Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

Pages: 87-98

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. John 12:37:41

This morning, I continued with John Piper's Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture, covering chapter five - Reading to See Supreme Worth and Beauty, Part 3. Here, Piper continues with the third of six implications that flow from the ultimate goal of reading the Bible (as listed here); the third of the six implications is "that we should always read his word in order to see this supreme worth and beauty[.]" In this chapter, which is the third of three to explore this specific implication, Piper seeks to make it explicit that "we should always read God's word in order to see his supreme worth and beauty," emphasizing the word "always." He states straight-away that "the relationship between God and all things is such that nothing can be rightly understood apart from its connection with God.  And since God intends for scripture to be rightly understood, therefore, we should always aim to see everything in it in relation to God."

Piper seeks to demonstrate the above statement by pointing to scriptures that state:

• God is the origin and ground of all things (Hebrews 2:10, 1 Chronicles 29:14, Revelation 4:11)
• God owns all things (Psalms 89:11, 24:11)
• God holds all things in being (Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:17, Acts 17:28)
• God designs the purpose of all things (Proverbs 16:4)
• God governs all things according to his will (Ephesians 1:11, Psalms 119:91)
• God's purpose in creation is to make all things new (Revelation 21:5)
• God appointed his Son heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2)
• God is the end and goal of all things (Hebrews 2:10, Romans 11:36)
  

Similar to my post yesterday, Piper points to 2 Corinthians 4:4, 6 to see how we are to "aim" to read the Bible "to see, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the glory of the Father and the glory of the Son, which are one glory." Piper also uses John 12:36-43 while stating that "wherever the glory of God shines forth in the Bible, it is not just the glory of the Father, but also the glory of the Son, for they are one glory."

Piper wraps up this chapter (as well as the preceding two) by writing that "in all the details of what we find in the Bible-Old Testament and New-the aim of reading is always to see the worth and beauty of God."

Comment and discuss this post here.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me and who is always showing Your glory in Your Word, in creation, and in every moment of every day of my life - You are worth my ceaseless praise and worship and You bless me immeasurably!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You saved me and bless me.  I worry.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You. Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

So the Lord let him alone.

Exodus 4

So the Lord let him alone. v26

God gives all of us a calling.  Although we may not understand the nature of our calling, we all have one and we must heed this call and be prepared.   We must take God's instructions seriously - note how Moses avoids death at God's hand only when Zipporah circumcises her son - something Moses should have done.

We don't know why Moses did not perform this circumcision himself but this commentary suggests that peer pressure from within the Midianite community was a factor.

For me, this Bible passage is a special message for fathers.  Fathers have specific instructions from God - see posts here and here and we are to perform these duties.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who is faithful.  You always keep Your promise.  And I know You are always with me and You have equipped me to be the father You desire for me.  Thank You Jesus.  However, I often fall down in this role.  Please forgive me.  Help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

Psalm 78

We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. v4

As a father, one of my key roles is to be the spiritual leader of the household and I am to teach my children the ways of the Lord.  My hope and prayer is that Zach and Dustin "put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands".
 

He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.  They would not be like their ancestors—a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him. v5-8.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

There is more I can do.

My Prayer:  Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You have blessed me with Your presence and guidance.  I am lost apart from You and I can do no good thing.  Thank You Jesus for never leaving me.  I need You desperately in my life because I continue to separate myself from You.  I sin.  I worry...I am lazy, selfish, prideful, arrogant, etc.  Please forgive me Jesus!  Help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin....and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

Psalm 68

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. v5-6

God is to us who we need and seek - "our Father in heaven".  He is this to all His children regardless of our circumstances and He demands that we focus on Him first, even when we our earthly circumstances deceive us into thinking that our earthly families are more important.

In Matthew 8, Jesus responds to a disciple that sought to attend to his family instead of focusing on God: 

Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:21-22

The primacy of our relationship with Jesus vs our earthly relationships is supported elsewhere in scripture:

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.  A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:31-35

My Prayer: Lord, You alone are my Heavenly Father - able to do all things, knowing of all things, existing before time began and after time ends, You are in all things and hold all things together, You are my all in all.  I am deeply grateful for Your abounding love and grace and for Your son Jesus.  Thank You for sending Your Son...for me.  I am not worth such a gift...completely undeserving.  I worry far too much, and I lack patience, compassion, and kindness for others.  Please forgive me Jesus!  Help me overcome such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and the side effects from chemo.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin...and serve You.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in.

Dad Son Relationship
Isaiah 5

The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. v7

This morning's devotion gave me a new found appreciation for the role God plays as my heavenly father. As I desire for my son to make me proud when he demonstrates Godly qualities, God has this same desire for me.  As a believer, I've always known that I wanted to please God but this morning this has taken on a new meaning - and I have a greater desire to make my Father in Heaven proud both as son of Him and as a earthly father of Zach and Dustin.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

...

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

My Prayer:Lord Jesus, You are an incredible God - author of all creation, full of compassion, mercy, love, etc., and the best Father anyone could ever ask for.  Thank You for being everything that I could ever ask for and need in a Father.  You are always there, have guidance for all the days in my life, never let me down, etc.  Thank You Jesus!  Yet I am not worth such a Father.  I disappoint...my worry, stress, anxiety, etc. continues.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from such sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Help me be the father You intend for me.  Help me be the son You intend for me.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure Lisa of her cancer and the side effects from chemo and radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.