I thought it might prove helpful to have a place to share short meditations.
Here is mine today:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:6)
Each day He gives us manna in the Word. And it is enough for the day. But we have to collect it in order to eat.
From my reading this morning.
“You shall not see your brother’s ox or his sheep going astray and ignore them. You shall take them back to your brother." - Deut. 22:1
How much more should I concern myself when I see the son or daughter of a brother in the church straying?
“Is it for oxen that God is concerned?”
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8)
God’s refuge is His Goodness. Jesus is our Refuge. “Eat my flesh,” He said, and you will see that Yahweh is good.
“Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7
God has given preachers the words of life to pass on to His people. If we refuse to listen to God’s messengers, how can claim to be His children?
Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. - 1 Thess. 2.8
Are the sheep as dear to us as they were Paul? Make it so, Lord.
we must remember that those who want to be counted true pastors must entertain the same feeling as Paul––to have a higher regard for the well-being of the Church than for their own life. They are to do their duty with no regard to their own advantage, but with a sincere love for those to whom they know that they are bound and connected. - Calvin
The promise:
“Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.” - Genesis 22:17-18
A pseudo-fulfillment:
“Judah and Israel were as many as the sand by the sea.” 1 Kings 4:20
Though the kingdom was united under Solomon, and had been united through strife under David, the fact that the covenant people are still here referred to as “Judah and Israel” is a reminder of their underlying estrangement from one another. They are two peoples. A divided Israel, no matter how numerous they are collectively, could never be understood as the fulfillment of the promise. The promise is to one seed, not two, and not ten million.
“Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.” - Galatians 3:16
Hence it is in Christ, in whom the offspring are revealed as children of promise (Gal. 4:23-24), that the promise to Abraham is fulfilled.