Lent Readings: Wednesday 14 March

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LEAVING CONTROL FOR FAITH...

Psalm 81 TNIV

For the director of music. According to gittith. ^[a] Of Asaph.

^{[b] 1} Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!

² Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.

³ Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;

⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵ When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.
I heard an unknown voice say:

⁶ "I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.

⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. ^[c]

⁸ Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
if you would only listen to me, Israel!

⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.

¹⁰ I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

¹¹ "But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.

¹² So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.

¹³ "If my people would only listen to me,
if Israel would only follow my ways,

¹⁴ how quickly I would subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes!

¹⁵ Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him,
and their punishment would last forever.

¹⁶ But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."

Jeremiah 8:18-9:6 TNIV

¹⁸ You who are my Comforter ^[a] in sorrow,
my heart is faint within me.

¹⁹ Listen to the cry of my people
from a land far away:
"Is the LORD not in Zion?
Is her King no longer there?"
"Why have they aroused my anger with their images,
with their worthless foreign idols?"

²⁰ "The harvest is past,
the summer has ended,
and we are not saved."

²¹ Since my people are crushed, I am crushed;
I mourn, and horror grips me.

²² Is there no balm in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why then is there no healing
for the wound of my people? ^{1 [b] 1} Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.

^{[c] 2} Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.

³ "They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph ^[d] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,"
declares the LORD.

⁴ "Beware of your friends;
do not trust any of your people.
For every one of them is a deceiver, ^[e]
and every friend a slanderer.

⁵ Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.

⁶ You ^[f] live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,"
declares the LORD.

Romans 5:1-11 TNIV

Peace and Hope

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we ^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we ^[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we ^[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

John 8:12-20 TNIV

Dispute Over Jesus' Testimony

¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

¹³ The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid."

¹⁴ Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. ¹⁶ But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. ¹⁷ In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. ¹⁸ I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me."

¹⁹ Then they asked him, "Where is your father?"

"You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." ²⁰ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.