God orders our lives

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, March 16, 2010
Devotions: Ps 94, 97, 99; Gen 49:29-50:14; 1 Cor 11:17-34; Mk 8:1-10

YHWH, God of vengeance, shine forth! Render to the proud what their idolatry deserves. As Judge, shut the mouths of the arrogant who crush Your people. They slay the widow and the sojourner; they exploit orphans and boast that God neither sees nor cares about their predations. This makes me so angry! Listen, fools: the One Who made the ear can hear; the One Who formed the eye can see. The One Who manages the universe and international relations can also discipline individuals. God knows every human thought. You can’t pull off anything against Him. Happy are those whom You chasten, Lord, and whom You teach Your law. You discipline us for good, to give us respite from days of trouble. You will bury the wicked in Your own time. God does justice and blesses the upright. If YHWH had not helped me, I’d have died long ago, lost in the desert or beaten to death in a robbery. When I have worried that I could not move forward, Your steadfast love upheld me, Father! When my heart is burdened with cares, Your consolations cheer my soul. YHWH is my Stronghold and Refuge. And He will move against the wicked in His own time, and wipe them out. Let all creation rejoice, for YHWH reigns! He is awesome, the Fear of every sentient being. He shakes the mountains, and they melt like wax before Him. The heavens declare His righteousness; and God’s people rejoice in His power and justice. YHWH hates evil, but preserves the lives of His saints. Light dawns for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart. Let us give thanks to our God! YHWH reigns, enthroned among the cherubim, exalted over all the nations and peoples of earth. His greatness shines in Zion, His footstool. Let us praise the Holy One! Moses and Aaron were among His priests; Samuel called upon His name. Let us extol YHWH our God and worship Him in holiness.

When Jacob had proclaimed his final blessings over his sons, and directed them as to his burial in the cave of Machpelah in Canaan, he drew his feet into his bed and ‘was gathered to his people’ peacefully. Joseph grieved over his father, and directed the Egyptian physicians to embalm him. The embalming process took forty days, and the Egyptians joined in the mourning for seventy days! When the days of mourning were completed, Joseph petitioned Pharaoh to let Joseph bury his father according to his last wishes, in the cave in Canaan. Pharaoh readily consented. Joseph conducted Jacob’s body, along with many of Pharaoh’s servants, the elders of Pharaoh’s household and elders of Egypt, and all Jacob’s relatives and servants—leaving only their children and flocks in the land of Goshen. When they came to the threshing floor of Ahad, they made a great lament for seven days. The Canaanites saw this and renamed the place Abel-mizraim – ‘The mourning-meadow of the Egyptians.’ And Jacob’s sons transported his body to the cave of Machpelah east of Mamre, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite to bury Sarah and himself. When the burial was completed, Joseph and his brothers and the whole retinue returned to Egypt.

Paul scolded the Corinthians about their conduct in worship and sacraments: When you assemble as the church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I find this credible: there must be factions so that those who are genuine may be recognized. Your common meals are not the Lord’s supper, because each one dines as he pleases, leaving some still hungry and others drunk. Listen: you have your own homes to eat and drink in. Such behavior despises God and humiliates those who are poor among you. Pay attention: I received from the Lord what I delivered to you: On the night He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘This is My body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner is guilty of profaning the body and blood of our Lord! So let each person examine himself, and eat the bread and drink the cup accordingly. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning Christ’s body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is exactly the reason why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. However, if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when the Lord judges us, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. If anyone is famished, let him eat at home, lest you come together and be condemned.

A great crowd had gathered to Jesus, and they had no food. Jesus called His disciples and said to them, ‘I have compassion on this crowd, because they have been with Me now for three days, and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry, many will faint along the way—some have come a long way.’ His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed all these with bread here in the wilderness?’ Jesus asked them, ‘How many loaves do you have?’ ‘Seven,’ they answered. Jesus commanded that the crowd sit on the ground; He gave thanks over the bread and broke the loaves and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. They had a few small fish, and Jesus blessed and set these also before the people. All ate and were satisfied, and the disciples gathered seven basketfuls of leftovers. The crowd numbered about four thousand. Jesus dismissed the crowd, quickly got into a boat with His disciples, and went to the district of Dalmanutha.