Wednesday, Ordinary 23/Proper 18-- Sept 10
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The Withered Fig
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Teachings_of_Jesus_36_of_40._parable_of_the_fig_tree._Jan_Luyken_etching._Bowyer_Bible.gif An etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Luke 13:6-9 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England. Wikipedia CCL
Meditation
Wednesday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18 celebrated ‘faith.’ The Old Testament lesson in Exodus established the festival of the Unleaven Bread. Because the Hebrews left in such a hurry, they didn’t have time to allow their bread to have yeast and rising time. Yeast needs darkness and stillness, so traveling in the hot sun didn’t lend itself to the task, so they baked their bread without yeast. The festival celebrated the first-born sons that had been passed over by the angel of death and so they were dedicated to God. Unleavened bread was eaten because it would remind them of the specific time when they could not have bread made with yeast. The Hebrews left on faith that God’s promise to them that they would return to Canaan and it would be theirs, would come true. It must have been a challenge, after 400 years of slavery, to believe that they were truly on their way home to the Promised Land, but they believed. They had faith. God wanted them to remember their faith and celebrate it with a Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The Psalmist called attention to his faith in God—the one who never slumbers or sleeps. That assurance gave him faith to trust in the working together of all things. His help came from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He had the faith to believe it.
In the New Testament Gospel, Jesus taught about faith. Out walking, he became hungry and saw a fig tree that had no figs, only leaves. In the hills of the Middle East, the trees grow the most delicious fruits because of good soil, rain and sun. But here was a tree that had not produced and Jesus spoke to it, “You will never produce anything.”
The tree dried up immediately and his followers questioned what had happened. They were shocked by the shriveled nature of the tree and amazed at Jesus’ power over nature.
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree and even more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. 22 If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”
That seems amazing to me, but it gets born out in fact.
George Muller was an evangelist out of Bristol, England. He was sailing to Quebec down the St. Lawrence and the fog caused the captain to slow the ship down. Mr. Muller went to the captain to inform him that he had to be in Quebec on Saturday. The captain tried to explain that it was impossible, whereupon Mr. Muller stated they would go to the chartroom to pray. Mr. Muller explained that he had never failed to get an audience with the King, and knelt in the chartroom asking God to lift the fog so he could be in Quebec on time.
The captain knelt too, and was about to pray, but George Muller stilled him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Captain, there is no need for you to pray. First, because you do not believe that God will and second because I believe God already has. Go up and you will see the fog has lifted.”
Captain Joseph E. Dutton recounted the event to many people, because indeed he went top side and the fog had lifted and Mr. Muller was in Quebec for his meeting. (from His in a Life of Prayer, by Norman Harrison.)
Miracles happen in life today. You can read about Anna Elizabeth, the baby born against the odds on this site. Prayer changes things. Faith opens the doors for God to pour out his Spirit and accomplish marvelous things.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Click on the Scriptures for links to biblegateway.com, where many translations of the same text enhance the understanding the readings, which come from the (RCL) Revised Common Lectionary – Daily Lectionary Readings. I add a Daily Prayer to bless you with God’s Favor.
Enjoy the Daily Encouragement and Bible Study and may you be inspired to be your best self for Ordinary 23, Proper 18.
Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken – Timothy Moke
[embed]
http://youtu.be/gRtftQ_awac[/embed]
The Fig
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Ficus_Carica_1.jpg/800px-Ficus_Carica_1.jpg What the Owner Expected, Wikipedia CCL
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 23, Proper 18
By Gracious Powers So Wonderfully Sheltered – Dirk Hülsenbeck
[embed]
http://youtu.be/xREANqT3Blk[/embed]
Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 121;Exodus 13:1-10;Matthew 21:18-22&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;NIV (multiple versions)
Wednesday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Psalm 121
Exodus 13:1-10
Matthew 21:18-22
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 121 King James Version (KJV)
1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Matthew 21:18-22
King James Version (KJV)
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5219/5496472708_68f51faf30_z_d.jpg The Withered Fig Tree, Detail of wonderful stained glass, installed c.1754 in Preston-on-Stour of Jonah under his withered plant, with the intricately detailed city of Nineveh in the background. Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP, flickr CCL
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we give you praise for the many promises you have honored. Help us to trust you and be faithful in all we say and do. Increase our faith that we might glorify you the more. In Jesus name, Amen
Ordinary 23, Proper 18 Music
O Jesus I Have Promised -- Chung
[embed]
http://youtu.be/qM-f4pwBlPw[/embed]
Ordinary 23, Proper 18 Humor
Mountain Cast into the Sea
http://thebackpew.com/images/m/mountaincastintosea.jpg ©Jeff Larson, Used by permission
Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus – Casting Crowns
[embed]
http://youtu.be/3RqfAjPzpko[/embed]
I hope you found a chance to encounter your Creator and experience the Love of God and the joy of Christ in Ordinary 23, Proper 18.
