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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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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 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 28, 2024
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Good Samaritan Bible Verse:Luke 10:25-37 (ESV) "And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”" Message:
Samaritans were an ethnic group who followed a religion rooted in some of the same traditions as Judaism; in fact, they claimed to follow the true religion of the ancient Israelites, the religion followed before Judea was conquered by Babylon and the Jews taken there in servitude. They also claimed to be ethnic Jews, descended from the ten tribes conquered and dispersed by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. They believed that Judaism was a corrupt form of the ancient religion of Abraham.
If their is any hatred more vicious than that between different religions, it is that between competing factions of the same religion. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews. Jesus thus uses a Samaritan in this parable, because there could not have been a person more despicable to a Jewish audience. Imagine a Ku Klux Klan leader’s reaction to a story exalting an African-American, or a Jew listening to a parable called “The Good Nazi.” The lawyer, when he answers, does not even say “the Samaritan” when he is asked who was the neighbor to the man who was robbed; instead, he can only say “the one who showed him mercy.”
tender mercy
One might read the parable as narrowly referring to a duty by one God-fearing man to another, who is a religious enemy. Also, it could be read narrowly to mean that we should love those who show us mercy; it is the Samaritan, the one who saves the beaten Jew, who is the “neighbor.” But when we read it in the context of entire gospel, we see that the more common, broad interpretation is correct. Luke echoes the better-known passage in Matthew 5: “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you . . . .” (See Luke 6:27-36.)
The duty of kindness and love, commanded of us by Christ, extends to every human being on earth, without regard to their race, their religion, or how they have treated us. As tempting as it may be to hate some ethnic, political, or religious group—currently, Arabs and Palestinians would be obvious targets for those of us in the United States—it is wrong not to love them and wrong not to help them in time of trouble.
As of today, left- and right-wing politics seem to be gaining ground as the primary source of group hatred in the United States. Shall we then judge, condemn, and hate those “others”? Christ says no. Instead, He commands us to love our neighbor.
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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