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Editors note: These are detailed devotional times I have had with the Lord that I wanted to share with the readers. They will be posted on those days I have detailed devotional times. Today's devotional time was taken from the archives and revised before 9:30 a.m.

Quiet Times for Thursday, January 22, 04
(Psalm 22, Proverbs 22, Mark 1:43-45)

Hi everyone :)

May the Lord Jesus Christ continue to work in your life helping you to do what honors Him and pleases Him the most! Amen!

"Jesus then told him sternly, "Go and be examined immediately by the Jewish priest. Don't stop to speak to anyone along the way. Take along the offering prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed, so that everyone will have proof that you are well again" (Mark 1:43-44)

Observations:

I asked myself what are the commands Jesus gave the man and how did He do it?

Jesus gave the man couple of commandments sternly:

1. Go and be examined immediately by the Jewish priest.

2. Don't stop to speak to anyone along the way.

3. Take the offering prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed.

Observations/Interpretations:

Point 1: Go and be examined immediately by the Jewish priest.

I see Jesus being obedient to Scripture and telling the man who was healed from leprosy to take along the offering prescribed by Moses. This is very relevant in that Jesus wants the man to follow what we consider to be part of the Old Testament (Leviticus 14). When we become Christians, we cannot ignore reading the Old Testament because we feel we are under the New Covenant. The Old Testament is Scripture and God uses His entire Word to speak to us. It is important to realize that if Jesus said something in the New Testament that should take precedent though. Because of what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross and coming back to life to save us we can do away with sacrificial animal offerings.

Point 2: Don’t stop to speak to anyone along the way.

It is implied by the offering that God should be thanked by the man before he does anything else including telling other people what happened to him. When the Lord answers our prayers it is so important to go to the Lord and thank Him for what He has done for us before going to anyone else.

Point 3: Take the offering prescribed by Moses for a leper who is healed.

There can be a tendency to pray and accept God's answer and not take the time to offer our praises to Him. God inhabits the praises of His people. Even though we have done away with sacrificial offerings we can still praise the Lord with our lips and bring the sacrifice of praise unto the house of the Lord.

Observations:

I asked myself what the man healed from leprosy did?

"But as the man went on his way he began to shout the good news that he was healed; as a result, such throngs soon surrounded Jesus that he couldn't publicly enter a city anywhere, but had to stay out in the barren wastelands. And people from everywhere came to him there" (Mark 1:45)

As the man went on his way presumably to the Jewish priest, he disobeyed Jesus and began to shout the good news that he was healed.

I asked myself what were the results of the man's disobedience?

1. Because of the man's disobedience such throngs surrounded Jesus.

2. Jesus couldn't publicly enter a city anywhere.

3. Jesus had to stay in the barren wastelands.

4. People from everywhere had to come to Jesus.

Implications:

We also see the consequences of the man's disobedience in the lives of others. I realized long time ago that my actions and reactions have an effect on other people's lives too. When I am disobedient and do wrong, I not only hurt myself but those around me can be affected too. This is what the man caused.

We do not think about it this way very much but the man's actions caused problems to Jesus that he could not publicly enter a city anywhere but had to stay in the barren wastelands and people had to come to him.

If the man just obeyed and did what Jesus told him to, Jesus could have still been there and it would have been much easier on the people there too without having to go search for Jesus. It is important to realize what we do in our private lives when no one is looking can affect our public ministry or the lives of others! (Achan is an example from the Old Testament)

I ask you now dear friend, what do your actions cause?

Dear friend, our actions can either glorify the Lord or bring dishonor to the Lord. Our actions can make people want to know more about Jesus or they can turn people away from Jesus thinking if this is what Christianity is all about, I don’t want to have any part in it. Sometimes the right actions done at the wrong times can cause problems too. There was nothing wrong with the man letting others know that he was healed but the problem was the timing and the disobedience of the man. Jesus specifically told him not to speak to anyone else. The man decides to go his own way anyway.

This too brings to mind how ungrateful we can be many times. Jesus heals the man and then the man goes right ahead and disobeys Jesus. We are guilty of that too. Jesus does so many things for us and yet we find ways to disobey him just because it pleases us to do what we want. This only causes heart ache for the Lord.

We have the opportunity to let the Lord be glorified and not cause grief to the Lord by our actions, so let us hold on to the faith and love the Lord Jesus has given us and hope in Him as we travel the journey of life.

Christ Asks Us, Serve Eagerly! (C.A.U.S.E/"What do your actions cause?"

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus I thank you so much because of how much you love us. You love us so much that you give us commandments for our own good. Lord there are times your commandments are hard to follow because they seem like they deprive us of the fun we want but Lord deep inside I know you know what is best for us at all times. I know you will never ask us to do anything that will not be for our good in the long run. Forgive us Lord and help us Oh God of our Salvation for the glory of your Name and deliver us and provide us with your Word always for the glory of your Name. Thank you so much Lord Jesus that you have provided atonement for our sins for your Name's sake and have given us your Word. We bring our sacrifice of praise unto the House of the Lord. We are sorry when we cause pain in other people's lives because of our actions. We are also sorry when we do not thank you. I thank you Jesus for forgiving us and answering our prayers. Thanks we can come to you. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

Love in Christ, Ramesh