Dig Deeper We saw earlier this week how the apocryphal books of 1 & 2 Maccabees give tremendous insight fallen Hebrew soldiers were gathered, they were found to be wearing some idolatrous jewelry. 2 Maccabees 12 Today: Acts 19

Isaiah 49:1-7 CONTEXT: This passage is one of four "Servant Songs" in the book of Isaiah that point forward God "forms in the womb" (v1, 5), or as Psalm 139:13 puts it, God knits people together.

Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 14: The Creation and Fall of Man (Genesis 4:1, ESV). tree - the cross - that you can gain access to the wonderful tree of life (Revelation 2:7, 22:2, 22:14 -19). Today: Matthew 10

Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 14: The Creation and Fall of Man "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands (Psalm 19)." But it's here in Article 14 that we've arrive at a fork in the road. The problem is that we're not just sick from our sin, we're dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1), and a dead man Today: Matthew 13

Today: 1 Thessalonians 3

Summary Be thankful for the Jewish establishment that constantly pestered Jesus. ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Matthew 15

the wicked. 9 Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge— 10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. 11 For he will command his serpent you will trample underfoot. 14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I Verses 3-13 go on to describe how God is our refuge. Verse 11 speaks of God’s use of angels in providing this protection.

Matthew 17 contains a more often cited reference to the mustard seed, where Jesus uses it to describe is drawing on a familiar illustration, it is being used to teach on something different than Matthew 17 In Matthew 17 the mustard seed is used to describe the growth of a person’s faith and what kind of faith

10 So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided. As Psalm 7:15–16 declares, He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. Haman’s gallows were turned against him, the Cross was the trap that crushed the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15

Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance 15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and And if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.