Live as unto the Lord

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

Monday, March 15, 2010
Devotions: Ps 89; Gen 49:1-28; 1 Cor 10:14-11:1; Mk 7:24-37

YHWH, I will sing of Your steadfast love forever, proclaiming Your faithfulness to all generations. You have made and kept covenant with Your people. Let all the heavens and earth praise our God. He is Lord of lords, great and terrible above all the heavenly beings. God rules the seas; He crushed Rahab and scattered His enemies. Mighty is our Lord, and blessed are His people. God raises up and casts down; He is the Rock of my salvation. Our fortunes are in God’s hand; if we acknowledge and obey, He will vindicate, prosper, and honor us; if we rebel and disobey, God will allow our sins to bring us down and cover us in shame. Blessed be YHWH forever.

Near death, Jacob gathered all his sons to bless them: ‘Reuben, first-born, pre-eminent in pride and power, unstable as water, you lost your birthright when you defiled your father’s bed. Simeon and Levi are brothers, workers of war; let their fierce anger be cursed; they will be divided and scattered among the tribes. Judah, your brothers will praise you, and bow before you, a lion in character; through you will come the One to Whom the eternal throne belongs. Zebulun shall live at the seashore, a haven for ships, bordering Sidon. Issachar is a strong donkey, crouching between the sheepfolds, doomed to slavery and forced labor. Dan will judge his peoples, a viper striking at the heels of those who cross his territory; let all depend on YHWH for salvation! Gad will live in conflict, raided and raiding with his neighbors. Asher will dine like royalty. Naphtali will be a free doe, bearing lovely fawns. Joseph is a fruitful bough, spreading beyond his boundaries, fiercely attacked yet unyielding, made strong by God’s help; and El Shaddai will bless him with favor of heaven and earth; your paternal blessing will endure forever, and bounty will abide with you. Benjamin is a ravening wolf, devouring the prey in the morning, and dividing the spoils at evening.’ Having blessed his sons appropriately, Jacob charged them, ‘I am about to be gathered to my ancestors; bury me in the cave in Ephron’s field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, which Abraham bought from the Hittites. There are buried Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah.’ When he concluded, Joseph drew up his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his ancestors.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians: ‘Shun idol worship. The cup of blessing we share is a participation in the Messiah’s blood. And the bread we break is a participation in His body. As there is one bread, so we are one body. Consider the people of Israel: those who eat the sacrifices are partners in the altar. What pagans sacrifice, they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons! You cannot drink the cup of both our Lord and of demons; you cannot eat at the Lord’s table and also the table of demons. Should we provoke our Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? While we may say ‘all things are lawful,’ that doesn’t mean that all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things edify. No one should seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the market without raising questions of conscience, for ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.’ If an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you want to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising issues of conscience. However, if someone tells you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice’ to a demon, abstain, in consideration of the conscience of the one who told you. Our liberty is not determined by the scruples of others. And we may partake of anything edible if we do so with thankfulness to God. So do whatever you do—eating and drinking or abstaining—do it to God’s glory. Offend neither Jews nor Greeks nor God’s church. As I do, try to please everyone in every thing, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Imitate me, as I imitate the Messiah.

Jesus traveled from His base of operations to the region of Tyre and Sidon and moved into a house—but even there, He could not remain anonymous. Immediately, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, hearing of Jesus, came to Him and fell before Him. She was a Gentile, Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged Jesus to deliver her daughter. Jesus first said, ‘Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’ The woman understood, and persisted: ‘Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ And Jesus answered her, ‘For this saying, you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.’ And she went home and found her daughter lying in bed and the demon was gone.’ Jesus returned, and passed through Sidon and the Sea of Galilee to the Decapolis. They brought to Him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment. Jesus took the man aside and put His fingers into the man’s ears; and Jesus spat and touched the man’s tongue. Looking up to heaven, Jesus sighed and said to the man, ‘Ephatha,’ which means ‘be opened.’ And his ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Jesus charged the group to tell no one; but the more He charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed His deeds. The people were astonished, saying ‘He has done all things well; he even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’