Trusting God’s Sovereign Plan

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 53 & 54

POETRY: Psalm 108

NEW TESTAMENT: James 4:13-17

Isaiah 53:5-6 (LEB):

“But he was pierced because of our transgressions,

crushed because of our iniquities;

the chastisement for our peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we were healed.

All of us have wandered about like sheep;

we each have turned to his own way,

and Yahweh let fall on him the iniquity of us all.”

Psalm 108:1 (LEB):

“My heart is steadfast, O God;

I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.”

James 4:14-15 (LEB):

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'”

Isaiah 53 paints a vivid picture of the suffering Servant, Jesus Christ, who bore our sins and took the punishment we deserved. It reminds us that God’s plan for salvation was in place long before we understood it. We were like wandering sheep, yet God sent His Son to rescue us and reconcile us to Himself. Isaiah 53 reminds us that God’s plan for our salvation was set in motion long before we even understood our need for it. We can trust His plans for our lives because He has proven His love through the sacrifice of Jesus.

Isaiah 54 shifts from the suffering of the Servant to the hope and restoration that follows. God promises to expand the tents of His people, signifying the growth and blessing that come through Christ’s sacrifice. This passage is a reminder of the immense love God has for us, His plan to redeem, and the restoration we experience in Him. In moments of doubt or difficulty, we can trust that God’s plans for us are rooted in His unfailing love and perfect wisdom. 

Psalm 108 calls us to have a steadfast heart before God. The psalmist’s heart is fixed on praising God regardless of the circumstances, declaring God’s greatness in the morning and in the midst of battle. Just as Isaiah speaks of the suffering and victory of the Servant, Psalm 108 reminds us that our response to God’s sovereignty should be steadfast praise. Even when we face trials or uncertainty, our hearts can be firm, trusting in His ultimate plan and offering Him our highest worship. Psalm 108 challenges us to maintain a steadfast heart of praise, even when life is uncertain. In every season, our hearts can be anchored in worship of God’s goodness.

James reminds us of the uncertainty of life and the importance of acknowledging God’s control over every aspect of our future. We often make plans assuming we are in control, but James challenges us to live with a heart of surrender, saying, “If the Lord wills.” This humility reflects a life that trusts God’s sovereignty in all things. James 4 reminds us to live with humble dependence on God, acknowledging that our lives are brief and that God’s will is sovereign. Our plans should always be made in light of His greater purpose.

As we consider the sacrifice of Jesus in Isaiah 53 and the promises of restoration in Isaiah 54, we should be moved to submit every part of our lives to God. Our days are like a mist, and we don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we can trust the One who holds tomorrow. Living with humility and dependence on God’s will is an act of worship and surrender.

This week, let the truths of Isaiah 53-54, Psalm 108, and James 4 inspire you to trust God’s sovereign plan for your life. Reflect on His immense love shown through Christ, cultivate a heart of steadfast worship, and live in humble surrender to His will.

-Jeff Ransom

Reflection Questions:

How does reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice in Isaiah 53 deepen your trust in God’s plan for your life?

In what areas of your life do you need to have a more steadfast heart of worship, as seen in Psalm 108?

How can you practice the humility and surrender James speaks about in your daily decisions and plans?

Are there areas in your life where you struggle to trust God’s sovereignty? How can you take steps to surrender those areas to Him?

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A Change of Heart

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 51 & 52

POETRY: Psalm 107

*NEW TESTAMENT: James 4:1-12

In the margins on my Bible, I had the following notes for this section (presumably thoughts on a sermon or lesson I heard in the past):

  1. We cannot underestimate the seriousness of sin
  2. Jesus calls us to mourn our sins in acts of genuine repentance
  3. If our natural reaction isn’t to mourn, we should pray for God to change our hearts
  4. Our God deserves our full-hearted obedience & worship.

#3 stuck out to me as I was reading – are there times that we don’t mourn our sin?  We try to make excuses for it, why it is ok for us to do it (and maybe not for someone else). 

Usually, we try not to think about our own sin.  But we do need to take time to reflect on our lives so that if we do have sin, we can repent and be forgiven.

