Re-Center Around God
Hebrews 13:15-16
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Pondering Point
God reveals that He is aware of everyone’s situation, especially those in difficult circumstances. Through Moses we are that told that "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing" (Deuteronomy 10:18).
Similar to Monday’s devotion saying that God gives to the Levites, here we see God giving food and clothing, loving the alien, and defending the cause of widows and orphans. Let’s review our lives in light of God giving to such people through us.
Review
Review your week: Have I enabled God to give food and clothing though me? Is God able to express love to aliens through me (not UFO types, but rather ex-patriots and immigrants)? Do I aid the cause of widows and orphans? How am I doing good and sharing with others?
Repent if Necessary
If these answers are “Yes” then praise God and hopefully those benefitting are thanking God as well. If the answers are “No” then apologize to God for your stingy nature.
Return (as necessary)
Either thank God for building such a generous spirit in you or ask God to help you become the generous soul He desires to see in you. A life if discipleship that lacks generosity will ring hollow. Pray for His guidance and a freely giving spirit to arise.
Sermon on the Mount Podcast
Episode 24
Does God Lead Us Into Temptation?
(Lord’s Prayer Pt. 5)
Many of us first learned the King James translation of the final, personal request in the Lord’s Prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” But does God actually lead us into temptation? In a motif that weaves throughout the Hebrew Bible, we see God allowing tests to strengthen His partnership with humans. When this motif picks up in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is the one experiencing testing. In this episode, Tim, Jon, and Michelle explore the theme of testing and temptation throughout the Bible and in the life of Jesus. From His own experience, Jesus teaches us to pray for protection from temptation and for rescue when it comes.
https://bibleproject.com/podcast/does-god-lead-us-temptation-lords-prayer-pt-5/
Micro-Meditation
Psalm 95:1-11
- Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. - Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song. - For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods. - In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him. - The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land. - Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; - for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today, if only you would hear his voice, - “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, - where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did. - For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’ - So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
Read the verses of the Psalm.
Mark the words or phrases that catch your attention.
Meditate: talk (or better, write) with God about those words. Ask Him to impress things upon your heart and mind; expect responses.
Teaching or Command of God
2 Corinthians 6:16
We are the temple of the living God. As God has said
“I will live with them and walk among them,
and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
The Promise
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Pondering Point
The call started with "come together and worship" – to "sing" and "make music". Now that call deepens to "bow down" and "kneel before the Lord". Think of it as intensifying the worship experience with a humbled-but-grateful spirit.