Only Jesus saves

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 in the archives, dated November 12, 2008, where I introduce myself and the blog. As you read, I encourage you to add in any reflections or comments you may have.

Blessings and best wishes,
Dr. Will

Tuesday & Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Devotions: Ps 45, 47, 48, 49, 119:49-72; Gen 37:12-36; 1 Cor 1:20-2:13; Mk 1:14-45

I praise You, Jesus: fairest and mightiest of kings; ride forth in victory; take Your eternal throne; rule in righteousness and destroy wickedness. God, Your Father, has anointed You with the oil of gladness, the Spirit of truth. Let the church prepare for her Bridegroom, and come forth to Him in gladness. Glory to the Son forever! Let all the people celebrate and shout to God with joy. He has set us free! Sing praises to our God, for He is King over all creation. He is exalted above all mortal powers. Great is our Lord, and greatly to be praised in His royal city! I have meditated, Lord, on Your steadfast love; how we love the ramparts of Your holy Jerusalem! This is our God forever and ever. Let all peoples listen: we have no reason to fear, even in times of trouble, for God is with us. No reason to trust in riches or earthly status; all mortals die, but God ransoms those who trust and honor Him, and He has ransomed me from Sheol. Let us praise the Eternal, the Holy One! Lord, Your word comforts me in my affliction, Lord. I face the scorn of godless men, but I trust in Your kindness and might. I pray for Your favor; cleanse me of my own iniquity, and keep covenant with me. I will hasten to keep Your commandments; You have put Your word in my heart. I am friend to all who love You, Father. Teach me good judgment and practical knowledge; let my afflictions motivate me to know and do Your will!

Jacob sent Joseph to check on the flocks tended by his elder brothers. After searching, he found them near Dothan. They saw him approaching and conspired to kill Joseph. Reuben, the eldest, persuaded them instead to cast him into a pit, planning to rescue him and return him to their father afterward. So when Joseph arrived, his brothers stripped off the long robe that offended them so, and cast him into a pit. Soon, a caravan of Ishmaelites passed nearby, bound from Gilead to Egypt. Judah suggested that they sell Joseph into slavery rather than let him die in the pit, ‘for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ So they sold Joseph for twenty silver shekels and the traders took Joseph to Egypt. When Reuben returned, he found the pit empty; he tore his clothes in mourning and lament. The brothers tore Joseph’s cloak and splattered it with goat’s blood, and brought it to Jacob: ‘Father, we found this; look it over and see if it belongs to your son Joseph.’ Jacob recognized the robe, and concluded that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal. He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. He refused the comfort offered by his other sons and daughters: ‘No, I’ll mourn as long as I live.' Meanwhile, the Ishmaelites had sold Joseph as a slave to Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh’s guard.

Paul wrote: Where are the scribes and wise men of this age? God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. Since the world chose to disregard God, despite the wisdom God offered, therefore God has chosen to save those who believe, through the folly of the gospel we preach. Jews demands miracles, and Greeks seek rational wisdom; but we preach the Messiah crucified, which is abhorrent to the Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those God has called, the gospel communicates the Messiah, God’s power and God’s wisdom. God’s foolishness is greater than human wisdom; God’s weakness is greater than mortal strength. Brothers and sisters, consider your own call: by the world’s standards, not many of you were wise or powerful; few were of noble birth. But God has chosen what is foolish by the world’s standards in order to shame the worldly wise; He chose those weak by mortal standards to shame those perceived as mighty. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that have no earthly existence or status, to bring to nothing whatever the world esteems, so that no mortal might boast in God’s presence. God is the Source of your life in the Messiah Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom, our Righteousness and Sanctification and Redemption. For this reason, it is written, ‘Let whoever boasts, boast of the Lord!’ When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I didn’t come preaching God’s testimony in lofty words or wisdom. I had decided to know nothing among you except Jesus the Messiah, and Him crucified. I came among you in weakness, with much fear and trembling; my speech and my message were not couched in plausible words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and God’s power, so that your faith rests on the power of God, not the wisdom of men. To be sure, among the spiritually mature, we do impart wisdom—though not a worldly wisdom of the current age or its ungodly rulers. We impart a secret, hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages, for our glorification. No ruler of this age understands this; if they did, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory! As it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, no ear heard, nor mortal heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him,’ this God has revealed to us through the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. Just as only a man’s own spirit knows that man’s thoughts, so also only God’s Spirit comprehends God’s thoughts. For we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who Is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. And this we impart, not in words based on human wisdom, but in those taught by God’s Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.

After Herod arrested John the Baptizer, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching God’s gospel: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near; repent and believe the gospel!’ As He passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets, for they were fishermen. Jesus said to the, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Jesus. A bit further along the way, Jesus saw James and John, sons of Zebedee, in their boat, mending their nets. Immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with their hired servants, and followed Jesus. They went into Capernaum; immediately, on the Sabbath, Jesus entered the synagogue and taught. The people in the synagogue were amazed at His teaching, for Jesus taught them as One Who has authority—different from the scribes’ teaching to which they were accustomed. Immediately there was in that synagogue a man possessed by an unclean spirit; he cried out, ‘What have You to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know Who You Are, the Holy One of God.’ Jesus rebuked the spirit: ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ The unclean spirit convulsed the man, cried out with a loud voice, and left the man. Those present were all amazed; they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching! With authority, He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.’ Immediately, Jesus’ fame spread through the surrounding region of the Galilee. Immediately Jesus departed the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with them and the sons of Zebedee. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever; immediately, they told this to Jesus. He came and took her hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she served them. At sundown that evening, the people brought to Jesus all who were sick or demon-possessed, and the whole village gathered at the door. And Jesus healed many who had various diseases and cast out many demons. He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew Him. The next morning, long before daybreak, Jesus arose and went out alone to a quiet place, and there He prayed. Simon and those with him pursued Jesus; when they found Him, they said, ‘Everyone is searching for You!’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Let us go on to the next towns, so that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.’ And He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. In one place, a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him, kneeling before Him: ‘If You will, You can make me clean.’ Moved with pity, Jesus reached out and touched the man, and said to him, ‘I will; be clean.’ And immediately the leprosy left the man and he was clean and whole. Jesus sternly charged him, and sent him away immediately, telling him, ‘See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a proof to the people.’ But the man went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer enter a town openly, but He stayed out in the country and people came to Him from every quarter.