I think in doing that, it can lead us better into #4.  If we are mourning our sin, repenting, and asking God to change our hearts, that can help mold us to what God desires which obedience comes from and further leads us into a deeper worship.

In reading through these verses, I see how our selfishness and self-absorbedness can cause fights among one another, can lead us to seek out worldly pleasures, and to think too highly of ourselves.

Instead, we need to humble ourselves and work on selflessness as we turn to God.  And there are some wonderful promises in this!

“Come near to God and he will come near to you…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (vs 8 & 10)

I want to draw nearer to God, and He wants that too.  He isn’t looking for ways to avoid us – He is looking for us to come to Him, and He will be right there with us. 

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Consider where in your life you have been/are friends with the world – thus making you an enemy of God. Are there times that we don’t mourn our sin? What excuses have you made for your sin?
  2. Where would you rank yourself on a selfishness meter – 10 being always selfish, 1 being always selfless? How is pride and humility related to selfishness and selflessness?
  3. What heart change might God be looking for from you? Will you pray for it?
  4. How can you work at submitting yourself to God? How can you work at resisting the devil?
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Consider the Great Love

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 48-50

*POETRY: Psalm 107

NEW TESTAMENT: James 3:13-18

My family has a book at home called 52 Bible Words Every Kid Should Know by Carrie Mars, and this last week, we read about the word “Psalm.”

One thing that I appreciate about reading things like this with my children or putting together lessons for young kids (teaching preschool is my favorite), is just stopping to examine simply defined truths.  When I personally go to classes, or small group, I do feel I gain things from those – a deeper understanding of things, an opportunity for discussion to hear other viewpoints, etc., but sometimes I miss the simple wonder like I had mentioned earlier this week.

When I am working on kid lessons or readings, they aren’t filled with the in-depth explanations or discussions, they are just boiled down, trying to give kids a foundation to grow from, and circling back to those things as an adult often touches me in a simple way.

In reading this book last week, it talked about how the Psalms show us how we can share all of our feelings with God.  We feel lots of things at different times, and there are psalms that fit so many different feelings.  We don’t have to just bring our good feelings before God – we can bring absolutely everything to Him.  It ends with a simple prayer “God, I’m so glad I can tell You anything.  I praise You for being so wonderful!”  God is wonderful for so many things, and us being able to bring anything before Him is just one of those things.

So let’s look a little at this specific Psalm – the first verse is one that repeats in other psalms (and repeats slightly altered throughout this one), and is a popular (if somewhat older) song:

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

It is simple; it is basic.  But God is good!  And He isn’t good the way we might call someone a “good” person.  He is really, truly, and fully good, and one of the most amazing things is that He loves us and that love will last forever.  This isn’t a revolutionary concept if you have been a Christian for a while, but it is a simple truth that can astound you when you stop to think about that.

If you were going to teach that to a child, you would break it down, emphasize how God’s good far surpasses ours, and emphasize how amazing His love is – get them excited about it!  As adults, I find we have heard those things so many times that we often gloss over them, but stop and think.  The great, amazing, good God of the universe loves you, and that love is perfect, and lasts forever.

When I truly stop and think about that, it just blows my mind.  And thinking about that makes it so easy to give thanks to the LORD for who He is.

The psalm ends with this verse:

“Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.”

So this is my suggestion to you – slow down, view it through the simplicity of a child’s eyes, and consider the great love of the LORD.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What feelings will you bring before God today? Are there some feelings you have that you typically don’t bring to Him?
  2. Make a list of what God does in Psalm 107. In this psalm how do we see God displaying His love? Which ones apply to you? How else could you describe what God has done for you? How will you give thanks to God for His love and mercy?
  3. How many times does this Psalm tell us that the thankful redeemed tell others about God’s love and what He has done?
  4. How would you describe God’s love and mercy to a child you know? How would you describe His love to an adult? What and how can you share at church about God’s love? Outside of church, who and how can you tell about God’s love?
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Taming the Tongue

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 46-47

POETRY: Psalm 107

*NEW TESTAMENT: James 3:1-12

Reading this passage is powerful to me.  It’s only 12 verses, so take the time and read through it if you haven’t.

