Wed.’s Devo - Seeing From God’s Perspective

Read: Leviticus 19:1-20:21; Mark 8:11-38; Psalm 42:1-11; Proverbs 10:17 In today’s reading, God goes over some of the laws he has already given and fine tunes them. The laws God gave dealt with the heart of man. It dealt with proper respect for God and his creation. God is a God of justice, so we are to model that on earth - in our daily dealings and in our courts. He tells us to love others as we love ourselves. *** God gave them laws in how to run their business with honesty and integrity. He told them to respect their elders and foreigners living among them. *** He told them what not to do in worship and who not to worship. They were not to follow the evil practices of the heathen but were to worship the Lord only and follow his laws. He taught them laws that had to do with their relations with the opposite sex and what perversion was. All in all, he was showing them how to please him so all would go well for them and God could bless them. *** In Mark, the Pharisees came to Jesus and wanted him to show them a miraculous sign from heaven proving he was who he claimed to be. This grieved Jesus and he refused to give them one. Every day, Jesus did signs that showed who he was and whose authority he was under - they just refused to see. *** Jesus and his disciples went to the other side of the lake and on their way, Jesus told them to be aware of the yeast of the Pharisees. The disciples began to argue because they had forgotten to bring bread with them. Jesus got exasperated with them. He was trying tell them spiritual things and all they could think of was natural things. He reminded them of the multiplied food and how many baskets they took up. Both times it was a miraculous work of God. Jesus wanted them to start thinking spiritually and supernaturally. *** The next story represents what Jesus wanted his disciples to get. When they got to Bethsaida, the people brought Jesus a blind man. Jesus took him out of the village and spit on the man’s eyes. He laid his hands on him and asked him if he could see anything. He replied he could see people, but they looked like trees walking around. Jesus prayed for him again and his eyes were opened and he saw clearly. Jesus sent the man home. *** The blind man represented the disciples. Jesus would always take away from the crowd and explain what he had just preached trying to help them see. He wanted them to walk in the revelation they had been given. *** Jesus asked his disciples who the people said that he was . They told him that some thought he was John the Baptist resurrected, some though he was Elijah or one of the other prophets. Then he asked them, who they thought he was. He wanted to see if their eyes had been opened. *** Peter gave the answer. He said he was the Messiah. Jesus warned them not to tell people that yet. He told them he was going to suffer and be rejected by the priests and religious leaders, then he would be killed. Three days later, he would rise from the dead. *** Peter took Jesus aside, to talk to him about this. He told him not to say such things and Jesus rebuked him calling him Satan. He told him he was seeing only from a human point of view, not from God’s… which was the whole point of why he told them to beware of the yeast of the Pharisees. *** Then, Jesus called the crowd to join the disciples and told them to follow him they must give up their way and find his way. It was the way of the cross - suffering and death. But, the benefits were salvation for their soul. *** Lord, give us eyes to see with spiritual eyes and anoint our ears to hear your voice. Show us your ways that we might walk in them. Show us how to be citizens of heaven while we are physically on earth.