Do you deeply appreciate the Father and Son’s sacrifice?

 26 May 26

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

Readings:

1 Chronicles 17

1 Chronicles 18

1 Chronicles 19

John 10:1-21

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep (John 10:11).

Do you deeply appreciate the Father and Son’s sacrifice?

The Good Shepherd soon will literally sacrifice Himself for the sheep. God’s love becomes evident through the gift of Jesus to die for our sin. John writes, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). Moreover, Paul concurs, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Shortly before Jesus offers Himself as the substitute for our sin, He says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Both Father and Son possess an eternal love for us that is manifested through the gift of Jesus Christ in our behalf; “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Employment Point: Marvel at the love of the Father and Son through Jesus’ sacrifice.

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Reflections

“After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.” Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.” But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:”1 Chronicles‬ ‭17‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• The Lord just knows what’s in our hearts, spoken or unspoken. And He answers every prayer. We may think that the Lord doesn’t know but He does. We may think that He doesn’t see but He does. And He knows everything that is going about in our lives and has been making plans for us even before we know it. How great is our Lord, deserving all our praises

“and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies. “ ‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you:”‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭17‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• it’s awesomeness I feel. David is telling the Lord that he wants to build a house for Him, the Lord God Almighty. But here, the Lord is telling David instead that He, will build a house for David. What great pleasure it is!! 

“He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought him tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went. He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.”1 Chronicles‬ ‭18‬:‭6‬, ‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• looking at the vast numbers of the enemies that David has to fight, we know that the Lord is definitely with him. In these two verses, the Lord reinforced to David His promise that He will be with him wherever he goes and delivers that promise.
• Friends, we are looking at the Lord who is faithful and who will never let us down. He always delivers.

“David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David’s envoys came to Hanun in the land of the Ammonites to express sympathy to him, the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Haven’t his envoys come to you only to explore and spy out the country and overthrow it?” So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved them, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.”1 Chronicles‬ ‭19‬:‭2‬-‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• it’s irritating to read what kind of advisers the king has by his side. The wise ones will really help the king but the foolish ones really can bring the whole kingdom down.
• Our application is that we ought to seek wise counsels and also seek the Lord for His guidance instead of doing things in our own free will. Moreover, Hanun went as far as humiliating the envoys that were sent by David. In my opinion he really has crossed the line as envoys are as good as seeing the king. It is a ridicule to King David himself!

“Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to rescue me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will rescue you. Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.””

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭19‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• Joab did not say that they definitely will win. Instead, he said that the Lord will do what is good in his sight. This is something worth learning. That we surrender our outcome to the Lord and into His hands and to trust Him no matter what happens.
• I think many times we want things a certain way and we grow bitter, sad or even angry when things turn south. Here Joab does none of these and just commit it all to the Lord. This is the kind of attitude we should adopt and the way of life we should live.

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”John‬ ‭10‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• A good shepherd takes care of his sheep and will never let the sheep go ahead of him. The shepherd is the one who leads, who protects and fends off any other animals that tries to harm his sheep. A shepherd will lovingly care for his sheep with his life. They are like his children who recognises their father’s voice.
• The shepherd will always be in front of his sheep, just like the Lord will always go before us and we recognise His voice because we know Him and He knows us all by name.

“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”John‬ ‭10‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

• I believe here, Jesus is also talking about the gentiles who will come to believe in Him. And all the believers will be one family, having one heart and one Lord.

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Thinking of Prayer as Jesus Taught

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

May 26

Pray without ceasing… —1 Thessalonians 5:17

Our thinking about prayer, whether right or wrong, is based on our own mental conception of it. The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops. And we are not always conscious of Jesus keeping us in perfect oneness with God, but if we are obeying Him, He always is. Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing…”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.

Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer. He had the unlimited certainty of knowing that prayer is always answered. Do we have through the Spirit of God that inexpressible certainty that Jesus had about prayer, or do we think of the times when it seemed that God did not answer our prayer? Jesus said, “…everyone who asks receives…” (Matthew 7:8). Yet we say, “But…, but….” God answers prayer in the best way— not just sometimes, but every time. However, the evidence of the answer in the area we want it may not always immediately follow. Do we expect God to answer prayer?

The danger we have is that we want to water down what Jesus said to make it mean something that aligns with our common sense. But if it were only common sense, what He said would not even be worthwhile. The things Jesus taught about prayer are supernatural truths He reveals to us.

1 Chronicles 28-29; John 9:24-41

WISDOM FROM OSWALD

The Bible does not thrill; the Bible nourishes. Give time to the reading of the Bible and the recreating effect is as real as that of fresh air physically. 

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Reflections

Emmanuel-Lord with us. This is not just in the spiritual sense but in all manner or situations, even the times when we felt He’s not there, even when we don’t see Him. He is, with us, all the time.

Perhaps many have heard about the story about footprints. A man questioned the Lord as he only saw one set of footprints during the darkest moments of his life. Where were You? He asked. The Lord replied “my child, all these while you saw two sets of footprints as I am walking with you. But during the darkest moments of your life when you see only on set of footprints, is because I was carrying you.” Wow.. 

The first time I saw that story, I teared. Touched by His love for us all. Indeed He hears our every thought and every prayer. He walks with us, holds our hands or even carries us when we can’t do it on our own. The reliance is on Him.

So why does He want us to pray unceasingly? Because prayer is our direct line to the Lord. We don’t need to go through an operator to reach Him. He hears us and opens His doors to welcome us. He wishes for us to have this intimate relationship with Him, like the one between the father and the son. Where He can be like our friend, our soulmate or even what we sometimes called our BFF (Best Friends Forever). 

The Lord God Almighty, loving us as such, is a more than awesome thing that is happening to us all. May we not take this relationship for granted and always send in our prayers.

Let’s pray:

Dear Abba Father, help us to open our hearts to You like how You open Your hearts to us. Help us to seek You like how You seek us. Help us to be one with You like how You are One with the Father. We commit to pray without ceasing, both now and forever more. Amen 🙏🏻