Hagar and Sarah

Portion To Read : Gal 4

Galatians 4:21-31 - Hagar and Sarah

Ref: Genesis 15:17-16:10, Genesis 21:1-13, and Galatians 4:21-31.

In this part of Galatians, Paul uses the story of Hagar and Sarah as a picture of the relationship between God and man. The Jews traced their lineage through Abraham’s legitimate son, Isaac, the son of Sarah, and regarded Ishmael, the son of Hagar, as an outcast. Here, Paul tells them that Hagar represents the covenant given on Mt. Sinai, which is the law that the Jews in Jerusalem pride themselves on keeping. He goes on to quote from Genesis—“the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son”—and encourages the Galatians to claim the promise made to their ancestor, Isaac, by shaking off the bonds of slavery imposed by the law.

1. What makes this such a powerful message for the Galatians? How do you think this message made them feel?

The story of Hagar and Sarah is symbolic and has a deeper meaning than first appears. The two women represent two covenants: Hagar the covenant of the law and Sarah the covenant of grace. The covenant of the law given at Mt Sinai produced slavery; thus Hagar, a slave girl, fitted that covenant. Hagar represents Jerusalem (vs 25), the center for unsaved Israelites who were still seeking to obtain righteousness by keeping the law. For Paul to link unbelieving Israelites with Hagar rather than with Sarah was a stinging characterization. True believers are born of God and faith in Jesus (vs 28) but they will often be persecuted and mocked by those born of the flesh, just as Ishmael mocked Isaac (vs 29). Paul goes on to encourage the Galatians to listen to the verdict of scripture (vs 30) that it is impossible to inherit God's blessings on the basis of human merit or effort; furthermore, those who trust in Christ have no connection with the law as a means of obtaining divine favor. They (and we) are the children of Sarah, the free woman.

Activity For The Day - Hide And Seek

Self-Examination

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?; unless indeed you are disqualified. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

a. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Paul asks the Corinthian Christians to consider a sobering question: “Am I really a Christian?”

i. We are rightly concerned that every believer have the assurance of salvation, and know how to endure the attacks that come from Satan in this area. At the same time, we also understand that there are some who assume or presume them are Christians when they are not. It is a challenge to all: Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?
ii. We are often very ready to examine and test others. But first, and always first, we must examine and test ourselves. “That was the trouble at Corinth. They criticized Paul and failed to examine themselves.” (Redpath)

iii. “To examine yourself, in fact, is to submit to the examination and scrutiny of Jesus Christ the Lord – and this never to fix attention on sin but on Christ – and to ask Him to reveal that in you which grieves His Spirit; to ask Him to give you grace that it might be put away and cleansed in His precious blood.” Self examination “takes the chill away from your soul, it takes the hardness away from your heart, it takes the shadows away from your life, it sets the prisoner free.” (Redpath)

iv. “Now, ‘prove yourselves.’ Do not merely sit in your closet and look at yourselves alone, but go out into this busy world and see what kind of piety you have. Remember, many a man’s religion will stand examination that will not stand proof. We may sit at home and look at our religion, and say, ‘Well, I think this will do!’” (Spurgeon)

v. Unless indeed you are disqualified: Paul knew there were some among the Corinthian Christians who were disqualified for eternal life and salvation. Their thinking was worldly because they were of the world, not of the Lord. This is a hard truth to confront, but it is better to know now than when it is too late! The word for disqualified is simply the negative of the word for test in this same passage. If we don’t examine ourselves and test ourselves now, we may find that we ultimately don’t pass the test and are disqualified.

b. What are to look for when we examine and test ourselves? We are to see that Jesus Christ is in you. We are not to look for perfection, in ourselves or in others; but we should see real evidence of Jesus Christ in us.

i. “Now, what is it to have Jesus Christ in you? The Roman Catholic hangs the cross on his bosom; true Christian carries the cross in his heart; and a cross inside the heart, my friends, is one of the sweetest cures for a cross on the back. If you have a cross in your heart - Christ crucified in you, the hope of glory - all the cross of this world’s troubles will seem to you light enough, and you will easily be able to sustain it. Christ in the heart means Christ believed in, Christ beloved, Christ trusted, Christ espoused, Christ communed with, Christ as our daily food, and ourselves as the temple and palace wherein Jesus Christ daily walks.” (Spurgeon)

This beautiful interpretation of this verse was taken from Enduring word.

