Wednesday, January 11th
(see www.moravian.org/daily_texts/ for more info on Daily Texts I will be using each day)
Readings for Today:
• Psalm 8
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm8&version=NIV
• Genesis 11:10-12:9
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis11&version=NIV
• Matthew 5:17-26
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew5&version=NIV
Thoughts for the Day:
Today our psalmist marvels at the majesty of the Lord and then marvels at the fact that as we consider God’s Creation, we realize that as human beings we are the crown of His Creation because we have been made in His image. As the passage says we are made just a little lower than the angels. And indeed God has made us co-rulers with Him and shared His glory with us by letting us rule over the things He has made.
1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.2Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
With all the things that went wrong with the Noah project, God re-starts His plan for all Creation through a covenant with Abram, the son of Terah. The call of Abram called him to leave his own country and go to the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. And with that call came the promise that God would make Abram into a great nation. Abram would be blessed so that he could be a blessing and through all the people of the earth would be blessed through him. Abram was 75 years old when he received the 2nd covenant that God made with us. (The first one being that God made with Noah that He would never again destroy the people on the earth through a flood!)
The Call of Abram
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
As continues to teach on the Sermon on the Mount, he makes it clear what the Kingdom breaking into our world looks like and and what it doesn’t look like. He makes it clear that it doesn’t mean erasing the Law that the Israelites had been given through Moses, but that He had come to fulfill the Law. Meaning the Law had been given through Moses (by way of Abram) but now the people would have a new power to be able to actually fulfill the Law through Jesus.
Verse 20 can be a challenging verse as one might read into to it that we have to do more stuff to enter into God’s kingdom, but we will learn that our righteousness does not come by trying harder to be righteous but to be in a relationship with the One who is righteous, thus obtaining a righteousness that comes by faith. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law, knew the Law, but had no power to actually fulfill what it meant for their lives. Jesus came to bring this power to all who would receive Him.
The Fulfillment of the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer for the Day: God of creating light, you were in the beginning before anything existed. You continue to create. All that you touch becomes new and sacred. Thank you for the light in us and for making us new today. Amen.
Readings for Today:
• Psalm 8
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm8&version=NIV
• Genesis 11:10-12:9
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis11&version=NIV
• Matthew 5:17-26
www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew5&version=NIV
Thoughts for the Day:
Today our psalmist marvels at the majesty of the Lord and then marvels at the fact that as we consider God’s Creation, we realize that as human beings we are the crown of His Creation because we have been made in His image. As the passage says we are made just a little lower than the angels. And indeed God has made us co-rulers with Him and shared His glory with us by letting us rule over the things He has made.
1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.2Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
With all the things that went wrong with the Noah project, God re-starts His plan for all Creation through a covenant with Abram, the son of Terah. The call of Abram called him to leave his own country and go to the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. And with that call came the promise that God would make Abram into a great nation. Abram would be blessed so that he could be a blessing and through all the people of the earth would be blessed through him. Abram was 75 years old when he received the 2nd covenant that God made with us. (The first one being that God made with Noah that He would never again destroy the people on the earth through a flood!)
The Call of Abram
1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
As continues to teach on the Sermon on the Mount, he makes it clear what the Kingdom breaking into our world looks like and and what it doesn’t look like. He makes it clear that it doesn’t mean erasing the Law that the Israelites had been given through Moses, but that He had come to fulfill the Law. Meaning the Law had been given through Moses (by way of Abram) but now the people would have a new power to be able to actually fulfill the Law through Jesus.
Verse 20 can be a challenging verse as one might read into to it that we have to do more stuff to enter into God’s kingdom, but we will learn that our righteousness does not come by trying harder to be righteous but to be in a relationship with the One who is righteous, thus obtaining a righteousness that comes by faith. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law, knew the Law, but had no power to actually fulfill what it meant for their lives. Jesus came to bring this power to all who would receive Him.
The Fulfillment of the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Prayer for the Day: God of creating light, you were in the beginning before anything existed. You continue to create. All that you touch becomes new and sacred. Thank you for the light in us and for making us new today. Amen.
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