Father, we struggle with evil and pain of the worldly and also what
we have and are doing to Your perfect universe and the earth that affect us
environmentally.
Bring Your light unto us to understand the difference; the worst is
because of man’s sinful nature of being self-oriented in the foolish way of Moral
Evil (human nature); and the second is pain (physical nature) that you control
for your perfect reasons.
Convict us by the Holy Spirit to become people of Your 1st
and 2nd commandments.
Help us discern that when we are fools that we cannot Love because
we must not Love ourselves; we cannot Love according to Your commandments while
in this states and that we must choose to change to become practicing examples
of the type to people that You choose, forgive, and accept as living examples
of Jesus.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking
wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen
were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and
made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one
who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said,
“The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the
servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said,
“The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and
made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one
who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and
said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest
brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and
struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead,
and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then
he fell to the ground in worship and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the
Lord be praised.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Repent or Perish
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about
the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Jesus
answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the
other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you
repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in
Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others
living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all
perish.”
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his
vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said
to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming
to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why
should it use up the soil?’
“‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and
I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not,
then cut it down.’”
Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the
Sabbath
On
a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there
who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and
could not straighten up at all.
When Jesus saw her,
he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your
infirmity.”
Then he put his hands on her,
and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue
leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed
on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on
the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it
water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept
bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound
her?”
When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the
people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and
the Yeast
Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I
compare it to? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his
garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It
is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour
until it worked all through the dough.”
The Narrow Door
Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he
made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people
going to be saved?”
He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow
door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once
the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside
knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught
in our streets.’
“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.
Away from me, all you evildoers!’
“There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you
see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but
you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and
south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed
there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”
Jesus’ Sorrow for Jerusalem
At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him,
“Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out
demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach
my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for
surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those
sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house
is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say,
‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Father, You are at work in this nation and the world today.
We see it in the changes in discussions starting about truth and justice at
this time.
We know these deep and well discerned discussions can lead to Your Peace,
Love, and Hope in this world.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Footnotes:
- Scriptures taken from the Holy
Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by
Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Purchased Product License 01/09/2015
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