Conclusion
Wednesday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18 celebrated the Pass over of the first-born males, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the faith they had to take the humongous step of departing Egypt, with few comforts of home, as in yeast and time to let it rise in their bread.
So a Feast was established to remember the faith of the Hebrews, to remember the actions of God, to remember that all the Hebrew first-born males were saved from the angel of death and that they would eat unleavened bread, i.e. bread without yeast.
The New Testament Gospel reinforced the issue of the power and importance of faith, with Jesus cursing the fig tree. It kinda reminded me of the sports adage, if you don’t use it you will lose it. The tree had not done what it should have and it forever lost the ability to produce.
Even with all of Christ’s miracles—healings of illness and casting out demons, water into wine, and telling the wind and waves to stop—the disciples were surprised at the tree’s immediate decline. But Jesus assured them that they would see more of the same and greater things. Moving mountains.
When I was in the Navy, my first tour was on a ship that had never had a chaplain or chapel. The captain assigned a room off the mess for the chapel. The chief engineer wanted it desperately and convinced the captain to take it back from the Command Religious Program. After I learned from the Captain that the room would no longer be available for the chapel, I knelt on the floor of the chapel and committed it to God.
“If you want this space for you, I give it into your hands, because I am powerless to make the captain see its value for the crew.”
I shared the news with the Bible Study group that God would take care of it. The great plans the Captain had were cut short by the Gulf War and the ship’s time in the yards and money were altered, so the ship could not be retrofitted. The chapel remained. The Lord’s plans included us having a chapel.
Prayer changes things. Hold onto your faith. Jesus has promised.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. Please like if it was meaningful. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
Please like if you are blessed and don’t hesitate to comment or contact me. I love hearing from you.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Teachings_of_Jesus_36_of_40._parable_of_the_fig_tree._Jan_Luyken_etching._Bowyer_Bible.gif An etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Luke 13:6-9 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England. Wikipedia CCL
Meditation
Wednesday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18 celebrated ‘faith.’ The Old Testament lesson in Exodus established the festival of the Unleaven Bread. Because the Hebrews left in such a hurry, they didn’t have time to allow their bread to have yeast and rising time. Yeast needs darkness and stillness, so traveling in the hot sun didn’t lend itself to the task, so they baked their bread without yeast. The festival celebrated the first-born sons that had been passed over by the angel of death and so they were dedicated to God. Unleavened bread was eaten because it would remind them of the specific time when they could not have bread made with yeast. The Hebrews left on faith that God’s promise to them that they would return to Canaan and it would be theirs, would come true. It must have been a challenge, after 400 years of slavery, to believe that they were truly on their way home to the Promised Land, but they believed. They had faith. God wanted them to remember their faith and celebrate it with a Feast of Unleavened Bread.
The Psalmist called attention to his faith in God—the one who never slumbers or sleeps. That assurance gave him faith to trust in the working together of all things. His help came from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He had the faith to believe it.
In the New Testament Gospel, Jesus taught about faith. Out walking, he became hungry and saw a fig tree that had no figs, only leaves. In the hills of the Middle East, the trees grow the most delicious fruits because of good soil, rain and sun. But here was a tree that had not produced and Jesus spoke to it, “You will never produce anything.”
The tree dried up immediately and his followers questioned what had happened. They were shocked by the shriveled nature of the tree and amazed at Jesus’ power over nature.
Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree and even more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. 22 If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”
That seems amazing to me, but it gets born out in fact.
George Muller was an evangelist out of Bristol, England. He was sailing to Quebec down the St. Lawrence and the fog caused the captain to slow the ship down. Mr. Muller went to the captain to inform him that he had to be in Quebec on Saturday. The captain tried to explain that it was impossible, whereupon Mr. Muller stated they would go to the chartroom to pray. Mr. Muller explained that he had never failed to get an audience with the King, and knelt in the chartroom asking God to lift the fog so he could be in Quebec on time.
