Daily Devotion – Great Plains United Methodist Church – Tuesday,
11 February 2014
1. Karen Lampe
Leawood: Church of the Resurrection UMC
Kansas City District
2. P. David Randall
Liberal First
Dodge City District
3. Ronald Harris
Geneva UMC
Prairie Rivers District
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This Week's Lectionary
5th Sunday after the Epiphany - Green
Isaiah 58:1 “Cry aloud, don’t spare.
Lift up your voice
like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their disobedience,
and to the house of
Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my
ways.
As a nation that did righteousness,
and didn’t forsake the
ordinance of their God,
they ask of me righteous judgments.
They delight to draw
near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ say they, ‘and you don’t see?
Why have we afflicted
our soul, and you don’t notice?’
“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
and oppress all your
laborers.
4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention,
and to strike with the
fist of wickedness.
You don’t fast today
so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the fast that I have chosen?
A day for a man to
humble his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread
sackcloth and ashes under himself?
Will you call this a fast,
and an acceptable day
to Yahweh?
6 “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen:
to release the bonds
of wickedness,
to undo the straps of
the yoke,
to let the oppressed
go free,
and that you break
every yoke?
7 Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry,
and that you bring the
poor who are cast out to your house?
When you see the naked,
that you cover him;
and that you not hide
yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light will break out as the morning,
and your healing will
appear quickly;
then your righteousness shall go before you;
and Yahweh’s glory
will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer;
you will cry for help,
and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away from among you the yoke,
finger pointing,
and speaking wickedly;
10 and if you pour out your soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the
afflicted soul:
then your light will rise in darkness,
and your obscurity
will be as the noonday;
11 and Yahweh will guide you continually,
and satisfy your soul
in dry places,
and make your bones
strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of
water,
whose waters don’t
fail.
12 Those who shall be of you shall build the old waste places;
you shall raise up the
foundations of many generations;
and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach,
Restorer of Paths with
Dwellings.
Psalm 112:1 Praise Yah![a]
Blessed is the man who
fears Yahweh,
who delights greatly
in his commandments.
2 His offspring[b] will be mighty in the land.
The generation of the
upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house.
His righteousness
endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright,
gracious, merciful,
and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends.
He will maintain his
cause in judgment.
6 For he will never be shaken.
The righteous will be remembered
forever.
7 He will not be afraid of evil news.
His heart is
steadfast, trusting in Yahweh.
8 His heart is established.
He will not be afraid
in the end when he sees his adversaries.
9 He has dispersed, he has given to the poor.
His righteousness
endures forever.
His horn will be
exalted with honor.
10 The wicked will see it, and be grieved.
He shall gnash with
his teeth, and melt away.
The desire of the
wicked will perish.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 112:1 Psalm 112 is an acrostic poem, with each verse
after the initial “Praise Yah!” starting with a letter of the alphabet (ordered
from Alef to Tav).
b. Psalm 112:2 or, seed
1 Corinthians 2:1 When I came to you, brothers, I didn’t come
with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of
God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you, except Jesus Christ,
and him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much
trembling. 4 My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith
wouldn’t stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 6 We speak
wisdom, however, among those who are full grown; yet a wisdom not of this
world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we
speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the wisdom that has been hidden, which God
foreordained before the worlds for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of
this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the
Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written,
“Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear,
which didn’t enter
into the heart of man,
these God has prepared for those who love him.”[a]
10 But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the
Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For who among men
knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even
so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit. 12 But we received,
not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might
know the things that were freely given to us by God. 13 Which things also we
speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. 14 Now the natural man
doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him,
and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who
is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one. 16 “For
who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” [b] But we
have Christ’s mind.
Footnotes:
a. 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
b. 1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13
Matthew 5: 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt
has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing,
but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. 14 You are the light of
the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. 15 Neither do you light a
lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all
who are in the house. 16 Even so, let your light shine before men; that they
may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
17 “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets.
I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For most certainly, I tell you,
until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter[a] or one tiny
pen stroke[b] shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are
accomplished. 19 Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least
commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom
of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the
Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds
that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 5:18 literally, iota
b. Matthew 5:18 or, serif
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John Wesley’s Notes/Commentary for
Isaiah 58:1-12
LVIII The hypocrisy of the Jews, in their fasts, ver. 1-5. A
true fast described, ver. 6, 7. Promises to Godliness, ver. 8-12. To the
keeping of the sabbath, ver. 13, 14.
