Tuesday January 3rd
(see www.moravian.org/daily_texts/ for more info on Daily Texts I will be using each day)
Readings for Today:
• Psalm 2
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%201&version=NIV
• Genesis 2:4-25
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%201&version=NIV
• Matthew 1:18-25
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1&version=NIV
Thoughts for The Day:
So we begin day 2 of our journey through God’s Word together, I am glad you are along for the ride. As we go through the bible this year, I will be looking at the twin themes of Covenant and Kingdom. Covenant is about our relationship with God, which He initiated through the sending of His Son. And Kingdom is about our responsibility to represent Him in the world. I think you will find this “dual lens” by which to view the Scriptures very helpful as we discern how the Scriptures apply to us today.
Today we see echoes of the Covenant and Kingdom theme in Psalm 2:7-8 where the psalmist states, “He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” This is referring to the Messiah who would become the Son of God and as ruler of the nations. Psalm 2 reflects the fact that the kings and rulers of the earth have power but it is all under the ultimate reign of God through Jesus.
In Genesis 2, we see a second account of Creation focusing on how God has caused man (Hebrew is “Adam”) to be formed from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. Importantly God gives Adam the opportunity to name the animals of the Creation thus allowing man to participate in the Creation process. Genesis 2:19-20 says this about the whole experience, “Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.”
We don’t often stop and think of the magnitude of these verses and what they might mean for us today. In the New Testament, we will learn also of the authority and power God has given us as His sons and daughters bring about his reign and rule through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, in our Gospel lesson in Matthew 1 we see the miraculous way into which the Son of God came into the world through the “immaculate conception”. God uses human beings, Mary through who Jesus was born, and Joseph’s faithfulness to become his father to become one of us.
So we see throughout the Scriptures today God’s initiative to come into our world and use us to help him bring about His purposes. The exciting thing we will discover is that God is still bringing out His purposes to come to pass through people like you and me. Today we thank those who have gone before us to share the Good News with us and may we as faithful as them in passing on the Good News.
Prayer for the Day: God of all ages, thank you for grandparents, parents, elders in the
church and community and pastors with age and experience. They teach us so much and give us great strength. We feel your presence in their existence among us. Amen.
Readings for Today:
• Psalm 2
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%201&version=NIV
• Genesis 2:4-25
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%201&version=NIV
• Matthew 1:18-25
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1&version=NIV
Thoughts for The Day:
So we begin day 2 of our journey through God’s Word together, I am glad you are along for the ride. As we go through the bible this year, I will be looking at the twin themes of Covenant and Kingdom. Covenant is about our relationship with God, which He initiated through the sending of His Son. And Kingdom is about our responsibility to represent Him in the world. I think you will find this “dual lens” by which to view the Scriptures very helpful as we discern how the Scriptures apply to us today.
Today we see echoes of the Covenant and Kingdom theme in Psalm 2:7-8 where the psalmist states, “He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” This is referring to the Messiah who would become the Son of God and as ruler of the nations. Psalm 2 reflects the fact that the kings and rulers of the earth have power but it is all under the ultimate reign of God through Jesus.
In Genesis 2, we see a second account of Creation focusing on how God has caused man (Hebrew is “Adam”) to be formed from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. Importantly God gives Adam the opportunity to name the animals of the Creation thus allowing man to participate in the Creation process. Genesis 2:19-20 says this about the whole experience, “Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.”
We don’t often stop and think of the magnitude of these verses and what they might mean for us today. In the New Testament, we will learn also of the authority and power God has given us as His sons and daughters bring about his reign and rule through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, in our Gospel lesson in Matthew 1 we see the miraculous way into which the Son of God came into the world through the “immaculate conception”. God uses human beings, Mary through who Jesus was born, and Joseph’s faithfulness to become his father to become one of us.
So we see throughout the Scriptures today God’s initiative to come into our world and use us to help him bring about His purposes. The exciting thing we will discover is that God is still bringing out His purposes to come to pass through people like you and me. Today we thank those who have gone before us to share the Good News with us and may we as faithful as them in passing on the Good News.
Prayer for the Day: God of all ages, thank you for grandparents, parents, elders in the
church and community and pastors with age and experience. They teach us so much and give us great strength. We feel your presence in their existence among us. Amen.
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