Have you ever taken a walk on a hot summer\u2019s day only to find that you\u2019ve become a gnat (fly, horsefly, mosquito, etc.) magnet? I have\u2026but my bugs were nothing like the \u201cgnats\u201d that always seemed to swarm around Jesus throughout His three-year ministry.<\/p>\n
Now it happened\u2026on a Sabbath <\/em>[that] His disciples were picking\u2026and eating the grain.<\/em> But some of the Pharisees said, \u201cWhy do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?\u201d<\/em> (Luke 6:1-2.)<\/p>\n They couldn\u2019t help themselves. They were irked that He wouldn\u2019t submit Himself to them; how could this crude Man and His disciples develop such a following? These enlightened leaders just had<\/em> to point out their concerns to Him\u2026<\/p>\n On another Sabbath He entered the synagogue and was teaching; and there was a man there whose right hand was withered.<\/em> The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him <\/em>(Luke 6:6-7).<\/em><\/p>\n The gnats were gathered, prepared to ambush. Would their Target have the audacity to heal on the Sabbath? Buzzzzzz\u2026.You could hear these gnats holding their breath, ready, set…positioned to swarm…<\/p>\n But He knew what they were thinking, and He said to the man with the withered hand, <\/em>\u201cGet up and come forward!\u201d<\/em> And he got up and came forward <\/em>(Luke 6:8).<\/p>\n Jesus knew what they were thinking\u2026but He proceeded to step into their trap, anyway. Jesus! Be careful! Don\u2019t You know who You\u2019re dealing with????<\/p>\n And Jesus said to them, <\/em>\u201cI ask you, is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?\u201d<\/em> (Luke 6:9.)<\/p>\n Incoming: Holy Ghost wisdom. Yup\u2014He\u2019s been praying!<\/p>\n After looking around at them all, He said to him, <\/em>\u201cStretch out your hand!\u201d<\/em> And he did so; and his hand was restored<\/em> (Luke 6:10).<\/p>\n It never failed: God always showed up when Jesus was surrounded and ambush was imminent. He had prayed beforehand; God downloaded wisdom; and Jesus chose His Father’s direction rather than saving His own skin by taking the easier, more politically-correct path. As a result, miracles followed. In this case, a man\u2019s withered hand was completely restored before their very eyes! How could anyone get mad about that<\/em>??<\/p>\n Wait for it\u2026<\/p>\n But they themselves <\/em>[you know who!] were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus<\/em> (Luke 6:11).<\/p>\n Outrage filled these “enlightened” ones. How dare He heal a man\u2019s hand on the Sabbath! Yes, they certainly had their priorities\u2026<\/p>\n But so did Jesus:<\/p>\n It was at this time<\/strong> that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God<\/em> (Luke 6:12).<\/p>\n The Son of Man set the standard for all who would follow Him: Pray. Pray before, during, and after. Pray first of all; pray last of all.<\/p>\n Do you desire wisdom from Heaven and miracles from God? Fortify your desires, hopes, and dreams: PRAY. And don\u2019t stop praying.<\/p>\n Dorothy<\/p>\n Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving<\/em>. Colossians 4:2, ESV<\/p>\n With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit<\/em>\u2026Ephesians 6:18a<\/p>\n Pray without ceasing.<\/em> 1 Thessalonians 5:17<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a9 2017, Dorothy Frick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever taken a walk on a hot summer\u2019s day only to find that you\u2019ve become a gnat (fly, horsefly, mosquito, etc.) magnet? I have\u2026but my bugs were nothing like the \u201cgnats\u201d that always seemed to swarm around Jesus throughout His three-year ministry. Now it happened\u2026on a Sabbath [that] His disciples were picking\u2026and eating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[534],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bk-of-luke"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7948"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8065,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7948\/revisions\/8065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}