(Isaiah 40:25-31)
To whom can the holy God be compared?
Is there anyone else like him?
Look up the sky!
Who created the stars you see?
The one who leads them out like an army,
he knows how many there are and calls
each one by name!
His power is so great-
not one of them is ever missing!
Israel, why then do you complain
that the Lord doesn’t know your troubles
or care if you suffer injustice?
Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God;
He created all the world.
He never grows tired or weary.
No one understands his thoughts.
He strengthens those who are weak and tied.
Even those who are young grow weak;
young men can fall exhausted.
But those who trust in the Lord for help
will find their strength renewed.
They will rise on wings like eagles;
they will run and not get weary;
they will walk and not grow weak.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
13.1 The Just God Lives Forever
(Deuteronomy 32:36-41)
The Lord will rescue his people when he sees
that their strength is gone.
He will have mercy on those who serve him,
when he sees how helpless they are.
Then the Lord will ask his people,
“Where are those mighty gods you trusted?
You fed them the fat of your sacrifices
and offered them wine to drink.
Let them come and help you now;
let them run to your rescue.
“I, and I alone, am God; no other god is real.
I kill and I give life, I wound and I heal,
and no one can oppose what I do.
As surely as I am the living God,
I raise my hand and I vow that I will sharpen
my flashing sword
and see that justice is done.
I will take revenge on my enemies
and punish those who hate me.
The Lord will rescue his people when he sees
that their strength is gone.
He will have mercy on those who serve him,
when he sees how helpless they are.
Then the Lord will ask his people,
“Where are those mighty gods you trusted?
You fed them the fat of your sacrifices
and offered them wine to drink.
Let them come and help you now;
let them run to your rescue.
“I, and I alone, am God; no other god is real.
I kill and I give life, I wound and I heal,
and no one can oppose what I do.
As surely as I am the living God,
I raise my hand and I vow that I will sharpen
my flashing sword
and see that justice is done.
I will take revenge on my enemies
and punish those who hate me.
12.4 The Righteous Will Flourish
(Psalm 92)
How good it is to give thanks to you, O Lord,
to sing in your honor, O Most High God,
to proclaim your constant love every morning
and your faithfulness every night,
with the music of stringed instruments
and with the melody on the harp.
Your mighty deeds, O Lord, make me glad;
because of what you have done, I sing for joy.
How great are you actions, Lord!
How deep are your thoughts!
This is something a fool cannot know;
a stupid man cannot understand:
the wicked may grow like weeds,
those who do wrong may prosper;
yet they will be totally destroyed,
because you, Lord, are supreme forever.
We know that your enemies will die,
and all the wicked will be defeated.
You have made me a strong as a wild ox;
you have blessed me with happiness.
I have seen the defeat of my enemies
and heard the cries of the wicked.
The righteous will flourish like palm trees;
they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon.
They are like trees planted in the house of the Lord,
that flourish in the Temple of our God,
that still bear fruit in old age
and are always green and strong.
This shows that the Lord is just,
that there is no wrong in my protector.
How good it is to give thanks to you, O Lord,
to sing in your honor, O Most High God,
to proclaim your constant love every morning
and your faithfulness every night,
with the music of stringed instruments
and with the melody on the harp.
Your mighty deeds, O Lord, make me glad;
because of what you have done, I sing for joy.
How great are you actions, Lord!
How deep are your thoughts!
This is something a fool cannot know;
a stupid man cannot understand:
the wicked may grow like weeds,
those who do wrong may prosper;
yet they will be totally destroyed,
because you, Lord, are supreme forever.
We know that your enemies will die,
and all the wicked will be defeated.
You have made me a strong as a wild ox;
you have blessed me with happiness.
I have seen the defeat of my enemies
and heard the cries of the wicked.
The righteous will flourish like palm trees;
they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon.
They are like trees planted in the house of the Lord,
that flourish in the Temple of our God,
that still bear fruit in old age
and are always green and strong.
This shows that the Lord is just,
that there is no wrong in my protector.
12.3 My Time Has Come. I Ran The Race, I Kept The Faith
(2 Timothy 4:6-8)
As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life. I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. And now there is waiting for me the prize of victory awarded for a righteous life, the prize which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day- and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.
