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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. Sunday, July 26, 2020
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Living in Peace Bible Verse:1 Thessalonians 5:11-13 "Continue to encourage one another, my brothers and sisters. Build each other up. Be sure to love those who labor for you, respect those who lead you in Christ, and honor those who give you instruction. Be at peace with one another. Verbatim Bible 11 Therefore encourage [7]Alt. edify; one another and build up one the one [8]Idiom, one another , just as indeed you are doing. 12 So we ask you, brothers, to know [9]By extension, to recognize, or by further extension to honor, to respect. the toiling [10]Or those being weary from labor; among you and standing-before [11]By extension, either caretaking, or leading. of you in lord and admonishing you, 13 and to respect them uttermostly [12]Fyi, Paul goes “over the top” with this word, lit. something like “above most abundantly”; in love on account of the work of them. Be at peace with each other [13]Or, yourselves. ." Message:
What a beautiful message from the Apostle Paul to every Christian in Christendom. He starts by telling us to encourage each other in our faith. People rarely get encouragement in church, at least not directly; so how can we do it?
There is a hint in Paul’s terminology, for he uses a term remarkably similar to “edify” in English. To “edify”, meaning to teach someone, comes from a root that means, literally, “to build”. (In modern English, edifice means a building, particularly a large or imposing one.) The Greek word is exactly parallel: it is derived from the Greek verb meaning “to build”.
So Paul gives us simultaneous meanings. We should enlighten each other and “build each other up.” This could be as simple as sharing our witness with someone else, to let them hear that another person shares their love of Christ and conviction in Him; or it might mean, if we know something useful, we speak up, not fearing embarrassment.
People who teach or lead at church need encouragement, as well. We are told to love and respect those who work and those who teach. Paul actually makes up a word to describe how much we need to do this. He starts with a superlative, “most exceedingly” (or “exceedingliest”) and adds a “super-” to the beginning. (He was not one to avoid overstatement.)
Jesus teaches the law from a scroll
Specifically included in those we must honor in the utmost are those who admonish us, which likely includes leaders who correct us. It is indeed painful to give honor to someone who criticizes you; in this day and age of democracy and self-actualization, most people react to criticism — no matter how justified or helpful — with hostility, or at least defensiveness. This is, however, the duty of the clergy, and the failing of churches today is often that the clergy pander to the congregation.
Martin Luther advised preachers: “Always preach in such a way that if people listening do not come to hate their sin, they will instead hate you.” We know that the clergy are not perfect; in fact, the temptation to pride is so great, that the clergy are infected with it almost immediately, and we are constantly tempted to criticize them for their pridefulness. So Paul instructs us in a specific instance of Christ’s teaching, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:42)
Paul requires us to apply this to the clergy. We must learn and be chastised by men who are themselves not perfect; and we must give them great love and honor for their efforts.
Meditation : Prayer : May the God of peace, who declared victory over death by the resurrection of His only Son, Jesus Christ, make me perfect in every thought and act through His grace, that my life might be pleasing in His sight and that I might share the perfect peace that is only possible through Him, to whom be glory for ever and ever.....Amen |
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