The imagery just really paints a picture in your mind of the kind of control being talked about.  And what has this control?  The tiny little tongue.

It is so small, yet so powerful.

The words you say have a powerful impact on others.  A kind word can lift someone from a valley, but a negative word can push someone down who may have already been knocked down.

My 3-year-old son made the joyful revelation when talking and making faces at his baby cousin this summer – “If I’m happy at her, she’s happy at me!”  Life isn’t quite always like this, but typically, if you speak kindly to someone, you are much more likely to get a positive response from them whether it is a kind word back or help in an area you are looking for.

Verses 9-10 read: With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be.”

[italics added]

How can we curse someone made in God’s likeness with the same mouth we praise our God with?  Those ideas are so contradictory, yet it is easy to put people down.

For example, you may be aware that we have an election coming up soon.  There are so many negative things being said about politicians in all parties.  But how can we talk this way about someone made in the likeness of God?  I think what it boils down to is that is not how we are viewing them.  We are looking at them based on their actions or thoughts that we don’t agree with, but not looking at who they are as a person which is someone made in God’s likeness.

Let us try to view everyone in this way in order that we might better praise God. 

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What do you think God is thinking about those who praise Him and curse men?
  2. Watch your tongue today and see how many times you speak poorly of people – or catch yourself ABOUT to speak negatively of someone made in God’s likeness. Why do you think it is so common in the world?
  3. How can we be different? Is it possible to state your opinion about ideas without putting down people?
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Heart Change

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 44 & 45

POETRY: Psalm 107

NEW TESTAMENT: James 2:14-26

Faith or Works

How are we saved?  We are saved by grace alone, through our faith in Jesus Christ.  But what comes out of our faith?  Shouldn’t it be works?

If we start with works and try to earn our righteousness, we won’t get there.  We cannot earn salvation.  However, if we have faith, works should come out of that.

I think most people reading this probably know these things.  You’ve probably heard a sermon, read a devotion on it, etc.  But do we live that way?  Do we live in a way that is trying to work on all the individual things in our lives, to clean them up one by one, to do the good things we are supposed to?

Alternatively, we can focus on growing our faith.  On accepting the gift given to us and let the good works come naturally as a result of that.

The youth group at our church recently read in Romans 12 which lists many snippets on how we should be living “love must be sincere…be joyful in hope…share with God’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality…live in harmony with one another…do not be conceited…” and many more. 

We could use this as a checkbox of good works to make sure that we are doing the right things to show our salvation.  But that doesn’t address our hearts.  If we need a checklist to make sure we are loving one another, we need to go back and look at our hearts.  What we talked about in class was to pray to have our hearts changed so that living this way would come naturally out of the overflow of our hearts.  And I think this relates to the faith vs works question. 

If our faith is sincere, our hearts are changed, and the result of that is good works.

A checklist can be a good way for you to ask yourself – am I living as one whose heart has been changed – but I don’t think it is good to be living our lives based off of a checklist.  It focuses you more on the tasks rather than the effects of what you are doing or the purpose behind it.

So maybe ask yourself if you are doing these good things, or avoiding the bad, but if you aren’t meeting the things on that list, don’t place your focus there.  Instead, pray for God to change your heart and you should start to see that happen more and more.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Where have you seen faith without works? Where have you seen works without faith? Why, do you think, God is looking for both, working together?
  2. Are you living as one whose heart has been changed? Are you living out your faith daily? What evidence do you have to support your answer?
  3. What specific heart change can you pray for?
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Do You Know?

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 41-43

POETRY: Psalm 107 (the rest of this week)

NEW TESTAMENT: James 2:1-13

I want to jump back to Isaiah today.  Chapter 40 was actually the scheduled reading from yesterday, but it ends with some of my favorite verses – Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.
29 He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

I don’t have much of a devotion for you, but here is my suggestion.

Read these verses again.  Let the amazingness, goodness, incredibleness of God wash over you.  Be in awe of Him.  And lean into the reminder that those who hope in Him will have their strength renewed.

