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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Monday, March 2, 2020
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Hope for a Lost Soul Bible Verse :Galatians 1:11-19 "I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. " Message:
There are people who have done terrible things in this world. Human beings are capable of unspeakable atrocities. Can the soul of such a person be saved?
The quote from Galatians reminds us that the Christian religion was founded, in large part, by a person who had committed such atrocities. Before he received Christ's grace and changed his name, Paul was known as Saul. He was a Roman citizen and a thug in the employ of the Sanhedrin, the Hebrew council in Jerusalem. His job was to travel around Israel, seek out people who taught the miracle of Christ's life and word, and arrest them. He would then herd them back to Jerusalem, to be tried and perhaps imprisoned or executed. He was, in short, a mass murderer, little different from the Nazi SS who rounded up Jews for transport to Auschwitz.
This is worth remembering when we ponder the troubling question of Christ's capacity to forgive a terrible criminal, and even more important for the person who has himself committed a terrible crime. God's capacity to love and forgive is infinite; it is so great that it is unknowable to the human mind. To our eyes, every human being, no matter how depraved, is one of God's beautiful and beloved children and is capable of salvation.
If we encountered Saul today, would we judge him and curse him? Probably. And yet, this was to become arguably the greatest teacher of Christianity, the greatest missionary of Christ, in history. When we are tempted to judge a very wicked person, we need to remember Saul.
God has a purpose in everything He does, although it is frequently impossible for us to know it. We can see at least some of His purpose, however, in choosing Paul to write so much of the Bible. It is a demonstration to us that even someone who is the most evil of people might be saved; and not simply saved, but become a person of tremendous positive influence in leading others to salvation.
Theologically, Christ will come to judge humanity and God, with perfect foresight, knows and has always known who will repent and be saved, and who will not; there are places in the Bible where this is presented as God intentionally hardening the heart of a person He does not intend should be saved. But this is a matter for God, not us.
Meditation : Prayer : Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted me as a living member of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have blessed me with the grace of forgiveness through the sacrifice He made for me and for all people. Send me now into the world in peace, and grant me strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord.....Amen |
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