Bible Studies

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Holy Wednesday
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24 – Being a Cornerstone for Christ

Key Verses: (NRSV)

• 1: "O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever!" – In the midst of all situations God's gracious love endures. We can turn to Him in all things to find strength and perseverance.
  
  
• 14: "The Lord is my strength and my might; He has become my salvation." – When we turn to God first and center our lives on His love, we find that He leads us into a path of righteousness that reflects the saving grace that He has provided.
  
  
• 17: "I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord." – Death can mean many things including death of the spirit and of hope. Our relationship with God provides life, inspiring us to share with others how His love has transformed our lives.
  
  
• 19: "Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord." – The 'gates of righteousness' is a description of the path we each must take as we turn from selfish concerns into a life that focuses always on God. With this "new" focus our lives are transformed and our hearts burst forth in songs of thanksgiving.
  
  
• 22: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." – In Mark 12:10-11 Jesus quotes this verse in the Parable of the Wicked Farmers. This reference describes how He will be rejected by the Scribes and Pharisees only to become the foundation for hope throughout the world.
  
  
• 24: "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." – Regardless of our worries or afflictions, this verse shows us that there is so much to be thankful for. When we rejoice are hearts become glad.
  

Points to Contemplate:

• How often to you give thanks to the Lord? Do you recognize His goodness at work in all things in your life? Do you find comfort in His steadfastness? Do you give Him the credit and praise in all things or do you find yourself preoccupied on other matters? Can you see how a life that praises Him with every breath keeps aligned to His plan more affectively than one that only remembers to praise Him every couple of days or weeks? Pause for a moment in your reading of this devotional and give thanks to God for this day that He has created for you.
  
  
• Are there aspects about your life that are dead? Are you fed up with your work situation? Do the pressures and frustrations at home seem to be mounting and getting out of control? Are you having difficulty with a friendship? Do you find your days filled with tension and anger with little room for joy and happiness? Do you live a life of loneliness, without purpose or hope? Does the world seem to be rushing by while you are stuck in a quagmire of despair and hopelessness? The psalmist says that there is life in a relationship with God? That the more you turn to Him the more you come alive. What parts of your life need to die in order for this new life with God to thrive?
  
  
• Are you living a "Christ-like" life? Christ was rejected and then became a cornerstone for a new covenant with God. Do you see that this image can apply to you as well? In what ways do you find your life, as a Christian, being rejected by society around you? Where have you turned to do ministry or to right a wrong only to be ridiculed and scorned? In what ways are the issues that God has impressed upon you to focus on being ignored by others? Do you often find yourself in the minority opinion? Do you recognize that with God's help He is using you in important ways to build His Kingdom? Are you ready to be a cornerstone and a foundation for Christ?
  

Promise of the Gospel:

The psalmist shows us the importance of developing a steady confidence in God's love. As we turn more and more to Him, relying on His Spirit and trusting in His guidance we find that our lives begin to come under control. When we look to God in all things we become less likely to focus only ourselves and more on the needs of the world around us. From this position of "Christ-likeness" we become a building block for the Kingdom of Heaven. "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good and His steadfast love endures forever."

FUMC Devotionals

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