Monday, June 25
Theme for the week:
Disciples learn paths of blessedness
and value a ‘hunger and thirst’ for righteousness

It is not always easy to understand the meaning of Jesus’ words, phrases and teachings. That said, we do not have permission to place our own personal slant onto his teachings and then apply them to ourselves or others as if that is what Jesus taught.

To really understand what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness, we need to know what Jesus means by righteousness. What did he mean while talking to a crowd of ordinary Jewish people with an interest in God, but without deep theological training?

It would seem pretty evident that he is not describing a mere outward righteousness unaccompanied with a heart to match. That is what he blasted the Pharisees for, calling them whitewashed tombs (see Matthew 23:27-28).

Over the next week, we will dig into this what this righteousness seems to be shared by Jesus. For now let's pray that God blesses our week on this topic. Clearly we all want to be blessed by God. Let's see how that happens with righteousness.

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Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, you are called the Righteous One, and yet became unrighteous so that we could become the righteousness of God. I ask that you would, by your Holy Spirit, teach me what you mean in saying blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. I look forward to your Spirit's guidance this week again. I pray in your name, amen.

Psalm 119: Immersed in the Word of God

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This is our continuing opportunity to encounter God through His Word in Psalm 119. Unique in the bible, Psalm 119 is fashioned around the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (seen above). Each section contains eight verses, making it easily the longest psalm at 176 verses. 

Psalm of Meditation for the Week:

Psalm 119:81-88 (Kaph)

כ

  1. My soul faints with longing for your salvation but I have put my hope in your word.
  2. My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”
  3. Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.
  4. How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?
  5. The arrogant dig pits to trap me, contrary to your law.
  6. All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.
  7. They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts.
  8. In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.

  • Read: the verses twice.

  • Mark: the words or phrases that catch your attention.

  • Meditate: talk (better yet write) with God about those words. Ask him to impress things upon your heart and mind; expect a response from the Lord.

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Pondering Point

Expand the idea of salvation (verse 81) beyond a ticket to heaven and ponder what the psalmist yearns for in this part of the Psalm. Look for answers in verses 81-88.

Tuesday, June 26
God’s Mission Seen in Romans 10:1-13

Romans 10:1-13

1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

As Romans 13 begins, listen to the Apostle Paul pour out his heart, so attuned to that of our Heavenly Father: Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge (10:1-2).

Having been immersed in the Jewish faith environment from birth, he knew their zeal. He himself lived that way prior to his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Of course Paul was still zealous after that encounter, but for Jesus, who taught him the truth that all of scripture centers on: Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (10:4).

In its broadest sense, righteousness means to be right with God. That is what Paul desired for his brothers and sisters. Out of that context, we see the words from above describing God’s way for us to be saved (Romans 10:10,13).

It's interesting to note that while the fourth beatitude talks about us “hungering and thirsting for righteousness”, here we see God hungering and thirsting for righteousness – for us. That's why we can say that Paul has a heart after God, a heart like our Heavenly Father.

Our Father asks Jesus to fulfill all righteousness so that it can be gifted to us by faith (see 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Peter 3:18) And so it is, that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, a righteousness from God is conferred on you.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
~ 2 Corinthians 5:21

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Prayer for the day

Lord God, what a joy, what a pleasure what gratitude I have as I call on your name. I know that You promise that in calling on your name, I am saved. I am safely in the palm of your hand. I will gladly confess with my mouth to anyone that Jesus Is My Lord and that I believe that you raised him from the dead. May I have a constant thirst for hunger for you and may my thirst for you never be fully satisfied until I see you face to face. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Scripture Meditation for the Day:

Psalm 119:81-82

My soul faints with longing for your salvation but I have put my hope in your word. My eyes fail, looking for your promise; I say, “When will you comfort me?”

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Statute, Command, Precept, or Decree of God:

Isaiah 41:10a

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God… 

The Promise:

Isaiah 41:10b

... I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

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Pondering Point

Paul yearned for his fellow Israelites to know salvation through Jesus, God desires people to know him through Jesus. What does your soul faint over?

Wednesday, June 27
Your Identity in Christ

I declare with my mouth that “Jesus is Lord,” and I believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead; and so in Christ, I am saved.

Your initial identity piece here is being saved based on your confession of faith. But looking in the chapter from which this language is drawn, Romans 10, we see a parallel identity coming comes out of that language: You are righteous.

What is amazing about being identified as righteous is that we are born unrighteous, show unrighteous by our sin, and then even after we come to faith in Christ exhibit in unrighteousness in our residual flesh. And yet – in Christ – we are righteous: Justified by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

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Prayer

Father God, you and I both know that I hunger to be right with you and yet fail at that on my own. We also both know then I need forgiveness and that Jesus is the answer. I thank you for providing that righteousness through Jesus in relation to you. In His name I pray, amen.

