Week of November 23
Ed Young Ministries Weekly Devotional

The Passion - It's a Spa, Spa World
by Ed Young

...Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant ... For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:43, 45

Selfishness vs. Servanthood... When the war is waged in our lives, we side with selfishness. We major in "me." We have this me, my, mine attitude in our lives and forget about others. We want someone else to serve us, to give us the massage, the pedicure, or the shoulder rub. We don't want to serve anyone else because we think of servants as weaker than, less than, or below us.

But Jesus Christ, God's only son, came to this earth to blow the doors off of our pre-determined ideas of servanthood. He taught us that serving is the way to freedom, the way to God's heart. And he modeled true servanthood by performing the ultimate act of service.

When we accept what he did for us, when we bow the knee to Christ, we become armed in the battle against selfishness. God instills in us the character quality that Jesus showed every day of his life - servanthood.

When Jesus walks into the doors of your life, he places the person of the Holy Spirit inside of your heart. And the Holy Spirit is the one who helps you battle against selfishness - he gives you the strategy, the way to win, the way to serve with an honest heart.

This week, when you feel the pull of selfish thinking in your life, remember the act of service that Christ performed on the cross. Remember that Jesus himself came, not to be served, but to serve. Then, reflect that teaching in what you do; reflect the servanthood that God has so passionately shown you.

For more information about this and other subjects, visit the Ed Young Ministries website: www.edyoung.org

(c) 2005 Ed Young Ministries

Monday 23^rd November

Matthew 7:21-23

Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTISE LAWLESSNESS."

The evidence of real conversion is a changed lifestyle!

This is a scary passage. These people thought that they were a part of God's family, but they weren't. They may even have been well-known 'Christian' personalities, famous for their messages from God, their casting out of demons, and their other miracles. But on the day of judgment, God will say to them, "I never knew you".

They thought their miraculous evidences were proof of God in their lives, but their hearts were not submitted to God. Jesus says to us today that the thing that demonstrates God's activity in our lives is that we do the will of God, that we obey and honour God with our lives.

Obeying God isn't the way to become acceptable to God. None of us are good enough for that. But after we've been made acceptable because of what Jesus did (not what we do), then God begins to change the way we live.

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Week Twenty-Two, Day One

The Name
Hope is the great stabilizer. It steadies us in times of fear and difficulty, not because we know that everything will turn out as we want, but because we know that God is trustworthy. Hope is what helps us stay on course regardless of circumstances. Biblical hope finds its roots in God and in his goodness, mercy, and power. We exercise our hope when we endure patiently. We nurture our hope when we read God's Word. Though we hope for earthly blessings, our greatest hope is aimed at the life to come, when God will not only wipe away our tears but invite us to share his joy forever. When you pray to Miqweh Yisrael, the Hope of Israel, you are praying to the One who saves all those who trust in him.

Key Scripture
A blessing on the man who puts his trust in the LORD, with the LORD for his hope. He is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream; when the heat comes it feels no alarm, its foliage stays green; it has no worries in a year of drought, and never ceases to bear fruit... Hope of Israel, LORD! (Jeremiah 17:7-8, 13 JB)

***

Monday
GOD REVEALS HIS NAME

A curse on the man who puts his trust in man, who relies on things of flesh, whose heart turns from the LORD. He is like dry scrub in the wastelands: If good comes, he has no eyes for it, He settles in the parched places of the wilderness, a salt land, uninhabited. A blessing on the man who puts his trust in the LORD, with the LORD for his hope. He is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream; when the heat comes it feels no alarm, its foliage stays green; it has no worries in a year of drought, and never ceases to bear fruit... Hope of Israel, LORD! Those who turn from you will be uprooted from the land, since they have abandoned the fountain of living water. (Jeremiah 17:5-8, 13 JB)

Lord, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, what you have prepared for those who love you.Thank you for all that you do, for all that you are,  and for all that you promise.Help me to wait and to watch, to trust and believe. You are my hope and my strength. Amen.

