Extend the blessing you get at the beginning of the week by praying as Jesus taught you throughout the week. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 127 Q. What does the sixth request mean? A. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” means, By ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment. And our sworn enemies— the devil, the world, and our own flesh— never stop attacking us. And so, Lord, uphold us and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit, so that we may not go down to defeat in this spiritual struggle, but may firmly resist our enemies until we finally win the complete victory. Summary Yesterday we read Peter's aweseome benediction (the word benediction literally means "good speech." They're words of that often get used to pronouce God's blessing upon His people at the close of our worship services). Today we're focusing on one of the many benedictions Paul wrote. Just like many of the prayers we read in the Bible, this benediction fits the AAA pattern! It begins by acknowledging who God is: the God of peace. What a tremenendous relationship you have with God! So many people, both historically and today, only know of God's wrath and anger at their sin, but because of Christ, you know your Father as the God of peace! The benediction goes on to align your life with God's will. But notice who it is that's aligning you: God Himself is sanctifying you, making your life reflect who He's declared you to be, so that your whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless when Christ comes again. You're also promised here that the One who has called you to this salvation will be faithful and will do it! This is why Jesus could promise that He will give you anything you ask for in His name! Dig Deeper A benediction is usually something that pronounced over you. It's not a team effort that you help implement. You sit with your head bowed or your hands outsretched as these words are spoken, and you passively receive the blessing they convey. How else could it possibly be? After all, our Father is omnipotent and holy, whereas we are weak and fallen. But you don't often stay in the place where you receive benedictions. You go back to your world, so to speak; to the chores, tasks, work and relationships that never seem to go as they should. The busyness creeps back in and before you know it, you're completely distracted and overwhelmed by life. Instead of experiencing blessing and peace, somehow you drifted far away and find yourself surrounded by temptation. That's why Jesus commanded you to pray often that you would not be lead into temptation, but instead, delivered from the evil one. He doesn't order you to pray these words because the Father needs a reminder to keep leading you down the straight and narrow, but because you need continual reminders to be led. Praying these simple words, that you'll be led away from temptation, is a benediction-extender. It takes that blessing you often receive at the beginning of the week and extends it over you, shielding you from the assaults daily life comes at you with. AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the God of peace; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll not be led into temptation, but instead that your whole spirit, soul and body will be kept blameless until the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 20

Imagine being there, hearing these words come out of the fire (Dt. 10:4), accompanied by thunder and ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - 1 Corinthians 15

Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 45 Q. Plan on joining the flock as they gather on the Lord's Day to listen to Him as His Word is proclaimed

Genesis 1:26–27 reveals that human beings were the pinnacle of God’s good creation because they were Following God’s lead in the creation act of Genesis 1, humans were tasked to work and rest. Genesis 1:26 points explicitly to the ruling aspect over all the other creatures. When Paul speaks of being created in the image of God in Ephesians 4:24, he then goes on in the rest being sinful in our anger, doing honest work, and forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you (4:

In Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul states that we are adopted through Jesus Christ.

As the Father powerfully called things into being that were not (Rom. 4:17), the Son was right there, We know this because of several passages in the Bible like Colossians 1:16.

Genesis 1:26–27 (NIV) 26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they In Genesis 1:26, God says “let us make mankind in our image”.

Numbers 16:1-32 (NIV) Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan 4  When Moses heard this, he fell facedown. 5  Then he said to Korah and all his followers: “In the morning But all people are obliged to join and unite with it, keeping the unity of the church by submitting to according to God’s Word, to separate themselves from those who do not belong to the church, in order to join And so, all who withdraw from the church or do not join it act contrary to God’s ordinance.

Evaluate your position in life from God's perspective, not the world's. Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 124 Q. What does the third request mean? A. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means, Help us and all people to reject our own wills and to obey your will without any back talk. Your will alone is good. Help us one and all to carry out the work we are called to, as willingly and faithfully as the angels in heaven. Summary Some consider this passage to be controversial, alleging that the 19th century American church used it as an excuse to continue the practice of slavery. But this allegation doesn't hold much water, since immediately after telling slaves to be content in their situation, Paul encourages them to gain their freedom if possible (v21). Far from being a rationale for the oppressors to continue their oppression (as so many in our day and age want to think the Bible does), this passage completely dismantles the human class system that supposedly defines the level of a person's status in society. As Christians, you are to consider yourself as the Lord eternally defines you, rather than the way others see you based on your current temporal situation. Our sinful instinct is to see the wealthy upper crust as intrinsically better people than the poor and downtrodden, so, especially as Americans, we do all we can to improve our upward mobility. While it's not wrong in and of itself for you to want to better yourself, this desire quickly turns into a dominating sin when your entire self image becomes based on the subjective standards that have been foisted upon you by society rather than responding to God's calling. Dig Deeper The entire doctrine taught in this passage is encapsulated in the opening verse (v17): Each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. In other words, be content no matter what your societal status is, with two very important caveats. First, be certain that the Lord has "assigned" you the position that you're in. If you can fully serve the Lord and grow in faith in your current life situation, it's a good indication that you're where the Lord has assigned you to be, no matter what the rest of the world thinks about it. But if you sense growth opportunities which require doing the hard work to change stations in life by moving either up or even down(!!) the societal ladder, then perhaps God is changing your assignment in life and you must respond. Second, and somewhat similarly, are you where God has "called" you? You may have found a very comfortable niche in life that you'd just as soon remain in, but by doing so you might be evading God's calling, putting you in a dangerous situation. Think of how comfortable Jonah was sleeping in the hold of the ship before God sent a storm to remind Jonah of his calling. Evaluating life from a divine perspective rather than the world's wisdom is massively difficult. Just remember, it doesn't matter what other people think. "Keeping God's commands is what counts (v19)." This is why your prayers must often include the words "Thy will be done." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who called you and assigned you the life you're living; ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God's will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, and that He'll help you to discern where He's assigned you to be; ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Revelation 6

Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 42 Q.