2018-01-12
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to continue writing about cultural attitudes and practices within and without the early church. Paul had plenty of concern about what was happening during his imprisonment. False teachers were present who were opposing the teachings of Christ within the early church, and Gnosticism was on the rise among some. 2 PET 2: 1-3 deals with this issue, saying such things as, “Many will follow their immoral ways, and because what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of truth. In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling made-up stories. For a long time now, their Judge has been ready, and their destroyer has been wide awake!” In meditating over this ardent warning, I get a mental picture of a large salt shaker belonging to God, in which He is causing those with weak faith, or no faith at all to be eliminated from the church. As it has throughout its history, the faith of the church is being tested here, and in these cases, found wanting. Those giving in to false teaching will go to their spiritual destruction. If Paul were alive today, what would he think of what is happening now? I think he would have plenty of concern as he did in his own day. As I’m writing this devotion this morning, a report on TV came out from a small town with the gruesome story of a group of worshippers at Sunday services church in TX. Forty-six were gunned down at the hand of a mentally ill man while at this service. Twenty-six were dead, and the rest were injured. Stories like this break my heart. While it’s true that the gunman killed himself later, the impact of this act of evil won’t be soon forgotten. And to think, this is one out of many mass murders that have been going on lately. Just yesterday, a picture appeared on the Instagram account of a family member that anti-Semitic slogans were painted on a sign near his place of worship. These are indeed troubling times! Divisions exist in our own society between those with differing political and religious practices. Where is the love Christ taught us to have???
There is no middle ground in the matter of one’s practice of a God-centered or man-centered life. Few dichotomies like this exist for us, but this choice is one of them. 2 PET 3: 14-18 makes God’s will crystal clear. “…Do your best to be faultless in the Lord’s sight, and be at peace with him. Look on the Lord’s patience as the opportunity He is giving you to be saved…(Just as Paul wrote) there are difficult things, which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with some passages of Scriptures. So, they bring on their own destruction…Be on guard, then, so that you will not be led away by the errors of lawless people…But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory now and forever! Amen.” Yes, Dear Ones, we are being commanded to know God’s teaching and to remain firm in it, regardless of temptations to stray from it by false teaching. As the beneficiaries of God’s greatest blessing-true faith in Christ-we have a lot to lose eternally if we aren’t firm in both our understanding of His teaching and our faith in it.
PRAYER: O Lord, we acknowledge Your loving and generous decision to rescue us from the power of evil, to allow Your only Son to die on the cross for us, so that we could spend eternity with You. This is so much better than enduring spiritual death! COL 1: 13, “He rescued us from the power of darkness and brought us safe into the Kingdom of His dear Son, by Whom we are set free. Our sins are forgiven.” As we pray today, help us to be firm in our faith in Christ, Who has taught us to love, to pray, and to recognize Your wisdom and grace. Many of us are not used to thinking in terms of eternity, but instead have only thought about the length of our earthly lives. But, there is so much more than that. By Christ’s death on the cross, You have made it possible for us to spend eternity with You in sweet fellowship. Christ has already come as the High Priest, Who entered the heavenly Holy of Holies through the veil, not by the blood of animals, but by the shedding of His own blood, ordaining eternal salvation for us [HE 9: 11-12]. We know that when we read COL 1: 15-20, You are telling us Who Christ really is. We thank and praise You for letting us have access to eternal life through His sacrifice, and we take Communion to remember this and feel His presence in this most intimate way. He has taught us how to love, and You have shown us unmerited mercy and favor by His presence in our lives. We offer this prayer with joy and hope, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Once again, I am commanded to continue discussing attitudes and practices in the early church while looking at lessons from the Scriptures that apply even today. Mark wrote about hypocrisy in the newly Christian church in MK 7: 1-15. I suspect that people like me, who are teachers and writers are called to those positions because God feels we need to examine ourselves as much as any, and then, using the skills He gave us, to pass what we learn on to others. Human foibles being what they are, we can all benefit by delving into the Bible and coming to understand His teaching. If any of us examine our own daily lives and relationships, we can find incidents of imperfect thoughts and/or behavior. As humans, we are masters at offering excuses or explanations that are faulty. The immature among us will shift blame to others; the hypocrites among us will profess true obedience to God while not practicing it. Moreover, each of us not only has the responsibility to understand and know God’s teaching, but we must also have the courage to pass it on to others willing to listen. We never know whose life will be given God’s grace through faith from among those who hear our witnessing. The Holy Spirit will use love and wisdom to choose. In the meanwhile, praise and thanks be to our God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2017. All Rights Reserved.
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