Activity For The Day - Find and Answer

Sufficient Grace

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12: 9)

a. And He said to me: God had a response for Paul. The answer was not what Paul was initially hoping for, or expecting. But God still had a response for Paul. We often close our ears to God if He responds in a way we were not hoping for, or expecting.

b. My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness: Instead of removing the thorn from Paul’s life, God had given, and would give, His grace to Paul. The grace God gave Paul was sufficient to meet his every need.

i. Paul was desperate in his desire to be relieved of this burden. But there are two ways of taking away a burden. It can be done by removing the load, or it can be done by strengthening the shoulder bearing the load. Instead of taking away the thorn, God would strengthen Paul under it, and God would show His strength through Paul’s apparent weakness.

ii. To do this, Paul had to believe that God’s grace is sufficient. We really don’t believe God’s grace is sufficient until we believe we ourselves are insufficient. For many of us, especially in American culture, this is a huge obstacle. We are the people who idolize the “self-made man” and want to rely on ourselves. But we can’t receive God’s strength until we know our weakness. We can’t receive the sufficiency of God’s grace until we know our own insufficiency.

c. How did God’s grace make the difference? How did it meet Paul’s need at this point?

i. Grace could meet Paul’s need because it expresses God’s acceptance and pleasure in us. When we receive His grace, we enjoy our status of favor and approval in God’s eyes. Grace means that God likes us, that He is favorably disposed towards us; we have His approval and promise of care.

ii. Grace could meet Paul’s need because it was available all the time. When we sin or fail, it does not put us outside of the reach of God’s grace. Since grace is given freely to us in Jesus, it can’t be taken at later because we stumble or fall. When we come to God by faith, through the blood of Jesus, His grace is ever ready to meet and minister to our insufficiencies.

iii. Grace could meet Paul’s need because it was the very strength of God. So much of the power of this world is expressed in things that can only bring harm and destruction. But God loves to show His power through His goodness and grace. Sometimes we associate goodness with cowardice or timidity. But when we do, we take a worldly perspective about power and strength, and we deny God’s truth about the strength of grace and love. Grace is not weak or wimpy. Instead, it is the power of God to fulfill what we lack.

Activity For Today: Bible Quiz

Source : enduringword

Stumbling Blocks ?

"Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God" (1 Cor 10:32)

a. Do all to the glory of God: The purpose of our lives isn’t to see how much we can get away with and still be Christians; rather, it is to glorify God. If the Corinthian Christian would have kept this principle in mind from the beginning in this issue, how much easier it would have made everything!

b. Give no offense: An offense is an occasion to stumble, of leading someone else into sin. Paul is saying none of our behavior should encourage another to sin.

i. Paul is not talking about offending the legalism of others, something he was not shy about doing (Galatians 5:11-12).

c. Paul’s desire regarding men was that they may be saved; more often than we think, low conduct in Christian living is connected to little regard for the lost. Paul’s concern was not seeking [his] own profit, but that all may be saved.

Not everyone struggles with the same problems or situations as someone else. We are all weak in different areas, and we don’t want to put a stumbling block in the way of another person who may be weak in an area we are not.

1 Cor 10:23-24 "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being."

1 Cor 10:32-33 "Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God, even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved."

2 Cor 6:3 "We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be discredited."

Activity For The Day - WORD SEARCH

Boasting In Christ

I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. (2 Corinthians 11:16-20)

Verses 16-20 of this chapter has Paul boasting about his sufferings. He is not boasting as the world boast about wealth, power, and prestige but rather about his hardships. Even though in these verses Paul seems to contradict the word of God by boasting, it is clearly seen that it is something different. He says in verse 30 " If i must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness". This is what we all need to learn in our lives. If there is anything that we should boast about, it is about how God has made his strength perfect in our weaknesses. Its not about what we have done with our human abilities, which isn't much, but rather what God has done for us and through us. The point that Paul was trying to get across is that we are nothing with out God's grace and every praise belongs to him. He is worthy of everything. We need to learn to discipline our minds and pride and submit it all to God.