Understanding the Name

In the Hebrew Scriptures, hope is often connected to the expectation that God is a deliverer who will save those who trust in him. It urges us to wait confidently for him to act. In the New Testament hope is rooted firmly in Jesus—in his life, death, and resurrection as well as in his coming again in glory. We can also have hope for this life because the Holy Spirit indwells us, re-creating the image of Christ within us. Biblical hope is a new kind of strength, enabling us to be patient and enduring regardless of what we face. Miqweh Yisrael (MIK-weh yis-ra-AIL), the Hope of Israel, he is the God who saves his people.

Studying the Name

1. What does it mean to put your trust in people? Give some examples.
2. What does it mean to put your hope in the Lord? How have you been able to hope in him?
3. How have you experienced God's provision? What can you do to root yourself more firmly in God?
4. Describe what you are hoping for in your life. 

Confronting the Darkness

Charles Colson speaks of a modern "return to the Dark Ages." When I think of the original Dark Ages, I think of a period when culture was in decline and the progress of knowledge was static.

But today we read of the problem of the explosion of knowledge. It is a time when information and communications are big business. We hear the cry from the universities that knowledge in every field of investigation is increasing so rapidly that no one can assimilate it, even in the most narrow of specialties. The age of the "expert" is over. The word expert must now be defined in relative terms.

If knowledge is light and the light is exploding in magnitude, how can we speak of a new Dark Ages? The darkness is in the heart. It is a darkness produced by a shroud covering the face of God.

Thirty years ago, I read a book written by the Jewish philosopher and theologian Martin Buber. Buber's book had an ominous title: The Eclipse of God. That is the eclipse of our age. A shadow has passed over the glory of God. We are a people who will not have God in our thinking. We have returned to Plato's cave, in which we prefer the dancing shadows on the wall of ungrounded opinion over the light of truth.

Coram Deo: Living in the Presence of God

Ask God to dispel the darkness in your own mind, soul, and spirit through His marvelous light.

For Further Study 

Hosea 4:1: "Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: 'There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.'"

Luke 11:52: "Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered." 

Habakkuk 2:14: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 

The mission, passion and purpose of Ligonier Ministries and Dr. R.C. Sproul is to help people grow in their knowledge of God and His holiness. For more information, please visit www.ligonier.org or call them at 800-435-4343.
© R.C. Sproul. All rights reserved.

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Confident Christianity

You are my hope; O Lord GOD, You are my confidence. 
Psalm 71:5 NASB

Sometimes, even the most devout Christians can become discouraged. Discouragement, however, is not God's way; He is a God of possibility not negativity. We Christians have many reasons to be confident. God is in His heaven; Christ has risen, and we are the sheep of His flock.

Are you a confident Christian? You should be. God's grace is eternal and His promises are unambiguous. So count your blessings, not your hardships. And live courageously. God is the Giver of all things good, and He watches over you today and forever.

God's omniscience can instill you with a supernatural confidence that can transform your life.
Bill Hybels 

If we indulge in any confidence that is not grounded on the Rock of Ages, our confidence is worse than a dream; it will fall on us and cover us with its ruins, causing sorrow and confusion.
C. H. Spurgeon

Jesus gives us the ultimate rest, the confidence we need, to escape the frustration and chaos of the world around us.
Billy Graham

Bible hope is confidence in the future.
Warren Wiersbe

Today's Prayer

Lord, when I place my confidence in the things of this earth, I will be disappointed. But, when I put my confidence in You, I am secure. In every aspect of my life, Father, let me place my hope and my trust in Your infinite wisdom and Your boundless grace. Amen 

 

Romans 6:15-7:25; Psalm 127:3-5; Proverbs 23:24-25

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another-to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Romans 6:15-7:25

WORSHIP

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Psalm 127:3-5

WISDOM

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her who bore you rejoice.
Proverbs 23:24-25

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Psalm 100:4-5
Enter [the Lord's] gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Thoughts on today's verse

Worship is always about entering - entering into grace, entering with thanksgiving, entering to share with others, but most of all entering into the Lord's presence in a special way. But our entering is not the basis of worship. Instead, worship is about the Lord's faithfulness, goodness, and enduring grace. We come to God like so many before us, who are waiting with God for us. We come to praise him for all he has been, all he is, and all he will be. We come to enter and worship.

