Bible League: Living His Word We are still alive because the LORD’s faithful love never ends. Every morning he shows it in new ways! You are so very true and loyal!— Lamentations 3:22-23 ERV We’re still alive. We don’t deserve to be alive, but we still are. Like every human being that has ever lived, we deserve death and destruction for the sins we commit every day. Although we live in God’s world, depending upon His providential sustenance, we often act as if it was our world. Instead of submitting ourselves to the will and ways of the Lord, all too often we submit ourselves to the will and ways of Satan – the fallen angel and the ultimate rebel against the Lord. We’re still alive, but it’s not because of anything we’ve done. It’s because the Lord never gave up on His creation. In particular, and especially, He never gave up on us. We were the crown of His creation, made in His image. But we listened to Satan and fell from grace. Nevertheless, our great God made a way for us to get back into a proper relationship to Him. That’s why scripture says that His faithful love never ends. We’re still alive. If you take the time to look, you’ll see God’s faithfulness every day. Even in the morning, before the day gets started, God’s faithful love is evident. He kept us alive through the night, giving safety and rest. As the day moves along, He shows us even more that He has an eye on us at all times. How many times has He kept us from harm? How many times has He kept us from the accident that would sweep us away? The forces of Satan are always looking for ways to bring us down to the grave, but God keeps that from happening before its time. We’re still alive. Lord, it’s because you’re so very true and loyal! What would it be like if you weren’t that way? I don’t want to go there. I shudder even to think about it. Praise the Lord for His great faithfulness! Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEsther 1, 2, 3 Esther 1 -- The Banquets of Xerxes; Queen Vashti Deposed NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Esther 2 -- Esther Becomes Queen; Mordecai Thwarts a Conspiracy NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Esther 3 -- Haman Seeks Revenge on the Jews NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 5:1-16 Acts 5 -- Deaths of Ananias and Sapphira; Apostles Imprisoned, Released by an Angel; Gamaliel Speaks NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.Insight Jesus took time to pray. Challenge Finding time to pray is not easy, but prayer is the vital link between us and God. Like Jesus, we must break away from others to talk with God, even if we have to get up very early in the morning to do it! Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Psalm 45:2 Thou art fairer than the children of men.The entire person of Jesus is but as one gem, and his life is all along but one impression of the seal. He is altogether complete; not only in his several parts, but as a gracious all-glorious whole. His character is not a mass of fair colours mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious stones laid carelessly one upon another; he is a picture of beauty and a breastplate of glory. In him, all the "things of good repute" are in their proper places, and assist in adorning each other. Not one feature in his glorious person attracts attention at the expense of others; but he is perfectly and altogether lovely. Oh, Jesus! thy power, thy grace, thy justice, thy tenderness, thy truth, thy majesty, and thine immutability make up such a man, or rather such a God-man, as neither heaven nor earth hath seen elsewhere. Thy infancy, thy eternity, thy sufferings, thy triumphs, thy death, and thine immortality, are all woven in one gorgeous tapestry, without seam or rent. Thou art music without discord; thou art many, and yet not divided; thou art all things, and yet not diverse. As all the colours blend into one resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of heaven and earth meet in thee, and unite so wondrously, that there is none like thee in all things; nay, if all the virtues of the most excellent were bound in one bundle, they could not rival thee, thou mirror of all perfection. Thou hast been anointed with the holy oil of myrrh and cassia, which thy God hath reserved for thee alone; and as for thy fragrance, it is as the holy perfume, the like of which none other can ever mingle, even with the art of the apothecary; each spice is fragrant, but the compound is divine. "Oh, sacred symmetry! oh, rare connection Of many perfects, to make one perfection! Oh, heavenly music, where all parts do meet In one sweet strain, to make one perfect sweet!" Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Peter 2:21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,Mark 10:44,45 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. • "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Acts 10:38 "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:1 Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ-- I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent! Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; Luke 23:34 But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 1 John 2:6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 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. |