Wichita, Kansas,
United States - Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church Daily
Devotional for Saturday, 22 March 2014
Today please be in
prayer for:
1. W Scott Hannon
Bucyrus UMC
Spring Hill UMC
Kansas City District
2. William Linde
Lebanon
Rose Valley
Hays District
3. Curtis Magelky
Ellis UMC
Odell UMC
Blue River District
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This Week's
Lectionary:
2nd Sunday in Lent -
Purple
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17
Genesis 12:1 Now
Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country, and your relatives, and your
father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a
great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a
blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses
you. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as
Yahweh had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when
he departed from Haran.
Psalm 121:1 I will
lift up my eyes to the hills.
Where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from
Yahweh,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow
your foot to be moved.
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps
Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 Yahweh is your
keeper.
Yahweh is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun will not
harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will keep you
from all evil.
He will keep your soul.
8 Yahweh will keep
your going out and your coming in,
from this time forward, and forever more.
Romans 4:1 What then
will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh? 2
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not
toward God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it
was accounted to him for righteousness.”[a] 4 Now to him who works, the reward
is not counted as grace, but as something owed. 5 But to him who doesn’t work,
but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for
righteousness.
Footnotes:
a. Romans 4:3 Genesis
15:6
13 For the promise to
Abraham and to his offspring[a] that he should be heir of the world wasn’t
through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who
are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no
effect. 15 For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is
there disobedience. 16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according
to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring,[b] not
to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of
Abraham, who is the father of us all. 17 As it is written, “I have made you a
father of many nations.”[c] This is in the presence of him whom he believed:
God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though
they were.
Footnotes:
a. Romans 4:13 or,
seed
b. Romans 4:16 or,
seed
c. Romans 4:17 Genesis
17:5
John 3:1 Now there was
a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 The same came to
him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from
God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered him,
“Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew,[a] he can’t see God’s
Kingdom.”
4 Nicodemus said to
him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his
mother’s womb, and be born?”
5 Jesus answered,
“Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t
enter into God’s Kingdom! 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You
must be born anew.’ 8 The wind[b] blows where it wants to, and you hear its
sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone
who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered
him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered him,
“Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things? 11 Most
certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know, and testify of that which we
have seen, and you don’t receive our witness. 12 If I told you earthly things
and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13
No one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of
Man, who is in heaven. 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish,
but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge
the world, but that the world should be saved through him.
Footnotes:
a. John 3:3 The word
translated “anew” here and in John 3:7 (anothen) also means “again” and “from
above”.
b. John 3:8 The same
Greek word (pneuma) means wind, breath, and spirit.
Matthew 17:1 After six
days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them
up into a high mountain by themselves. 2 He was transfigured before them. His
face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. 3
Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him.
4 Peter answered, and
said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make
three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still
speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of
the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen
to him.”
6 When the disciples
heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid. 7 Jesus came and
touched them and said, “Get up, and don’t be afraid.” 8 Lifting up their eyes,
they saw no one, except Jesus alone. 9 As they were coming down from the
mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Don’t tell anyone what you saw, until
the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”
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John Wesley’s
Notes/Commentary:
Second Sunday in Lent
Genesis 12:1-4a
XII From henceforward
Abram and his seed are almost the only subject of the sacred history. In this
chapter we have,
I. God's call of Abram
to the land of Canaan ver. 1, 2, 3.
II. Abram's obedience
to this call, ver. 4, 5.
III. His welcome to
the land of Canaan, ver. 6-9.
IV. His occasional
remove into Egypt, with an account of what happened to him there. Abram's
flight and fault, ver. 10-13. Sarai's danger and deliverance, ver. 14-20.