Sometimes, we read large chunks of chapters or verses, and for me at least, I fall into a traditionally schooled trained pattern of just trying to absorb information to be able to answer questions.  But the wonder can pass me by when I do this. 

So stop.  Read this small section, and be amazed by the Creator.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Do you know that the Lord your God is the Creator of the world? What does that mean to you? What does it mean to you that He is everlasting?
  2. What can you not fathom about the Lord God’s understanding? When has He given you strength when you were weary? How would you use His strength today? Pray for it. Thank God for it.
  3. Where do you put your hope?
  4. How many times can you read this passage today? Whatever number you said, can you read it 5-10 additional times beyond what you thought you could.
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Religion that is Worthless

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 38-40

POETRY: Psalm 107

*NEW TESTAMENT: `James 1:19-27

Have you ever spoken without thinking and hurt someone as a result?  Maybe you have seen this object lesson before, but think of a tube of toothpaste.  It is really easy to squeeze the toothpaste out (my kids are happy to do so in excess if they make it to the counter before me).  But once it is out, it is incredibly difficult, time consuming, and messy to get that toothpaste back in.  Once you speak, you can’t take your words back.  You can apologize, but that doesn’t change the fact of what you said.

How quickly do you become angry?  I like verse 20 which gives us a reason why we should be slow to become angry – “for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”

It is easy to get angry, to speak rudely, to interrupt others’ speech.  But these things do not help us to live the life God wants us to.  It might make us feel better for a second to have an outburst, but usually, we feel worse afterwards and it has done nothing to improve our lives.

But how do we go about avoiding this temptation that is easy to slide into?

“get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”

In a small group I was a part of in the spring, there was an idea that kept coming up from discussing the sermons – if you aren’t producing good fruit in your life, take a look – are you letting sin have a hold in your life?  We have to be constantly on the lookout for where sin seeps in and push it out in order that our fruit can show.

Verse 22 – “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says[!]”  You have to act.  It is great to go to church, listen to sermons, classes, read the Bible on your own, etc.  All great things.  But if all you do is listen, it isn’t going to make a difference.  You need to actively push the sin out of your life and pursue the good.

To circle back to the beginning of this section, here is what James writes in verse 26 “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” 

That is strong language!  Do you thing about your words having such an impact as to make your religion worthless if you do not control your tongue?

Think about your speech – do you need to work on controlling what you say?  Is there speech you need to ask for forgiveness for?  Is there speech you need to forgive someone else for?  What moral filth do you need to get rid of in your life in order to be able to accept God’s word?

Silence has value.  In the words of Thumper “if ya can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.”

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Do you thing about your words having such an impact as to make your religion worthless if you do not control your tongue? When might you have questioned someone else’s religion because of what they said? When was the worth of your own religion decreased due to what you said?
  2. Think about your speech – do you need to work on controlling what you say?  Is there speech you need to ask for forgiveness for?  Is there speech you need to forgive someone else for? 
  3. What moral filth do you need to get rid of in your life in order to be able to accept God’s word?
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God Won’t Give You Anything Beyond…

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 36-37

POETRY: Song of Songs 8

*NEW TESTAMENT: James 1:1-18

Do you feel joy when you go through trials/temptations? I would guess not as it is opposed to our natural inclinations.

But when we go through hard times, we can come out on the other side stronger. 

Have you heard Christians say that God won’t give us anything beyond what we can handle?  That is a perversion of the truth. 

We weren’t created to be able to handle this life on our own.  We were made with a need for God.  The trouble comes when we recognize our need for something beyond ourselves but turn to something or someone besides God and become dependent on that.  That is when idols are created.

God won’t put things in our life that can’t be handled with His help.  But there likely will be things in your life that you can’t handle on your own.  That is your reminder, if you aren’t already, to depend on God.

1 Corinthians 10:13 is where people get the wrong idea.  But they just read part of it.  They read “he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”  The verse continues though to say “But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”  He will provide a way!

When we try to do things on our own, we can quickly become prideful – thinking we are great, or, become depressed because we can’t do what we tried to. 

We can come out of the other side of trials and temptations with a stronger faith if we leaned into God during this time.  It should allow us to become more mature in our faith and deepen our relationship with God.

