The scripture for today, April 3, is 1st Timothy 4:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“They [false teachers] forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.”
The author, the apostle Paul, is warning of false teachers in the church that would come in the future. Indeed it did happen. A time came when certain Christians were ordered not to marry, and not to eat certain foods (for instance, on Friday).
Remember, your church leaders are going to be judged by God just like everyone else. Always, as the apostle Peter once warned, “We ought to obey God and not men” (Acts 4:19).
This is why it is important to read the Bible for yourself. You are smart enough. It is easy to understand. You can do it!
The scripture for today, December 20, is 2nd Corinthians 12:20b as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“….I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.”
It can happen among well-meaning people trying to accomplish the same good work but from a different angle. Do we insist our way is the best way, and people will be lost if the committee/congregation doesn’t do things our way? Do we then get hurt and think (or say) everyone else doesn’t love the lost like we do? Then are we tempted to just drop out?
A good test when personalities clash is to ask ourselves, “Would this congregation survive without me?” Of course it would. It did before we came and would after.
A good solution: If our heart is set on a certain good work, but no one else’s heart is, do what we can alone. We don’t need a committee to follow our heart.
Let us prefer one another, honor one another, and love one another. We are family ~ God’s family.
The scripture for today, October 4, is Romans 10:4 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”
When Jesus nailed the Law of Moses to the cross (Colossians 2:14) it came to an end. Thank God. There were over 600 commandments in the Law of Moses, not just the “ten commandments.” They were tedious. Try reading Leviticus and see if you can keep every commandment in it.
Jesus was the only one who ever kept the Law perfectly (Hebrews 4:15). Once that occurred, he could be the Perfect Lamb of God without blemish, and he could be sacrificed on the altar of the world (the cross) in our place ~ take the punishment for our sins.
And with his death came the introduction of a New Law covered in the New Testament. Read the New Testament in its entirety. It is not tedious. It is beautiful. Let us not try to dip back into the Old Law and bring back showy worship practices done back them. He put it to death and gave us a new and wonderful and simple law of grace and love.
The scripture for today, September 29, is Matthew 9:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you.’ “
Sometimes when we pray for healing during sickness, a well-meaning friend will say, “Well, you haven’t been healed because you didn’thave enough faith.” But Jesus did not heal everyone according to their faith.
The boy in Nain he brought back to life (Luke 7:14-15) did not have any faith at all. The girl in Capernaum he brought back to life (Luke 8:51-56) did not have any faith at all. When Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana (John 2:1-9) the hosts did not have
any faith at all.
This is encouraging, because often we pray for the healing of non-religious friends. It would be futile to ask God to bring them back to health if it depended on their faith all the time. But he is not a God of futility. He is a God of hope.