Prayer:

Faithful God, the Almighty Rock of Israel, the God on whom the generations trusted, you alone, LORD, are God. I praise you for your enduring grace and mercy. I praise you because I want my heart tuned to your will. I praise y! ou, because I want to prepare for my longest lifetime, the one in your presence. I praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.'

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by Neil Anderson

Ephesians 6:13
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm

A primary element in our protection from Satan and evil is the armor that God has provided for us and instructed us to put on in Ephesians 6:13-17. When we put on the armor of God, we are really putting on Christ (Romans 13:12-14). And when we put on Christ, we take ourselves out of the realm of the flesh, where we are vulnerable to attack, and we place ourselves within the dominion of Christ, where the evil one cannot touch us. Satan has nothing in Christ (John 14:30), and to the extent that we put on Christ, the evil one cannot touch us (1 John 5:18). He can only touch that which is on his own level. That's why we are commanded, "Make no provision for the flesh" (Romans 13:14), meaning "Don't live on Satan's level."

It would appear from the verb tenses in Ephesians 6;14, 15, that three of the pieces of armor--belt, breastplate and shoes--are already on you: "having girded . . ."; "having put on . . ."; having shod. . . ." These pieces of armor represent the elements of your protection made possible when you receive Jesus Christ and in which you are commanded to stand firm. The Greek tense of "having" signifies that the action it refers to was completed before we were commanded to stand firm. That's the logical way a soldier would prepare for action: He would put on his belt, breastplate and shoes before attempting to stand firm. Likewise, we are to put on the full armor of God after having already put on Christ.

When you read through Ephesians 6:10-20, you will notice the emphasis on the active part we must play on behalf of our own spiritual defense: "be strong" (verse 10); "put on" and "stand firm" (verse 11); "take up," "be able," "resist," and "stand firm" (verse 13); "stand firm" (verse 14); "taking up" (verse 16); "take" (verse 17)' "pray at all times" and "be on the alert" (verse 18).

Over the next several days, we will consider each of the six pieces of armor from Ephesians 6:13-17.

Prayer:

Teach me my responsibility in spiritual warfare, Lord, that I may be strong in You and in the strength of Your might.

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by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

Isaiah 26:3
The steadfast of mind Thou wilt keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in Thee.

At 6:45 A.M. I walked into Barbara's hospital room and found her peacefully asleep. At least she was resting-I sure couldn't.

The IV hooked up to her arm told me this was for real. The doctor told me the surgery my wife would face that day would be a lengthy procedure-I hoped it would be about five hours, but I had a hunch it would be much longer.

Barbara and I had traveled to Oklahoma City to correct a problem that, on four occasions, had caused her heart to race at over 300 beats per minute. When she suffered two such episodes in 1990, we decided to seek treatment from a doctor who had developed a new surgical procedure for people with Barbara's problem.

As I sat there that morning, waiting for her to wake up, a horde of fears went through my mind.

As I went to the waiting room with Barbara's parents and friends, I had no idea of what lessons God had waiting for me. What if they damage her heart further, rather than repair it? I thought. Am I about to say good-bye to my wife, friend and partner? I felt so helpless, knowing that there was nothing I could do. Except pray.

At 1:00 P.M. a partially informed receptionist in the waiting area told me that everything was going according to the plan, even though Barbara's heart had taken off racing a few times. "But they got it under control," she said. A combination of things-the look on her face as she talked to the nurse, and the way she reported back to me-told me that more was going on than she was telling me!

Finding peace in the midst of such fear was elusive, but it finally came in getting alone, reading the Psalms and praying. Isaiah 26:3 became a reality because I knew I could trust in God. I learned that it is really tough during suspense-filled times to keep the mind steadfast and full of faith.

