SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/28/2022 9:12 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“Committed to Meekness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
12:19
Message of the verse: 19 “HE WILL NOT
QUARREL, NOR CRY OUT;
NOR WILL ANYONE HEAR HIS VOICE IN
THE STREETS.”
A couple of things before I get started: First we
are still in the quotations from Isaiah, and second this SD will be a very
short one, and it is a good day for me to do a short one as my former Pastor’s
wife died a week ago and we must go to her funeral this afternoon. I still miss my former Pastor who went to be
with the Lord in 2009. It is good that
his wife is now in heaven with her Lord and with her husband.
MacArthur writes “Epizo (to ‘quarrel’) carries the idea of
wrangling, hassling, or even brawling. Kraugazo (to ‘cry out’) means to shout
or scream excitedly. The term was
something used of a dog’s barking, a raven’s squawking, and even a drunk’s
bawling.”
Jesus did not come to sermonize and sweet-talk
people with the gospel like a rabble-rousing zealot who inflames his hearers by
appealing to their emotions and prejudices.
If you think about people who do these kind of things you may think of a
TV evangelist who is trying to make people feel guilty and then to get them to
feel better he wants them to send money to his organization so he can get rich
and you can get poorer. On the other
hand Jesus spoke with dignity and was always in control, and He used no means
of persuasion but only the truth. As we
read through the gospel accounts we can see that Jesus never organize a mob or
resorted to trickery, lies, or scheming, as His opponents routinely did against
Him, and we know that his opponents were mostly made up of the scribes and the
Pharisees. Jesus was the way of
gentleness, meekness, and lowliness; Jesus was perfect in every way. Even though He was the Son of God, the divine
Messiah, and the rightful King of kings, He never tried to secure a hearing,
much less a following, by political power, physical force, or emotional protest.
MacArthur
concludes this short section by writing:
“Even the wisdom of man knows that no real persuasion can be made by
force or intimidation. As Solomon
reminds us, ‘The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the
shouting of a ruler among fools’ (Eccles. 9:17; cf. 1 Cor. 2:1-5).” “1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did
not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the
testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus
Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much
trembling, 4 and my message and my
preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power, 5 so that your faith would
not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”
As
we look over the different places where we find the Apostle Paul in Scripture,
and I am mostly talking about in the book of Acts, but other places too we find
that Paul patterned his life after the Lord Jesus Christ, the very best pattern
to follow.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I had an experience last night with my
neighbors as I had taken them some of our left over dog food we had and gave it
to them for their three dogs. I believe
that the wife is a Christian, as I have had a chance to talk to her on a few
occasions. I presented the gospel
message to her husband, who says he is a believer, but shows no signs of being
one. I had the chance to very calmly
tell him my testimony as on Wednesday I celebrated my 48th “New
Birth Birthday.” He understood what God
had done for me, but did not understand the important part of being born
again. In talking with his wife who has
a decision to make I suggested that she take it to the Lord, something she said
she would do, but I don’t think she would have until I gave her the
suggestion. I pray for this couple a lot
and will continue to pray for them.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I am
trusting the Lord to give me the wisdom to teach a Bible Study this afternoon, and
then to teach our Sunday school class this Sunday.
1/28/2022 9:49 AM
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