Verse 2. Yet - They cover all their wickedness with a profession
of religion. Delight - There are many men who take some pleasure in knowing
God's will and word, and yet do not conform their lives to it. As - As if they
were a righteous people. Forsook - As if they were not guilty of any apostacy
from God, or disobedience to God's precepts. Ask - As if they resolved to
observe them. In approaching - In coming to my temple to hear my word, and to
offer sacrifices.
Verse 3. Afflicted - Defrauded our appetites with fasting, of
which this phrase is used, Levit xvi, 29. Ye find - Either you indulge
yourselves in sensuality, as they did, chap. xxii, 13. But this does not agree
with that afflicting of their souls which they now professed, and which God
acknowledges; or you pursue and satisfy your own desires: though you abstain
from bodily food, you do not mortify your sinful inclinations. Exact - Your
money, got by your labour, and lent to others, either for their need or your
own advantage, which you require either with usury, or at least with rigor,
when either the general law of charity, or God's particular law, commanded the
release, or at least the forbearance of them.
Verse 4. Behold - Your fasting days, wherein you ought in a
special manner to implore the mercy of God, and to shew compassion to men, you
employ in injuring or quarrelling with your brethren, your servants or debtors,
or in contriving mischief against them. Heard - In strife and debate. By way of
ostentation.
Verse 5. Chosen - Approve of, accept, or delight in, by a
metonymy, because we delight in what we freely chuse. For a day - This may be
understood, either for a man to take a certain time to afflict his soul in, and
that either from even to even, Lev. xxiii, 32, or from morning to evening, or
for a little time. Wilt thou call - Canst thou suppose it to be so? A fast - It
being such an one as has nothing in it, but the dumb signs of a fast, nothing
of deep humiliation appearing in it, or, real reformation proceeding from it.
Acceptable day - A day that God will approve of.
Verse 6. The bands - The cruel obligations of usury and
oppression.
Verse 7. Cast out - And thereby become wanderers, having no
abiding place. To thy house - That thou be hospitable, and make thy house a
shelter to them that have none of their own left. Hide not - That seek no
occasion to excuse thyself. Thy own flesh - Some confine this to our own
kindred; but we can look on no man, but there we contemplate our own flesh, and
therefore it is barbarous, not only to tear, but not to love and succor him.
Therefore feed him as thou wouldest feed thyself, or be fed; shelter him as
thou wouldest shelter thyself, or be sheltered; clothe him as thou wouldest
clothe thyself, or be clothed; if in any of these respects thou wert in his
circumstances.
Verse 8. Thy light - Happiness and prosperity. Break forth - It
shall not only appear, but break forth, dart itself forth, notwithstanding all
difficulties, as the sun breaks, and pierces through a cloud. Thy health -
Another metaphor to express the same thing. Righteousness - The reward of thy
righteousness. Before thee - As the morning-star goes before the sun. The glory
- His glorious power and providence. Thy rereward - Thus the angel of his
presence secured the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.
Verse 9. Answer - He will give an effectual demonstration, that
he hears thee. Here l am - A phrase that notes a person to be ready at hand to
help. Take away - From among you. The yoke - All those pressures and grievances
before mentioned. Putting forth - Done by way of scoff, or disdainful
insulting. Vanity - Any kind of evil words.
Verse 10. Draw out - Or, open, as when we open a store, to
satisfy the wants of the needy. Thy soul - Thy affection, thy pity and
compassion. Thy darkness - In the very darkness of the affliction itself thou
shalt have comfort.
Verse 11. Guide thee - Like a shepherd. And he adds continually
to shew that his conduct and blessing shall not be momentary, or of a short
continuance, but all along as it was to Israel in the wilderness. Satisfy -
Thou shalt have plenty, when others are in scarcity. Make fat - This may be
spoken in opposition to the sad effects of famine, whereby the flesh is
consumed away, that it cannot be seen, and the bones that were not seen, stick
out. A garden - If thou relieve the poor, thou shalt never be poor, but as a
well-watered garden, always flourishing. Fail not - Hebrew. deceive not, a
metaphor which farther notes also the continuance of this flourishing state,
which will not be like a land-flood, or brooks, that will soon be dried up with
drought. Thou shalt be fed with a spring of blessing, that will never fail.
