Lord's Day Devotion - He Didn't Pass By

They happened to be going along the same road; that priest and that Levite, as the certain man who had gotten robbed, beaten up, and left half dead.  The two men of Israel, came and saw but then

"...passed by on the other side of the road" (John 10:31, 32 NIV).

Maybe there had been pity but there was definitely NO compassion.  Compassion goads to actions of mercy, kindness and help.

Maybe the priest felt he could not "defile" himself.  He was supposed to keep "clean" so he could administer his duties at the temple.

The Levite may have reasoned, I'm of the priestly tribe, I look after the temple and articles therein, I can't lower myself to administer first aid and more.  I'd make myself unclean and unfit for duty if I so much as touch the chap.

In addition to that, they desired to get away from there with great haste.  You just never knew when those treacherous bandit villains would strike again, they likely plausibly thought.  Besides that, I'm traveling alone, what can I do?

With one excuse or another from the religious sector, the victim of crime didn't get the desperate aid he needed.

We poor human sinners were in similar plight.  Sinful and full of sin, helpless to help ourselves out of the pit of sin and degradation.

God looked down from heaven and took pity.  What's more, He had compassion.  Those poor wretches know not what they do.  Satan has robbed them of any innocence, beaten them and left them for death and destruction.

God's compassion and love for His human creation, whom He had "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14), galvanized Him into sending His Son Jesus to rescue us, the human race.

Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead to buy and seal the pardon for our sins; saving us from death and the end destruction in Hell.  

God offers that salvation, to bring one and all who wishes, out of the miry chasm from whence we have fallen.  

He did not pass us by.  He came to us.

"Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted.  But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV).

As we, God's children, remember what Jesus has done for us on Lord's Day by breaking the bread and sharing the wine together, let us give thanks and praise to Him.

Like the "good Samaritan", who saw the victim, went to him, bandaged his wounds, put him on his own donkey and took him to where he could get further help, paying the price for it all, so did God for us, through the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior and great High Priest and King.

Jesus paid the price, in full, for humankind.  With heartfelt gratitude, give thanks to Him for His compassion, love, mercy and grace that motivated Him to demonstrate it with redemption.

Thank-You Father, God, You did NOT pass us by!!

                                                     ~ERC  August 2018~

Lord's Day Devotion - Stateless Plight Unburdened

There are people who are told they don't belong.  

"You don't belong here," said one.

"You don't belong here, either," said another.

"But I was born and raised here!  I have the DNA of a known indigenous group of this country!" countered the bewildered unaccepted citizen who wasn't a citizen.

These people who come under this unfortunate scenario are often termed "stateless".  One or both parents may be registered citizens of the particular country but for a variety of reasons their offspring have not been accepted by the state.

Perhaps due to oversight or lack of educated knowledge, registering the birth of a newborn baby was neglected or the parents just did not have the ways or means with which to comply to the requirements of the laws of the land.  This often becomes a life long plight; a frustrating stateless plight, for the individual.

I'm not talking about illegal aliens finagling their way into another country, but those who should legitimately be accepted by their respective country.  They have trouble getting into schools for education; getting jobs for financial security; drivers' licences; a passport, or any other number of basic things that the confirmed citizen would take for granted of obtaining in due process.

Then there's the stigma of being "stateless".  They are often a forgotten or ignored segment of society; looked down upon in many cases, the person feeling unwanted, always off keel and never quite feeling the security of belonging.

The good news is that there is one country that will never turn away its true citizens.  The top Minister of Birth Registry in this country is God Himself through Jesus Christ.  This country of course, is Heaven.  God recognizes His children.  He's got our names written down in His book of life (Revelation 19:15),  and He'll never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

John 1:12-13 give the assurance...

"Yet to all who received him (Jesus), to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision, or a husband's will, but born of God."

This is grace and this is truth.  Believing in Jesus Christ as Savior is our "birth certificate" into God's family and our "passport" into Heaven where all who believe will be safe, sure and happy.  We can actually have peace of mind on this matter here and now.

What is our confidence?  The seal of guarantee God has also given to those who believe and are His children; the seal of the Holy Spirit.

We are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  According to 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 where Paul writes to the Corinthian believers (and to us who believe)...