By Sam Kurien

Activity For The Day - Decode The Message

Repentance

The word for “repent” in Hebrew (used in the Old Testament) means “to turn around’. The word for ‘repent’ in the New Testament Greek means ‘to change one’s mind.’

Like most people, you may have thought to yourself “I know better than the Bible how I ought to conduct myself.” You followed ‘your own lights.” Then you crashed on the rocks from which God tried to warn you away.

“A dead end street is a good place to trun around.” – Naomi Judd

Amazingly, many of us blame God for letting this happen to us! Other times we may feel sorry for ourselves and give up. The apostle Paul says that there is a godly kind of sorrow. “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings to death. – 2 Corinthians 7:10

Sorrow that does not lead to change is just a means of trying to wheedle our way out of the consequences of our actions. If we regret our actions, we change them in future. (The Juice of Life by Tom Long)

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to trust in the Savior. This "salvation" which Paul speaks of in our text, is not a theological term, it is no intellectual matter. It is found in the man who is called Jesus. That was the name God gave to him because it means, "Salvation is of the Lord." Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. He saved by his righteous life and by his atoning death as the Lamb of God. He has taken away the sin of the world. That means when I have entrusted myself to him, my sins are as though they never were. What a magnificent and even incredible concept that is.

"Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou my God shouldst die for me?

Activity For The Day - CrossWord Puzzle

Earthen Vessels

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

a. This treasure: The treasure is the greatness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the glory of God made evident through that gospel. It is the very light of God, and the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, reflected in the face of Jesus Christ. This is the greatest treasure in all of creation!

b. We have this treasure in earthen vessels: When Paul considers us as earthen vessels, he isn’t disparaging the body or considering it merely a receptacle for the soul. Instead, Paul is simply comparing the “value” of God’s light and glory and the “value” what He has chosen to put His light and glory into. When you compare the two, it isn’t hard to be amazed that God has put such a great treasure into clay pots!

i. Who is worthy to be a “container” for God’s light and glory? The smartest person isn’t smart enough, the purest person isn’t pure enough, the most spiritual person isn’t spiritual enough, and most talented person isn’t talented enough. We are all just clay pots holding an unspeakably great treasure!

ii. Earthen vessels: Earthenware vessels were common in every home in the ancient world. They were not very durable (compared to metal), and they were useless if broken (glass could be melted down again). “They were thus cheap and of little intrinsic value.” (Kruse) God chose to put His light and glory in the everyday dishes, not in the fine china!

iii. We almost always are drawn to the thing that has the best packaging. But the best gifts often have the most unlikely packaging. God did not see a need to “package” Jesus when He came as a man to this earth. Jesus was not embarrassed to live as an earthen vessel. God is not embarrassed to use clay pots like us!

c. That the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us: Why does God put such a great treasure in such weak vessels? So that the greatness of the power may be of God and not of us. So that it would be evident to anyone who had eyes to see that the work was being done by the power of God, not the power of the vessel.

i. Why did God choose risky, earthen vessels instead of safe, heavenly ones? Because “perfect” vessels are safe, but bring glory to themselves. Earthen vessels are risky, but can bring profound glory to God.

ii. In the story of Gideon, it was the breaking of vessels that made the light shine forth and bring victory to God’s people (Judges 7:20). In the rest of the chapter, Paul will show how God “breaks” His clay pots so the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

Activity For The Day - FIND ME

Sufficiency

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God (2 Corinthians 3:4-5)

a. We have such trust through Christ toward God: Paul knows that what he has just written might sound proud in the ears of the Corinthian Christians. After all, it is no small thing to say “You are my letter of recommendation” and “I am a pen in God’s hand.” Paul knows these are big ideas, but his place for thinking them is in Jesus, not in himself.

b. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves: Paul doesn’t consider himself sufficient for the great task of changing lives for Jesus. Only Jesus is sufficient for such a big job.

i. Many people refuse to be used by God because they think of themselves as “not ready.” But in a sense, we are never ready or worthy. If we were, the sufficiency would be in ourselves, not from God.

ii. “Brethren, if Paul is not sufficient of himself, what are you and I? Where are you . . . Do you indulge the dream of self-sufficiency? Be ashamed of your folly in the presence of a great man who knew what he said, and who spoke under the direction of the Spirit of God, and wrote deliberately, ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves.’” (Spurgeon)

iii. “Our sufficiency is of God; let us practically enjoy this truth. We are poor, leaking vessels, and the only way for us to keep full is to put our pitcher under the perpetual flow of boundless grace. Then, despite its leakage, the cup will always be full to the brim.” (Spurgeon)

Activity For The Day - FIND ME

False Teachers

At this point in the text we have an abrupt break in the flow of thought. Paul had been giving a series of greetings to the believers living in Rome. Then he suddenly stopped as if he were somehow reminded of something very urgent that he must share with these believers for their own safety and protection. It reminds us of Jude when he gave all diligence to write of the common salvation but then he changed what he intended to do because he was suddenly impelled to exhort the people to earnestly contend for the faith and to beware of false teachers (Jude 3 and following).

In these verses Paul sounds out a final warning and exhortation concerning false teachers in which he spells out two ways in which believers may protect themselves against false teachers. The first way is by SEPARATION (verse 17) and the second way is by PENETRATION (Verse 18).

SEPARATION (Verse 17)
The first way we may protect ourselves against false teachers is by SEPARATION. This verse is structured around two commands. Biblical separation can be realized only as these two commands are obeyed. The first command is a command for identification: MARK THEM! It is impossible to separate from a false teacher if you do not know who he is. He must be identified for what he really is. This command is given to the "brethren" in Rome, not just to the elders in Rome and not just to the leadership of this local assembly. Every believer is to show this kind of discernment. Paul was saying, "Make sure you can spot them and identify them. Constantly be on guard, watching for those who might promote false doctrine (compare the warning Paul gave to the Ephesians elders in Acts 20:29-31).

Paul then gives some help in identifying these false teachers, describing them as those who "cause divisions and offenses (stumbling blocks)." Those who are faithful to the Word of God and "narrow minded" in a good way (the Bible is a very narrow book, compare Matthew 7:13-14), are likely going to be accused of being DIVISIVE. "You separatists are always dividing the body of Christ. Why don’t you be more loving and less dogmatic about what you believe?" Etc. Paul reminds us who the divisive ones really are: those who go contrary to the doctrine which has been handed down. In other words, those who cause divisions are those who refuse to stand obediently and faithfully upon the written Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation. Those who move away from that sure foundation are the ones, from God’s perspective, who are causing division. They should not have budged from the rock solid foundation of truth!

These false teachers cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine (teaching) which the Roman believers had received. This preposition para (contrary) is normally translated "along side of." The error creeps up to the truth and comes along side of it. Error always rides closely to the truth and yet it does not quite match up to the truth. It comes close to it though, and is very subtle. Paul expected the Roman believers to know enough doctrine so that they could discern truth from error and thus be able to mark and identify false teachers. They need to be very skilled at telling the difference between that which is counterfeit and that which is true, even though the false and the true may look very similar in many ways. One of the problems in so many churches today is that the people do not know enough doctrine to be able to recognize a person who is teaching contrary to sound doctrine.

Once the false teacher has been marked and identified, what is next? This brings us to our second command which is a command for severance: AVOID THEM! Literally it means, "turn away from them." Notice that we are to separate not merely from their teachings but from them. Alva McClain said it this way, "Get as far away from them as possible."

Concerning those who teach false doctrine, notice what the New Testament tells us in other places:
Let him be accursed (Gal. 1:8-9).
From such turn away (2 Tim. 3:5).
An heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject (Tit. 3:10).
If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not . . . (2 John 10).

