From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Evening ...
Jeremiah 32:17
Ah Lord God, behold, Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power
and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.
At the very time when the Chaldeans surrounded Jerusalem, and when the sword,
famine and pestilence had desolated the land, Jeremiah was commanded by God to
purchase a field, and have the deed of transfer legally sealed and witnessed.
This was a strange purchase for a rational man to make. Prudence could not
justify it, for it was buying with scarcely a probability that the person
purchasing could ever enjoy the possession. But it was enough for Jeremiah that
his God had bidden him, for well he knew that God will be justified of all His
children. He reasoned thus: "Ah, Lord God! Thou canst make this plot of ground
of use to me; Thou canst rid this land of these oppressors; Thou canst make me
yet sit under my vine and my fig-tree in the heritage which I have bought; for
Thou didst make the heavens and the earth, and there is nothing too hard for
Thee." This gave a majesty to the early saints, that they dared to do at God's
command things which carnal reason would condemn. Whether it be a Noah who is
to build a ship on dry land, an Abraham who is to offer up his only son, or a
Moses who is to despise the treasures of Egypt, or a Joshua who is to besiege
Jericho seven days, using no weapons but the blasts of rams' horns, they all
act upon God's command, contrary to the dictates of carnal reason; and the Lord
gives them a rich reward as the result of their obedient faith. Would to God we
had in the religion of these modern times a more potent infusion of this heroic
faith in God. If we would venture more upon the naked promise of God, we should
enter a world of wonders to which as yet we are strangers. Let Jeremiah's place
of confidence be ours-nothing is too hard for the God that created the heavens
and the earth.
Morning ...
Zechariah 14:8
In summer and in winter shall it be.
The streams of living water which flow from Jerusalem are not dried up by the
parching heats of sultry midsummer any more than they were frozen by the cold
winds of blustering winter. Rejoice, O my soul, that thou art spared to testify
of the faithfulness of the Lord. The seasons change and thou changest, but thy
Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of His love are as deep, as
broad and as full as ever. The heats of business cares and scorching trials
make me need the cooling influences of the river of His grace; I may go at once
and drink to the full from the inexhaustible fountain, for in summer and in
winter it pours forth its flood. The upper springs are never scanty, and
blessed be the name of the Lord, the nether springs cannot fail either. Elijah
found Cherith dry up, but Jehovah was still the same God of providence. Job
said his brethren were like deceitful brooks, but he found his God an
overflowing river of consolation. The Nile is the g reat confidence of Egypt,
but its floods are variable; our Lord is evermore the same. By turning the
course of the Euphrates, Cyrus took the city of Babylon, but no power, human or
infernal, can divert the current of divine grace. The tracks of ancient rivers
have been found all dry and desolate, but the streams which take their rise on
the mountains of divine sovereignty and infinite love shall ever be full to the
brim. Generations melt away, but the course of grace is unaltered. The river of
God may sing with greater truth than the brook in the poem--
"Men may come, and men may go,
But I go on for ever."
How happy art thou, my soul, to be led beside such still waters! never wander
to other streams, lest thou hear the Lord's rebuke, "What hast thou to do in
the way of Egypt to drink of the muddy river?"
Ephesians 6:1-3
(1) Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. (2) Honour
thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; (3) That it
may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
The command to honor parents applies to all of us all our lives. But
here, as in Colossians 3:20, children should obey their parents in all things
"in the Lord."
The apostle is not saying a child must break the Ten Commandments if a
parent orders him to so. Children should obey "in the Lord," that is, obey
commands that agree with the will of God. Most younger children cannot grasp
whether a parental order conforms to God's will. But as they age, they need to
understand that they, too, are under the authority of the living Christ.
Though parents have a huge part in starting children off on the right
foot regarding this commandment, the greater responsibility for keeping it
rests with the child. At some point, children need to realize that their
submission to parents is an act of faith in Christ. Their required obedience is
not based on any arbitrary power held by parents but on a higher law to which
parents are also subject. Parents have a primary responsibility to teach their
children to discipline, govern, or control themselves under God's law. Children
must learn that they cannot always do what they want when they want, or have
what they want when they want it.
Keeping this commandment brings great benefits, as Paul reminds us in
Ephesians 6:2, "which is the first commandment with promise." The promise of
blessing for keeping it is written right into the commandment! God promises,
"That it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth."
This blessing has at least two parts. Obedience to parental admonitions,
gained from years of experience living in this difficult and dangerous world,
results in the building of knowledge, character, and habits of avoiding
recklessness, lawlessness, violence, wrong companionships, and rebellion
against authority. These often result in untimely and violent death at a young
age. Virtually every year this comes to the fore when statistics show that
accidents are our children's number one killer.
The second and ultimate meaning is that, in honoring our spiritual
Father, God, we receive spiritual blessings far above long physical life. From
the loving relationship between God and his child will arise eternal life,
which God will give as a gift to a son who pleases Him.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Fifth Commandment
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daily devotional
Evening ...
