Rooted in Christ, filled with Spirit, glorifying God

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

Mon-Weds, March 1-3, 2010
Devotions: Ps 56, 57, 61, 62, 64, 65, 68, 72, 119:73-96; Gen 41:14-42:17; 1 Cor 4:8-20, 5:1-6:8; Mk 3:7-4:20

Lord, be gracious to me. I face human and spiritual opposition, but I will trust in You, Whose word I praise. You care so gently, that I have no doubt that God is for me, and I am heartened! Fulfill Your purpose and will for me, great Lord! Put my enemies to shame. Be exalted and glorified, my God. My heart is steadfast, by Your grace. I will exalt and praise You, my Father in heaven! Carry me to the Rock; be my Defender. I vow myself and my service to You alone. I wait patiently for God alone; my hope is in Him, and only Him! Trust God, all people; pour out your hearts and needs before Him. Trust God, and live! God hears; God saves; God defends. Let the righteous rejoice in YHWH, and glorify Him in our hearts! God, praise is due to You; You perform awesome deeds in our behalf, O God our Savior. You care for the earth tenderly, and all nature rejoices, shouting and singing for joy! Let God arise and scatter His enemies! Let them blow away, melt away, before the tempest and fire of our living God. Sing His praises, the Protector, Father, and Lord of the orphan, the widow, the homeless and bereft; God sets the prisoners free, and puts the rebellious in a parched wilderness. Let all nature, and all sentient beings, bow to Him. Blessed be YHWH, Who daily lifts us up, our Salvation, Lord of life and death. God returns His people to their place under His protection. Show Your might, great Lord, and rebuke the beasts and rebels against Your authority. Terrible is God in His sanctuary, the Power of His people. Bless God, my soul! I glorify Jesus, my King. May He live forever; may earth and heaven show the prosperity of His blessings. Our Lord is like rain to a parched land; may righteousness and peace abound forever in His dominion. He delivers the needy; he prospers the poor and helps the helpless; He pities the weak and the needy. He redeems us from violence and oppression and preserves our fragile lives. Let prayer be made to Him and for Him continually; bless our Lord, and be blessed in His name. May His glory fill the universe! God, Your hands have fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commands and do them. I know You are righteous in judgment; let Your steadfast love comfort me; draw me into Your covenant love; for Your law is my delight. Put the godless to shame, and let those who will, turn to You in awe. My hope is in You, Lord, and in Your word. I will endure in faith; I will not forget Your precepts. Your words stand forever and extend to every facet of life.

When Pharaoh sent for Joseph, he hurried from his prison, shaved and changed his clothes. Pharaoh told Joseph about his dream and that the king had been told Joseph could interpret it. Joseph answered, ‘It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.’ And Pharaoh related the dream, with its dual images of cattle and ears of grain. Joseph told Pharaoh that God was revealing what He was about to do: seven very good harvests followed by seven years of terrible drought and famine. Joseph advised Pharaoh to ‘select a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt, and appoint overseers and take a fifth of each harvest in the bounty years to store up in cities as a reserve against the seven years of famine, so that the land may not perish.’ Pharaoh and his advisors agreed with the plan, and Pharaoh appointed Joseph over all of Egypt and gave him his signet ring, emblematic of royal authority, and promoted Joseph as second in power only to Pharaoh himself. Pharaoh gave Joseph an Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah, and an Egyptian wife, Asenath, daughter of the chief priest of On, Potiphera. Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh promoted him, and he proceeded to execute the plan God had given him. He had two sons, named Manasseh and Ephraim (‘Making to forget’ and ‘Be fruitful’) to commemorate God’s mercy in helping Joseph to forget the hardships he had encountered and making him fruitful in the land of his former affliction. When the famine struck, Pharaoh directed the people to obey Joseph. Joseph sold stored grain to the people, and ‘all the earth came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe and world-wide.’ Jacob also suffered famine, and set his sons to Egypt to buy grain. Ten of his sons made the trip, leaving only Benjamin, Joseph’s younger brother by Rachel, with their father. When the brothers arrived in Egypt, they were brought before Joseph. He recognized them, but they didn’t know him. He treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them, accusing them of being spies hostile to Egypt. They denied this: ‘No, my lord, we have come to buy food. We are all sons of one man, honest men, your servants, not spies.’ Joseph continued his deception, and demanded to see their youngest brother before providing the food they sought. And Joseph put the brothers in prison together for three days.

