Bible League: Living His Word "Be still, and know that I am God!I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world." Many nations of the earth rise up and take their places in the compendium of nations. They move forward motivated by their own plans and policies and in the strength of their own national fervor. They think that everything is decided in their own capitals. They think that everything is up to their own leaders. Their gods are designed to ratify their plans and policies, rather than initiate them. They never stop to question the righteousness of their cause. They pay no heed to, and have no respect for the will of the God of heaven and earth. Many individuals also rise up and take their places in the annals of human achievement. They move forward motivated by their own desires and goals and in the strength of their own fleshly zeal. They think that everything is up to them. They think that everything is in their own hands. Their gods are the ones best suited to serve them, rather than the other way around. They never stop to question the motivations of their hearts. They pay no heed to, and have no respect for the will of the God of heaven and earth. Into this maelstrom of individual and societal pride and self-centeredness the true God of heaven and earth speaks: "Be still, and know that I am God!" Stop moving forward in accordance with your own thoughts and initiatives and in the strength of your own might and achievement. Get quiet and listen. The God of heaven and earth has something to say. If you fail to listen, the consequences will be disastrous. For He will be honored by every nation, whether they want to or not. Indeed, He will be honored throughout the whole world. You can't decide for God what you want to hear from Him. Rather, you must exit the tumult and turmoil of the self-motivated and self-aggrandizing world we live in and get quiet and listen. You must stop speaking your own mind and start listening for the mind of God. What does He have to say? What does He want you to do? Today, spend some time before God just listening. Even if He does not say something at the moment, He will in due time because you have honored Him by paying attention. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEsther 4, 5, 6 Esther 4 -- Mordecai Informs Esther of Haman's Plot NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Esther 5 -- Esther Prepares a Banquet; Haman's Rage NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Esther 6 -- The King Honors Mordecai, Haman Compelled to do so NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 5:17-42 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 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”Insight Some people in the crowd were looking for evidence to use against Jesus; others truly wanted to learn and grow. Jesus' words were for the honest seekers. Challenge We hear with our ears, but there is a deeper kind of listening with the mind and heart that is necessary in order to gain spiritual understanding from Jesus' words. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Zechariah 6:13 He shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory.Christ himself is the builder of his spiritual temple, and he has built it on the mountains of his unchangeable affection, his omnipotent grace, and his infallible truthfulness. But as it was in Solomon's temple, so in this; the materials need making ready. There are the "Cedars of Lebanon," but they are not framed for the building; they are not cut down, and shaped, and made into those planks of cedar, whose odoriferous beauty shall make glad the courts of the Lord's house in Paradise. There are also the rough stones still in the quarry, they must be hewn thence, and squared. All this is Christ's own work. Each individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready for his place in the temple; but Christ's own hand performs the preparation-work. Afflictions cannot sanctify, excepting as they are used by him to this end. Our prayers and efforts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand of Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts aright. As in the building of Solomon's temple, "there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house," because all was brought perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to occupy--so is it with the temple which Jesus builds; the making ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction, no planing us with suffering. No, we must be made meet here--all that Christ will do beforehand; and when he has done it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream of death, and brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, to abide as eternal pillars in the temple of our Lord. "Beneath his eye and care, The edifice shall rise, Majestic, strong, and fair, And shine above the skies." Daily Light on the Daily Path Colossians 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.Romans 6:2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 2 Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. John 17:21 that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. 1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it. John 14:19 "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. Revelation 2:17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.' 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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