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Water in the Desert
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Source: https://www.adventistreview.org/church-news/story17161-water-in-the-desert
Tuesday: Cursed on A Tree
Read Galatians 3:1-14. What is Paul saying there that is relevant to us today, and how does he use Deuteronomy 27:26 and Deuteronomy 21.22-23 to make his point?
Unfortunately, it’s common in Christianity to use this letter as some kind of justification for not keeping the law, the Ten Commandments. Of course, that argument is really used as a reason not to keep the fourth commandment, as if keeping that one commandment, as opposed to the other nine, is somehow an expression of the legalism that Paul was dealing with here.
Yet, Paul was not speaking against the law, and certainly nothing in this passage could justify breaking the Sabbath commandment. The key can be found in Galatians 3:10, where he writes that “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse,” and then he quotes Deuteronomy 27:26. The issue isn’t obedience to the law, but “relying on the law” — a tough position, if not an impossible one, for fallen beings like ourselves.
Paul’s point is that we are not saved by the works of the law but by Christ’s death on our behalf, which is credited to us by faith. His emphasis here is on what Christ has done for us, at the cross. And to help make this point, he refers back to Deuteronomy again, this time Deuteronomy 21:23. Like Jesus, Paul says, “it is written,” showing the authority of the Old Testament, and now he quotes from a text dealing with someone who, having committed a capital crime, and having been executed for it, was then hung on a tree, perhaps as a deterrent to others.
Paul, though, uses that as a symbol for Christ’s substitutionary death in our behalf: Christ became a “curse for us” in that He faced the curse of the law; that is, death, which all humans would face because all have violated the law. The good news of the gospel, however, is that the curse that should have been ours became His, at the cross, “that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14).
Or, as Ellen G. White said it: “None but Christ could redeem fallen man from the curse of the law and bring him again into harmony with Heaven. Christ would take upon Himself the guilt and shame of sin — sin so offensive to a holy God that it must separate the Father and His Son.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarch and Prophets, p. 63.
Think about what you would face if you were to receive the just punishment for whatever wrongs you have committed. However, because Christ bore the punishment for your wrongs in Himself, so that you don’t have to, what should your response to His sacrifice be? |
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Angel Hosts Minister Before God
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. Hebrews 12:22.
We are informed in Scripture as to the number, and the power and glory, of the heavenly beings, of their connection with the government of God, and also of their relation to the work of redemption…. In the presence-chamber of the King of kings they wait—“angels, that excel in strength,” “ministers of His, that do His pleasure,” “hearkening unto the voice of His word.” Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, were the heavenly messengers beheld by the prophet Daniel….
A guardian angel is appointed to every follower of Christ. These heavenly watchers shield the righteous from the power of the wicked one. This Satan himself recognized when he said, “Doth Job fear for naught? Hast not Thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?” … Said the Saviour, speaking of those that believe in Him, “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father.” The angels appointed to minister to the children of God have at all times access to His presence. Thus God’s people, exposed to the deceptive power and unsleeping malice of the prince of darkness … are assured of the unceasing guardianship of heavenly angels…. If God has granted to His children promise of grace and protection, it is because there are mighty agencies of evil to be met—agencies numerous, determined, and untiring, of whose malignity and power none can safely be ignorant or unheeding.—The Great Controversy, 511-513.
With God at Dawn p. 349
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Prayer Requests
—-Please continue to pray for God’s guidance and protection over E and her children. R
—-I have an unspoken need and would like prayer. Brad
—- Asking for all prayers for Devon, he is in the hospital fighting for life after a hernia ruptured. Shannon
—-Please pray for Kass, only 51 years old! He had a massive heart attack this morning and is on life support. Linda
—-Need prayers for my husband Fred. He is in the hospital very sick. Carol
—-I recently had eye surgery, and my vision is blurry, it’s not getting better but worst, please pray for my vision to be restored, in Jesus Mighty name. Ruben
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Dear Friends
When I was four, my mother and my Auntie Joyce took me to a Thanksgiving Day parade. There were so many people, they couldn’t see over or around them, so they took up the steps of one of the nearby buildings so we could get a better view. Unfortunately, too many other people got the same idea. Soon I found myself being squashed by a multitude of legs. I was terrified! As soon as they realized what was happening, my mother and aunt put me by the building, turned around with their backs to the crowd, and braced their arms against the building. This formed a small space for me to stand and kept me from being trampled to death. I was so scared and I still don’t like to be in a crowd.
How easy it is for us to get as crowded and trampled by our circumstances, as I was by the crowd that long ago day. How often we feel overwhelmed and terrified by all that is going on in this sinful, old planet. We feel like we are suffocating by the cares of this world. Praise God! We have a Deliverer! Our Loving Redeemer turns around, stretches out His arms, and shelters us from all harm. Truly, we can trust in the One Who gave His Life for us. “Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings.” ‘Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.” “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” Ps. 61:1-4; 17:7-9; 18:2, 3
We can rest assured that He has only our good in mind no matter how dark and foreboding the path. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” Psalm 23
May we give our whole heart to Jesus and allow Him to shelter us, to lead us, to guide us, for He loves us with an everlasting love and draws us to Himself with His lovingkindness. (Jer 31:3) May we rest safely in His love and care each day is my prayer.
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/angel-hosts-minister-before-god.html