Thursday, Ordinary 13/Proper 8 -- June 26
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Meditation
Thursday, Ordinary 13/Proper 8, balanced harshness with the overarching dictum to love. The Psalmist cried out because he felt bereft—alone—and somehow disconnected from God. But even with the sadness, the writer came around to the fact that God’s love is faithful and trustworthy, and will save us.
The Old Testament lesson by the Prophet Micah, also focused on love—the love of God for the children of Israel. God would forgive believers because of a great love for them. Even our sins would be thrown into the ocean depths, so we would be no longer dragged down by them.
The New Testament lesson in the letter to the church at Galatia addressed God’s love in a different manner. There was law and there was grace which came out of love. If one chose to live under the law and enforced the “rules” of the church, according to law, e.g. circumcision, then one minimized the work that Christ did in saving people from their sins and giving it freely—by grace, out of love.
I have seen churches that get caught up in rules and regulations, saying essentially, “You can’t belong unless you look and act like we do.”
The true Church that Christ began arose out of his love for us. Grace was access to God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. If we create ‘checklists’ for people to follow before they can ‘belong’ to our church, then we discredit God’s work of grace. Now that doesn’t mean that churches can’t have basic rules for orderliness, but it does mean that we can’t make our rules the condition for ‘salvation’ or ‘being a Christian.’ Church membership and being a Christian are not interchangeable words. All Christians are not church members. All church members are not Christians.
Only God determines whether a person is truly a Christian. Christ’s atonement for us on the cross served that determination. If we add to the rules for being a Christian, we diminish what God has done for us.
Love unified believers from the Old Testament through the New Testament letter to the church.
God is love and all God’s work falls under the umbrella of love. All church activity should be in sync with being loving. If we fail to be loving in our churches, we fail God. We undermine the work of God. If we act with real love in our hearts, we come closest to being like Christ.
And the results of loving others creates an enormous ripple effect.
Thanks be to God.¬¬
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 13/Proper 8Bible Readings
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 13;Micah 7:18-20;Galatians 5:2-6&version=KJV;ERV;NCV;NIV;GNT (multiple versions)
Thursday, Ordinary 13/Proper 8
Psalm 13
Micah 7:18-20
Galatians 5:2-6
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 8:3-5 NIV
3When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
5You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor. Human beings that you care for them?
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Galatians 5:2-6
King James Version (KJV)
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, in all we do, we want to praise and honor you. Help us to be loving as Christ was loving, that your name will be praised when people encounter us. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Conclusion
Thursday, Ordinary 13/Proper 8 dealt with some harsh circumstances. The Psalmist felt particularly low. Things hadn’t gone well, but he remembered God’s love and how God had saved them in the past, so he was not worried, but ggave thanks that God would be there for the Psalmist. The Prophet Micah was certain all their sins would be cast into the depths of the ocean (at a time when recovering something from the ocean floor was unlikely so they would have safely been far away.)—such was the love of God. In the New Testament, the Galatians had some who said that they had to circumcise the men or they could not be Christians.
Paul stressed that to insist that some ‘laws’ must be followed or people weren’t Christians was false. If people insisted on following the Judaic law, then they were discounting the action of Christ.
Did Paul follow the Judaic law? Yes, he was a Pharisee. He was devout, but he did not make that law the basis for being a Christian. On the contrary, he was adamant that all were saved by grace. Faith in Jesus was the only necessary thing to be saved. Faith. Grace. Humans had faith. God gave grace. Both were key to the becoming a Christian.
It is both simple and difficult. Faith is all that is required. But people struggle with the working out of their faith. There are challenges in life like the Psalmist and Micah had, but faith and trust in God on our part opens the door for the grace of God to flood our lives.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
Thursday, Ordinary 13/Proper 8, balanced harshness with the overarching dictum to love. The Psalmist cried out because he felt bereft—alone—and somehow disconnected from God. But even with the sadness, the writer came around to the fact that God’s love is faithful and trustworthy, and will save us.
The Old Testament lesson by the Prophet Micah, also focused on love—the love of God for the children of Israel. God would forgive believers because of a great love for them. Even our sins would be thrown into the ocean depths, so we would be no longer dragged down by them.
The New Testament lesson in the letter to the church at Galatia addressed God’s love in a different manner. There was law and there was grace which came out of love. If one chose to live under the law and enforced the “rules” of the church, according to law, e.g. circumcision, then one minimized the work that Christ did in saving people from their sins and giving it freely—by grace, out of love.
I have seen churches that get caught up in rules and regulations, saying essentially, “You can’t belong unless you look and act like we do.”
The true Church that Christ began arose out of his love for us. Grace was access to God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense. If we create ‘checklists’ for people to follow before they can ‘belong’ to our church, then we discredit God’s work of grace. Now that doesn’t mean that churches can’t have basic rules for orderliness, but it does mean that we can’t make our rules the condition for ‘salvation’ or ‘being a Christian.’ Church membership and being a Christian are not interchangeable words. All Christians are not church members. All church members are not Christians.
Only God determines whether a person is truly a Christian. Christ’s atonement for us on the cross served that determination. If we add to the rules for being a Christian, we diminish what God has done for us.
Love unified believers from the Old Testament through the New Testament letter to the church.
God is love and all God’s work falls under the umbrella of love. All church activity should be in sync with being loving. If we fail to be loving in our churches, we fail God. We undermine the work of God. If we act with real love in our hearts, we come closest to being like Christ.
And the results of loving others creates an enormous ripple effect.
Thanks be to God.¬¬
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 13/Proper 8Bible Readings
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 13;Micah 7:18-20;Galatians 5:2-6&version=KJV;ERV;NCV;NIV;GNT (multiple versions)
Thursday, Ordinary 13/Proper 8
Psalm 13
Micah 7:18-20
Galatians 5:2-6
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 8:3-5 NIV
3When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
5You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor. Human beings that you care for them?
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Galatians 5:2-6
King James Version (KJV)
2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, in all we do, we want to praise and honor you. Help us to be loving as Christ was loving, that your name will be praised when people encounter us. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Conclusion
Thursday, Ordinary 13/Proper 8 dealt with some harsh circumstances. The Psalmist felt particularly low. Things hadn’t gone well, but he remembered God’s love and how God had saved them in the past, so he was not worried, but ggave thanks that God would be there for the Psalmist. The Prophet Micah was certain all their sins would be cast into the depths of the ocean (at a time when recovering something from the ocean floor was unlikely so they would have safely been far away.)—such was the love of God. In the New Testament, the Galatians had some who said that they had to circumcise the men or they could not be Christians.
Paul stressed that to insist that some ‘laws’ must be followed or people weren’t Christians was false. If people insisted on following the Judaic law, then they were discounting the action of Christ.
Did Paul follow the Judaic law? Yes, he was a Pharisee. He was devout, but he did not make that law the basis for being a Christian. On the contrary, he was adamant that all were saved by grace. Faith in Jesus was the only necessary thing to be saved. Faith. Grace. Humans had faith. God gave grace. Both were key to the becoming a Christian.
It is both simple and difficult. Faith is all that is required. But people struggle with the working out of their faith. There are challenges in life like the Psalmist and Micah had, but faith and trust in God on our part opens the door for the grace of God to flood our lives.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
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