Verse 12. They shall be of thee - Thy posterity. Waste places -
Cities which have lain long waste; that shall continue for many generations to
come. The breach - Breach is put for breaches, which was made by God's judgment
breaking in upon them in suffering the walls of their towns and cities to be
demolished. Paths - Those paths that led from city to city, which being now
laid desolate, and uninhabited, were grown over with grass, and weeds. To dwell
in - These accommodations being recovered, their ancient cities might be fit to
be re-inhabited.
Psalm 112:1-10
PS 112 This also is an alphabetical psalm. We have here the
character and blessedness of the righteous, ver. 1-9. The iniquity of the
wicked, ver. 10.
Verse 2. Generation - The posterity.
Verse 3. Righteousness - The fruit or reward of his
righteousness, which is God's blessing upon his estate.
Verse 4. Darkness - In the troubles and calamities of life. He -
The upright man.
Verse 5. Lendeth - Gives freely to some, and lends to others
according to the variety of their conditions. Affairs - His domestick affairs.
Discretion - Not getting his estate unjustly, nor casting it away prodigally,
nor yet withholding it from such as need it.
Verse 6. Moved - Though he may for a season be afflicted, yet he
shall not be eternally destroyed.
Verse 7. Evil tidings - At the report of approaching calamities.
Verse 9. Dispersed - His goods, freely and liberally.
Righteousness - His liberality, or the reward of it. Ever - What he gives is
not lost, but indeed is the only part of his estate, which will abide with him
to all eternity.
Verse 10. The desire - Either of the misery of good men; or of
his own constant prosperity.
1 Corinthians 2:1-16
Verse 1. And I accordingly came to you, not with loftiness of
speech or of wisdom - I did not affect either deep wisdom or eloquence.
Declaring the testimony of God - What God gave me to testify concerning his
Son.
Verse 2. I determined not to know anything - To wave all my
other knowledge, and not to preach anything, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified - That is, what he did, suffered, taught. A part is put for the
whole.
Verse 3. And I was with you - At my first entrance. In weakness
- Of body, 2 Cor. xii, 7 And in fear - Lest I should offend any. And in much
trembling - The emotion of my mind affecting my very body.
Verse 4. And my speech in private, as well as my public
preaching, was not with the persuasive words of human wisdom, such as the wise
men of the world use; but with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power -
With that powerful kind of demonstration, which flows from the Holy Spirit;
which works on the conscience with the most convincing light, and the most
persuasive evidence.
Verse 5. That your faith might not be built on the wisdom or
power of man, but on the wisdom and power of God.
Verse 6. Yet we speak wisdom - Yea, the truest and most
excellent wisdom. Among the perfect - Adult, experienced Christians. By wisdom
here he seems to mean, not the whole Christian doctrine, but the most sublime
and abstruse parts of it. But not the wisdom admired and taught by the men of
this world, nor of the rulers of this world, Jewish or heathen, that come to
nought - Both they and their wisdom, and the world itself.
Verse 7. But we speak the mysterious wisdom of God, which was
hidden for many ages from all the world, and is still hidden even from
"babes in Christ;" much more from all unbelievers. Which God ordained
before the world - So far is this from coming to nought, like worldly wisdom.
For our glory - Arising from the glory of our Lord, and then to be revealed
when all worldly glory vanishes.
Verse 8. Had they known it - That wisdom. They would not have
crucified - Punished as a slave. The Lord of glory - The giving Christ this
august title, peculiar to the great Jehovah, plainly shows him to be the
supreme God. In like manner the Father is styled, "the Father of
glory," Eph. i, 17; and the Holy Ghost, "the Spirit of glory," 1
Pet. iv, 14. The application of this title to all the three, shows that the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are "the God of glory;" as the only true
God is called, Psalm xxix, 3, and Acts vii, 2.
