ANGLICAN COMMUNION DAILY FOUNTAIN DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY.
The Topic of Daily Fountain Devotional for 2Nd March 2023 Is ”THE MINISTRY OF MERCY”
TEXT: Mark 2:24-3:1-13(NKJV)
24. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25. But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:
26. “how he went into the house of God [in the days] of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”
27. And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
28. “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
29. And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
ANGLICAN COMMUNION DEVOTIONAL OUTLINE FOR 2ND MARCH 2023.
Religious activities amount to nothing before God if they are void of mercy.“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice”(Hos. 6:6a).The Pharisees in our text condemned the disciples of Jesus for plucking the ears of com and Jesus for healing the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day.
Plucking ears of com belonging to one’s neighbour was not condemnable (Deut.23: 25),but doing that on a Sabbath day was a violation of the law. Sometimes, we close the doors of mercy on the religious grounds; they have not met this or the other requirement! Unfortunately, some of such defenders of religious are laden with sins like the Pharisees who condemned acts of mercy and yet began plotting to kill Jesus on the same Sabbath day.
What a contradiction!. The right heart disposition places mercy over religion. Be a minister of mercy! The Lord was grieved for the hardness of the hearts of the Pharisees because they vehemently condemned healing the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day. Do you know that you cannot be a vessel in God’s hand to minister to the needs of men, until you possess a merciful heart?
How do you feel when you see the physically challenged or the poor? Is your heart hardened or compassionate towards them? Repent today from a dual nature of religion and hypocrisy.
PRAYER: Lord, please help my heart! Give me a compassionate heart towards those You bring my way. Amen.
The Anglican Communion is the fourth-largest Christian denomination. Founded in 1867 in London, England, the communion currently has 85 million members within the Church of England and other national and regional churches in full communion. {.…Read more...}
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