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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Saturday, March 16, 2019
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Stephen’s Speech to the Sanhedrin [3] Bible Verse:Acts 7:23-32 "And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. " Message:
This is a continuation of Stephen’s defense of himself before the Sanhedrin, and there isn’t much to say about it. Today’s lesson is simply a summary of a passage from Exodus. If you missed the past few days, the preceding verses are Acts 7:1-22.
The short introductory verse, though, has a life lesson that is hard to learn. Many of us have difficulty taking instruction and correction. It may involve some childhood situation or even trauma, or it may seem to have been born with us; it may spring from rebelliousness, or from a simple lack of trust; but it always involves the sin of pride.
Our pride defeats us. For which of us would do worse, when we could do better? But we do not do as well as we can when we refuse instruction or rebel against correction. We either believe that we know better than our teacher, or even worse, simply cannot stand to be told what to do or how to do it.
Judas Hanged (detail) | Psalter-Hours of Guiluys de Boisleux | after 1246
In life, sometimes, a peculiar genius who does not accept instruction will have enormous success, because he sees something others do not. Even in the case of religion, rebellion against a church authority may be necessary. But in the case of God, we never have success through rebellion against the Word. Stiffening our necks (as the Hebrews used to put it) against instruction and correction about our sinfulness, in our morals, blocks our path to God.
Remember the story of the rich man and the camel passing through the eye of the needle? We never learned if he followed Christ’s instructions to give away his money, but the text did tell us that the man was unhappy. We always feel rebellious when we try to stop sinful behavior. That’s the nature of sin. We don’t sin to insult God; we sin because we like the short-term consequences, even though the outcome is bad and possibly disastrous in the long-term.
It is important to pray to the Holy Spirit for correction, even if it means we are punished for our sin in our lives. It is a hard thing, but often, punishment is the only way we can stop sinful behavior, even if we want to stop. Alcoholics and drug addicts call this “hitting your bottom.” If we are corrected and do not accept it, we get the pain without the benefit; criminals in prison most commonly refuse the benefit of the correction given. They blame others, or rationalize their conduct, and spend their lives returning to prison.
We must confess, we must ask for forgiveness; but we must also accept instruction and correction, which is the hard part. Otherwise, our pride will make it impossible for us to follow God’s will.
Meditation : Prayer : Almighty God, by your Holy Spirit you have made me one with your saints in heaven and on earth. Grant that in my earthly pilgrimage I may always be supported by this fellowship of love and prayer, and know myself to be surrounded by their witness to your power and mercy. I ask this for the sake of Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever.......Amen |
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