Today's reading: Isaiah 25, 26, 27, 28; Hebrews 13
S) "20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, 21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." - Hebrews 13:20-21 (NASB)
O) So, from the start of the verse we see first, that the whole thing hinges on Jesus' sacrifice. The Father raised him from the dead because of His blood, which was shed. So, through that sacrifice, we are even able to do the will of the Father in the first place. Then, through our faith and the sacrifice of Jesus we are called righteous and God will therefore call us to do His will. And here is the reason I chose this verse - God, through His son, Jesus our Lord, equips us "in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing to His sight," - this breaks down into 2 essential things. 1) it's all according to His will. If we're trying something that's outside His will, we cannot expect Him to equip us, that's not part of this promise. 2) He changes us from within, enabling us to please Him. We can't be discouraged that living holy, doing good, and being submitted to God are hard things to do. He's reshaping us so it'll be easier and easier, the more we submit to Him.
A) God does nothing randomly or on accident. Even more pointedly, He does everything with purpose. He redeemed me for more of a reason, than for me to just sit on my laurels the rest of the days of my life. When we believe and repent, God saves, but he doesn't put us in a zip-top bag and throw us in a freezer to keep us "saved" On the contrary, He pulled us back out of the trash can (where we essentially put ourselves), because He knew we had a purpose. I need to continually live to honor this Scripture. I need to pursue the "every good thing to do His will," since I know that He equiped me for just such a purpose!
P) Father, thank You first that You saw a reason to save me. Thank You for pulling me out of my own garbage. Also, thank You for rebuilding me, restoring me to Your calling. I thank You, that You'll never ask me to do something that You haven't first empowered me to do. You gave me purpose, then enabled me to do Your will. Holy Spirit strengthen, encourage, and embolden me for just such a good work. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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