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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 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. Friday, September 14, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Subjecta:A House Divided Bible Verse:Matthew 12:27-31 "Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. " Message:
Few people would correctly identify the common phrase, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” as having originated with Jesus. But fewer still would know that it was originally applied to Satan's minions!
Christ seems to have tired of the accusations from the Pharisees, that when he cast out demons, he did so by the power of hell. It was, really, a stupid accusation. We see this in every sphere from people who lack intellectual honesty: If there is somebody that they have decided to oppose, they will resort to making ridiculous accusations.
And so Christ points our the logical flaw in their argument. Why would Beelzebul (now usually called “Beelzebub”) commission someone to go around undoing his work? How could Jesus be using the powers of Satan to cast out demons, when possession by demons is one of Satan's purposes?
Jesus slave
He then points out another error: inconsistency. For the Jews also would cast out demonsExorcism was practiced by the Jews of the time. In addition to the inference from this passage, Josephus, the great Judeo-Roman historian (37-100 A.D.), describes in great detail a Jewish exorcism ritual in his work, The Jewish Wars. An account of driving away a demon is central to Tobit, especially Chapters 6-8. . Christ thus told the Pharisees, in effect, “why don't we let the Jews who cast out demons judge by what power they are cast out?” As Hamlet put it, he “hoist them with their own petardA line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, spoken by the title character, meaning to blow someone up with his own bomb..”
If the Pharisees had shown intellectual honesty in the matter, they would have had to admit that it was by God's power that Christ cast out demons. But here, if one needed it, was evidence of the Pharisees' corruption, proof that their opposition to Christ was not in complete good faith: they made ridiculous and illogical accusations against him.
And it is still so with those who despise Christianity, for one hears the most absurd and historically incorrect accusations against the religion and the church, especially the Catholic Church prior to the Reformation, with no acknowledgment of earthly good deeds. Anti-Christians, for example, will claim that the Church was responsible for slavery, or at least supportive of it; and they will misquote the phrase from Colossians, “Slaves, obey your masters”, as if it were encouraging slavery.
Without denying the considerable corruption of the Renaissance Church, it was, nevertheless, the only real anti-slavery force in European politics at the time. In 1435, several papal bulls were issued, forbidding the enslavement of colonized natives (first of Christian converts and later of any person), on pain of excommunication.
Enforcement was periodically relaxed, especially as the Church reached its nadir of corruption around the time of Roderigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI). It seems to have come in cycles, reflecting the cyclical struggle within the Church between piety and political corruption. That is to say, the Church (and many Protestant churches, after the Reformation) would periodically turn a blind eye to slavery or even relax its stated opposition. Still, as a matter of stated principle, the Catholic Church generally opposed slavery and continued to issue edicts against it; and it was the only institution in Europe to do so.
Meditation : . Prayer : Now all glory to you, mighty God, who is able to keep me from falling away and will bring me with great joy into your glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to you who alone are God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are yours before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time,...Amen |
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