Bible League: Living His Word LORD, you provide the flame for my lamp.You, God, turn the darkness around me into light. The situations we find ourselves in as human beings are not automatically clear to us. Like fish in a barrel or hamsters in a shoebox, we don't really understand where we are and what we should do. Apart from some help and explanation coming from the outside, we are lamps without flame, lost in the dark, and having no good idea of what direction to take forward. It shouldn't have been this way, but it is this way. We should have had some flame in our lamps, but we snuffed them out long ago. We've lost the ability to see our situations for what they are. We've lost our ability to light up the path before us and find our way. We act like we know the way, but we just stumble around in the darkness. We need help. We need help from the outside. We need help from above. We need someone or something to rekindle our lamps. David knew where to go to get his lamp rekindled. He knew that only God above could light the fire in him that would show the way forward. All the other options, all the other gods that people looked to for flame were dead embers that only darkened the darkness even more. Only the Spirit of God from above could fire up his soul with the wisdom and insight necessary to see through the darkness to the true meaning of his situation and to the way forward. It was for this reason that David became known as "the lamp of Israel." And it was so the lamp would never be extinguished that his men would not let him go to war anymore (II Samuel 21:17 NIV). When your lamp is rekindled, then people will gravitate to you. The lamp will turn the darkness around you into light and people will follow you because you know the way. People with the fire of the Spirit within them understand. They are wise. If you are a child of God, then you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8). Like David, your lamp has been fired up and you have the ability to see in the darkness. Perhaps you didn't realize this. Perhaps your sinful self was distracted by your situation. If you settle down and look within, however, you will find there the wisdom necessary to move forward. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingHosea 12, 13, 14 Hosea 12 -- Ephraim's Sins Provoke God NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Hosea 13 -- Ephraim's Idolatry; God's Anger and Judgment NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Hosea 14 -- Exhortation to Repentance and Promise of God's Blessing NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 3 Revelation 3 -- Messages to the Churches in Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.Insight Teaching was a highly valued and respected profession in Jewish culture, and many Jews who embraced Christianity wanted to become teachers. James warned that although it is good to aspire to teach, the teachers' responsibility is great because their words and example affect others' spiritual lives. Challenge If you are in a teaching or leadership role, how are you affecting those you lead? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Habakkuk 3:6 His ways are everlasting.What he hath done at one time, he will do yet again. Man's ways are variable, but God's ways are everlasting. There are many reasons for this most comforting truth: among them are the following--the Lord's ways are the result of wise deliberation; he ordereth all things according to the counsel of his own will. Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, and is followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by surprise, or happen otherwise than he has foreseen. His ways are the outgrowth of an immutable character, and in them the fixed and settled attributes of God are clearly to be seen. Unless the Eternal One himself can undergo change, his ways, which are himself in action, must remain forever the same. Is he eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise, tender?--then his ways must ever be distinguished for the same excellences. Beings act according to their nature: when those natures change, their conduct varies also; but since God cannot know the shadow of a turning, his ways will abide everlastingly the same. Moreover there is no reason from without which could reverse the divine ways, since they are the embodiment of irresistible might. The earth is said, by the prophet, to be cleft with rivers, mountains tremble, the deep lifts up its hands, and sun and moon stand still, when Jehovah marches forth for the salvation of his people. Who can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? But it is not might alone which gives stability; God's ways are the manifestation of the eternal principles of right, and therefore can never pass away. Wrong breeds decay and involves ruin, but the true and the good have about them a vitality which ages cannot diminish. This morning let us go to our heavenly Father with confidence, remembering that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him the Lord is ever gracious to his people. Daily Light on the Daily Path Zephaniah 3:15 The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more.Isaiah 41:10 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' Isaiah 35:3,4 Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. • Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you." Zephaniah 3:17 "The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy. Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. Revelation 21:3,4 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, • and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 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. |
Click for Video Devotionals     |