the same strange process, that he seems to use in the natural world. Seeds will be sown; many will apparently be lost, but others will be powerfully fruitful. Or, as the chapter goes on, there will be seeds sown which are then threatened by weeds. One day the weeds will be pulled up, but for the moment they grow side by side. Or again, the kingdom will come like seed growing secretly. At the moment there may be nothing to see, but suddenly, one day, people will be putting in the sickle because it's harvest time. In other words: yes, the kingdom has indeed been launched; yes, it is making its way in the world; but no, it isn't doing so in the way you might have imagined. It is doing so in the way God has imagined: by the Sower himself becoming the seed sown in good soil, and rising again to celebrate the harvest of God's new creation.
TODAY
Give us the faith, good Lord, to see your kingdom at work even when seeds seem wasted and the soil seems bare. Thank you for the promise of the great harvest, of which your resurrection was the first fruits.
————————
Some things to reflect. The words in bold also seems to explain why there are evil in this world and seems like He allows it. Perhaps it’s just not the time to do it. But our focus should remain on Him and not on what exists. Judgement is still His.
Let’s pray:
Father, thank You for giving us Your word. Help to guard our time so that we have time to quiet down our hearts and sit at Your feet. Help us to grow deep roots so that we will be able to stand firm in the face of worldly affairs or challenges that come our way. In Jesus’s most precious name we pray. Amen 🙏🏻
Comments
Post a Comment