 |
Home | Mission Statement | Video Gallery | Audio Gallery | Photo Gallery | Daily Manna | Testimonies | | Links | Contact us |
 |
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
 |
| 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. Saturday, August 23, 2025
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Prepare for The Day of the Lord{part 2} BibleVerse:1 Thessalonians 5:1-10(DP Bible) "It is pointless to speculate about when the Day of the Lord will come — It could come tomorrow or a thousand years from now. But there is one thing for certain: nobody will expect it. It will come as abruptly as labor comes to a pregnant woman, and as unexpected as a thief in the night. While people are talking about how much peace and security they have, it will fall upon them. So ask yourself: Who does a thief take by surprise? Those who are in darkness. And who lives in darkness? The very children of darkness, those who drink the wine of night and sleep in drunken stupor – it is they who will be caught unprepared. They will have no chance of escaping God’s wrath. But we are children of light, standing in the sunshine of our Lord. God has not destined us to suffer His wrath, but to attain salvation through Christ Jesus. Christ died for us, the living and the dead, that we might live with Him for eternity. So stand always in the daylight of Christ, sober and alert, wearing your faith and love like a suit of armor, and the hope of your salvation like a helmet." Message:
Although we had a basic discussion of this text previously, there is a point here about Paul and Christian ethics that is difficult to express, but rather important. Unlike the Old Testament law, neither Paul nor Jesus ever propounded a comprehensive set of ethical or moral rules to live by. They followed the moral law given to the Jews by Moses. Christ sought to change our hearts; then, from the love for God and our neighbor that this change wrought, and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Scripture, moral conduct should flow naturally.
Yet, the points at which Christ (or Paul) presents a specific example give us a touchstone, a guidepost. If we reject these examples, we can tell we have wandered off the path. They are like lighthouses. If we find we are not doing or following one of these teachings, it warns us that we are sailing into the rocks and need to change our heading.
Monkeys battling snails from Illuminated Hymnal
Drunkenness is a good example. Neither Paul nor Christ calls drunkenness a “sin”. But do you think the lifestyle of an alcohol inebriate is the product of the Holy Spirit? Of course it isn’t. While Paul does not say “don’t get drunk” in this passage, does he really need to? (Paul does say that Christian ministers must not be given to drunkenness, in 1 Timothy 3.)
Paul tells us we must be alert. Otherwise — if we relax our faith — we drift into sin as surely as an untended garden sprouts weeds. It is our natural inclination. That is the direct message of today’s Scripture. But there is also a secondary message, to be moderate in our personal lives, for how else can we remain alert?
Paul drank wine, and so did Christ. In fact, Paul recommended it. (1 Timothy 5:23) But the effects of excessive alcohol on self-discipline and behavior are known to all.
Tomorrow or a Thousand Years
Looking at the excerpt as a whole, the modern reader will hear the message in a slightly different way than did the original recipients. Paul depicts living in the Spirit as a means to be ready for a Judgment Day which might come at any time, to the dismay and destruction of the unprepared. But since 2,000 years have passed, and Christ has not yet returned, few of us look for the event tomorrow, or next week, or even during our lifetime.
Instead, we see a lifetime of faithful living as a goal in and of itself, rather than a means to be prepared for the imminent return of Christ. We see ever-increasing faith, growth, and continuing obedience to Christ’s teachings as a result of salvation, a gift of the Holy Spirit. We try to live as God wants us to live, because of love for Christ, rather than fear of punishment.
But there is still truth in Paul’s advice, “Be prepared.” We might die at any moment; death may come when we least expect it. Few people expect to die on the morning of their last day. So, in this sense, we do need to prepare ourselves for judgment. If we are judged by the state in which we die, our death might as well be the last day of earth, as far as we personally are concerned.
Meditation : Stop looking for a perfect church. Go and worship a perfect God with a congregation of flawed people who need grace as much as you Prayer : And finally, grant me O Lord, I pray, the lamp of charity which never fails, that it may burn in me and shed its light on those around me, and that by its brightness I may share a vision of that holy City, where dwells the true and never-failing Light, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
