Tuesday January 17th
(see www.moravian.org/daily_texts/ for more info on Daily Texts I will be using each day)
Readings for Today:
• Psalm 11
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm11&version=NIV
• Genesis 19:1-29
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis19&version=NIV
• Matthew 7:1-12
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew7&version=NIV
Thoughts for the Day:
4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
Although it seems like God is far away and we often wonder how involved he is in our lives, the psalmist today reminds us that God observes “everyone” on earth. There is a saying that character is described as “who you are when no one is looking”. That is a helpful reminder, but even more helpful is the fact that God is always looking. He sees us in our comings and goings, and he sees our victories and successes. He is always with us as our Father in Heaven.
Genesis 19:23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. 29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Genesis 19 brings another dark time in the history of mankind. As Lot provides hospitality for the two angels that have come as agents of God’s justice, the men of the town surround Lot’s house and want to have their way with the angels, such is their perversity. The two men warn Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
As Lot, his wife and two daughter escape to the city of Zoar, his wife is turns back and is turned to stone. She and the two son in-laws fail to heed the angels warning and the result is not good.
There is a part in all of us that wants to dabble in the things of the world. But we too are told in Thessalonians to flee from immorality. As we were told yesterday in Matthew 6:33 we are reminded to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Where are you being tempted to take Your eyes off of what God is doing? What things in the world cause you to want to look back instead of looking forward to the heavenly prize in Christ Jesus?
Ask, Seek, Knock
Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
As Jesus continues to describe what life in the kingdom looks like in the Sermon of the Mount, he teaches his disciples not spend their time judging others, but instead to focus on the kingdom coming through them. He teaches them how to pray in the process of asking, seeking and finding.
We see a process of prayer where God invites us into a relationship with him and how he gives good gifts to His children who seek him and knock until the door is opened. Of course, God could just give us good gifts without us asking, but the process here draws into a trusting relationship whereby we seek God through prayer and listening for God’s will.
Part of God’s joy in giving us good gifts, is the process whereby we come to him, seek him and knock until the door is opened for His kingdom to flow through us. Where have you been asking, seeking and knocking? Has the door opened yet? What would that look like and how would that strengthen your trust in God as your heavenly Father?
Prayer for the Day: Lord, you are high and lifted up. Your glory fills our lives. We pray the experiences of this day will deepen our faith in you. Help us to keep our lives centered on you. Amen.
Readings for Today:
• Psalm 11
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm11&version=NIV
• Genesis 19:1-29
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis19&version=NIV
• Matthew 7:1-12
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew7&version=NIV
Thoughts for the Day:
4 The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.
5 The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.
7 For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
the upright will see his face.
Although it seems like God is far away and we often wonder how involved he is in our lives, the psalmist today reminds us that God observes “everyone” on earth. There is a saying that character is described as “who you are when no one is looking”. That is a helpful reminder, but even more helpful is the fact that God is always looking. He sees us in our comings and goings, and he sees our victories and successes. He is always with us as our Father in Heaven.
Genesis 19:23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. 29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Genesis 19 brings another dark time in the history of mankind. As Lot provides hospitality for the two angels that have come as agents of God’s justice, the men of the town surround Lot’s house and want to have their way with the angels, such is their perversity. The two men warn Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
As Lot, his wife and two daughter escape to the city of Zoar, his wife is turns back and is turned to stone. She and the two son in-laws fail to heed the angels warning and the result is not good.
There is a part in all of us that wants to dabble in the things of the world. But we too are told in Thessalonians to flee from immorality. As we were told yesterday in Matthew 6:33 we are reminded to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Where are you being tempted to take Your eyes off of what God is doing? What things in the world cause you to want to look back instead of looking forward to the heavenly prize in Christ Jesus?
Ask, Seek, Knock
Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
As Jesus continues to describe what life in the kingdom looks like in the Sermon of the Mount, he teaches his disciples not spend their time judging others, but instead to focus on the kingdom coming through them. He teaches them how to pray in the process of asking, seeking and finding.
We see a process of prayer where God invites us into a relationship with him and how he gives good gifts to His children who seek him and knock until the door is opened. Of course, God could just give us good gifts without us asking, but the process here draws into a trusting relationship whereby we seek God through prayer and listening for God’s will.
Part of God’s joy in giving us good gifts, is the process whereby we come to him, seek him and knock until the door is opened for His kingdom to flow through us. Where have you been asking, seeking and knocking? Has the door opened yet? What would that look like and how would that strengthen your trust in God as your heavenly Father?
Prayer for the Day: Lord, you are high and lifted up. Your glory fills our lives. We pray the experiences of this day will deepen our faith in you. Help us to keep our lives centered on you. Amen.
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