Sorry For Our Sin, Grateful To The Lamb

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"There will never a time in eternity when, in sight of the Lamb on the throne, we will not be sorry for our sin and grateful to the Lamb" (Rev William Still - on Deuteronomy 16:18-20).

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2nd January: Psalm 23:1-6 - 'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.'

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Turning to 'the Shepherd Psalm', we focus our attention on verse 5: 'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows'. We are to feast on God's Word. We are to be filled with God's Spirit. The 'table' is the place of feasting. 'Oil' is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. As we feast on God's Word, we will have good cause to say, again and again, 'God is good': His 'goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life' (6). The Lord never fails us. He always comes with His life-giving Word, the Word of life, through which our life on earth becomes the beginning of life eternal, the pathway to a life in which the fullness of God's love will be revealed in a way that we can hardly begin to imagine: 'I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever' (6). This is what Christ is preparing for us (John 14:2)!
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3rd January: Psalm 42:1-11 - 'My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.'

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As we read God's Word day-by-day, we are to pray for an increase of our desire for God: 'My soul thirsts for God, for the living God' (2). This is the spiritual experience, referred to in verse 7: 'Deep calls to deep'. This is what Paul speaks of in 1 Corinthians 2:10 - Through His Spirit , God is at work in us, revealing to us 'the deep things of God. God has given us His Spirit for this reason - 'that we may understand what God has freely given us' (1 Cor.2:12). God wants us to explore, with Him, the meaning of the great salvation which He has so graciously provided for us in Jesus Christ. Learning of God's salvation, we will say with the Psalmist, 'I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God' (11). This song of praise will grow strong in both our personal devotions - 'a prayer to the God of my life' (8) - and our public worship - going 'to the house of God' (4).
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'Genesis' means 'beginning'. These opening verses challenge us to get our priorities right - (a) The priority of God (1). God comes first. Before anyone else is mentioned, He is there. (b) The priority of God's Word (3). God is the first to speak. Before any human word is spoken, there is the Word of the Lord. (c) The priority of God's Spirit (2). All was 'empty', all was 'darkness', yet the 'Spirit of God' was at work, and transformation was set in motion. Here, we have God's priorities, set out in the Bible's first three verses - Putting God first and listening to His Word, we are to pray for the moving of God's Spirit, 'hovering over' our lives to transform them. For those who make God's priorities their own, there is a promise of great blessing (Psalm 1:1-2). It is the great blessing of knowing Jesus Christ, our Saviour, as 'God with us' (Matthew 1.23).
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