Thursday, September 30, 2021

Rights and Wrongs

                             

Each of us has certain rights; common ethics warn us those rights end at point of contact with someone else’s nose. And that settles our limits to our satisfaction, in most disputes. And we guard those rights religiously. For some of us that’s our closest connection to religion, possibly our only contact, but who really needs that anyway?

Really? Just try to explain to someone that there are truths about this world and the next that, regardless of their opinion, they just don’t have all the facts. Their freedom has an expiration date and certain limits as well.  For instance, Mr. “Don’t Tell-Me-What-To-Do on the freeway,      speeding to a party on Saturday evening suddenly sees a highway worker waving a red flag. Mr. "Don’t" yells out his window: ”Get outa my way; I’m late.” The worker shakes his head, won’t budge. Mr. Don’t yells again “You don’t have the right to stop me. I have a right to go wherever I please:”

                                                    Hit the pause button.

Who is right? Mr. Don’t thinks that he is, He's entitled to his opinion, but he’s missing vital facts about his immediate future. The worker has nothing to gain—he’s simply trying to help a stranger and his boss handed him a sign to wave at oncoming traffic. Anyone failing to stop is putting himself in danger--He doesn’t know his path will lead him to forfeit all his rights, all his future.

Look back at the smiling friend holding a Bible tract out to you. Take it. It won’t cost much of your valuable time, and you just might find good news therein. You still have all your rights, plus the right to accept the promise of new life as a child of the King of All.

You know a bargain when you see it, don't you?


Monday, September 20, 2021

Compass. GPS, Logic?

 



There will be days when you don’t know which way to go—the sun is hidden and everything around you is in shades of gray. What do you do?

Panic may grip your heart but you try to stay calm and figure out the best path. There are no footprints in the snowy ground beside your own. You know better than to try to follow those tracks. Think! You’ve heard moss always grows on the north side of a tree, or is it the . . . ?

You are alone and must find your way to somewhere safe: Home! That warm, cozy safe home sounds really good right now. But it feels very far away, and your heart is in your throat.

But wait! Your loving Father always leaves the porch light on to guide His wayward child home and He is waiting for you to call for His help. You feel embarrassed that once more you have wandered from the path He showed you.

What had He said last time?

Of course! Now you remember: “You were forgiven. you are forgiven, you will be forgiven. Not because you earned it—but because of My love for My children bearing My Name, each of you are covered forever, purchased at Calvary by sacrifice of Holy blood in your behalf. Forever.”

                  

                                    But let all who take refuge in You be glad,                                                          
                                                            Let them ever sing for joy;                                                                                                                                                May You shelter them                                                                                                                                                       That those who love Your name may rejoice in You                                        .                                                                     For surely You, O Lord, bless the righteous,                                                                                                                                   For You surround them with the shield of your favor.

                                                                           Psalms 5:11-12

                             

 


1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.. 2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin He thus condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit              Romans 8:1-4