Week 17 Friday
Today Israel's yearly cycle of feasts points us to the church calendar, the psalmist cries out for God to restore His people, and Priscilla and Aquila help a gifted preacher understand the way of God more accurately.
Leviticus 23
📖 What are we reading?: God sets out the Israelites' yearly cycle of festivals and holy days.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He is a God who gives His people rhythms of worship and remembrance, so that they do not forget what He has done.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: The church re-worked this yearly cycle, and now some churches use a calendar with Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and Ordinary Time.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: Leviticus, meaning "relating to the Levites", was written by Moses around 1400 BC, and explains how a holy God is to be worshipped by a holy people.
Psalm 80
📖 What are we reading?: A prayer for help from a people in distress, with a repeated cry of "restore us!"
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He is our loving Shepherd and our glorious King.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: Perhaps you will join the Psalmist in praying "restore us!" today.
Looking for some extra info?
➡️ The bigger picture: The Psalms is a collection of 150 poems and songs, written by David and others, expressing the full range of human emotion in response to God and to life.
Acts 18:19-28
📖 What are we reading?: Paul's work of "strengthening all the disciples" continues, and a man named Apollos takes over Paul's work in Ephesus and does a great job.
✞ What does this passage say about God?: He uses people of every kind to build His church, whether well-known leaders like Paul and Apollos or faithful friends like Priscilla and Aquila.
🛐 How does this passage teach us to live?: Notice how Priscilla and Aquila teach a great man of God some basic truths that he hadn't heard. It's not just the Pauls and Peters that are heroes of our faith - ordinary believers have much good to do in His name.
Looking for some extra info?
📝 A devotion on Priscilla, whom we meet in Acts 18:24-26.
➡️ The bigger picture: Luke's second book outlines the ministry of the early church - though it could just as well be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit, as He guides and grows Jesus' small movement into something that changes the world.
A Prayer for the Day
🙏 Lord, thank You that You are our loving Shepherd and glorious King. Restore us, and give us hearts for the rhythms of worship that draw us closer to You. Help us, like Priscilla and Aquila, to use our ordinary lives to build up Your church. Amen.
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