Genesis 3:8
The voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
My soul, now that the cool of the day has come, retire awhile and hearken to
the voice of thy God. He is always ready to speak with thee when thou art
prepared to hear. If there be any slowness to commune it is not on His part,
but altogether on thine own, for He stands at the door and knocks, and if His
people will but open He rejoices to enter. But in what state is my heart, which
is my Lord's garden? May I venture to hope that it is well trimmed and watered,
and is bringing forth fruit fit for Him? If not, He will have much to reprove,
but still I pray Him to come unto me, for nothing can so certainly bring my
heart into a right condition as the presence of the Sun of Righteousness, who
brings healing in His wings. Come, therefore, O Lord, my God, my soul invites
Thee earnestly, and waits for Thee eagerly. Come to me, O Jesus, my
well-beloved, and plant fresh flowers in my garden, such as I see blooming in
such perfection in Thy matchless character! Come, O my Father, who art the
Husbandman, and deal with me in Thy tenderness and prudence! Come, O Holy
Spirit, and bedew my whole nature, as the herbs are now moistened with the
evening dews. O that God would speak to me. Speak, Lord, for Thy servant
heareth! O that He would walk with me; I am ready to give up my whole heart and
mind to Him, and every other thought is hushed. I am only asking what He
delights to give. I am sure that He will condescend to have fellowship with me,
for He has given me His Holy Spirit to abide with me for ever. Sweet is the
cool twilight, when every star seems like the eye of heaven, and the cool wind
is as the breath of celestial love. My Father, my elder Brother, my sweet
Comforter, speak now in lovingkindness, for Thou hast opened mine ear and I am
not rebellious.
Morning ...
Psalm 33:21
Our heart shall rejoice in Him.
Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress;
although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they
sing best in their cages. The waves may roll over them, but their souls soon
rise to the surface and see the light of God's countenance; they have a
buoyancy about them which keeps their head always above the water, and helps
them to sing amid the tempest, "God is with me still." To whom shall the glory
be given? Oh! to Jesus-it is all by Jesus. Trouble does not necessarily bring
consolation with it to the believer, but the presence of the Son of God in the
fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy. He is sick and suffering, but
Jesus visits him and makes his bed for him. He is dying, and the cold chilly
waters of Jordan are gathering about him up to the neck, but Jesus puts His
arms around him, and cries, "Fear not, beloved; to die is to be blessed; the
waters of death have their fountain-head in heaven; they are not bitter, they
are sweet as nectar, for they flow from the throne of God." As the departing
saint wades through the stream, and the billows gather around him, and heart
and flesh fail him, the same voice sounds in his ears, "Fear not; I am with
thee; be not dismayed; I am thy God." As he nears the borders of the infinite
unknown, and is almost affrighted to enter the realm of shades, Jesus says,
"Fear not, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." Thus
strengthened and consoled, the believer is not afraid to die; nay, he is even
willing to depart, for since he has seen Jesus as the morning star, he longs to
gaze upon Him as the sun in his strength. Truly, the presence of Jesus is all
the heaven we desire. He is at once
"The glory of our brightest days;
The comfort of our nights."
a..
Synd
Leviticus 23:10-16
(10) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest
thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto
the priest: (11) And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted
for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. (12) And ye
shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the
first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. (13) And the meat offering
thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering
made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savor: and the drink offering thereof
shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. (14) And ye shall eat neither
bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have
brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout
your generations in all your dwellings. (15) And ye shall count unto you from
the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the
wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: (16) Even unto the morrow
after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new
meat offering unto the LORD.
Following the basic instructions about Pentecost's location
on the calendar in Leviticus 23:10-16, we find that when Israel came into
Canaan, they were to count beginning with the day following a Sabbath. Without
further instruction, there could be a whole year's worth of Sabbaths to choose
from! However, within Leviticus 23, the annual Sabbaths are arranged
chronologically beginning with Nisan (also called Abib). This, combined with
information obtained from other portions of the Bible, has led all concerned to
conclude that the Sabbath in question is early in the year, located near the
beginning of a spring harvest, and is one of three within the Days of
Unleavened Bread. The church of God and the various sects of the Jews are in
agreement on this.
The count is to continue fifty days with the fiftieth day
being the Day of Pentecost. As a Greek word, the name Pentecost does not appear
in the Old Testament, only in the New, and it means "fiftieth." In the Old
Testament, Pentecost is called "the Feast of Weeks" or "the Feast of
Firstfruits."
Carefully note that God points only to a Sabbath—it must
first be found—in order to begin the count. This fits nicely within God's
directive in Exodus 31:13 that the Sabbath is a sign between Him and His
people. Day One of the count does not begin with a Sabbath, but with the day
following it. However, without first isolating which Sabbath, one cannot know
which "morrow"—which day after. If one does not use the correct Sabbath, it may
set Pentecost's observance as much as seven days off God's intended target.
The Sabbath in question here can be neither the First nor
the Last Day of Unleavened Bread, though both are annual Sabbaths. Why? Because
using either of those holy days, both of which fall on fixed dates, effectively
eliminates a person's need to count! This is because, when one begins counting
fifty days from a fixed date, one will always end on a fixed date.
If we begin to count with the day following Nisan 15 (the
First Day of Unleavened Bread), we will always end on Sivan 6. If we commence
our count on the day following Nisan 21 (the Last Day of Unleavened Bread), we
will always finish on Sivan 12. If God wanted us to observe Pentecost on a
fixed date, He would have told us so, even as He did with all the other
festival dates in Leviticus 23.
One man suggested that counting from a fixed date is still
counting. Yes, that is true. But if one does that, the count only has to be
done once in all of history, and Pentecost's location is found forever. The
man's suggestion is similar to interpreting that the command to eat unleavened
bread during the Days of Unleavened Bread no longer applies because the
Israelites did it when they first came out of Egypt! Even as unleavened bread
must be eaten each year, the clear implication from Leviticus 23 is that God
wants us to count to Pentecost afresh each year.
God wants us to count to Pentecost year-by-year beginning
with the day following a Sabbath whose date changes from year to year. This can
only be the weekly Sabbath that falls on or between the two holy days during
the Days of Unleavened Bread. The starting point has been located. Even though
the count does not actually begin with the Sabbath, the Sabbath's location is
of primary importance, not the day after. The day after would never be located
without first locating the correct Sabbath.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From Pentecost, Consistency, and Honesty
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