Look For A Way Out

 

Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond that what you are able, but with temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Sometimes we face overwhelming temptation to do something which we would normally never consider doing.  Peer pressure can play a big role in this and the idea "everybody is doing it" can make us feel like an outcast.  

This type of situation can leave us feeling confused and maybe even questioning what we consider to be right and wrong.  We need to step back and take time to think.  

No matter what the temptation you face, look for a way out.  God will provide one. 

The Lord's Prayer

"And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."

“Pray, then, in this way:

"Our Father, who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 

For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." 

Matthew 6:7-13 

Jesus gave us the perfect prayer.  The Lord's Prayer honor's God, prays for the world, asks for our needs to be met, asks for forgiveness and asks that we not be lead into temptation to sin and that we be delivered from evil.  And, finally, gives God the glory He deserves.  

It is a simple prayer which is prayed by Christians around the world and brings comfort to millions who are seeking God.

So, when we don't know what to pray, this what we pray.

Perhaps we can start our days with this prayer and see where our prayers go from there.  

 

 

Just Because We Are Human

 

Now it came about on the next day that an evil spirit came mightily upon Saul, and he raved in the midst of the house, while David was playing the harp with his hand, as usual; and a spear was in Saul’s hand.  Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.”  But David escaped from his presence twice.  Now Saul was afraid of David for the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.  

 

1 Samuel 18:10-12

This is David who killed Goliath.  He saved the Israelites from destruction.  This tremendous feat brought him honor and appreciation and an appointment as a military leader. However, King Saul became jealous of David’s popularity.  Saul thought David was a threat to his power and that perhaps he should kill David.  David ran away and hid until Saul cooled off. 

Today, some might argue that David was at fault for Saul’s jealousy.  This is the same thinking that says if you are a Christian and are having trouble, maybe it is because you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing.  This puts entirely too much weight on Christians for the actions of those who act because they are evil.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” 

When things go wrong for us, as they did for David, we need to remember that we are having a human experience, which does not diminish our salvation through Jesus Christ. 

God Is Listening

 

I love the Lord, because He hears

My voice and my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear to me,

Therefore, I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

Psalm 116:1-2

There is comfort in knowing the God hears our prayers and cares for us.  We are never left alone and unloved, because God is with us.  

Call on God today, be is listening for your voice. 

Popping The Pop Culture Bubble

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.  

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:1-4 

Pop culture says that all religions are the same and it does not matter what you believe as long as you believe because belief in and of itself is a free pass to heaven.  Others teach that the only requirement to get into heaven is to be a good person.  These ideas are comforting to those who have no knowledge of what the Bible says about salvation or who don’t like what the Bible says, but these ideas are false.  I could say that those who teach these things are leading people down the path to hell, but I won’t.

What I will say is this, there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ, His Son.  This is the truth and this is the spirit of truth.  We need to say it and say it often because we are called to share the message that Jesus Christ is the one and only way to salvation. 

We pop the pop culture bubble when we speak the truth of Jesus so that no one can say they did not know the truth.   

 

The truth is the truth.

 

Mercy

 

Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act.  Now the Law of Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?”

They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him.  But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground.  But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.  Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they?  Did no one condemn you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.”  And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either.  Go.  From now on sin no more.”

John 8:1-11

 

The scribes, Pharisees and religious leaders in general spent a lot of time trying to discredit Jesus' teachings.  Time after time they would question Jesus about His actions and they would taunt Him with problems they believed would trip Him up and reveal Him as a fraud.

 

The woman caught in adultery was such a case.  The law required that she be stoned for her sins, but Jesus turned the situation upside down when He wrote on the ground.  Some speculate that Jesus wrote the sins of the men who accused the woman, but we will never know what was written.  The result was the accusers walked away.

 

Then Jesus spoke words of encouragement not condemnation, and sent her on her way.

 

We need to dig deep to find this kind of mercy for others.  Everyday we encounter people whose lives seem to be total wreaks because sin has over taken them.  And, like Jesus we can offer them love and the forgiveness of Jesus and encourage them to turn from sin and to Jesus.  

 

May we be as merciful as Jesus.

Who Is My Neighbor?

A lawyer questioned Jesus about who was his neighbor, and ... 

Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 

"Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

"But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 

"On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’ 

"Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 

And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

Luke 11:39-37 

Jesus points out the the holy people, the priest and the Levite, ignored the injured man, but the Samaritan stopped and not only cared for the man but paid for him to stay at an inn while he recovered from his injuries.  The Samaritans were regarded as bad people who were to be avoided. One time, when Jesus and His disciples were on a journey. they took the long way around to avoid them.  (Luke 9:51-56)  Yet, here Jesus is commending a Samaritan as being good, and more than that - being better than the holy people who passed by the injured man.

I think this is so we will consider putting our faith into action so when someone needs help, we help or at least find someone who can help.  

We are to minister to others without consideration of who they are, but knowing that we are commanded to do so, because everyone is our neighbor.  

So, look for neighbors to help.