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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 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 18, 2024
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :God’s Wrath on Evil Lawmakers Bible Verse:Isaiah 10:1-4 (NLT) "What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws. They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people. They prey on widows and take advantage of orphans. What will you do when I punish you, when I send disaster upon you from a distant land? To whom will you turn for help? Where will your treasures be safe? You will stumble along as prisoners or lie among the dead. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike." Message:
Most Christians have difficulty reconciling religion and politics. Throughout the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, we are told to support the weak: the poor, the oppressed, the handicapped, widows and orphans, the elderly. Here, Isaiah rebukes people in power who make unjust laws and decrees, specifically laws that are harsh on the unfortunate, allowing them to be preyed upon legally. He issues a dire warning to them, telling them that God will punish them harshly—and still be angry!
Pontius Pilate
But how do we reconcile this with Christ’s disdain for secular politics? He repeatedly, both by his words and his actions, warns us to steer clear of entanglement with the government. When He said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” He meant exactly that!
Our hearts and minds should be focused on doing what God tells us to do: on living God’s will, on helping others, on prayer and repentance, on spreading the Gospel. In short, we are to concentrate on what is really important: Our own thoughts and actions, not the actions of others.
Christ showed downright disregard for authority. He did not rebel against it, he did not support it — he simply obeyed the secular law, seeming to regard it as more of a nuisance than anything. Most famously, when Pharisee scribes tried to trick him by asking about the religious implications of paying taxes to a heathen regime, he delivered the famous words, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s; and to God, the things that are God’s.”
Paul amplified Christ’s message in this regard, as he did in many different areas, even going so far as to tell slaves to accept their earthly condition, keeping their eye on the reward they were laying up in heaven: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.” (Colossians 3:22) Paul was true to Christ’s highest advice, to take one’s earthly struggles with a joyful heart, concentrating one’s efforts on the life to come.
God has reserved the judging and punishment of all sinners to Himself. Our nature is to usurp God’s role for ourself; for it is much, much easier to judge others than to seek holiness in our own thoughts and deeds. Yet, the first is forbidden to us, and the second required of us.
Meditation : Prayer : Now to him who is able to keep us from stumbling and to present ourselves blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever............Amen |
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