Bible League: Living His Word He made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. It is not an agreement of written laws, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.Paul had been called by God to be a servant or herald of an agreement or covenant between God and His people. This covenant was a new agreement. The old covenant no longer applied, the new covenant was in force, and Paul was called to be a herald of the new covenant God had made from Himself to His people. It was necessary for heralds like Paul to do this, because people needed to become aware of the new covenant God had put in place. People needed to start living life in terms of the new covenant, instead of the old. The new covenant was not like the old covenant. The old covenant was a covenant of written laws. Under the terms of the old covenant, the people of God were required to obey a large number of laws. The problem with this was that the people were not able to keep the laws. Even worse, the penalty for not obeying the laws was often death. That's why Paul could say that "the written law brings death." The new covenant, on the other hand, is a better covenant. Instead of a covenant of written laws, the new covenant is a covenant of the Spirit. Under the terms of the new covenant, the Holy Spirit is given to those who place faith in Jesus Christ and the Spirit empowers and enables them to be and do everything God wants of them. The people of God, in other words, are given the life giving power of the Holy Spirit. That's why Paul can say that the "Spirit gives life." Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of the true heralds of the gospel like Paul, the people of God often live life as if some form of the old covenant is still in force. That is, they sometimes act as if they must be obedient to a set of laws – or else. Instead of relying on the Holy Spirit to empower and enable them in life, they rely on their own strength and ability to obey laws. The old covenant, however, does not apply anymore. Today, then, turn to the life-giving power of the Spirit. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEzra 9, 10 Ezra 9 -- Ezra's Prayer About Intermarriage NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezra 10 -- The People Confess; Listing of Those Guilty of Intermarriage NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 1 Acts 1 -- The Ascension; Matthias Chosen by Lot NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.Insight The possibility of losing their lives was very real for the disciples as well as for Jesus. Real discipleship implies real commitment—pledging our whole existence to his service. Challenge If we try to save our physical life from death, pain, or discomfort, we may risk losing our true eternal life. If we protect ourselves from pain, we begin to die spiritually and emotionally. Our lives turn inward, and we lose our intended purpose. When we give our lives in service to Christ, however, we discover the real purpose of living. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Genesis 21:6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.It was far above the power of nature, and even contrary to its laws, that the aged Sarah should be honored with a son; and even so it is beyond all ordinary rules that I, a poor, helpless, undone sinner, should find grace to bear about in my soul the indwelling Spirit of the Lord Jesus. I, who once despaired, as well I might, for my nature was as dry, and withered, and barren, and accursed as a howling wilderness, even I have been made to bring forth fruit unto holiness. Well may my mouth be filled with joyous laughter, because of the singular, surprising grace which I have received of the Lord, for I have found Jesus, the promised seed, and he is mine forever. This day will I lift up psalms of triumph unto the Lord who has remembered my low estate, for "my heart rejoiceth in the Lord; mine horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation." I would have all those that hear of my great deliverance from hell, and my most blessed visitation from on high, laugh for joy with me. I would surprise my family with my abundant peace; I would delight my friends with my ever-increasing happiness; I would edify the Church with my grateful confessions; and even impress the world with the cheerfulness of my daily conversation. Bunyan tells us that Mercy laughed in her sleep, and no wonder when she dreamed of Jesus; my joy shall not stop short of hers while my Beloved is the theme of my daily thoughts. The Lord Jesus is a deep sea of joy: my soul shall dive therein, shall be swallowed up in the delights of his society. Sarah looked on her Isaac, and laughed with excess of rapture, and all her friends laughed with her; and thou, my soul, look on thy Jesus, and bid heaven and earth unite in thy joy unspeakable. Daily Light on the Daily Path Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.Psalm 131:1,2 A Song of Ascents, of David. O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. • Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me. Psalm 25:14 The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant. Daniel 2:28 "However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. Job 26:14 "Behold, these are the fringes of His ways; And how faint a word we hear of Him! But His mighty thunder, who can understand?" John 15:15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 14:15-17 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. • "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; • that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. 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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