Blasted, or Blessed?

Monday, April 14, 2014 Devotions: Ps 51:1-18; 69:1-23; Lm 1:1-12; 2 Cor :1-7; Mk 11:12-25 Father God, have mercy according to Your steadfast love and abundant mercy; blot out my transgressions, wash me from all iniquity; cleanse me from my sin. I know that all my sins are sins against You; behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and conceived in sin. I know that You desire inward truth; teach me Your wisdom, Lord. Purge me; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Fill me with joy and gladness; hide my sins from Your countenance. Create in my a clean heart, O God, and put a new and upright spirit within me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach other sinners Your ways and they will turn to You, the God of my deliverance. Lord, open my lips and my voice will sing and shout Your praise; I offer You the sacrifice You prefer: a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Restore me to Your grace, Lord, and let me abide in You. Draw me out of the floodtide that threatens to engulf me; pull me out of the mire and set me on the high Rock of Your grace. I am hated by enemies without number; I am a sinner and a fool; preserve others from being misguided by my poor example. I am alienated from everyone but You, Lord. Zeal for Your house consumes me; faith or unfaith brings me no closer to others, but only faith draws me to You. My prayer is only to You, YHWH; in Your good time, answer me with your faithfulness and steadfast love. Don't hide Your face from me; draw near and set me free, I pray You. Jeremiah lamented: Lonely sits the city once full of people; she has become like a widow, a slave. She weeps all night, and no one comforts here. Judah is in exile; she has no place to rest among the nations; no one comes to worship in her midst; she suffers bitterly and alone. YHWH has visited her sins upon Jerusalem; all her majesty, her youths and maidens, have gone away. In these days of bitter affliction, Jerusalem reflects on the precious things she had before. She is soiled by her sinning; too late, she realizes the consequences of her sins of commission and omission. Her starving people comb the alleys for a particle of food. She cries to God for mercy; let God relent from His fierce anger, and restore me, she cries. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah; He Is the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we can comfort those who are now afflicted, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted. Just as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort as well. If we are afflicted, it is to comfort others, and to facilitate their salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for the comfort of others, to help them bear these common sufferings with patience. Our hope for you is unshaken; we know that just as you share in our sufferings, you also will share in our comfort. Jesus and His close followers were lodging in Bethany, and as they approached Jerusalem early in the morning, He was hungry. In the distance He noticed a fig tree, and He approached it to see if He could find any sustenance there. But He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Jesus addressed the tree: 'May no one ever eat fruit from you again.' His disciples overheard this. When they came into the city, Jesus entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and bought in the temple; He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. And He taught: 'Is it not written: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”? But you have made it a den of brigands.' The chief priests and scribes overheard this and sought a way to destroy Jesus; for they feared Him, because all the sea of humanity was astonished at His teaching. When evening came, Jesus and His party went out of the city. The next morning, they came to the fig tree—now withered to the roots. Peter point this out to Jesus, and He said, 'Have faith in God. Truly I tell you: whoever says to this mountain, “Be taken up and cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart but believes what he says will come to pass—it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Whenever you stand praying, forgive anything you may have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.'