Prayer:

For assurance that, no matter what your situation, God is in control.

Discuss: When have you felt most helpless and dependent on God?

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November 23

Some Christians confuse humility with lack of ambition, but here, too, they are mistaken. The Christian in whom the "harvest of the Spirit" is being reaped may lack worldly ambition, but in the spiritual area of life, he is the most ambitious person alive. Titles,honors, distinctions, money ... his heart is not set on them but on God. If these things are placed in his hands, they are seen as a trust; they are not, however, the things that he deeply covets. For the true Christian, life comes to fulfilment, not in things but in God.

Having spent a few days focusing on what humility is not, it is time now to focus on what it is. "Humility," says William Barclay, "is a gentle, gracious and submissive spirit." He suggests that in order properly to understand humility, we need to look at five significant passages of Scripture. When we have looked at all five, we shall then get a composite picture of this beautiful virtue which the Holy Spirit seeks to bring to fruition in our lives.

The first is James 1:21: "Humbly accept the message that God has planted in your hearts, and which can save your souls" (J. B. Phillips). Humility is a teachable spirit -- an attitude that recognizes one's own ignorance and a humble acceptance of the fact that without God's help, one cannot understand the depths or profundities of truth. Every Christian who has a good understanding of Scripturewill, to some degree, be humble, for those who approach the Bible with a proud and know-all attitude will find it will shut like a clam and reveal nothing to them.

Prayer:

O Father, give me a teachable spirit -- especially in relation to Scripture. Help me to lay aside my own ideas when I come to Your Word, so that I might be able to absorb Your ideas. In Jesus' Name I ask it. Amen.

For Further Study
2 Tim. 2:1-16; Prov. 1:7; 5:12-13; 18:15
1. What was Paul's admonition to Timothy?
2. What is the result of a teachable spirit?

Matthew 13:45-46
'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.'

A diet that worked! It wasn't anything fancy. It wasn't anything expensive. It didn't involve equipment or special treatments. In fact, it was a diet that anyone could do. Sally sat and talked with her pastor for about an hour, and he helped her see why she should diet for her own good, as well as for God. Her pastor has been a support for her ever since, and she has included God every step of the way. She feels stronger than ever before. It is like finding a treasure. She was so excited and so thankful. God has given her something that no one else can: a better figure and a deep, abiding joy.

Today's thought: My weight will be lost, no matter the cost!

Psalm 139:7
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from they presence?

Benjy ran away from home about three times a week. His mother always left the door unlocked, counted to a hundred, then listened to hear the door creak open and Benjy's soft footsteps on the hallway carpet. Benjy always got to the end of the block, assessed his options, realized he didn't have any, and headed for home.

We're all Benjys now and then. We wonder why God isn't doing all He ought to be doing, we get discouraged, and then we turn away a little bit. But, just like Benjy, when we look at the options, we find that nothing comes close to our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever our need might be, God is right there with us. Nothing can do for us what God can. We might as well stay home, because we can't ever have it any better than we have it right now.

Prayer:

I may think that other solutions will work in dealing with my life's problems, Lord , but bring me back to the realization that nothing will do more for me than You can. There is nowhere that I would rather be than with You. Amen.

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November 23 

God Is Good 
Psalm 100

One of the earliest truths a child learns in Sunday school is that God is good. The simplicity of this statement masks the depth of such a remarkable attribute of the Lord. He is absolutely perfect and holy, which means that He alone is the standard of all righteousness. And since the expression of the Father's goodness is revealed in His actions, all that He does is good and right, because He cannot violate His own nature.

God is also unchanging, and therefore, His dealings with us are determined by His character, not by our behavior. Even when we are living in rebellion, He is still good to us. As a loving heavenly Father, He responds with discipline which is designed to restore the broken relationship rather than crush the wayward child.

The Lord's goodness is expressed in a multitude of ways. He is our Creator, and we are His people. Every breath we breathe is given to us by Him. As our loving Shepherd who watches over us, He provides for all our needs. But the greatest expression of God's goodness is the cross of Christ. What appeared from a human perspective to be the ultimate in cruelty and unfairness was the only way to rescue mankind from eternal separation from the Lord.

