Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]
To Do His Will

To Do His Will

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Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 

Hebrews 13:20-21 

If God perfects us in every good work it is to the end purpose that we will do His will. How can we be certain that is the case? As with everything else, Christ is the touchstone of truth. Christ said, ‘I do always those things which please the Father.’ We know that Christ, ‘went about doing good.’ If what He did was good and He always did the will of the Father, then the good works for which God perfects us are works we will do according to His will. This is tremendously encouraging when we are doing what we know is good, even though it may seem to have very little effect. When God has perfected us to the extent He has put a good work in front of us to do, we can be well assured that work is His will regardless of the apparent success of it in our eyes or anyone else’s. Noah’s work seemed futile and ridiculous, until it started to rain. God perfects each of us to perform the good work He has for us to do His will. It will look very different for each of us.  

Our Wise and Wonderful God, 
we rejoice in Your will for us. 
We praise You that You will equip us 
to do those good works for Your glory. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
In Every Good Work

In Every Good Work

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Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 

Hebrews 13:20-21 

If God perfects us in every good work to do His will, what will our life look like? Christ gives us a good idea when He describes the life of those who are on His right hand at His Throne of Judgment. He says to them, ‘for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’  Every one of these are good works which would be in the will of God. Certainly there are many other actions which the Scripture points out as good works which would be in His will, but He Himself lists these. If God perfects us to every good work, they will at least be these to which He refers, regardless of whatever else we might do. All these good works to which He refers are practical, everyday things which are so simple the people who did them barely recognized them as being particularly noteworthy. When God perfects us, He does so in order that we may closely imitate Christ. This imitation of Christ will be effective in every good work to do His will. Before us lies an abundance of opportunity. Oh, that God would perfect us in every good work.  

Our Good and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that there are people all around us, 
 to whom we can do good. 
We pray that You will guide us every day, 
in the imitation of Christ. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Complete

Complete

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Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 

Hebrews 13:20-21 

God does what is necessary to perfect us. The writer of Hebrews is pronouncing his benediction upon his readers. He wants God to do what is important for their spiritual well-being. He is calling upon the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant to perfect them. This would mean they would be prepared fully to imitate Christ in good works, in doing the will of God, and in becoming, in every way, the people who have all the qualities that are well pleasing in His sight. This is that person whom God has sanctified. This is the one who most closely resembles Christ. If we are going to desire anything good for others, this is the highest good. This provides us with abundant material with which we may intercede for those who are near and dear to us. We desire that God should make them complete; that He would perfect them into the very image of Christ. If this is God’s will for them, and we know it is, it should be our prayer that He would make it so.  

Great God of Wonders, 
we rejoice that You are always working. 
We praise You that You will do Your will 
to conform us to the image of Christ.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Through The Blood

Through The Blood

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Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. 

Hebrews 13:20-21 

The blood of Christ is a sacred thing. From Abel’s sacrifice onward blood sacrifices have been part of our relationship to God. The whole system of sacrifices in the Old Testament leads us to this conclusion. What we learn from the writer of Hebrews is that all those sacrifices were paving the way for the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, which was, of necessity, a blood sacrifice. The writer tells us, ‘For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.’ By contrast, he tells us, ‘Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.’ The contrast is between the blood of the old sacrifices, which were types, and symbols and the blood of Christ toward which they all pointed. We cannot speak properly about the death of Christ or the sacrifice of Christ without speaking of the blood of Christ. His is the blood of the everlasting covenant. Without it we have no salvation; no peace with God; no hope for eternity. With the blood of Christ we have forgiveness of sins; acceptance from God; hope for time, and for eternity. Therefore we make much of Christ, and of the blood of Christ. It is the blood of the everlasting covenant.  

Our Loving Savior and our God, 
we rejoice that You were willing to shed Your blood for us. 
We praise You that with Your stripes 
we are healed. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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