As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life. I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith. And now there is waiting for me the prize of victory awarded for a righteous life, the prize which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day- and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.
12.2 We Should Always Be Ready
(1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)
There is no need to write you, brothers, about the times and occasions when these things will happen. For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. When people say, “Everything is quiet and safe,” then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober. It is at night when people sleep; it is at night they get drunk. But we belong to the day, and we should sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet. God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to posses salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.
There is no need to write you, brothers, about the times and occasions when these things will happen. For you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief comes at night. When people say, “Everything is quiet and safe,” then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, and the Day should not take you by surprise like a thief. All of you are people who belong to the light, who belong to the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, we should not be sleeping like the others; we should be awake and sober. It is at night when people sleep; it is at night they get drunk. But we belong to the day, and we should sober. We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet. God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to posses salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us in order that we might live together with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. And so encourage one another and help one another, just as you are now doing.
12.1 Be Alert, You Do Not Know The Hour
(Mark 13:32-37)
“No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come- neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son: only the Father knows. Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come. It will be like a man who goes away from home on a trip and leaves his servants in charge, after giving to each one his own work to do and after telling the doorkeeper to keep watch. Watch, then, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming- it might be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or at sunrise. If he comes suddenly, he must not find you asleep. What I say to you, then, I say to all. Watch!”
“No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come- neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son: only the Father knows. Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come. It will be like a man who goes away from home on a trip and leaves his servants in charge, after giving to each one his own work to do and after telling the doorkeeper to keep watch. Watch, then, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming- it might be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or at sunrise. If he comes suddenly, he must not find you asleep. What I say to you, then, I say to all. Watch!”
11.4 I Rejoice Because I Go To The House Of The Lord
(Psalm 122)
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the Lord’s house.”
And now we are here,
standing inside the gates of Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is a city restored
in beautiful order and harmony.
This is where the tribes come,
the tribes of Israel,
to give thanks to the Lord
according to his command.
Here the kings of Israel
sat to judge their people.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you prosper.
May there be peace inside your walls
and safety in your palaces.”
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I say to Jerusalem, “Peace be with you!”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God
I pray for your prosperity.
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the Lord’s house.”
And now we are here,
standing inside the gates of Jerusalem!
Jerusalem is a city restored
in beautiful order and harmony.
This is where the tribes come,
the tribes of Israel,
to give thanks to the Lord
according to his command.
Here the kings of Israel
sat to judge their people.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you prosper.
May there be peace inside your walls
and safety in your palaces.”
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I say to Jerusalem, “Peace be with you!”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God
I pray for your prosperity.
11.3 Our Citizenship Is In Heaven; There Our Body Will Be Glorified
(Philippians 3:17-21)
Keep on imitating me, my brothers. Pay attention to those who follow the example that we have set for you. I have told you this many times before, and now I repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ’s death on the cross. They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world. We however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.
Keep on imitating me, my brothers. Pay attention to those who follow the example that we have set for you. I have told you this many times before, and now I repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ’s death on the cross. They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world. We however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven. He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
11.2 Life Means Christ, So Dying Is A Gain
(Philippians 1:20-26)
My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail in my duty, but that at all times, and especially right now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For what is life? To me, it is Christ. Death, then, will bring more. But if by continuing to live I can do more worthwhile work, then I am not sure which I should choose. I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing; but for your sake it is much more important that I remain alive. I am sure of this, and so I know that I will stay. I will stay on with you all, to add to your progress and joy in the faith, so that when I am with you again, you will have even more reason to be proud of me in your life in union with Christ Jesus.
My deep desire and hope is that I shall never fail in my duty, but that at all times, and especially right now, I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For what is life? To me, it is Christ. Death, then, will bring more. But if by continuing to live I can do more worthwhile work, then I am not sure which I should choose. I am pulled in two directions. I want very much to leave this life and be with Christ, which is a far better thing; but for your sake it is much more important that I remain alive. I am sure of this, and so I know that I will stay. I will stay on with you all, to add to your progress and joy in the faith, so that when I am with you again, you will have even more reason to be proud of me in your life in union with Christ Jesus.