"...it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ.  He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

Together then, the Holy Spirit of God and we, God's children, can say with confidence in God our Heavenly Father, and His Word, "Come!  Bring us Home to You!"  (Revelation 22:17).

On Lord's Day, when we, God's children, remember what Jesus has done for us by receiving the bread and wine, symbols of Jesus' death on the cross to gain our atonement, let us also be thankful for the family tie and citizenship gained as part of the, "all He has done for us".

Believers belong to Heaven and God acknowledges our full rights of citizenship through Jesus Christ His beloved Son.

We can be secure in this knowledge even though born in this foreign country called Earth.

                                                        ~ERC  August 2018~

Overheard

                                                           

                                                                    Overheard

Flight #1 to Terminal 1...Terminal 1 to Bus...Bus to Terminal 2...

"So where are you from?" asked the man on the bus.

Other peoples' ears perked up politely pretending to try hard not to listen.

"Well, I don't rightly know," answered the addressed passenger. "I come from a conglomeration of places so I can't rightly pinpoint the exact "from" place."

"Oh," the man continued to query, "Do you know where you are going?"

"That I do know, and I'm sure as sure, sir," replied the other passenger with a grin. "On this journey through life, my final destination is Heaven. I'm going up to be with my Father, my Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior."

Everybody froze. End of conversation.

The wheels on the bus, however, continued to go round and round...

...Terminal 2 to Flight # 2...

"Let's get outta here!" said the people on the bus.

                                                        ~ERC August 2018~

Burning Quest - Part 33

I had always thought that true Buddhists never ate meat of any kind.  I stand corrected by Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda from what he says in his book What Buddhists Believe.  He says legalists, yes, strictly stick with vegetables.  However, he goes on to say that eating

 "fish and meat by itself does not make people become impure" (Page 281).  

It is rather 

"evil thoughts and actions" 

that make a person impure.

The main advice the author gives is that Buddhists

 "should not be involved in killing intentionally or ask others to kill any living being for them" (Page 282).   

However they may eat that which has been killed so long as it was not expressly for them.  For example, any chicken or fish, etc from the market would be ambiguous enough as to who killed what for whom.

Sri Dhammananda said that Buddha said,

 "As Buddhism is a free religion...leave the decision regarding vegetarianism to the individual disciple (Page 282).

The book further denotes,

 "Buddha declared that it is not what goes into a persons mouth that pollutes, it is what comes out" (Page 283).

He continues, 

"The destruction of greed should be the primary aim, not the kind of food that is taken" [eaten] (Page 284).

The Holy Bible Scriptures talk about those who restrict people from eating certain foods, that those foods should actually be received with thanksgiving to God Who provides the food (1 Timothy 4:3).

Another verse, Colossians 2:23 ESV, tells us that such restrictions,

"...indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of their body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh."

The Bible reiterates that,

"A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it" (Matthew 15:11).

If you back way up to Genesis 1:29, you see that God told Adam and Eve that He gave them plants and trees with fruit to eat.  Later on in Genesis 9:3, God adds, 

"every moving thing that is alive shall be food..."

Later God stipulates that only the completely 

"cloven -footed, cud-chewing animals (Deuteronomy 14:7); 

and those with fins and scales from the waters (Leviticus 11:10-12), should be eaten.  They were also not to 

"eat blood of animals, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat" (Deuteronomy 12:23 ESV).

For the first Gentile Christians, the issue of having to be circumcised came up.  A contingent of brothers went to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles on the matter.  They concurred that 

"Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood" (Acts 15:20).

However, Scripture does leave the eating of meat up to the individual and neither those who eat, nor those who do not, should hold the other in contempt (Romans 14:3; Colossians 2:16).

It is good to clarify  here that this eating of meat only refers to animals, insects, birds, and fish, NOT of killing of human beings and eating of their flesh.  That would be most wicked.  On this score, I do still feel surprised that, as stated in the opening sentences above, that vegetarianism is left up to the individual Buddhist.  This, because if one truly believes that Buddhist rebirth means that the mental continuum of one creature and/or human being can be transferred to another:  man or beast, then it stands to reason why they would be strict vegetarians.

