For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. – Psalm 33:4
The Pharisees were making trouble for Jesus – again. They were legalistic in their approach to the laws of both God and man, usually to show their own piety. It was the Sabbath, and Jewish law and custom had a good deal to say about Sabbath rest and the work that should not be done. Yet, Jesus came by a man, an invalid, to whom He simply said, “Get up, take up your bed and walk.” Which, of course, the man did. The Jewish leaders understood this spoken word as work and a Sabbath violation, so they persecuted the Savior, pushing Him to explain how it was that He would do such a thing on the Sabbath. Jesus simply answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
God is still at work in the lives of His children, and in nations around the globe. An examination of American history reveals His presence with early settlers, colonists, the framers of the nation’s liberty, and its continued blessings. History is also replete with the wreckage of nations that forgot God… something the United States has increasingly been doing. In your time of intercession, lift up politicians and their complacent constituents before the Lord in prayer, asking that the Holy Spirit would work in their lives, drawing them to the Savior.
Jesus said you are both salt and light. He earnestly desires for you to draw others to Him. God is still working and He is in control. He has been faithful to the United States. Pray for the nation to acknowledge Him and be faithful to the Lord in return.
Today’s Verse: Psalm 33:4
For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: John 5:1-18
5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