~Stephanie Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. What is a past trial you have gone through with God’s help? How did He help you? How did your perseverance grow during this experience? How did you mature through the process? What joys can you take away from that past trial?
  2. What joy can you find in your present trial?
  3. Consider some of the Christians that you most look up to. Have you ever met a really strong Christian who has had a really “easy” life?
  4. What will you say the next time you hear someone say, “God won’t give us anything beyond what we can handle?”
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Exhortation

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 34 & 35

POETRY: Song of Songs 7

NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 13

The end of the book of Hebrews gives an exhortation to them to listen to what was likely just read. Exhortation is a pleading with someone to act. I hope they did. I’ve been persuaded to. 

What they, and by extension we, should have understood by the end of this portion of the letter was that Jesus is a better high priest than the Levitical priests because his sacrifice was perfect. We learned that he was chosen by God. We learned that to be chosen means that you choose God back. Jesus chose God back by being faithful to his part in God’s plan of salvation, which was to shed his sinless blood on the cross to save us. This inaugurated the New Covenant through him, with better promises so that we can all partake in the Kingdom of God.

What he saved us from was being slaves to sin that kills. We learned that we are saved from sin because his sinless sacrifice takes away sins (makes people perfect). We learned that the Old Covenant sacrifices of animal blood couldn’t take away sins, but they did remind the people of God of their sin (to help them stop sinning and live well).

The Old Covenant sacrifices could never take away sins because those animal sacrifices, and the priests offering them, were not perfect. They could cleanse the body of sin, but not the conscience. But God’s plan of salvation through Jesus included those under the Old Covenant who were people of faith. Being a person of faith means you believe that God will do what he promised he’d do, compelling you to act according to his promises. Those under the Old Covenant who finished their race faithfully and had faith that God was faithful to make them perfect one day, will be saved (they are saved)

God is perfect because he is always faithful to do what he says he’ll do according to his promises, which are always for our good. Jesus was made perfect as a result of his faith, causing him to always do what his father asked of him, for his good, and for the good of the world. We were made perfect when we entered into the New Covenant with God through Jesus.

Remaining perfect happens by being faithful to do what we said we’d do until our race is finished, just like the people of old were required to do whatever was required of them under their covenant. What God required of them, of Jesus, and of us, is to do his will; to be faithful.  

The will of God for us is to love as Jesus loved, which is the new commandment in the New Covenant. The way Jesus loved was through self-sacrifice to save the world. Self-sacrifice saves because it demonstrates one’s love for others. Those who love others are those who will be in God’s Kingdom for all eternity. Self-sacrifice for us is doing whatever it takes (according to God’s will) to save someone; to bring them into the covenant so that they too can be made perfect. If we are doing this, we are freed from sin. We are freed from sin because we chose to do the will of God.

We read however that we can get sluggish in doing God’s will. We can even get entangled back in sin. We heard that to get out of being sluggish, sinning, and to get back to doing God’s will, that we need endurance. We learned that endurance comes through discipline.

The last chapter in Hebrews gives us a few more practical examples of how to be disciplined. We were taught that being disciplined by our father who loves us is for our good. Being disciplined helps us to adhere to our part in God’s plan of salvation. It helps us to be faithful, with endurance to the end of our race.

The Hebrews were given a grand letter reminding them of how awe-inspiring Jesus is, how much better God’s work is through him than any work he’s done before, and that it’s available to everyone who comes through Jesus. They tasted of it, but they got sluggish, and were in need of some exhortation to finish their race faithfully.

The children of God, including us, have a high calling. We’re being exhorted to endure this life race with faith all the way to the end through discipline. The stakes are high, we can’t faint back into our old ways. Said more with the desire written on my heart, we’re being exhorted to be Jesus to the world to save it.

-Juliet Taylor

Reflection Questions

1. If this exhortation has persuaded you to act, what are you going to do (how will you discipline yourself)? You can find many examples in the chapter.

2. God is pleased with what 3 sacrifices according to Hebrews chapter 13?

3. The Hebrews were exhorted to imitate the faith of the ones who taught them the word. What action stands out the most that you’d like to imitate from someone who taught you?

