All People Romans 5:12-14 - Mis-Markmanship Deuteronomy 28:15-20 - Not A Tame Lion Genesis 2:15-17 - Or Else Luke 15:11-16 - Prodigious Deprivation Psalm 143 - Aggressive Prayer Pattern ​ Article 2: The 15-21 - God's Mercy, Not Your Effort 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 - Love The Truth Psalm 81 - Call To Worship Romans 4:18-25 - Faithfully Face the Facts Hebrews 11:39-40 - Promises Kept Psalm 33 - God's Control, Malachi 3:6-7 - Keep It Simple Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchanging Anchor Hebrews 13:1-8 - Keep On Loving Hebrews

Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.” 15  For this is what the high and exalted One says All People Romans 5:12-14 - Mis-Markmanship Deuteronomy 28:15-20 - Not A Tame Lion Genesis 2:15-17 - Or Else Luke 15:11-16 - Prodigious Deprivation Psalm 143 - Aggressive Prayer Pattern ​ Article 2: The Romans 4:18-25 - Faithfully Face the Facts Hebrews 11:39-40 - Promises Kept Psalm 33 - God's Control, Malachi 3:6-7 - Keep It Simple Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchanging Anchor Hebrews 13:1-8 - Keep On Loving Hebrews

2 Corinthians 5:15-17 (NIV) 15  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves

Luke 16:13-15 (NIV) 13  “No one can serve two masters. God and money.” 14  The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15

Wisdom is not just a lofty ideal; it's the key to everyday success. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 122 Q. What does the second request mean? A. “Your kingdom come” means, Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Keep your church strong, and add to it. Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your Word. Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all. Summary There are many ways that God cares for his people. God’s provision through wisdom is detailed in Proverbs chapter 2. Wisdom is not something that comes from within, but it comes from God's mouth and is revealed to us through the scriptures. This wisdom works as a shield for the people of God, guarding the paths of righteousness. This wisdom is eminently practical and useful; the Lord "holds success in store for the upright" (those who walk according to His wisdom), and those who avail themselves of this wisdom will know "what is right and just and fair - every good path." God's wisdom will also "save you from the ways of wicked men." Dig Deeper Through the course of life, it can be easy to forget that God is not an absent observer to creation. We continue to be sustained by his care and provision. This is what we call the providence of God. When it comes to God’s care, it is usually tangible examples that first come to mind. The heat of the sun, the air in your lungs, and even the gravity that keeps you on the ground are acts of God’s provision. These are the types of examples that come easiest because you can see and feel them. Despite not being as tangible as some of the other ways that God provides, wisdom is nonetheless an act of God’s provision. God uses his wisdom to watch over his saints and guard us from the influence of those this proverb names as “evil men”. This protection is from the ways of the world, which lead down a path of darkness. This is one of the ways that God preserves his church. Yes, God provides through the physical protection of his people. However, God also protects the church through the giving of wisdom and guarding us from drifting into the influence of the world. As you continue to count your blessings today, remember to thank God for the gift of wisdom and his work of preserving his church against the ways of darkness. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who who gives wisdom; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will learn, use, and benefit from God's wisdom in your life; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 2 Peter 3

God gave us the second commandment, and reinforced that commandment with passages like Deuteronomy 4:15

Isaiah 57:15–19 (NIV) 15  For this is what the high and exalted One says — he who lives forever, whose

