God's ever-amazing authority

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching for that title. You might start with 'Welcome,' the first post, dated November 12, 2008, in the archives, where I introduce myself and the blog.

Saturday, July 11, 2009
Devotions: Ps 20, 21, 110, 116, 117; 1 Sam 17:31-49; Acts 11:1-18; Mk 1:14-28

May God answer and protect us in days of trouble! May He grant me my heart’s desire and fulfill my plans; may I shout in joy over His victories. May YHWH answer all my petitions. I know that YHWH helps His anointed ones; I will boast in God alone! God is my Glory and my Strength. He overthrows my enemies and makes me safe in His world. Be exalted, O YHWH, in Your strength; I extol Your power and goodness! God directs Jesus to His right hand, to wait as God puts all enemies under Jesus’ foot. Jesus is our eternal High Priest, our great Judge, our King and our Bridegroom. All praise to You, Lord Christ! How can I fail to love the Lord Who hears and answers my every prayer? Gracious is He, and righteous. Let my soul rest in God, my Savior. Lord, I lift up my thanks and praise. I am Yours, my God. Great is Your steadfast love toward all Your people—Your love and faithfulness endure forever.

Hearing of David’s sentiments concerning Goliath, Saul sent for the boy. David addressed the king: ‘Let no heart fail because of this Philistine; I, your servant, will go and fight him.’ Saul protested, but David persisted. “I have kept my father’s sheep; and when a lion or bear came to take a lamb from the flock, I would strike the predator and deliver the sheep from its mouth. If the lion or bear attacked me, I would kill it. Your servant has killed both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God!’ Saul replied, ‘Go, then, and YHWH be with you!’ Saul tried to equip David in the king’s own armor and sword, but they were too heavy and awkward for David. He took them off, picked up his staff and sling, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in his bag. Then he approached Goliath. The Philistine, preceded by his shield-bearer, approached; when he could see David clearly, he scorned him: ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with a stick?’ Goliath cursed David by the Philistine gods, and said, ‘Come here, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and beasts of the field!’ Finally, David spoke to Goliath: ‘You come to me with sword and spear and javelin. But I come to you in the Name of YHWH Sabaoth, God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied. This day, YHWH will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine host to the birds of the air and wild beasts of the earth—so all the earth may know that there is a true God in Israel, and all assembled here may know that YHWH saves—not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hand.’ Goliath moved forward, and David ran to meet him. He took a stone from his bag, fitted it to his sling, and cast the stone. It struck Goliath’s foreheard and sank in, and the giant fell face down to the ground.

When the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem heard that Peter had shared God’s word with Gentiles and eaten with them, they criticized him. Peter explained the situation in order: ‘I was in Joppa, praying; God gave me a vision of a great sheet containing various animals, beasts of prey, reptiles, and birds. And God’s voice said, “Arise, Peter; kill and eath.” I protested, but He answered that what God has made clean, I must not call common. This was repeated three times, then all was withdrawn to heaven. At that very moment, three men arrived, sent to me from Caesarea. The Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brethren also accompanied me, and we entered the house of the man who sent the messengers. He told us he had seen an angel standing in his house, directing him to send to Joppa for Simon Peter, who would declare to him and his household a message that would save them all. As I began to speak to this assembled group, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as He did on us. I remembered the Lord’s message, that John baptized with water, but that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit. Now if God gave the same gift to them and to us, based on belief in Jesus the Messiah, who am I to withstand God?’ Peter’s critics were silenced; and they glorified God, agreeing ‘God has granted repentance unto eternal life to the Gentiles, too!’

After Herod arrested John the Baptizer, Jesus came into the Galilee, preaching God’s gospel: ‘The time is fulfilled; the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel!’ As Jesus went His way along the Sea of Galilee’s shore, he saw Simon and Andrew, fisherman casting their nets. And Jesus said, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him. A little way further, Jesus saw James and John, sons of Zebedee, mending nets in their fishing boat. Immediately, He called them, and they left their father in the boat with the family servants, and James and John followed Jesus. The group continued into Capernaum; there, on the Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. All were astonished by His teaching, which came with evident authority, not like the teaching of the scribes to which the congregation was accustomed. In amazement, they pondered all this together: ‘What is this? New teaching, with authority; He commands even unclean spirits, and they obey Him!’