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 | Dailies March 2022 |
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4/27/2022 Daily Devotions: by Christina Farris Hebrews 12:1-4 KJV
The other day I laid down my cross in regards to my husband actions, meaning I have to let my husband carry his cross himself when following Jesus. Our instincts are to protect another in all situations good or bad. To maybe be to willing to try and move the hot stove from the grasp of another is not so smart if their is a boiling pot of water that might slide off when you move it. Person will still get burnt and maybe worse you too will get hit by the steam and be burnt. Ever opened a oven door and wish you hadn't because the steam of the hot meal within it catches you in the face. Without the heat it would not be a delicious meal, without it's steaming it would not be a good meal, but in the process you feel the heat and the sting of this is to hot. The heat in life produces good meal, the wrong heat destroys the meal causes it to become char meaning burnt black. As a Christian we can wave our cross til the point it becomes no earthly good. If we lay our sin at the foot of the cross, any other sin should be easily laid there too, but it is not. The cross of man seems to hold many things, that by itself is light and easily carried if following Jesus. However if we pick up everything that can weigh us down in the process of carrying our cross for Jesus then the cross becomes a burden to us as individuals. People want to load other people's cross with the dos and do nots of faith to the point it becomes a heavy burden to others.
There are things clear by scripture that is sin, and there things in life that are questionable because perhaps it was not created at that time, no sin has several factors, strife, anger, evil intent, stinginess, jealousy, self seeking, using of self or others to only gain one's own desires and perhaps not least sees nothing as ever being wrong or unquestionable. The need not to examine motivations of something in life could be sin as well, because it could be deny wrong behavior. It is the difference of being choked by a char meal or steam burned by a done meal, or almost done meal. When the things of our life are placed in the fire what remains. The fire of the Holy Spirit is what I speaking of. A house fire there will be probably at least a Bible intact, meaning God word can not be destroyed. Will there be anything else intact in your life. What will be consumed by the fires of hell and be taken to heaven with you, not even the clothes on your back though they are needed for earthly living. Is what you value in life, other then following Jesus have value. Jesus asked his disciple if they had a sword, and the disciples had two, and Jesus said it was enough. Jesus speaking in a parable asked if a man had two cloaks, to give the stranger one cloak. If you look in the Old Testament you fined the King Hezekiah bragging and boast of the wealth of Israel to the point people came from all over the world to see it, only for them to plot to take over Israel because of the wealth. Yet those things stolen long after Hezekiah death could not take away the faith of Israel which for true believer who had found their faith was something more precious then the gold in the temple or in the palace.
We begin to think what is love, what is compassion of God. If God expects me to obey him over the law of man, then I will pay a price of obedience on this earth. A mentally ill man shot an abortion clinic up many years ago, and I can't remember what happened to him. But when I say the man was mentally ill, because he tried to claim God told him to do it. Sorry folks God calls us to love and not to commit murder, but there times judgment is essential for protection of people, but that is best left to God or the government. Paul in Corinthian church threw people out because the sin was like yeast, it was growing out of control in the church. Abortion is wide spreading across our land as well as Euthanasia/assisted suicide. In the Corinthian church false idols were part of the problem. Where is love if you allow something that is wrong, it depends on what it is. The anger of the mentally ill man caused his own sin, of murdering the living. Is that justified no. It belonged in a court of law, before the crazy man murder those working in the abortion clinic. Now how can a person love someone seeped in sin that same way Christ did. Giving a person the option to choose, and your place not to judge them for their actions. God gives us this earth to live on where we decide if we are following him or the devil, or even ourselves. If our ability to choose is taken we are under a dictatorship. However does it make it right. The answer is no, but free will is exercised to produce those that follow God by choice and not by force. It is the greatest freedom in our world to take up our cross and follow Jesus, but realizing at the same time, to be a leader of choice, is of God, and the laws of our land of freedom. Our laws are to protect society from evil rising and flooding our nation that will destroy it. Our nation also deals with one other issue in our world called the population war. Government in their stupidity allows sin actions of others to fall on those people in hopes of a better earthly tomorrow, failing to see sin from the left or the right of society never produces good things and definitely not necessarily good people.
I glanced for a moment at a cross of the killer of the abortion clinic only to say what judgment of this person was wrong and often described as a mental problem. Why, because two wrongs never make a right. We are called to love the sinner as Christ loved us. Does God destroy, when sin reaches the heighth of heaven. Noah ark a place of safety, but how many people were left behind because they did not believe? Some try and claim more survived then just Noah and his family because of how far spread the story of Noah ark is. Yet failing to remember that the whole earth was covered by Bibical recorders and the ark landed on the highest mountain in the world then what was left in the world for another boat to land on and how fast could another boat be built. The flood sounds cruel but obedience to God protected Noah on earth, did it protect his soul, no but faith caused his justification. Noah as a believer, still performed the sacrifices for sin. God provided a promise not to destroy the whole earth by flood again, with the sign of a rainbow. Noah was still sacrificing to God despite the horror outside the Ark. Yet Christ found no protection in his obedience to God. The story of faith and the cross interweaving with consequences of humanity, mode of worship, faith still standing, and obedience to God.