11.1 Dead or Alive, We Belong To God
(Romans 14:7-11)
None of us lives for himself only, none of us dies for himself only. If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead. You then, who eat only vegetables – why do you pass judgment on you brother? And you who eat anything – why do you despise you brother? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him. For the scriptures says,
None of us lives for himself only, none of us dies for himself only. If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead. You then, who eat only vegetables – why do you pass judgment on you brother? And you who eat anything – why do you despise you brother? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him. For the scriptures says,
“As surely as I am the living God, says the Lord,
everyone will kneel before me,
and everyone will confess that I am God.”
everyone will kneel before me,
and everyone will confess that I am God.”
10.4 God’s Eternity And Men’s Frailty
(Psalm 90:1-12)
O Lord, you have always been our home.
Before you created the hills or brought the world
into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.
You tell man to return to what he was;
you change him back to dust.
A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.
You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,
that grow and burst into bloom,
then dry up and die in the evening.
We are destroyed by you anger;
we are terrified by your fury.
You place our sins before you,
our secret sins where you can see them.
Our life is cut short by your anger;
it fades away like a whisper.
Seventy years is all we have –
eighty years, if we are strong;
Yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.
Who has felt the full power of your anger?
Who knows what fear your fury can bring?
Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.
O Lord, you have always been our home.
Before you created the hills or brought the world
into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.
You tell man to return to what he was;
you change him back to dust.
A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.
You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,
that grow and burst into bloom,
then dry up and die in the evening.
We are destroyed by you anger;
we are terrified by your fury.
You place our sins before you,
our secret sins where you can see them.
Our life is cut short by your anger;
it fades away like a whisper.
Seventy years is all we have –
eighty years, if we are strong;
Yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.
Who has felt the full power of your anger?
Who knows what fear your fury can bring?
Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.
10.3 The End Victory Is God’s
(1 Corinthians 15:52-58)
When the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die. So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”
“Where, Death, is your victory?
Where, Death, is your power to hurt?”
Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets it power from the Law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
So then, my dear brothers, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.
When the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die. So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”
“Where, Death, is your victory?
Where, Death, is your power to hurt?”
Death gets its power to hurt from sin, and sin gets it power from the Law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
So then, my dear brothers, stand firm and steady. Keep busy always in your work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever useless.
10.2 Now An Earthy Tent, Later An Eternal Home
(2 Corinthians 5:1-10)
For we know that when this tent we live in- our body here on earth- is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live, a home he himself has made, which will last forever. And now we sigh, so great is our desire that our home which comes from heaven should be put on over us; by being clothed with it we shall not be without a body. While we live in this earthly tent, we groan with a felling oppression; it is not that we want to get rid of our earthly body, but that we want to have the heavenly one put on over us, so that what is mortal will be transformed by life. God is the one who has prepared us for this change, and he gave us his Spirit as the guarantee of all that he has in store for us.
So we are always full of courage. We know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord’s home. For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight. We are full of courage and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and be at home with the Lord. More than anything else, however, we want to please him, whether in our home here or there. For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by him. Each one will receive what he deserves, according to everything he has done, good or bad, in his bodily life.
For we know that when this tent we live in- our body here on earth- is torn down, God will have a house in heaven for us to live, a home he himself has made, which will last forever. And now we sigh, so great is our desire that our home which comes from heaven should be put on over us; by being clothed with it we shall not be without a body. While we live in this earthly tent, we groan with a felling oppression; it is not that we want to get rid of our earthly body, but that we want to have the heavenly one put on over us, so that what is mortal will be transformed by life. God is the one who has prepared us for this change, and he gave us his Spirit as the guarantee of all that he has in store for us.
So we are always full of courage. We know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord’s home. For our life is a matter of faith, not of sight. We are full of courage and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and be at home with the Lord. More than anything else, however, we want to please him, whether in our home here or there. For all of us must appear before Christ, to be judged by him. Each one will receive what he deserves, according to everything he has done, good or bad, in his bodily life.
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