Fri.’s Devo - The Honor of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29 We have read several people who were from the hill country of Ephraim: Micah (Judges 17:1), the man with the concubine (Judges 19:1), and now Elkanah and Hannah. Elkannah had two wives named Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was barren but Peninnah had many children. Every year Elkannah would take his family to Shiloh to offer God a sacrifice. He would give Peninnah more of the meat so she could feed her children. Peninnah would vex Hannah because Hannah was childless. This time, Hannah stayed before the altar and cried out to the Lord. Eli saw her and at first thought she was drunk. When he learned that she was heavy-hearted, he blessed her with peace and the promise of receiving her request. She left light and happy. God did grant her request and she became pregnant. She vowed to give the child to the Lord and to never cut his hair. She named him Samuel which means “God heard.” When Samuel was weaned she took him to Eli and Eli raised him in the temple. Hannah made a new coat for him and brought it every year. God blessed Hannah with three sons and two daughters. You just can’t out-give God. Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. In John, Jesus was in Jerusalem for one of the feasts. My guess is that it is the Feast of Pentecost also knowns as the Feast of Weeks. Pentecost is about the giving of the living waters that overflows in the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was at the pool of Bethesda where all the sick and afflicted people came hoping to be there when the water bubbled up. They believed that an angel came at certain times and stirred the water. When this happened, the first one into the pool would be healed. One greater than a myth was there and He had the power to heal all who were there. Jesus picked one particular man who was crippled and told him to stand up, roll up his mat and walk. He did! This happened on the Sabbath so the religious leaders were upset. They questioned the man, but he didn’t even know who had healed him. Jesus found him later and told him that now that he was well he needed to stop sinning or something even worse would happen to him. That tells us that his crippled state had been due to some bad decisions he had made in life. He was being given a second chance and Jesus didn’t want him to mess it up. He must not have liked what Jesus said, because he went and told the religious leaders who had healed him. The religious leaders accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath and calling God his Father, making himself equal to God. Jesus told them that he was subject to God… not equal to him as a man. He only idd the things God showed him to do but they hadn’t seen anything yet. He explained that God gives life to those who die and Jesus could give life to anyone he wanted to. God doesn’t judge anyone because he gave that power to Him, Jesus. God did this so that people would honor his son. No one can honor God without honoring the Son. That is a powerful statement. Lord, thank you for reminding us once again that Jesus is the only way to You. Thank you for your judgments that are fair and righteous. May we walk in the fear of the Lord.