That aspect aside, it is true that our thoughts will govern our actions.   The input into our thoughts governs our thoughts.  It is wise then to guard what we allow to be put into our minds; filter out what does not honor God.  When we read and meditate upon God's Word, memorize it, and hide it in our hearts, and obey it, allowing it to guard and guide our thoughts and intents of mind and heart,  we will be less likely to sin against God and others.  

"...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Philippians 4:8) .

We will have more pure thoughts and actions.  These will not be upon our own effort alone, but by the Word of God and God's Holy Spirit providing His dynamic power for the self-control, and courage, needed to purify our thoughts and actions.  

We can praise God then and give Him grateful thanks with clear and clean conscience for whatever food we chose to eat.

                                                       ~ERC August 2018~

Related Topics:


What Counts

Discerning the Truth

Lord's Day Devotion - Set Free

The condemned criminal was taking his last steps, that fatal walk from the death row cell to the gallows.  There was no phone call from a higher authority to stay the execution.  He would have to pay the price of his lawless iniquity, in full.

Wait, look!  There was yet another Man taking a similar trudge; this time, up the skull-shaped hill known as Calvary.  He too was condemned by man.  He had been falsely accused.  He was to take the punishment for my sins.  For the sins of the guy on death row.  For your sins.  For the whole of mankinds' sins.  That Man's name was Jesus.  

Jesus went through with it obeying His Father's will.  Condemned, He stood in my place instead because He loved me I was condemned to death and to perish forever.  

Praise the Lord, He is risen, and  I am no longer condemned!  Jesus has set me free because I am in Christ Jesus.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.  By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit" (Romans 8:1-4 ESV).

Oh praise Him; worship Him; thank Him as you take the bread and wine and pass them one to another on Lord's Day in remembrance of this fatal walk's conclusion.  Remember what Jesus has done for you.  Visualize it.  Humbly bow in adoration.  You are no longer condemned!!  Walk with confidence in Jesus Christ.  It is a walk of abundant life and "according to the Holy Spirit of God".  

You have been set free.  You are set free! 

The case is closed.*  

                                                          ~ERC  August 2018~

* The Passion Translation  Romans 8:1

Burning Quest - Part 32

Self-control.  This is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God (Galatians 5:22-23).  Just stop for a minute and think of the word, 'self-control'.

What does it mean?  Do I have it?  In what areas?  In what areas do I not have it?  What will I do about that?

Those who are followers of Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.  Thus, I'd say each follower has that 'seed' of self-control waiting to germinate, sprout and flourish.  Yet how does one 'water' and cultivate this fruit of the Holy Spirit?

For starters we followers of Jesus Christ have no excuse to get out of control with our anger; eating habits; and addictions.  Why?  Because we have God's Holy Spirit within us to lead, and guide and convict us to choose to do what's right.  We cannot say, "Oh, I'm only human and God knows that!"

That's only partially true.  We are human, but we cannot say, "only"  because we have the almighty help of God through His Holy Spirit.  We have to get a hold onto that mindset and stop making excuses for ourselves.

However, there is a need to be sensitive to His leading and guiding and convictions.  Don't ignore them.

Another analogy is that self-control is similar to a muscle.  Muscle builders do not lift cars or pull fire engines overnight.  There is the process of training; lifting heavier and heavier weights.  Oh, and eating a certain regimen of healthy food.

So too, when we exercise that self-control, bit by sure bit we will blossom and flourish in that area.   As we read God's Word, the Bible, we feed our spirit "health food"; we learn about God and what He wants of us, and how we can have a closer relationship with Him. 

This is part of Christian living which comes under the heading of 'sanctification' which keeps getting mentioned over and over again in this Burning Quest series.

This sanctification comes only after justification.  Salvation through Jesus Christ first...then, sanctification; walking in step with the Holy Spirit of God.

The Buddhist way is a striving for sanctification towards justification engineered by one's own human effort.  One course of action towards this is to deny oneself food.

The author Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda of the book What Buddhists Believe writes that fasting from food is an excellent exercise to engage in to further  ones' self-control.  It creates self-discipline (Page 280).

Fasting from food is a good idea and can indeed teach some degree of self-control when one perseveres therein.

Very often in the New Testament the followers of Jesus Christ are found fasting.  This fasting was generally coupled with prayer prior to making a major decision.  They didn't rush into verdicts or recommendations.  They wanted to wait upon God to know His answer and get His direction.

