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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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| Archived Manna: | |
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 collecting daily manna), 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. Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Today's Passage : Today's Passage: Subject:Why Do People Commit Crimes? Bible Verse:1 John 3:11-15 (ESV) "For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." Message:
John’s message of love was the strongest of all the New Testament writers, which is saying a lot, since the concept of loving your brother permeates the gospels and epistles. As an aside about gender, “brother” did double duty in Greek; it meant “sibling” as well as “brother,” and one could call one’s sister his “brother.” There is no doubt that when John or Paul talk about loving one’s brothers, they are not differentiating between sexes whatsoever.
T
here is some gender differentiation in the New Testament, which causes turmoil when the Bible is studied in today’s society, but in terms of love and fully sharing in Christian grace, women are without a doubt on equal footing with men. Gender was created in the body, not in the spirit. Peter may tell wives to submit to their husbands, as he tells Christians to submit to the emperor, but these are matters of this world, not the next.
The reference to Cain and Abel contains a profound insight into human psychology. People who do evil resent and ultimately hate those who do not. Cain, who was full of sin, hated Abel for his goodness, and that underlay the famous fratricide. How often do we see this today?
People getting drunk don’t like it if somebody in their group doesn’t want to drink. People full of bitterness and self-loathing enjoy nothing more than tuning into Bill Maher. When somebody who has led a life of positive good, such people greet their hardships or stumbling with glee. They want to pull them down to their level.
If you do good, do not expect everyone to love you for it! Evil seeks to perpetuate itself, and sinners want nothing more than to see others sin. This is yet another reason to follow Peter's long teaching on suffering with honor, e.g.:
Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
Meditation : Prayer : The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us peace, this day and evermore... Amen |
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