The Desires of Your Heart
Daily Bread March 15th
Psalm 37:1-6
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Exodus 21:28-22:24
Social Responsibility
16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.18 “Do not allow a sorceress to live. 19 “Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal is to be put to death.20 “Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed. 21 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. 22 “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. 23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
Matthew 24:1-25
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
Reflections:
Psalm 37:4 is one of my favorite passages in the bible. It gives us the promise that as we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. Normally we think of desires as bad, but this passage reminds us that there are godly desires and ungodly desires in our hearts. As we focus on the Lord, He wants us to enjoy life and find a rich relationship with Him and others. As we put Him first and live by the priorities He has given us in His word, our lives will go well and our deepest desires (the ones in our hearts) will be fulfilled.
In Exodus, Moses continues to spell out the stipulations of the other laws in addition to the Ten Commandments, which are the centerpiece of how the Israelites are to live out their lives with each other and their neighbors. At the heart of the laws is that love of neighbor is the natural outcome of a love of God. When we harm our neighbors in various ways like trespassing and taking that which is not ours, we need to make restitution for the wrong we have committed in like ways, or remedies. We call this justice. Also at the heart of these laws is the care for the widows and slaves and protection against wealth being concentrated in a few hands. Lands are redistributed in a year of jubilee, and slaves are set free, or they may choose to stay with their owner if things are good. These laws are set to protect the Israelites and protect those who are less fortunate. God is so concerned about protecting life, that those who take lives lose their own life as a consequence.
Finally, in Matthew we begin our teachings of Jesus about the end times. He gives several helpful warnings including predominantly how to recognize false messiahs, who will even have power to do signs and wonders. We should not be surprised when people purporting to be a Messiah will seem to have unusual power whose purpose is to deceive many. Even the elect (meaning those who are Christians called by God to be his sons and daughters) will not be immune to these false prophets. But in the end, we are reminded in the book of Philippians that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.
The Lord will give strength to His people. Psalm 29:11 (NKJV)
In Christ Jesus you have been enriched in every way - in all your speaking and in all your knowledge. 1 Corinthians 1:5 (NIV)
Gracious Redeemer, we thank you for empowering us today to speak for you. May we listen closely so the words we speak are truly the words you would have us speak. In addition, may our actions state an unmistakable message from you. Amen.
________________________________________
Psalm 37:1-6
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
Exodus 21:28-22:24
Social Responsibility
16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.18 “Do not allow a sorceress to live. 19 “Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal is to be put to death.20 “Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed. 21 “Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt. 22 “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. 23 If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. 24 My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.
Matthew 24:1-25
The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
Reflections:
Psalm 37:4 is one of my favorite passages in the bible. It gives us the promise that as we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart. Normally we think of desires as bad, but this passage reminds us that there are godly desires and ungodly desires in our hearts. As we focus on the Lord, He wants us to enjoy life and find a rich relationship with Him and others. As we put Him first and live by the priorities He has given us in His word, our lives will go well and our deepest desires (the ones in our hearts) will be fulfilled.
In Exodus, Moses continues to spell out the stipulations of the other laws in addition to the Ten Commandments, which are the centerpiece of how the Israelites are to live out their lives with each other and their neighbors. At the heart of the laws is that love of neighbor is the natural outcome of a love of God. When we harm our neighbors in various ways like trespassing and taking that which is not ours, we need to make restitution for the wrong we have committed in like ways, or remedies. We call this justice. Also at the heart of these laws is the care for the widows and slaves and protection against wealth being concentrated in a few hands. Lands are redistributed in a year of jubilee, and slaves are set free, or they may choose to stay with their owner if things are good. These laws are set to protect the Israelites and protect those who are less fortunate. God is so concerned about protecting life, that those who take lives lose their own life as a consequence.
Finally, in Matthew we begin our teachings of Jesus about the end times. He gives several helpful warnings including predominantly how to recognize false messiahs, who will even have power to do signs and wonders. We should not be surprised when people purporting to be a Messiah will seem to have unusual power whose purpose is to deceive many. Even the elect (meaning those who are Christians called by God to be his sons and daughters) will not be immune to these false prophets. But in the end, we are reminded in the book of Philippians that He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it.
The Lord will give strength to His people. Psalm 29:11 (NKJV)
In Christ Jesus you have been enriched in every way - in all your speaking and in all your knowledge. 1 Corinthians 1:5 (NIV)
Gracious Redeemer, we thank you for empowering us today to speak for you. May we listen closely so the words we speak are truly the words you would have us speak. In addition, may our actions state an unmistakable message from you. Amen.
________________________________________
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