Broken Bread 3

Week One: First Fruits          Day 3: Seed                 March 29, 2016 
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Harvest image
"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of
unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the LORD, until He comes
and showers righteousness upon you."
(Hosea 10:12) 
Day Three Devotions:
MORNING MEDITATION

 

Glean the Word: John 20:10-18  

 

Glimpse of Glory: "Woman,' He said, 'Why are you crying?  Who is it you are looking for?' " (John 20:15a)  

 

On the day of His resurrection Jesus had scheduled several divine appointments which would provide His followers with ample evidence that He had indeed risen from the dead.  These meetings were not arbitrary encounters.  Instead, they were divinely planned and purposed to encourage His disciples, and to provide future believers with the concrete evidence needed to make the foundation of faith solid as a Rock!

 

The first of Jesus' encounters was recorded in all four of the gospels.  The NIV study notes suggest that Jesus' meeting with Mary Magdalene was scheduled first because she probably needed Him the most.  Mary Magdalene was a woman who had once been possessed by seven demons; that is, until Jesus took possession of her heart (see Luke 8:2).  After her deliverance, she became a faithful follower of His; along with the other women who supported Jesus, and His disciples, as they traveled from town to town "proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God" (Luke 8:1-3).   

 

In the accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection story it is recorded that Mary Magdalene was at the cross and watched as her Lord was crucified; she waited and watched to the very end when they took His body down; and she stayed as they quickly prepared His body for burial (see Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:40; Luke 23:49; John 19:25).  She didn't leave the Lord's side until she saw with her own eyes that the stone was rolled in front of the tomb (see Matthew 27:61; mark 15:46-47; Luke 23:55); and then she only left to prepare the spices so that she could return in the morning to care for the body of her Lord.  She was the first one at the tomb that resurrection morning, and she saw the stone had been rolled away (see Mathew 28:1; mark 16:1-3; Luke 24:1; John 20:1).  In all four gospels she is recorded as the one "eye witness" to the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord, and she was the first one scheduled in His divine appointment book that glorious day (see Mark 16:9-11; John 20:11-18).

 

Mary Magdalene never left the side of Jesus from the moment she was delivered.  She was a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  On that resurrection day she was rewarded for her devotion.  Jesus was everything to her, and all she wanted was to be near the body of her Lord.  When Jesus asked her, "Who is it you are looking for?", all that she had been searching for was answered.  Jesus had had never left her, He had never forsaken her.  Nothing could separate her from the love of Christ.  Mary had found the one her heart loved, and her weeping was turned to joy.  "Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5b).    

 

May this divine encounter with the living Lord serve as an encouragement to all who are seeking and searching for their hearts' desire.  May the Lord's question to Mary prick our hearts as we lay them before the Lord in prayer this morning, asking Him to search deep within and find in us the heart of fully devoted follower who wants nothing more than to be by the side of our Lord.  May we humbly ask the Lord to reveal anything in our lives that is not fully surrendered to His will, and then ask for forgiveness and yield our hearts to His, that He might fill us with more of Himself.     

 

  "...you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.

You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."

I will be found by you."

(Jeremiah 29:12-14a) 

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AFTERNOON DEVOTION

 

Glean the Word: Genesis 12:1-3   

 

Gift of Grace: "And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.  For the mouth of the LORD has spoken." (Isaiah 40:5) 

 

 

God's great redemption story was written before the foundation of the earth was laid.  Four hundred years after the flood the Lord's plan began to unfold.  The world was full of wickedness, so God confused the languages of the people and scattered them over the earth (Genesis 11:5-9).  Out from among the people, God called one man, Abram, to be the father of His great restoration program.

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; 
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; 
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." (vv. 2-3)

In His sevenfold blessing to Abram, the Lord declared that His original blessing to all mankind would be restored through Abram and fulfilled through his offspring.  All nations throughout the earth would be blessed because of this chosen man and his future offspring; a chosen nation who would bring forth the chosen Seed, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  "The promises were spoken to Abraham and to His seed...God in His grace gave it to Abraham through a promise" (Galatians 3:16a, 18b).  God's choice of the Jews was not based on their superiority as people, but simply because they were soil through which His seed would be planted and the Savior would be born. God had blessed Abraham to be a blessing to the world.  "Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest" (Jeremiah 2:3a).

Through His promise to Abraham, God implemented His great redemption plan. He had set apart Israel for His service, that through them He would bring salvation to the world.   God has a special relationship with the Jewish people; a love that has not changed for thousands of years. "...for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). 
"Israel is My firstborn son..." (Exodus 4:22). "...the child in whom I delight"(Jeremiah 31:20).  God's plan for Israel is not yet finished.  The Lord has blinded their eyes for now while the light of the gospel is being spread throughout the world (see Romans 11:25).  "As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it and said, 'If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace - but now it is hidden from your eyes" (Luke 19:41-42).

While we wait for the full restoration of all things, let us be good stewards of the light that has been entrusted to our care. Let us seek the Lord in His Word each day so that the Word of God will be "a lamp to our feet and a light for our path" (Psalm 119:105).  May we be a blessing to others, because of the treasure we have been given from God's chosen people, and  "let our light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

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EVENING PRAYER
 
Glean the Word: Isaiah 9:2-7

Fruit of Repentance: "For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch"
(Isaiah 62:1)
 
This evening we will offer up a prayer for Israel  (click on the image below for a prayer for Israel).

"I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night.  You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest till He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth" (Isaiah 62:6-7).  

Click on the image below to draw close to the fire
and experience the warmth, love and light of Christ
as we come boldly before the Throne of Grace and
 join our hearts together in prayer:

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HARVEST The Kingdom of God  

Copyright � 2009, 2016 Traci A. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.

 


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