Verse 9. But this ignorance of theirs fulfils what is written
concerning the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom. No natural man hath either
seen, heard, or known, the things which God hath prepared, saith the prophet,
for them that love him. Isaiah lxiv, 4
Verse 10. But God hath revealed - Yea, and "freely
given," ver. 12. Them to us - Even inconceivable peace, and joy
unspeakable. By his Spirit - Who intimately and fully knows them. For the
Spirit searcheth even the deep things of God - Be they ever so hidden and
mysterious; the depths both of his nature and his kingdom.
Verse 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man - All the
inmost recesses of his mind; although men are all of one nature, and so may the
more easily know one another. So the things of God knoweth no one but the
Spirit - Who, consequently, is God.
Verse 12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world -
This spirit is not properly received; for the men of the world always had it.
But Christians receive the Spirit of God, which before they had not.
Verse 13. Which also we speak - As well as know. In words taught
by the Holy Spirit - Such are all the words of scripture. How high a regard
ought we, then, to retain for them! Explaining spiritual things by spiritual
words; or, adapting spiritual words to spiritual things - Being taught of the
Spirit to express the things of the Spirit.
Verse 14. But the natural man - That is, every man who hath not
the Spirit; who has no other way of obtaining knowledge, but by his senses and
natural understanding. Receiveth not - Does not understand or conceive. The
things of the Spirit - The things revealed by the Spirit of God, whether
relating to his nature or his kingdom. For they are foolishness to him - He is
so far from understanding, that he utterly despises, them Neither can he know
them - As he has not the will, so neither has he the power. Because they are
spiritually discerned - They can only be discerned by the aid of that Spirit,
and by those spiritual senses, which he has not.
Verse 15. But the spiritual man - He that hath the Spirit.
Discerneth all the things of God whereof we have been speaking. Yet he himself
is discerned by no man - No natural men. They neither understand what he is,
nor what he says.
Verse 16. Who - What natural man. We - Spiritual men; apostles
in particular. Have - Know, understand. The mind of Christ - Concerning the
whole plan of gospel salvation. Isaiah xl, 13
Matthew 5:13-20
Verse 13. Ye - Not the apostles, not ministers only; but all ye
who are thus holy, are the salt of the earth - Are to season others. Mark ix,
50; Luke xiv, 34.
Verse 14. Ye are the light of the world - If ye are thus holy,
you can no more be hid than the sun in the firmament: no more than a city on a
mountain - Probably pointing to that on the brow of the opposite hill.
Verse 15. Nay, the very design of God in giving you this light
was, that it might shine. Mark iv, 21; Luke viii, 16; xi, 33.
Verse 16. That they may see - and glorify - That is, that seeing
your good works, they may be moved to love and serve God likewise.
Verse 17. Think not - Do not imagine, fear, hope, that I am come
- Like your teachers, to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to
destroy - The moral law, but to fulfil - To establish, illustrate, and explain
its highest meaning, both by my life and doctrine.
Verse 18. Till all things shall be effected - Which it either
requires or foretells. For the law has its effect, when the rewards are given,
and the punishments annexed to it inflicted, as well as when its precepts are
obeyed. Luke xvi, 17; xxi, 33.
Verse 19. One of the least - So accounted by men; and shall
teach - Either by word or example; shall be the least - That is, shall have no
part therein.
Verse 20. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees -
Described in the sequel of this discourse.
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Today's Devotional:
1 Samuel 7:7 When the Philistines heard that the children of
Israel were gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up
against Israel. When the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the
Philistines. 8 The children of Israel said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying to
Yahweh our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the
Philistines.” 9 Samuel took a suckling lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt
offering to Yahweh. Samuel cried to Yahweh for Israel; and Yahweh answered him.
10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines came near to
battle against Israel; but Yahweh thundered with a great thunder on that day on
the Philistines, and confused them; and they were struck down before Israel. 11
The men of Israel went out of Mizpah, and pursued the Philistines, and struck
them, until they came under Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen,
and called its name Ebenezer,[a] saying, “Yahweh helped us until now.” 13 So
the Philistines were subdued, and they stopped coming within the border of
Israel. Yahweh’s hand was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
Footnotes:
a. 1 Samuel 7:12 “Ebenezer” means “stone of help”.
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World.
Contact Information:
Great Plains Episcopal Office
9440 E Boston, Suite 160
Wichita KS 67207
(316)686-0600
(800)745-2350
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