Judges 13
A man named Manoah had a wife who was unable to have children. An angel of the Lord came to her and instructed her not to drink any fermented drink nor to eat anything unclean for she was to soon conceive a son who would be a Nazarite. The angel told her that the boy would be set apart to God from birth and would help deliver Israel from the Philistines. Manoah prayed, asking God for further instruction and wisdom in how to raise the boy. When the boy was born, he was named Samson. He grew and the Lord blessed him and the Spirit of the Lord stirred within him.
Humble thoughts, reflections, and/or summaries from readings of God's word. "For if any one is desirous simply to know those things which it has pleased God to reveal, that is the man who accurately knows what it is to be truly wise. " Calvin
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Random 2
I have become aware from my recent studies and readings (Luke 14-15, Romans 5-10, and the book of Judges) that I often do not acknowledge the fullness of God's grace and mercy towards the lost (and myself included). Sometimes I lack a rightful appreciation for these and pray that God will grant that His will be done in my heart and change me, so that I may have the compassion that Paul had in chapter 9 of Romans, "... my conscience confirms in the Holy Spirit--- I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers ". Lord, I want to extend your extravagant love and grace to the lost and rejoice with you upon their return to fellowship with you, just like you have done for me and continue to do for me every day.
I have become aware from my recent studies and readings (Luke 14-15, Romans 5-10, and the book of Judges) that I often do not acknowledge the fullness of God's grace and mercy towards the lost (and myself included). Sometimes I lack a rightful appreciation for these and pray that God will grant that His will be done in my heart and change me, so that I may have the compassion that Paul had in chapter 9 of Romans, "... my conscience confirms in the Holy Spirit--- I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers ". Lord, I want to extend your extravagant love and grace to the lost and rejoice with you upon their return to fellowship with you, just like you have done for me and continue to do for me every day.
Random 1
On the occasion that I ponder my current status with God, assessing my closeness or level of intimacy in my fellowship with God, my default thoughts go directly to evaluating my obedience compliance both to the so-called "holy habits" ( regular time in the Word, prayer, bible study, fellowship with the body, serving the church, etc) and secondly to behavior compliance in regards to sin management. Instead, my default thoughts should be acknowledging that my status in right standing and fellowship with God depends only on His grace and my position in Christ as an eternal child of God. Just like we can not steal the glory from Christ's work at the cross to boast in our efforts, works, and desires in our regeneration, we can not trust in our behavior compliance or sin management to impact our level or rate of spiritual growth. Our sanctification is the work of the Spirit. We have been destined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son-- only God can change our hearts and this is His work in us. Paraphrasing from 1 Corinthians 5: In Him, we are being enriched in every way... He will keep us strong to the end, ... and we will be declared by Him to be blameless on the day of the Lord. God who has called us into fellowship with Him is faithful !
On the occasion that I ponder my current status with God, assessing my closeness or level of intimacy in my fellowship with God, my default thoughts go directly to evaluating my obedience compliance both to the so-called "holy habits" ( regular time in the Word, prayer, bible study, fellowship with the body, serving the church, etc) and secondly to behavior compliance in regards to sin management. Instead, my default thoughts should be acknowledging that my status in right standing and fellowship with God depends only on His grace and my position in Christ as an eternal child of God. Just like we can not steal the glory from Christ's work at the cross to boast in our efforts, works, and desires in our regeneration, we can not trust in our behavior compliance or sin management to impact our level or rate of spiritual growth. Our sanctification is the work of the Spirit. We have been destined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son-- only God can change our hearts and this is His work in us. Paraphrasing from 1 Corinthians 5: In Him, we are being enriched in every way... He will keep us strong to the end, ... and we will be declared by Him to be blameless on the day of the Lord. God who has called us into fellowship with Him is faithful !
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