First Reading
Isaiah 43:1-13
But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life. Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you; I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth-- everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! Let all the nations gather together, and let the peoples assemble. Who among them declared this, and foretold to us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to justify them, and let them hear and say, "It is true." You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, says the LORD. I am God, and also henceforth I am He; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can hinder it?
Second Reading
Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
The Holy Gospel
Mark 2:23-3:6
One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?" And he said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions." Then he said to them, "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath." Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, "Come forward." Then he said to them, "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
Morning Psalms
Psalm 20 Exaudiat te Dominus
1 May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble, the Name of the God of Jacob defend you;
2 Send you help from his holy place and strengthen you out of Zion;
3 Remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice;
4 Grant you your heart's desire and prosper all your plans.
5 We will shout for joy at your victory and triumph in the Name of our God; may the LORD grant all your requests.
6 Now I know that the LORD gives victory to his anointed; he will answer him out of his holy heaven, with the victorious strength of his right hand.
7 Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will call upon the Name of the LORD our God.
8 They collapse and fall down, but we will arise and stand upright.
9 O LORD, give victory to the king and answer us when we call.
Psalm 21 Domine, in virtute tua
1 The king rejoices in your strength, O LORD; how greatly he exults in your victory!
2 You have given him his heart's desire; you have not denied him the request of his lips.
3 For you meet him with blessings of prosperity, and set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him: length of days, for ever and ever.
5 His honor is great, because of your victory; splendor and majesty have you bestowed upon him.
6 For you will give him everlasting felicity and will make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king puts his trust in the LORD; because of the loving-kindness of the Most High, he will not fall.
8 Your hand will lay hold upon all your enemies; your right hand will seize all those who hate you.
9 You will make them like a fiery furnace at the time of your appearing, O LORD;
10 You will swallow them up in your wrath, and fire shall consume them.
11 You will destroy their offspring from the land and their descendants from among the peoples of the earth.
12 Though they intend evil against you and devise wicked schemes, yet they shall not prevail.
13 For you will put them to flight and aim your arrows at them.
14 Be exalted, O LORD, in your might; we will sing and praise your power.
Evening Psalms
Psalm 110 Dixit Dominus
1 The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."
2 The LORD will send the scepter of your power out of Zion, saying, "Rule over your enemies round about you.
3 Princely state has been yours from the day of your birth; in the beauty of holiness have I begotten you, like dew from the womb of the morning."
4 The LORD has sworn and he will not recant: "You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
5 The Lord who is at your right hand will smite kings in the day of his wrath; he will rule over the nations.
6 He will heap high the corpses; he will smash heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook beside the road; therefore he will lift high his head.
Psalm 116 Dilexi, quoniam
1 I love the LORD, because he has heard the voice of my supplication, because he has inclined his ear to me whenever I called upon him.
2 The cords of death entangled me; the grip of the grave took hold of me; I came to grief and sorrow.
3 Then I called upon the Name of the LORD: "O LORD, I pray you, save my life."
4 Gracious is the LORD and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
5 The LORD watches over the innocent; I was brought very low, and he helped me.
6 Turn again to your rest, O my soul. for the LORD has treated you well.
7 For you have rescued my life from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling.
8 I will walk in the presence of the LORD in the land of the living.
9 I believed, even when I said, "I have been brought very low." In my distress I said, "No one can be trusted."
10 How shall I repay the LORD for all the good things he has done for me?
11 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the LORD.
12 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
13 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his servants.
14 O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant and the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.
15 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the Name of the LORD.
16 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
17 In the courts of the LORD'S house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Hallelujah!
Psalm 117 Laudate Dominum
1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; laud him, all you peoples.
2 For his loving-kindness toward us is great, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Hallelujah!
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.
1 John 4:20-21 (NIV) Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Read all of 1 John 4
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I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; (Philippians 1:23, NIV)
Have you ever been homesick? Maybe you were in a really beautiful place. But as they say, there's no place like home.
I think I'm becoming more of a homebody as I get older. As you get a little older, you start to like things a certain way. No matter where you are, it's never quite like home.
There's a home waiting for every child of God, a home we all should be homesick for. It's the future destination of all believers, and it's called heaven. And though we have never been to heaven, we still have something God has built within us that gives us this homesickness, this desire to be there.
