Loving Jesus Style

Scripture: Mark 7:26-30 24  And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25  But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26  Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27  And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28  But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29  And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30  And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. Meditation             This is an unlikely passage to pick for a devotion. It is an uncomfortable passage to read. In it Jesus calls a woman a “dog” for no ot

Scripture: Psalm 103:1–7(ESV) 1  Bless the Lord , O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2  Bless the Lord , O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3  who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4  who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5  who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6  The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. [1] Meditation:             I once worked for a company that gave all its employees a list of all the benefits they were receiving from the company as part of their employment. They wanted to remind the workers that they were receiving more than just a paycheck every two weeks.             So the psalmist here in psalm 103 reminds us of some of the benefits of knowing and following God. The ones listed here are forgiveness, healing, redemption, love and mercy, satisfaction of