Down with a Cold; Up with Jesus 020312

This blog comes to you from the people at

Image via Wikipedia

Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO

www.peacemennonitechurch.net

Peace Mennonite Church keeps a prayer list for those in need. If you need prayer, or want to e-mail our pastor, e-mail billd @ peacemennonitechurch.net (Take out the extra spaces to use this e-mail—the spaces confuse spam generators).

We are praying as a church, and attempting to follow the centuries’ old tradition of praying with other Christians three times a day. We are following the prayer liturgy at www.commonprayer.net

Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Peace Mennonite Church of Columbia, MO Permission is granted for one-time non-commercial use with proper attribution.

Scriptures follow the meditation and thoughts. Scriptures for the day selected by http://www.commontexts.org/

Subscribe to our blog. Delivery daily by e-mail. Click the button on the right.

Psalm 111

Deuteronomy 13:1-5

Matthew 8:28—9:1

Down with a Cold; Up with Jesus 020312

No animals were harmed in this blog post!

I woke this morning with a bad cold, although that may be redundant. I don’t know what a good cold would be!

So after blowing my nose or emptying it, I began my daily routine, sort of. I drank coffee and I prayed, then I read today’s verses from Matthew 8. I wonder about today’s story from Matthew, since I used to raise hogs or pigs, and the Bible is right. Pigs are possessed by demoniacs and there have been several times I wished to drive them over a cliff. But pigs don’t drive well. They go where they please and it is always not where you are wanting them to go.

I began laughing at this, because I have been a demoniac and also pig-headed. Maybe this story is telling me that I have done better since Jesus made no room for the demoniac in me, and drove my pig-headedness over a cliff. Applying this metaphor to my own spiritual growth makes sense to me, at least it does now with a head and nose full of illness.

Pray for a peace and an end to pig=headedness especially when its ours.

(brother) Bill

Psalm 111

¹Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

²Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.

³Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.

⁴He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the Lord is gracious and merciful.

⁵He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.

⁶He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.

⁷The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

⁸They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

⁹He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5

13If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and promise you omens or portents, ²and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, “Let us follow other gods” (whom you have not known) “and let us serve them,” ³you must not heed the words of those prophets or those who divine by dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul. ⁴The Lord your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast. ⁵But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the Lord your God—who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery—to turn you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Matthew 8:28—9:1

²⁸When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” ³²And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. ³³The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. ³⁴Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.

9And after getting into a boat he crossed the sea and came to his own town.

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the 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.

Related articles are presented without endorsement

• Lord comes down and calls you up (evanlaar2012.wordpress.com)
• Supreme Court rules in favor of Mennonites in ‘steel wheels’ case (thegazette.com)
• Anabaptists and Mennonites (beautifulunion.wordpress.com)
• “Tell them how much the Lord has done for you” (worryisuseless.wordpress.com)
• Jesus and the Gadarene Demoniac: Matthew 8 (briancoatney.com)
• Spiritual Warfare in the New Testament Part I (codybateman.org)