August 23 and 24, 2010

Monday and Tuesday, August 23 and 24, 2010

Devotions: Ps 1-7, 10, 11; Job 4:1; 5:1-11, 17-21, 26, 27; 6:1-4, 8-15, 21; Acts 9:32-10:16; Mk 6:1-6a; Jn 6:60-71

Blessed are those who delight in YHWH's law and meditate on it day and night; they shun the counsel of the wicked, the path of sinners, and the seat of mockers. They are like tress planted near streams of water; they yield fruit in season and don't wither. All they undertake prospers, and God preserves their lives and their paths. The wicked are like wind-blown chaff; they cannot stand in God's judgment, and they and their ways will perish. In light of this, it's puzzling why nations and peoples conspire against God, seeking to replace Him with self-mastery. God laughs in derision, and crushes them for their impertinence. Let earthly leaders and all mortals be wise enough to bow before God and serve Him, lest God become angray and they perish. Blessed are all who take refuge in God! I Am shields me, day and night. He delivers me from all my enemies. My deliverance is from YHWH the Almighty. God answers prayer. He directs my path toward His righteousness. God, You ahve put more joy in my hearat than when the pagans harvest grain and wine! I have peace and help from the Mighty One. I came into God's family, by His grace, and abide there. God's enemies perish, but those who seek God, He welcomes and they live forever in His favor. Deliver me for Your name's sake, Lord, in Your steadfast love. YHWH has heard and answered my supplicaitons, and my enemies face shame and oblivion. We must repent or perish—those are the choices God leaves us. I will thank and praise Him as He deserves. Let mighty God arise and crush those who scorn His authority and seek to harm His people. God prospers the humble and protects the weak. YHWH is my Refuge, and I will behold His glory!

Job's companion Eliphaz of Teman spoke: 'Job, call out! See if any of the Holy Ones receive you. Affliction is our natural state as mortals and sinners. A man is born to trouble, as sparks rise f rom a fire. Commit to God, the Almighty and Unsearchable—He manages everything! He casts down the arrogant and crafty. Happy is the man whom God reproves; accept YHWH's chastening, then, as a way to grow in wisdom and grace. He will deliver you in His good time.' Job answered: 'I wish my vexation could be weighed—it would be mor massive than the sands of the sea! God's arrows pierce me; I can't sleep; I have no appetite. If only God would finish me off! I have not denied God's words, but I don't have the strength to bear this burden indefinitely. And I can't depend on my human allies: they melt away like ice in the desert. You see my calamity, and you are afraid!'

As Peter visited various churches, he came among the saints at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years, and was paralyzed. Peter said to him, 'Aeneas, Jesus the Messiah heals you! Rise and make your bed.' And Aeneas rose imeediately, and many residents of Lydda and Sharon witnessed this, and turned to the Lord. At Joppa lived as disciple named Tabitha (in Aramaic—Dorcas in Greek—both mean 'Gazelle'). She was known for her good works and acts of charity. But she fell sick and died. The disciples sent two men to Lydda and asked him to come back to Joppa with them. They brought him to where her body was laid, among widows weeping over garmets Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put the mourners outside, then knelt and prayed, and then turned to the body and said, 'Tabitha, rise!' She opened her eyes, looked toward Peter, and sat up. Peter called the saints and widows and presented her alive to them. News of this quickly spread through Joppa and many believed in the Lord. Peter stayed there for a time, with a tanner named Simon. Meanwhile, at Caesarea there was a centurion in the Italian Cohort named Cornelius, a devout man who feared God, along with all his household. He was generous in supporting the Christians, and he was constant in prayer to God. During prayer, around 3 PM one day, Cornelius had a clear vision of an angel from God coming in and addressing him by name. Cornelius stared at the messenger in terror and replied, 'What is it, Lord' The angel said, 'Your prayers and your charity have ascended before God as an acceptable memorial. Now send men to Joppa and bring here a man named Simon Peter. He is lodging with Simon the tanner in a house near the seaside.' The angel departed, and Cornelius sent tow of his servants and an devout soldier to carry out the angel's instructions. While this deputation was on their way, the next day, Peter went up on the roof to pray, about noon. He became hungry and asked for something to eat, but while it was being prepared, Peter fell into a trance. He saw something descending from heaven, like a great sheet let down by its four corners to the earth. In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and birds. And Peter heard a voice: Rise, Peter: kill and eat!' Peter replied, 'No, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.' The voice replied, "What God has cleansede, you must not call common.' All this happened three times, and then the sheet was taken up at once to heaven, and the vision ceased..

Jesus departed from the town where he had resuscitated Jairus' daughter, and returned to his own neighborhood, and His disciples followed Him. On the sabbath, Jesus began to teach in the Nazareth synagogue. Many who heard were astonished: 'Where did he get all this? What is the wisdom given to him? What mighty works are accomplished by his hands! Isn't this the carpenter, sone of Mary and brother to James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?' Jesus replied, 'A prophet is not without honor, except in his own cuontry, among his own kin and in his own household.'

Many of Jesus' disciples heard what He said about embodying the Bread of life, and found this a hard saying, impossible for them to hear. Jesus knew about their doubts and objections, and said, 'Do you take offense at this? What if you saw the Son of man ascending to where He was before? The Spirit gives life, and the flesh is of no avail. I have spoken to you words of spirit and life. But some of you just don't believe.' Jesus knew from the first who did not believe and who would betray Him. He said, 'This is exactly why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father.' Many of His erstwhile disciples drew back and no longer whent around with Him. Jesus said to the Twelve, 'Do you also wish to go away?' Simon Peter replied, 'Lord, to who should we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.' Jesus answered, 'Did I not choose you, the Twelve—and yet one of you is a devil!' He spoke of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who neverthless would betray Jesus.