Bible League: Living His Word "But forget all that--it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. You have seen victories in the past. Trials, troubles, and tribulations came their way, but the LORD saw you through them to a place of victory. Like the ancient Israelites, you had your back up against a wall on more than one occasion, but the LORD opened up ways for you where there were no ways and the people causing trouble for you disappeared like Pharaoh's army under the waves. "But," say our verses for today, "forget all that." The LORD is about to do something new in your life that will make the victories that came before seem like nothing. The troubles are many and the enemies are strong, but the LORD is about to go into action on your behalf in ways you never thought or imagined were possible. Indeed, the approaching victory is already there on the horizon. Can't you see it? Is there something wrong with your eyes? The LORD has already begun to create the conditions necessary for you to come through what seemed like a permanent dead end, a permanent banishment to a dry and waterless desert. Look up, see, and take heart! You held on to your faith, you have not given up hope, and the LORD has decided that the time has come to show you the way out of all the problems. There will be a pathway you can follow so you won't get lost and there will be rivers to refresh you as you walk along. Then you will come to the end of the pathway and the victory will be yours in all its fullness. Your heart will soar as you marvel at the power and goodness of the LORD. Your friends and family will rejoice with you and give glory to God. And you will honor Him by proclaiming to everyone who will listen that there is nothing too hard for the LORD (Genesis 18:14). Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingNumbers 19, 20, 21 Numbers 19 -- The Red Heifer and Water of Cleansing NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Numbers 20 -- The Water of Meribah; Edom Denies Passage; Deaths of Miriam and Aaron NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Numbers 21 -- Defeats of Arad, Sihon and Og; The Bronze Snake NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Mark 7 Mark 7 -- Clean and Unclean; the Heart of Man; Healing of a Syrophoenician Woman and a Deaf Mute Man NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion I lie awake thinking of you,meditating on you through the night. Insight During sleepless, uncomfortable nights, David thought about God. Instead of counting sheep, he meditated on his Shepherd. He reviewed all the ways God had already helped him, and he greeted the next day with songs of praise. Challenge In quiet moments or wakeful nights, make it a point to count examples of God's faithfulness to you. Doing so is far more likely to give you rest than any other items you might count! Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Micah 5:2 Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlastingThe Lord Jesus had goings forth for his people as their representative before the throne, long before they appeared upon the stage of time. It was "from everlasting" that he signed the compact with his Father, that he would pay blood for blood, suffering for suffering, agony for agony, and death for death, in the behalf of his people; it was "from everlasting" that he gave himself up without a murmuring word. That from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot he might sweat great drops of blood, that he might be spit upon, pierced, mocked, rent asunder, and crushed beneath the pains of death. His goings forth as our Surety were from everlasting. Pause, my soul, and wonder! Thou hast goings forth in the person of Jesus "from everlasting." Not only when thou wast born into the world did Christ love thee, but his delights were with the sons of men before there were any sons of men. Often did he think of them; from everlasting to everlasting he had set his affection upon them. What! my soul, has he been so long about thy salvation, and will not he accomplish it? Has he from everlasting been going forth to save me, and will he lose me now? What! Has he carried me in his hand, as his precious jewel, and will he now let me slip from between his fingers? Did he choose me before the mountains were brought forth, or the channels of the deep were digged, and will he reject me now? Impossible! I am sure he would not have loved me so long if he had not been a changeless Lover. If he could grow weary of me, he would have been tired of me long before now. If he had not loved me with a love as deep as hell, and as strong as death, he would have turned from me long ago. Oh, joy above all joys, to know that I am his everlasting and inalienable inheritance, given to him by his Father or ever the earth was! Everlasting love shall be the pillow for my head this night. Daily Light on the Daily Path James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.John 8:10,11 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" • She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more." Romans 5:15,16 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. • The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, • even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), • and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, • so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 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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