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Posted on 09/30/2020 9:26:22 PM PDT by JustAmy
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Bible in a Year:
I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.
The Argentine women’s basketball team came to their tournament game wearing the wrong uniforms. Their navy blue jerseys were too similar to Colombia’s dark blue jerseys, and as the visiting team they should have worn white. With no time to find replacement uniforms and change, they had to forfeit the game. In the future, Argentina will surely double-check what they’re wearing.
In the time of the prophet Zechariah, God showed him a vision in which the high priest Joshua came before God wearing smelly, filthy clothes. Satan sneered and pointed. He’s disqualified! Game over! But there was time to change. God rebuked Satan and told His angel to remove Joshua’s grubby garments. He turned to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you” (Zechariah 3:4).
We came into this world wearing the stench of Adam’s sin, which we layer over with sin of our own. If we stay in our filthy clothes, we’ll lose the game of life. If we become disgusted with our sin and turn to Jesus, He’ll dress us from head to toe with Himself and His righteousness. It’s time to check, Who are we wearing?
The final stanza of the hymn “The Solid Rock” explains how we win. “When He shall come with trumpet sound, / Oh, may I then in Him be found; / Dressed in His righteousness alone, / Faultless to stand before the throne.”
Reflect & Pray
Who are you wearing? Are you trusting in your own goodness or Jesus? Which do you want God and others to notice?
Jesus, thank You for providing the way for my sin to be removed and for Your righteousness to cover me.
Ping to #662 because i’m a dork and forgot the ping list! Happy Weekend! :)
Happy Caturday! Finally read the news on FR, after being gone at work all day. Going back early Sunday, 7am. 😴 I will be on auto-pilot the first couple hours.
Great kitty picture Luvie!
And great pretty dog picture, LTOS!
Good night🌙💫⭐️
Enjoy your evening so going to work won’t be so bad in the morning. That’s WAY too early for this night owl!🦉
too early for me too
🥱
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Bible in a Year:
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
As an experienced shepherd, David knew well the need to provide the rest of green pastures for his sheep. In Psalm 23, he penned an important lesson that would carry him forward in the exhausting days of leading as king of Israel. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, . . . he refreshes my soul” (vv. 1–3).
On the concrete jungle of an airport tarmac, delayed from my destination and feeling the lack of comfort and rest, God, my good Shepherd, directed my eyes to a patch of green. In relationship with Him, I can discover His ongoing provision of rest wherever I am—if I notice and enter it.
The lesson has lingered over the years: look for the green. It’s there. With God in our lives, we lack nothing. He makes us lie down in green pastures. He refreshes our souls.
Reflect & Pray
Where can you look for the green today? In what ways has God provided a moment of rest when you thought it was impossible?
Loving God, thank You for being my Shepherd and for making me lie down in green pastures to refresh my soul.
Bible in a Year:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Here’s one conversation Mary didn’t have to have with Joseph as they awaited the birth of the baby she was carrying: “Joseph, what should we name the baby?” Unlike most people awaiting a birth, they had no question about what they would call this child.
The angels who visited Mary and then Joseph told them both that the baby’s name would be Jesus (Matthew 1:20–21; Luke 1:30–31). The angel that appeared to Joseph explained that this name indicated that the baby would “save his people from their sins.”
He would also be called “Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14), which means “God is with us,” because He would be God in human form—deity wrapped in swaddling clothes. The prophet Isaiah revealed additional titles of “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6), because He would be all of those things.
It’s always exciting to name a new baby. But no other baby had such a powerful, exciting, world-changing name as the one who was “Jesus who is called the Messiah” (Matthew 1:16). What a thrill for us to be able to “call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:2)! There’s no other name that saves (Acts 4:12).
Let’s praise Jesus and contemplate everything He means to us this Christmas season!
Reflect & Pray
How does reflecting on the name of Jesus encourage you? Which of His titles from Isaiah 9:6 means the most to you this season? Why?
Thank You, heavenly Father, for sending us One who is our Savior, our Counselor, our Prince of Peace, and our Messiah. I celebrate His birth because I know that His life and death and resurrection purchased eternal life for me.
Great decorating! 😁
Hope you had a good Monday! I don’t have to go back to work until next Monday. 😅 Sleeping in tomorrow! Yea!
He just spends so much time on it. 😉
Makes it easy to put away the decorations. One and done. 😁
Totally true. It’s easy to tell how much that little tree has grown in 5 years. It’s a desert willow, so it grows slowly anyway, but our semi-drought conditions have stunted it big time.
Lot’s of driving Monday, but the streets were all plowed, so it’s OK.
Bible in a Year:
All Scripture is God-breathed.
The small country of Iceland is a nation of readers. In fact, it’s reported that each year this nation publishes and reads more books per person than any other country. On Christmas Eve, it’s a tradition for Icelanders to give books to family and friends and then read long into the night. This tradition dates back to World War II, when imports were restricted but paper was cheap. Icelandic publishers began flooding the market with new titles in late fall. Now a catalog of the country’s new releases is sent to every Icelandic home in mid-November. This tradition is known as the Christmas Book Flood.
We can be thankful God blessed so many with the ability to craft a good story and to educate, inspire, or motivate others through their words. There’s nothing like a good book! The best-selling book of all, the Bible, was composed by many authors who wrote in poetry and prose—some great stories, some not so—but all of it inspired. As the apostle Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” and equipping God’s people “for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Reading the Bible convicts, inspires, and helps us to live for Him—and guides us into the truth (2:15).
In our reading, let’s not forget to find time to curl up with the greatest book of all, the Bible.
Reflect & Pray
What have you read lately that helped you learn more about or draw closer to God? What helps you to spend time in Scripture?
God, thank You for inspiring creativity in the authors of “many books.” I’m especially thankful for Your Book.
To learn more about the book God wrote to us, visit ChristianUniversity.org/SF105.
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