Scripture Meditation for the Day:

Psalm 119:83-84

Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees. How long must your servant wait? When will you punish my persecutors?

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Statute, Command, Precept, or Decree of God:

2 Peter 3:8-9

Do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 

The Promise:

Isaiah 30:18

The Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all who wait for him!

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Pondering Point

Being dried out by smoke is very harmful for a wineskin, an apt description for someone wasting away waiting and waiting on God… but still trusting. Wow!

Thursday, June 28
Re-Center Around God

“blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. …”
~ Jesus

Ever stood with your refrigerator open, knowing that you're hungry for something, but nothing there is appealing? Today we pause and try to put a finger on what we hunger for to satisfy us internally:

Review the week

For what do you most hunger and thirst? Peace and quiet? the absence of quiet? For what do you yearn for due to its absence or its lack in your life? What do you desire -- not terms of food – but in terms of happiness? Are there things that initially satisfy but leave you empty later? What does bring satisfaction?

Repent (if necessary)

Share with God where you sense that you have lacked hunger for him due to your appetite focusing on other arenas, things or people.

Return (as necessary)

Ask God for a heart of hunger, for a thirst for him that cannot be satisfied by lesser things. Don't merely try to remove things you shouldn't be imbibing in, but consider a way to continue to slake your thirst for things with God, to whet your appetite for things using God; come, taste and see: the Lord is good.

Scripture Meditation for the Day:

Psalm 119:85-86

The arrogant dig pits to trap me, contrary to your law. All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for I am being persecuted without cause.

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Statute, Command, Precept, or Decree of God:

Matthew 6:33-34

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 

The Promise:

Matthew 5:11

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil of evil against you because of me.

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Pondering Point

In the spirit of Thursday’s self-evaluation, ask God if you’ve set up a pit for someone else, or are secretly hoping that someone you dislike falls into one?

Friday, June 29
Discipleship Point from Matthew 5:6

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

From the Disciple’s Creed, part three:

I believe that my life is not my own, but has been bought at the price of Jesus’ life, and that I am called to invest my life into others, both to be an encourager and to receive encouragement, to be discipled as well as to disciple others.

This I will do with the Spirit’s help as I seek to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and as I love my neighbor as myself. Having counted the cost of discipleship, I want to follow Jesus and join Him in His mission of being a disciple who is making disciples.
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Discipleship Prayer:

Lord Jesus, as I ponder your teaching about hungering and thirsting for righteousness, I am grateful to be right with God through you. I pray that you would give me a hunger for all people to be right with you, and that you would use me as an discipler to that end. Amen.

Scripture Meditation for the Day:

Psalm 119:87-88

They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. In your unfailing love preserve my life, that I may obey the statutes of your mouth.

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Statute, Command, Precept, or Decree of God:

Isaiah 43:1

But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 

The Promise:

Isaiah 43:2

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

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Pondering Point

When things get tough, where do you tend to turn, family? friends? God? Those who know God?

Saturday, June 30

Genesis 6:5-22

Noah and the Flood

5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

9 This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around.[f] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

In light of this week's theme of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, we see a stark contrast to this in the description of the world of Noah's time. There is says: every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time (Gen 6:5). Yet there in the midst of that was Noah, described by God himself as a righteous man (Gen 6:5). Not perfect, not without sin – as the story shows later, but righteous. Maybe it was that Noah yearned for, hungered for, thirsted for the way it ought to be, the way God desires it, designed it, wants it, wills it.

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Prayer

Oh my God, the world of our day is still full of evil motives springing from the heart of man. I thank you for the righteousness that is mine is Christ, and I pray that you would help me to live as a righteous person, one who hungers for things to be made right, thirsts for people to be right – right with you and right with each other. Until the day that you set all things right and all things new, I thank you that I am already a new creation in Christ, with a new heart enabling me to respond to your Holy Spirit’s call and guidance. In Jesus name, amen.

Sunday, July 1
Call to Worship God, to Gather Together

God Bless You

Psalm 63:1

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. 

The revelation of God is the fuel for the fire of our worship.

~ Matt Redman
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Prayer for Worship

Father God, I desire to see a world that is just and right, that things happen justly and right; the injustices are hard to stomach. Remind me that this bothers you also. I look forward to you Jesus govern wisely, justly in the new heaven and earth. Until every knee bows, please preserve us your people through a world plagued with sin and death, pain and suffering. Remind all of that none of it separates us from you, and none of it compares to the glory to be revealed on the last day. Come Lord Jesus. Amen

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