Psalm 1, 2, 3; Deut. 4:9-14; 2 Cor. 10:1-18; Matt. 6:7-15
Moses reminds the people of their formation, the day that the Lord constituted the nation, gave them the covenant commands. His admonition to them is that they keep their souls diligently lest they forget. We need to always remind ourselves of this covenant we have with the Lord lest we forget whose we are. The covenant forged at the mountain meant that these were God’s people, they had a treaty with Him. They were not their own, and neither are we, our souls were redeemed at the price of the blood of Jesus shed on the cross and since we take Him as Lord and Savior we take on His call on our lives. It is important that we continually remind ourselves of this and we do so in our worship, in the recollection of death, passion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and then we go back to the table with Him and we renew the covenant in communion. Eating the bread and drinking the wine is our reminder of His sacrifice on our behalf and that the life we now live is the very life He has given to us.
Jesus teaches His disciples to pray and the first petitions are that God’s Name might be hallowed, kept sacred, exalted and then that His kingdom would come on earth as it is already in heaven. We need to start our prayers with those petitions, exalting the Lord and desiring His kingdom, ascribing worth and honor to Him alone and recognizing the fallen nature of this world. Is our desire to see His kingdom or are our prayers asking for more of this kingdom? The prayer continues by asking for our daily bread and it is important that we recognize that all things come from His gracious hand, not from anything in ourselves, that all we have and all we are is attributable to the Lord. Then we recognize that we and others need forgiveness and Jesus says forgiveness is others is a condition of receiving forgiveness ourselves. Do we have unforgiveness in our hearts against others? If so, we need to deal with that to receive God’s forgiveness for our sins.
Paul’s boast is always and only in the Lord and the work He has done in Paul’s life and in the lives of those to whom Paul preaches. Paul does not want attention or applause for himself in the least, but for the Lord. His attitude is like that of Jesus who sought not approval from men but from the Father. It is always a temptation to us to seek approval and acclaim from one another and when we do we fall into the trap of the world and we will then always seek it. The Corinthians are being seduced by those who seek their approval and in that it is easy to see a new group of Pharisee leaders growing in the early church. Care must be taken to always ascribe glory, honor and power only to Him.
Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!
O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
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