Bible League: Living His Word All we like sheep have gone astray;We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The thing about sheep is that they tend to wander. They stray from the flock and from the care of the shepherd. It is not in their best interests to do this, but they do it anyway. Our verse for today tells us that people are like sheep. We wander from the people of God and from the care of the Lord. It is not in our best interests to do this, for we were made to belong to the people of God and we were made to be guided by the Lord, but we do it anyway. The primary difference between sheep and people is that sheep are not morally responsible for their wandering. We, on the other hand, are morally responsible. We have made conscious, irresponsible decisions to wander from the people of God and from the care of the Lord. It can rightfully be said of us that we have sinned and we are sinners. Instead of following the Lord and following His way, we have turned away and we have gone our own way. As a result of our sin, the Lord holds us accountable for our actions. Since we are morally responsible beings, it is perfectly just for the Lord to hold us to account. It is perfectly just for Him to punish us for our sin. The trouble with this is that if we had to pay the penalty for our sin we would have to continuously pay it for all eternity. This is because there is no way that we could ever change our sinful spiritual state on our own and return to a state of perfect righteousness before the Lord. Given this, the Lord decided to pay the penalty for us. He did not have to do this, but he did it anyway. God the Father laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all; and Jesus, God the Son, took upon Himself the responsibility of paying the penalty for our sin. As the Apostle Paul put it, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21). The Lord truly loves us. In order to bring us back into the fold, Jesus, God the Son, allowed Himself to be mocked, beaten, flogged, crucified, and pierced. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJob 7, 8, 9 Job 7 -- Job Declares His Life Seems Futile NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 8 -- Bildad Shows God's Justice to the Good NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 9 -- Job Acknowledges God's Justice NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 7:44-60 Acts 7 -- Stephen's Speech, Stoning and Death NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn't receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”Insight How can you “receive the Kingdom of God like a child”? Adults considering the Christian faith for the first time will have life experiences that take them way past the ability to be as innocent as children. Jesus does not ask us to put aside our experiences, but he does require a change of attitude: adult self-sufficiency must recognize its need for the sovereign God; adult moral defensiveness must humble itself before the holy God; and adult skeptical toughness must soften before the loving God. Children do not feel supremely powerful, perfectly righteous, or totally autonomous. These are adult fantasies. Challenge Coming to Jesus means to accept his goodness on your behalf, confess your need, and commit your life to his tender guidance. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon 2 Peter 1:4 Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.Vanish forever all thought of indulging the flesh if you would live in the power of your risen Lord. It were ill that a man who is alive in Christ should dwell in the corruption of sin. "Why seek ye the living among the dead?" said the angel to Magdalene. Should the living dwell in the sepulchre? Should divine life be immured in the charnel house of fleshly lust? How can we partake of the cup of the Lord and yet drink the cup of Belial? Surely, believer, from open lusts and sins you are delivered: have you also escaped from the more secret and delusive lime-twigs of the Satanic fowler? Have you come forth from the lust of pride? Have you escaped from slothfulness? Have you clean escaped from carnal security? Are you seeking day by day to live above worldliness, the pride of life, and the ensnaring vice of avarice? Remember, it is for this that you have been enriched with the treasures of God. If you be indeed the chosen of God, and beloved by him, do not suffer all the lavish treasure of grace to be wasted upon you. Follow after holiness; it is the Christian's crown and glory. An unholy church! it is useless to the world, and of no esteem among men. It is an abomination, hell's laughter, heaven's abhorrence. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church. O Christian, the vows of God are upon you. You are God's priest: act as such. You are God's king: reign over your lusts. You are God's chosen: do not associate with Belial. Heaven is your portion: live like a heavenly spirit, so shall you prove that you have true faith in Jesus, for there cannot be faith in the heart unless there be holiness in the life. "Lord, I desire to live as one Who bears a blood-bought name, As one who fears but grieving thee, And knows no other shame." Daily Light on the Daily Path Exodus 12:42 It is a night to be observed for the LORD for having brought them out from the land of Egypt; this night is for the LORD, to be observed by all the sons of Israel throughout their generations.1 Corinthians 11:23-25 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; • and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me." • In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." Luke 22:41,44 And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, • And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground. John 19:14,16-18 Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!" • So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified. • They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. • There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. 1 Corinthians 5:7,8 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. • Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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