God heals the troubled, and troubles the self-righteous

Saturday, February 23, 2013


Devotions: Ps 55, 138, 139; Gen 41:1-13; 1 Cor 4:1-7; Mk 2:23-3:6

Lord, I'm struggling! Hear and answer my prayers, please. My heart is anguished; I'm trembling from stress. I long for shelter and relief, yet I want to do something worthwhile before leaving the fray. I'm bummed by the manipulation and exploitation of so-called friends and colleagues. They use me and toss me aside. I leave them to You, Lord; save me and hush my complaining. I will cast my burden on the Lord, Who will sustain me. Lord, I thank You with my whole heart, and honor You before gods and men alike. You answer prayer; You are Master over all creation. Great is the glory of YHWH my God, Who preserves my life and does not forsake His handiwork. Lord, no one knows me as You do, Who made me and sees me in every circumstance. I could not escape Your attention, and don't want to do so. You shaped me inside and outside. How precious to me are Your thoughts; cleanse me from all wickedness and guide me in the everlasting way!

Pharaoh had disturbing dreams, and sought help to interpret them. His chief butler then recalled encountering Joseph in prison, where the Israelite had accurately interpreted his dream and that of Pharaoh's chief baker, who was the butler's fellow prisoner. The butler told Pharaoh that Joseph had correctly interpreted both men's dreams—and one was restored to the king's service and the other executed, just as Joseph's interpretations predicted.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians: people should regard all God's people as the Messiah's servants and as stewards of the mysteries of God. He continued: 
All stewards should be found blameless. But it matters little to me how any mortal, individual or tribunal, judges me; I don't even judge myself. I know of no valid charge against me, but that doesn't assure that I am guiltless. The Lord Is my Judge, and He alone. So, my brothers and sisters, don't hasten to judgment; wait for the Lord's coming. He will bring to light what is now hidden; He will disclose the purposes of each heart. Then every mortal will receive the proper commendation from God. Don't get puffed up in relation to one another. None of us has anything that God did not provide us; why boast of things that were freely given to you?

One Sabbath, Jesus led His disciples through grain fields. The hungry disciples began to pluck heads of grain and eat. Pharisees saw this and challenged Jesus: 'Look! Why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?' But Jesus disputed with them: 'Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry? With those in his part, he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which the Torah says only priests may eat; and David gave some to his companions, too.' Jesus told them, 'The Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity for the Sabbath; so the Son of an is Lord even of the Sabbath.' Again Jesus entered the synagogue; there was a man there who had a withered hand. The critics watched to see what Jesus would do—whether He would heal the man on the Sabbath. If He did, they intended to accuse Him. Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, 'Come here.' And the man stepped forward. Then Jesus addressed the onlookers, including His adversaries: 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do harm—to save a life or to kill?' But they were silent. Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart. And He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out, and the hand was restored. The Pharisees left the synagogue at once and consulted with the Herodians against Jesus, how to destroy Him.