Bible League: Living His Word "Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."— Hosea 6:3 NIV When life goes on day to day with no extremes, it can be easy to ignore the Lord. But this passage calls us to something different. We should freely acknowledge that He matters to us and that He's the chief benefactor of our lives. After all, if He is what He says He is, you can't simply look past that. You have to acknowledge Him and give Him His due. Indeed, the Lord God of heaven and earth demands acknowledgment. Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God" (Psalm 14:1). We should, in fact, do more than acknowledge the Lord. We should press on to acknowledge Him. We should make it the top priority of our lives. We should set aside everything else until we have done it properly. You court trouble when you ignore the Lord. If you really think He's not needed, then you've taken a stand on shaky ground. Pressing on to the full acknowledgement of the Lord, in contrast, moves life forward. The full acknowledgement of the Lord leads to the blessings of the Lord. When we acknowledge the Lord, when we press on to acknowledge Him, then as "surely as the sun rises He will appear." That is, He will show up in our lives and be everything one could expect from the Lord God of heaven and earth. The Bible says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you" (James 4:8). On the other hand, the Bible says, "if we disown him, he will also disown us" (2 Timothy 2:12). If we acknowledge the Lord, then He will "come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." He will come to us with abundant blessings. He will come to us with everything that we need to flourish in life, rather than perish. Today, then, let us surrender our pride and press on to acknowledge the Lord. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingZechariah 13, 14 Zechariah 13 -- The Fountain of Cleansing for Jerusalem; Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Zechariah 14 -- The Destroyers of Jerusalem Destroyed; The Lord shall be king over all the earth NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 21 Revelation 21 -- The New Heaven and Earth; The New Jerusalem NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.Insight Sometimes it is difficult to forgive those who wrong us. Imagine how hard it would be to forgive everyone, no matter what they had done! Challenge This is what God has done in Jesus. No one, no matter what he or she has done, is beyond forgiveness. All a person has to do is turn from his or her sin, receive Christ's forgiveness, and commit his or her life to him. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Ecclesiastes 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.Look at David's Lord and Master; see his beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at his Father's right hand, expecting until his enemies be made his footstool. "As he is, so are we also in this world." You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you shall be like him, for you shall see him as he is. Be content to be like him, a worm and no man, that like him you may be satisfied when you wake up in his likeness. That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel of the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much--much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people; and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. "They shall be mine," saith the Lord, "in the day when I make up my jewels." "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Corinthians 1:8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.Colossians 1:21-23 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, • yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- • if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. Philippians 2:15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 2 Peter 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, Philippians 1:10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; Jude 1:24,25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, • to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. 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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