Reading
SAA Notes
Whose prayers does God hear? Here some elders of Israel are told God refuses to listen to your prayers. What angers God in our religion today? Notice the New Testament theme that God alone is the author of salvation; that man cannot save himself, because of our bent to sin.
SJA Notes
* Father God, please show us Your testimonies today, Your rules and laws and commands and statutes. Please write them on our hearts.
“I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live.”
How do we understand this?
Jesus, the Lord’s Messiah, God in the Person of the Son – Jesus while He was on earth kept all of God’s rules, keeping His Sabbath’s holy, walking in His statutes. Every single one of them. He was perfect, and perfectly obeyed His Father.
If we are honest, if we listen to what God’s word tells us, we know that we ourselves cannot “do” God’s rules. We muck up, we mess up, we sin.
Where does that leave us?
How shall we live if we cannot do them?
Our salvation is not from us.
Our rescue from judgement, it does not come from us.
Our assurance is not in our own strength.
Our identity is not found in what is temporary or frail or broken.
JESUS!
We rest in Jesus’ righteousness.
He is the crux, the single point of success, SALVATION, the only way.
In Him and Him alone can we find life, can we live.
* Dear Father in Heaven,
Thank You for Jesus.
Thank You that He was always Your plan.
Thank You that in Jesus we can find rest and shade, rescue and restoration – That we can find in Him life, and life to the full!
Amen.