PENETRATION (Verse 18)
The penetration demanded here in verse 18 is twofold. First, there is penetration into their motives ("For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly") and second, there is penetration into their methods ("and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple").

Penetration into their motives: We must penetrate beyond the mere profession. They professed to serve Christ, but Paul penetrated into their true motive. He denied that they served Christ, but rather he discerned that they served their own belly. This was a very strong way of saying that they were SERVING SELF. The word "belly" (6@484") comes from a word meaning "hollow" and can denote the entire physical cavity (often used in the NT of the womb). In John 7:38 it stands metaphorically for the innermost part of man (Vine). In Philippians 3:18-19 Paul used this term to describe the enemies of Christ: "whose God is their belly." Many today claim to be serving Christ but are really striving for personal gain and fame. They care not about the Name and reputation of Christ. They are serving and pleasing SELF and not God.

Penetration into their methods: They deceive the hearts of the simple (literally "without evil", innocent, those who are unsuspecting). These victims are trustful souls who expect nothing bad. How do these false teachers deceive these unsuspecting ones? They do it with good words (words that sound so good, so plausible) and fair speeches (polished language). False teachers really know how to communicate! It is POISON but it is served on such a beautiful platter! They are very smooth talkers. They have a gift at making error sound so good. We remember the words of the serpent in Genesis 3 which sounded so good to Eve. We need to penetrate and look beyond their flattering and polished speeches and discern the hiss of the serpent. Such people are to be marked and avoided!

The Grace Of God

The fullness of God's grace is beyond human appreciation, comprehension or full knowledge. The riches of His goodness cannot be expressed or described by mortal tongue. We can only attempt to describe it, and our best efforts will be a puny approximation. We can admire the beauty of divine grace, but we cannot really explore its depths. At best we can only stand in awe at what we see, and exclaim with the Apostle Paul:

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became his counselor? Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen. (Rom. 11:33-36.)

Anyone who attempts to talk about God's grace must begin, again with Paul, by confessing personal inadequacy for the task (2 Cor. 3:5). We are at best clay pots, entrusted with a priceless treasure (2 Cor. 4:7). Yet God can enable even clay pots to speak his word and glorify his name. "Our adequacy is from God" (2 Cor. 3:5). "We do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake" (2 Cor. 4:5). The "surpassing greatness of the power" is from God and not from us (2 Cor. 4:7).

Scripture reveals much about the grace of God, and we will profit from studying what it reveals. Perhaps we have neglected the grace of God -- to our own great loss and harm -- because those before us, or around us, neglected man's responsibility to obey God. Whatever the reason, Let us give some thought to what Scripture says about God's grace.

For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. And the law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 5:19-21) . In these verses Paul magnifies the grace of God. As much as Adam did for harm to the human race -- and Paul affirms more about that than we sometimes have wished to acknowledge -- Christ did so much more for mankind by His own life of obedience to God. Where sin increased, Paul says, grace increased even more! Satan could not have the last word! His most horrible evil is overshadowed entirely by God's kindness to sinners through Jesus Christ.

The Sacrifices Of Love

Snow fell on the ground promising a white Christmas. The lights, sounds and smells of Christmas enveloped all of our senses. All of us kids were filled with joy and wonder. This was going to be our best Christmas ever!

Meanwhile, workers were barred from entering the service center of the local gas company where my dad worked. The labor union had gone on a strike. They were using the cold weather as a bargaining chip to leverage higher wages and benefits. However, the company refused to negotiate. Instead, it tried to reason with the workers to think of the senior citizens and small children who needed gas for cooking and heating.

The strike went on past one paycheck and then another. Dad had no money to pay our bills, much less buy gifts. As kids, we didn't understand why our parents acted so strangely. Eventually, mom, eyes filled with tears, pulled me aside and tried to explain what was going on. “Your dad has had been hurt trying to break through the strikers' line. You know your dad. He could not stand the idea of the elderly not having heat for Christmas nor food for us,” she said. “There won't be any Christmas this year, Jimmy.”