Verse 1. We have here
the call by which Abram was removed out of the land of his nativity into the
land of promise, which was designed both to try his faith and obedience, and
also to set him apart for God. The circumstances of this call we may be
somewhat helped to the knowledge of, from Stephen's speech, Acts vii, 2, where
we are told, 1. That the God of glory appeared to him to give him this call,
appeared in such displays of his glory as left Abram no room to doubt. God
spake to him after in divers manners: but this first time, when the
correspondence was to be settled, he appeared to him as the God of glory, and
spake to him. 2. That this call was given him in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt
in Charran, and in obedience to this call, he came out of the land of the
Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran or Haran about five years, and from thence, when
his father was dead, by a fresh command, he removed him into the land of
Canaan. Some think Haran was in Chaldea, and so was still a part of Abram's
country; or he having staid there five years, began to call it his country, and
to take root there, till God let him know this was not the place he was
intended for. Get thee out of thy country - Now, (1.) By this precept he was
tried whether he loved God better than he loved his native soil, and dearest
friends, and whether he could willingly leave all to go along with God. His
country was become idolatrous, his kindred and his father's house were a
constant temptation to him, and he could not continue with them without danger
of being infected by them; therefore get thee out, (Hebrew.) vade tibi, get
thee gone with all speed, escape for thy life, look not behind thee. (2.) By
this precept he was tried whether he could trust God farther than he saw him,
for he must leave his own country to go to a land that God would shew him; he
doth not say, 'tis a land that I will give thee nor doth he tell him what land
it was, or what kind of land; but he must follow God with an implicit faith,
and take God's word for it in the general, though he had no particular
securities given him, that he should be no loser by leaving his country to
follow God.
Verse 2. Here is added
an encouraging promise, nay a complication of promises,
1. I will make of thee
a great nation - When God took him from his own people, he promised to make him
the head of another people. This promise was.
1. A great relief to
Abram's burden, for he had now no child.
2. A great trial to
Abram's faith, for his wife had been long barren, so that if he believe, it
must be against hope, and his faith must build purely upon that power which can
out of stones raise up children unto Abraham.
2. I will bless thee -
Either particularly with the blessing of fruitfulness, as he had blessed Adam
and Noah; or in general, I will bless thee with all manner of blessings, both
of the upper and nether springs: leave thy father's house, and I will give thee
a father's blessing, better than that of thy progenitors.
Verse 3. I will make
thy name great - By deserting his country he lost his name there: care not for
that, (saith God) but trust me, and I will make thee a greater name than ever
thou couldst have had there.
Verse 4. Thou shalt be
a blessing - That is, thy life shall be a blessing to the places where thou
shalt sojourn.
Psalm 121
PS 121 David assures
himself of help from God, ver. 1, 2. He assures others of it, ver. 3-8. A song
of degrees.
Verse 1. Hills - To
Sion and Moriah, which are called the holy mountains.
Verse 5. Shade - To
keep thee from the burning heat of the sun.
Verse 6. Smite - With
excessive heat. Moon - With that cold and moisture which come into the air by
it. Intemperate heats and colds are the springs of many diseases.
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
IV Having proved it by
argument, he now proves by example, and such example as must have greater
weight with the Jews than any other.
1. That justification
is by faith:
2. That it is free for
the gentiles.
1. That our father
Abraham hath found - Acceptance with God. According to the flesh - That is, by
works.
Verse 2. The meaning
is, If Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had room to glory.
But he had not room to glory. Therefore he was not justified by works.
Verse 3. Abraham
believed God - That promise of God concerning the numerousness of his seed,
Gen. xv, 5, 7; but especially the promise concerning Christ, Gen. xii, 3,
through whom all nations should be blessed. And it was imputed to him for
righteousness - God accepted him as if he had been altogether righteous. Gen.
xv, 6.
Verse 4. Now to him
that worketh - All that the law requires, the reward is no favour, but an
absolute debt. These two examples are selected and applied with the utmost
judgment and propriety. Abraham was the most illustrious pattern of piety among
the Jewish patriarchs. David was the most eminent of their kings. If then
neither of these was justified by his own obedience, if they both obtained
acceptance with God, not as upright beings who might claim it, but as sinful
creatures who must implore it, the consequence is glaring It is such as must
strike every attentive understanding, and must affect every individual person.
Verse 5. But to him
that worketh not - It being impossible he should without faith. But believeth,
his faith is imputed to him for righteousness - Therefore God's affirming of
Abraham, that faith was imputed to him for righteousness, plainly shows that he
worked not; or, in other words, that he was not justified by works, but by
faith only. Hence we see plainly how groundless that opinion is, that holiness
or sanctification is previous to our justification. For the sinner, being first
convinced of his sin and danger by the Spirit of God, stands trembling before
the awful tribunal of divine justice; and has nothing to plead, but his own
guilt, and the merits of a Mediator. Christ here interposes; justice is
satisfied; the sin is remitted, and pardon is applied to the soul, by a divine
faith wrought by the Holy Ghost, who then begins the great work of inward
sanctification. Thus God justifies the ungodly, and yet remains just, and true
to all his attributes! But let none hence presume to "continue in
sin;" for to the impenitent, God "is a consuming fire." On him
that justifieth the ungodly - If a man could possibly be made holy before he
was justified, it would entirely set his justification aside; seeing he could
not, in the very nature of the thing, be justified if he were not, at that very
time, ungodly.
