Bible League: Living His Word Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint;but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction. People need revelation from God. Jesus said, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4). This revelation may be the authoritative revelation that is written down in the Bible and that speaks to everyone who reads it and hears it, or it may be the more personal revelations God gives people in order to guide them through life. Indeed, we need every form of God's revelation so that we will live the lives God wants us to live. How could we live the lives God wants us to live if He never communicated to us in any way? People who do not heed God's revelation are in a sorry state. Our verse for today says that they "cast off restraint." Instead of following the will of God revealed to them, they follow their own way. They are the sheep that Isaiah said have gone astray, each of them turning to their own way (Isaiah 53:6). There is nothing holding them back. There is nothing keeping them from the inevitable destruction that must follow. After all, one does not defy the Lord God of heaven and earth with impunity. There are consequences for disobedience. If we give heed to God's revelation, if we give heed to the wisdom that comes from above, then we will be blessed. How could it be otherwise? God is the sovereign ruler over all things. If we give heed to His wisdom and instruction, we will have gotten ourselves in line with the way that He has set up the world; we will have gotten in harmony with that which promotes life and blessedness. Further, God will be pleased with us for having sought His will – and God is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). What has God been saying to you lately? What have you taken away from the Bible passages you have read? What personal revelation has He given you? Maybe He has spoken personally to you through the very Bible passages you have read. Whatever form it took, God is revealing His will and His ways. He is sending you "wisdom's instruction." Take heed today and be blessed. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 36, 37 Psalm 36 -- There is no fear of God before his eyes. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 37 -- David's Psalm of Salvation (1Ki 2) NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 23:1-11 Acts 23 -- Paul before the Sanhedrin; Warned of Plot; Transferred to Caesarea NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.Insight Our true value is God's estimate of our worth, not our peers'. Other people evaluate and categorize us according to how we perform, what we achieve, and how we look. Challenge But God cares for us, as he does for all of his creatures, because we belong to him. So we can face life without fear. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon John 19:5 Behold the man!If there be one place where our Lord Jesus most fully becomes the joy and comfort of his people, it is where he plunged deepest into the depths of woe. Come hither, gracious souls, and behold the man in the garden of Gethsemane; behold his heart so brimming with love that he cannot hold it in--so full of sorrow that it must find a vent. Behold the bloody sweat as it distils from every pore of his body, and falls upon the ground. Behold the man as they drive the nails into his hands and feet. Look up, repenting sinners, and see the sorrowful image of your suffering Lord. Mark him, as the ruby drops stand on the thorn-crown, and adorn with priceless gems the diadem of the King of Misery. Behold the man when all his bones are out of joint, and he is poured out like water and brought into the dust of death; God hath forsaken him, and hell compasseth him about. Behold and see, was there ever sorrow like unto his sorrow that is done unto him? All ye that pass by draw near and look upon this spectacle of grief, unique, unparalleled, a wonder to men and angels, a prodigy unmatched. Behold the Emperor of Woe who had no equal or rival in his agonies! Gaze upon him, ye mourners, for if there be not consolation in a crucified Christ there is no joy in earth or heaven. If in the ransom price of his blood there be not hope, ye harps of heaven, there is no joy in you, and the right hand of God shall know no pleasures for evermore. We have only to sit more continually at the cross foot to be less troubled with our doubts and woes. We have but to see his sorrows, and our sorrows we shall be ashamed to mention. We have but to gaze into his wounds and heal our own. If we would live aright it must be by the contemplation of his death; if we would rise to dignity, it must be by considering his humiliation and his sorrow. Daily Light on the Daily Path Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.John 15:4,5 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. • "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, John 15:8-10 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. • "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. • "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 1 John 2:5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: John 15:12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 1 John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 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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