Jeremiah 9:23-24

Thus says the LORD: Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let the wealthy boast in their wealth; 24 but let those who boast boast in this, that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, says the LORD.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Two very different worlds confront each other on the lips of God’s messenger. One advocates boasting, while the other brings the personal knowledge of the Lord. One creates alienation, while the other offers reconciliation through love, justice, and righteousness. This other world is the one offered by Jesus.

 

Revelation 12:4b-6

The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The child is Jesus and the dragon is the Devil and the angel hosts are all around.

Hebrews 2:14-15

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Or, faced with the horrifying condition of the demon-possessed man, chained among the tombs in Mark 5:1-20, Jesus wages war with the demons that held the man captive.

 

1 John 3:1

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 14^th & 15^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

God’s love is a persistent expression of His nature (see 1 John 4:16) that finds unexpected and utterly amazing form in the coming of Jesus. By sending His Son, God determined to reaffirm that we “should be called children of God.”

 

Revelation 22:3-5

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

From Background Notes [BN] for September 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The statement, “No longer will there be any curse,” prominently anchors the message of this text, reminding the reader that “God and the Lamb” share the throne, ruling over more than a garden — over a city — where all the trees are available for “the healing of the nations.”

Genesis 3:11-12

And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

From Background Notes [BN] for September 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The human judgment that nakedness equaled shame is what God asks Adam to explain. It is a question about meaning, and where Adam obtained it. God is working backward from human hiddenness to human nakedness, and then He asks Adam to explain how he came upon the significance of his present sense of shame.

Psalm 10:1

Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

From Background Notes [BN] for September 7^th & 8^th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

Israel acknowledges that when God drops from their view, it is not because of any failure in Him, but as a result of their turning “to other gods.” God does not choose to be absent arbitrarily or impulsively in the biblical story, yet humans seem to push him out of the world to make room for other companions.