God uses the Church to enact His sovereign will. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 83 Q. What are the keys of the kingdom? A. The preaching of the holy gospel and Christian discipline toward repentance. Both preaching and discipline open the kingdom of heaven to believers and close it to unbelievers. Summary One of the key moments in the gospels is when Peter realizes that Jesus is no ordinary teacher. Matthew record of Peter's confession comes in chapter 16, and as soon as Peter exclaims that Jesus "is the Christ, the Son of the living God (v16)," Jesus responds by issuing Peter the 'keys of the kingdom.' Be lest we conclude that Jesus was giving this massive power to just one individual, Jesus uses nearly the same phrase over again a couple of chapters later that we read today, this time as a follow up regarding how to handle conflict in the Church, and this time using the word 'you' in plural: 'whatever y'all bind or loose.' When after going through the multiple steps Jesus prescribes, the Church - certainly not the whole church, but even as few as a couple of representatives of it - comes into agreement on a matter of discipline, the matter is as settled (bound) in heaven as it is in the Church. In giving the Church this responsibility, God doesn't provide unlimited power. He preserves His sovereignty over all things, including which individuals will be 'bound' and 'loosed.' R.T. France puts it well, “The fact that God has given his people the role of declaring his will on earth does not mean that he is bound to add his divine sanction to anything they may think up.” Dig Deeper It might seem like we should be taking much more advantage of the promise Jesus makes in v19, that if any two of us agree on anything they jointly ask for in prayer, our Father in heaven will do it for them. We certainly should be taking more advantage of the this promise, but we also better understand the parameters of the promise being made here. First of all, the promise is made in conjunction with the formal administration of the Church, but although this doesn't limit the promise's power just to large group meetings since Jesus applies it to groups as small as two or three, this promise is not meant to guarantee you that when you get together with two or three friends and ask God to grant the Twins or Vikings a championship that God is forced to comply. The key to this promise comes in the phrase "gathered in my name." This means that those who've come together on behalf of the church in prayer are fully aligned with God's will, and therefore will be asking for things that God eagerly desires to provide. What are some of the things that God eagerly desires for your church that you ought to be coming together to ask Him for, especially now that you've been reminded of the promise Jesus made to you? AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who lovingly provides for His Church through His Church; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that as you gather with others from the Church that you will be 'gathering in Jesus' name.' ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Luke 24

In Genesis 15, God assures Abram (before he is known as Abraham) that his reward will be greater than Yes, faith includes knowledge, but as we see in Genesis 15, it also takes wholehearted trust that God

We pray "your Kingdom come," but the firstfruits already have come! Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 122 Q. What does the second request mean? A. “Your kingdom come” means, Rule us by your Word and Spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Keep your church strong, and add to it. Destroy the devil’s work; destroy every force which revolts against you and every conspiracy against your Word. Do this until your kingdom is so complete and perfect that in it you are all in all. Summary Jesus has been raised from the dead and is the firstfruits of the resurrection. Paul is referring back to the harvest time offering made by the Israelites. At harvest, the Israelites were required to bring an offering from the firstfruits (the first part) of their crop. This offering symbolized how the entirety of the harvest belonged to God. By comparison, Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection as he was the first to be raised from the dead. And just as the first part of the harvest was a token of the entire harvest belonging to God, Jesus’ resurrection serves as a token that we too belong to God and will be raised in a resurrection like his. In addition to the promise of the resurrection for those who belong to Christ, Paul also expresses the fate of God’s enemies. Christ will destroy all his enemies; with the last of these enemies being death itself. With his enemies destroyed, the rule of God will be universally acknowledged, so that he may be all in all. Dig Deeper In verse 22 Paul addresses our dual solidarity by writing, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” We all die in Adam, the first human, in that we are united with him in sin and death. With that first disobedience in the Garden by Adam and Eve, sin entered the world. We, as Adam’s descendants, inherit this original sin. However, despite being united with Adam in sin and death, God offers grace. For we are also united with Christ by grace through faith. The resurrection is not an isolated event with a limited scope. The resurrection is the culmination of God’s plan of redemption. The resurrection of Jesus affects everything and will not be fully complete until Christ “has put everything under his feet.” One of the comforts we have as God’s people is knowing that our eternity is secure in the hands of Jesus. This is one of the reasons why the funeral of a faithful saint is different from that of an unbeliever. There is hope present. Hope in what is to come, including the promise of the resurrection. And while we look forward to the resurrection and being in the presence of Christ; Paul gives us something else to look forward to with anticipation. For we also wait for the day when the enemies of Jesus, including the devil and even death itself, will be no more. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father God, who is all in all; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God that since you have been included in Christ, you have been made alive in Him; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 2