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Endurance

OLD TESTAMENT: Isaiah 32-33

POETRY: Song of Songs 6

*NEW TESTAMENT: Hebrews 12

If you’re feeling sluggish, tired of enduring the hardships that come with choosing to be faithful to the end of your race in this age, caught in sin that’s hard to get disentangled from, then think on all of those faithful chosen of God from chapter 11. They made it! They’re going to the Kingdom!

We have to have the endurance to make it to the end to, for our own good. If that great cloud of witness doesn’t move you, consider Jesus’s faith, by which he endured the cross for you. God’s will for him involved the shedding of his blood to resist the sin of others against him and to free us from it. Has God asked you to shed blood to resist sin? That’s probably not God’s will for you, thank God, though many of his children have. I pray it never comes to that.

What’s it going to take to finish your faith race? This writer says endurance, and it comes through discipline (he may even be referencing the letter he’s penning as part of that discipline). He is reproving the Hebrews, but discipline involves more than reproof. It involves scourging (I think the definition of scourging here is “suffering”), and it takes training.

The Hebrews seem to have forgotten that they are heirs to the Most High; they are sons of God. If you’re a son, then you will be disciplined (if not, you’re illegitimate). God’s discipline is like that of a father to his child. It is like the training up of the child in the way he should go so that when he is old, he will not depart from it. The child who was disciplined experienced how to endure as an adult.

The discipline was for the child’s good, though it was sorrowful in the moment. As adults, the discipline will be sorrowful in the moment, but remember, the discipline of the Lord happens because he loves his children, so welcome it. If you’re not disciplined, you’re going to hurt yourself or others with sin. You might forfeit your entrance into the kingdom.

Discipline removes sin. It shapes us into holy people – sharing in the holiness with God (because we are transformed into people who want good for others and therefore do the will of God). It yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness (it turns you into a person who is faithful to do God’s will).

With the Lord’s leading, we can take steps to discipline ourselves to resist sin with endurance, for a whole lifetime. Here are some examples from this chapter:

Serve those in need – strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble.

Pursue peace with all men.

Don’t let any root of bitterness spring up causing you trouble.

Don’t refuse the one who is disciplining you.

Don’t trade your birth right for food (like Esau did); God didn’t forgive that sin.

Remember, you didn’t endure what God’s firstborn son (the children of Israel) did. They were not allowed to be where God was like you are through Jesus. Through their mediator Moses, they had to stay away from the mountain where God was. And they were terrified because if they touched the mountain, they’d die. They were terrified of hearing God’s voice, sounding like thunder and lightning.

Instead, you’ve come to the church of the firstborn (Jesus). You have approached the throne room of God, with his angels, with your brothers and sisters who have all been made perfect by Jesus’s sacrifice, and you can do it without being terrified. You’re not going to die if you approach the throne room of God through Jesus.

Oh, and by the way, Jesus’s sprinkled blood as our living sacrifice speaks better than Abel’s blood that cried out for vengeance. Jesus’s blood cries out for love/sacrifice for others. Our job is to follow the cries of the one who’s better, who’s blood lets us into the throne room of God now to be in his presence. God will oblige both, but he says vengeance belongs to him.

God once shook the earth when he spoke from earth. In the end, he’ll speak from heaven, and shake both heaven and earth, so that the things that can be shaken will be removed, leaving only those things that are unshakable. What’s unshakeable is the Kingdom of God. Let’s praise God that we can be a part of that Kingdom now, showing him reverence and awe for what he’s doing. It’s a new thing, and it’s better. 

-Juliet Taylor

Reflection Questions

1. Can you think of something you endured faithfully through discipline?

2. Do you have a routine of discipline that helps you stay on track?

3. Abel’s blood cries out for vengeance. Jesus’s blood cries out for love/sacrifice to save others. God will oblige both cries, but vengeance belongs to God, not to those under the New Covenant. Our responsibility is to love, as Jesus loved because it can change hearts and allows us in God’s presence now (in spirit as we draw near). Our job is to love even those who have hurt us. How can you love someone who has hurt you?

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