Verse 13. The promise,
that he should be the heir of the world - Is the same as that he should be
"the father of all nations," namely, of those in all nations who
receive the blessing. The whole world was promised to him and them conjointly.
Christ is the heir of the world, and of all things; and so are all Abraham's
seed, all that believe in him with the faith of Abraham
Verse 14. If they only
who are of the law - Who have kept the whole law. Are heirs, faith is made void
- No blessing being to be obtained by it; and so the promise is of no effect.
Verse 15. Because the
law - Considered apart from that grace, which though it was in fact mingled
with it, yet is no part of the legal dispensation, is so difficult, and we so weak
and sinful, that, instead of bringing us a blessing, it only worketh wrath; it
becomes to us an occasion of wrath, and exposes us to punishment as
transgressors. Where there is no law in force, there can be no transgression of
it.
Verse 16. Therefore it
- The blessing. Is of faith, that it might be of grace - That it might appear
to flow from the free love of God, and that the promise might be firm, sure,
and effectual, to all the spiritual seed of Abraham; not only Jews, but
gentiles also, if they follow his faith.
Verse 17. Before God -
Though before men nothing of this appeared, those nations being then unborn. As
quickening the dead - The dead are not dead to him and even the things that are
not, are before God. And calling the things that are not - Summoning them to
rise into being, and appear before him. The seed of Abraham did not then exist;
yet God said, "So shall thy seed be." A man can say to his servant
actually existing, Do this; and he doeth it: but God saith to the light, while it
does not exist, Go forth; and it goeth. Gen. xvii, 5. 18-21. The Apostle shows
the power and excellence of that faith to which he ascribes justification. Who
against hope - Against all probability, believed and hoped in the promise. The
same thing is apprehended both by faith and hope; by faith, as a thing which
God has spoken; by hope, as a good thing which God has promised to us. So shall
thy seed be - Both natural and spiritual, as the stars of heaven for multitude.
Gen. xv, 5.
John 3:1-17
Verse 1. A ruler - One
of the great council.
Verse 2. The same came
- Through desire; but by night - Through shame: We know - Even we rulers and
Pharisees.
Verse 3. Jesus
answered - That knowledge will not avail thee unless thou be born again -
Otherwise thou canst not see, that is, experience and enjoy, either the inward
or the glorious kingdom of God. In this solemn discourse our Lord shows, that
no external profession, no ceremonial ordinances or privileges of birth, could
entitle any to the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom: that an entire change of
heart as well as of life was necessary for that purpose: that this could only
be wrought in man by the almighty power of God: that every man born into the
world was by nature in a state of sin, condemnation, and misery: that the free
mercy of God had given his Son to deliver them from it, and to raise them to a
blessed immortality: that all mankind, Gentiles as well as Jews, might share in
these benefits, procured by his being lifted up on the cross, and to be
received by faith in him: but that if they rejected him, their eternal,
aggravated condemnation, would be the certain consequence. Except a man be born
again - If our Lord by being born again means only reformation of life, instead
of making any new discovery, he has only thrown a great deal of obscurity on
what was before plain and obvious.
Verse 4. When he is
old - As Nicodemus himself was.
Verse 5. Except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit - Except he experience that great inward
change by the Spirit, and be baptized (wherever baptism can be had) as the
outward sign and means of it.
Verse 6. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh - Mere flesh, void of the Spirit, yea, at enmity
with it; And that which is born of the Spirit is spirit - Is spiritual,
heavenly, divine, like its Author.
Verse 7. Ye must be
born again - To be born again, is to be inwardly changed from all sinfulness to
all holiness. It is fitly so called, because as great a change then passes on
the soul as passes on the body when it is born into the world.
Verse 8. The wind
bloweth - According to its own nature, not thy will, and thou hearest the sound
thereof - Thou art sure it doth blow, but canst not explain the particular
manner of its acting. So is every one that is born of the Spirit - The fact is
plain, the manner of his operations inexplicable.