Dad was continuing to go to work. He broke through the lines. He worked without a paycheck for awhile. However, he helped provide the gas service to those who needed it during the winter storm. It was a sacrifice of love.

It was hard for me as an ten year old kid to understand. Yet, I knew things were bad. Then an idea came to mind. It would be a sacrifice of love, too. We would wrap our favorite toys and make them into gifts for one another. I told the idea to my brothers and we did it. Finally we each had gifts to unwrap on Christmas!

Jesus broke through the lines of Satan to provide us what we needed. The deathly chill of sin had settled into the lives of everyone on earth. Yet, we know the Father. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He continued to work. It was a sacrifice of love.

The apostle Paul explained, saying, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8). May we choose to break Satan's lines to help others. It will be a sacrifice of love. It just might make it your best Christmas ever!

By Jim Morris

Activity For The Day - Find Me

The Body Of Christ

The last target popped up at the 300 meter mark as I lay prone on a Ft. Wood rifle range. I gently squeezed the trigger on my M-16A1 rifle. It barked out a round and spit the shell casing out with a clang. A few seconds later the target fell. “A perfect score, Jimbo!” I reflected, “You can take care of yourself. Who needs these other guys, anyway?”

Sounds pretty smug, doesn't it? Well, it was. I still had a lot of self-centered thinking in me at that time. After all, I grew up having to fend for myself and coming to Ft. Wood for Basic Training was not going to be any different. Or was it?

On the march back to the barracks the thought struck me, “If I can take out a silhouette target that looks like a dot moving on the distant terrain then why can't the enemy do the same to me?” Suddenly the hills of Missouri crowded in on my thoughts. I saw a thousand places where a sniper could lay hidden to bring “me” up in his sights. Now I was not so sure that I could take care of myself without the help of my fellow soldiers to serve as extra eyes and ears.

That trip to the firing range was a turning point in life. I began to notice that each soldier brought a different and valuable set of skills to the unit. In time, we learned to value each other's unique contributions. We worked toward a common goal of following the orders of our commanding officer. Esprit de Corps came to mean more than “spirit of the body.” It meant that we being “many” worked together as “one.” We finally experienced the beauty of “teamwork”

Paul often portrayed Christians as soldiers serving under Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:3). Sometimes, though, we lose sight of our need for each other. Some may even think, “I can take care of myself. Who needs these other guys, anyway?” Well, maybe the community of Christians needs to go through Basic Training. Maybe we need to relearn the value of each other's contributions. Maybe we need to work toward the common goal of following the orders of our commanding officer, Jesus Christ. Then maybe we, being “many,” may learn the secret of working together as “one.” Then we will experience the radiant beauty of “teamwork.”

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body —whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free — and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many . . . If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 26-27).

By Jim Morris

In Remembrance of Me

Dad's face was rugged, lined and tanned by years of hard work in the Texas sun. Strength, character and iron will were carved into every line. Each crease told a story of brutal winters or blazing summers. When I thought of cowboys, John Wayne, and folks with courage and determination, I always thought of dad. Someone said that he looked the part of a Texan. I agreed, and decided to paint his portrait to remember him that way.

Dad didn't like posing for portraits but he did it for me anyway. To keep his mind off of my sketching, and painting, he told campfire stories to my two sons. Maybe it was his constant movement as he spoke, or my laughing at his stories, but I finally had to get some camera snapshots to finish up the details of the painting. After a few weeks his portrait was done.
Of course, the painting cannot substitute for my dad. It can only remind me of something wonderful about him. However, a thoughtful person who knew dad could stir up precious memories as he or she gazed upon his portrait. It is a way to remember a true Texan.

We need to remember loved ones. Consider that every Sunday Christians around the world reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We share the fruit of the vine and the unleavened bread with one another as the Lord's Supper. In that simple ceremony we look back at Calvary to the high price that was paid for our sins–the death of our Savior on a cross. We look inward at the sins we have committed that made His sacrifice necessary. We look upward for the forgiveness that Jesus extends to us by His grace and mercy. We look forward as we eagerly await for the day when Jesus will come again with the power of His resurrection to take us home.

