Daily Bible Readings:
Monday, January 23. Galatians 5:22-26. 1) According to Paul, what fruit does God’s Spirit produce in one’s life? 2) Describe the character of a person who has such fruit.
Tuesday, January 24. Ephesians 4:1-6. 1) In verse one what does Paul urge his readers to do? 2) What character is necessary for such a calling?
Wednesday, January 25. Colossians 3:12-15. 1) Paul calls the Colossians “God’s chosen ones.” 2) How does he propose that they “clothe” themselves? 3) What kind of relationships does that create?
Thursday, January 26. Romans 4:6-8. 1) Paul quotes King David in this passage. 2) On whom does David pronounce a blessing? 3) Who is the origin of that blessing?
Friday, January 27. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11. 1) What is the difference between “godly grief” and “worldly grief?” 2) Look at the text for Sunday’s sermon. Is there any correspondence between godly grief (in Romans) and the poor in spirit of the Sermon on the Mount? If so, what?
Saturday, January 28. Sunday’s sermon text. Matthew 5:1-12.
Prayer for the Week:
O God, your Kingdom outshines every other puny kingdom we could imagine. Your kingdom is more hospitable and welcoming than anything we can contrive. Your kingdom beckons us into a future that is far greater than any we can imagine, and the Beatitudes give us a good model for living in expectation of that Kingdom. Please help us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hymn of the Week:
Purer in Heart
by Fannie E. Davison, 1877
Purer in heart, O God,
Help me to be;
May I devote my life
Wholly to Thee.
Watch Thou my wayward feet,
Guide me with counsel sweet;
Purer in heart,
Help me to be.
Purer in heart, O God,
Help me to be;
Teach me to do Thy will
Most lovingly.
Be Thou my friend and guide,
Let me with Thee abide;
Purer in heart,
Help me to be.
Purer in heart, O God,
Help me to be;
Until Thy holy face
One day I see.
Keep me from secret sin,
Reign Thou my soul within;
Purer in heart,
Help me to be.
Devotional Article of the Week:
Am I Blessed Like This?
by Oswald Chambers
“Blessed are …” – Matthew 5:3-10
When we first read the statements of Jesus, they seem wonderfully simple and unstartling; they sink unobserved into our unconscious minds.
For instance, the Beatitudes seem merely mild and beautiful precepts for all unworldly and useless people, but of very little practical use in the stern workaday world in which we live. We soon find, however, that the Beatitudes contain the dynamite of the Holy Ghost.
They explode, as it were, when the circumstances of our lives cause them to do so. When the Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance one of these Beatitudes we say – ‘What a startling statement that is!’
We have to decide whether we will accept the tremendous spiritual upheaval that will be produced in our circumstances if we obey His words. That is the way the Spirit of God works. We do not need to be born again to apply the Sermon on the Mount literally.
The literal interpretation of the Sermon on the Mount is child’s play; the interpretation by the Spirit of God as He applies Our Lord’s statements to our circumstances is the stern work of a saint.
The teaching of Jesus is out of all proportion to our natural way of looking at things and it comes with astonishing discomfort to begin with. We have slowly to form our walk and conversation on the line of the precepts of Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit applies them to our circumstances.
The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations: it is a statement of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is getting His way with us.