Verse 11. We speak
what we know - I and all that believe in me.
Verse 12. Earthly
things - Things done on earth; such as the new birth, and the present
privileges of the children of God. Heavenly things - Such as the eternity of
the Son, and the unity of the Father, Son, and Spirit.
Verse 13. For no one -
For here you must rely on my single testimony, whereas there you have a cloud
of witnesses: Hath gone up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven. Who is
in heaven - Therefore he is omnipresent; else he could not be in heaven and on
earth at once. This is a plain instance of what is usually termed the
communication of properties between the Divine and human nature; whereby what
is proper to the Divine nature is spoken concerning the human, and what is
proper to the human is, as here, spoken of the Divine.
Verse 14. And as Moses
- And even this single witness will soon be taken from you; yea, and in a most
ignominious manner. Num. xxi, 8, 9.
Verse 15. That whosoever
- He must be lifted up, that hereby he may purchase salvation for all
believers: all those who look to him by faith recover spiritual health, even as
all that looked at that serpent recovered bodily health.
Verse 16. Yea, and
this was the very design of God's love in sending him into the world. Whosoever
believeth on him - With that faith which worketh by love, and hold fast the
beginning of his confidence steadfast to the end. God so loved the world - That
is, all men under heaven; even those that despise his love, and will for that
cause finally perish. Otherwise not to believe would be no sin to them. For
what should they believe? Ought they to believe that Christ was given for them?
Then he was given for them. He gave his only Son - Truly and seriously. And the
Son of God gave himself, Gal. iv, 4, truly and seriously.
Verse 17. God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world - Although many accuse him of it.
Matthew 17:1-9
Verse 1. A high
mountain - Probably Mount Tabor. Mark ix, 2; Luke ix, 28.
Verse 2. And was
transfigured - Or transformed. The indwelling Deity darted out its rays through
the veil of the flesh; and that with such transcendent splendour, that he no
longer bore the form of a servant. His face shone with Divine majesty, like the
sun in its strength; and all his body was so irradiated by it, that his clothes
could not conceal its glory, but became white and glittering as the very light,
with which he covered himself as with a garment.
Verse 3. There
appeared Moses and Elijah - Here for the full confirmation of their faith in
Jesus, Moses, the giver of the law, Elijah, the most zealous of all the
prophets, and God speaking from heaven, all bore witness to him.
Verse 4. Let us make
three tents - The words of rapturous surprise. He says three, not six: because
the apostles desired to be with their Master.
Verse 5. Hear ye him -
As superior even to Moses and the prophets. See Deut. xviii, 17.
Verse 7. Be not afraid
- And doubtless the same moment he gave them courage and strength.
Verse 9. Tell the
vision to no man - Not to the rest of the disciples, lest they should be
grieved and discouraged because they were not admitted to the sight: nor to any
other persons, lest it should enrage some the more, and his approaching
sufferings shall make others disbelieve it; till the Son of man be risen again
- Till the resurrection should make it credible, and confirm their testimony
about it.
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Today's Devotional
Mark 5:21 When Jesus
had crossed back over in the boat to the other side, a great multitude was
gathered to him; and he was by the sea. 22 Behold, one of the rulers of the
synagogue, Jairus by name, came; and seeing him, he fell at his feet, 23 and
begged him much, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Please
come and lay your hands on her, that she may be made healthy, and live.”
24 He went with him,
and a great multitude followed him, and they pressed upon him on all sides. 25
A certain woman, who had an issue of blood for twelve years, 26 and had
suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and
was no better, but rather grew worse, 27 having heard the things concerning
Jesus, came up behind him in the crowd, and touched his clothes. 28 For she
said, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be made well.” 29 Immediately the
flow of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of
her affliction.
30 Immediately Jesus,
perceiving in himself that the power had gone out from him, turned around in
the crowd, and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 His disciples said
to him, “You see the multitude pressing against you, and you say, ‘Who touched
me?’”
32 He looked around to
see her who had done this thing. 33 But the woman, fearing and trembling,
knowing what had been done to her, came and fell down before him, and told him
all the truth.
34 He said to her,
“Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be cured of your
disease.”
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Contact Information
Great Plains Episcopal
Office
9440 E Boston, Suite
160
Wichita KS 67207
316-686-0600
800-745-2350
info@greatplainsumc.org
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