Week One: First Fruits Day 6: Stump April 1, 2016

_____________________________________________________

"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 Six Devotions:

MORNING MEDITATION

AFTERNOON DEVOTION

EVENING PRAYER

MORNING MEDITATION

Glean the Word: Luke 24:13-35

Glimpse of Glory: "A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God." (Isaiah 10:21)

Sometime around midday on the day of His resurrection, Jesus' joined two of His followers as the were walking on the road to Emmaus. "...for where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20). Without identifying Himself at first, Jesus joined in on their conversation, asking: "What are you discussing as you walk along?" Jesus knew their hearts were discouraged as they tried, in their limited human understanding, to make sense of all that had just transpired. He just wanted to hear from their own lips what was troubling their hearts. Our Lord wants us to verbalize our concerns to Him. This is part of the great blessing of prayer. For it is in prayer that we can lay our burdens before the Lord and empty our hearts of our troubles. It is in speaking to God that we bring to the surface those places where we need clarity. It is in prayer that we express our belief that our God surely hears us, and reveals our trust that He will indeed answer us. As the two men recounted the events of the past few days, it became evident that they believed that all of their hopes had been buried with Christ. "..but we had hoped that He was the one who was going to redeem Israel" (v.21)

The hearts of these two men were greatly discouraged, and their eyes were blinded to the full message of the Bible. Jesus began to peel back the veil that concealed their understanding as "He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself" (v.27b). Jesus used the Word to reveal Himself as He spoke to them all that was written about Himself by Moses and the Prophets. The longer He talked the greater their longing became for every word that fell from His lips. As they entered the village they strongly urged Him to stay with them, for they didn't want the conversation to end. They had invited Jesus in, and He came in and ate with them (Revelation 3:20). It was in that deeper place of fellowship that their eyes were open to the risen Christ and their hearts were filled with His divine heat and love. "They asked each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?' " (Luke 24:32).

This morning, let us pray and ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to deep and hidden things as we break open the bread of the Word and feed on the divine manna from heaven. May this season of prayer and fasting open our eyes to see Christ more clearly and open our hearts to receive more of His Word so that we can be filled "with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding" (Colossians 1:9b); and overflowing with zeal to share all that we have seen and heard from our time with the Lord. May our hearts burn within us as the Lord speaks to us through His Word, and may we invite Him in to take complete possession of our hearts and lives, so He can accomplish His work and will in and through our lives for the glory of God!

___________________________________________________________________

AFTERNOON DEVOTION

Glean the Word: Isaiah 6:1-13

Gift of Grace: "But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land." (Isaiah 6:13b)

Jesus left no room for any mistake to be made about His resurrection, or the events surrounding it. He personally made sure the truth about Himself was revealed and explained in its' entirety. Jesus explained all that was foretold about Himself in the Old Testament Scriptures, and pointed out how they were fulfilled in Him through the new covenant of His grace. As we open up the Word of God (the Holy Bible), we must open up our eyes and our hearts to see Jesus on every page. Jesus makes Himself known through His Word. And it is His Word we are to share. "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

The prophet Isaiah was another man who needed some divine encouragement. His heart was discouraged because the king was dead, but God revealed to him that the true King of Israel was seated on the throne. Like the travelers on the road to Emmaus, Isaiah thought there was no hope for his people. But God revealed that, while the nation would indeed fall, a stump would remain and the Messiah would come. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12). The stump was a promised remnant whom God would restore, and through them bring forth the tender shoot, the Messiah, and then His righteous kingdom would be established. Augustine said, "In the Old Testament the New is concealed, in the New Testament the Old is revealed." Many people today are still blind to the total message of the Bible, because they are neither being taught, nor trusting in, the full counsel of the Word of God. Let us pray this afternoon for the light of Christ, which has come into the world, to draw men out of the darkness and into His glorious presence, and that we would be found faithful holding up the light of the Word of God, and allowing it to be "a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:105).

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

EVENING PRAYER

Glean the Word: Isaiah 11:1-2

Fruit of Repentance: "So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." (Romans 11:5-6)

This evening we will offer up a prayer to cultivate God's presence in our lives (click on the image below for our evening prayer).

"To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 24)

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:

HARVEST The Kingdom of God

If you've missed any of the previous day's emails of the

HARVEST The Kingdom of God 40 day prayer and fasting journey please visit the Trumpet and Torch Email Archive HERE

"On That Night" - Introduction Video to the 40 Days

"On That Day" - Day One - Resurrection Sunday Email

Contact us by email at: info@trumpetandtorch.org

If you have received this email from a friend and would like to continue
receiving this daily devotional email journey
please sign up for
the Trumpet and Torch Mailing List HERE

Thank You For Praying!