The captain knelt too, and was about to pray, but George Muller stilled him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Captain, there is no need for you to pray. First, because you do not believe that God will and second because I believe God already has. Go up and you will see the fog has lifted.”
Captain Joseph E. Dutton recounted the event to many people, because indeed he went top side and the fog had lifted and Mr. Muller was in Quebec for his meeting. (from His in a Life of Prayer, by Norman Harrison.)
Miracles happen in life today. You can read about Anna Elizabeth, the baby born against the odds on this site. Prayer changes things. Faith opens the doors for God to pour out his Spirit and accomplish marvelous things.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Click on the Scriptures for links to biblegateway.com, where many translations of the same text enhance the understanding the readings, which come from the (RCL) Revised Common Lectionary – Daily Lectionary Readings. I add a Daily Prayer to bless you with God’s Favor.
Enjoy the Daily Encouragement and Bible Study and may you be inspired to be your best self for Ordinary 23, Proper 18.
Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken – Timothy Moke
[embed]

The Fig
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Ficus_Carica_1.jpg/800px-Ficus_Carica_1.jpg What the Owner Expected, Wikipedia CCL
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 23, Proper 18
By Gracious Powers So Wonderfully Sheltered – Dirk Hülsenbeck
[embed]

Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 121;Exodus 13:1-10;Matthew 21:18-22&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;NIV (multiple versions)
Wednesday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18
Psalm 121
Exodus 13:1-10
Matthew 21:18-22
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 121 King James Version (KJV)
1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Matthew 21:18-22
King James Version (KJV)
18 Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5219/5496472708_68f51faf30_z_d.jpg The Withered Fig Tree, Detail of wonderful stained glass, installed c.1754 in Preston-on-Stour of Jonah under his withered plant, with the intricately detailed city of Nineveh in the background. Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP, flickr CCL
20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!
21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we give you praise for the many promises you have honored. Help us to trust you and be faithful in all we say and do. Increase our faith that we might glorify you the more. In Jesus name, Amen
Ordinary 23, Proper 18 Music
O Jesus I Have Promised -- Chung
[embed]

Ordinary 23, Proper 18 Humor
Mountain Cast into the Sea
http://thebackpew.com/images/m/mountaincastintosea.jpg ©Jeff Larson, Used by permission
Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus – Casting Crowns
[embed]

I hope you found a chance to encounter your Creator and experience the Love of God and the joy of Christ in Ordinary 23, Proper 18.
Conclusion
Wednesday, Ordinary 23, Proper 18 celebrated the Pass over of the first-born males, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the faith they had to take the humongous step of departing Egypt, with few comforts of home, as in yeast and time to let it rise in their bread.
So a Feast was established to remember the faith of the Hebrews, to remember the actions of God, to remember that all the Hebrew first-born males were saved from the angel of death and that they would eat unleavened bread, i.e. bread without yeast.
The New Testament Gospel reinforced the issue of the power and importance of faith, with Jesus cursing the fig tree. It kinda reminded me of the sports adage, if you don’t use it you will lose it. The tree had not done what it should have and it forever lost the ability to produce.
Even with all of Christ’s miracles—healings of illness and casting out demons, water into wine, and telling the wind and waves to stop—the disciples were surprised at the tree’s immediate decline. But Jesus assured them that they would see more of the same and greater things. Moving mountains.
When I was in the Navy, my first tour was on a ship that had never had a chaplain or chapel. The captain assigned a room off the mess for the chapel. The chief engineer wanted it desperately and convinced the captain to take it back from the Command Religious Program. After I learned from the Captain that the room would no longer be available for the chapel, I knelt on the floor of the chapel and committed it to God.
“If you want this space for you, I give it into your hands, because I am powerless to make the captain see its value for the crew.”
I shared the news with the Bible Study group that God would take care of it. The great plans the Captain had were cut short by the Gulf War and the ship’s time in the yards and money were altered, so the ship could not be retrofitted. The chapel remained. The Lord’s plans included us having a chapel.
Prayer changes things. Hold onto your faith. Jesus has promised.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. Please like if it was meaningful. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
Please like if you are blessed and don’t hesitate to comment or contact me. I love hearing from you.
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