His revelation now comes through a person’s life

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL – Friday, August 18, 2017

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May you find comfort, encouragement, guidance, hope, inspiration, love, and peace – https://helpfulinspirationalblog.wordpress.com/. May you also find answers to your question(s) through the Scriptures that address every situation you face, and help with your problems. Deb ♥

Dear Lord, open our hearts and our minds to the power of Your Word, which as we read, we may know, understand, and obey Your Word for us today. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. (Author unknown)

Today’s scripture reading:

Law and grace (“God’s unfailing love and faithfulness”) are both aspects of God’s nature that he uses in dealing with us. Moses emphasized God’s law and justice, while Jesus Christ came to highlight god’s mercy, love, faithfulness, and forgiveness. Moses could only be the giver of the law, while Christ came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17 [see below]). The nature and will of God were revealed in the law; now the nature and will of God are revealed in Jesus Christ. Rather than coming through cold stone tables, God’s revelation now comes through a person’s life. As we get to know Christ better, our understanding of God will increase. (NLT)

John 1:14-17 – So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.

John pointed him out to the people. He shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before I did.’”

We have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us—one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. –James 3:13 (NIV)

Ken Claar (Idaho) titled his story “HUMBLE SERVICE;” here is Ken’s story:

“A few days a week I volunteer in our church library. I often see a certain man walking down the hall with a screwdriver or a drill or a sander in his hand.

“When I ask him what he is doing he says, ‘Oh, I noticed that this needed to be done, and I thought I’d just come in and take care of it in my spare time.’ He doesn’t receive any pay for these important little jobs, and most of the congregation has no idea that he works there so often during the week. But it is disciples like this man who keep every church building repaired and usable.

“Some think that to be a disciple means witnessing to hundreds or preaching to crowds, and many disciples do these things. But no less important is the disciple who cheerfully does the little things every day that make other people’s lives more pleasant and productive. We all have some kind of talent that we can devote to further our Lord’s kingdom. All we have to do is identify that skill or talent, decide to use it for the Lord – and then get up and actually do it.”

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY – Whose acts of Christian service can I recognize today?

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to appreciate small acts of service done in your name by people who often go unrecognized. Amen.

Prayer Focus: PEOPLE WHO SERVE IN HUMBLE WAYS

To read other stories in The Upper Room, click on the following link: http://devotional.upperroom.org/

* God’s moral and ceremonial laws were given to help people love God with all their hearts and minds. Throughout Israel’s history, however, these laws had often been misquoted and misapplied. By Jesus’ time, religious leaders had turned the laws into a confusing mass of rules. When Jesus talked about a new way to understand God’s law, he was actually trying to bring people back to its original purpose. Jesus did not speak against the law itself but against the abuses and excesses to which it had been subjected. (NLT)

Matthew 5:17 – [Jesus said] “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them.”