Bible League: Living His Word So we have been sent to speak for Christ. It is like God is calling to people through us. We speak for Christ when we beg you to be at peace with God.— 2 Corinthians 5:20 ERV There's a problem. The problem is the most fundamental problem in all of creation. If problem-solving is your thing, then this is the one you should concentrate on first. The problem is that the relationship between God, the Creator of all things, and humanity, the crown of His creation, has been damaged and disrupted by our sin against God. Consequently, instead of unity, there is opposition. We need a way to end the opposition and initiate peace. Aha! There is a way. God himself made a way to solve the problem. If you want to take advantage of the solution for yourself, then you must make use of the way God has provided. You can't just make up a new way or solve the problem on your own terms Where can you find the way? In Scripture. How can you understand the way? Preachers. God uses people who have already found the way to call to those who haven't. Such people are heralds of the way. What is the content of the call they make? The Gospel. They callpeople to be at peace with God by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus was perfect, but God placed our sin on Him and made Him pay the penalty by dying on the cross. If you accept this, then God places Jesus' perfection on you and ends His opposition to you (2 Corinthians 5:21). As you, the terms are generous. There's no penance to pay, no pilgrimage to make, and no moral perfection to achieve. If you accept the terms, if you accept Jesus and what He has done, then you will have taken advantage of the solution leading to peace with God. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 47, 48, 49 Psalm 47 -- Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph! NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 48 -- Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 49 -- Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 26 Acts 26 -- Paul's Defense Before Agrippa NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion So watch yourselves!“If another believer sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive. Even if that person wrongs you seven times a day and each time turns again and asks forgiveness, you must forgive.” Insight To rebuke does not mean to point out every sin we see; it means to bring sin to a person's attention with the purpose of restoring him or her to God and to fellow humans. Challenge When you feel you must rebuke another Christian for a sin, check your attitudes before you speak. Do you love the person? Are you willing to forgive? Unless rebuke is tied to forgiveness, it will not help the sinning person. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Psalm 113:8 That he may set him with princes.Our spiritual privileges are of the highest order. "Among princes" is the place of select society. "Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Speak of select society, there is none like this! "We are a chosen generation, a peculiar people, a royal priesthood." "We are come unto the general assembly and church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven." The saints have courtly audience: princes have admittance to royalty when common people must stand afar off. The child of God has free access to the inner courts of heaven. "For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." "Let us come boldly," says the apostle, "to the throne of the heavenly grace." Among princes there is abundant wealth, but what is the abundance of princes compared with the riches of believers? for "all things are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Princes have peculiar power. A prince of heaven's empire has great influence: he wields a sceptre in his own domain; he sits upon Jesus' throne, for "He hath made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall reign forever and ever." We reign over the united kingdom of time and eternity. Princes, again, have special honor. We may look down upon all earth-born dignity from the eminence upon which grace has placed us. For what is human grandeur to this, "He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"? We share the honor of Christ, and compared with this, earthly splendours are not worth a thought. Communion with Jesus is a richer gem than ever glittered in imperial diadem. Union with the Lord is a coronet of beauty outshining all the blaze of imperial pomp. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 97:12 Be glad in the LORD, you righteous ones, And give thanks to His holy name.Job 15:15,16 "Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, And the heavens are not pure in His sight; • How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, Man, who drinks iniquity like water! Job 25:5,6 "If even the moon has no brightness And the stars are not pure in His sight, • How much less man, that maggot, And the son of man, that worm!" Exodus 15:11 "Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? Isaiah 6:3 And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory." 1 Peter 1:15,16 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; • because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." Hebrews 12:10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 1 Corinthians 3:17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. 2 Peter 3:11,14 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, • Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, Ephesians 4:29,30 Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. • Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 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. |