Believing in God's goodness is one of the pillars of our faith. This truth fills us with joy in happy times and grounds us with confidence when life is hard, unfair, or painful. When we don't understand what the Lord is doing, we can trust His heart and know that He is good.

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Monday, November 23, 2009

Righteous Anger

My zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
—Psalm 119:39

Have you ever looked at the way our culture is going, especially what our youth are buying into, and found that it made you angry? Did you know there is a place for righteous anger? Even Jesus, who was God among us, was angry. We know that He displayed anger when He drove the merchants and money changers out of the temple, because they were ripping off God's people. There is a place for righteous indignation.

Indignation rose within the apostle Paul when he saw the way the culture was going. We read in Acts that while he was in Athens, "his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols" (Acts 17:16). The word "provoked" could be translated "exasperated," "irritated," or even "roused to anger." Paul was grieved to see the absolute absence of the living God and, in His place, every conceivable substitute.

If we want to reach our culture for Christ, then we must first have a burden for the people we are seeking to reach. The problem is that far too often, those outside of the church only know us for what we are against. They don't know what we are for. They know what we oppose, and I think there is a place for that. But do they know what we believe?

We could talk all day about various techniques we can employ in telling others about Christ. We could address the difficult questions unbelievers raise and how to best answer them. But none of that will really matter if we don't care about lost people. Do you have a burden for those who do not yet know the Lord?

The world needs to hear about Jesus. And we need to tell them about God's love.

Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

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Choosing Wisely

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits,
without partiality and without hypocrisy. 
James 3:17 NKJV

Because we are creatures of free will, we make choices—lots of them. When we make choices that are pleasing to our Heavenly Father, we are blessed. When we make choices that cause us to walk in the footsteps of God's Son, we enjoy the abundance that Christ has promised to those who follow Him. But when we make choices that are displeasing to God, we sow seeds that have the potential to bring forth a bitter harvest.

Today, as you encounter the challenges of everyday living, you will make hundreds of choices. Choose wisely. Make your thoughts and your actions pleasing to God. And remember: every choice that is displeasing to Him is the wrong choice—no exceptions.

Life is a series of choices between the bad, the good, and the best. Everything depends on how we choose.
Vance Havner 

We are either the masters or the victims of our attitudes. It is a matter of personal choice. Who we are today is the result of choices we made yesterday. Tomorrow, we will become what we choose today. To change means to choose to change.
John Maxwell

Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance.
C. S. Lewis

God expresses His love in giving us the freedom to choose.
Charles Stanley

Today's Prayer

Dear Lord, today I will focus my thoughts on Your will for my life. I will strive to make decisions that are pleasing to You, and I will strive to follow in the footsteps of Your Son. Amen 

 

Romans 5:1-6:14; Psalm 126:1-3; Proverbs 23:23

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 5:1-6:14

WORSHIP

When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
"The LORD has done great things for them."
The LORD has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
Psalm 126:1-3

WISDOM

Buy the truth, and do not sell it,
Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Proverbs 23:23

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Colossians 3:15
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Thoughts on today's verse

Peace - that illusive state of grace that incorporates all of life's well-being. Because of Jesus, we have true shalom - wellness in body, soul, and spirit. His relationships with others, his victory over sin, death and the grave insures that we can have peace, too! So as we receive the Spirit of Christ into our hearts, we can live with our brothers and sisters, no matter how flawed, in a state of peace. Besides, as Paul changes metaphors on us, we are the Body of Christ and of course a body does not want to be at war with itself. So live in peace with others, and do so with thanksgiving.

Prayer:

Blessed Father of all believers, please give me a heart to love your people. I know as the character of Jesus permeates my life, I will appreciate the preciousness of each of your children more and will come to see those difficult family members as the grit out of which you will fashion my pearl. I pray you give me grace till my heart matches my commitment to love all of your children. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

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