Devotion
God is With You
Frances Taylor
I needed to think about this passage for a while. I checked out a different translation and "Yahweh of Armies" was translated "Lord of Hosts." I think that gives me a different take on this section of Zechariah. It places God at the head of those who trust him to save them from those who would overcome them and enslave them. The Israelites had been ruled at different times by different enemies – usually after they had been unfaithful to Yahweh. This passage made me think of Jesus and the woman with the hemorrhage who held on to the hem of his garment and was healed, because she believed that God was with him. It made me wonder if we who say that we believe that God is with us, are good enough examples of this belief to have people want to hold the hem of our garments in search of the God who is with us. The world is always in flux and people of every nation are threatened in one way or another. For some, it is the materialistic, anti-God culture, for others it is the anti-Christian culture and for others it is the poverty that threatens their existence. But Christianity is often threatened from within. We are so much more alike than different but Satan has a good time trying to keep us apart. When we finally get it together the way Jesus intended, then Christianity will once again be a force for changing the world. "See how they love one another" will once again be the sign of the Christian.
Prayer
Lord, we have grasped the skirt of a Jew, Jesus, to lead us to you. May we hang on to that skirt and live in such a way that others will grab on as well for they will know the you, the Lord, are with your people. Amen.
Devotion
Abraham is Father of All
Frances Taylor
There are questions in every age about the importance of the Old Testament for Christians. Abraham is considered to be the Father of Faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims. We forget that it was Abraham who believed in the doctrine of only one God. It is through him and his descendants that this tradition comes down to us. Another fact that we can overlook is that Jesus was Jewish. He was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, died, rose and ascended into heaven as a Jew. Because we believe that he was the Messiah, the Christ, and we follow him, we are called Christian. Without the Old Testament, we wouldn't understand the promise of salvation; we wouldn't understand why it was important for Jesus to be of the family of King David. We would not understand his teaching either, because Jesus quoted from Scripture – the Old Testament – frequently. He told us that he came to fulfill the Scriptures, not to abolish them. In the same way, we can ...
