Devotional Guide For the week of May 11, 2008
MOTHERıS DAY
About knowing Godıs will
To read the Bible in one year, today read Psalms 120-122
To Know:
³For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.² (Matt. 5:20)
Were any ever more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees? Did any ever
want to be? These men were ruthlessly righteous. Few want to put
themselves
through the legalistic lemon squeezer that squashed the joy out of their
lives.
What is wrong with Pharisaical righteousness? What was Pharisaical
righteousness anyway? It was outward conformity to Godıs law. The Lord
ordered that all work stop on the Sabbath. To appear obedient, the
Pharisees
redefined work. For example, work, they said, was in the effort it took to
lift the weight of more than two dried figs. In ways like this, they
opened
the door to working on the day of rest, while pretending to conform to
Godıs
law.
Jesus said that in order to enter his kingdom, our righteousness must
exceed
the righteousness of the Pharisees. Did Christ mean that we must lift no
more than one dried fig? Or did Jesus mean that true righteousness must be
a
matter of the heart? Is true righteousness the weight we lift, or whose
will
we embrace? The righteousness of Christ is meant to redirect us.
Righteousness means to love what God loves and live the way Jesus lived.
To Do:
The author of Hebrews wrote a verse that explains authentic righteousness:
³Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired, but a body thou hast
prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings thou hast taken no
pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God.ı²(Heb.
10:5-7)
To Ask:
Father, give me a will to want your will.
05138$-05138
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