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Delivered by God

Many Christians are aware of the compelling power of a personal testimony in leading people to Jesus Christ.  The man born blind who was healed by Jesus was fiercely interrogated by religious rulers who intimidated his parents from even speaking on his behalf--lest they be excommunicated from the synagogue.  Poisoned by unbelief, those blaspheming rulers judged Jesus to be a sinner and told the man to give God the glory for his miraculous healing.   John 9:25 gives us his brilliant response:  " He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see. "  Though this man was unskilled in matters of Jewish religion and law compared to those experts, he spoke wisdom by sharing his personal transformation by Jesus these men could not even speak again.  All their scorn could not shake the faith of the man in Jesus. Something which Christians can overlook is how sharing our personal testimony...
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Good and Evil from God

After Job suffered tremendous personal loss and was afflicted with boils head to toe, his wife was incredulous he clung to his integrity.  She scornfully said, "Curse God and die!"  His response is provided in  Job 2:10 :  " But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips ."  Despite his pain and troubles, Job did not accuse God of doing wrong or sin with His lips.  He praised God who gave him life rather than cursing Him.  Though Job did not understand why such awful things befell him, he was convinced God remained only good. This morning I was reading in the book of  Micah how God would come down to the earth with the mountains melting before His presence like wax before flame and that the valleys would be torn in two.  The God of Israel would reduce the capital city of Samaria to a heap, throw down the...
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The Sin of Self-Pity

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul explained one purpose of the Law of Moses in  Romans 3:19-20 :  " Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  20  Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin ."  While all sin is contrary to God and His righteous ways, it is completely natural for all those born into it.  The Law gave commands and prohibitions that guided the conduct of people, yet laws written on tablets of stone could not govern or transform hearts.  Thankfully God who knows the heart has given Christians the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin the Law never explicity mentioned. During my recent study in the book of Jeremiah, it occurred to me how self-pity is a sin I have not always recognised in myself or others.  Self is at the centre of countless si...
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God's Indescribable Gift

Last night at Bible study we discussed the crucifixion and burial of Jesus in Matthew 27 .  Typically Roman crucifixion was reserved for the worst criminals, and after being taken down from the cross their bodies were treated as unclean refuse and left to rot.  Matthew tells us a wealthy disciple of Jesus named Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and asked for His body.  After Jesus was confirmed dead by Romans, Joseph was granted permission to take the body of Christ. Matthew 27:59-60 says, " When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,  60  and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed ."  The Gospel of John adds in  John 19:39-42 :  " And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.  40  Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips...
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Self-Reliance and Salvation

I read a passage in Jonah this morning that illustrates the tendency of people to rely on his own strength to save themselves.  After Jonah attempted in vain to flee by ship from God who commanded him to go to Nineveh and preach against the city, the LORD whipped up a tremendous storm.  The mariners feared for their lives and threw their cargo overboard to save themselves as they each cried out to their gods.  The captain roused sleeping Jonah (ironically sleeping and silent when only his God hears and answers prayer), and it was determined by lot he was responsible for the tempest.  He admitted he had brought disaster upon them by disobedience to God.  The terrified men asked what they needed to do to restore calm. Jonah 1:12-13 says, " And he said to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me."  13  Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but t...
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Saying and Doing

Years ago when I worked as a foreman, some of my colleagues were bemoaning the chronic bad behaviour of our employees.  Workers were showing up late, taking long breaks and production had fallen off.  No matter how much they complained, begged or threatened their workers, their efforts to "right the ship" had little to no effect.  Perhaps the workers would immediately make a show of work, but the second their foreman left the room everyone reverted back to their careless, meandering ways.  Our workers had been conditioned to do as they wanted because there were no consequences besides complaining. As a relatively new foreman at that company, after observation and consideration I asked:  "Do we have a disciplinary policy?"  They affirmed the corporation had a policy in place.  Then I questioned, "Why aren't we putting it into practice?"  Somehow the implementation of the formal disciplinary policy of our company had been neglected, and it took time...
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The Price of Milk

When I bought milk during a recent shop, my mind drifted back to an interview I heard on ABC radio years ago.  For a long time the cost of 3 litres of milk was $3, and the host was interviewing listeners if they were in favour of increasing the cost $.50 to support Australian dairy farmers who were doing it tough.  The majority of those calling in were surprisingly supportive of the idea as $.50 was not asking much.  Shortly thereafter, the cost of milk was increased $.50--along with all other dairy items. This was something that was not discussed in the ABC interview.  Their pitch to consumers was to increase the cost of milk to help dairy farmers, but the host did not mention that this possibly could or would impact everything milk was used to make.  Since I buy groceries on a weekly basis, I immediately noticed a corresponding increase in other products like cheese, cream, yogurt, sour cream, milk chocolate and ice cream.  A proposed fifty-cent in...
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