SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/19/2022 8:36 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Rule”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
18:10a
Message of the verse: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones;”
We will pick up where we left off yesterday talking about
how Christians can despise each other as the believer who pleases the Lord does
not give special honor to a fellow Christian because of wealth, high position,
or influence. That too has always been a
temptation for Christians. James 2:2-8
gives a warning about this, and we will look at these verses.
2 For if a man comes into your assembly with a
gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in
dirty clothes, 3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the
fine
clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good
place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit
down by my footstool," 4 have you not made distinctions among yourselves,
and become judges with evil motives? 5 Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God
choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the
kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? 6 But you have dishonored the
poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into
court? 7 Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called 8 If,
however, you are fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture,
"YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well.
Now we will look at a third way believers despise
fellow believers and that is by withholding help from those who are in
need. Paul confronted that problem in
the Corinthian church as he rebuked them with the words, when you meet
together, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper, for in your eating each one takes
his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses in which to eat
and drink? Or do you despise the church
of God, and shame those who have nothing?
What shall I say to You? Shall I
praise you? In this I will not praise
you” (1 Cor. 11:20-22). John MacArthur
writes “That situation would correspond to a church today having a potluck
supper before a Communion service, with those who brought food eating it all
and not sharing with those who had none.
To do such a thing is to show contempt for God’s church and for His
poorer children.”
I
want to now look at the exhortations that both James and John write about in
James 2:15-16 and then 1 John 3:17-18 as these are valuable additions to this same
point, as they warn against withholding from fellow believers any basic
necessity of life.
“15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need
of daily food, 16 and one of you says to
them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give
them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? (James
2:15-16).
17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother
in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in
him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed
and truth” (1 John 3:17-18).
It is my desire to finish this section in our next
SD as we will begin by looking at a fourth way believers despises fellow
believers.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I just received a Christmas letter from a
younger couple in my Sunday school class.
Let me just say that 2022 was not a good year for this couple and their
family that includes ten children. It
started out with the wife having a problem with her shoulder, and then the
husband tore up his knee. They lost a
baby in the womb, then after that lost another baby in the womb later on in the
year. One of their children had to go to
the hospital because of an illness. They
went on a vacation and their van broke down and had to cut short their planned
trip. I have know the husband since he
was in junior high school, and I have to say that they have a wonderful family
and handled the problem in a godly manner.
I can also say that we helped them out by praying and giving to them.
My Steps of Faith for Today: It is my desire to get away for about three
months as we are overdue for a vacation and so I am trusting the Lord to show
me where He desires us to go, as I really need to get away for a while.
12/19/2022 9:10 AM
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