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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, August 4, 2024
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :The Prosperity of Christian Nations Bible Verse:Luke 10:1-4, 8-12, 16 "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. . . . Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” " Message:
Today's Scripture comprises some of the instructions Jesus gave to his disciples towards the end of his ministry, when he sent them out on their own to preach the Gospel. He makes a dire prediction about any town that does not welcome the disciples, but instead rejects them and will not listen to them: such a town will fare worse than Sodom.
Sodom, of course, was a city in the Old Testament that worshipped idols; sin of all sorts, especially sins of the flesh, were endemic. God destroyed the entire city and all who lived in it.
Devotional painting of Jacob Ladder, St. Catherine Monastery, Sinai
Jacob’s Ladder
Monastery of St. Catherine
12th century
Genesis 28:10–19
What are we to think of this today? Christ was the bringer of peace and salvation, yet here, he pronounces a dire curse on towns that completely reject his teachings. By analogy, he warns that they will be destroyed entirely.
It is difficult to conclude how much this pertains to the modern world. One might conclude that the terrible fate will occur only at Christ’s second coming; the inhabitants will be cursed to Hell in the end times. For we are reading the New Testament here, where the great promise of eternal life will come to us only after our bodies dies.
Yet it is difficult not to see a difference between nations where there is widespread acceptance of Christ, and nations where his word is entirely or almost entirely rejected. Although Christianity has been losing ground fairly rapidly in the United States and Canada the past several decades, they were traditionally perhaps the strongest Christian nations in the world and have both enjoyed an enormous boom in prosperity and influence over the past 100 years. In Europe, Christianity flourished, and its morality still largely prevails; and Europe became the most prosperous and powerful area of the world.
At the opposite extreme, the most virulently anti-Christian areas of the world have suffered. Communist countries, with their enforced atheism, especially found themselves in distress compared to their neighbors; and those which have overthrown Communism (especially Russia and China) have seen a huge increase in standard of living. Especially strong comparisons might be drawn between neighbors such as North and South Korea, Nigeria and its neighbors, and Cuba and Venezuela vs. other Latin American countries. If we want to count Judaism, just compare Israel to the surrounding areas.
Of course, such comparisons are very far from perfect and cannot always be explained in terms of Judeo-Christian religious practice. Some Muslim countries sit on huge deposits of crude oil and are very rich (although I'm not sure that their quality of life, especially for women, fully reflects their monetary prosperity). Japan became a rich and powerful country, primarily during a period where Christianity was suppressed.
Nevertheless, when one looks at the statistics, trying to account for the huge number of other variables, there is without doubt a positive correlation between Judeo-Christian belief/worship and earthly prosperity and happiness. Even within populations, happiness has repeatedly been found to correlate with worship and/or deep religious belief. 2016 Pew Research Center study; Austin Institute, Dec. 2014.
Christ does not teach us to seek wealth, safety, or other rewards of earthly life; just the opposite. And yet, the statistical correlation between love of God and earthly happiness cannot be refuted. It is, indeed, a puzzle.
Meditation : Prayer : May the peace of the Lord Christ go with us, wherever He may send us. May He guide us through the wilderness, protect us through the storm. May He bring us home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown us. May He bring us home rejoicing once again into our doors.........Amen |
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