Paul’s letter to the Corinthians continued: You have great advantages, but these are from God. And we apostles are slaves to all; God puts us at the end of the procession, like condemned criminals, shamed before angels and mortals alike. We are fools and weaklings, held in dishonor for Christ’s sake, but you are made wise, strong and honored. Christ’s apostles face hardships for the faithful; they are hungry, thirsty, ill-clad, buffeted and homeless; they work to support themselves. When reviled, they bless; when persecuted, they endure; when slandered, they seek reconciliation; they have become and remain the refuse of the world, ‘the off-scouring of all things.’ Paul writes this as the Corinthians’ father in the Lord; he has sent Timothy to them as his representative. Paul himself planned to arrive soon, and to test the real power of those who treated him with arrogance. ‘For God’s kingdom consists in power, not idle talk. So what do you prefer: shall I come with a rod or with love in a spirit of gentleness?’ Paul remarks that there is serious immorality among the Corinthian Christians: a man living with his father’s wife. He directed, ‘Let him who has done this be removed from among you.’ Paul is pronouncing judgment on the man in the name of Jesus the Lord: ‘Deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.’ In light of this blemish, the Corinthians’ boasting is not good. He tells them to cleanse out the old leaven, and to celebrate the festival with ‘the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.’ Paul’s directed his readers to shun the company of immoral Christians, not immoral unbelievers. Another thing troubles Paul: it is wrong for Christians to dispute with one another in secular courts; such matters should be handled within the fellowship. There must be someone in the congregation who is wise enough to decide among brothers. To have lawsuits among Christians is a defeat for them—better to suffer wrong; but instead, his readers cheat one another, dishonoring themselves and Jesus.

Jesus withdrew to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, followed by a huge throng from Galilee, Judea, Idumea, Jerusalem, trans-Jordan, Tyre and Sidon. He told the disciples to have a boat ready, so He could escape the press of the crowd. When unclean spirits cried out identifying Him (‘You are the Son of God!’), Jesus commanded the spirits not to make Him known. Jesus went up on a mountain, and called His chosen apostles, naming twelve: Simon Peter, James and John the sons of Zebedee, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanean zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who would betray Him. Jesus returned to His home in Capernaum, and the crowd so thronged Him that they could not even eat. Jesus was beset by His family, who thought He was losing His mind, and by scribes from Jerusalem, who said Jesus was possessed by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, by whose power He cast out demons. Jesus strongly objected, calling all to Himself, and saying ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? A divided house cannot stand, and if Satan were divided, he would be coming to an end. No one can enter and plunder a strong man’s house unless he first binds the strong man—then indeed he can take his possessions. Most solemnly I tell you: all sins will be forgiven except this: whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is never forgiven for this eternal sin.’ This referred to those who attributed Jesus’ power and miracles by saying, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’ Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside, and called for Him to come out to them. When Jesus was told this, He answered, as He looked around the room, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers? Here they are: whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.’ Again Jesus began to teach beside the Sea of Galilee. When a great crowd assembled, Jesus got into a boat and sat in it on the water, teaching the crowd ashore with parables. ‘Listen: a sower went out to sow. Some seed fell on the path, and was devoured by birds. Some fell on rocky ground, without much soil; it sprang up quickly, but quickly was scorched and withered away—it had no roots. Other seed fell among thorns, which choked out the grain. And some seed fell upon good soil, yielding thirty or sixty or one hundred-fold. Whoever has ears, let him hear!’ When they were alone, His close disciples asked Jesus to explain this parable. He told them, ‘The secret of God’s kingdom has been given to you, but for outsiders, all is in parables. Thus, they may see but not perceive, and hear but not understand—otherwise, they would repent and be forgiven. You are slow to understand, so I will explain: the sower sows God’s word. Those along the path receive the word, but immediately Satan snatches it away. Those on rocky ground immediately respond with joy, but they have no root and cannot endure, and when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away. The ones sown among thorns are those deeply distracted by worldly cares, delight in riches, and lust for other things, so that these ungodly things choke the word and make it unfruitful. Those who hear the word and accept it bear fruit for God—thirty, sixty or one hundredfold.’