Had the time of Daniel really changed as far as a foreign government being in power til the time of Christ. Christ cross was same as Daniel and yet Daniel lived. Christ was resurrected though he faced the suffering. Daniel had a safe night of lions mouths being closed. His only fear came the moment he enter the den of lions only to find those mouths closed. Christians were feed to lions in the days of Roman gladitors. Yet what did Roman expect to see Daniel life played out before them or for Christians to carry their cross to death and resurrection? Remember,signs follow the believers. Christ did miracles though he did not take himself off his cross. Reason he did not take himself down off his cross is he suffered for the sin of the world against him. Paul, and Peter were seen being imprisoned and even beaten. Yet their cross allowed them to continue with continually paying the price for preaching the Gospel until Peter's Mayrterism, and Paul death. They carried the torch of the Gospel with a price for doing so. Healing someone and facing jail seems insane, but it happened. Someone being stoned for words only seems insane as well, but it happens. Daniel, Paul, and Peter showed no violence, and yet our Savior did with the turning over of the money tables. Why label the man that shot the abortion clinic up wrong, because it stood in error of choice, man's laws only or God's laws. We must remember Christ was not of our world, though he be born in our world as a baby in the flesh. God can judge, Christ did not come to condemn, but he condemned when it came to his Father's house. Can we justify based on Christ condemnation on the world. Christ was walking in humanity for us and found out that in that humanity came humanity at its best? No, his reality of who he was could not be altered. As believers in Christ when we are born again of God's Spirit we are not God, but we face the world in regards to their option to God as soldiers of the cross, carrying our cross of our humanity, only changed by God's Spirit to love, to show compassion, to be patience, kind and so forth. To allow our anger to destroy us, or another is not of God, but to allow God's will to destroy whom he will and allow God mercy to be declare to all that if we repent God is merciful. Our intercession for our sisters and brothers in faith and our brothers and sisters of our humanity, comes with prayer. Our humanity coming out when temptation befalls us. If we resist temptation it will flee, yet someone forget to tell us that temptation can be tempting to the point it leads to destruction. Yet we are not tempted by anything that not common to others. The other day I had to buy a chocolate Payday candy bar, not because I had to have it, but the desire to try one was greater then my common sense at the moment. Now mind you I only seen the commercial for it and only had it to go on whether I might actually enjoy it. I enjoyed every bite. Yet that candy bar bought could of waited til payday. What is my point, there are things we desire that needs to be put in proper time, and is not sin. However there are things that are sinful that belongs not in a believers life. It does not even have a place where it belongs except in the trashpile and at the cross of temptation only.
Do we glorify God by glorifying our sin, or do we glorify God by testifying of the great things God does for man. The judgment of believers is often confused by the truth of God's judgment on man. The judgment of society is based on trends in society. Our call to love and be different as children of God, not allowing evil to corrupt, or to change our intent to love, but to put those things behind us. Realizing our sin to not love is in oppostion to God's law, that states to allow him to revenge. By doing so we often become spectators and often wondering if God will correct us just like Jonah, who found out it was none of his business whether God showed mercy on Nineveh, who repented of sin. We are spectators of our spouses, friends and family. No one lives life perfectly. It easy to judge with our mouth but it only God's place to judge, unless it is effecting the church, the world we live in to a place of evil in society.
Are we call to love and have unity with other brothers and sisters of faith has to do with loving as Christ loved us. There is times even the church world must stand up and speak, and say God not pleased with sin, and then also to say God giving you a choice to leave the sin behind and follow Jesus, or keep on sinning and deal with God's wrath in your life, that might not come til the day of judgment. Devil's final judgment comes when the day when the non believers rise up to face the judgment. Devil and his angels are cast in first. Believers will be a spectator on that day. What then will we cry mercy, or judgment, will we cry only Holy is the Lamb of God that was slain, or will we cry mercy, for we to are guilty as those facing the judgment? Sometimes we cheer when God judgment comes in our world, because the problem is solved, but God's judgment now might solve a problem, but only from the side of a believer and not on the side of unbeliever. This is why there are warning of God's wrath to come to the world.
I started with talking about my husband cross and being spectator of it and deciding not to judge something that occured because he had to carry his own cross in this world. Leave the sin at the cross, leave the burden of others there too. Then love them where they are and not where they are not. Relationship building can be said to be able to love passed one another faults. We need to know our place in God's kingdom now and God's kingdom to come. We are of earth looking for land of promise, only as aliens in this world we live in. Do we know our place in God's kingdom as judges as queens and kings in heaven, as well as sons and daughters of God. What about the fact we are also his servant, serving God in heaven, and in the New Jerusalem in love for one another. Christ came looking like us trying to teach us, and sharing his love which was not always understood. When sin was spoken about, forgiveness, and how to live is point out, it should be a good thing, but it was not to the religious leaders. Jesus honor God by teaching love, forgiveness, hope, longsuffering, gentleness and so forth. Christ was doing this because of the will of God.
When we follow Christ and live by his example remembering our place in his kingdom, and know we ourselves are not God, though we are made lower then the angels, we will sit in heavenly places as children of God, as sons and daughters, kings and queens, and as servants of the Most High God in the world beside Christ Our brother and our Lord, reclining at the table with Jesus. Feasting on the bread of life, and eating meat from heaven. Our position clear on how to follow Jesus, and taking up our cross and following after, keeping our eyes on him, doing his will, teaching his word and spreading the Gospel, not being concerned with the sins of others unless they will truly destory the world or society as we know it. Meaning to allow people to work through their sin, only mentioning sin by scripture, and allowing one to decide if certain things are sin on their own by the Holy Spirit who convicts the believers heart and the sinners heart as well.
Dear Heavenly Father, help us to love as Christ love us, not in condemnation as a God, but in condemnation as human being caring for society that needs the laws of faith and the laws of our nation and society. In Jesus precious name, Amen.
Continual Scripture Study:
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