Have you ever had one of those moments when everything seemed just perfect, as though it came straight out of a movie? Maybe it was an amazing sunset, a perfect star-filled night, or a special moment with someone you love. You thought, "This is so great. I want my entire life to be exactly like this moment."
In a limited sense you had a glimpse of eternity. You had a taste of what is ahead, something that is perfect, flawless. But you can't experience it on this earth. And until that day, you always will be a little bit homesick for heaven.
I love the way the apostle Paul put it when he wrote, "I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain..." (Philippians 1:23–24).
When Jesus Christ is at the forefront of your life, you can live a life that is rich and full on this earth and know that beyond the grave, there is something better: that wonderful place called heaven.
In Jesus,
Cap'n Kenny
¿Por qué voy a desanimarme? ¿Por qué voy a estar preocupado? Mi esperanza he
puesto en Dios. Salmo 42:11, DHH
El desánimo, la tristeza, la frustración y la baja autoestima son aliados
para hacernos infelices. Dios, en su Palabra, dice: «El gozo del Señor es
nuestra fortaleza» (Nehemías 8:10). Si
comprendemos esta frase, veremos que este consejo que nos dejó Dios lo hizo como
un Padre que sabía que tendríamos dificultades y momentos de prueba. Entonces,
si nos manteníamos con gozo, que significa estar en Él, creyendo que está de
nuestro lado, que no nos abandona en las situaciones que se presentan, sino que
en cambio nos da la fuerza, tendremos la sabiduría y el entendimiento para
escuchar su voz y salir adelante triunfantes. Eso nos ayudará a ver y vivir la
vida de otra manera.
Esto no quiere decir que no sea válido sentirse mal. Somos humanos, pero
nuestra manera de pensar debe cambiar y acoplarse a la mentalidad de Dios que
solo espera que tú y yo seamos felices.
Es posible que en este mismo momento estés pasando la peor situación de tu
vida. A lo mejor estás considerando si vale la pena seguir adelante. Por eso,
Dios en este día te dice: «No pierdas la esperanza, no te desanimes, pues yo
estoy contigo y te sacaré adelante. Así, podrás reconocer que yo soy tu Dios.
Solo cree en mí».
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in
him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by
the stream…its leaves are always green…” Jeremiah 17:7-8b
Trees were not plentiful in Israel and most grew by sources of water like an
oasis or a stream. Jeremiah’s simile indicates a person with confidence in the
Lord is like a deep-rooted tree by the stream whose leaves never die but are
always green.
Aunty Esther was the first Christian I met inside China thirty years ago. She
was a diminutive elderly Chinese medical doctor with a soft, kind voice that
masks the many years of suffering through which she has passed.
“During the Cultural Revolution,” she says, “I was called in by my superior
one day. At that time I was in charge of eight large pediatric wards in my
hospital. “The communists were cracking down on people who did not toe the
current party line. My superior warned me that I should deny my faith and join
the communist party or I may have to face the serious consequences of job
demotion and salary reduction.
“A few days later, I was rudely awakened by four nurses who roughly pulled me
from my bed and marched me to the hospital. En route they stopped at a
barbershop and shaved off half of my hair. In front of the rest of the staff, I
was confronted to renounce my faith in Christ and join the communist party.
“I responded, ‘I can’t deny Jesus. I love Jesus!’ At the mention of his name
they threw me down on the ground and cursed. Later, the communist cadre at my
hospital tore the stethoscope from my neck and said, ‘You are no longer Esther;
you are now The Fool.’
Esther continues. For the next eleven years she lived in the basement of the
hospital and obediently submitted to her new task—cleaning the floors and
toilets of the hospital wards that she previously headed. Her already meagre
salary of 50 dollars per month was reduced to 15 dollars. And she had to buy the
cleaning materials from it. The rest was used up on food.
But Esther practised the presence of Jesus in her job. She sang as she
toiled. With a twinkle in her eyes she adds, “My hospital had the cleanest
floors and cleanest toilets in all of China!” Hospital staff would come to her
and with great envy question her source of joy in spite of her troubles. Esther
responded, “When you have Jesus in your heart, it doesn’t matter what job you do
or what position you have. It only matters that you love Him and are faithful
and loyal to Him!”
When the Cultural Revolution period ended, Aunty Esther was reinstated in her
original job and given back pay for all that she had been deprived during those
eleven years. This amount enabled her to send one of her children to the USA for
higher education. She faithfully carried on her public witness for Jesus until
the day she died in her late nineties.