Of course, the bread and the fruit of the vine are no substitute for the real person of Jesus. They can only remind us of something wonderful about Him–His love for us. A thoughtful person who knows Jesus can stir up precious memories as he or she partakes of the cup and the loaf. The Lord's Supper is an indescribable blessing of promises kept and more yet to come. It is a remembrance of the true Savior of the world.

"For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).

By Jim Morris

Copyright © 2003-06 Jim Morris. All Rights Reserved.

Activity for Today: Exodus People

Food sacrificed to idols can/cannot be eaten

Romans 14:14
As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself.
1 Corinthians 10:25-27 (also 1 Cor 8:4-8)
Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."
If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience.
Acts 15:29
You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.
1 Corinthians 10:20-21
...the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.
Revelation 2:20
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

Paul's teaching, which he explains in Romans 14:14-23 and 1 Corinthians 8:4-13, is that eating food sacrificed to idols is not wrong in and of itself, but is better avoided for the sake of Christians who think it is wrong and would consequently be led into sin (Rom 14:23).

While eating food that has been sacrificed to idols is not wrong, participating in idol worship is. Part of the idol worship of the time may have involved sacrificing meat to an idol and then feasting on the meat in celebration of the idol. In this case, participating in the feast would be participating in the worship of the idol, just as partaking of Communion is an act of worshipping Christ - a parallel Paul draws in 1 Corinthians 10:15-18.

Therefore vv. 20-21 refer to eating sacrificed meat at an idol feast and thus practicing idolatry (as opposed to buying sacrificed meat in the market, or eating sacrificed meat at an ordinary meal in someone's home).
The condemnation of eating sacrificed meat in Acts 15:29 and Revelation 2:20 probably refers to participation in an idol feast, but could also refer to the sin of leading others into sin by eating it (1 Cor 8:10-12).

I Cor 8:9-13Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

Activity For The Day - Come To Jesus

Scar Damage

The doctor thumbed through several photos of the inside of my wife’s stomach. He described how the gastric acid had scalded Linda’s throat but he said that it should heal fine. Then he came across the photo that he wanted me to see.

The photo seemed unremarkable to me. It looked like a continuous wall of reddish tissue with no other features. The doctor described his journey of peering into Linda’s stomach with a special scope and camera. He said that he was looking for the damage that was making her so sick. He explained that he photographed the place where Linda’s stomach valve was located and again he pointed at the picture. I saw nothing.

“I went to the place where your wife’s Pyloric sphincter [the drain valve for the stomach] should be,” said the doctor, “But, this is what I found. I believe it is the source of her trouble.”
“Where is the opening?” I questioned. “That is exactly what I kept asking myself!” he said. “It has been scarred over. Your wife has not been getting any nourishment for some time. Linda has been literally starving to death. She needs immediate surgery to reroute her digestive tract and bypass the damaged valve in order to save her life.”

Terror suddenly filled my heart as I continued to stare at the photo in the doctor’s hand. Linda was dying. She was starving to death. We had not known it was so serious.

“How could this happen, doctor?” I asked.

“Aspirin,” he explained. “The habitual use of aspirin initiated a process of ulceration and scarring. As the process repeated itself over a long period of time the scar tissue eventually sealed the opening shut.”

Many people who claim to be Christians are in my wife’s shoes, spiritually speaking, right now and are unaware. Whoever embraces any kind of sin habitually (even sins that seem as harmless as aspirin) are involved in a deadly process of ulceration and scarring. It will harden hearts and render them insensitive to God’s will. We know this process is true when we ask others to take a look into our lives for any sin damage.

In the name of Jesus, I plead with you to repent of the sin that has ensnared you. Submit yourself to the Great Physician’s surgical knife of truth. Only He can reroute your life. Only He can provide you with the nourishment that you need to live forever.

“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more” (Ephesians 4:17-19).

By Jim Morris

Copyright © 2003-06 Jim Morris. All Rights Reserved.

Activity For The Day - FIND ME