Jesus Himself practiced this.  There's the well-known story of Jesus fasting for forty days/nights in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11).  Then Satan comes along and tries to tempt Him.  Jesus resists.  However, Jesus, the perfect Son of God, did not engage in fasting to gain self-control.  Rather, He sought His Father's will prior to making decisions.  It was after this that He chose His twelve disciples and began His earthly ministry.

The early disciples followed suit.  Praying and fasting to see who should go on a missionary journey (Acts 13:3), among other reasons.

One must exercise self-control in order to fast.  One of the benefits, in turn, would be greater self-control developing.  

This could be true in regards to more than just refraining from food.  How about refraining from playing excessively with on-line games?  From pornography?  From gambling or other addictions?  From lust?  From saying those words of retaliation you would just so love, love, love to burst back with?  When we walk in step with the Holy Spirit we will have His dynamic power* to help us have control in areas we need it.

For the Buddhist, fasting is said to teach against the "lust of gluttony" (Page 280) and no doubt a host of other things.  Buddhists always wish to quell desire; fasting is a means of so doing.

Sri Dhammananda quotes one Leo Tolstoy as saying, 

"A man who eats too much, cannot strive against laziness, while a gluttonous and idle man will never be able to contend with sexual lust..."

Doesn't that knock your socks right off your feet!?  Each of us has our 'thing' that beckons and entices us into thwarting self-control, so each of us must guard our spirits from the lusts and desires that threaten to overcome us.  

Praise God, in Christ we can have the victory!  It's already been mentioned that we have His Holy Spirit, with the self-control characteristic, to bind and break that which is unwholesomely keeping us in bondage.  We can also pray to God through Jesus to seek His aid in learning self-control and to choose to make His desires as our own.

There's a saying that for someone we love, their "every wish is our command".  Let God's wishes, will and ways be our commands; His interests, be our interests.  To persevere in self-control would be one of those great desires of God.

Some months back in our Bible study group we were looking at Malachi 2:15, 16 where, because of,

 "the Lord God of Israel," 

Malachi says to,

 "guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith."

By guarding your spirit by choosing self-control, a person will bring about that life in Christ that is well pleasing to God.

Good and small decisions will add up to make good character to produce good conduct that makes the big decisions (to paraphrase and borrow another saying)  and keeps us in step with the Holy Spirit of God and allows self-control to flourish.  

May this be your story as well as mine as we, followers of Jesus Christ, rely on God to sanctify our minds, hearts, spirits and actions.

                                                           ~ERC  August 2018~

* The Passion Translation (TPT);  Romans 8.

Additional reading, if you wish:

https://euniqueegirl.blogspot.com/2016/04/morning-musings-blameless-and-useful.html


https://euniqueegirl.blogspot.com/2016/04/morning-musings-alert-and-self.html

Lord's Day Devotion - Religion or Relationship of Good

Did you know there is such a thing as the "religion of good"?  The other day a gentlemen told us that he has a multi-religious heritage, and named four different types that his parents and grandparents respectively follow.  His conclusion is, however, that there is actually only one true religion; that is, the "religion of good".  

Where did he get that idea?  That is because, he said, most religions teach the same thing; doing good.

There is much that is good but those religions also teach their followers to do, do, do to gain a desired result we will label "salvation".  Whatever it is they must do it themselves to attain their goal.

Christianity also teaches doing what is right and good but not to earn salvation.  Being a Christian, to me means,  someone who belongs to Christ.  Belonging to Christ comes through Jesus's death and resurrection; He gained salvation for all of us who believe in Him.  

This begins a relationship with Jesus Christ, not a religion.  We have a personal relationship with Jesus Who is God.  The Lord of all the universe; heaven and earth; the sky and sea and all that in them are!  Think of the magnitude of all that!!  This is good.  This is really good.

As we partake of the emblems:  the bread and the wine, which symbolize Jesus's body being broken and His blood being shed for us, let us remember this relationship we have with Christ is through His death and resurrection alone.  Then what we do, can be good, and we can do good unto others in the name of Jesus Christ.  This is a relationship of good.

                                                             ~ERC  2018~