RESPONSE: I will allow my roots to grow deep in the Lord so that my leaves
will always be green.
PRAYER: Lord, thank You for the example of faithful Aunty Esther whose
life reflected Your love.
Psalm 13:1–6
How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face
from me? Psalm 13:1
There are benefits to pastoral ministry. Recently a woman wrote about how
thrilled her family was to receive their green cards for permanent residency in
this country. We had prayed consistently for this family and supported them
through their many struggles and setbacks. Now she shared her joy with her
church family.
Of course, pastoral ministry also has tough times. Once I stood with a newly
married wife as her husband yelled at her, calling her every name possible. He
ripped her house keys out of her hands. Later, he replaced the locks on their
house and boarded up the windows to prevent her from getting back in.
The ups and downs of pastoral ministry are echoed in Psalm 13. Among the
delights of praise, we hear a litany of despair. Where is God when one of us
gets a bad report from the doctor? Where is God when a marriage breaks under the
stress of unemployment? Where is God when a spouse dies?
One of the hardest challenges I’ve faced is finding God in loss. I remember
sitting with a mother in a hospital, praying for the recovery of her daughter.
The daughter had been married only a year. While delivering the woman’s baby,
the doctor nicked something with his knife. Now the young woman was fighting for
her life.
Her mother was inconsolable. When we prayed, she felt no peace. Within hours,
her daughter was gone. After that, the mother stopped going to church. The young
husband was angry and didn’t know how to care for his baby alone. Where was
God?
That question is often asked in suffering or loss. And often the only answer
appears to be silence. The promises of Scripture fade in the agony of sorrow.
The Holy Spirit seems to withdraw from hearts that grow chilly. Where is God
when airplanes crash? Where is God when a spouse is unfaithful? Where is God
when a baby dies? Where is God?
Psalm 13 echoes those concerns. In verse 1, the psalmist David asks God, “How
long will you hide your face from me?” But this isn’t the end of the psalm.
Rather, the psalmist goes on to assure us that our God, who is enthroned on
high, stoops low to see and hear and know us—even when we can’t see his face and
his words are like a foreign language to us.
“I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation,” said
David (Psalm 13:5).
Likewise we continue to love and trust God, not for what we get out of it right
now, but because it is the only way to make sense of this life. We trust in God,
not because we always feel the wonder of his divine presence, but because there
is truly no one else to turn to but God. And in time we will live to say, “He
has been good to me” (Psalm 13:6).
Wayne Brouwer
Let’s Talk
- What suffering have we known? How did it affect us? What was our
relationship with God like at the time?
- How do we know that God cares for us today? What would we say as a testimony
if asked to share our stories?
- What do we need from each other during stressful times? How can we best echo
back to one another the confident testimonies of Psalm 13?
What does the Bible have to say about prejudice? What messages of
love does God have for all the people and cultures He created? What
opportunities does a diverse church of today have in a society still
troubled by racism?
The two-week Fearfully and Wonderfully Made daily
devotional—based on passages from the NKJV Modern Life Study Bible—will
guide you through a series of Biblical excerpts focused on confronting
ethnic prejudice. You'll walk through both the Old and New Testaments,
discovering a tapestry of cultural connections throughout the historical
richness of Scripture and learn about God's promises of love to those
who face discrimination and prejudice. From the call of Abraham to the
Samaritan woman at the well, find out how the God of Israel has shown
himself to be the God of all tribes and nations.
Today’s reading is drawn from Song of Solomon 5:10; 1:5-6.
The marriage celebrated in the Song of Solomon appears to have been a match
between two members of different ethnic groups. The groom, presumably Solomon,
is described as “white and ruddy” (Song 5:10), while the bride is
“dark” like the black tents of Kedar (Song 1:5).
Marriages across ethnic and racial lines were not uncommon in the ancient
world (for example, Num. 12:1; Ruth 1:4; 1 Kin. 11:1), and the Bible never condemns or prohibits interracial unions. The
ancient Israelites were forbidden to marry Canaanites, Ammonites, or Moabites
(Deut. 7:1–4; 23:3), but these
prohibitions were not based on ethnicity but on religious, moral, and political
considerations.
God created all the diverse peoples of the earth. Differences in background
and appearance that can be hard for some people to accept are a creation of God
Himself. And His love extends to all, so it is unsurprising that His Word
includes a celebration of marriage between two people of different
ethnicities.
